Does it matter what day we worship...Saturday or Sunday?

If you know me you know that I am a born and raised Seventh-day Adventist and if you don't know me, well, now you know! I have been taught since the day I was able to speak and understand words that my people are a special and peculiar people that are specially hand picked to be God's remnant people to carry out certain prophetic messages.

The first thing you need to know about SDA's....(throughout the rest of the blog I will refer to Seventh-day Adventists as SDA's for short) we're not a cult. Yes, we don't eat pork, yes, we don't believe in ghosts, and yes, we worship on the original Biblical Seventh-day Sabbath. No Ellen G. White is not our "Pope" but she is a confirmed and accurate Prophet and co-founder of our church. We are a 100% Bible believing doctrine and there is not one thing that we believe or practice that isn't Biblical.
This blog isn't necessarily supposed to be a "what do you weirdo's believe" but more of a current events update and how they apply to End Times. So, if you do have more questions about SDA's please feel free to leave your questions under the comments section, email me, or just click on the link above and do your own heartfelt and spiritually lead research.

The SDA world is in a buzz lately due to the events unfolding around the Catholic Church's new Pope. I wanted to just reflect on those and give my thoughts for those who are unaware of the relevance of these actions and to serve as a reminder to my SDA brothers and sisters that the time is drawing near for Christ's return.

So, to start just a bit of history. SDA's and the Catholic Church are on just about thee most opposite spectrum of doctrine as you can get. SDA's have always and still believe that the Sabbath will be the final battle between Satan and God and that the choice of whether to serve God or serve Satan will be the ultimate taking of the Mark of the Beast (666). There have been Sunday Blue Laws on the books in the country for thousands of years but SDA's are probably the only doctrine that has payed any attention to them because of our belief on worshiping on the true Biblical Sabbath.

 If you are SDA then Revelation Seminars are nothing new and in fact are ingrained into your mind. Daniel and Revelation are played out in front of you at least once a year showing the unfolding of End Time events and how our church and the United States will play it's particular part. What does the Bible say about the Sabbath day and when it is? The fourth Commandment: "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you many be refreshed". Exodus 23:12

Let's just get to the bare bones of the matter...The Roman Catholic Church changed the Biblical Sabbath of Saturday to the "Lord's Day" of Sunday. Their Catholic Catechism clearly says this and any Priest you talk to will most likely have knowledge of this change. The reason for this change from the Sabbath of our Lord to Sunday, the day of the sun worshipers occurred due to two reasons, one was a desire to avoid being identified with the Jews, whose bigotry and downfall had make them unpopular and two, an equally strong desire to win the pagan sun worshipers and gain their adherence to the church. Our belief is that this departure from faith will be the great falling away or apostasy that will ultimately disclose the sin of man who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped. This action of enforcing Sunday worship will come from the Antichrist and cause the world to take the Mark of The Beast by choosing either with their mind or with their hand to worship on Sunday instead of God's created Sabbath, Saturday.
You are at this point probably saying, "what, the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath? How? When?". Well let me prove it to you...

The earliest Sunday law known to history was that of Constantine promulgated in A.D. 321. It reads: "On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities res, and let all workshops be closed" (Haynes, 1928). I could go on and on about Constantine and the many Pope's of his day and the days that follow but let's get to the actual black and white proof from the current Catholic Church.
Haynes (1928) stated, ""Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles...From beginning to end Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first" - August 25, 1900"" (p. 46).
In 1893 the Catholic Mirror of Baltimore, MA, was the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons and in its September 23rd paper said, "The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday". "The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant World" - Catholic Mirror as pamphlet, The Christian Sabbath (pp. 29, 31).
There is also a paragraph in the Catechism that states under the heading "Cooperation by the Civil Authories Regarding This Commandment..."The civil authorities should be urged to cooperate with the church in maintaining and strengthening this public worship of God, and to support with their own authority the regulations set down by the church's pastors. For it is only in this way that the faithful will understand why it is Sunday and not the Sabbath day that we now keep holy" - The Roman Catechism (1985).
Believe it or not, they have even went so far as to remove the 2nd Commandment regarding idolatry and moving the fourth Commandment in the rest of our Bibles, "Remember the Sabbath Day" Commandment to the 3rd Commandment. Yes, believe it or not, the Catholic Church has a different Bible than the rest of us Protestants. If you don't believe me, go to any Catholic book store and look at their Bibles.

Take a look for yourself...

ARTICLE 3
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.⁹⁰The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.⁹¹

* I. THE SABBATH DAY

2168 The third commandment of the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the sabbath: "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD."⁹²

^{They go on to say on the same page....}

The day of the Resurrection: the new creation

2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week."¹⁰⁴ Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath,¹⁰⁵ it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.¹⁰⁶

Sunday - fulfillment of the sabbath

2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:¹⁰⁷

Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death.¹⁰⁸

2176 The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship "as a sign of his universal beneficence to all."¹⁰⁹Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people.

The Sunday Eucharist

2177 The Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life. "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church."¹¹⁰

"Also to be observed are the day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension of Christ, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christi, the feast of Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, the feast of Saint Joseph, the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and the feast of All Saints."¹¹¹

2178 This practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age.¹¹² The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful "not to neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another."¹¹³

Tradition preserves the memory of an ever-timely exhortation: Come to Church early, approach the Lord, and confess your sins, repent in prayer. . . . Be present at the sacred and divine liturgy, conclude its prayer and do not leave before the dismissal. . . . We have often said: "This day is given to you for prayer and rest. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."¹¹⁴

2179 "A parish is a definite community of the Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular church; the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop."¹¹⁵ It is the place where all the faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The parish initiates the Christian people into the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this celebration; it teaches Christ's saving doctrine; it practices the charity of the Lord in good works and brotherly love:

You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.¹¹⁶

The Sunday obligation

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."¹¹⁷ "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."¹¹⁸

^{And a very important note...}

IN BRIEF

2189 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deut 5:12). "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord" (Ex 31:15).

2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.

2191 The Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on the "eighth day," Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf. SC 106).

You can find further proof from a video straight from the mouth of a Catholic official...

If you understand the Bible and you understand God's promise and word to us and if you understand Satan and his purpose it's obvious. But, if you don't, I'll help in form you. From the very beginning of the controversy between God and Satan, it's been Satan's purpose to overthrow the law of God. 
In doing so Satan has perverted the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have become incorporated into the faith of thousands who profess to believe in God and his Word. There is a battle between the laws of men and the laws of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible, and the religion of fable and tradition. 
Thousands of people have come to deny the very doctrines that are the pillars of the Christian faith. Many ministers and priests are teaching their followers, their faithful sheep, that the law of God has changed the law that he came to fulfill. God did not send Jesus Christ to die on a cross to change the law, but to fulfill it. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished". Matthew 5:17-18. 
It is the claim from many "Christian" leaders that  the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. The claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been preached. It's the goal of these ministers and church leaders to convince you that they are laboring to promote the highest interest of society and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and reform. 

So why do I go on and on and show you all of this proof? Who cares what day we worship? Well there are two articles that I found posted today from my own church website and also from national news....

Towards Global Law Sunday and Pope: No Work Sundays good: Not just for faithful. This has HUGE significance to the SDA because we have been predicting for thousands of years that from the change instituted by the Roman Catholic Church that eventually Sunday would be something that is required, not just observed. This small (or not small to us) move or statement made by the Pope is just a glimpse of what is coming. All that it would take would be one significant world disaster and the Pope along with the United States Government could call for "peace, peace" and ask that the world stop and worship God (which is great except) on one specific day. That day will end up being on Sunday because the greatest of all things that Satan the Father of Lies wants is for God's people to forget the day they were created and made to rest and worship on a day that was never meant for them. 
"Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath". Mark 2.27-28.
White (1950) stated, "We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It is one of Satan's devices to combine with falsehood just enough to give plausibility" (p. 587). 

My point in telling you non SDA's all of this and in showing you all of this proof is in hopes that you will question your faith, that you will question the doctrine that you've been taught your whole life, that the "traditions" of this world of worshiping on Sunday will be questioned and that you will question why you've been doing this your whole life. My desire is not necessarily that you will convert to SDA tomorrow, although that would be great, but that you just start to look at your Bible and what it says in a different way and that you will question it, question God, question your Minister, question your church and your church leaders. Delve into it yourself and ask yourself and talk to God about the truth He has been showing you for thousands of years. Keep a close eye on events that unfold about this Pope and what he has to say about the Sabbath day. Keep an eye on our Presidential administration and how the start to work with the Catholic Church, and just be observant with an open mind. I can promise you that you will see things that you never thought of before and never thought possible. 

My point in doing this for those of us who are SDA is to once again bring this topic to your attention and the importance of following what we know to be truth and showing it to the world. There is an old joke that I love, just because you have a car in your garage, doesn't mean you are a mechanic. And another, just because you set every Sabbath in a pew, doesn't mean you are a Christian.We have to stop setting in our pews each Sabbath preaching to each other. We have to stop thinking just because we were born and raised this way, or for some converted to this way, that everyone just knows the truth and we can just set complacent and just preach to ourselves.  SDA's, the world is looking for something right now. They are looking for a leader. Things are BAD. People are asking questions. They are looking for someone to step up and show them what to do, how to live, what they can place their hope in. We are it. We need to stop preaching at people and start preaching to people. 
Christ is coming. The Second Coming is near and He is going to be looking for those of us who will stand for His truth even during persecution and tribulation. This world is a disgusting vial mess and there will be a time very soon that our beliefs are going to be questioned and we have to stand up with good reasons why we are doing what we're doing. We are going to be persecuted and thrown in jail for our Sabbath worship. Mark my words. We are called to be set apart from this world. Our lives are in constant question. We have to not just say it but show it. 

We can't convince everyone, but we may be able to convince a few.  

References:
White, E. G. (1950). The Great Controversy (5th ed.). Battle Creek, MI: Pacific Press.

Haynes, C. B. (1928). From Sabbath to Sunday. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Harold.

Reid, G. E. (1996). Sunday's Coming. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Harold.

All other references are linked. 

Broken Ankle...UPDATE

I write this and my original blog Pretty (Miserable) In Pink in hopes that I can share my experience just to get it off my chest and that in hopes maybe it will help someone else out there that is just starting this journey. I'm well aware that ALL my social media friends and family are probably really sick of hearing about it but, until it happens to you, I guess you'll never know why someone would just go on and on about it. This is just one way for me to let it out.

So just to catch you up...on May 17th 2014, I was hanging out at my BFF's house, having a great time when all hell dumped down on me in a one single stupid klutzy moment. I walked down two steps and missed one and down I went. Broken ankle. Having went through a severe car accident when I was just 13 that literally almost killed me, and tons of other terrible and heartbreaking crap in my adult life that I thought might have just about emotionally killed me...I can say this is just about thee worst thing that has happened to me both physically and emotionally. I spent 4 weeks in a non-weight bearing cast and basically bed ridden because of the pain and just not being good on my crutches.
When I went to the ortho for my 3 week appointment I had really high hopes that I would get out of my cast and into a walking boot but that didn't happen.

Instead I came home in this stupid shoe and was told that I could "start" putting weight on it. The shoe didn't help one bit because the bottom of my cast was not flat so trying to walk around was useless. I ditched it after the first day. 

I thankfully didn't deal with much itchiness in my cast or at least nothing that I couldn't handle but I did have tons of dry skin that wouldn't go away no matter how much lotion I put on my leg. 

During this time my son's 14th birthday came which brought my parents up from Texas for his annual summer vacation trip down there with them. This is usually the best time of the year for me. It's summer time, it's my kiddo's birthday, my mom and I get to spend one on one time together, we always go out to eat, and just have a great time together. This year I was home bound the entire time. I was and still am really bad on these crutches and living on the 2nd floor of an apartment doesn't help. I can't get up and down the stairs on my crutches so I have to sit down on my butt and scoot down and up them which is exhausting. I am really really out of shape in case you're thinking, wow...that chick is a wimp. My arms just aren't strong enough to carry my full body weight for that long and I'm realizing at this point that I have been my own worst enemy for being so lazy about losing weight and working out. So, while everyone was out having a great time I was home feeling sorry for myself, in pain, unable to really get around, and the depression was setting in, big time. I was missing everything and feeling it. 

My right leg has been bearing all the weight for my body at this point for a little over 4 weeks and it's starting to feel it. It swells constantly and I have to wear a brace on it to keep the swelling down and keep it from hurting. 

I took the above picture 4 days before I got my cast off and posted in my Kevin Hart voice..."All day...every day"... I was so ready to get this cast off. In tears basically every day I was just done with this injury and looking really forward to getting back to work. Yes, I have not been working. I've been on short term disability this entire time. I can't shower so sponge bathing every morning, butt scooting down and up my stairs and crutching across a gigantic parking lot to get into work is just not appealing nor physically possible for me right now. But, I was so ready to get back to it. 

I went on Monday June 30th for my 6 week appointment looking forward to the cast coming off and thinking I would be put in a walking boot and able to finally get back to work and back to my life. I got the cast off and was shocked! The shear amount of dry skin was so disgusting. It didn't stink as bad as I thought it would so that was a relief. When I went to get xrays it was so weird because I had to use my crutches and doing that without my foot solid in this cast was a weird feeling. It was flopping around and weak and unstable. Geez you guys, I thought I was unstable on crutches in the cast but the way I felt without the cast...wow, what a difference. I get back from xray and Dr comes in and tells me that the bone is healed and I can start walking with my crutches until I feel comfortable without them. I was so full of questions and in awe that I could actually walk. I asked if I should wrap it up, what kind of shoes I should wear, how to get up and down stairs, etc. He basically said, whatever you feel comfortable with. At this point I am thinking he's going to put my walking boot on and so I ask if it's ok to wrap it under the walking boot and he says, I don't want you in the boot. SHOCK! What????!!! You mean I can just walk out of here with nothing on my foot???? 

No follow up appointment, no physical therapy, no walking boot...nothing. I was told that I would have some swelling for a few months and that was it. Dismissed. Dr was gone. 

The next thing that happened was nothing I expected because I wasn't told...my ankle and leg was so weak and sore. I stepped down on my foot and it was immediate pins and needles and weakness. I walked out on my crutches very slowly and very carefully. I was in shock the whole ride home. I thought as soon as I got my cast off that I would just walk and everything would fine but that was not the case. 

I got home and just toodled around on my crutches and was feeling pretty good for awhile. I was in total relief that I had this stupid cast off and my leg and foot could actually breathe. It's covered in 6 weeks of hair and dry dead skin but....whew!!! Relief!!!

I went back to work the next day. Even though I was told that he didn't want me in the walking boot, I put it on anyway because I just didn't feel safe without it. The walk into work usually takes me about 5-8 minutes but this day, it took me 20. Luckily one of the managers came walking up behind me and offered to carry some of my things and opened the door for me. It was nice being back and getting all the excited welcomes and wanting the story and feeling like I was missed. I was fine for most of the day but the walk back to my car at the end of the day was very hard and as soon as I got into my car I started crying. It was a very stressful and eventful day. I got home and butt crawled up the stairs and the minute I hobbled into the apartment the tears just really broke free and I was a incoherent bawling mess, sweating my ass off, exhausted both emotionally and physically, it just came out. I got my boot off and my foot and leg were so swollen and sore and I was pissed. I didn't expect it to be this hard. 

Second day, just as bad. Very slow. Very sore. Third day, I've about had it. I go to work without my boot thinking it might be easier but my leg and foot ached so badly that I was in tears that I was hiding from everyone. Nothing feels worse than crying alone and trying to hide it from everyone while trying to put on a brave face. 

I called my ortho and asked for a handicapped parking pass because the walk into my building is just to damn hard. I wad denied saying he wanted me walking. Well, I get that. But, giving me a little advantage doesn't seem that hard to me. He obviously doesn't get how far I have to walk and how hard it is. I ended up being able to get one from my regular physician without even having to talk to her or paying a co-pay and in my head I told my ortho to SUCK IT! He hasn't done anything for me. He didn't tell me what to expect at all. He didn't warn me how sore I would be or slow I would be. He didn't tell me how much pain I would be in. He didn't tell me anything and I am feeling really angry.

Now on my fourth day I am having stabbing pains running up the back of my leg and I am really really sore. Luckily the swelling has went down and little bit but this is just showing me how much muscle atrophy I have and it's very depressing. 

I am in constant pain. My elbows hurt from the pressure of the crutches. My right ankle hurts from all the pressure it's bearing for my whole body. My "healing" broken ankle hurts because it's not strong enough to walk on. My back hurts from all the weight and strain. I basically cannot walk or move without pain in my entire body. I have been doing research on muscle atrophy and exercises to do after breaking an ankle and I've been doing them. But I am angry because I've had to do all this by myself without guidance from my Dr and then he denies me a handicapped parking pass...I'm just really pissed.  I feel like I didn't get the care that I needed or deserved from Dr. Shulte and I am just mad and depressed and sad. 

The reactions I get from people vary. Some are very empathetic and talk to me and are encouraging and others are shocked and in awe and act stupid like they have never seen someone with an injury before, others are not empathetic at all and basically tell me to suck it up and think about others who have it worse than me, others tell me it will all be fine and they don't understand why I am being so dramatic. It's all a big ball of strange emotion that I have never felt before. I am angry and frustrated because I am in so much pain and I just want with all of my entire soul to be normal again. It is really hard to be positive and think about other people that have it worse when you can't take a step without being in pain and crying. 

I have been depending on Christ this entire time to get me through this and I know that He has a plan for me and that He won't let me go through this alone. I know that this painful path He is letting me go down is for a reason and I know that He is carrying me and that He will bring me through it. That is what comforts me. I talk to Him the entire time I walk and I ask Him to protect me and to guide my path. 

Thankfully He has given me my husband who broke his leg and was in a cast and on crutches for almost 6 months and knows the pain I am in. My husband has been my rock through this whole experience waiting on me hand and foot, doing all the grocery shopping by himself, taking me to my Dr appointments and being incredibly patient as I butt scoot up and down the stairs and as I cry like a baby when I'm done. I am thankful as sorry as I feel for myself because I know it could have been a lot worse but I have a long road ahead of me and I know that. That is probably the hardest thing is just knowing how slow of a process this is. I think that God is trying to teach me patience but at the same time I don't want to be so proud that I can even imagine what His plan is. I just know that I have to take each step one painful one at a time and put my faith in Him that something positive will come from this and I will find out what that is and be incredibly grateful for the experience. 

Until that happens I just want everyone to know that is just starting this journey that it's ok to feel bad, to feel sad, to feel angry, to depend on other people, to ask for help, to feel sorry for yourself. I know that I'll eventually be ok and you will be too. It's just a long road but don't feel bad for feeling bad on that road.