Are You Special to God, Because You Keep the Sabbath?
In reality no one keeps the Sabbath, even when they think they do. If you think you keep the Sabbath, then let me recommend to you the article penned by former Seventh Day Adventist Robert K. Sanders, who penned "Renouncing The Sabbath After 47 Years as of 2002." Also see his website at Truth or Fables?. The "Sabbath" day of the week is a great bondage to many human beings, who think that by not working on the seventh day, they will be favored in the eyes of God. NOT SO!
The religious world is overrun with religious people who think they are favored for one reason or another. In some religious circles, the women wear long drab dresses to the ankles and a net-bonnet on their head, as if this signifies some form of virtue. NOT SO! Going to church on Sunday does not incur some special status in the eyes of God either. Religious minded human beings have always thought in terms of rituals, legalistic rules, sacrifices (animal and such) and no end to "laws" attributed to God.
No doubt God the Creator is much smarter than the religions of men, give Him credit for. There is NOTHING more profound than simply LOVING others and God is no fool. Keeping the Sabbath is nonsense. LOVING others is what makes sense. You can go church every Sunday or every Saturday and it means nothing. Want means something is LOVING others. God is NOT STUPID and what pleasure would God, who is more intelligent than all human beings combined and exponentially so, have in rituals, as if such rituals are "important?" Why would keeping the Sabbath be important to God? Why would going to church on Sunday be important to God?
I would venture to say that far more important to God, than tithing, church going, feast-keeping or submission to fake religious authority, is to LOVE others as you love yourself and blessed are the peacemakers and blessed are the merciful and blessed are the meek. The real reason for church going is not for the benefit of church goers, but for the $profits in the pockets of pastors. Causing people to live in FEAR of not going to church on the Sabbath and observing annual "Holy" days, guarantees $income for the cult church rulers for the rest of their lives, and that is the real reason for more religious nonsense than Carter has liver pills.
You are never special in the eyes of God because you keep the Sabbath or go to church on Sunday, or grow a beard, or wear ugly dresses to your ankles.
Van Robison
Well, I would suppose that if you tried to observe the Sabbath in order to love God and know Him better, it COULD be helpful.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you had lovely potlucks and invited people in to feed them (some wandering by in the streets) who really were hungry, I suppose that MIGHT tend to exhibit love.
Religions thrive, in my view, because the adherents learn to compare themselves to others. Either to others in their group or others in the world. We compare out of fear of not being good enough, or achieving enough or being enough.
ReplyDeleteAlong with no organization being able to be filled with thousands or millions who all think the same thing, as commanded, Christians are told to compare themselves to Jesus and God. Even told to become perfect as God is perfect or mature whatever rendition you choose. Either way, it is an impossible ideal (Both Jesus and God are ideal constructs) and only fear of not measuring up comes from this.
I never met anyone who was perfect as the perception of God is perfect. I never met anyone who was like the Gospel Jesus all, without sin etc. Even Paul told others to "follow me as I follow Christ." Had anyone told Paul, "No, you follow me as I follow Christ," of course, he'd be marked.
The opposite of love is not hate. It is Fear. His is the fruit of fear. It is its expression.
So as long as people are stuck in comparing themselves to everyone from God, Jesus and other human beings who think they are to be followed, you'll get fear of not measuring up.
The way to cast out this fear is to give up the idea of having to compare yourself, your perspectives, your practices or your beliefs based on your own mind and study with anyone else.
Then you can love yourself and from that loving others as you love and respect yourself can follow.
Or so it seems...
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ReplyDeleteBack to the trunk of the tree. There was no god and no seven day creation week to commemorate either on Saturday or Sunday or Friday.
ReplyDeleteAs was pointed out, the purpose is support for the priesthood. This is accomplished through promoting fear and self-righteousness.
The priesthood was a good gig for whoever was crafty enough to land it in whatever religion and still is. Imams do as well and Christian ministers. It's an easy and privileged perk filled life filled with power over dumb people.
I did''t say the opposite of love was hate. I said it was not hate, it is fear
ReplyDeletedennis
Want to see a perfect description of basically the same thing we all experienced in WCG? Take a look at this blog article by someone who was brought up in what they called "pagan."
ReplyDeletehttp://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/09/23/why-i-am-an-atheist-unnaturalphilosopher/
No, no, no!
ReplyDeleteThe opposite of love is NOT fear!
The opposite of love is apathy.
Not that anyone has enough interest to care....
yes I am special. I am a chosen priesthood, a royal something or other. I am chosen, set apart, called out, washed, sanctified, purified, liberated and dehydrated...
ReplyDeleteLIve with it
That was a great article Allen.
ReplyDeleteMaking a fetish out of a "shadow" blinds one to the truth behind it.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the Jews of Jesus' time couldn't get the message.
I don't believe church or preachers have any authority over Christians, at least not in the military or governmental sense. However, to the extent to which they provide spiritual nourishment, foment love amongst the brethren, provide a place to take communion, provide an outlet for group praise of God, and attempt to influence culture in positive directions, I do see value in them. As a group, we tend to be very sensitive to the potential for exploitation, abuse, fear motivation, etc, and sometimes fail to notice and compliment good.
Because of lack of regulation, and because churches can be raised up with a minimum of capital, and are freely supported via donations, and because those who portray themselves as spiritual guides often use the proceeds to "spike" their status or lifestyle, there is considerable potential for abuse. That's why one must fervently concentrate on one's personal relationship with God, and never, ever substitute church-going for a relationship with God. Unless you are willing to walk away from anything in life to preserve integrity, that thing enslaves you, whether it be a new Mercedes, or a church.
BB
ReplyDeleteHerbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church of God considered Ellen G. White to be a false prophetess. Her visions were weird, wrong, and sometimes even strange plagiarisms (See The White Lie by Walter T. Rea.). She had nothing to do with God or the truth. SDAs worship another false, long-haired Jesus that they borrowed from the Catholics.
The Sabbath was made FOR (not against) MAN (not just the Jews). It was given by God in one of His own Ten Commandments. It was observed by Jesus in New Testament times. A weekly day of rest is a good idea and is not "nonsense" as some people who want you to work 24/7/365 would like to say.
That stupid former Seventh Day Adventist [Robert K. Sanders] who rejected the Sabbath because he finally saw that Ellen White was a fraud reminds me of another stupid idiot [Tom Harpur, author of The Pagan Christ] who thought that the Bible was of pagan origin when he finally saw that the Catholic Church got its teachings from paganism. Sure Ellen White was a false prophetess. Sure the Catholic Church got its teachings from paganism. But what do either of these have to do with the Bible?
Yes, those who obey God ARE different from those who do not. Those who obey God remember the biblical, weekly, seventh-day Sabbath commanded by God. EVERYONE ELSE DOES SOMETHING ELSE!!! A billion Catholics observe Sunday (The first day of the week.), as do another billion Protestants in her daughter churches. A billion Muslims regard Friday (The sixth day of the week.) as their day of assembly. Millions who chose the Theory of Evolution as their religion so that they could be grossly sexually immoral and perverted don’t want to observe any day and want people to work every day. Some former WCG kooks who don’t want to remember the Sabbath try to say that every day is a Sabbath or that Jesus is the Sabbath. As the apostle John wrote, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (I John 5:19, NIV).
HWA taught that the first four commandments tell how to love God and that the last six commandments tell how to love other people. “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). As the apostle John wrote, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (I John 5:3, NIV). Some people think that the Sabbath commandment is a burden, but this is only because sinners like the Sunday-keeping Catholics and others often want to persecute, torture, and even murder those who try to obey God. There IS a difference between the righteous and the wicked.
I believe the Messiah kept the Shabbat. The NT believers had it as their custom.
ReplyDeleteWe are told to walk in the Messiah's steps, to follow his example. That's enough for me.
My sincere belief has nothing in common with the phonies and thieves of the COGs - they have their reward.
I respect your right to decide for yourself what you believe or not.
But you can't judge correctly in a lump sum, each must be judged separately for their actions.
If you believe that we bear no responsibility for our actions, ok, I hope that works out for you.
Maybe the opposite of apathy is zeal (passion), rather than love. A manifest of love is zeal, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the opposite of love is fear. The manifest of fear is hate.
The anonymous HWA disciple who appears a couple of posts before this one exemplifies pure and undefiled...nuttiness.
ReplyDelete"stupid"
"stupid idiot"
"former WCG kooks"
Ah, there's that familiar loving tone, so easily identified with the COGs.
And, of course, if the HWAite can give an example of "where sinners like Sunday-keeping Catholics" are persecuting, torturing and/or murdering those who try to obey God, I'm all ears.
Assistant Deacon, that HWA follower also touts the fallacy that "Millions . . . chose the Theory of Evolution as their religion so that they could be grossly sexually immoral and perverted. . . ."
ReplyDeleteIn truth, nobody needs to choose to believe what is obvious from the evidence. The maple leaves outside my window are turning yellow; I do not need to choose to believe they are because I can see them with my own two eyes.
Day before yesterday the weather service prophesied frost overnight; falling afternoon temperatures under a clear sky pointed to the same conclusion. I could have chosen to believe my tomatoes would not freeze, but instead went with the evidence and harvested the ones that were ripening. Good move; they would have been destroyed otherwise.
Where the HWA follower goes wrong is in projecting his/her own habits onto others. He/she has no evidence for special creation but chooses to believe it anyway. In contrast, I did not choose to believe in evolution. After looking at the evidence and studying how experts analyzed it, I realized the experts' conclusions were valid in the same way I accepted the NOAA frost prediction.
Another thing: my sexual morality or lack thereof had no bearing on my accepting the evidence for evolution. The two issues are totally separate.
I don't claim to run all parts of my life with coldly rational examination of evidence. Like theists, I choose to believe some ideas in the absence of evidence. For example, I choose to believe in treating other people the way I want to be treated. If from time to time someone fails to reciprocate, so be it. I still believe it's the right thing to do, in spite of occasional evidence to the contrary.
I've had numerous Jewish friends over the years (it seems so natural, considering our own background!), and what I've noticed is that those who no longer go to temple really have no bitterness towards the basic belief system or towards their Rabbi, and they don't waste a lot of time trying to find inconsistencies in or attempting to debunk the Torah. As a group, they don't feel as if they've been manipulated, victimized by abuse of authority, or cheated out of donations. There simply is no toxic residue left behind.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably due to the lack of cultic authoritarianism, lack of deliberate lies and spurious, misapplied reference materials, intrusive enforcement, and other things present in Armstrongism. No institutionalized and church approved child and wife beating. No speculation and conspiracy theories used to motivate sacrifice or to keep people in fear and on edge.
The Armstrong experience has been compared to spiritual rape, but it was much more damaging than a one-time rape experience. It's more akin to being forced to perform analingus on your repeated rapist. The good news is that there is healing for that. Problem is, things that were a long time in the making often require a long term to heal.
Another comment about those millions who "chose the Theory of Evolution as their religion so that they could be grossly sexually immoral and perverted." If this connection between belief and behavior held up, we would expect states with the highest number of fundamentalist believers to have the lowest numbers of teen pregnancy, since youngsters would grow up practicing the godly virtue of chastity.
ReplyDeleteHowever, an article currently on Slate.com ("Why Are New York's Teen Pregnancy Rates So Much Lower Than Mississippi's?") reports that in Mississippi, where creationism holds sway, "the teen birth rate is 55 out of 1,000 girls ages 15-19. The state of New York's is less than half that, at 22.6 births."
Note that New York families, who are much more likely to accept evolution, raise children who get knocked up less. The difference doesn't necessarily mean NY kids are getting it on less than MS youth; the NY teens no doubt use birth control more. What the MS stats do show is that rejection of evolution does not lead people to abandon what Anon 9:08 calls sexual immorality.
Add to that the fact that fundamentalist divorce rates are higher than those of atheists, and that rates of homicide and other violent crime tend to be highest in the Bible belt, and it is hard to see how creationists can claim with a straight face that fighting evolution is the way to keep America from sinking into a morass of immorality.
Certainly the ACOG rejection of evolution did not guarantee that every minister would become a paragon of virtue and charity, as many posts on this site have established.
Re: The Teen Pregnancy Rates mentioned by Retired Prof-
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad thing, how Christianity and ignorance very often go hand-in-hand.
While I don't see eye-to-eye with him, I applaud the efforts of the Christian Matthew Paul Turner, for turning the spotlight on the hatefulness, damage and ignorance that so much of mainstream Christianity foments on our society, in the hope that the many millions of Christian folks involved in that crap will clean up their act.
Norm