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2004 English-speaking Scholarship Winners

Every year the BSA conducts an essay contest for the purpose of providing Sabbath-keeping students with scholarships to further their college educations. 2004's essay contest was divided into two categories, one for native English-speakers and one for those who speak English as a second language. In this issue of The Sabbath Sentinel we will feature our three native English-speaking scholarship winners.

Each contestant was required to write a maximum 500-word essay in answer to two of three questions:

1) A) Pretend you are at work. Your boss has told you that you must start working Saturdays or face being fired. The job market is bad. You probably wouldn't be able to find another job right away and you have a family at home to feed. What would you do? What would you say to your boss? How would you handle this situation?

OR

1) B) You are at college on an athletic scholarship. Your scholarship is dependent upon your playing at all home games. Home games end up being on Fright night. Would you play the games? Why or why not? What would you say to your coach and to your school in light of your religious beliefs? How would you handle this situation?

2) There is a movement to change the weekly calendar to make Monday the first day of the week and Sunday the last day of the week. While this would enforce the idea that Sunday is the Sabbath day, what would you say to argue against this change? What kind of facts would you present to convince the people who would change this to leave it as it is? If this were to occur, how could Sabbath keepers continue to teach the truth of the Sabbath with the calendars being changed? How would you handle this situation?

First Place Winner Randall Siddens

Nineteen-year-old Randall Lee Siddens, is currently attending Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri. Randall grew up in Marceline, Missouri, where he attended church at the Church of God 7th Day. Randall enjoys playing the guitar, and particularly he enjoys playing during the worship service at church. Randall has always been very active in various school and church activities.

Randall plans to move back to Marceline after college and work in construction. "I feel that my ministry is mostly to be an encourager of the church but also people individually," says Randall.


Question 1-A

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Ex. 20:8. This command from God sounds well and good, but what does it mean? If you read on down in Exodus 20 you will find that God explains what he means by this commandment. There are two things God asks of us in this command. He first asks us to not labor, and secondly He asks us to set the day apart as holy. Now being humans when given a command from God we often ask ourselves, "What will happen if I do not follow this command?" In most cases God has explained the negative consequences of disobeying His will, but not with the Sabbath. God does however explain it nicely in John 14:15 when Jesus says "If you love me, keep my commandments." Here is the point we must understand, if we love God we will honor the Sabbath. If you do not love God then do not feel obligated to keep the Sabbath, but I am writing this paper assuming that my audience has made it a point to live a life that demonstrates a love relationship with the Father.

To show our love for God we must remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy. This will at first seem easy, after all how hard is it to take a day off and rest? Everything seems easy until you come to a tough situation. Here is a situation that may have happened to you or may happen in the future. Let us say that your boss at work has told you to work on Sabbath, or face being fired. The job market is bad, meaning getting another job will be hard, and you have a family to feed. A perfect example of being between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand you face disobeying God and on the other losing a job and facing hard times feeding the family. What would God have you to do at this point?

There may be more than one way of solving this dilemma. First, I suggest explaining to your boss the situation. I know from personal experience that people will often go out of their way to work out a solution if you just share your convictions and dedication to loving God. The boss may find a different day for you to work, but if not the right thing to do is to quit. Finding a job can be difficult especially when the market is bad. This may mean you have to work harder at a lower paying job. Subsequently the family may need to tighten the budget. No matter how bad things may be, God will provide.

God has not asked us to give up everything we have to prove our love. He has, in fact, allowed us to be blessed when we do follow his commands. The Sabbath allows us to set aside a day to connect with God and grow closer to him. It is important that we keep the Sabbath even if it means making some small sacrifices. And let us not forget what our Lord sacrificed for us. God has given us everything; can we not take at least one day a week to set aside for God?

Question 2

Man has made many attempts to justify wrongdoings. One example is the movement to change the calendar so that Sunday would be the seventh day of the week. A person might question how this simple effort to change could be considered a way to justify wrongs. It comes from the purpose to change the calendar. The purpose of the change would be to justify actions of disobeying God's fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. Since the majority of Christians go to church on Sunday and do not honor the Sabbath, it might make sense to some degree to make this change of the calendar. This change however would not make a wrong, right.

The seven-day week was set up by God, for the sake of the Sabbath. Think of this, the year is based on a yearly rotation of the sun, and the month of a rotation of the moon, but the week has no rhyme or reason. In fact, having 365 days in a year makes a seven-day week very inconvenient. This is why we have "approximately" 52 weeks in a year. If a person wanted to sit down and make a work week they would not choose five workdays and 2 weekend days, because seven is an odd number for a weekly cycle. The Sabbath and our weekly need to rest, rejuvenate, and focus on God are the only reasons the week was setup as it was. A change in the calendar would be rejecting God's plan because He set it up this way, and to say that another way is better would be the same as saying man's way is better than God's way.

Even though it would be against God's will, there are still people who would like to make this change. The question is, "How will Sabbath keepers deal with the calendar change if it occurs?" I personally would resist the change. This might be seen as going against the grain, but if you didn't know, I am going against the grain keeping the Sabbath as it is now. This change would definitely test the faith and steadfastness of the Sabbath keepers, but it would not ruin anything that God has given us.

The truth of God's gift of the Sabbath should be taught no matter who or how many people have gone with new trends. This will be much harder to do if the calendar gets changed. One way to change the calendar would be to simply renumber the days. This would really not affect the truth much, because many countries have already tried this, and the Sabbath is still quite obviously the true day of rest. Another way to change the calendar would be to flip Sabbath and Sunday, making the week go Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. This would change the names but would not change the work schedule, leaving the first day of the weekend as the true Sabbath. Either way it would be a deviation from God's plan and gift.

The Sabbath was made for man. We are not supposed to feel subservient to the Sabbath; we should enjoy the Sabbath and use its benefits of rest and reuniting to the fullest. The Sabbath is a gift and God will not let it be taken away from us, and let us also remember to show our love for God by keeping the true Sabbath. ?

Second Place Winner Joshua Gaffney

My name is Joshua Gaffney and I am eighteen years old. I was born in Manchester, New Hampshire: however, I have lived most of my life in Berthoud, Colorado. I am the middle child of five children. I graduated from Berthoud High School in May 2004 and am currently attending the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology where I am pursuing a computer science degree. I also work at the information desk in the student center on campus. In my spare time, I like to play basketball, card games, video games, and watch movies with my friends and family. I attend an independent Sabbath-keeping church and am continuing to learn about God and Jesus Christ daily.

Question 1-A

One of the greatest challenges of being a Sabbath keeper is when an employer asks the Sabbath keeper to work on a Saturday or face being fired. This is a tough challenge to anyone's faith, especially if in the current job market one is not likely to get a job for months.

If this would happen to me, the first thing I would do would be to offer to take a double shift on another day. If the company allows employees to switch shifts, then there is more than likely another employee who would rather work on a Saturday than on a different shift some other day. I could also work for someone after sunset on Saturday, if there are any late shifts available. If the company would not let me trade shifts with another employee or if none of the other employees would want to trade shifts, then I would talk directly with my employer. I would tell him that I feel that God requires my observance of the weekly Sabbath and that I could not work on it. I would offer to work more time during the week, Sundays, and holidays such as Easter, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. This would probably be pleasing to the employer, because it would show that I am not trying to get out of work and it would help him fill shifts that others do not want. It will also show that I am willing to work around other's religious beliefs. If this still does not work, I would tell my employer that I am willing to be fired because I refused to work on the Sabbath and not to expect me on Saturday until after sunset.

If I were fired, I would have to be active in finding a job that I can make enough money to get by on and trust in God to help me get by. I would also remember that sometimes God lets things happen and take comfort in scriptures like 1 Peter 2:19 "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." When any employers are interviewing me to see if I am qualified for the job, I would tell them why I was fired and that I will not be working on Saturdays. If the employer is good, he would see that I have morals and values, which would hopefully help him to decide to employ me.

Question 2

There has been a movement to change the beginning of the week to Monday instead of Sunday. I feel that this could create a new challenge to Sabbath keepers. I would argue against changing the beginning of the week to Monday, because it would seem to show that the Sabbath is on Sunday rather than Saturday.

Because the people who would want to change the beginning of the week to Monday want to do so for business reasons, any religious argument would not change their opinions. Therefore, I would point out that the week has always started on Sunday, since before written history. I would point out that everyone is used to the week starting on Sunday and changing it could cause some trouble with schedules. I would also argue that changing the beginning of the week should not be done just for convenience sake. I would also use the analogy that the weekend is like the covers on a book. No matter how much you try, the first page of the book would not make a good book cover and the cover will not make a good last page.

If, however, the beginning of the week was changed to Monday, Sabbath keepers can continue to preach the truth about the Sabbath, despite people's claim that the new calendar supports Sunday keeping. The people who will be alive during the calendar change will know about it and for those who are not alive during the change, there will always be documents showing the change of the calendar. One will still be able to make the argument that man cannot change God, and He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Another argument Sabbath keepers can use is to show that Jesus Christ kept a seventh day Sabbath. Then propose the question; if Jesus Christ kept a seventh day Sabbath, can man change the day and call it good? Another way to approach it, would be to ask a Sunday keeper to explain why they keep Sunday. If they have to explain their point of view, it makes them analyze it themselves, then they may see the holes in their argument.

I feel that although changing the calendar might change some of the ways that Sabbath keepers defend the Sabbath; it still should not present that much of a problem to the committed believer.

Third Place Winner Heather M. Fauth


Luke 14:33 says, "Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple." This short verse sums up my perspective on life. For me to be Jesus' disciple I have to leave things of this world behind me, take up His cross and follow him. I have been taking this verse seriously since I became a teenager. During my freshman year in high school I was involved in swim team. After the first meet my coach came up to me telling me she needed me to swim Friday and Saturdays, days that are my Sabbath. Instead of rejoicing to go a step higher, my coach made me choose between swimming and church. I quit swimming for high school that day; however, it wasn't easy. I had to remind myself why I was doing it.

Six years later I'm still finding the blessings from my decision to quit. In everything I do I must look at it and decide who it's serving, who it will affect, and how it benefits my spiritual life. I believe the only way to know this is by praying and reading the Bible. I take the Bible literally and expect other Christians to do the same. This experience six years ago and others like it has made me ready to go into the entire world and preach the gospel to others. I am ready for missionary work and would like to pursue a profession that allows me to be involved in helping others.

Seattle Pacific University has an international service called SPRINT that I would like to get involved in while attending school there, the project has many mission projects on and off campus. I would also like to participate in the Church of God new Medical Missions after becoming an active medical profession; Physical Therapy Assistant, Occupational Therapist, or Physician's Assistant is something I am currently considering. I believe that God has given me a talent and passion for working with injured and sick people and would like to use those talents to serve Him and my community.

Question 1-A

When wondering what the future holds for me I get anxious and worried, but in Philippians verses six and seven the Bible says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." I have read these verses many times reminding myself that God is ultimately in control because I do tend to fret over what the future may bring, especially when it pertains to financial and job issues.

The commandments are clear that the Sabbath (Saturday) is to be kept by doing no work and resting. As a commandment keeping Christian, I know that I will never work on Saturdays and must tell my employer this; however, I will also need to pray for confidence and trust because God does provide. There is a saying, whenever God closes a door; he opens a window; so after quitting my job I will have to look for the window that God has opened for me. The window is not always obvious, but with prayer and faith God will show me, His servant, the way I should go. Matthew six verses thirty-one through thirty-four says "Therefore do not worry, saying "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Seeking the Kingdom of God is much more important than any job I could have on this earth, and by following God I know that He will provide for me and my family. I have seen the power of prayer in the stories of the time when my Grandpa had to quit his job to honor God's commandments. He told me that even though he was worried about where his and his family's next meal would come from, he knew that it was better to follow God's commandments than to break them by working on the Sabbath. Because he was faithful to God in a time of testing, he has had many blessings and God saw him and his family through it and gave him an even better job.

Question 2

In the beginning God created the seventh day and hallowed it. He set it apart so that man would have a day of rest, as stated in Genesis the first chapter. He made the Sabbath day a holy day, created only for humans because He knew we would need rest; He did not need the rest, but He set an example that we should follow. For what He does, we must also do. God was only looking out for His people's best interest, and He can command His people to rest on Sabbath because He is God. This is also the reason why He picked the seventh day to be holy, because He is God and has the right and power to decide what day we should rest. As followers, we must listen to His words and obey. In Exodus, Moses was given the commandments God had spoken to him; these commandments are direct in what God wants His people to do.
As a follower and believer of God, I must realize that this means that no matter what happens in this world, I must chose to follow God, even if that means being the only one. In John, Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep my commandments. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

By changing the calendar's first day to Monday, it would only cause those who are not strong believers of the Ten Commandments to falter. Just as the Lord's Supper is not held by the day on the calendar says, but by the moon, the same could be done for observing the Sabbath. God has always let the truth be known to His followers, and those who seek it will find it. My favorite verse that I would tell others who would question whether Saturday was the seventh day or not is Acts five, verse twenty-nine, "Peter and the other apostles answered and said: 'We ought to obey God rather than men,'" since it is men who are changing the calendar and not God, for the Sabbath has always been Saturday from the beginning of time.

Scholarship Essay Contest 2005

We are now taking applications for our 2005 Scholarship Essay Contest. If you are a college student or are planning to attend college in the near future, write us for a contest application and rules for this year's contest.

For 2005 the amount of scholarship money has been increased to $1500 for first place, $1000 for second, and $500 for third. There will only be three prizes given in 2005, and native English speakers and those who speak English as a second language will have an equal chance of winning.

If you as a BSA member or reader of The Sabbath Sentinel would like to donate specifically to our scholarship contest fund, just write on the check "Scholarship Fund," and your donation will be separated into a fund designated only for our scholarship essay contest.

TSS

March - April 2005 The Sabbath Sentinel