Worship and Justice – are we living them out?

Hey Vicky

Nice to see Danielle getting a shout out here.

You might be interested to read what's going on where we are too:

http://johnnylaird.blogspot.com/2009/05/ccat.html

Excellent question, sis…able learner I pray to be…imbibing on His word and being still and knowing that He is God–Jesus conquered death and hell!

Hey Vicky,
Yeh, I think that is a question which i have to ask myself everyday! I think that if I don't ask myself on a regular basis, and make it a conscious thought, then I am more likely to fall into the pattern of not living in a way which God desires.
Good post! Thought provoking :) like it
Love Lucy x x x

The passage from Isaiah 58 that you quoted is often used to explain to people why we fast. One reason is “to loose the bands of wickedness.” (Isaiah 58:6) Whenever we fast from food, we should also fast from our sins. Fasting is a tool to help us advance spiritually. If we fast from food but not from our sins, then we are no better than the demons. The demons do not eat, but they sin immensely. Another reason is “to let the oppressed go free.” (Isaiah 58:6) We should fast for the salvation of others. “To deal thy bread to the hungry” is another reason for fasting. (Isaiah 58:7) The money that we save on food during a fast should be given to the poor. Jesus spoke about fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in His Sermon on the Mount. (St. Matt. 6:1-18) In the Ecclesiastical Book of Tobit, the Holy Archangel Raphael said, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness.” (Tobit 12:8) There are four things, then, that should be a part of a Christian's life: fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and righteous living.
There are four fasting periods in our Church: Great Lent which comes before Easter, the Apostles' Fast in June, the Dormition fast during the first two weeks of August, and Advent in late November and most of December. We have found that it is easier to fast when other people are fasting with you. That is the purpose of having fasting periods. Of course, people may fast at other times, too, for various reasons.
As for worship, we should try to model our worship after the worship done in Heaven. “Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” (St. Matt. 6:10) We should also take God with us wherever we go. Prayer should be a natural part of our lives.
As for the answer to your question, I would say that I fall way short of the Heavenly standard. Whether or not you are doing that is something you would have to determine for yourself in the presence of God.
As for your friend, Danielle, it is good that she is trying to stop prostitution. However, prostitution still goes on whether it is legal or not. People need God. They need to develop a spiritual discipline. There are two who sin during a session with a prostitute: the man who uses her for sexual purposes and the prostitute herself. The fight must be not only against prostitution but also the men who use them. Cleaning up our airwaves is also important. There is too much sexually seductive stuff on TV, in magazines, and on the internet. Whenever I finish reading an e-mail on my MySpace site or whenever I sign out, I often see some ad that shows a pretty young woman in a sexually seductive pose. It is an ad for a dating site. (I'm way past the dating stage of life. I do not have much interest in signing up for anything like that.) But anyway, this kind of stuff helps to fuel the passions and promotes lasciviousness and lewdness.
I'm glad Danielle is doing something about all of this. She is doing far more than I am on this front. I bid her Godspeed.

Your Orthodox Christian friend,
Steve

The passage from Isaiah 58 that you quoted is often used to explain to people why we fast. One reason is “to loose the bands of wickedness.” (Isaiah 58:6) Whenever we fast from food, we should also fast from our sins. Fasting is a tool to help us advance spiritually. If we fast from food but not from our sins, then we are no better than the demons. The demons do not eat, but they sin immensely. Another reason is “to let the oppressed go free.” (Isaiah 58:6) We should fast for the salvation of others. “To deal thy bread to the hungry” is another reason for fasting. (Isaiah 58:7) The money that we save on food during a fast should be given to the poor. Jesus spoke about fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in His Sermon on the Mount. (St. Matt. 6:1-18) In the Ecclesiastical Book of Tobit, the Holy Archangel Raphael said, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness.” (Tobit 12:8) There are four things, then, that should be a part of a Christian's life: fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and righteous living.
There are four fasting periods in our Church: Great Lent which comes before Easter, the Apostles' Fast in June, the Dormition fast during the first two weeks of August, and Advent in late November and most of December. We have found that it is easier to fast when other people are fasting with you. That is the purpose of having fasting periods. Of course, people may fast at other times, too, for various reasons.
As for worship, we should try to model our worship after the worship done in Heaven. “Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” (St. Matt. 6:10) We should also take God with us wherever we go. Prayer should be a natural part of our lives.
As for the answer to your question, I would say that I fall way short of the Heavenly standard. Whether or not you are doing that is something you would have to determine for yourself in the presence of God.
As for your friend, Danielle, it is good that she is trying to stop prostitution. However, prostitution still goes on whether it is legal or not. People need God. They need to develop a spiritual discipline. There are two who sin during a session with a prostitute: the man who uses her for sexual purposes and the prostitute herself. The fight must be not only against prostitution but also the men who use them. Cleaning up our airwaves is also important. There is too much sexually seductive stuff on TV, in magazines, and on the internet. Whenever I finish reading an e-mail on my MySpace site or whenever I sign out, I often see some ad that shows a pretty young woman in a sexually seductive pose. It is an ad for a dating site. (I'm way past the dating stage of life. I do not have much interest in signing up for anything like that.) But anyway, this kind of stuff helps to fuel the passions and promotes lasciviousness and lewdness.
I'm glad Danielle is doing something about all of this. She is doing far more than I am on this front. I bid her Godspeed.

Your Orthodox Christian friend,
Steve