My Recent Sabbath

The following appalling item was recently posted to another website. It surely provides food for thought, and lends fresh urgency to the Spirit of Prophecy statement:

The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. 2SM 36

On a recent Sabbath, I went to church and found that I had forgotten that there was to be a special event at church that day. I went in and noticed that the stage didn't look like church but had all the paraphernalia of a rock band. Remember, this was not the gym, but the Sanctuary. It was not a Saturday night program, but the usual Sabbath morning church service hour.

I checked the time wondering if I could make it to another church in the area, but decided to stay and see what the program would be like. After all, this is one of the current SDAnet topics.

The lights dimmed for the service, the musicians took their place, and the service started. As I listened to the music, it brought back memories. I remember being on break from the academy one time. On Sabbath afternoon, my brother and I snuck out of the house and went to the local theater for my first in theater movie. There was a pre-movie rock and roll band playing. I had to laugh. Now I don't have to sneak out anymore to hear rock music, I just go to church!

Another song was played. The lyrics were flashed on the screen of the stage and I noticed that words from the original were changed to include Jesus and the Father. I don't know if throwing in the name of Jesus and the Father really makes any difference when you consider the source of the song. The song was from a very popular stage play, "Hair," from the sixties that was famous for including naked stage performances.

It was O'Horgan who decided the cast would spread a parachute over the entire stage and, undressing under it, emerge one by one up through slits to stand totally nude while singing "Let The Sun Shine In" as the show's finale.

You can read all about this play at this web site.

I wonder about this play being the source for Sabbath morning praise sing songs.

There were other performances. One group of children took the stage. To taped music they began a modern dance performance. The music had people standing up and nearly dancing in place. I thought for a minute that it was going to spill out into the aisles.

Another girl took the stage and to taped music, did a dance number. She was dressed in a short skirt and a body suit, probably a usual dance outfit. She seemed to being doing a modern dance number. Several times through her performance, she kicked her foot up over her head, reminiscent of the Rockettes of Radio City.

The speaker followed. First he read a long list of email one liner jokes. Now, many ministers will tell a "story with a humorous ending," but usually relevant to the topic.

Here is one of his jokes:

Q: Why do they call it PMS?
A: Because Mad Cow disease was already taken!

Only some of the guys seemed to laugh at that one.

His message really concerned me. His idea of doing what was right, was so he could make the devil mad. He gets tempted to go to a nightclub and have a drink, he won't do it. Because that will really make the devil mad. He talked about how glad after the "Lake of Fire" he will be when he can stand on the "rotten stinking grave" of Satan. -- I don't know, but this kind of thinking worries me. (Some of you may remember I posted on the topic of what is the Christian's duty to Satan before on SDAnet. While Satan may be responsible for the beginning all the evil in the Universe, I still believe his demise will be a very sad time for God.)

A relative of mine told me about another church where the Sabbath morning church service consisted of a showing of Charlies Brown's Christmas Story video tape. This was a service she had attended.

For some reason, this service made me very uneasy. If someone had told me what happened here, I would have been tempted to not believe them. I can certainly understand when people feel somewhat dissatisfied with the services of the past which may have seemed to be composed of a couple of songs and a sermon, but altering the worship service needs to be very carefully thought out and studied.

xxxxx

Last Modified 23 March 2000