@PaulVargas "And God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it for in it He rested from all His work which he had created and made" (Gen 2).
Isaiah 58:13 " If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken."
If I've spent the week working, what have more priority on the weekend? To get involved in some extra activity in the church, in addition to listening to the preaching on Sunday? Or spend time with family? What do the scriptures say about it?
The extra activities organized by the church include:...
@Daи, @JackDouglas, you two have been particularly patient with me and invested a much time assisting me with various matters. Thus, I want you to let you know the reason for my recent activity. I am preparing to step away from the forum, though, in part, for different reasons than in the past.
While I am intent on exegesis rather than isogesis & tend to go deeper than the average layman, I recognize that I am no scholar, and certainly no expert. When I receive answers from scholars like you, or experts like @Davïd , I am humbled & grateful. I suspect others feel the same.
Rather than clutter an expert forum, I decided to sift/polish my Q & A's to bring my account into reasonable order so as to not reflect poorly on the site. Then, I plan to step away. I think I have more to learn than to offer right now. I will be available via e-mail if you you come upon anything for which you think I might truly be of help. Blessings, Sarah.
@PaulVargas If that is what you truly want then I suggest you will please God whatever you do.
@Sarah I hope you don't do that, I really do. You are one of our most useful users and it would be very sad to see you go especially for the reason you give here which would exclude me too as I am no expert either.
If it did refer to something that was merely difficult, the immediate reaction of the disciples would be incomprehensible:
26And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" ESV
As would Jesus' response:
27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is ...
would you call this expert? ^^^^^
surely there has to be a place for the 'academic' types and those who know the Biblical languages as well as those like us?
I very much hope this site will never collapse into an Ivory Tower of academic-only questions and answers: I appreciate the wisdom of many contributors here who are not 'highly qualified' by the world's measures.
@Sarah I do hope you won't Sarah. If you "step away" it will impoverish our discussions. As one of my teachers once said: "We just know different things!" Different pairs of eyes, different experiences, different backgrounds all enrich what we bring to our shared interest in understanding the Bible better.
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@JackDouglas Hear, hear! (I almost said "Amen!" ;)
@JackDouglas I think it has to do with the stress and effort involved for one not an expert to navigate amongst them. I honestly feel I clutter rather than contribute.
@Davïd I am hoping, that if I step away to invest my time in learning the languages, (which I want to do, and am convicted that I need to do) and continue to immerse myself in the Word & in the presence of God, I will be better equipped to more positively contribute here than I think I do now.
@PaulVargas I upvoted your C-SE question. I think it is worthy to ponder.
@Davïd I find I get pulled into the forum and before I know it, so much time has flown away and it seems I have accomplished so little. If I could limit my time and knew what is the most helpful and could focus on that I think I would gladly do it. As it is now I just exhaust myself because I love the text, I care deeply about people, not just agendas and protocol, and I value the wealth of knowledge available here as well as the willingness of members to share.
@Sarah It is a question that I have. In the church where I attend, the leader organizes many activities and asks us involved. He says that if we attend, we will be blessed. Maybe it's not bad. But, as someone said, I would not have time to go out with my family.
@PaulVargas In my pastor's home, it has always been God, family, ministry. What ministry will my husband have if his family falls apart because he is not able to tend to it. One of the qualities necessary in a pastor/elder/deacon is that their family is chaste and in subjection. It is a balance. Of course, Moses left his family in his father-in-law's care for a time while he lead Israel out of Egypt and we cannot love family more than God so as to disobey God.
@PaulVargas It is a matter of knowing the word and listening to the Spirit.
@PaulVargas listen in the Spirit to things like this. Consider your families needs and weigh them before the Lord. Do not operate merely out of principal, but also be lead by the Spirit in love--love toward the lost, poor, abandoned in your community and love toward your family as well. We do not want to end up adding to the community of lost, poor and abandoned by neglecting our families!
@PaulVargas And you are the one into whose care God has entrusted your family. Likewise, God has entrusted the care of your congregation to the leaders of that congregation. If your pastor is overburdening through too many activities then perhaps you can tslk with him and share your concerns.
I have to go. Before I do, you asked what the Bible says about how to spend your weekend. There is what the Word says, and there is what we do with all of that, how we put the pieces together and actually live it out (practical theology). Thus, the counsel of James strikes me as the most pertinent in your situation (James 1:5). May the Lord give you wisdom in your decisions.
@Sarah "...and before I know it, so much time has flown away and it seems I have accomplished so little..." Ha! I thought it was only me that felt that way! It certainly sounds like you have a plan, though. And I assume, too that "step away" doesn't mean "abandon completely".
@PaulVargas You are most welcome. It was delightful to meet you.
@Davïd Yes, if you, @JackDouglas, @Daи have any insight into some small corner I could invest some focused attention on here, that would be the most helpful, I think I would be willing to do so.
@Davïd Yes, if you, @JackDouglas, @Daи have any insight into some small corner I could invest some focused attention on here, that would be the most helpful, I think I would be willing to do so.
i am walking away from the site, primarily due to still not being convinced that I can contribute any further - I am an Atheist, and the earlier preaching by a few has left a lingering sour taste
@PaulVargas that's not helpful right now: @Helios has indicated more than once that he doesn't want to be 'evangelized' and I think that should be respected in here and on the main BH site
If it did refer to something that was merely difficult, the immediate reaction of the disciples would be incomprehensible:
26And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" ESV
As would Jesus' response:
27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is ...
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