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December 29, 2008
Hearts And Banjos
Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? —Psalm 85:6
While working my way through graduate school, I taught five-string banjo in a music store. The job provided me with the opportunity to buy a brand-new, professional-quality instrument for nearly half-price.
That was over 30 years ago, and that banjo has accompanied me on ministry efforts around the world. But despite its excellent craftsmanship, eventually it needed to be refurbished. A master repairman pointed out how imperfections had worn into the banjo. He was confident that his repairs would result in the instrument sounding better than new.
I wasn’t disappointed. The action on the strings and the clarity of the sound are astonishingly superior to its original condition when I purchased the instrument.
In a way, our lives are like musical instruments intended for “the praise of the glory of [God’s] grace” (Eph. 1:6). But over time, life wears us down. Our hearts cry out for renewal. The psalmist prayed: “Will You not revive us again?” (Ps. 85:6). The Hebrew word for revive means not only “to restore and refresh” but also “to repair.”
It’s vital that we submit our souls to the Master’s restorative touch. Why not set aside some time for spiritual retreat, and ask the Lord to repair your heart?
Revive us again—
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above. —Mackay
Mayor,
Wondered what your thoughts were on the Sabbath? Been doing a rather long study on the subject, and I wonder how others see the Sabbath, as being on the original Saturday of the Scriptures, or on the Sunday as proclaimed by the Roman Catholic and the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 363)
I must say this single issue has opened doors that I didn’t even know were there, and the lesson has been for me profound!
As the 4th Commandment say we are to honor the Sabbath, doesn’t it say,
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God.... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exod. 20:8-11).
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, and the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 363), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
- Peter Gerermann, “The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,” 2nd ed., p. 50, 1910
[Author’s Note: At this same fourth century Council of Laodicea—in A.D. 363—the following edict was passed: “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath.” The penalty for disobedience was death!]
Christians weren’t to look like Jews in their holy days, so as not to suffer the persecution the Jews were undergoing from Rome at the time. Not what I’d call the right thing to do!
This particular study has taken several weeks of intense study and questioning, and from it I take that Saturday is the Sabbath and the day of Worship not Sunday. Do we change God’s Law and use man’s law, isn’t that outright defying the Word of God?
I wonder how others feel about that?
