yeah Brother Chainsaw maybe didn't have enough to worry about?

It was all about being a 'disciple' and apparently I couldn't be one unless I was available to the church 24/7.

Hmmm, to sabbath or not to sabbath. Hebrews 3 & 4 talks about entering his rest. We who believe have entered his rest, the rest is Jesus himself. Here is a great article on it you can read which explains it clearly.
http://www.bethelministries.com/sabbath.htm
Also read Galatians. "oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you?" So NT Christians are not required to observe the sabbath (Saturday) because we observe the sabbath every day by being Born-again. We no longer need to obtain righteousness by observing the law but by grace through faith. Jesus himself did not observe the sabbath and rebuked those who did and complained that good WORKS were done on the sabbath.

Be free in Christ. If you try to be righteous by the law you will be condemned by it.

Romans 14:5-6:
"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind."
"He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."


Don't know about you guys, but Sunday works best for me

Me too!!

Can anybody shed any light on keeping certain days holy . My wife and i were saved in ph nearly ten years apart ,she has always been used to christmass concerts carol service etc and it is a big thing in the run up to the day outreaches to invite people .I remember in the eighties christmass was a big no no dissmissed as pagan worldly and babylonian in origin all to do with the druids fertillity rights etc christmass trees especially singled out as per jeremiah 10 .I can still recall standing by the notice board with a confused group of ministry and congregation who could not work out why overseas pastors had sent xmas postcards to our church in which they and thier wives were standing in front of decorated trees.We had just spent christmass eve witnessing outside bars in town against that.

As Darth pointed out, Hebrews chapter 4 sets out the guidelines for the sabbath. I think you will find that as NT believers, the 'sabbath' is refering to our salvation. 'Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.'
By the way, if you want to call any day the sabbath, it is Saturday as it is the seventh day and the lords day is the first day, Sunday. Hence the weekend! Generally, you don't work Saturday and you go to church on Sunday.

hoggie wrote:I remember in the eighties christmass was a big no no dissmissed as pagan worldly and babylonian in origin

Yeah, I think the book Babylon Mystery Religion had something to do with that. I don't know if throwing out your Christmas tree ever caught on in Potters House Australia. But when I first got saved as an adult, I read that book and I remember being into the whole hating-Christmas-trees thing (there's a scripture in Jeremiah that talks about trees that are adorned with silver and gold and worshipped).

But the fact is, choosing to celebrate the birth of Christ on Dec 25 does a lot more good than it does evil (we all know Dec 25 is not the real day). No one associates christmas trees with paganism. No one associates Christmas with pagans either (except certain christian sects). Instead of using Christmas as an opportunity to be a witness or example to our family, we end up using it to isolate ourselves from them - carrying on about how Jesus wasn't born this day and it's a pagan holiday and trees are idols, and everything else. Our family isn't going to see the love of Christ through that - they just see a nutcase.

So true. One christmas I remember being at my mums and I opened the door for my sister. She said merry christmas and I said... 'Yeah, if you know what it really means!' So obnoxious! .

'Sabbath' translates to rest and refreshing and we know one the promises is to enter His 'rest', which many commentators believe is the 1000 year mellenial reign. Commentators say the 'sabbath' commandment is about negelecting Godly things ie Remember the sabbath and keep it holy = do not neglect Godly things.

DaVe wrote:Romans 14:5-6:
"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind."
"He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."


Don't know about you guys, but Sunday works best for me

Yep, in some Muslim countries Christians meet on Friday, since everyone else has closed up for the Muslim observance on Friday.

Much like many Christain Jews still have service on Saturday.......


Alpine

Mythbuster wrote:What sparked this thought is I remember getting berrated by a brother in the church (whilst I was in PH) because I did shift work and I would only ever have about one in every four sundays off. I was told that I couldn't serve God properly because I had shift work...

Apparently not so much a problem in the PH fellowship Stateside. Shift workers are not made to feel inferior and are active in ministry. Doctors, who all work shifts, led a major impact team into west Africa a few years back.
I think this is also been due to the military element in many fellowships in that nation, being in the US services still has a place of honour and prestige. One of the PH fellowship churches practically exist solely to serve the brethren that are US Army, Calleen, Texas which Larry Mitchell (no relation to PM) pastors. So 'shift' work needs to be taken in the stride of the ministry and life.
If memory serves me correctly, Calleen is the largest army base in the US.

It is perhaps (was) more of an issue in the Australian fellowship than in the US.

Alpine

Thanks for the Mythy and Alpine.... thats been very encouraging to me. Clayts is about to start FIFO next month. Its one of those mentalities that are hard to shake. Something i feel we have to justify, but for us, it is a personal choice and actually benefits us greatly by having a consistant roster and him getting paid for the work he does as opposed to doing 17+ hour days and no overtime.. and the fact that he is a very qualified shotfirer and unforunately not a lot of things need blowing up around the city! He was always very encouraged to find a "9-5" job instead of his current job in which he can be a way a few days this week, maybe next week, dont know. Wont find out til a couple of days before. He spent 12 years building skills and qualifications to make him better and he was sposed to throw that away to work at the council to put bums on seats?

If you have a healthy relationship with God that is ALL, that matters, not the ticking of boxes religious people get you to tick.