Super Bowl Sabbath

[BobRyan]

Bob, did you once try out for a football team

yes. usually QB in our local games.

You?

in Christ,

Bob

[BobRyan]

Agree, JoeMo....some would have us believe that God has a check off list!

What God has - is prophets. At least according to the Bible.

What man has is free will it ignore the messages from God or pay attention to them.

It's an old story - you have to read the book to get the general idea.

in Christ,

Bob

[BobRyan]

Originally Posted By: JoeMo

Call me a Badventist" if you want to; but my response is "who cares?" People have the freedom on conscience to observe the Sabbath any way they want to.

That is what all the Sunday keeping people say -

And of course you point out that you feel no need to wake them out of that state after all - they have free will. (And as SDAs we all agree with free will.)

and of course I agree with your point that you have the free will to take such actions - so also did Adam and Eve have the free will to make their own choice in the matter that confronted them.

That is the easy part.

[Sojourner]

Hi Bob,

You raise an interesting discussion point there and perhaps a challenging one at the same time. Australian Rules Football is very popular on Friday night telecasts and will often have 80 000 plus people at matches in this prime time slot which is done for TV networks. In the 1960’s and 70’s all matches were played on Saturday afternoons only because the Sabbath was considered to be on Sunday. I guess you are not familiar with the game of Cricket which goes for five days in what are called Test Matches, but again they would break and have no play on Sunday for the same reason. I am pretty sure that the Summer and Winter Olympics did or still do that same thing and for what was the same reason.

I was once chastised by the pastor of my Salvation Army church because he drove past our house and I was washing my first car on the front lawn on a Sunday afternoon. I think it is fair to say that many evangelical denominations that held the teaching that Sunday is the Sabbath have now deleted it in favour of the idea that Jesus is our Sabbath rest and so forth.

It is a fair discussion though on how far one goes in terms of not working or what is wrong to view or participate in during the Sabbath. Personally I think it’s a very difficult subject to have some type of blanket rule on and that its something that people must work out for themselves by taking it to God in prayer and understanding what the Holy Spirit is convicting them of.

Should Christians use electricity on the Sabbath for example? Being that its supplied by people that have to work on the Sabbath to provide it, should each Sabbath keeping church have their own generator instead, yet to turn that generator on, is that then considered working? Some Orthodox Jews in England were written about recently whereby the local council has made the traffic light pedestrian crossing motion activated, so that these orthodox Jews can cross the street without having to press the button to operate the crossing, because pressing the button is considered to be “a work”.

[Sojourner]

Here is the link about the Sabbath Pedestrian Crossings,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_pedestrian_crossing

[joeb]

Well, people may come to Christ without coming to Adventism, at the time they came to Christ.

People have come to Adventism without coming to Christ at that time.

This is true of all religious denominations. It's not specific to SDA's as it nothing more or less than human nature itself.

[Tom Wetmore]

Since this topic of football, and now added on the further touchy topic of Sabbath keeping is obviously not new to many of us and tends to evoke the same old tiresome points and counterpoints, how about taking both to a new level rather then going round and round over the same well worn ground.

In an effort to move this beyond just repeating and complaining about the repetition, let me pose a few direct questions about both. And since Bob Ryan started this I'll direct them to him first.

Since the principle that EGW seems to have in mind is perhaps much broader than just football, tell those of us who can take football or leave it, don't play it or watch it much at all, what should we take from her message and apply to our own lives in a positive way? Does it apply to all sports? All lea sure time activity? All recreational activity? Hobbies? If so, starting with a hard look at how you personally spend your lea sure time, your favorite activities, hobbies, recreation, sports other than football - what changes do you think you might need to make? Let's not worry about other people and focus on this as a personal thin, an opportunity for personal reflection and growth.

Now, let's take a similar approach for the Sabbath topic. How do you personally keep the Sabbath? Not how you think you or anyone else should, but how do you do it? Be specific? What sort of things do you do? And what do you not do? Do you feel like you are keeping the Sabbbath correctly? If not, what do you think you need to change to keep it better? If you do feel you keep it correctly, do you think other Sabbath keepers should exactly as you do? Or is there som room for individualizing or customizing the ideal Sabbath keeping plan for rack person or family? If you think there is some room for variation or different ways to keep and honor the Sabbath, how much latitude is possible?

Give us your best fresh thoughts and helpful ideas on these topics.

[Woody]

I suspect this thread will suffer a quick death if you are asking for fresh ideas Tom.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I'm not Bob Ryan, but doesn't the 4th commandment and then Jesus' Sabbath actions give the basis for keeping the Sabbath? i.e., don't do actions normally reserved for obtaining one's livelihood, with the exception of helping or assisting one's fellow living creatures? All the other Sabbath "rules" seem to be *manmade* designations without any God-given purpose....

[Gustave]

A devout Catholic would simply go to Mass on Sunday if the Big Game would have been moved to Saturday...

...On the other hand a devout Catholic would have went to mass on Sabbath if they wanted to watch the game on Sunday.

...In the end people will "make time" for what's important to them & if Church is "as important" they will go.

...Then watch the game before OR after Church.

[Woody]

I have a lot of self imposed Sabbatical rules. But they are indeed for a purpose. They are to keep me focused on Jesus on His day. Having rules and structure has helped me protect the Sabbath and also protect me from making it just another busy day.

[JoeMo]

Quote:

They are to keep me focused on Jesus

Amen Woody. Sabbath is about what you do - not so much what you don't do. Focusing on Jesus instead of self or the world is what Sabbath is about.I just got home from church after a 2.5 hour service. It was awesome!

[Sojourner]

Quote:

Is it our job to bring people to Adventism or to bring them to Christ? They aren't necessarily the same thing.

Are you sure?

"And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him."1 John 2:3-5 NLT

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”"John 13:35 NKJV

Jesus/God saves!

Are you familiar LifeHiscost with the Adventist denomination that worship on Sundays and reject the Sabbath teaching that Rachel Oakes Preston a Seventh Day Baptist lady shared with the then smaller group of Adventists that became the Seventh Day Adventists? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_Christian_Church

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

Are you familiar LifeHiscost with the Adventist denomination that worship on Sundays and reject the Sabbath teaching that Rachel Oakes Preston a Seventh Day Baptist lady shared with the then smaller group of Adventists that became the Seventh Day Adventists? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_Christian_Church

The body of Christ continues to grow.

"Those from among you

Shall build the old waste places;

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,

The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In."Isaiah 58:12 NKJV

God cares! Jesus saves!