Tag Archives: Sabbath

Christian

Dark

As a child living in the city my parents would always ask that I come home before dark. I remember there were several times I got in trouble and argued with them about whether it was actually dark yet.

God’s word tells us in Leviticus 23:32 KJV – . . . from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

Today I found myself arguing when is even? I take it to mean evening, but is that sunset? Is it after dark?

I suppose if God wanted to say dark he would have said dark. I can Google sunset for my location and time exactly every day. Today I ended my Sabbath observation at sunset according to Google, but it was still light outside.

In good faith I think and hope that there is some leeway about keeping an exact time. Maybe I should just pick a time to define my evening and try to stick with it, dark or sunset from Friday eve to Saturday eve.

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Christian

To TV or Not TV

Yesterday on the Sabbath, September 2, 2023 I watched college football again.

In my self examination of watching college football on the Sabbath, I think the answer is yes, it is causing the stranger that is within your gates to work. The players aren’t paid and it’s considered a game, but the production crew or those working for the television station do work and are paid. Further revelation means this can be extended to all television channels that employ people on the Sabbath. As far as I know that is all of them.

So what’s the answer? Close your gates and turn off the TV on the Sabbath?

I suppose I could make it a movie day and watch DVDs. We are taught by Jesus we can do good on the Sabbath. Maybe volunteer somewhere?

I think it might be hard for me to give up college football. I don’t have DVR, I have Roku, so recording it isn’t an option.

9/9/23, 9/16/23, and 9/23/23 Watched television and football throughout the day.

9/30/23 Watched television and football again, a few cleanups, and not observing the Feast of Tabernacles.

10/7/23 Used my phone for sweepstakes, watched television and football.

I am going to allow myself television and college football on the Sabbath for the foreseeable future. It may be the wrong choice. If you have any suggestions or input on the subject please feel free to comment.

Continued in my post Sabbath Log.

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Christian

Sabbath Log

I recently asked for prayers to live the Sabbath more faithfully, so I thought I would start a log to show how I’m doing.

8/19/23 Cleaned the kitty litter as usual, fed the cats wetfood for breakfast, I emptied the dehumidifier, cleaned up two cat messes

Planning to do better. I will plan to fill cat food and water on Friday afternoon before dark. I will also clean the kitty litter at the same time and then leave it till Saturday after dark.

I think the cats can go without wet food one day a week, so I will plan on skipping Saturday morning breakfast for the cats.

Messes can wait till Saturday after dark.

There is a reason they call Friday the Day of Preparation.

Overall I think I did better and I thank you for your prayers. How did I do better? I didn’t go anywhere. I bought canned food earlier in the week and microwaved soup for lunch and dinner. I think I will try to have either pre-made sandwiches or canned food in the future.

8/26/23 I picked up some crumbs and cat hair, but otherwise a little preparation on Friday afternoon helped greatly. I refilled the cats’ food and water and cleaned the kitty litter on Friday and I had canned food for lunch and dinner on Saturday along with some chips and pretzels. I did watch Notre Dame football and am wondering if that counts as causing the stranger to work. I know the college kids don’t get paid, but the production crew does.

10/14/2023 Had a willful setback. I still watched television and football. However, I also ran some laundry, bought lotto at the gas station and an iced coffee and pumpkin/cream pie at McDonald’s. Even though I cleaned the kitty litter yesterday, I just cleaned it again because I thought it needed it.

10/21/2023 Went to McDonald’s this morning, watched television and football, picked up a mess, took trash out, and bought lotto this afternoon.

10/28/2023 Went to McDonald’s, the pharmacy, and the gas station. I also watched television and football.

11/04/2023 Went to McDonald’s, the gas station, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. I also watched football and television.

11/11/2023 Went to McDonald’s and the gas station. Did daily sweepstakes on my phone. Watched television and college football.

11/18/2023 Did daily sweeps, watched TV and football. Also went to McDonald’s and the gas station.

11/25/2023 Did sweeps on my phone, watched TV and football. Went to gas station, McDonald’s, and Piggly Wiggly.

12/02/23 Went to McDonald’s twice, the gas station, and watched football and television.

12/09/23 Did much better. I only watched tv.

12/23/23 I did some online sweepstakes this morning, watched tv, and I plan on watching the NFL games.

1/13/24 After a few better observed Sabbaths, I went to the gas station, Piggly Wiggly and Dollar General today.

1/20/24 Shaved, showered, did a load of laundry, cleaned up some cat messes, cleaned downstairs kitty litter, and did some sweepstakes online.

2/03/24 Did some stuff on my phone – emails and PCH (Publisher’s Clearing House) did a load of laundry, and scooped the kitty litter.

2/17/24 Did my daily sweeps on my phone. Texted my mom. Took a shirt out of the dryer. After sunset, but before dark I cleaned up the kitty litter and picked up a few things to throw in the trash.

2/24/24 Did my daily sweeps, checked my email a few times, and went on X. Texted my mom using my own words.

3/02/24 Did my daily sweeps, checked email throughout the day, and texted my mom using my own words.

3/09/24 Did daily sweeps on my phone and cleaned up some kitty messes. I don’t know if anyone has read this far, but I feel like I’m doing somewhat better. I fought the urge to go to McDonald’s and the gas station. I need to keep in mind that as so often is the case, it can wait till tomorrow.

3/16/24 Did daily sweeps on my phone.

3/23/24 Did daily sweeps on my phone and sent a few texts using my own words.

3/30/24 Did my daily phone sweepstakes and sent some texts. I also took some trash to the dump.

4/06, 4/13, 4/20, 4/27, 5/05 Still doing daily sweeps on my phone. On 5/05 picked up some messes. These things could wait till after dark, but I have had poor impulse control regarding them. They seem minor, but in my opinion have prohibited living a perfect Sabbath.

5/11/24 Carried out trash, bought lotto, bought a burger and fries, and cleaned up a kitty mess.

5/18/24 Cleaned cat mess, emptied dehumidifier twice, carried out trash, and bought lotto. Went to Burger King for lunch and got an iced coffee at McDonald’s.

5/25/24 Picked up a few things, did a few things on my phone.

6/01/24 Did a few things on my phone. Went out and got the mail. Handed the postman an incorrectly addressed letter as he drove by when I was at the mailbox.

6/08/24 Picked up a few things, adjusted my mattress, went out and got the mail.

7/06/24 After a few better Sabbaths, on this one I went to the gas station, picked up a few things, arranged my mattress, emptied the dehumidifier, and did some things on my phone.

7/13/24 Picked up kitty mess, did daily sweeps and email on my phone, adjusted my mattress and made my bed.

7/20/24 Picked up a few kitty messes, did daily sweeps and email, adjusted mattress, went to gas station and bought lotto.

7/27/24 Did my daily sweeps and email, cleaned a cat mess, bought lottery at the gas station, bought a pizza, went to an ATM.

8/03/24 Cleaned kitty litter and a small mess, adjusted mattress, emptied dehumidifier, got a ride to pick up my car, went to Piggly Wiggly, went to gas station for lotto, did my daily sweeps and email. Went to hardware store, Walmart, and Taco Bell. Admittedly, not my best lived Sabbath.

8/10/24 Did daily sweeps and email, adjusted mattress, checked snail mail.

8/17/24 Cleaned two cat messes, adjusted mattress – for some reason it slides to the left while I sleep, went to McDonald’s for an iced coffee, went to gas station for lotto, and did daily sweeps and email.

8/24/24 Cleaned cat messes and kitty litter, adjusted mattress and Christmas tree(out for testing or very early celebration), emptied dehumidifier, picked up some cat hair, got mail, went to gas station for lottery tickets, did daily sweeps and email. Basically I did what I wanted too which exemplified disobedience and poor impulse control.

8/31/24 Filled water pitcher, adjusted mattress, did daily sweeps and email, went and got U.S. mail.

9/07/24 It’s been about a year since my first post on this log. Overall I’m not sure if I’ve improved much. You would think it would be easy to do nothing – yet I have difficulty with it. Did daily sweeps and email, bought lotto at the gas station and an iced coffee at McDonald’s, checked US mail, filled up water pitcher and watched football.

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Christian

My Sin

The Lord has helped me to quit looking at porn. He has also helped me to quit smoking. However, I have not been keeping the Sabbath as I should. If you happen to be reading this, your prayers to do better are appreciated.

Exodus 20:8-11 KJV
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [11] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Isaiah 58:13-14 KJV
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: [14] Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

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Christian, Inspirational

Least

So yesterday I woke up thinking about the Sabbath. I was specifically thinking about a conversation I had via email with a person at Chick-fil-A. I wanted to inform the owner he had the wrong day to be closed. I believe the Sabbath is to be observed from Friday eve to Saturday eve. Leviticus 23:32.

The conversation ended with the employee asking, can we both agree Sunday is the day most people observe as to the Lord. We left the conversation there, but it’s been gnawing at me. I want to go back and ask him and the owner is the day off for the people or for God? I believe God would want the Sabbath observance on the correct day.

So that being said, how did I proceed to live my Sabbath? I bought lotto tickets, I went to McDonald’s twice for coffee, Taco Bell once for lunch, and then finally I did some shopping at Family Dollar.

Why do I tell you this? I found excuses to do each of the above things I mentioned. While I didn’t work myself other than perhaps driving I did cause the stranger in my gates to work. Exodus 20:10.

There is 1 John 1:9 and I hope I do better. I want to share in the heritage of Jacob. Isaiah 58:13-14.

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Christian, Inspirational

A Day to Worship

I just watched an Adventist show, Beyond the Search, promoting the worship of the Lord on Saturday. I largely agreed with it, especially with the historical investigation on how a counterfeit Sunday took it’s place.

So what day should I worship? Is it Saturday or is it Sunday?

My answer is: wouldn’t it be nice if we met to worship the Lord seven days a week? And kept the Sabbath? The Sabbath is actually to be celebrated Friday eve to Saturday eve. Leviticus 23:32. If you ever desired to keep the Sabbath, a perfect keeping is described in Isaiah 58:13-14.

I was once interested in joining the Amish. I read an article where an Amish writer said if you want to live as the Amish do – go ahead and do so. You don’t need to come and join an Amish community. What’s my point? You don’t need to join the Seventh Day Adventists to observe the Sabbath. If you wish to continue church services on Sunday, you can still honor the Lord by keeping his Sabbath on Saturday and worshipping on Sunday.

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Christian, Inspirational

Is Not Working, Work?

Is keeping the Sabbath work for you? It shouldn’t be, but will examine why it might seem like it.

First, when is the Sabbath? Discovering the truth takes a little work. Do you think Sunday is the Sabbath? It isn’t, even in the Roman calendar we have adopted and live by, Sunday is the first day of the week. With some exploration we can discover that Saturday is the Seventh or last day of the week. However, with further study we find it’s actually Friday eve to Saturday eve.

Leviticus 23:32 KJV
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

This is the only verse that gives a time frame for observing Sabbath Days. It is backed up by Jewish tradition. You may ask why? If you look at Genesis 1, you will find the days of creation were from eve to eve, one day was the evening and the morning.

The command is one of the Ten Commandments and is repeated in more than one verse.

Exodus 20:8-11 KJV
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [11] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is , and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

So can it be work to observe the Sabbath? It might be. There may be a controversy with your employer asking for the time off.

And then you might wonder how do I keep the Sabbath? Isaiah offers a blessing if we keep it as he proffers:

Isaiah 58:13-14 KJV
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord , honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: [14] Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it .

I have found this difficult. Not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. These are hard at least for me to do. I think Jesus established in the New Testament that we may do good on the Sabbath, but I have not learned how to reconcile all these things in actual observance.

If you observe the Sabbath and would like to comment on how you celebrate the Sabbath, please feel free to comment.

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Christian, Inspirational

Discernment

Hebrews 10:16-17 KJV

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; [17] And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Which laws do you allow God to write on your heart?

The Church of Christ denomination says it is a command to sing and to sing a capella. As God loveth a cheerful giver, He surely appreciates the cheerful singer. Musical instruments? Psalm 150. Maybe God enjoys a capella, but I don’t think it’s a matter of righteousness, it’s more a matter of your lack of understanding. It is in my opinion a tradition of man, an idea of early Church of Christ preachers.

The Church of Christ spends hours out of every year claiming holiness in a capella, yet the COC denomination cannot read and understand 1 Corinthians 14:34-38. It is clearly a New Testament command and one that no churches keep. If you are ignorant of these verses, skip them, but read on.

Neither can the Church of Christ denomination comprehend all of the Ten Commandments. They do not keep the Sabbath, nor believe it should be kept. 9 out of 10? Maybe. I would argue it’s a slippery slope. All ten are incorporated into the New Testament.

So what part of the Law of Jesus is in your heart and on your mind?

I believe what you let the Lord write there, he will also help you to keep. Discernment is a gift of God.

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