Kenny Conley is the Next Generation Pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, Tx. True to Texas, Kenny thinks BIG. I’ve yet to hear anything out of Kenny’s mouth that isn’t bigger than all of us put together. He’s joining Jabberfrog today to share glimpse of what God has done inside of him lately. Enjoy, comment, then skip over to his blog, Children’s Ministry Online, for more.
Hello. My name is Kenny and I’m a Sabbath Skipper.
I’ve known better for years, but I habitually work on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I realized how out of control I was and began to put guidelines back into my life concerning the Sabbath. Actually I jumped into a small group of other men on staff and we’re on a Bible reading plan. While we were in the books of the Law, the thing that convicted us the most was the importance of the Sabbath and how pitiful we all were at celebrating it. Being in ministry, we’re all busy with really good things. Unfortunately our family was taking a back seat to unrealistic and out of control schedules.
For us, we first had to recognize what our Sabbath was. Sunday is a workday, so it wouldn’t be fair to our families if that was our Sabbath. We chose to go OT style and do the sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. It was a schedule that allowed us to have a full 24 hours with our families without school or work getting in the way. It also gave us flexibility to start ramping up for work again on Saturday night. We then surrounded each other with accountability, making sure we’re all celebrating the Sabbath.
I’m five weeks into my new practice and I’ve only blown it one weekend. Here is what I’ve learned:
- I’m just as productive as I was before. I’ve got the same about of work, but I seem to be getting it done in one less day of work. Who knew. I think it’s like the tithe. For many people it is a step of faith to first begin giving that 10% and they have to trust God with the tithe. When choosing to celebrate the sabbath, you have to trust that God will multiply your ability to get everything done with one less day to work.
- Celebrating the Sabbath changes the way I work during the week. Every day I’m thinking about that Sabbath and and prioritizing my week so that when Thursday comes, I’m able to wrap up what needs to be done for that week. I’ve found that it has helped me become more efficient.
- I’m happier. Seriously, I’m less stressed, I feel more confident about the direction we’re going and I’m having such a blast with my family on my days off. My relationship with my wife is better and I’m making great memories with my family.
It’s funny how as pastors, we’re sure to tithe and stress how important it is for others to follow this suggestion, yet so many of us totally neglect taking a Sabbath rest. The irony of it all is that taking the Sabbath rest is one of the ten commandments, which is pretty important.
So, schedule your next Sabbath rest day. Enjoy it and be sure to honor God this way!
I'm not buying that Kenny posted this. It's waayyyy too short…
As a regular sabbath observer, I'm glad to hear that others are jumping on this bandwagon of rest, reflection, and family time.
I agree with JC how can this be Kenny. Unless this is some excerpt from his blog. Ha!
Well I am not a comparer. But I definitely am a sabbath skipper. Thanks for this post. Good stuff. I need a digital kick in the butt from time to time. I am going to try to observe the sabbath. For me it will have to be Sunday to Monday we have Sat. night church:(
I was a sabbath skipper, but for the past year, my family and I attend Saturday night services together as a family. They did try to make me be involved in the Saturday night programming, but told them its not going to happen… So far its working.
Thanks for another thought provoking post.
Ha! I promise, I really did write this post. You want to know the secret? I wrote it at 2:00 in the morning. If I didn't keep it short, I was going to fall asleep.
Oh yes. I'll try to plan a long post for the next time I guest post… Kenny style! 🙂