So wait, we can have a picnic and discuss how God has shown up in our life that week, but we can't go on Facebook and discuss how God has shown up in our life that week?

I thought I was going to be made to feel guilty for not going to church today - I am glad to see that "visiting someone in the hospital" was on your list, because I decided to visit my dad in the hospital on Father's Day today, rather than going to church.  I will stop feeling guilty now.

I wish my ultra-conservative church had come up with these other "okay" things to do on the Sabbath!  We were always told the fourth commandment meant "go to church every Sunday without fail or else."

Worship does come first and not going to work I would agree with. However note the Sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath. Yes it is a spiritual principle however I agree with the comment of the above blogger in questioning spirituality of facebook and picnic.

@sarahzthoughts@xanga - Isn't the important thing that we're keeping the seventh day? The current calendar that we have is different from the Jewish calendar anyway.

@sarahzthoughts@xanga - Christians celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday because that the day of Christ's resurrection. This has been done since the earliest days of Christianity.

I have been debating as to how I want to comment on this. I grew up in a "church" that spent a lot of time claiming to be the one true church, because we worshipped on Saturday, and since Saturday was the true Sabbath, we had that "sign" of being the true church. You know what I learned in 16 years at that church? Pride. that's all, I can't remember one thing about Jesus, that I was taught at that church. I remember a lot about obeying God, keeping his laws, and a lot of chest thumping. But I don't remember anything about love, grace, and our fellow man.

I still consider, Saturday to be the sabbath. I just refuse to accept, that it is the only legitimate day of worship. I choose to worship God on Sunday, not because I think God changed his mind on what day the Sabbath is, but because that is when the fellowship of believers that I am part of, gathers to meet.

I take Sunday,  one day out of seven, not as a day of Spiritual rest, but as a day of physical rest to recharge my body, As for spiritual rest, I get that from knowing Jesus. My relationship with Jesus, is where I get spritual rest, where I find comfort. I grow along with the people I fellowship with, as our common Savior, leads the way, into wherever He is taking us on this journey.

You ask about keeping the Sabbath day Holy, I don't think that is the right question I think the right qustion is "how do you worship God, and keep Him, above everything?" 

The Verse "The Sabbath Was Made For Man, Not Man For The Sabbath", Does Not Imply That Man May Do As He Pleases On The Sabbath Day.
This Phrase Simply Means That God Created The Sabbath Day For Our Rest, And Worship/Time With Him, As A Gift To Us After A Weary Week. And By Saying "Not Man For The Sabbath", This Implies That Man Is Not To Rule The Sabbath, Sabbath First, Man Second. Sabbath As A Gift, Created For Us...See Genesis, God Created The Days Of The Week First, Then Man.
The Sabbath Is About Time To Enjoy God's Glory, Plain And Simple.
I Pray You Seek A Revelation About This.

the Sabbath is on Sat. and the Israelite that observed it in Old Testament times started their sabbath on Fri night. the Ten Commandments are part of the Law that was only given to the nation Israel and not New Testament believers (see the book of Galatians).
while it is not a bad idea to have a day devoted to rest and worship, it is not a requirement for New Testament believers according to the logic in Galatians which explains why Christ's coming frees all from the burdens of observing the Law.
i agree that the Ten Commandments are iconic and symbolize the Bible, but i do not agree that they apply to believers of Christ. if one were to observe the Ten Commandments, one should also observe the rest of the Law that was listed in the same book. notice that the Ten Commandments were not listed separate from the rest of the Law--they are one. following that logic, eating pork would also be a violation of the Law, how come believers don't observe that? also observe God's promise for those who obey that covenant--He promised physical and financial blessings (like good harvest and peaceful times) but it does not mention anything about eternal salvation. it is a different covenant than the one Christ ushered in, that is why.

@ely_101@xanga - Your insistence on capitalising every word is annoying, I wish you'd stop. It's very Junior High.

You all are doing the exact thing the Pharisees did. Arguing and debating the minute details of "The Law", instead of worrying about what Jesus' thought important, your heart.  Jesus was the fulfilment of the Old Testament. In Him, we find the path to perfection, and the bridge to life eternal with God Almighty. Yes, we are to emulate Jesus and His ministry while on earth.

As for the dietary laws, Paul was told in a vision that ritually unclean things that were not to be eaten were now OK to eat, just as the Good News was no longer specifically reserved for Jews, but for Gentiles also. "Therefore, whatever we put into the mouth comes out of the body as offal, but it is what comes out of the mouth (heart) of man that is important to God" (paraphrase).  People have argued and nitpicked this stuff to death for eons; in fact, lives have been lost, wars have been waged because "we are right and you are wrong, and you have to do it our way or you are an infidel, and we will wage jihad against you", and other similar nonsense. I worship God every day, and walk with God as my companion, as if Jesus himself were standing beside me constantly. I don't whine about the Sabbath Day, or how to keep it holy, like so many of you pious self proclaimed authorities do.  I praise and pray, and admire His handiwork wherever I see it, I try to emulate Jesus' behavior when interacting with people. I preach the Good News to others whenever I get a chance, encourage people to read the Bible (not the Koran) as the true Word of God. I encourage them to join a local church, get into a Bible study and learn, learn, learn.

I don't preach a certain brand of faith, certain doctrine, etc. The thief that hung on the cross beside Jesus didn't know much about Him or his ministry, but believed in Him enough to ask Him to "remember me, in your Kingdom". Jesus told him, "Truly I tell you this today, you will be with me in paradise". And gave comfort to him while hanging on a cross, a condemned, convicted criminal, as He Himself, a sinless and faultess God/Man, hung their dying beside him. Can't get any simpler than that. You can argue til the cows come home; pointless.

I wrote this post and never even realized it was published on this site.  Since the conversation ended back in June, I'll not bring this back up.  But thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

@explosive@xanga - You do not need to use profanity in your speech to get your point across.  When we Sabbath keepers talk like that it gives others reasons to blaspheme God (2 Sam 12:14).

@TheSutraDude@xanga - That was wrong of her to do that.  It specifically states that no person should do any work:  man servant, maid servant, stranger, etc...  Pushing and elevator button is NOT work, and is just a Jewish tradition that has become a commandment in their eyes.  God's commandments are not burdensome.  He basically told us to rest, not work, and go to church (holy convocation).  There is a scripture that says not to make a fire, but that is in regards to an industrial fire, as at the time they were building the tabernacle/temple.

I found Sarah's remark interesting. If you use any encyclopedia, and look up "calendar reform," you will learn that once they learned about the exact time it take the earth to rotate around the sun--365.25 days--some adjustments were made which never affected the 7-day week given to us at creation. To even associate the sabbath with the Hebrew faith is a misnomer. The sabbath was given by Christ at the conclusion of His six days of creating the world. That was about 1500-2000 years before there were any (Hebrew) Children if Israel.