My 2^nd 40 Day Fast Journal

Days 1-10

Day 1:

Today was a great day. It's Tuesday (June 19, 2001) and I began my fast.

To start the day, I had a liquid vitamin and a glass of grape juice. I also had some water.

I coached a soccer camp from 12:30 until 3:00. The kids were fun. They are Christian kids from Tri-City Christian School. I got a lot of sun.

As I stated in my reasons for fasting, I began my 30/30/30, today. I'm spending 30 minutes reading God's Word, praying and worshiping God every day.

The Bible reading was great. I read the book of Colossians and Proverbs 19. I like reading the chapter in Proverbs that corresponds to the current day. Maybe those five chapters would have taken someone else 15 minutes to read, but I like thinking and chewing on the things I read; especially the scriptures. It's great to hear God speak to me through His Word. The Bible is such an awesome book. It makes me think and dream and imagine God. It also helps me remember many things that I need to do in this life.

I spent my 30 minutes worshiping God in my van. I drive quite a bit and love to sing and drive. This will probably be my main source of worship time. I like to keep a notepad around because God always talks to me as I'm driving.

My prayer time was right before sleeping. I actually prayed for 30 minutes and went right to bed. I prayed the Jabez prayer and prayed for everything I could think about. It wasn't easy to pray for 30 straight minutes. I hadn't been praying for 30 minutes in a row. I'm sure it will get easier and easier.

Sarine and I went to Bible study at New Venture. It was really good. Pastor Kent talked about Revelation. The worship was great, too. I didn't really count this into my 30/30/30. I really enjoyed seeing my Christian friends! There's nothing like Christian fellowship.

I had some apple juice when I came home. It was great. Like the last fast, I'm getting tons of spiritual energy. A secular person would say the fruit juice was giving them supernatural energy, but I know better.

I was 176 pounds, today. This will be my starting weight for the fast. I was actually 179 before I started my two days of vegetables and fruit juices. Oh yeah, the last two days I consumed those things, so my system would be cleaned out for this fast. I didn't want any fats or anything rotting inside of me. Sorry for the nasty picture.

Day 2:

Today, I had more soccer camps. I drank some pineapple juice before I left. I had some water, too. Man, I hope these journals don't get boring! Haha.

The kids were fun, again. Two of them gave me hugs, today. Very sweet. It was a very warm day. Well, it was 81. In the sun, around 12:30pm, it probably felt at least....82.

I had good energy, today. In fact, I caught some waves at the beach! After soccer, I went to the Oceanside pier with Don. We were in the water for an hour and a half. I had plenty of energy to catch waves, fight the current, joke with Don, etc. I got even more sun, though.

I was 174 pounds, today. I'll keep updating the pounds, so we can see how much I lose. I have a feeling that I'll lose a little more than my last 40 day fast. This time, I'm doing all 40 days without anything to eat. Last time, I fasted with vegetables during the first and last two days.

Tonight, Sarine and I read four chapters of Job. It was awesome to see how his friends were questioning him and accusing him. It's great to see how he responds, too. I wanted to read Job while I was fasting. I'm not being afflicted like he was, but I'm still putting my body through some affliction. David spoke in the Psalms and said, "I afflicted my soul with fasting." We also read Proverbs 20.

Day 3:

Today was a great day. Lots of fun and interesting things happened.

Several times I was in a dreamy state. It didn't last a really long time, but I would stare into the sky and think about something. I would have a brief revelation about a certain issue. This usually happens to me anyway, but it seems to be a little intensified because of the fast. It was fun to meditate on the things that came into my mind.

I taught a guitar lesson, today, and it went very well. As I was about to leave, I could sense that my student wanted me to stay and play more. I had already given her 10 extra minutes and I had to get going. It was a little awkward and interesting situation.

I caught a couple people staring at me. I'm not sure why they were looking so intently. I've read that the skin is cleansed during fasting. Perhaps my skin is developing a soft glow.

I feel week, but I also feel strong. It's an odd feeling, but it's good. I don't have the energy to be prideful or overbearing, so I let things go and pray.

Several times, today, I prayed for strength and received it. God put many smiles on my face. I smiled at odd times and for no particular reason. I enjoyed my daily routine and errands. More than usual, I felt like I was connecting with the people in the places I went. I'm not sure why.

I just read some web sites on fruit juice fasting. Very interesting. I've read some before, but these were new ones. I need to go to the library and read about vegetable juicing. It's supposedly very cleansing and great. I may integrate it into this fast. I've read about all kinds of healing that happens when certain vegetables are juiced and consumed. Further, I'm wondering if drinking the exact same fruit juices as I did in the last fast will give me a fast that is too similar to the last one. Don't get me wrong, the last fast was awesome. I'm just wondering if this one could be even more beneficial.

Today, I received persecution on the internet. Approximately 30 people wanted off my ministry list. They received the Monthly Message and their hearts were hardened. It was unfortunate. I also received some hate mail telling me how I was a con-artist and my ministry was a scam. It's really ridiculous how badly some people are blinded. Some people have so little understanding.

I sold my DSL modem, today. It sold for $66, so that's cool. God has really been blessing my family's finances! This was only a little thing, but He has been doing many more big and little things. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow is the last day of our soccer camp. It will be sad to see the kids leave. We had a lot of fun, together. I wonder when I will see them again. Maybe they'll come to another camp. We're doing 3 this summer.

Sometimes I wonder what a circumstance or situation would have been like if I wasn't fasting. It could have been more carnal, earthly or normal. While I'm on a 40 day fast, things seem to be more dynamic and awesome. I don't mean that they're more self-gratifying or I "get more stuff." I simply mean they seem to be more exciting and perfect. Perhaps I lose sight of God's continual perfection, in my daily situations, when I don't fast and dedicate all of my time to Him.

I had fun walking around Walmart, tonight. I basically kept to myself. Although, one worker befriended me. He wanted to talk and be friendly. It was cool to see someone happy like that. I've noticed a little change in my tone of voice. I've known that I could control it and sound any way I wanted, but it's been a more genuinely happy tone. Praise the Lord.

Today, I had water and grape juice in the morning. I drank lots of water at soccer. I had more water after soccer. At night, I had a cup of warm broth. I had this right after I got a muscle cramp in my upper stomach. It was weird and I attributed it to my sweating, today. I probably lost salt and potassium. I knew the broth had salt in it, so I figured it would be good for my system.

In addition to the broth, I had some pineapple juice and water. I'm glad I'm weaning myself from the diet, caffeine free sodas. I have felt myself drawn to them, but I've been fighting the urges. Water is more satisfying. I should bring water, in my van, and keep it in the container I used to keep those sodas. Heh.

I was reading one site, tonight, and it talked about fasting with juices that contained pulp. Apparently, the pulp keeps the digestive system working (at a very slow rate) because it is needed to digest the pulp. Apple and grape juices don't contain pulp, but pineapple does. I'm sure that's why my bowels don't totally shut down.

I had a little skin problem with my middle finger. It began a couple years ago. I prayed that it'd go away. I even prayed during my last 40 day fast and it didn't go away! I figured it was my "thorn in my flesh", like Paul received, and it wasn't going away. I accepted it and about a month or two ago, it went away! My finger is completely healed. It looks great and I'm praising the Lord. I mentioned this skin problem in my last journal, so I figured it was appropriate to mention the answer to prayer in this journal.

I have a couple, tiny skin changes on my face. They are hardly noticeable, but since I'm picky, they bother me a little. I pray that those go away. I know God can make them leave. I pray that He does and that they never return! We'll see what God decides to do about these.

The last two days, I received donations in the mail. Praise the Lord! It's great to see God blessing me and my ministry. I'm sure that I'll see more and more of His blessings. It's interesting to see how He works.

I wonder what it'd be like to be someone who didn't know Jesus, but had a religious belief. Are they convicted? Do they have worship that isn't meaningful? It's a phenomenon that I'll never really experience. I was thinking about it, today.

Would God bend a person's mind toward Him and Jesus if they were truly, innocently seeking Him? I supposed He would, unless He had a greater plan for that person.

I was 173 pounds, today.

I read 3 chapters of Job and Proverbs 21. They were great. I also prayed and worshiped for 30 minutes. I'll keep doing this! I should have began doing this a long time ago.

Day 4:

I was 171 pounds, today.

I woke up and drank some fruit juice and water. I also had my liquid vitamin (which I have every day).

The soccer camp went very well. It was great to see this kids. I'm not sure when I'll see them again.

After today's camp, I gave them all ice pops. They looked really yummy! I didn't eat any, though.

After the soccer camp, Don and I went to the beach. It was a beautiful day. I only lasted about 30-45 minutes in the water. There was a strong rip current, so I had to continually fight it. It wore me out. Plus, I was already worn out from 5 days of soccer and 3 ½ days of fasting! I laid on my towel and prayed until Don came in.

I did my 30/30/30. Horizon held a prayer and worship night, so Sarine and I went for about an hour an a half. It was great to pray and worship so much, especially with a bunch of Christians! I could feel God's presence in the room. It was soothing.

At night, I read Galatians and two chapters of Proverbs. It was fun to read so much of the Bible! It's getting to be a routine and a habit. Praise God. Maybe in the future I'll read longer and it will seem easy. There are always awesome things in the Bible.

God gave me lots of ideas for ministry and things to do, tonight. I wrote them as I was at Horizon's worship night. It's amazing how and when God speaks to me. Worship and church are like a barrier against Satan's weapons. God's voice can be heard so clearly there! It's a total relief and blessing.

Tonight, I decided to integrate some vegetable juices into my fast. I have been considering them and reading about them for awhile. They have some incredible healing and nourishing properties. Plus, I wanted this fast to be better than the last one, so a small change like this could help.

I bought several kinds of juices from the grocery store. Some of them are interesting fruit combinations. The vegetable juices are V8 and carrot juice.

Tonight, I drank the carrot juice. Whoa, this stuff was interesting. I could only drink 10 out of the 12 ounces. It was pretty strong and didn't smell that great. However, I know it strengthened me. I'm sure it will clean me out, too. Carrot juice is a significant source of beta carotene (a vitamin that is saved and used, turning into vitamin A as needed). There is a list of the good things that carrot juice does, so I'll include a link to a great site. This link will be in another place on my 2^nd 40 Day Fast web site.

I want to try some wheatgrass. Apparently, this stuff is one of the most potent vegetable juices. It supposed to be super good for you. Oh yeah, I was reading about the problems with animal products (chicken, beef, fish, milk and eggs). The minister and web site had a very convincing argument. It hinged on the Old Testament laws that the Jews weren't supposed to eat any animal that ate other dead animals. Today, we see most cattle and chicken eating animal by-products. This is what God forbade in the OT. Of course, we shouldn't hold ourselves to those laws, now, but they are worth thinking about.

When this fast is over, I'm going to try and eat much better and exercise more. I want to cut way back on fatty foods, fast foods, etc. and go to the gym 4-5 times a week. I'm sure I can do it, but it will take some adjusting. I also want to eat sufficient fruits and vegetables every day. I know they are very good for me. They don't even hold that many calories. They are some of the best foods that I can eat. Probably the very best, bar none.

I'm sure this is the reason why people are overweight and feel sluggish. They don't eat right or exercise enough. I've felt good, but I know a better diet could make me feel even better. Perhaps because I'm older, I don't see this as a desire to "have a better body". I see it as a desire to keep my body healthy and feel better. I'm married and looking good isn't my number one priority. It never should have been, but like Solomon tried many things in Ecclesiastes, to find happiness, I tried exercise. It was great, but without God, it's nothing.

I woke up at 8am and I had this dream (I wrote this in my dream journal and decided to put it here, too):

I had a really awesome dream last night. Right before I went to bed, I read some more of Dave Hunt's book called, "A Woman Rides the Beast." It is revealing the Pope and the Catholic Church are the "woman" talked about in Revelation 17 and 18.

This book has opened my eyes to the awful things the Popes have done. It's really sickening. They've done everything from killing Christians, to befriending Adolf Hitler and allowing the Halocaust without saying a word, forging old documents to give them current power, charging people for forgiveness of their sins, only recently claiming to apostolic succession from Peter (the Popes allegedly all coming from Peter), Popes killing one another for the papacy, etc.

I have an old friend named Mike who is a Catholic. His parents are devout Catholics. Him and I were best friends from ages 9-16. He lived down the street from me.

I remember some of this dream, but it is a little scattered.

I drove across the country to see Mike. Apparently, he still lived in our old neighborhood. The other Mike (who we were also friends with) still lived there, too. In reality, Mike the Catholic just left the neighborhood and the other Mike left many years ago. However, Mike's devout, Catholic parents still live there.

When I last visited Mike's house, I remember talking to him about life and marriage. I was engaged and brought my fiancé. He said, emphatically, that he was going to marry a Catholic girl. I suggested he look into his church to find the right girl. I didn't really understand the evils of the Catholic church at this time. I also had a roommate who was part Catholic (Lutheran) and stuck up for the Catholics because he used to be one.

When I moved into that roommate's house, I was making a distinction between Christians and Catholics. He corrected me and said they were Christians, too. He said they should be called Catholics and Protestants. I actually believed what he said and it made somewhat of a difference in my life. However, my position has drastically changed after reading the documented truth about the Catholic church. It's so horrible that it makes me want to throw up.

Anyhow, on with the dream. I had driven across the country to tell Mike that the Catholic church was a total fraud (and so was the Pope). He really didn't like what I was telling him.

At one point, I spoke in tongues. A girl we both knew heard it. We were at a grocery store (I think). A couple people heard it (I spoke in tongues for about 20 seconds). After I was finished, there was a long pause of silence. She looked around, like she was looking for the right words to say. Suddenly, she prophesied about the future. I don't remember the specific prophecy.

A song I was listening to yesterday had this line, "and sons will prophesy."

The last thing I remember is driving out of my neighborhood. I was actually in the "loop" that takes me in to it, though. Mike and Mike were just outside my window. I was getting a little emotional as I told them about their future. They were stone-faced and angry. They pretended to be nice, then tried to grab me, so I rolled up my window.

I can remember telling them this, "I just care about you! The Catholic church and the Pope are wrong. If you don't leave them, you're going to burn in the lake of fire forever and ever.....and ever." Right after this, I decided to leave because they were very upset. I screeched down the street and drove up the loop to the main street. As I was about to drive up the loop, my heart was racing. I thought they might try and stop my van or jump in front of it. However, neither of them did this.

I think this dream had many messages. I've mentioned some of them. I think I had it because of the book I read and because of God's will. I think I should witness to my friend Mike.

Ever since I began reading that book, I've been thinking how much my two, old Catholic friends would benefit from it. I don't see either of them any more, though. I know how to get in touch of them, so I need to pray about reaching them with the gospel and the truth.

I have the gift of tongues. I spoke in them last night (but just in my head). God spoke to me, too. The other day I was thinking how I rarely use this gift. Paul was right when he said tongues was a lesser gift. It's nice, but not a benchmark of Christianity or anything. I wonder if someone will prophesy after I use my gift. This has never happened, but I know it could.

Today was a fun day. I went to the beach with Sarine! We got some sun and I read more from "A Woman Rides the Beast." Awesome book.

I felt myself getting a little dehydrated, so I drank plenty of water. Maybe this is obvious, but I think my body was burning water quicker because it was a warmer temperature. Sound right? K.

I bought a few different kinds of fruit juice, yesterday. I drank a glass off grape/mango juice this morning. It was really good. In the middle of the day, I had a glass of V8 juice. I hadn't drank this stuff for years and wasn't sure if I'd like it. It was great! I'm going to drink V8 and fruit juice when I quit my fast.

I decided to take my liquid vitamin in between my juice drinks. I get vitamins and minerals from the juices, so I figured I should get the extra vitamins at a different time.

At night, I had a glass of cherry/apple/grape juice. Wow, this stuff was really good, too! All of these juices are 100% fruit juice. If you do a fast, make sure you drink those. They are much better for you than the others. You have to read the labels and discover what they contain.

I was 169 pounds, today. I've lost 10 pounds since I began my two days of eating vegetables (right before the fast).

Tonight, I read two chapters of Job, one chapter in Proverbs and the book of Ephesians. I liked Ephesians 6:12 so much that I printed it and I'm going to hang it in the house. Here is how it reads: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." I love this verse because it reminds us that we aren't really fighting against each other. We are on the same side. We are fighting against unseen enemies. Demons are trying to confuse and hurt us. They hate us and want to drag us into hell.

If we could only realize that we are being deceived and lied to by evil, unseen powers, I think we would be more successful in our spiritual battles. God tries to unify us. Satan tries to divide us. It's a constant tug-of-war. One day it will all end, though. Praise the Lord.

Sarine and I played music together, tonight. She played the bass and I played my Fender. We did a bunch of songs because she's getting better and better! We played "I've Been Redeemed, We Have Come to Worship, I Want to Know You, Shout to the Lord, Jesus and Lover of My Soul." We played to my drum cd and it all sounded great. Praise the Lord. This was how I did my 30 minutes of worship. We may have done another song or two. I also sang in my van, today.

I did my 30 minutes of prayer right before I went to bed. Sarine and I prayed out loud and then we prayed silently. Woohoo! Drawing closer to God is such an energizing and mesmerizing thing. It's fun and exciting. You never know what the awesome God of the universe is going to do.

Day 6:

Today, I weighed 169 pounds, again. I'm not sure how I could stay the same, but I did. Perhaps I'll lose extra, tomorrow.

I drank some cherry/apple/grape juice. It was great. I also had some water.

I've been waking up early. Yesterday, I woke up about 4 hours early, but I went back to sleep. Today, I woke up about 30 minutes early! I'm not sure why. I think God is calling me to get up, so I began my journal, ministry and other things earlier. I don't mind getting up a little earlier. It's fun to be able to do some extra things.

God has been laying it on my heart to take Sarine to Israel. I've been thinking about it a lot, lately. I'm considering going in September and October. I'm not sure if we'll actually go during those months or a little later. We're going to began saving for the trip.

I'm sure we could charge half of it and pay it back. Ordinarily, I don't like charging large things, but this trip would be something incredible and something that we'd never forget! I pray that she can get the time off work and school. We might have to wait until her winter break. This would probably be better for me and her. I wouldn't be teaching during the winter break.

I've been pricing airfare, hotels and rental cars. It appears that we can get a pair of round trip tickets for $1500. A nice car for two weeks should cost around $500. A very nice hotel will be around $1500 ($120 a day). However, we could get a cheaper one and save a lot of money.

I've stayed in the Shalom Jerusalem Hotel. It was awesome; very clean and nice, with lots of extras. We also might stay there for the first few nights and find a cheaper one when we're there. This is probably the best idea, in case we want to stay in a different city. Sarine suggested camping, but I'm not sure that's a good idea. I don't think we can just pull into a kibutz and make new friends. It's not like San Diego where I know lots of camping places. We'll see what happens! I'm excited and so is she.

I've been praying for supernatural things to arrive in my mailbox. Almost every day I find something supernatural in there. Yesterday, we received a credit card with a $1500 limit on it. This was our supernatural gift for the day. I pray that we use this card wisely. We transferred another credit card's balance to this card because they had a very low transfer rate for the first 6 months.

I read 3 chapters of Job, tonight. I also read one chapter of Proverbs. I did 30 minutes of worship in church. Miles gave an awesome sermon on Psalm 51.

I read some more of "A Woman Rides the Beast" before I went to sleep. I'm having fun with this book. I'm actually reading several books at once. Right now, this one is holding my attention the most.

Tonight, I also did a Bible study on Revelation. I have a Bible study book called, "Life Lessons with Max Lucado." I finished the 8^th chapter. This book always makes me think and apply biblical principles! Sarine and I have both finished the 8^th chapters. She began studying it with me a couple months ago.

I'm sure glad that I eat a lot of spiritual food! I feel like a spiritual furnace that keeps needing and burning spiritual food! Nothing else satisfies or interests me as much as God and His Word.

Mormon Church Experience:

The Mormon Church - Latter Day Saints

On June 24, 2001, at 11am, I went to a Mormon temple. It was much bigger than the JW's Kingdom Hall. Interestingly, they are located on the same street and right next to each other!

Apparently, they call their services "wards". When I was very young, I tried to get into a Mormon service and they stopped me at the door. They asked me if I was in this ward. I asked them if a ward was like a service. The man replied, "No, it's like a ward!" Haha.

This ward opened up with a song called, "As I Search the Holy Scriptures". It's number #277 from their hymn book. I kept a hymn book and evaluated it.

After the song, there was a nice prayer that talked about renewing our covenants with God. There were announcements and another hymn. They sang number #172. "In Humility Our Savior". Some of the words of this hymn went like this, "when we have proven worthy of your sacrifice divine, let our glory around you shine." This is a contradiction to Christian doctrines because we don't believe we are worthy or Christ's sacrifice. We never could be.

Unlike those two hymns, many of their hymns had the same names as well known hymns and songs. However, they had very different words. The organ played while the people sang. They sang very well and it sounded eerie. It was unnerving.

As soon as I sat down, near the back, my heart raced. I was shaking a little, so I prayed for peace. I didn't get it, immediately, so I prayed fervently.

The lay people wore white shirts and ties. It was ironic that I wore a with shirt, too. I don't think I planned this. They walked around and served everyone communion. I didn't take it and either did Sarine. We thought this would be a considerable offense to God, since this is a heretical church.

There were ten men sitting in chairs at the front of the room. I'm not sure what their purpose was. They didn't really do anything. However, one of them stood and spoke a testimony/mini-sermon.

I spoke in tongues, but heard nothing from God. I'm not sure this has ever happened. If it has, it is quite rare. I think my petition to God was being blocked by demonic forces.

Kids are allowed in the main service. There was lots of crying. The parents seemed to have big families and didn't really care if their kids were loud.

When I'm in my church services at The Rock, God always teaches me lots of things. I write these things down. I heard a spirit speaking lessons to me, here, too. However, I didn't trust what was being said to me. The things didn't necessarily contradict God's Word. I simply didn't want to accept any revelations I was receiving in this heretical church.

People who have very developed, biblical discernment can discern a lot. They can hear a band and tell that one of the musicians isn't a believer in Christ. I didn't want to make anyone stumble by trying to gain godly wisdom from this service and passing it on. Note: there were only a couple things that I discounted. I really wasn't taught much, especially not much compared to what I usually learn in my services.

A strange phenomenon occurred when I read the Book of Mormon. I had gotten one from my local library and decided to bring it with me. The tension I had felt before left me! I believe the demonic forces that were oppressing me left and I was comforted by God. This could be the reason why Mormons read their heretical books. Demons could oppress them until they read and when they begin reading, the demons could leave, making them feel relief. This could deceive people into thinking what they are reading is right and good. However, I knew better.

At one point, toward the middle of the service, I heard a low rumbling noise. It was rather eerie. I believe it was God's angels trying to enter the building. The doors were closed and I think demons were guarding them. If I could only see into the supernatural realm, I think I would have seen something amazing.

Danny Perez, a newly returned missionary, spoke and represented the high council. I imagine the high council was the title for the ones sitting in front of the church. He read from Moroni 10:3-5 and it said to win disciples.

Hardly anyone was reading. In fact, I saw no one. Many people were squirming and not paying attention.

During Danny's speech, he kept encouraging people to read the Book of Mormon. He said everyone should pray and see if the Book of Mormon was true and we should read it all the time. This is a heretical doctrine that I really don't like. The Bible never says to pray over a religious book and see if it's from God or not. Having unbelievers pray about the Book of Mormon is a foolish way to see if it's correct or not. They could hear anything in their head.

Danny went on to tell us that he understand the Bible by reading the Book of Mormon.

Finally, there was a prayer that closed the service. During some elder's prayer, he stated that the Mormon Church was the only church that "gives eternal happiness". Isn't God the one who gives eternal happiness? Isn't saying that your church is the only one that gives eternal happiness awfully heretical?

Day 7:

Today, I weighed 169. It's really odd that I've kept this weight for so long. Perhaps, 169 is my "set point." Some psychologists believe that everyone has a set point and their body tends to like and hover around this number. I'm imagining that I will lose some more, soon. It's all up to God and in His hands.

I'm consuming about 500 calories each day. This is in 2 glasses of fruit juice and 1 glass of vegetable juice (V8). I also take a liquid vitamin and drink lots of water. I won't be mentioning these things any more. I'll only mention if I change this routine. It's not that exciting to read or write what kind of juice I had on each day. Lastly, I'm consuming 12 ounces of fruit juices and about 8 ounces of V8 in each serving. Once in awhile, I'll have some broth. I'll drink warm broth when I'm cold.

I'm sending the devotions this evening. Today, I've been doing lots of work. There are a lot of things I do to prepare for the mailing. I type the quotes, write my introductory paragraphs, get ideas for the devotions, etc. On Mondays, I also have to make lots of phone calls. It seems like Monday is the busiest day of my week.

As I type the quotes, there are always things I add to my "to do" list. Some of these things are done immediately and some are done later.

Today, I added a new forum to my web site. It is called, "Recommend A Book!" I went to know what Christians are reading. Plus, I want to share some great books to the world. I hope lots of people visit and tell what they like to read.

I went to the library and returned the Book of Mormon and movie. A certain librarian wasn't there. She showed me where to find the book and said her daughter was just baptized in the Mormon church. I wanted to tell her about the experience at their church. Maybe I'll see her another time.

I got a couple movies and a book. The book is on juice fasting. I had the San Diego library send it to the local one in Oceanside. I was happy it was there and I can't wait to read it.

Tonight, I wrote the devotions and prayers. This was my Bible study and prayer time. They always take quite awhile! It's fun, though.

My worship time was spent singing in van. I barely had 30 minutes, but I'm glad I could have the time I did. I'll call it 30 minutes, but I need a solid 30 minutes for now on. I sang a little in the evening, too.

I sent the devotions to the world! It was great. There weren't any big freeze-ups or hangs. However, there was one toward the end. I had to reboot my computer and do a couple things to make the devotions get to the new people. Satan always opposes me! It's amazing to see the systematic, spiritual warfare when I'm sending the devotions. Satan could be quiet all day, but when I'm sending the devotions (or even writing them) he pops up and gets in my face. He must feel like a total loser, though. God continually protects me and helps me. The devotions have been sent, non-stop, for 211 weeks. Isn't that amazing?

Day 8:

I weighed 168 pounds, today.

I answered a bunch of emails. Some people wanted to know who I was, others wanted off my list. Some people were really excited to get the devotions in their mailbox. It was great to encourage the world!

I taught a guitar lesson, today. I had a new student named Alex. He's not playing Christian music, yet. I pray that he appreciated my faith and begins praising God with his music. I know it's possible. Right now, he's into punk music. I'm with him for an hour a week.

Bible study was tonight! New Venture had a great one. I saw a bunch of my friends there. It was great to hang out, learn about Revelation, worship God, etc. This is where I did my worship time and my Bible studying for the day. Plus, I sang a bunch of Sonicflood songs in my van! Since I didn't have any intimate worship yesterday, I wanted to sing some songs that truly glorified God! This live album from Sonic is incredible. I can't wait to hear the album that they're releasing in October! All of these release dates for albums seem really far away, but they come so quickly! Michael Tait releases his album next week and I can remember when it was many months away. Time flies!

I prayed with Sarine for about 30 minutes, tonight. It was nice to be with her and seek God. She is praying longer and longer. It's awesome to see her growing, loving God and me. Praise the Lord.

I haven't seen any literal mountains move or anything, but I am experiencing a great closeness with God. I'm feeling almost like He's saying, "I told you so." It's kind of like deja vu or something. It just feels normal and right to be on this fast. Kind of like, "here we go again!"

I'm so glad God is with me and helping me. I couldn't do this without Him.

Tonight, I got a little cold. It's typical for fasters to get cold because they're getting thinner and not digesting food. It takes energy to digest food and when your body works, it stays warm. Plus, it converts that food into energy, which keeps the body warm. I noticed being cold in Bible study and Walmart. I will need to dress warmer, soon. I'm already wearing jeans and t-shirts (and it's summer in San Diego).

Day 9:

Today was a very good day. I got a lot of work done, too.

I added some information about the Catholic Church to my site. I wrote a paper on the book I'm reading ("A Woman Rides the Beast"). I also made my ICR site. I had scanned a bunch of pictures from my trip to ICR. Now, they're on the web! In addition to those things, I found a great paper about Bible versions. It shows lots of omissions in the NIV. It's amazing how many things those translators changed and omitted. I'm glad I can share the information with the world.

All of the things that were done today were sorts of breakthroughs. I'm just realizing it, now. Satan hates God and His work and His people. He hadn't wanted me to put any of those things on the web. For some reason, it's not easy to make new pages and put them on the web. It's easy to do them, but I usually prioritize them last.

I'll put the new links in this week's devotions. If you're wondering why Satan wouldn't want those things on the web, consider what they say. The truth about the Catholic Church. Creation (ICR: Institute for Creation Research). Bible translation information. I pray that I can keep making pages and uploading them to the web.

Oh yeah, I also made one more page. I got a Mormon hymn book from the service I attended. I took a bunch of these hymns and showed how they were biblical inaccurate. Their hymns claimed the following heresies: Joseph Smith was a chosen prophet of God, the Book of Mormon is true and from God, baptism for the dead is all right, eternal families and several other things. I was glad to dig into this book and reveal what it says to the world. I hope people are encouraged by what I write. I also hope that Mormons read what is written and leave their church.

Tonight, I went to Maranatha Chapel and heard The Kry perform and Ray Bentley speak! It was an awesome experience. The Kry played some great worship songs. I got to sit in the second row! Ray had a great sermon and ended with the gospel. About 30 people came forward! My right eye actually teared up. I usually don't cry, but I guess I was feeling the magnitude of what was happening there. Salvation is an awesome, awesome thing. People becoming eternally and spiritually alive all around me was moving. Praise the Lord! I was praying that more people got saved and more people walked to the front of the church during the altar call.

I had a couple solid bowel movements, today. This is odd because I haven't eaten for over a week! I think that some things I had eaten before the fast were sitting in my body for a long time. Perhaps they had no fiber in them. Perhaps they were junk food. At any rate, it couldn't have been very healthy.

I applied for EMNR, today. EMNR is Evangelical Ministries to New Religions. Since counter-cult ministries are a part of JCSM, I thought it would be good to be certified by them. My friend's ministry is in their group. It costs $25 a year, but I think it's worth it. It will lend more credibility to my ministry, especially if people are wondering if it is a solid, Christian ministry or not. For the discerning (or maybe for the undiscerning), it will show we aren't a cult and we love Jesus.

A couple times today and yesterday, I got a little dizzy when I stood up. This happened in my last fast. What happens is this, when your body has low blood sugar and you quickly change positions, you get lightheaded. I need to get up a little slower. It goes away in a few seconds. I think it only happens in between juice drinks.

The last couple days I have been getting some stomach cramps. I'm not sure why. They've been really odd. I think it's demonic. For many years I've been a little insecure about my stomach. Now that my stomach is shrinking, I think the demons are fearful and realizing they are losing control. I'm sure the stomach cramps won't last much longer. However, my stomach was a little sore when I laid into bed last night and I'm sure it was because of the cramps in the day.

I did my worship and Bible reading and the Bible study. I prayed there, but also prayed with Sarine, tonight.

This morning, I was 168 pounds.

Day 10:

This morning, I weighed 167 pounds.

Last night, I had a dream that I was playing on a professional baseball team. I was playing center field and batting 8^th in the lineup.

During the first inning, I made an error. I don't think it was actually scored as an error, but people knew I messed up. A ball was hit really hard and it hit the wall between me and the right fielder. I had my glove off and tried to catch it, but missed it. I have no idea why my glove was off.

After I missed the ball, I told him to get it and throw it in. He did. We held the runner to a single (somehow). I think that's why it wasn't scored as an error. If he reached 2^nd base, I would have gotten an error (probably).

After we got them out, we came up to bat. I didn't have my batting gloves with me. I had to go and get them. I was torn between whether I should stay in the dugout and wait for my turn to bat or go and get my gloves.

I quickly decided to run and get my gloves. I had to go a little distance. I remember having to find my Dad. He had the keys to the car. My gloves were in the car. I also remember running up a long, spiral staircase. This led to the stadium. Quite odd!

Today, I did some work around the house. It was fun to clean up the place. I got a bit tired and had to drink a big glass of water. It helped me regain my energy.

I fixed the metal gate that guards our apartment complex. People were breaking in by either jumping the fence or peeling back the metal by the handle. I fixed both of those problems! I put oil on top of the gate. Now, anyone who tries to touch it or jump it will get oily hands and undoubtedly forget his or her plans to hop our gate. After I oiled it, I took a little metal plate and 4 screws and fixed the gate! It was so fun, too. I love drilling. I drilled the four holes and then I put the screws into the gate. Ahhh. Mission accomplished.

I went to the prayer night at Dave's house, tonight. It was awesome! Praise God that I can be around so many interesting Christians. We took prayer requests and had a blast. These people really love God and want to know Him deeply. It was a big blessing. Plus, they are my friends and really funny. It's great to have their friendship.

We all shared how we were doing and stuff. I was happy to say that I was doing very well! I made a connection between the way I was doing and a basketball player who was "in the zone." When a basketball player is "in the zone," he or she is making every shot. They can't miss. The hoop seems really big! This is how my spiritual life is. I'm making strides for God and His kingdom. I'm experiencing His love and blessings. They are raining down on me. Praise God! Woohoo! It's great to be alive.

I did my worship in my van. I did a lot of driving, today. I did the prayer at Dave's and I'm going to read with Sarine in a few minutes. We'll read Proverb 28 and another book. I'll leave a space here and fill it in later with the book. We read..............Ezekiel 38 and 39!

I had a good amount of energy, today. I should mention that my body odor has been smelling a little different. To be specific, a few days ago, the odor under my arms became a little stronger and it smells different than before. I think this is because my body is burning stored fats for fuel. This happened last time, too. I simply had to put on deodorant twice. I'm probably noticing it more than anyone else. When I pointed it out to Sarine, she noticed it. I don't think she could tell until I pointed it out, though.

Well, my fast is 1/4 finished! I know there is a lot left. I'm sure it will continue to be an awesome time. Thanks for reading. I pray that you are encouraged and blessed.

Click here for Days 11-20.