Daniel Fast ‘spring cleaning’ for body, soul
Posted on Saturday, May 3, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Religion/224626/
For the past three weeks, members of Second Baptist Church in Conway have forgone steak dinners, pushed away desserts and even turned down iced tea at restaurants.
On Sunday, congregation members will conclude the 21-day Daniel Fast, based on Daniel chapters 1 and 10 when the Hebrew prophet abstained from delicacies, meat and wine.
Second Baptist has adapted that fast, also excluding fried foods, desserts, all meat dishes (including fish and eggs ) and caffeine.
“It has been incredible, the response from our people,” said Mark Dance, the church’s senior pastor. “I run into people at restaurants who aren’t eating any meats or any sweets, and they’re drinking water.”
Dance acknowledged that Baptists — like most evangelical Protestants —aren’t known for fasting. Baptists traditionally do not observe Lent, unlike Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestant denominations that closely follow the church calendar such as Episcopalians and Methodists. Thus, self-denial is not a regular springtime ritual. But in an age of overabundance, Dance sees a resurgence among evangelicals of what he describes as “a normal Christian discipline.” There are now fasting Web sites and even fasting cookbooks — a number are even devoted specifically to the Daniel Fast. Dance invited his congregation to participate in the fast to coincide with the launch of its “Journey of Faith: Crossover” campaign. Second Baptist plans to move from its location in downtown Conway to 50 acres the church has bought near the University of Central Arkansas. Since Dance came to the church nearly seven years ago, he said the congregation’s attendance has grown from 600 or so to about 1, 000. The church is running out of space, he said. Just as Daniel used his fast as a time of prayer and reflection, Dance said he wanted congregants to use their fast as a time to pray for direction for the church.
“It’s like a spring cleaning for the body and the soul,” he said. “And your body is going to get mad before it gets happy.” That was the experience of church member Brad Lacy. The chairman and chief executive officer of the Conway Chamber of Commerce describes himself as “a big dessert guy.”
“I hit a wall there for about four days that was not pretty,” he said.
“I just felt really tired, a little irritable and had these intense cravings for sugar, which is like insane to me. You don’t really think of how food has this control on you until you give up something you’re accustomed to having.”
For the first time, he said he prayed for physical strength. It reminded him, he said, that God is the provider of strength.
But temptation, he admitted, is still there. At one point, he saw a carton of Yarnell’s Guilt Free Ice Cream at the grocery store and seriously considered buying it.
“I thought, ‘ This is legal. I could do this, ’” he said. “But then I thought, ‘ It’s not in the spirit of the promise you made. ’”
Kelley Erstine, UCA’s vice president of institutional advancement and development, said he has never been a member of a church that encouraged him to fast before now.
Because of his job, he often attends dinners and other gatherings where food is involved. At a recent charity golf tournament, he had to skip the hamburgers and chicken sandwiches on the buffet line for a Styrofoam cup full of beans.
“That was a little tough,” he said.
But the experience has heightened his concentration on his faith.
“It takes self away from the equation and it focuses me more on what God wants to do in my life,” Erstine said. “This has caused me to basically wake each morning and open with Bible study and ask for strength and for help to persevere through this fast.” Dance said fasting provides devotion, direction and deliverance from physical addictions such as unhealthy eating habits. “Your body will be better off,” Dance said. “But if you just do it to lose weight, it’s nothing more or less than a diet. The primary purpose should be spiritual.” More information about the Daniel Fast is at
www. sbcconway. org / fast. html