Sabbath Truth – Free Videos!

This free website has instructional videos and articles about the Sabbath. One of the prominent features available through this group is a 10-part series understanding the history of the Sabbath.

Just click the link below to access this FREE resource!

http://www.sabbathtruth.com/free-resources/seventh-day-video-series/id/966/the-seventh-day-part-1

Cause & Effect

by Brian Knowles

(This article is an excerpt from the May-June 2006 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

“Life, as it daily unfolds on this planet, is largely a matter of cause & effect. Things don’t just happen – they happen for reasons. We don’t always know the reasons, but if we probe deeply enough, we may discover at least some of them. My wife, for example, suffers from migraine headaches (as do some 23 million other Americans). She knows some of the reasons why she gets these devastating headaches – food allergies for example – but she doesn’t yet know the main reason. She can reduce the number of headaches she gets by avoiding the offending foods, but she cannot eradicate them entirely, because there is some deeper cause of which she is as yet unaware. For many years, I have been subject to asthmatic attacks. I know virtually all of the triggers for these attacks, so, for the most part I am able to avoid them.

There are some things – like smog and pollen – that I can’t realistically avoid, so when those are bad, I experience symptoms. I do what I can to control those symptoms with patent medicines and efforts to eat “clean” and detoxify my body. (Yes, I realize that the use of patent medicines and detoxification are mutually exclusive ideas.) I stay away from certain kinds of dogs, all cats and horses, and, where possible, dust. These are minor examples of cause & effect. The condition of the whole world is the cumulative result of a myriad of cause & effect factors, many of which we don’t fully understand, some of which we do, and others about which we are in denial. Some of the causes of present day problems were set in motion centuries – perhaps millennia – ago. Like ripples in a lake, they spread out until they finally hit the shore. When we, as Christians, seek to analyze these cause & effect factors, we are sometimes guilty of gross oversimplification. In many cases, causes are multiple and complex. Everything bad that happens is not simply the result of “sin.” Sometimes it’s a lack of expertise or knowledge on the part of someone who’s causing something…”

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 8, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/tss/519/tss_519.pdf

Is Christ the “End” of the Sabbath? (Romans 10:1-4)

By Kelly McDonald, Jr.

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1-4 – NKJV)

The Greek word for “end” is teleos, and it can mean “to terminate, a goal, the purpose at which something is directed, or a tax.” Some put forth the idea that this verse means that Christ is the termination of the Law. What does it really mean?

One thing to keep in mind when we study the Bible is that every verse has a context. The meaning of this verse can be ascertained by previous statements by Paul in the letter to the Romans and also by the Words of Jesus.

In an another blog, we explained that Jesus did not come to destroy, terminate, or loosen the law (CLICK HERE to read this article). He came to fulfill it or fill its meaning to the full. When Jesus came, the meaning of the Law became magnified.

In Romans 3:31, Paul provided more context for us that clarifies this subject. “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” The Greek word for void is katargeo, and it means “to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative – to deprive of force, influence or power… to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency or terminate”. So, our faith in Christ does not weaken the power or influence of the Law. It does not terminate the law’s effectiveness. Instead, the law is upheld or established by our faith. It is made more firm.

In Romans 3:31, Paul established a foundation of understanding for us to properly interpret Romans 10:1-4. From the context of Paul’s own letter and the words of Jesus, we can see that the proper interpretation of Romans 10:4 is that Christ is the goal or purpose of the Law.

Our Salvation in Christ should result in obedience to the Law, not terminate it. This is definitely true for the Sabbath; Jesus declared Himself Lord of this day (Mark 2:27-28).  This means that the purpose of the Sabbath is Christ, who honored it throughout His life.

Kelly is the President of the BSA www.biblesabbath.org

Sabbath Action Blast!

But the rest of us. . . well, we’ll be mentally high-fiving those creative people who’ve found ways to really celebrate God’s special day! In these pages are 101 of the best Sabbath activity ideas that Guide editors have ever seen ─ nearly 2 years’ worth of fun! Some of these activities are great for groups, while others are perfect for solo ventures. And whether you plan ahead or flip through on the spur of the moment, you’re sure to find something to make you smile, laugh, have fun, and learn about God!

To order this book, just click the link below:

https://biblesabbath.org/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=103&=SID

Abigail

By Lenny Cacchio

My friend Ramon Coleman gave a sermon recently about a woman named Abigail. You can read her story in I Samuel 25.

Abigail was the wife of a rich but foolish man named Nabal. More than foolish, Nabal was coarse and greedy, profane and selfish. He and Abigail lived in an area where the soon-to-be king David and his 600-man retinue were active, and those men, being honorable men, protected Nabal and his flocks from poachers and predators.

Nabal, crude as he was, returned the favor by delivering insults to David and his band. The verbal slugfest escalated into near warfare, with David vowing to kill Nabal and all his men.

Enter Abigail. She heard about the impending attack, and — with cool head, wise words, and big heart — she encountered David and his men on their way to attack and persuaded him to return to camp.

After the sermon my younger daughter asked me a question. “Why is it that we stereotype women as reacting with emotion?” A corollary question might be, “Why do we stereotype men as the ones who act on cool logic?”  Here is an example from Scripture of a woman acting with grace under pressure while the men were hurling insults at each other and going for their swords.  People might be surprised that this is what the Bible holds up as a good example of womanhood, but there it is right in the middle of the Old Testament.

Scripture confirms what we often see in life, that men’s egos and pride often lead to emotional reactions with potentially lethal results. Just as important, the Biblical view of the ideal woman might not be what you have been told it is.

Lenny Cacchio has a blog on the Bible Sabbath Association website. You can follow him at the following weblink: http://biblesabbath.org/index.php?pr=Lenny_Cacchio_Blog

This blog was originally posted on Sunday, March 6, 2016

Greetings!

The BSA now has a Legal Directory where you can find a link to a directory of lawyers and previous legal cases to assist you in the event you are discriminated against because of the Sabbath.

Here is a link!

http://biblesabbath.org/index.php?pr=Legal_Directory

God Bless!

Sabbath Evening (Erev Shabbat) Family Service

(also Called “Erev Shabbat”, Hebrew for Evening of the Sabbath)

Throughout the week, we are all running to and fro. We are going to ballgames, work, school, and other events. The Erev Shabbat Service is a special service performed by the Jewish people for over 2,000 years. It would have been performed in the time of Jesus. It is a great way to welcome in the Sabbath as a family and make the dividing line between Holy Time of the Sabbath and the common time of the week we are leavening behind.

While it is mostly performed by Sabbath keepers with a Messianic background, it is a great learning tool for all Sabbath keepers. It is a way to speak life and blessing into your family. It is a great way to spend interactive time with your family.

Just click the link below to access this FREE resource!

https://kellymcdonaldjr.com/erev-shabbat-ceremony/

The Fire, the Water, & the Desert Three Elements Necessary for Divine Revelation

by Daniel Botkin

(this article is an excerpt from the May-June 2005 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

“When Israel received the Torah at Mount Sinai, the revelation of God’s Word was given in the context of fire, water, and the desert. “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because Yahweh descended on it in fire,” and “Yahweh spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire,” Moses said (Ex. 19:18 and Deut. 9:10). Later, in the Song of Moses, the revelation of God’s Word is compared to water: “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass” (Deut. 32:2). The same Song of Moses mentions the desert as the place where Israel received instruction. “He [Yahweh] found him [Israel] in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about. He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye” (Deut. 32:10).

Thus we see that the revelation of God’s Word to Israel is connected to these three elements, the fire, the water, and the desert. We need to experience these three elements in a spiritual sense if we want to receive Divine revelation from God’s written Word, the Holy Scriptures. Some people read the Bible as nothing more than literature or history. If that is all you want to get out of reading the Bible, you do not need to experience the fire, the water, and desert for that. The Bible is a great literary masterpiece and a good source of historical information, but the Word of God is meant to be much more than that. It is meant to be a source of revelation to God’s people. Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus was “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph. 1:17). If we want to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation, we need to experience the fire, the water, and the desert. Let’s consider each of these three elements…”

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 9, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/tss/513/tss_513.pdf