Tag: fasting

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The Latter Rain: Celebrate Lent – Day 3

8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Isaiah 58:8-9 RSV

Fridays in Lent are a special day. Each Friday we remember the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. The heart of learning to ‘celebrate’ Lent, instead of just observing it is seen in how we view the cross. Do we see in the cross of Christ, death or life?

Death is easy to see. The way Jesus was killed was a heinous, murderess act. But we must look upon His ultimate, self-giving act of love, not with sorrow only but with joy and gladness. The cross of Christ is the instrument of Love; it was the greatest act of love possible. God could do nothing greater to prove His love to us.

The prophet Isaiah gives us great insight into how to celebrate Lent with joy and gladness. In chapter 58 he speaks convicting words to God’s people for their false worship through fasting without meaning. They fasted for selfish, self-righteous purposes which God condemns. And all the while they complain that God does not hear them…

‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
    and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.

Isaiah 58:3-4 RSV

Then the Lord God reveals the fast that he accepts…

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Isaiah 58:6-7 RSV

If we wish to please God with our Lenten sacrifices, we must allow them to move us to action, to life-giving acts of love toward others – that is what Jesus did. He continually acted in love toward all humanity. 

When we view the cross of Christ, may we offer our Lenten fasting up to God with joy and gladness in thanksgiving for His breaking the yoke of our sin and setting the captives free. Then, let us go forth and shower the world with the latter rain of God’s love.

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

1 John 3:18 NLT

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://cradio.org.au/homilies-reflections/archbishop-julian-porteous/embracing-cross-christ/

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To Eat or Not to Eat?

To Eat or Not to Eat?

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

John 6:27

Gourmet meal with chefHave I mentioned how much I love to eat? And not only eat, but I enjoy the pursuit of cooking a deliciously tasting gourmet meal that not only tastes great but looks fabulous. But, today is Wednesday and I really shouldn’t be writing about food; it will only tempt me more!

Wednesdays have always been a traditional day of fasting according to the ancient ways of the Christian faith. The Jews fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The early Christians, wanting to distinguish themselves from the Jews, chose Wednesdays and Fridays as fast days. Wednesdays are in remembrance of the betrayal of Jesus during the last week of His life before the cross, and Fridays are in honor of the day of His crucifixion.

The very fact that the Jews had two days of fasting each week should say something to us of what God expects from us. Jesus grew up fasting in a devout Jewish home. That means He fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays and celebrated all the many rituals of the faith in which He was raised.

We should take note that in the gospels Jesus never says the words, ‘if you fast’. Rather, in Matthew chapter 6 we hear Jesus say, “When you fast”. Jesus expects his disciples to fast. However, in many modern Christian churches the discipline of fasting is rarely if ever practiced. We should also note that fasting, in biblical terms, is always the giving up of food for a given time, and for the purpose of learning to rely upon God for our sustenance.

We should take note that in the gospels Jesus never says the words, ‘if you fast’ 

It’s interesting to me that the early church didn’t just fast during a particular season of the year, like Lent; they fasted every week. The practice of fasting quickly reveals the things that control our appetites. When we tell ourselves, we will do without something Satan seems to bring the temptation of it right to the forefront of our minds.

The practice of fasting quickly reveals the things that control our appetites. 

It is precisely in leaning on the power of God’s Spirit to help us overcome such temptations that we find the real value of fasting – we grow in the mighty power of God’s Spirit. We learn to do the hard work of relying upon God for spiritual food that fills and sustains us in ways earthly foods can’t. Several hours after eating our hunger pains soon return to haunt us. However, after feasting on God during our fasting, we will have a satisfaction no earthly food can give.

So, how’s your Lenten fast going? It’s never too late to begin, or should I say, ‘begin again’. Why not try it today? Offer some time of fasting and self-denial to the Lord today and spend the time you would normally be eating in prayer and reading of the Word. If you do, I promise you’ll find more than enough to satisfy your desires. To not eat may make you feel wilted at first, like turning to ash, but remember, God can turn ashes into Beauty.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.thespruceeats.com/gourmet-defined-1665527

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Beauty of the Ashes: Get Back In the Ring

Get Back in the Ring

And not only that, but we* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Romans 5:3

Muhammad Ali soaks up George Foreman's punches on the ropes in Zaire in the Rumble in the JungleI have an autographed picture of Muhammed Ali in my office at home. No, I never actually met him, but my nephew Jason did. He lived near the legendary boxer in Michigan and saw him in a restaurant one night. Jason knew I was a huge fan when I was growing up, so he got it and surprised me.

A lot of my uncles couldn’t understand why I was so crazy about Ali. They couldn’t stand him. There was a lot of hype about boxing in those days. Ali’s personality drove the hype, for sure. They called him a bragger and a loud mouth, and they were right. He was both of those things. However, I would always respond to them in my youthful wisdom, “It’s not bragging if you can back it up”, and he always did. He was the most amazing boxer ever in my, and in many others’ opinions.

One of the things I remember Ali bragging about most was his ability to not get hit. In his inimitable way, he made up limericks about it to taunt his opponents before a fight. “I’m gonna float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can’t hit, what your eyes can’t see. Ali!”

Of course, we know Ali did get hit and he got hit a lot. In fact, his Parkinson’s disease was attributed in part to his many hits to the head. As a fighter, he fought longer than many others and in his later years he took some pretty hard beatings, but he never quit, no matter how tough the beatings got. In fact, he boasted in his beatings. Like when he took the beatings from George Foreman and called them his ‘Rope-a-Dope’ tactic in their ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight.

St. Paul said he boasted in his sufferings too. I know, it’s a stretch to compare Muhammed Ali and the Apostle Paul in the same analogy, but I wanted to get your attention. Boasting isn’t a good thing; it’s arrogant. However, scripture says it’s okay to boast in the Lord about what He is accomplishing in your life – especially in your sufferings. In fact, it really isn’t boasting at all, if you’re giving God the glory…it’s a testimony.

In his hymn, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ hymn writer Isaac Watts said, “Forbid it Lord that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God.” No matter what our sufferings, Paul wants us to know that they will produce endurance in our lives, if we sacrifice them all to the God’s glory. He alone can sustain us through any amount of suffering. And what’s more, God builds our character through our sufferings ultimately leading us to recognize our hope for deliverance is in Him alone.

And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

As you reach the midway point in your Lenten journey, stop and think about the fasting and self-denial you’ve offered to the Lord to this point. Hopefully, you’ve felt tempted but are staying strong in your resolve. Granted these are small things in the big sufferings of life, but we learn in small ways how to let God lead in big ways.

“…it really isn’t boasting at all, if you’re giving God the glory.”

The real purpose of Lent isn’t to punish ourselves and find new ways to suffer, but to grow closer to God in our dependence for everything, even the little things. Jesus said that real sustenance for life depends not on bread but on everything that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

“…but we learn in small ways how to let God lead in big ways”

If you feel like you’ve failed in your fast don’t beat yourself up, give it to God. Sacrifice it to his cross and ask him for strength to do better. Get back in the ring and take a few more punches. Your suffering won’t be in vain. Remember, our God turns ashes into beauty.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

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The Beauty of the Ashes: Search Me O God

Search Me O God

O God, you know my foolishness,
and my faults are not hidden from you.

Psalm 69:6

abraham-lincoln-quotesThere are many wise sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln. One of the most common is this:

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

That’s true, but there’s one person you can’t fool, any of the time – Jesus Christ. By the very definition of being God, knows everything we’ve ever done, said or thought. Yet sometimes we act as if we can fool Jesus by not admitting our sinfulness to him. How foolish we are.

God knew everything we would ever do, say or think before the world was created, so why do we act like we can hide anything from Him? When we realize that Jesus Christ, our Creator God, loves us in spite of all our foolishness and sins, we can finally become who He created us to be.

Real joy comes from being who God made us to be. Yes, even with all our faults and failures. The Father doesn’t want us to pretend we’re perfect. He doesn’t want us to try and please Him in our own power, trying to be someone we can’t be on our own. He wants us to give Him all of ourselves; all our sins, all our foolishness, all our hurts, hang ups and bad habits, and then let Him remake us into the beauty of His image; the image He bestowed within humanity in creation. When we realize this, confession becomes something, we long for, not something from which we run and hide.

‘Real joy comes from being who God made us to be.’

One of the reasons I love the season of Lent is that it offers us time to concentrate on becoming who we were made to be. Through increased times of prayer and fasting we place ourselves under the light of God’s loving microscope. We ask him to search our hearts as it says in the Psalms…

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139:23-24

On this second Friday of Lent, why not spend some time in confession. Ask the Lord to search you out, to show you all your foolish ways. Stop trying to fool the One who knows you better than you know yourself. Prayerfully read and meditate on Psalms 139 and 51. Allow the Holy Spirit to check your spirit, to lead you in confessing everything He shows you. Ask Him to burn away all the sin and shame He reveals to you, then watch as He brings beauty out of your ashes.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

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Don’t Bother Me With the Facts

 

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 

John 9:39

Read John 9:18-41

Foghorn Leghorn“I say, I say, don’t bother me with the facts son, I’ve already made up my mind.” A bit of wisdom from one of my favorite cartoon characters, Foghorn Leghorn. It also sounds a lot like the Pharisees in their discourse with the blind man whom Jesus healed in John chapter nine. Have you ever been so sure you were right about something, you knew there was no way you were wrong, only to find out later you were? Me too. On little things, it really isn’t that big a deal. We’re all wrong at times, and it’s important that we admit it; that’s how we learn. But, on the big order questions of life – it matters.

The Leaders of the Jews were convinced they were right about Jesus; they had Him all figured out. In their mind, there was no way He was from God. In fact, they thought Jesus was from the Devil (Matt. 12:24), but they couldn’t have been more wrong. As they grilled the blind man, who was healed (John 9:18-41) about Jesus’ origins, the Pharisees couldn’t accept that He was from God. The healed man was amazed at their blindness (John 9:30). How could they not know He was from God? No one in the history of the world ever gave sight to someone born blind.

Lent is a great time to discover new truth about ourselves, and about God. Through the practice of spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting, God will open our hearts and minds to new knowledge of Him, as He draws us deeper into the Spirit-filled life. However, all that fasting and prayer won’t make a bit of difference unless we can be taught. Are you open to being taught?

Each Lenten season the Father shows me new areas of life in which He wants me to improve. Sometimes the learning process feels like a fire that burns away at me; other times it’s more like a flood about to overwhelm me. It’s in those feelings of being overwhelmed that I must learn not react defensively with God. If I really want to know I’m right, I must admit when I’m wrong, even though it hurts,

Most of the Jewish leaders couldn’t admit they were wrong about Jesus. They couldn’t admit their blindness. They were convinced they could see him clearly, and that’s why they were lost.

“Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” (John 9:41)

What about you? Are you too stubborn to admit your wrong, even in the face of overwhelming facts? Let God renew your heart by opening your eyes as you prepare for the miracle of Easter. Don’t be like my friend Foghorn. At the end of each episode, it never worked out for him. His stubbornness was his undoing. We laugh at cartoons, but this is real life. You can get a lot of things wrong in life, and still be okay. But, on the big order questions of life, if you get Jesus wrong…your eternity may hang in the balance. 

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

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Soul Food Anyone?

“Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

John 4:31-32

Read John 4:27-42 

Food is one of my great delights in all of God’s creation. There is such variety in the world. I love experiencing the culinary delights of different cultures. In January, my family and I were in Israel tasting the many delicious varieties of foods in the Middle East. Each year, the Lenten season reminds me of the inordinacy of my love for foods (especially carbs), as I seek to grow spiritually through the discipline of fasting. Here’s a picture of a street Bakery in Jerusalem. The bagels are incredible! Jerusalem Street Bakery

As I think about it, I don’t have to wait till Lent to be reminded. I’m reminded each time I step on my bathroom scales. Food is necessary for life. We need food to convert for energy to function the way a motor needs fuel to run. However, the typical American diet goes beyond the bounds of the necessary.

Jesus was well acquainted with the spiritual discipline of fasting. I’m sure His disciples often saw him fast in ways that amazed them. I find it fascinating that in seeing Jesus and His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples thought Jesus needed something to eat. They may have thought he was getting delirious from the hunger after a long journey. After all, why else would he be talking to a woman? And a Samaritan woman at that.

Jesus may well have been hungry, but He knew the satisfying feeling that comes from sharing hope with a lost soul. He knew that no physical bread could satisfy the soul like the very word of God. Jesus is the real “soul food”. Both He and the woman went away feeling filled, filled from knowing and doing the Father’s will. That is the filling we seek during the Lenten season.

We seek a filling for all of life, one that won’t fade away. During Lent, we take time out of our everyday routine of eating and drinking to fast for more of the only thing that can truly satisfy us – God. And, it is in that filling that we find the source of our joy. It is food for our souls to know and be known by our creator.

As you begin this second week of Lent, spend some time with Jesus at the well. I promise you won’t go away hungry or thirsty.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

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It’s Not About You

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.”

Deuteronomy 9:4

Read Deut. 9:4-12

reality-checkWhen I was a little boy of 4 or 5 years, and people would come to our house to visit, I always thought they were coming to see me; of course, they weren’t. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to be in on everything that was being said. I didn’t want to miss out on anything. The guests had come to see my Mom or Dad, but that wasn’t obvious to me. After all, why wouldn’t they come to see me? But then, what my Mom and Dad would usually say to me was crushing.

 

The greatest obstacle we all must get over in life is – ourselves. Perhaps because God gave each us a human will to live, we do things to preserve ourselves. We take care of our bodies. We feed and clothe them. We also take care of our spirits. We open them up to things that fill our minds, and we endeavor to learn from those things.

But, here is the great danger. What we fill our minds with is of extreme importance. Like our bodies, if we fill our minds with things that are not healthy we become someone we don’t want to be. Often, we find ourselves trapped in a cycle filled with unhealthy things. The first unhealthy thing that happens is we begin to believe a lie. That lie is that it’s all about us. Satan wants us to think our lives here are all about us, but that’s not true. Who we are and all we have is all about God and His Will.

Lent is a time for breaking those cycles. In this season, we call our bodies and minds back to our true center – God. After letting our lives fill with clutter (which we do so easily without realizing it) during the year, we need a time for re-centering, for Spring cleaning if you will.

In the years following the Exodus, the children of Israel needed a lot of re-centering. After centuries of slavery, they found themselves delivered into a land flowing with milk, honey and freedom. But, it wasn’t because they deserved it. God made it clear to them that it wasn’t because of any righteousness of their own. None of us has any righteousness of our own; we only have that which God gives us.

When I hung around too long with my Mom and Dad asking all sorts of question, you know, dominating their time when friends had come to see them, they would say, “Go and play. We’re trying to visit here”. That hurt. What I heard was, “You know Bradley, it’s not all about you!” That is a lesson I’ve had to learn and re-learn many times. If we’re not careful, we begin to believe in our own righteousness. We begin to think we are the center of our lives. But, scripture makes it clear anything good of me is from God and not of myself.

Won’t you take time this Lent to renew your heart by re-centering it upon God and his Word? Perhaps you’ve gotten too busy to pray and have a devotional time. Perhaps you’ve even stopped going to church. This Lent, commit to renewing yourself in Christ, and remember…it’s not all about you.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

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How’s Your Memory?

 

“Take heed lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes, which I command you this day:

Deuteronomy 8:11

Read Deut. 8:11-20

Forgetful

Leon, an elderly man in our church of blessed memory, used to go around handing out $2 bills to people, always with a big smile on his face. When he gave one to me he said, “If you keep this in your wallet, you’ll never be broke.” I still have that $2 bill, and our kids have theirs also. I don’t keep it in my wallet though. I’m always afraid I might spend it in some moment of weakness, especially considering I almost never carry cash with me.

I keep that $2 bill on my dresser. Every time I see it I’m reminded of Leon’s generous, loving spirit, how he exemplified Christ to me, and how blessed I am. I have food, health, shelter, and family! What more could I ask for? Our spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting should be like that $2 bill. They should remind us of how much God has blessed us and of His great plans for us. The Lenten season is a time for Christians to be reminded of what a generous, loving Heavenly Father we have.

In the western world, we have so much abundance, too often we must work at being thankful. If we aren’t reminding ourselves of God’s abundant provisions in our lives we tend to think we built all of them ourselves. While thankfulness for God’s blessings should be a daily state of mind, I am thankful for a church that calls us to remember. We need to remember not only all God’s blessings, but all His deliverance as well.

The children of Israel inherited a land flowing with milk and honey, a land God gave to them. He knew in their success they would forget Him. The best remedy for not forgetting is to live daily in a spirit of thankfulness. For me, Lent is a season to remember how blessed I am, especially how “Forgiven” I am. As a way of saying, “Thanks” to the Father, I offer up fasting, and concentrated times of prayer and meditation.

How’s your memory? Are you living gratefully for the blessings of life? Or, like the Israelites, have you forgotten just where you came from and who delivered you? If so, take some time this Lenten season to let God remind you of all his blessings, and as an act of love, offer up times of prayer and fasting.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

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Raised from the Ashes: Holy Week Monday

17 And he taught, and said to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Mark 11:17

Read Mark 11:12-25

Holy Week By Pastor Brad msc-1

Is Your Temple Clean?

When I was younger, and was beginning to study the meaning of scripture, I was curious as to why Jesus waited so long to clear out the Temple. Why did He do it at the beginning of His last week before the cross? Surely Jesus had seen the money changers and merchants buying and selling in the Temple for years. Then, I learned what a cataclysmic event the clearing of the Temple really was.

Many leaders of Israel wanted to kill Jesus for some time, but couldn’t find the right opportunity. Had He done something as bold and riotous as the clearing of the Temple earlier in his ministry, no doubt they would have accelerated their plan to stop him. The clearing of the Temple was the, “last straw so to speak”. The leaders couldn’t tolerate Jesus anymore. If He could change the way the Temple worked, He could change everything.

The True Temple

In many ways, the Temple is a metaphor for us. Jesus knew the Temple building itself would soon be destroyed, never to be rebuilt. Going forward the real Temple of the Holy Spirit would be the human heart. Everything Jesus did was to save humanity, to redeem and sanctify us. Clearing the Temple at the beginning of Holy Week was a strong statement about everything He was about to do that week. Jesus would soon show us the real, “House of Prayer” is in our hearts as he agonized in Garden of Gethsemane.

As we begin Holy Week together let’s ask of ourselves, “Is our Temple clean?” Our Lenten journey has been about re-centering our lives on Christ through prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. But, just as Israel’s worship of God in the Temple had lost its true meaning, so too our Temple can be voided without a proper cleansing of our hearts. Our prayer, fasting, and works can be to no avail if our hearts are not cleansed along the way.

The Psalmist has a prayer for us to begin our Holy Week. Won’t you pray it today and allow The Father’s House to be swept clean and made ready to be raised from the ashes?

Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; *
in your great compassion blot out my offenses…(to pray the psalm, click here)

Grace & Peace for a Holy Week,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

 

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Raised from the Ashes: Lent – Day 28

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

 

1 Cor. 12:27

Read 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3

Lent 2016 Daily Devotions-4

The Perfect Body

For a society that is quite preoccupied with our bodies, we seem to know little about our true body. From advertising images to social media, marketing campaigns always show us images of perfect looking bodies along side every product. Diet programs and pills, abound promising to help us achieve a perfect shape. But, there is one perfect body few seem to be aware of – the Body of Christ.

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you’re a part of His body, but what does that mean to Christian churches that concentrate almost all of their time and ministry on the individual’s relationship with Jesus? Don’t get me wrong. Our individual life in Christ is important, but not at the expense of our corporate life. We are His body. Every believer is a member of the one body, and every member is essential. If the Body of Christ (churches) is to function at maximum impact in our world, we must realize there are no optional members.

How Lent Can Help

Churches that observe Lent, do well at building the Body of Christ when they offer Lenten services at various times throughout the season; services like Ash Wednesday, weekly devotionals, and Holy Week services like Tenebrae, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. While Lent offers us a time to reconnect with Jesus in an intensely personal way through prayer, fasting, and works of mercy, it is at the same time a journey we take together.

The journey to holiness is a long and winding road, and it can be a very lonely road if we have no companions. Of course, we always have the Holy Spirit so we’re never really alone, but what a joy it is to sense that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves, that we’re a part of a perfect body. Church Lenten services and devotional times help us realize our place in the Body.

We’re Stronger Together

When we fast together, we are stronger. When we pray together, God inhabits our prayers with a special presence. If your church doesn’t offer any such services during Lent, ask your Pastor about it. Perhaps he wasn’t taught that such services are beneficial. I know the church in which I serve did not always observe Lent. Not all denominations observe Lent, but many that haven’t in the past, are waking up to its value in our faith journey.

Regardless of whether your church observes Lent or not, you have the privilege of observing it individually. But, as you do, remember that you’re a part of a greater body, a perfect body. Jesus Christ has offered all who believe in Him to become a part of His body, and when you realize what you’re a part of – then realize you’ve been raised from the ashes.

Grace & Peace for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6