I went to a worship event in Stuttgart last night. Jason Upton was performing and after the first song he stopped and changed the order of the songs and played this “Freedom’ song below. Maybe he had felt some resistance/hesitance from the audience I don’t know. But it was a very powerful moment in the night and in the spirit.
This video doesn’t convey the power that was there last night but the message is still strong.
It was awesome to be amoungst hundereds of Germans worshiping, God is doing great things here.
German fasting 2
March 19th, 2009
I have discovered another fun traditional German fasting food. It is called ‘Maltashen’ and it is meat that is enclosed in a wrapping of pasta, the meat is also mixed with green spices so it doesn’t look like meat. So this is also traditionally eaten during fasting season.
So because you are not supposed to eat meat they hide it and then eat it anyway. Seems like an obvious result of enforcing LAW onto people, nothing much has changed, I think there is a similar result when things are enforced on people today.
What a pity that something so powerful and precious such as fasting is robbed by law and enforcing it onto people. Something that we can do to sacrifice or to ‘inflict ourselves’ wanting to draw close to God, warped by good meaning people enforcing this and stealing peoples choice to love God in this way.
Search me please God and show me if there is any way in which I am enforcing things onto people, even subtly I pray. That I would just feely love you and talk of your goodness inspiring others to freely choose to do the same.
Mark
Points on fasting German style
March 16th, 2009
We are back in Germany for a few weeks having a great time catching up with friends and enjoying lots of aspects of being back here. On Sunday we took our hosts out for lunch to a traditional Bavarian pub. They have great hunting type meals, Helen had the Duck and I had OX.
But of course in Germany it is always very important about the beer. In the Pub was a sign that said “Fasting time is strong beer time.” What this sign was saying was as it is Lent, or Fasting season as they call it here, it is time to be drinking the stronger beer that is especially brewed for fasting time. You see while you are fasting you are supposed to eat and drink less so therefore the beer needs to be stronger so you can get the same effect with less. Gotta love the culture here.
