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Permalink Reply by David Carl on 7th mo. 13, 2010 at 11:24am

My typical first day looks something like this:

Get to meeting house by 8:30 to help set up
Play guitar for singing from 9:00-9:15
Worship until 10:15, then announcements, prayers, etc.
Put chairs back for next group that uses the sanctuary, put hymnals and literature table away, etc.
A brief "meeting for coffee"
Second hour. Sometimes a "third hour" special meeting for some business.
By now its noon or later. Go home and eat. Rest, read, etc. until about 430.
Pick up a Friend and drive about 30 miles to Friendly Bible Study, then drive home and get back around 9:00.

Much of this is spiritually refreshing of course but sometimes it doesn't exactly feel like a "day of rest!"

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Permalink Reply by Nanna Kapp on 7th mo. 13, 2010 at 11:53am

Wow David, that is quite a schedule. I'm not sure I could keep up with that! But I can tell that you are allowing yourself to be used of God for the blessing of others and that is a wonderful thing which we are all called to.
Thanks for commenting.

Peace to you,

Nanna Kapp

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Permalink Reply by Clark on 7th mo. 14, 2010 at 1:13am

Give thanks! It is nice to see attention being paid to the fourth commandment! :-). Just as Brother David Carl did i will say my sabbath schedule! I follow the 6pm saturday to 6 pm sunday time.

6:00pm: Family sabbath dinner with prayers and scripture reading

9:00pm: private Scripture reading

10:00pm: Philosophize on the scripture

11:00pm: Meditation

11:30pm: Bed

9:00am= Wake up

9:30am= Meeting

10:30am= Meditate in an open field

12:00pm= Read the Bible

2:00pm= Write what ive learned from the weekends scripture reading (my whole family does this)

3:00pm= My family and I get together and share what we have all learned

5:00pm: Family prayer

5:30pm= Family silent worship (in my home) to invite Christ to be with us as the Sabbath closes out

6:00= End of Sabbath! :-)

I take the Sabbath very seriously for our Lord has commanded it. Plus i was part of the Joseph Israelite religious group for a while and we would observe the Jewish sabbath every friday/saturday and i greatly enjoyed it. Now i observe it on the day of the resurrection of the Lord but it is nevertheless still very important in my life. Well hopefully i didnt bore you with my explanation on how i observe my Sabbath! :-)

In Love,
Clark

P.S.,
"the Truth/Way" are a very interesting group of people i must say! Are they the group where the woman never cut their hair and dress plainly (but no bonnets)?

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Permalink Reply by Nanna Kapp on 7th mo. 14, 2010 at 10:44am

Good morning Clark,

I enjoyed learning about how you keep the sabbath. It is a beautiful picture that you present of your family gathered before the Lord. I also agree with meeting the Lord in a quiet place of his own creation and meditating there. And lastly writing out what you have learned, or keeping a journal of spiritual notes is always an excellent idea. One I must confess I have gotten away from and need to return to. Thank you for that reminder. I will be getting a new journal to start that beneficial practice again.

Now, to answer questions on "The Truth" or the "2X2's" here are a couple links that pretty much tell the history. The one link has photos of the men who started the group. In one photo you will see George Walker. (man farthest right). As one of the original leaders or head worker, he was held in very high esteem. I remember growing up that there was always a real buzz when we found he would be coming to our meeting.

I had also met him personally many times as he visited our home and stayed with us a few times when working the field. He died at 104 in 1981. I graduated high school in 1984. So you see, I knew of him through childhood and teens.

Here are those links.

"The Church Without a Name" a book in pdf. As a former member in The Way I can attest that the facts in this book are true.

"History of 'The Truth'"

2X2's - photos of group- funny, I knew many of these people.
"The Truth"

I hope that helps those of you who had questions.

Peace to all,

Nanna Kapp

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 7th mo. 15, 2010 at 12:34am

A few months back I tried to keep first day free for going to meeting and doing activities that contributed to to my relationship with God, family and F/friends. To accomplish it, I worked like a fiend the day before and set up at large number of rules to follow.

Then God stepped in. I firmly believe that God has a sense of humor and uses it regularly to get my attention.

It started with the brackets in the kitchen cabinet giving way after I returned from meeting. Sacks of flour, sugar, rice and beans all over the floor. I lost that sabbath feeling as I discovered just how far grains of rice can travel.

Something similar happened the following 3 first days.

I finally figured out that setting up restrictions around first day activities was not healthy for me. I needed to find the spirit of sabbath. I still try to limit activities on first day, but I'm no longer ruthless about it. When there is work to be done, I consciously approach it in a prayerful manner.

And I try to bring sabbath to other days of the week. At odd moments I try to center and ask for guidance. Part my lunch hour is spent reading the bible and meditating on it. I keep an eye out for the odd message from the Spirit.

It works better for me than naming one day as Sabbath.

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Permalink Reply by Clark on 7th mo. 15, 2010 at 1:09am

bless stephanie i totally understood what youre saying. The sabbath became a chore for you!(correct me if im wrong please:-)) i have had that feeling before. but then one day i realized that is not what the Lord intended but for it to be a day of rest that one meditates on "godly" things to simplify it. Now the Sabbath is no longer a chore where i must watch every step i take worrying if im breaking the rules. Rather, it is a day where im overcome by the sacrifice our Lord Christ made for us and naturally follow the commandment; if that makes any sense

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Permalink Reply by Elin Hagberg on 7th mo. 15, 2010 at 4:58am

I don't work but that is pretty much it for my Sabbath routine. I work hard five days a week and just being me feels like a good way spending the Sabbath. If being me means doing some work in the house that is fine by me, but I don't do anything that has to do with my job or that generates money.

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Permalink Reply by Jeffery Agnew on 7th mo. 17, 2010 at 1:13am

I enjoy a nice focused Sabbath when I can get one, more often than not though I fit going to meeting in between work and sleep. I work the night shift in a hospice/home for the disabled. A flexible adherence to the spirit and not the letter is the halmark of the day.
-Jeff

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 7th mo. 18, 2010 at 8:45pm

Sabbath did become a chore for me. In part because I attempted the practice when I was a single mother and working full time. If took a great deal of energy to get everything done before Sunday, so I ended up frazzled and exhausted.

I needed to change my attitude and loosen up on the legalities. Meeting is still a priority on first days. As much as possible, the day is dedicated to my relationship with God, my meeting, family and friends, but if I can't get everything done on Saturday, I will do the task on Sunday.

I have also found that incorporating sabbath into each day is just as important to my relationship with the divine.

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