There are reports (documented in the comments below) that various ostensibly evangelical congregations are cancelling worship services this Lord’s Day. This has become something of a pattern in recent years. It seems that people, including the congregants, pastors, and church staff are . . . Continue reading →
Sabbath
It Is A Super Lord’s Day Not A Super Bowl Day
In 2018 an estimated 111 million people watched the Super Bowl. That is about 1/3 of all Americans. In our media-fragmented age, in our cord-cutting age, in our on-demand age, rarely do that many people watch the same thing at the same . . . Continue reading →
New: Cocceius’s Federal Theology Of The Sabbath
For good reason the name of J0hannes Cocceius (1603–69) appears regularly in surveys of the history of Reformed theology. His covenant theology, The Doctrine of the Covenant and Testaments of God is one of the most important texts in the history of . . . Continue reading →
What Passion City Gets Right And Wrong About The Sabbath
The last time we saw Atlanta Pastor Louie Giglio it was January 2013 and he was embroiled in controversy because he had been invited by President Obama to participate in his second inauguration. It had been discovered that Giglio held the biblical . . . Continue reading →
A “Rest” To Be Resisted: Resting From The Sabbath
Passion City, an evangelical congregation in Atlanta founded in 2009 by Louie Giglio (whom the reader may remember from the inauguration controversy), announced this week that the congregation will be taking a Sabbath from the Sabbath this Lord’s Day and the next. . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On The Christian Sabbath And Intinction
Walter Sobchak is a memorable character in the brilliant Coen Brothers’ film, The Big Lebowski. For all that he is not (e.g., careful about his use of certain a Anglo-Saxon profanity), Walter is faithful to his commitment to Shabbos (the Yiddish term . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (3)
103. What does God require in the fourth Commandment? In the first place, God wills that the ministry of the Gospel and schools be maintained, and that I, especially on the day of rest, diligently attend church, to learn the Word of . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (2)
There are three parts to the Christian faith: theology, piety, and practice. Theology is what we confess and teach the Scriptures to reveal. Piety is our relation to God and practice is the practical outworking of those things. There is a Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (1)
If there was a time when the church needed to stop its business, to rest, to worship, and to set aside time for the care of the poor in their midst, that time is now. At no time in its history has . . . Continue reading →
The Hungarian Reformed Sanctified The Sabbath
We perform divine service publicly according to the sanctification of the Sabbath as follows: by teaching, listening, administering the sacraments, assembling together. On these days, we forbid work that hinders the public sanctification of the Sabbath, As did Christ and the apostles. . . . Continue reading →
A Lonely Citadel Against The 24/7-Culture
If you’re old enough to remember when blue laws were common, Bergen on a Sunday is a nostalgia trip. Kids play road hockey, skateboarders practice kickflips on open swaths of pavement, and you may suddenly notice the cawing of blue jays. The . . . Continue reading →
Audio: The Sabbath Also Grounded In Redemption
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 82: The Holy Law Of God (6)—The Fourth Commandment
That there is a Sabbath is evident in the first chapter in God’s Word. According to Scripture, Almighty God “worked” for six days, six mornings and evenings, and rested the seventh. Have you ever stopped to wonder why Scripture says that God “rested”? Was . . . Continue reading →
Sabbaths Or Sabbath In Colossians 2:16–17?
Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων· 17 ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Col 2:16–17) Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of . . . Continue reading →
The Synod Of Dort On The Sabbath
Session 164, May 17 PM Trans. R. Scott Clark Rules on the observation of the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day, with the agreement of the brothers from Zeeland the following concepts were explained and approved by Doctor Professors of Divinity. In the . . . Continue reading →
Beza On The Sabbath
We say that it is a superstition to esteem one day more holy than another, or to think that to abstain from labor is something which, in itself, pleases God (Rom 14:15, 6; Col 2:16,17). But, following what the Lord has commanded, . . . Continue reading →
The Practice Of The Sabbath In Calvin’s Geneva
Between 1542 and 1609, the Consistory frequently interviewed and sometimes reprimanded people for working on Sunday, whether for pruning trees, making lace, selling tripe, unloading boats, hunting birds, or moving furniture. The Consistory also disciplined people for engaging in recreational activities on . . . Continue reading →
Are There Two Distinct Reformed Views Of The Sabbath?
Does The Continental View Really Exist?
On Twitter Anthony Bradley pointed us to a webpage by Ra McLaughlin on the Sabbath. There is good material there but there are also a couple of items that warrant discussion. The one on which I want to focus in this post . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 24: Give It A Rest—What Christians Can Learn From Chick-Fil-A
Your Creator wants you to take a break. I’m a Chick-Fil-A fan. Love the peach shakes. It’s one of the few places in this area where I can find real sweet tea. There’s another reason to like Chick-Fil-A. They love their employees . . . Continue reading →
What Reformed Confessionalists Can Learn From Orthodox Jews
Sports themes continue on the HB. The Blaze carries a story today about an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston, TX. Last year they earned national attention when they were nearly disqualified from participating in the state basketball tournament because they refused . . . Continue reading →