TSS Is Now A Free Publication

Richard Nickels

I am pleased to announce exciting developments! For more than fifty years, The Bible Sabbath Association has published The Sabbath Sentinel. It has provided a wealth of information of interest to Sabbath-keepers. This magazine has been an invaluable tool in promoting understanding and cooperation among Sabbatarians, and proclaiming the Sabbath Truth. With the Almighty's guidance, we need to take some steps to carry this work into the next millennium.

The Sabbath Sentinel Is Now a Free Publication

Beginning in 1999, we are converting the magazine from a subscription periodical to a FREE publication, and changing from a slick color cover to black and white. There are several important reasons why this change is needed. For one, our subscription base is too small to warrant the costs of color printing.

For another, we believe that a FREE magazine will enlarge our readership, and provide the means for The Bible Sabbath Association to reach out to many more people. I encourage you to send us the names of friends who may be interested in receiving a free subscription to The Sabbath Sentinel.

Reading TSS On the Internet

And, making the magazine free will enable us to offer The Sabbath Sentinel on the Internet. You may read the current issue, and some past issues, on our new BSA web site at www.biblesabbath.org. You will also be interested in reading additional material on our web site, including our latest order blank of BSA materials. If you prefer to read our magazine online instead of on paper, give us your e-mail address (send it to me at biblesabbath@comcast.net), and we will notify you when the latest issue goes online. (You may decide to have both the paper copy and e-mail notification.)

Looking for Article and News Contributions

The content of our magazine is more important than any other aspect. Our fine editor, Lars Harrison, needs worthwhile articles, and could use editorial assistance. We especially need positive news of activities of Sabbath-keepers from many persuasions. Can you be an article and news gatherer for our magazine?

BSA Needs a WebMaster

The Bible Sabbath Association also needs a qualified "webmaster" (we prefer to call this position a "web servant"). This person will maintain and enhance our BSA web site at www.biblesabbath.org. We need dedicated individuals to do word processing for the BSA, as we seek to retypeset and reprint Sabbath material. Are you willing to volunteer your services to share the Sabbath Truth to others? Please contact me toll free at 888-687-5191.

Membership Donation Needed

While some might think that converting The Sabbath Sentinel to a free magazine is a leap of faith, I believe people will continue to support this unique organization. Each year, subscribers will receive a renewal notice. Our suggested donation is $15 per year to cover the publishing costs. Some may be able to pay for the free subscriptions of others. I encourage your support and feedback as we make these important changes in direction of The Sabbath Sentinel. Let me know what you think.

The Turkey and the Sabbath

For the past couple of years, my employer has given out a Thanksgiving turkey as a bonus gift to every employee. The first year, we stood in line as the frozen birds were handed out. I joked to another fellow worker whom I know very well, "You don't need a turkey; you are a turkey!"

This year, however, I took a day off to catch up on some G&S and BSA work. The free turkeys were to be handed out at 4:00 p.m. that day. Any unclaimed turkeys at the end of the day would be donated to the local food bank. I didn't need the turkey, but since I was doing business in town anyway, I made it a point to stop by the office in time to pick up my free turkey. The turkey was a gift, but I had to be there on a specific day and time to receive the free gift.

Sabbath-keeping is a Required Appointment

Keeping the Sabbath is like this. How? Well, salvation (eternal life in God's Kingdom) is a gift from God. Nothing I can do will earn me God's free gift of eternal life. However, for me, since God has revealed His Holy Sabbath to me, Sabbath-keeping is a required appointment for me. It is not my concern how God will judge others concerning keeping the Sabbath or not. Salvation is like the gift turkey I received from my employer. If I did not show up around 4:00 p.m. on the specified day, I would not receive a turkey gift. My appearing at the proper time did not earn me the turkey, but it was required.

Those Sabbath-keepers who falsely accuse me of "legalism" charging: "you are saying Sabbath-keeping earns you salvation," seem to have difficulty understanding the English language. I have tried to make it plain, but it appears some will continue to live in the fog.

Eternal Life is a Gift

Another analogy also illustrates the point. I don't have many material goods, but I do have a will, which, in case that I die, gives what little I have to my wife, and then to our children. Now I am not going to take any of them out of my will, unless they become abominable and totally recalcitrant, after all efforts to rehabilitate them have failed. Could you say that "being good" earns them my inheritance? No way! They are my family.

My inheritance is a gift that my children did not earn. However, wretched actions on their part could lead me to write them out of my will. The Sabbath is like that. Keeping the Sabbath does not earn the gift of inheriting eternal life. However, consistently thumbing your nose at the Sabbath, when you know better, could well cause you to lose the gift of eternal life.

TSS

January - February 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel