Welcome to Pastor Herb’s Blog Page!!
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and welcome to my official blog page!! I am excited to have the opportunity to connect with you in this way. I am one who loves to communicate verbally, but I truly love the artform of writing. With that in mind, I am looking forward to speaking on our blog page concerning a wide range of topics. Some of our topics will be centered around the Lord and His church and the various dynamics that are connected therein. Other topics will focus on our personal walks with God and the challenges that we face from day to day. Or should I say from minute to minute. There are issues within our communities and in our nation that I am eager to speak on as well because I believe that every issue and challenge that we face can and will be handled through God and His Word. I would love your input about subjects also, so I encourage you to contact me or leave a message so that your topics can be addressed.
I have always had a passion for writing. Even from a young age, it has always commanded my attention and as I have aged the desire to write has become even stronger. Many know me as a preacher and pastor, but there are other gifts that the Lord has given me also. And I know that this is true for you as well. Oftentimes, we allow people to put us into a box and we think that we can never be anything other than what people call us or what they know us by. But there is much more that is within you!! Proverbs 18:16 says this: A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. We first must acknowledge that God is the giver of all gifts. You should rejoice over the mere fact that the Lord decided to give you something in the first place! And if the Lord has given you a gift, it is our responsibility to use that gift in the desired fashion that it was intended. When you use your gift, your gift will bring you into places that you could not have entered on your own. Therefore, it is critical that you surround yourself with people that will challenge, grow, and stretch you and allow your gift to be cultivated. And as you do this, you will discover that the Lord has graced you with a gift (or gifts) that will bless you in an amazing way. We ask God to send us a blessing, only to discover that we already are a blessing and that everything that we need is already on the inside of us!
Once again, I am extremely blessed and excited for this tremendous opportunity to share this with you. I will write a blog post on a bi-weekly basis that will address various topics. I thank you logging onto our website and taking the time to read my very first blog post. Let’s take the journey together in Jesus name!!
2022 New Year Fast
The year of 2022 is upon us! We are done with 2021!!!!!!! As we plan to enter the new year, I am challenging each of you to participate in a church and city wide fast to begin the year 2022. I believe that there is no better way to ignite our commitment to God in 2022 than to begin with an extended period of fasting. Fasting, combined with prayer and the Word of God, allows us to draw closer to God by drawing us away from some of the things that we hold dear. Fasting gives you clarity and direction as it helps you to hear from the Lord more clearly. There are habits that need to be broken in 2022. There are bodies that need healing in 2022. Our communities and families need breakthrough. Some need the favor of the Lord, while others need an all-out revival. But whatever the case may be, it happens when we make the commitment to God. One of the ways we do that is through the spiritual discipline of fasting. Our church will begin a 31 day fast starting at midnight of January 1st and the fast will conclude on midnight of February 1st. The fast will last for the entire duration of the day during this time. We will also read selected Bible passages that I have prepared for our 31-day journey during the fast. For our fast, we will incorporate elements of the Ezra fast which is specifically designed to solve problems, to undo heavy burdens, to overcome barriers, and to receive God’s divine protection (Ezra 8:15-23). Not only is it important to draw closer to God, but it is also important to pull away from certain things to hear Him more clearly. Now let’s get a bit more specific about the purpose of fasting and the specific details of our upcoming fast.
Fasting is essentially the giving up of foods or other things for a period to draw closer to God and to focus on Him. Fasting can be used to not only hear from God but to also receive divine answers to problems that we alone cannot solve. Fasting helps us to hear from God, to reveal sin, to strengthen us, to build our faith, and so on. Fasting is a tool that God gives us that we must use if we are to receive what God has for us.
Now to the specifics about our fast for January 2022. As previously stated, the fast will begin January 1st and will conclude at midnight of February 1st. The fast will be for the entire duration of the day. We will eliminate the following foods for the fast: red meat; pork; carbonated beverages such as sodas; and fried foods. We will also eliminate one activity of your choosing for the fast as well. Examples of this may be social media, television, etc. Finally, we will also incorporate prayer with our fasting period as well. I am asking that you devote 15 minutes of uninterrupted prayer per day for 31 days utilizing the ACTS model of prayer. ACTS stands for adoration (praising the Lord), confession (confess sins to God), thanksgiving (giving God thanks), and supplication (asking God for what you need). I have also included daily scripture reading. We will read the book of James, the book of Ruth, and selected chapters of the book of Proverbs.
I am excited for us to begin the year of 2022 in this way by doing it His way. 2022 will be the year that your focus comes into alignment. 2022 will be the year that you stop walking by sight and start walking by faith. This will be the year that your gift begins to make room for you, that your request gets answered, that your fire is lit again. I look forward to our journey together as we reach for the things that God has for us. May the Lord bless you!!
Pastor Herb Fontnette
