The Kingdom Experiment

So the first week is now over, and just wow….

For now, I couldn’t really participate in the experiments that involved money, seeing as how I’m slightly a bum without a job. So I started with what would’ve been the easiest, Roughing It. However, after two nights, I realized one reason we got rid of the carpet at my parents home, it makes my allergies go CRAZY! So that experiment ended quickly.

However this weekend, I did participate in my very first fast. It was….not as difficult as I thought it would be to be honest. I went without food from Friday, October 14, 9:00 p.m. to Sunday, October 16, 8:00 p.m. in whence I feasted upon spaghetti and cookies (Thank you Fuentes(es?)!). But I did learn a lot. I had never really had to worry about not eating, my parents have always made sure there was always plenty to eat in the household; so sitting in my dorm room I was surrounded by plenty of things to eat, in this case, temptations. But I learned the more I relied on the Lord, the easier it made it to make it through the day without having to worry about food. It made me think about how the bread in the Lord’s supper represents his body and how he keeps us nourished despite a lack of food. That marks twice this year that my mind has been blown by the power of the Lord.

Another thought struck me during the fast. I don’t know about everyone else, but I often have conversations in my head and how they would go with people I know. Well I happen to be friends with a lot of people who aren’t Christian, its always been like that and I’ve never had a problem with it. But not a lot of people knew I was fasting. And I imagined the conversation in my head and I imagined a lot of people asking me why I have to do this. But I didn’t have to do it at all. I wanted to. I wanted to have a new reliance on God and grow closer, and that’s what happened. This was something I chose to do, and in the end, I came out happier. Well I’ll be posting this coming weeks experiments tomorrow. I hope you all had a good weekend!

~Irvin C. Schwausch

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

The first chapter of the book focuses on poverty. But it focuses more on the question, do you have to be in poverty to truly experience God?

It took me a few minutes to think about this but I ultimate came to the conclusion, of course you don’t. We just need to get over the American mentality. The chapter goes more in depth with how as American’s we feel like our basics - food, shelter, clothing - are owed to us. Its something we deserve. But its not. Its something we are blessed to have. Often times, when people come into a more emotional state of poverty, when things are bad, they turn to God. This is how the bond grows. It doesn’t mean we have to be in physical poverty, but those who are poor in the spirit turn to God most often. If you’re going through trials, you know somethings going right.

So here are the eight experiments for this chapter:

• Shut Your Pie Whole - participate in a fast
• Ten Items or Less More - go grocery shopping and donate it all
• Don’t Give Me the Evil Eye - pay for someone else’s meal in the drive-thru
• Roughing It. Air Mattress not Included - sleep on your floor for a week
• I Ain’t No Lance - bike instead of drive for a week
• Go with the Flow - donate or give something away and don’t replace it
• Because She Always Wanted a Goat - give out a loan on kiva.com
• Thanks, but No Thanks Mr.Edison - reduce your electricity used for a week

Currently, I don’t have to economic standing to complete every experiment; however once I get a job I plan on carrying out each when whenever I get the chance. The only one I can’t do is the last because we can’t use candle light in a dorm room. However, I will be participating in the fast over the weekend along with the youth group so pray for me for support. I’ll post on Sunday or Monday. See ya then.

~Irvin C. Schwausch

Hi everyone! This is just the beginning post so I can decide how I want to lay everything out and also so I can introduce what this is all about.

I’m gonna be posting about “experiments” that I’ll be participating in from The Kingdom Experiment by Bruce Nuffer. I’ll post the title of the experiments the week before they start, then at the end I’ll post what it actually is and how it went. ^_^

Edit: So I guess I didn’t quite explain why I was doing this with the original post, I always tend to think of things after posting them. But that’s why there’s an edit button. I’m conducting and participating in the experiments through my youth group’s bible study. We’re going to try and do one a week as a group and then its up to you to do however many other. What you put in is what you get out. So hey, maybe you can try some of these too.

Hi everyone! This is just the beginning post so I can decide how I want to lay everything out and also so I can introduce what this is all about.

I’m gonna be posting about “experiments” that I’ll be participating in from The Kingdom Experiment by Bruce Nuffer. I’ll post the title of the experiments the week before they start, then at the end I’ll post what it actually is and how it went. ^_^