August-September 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel 
Journey into Truthby Pastor Allen Stanfield It is indeed truth that God does not need any one man to raise up children to worship Him. Indeed, as Christ stated, rocks can be raised up to His praise! This article is proof of the mighty hand of God in doing exactly that! When any group truly desires to understand the Father, and the Son He sent, and are willing to replace their preconceived ideas with His Ways, God can and does bring them into a more perfect understanding. This article shows the progress these brethren made in coming to the understanding that His Sabbaths are made for us! Please also welcome them into the company of the brethren! About 1991, as the Associate Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lucerne Valley, California, I prepared a sermon on "Sunday Worship." The following texts were included: Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2 and Rev. 1:10. The only frontal position I could generate was an emotional one in as much as Jesus had risen from the dead and the excitement of Resurrection Day along with the privilege to exercise or take advantage of grace. Let's celebrate Sunday! --- but where was the authority? After presenting the sermon, a feeling of shallowness lingered, a feeling of comfort came as I contemplated the knowledge of being in "good company" of such spiritual writings as: The Baptist Faith and Message; Lewis Chafer D.D. of Dallas Theological Seminary; Cambridge Companion to the Bible: Bible Dictionary; William Barclay; and others. It also helped when my pastor also incorporated the same scriptures mentioned above in this apologetic for Sunday Worship. Sometime later, after becoming the Pastor of the First Baptist Church, I was asking the Holy Spirit to guide me in a search of the scriptures, to explore every "Sunday Keeping" and "Sabbath Keeping" article and book I could find. As my study progressed I found others that were thinking or acting upon becoming Sabbath keepers. Our Women's Ministry Director shared with me her longing for the Sabbath Rest she had experienced early in her Christian life. I received a phone call from a longtime friend (a conservative Baptist Pastor) informing me that his church had decided to become Messianic Jewish Sabbath Keepers. I hastened to share with him that I too, along with some of the church staff, were strongly considering the Sabbath. To this point neither of us had any idea the other was being "weaned" from Sunday. We visited with several of our congregation on their first Sabbath Worship Service. Some friends informed me there was a Seventh Day Baptist Church in Riverside which my wife and I as well as four other families from my congregation visited. On this day I told Pastor Gabriel Bejjani I was already at the "point of no return" to become a Sabbath Keeper (which he shared from the pulpit). We visited with Pastor Gabriel that afternoon and he and his congregation began praying for us. His church supplied some very helpful materials including a book called "The Sabbath: God's Creation for Our Benefit" by Rodney L. Henry. This book was instrumental in helping to give a Scriptural approach to separating the "ceremonial laws from the moral law (or Ten Commandments)" with which many in our congregation had been struggling. In a Seventh-Day Adventist periodical Liberty (January/February, 1999) mailed to me, it was pointed out by Samuele Bacchiocchi (well known to Sabbath keepers as a Seventh Day Adventist writer and researcher with access to the Vatican Library and the first non-Catholic to graduate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome,) that on May 31, 1998 in a letter from Pope John Paul II to the churches was trying to convince the world that the Roman Catholic Church had not changed the Sabbath to Sunday and that it was Scripturally sound to be worshipping on the first day of the week. He again used the familiar Scriptures used in my "Sunday Worship Message". This brought back the feeling of shallowness and a question as to why the controversy. How could men of such integrity and knowledge come to opposite conclusions. This questioning often lands me on the opposite side of thinkers around me. I remembered years ago having a copy of the book From Sabbath to Sunday, by Samuele Bacchiocchi, which had been given to me in a box of books by a Sunday-Keeper when he found out I would be studying for the ministry. Exploring the book, thinking I had found the "Golden Egg" documenting the authority for Sunday Worship. Instead I found it leading me in a direction I refused to go. After all I was studying to document Sunday Worship and I didn't want to be confused by the "facts." But now I found myself willing, willing to seek the truth. I searched for the book. Not finding it , I called the Seventh Day Adventist Book Store in La Sierra, California to ask about Bacchiocchi's book. I was informed that Bacchiocchi was scheduled to speak at the La Sierra University Church that very next weekend. We attended with some Sabbath-keeping friends and one family from our congregation. Our friends sought out the pastor of the La Sierra Church whose mouth fell open when I was introduced as the pastor of a First Baptist Church. He said, "You mean a Sunday-Keeping church?" He later brought Dr. Bacchiocchi to us where we were visiting near the back of the auditorium. I made it known that I wanted to get his new book "The Sabbath Under Crossfire" which was to go on sale that next day. The pastor said he had some in his office and went to get a copy. Dr. Bacchiocchi made a gift of this book which he autographed as we visited. I, a Sunday Keeping, Non-Adventist Pastor was proud to be given a pre-sale copy. I was excited as I shared the book with my people and proclaimed that we had received a copy before our Seventh Day Adventist Friends had an opportunity to purchase one! Later this Lucerne Valley Seventh Day Adventist church learned of our study of the Sunday/Sabbath issue from the La Sierra Church. This let the "cat out of the bag" and many in our small town were asking questions as to "Why the sudden interest in the Sabbath at the First Baptist Church?" We (the church staff, their families, and others both in and outside the church) decided to study and pray for a period of six weeks before taking any action (some covenanting to fast at least one day a week). We also agreed that we would individually search the Scriptures and pray without sharing or trying to influence one another. I made an appointment with the the High Desert Southern Baptist Director of Missions to discuss our study. I gave him a copy of "The Sabbath: God's Creation for Our Benefit." I asked him not to comment on his feelings until he had read and prayed about it. He counseled me to tell the church how I felt and present a study to "catch them up with me." After reading the book he agreed that it was theologically sound and he had no problem if we were keeping the Sabbath out of obedience. Although this was his first encounter with a Southern Baptist Church wanting to be Sabbath Keepers, he would not have any problem with our continuing in the Southern Baptist Association and living out our conviction to worship on the Sabbath. After the six-week period agreed upon and following the Director of Mission's counsel, I called a special business meeting, and presented my conviction to the congregation. I asked for permission to have a month-long Wednesday night study of what the Scriptures had to say about the Sabbath. This we did. The previous pastor wrote two letters to me letting me know he was opposed to the church going to the Sabbath and sent his leaflet called " Lord's Day or Sabbath." I supplied the congregation copies of this leaflet (a pro-Sunday leaflet.) I also supplied them with a copy of "The Sabbath: God's Creation for Our Benefit" along with my leaflet entitled "When, Where and Why." "When, Where, and Why," most of which is gleaned form Bacchiocchi's "From Sabbath to Sunday," is a reply to "Lord's Day or Sabbath." In addition to this reply, "When, Where, and Why" points out some things that I had read through the years that I believe are a desperate need to "cut and paste Scripture" and "grabbing at straws" by Sunday keepers. A few, not all, are included here;
The shallowness and lack of integrity of the pro-Sunday writers had a lot to do with my accepting the Sabbath as God's Rest. During our time of study, many expressed that they had longed for this for years. Others were not even interested, some were hesitant and a few were somewhat negative but continued the study and as time went on stated that they knew they would have to "out of love" obey the commandment to "Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep it Holy" --- Exodus 20:8. At the end of the study time each person voted on their conviction as to whether the Scripture says we should become Sabbath Keepers. This required a constitutional change and a two-thirds majority vote. I can honestly say those who were diligent and stayed with the study were convicted to vote "yes." Some who voted "no" decided to stay with us and make the change. Yes, there were a few who could not. All but one Sunday School Teacher happily became Sabbath School Teachers. Praise the Lord! We had as Sunday Keepers maintained a Jubilation Service (Music Fellowship) with several churches in the community. We want to continue this fellowship. We have had several pastors and laity who have given us their blessing either publicly, by letter, or in conversation without solicitation. We are looking forward to showing our love to God by "Keeping His Rest." Pastor Allen Stanfield can be reached by writing in care of TSS. We will forward any correspondence to him. We at TSS and BSA, as well as our many readers, welcome you as fellow Sabbath keepers! We look forward to coming updates as to your progress in understanding of the blessings associated with the keeping holy of His Sabbaths. Praise be to God, and to His Son, Jesus Christ, for the encouragement that comes from our new found brethren! (editor) TSS |