In the area of Sabbath keeping the average minister of today has simply given up

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I immediately thought, God hasn’t given up on his church’s failure. Surely these rumblings of judgment throughout the world have to do with the profanation of his worship.
 
I would consider myself a newer Sabbatarian, as it's only been in recent years that I've become convicted on this. How interesting (and sad) that the decline in observance of the 4th commandment was being warned of this long ago and yet, few churches and Christians honor this today.
 
P.M. services are rare, commercial activities are common (eating out, shopping, etc. after service), sacrifices are not made when jobs seem to "require" working on the Sabbath, etc.

Exceptions are commonly taken to the recreation clause, but in reality, if officers in Presbyterian churches held to what they confess even without the recreation clause we'd be in better shape.
 
P.M. services are rare, commercial activities are common (eating out, shopping, etc. after service), sacrifices are not made when jobs seem to "require" working on the Sabbath, etc.

Exceptions are commonly taken to the recreation clause, but in reality, if officers in Presbyterian churches held to what they confess even without the recreation clause we'd be in better shape.
I've often said that one of the marks of a healthy church today is one that still has a PM Sunday service.
 
"In the area of Sabbath keeping the average minister of today has simply given up."

These kinds of polemics bother me. The statement cannot be proven or disproven. It smacks of "If only everyone else could be as smart as us." It feeds pride instead of working humility.

Why not just encourage all people to work on improving their 4th commandment obedience? It's not as if anyone is above reproach when it comes to keeping the Sabbath.
 
Well, you won't like my Facebook wall then. :hunter:
It's a pull quote and simply a statement of fact at that time. See the link for context. For even more context, see my article in CPJ 12 about Sabbath decline in the PCUS. For 50 years there had been constant imploring one another at GA meetings, what do we do about this? By Van Horn's time such imploring at GAs had vanished and conscientious observance had all but disappeared in practice.
 
No (still trying to make money); The Confessional Presbyterian in which it appears (title is Dropping the Subject, Again? The Decline of Sabbatarianism in the Old Southern Presbyterian Church and in the Presbyterian Church in America) is available on ATLA at various universities and seminaries but otherwise print only. But it's in a great single subject issue (our only one) on the Sabbath. See The Confessional Presbyterian 12 at this link: http://www.cpjournal.com/store/prod...yterian-volume-12-2016-forthcoming-june-2016/
Is this article openly available? I'd be interested in reading it.
 
And 55 years on?
"In the area of Sabbath keeping the average minister of today has simply given up." Rev. Leonard T. Van Hom, Editor
August, 1965. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2018/04/april-1-5/
Do you believe faithful attendance twice on Sunday is the starting point in getting back on track?

How many careers fall into the work of necessity category? Legitimately, there seems to be a significant amount if we really think upon it, no?
 
Do you believe faithful attendance twice on Sunday is the starting point in getting back on track?

I would say faithful attendance to two worship services is a great wait to get on the track. To stay on track, the heads of households must lead their families in private worship and instruction. If they are single, they must themselves be conducted in private worship, instruction, and meditation. It is the Lord's Day not the Lord's hour.

As we cannot but with grief of soul lament those multitudes of errors, blasphemies, and all kinds of profaneness, which have in this last age, like a mighty deluge, overflown this nation; so, among several other sins which have helped to open the flood-gates of all these impieties, we cannot but esteem the disuse of family instruction one of the greatest. The two great pillars upon which the kingdom of Satan is erected, and by which it is upheld, are ignorance and error

Westminster Assembly. The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition. Philadelphia: William S. Young, 1851. Print.
 
I would say faithful attendance to two worship services is a great wait to get on the track. To stay on track, the heads of households must lead their families in private worship and instruction.

Amen, Deuteronomy 6 applied. As fathers, we fall short of this so often.
 
What's the historical development that lead to having morning and evening worship services on the Lord's Day? Does this practice have ancient roots? Was it a post-reformation development? Curious to learn more about how this practice developed. Thanks!
 
What's the historical development that lead to having morning and evening worship services on the Lord's Day? Does this practice have ancient roots? Was it a post-reformation development? Curious to learn more about how this practice developed. Thanks!
Ancient, but I don't know the history.
 
Do you believe faithful attendance twice on Sunday is the starting point in getting back on track?

How many careers fall into the work of necessity category? Legitimately, there seems to be a significant amount if we really think upon it, no?
One could wish. What is descretionary, hard ship or necessary labor is certainly an issue sessions should grapple with with their congregations, but I think the main problem is getting a handle on recreations. As the biggest struggle seems to be how to fill the day, two services would help in that regard.
 
Thanks, this issue has been weighing on my heart. And what it has revealed in myself is double -mindedness. That my inability to lead lies not in a lack of leading in this day , but every day. How can I just turn it up on Sunday when I've been lukewarm at best, in walk and leading throughout the week. This is a good reflective reminder.
 
Thanks, this issue has been weighing on my heart. And what it has revealed in myself is double -mindedness. That my inability to lead lies not in a lack of leading in this day , but every day. How can I just turn it up on Sunday when I've been lukewarm at best, in walk and leading throughout the week. This is a good reflective reminder.

I have a few thoughts that I must offer quickly. Please do not think my hastiness is from a lack of caring.

You mention that you have the tendency to be lukewarm as a leader all week and that in return plays into your Lord's Day observance. I would argue that it is your lukewarmness on the Lord's Day that is overflowing into the rest of your week. The Puritans called the Lord's Day the "market day of the soul." Just as one goes to the store one day to gather their needs for the week, the Lord's Day should be the "market day" for your soul. On the Lord's Day, you should be storing up spiritual nourishment that will then feed you throughout your week. I would suggest that on Saturday, you start preparing yourself for a day of sweet communion with the Thrice Holy God. Start fanning the flames on Saturday. Build up to the Lord's Day.
In the link below, you find an exhortation and instruction for this preparation. I trust that if you observe the Lord's Day in worship, prayer, and instruction, you will notice a difference in the rest of your week.

I would ask you to please read this thoughtfully and prayerfully:
https://www.puritanboard.com/thread...o-prepare-for-the-sabbath-on-saturday.100874/
 
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