FOX NEWS AUTHOR, SUNDAY REST

Prophetic Intelligence Briefings BY: Pastor Hal Mayer

Fox News Author, Sunday Rest · April 30, 2012

“Let’s make Sunday a day of rest, for God’s sake,” wrote a pastor on Fox News. “We dance in rhythm with God when we keep the Sabbath. The reason we are called to take a day of rest is simple. Humans tend to forget that we did not make the world and thus, that the world does not depend upon us.”

The author tells the story about a Jewish boy who was a talented basketball player, so good in fact that when he graduated from high school, the coach retired his jersey. David, however, would not play on Friday nights because of the Sabbath. Their team often lost when David wasn’t there.

When asked if it bothered him that his friends were losing the game because he was observing the Sabbath, David responded, “No one makes me do this.” “Sure, he felt a tug, but that was the whole point. Sabbath was his chance to remember what was really real. Once three stars were visible in the Friday night sky, his identity as a Jew was more real to him than his identity as the star of our basketball team.”

The author then argued, “It is essential for Christians to create regular, intentional spaces of time in which we do not work, e-mail, fax, clean, or do laundry. A time when we allow our hearts to settle and the voices to hush.”

That means Sunday for most Christians.

“Sabbath is a time when we remember that God made the world and rested; that He calls us to rest with him, to hear his voice, to be aware of his presence… “If busyness and idolatry plague our collective life, Sabbath is a means by which we can become more like the person God created us to be.

“For the last few years, I’ve rigorously worked to keep a full Sabbath day in my weekly schedule.”

“Keeping Sabbath convicts me that the world can run just fine without me. I see a clear role for myself in the divine story… Whole. Rested. Listening. Attentive. Cleansed. This is what Sabbath is about. It creates the space in our lives for us to remember who we are.”

Americans work hard, maybe too hard. [Sabbath] is an invitation to Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, and Christians. One day a week. Rest. For God’s sake.

These are similar arguments used in other parts of the world (particularly Europe) to promote Sunday rest. This advocate for Sunday rest is attempting to do the same thing that John Paul II and Benedict XVI are trying to do, by applying the arguments for the Sabbath to Sunday.

“I have been shown that Satan is stealing a march upon us. The law of God, through the agency of Satan, is to be made void. In our land of boasted freedom, religious liberty will come to an end. The contest will be decided over the Sabbath question, which will agitate the whole world. Our time for work is limited, and God calls us as ministers and people to be minutemen. Teachers as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves must come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. There are many who do not understand the prophecies relating to these days, and they must be enlightened.” Evangelism, page 237