President's
Sabbath Testimony: “Jesus: My Sabbath”
My experience with the Sabbath began
with Seventh Day Baptists, but not through my family. When I was a
child, my family did not go to church. It was through a friend from
school, Jason Randolph, that I was invited to Vacation Bible School
and then through friends I made at VBS that I was invited to attend
with them every Sabbath. It was later, through other kind people in
the church and community, that my mother started attending with me.
While attending regularly (except
sports seasons) at the Salem SDB Church, I learned the stories of the
Bible. I learned from my Sabbath School teachers, most memorably
Cynthia Brissey, Fredette Leda, Terry Van Horn, Paul and Dusty Davis
and Fred and Dixie Spencer. I learned from my pastors, Ken Davis and
Dale Thorngate. I even learned from some of the older members of our
congregation, Ruth Davis, Melvin Nida, Clifford and Mildred Hansen,
and many others. It was through one of the summer camp programs at
Camp JOY, and through the help of an SCSC worker (Nate Crandall),
that I discovered Jesus as my Savior.
My parents and the Salem SDB Church
significantly impacted the person I am today. However, my reason for
attending church there for most of my time in Salem had nothing to do
with the Sabbath, but rather with the people who also attended that church. I thought it strange that we went to church on Saturday. My
Sabbath-keeping wasn't really challenged until I had interest in a
young woman with a strong Sabbath-keeping family. Through the
influence of this relationship, I experienced my first real conflict
between sports and church and was challenged in how much I really
believe the Bible.
When this relationship ended and I
began my college life, I very much chose myself over my beliefs and
convictions. I might have even swung too far in choosing myself over
my church or my God. I don't live in regret but if I had one of those
“do it all over again moments” I think college would have been
different for me (with the exception of my lovely wife). There were
many bad decisions and many consequences for those decisions but
there was a greater God who was calling me and had always been
calling me into His service.
I graduated from college and went
straight into seminary and into serving a church. After one year of
this, I married my wife and moved near her in North Carolina. In this
move, I found the difficulty that many SDBs face when they move to a
place without a church. How do I keep the Sabbath in a place without
an SDB church? My work was accommodating in my Sabbath-keeping
requests and we found a Messianic group to worship with but it all to
much felt like I was going through the motions and it certainly did
not feel like the church home I had experienced in Salem.
God provided a way for us to move to
Denver to finish seminary and be reminded of what it feels like to
have a church family again. However, at that time, between working
forty hours a week, raising a child, being married, full time
seminary studies, new friendships being built, and working with the
church, I was restless. There was always something that had to be
done. There was never enough time to do it. As a SDB pastor, not
going to work on Sabbath is not an option. It was a seven day a week
time of busyness. I truly believed that if I was not doing something
all the time that I was lazy.
Then, as I cried out to God, I
realized that my rest is not in a day but in a man, Jesus. Through my
faith in Him, I could lay burdens at His feet. Through Him, I could
trust that I would be taken care of in my physical rest (that the
world would continue if I rested one day a week). Through Him, I
could rely upon His perfect and completed works rather than my feeble
attempts at righteousness. Through Him, not only could I rest one day
a week but for all eternity by abiding in Him.
This has deepened my understanding of Sabbath and how Jesus is my Sabbath and the Lord of my Sabbath. I pray that others can escape the trap of busyness that I have often found myself in and continue to struggle sometimes to avoid. I pray that you cry out to Jesus to take on your yoke of burden. Sabbath is not solely about stress relief but about a Savior. Sabbath is not solely about rest but about revival. Sabbath is not solely about one day a week but about eternity. Sabbath is not about what you don't do but about all that He did do. Thank God for His Sabbath and for Seventh Day Baptists who don't worship a day but the Lord of that day.
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