Pastor Jay //

Do you ever feel like the day slips by before you get much done? Maybe we can learn something helpful from the Jewish calendar about how to make the most of a day. In the Jewish calendar, a day does not begin at midnight. It begins at either sunset or when three medium-sized stars should be visible. Two of the main problem areas for people who have trouble with their schedules are discipline and planning. Often for harried people, it is helpful to realize that the day is over and a new start will begin the next morning. It might be that the Jewish concept of a day would help. If we could have as a mindset that the next day begins at sunset, it might help us to end the current day and be better prepared for the day to come. Planning experts recommend that individuals write out a plan or schedule for each day. If that planning could begin on the previous evening, it might encourage us to do other important activities like getting a good night’s rest or choosing what you will wear. It may even help us sleep better because we are less worried about the next day’s events.

This same plan could also help in making Sunday’s a better day for worship. Often, we think of Saturday night as a time to stay up late. If we do not begin preparing for worship on the evening before, it will probably cause us to not appreciate the day that we give for worship. Jesus had some things to say about the Sabbath. He challenged the conventional wisdom of that time by breaking some of the religious laws that the leaders had created. These laws were not God’s laws, but man-made. When they questioned Jesus, he made two statements. One statement was that the Sabbath was made for humankind and not the other way around (Mark 2:27). His other response was that He was the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). What he is telling us is that the Sabbath was made for our benefit and that, ultimately, He has the final say on what the rules are. The word Sabbath [sabbat] is closely connected to the Hebrew word that means “to stop, cease, or keep” [sabat]. God gave us the example of resting when He rested on the seventh day after six days of creation.

Eph 5:15-16 “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk–not as unwise people but as wise– making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”

I am finishing my third day of this first session of seminars at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The dream that was placed in my heart about 8 years ago to return to school and complete ministry studies is now becoming possible. Seven years ago, I was in preparation to begin doctoral work in Fort Worth while I was a pastoring in Texas. Unfortunately, the church did not think that their pastor should have a doctorate. It was not long after that I was called to Missouri to First Baptist Cameron. Now, with the church’s blessing, I have an opportunity to start work again. For the longest time, I had planned on doing Ph.D. work which would have probably not been as practical as the studies that I am doing right now. The work that I am doing now, by nature, has to be work that relates to my ministry. I will be developing a project that will, hopefully, be a benefit to our church.

It is wonderful to be in a room of just 10 other students that have already proven themselves in school at the masters level and in their ministry and now are returning to do research. Each seminar is only a week long, but there are weeks of work before and after the class. Before this class we had 6 books to read (about 1500 pages) and written work for each book. Then after the class we have 30 days to write an exit paper (15-20 pages) and other assignments. I will do this 6 times in 2-3 years and then take about a year to do the project and write up the research.

This week has been an exhausting but inspiring week.

We began to realize that Awana and other church life were parallel universes in our church. This year we have developed a plan to integrate and challenge the world’s of secular and sacred. Many of our children were coming or being dropped off at the church for Awana, but had no real idea of worship except for the opening ceremony. Also, we realized that the children were being told that the world of science was the only reality and worship/spirtuality were distinctly separate and mystical. We decided to purposefully intersect these worlds in Awana with “LabQuest.”

Once a month, we keep the 3d-6th grade after opening ceremony for a further time of worship, drama, etc. The “sermon” portion of the service is a look at Biblical Truth inductively beginning with a science experiment. The truths discovered in the science experiment will then reveal deeper spiritual truths about God. The goals of LabQuest are:

To whet the appetite of the children with worship.
To challenge secular teachings that there is no absolute truth in morality (even though Darwinism is often presented as absolute truth).
To instill a Biblical worldview in the children.
To teach the children to think critically about the world around them from a Biblical perspective.

I would be interested in hearing your ideas/comments.

Jay Raines, pastor, FBC Cameron, MO