A Live Performance & Dead Rituals

     Life has been busy since I last posted! This past Saturday we were able to go and watch a friend of ours, Eric Newsome, perform live at a restaurant in the area. His musical abilities are spectacular; he plays the piano like it's nobody's business and also proved himself to be quite talented with other instruments as well. Throughout the night he played a 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 6-string acoustic guitar, and bass guitar in addition to the keyboard and performed very well on all of them. He's one of those people who not only knows instruments, but knows music as well. We watched him for a solid two hours of playing and he never looked at a single sheet of music, everything was from memory or created on the spot.
A couple that he meets for home church with played a few songs so he could take a quick breather, and on their last song he picked up the bass and hammered the tune out right along with them. He had never played the song with them before and had never looked at any music for it either. We had a great time watching him and talking with another family we invited to join us for the evening.
     On Sunday the service was excellent, our pastor spoke on Mark 2:23-3:6 which is the two parables in which Jesus comes into conflict with the Pharisees over the observance and customs of the Sabbath day. There were several points centered around the primary emphasis: beware of hardheartedness resulting from religion. One point was the uniqueness of the Sabbath day; it's observance is the longest of the Ten Commandments and it's the only one of those ten whose roots can be found in Creation. Although the Sabbath started out as the last day of the week, it has now been switched to the first day of the week in commemoration of Christ's resurrection. In addition, observance of the Sabbath day is what was termed a "creational norm." God made human beings to function repetitively for a period of six days and then to have a change in pace, a time to slow down and focus on the spiritual aspect of our existence. Man may rebel against this mandate -- and has in the past -- but there is always a price to be paid; it is possible but not rewarding.
     The Pharisees realized the sacredness of the day and guarded it as such, but they were over-zealous and covered up the simplicity of God's command with the confusing complexity of man. After getting together several hundred extra laws over a period of time spanning multiple centuries, the Pharisees had come closer to setting down in stone the confines of the Sabbath day. You could only walk so far beyond your property or you were working on the Sabbath, women could not carry their children or that constituted the breaking of the Sabbath, if you spit off the back dirt pile and dust was moved when it hit the ground you'd done it, on and on it goes. The solution to the "problem" of how to observe the Sabbath is not what to do or not do, but the motivating "why" behind your actions. Christ healed a man on the Lord's day, it is not a day of seclusion but a time to strengthen others. The Sabbath is a day to rest from your labors, enjoy the Lord your God, and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ while centering your activities around His glorification.
     The clock has struck twelve and I must turn into a pumpkin, until tomorrow (thanks list and jokes will resume).