In a time of infirmity, the illness IS one's work. Taking care of all the disciplines that our health problems require IS the other part of the small daily fidelity to which we are called, beside the faithfulness of being attentive to God. We can be well simply by our diligence in being who we are at the moment.
Marva DawnIf the Christ we follow sent out his disciples with no extra possessions (Luke 9:1-6 and 10:1-12) and warned would-be devotees that he had nowhere to lay his head (see Luke 9:57-62), then we must recognize that it is extremely difficult to live in a Christian way in a consumer culture.
Marva DawnWithout the emotion and willingness of Spirit, our music becomes dry and dustyโwithout life. Without doctrinal bones as a skeleton, the Body is not enfleshed in a healthy way.
Marva DawnSabbath ceasing means to cease not only from work itself, but also from the need to accomplish and be productive, from the worry and tension that accompany our modern criterion of efficiency, from our efforts to be in control of our lives as if we were God, from our possessiveness and our enculturation, and, finally, from the humdrum and meaninglessness that result when life is pursued without the Lord at the center of it all.
Marva DawnWorship ought not to be construed in a utilitarian way. Its purpose is not to gain numbers nor for our church to be seen as successful. Rather, the entire reason for our worship is that God deserves it. (Worship) immerses us in the regal splendor of the King of the cosmosโฆprovides opportunities for us to enjoy Godโs presence in corporate ways that takes us out of time and into the eternal purposes of Godโs kingdom. As a result, we shall be changedโbut not because of anything we do. God, on whom we are centered and to whom we submit, will transform us by his Revelation of himself.
Marva Dawn