Leadership Lecture Series Exhorts Students to Go Deeper
by tom campisi, managing editor
In the spring semester, a group of students with Christian Union at Brown were hungry to learn more about fasting.
Justin Doyle, a Christian Union ministry fellow, responded with a message at the ministry’s weekly Anchor leadership lecture series on April 12. Doyle inspired them to fast and pray and go deeper in their relationships with God. The students were interested in fasting in preparation for a National Day of Prayer event on May 2.
“I was excited to hear that students were eager to learn more about this spiritual discipline and put it into practice,” Doyle said.
After the lecture at Anchor, the ministry fellow also wrote a related blog post, “Fasting Is Feasting,” to encourage students to follow through.
“Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline designed to help us draw near to the Lord,” Doyle wrote. “Depriving our bodies of food for a period of time has a way of revealing the idols of our hearts, those things that control our loves and desires—money, power, status, sex, image, etc.—and pull us away from our Creator.”
Doyle’s message at Anchor and blog post were based on Richard Foster’s classic book, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. In addition to expounding on the benefits of fasting, Doyle gave the students practical guidelines and questions to consider prayerfully, such as “What is the purpose of this fast?” “When and how long will I fast?” and “From what am I fasting?”
Although avoiding distractions like social media or television during a fast is common, Doyle emphasized that true biblical fasting should always include abstaining from food. He quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4.
“Fasting reminds us that ‘man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” Doyle said.
{tweetme}“Ultimately, fasting is feasting. Going without food is all about God. He is the center of why we fast, our sustainer and reward in the midst of the wilderness of hunger pains. It is an understatement to say fasting is an important spiritual discipline.”{/tweetme}
Another highlight at Anchor during the spring semester was a message by Matt Woodard, Christian Union’s director of undergraduate ministry at Brown. Woodard, Yale Divinity School ’10, presented a lecture entitled, “The Whacked-Out Early Church: Thoughts on Life and Leadership.” On March 15, Woodard and Doyle co-taught for “Hearing from Micah—Social Justice Then and Now.” The following week, Brown Professor Susan Ashbrook Harvey spoke on “Social Justice and the Quest for Faith.” Harvey is the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence and the Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of History and Religion at Brown University.
Christian Union at Brown hosted an end-of-year celebration at Anchor for graduating seniors. The evening was special because some of the seniors have been with the ministry since it was launched four years ago at Brown.
Doyle described the seniors as having “a love for Jesus and those whom God called them to serve during their time here at Brown.”
Some of those seniors and some underclassmen also impressed Doyle with their willingness to draw near to God through fasting this semester.
“It was pretty cool to see them initiate and follow through,” Doyle said. “I was excited to see their passion and enthusiasm to seek after God together as the body of Christ here at Brown.”
