GYC Conference 2022: Break Forth

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

The How and Why of God's Sanctioned Fasts

Dan Augsburger

01 Is It Time?

The name of the seminar is Fasting the True Fast, and this is the first.

And I want to mention that there are handouts, which we will, someone I think has given you, perhaps.

My wife, I thought, was going to take care of it.

If you could just make sure that everyone has 1 of those.

I was asked to study the subject of, when I was asked to study the subject, I have been involved in fasting like all of you.

But this was a unique opportunity because they wanted us to, wanted me to be prepared to talk for 5 hours on fasting, which it seems to me is longer than was possible.

And so what I did was I decided I would look at every possible verse in the Bible that speaks on fasting, look at it carefully, prayerfully, and try to see what fasting was about in every situation.

Then I also looked at the 600 or more quotations on fasting found in the Spirit of Prophecy.

I was asked by the White Estate to do research on dying to self.

And before I felt I knew what it was about, I had collected 1, 600 pages of quotations on dying to self.

So when I talk about studying, I'm talking about staying at a level most people don't.

And during our seminar, I want to share with you some secrets on how to really get into your Bibles.

There are some aids that will help you that you probably don't know about.

I want to teach you some secrets about finding things in the writings of Ellen White.

As you know, the writings of Ellen White are an ocean of material, more than 100, 000 pages.

But there are ways to actually get to quotations there, rather easily if you know how to do it.

I will help you because most people I didn't know until I was doing the assignment for the White Estate.

I'd like to have a word of prayer And then I'll talk about what we're going to be talking about.

Father in heaven, this is an important topic.

I believe it's a topic chosen for the times that we are living in.

But Lord, as I've talked with people, as I have read on this subject, I've discovered that there are wide and varying opinions as to what it's about and when it should be, you know, pursued.

And I pray that you'll help me to share what the Bible says so that those attending will truly have the kind of experience that you're wanting them to have.

This is for you, but I need your help today.

I want to mention as well that the resources actually on my website at this point in a variety of formats.

So whatever you have, there's 1 of those formats that will work.

I recently read an article that was in a journal of missions where it spoke about how they were operating a Christian school in a country that was very closed and word came out and the officials came and said you must stop doing this, you must close down your school and so they decided to close the school down for 10 days but they chose to fast during that time to see, you know, what God might do on their behalf.

And they showed how very quickly God began turning things around.

First, an official came on 1 of those days very early on and told the students, you should no longer, you know, come to the school.

In fact, they had to almost rescue the official that had come from the government.

And the parents are very supportive even though I don't think any of them was a member of our church.

Anyway, and then slowly but surely, you know, the government officials came in and said, actually, this is okay.

And students said, you can open up your school again, and so, but it was because they went into a period of 10 days of fasting to choose to see what God could do as opposed to what they could do.

I taught at the seminary 1 course over the course of 10 years where I taught the history of famous Christians.

And I remember in reading about Hudson Taylor, the man who opened up China, he said that any time we resorted to the arm of flesh, things went badly.

But any time we trusted God to work, things went well.

And so in this particular situation, this mission organization, they chose to use the method of fasting to see what God could do.

And As a result of that, a miracle came that probably could not have come had they forced their way.

I'd like to suggest as we get into the subject of fasting, that God has chosen fasting for the same reason that he uses, for example, messengers.

1 of my favorite stories of the Bible amongst them is the story of Naaman.

You remember how Naaman became sick with leprosy and God had called the young woman to serve as a result of captivity because she had a good attitude, she was a good worker, and she said, Go to Elisha the prophet, He went.

Followed protocol, went to the king, and then letters were sent off to the Jewish king.

Eventually he arrives at Elisha's house, and who comes out?

And the servant gave him very specific instructions as to what he should do.

And the Bible says he was angry about 3 things.

Number 2, that it wasn't an easy healing, that a hand was not waved over him.

And third, that he was told something very specific to do that he didn't want to do.

Later after he's been healed Elisha comes out but at that first step he is humbled he is humiliated because instead of being treated as a high general of the Syrian army he is he is treated by a servant who would think that a servant could do that to such a high-ranking person.

And I'd like to suggest this morning that when we come to fasting, God has chosen fasting because it is an inconvenience, because it is humiliating, it is humbling and it's something that we don't want to do.

And so I'd like to suggest that this is a time not to argue with God.

You know in Isaiah 58 they had chosen a fast that they felt comfortable with and and and and they they told God what is it we're going through all this affliction and all these other things but you're not recognizing it.

And God said is this the fast that I have chosen?

I was struck in my study that the disciples of John came to Jesus and said why are your disciples not fasting?

And Jesus was kind, didn't really call them out, but said in so many words, you're mistaken.

They were fasting because others were fasting, they thought they should be too.

And I'd like to suggest this morning that too much of the fasting that goes on is because someone else is fasting, someone has called us to fast, and we kind of participate and say, wonderful.

But I'm not convinced that that's really how it's supposed to be.

In the Bible, this handout, listen, I discovered it was it's incomplete so the 1 you have online will be complete if you if you download it because I missed a few there.

But let's look at this subject of fasting it's a very important 1.

So Isaiah 58, cry aloud spare not lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins, yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways.

So God is saying, tell my people their transgressions, yet they seek me daily, they delight to know my ways.

Is it possible without throwing stones, this is for Dan as much as for anyone else here, that Seventh-day Adventists have the same problem as the people in Isaiah 58.

Well Ellen White says in 1 quotation, this was written for Sabbath keepers.

And did not forsake the ordinances of their God they ask of me the ordinances of justice they take delight in approaching God.

Why have we fasted they say and you have not seen why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice In fact in the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit all your labors, indeed you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness you will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high." Praise the Lord if it works.

Testing, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing.

02 Count the Ways

My name is Dan Augsburger, and this is the session on fasting, the second session entitled Count the Ways.

He can tell more about himself, But I have great respect for him.

And he gives some suggestions online on what to do about that.

And I have recommended what he shares with other people many times.

I used to be the president and medical director at Uchee Pines Institute.

And so I spent about close to a decade working in the Lifestyle Center with intensive residential lifestyle management of individuals' different health problems and health challenges, helping individuals to get either reduced or off their medication, reversing their diseases, and helping them to live healthy and productive lives.

And so before I begin, I'm going to begin with a word of prayer, since we haven't done that for this section.

And then we'll get into some health components or health aspects of fasting before Dan continues in the series as you saw from last time.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your blessings.

Thank you for your wonderful mercies to us and we thank you for this time that we can have together at this time and that we still have the freedom to do so.

And Lord we ask for you to be with us now and to share what you know we need to understand and That you might move mightily even at this time.

Amen All right fasting At with the with the experience in a lifestyle center and Having patients and taking care of patients in the lifestyle center with different kinds of health conditions.

I have come to Understand by experience that fasting is a very big key when it comes to helping individuals with all sorts of different health conditions.

Of course, 1 of the obvious things that you would look at is potentially obesity or overweight or obesity.

And fasting, of course, you can understand would have a benefit because you help to decrease the amount of calories that an individual is consuming.

And if you have individuals that are on a regular schedule of fasting, like once a week or twice a week, where they are decreasing the calorie intake that they have by that fasting process, then you can decrease the amount of calories that an individual is consuming.

And The research also shows that with fasting, it increases metabolism.

So your metabolic rate actually goes up when an individual is practicing fasting on a regular basis.

And so with fewer calories that you're taking in and increased metabolism, then weight loss tends to be the result of having that.

And so, if you have an individual that's looking at losing weight, then having them fast once a week or twice a week can be something that's beneficial to help with that process.

Now we also know that there are all sorts of other diseases that are related to overweight and obesity as well.

So we know that there are a number of different cancers that are more likely to present in an individual that has overweight and obesity.

We know that heart disease is related to it as well.

Degenerative arthritis is related to it as well, and so on.

There's a lot of different health conditions that are associated with overweight and obesity, and so fasting can have a positive impact on those different conditions.

Now, I'm gonna go over a number of different conditions and what we have seen in regards to fasting and the benefits associated with those conditions and then we'll talk about maybe different types of fasting that some individuals will encounter in that process.

Now 1 of the conditions that responds really well to fasting is diabetes, type 2, right?

So type 2 diabetes responds very well to fasting.

So if you have an individual that has diabetes, now I will say this caveat, when an individual is fasting, you've got to pay attention to the medication.

If somebody is on medication, then you want to talk with your healthcare provider about whether fasting and this medication are going to go together.

Because especially if somebody is a diabetic, and they're on anti-diabetes medication, or if you have an individual that has like an autoimmune condition and they're on steroids, or there's a certain, there's a few other classes of medications that if they're fasting and you're taking the medication at the same time it can be a really bad combination right I've had I've had somebody bleed out in front of me because of the steroids and it eating away the the stomach when I was in the mission field and working in 1 of our hospitals internationally because the individuals on steroids, but then wasn't being wasn't having a lot of food intake and so on and then basically they had an ulcer that ate into a blood vessel, and then a young guy, and he bled out in front of me.

Another thing is if you're diabetic and you're on anti-diabetes medications, certain of those medications, if you're not eating while you're taking the medication, it's going to drop your blood sugar levels too low, and you can end up with dangerous hypoglycemia, and that could kill you as well.

So if you're on medication, check with your health care provider and whether you can continue that medication with fasting or not.

If it's antihypertensives, so you've got high blood pressure and so on, then you're usually OK with fasting and continuing that medication.

And there are other classes that are fine, but you want to check on that.

So with diabetes, with diabetes, 1 of the ways that you can check to see how well an individual's pancreas is still functioning in producing insulin compared to the insulin resistance that they have is a period of fasting and just water fasting.

So what we would typically do is we'd take an individual that's diabetic and we would stop their diabetes medication the day before and then start the fast the day after.

And so, then they're going to be drinking water, maybe with a little bit of salt in it, so that they don't become hyponatremic, so that their sodium levels don't go too low.

So just like a pinch of salt in each cup of water that they drink, and then continuing with the water for the next few days.

Now, let's say that an individual starts with a blood sugar level that's at, let's say, 180 or something like that.

Ideally, you want your blood sugar levels below 90.

Now, Some probably say, there's different recommendations.

You have the American Diabetes Association and others that say, OK, well, it should be below 100, or it should be below 110.

Our experience is, if you really want the diabetes to reverse, you want to keep your fasting blood sugar levels below 90.

And so what you're aiming for is you're aiming for 90, but now you're starting at 180.

So as an individual fasts, then what you're going to see is their blood sugar levels coming down.

And we would usually check blood sugar levels on a morning by morning basis.

So we'd check the blood sugar level that morning.

We'd check another blood sugar level the next morning, and then the next morning, and so on, and just a regular finger stick so that you could monitor it at home.

And how fast the blood sugar levels come down while an individual is fasting gives you an indication of how bad the insulin resistance is or how good the pancreas production of insulin still is in the context of their diabetes.

So if you started out with an individual that, let's say, we stopped their medication yesterday, this morning, they're going to start their fast, and their blood sugar is 180, and they fast for the day, and tomorrow it's like 110, well, we know that it's gonna go pretty well, and we could get them off of medication, and we could keep them off of medication, and we could just manage the diabetes with exercise and diet and you know lifestyle factors.

If it was 180 and they came off their medication and they fasted and the next day it's like 180 well it's probably not gonna go very well and you know and then another day it's 178 well then we know that that individual has a significant amount of insulin resistance, because their blood sugar levels aren't even coming down when they're fasting.

And if that's the case, then we're gonna have to do a combination of medication plus lifestyle interventions for them in order to decrease the amount of medication that they need to have, but still need the medication on board, at least for a while, while their insulin resistance is coming down.

But we would typically start with about 3 days of fasting, depending on an individual's tolerance.

And if you have an individual that is off medication, right, they're off medication and they're fasting, we have never seen a life-threatening, low blood sugar level in an individual that's off medication and fasting, right?

Now, we've seen levels down around 37, 35 or so, and most of the clinicians that understand those numbers would be like, ah, ah.

But they're up, they're walking around, they're, you know, They feel a little bit weak and whatever, but what I found is if you just leave them alone for about half an hour, their glucagon production will kick in, and their blood sugar levels will start recovering, and they'll end up doing OK.

Everybody's experience in fasting tends to be a little bit different.

Once you hit day number 2, That's where some people really start having some difficulties with the fasting, headaches, maybe weakness, and so on.

Some people can't sleep very well when they're fasting, and so on.

Other people, it's day number 3 that they hit.

And that tends to be the really hard day with the fasting.

And my personal experience, once you push through day 2 and day number 3, once you start getting into day number 4 and day number 5, it starts to actually level out and gets fairly easy after that point.

But it's usually day 2 and day 3 that are difficult ones to, you know, kind of get through.

And it helps to be in a lifestyle center where you have all sorts of other things going on People are taking care of you.

You're you're in classes and and that kind of stuff So and then there's a group of individuals that are doing it at the same time and so it gives kind of that group dynamic as well.

Now it's not just diabetes and it's not just obesity or overweight that's benefit that gets benefit from this.

Autoimmune disease gets a really benefit from from fasting as well.

Let's see, we have had a number of individuals that have come with, like, lupus.

And lupus can have crises, where you have significant amounts of pain, You've got significant inflammation that's going on that is, you know, and there's joint issues, there's end organ damage and so on that's happening.

And if you have an individual that does not want to continue taking the steroids or the other immune modulators and so on, 1 of the strongest things that we've found from a lifestyle standpoint is fasting.

And so if you've got an individual that's in an autoimmune crisis of that nature, then fast them.

And sometimes it takes 5 days, 6 days, 7 days, or so on.

And it's 1 of the strongest things that we've found in order to get somebody through a strong autoimmune crisis.

03 Zeal, But Not According To Knowledge

We're going to have a testimony, a live testimony, by someone who's done a fair amount of fasting with their ministry, at least spoke of 1 particular occasion that I asked them to share.

They're not here yet, but that's not a problem.

And we want to talk about prayer and fasting, but in the time, let me just share with you just a little bit of some quotations on food that Ellen White, Mark Sanderball was here sharing, but I wanted to share some of what Ellen White says on the subject.

Father in heaven, this is your time and I want to represent you correctly.

Send your Holy Spirit to be amongst us and I thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

Ellen White makes specific statements on diet when it comes to fasting.

And I thought you should see what she says on the subject.

And it doesn't in any way contradict what he shared, but it helps to actually have read from the source.

She says there from Councils on Diet Foods, originally in medical ministry, the true fasting which should be recommended to all is abstinence from every stimulating kind of food and the proper use of wholesome, simple food which God has provided in abundance." Okay, the true fasting which should be recommended to all.

That doesn't mean She had other things to say on the subject, but that's 1 statement that she made.

And I think that that would be true for all of us all the time, right?

No harm would be done if, in order to give time for all to speak, the meeting were to be continued for 2 or 3 hours, then the time spent in physical fasting would be a season of spiritual feasting to all who appropriate the blessings of the hour." There she was speaking of church members coming on Sabbath, and she said, you should allow the services to go on, not stop everything.

And even if you miss the meal because of all the testimonies, the spiritual blessing will more than compensate for the lack of eating.

So she says, even if the meeting were to continue for 2 or 3 hours and something that I personally observed and I've read about, when the Lord is really working, people forget about the clock.

I lived at Andrews University growing up, and in the 1970s, there was a genuine revival there.

And it's interesting, the whole campus became converted it seemed like in just 1 weekend.

And suddenly the students were wanting to stay and share testimonies for hours after church.

And they would get in the cafeteria line and they were singing hymns.

That was not usual for the campus at that time.

So this idea of people wanting to spend time sharing, she says actually we should have shorter sermons to allow more testimonies in church.

Actually, that's a very real part of coming together.

And then, fast for 1 or 2 meals and drink only pure soft water.

The loss of a meal or 2 will enable the overburdened system to overcome slight dispositions and even graver difficulties may sometimes be overcome by this simple process." Notice that she said fast, but she was pretty strong on water.

Anyway, and then there's of course the Daniel fast.

The monarch had resisted the impressions of the Spirit of God during the 3 weeks while Daniel was fasting and praying.

But Heaven's Prince, the Archangel Michael, was sent to turn the heart of the stubborn King to take some decided action to answer the prayer of Daniel." So I just wanted to share a little bit of what she says on this matter of fasting.

We're going to look at Some things at the fourth session where she actually talked to people who were extreme in what they were doing with fasting.

And those are also very, very instructive.

For those of you that were here this morning, I think you heard a wonderful summary of fasting from a medical perspective.

And I'm going to recommend that people actually listen to that later.

I'm going to get out of this because I just wanted to share a little bit there and go to the next 1, called Only by prayer and fasting.

In this particular presentation, I want to be sharing a little bit about what people have fasted about in the scriptures and then also in the writings of Ellen White.

Has everyone here received the handouts that were being given at the back?

That will be helpful because we will definitely refer to those soon.

Set your own heart in order and unreserved surrender.

This is for the parent who's here actually who wanted to see this quotation.

Set your own heart in order and unreserved surrender to God will sweep away the barriers that have so long defied the approaches of heavenly grace.

Bring your lives into conformity to the will of Christ and your children will be 1 to him.

The world will take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and have learned of him.

In word and deed, they will bear witness to the power of his grace.

On the website Disciple Heart, we have a section for families that has many quotations on raising children and some articles as well.

Well, now we are going to answer the third question, in what situations should we fast?

The areas covered in the booklet, which is this 1 right here, only by prayer and fasting, include things like harmony with God, seeking the Holy Spirit, overcoming issues in the church, calling upon God, overcoming sin, increasing faith, etc.

So we're going to first look at the booklet.

So If you'll take your booklet, it's here.

I tried hard to put some things in writing so that you could have something to take home with you.

I love to give handouts, and you'll notice there's a number to the left.

That line number will help you to be right where I'm at.

So coming to line 1, coming into harmony with God.

It says, by prayer and fasting, by self-examination and confession of sin, they, it was Ezra and those with him sought to come into harmony with God and his holy law." And then the next quotation from a letter of 224, 1907, let our churches in every place fast and pray, each man humbling his own heart before the Lord.

And then the very significant statement next, do not seek to humble the soul of your brother or sister, but let each set his own heart right before God." Okay, we have not been called to be judges of each other.

Says, confess your sins to 1 another and pray 1 for another.

Continue to pray until the yokes are all broken from the necks of our brethren and the desire to rule has been quenched." There is a tendency in human behavior to lord it over other people, isn't there?

Ellen White speaks of the principle of individual responsibility.

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Series

The How and Why of God's Sanctioned Fasts

02 Count the Ways

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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Recorded

Parts

01 Is It Time?

50m

02 Count the Ways

55m

03 Zeal, But Not According To Knowledge

52m

04 Only by Prayer and Fasting

59m

05 The True Spirit of Fasting

55m

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