Secret Church

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Turkey and the 5 Pillars of Islam: Pillar 4 Posted: 04 Mar 2014 10:01 PM PST Our prayer focus for Secret Church 14 is the Peoples of Turkey. Leading up the Secret Church on April 18, we'll be sharing information about the Turks and Kurds of Turkey, including their religious beliefs, their lifestyles, and their culture. Our hope is that as we learn more about who these people are, our burden to pray for them will increase, and that by the time May rolls around (a month we're challenging people to devote to prayer for the Turks and Kurds), we'll be so acquainted with them that all we'll have to do is continue praying for the people we've grown to love – people who desperately need to know the love of Jesus. Find out more at HopeforTurkey.com. “Mosque lights celebrating Ramadan” Pillar 4:  Sawm (Fasting and Ramadan) What is Ramadan? Ramadan (or Ramazan in Turkey) occurs in the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Historically, it was during this month that Muhammad received revelations from the angel Gabriel that later were incorporated into the Qur'an. The emphasis during the month of Ramadan is on the practice of fasting. Muslims all around the world during this month will fast from sun up to sun down. For Muslims fasting includes refusing to drink water, eat food, or enjoying other pleasures during the daylight hours. All Muslims are expected to participate in the fast. There are some exceptions that are allowed. For example, senior adults, young children, and pregnant women are exempted from practicing the fast during Ramadan. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Ramadan is the celebration that occurs each evening as the sun goes down and Muslims are permitted to "break the fast" (this meal is referred to as "iftar"). Each night as the sun goes down, many Muslims will gather with their families and partake in a big feast to celebrate the end of the fast for that day. In fact, food consumption during the month of Ramadan greatly increases. This has led some to suggest that Muslims actually consume more food during Ramadan than during any other month of the year. For this reason, Ramadan is a bittersweet time of year. On one hand abstaining from food and other pleasures during the daytime is very difficult. On the other hand, gathering with family and friends and breaking the fast together is a joyous occasion for many Muslims. Ramadan is a significant time of year for Muslims and something they take very seriously. In fact, in some Muslim countries it is against the law to eat or drink in public during the daytime. This is such a sensitive subject in some Muslim countries. For example, I recently was in the Middle East during Ramadan and bought lunch at a restaurant in a food court and ended up hiding myself in a bathroom stall just to eat lunch! Some places are more relaxed on this issue than others, but Muslims in general take Ramadan seriously and view it as a time to reflect and hopefully hear a word from Allah. What is the significance of Ramadan in Turkey? During Ramadan in big cities, restaurants and businesses will remain open during Ramadan. At the same time, it is assumed that tourist and non-Muslims will respect the culture and attempt to refrain from eating and drinking in public. In smaller cities and towns throughout Turkey, many restaurants will be closed during the day. In Turkey, it is customary for drummers to walk around in the early hours of the morning to wake people for the predawn meal (sahur). This is always an interesting wake up call for tourists and visitors! At the conclusion of Ramadan, Muslims around the world celebrate a 3-day celebration known as Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan Bayram in Turkey). This celebration includes singing, dancing, visiting, gift giving, and lots of fireworks! This celebration is perhaps the most joyful event for Muslims every year.

Kevin DeYoung on Busyness and the Christian Life Posted: 04 Mar 2014 07:26 AM PST We don’t usually think about busyness as a spiritual issue, but as pastor and author Kevin DeYoung reminds us in his latest book, Crazy Busy, we need to stop and consider what is for many believers today a massive problem. Kevin is a pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. He has authored several books and his blog over at TGC -  “DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed” – is worth visiting regularly. The fact that busyness affects how we follow Jesus on an everyday basis makes it extremely relevant to our upcoming Secret Church 14, “The Cross and Everyday Life.” That’s another reason we’re glad Pastor Kevin was willing to answer the following questions on this important topic. So Kevin… 1. How can someone determine whether their level of busyness is normal or an indication of a deeper problem? Busyness itself is not the problem. God made Adam to labor in the Garden and He made it good. We have been created for good works, which means we have work to do. Any Christian who cares about people will seek to bear the burdens of others. Clearly, inactivity is not the goal of godliness. Having said all that, obviously some busyness is problematic. We all know and feel that—some of us every day. To determine what is healthy busyness and what is not, I'd start by looking for sin's symptoms. Am I losing my patience more than I used to? Do I find myself easily angered? Have I lost the joy of my salvation? Then I would take a look at the patterns in my life. Am I taking a regular Sabbath? Do I have habits of feasting and fasting, work and rest, leisure and labor? Do I seem to be working all the time and actually getting less done? Finally, I try to ask myself this simple diagnostic question: am I trying to do good to others or look good before others? If we're honest, so much of our busyness is about people-pleasing, pride, and positioning ourselves for earthly applause. 2. How is our busyness, or at least our feeling of busyness, a gospel issue? It could be a gospel issue in a number of ways. If busyness chokes out the seed of God's word (like in the parable of the sower and the soils), that's a gospel issue. If busyness is a convenient way to cover up the rot in my own soul—or make me forget that I even have a soul—that's a gospel issue. If I am trying to do everything for God to such an extent that I don't find any joy in God, that's a gospel issue. And perhaps most seriously, busyness is a gospel issue when I keep running at breakneck speed just to prove myself to my parents, prove myself to the world, or prove myself to God. If we can't come to Christ, take his light and easy yoke upon us and rest in him, then we haven't understood the gospel at all. 3. In your book Crazy Busy you mention one thing busy people (and all people) must do. Can you summarize that one thing? The one thing we must do is sit at the feet of Jesus. I know that sounds super-spiritual, or worse, like one more thing to do. But it's the point of Jesus’ interaction with Mary and Martha in Luke 10. Martha is trying to be a great host, but all her preparations matter for nothing if she neglects the Host in our midst. Jesus gently rebukes Martha for being frazzled and bothered by lesser things, when Mary has chosen the better part, namely, to listen to Jesus and learn from him. It's not a silver bullet, but I really believe if we could make it a priority to take an hour each day, or 20 minutes, or a regular five minutes to slowly read the Bible and pray, we would begin to see Spirit-prompted changes. It's no accident that Luke was inspired to put the Mary-Martha story at the end of chapter 10, after the sending out of the 72 disciples for powerful ministry and after the parable of the Good Samaritan. It's the Lord's way of telling us: look, you can cast out demons, you can preach, you can heal, you can stop by the side of the road to help the sick and dying, but if you don't spend time with me, you are neglecting the very thing I want most from you: to sit at my feet.

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