by Mert Hershberger

Will we feast or fast when failure looms? The world will say, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die.” Have fun while you can. The Lord’s chosen instead set aside their own pleasure when the Lord is displeased that we may humbly seek the Father’s favor once more. When you fast or when you feast, why do you do it? Are you seeking to impress others?  Do you mourn over your sins and the sins of your family? Or do you merely meet to taste the flesh of beasts at your feasts? Is your fasting a show or are you truly humbled as Aaron was?

     

by Sam Alvarado and Adam Simnowitz

As Ramadan comes to an end, I can’t help but ponder on what I observed in my neighborhood. ...I can’t help but to be reminded of how Jesus answered a question posed to him by people seeking to be justified before God. They asked him, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?”  Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrMXlQ2ZWJ0

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I have a Syrian Muslim friend with whom I have shared the message of Jesus many times.  Once he objected to the idea that people can be forgiven simply by believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  It seemed to him that if a person could be guaranteed forgiveness, he would use this as an excuse to commit whatever sin he so pleased.