Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Book Review: Sabbath, The Ancient Practices by Dan Allender

Dan Allender presents the Ancient Practice of keeping the Sabbath, not simply as ceasing all activity ,but a day of delight and celebration with God of His creation. The main message of this book is that the Sabbath was instituted, not as a burden but as a joyous feast day and celebration. He looks at history and the Bible to determine what this special Day can be, when celebrated and delighted in, the way God intended.

I was interested to get a new perspective on this special day. I've "kept the Sabbath" all my life, and struggled with the balance of rules, and delight. This book, helped me to see better just how this can be a day of delight & celebration. How our entire week should revolve around this special weekly feast day that we are privileged to share with the King of the Universe. I want to absorb the ideas in this book more fully, and discuss them with Rodney, and my hope is that we will decide together how we will delight in and celebrate the Sabbath, not just "keep the Sabbath", going forward. I love the idea that, we cannot celebrate God's creation without spending time in some way, in, or with, God's creation. Our children love being outside, and this book has challenged me anew to make it a priority to go for walks or otherwise celebrate the beauties of God's second book, nature, on this special day. It also challenge me anew to make it a priority to welcome the Sabbath each week. I want to talk to the girls about this, and come up with a plan, with them, on how we can use music, candlelight, special foods, special dishes, and special traditions to welcome God, in a special way, into our home each week.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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