SPAM - Some Background

So what exactly is SPAM, where does it come from, and why did I do it? Well, as I mentioned before, SPAM stands for Spiritual Preparation and Meditation, and it encourages "fasting" from, primarily, secular technology, but also from secular reading material, secular music, etc. in favor of development of a closer relationship with Christ.

The idea for this comes from Bruce Wilkinson's book, The Prayer of Jabez for Teens. I was given the book by my youth pastor in fourth grade, and, interested, I read it. It centers around the verse 1 Chronicles 4:10, which we had been studying in Sunday school for the past few weeks. In the verse Jabez calls out to God:
"Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain."

In the book, Wilkinson tells the story of Ashley, who takes the "SPAM challenge." He explains the basics of SPAM and then gives Ashley's SPAM testimony. She tells about her week-long experience of going without TV, teen magazines, etc. and giving her time to God instead. She would write in her SPAM journal and read her Bible, listen to Christian artists rather than her usual boybands, and when the week was over, she found herself closer to God than she had ever been before.

I read that years ago. Three years ago, I had a miniature revival in me. I was baptized my freshman year, and later that year, I went on a life-changing retreat. Or, at least, I thought it was life-changing at the time. Now when I look back on it, it really did nothing to change my life immediately after I returned home. But this year I went on another "life-changing" retreat, and this one really was life-changing. And with the conviction I've felt from this retreat, the conviction I felt three years ago. Anyway, the next year, I felt like I had drifted from my former conviction, so when I found The Prayer of Jabez gathering dust on my bookshelf, I pulled it out and read it again. I found the section on SPAM and decided I was going to try it. Again, the revival was temporary. I did SPAM for a month, as I had planned, and then I was done. I went back to my normal life.

But this time, I'm determined to make things different, with God's help, of course. And so far, so good. I read a few books during SPAM: Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis; More Than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell; Straight Answers to Tough Questions About Christianity, by Peter Kreeft; and She Said Yes, by Misty Bernall. And now I'm reading Mister God, This is Anna, by Fynn. I also started The Book of God: The Bible as a Novel, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. All of them are great books, and I haven't put down a single one of them without feeling changed and filled with God's Holy Spirit.

All credit goes to God, of course, for teaching me to know and love Him. But I would also like to thank my grandfather. My father's father was a pastor in Japan, and at one point he even started a church. When he moved to America nine years ago, he would often guest-preach at the church where his wife's brother-in-law was the pastor. Sadly, he passed away last September. That was the first time I had ever had anyone close to me die. I was shaken, but I was determined to not be someone who fell away from God because of a death. (I had actually had three deaths in my family at that point, my grandfather being the third, and I also lost my uncle this past February. But the two before my grandfather were more distant relatives and — don't take this the wrong way — did not have a significant impact on me. I didn't know them very well, after all.) So with this mindset, I refused to accuse God for my grandfather's death, and I refused to be angry with Him. Instead, I prayed to Him.

Only a few days before my grandfather's death, I was reading my Bible when I came across the story in 2 Kings 2:1-18. In the story, Elijah the prophet tells his apprentice, Elisha, that he is going to be taken away by the Holy Spirit. Elisha, desiring confirmation that God has chosen him to be the next prophet for the Israelites, asks Elijah to give him a double-portion of his spirit so that he can lead the Israelites with God's mighty power within him. When Elijah is taken up by God, Elisha finds through the performance of a miracle that his request had been granted. Having read this, I knew exactly what to do in the face of my grandfather's death. I asked God to grant me a double-portion of my grandfather's spirit so that I would not fall away. And sure enough, I believe God answered my prayer with a resounding, "Yes!" I have had such a desire for His word and a longing to get to know Him better and to share His word and His love with others that there is no reason to believe that He did not answer my prayer.

So I continued to grow in faith as time went on. I returned from my life-changing retreat after New Year's, and a week later, I decided to try SPAM again. This time I took the advice of my mother and scheduled SPAM for the same time as Lent and encouraged others to participate. That way those who were less enthusiastic about giving up technology could give it up as part of Lent rather than having to give something up twice in the same year.

Anyway, I'm getting a little off track... but I think that's about all I have for now. So until next time, God bless!

Michael

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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21