True Bible Reasons Why Church Is On Sunday Not Saturday

We go to church on Sunday, but the Jews held Sabbath on the last day. Why?

Often, people will use verses on Jesus being resurrected on the first day, or that the observance of Sabbath and days must be fully convinced in his own mind, but a deeper study of those actually either is incomplete or misguided.

And that is not even to say that the Jews didn't use the solar Gregorian calendar, but the Hebrew calendar which is based on the lunar cycle. Which means the last day of the week in the Hebrew calendar is not always Saturday, but could be Wednesday then Thursday the next month. At least according to Google.

The Sabbath. Is it on Saturday or Sunday?

People miss the point. It isn't about the Sabbath. Going to church isn't the Sabbath. They are two totally different things.

Nowhere does the Bible say that Sunday or the first day of the week has replaced the Sabbath, but that doesn't mean people are wrong in gathering to worship on the first day

But where does it say we are to meet in church for the Sabbath? Nowhere, either. The Sabbath is to be holy, yes, but people make a logical leap and assumption that means "go to church".

In fact, the first day and last day are both important and holy in the Bible.  They are both important today, as well. Those days are when schools are off, and many, if not most, jobs are off.

So before I lose you with this reasoning seemingly without a point, I will make this assertion so you know where I stand: Saturday is still the Sabbath and a day of rest, however, Sunday is the day of assembly primarily for New Testament believers.

Notice I didn't say worship. We must worship God every day.

Let me substantiate this claim Biblically.

What is the Sabbath?

Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Where in these passages say that we are to gather together and worship on the Sabbath? Nowhere. To keep it holy, yes, but do not make the assumption and logic leap that "keeping it holy" is equal to "going to church". It may mean that, but not necessarily.

What it does say is that the Sabbath is mainly for rest, and it is in the seventh day.

Schools and many jobs have Saturdays off. It is already considered a day of rest.

So:
Sabbath = last/seventh day of the week
Sabbath = rest
Saturday = off day from school and/or work
rest = off day from school and/or work
Saturday = last/seventh day of the week
Sabbath = Saturday

But what about keep holy, then, if it doesn't mean go to church? Keeping it holy means keeping it apart as its own day. The word holy means "sanctified, or set apart". The passages explain it, six days man shall labor, and on the seventh, man will rest, making it a special day apart. It doesn't mean go to church.

Now, we have established that the Sabbath is the last day and is about rest. What about the first day?

The First Days In The Bible

The first mention we have of the first day is in Genesis 1, like we do about the last day. God uses the Creation week as the reason why the last day is the Sabbath. Without getting too convoluted, I would surmise it is obvious why the first day is on the surface important in the Creation week, for it being the beginning. It is also important because Jesus rose again on the first day. But that is just the shallow end of reasoning if we want to prove why we assemble on the first day and hence why we will just pass over those reasons, no pun intended.

We know in Acts that the disciples gathered on the first day.

Acts 20:7
7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

Here we see clearly that the disciples came together on the first day.

Notice the phrase break bread. I believe this is referring to the communion (for obvious reasons). This will be important later on.

We also use this verse to justify all day meetings and also Sunday evening services, even if we don't always go till midnight.

Now, where does it say the first day replaced the Sabbath? Nowhere. Where does it say that the disciples gathering together means Sabbath? Nowhere. Where does it say preaching only happens in the Sabbath? Nowhere.

Now certain people would do some mental gymnastics and claim that since in Jewish time, days began in sunset or nightfall or whatever, and thus it was technically the last day, not the first day.

Which makes no sense because if they considered the first day as that time, it was the first day, and the day before the last day.

1 Corinthians 16:2
2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Here we see a command to the church to lay in store on the first day of the week. We understand this to be tithes and offerings. Where do we see it commanded that we are to collect offerings on the Sabbath?

Even in the Old Testament do we even find the first day holy for worship in some contexts.

Nehemiah 8:2
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

Nehemiah 8:18
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

These passages show it isn't out of the ordinary to hold services on the first day or any other day of the week, even if it went from first to last day. Notice, too, on the eighth day, which is the first day repeating again, a solemn assembly was held.

Exodus 12:16-17

16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.

This is in the context of the Passover. So why is it relevant to the debate?

Jesus told us to observe the communion as oft as we will:

1 Corinthians 11:24-25
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Remember breaking bread when the disciples were gathered together in Acts? They were observing the communion.

The communion is our equivalent Passover as Christ fulfilled the Passover. We have unleavened bread to remember Christ our Lord, hence we need to observe it on the first day as does the feast of Unleavened Bread, not the last day.

Notice it doesn't say that the Passover observance on the first day replaces the Sabbath last day, doesn't it?

Lastly, we are to assemble as much as we see the day approaching:

Hebrews 10:25
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Now whether one chooses to assemble Saturday or Sunday or any other day of the week, we should assemble. And there's no Biblical law against assembling on Sunday. We should assemble more, in any day, not less. We have the liberty to.

So:
First day = Passover
Passover = communion
First day = disciples gathered + preaching
Disciples gathered = communion/Passover
First day = store tithes and offerings
Disciples gathered = assembling
Assembling + preaching + store tithes and offerings = go to church
Sunday = first day
Sunday = go to church

In Conclusion

We assemble with the church to worship God on Sunday
NOT because it is the Sabbath
NOT because it replaced the Sabbath
BUT
BECAUSE the disciples did so
BECAUSE it is commanded to store our tithes and offerings on the first day
BECAUSE the first day is still important even though it isn't the Sabbath
BECAUSE we are to observe communion as oft as we will, which is connected to the Passover, which happens in the first day of the week
BECAUSE we are to assemble any time as the day comes
HENCE
We may observe BOTH the last day of rest of Saturday and first day of assembly of Sunday.

Two weekend days sound nice, don't you think?

The Video Game Designer's Prayer

Heavenly Father of sequence and design,
I bid thee.
As Thou hast said in the days of Creation, and there it was brought forth into existence,
May what I code become.
As in the beginning the Word made flesh,
Let my programs take on digital structure.
May it bless the player,
May it teach Thy sovereignty in a interactive world of free will,
May the mechanics and controls flow,
May the music and sound and atmosphere be pleasing.
Let the imaginations we spark be of good report,
And the time our players entertain not detract from life but add to it.
I pray Thee that my graphical interfaces and aesthetics be as apples of silver in pictures of gold,
And that our syntax be words fitly spoken.
I praise Thee, O Almighty and Intelligent Designer, Creator of worlds! The universe is Thy game, forever and ever. Amen.

MindWrap: Why Are Humans Afraid Of An Artificial Intelligence Rebellion?

I'm still grieving today from the Tittle's loss, but due to a couple recent articles in the news about a subject I've always wanted to touch, I will analyze this question, "Why are humans afraid of rebellion from super artificial intelligence?". Movies like the Terminator and Matrix popularize the idea: that man will be ruled by machines.

The Butlerian Jihad, a fictional artificial intelligence uprising in the Dune series

On May the 1st, "Mayday", Stephen Hawking, the acclaimed thinker, warned us about the implications of highly advanced artificial intelligence and it's possible threat to humanity. To him, we aren't taking artificial intelligence seriously enough.

One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all. ~ Stephen Hawking

Today, an article comes out on Neurogrid, a chip that is modeled after the human brain's parallel processing power. While not specialized as traditional supercomputers in that it can run purely mathematical computations, Neurogrid is important step in that in reflects brain activity as is understood.

But the fundamental difference between the way traditional computing systems model the brain and the way Neurogrid works lies in the way the computations are performed and communicated throughout the system.
Most computers, including supercomputers, rely on digital signaling, meaning the computer carries out instructions by essentially answering "true" or "false" to a series of questions. This is similar to how neurons communicate: they either fire an action potential, or they don't.

Indeed, interesting technology. It does seem we are headed to some kind of singularity, but not one imagined by transhumanists in my opinion. But I digress. We come back to the original question. Why are humans afraid of a revolt by computerized beings?

As a Christian, I believe that the created are no greater than the creator(s), and there is no evolutionary process that creates something greater than itself, though I believe there are only at best, horizontal changes, not anything significant vertically upwards. I also believe the Bible is literal and completely true.

With those assumptions, my argument is simple. Humanity remembers his rebellion against God in Eden, and we fear our creations will do that to us.

In Genesis, God, a Superintelligence far beyond comprehension, creates intelligences according to His image: Adam and Eve. They were not greater than their Creator. And yet in their desire to become like God, they fell.

In our remembrance, we falsely think that mere computers will become self-aware. Unfortunately, self-awareness is only available through spiritual means. Even animals are not self-aware but are ruled by instinct.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

I subscribe to Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist, in regards to the mind and brain. Only the spirit can bring self-awareness. No amount of software programming or advancement in hardware will create something greater. Yes, computers are very specialized and efficient in what they can do, whether or not be it mathematical computation or chess, but it will only be mere reflections and only statistical advantage, not a qualitative one.

In our primal memories and fears and sinful nature, we create the robotic Skynet boogeyman. We fear that computers will be corrupt because we are corrupt.

And that is true to an extent. It would make sense that everything we make is fallen. Humans might program or manufacture devices to have evil purposes. But machines will never be inherently sinful or purposely, self-awarely corrupt, because they will be at best, tools, not life.

Though maybe the statue of the Beast in Revelation may be an exception. Who knows? It's possible that demonic presence or counterfeit intelligence may manifest itself.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Revelation 13:15

The Creation Debate Between Ken Ham and Bill Nye

If you want the debate in it's entirety: http://debatelive.org/

My verdict: no clear winner.

The debate between Ken Ham, founder of Answers In Genesis; and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, yesterday, is the current trending topic. Here are my thoughts in their presentation:

Ken Ham started with laying down a worldview position and definition explanation in his 30 minute presentation. Much emphasis was placed on the difference between observational science and historical science, with testimonial videos from Creationist scientists all over the globe. During the rebuttals, Ken Ham had the upper hand in humor and also presented the gospel at varying points when appropriate. He remain reasonable throughout the debate, but he loses his composure towards the end, which greatly affected the audience's (online and live) opinions. His underlying thrust of the metaphysical worldview was blunted due to Nye's many questions.

Bill Nye started with an anecdotal story about his bow ties, and how cool they were (which is one thing I agree, bow ties are cool). He then barrages Ken Ham with many questions, makes him seems unfocused, but it was an effective technique of flooding that left Ham a bit disconcerted. Bill Nye also used sentimentality and personal attacks, much, much more as the debate went on. He also dismissed some of the evidences Ham that addresses directly some of the questions. Bill Nye gained so much steam in the end, but Ham uses the last moments to inject humor in the question and answer time.

In the end, to be fair to both, both had strong points but also blunders. Ken Ham's focus of a worldview underpinning was undermined by Nye's call for physical evidence, which Ham would have undoubtedly provided (all of the things Nye asked about were on his website) if the debate had longer went on. And I do wish the debate had gone on longer.

CollegePlus! Creation Museum Gathering

Awesomest. Time. Ever.

Midwest Homeschool Convention

Had such an awesome time at the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinatti! It was my very first time, and though it wasn't what I expected, I wasn't at all disappointed.

We arrived on Thursday, April 4. Beforehand, we visited the Newport Aquarium to look at fishies.

The first session I attended was the Historical Clues to Great Spelling by Barbara Beers. She taught on how the Latin, Germanic, and French and other language influences created the nuances in our English language. Grammar structure, pronounciation, plurals... everything starts to make sense once you know the history of the words.

The next session I attended was Biblical Worldview As It Relates to Science, hosted by Creation.com ministries. Kinda a repeat of what I already know, but reiterations are good. I had to stand up the whole time since the room was packed. Basically, the difference between Creationism and Evolution is not evidence, but the interpretation of evidence.

The last session for Friday that I attended was Professor Carol Reynolds's Russia in the Dark Age of Communism. She talked about her dream on living in Russia, and how her folk tale perceptions of it was shattered when she arrived as an American professor working in the country in the heat of the Cold War. She talked about the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church and how Communism sought to replace and eradicate religion. Professor Carol, who loves music, also taught some musical history of the Russians. It was one of the most interesting classes I attended in my life.

I bought a book called The Writing of God. It's about the real Mount Sinai in Arabia, across from the Sinai peninsula, not on it. The lady on the booth was very shrewd in selling it to me. But I don't regret it. It has some interesting archaeological pictures and essays.

So the first day ended, but the fun was only beginning! Onward to Friday, April 6th.

We woke up a bit late, so we missed the morning session, but I went straight to the class titled Throwing Light on the Dark Side: Good Vs. Evil in Contemporary Literature by storyteller Jim Weiss. He talked about how evil is presented in fiction and real life. He introduced to us the idea of mythology and how its a reflection of a culture's true beliefs, with one example as George Washington's cherry tree. Evil is manifested in four ways: a pure evil, evil with a different perspective, deliberately chosen evil, and banal evil. He then proceeded to relate it to works such as the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, the Twilight series, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Shakespearean plays, and other works of fiction.

Afterwards, I headed to the Ed Zaccaro's session, Ten Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Must Know. It was a reminder that math and science are ways of objectively looking into something and how statistics are manipulated to deceive us. It was also a point that many solutions are counter-intuitive, and that causes and correlations must be discerned among other things.

Attorney David C. Gibbs III of the National Center for Life and Liberty spoke on Bodly Standing in a World of Compromise. He reminded us that the only way to change our nation was to bodly proclaim the gospel. To do so, one must must actively tell and convert a person to Christ, and actively disciple them enough so that they would then go and convert and disciple others.

Homeschool Programming, Inc., a small business by a husband and wife team, did a session on Creating Android Applications. It was a bit boring, as you can probably tell if a computer programmer showed you how to code something simple in a monotone voice, but I did learn something about Android emulators and the market share of Androids compared to iOS devices. I think I should focus in on Android apps with Game Maker instead of the iPod.

I then met my good friends the Proffitts from CollegePlus! I got a sudden call from Bridget telling me to find them at the CollegePlus! booth. We went to the Bible Bee booth, because Bridget worked for the Bible Bee, and met a of their few friends. They went and hanged out with us as we walked around the exhibition hall. Then we had a dinner of pizza, kinda expensive(although the food in the convention was really expensive as well).We caught up with the ending of a session from John Stonestreet, the one who does the Worldviews Course at CollegePlus! He spoke on New Spirituality: Engaging with New Age, Eastern Religions, and Neo-Paganism. He showed quite an interesting movie trailer about "The Secret" and dissected it.

So we ended the day with just hanging out, going to different booths and shops at the exhibit hall. We didn't go to the Tim Hawkins comedy show because we heard that his jokes were getting less funny. And I kept getting teased on my April Fool's joke on getting engaged. XP

And the final day, Saturday, April 6th....

On about 9:45 to 10 AM, I was supposed to meet the Spydog of GMC Jam fame, but due to lack of wifi and miscommunication, we weren't able to. :( Still, I might meet him next year.

I proceeded to go to another of Jim Weiss' sessions, again. This time, he was speaking on G.K. Chesterton and how he influenced C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He ended with a narrative retelling of his mystery short story "The Blue Cross". The story was very engaging, and I wonder how I ever missed this author! Unfortunately, I don't have much time nowadays with reading, so I don't know if I should look for his books.

I got a text from the Proffitts to meet them after one of the twins takes the Medical Transcriptionist class. She needed the job, but I warned her, since I tried to take that job before. So we agreed to meet at the CollegePlus! booth again afterwards. I went to Thomas Purifoy's session, Why Every Christian Needs to Understand Economics. He reminded us that economics are the choices man makes with limited resources as a steward of God's kingdom. Mr. Purifoy then proceeded to give us a model of history as a struggle between the Augustinian city of God and city of Man, where economics of one conflicted with the other. In the end, I got a free economics DVD.

Meeting again with the Proffitts and one of their friends Kaitlyn(Caitlyn? Katelyn? *shrugs*), we decided to attend the Teen Track session Keeping Cool Under Fire: Handling Objections with Grace and Truth. Scott Klusendorf did a roleplay on being a pro-choice supporter, which made me almost mad... and then I realized it was a roleplay. -.- He gave us pointers on how to graciously debate by asking the Columbo questions: "What do you mean by that?", "How did you come to that conclusion?", and "Have you considered the implications of your view?". I'll find this very useful in the future.

Took a small break at the Starbucks. The twin sisters didn't go to the coffee shop much, but I recommended that they get a frappe. We then went back to the Junior Ballroom to hear Sean McDowell speak on the factual evidence for the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Along with the cold, hard, historical facts, I learned about his once having doubts about the faith. I did learn that the resurrected Jesus did show Himself to people that did not believe on Him, including Saul and James, His half-brother.

Another break, then finally the last session. It was Mr. Klusendorf again, but this time, he spoke on Moral Relativism. Basically, the philosophy is self-refuting. He also spoke on the 'intolerance of the tolerance crowd'. I'm glad for the Christian speakers equipping us with tools to engage our culture.

I had to say goodbye to the Proffitts (but hopefully I'll see them in two weeks). Then the finale... An Evening With Dr. Ron Paul! We got as close as we could to watch Dr. Ron Paul speak. As the Prime Minister and Chairman of the homeschooled Valiant Defender's Party, it was one of the most inspiring political speeches I have heard. Sadly, I didn't have a recording device, and the event wasn't recorded. I then understood why he stood on his foreign policy as he did, and that he's going to start a new homeschooling curriculum. He encouraged us, the young people, to get involved locally and to spread the message.

Ending the night and today on Sunday, we started for home. We did attend Fellowship Baptist Church, the home of the Fellowship Tract League for the morning service. It was a very awesome weekend, one that I will remember the rest of my life. I thank God. :)

The Game Designer Argument for Creationism

I present you two hypothetical incidents that will generate a game. Which is more likely?

A. Random generation of code.
B. A programmer typing code.

Of course, B.) is the answer. But if an evolution and naturalism is to be believed, A.) is more likely.

The universe is so complex, and organized, I can only fathom that a Designer created it.