Okay, fasting. Abstaining from food (or maybe from something else we really desire) for the purpose of seeking God. If you've been around the Church for any amount of time, then you've probably heard about the spiritual discipline of fasting. But what does this have to do with skiing and snowboarding? Why on earth are we talking about fasting on a podcast about ski and snowboard ministry. Great question! I would argue that fasting has a lot to do with ski/snowboard ministry...mainly because of what fasting teaches us. Fasting is a practice that teaches us that we don't need to give our bodies what they want all of the time. And it might seem silly...depriving the body of food for a period of time to seek the Lord. But consider the implications of what this practice can do over time. The more that we implement the discipline of fasting into our lives...it moves beyond the concept of food. We learn soon enough that we don't need to give into the desires of our flesh. And soon, we'll start to seek communion (with God and others) over comfort (living into our desires all of the time).
So yeah, fasting has a lot to do with ski/snowboard ministry. It's easy in the ski/snowboard world to get caught up in the HYPE of the culture. It's easy to make skiing and snowboarding all about you (getting your turns, getting your tricks, getting your shots, etc.). But part of what makes the mission of SFC so unique is that we know that it's not all about us. It's about others. And in a culture that is all about "self", that type of mindset sticks out. So fasting teaches you to seek God when everything in your flesh may want to seek its own comfort.
In this episode, Ryan and Alie give a short teaching on the importance of fasting and what it's meant to do in our lives. Like previous episodes, this talk is broken down into two parts. In part one, Ryan teaches about the practice of fasting and what it's meant to do for us. In part two, Alie gives us some practical tips on how to implement fasting into our lives. This is an exciting talk. We hope you enjoy it!
Resources that Alie and Ryan used in preparation for this talk:
John Mark Comer: Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace
Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
Richard Foster: The Purpose of Fasting (Article)
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