On Sunday, Yes Make Coffee at Home & Pack a Sandwich

A man in EBF's Facebook group wrote:

"I didn’t respond to the legalism part before so I’ll address that. It’s little rules like expected behavior on the sabbath. For example if someone buys a cup of coffee on a Sunday that’s sin ?

There’s personal convictions that’s one things But making a person feel put down for doing that.

It’s too far

So you think the latter rain Saints who come into Spiritual understanding are going to automatically walk in these things,?

When you add rules to salvation or tell people how to maintain or verify by behavior THAT is legalism"

McCann reply:

I was raised without a Sunday Sabbath. I always did whatever I wanted to do on Sunday. I played sports. I watched TV day and night. I drank. And I ran around doing my own thing for about 25 years.

Even after I heard that Sunday was the N.T. Sabbath teaching from Mr. Camping – I remember getting out of church and going down the street with the church gang to Days Deli on Spruce St. in Philadelphia. No conscience about it whatsoever. And from the sound of it you would have fit right in with us. No legalists at that church.

But I kept listening. And I heard Mr. Camping give this verse many times:

Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

And I also heard him discuss (many times) how that the emphasis on Sunday was spiritual activities. And not cutting the grass. And not going to the game or watching the game. And not going out to restaurants to eat or "get coffee". Why not? Because we were making the people work for us and thereby contributing to their trampling under foot of God's N.T. holy day.

So yes, after several years, by God's grace I began to live according to the Scriptures on this point as wonderfully laid out by Mr. Camping many, many times.

And it wasn't long after I started to walk more uprightly about the Sunday Sabbath that the Lord tested me concerning it.

I was working at Vanguard in Malvern. And not long after I started working there I learned that tax time was their busiest time of the year. They had to get statements out to all mutual fund holders. And so they had mandatory overtime for about 1 month leading up to tax day. And yes, Sundays were apart of it.

My wife was pregnant with our first child. And I really liked the job and needed its pay. But I now had a conscience about Sundays. So I asked my boss if I could get off the Sunday overtime. He didn't like it. No one else had off. But he passed it up the line. Until the VP of the department called me into his office. And he asked me about it and I told him it was my beliefs. He tried to get me to work for the good of the unit. And finally, he asked if I would do it for him? I told him I was sorry but I couldn't.

He told me not to do it for now. And he would get back to me. I remember while everyone else was working I clocked out right at midnight Saturday night. I don't think I've ever felt so self conscious as I did walking out of that place that night. I felt everyone's eyes were on me.

A couple of weeks later they booted me out of that job and into another job that was in the same department-but not nearly as nice lets say. And yet, I would stay in that job for 15 more years. And the Lord used it for much good in my life and for my family.

Personally, from that time till now I do not put my foot on God's holy day in ways that I used to put my foot on God's holy day. I do not shop on the Lord's day.

If the weather reports are right we're about to have a major snowstorm in this area tomorrow. So my wife and I went to the story this afternoon to get supplies. Which included tea and coffee.

Sometimes I think that we want to stop at a store and buy something just for the sake of stopping at a store and buying something. For the most part there's no need to do that. We can make coffee at home. And buy paper cups and package a cup to take with us if we're going to hand out tracts or whatever. We don't have to buy it.

We can also make ourselves a lunch. And eat the sandwich during a break.

Again, this is what I do. If someone calls me and asks what they should do on the Lord's holy day I would suggest to bring their own coffee and sandwich. Am I telling people to do it? I don't tell people to do anything. I certainly won't share things that you would do. I'm not you. And I think one of the reasons why the Lord has me in the place He does at this time is because I have learned to share that Sunday is His holy day. I feel that EBF's message on the Sunday Sabbath is a faithful continuation of the true Gospel message on the Sunday that Sabbath that Mr. Camping learned (from God) to declare as well.

So again, points of doctrine are not in themselves legalistic. They are God's commandments. And the keeping of them is an expression of love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Who Himself demonstrated love to the Father by keeping the Father's commandments even unto death, the death of the cross.