Court ruling on Sabbath seen as ‘huge problem’
Judges reject appeal from NJ bus driver who sought Sunday off
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Bus driver Roger Fouche, with his wife, Andrea, was fired by NJ Transit when he said he couldn’t work on the Christian Sabbath.
Photo courtesy Roger Fouche
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August 1, 2012
A federal court ruling involving a New Jersey bus driver could have troubling implications for Jewish workers who observe the Sabbath and other holy days, a Jewish legal scholar warned.
On July 16, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld NJ Transit’s decision to fire a born-again-Christian bus driver who refused to work on Sundays.
The court agreed that granting the driver’s request for Sundays off “would have placed an undue hardship” on the transit agency.
Marc Stern, associate general counsel for legal advocacy at the American Jewish Committee, said the ruling muddied the waters for Jewish job applicants who do not work on Shabbat.
“It is a huge problem for observant Jews,” said Stern.
At the center of the case is Roger Fouche (pronounced Foo-shay), a Hainesport resident. Fouche was a part-time bus driver for NJ Transit who, after accepting a full-time position, sought to be excused from driving on Sundays, the Christian Sabbath.
In March 2008, three months after taking the full-time job with the state-run transportation company, he was dismissed.
Fouche sued NJ Transit in Federal District Court in Newark, arguing his firing was illegal under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The trial court rejected his claim.
Last month, the appeals court upheld that ruling. It accepted NJ Transit’s assertion that Fouche knew about the Sunday assignments when he took the job and that allowing him the day off would have breached the seniority provision of the union’s collective bargaining agreement.
“Fouche’s good faith in taking a full-time position with New Jersey Transit is questionable because when he took that position he surely knew or should have known from his prior part-time employment with New Jersey Transit that its drivers ordinarily are sometimes assigned Sunday driving duties,” the judges ruled.
According to that reasoning, Stern complained, “Sabbath-observant job applicants are not acting in good faith if you apply, even though you have a statutory right” to a day off for worship.
“That is quite astounding,” he told NJJN. “It is very dangerous.”
Stern said employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religious practice, but that there are other ways to find out if a potential employee might need a special accommodation.
“In theory, it is illegal to ask straight out, ‘Are you a Sabbath observer?,’” said Stern. “But you can ask, ‘Are you available seven days a week, 24 hours a day?’”
That would weed out the Sabbath observant, unless they lie.
“I will tell you that in counseling people, it is one of the most difficult issues to deal with,” continued Stern. “You don’t like to tell people to lie, yet if they don’t lie they are never going to get a job. Now, with the Third Circuit’s comment about ‘good faith,’ the dilemma becomes even harder.”
Stern said many judges are increasingly impatient with the idea of religious accommodations. “The environment is not friendly anymore,” he said.
In a July 26 e-mail to NJJN, Nancy Snyder, a spokesperson for NJ Transit, welcomed the appeals court ruling.
“NJ Transit’s collective bargaining agreement with our bus operators is clear,” she wrote, adding that “employees pick jobs based on seniority. The work available to Mr. Fouche included working on his Sabbath day based on his seniority.”
According to Stern, “It may or may not be that NJ Transit could accommodate this guy. I don’t have the impression they tried very hard. But what you can do is ask other employees to switch shifts with you. It would have been an available accommodation.”
But, Fouche told NJJN, “no attempt was given to me for change of shifts with other drivers. After a written notice and numerous attempts of informing of my Sabbath, I was denied by my supervisor, stating that ‘If I was given off, she would have to give others off.’”
Matthew Weisberg, the Morton, Pa., attorney who represented Fouche, told NJJN, “Our argument was they had a burden to prove that financial hardship and they did not.” The ruling “allows an employer to effectively, without proof, say something is a financial hardship so as not to have to make an accommodation.”
Weisberg said he will not ask the United States Supreme Court to review the decision, citing the “cursory manner” of the ruling.
Fouche has not yet decided whether to file an appeal.
Fouche is currently employed part-time as a postal worker while he studies for a master’s degree in divinity at the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a training minister at his church, the nondenominational Christian Cultural Center, in Brooklyn.
“I am a born-again Christian and Sundays are my Sabbath,” he told NJJN. “We believe in the scriptures of the Old and the New Testament.”
Comments
Joe
August 02, 2012
Shkoiach! Next up for destruction - Sharia law! THAT will keep all fundamentalists in good behavior mode!
R. Fouche
August 04, 2012
As a note, concerning the report, I informed them of my Sabbath before accepting the full-time position. and further submitted a written notice to immediate supervisor/union.
Brian
August 04, 2012
In my case, I had applied for a job and the night before the interview I glanced again at the job requirements and it stated, “Must be available to work some weekends.”
I knew then that I would have to stick with my convictions so I emailed him. I stated that I believe and observe the seventh day Sabbath as a holy day unto God and that unless they could make reasonable accomodations, I would have to retract my application and cancel the interview. That is tough to do for someone that had just run out of food money, or any money for that matter. God knows I desperately needed the job!
Anyways, in short, I did get the job and I later found out that out of roughly 30 well qualified individuals, I stood out. Not because of my qualifications, for I had very few, but because I had integrity! I have found that when someone stands up for their beliefs in the expectation of losing out because of them, they often gain what they thought was lost and so much more in the end. No job, however lofty it may be, is worth having at the expense of one’s convictions! You are far better off without it.
It is a shame that more and more, businesses seem to value integrity less and less. But I believe you did the right thing Mr. Fouche!
Happy Sabbath and may God bless!
Kent Loudon
August 04, 2012
What about Muslims who I believe are supposed to pray 6 times a day?
SDA
August 04, 2012
Sunday is not ‘the Christian sabbath’. Christians in the bible and Jews kept the same Sabbath.
Brigette
August 04, 2012
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
May God bless us and strengthen us :-)
Bible Worker
August 05, 2012
Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Exodus 20:8-10 (4th commandment) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy… but the SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath of the Lord your God…”
Steve Wilcox
August 05, 2012
Aside from the fact that Scripture does not support the first day of the week as being the Sabbath of the Lord our God, relgious accomodation in the work place for Jew and Gentile is waning as the supposed wall between separation of church and state is being taken down brick by brick by an ever increasingly secular society and a judicial system that has an agenda unfriendly to any form of religion. I am not surprised as I see the events of the book of Revelation happening before our eyes and so few are even aware that it is happening. The second beast of Revelation 13 is starting to speak as a dragon while the world is waiting for the next Batman movie to come their way. And sad to say, millions upon millions of Christians are among them thinking they will be raptured before the great terror happens. Read I Thess. 4:16-18 for the real picture.
Nick Opiyo
August 11, 2012
It’s unfortunate that Mr. Fouche was unable to find a true sabbath keeper to switch days with. I’m sure a Saturday keeper would love to work Sunday and be off on Saturday!
Carlo Disalvo
August 12, 2012
the seventh day Sabbath kept at least 2500 years before a Jewish man was ever born. Genesis 2:1-3.
Abraham kept it before a Jewish man came into existence. (See Genesis 26:5)
The angels kept Sabbath before all of mankind existed - Psalms 103:20
Steven Ray
August 14, 2012
Our Creator instituted the 7th day sabbath during creation week… The Jewish people did not come on scene until Jacob’s wife Leah gave birth to their 4th son Judah…. The sabbath is also a memorial unto God as it recognizes Him as our Supreme Creator and the One True God… He created all things through His Son our Savior… Many of my brethren make the mistake of believing that keeping the sabbath is legalistic… Nothing could be further from the Truth… If that is the case then I suppose that stealing, worshiping idols, murdering, sexual immorality, coveting, using God’s name in vain, honoring one’s parents ect… are as well.. Fact is Jesus Christ had to die because we failed to keep the commandments… By doing so we sinned, and only He lived a sin free life while in the flesh… Therefore He is the perfect Lamb of God through whom only we are forgiven.. With that being said do we continue to sin, meaning do we continue to disobey God’s 4th commandment which is to keep HIS sabbath day holy and do no work upon it?...
Roger Mann
August 14, 2012
I understand why our Jewish friends still observe the Sabbath as a binding holy day, as they reject the New Testament Scriptures and abide by the Old Covenant laws. But I don’t understand why any Christian still insists on observing the Sabbath, as the New Testament Scriptures plainly state that it’s no longer binding under the New Covenant:
“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [God the Father] has made alive together with Him [Jesus Christ], having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths [plural—referring to the weekly and various other sabbaths that were instituted under the Old Covenant], which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:13-16)
Believers in Christ are under a new covenant (Hebrews 7:22), a new priesthood (Hebrews 7:23-28), and a new law:
“For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law” (Hebrews 7:12)
Therefore the seventh day Sabbath is no longer binding upon Christians. We are no longer required to keep an external Sabbath or any other day as a special holy day (see also Romans 14:5; Galatians 4:10-11). Moreover, there’s not a single verse in all of Scripture that states that the Sabbath has been changed to the first day of the week, or that we are now to observe the Sabbath on Sunday. To the contrary, even after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the seventh day of the week is distinguished from the first day of the week as the Sabbath (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 23:56 – 24:1).
Roger Mann
August 14, 2012
By the way, I highly respect Mr. Fouche for standing by his conviction and refusing to compromise. That is very commendable! I just believe that it is a misguided conviction based upon the scriptural evidence I outlined above.
Jim Frobe
August 14, 2012
I see a coupla things here…
WHICH day is the TRUE Sabbath? Saturday or Sunday? Pick wrong and you lose any argument for a religious exemption.There are and have been reasonable arguments for each day!
ALL members of Clergy “work” on the Sabbath… This I think speaks to the example of Jesus in adhering to the “spirit of the law” and not the word. Jesus “worked” on the Sabbath and he was sin free! Think about that.
IF one is so concerned with keeping the Sabbath as opposed say to just attending church… Your course is quite clear! DO NOT accept or solicit any job requiring a 24/7 schedule. If your convictions are SO STRONG ... you can not accept or apply for this kind of job. PERIOD.
As a Man pursuing a degree in divinity… You ought to know that for the rest of your professional life… YOU will be working on the Sabbath. Whazzup with the double standard?
If it is OK for a Minister to"work” on the Sabbath, and ALL do…What is the REAL problem with driving a Bus on the Sabbath?
Many “faithful” fall short upon a closer look at the facts. I suspect this probably has happened here too.
Charles Ivie
August 14, 2012
I agree with Roger Mann that we are no longer under the Old covenant (Col. 2:14). It was mentioned that Abraham kept the sabbath. I challenge you to read Gen. 26:5 and show where Abraham kept the sabbath. I challenge you to read Psalm 103:20 and show that the angels kept the sabbath. These verses show that Abraham kept God’s commandments to him. The angels kept God’s word. We keep God’s commandments to us today. They do not include keeping the sabbath. We are to assemble on the first day of the week to sing, pray, teach, partake of the Lord’s Supper, and give as we have prospered, but we are not required to make it a holy convocation with no work.
makes64
Robert Anderson
August 14, 2012
Those of you who believe the Sabbath has been nailed to the cross need to read the scriptures again and not just the ones you want to read, also reading into the scripture what you want it to say will not take the Sabbath away. The Sabbath is still binding to all mankind and will be until the end. Saturday the seventh day is the Sabbath.
Jutta Schultz
August 14, 2012
As a Seventh-day Adventist, I am bothered by those of you who harp on which day is the sabbath, first of all this article is not about which day the Sabbath is, it is about freedom of religion for all. No one can keep the Sabbath if they have not studied it and know why it is so important. And if people have a relationship with Jesus, Jesus will show them the error of their positions, not you. Very few sunday keepers even care about attending church on sunday or any other day, so God bless those who are standing up for their beliefs. We don’t know if God will lead this man to the Sabbath truth, but I have confidence that he will find it, because he is a searcher for God. If the Holy Spirit is with him, the glaring inconsistencies will become evident without us.
I have dealt all my life with this issue of not working on Sabbath, and no matter how many times I have to deal with it, I am ALWAYS glad that I stick up for my beliefs. God blesses those who obey Him in Love. Recently I applied for a job, and in BOTH of my interviews I stressed that I observe my Sabbath from sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday and that I am very involved in my church so I would not be able to work that day. Neither interviewer said anything to me about it or that it would not be possible, and they hired me. I worked for two weeks and one day they stated that if I and the rest of the crew were not there on Sabbath then we would be fired. So I went in and talked to the girl who had done my interview and she said that yes some weekends were required if we worked there. At that moment I knew that working there was going to be a struggle for me and I resigned on the spot. There are just some companies that will not be flexible and WILL hire you, thinking that you will cave in order to keep your job. But had I caved and worked on Sabbath, then who I am would have been compromised and I would not have been a good witness for Jesus Christ.
What I find interesting and funny is this: If you are a seventh day SABBATH keeper and especially if you are a Seventh-day Adventist, your love for God inspires you to do what He commands. Jesus said, “IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS!” John 14:15. And JOhn 15:14 says, “Ye are my friends, IF you do whatsoever I command you.” Notice he didn’t say, keep some of them, he just said, “Keep My Commandments”. That includes the 4th one! So if you have someone working for you who “Keeps the Commandments of God, wouldn’t that be a good thing? Think about it a minute, what other commandments are there? And how can those commandments not benefit your company? Wouldn’t you WANT to hire the very people who honor those commandments that say, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” and “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God in vain”?
All these companies do not know what they are missing? They suffer with employees who steal and rob them in time and money and have no principles at all. Turn over is so high because they are not hiring the very people who would benefit their company.
Alex
August 14, 2012
Why is this Jewish news site even printing this article about a born again christian that doesn’t even keep the same Shabbat as the Jewish do?
Tim Adams
August 14, 2012
The book of Acts clearly states that the first Christians met on the first day of the week. That was the day after Sabbath, when the Jewish followers of Christ would have kept the day of rest. Gentile believers’ restrictions were decided and passed down by a meeting of Saul and the remaining Apostles and Jewish leaders of the Church in Jerusalem around 40 CE, stating that gentile believers were bound to the following items:
Not to practice idolatry (this included not eating meat offered to idols sold by the temples, or to eat in idol worshipers homes).
Not to consume blood
Not to eat anything which has been strangled or otherwise tortured to death
Not to commit sexual immorality
The writer of Acts further states that the moral codes of Moses were well known in the Ancient Mediterranean world and throughout Asia, having been promulgated by the Jewish people for centuries, and that basic moral and hygiene laws were sufficient for Christians to live by. The early Christian leaders also permitted followers to keep the Jewish practice of Sabbath if they chose to, or were of Jewish lineage.
Jutta Schultz
August 14, 2012
Tim, simply put, there is absolutely NO biblical proof that the Sabbath was changed….none….we all know when it was changed, because the people who changed it admit to doing it, which also means that at the time it was changed, they were still keeping the Sabbath. That happened in the 300 BC’s. NOT one instance in the Bible, of the first day of the week, talks about the Sabbath or the changing of the Sabbath to the first day of the week….But that is beside the point of this article. The point is that if it can happen to sunday keepers who are in the majority, it can happen to those who keep the seventh day Sabbath. Or shall I say, it is already happening, because as long as I have been alive it has been something that Adventists have dealt with.
Marie Devine
August 14, 2012
There is a solution. There is one God above all; He did not command confusion. He guided all prophets around the world to follow His Law. His Law was given through Moses. Muslims are commanded to follow the whole Bible, as are Christians. It is church doctrine or misinterpretation that uses the wrong Sabbath. God commanded the 7th day as a day of no work, a holy day, under penalty of death. He also commanded Sabbaths of no work around memorial feast days. Exodus 20:8-11, Leviticus 23.
Unions want one united day off for their workers for greater efficiency, energy efficiency, prosperity, unity and family benefits. The only one that makes people available to work the other 6 days is the commanded day of Saturday, sunset to sunset. Otherwise Jews and true Sabbath keepers would have to have two days of no work. President Obama can make an executive order that Saturday is America’s official day of rest.
Steve Shep
August 14, 2012
This guy cracks me up. He counsels people to break one commandment to keep another.
“In theory, it is illegal to ask straight out, ‘Are you a Sabbath observer?,’” said Stern. “But you can ask, ‘Are you available seven days a week, 24 hours a day?’”
That would weed out the Sabbath observant, unless they lie.
“I will tell you that in counseling people, it is one of the most difficult issues to deal with,” continued Stern.
YOU DON’T LIKE TO TELL PEOPLE TO LIE, YET
if they don’t lie they are never going to get a job. Now, with the Third Circuit’s comment about ‘good faith,’ the dilemma becomes even harder.”
Jennifer Swanson
August 14, 2012
This discussion about which day is the “true sabbath” is irrelevant to the article.
Morné Theunissen
August 14, 2012
There is some relevance, as it was ironically the “Christian” edicts of the council of Nicea and Emperor Constantine that banned 7th day Sabbath observance by penalty of death.
Morné Theunissen
August 14, 2012
... in fact, for many centuries under “Christian” governments, Sabbath observance was banned. Note by saying “Christian” I am not debasing true believers in that great Jewish Rabbi of the 1st century who never broke the Sabbath or any other commandment, nor taught anybody to do so. Go read Matt. 5:17-19. Heaven and Earth are still here, so I guess the Sabbath’s still valid.
Morné Theunissen
August 14, 2012
Roger Fouché, though I disagree with the belief in a “Christian Sabbath,” I do commend your courage. I don’t know whether there are any worthwhile career opportunities there, but it is a well-known fact that the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A shares your conviction, and I’m sure they would commend you for taking a stand. Possibly there are other businesses who have the same policy. I pray that you will find employment that is far better than the job you lost.
Roger Mann
August 15, 2012
Which day is the “true sabbath” is not “irrelevent to this article,” as a few posters have asserted. The issue was brought up by Robert Wiener, the writer of the article, himself.
“Fouche was a part-time bus driver for NJ Transit who, after accepting a full-time position, sought to be excused from driving on Sundays, the Christian Sabbath.”
My initial post was directed at that false claim in the article itself. Sunday is not the “Christian Sabbath,” as I demostrated with the Scriptual passages that I cited. There’s not a single verse in all of Scripture that states that the Sabbath has been changed to the first day of the week, or that we are now to observe the Sabbath on Sunday. I challenge anyone who disagrees to present even one verse that either states or implies anything of the sort. To the contrary, even after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the seventh day of the week is distinguished from the first day of the week as the Sabbath (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 23:56 – 24:1).
But the fact is that Christians are no longer required to observe the Sabbath, regardless of what day one believes it falls on.
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths [plural—referring to the weekly and various other sabbaths that were instituted under the Old Covenant], which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:13-16)
“But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.” (Galatians 4:9-11)
Requiring certain days (including the Sabbath) or weeks or seasons or years as *mandatory* religious observances is a sign of spiritual weekness and immaturity. It is the “one who is weak in the faith” (Romans 14:1) that harbors scruples over dietary regulations and ceremonial worship days. Of course, a weak brother is free to hold those scruples without being despised, but he is not free to impose those scruples upon the whole church and despise those who have the spiritual maturity to know better (Romans 14:2-23)
David
August 15, 2012
It seems as if most comments have missed the point here.The religious freedoms America HAD are now no longer tolerated and even accepted.Your Constitution is finished, your freedom of speech(about religion,especially the Bible) will not be tolerated.The High Courts says so by their verdicts, and it is the President of USA who appoints such judges(supreme court). I admire individuals who stand up for moral standards being trampled and done away with by our modern day lawmakers. I suggest we all take a look around us….is America getting better or is the direction America is headed in, going to get worse?Seriously pay attention…it is all in that book…your BIBLE. As for the Sabbath…the reason we know who the Jews are..because they KEEP THE SABBATH.
Read Exodus 13:3- a memorial. a SIGN, no work on these days,perpetual-continues and unbroken, we are all one: Galatians 3:28-29…. however there is a way that SEEMS RIGHT to a man but its end is the way of death.Proverbs 16:25
I could go on and on about the TEST COMMANDMENT EXODUS 16:4 (SABBATH) but the bottom line about the State of your nation given to you by God(a promise made to Abraham) you are in deep trouble when morality is considered evil by the courts of the land. The CURSES on DISOBEDIENCE are evident in your nation. LEVITICUS 26.
Prove all things- 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21
Morné Theunissen
August 15, 2012
I agree with your statement David, especially regarding the Sabbath, but here’s the thing: which religion’s practices should be respected? Obama states America is not a Christian Nation. So, now you have a melting pot of religions and cultures, each with their own practices and holy days. Christians keep Sunday, Jews Saturday, Muslims Friday afternoon prayers, and every other religion has their own versions. As an institution that has to manage schedules and a varied work-force, how do you accommodate everybody? In a neutral democratic system it becomes near impossible. When you have to accommodate everybody, it actually becomes difficult to accommodate anybody. It’s the will of the majority. On the other hand, when a community or nation has consensus on a particular belief, the issue becomes much clearer. Keeping the Sabbath in Israel is the easiest thing in the world. The same with the feasts. If I were a Muslim, which I’m not, but if I were I would imagine Ramadan is much easier in Islamic nations. In European nations, they are banning Kosher slaughtering, and circumcision. Why? Because it goes against the grain of what is practised by the majority of citizens. So, what is the solution? When a politician stands for candidacy, his desire should less be to accommodate the general consensus, and more to stand for the principals he believes in. Imagine a candidate says “when I’m president, abortions will be outlawed, gay marriages won’t be recognised, national holidays will be declared on the Biblical feast days, businesses will be shut on Saturdays, every 7th year farms will not produce any crops, the 10 commandments will be the foundation of the constitution and laws, every president will hand-write the books of Moses and carry that copy with him everywhere. Every 7th year debts will be released in a general amnesty. Every 7th year the Torah will be read aloud in the Capitol. Every radio and television station will carry the broadcast. Every masonic and occultic symbol will be destroyed. In it’s place innovative architecture and construction will provide a lot of jobs. The reserve bank act will be scrapped, and gold and silver will be legal tender. etc. etc.”
See how against the grain God’s goverment would be to our democratic systems?
Morné Theunissen
August 15, 2012
Sorry, I meant to say “principles” not “principals” and “government” not “goverment.”
David
August 16, 2012
Morne Theunissen-The solution to all of the errosion of family values based on the Bible….the return of JEHOVAH, until then, we learn the aversion therapy set before us by our own doings.God’s master PLAN- spelled out in the OT Festivals…. Passover to THE LAST GREAT DAY will bring most into the KINGDOM, until that time ...know this…men will be lovers of themselves,lovers of money,boasters,,proud blasphemers-(impious,against GOD)... disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,unloving, irreconcilable,slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of GOOD,traitors, headstrong,lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power-(based on lack of obedience unrepentant sin which is the breaking of Gods Commandments including the Sabbath- 1 John 3:4)...And from such people TURN AWAY! 2 Tim 3:1-5
One more comment before I get to carried away… And the kingdom and Dominion and the Greatness of the Kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be GIVEN to the people, the Saints of the Most High.Whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all dominions(Empires) shall SERVE and OBEY HIM(God)The image in Daniel- we are almost there -10 toes of iron and clay is almost on the scene.Do not be distracted by the behavior of men within your nation, it is to be expected.God is in control…In order that the living may know that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men,giving it to whoever He will,and sets over it the LOWEST of men. Dan 4:17
My apologies to any one who might find offense to this comment as far as I am concerned the jewish people are my brothers and Love is the fulfillment of the LAW-Rom13:10 So how do we love properly…BY KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS:)My prayers go out to Roger and his wife…we all need to expect persecution..2 Tim 3:12 when we answer the call of God:)
AWHN
August 25, 2012
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Godswill
August 29, 2012
how can some call suday a cchristian sabbath for christ sake?God pls help us
Richard Austin
September 08, 2012
A big and more presenting problem is that the Sabbath is not on SUNDAY as he calimed but according to the Bible the Sabbaath is on SATURDAY
Alex J. Rhowuniong
September 13, 2012
Mr. Fouche, kudos to you for standing up for what you believe in!
I, too, am a Sabbath keeper… the seventh day Sabbath. And I’ve had my share of discussions with supervisors about the issue of resting and being unable to work on the seventh day Sabbath. I usually tell them the Sabbath rest was a decision from higher up and not up to me to decide whether I work or not work… that I have no control over the matter. And that should they fire me I’d understand, but I just won’t work on Sabbath if they hired me.
I have not had anyone turned me away. In fact, the last newspaper I worked for as a sports reporter went out of their way to make accommodations. Instead of working Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, I came in at sundown (end of Sabbath) Saturday and worked Sunday (my non-Sabbath). Mind you, Saturday is always the busiest day for sports on the small island of Guam (USA) where I live.
If God, for whom you stood up, allowed you to be fired from the company then clearly He has a better place for you. We must remember that when God closes one door, no one can open it. And when He opens a door, no one can shut. The Bible says in Rev. 3:8,
“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Mr. Fouche, you have not denied God by standing up for what you truly believe in your heart to be the true Sabbath day. God will bless you for that… tremendously! He said so in His Bible:
13“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isa 58:13, 14)
God has something better, indeed! Remember, He owns all the cattle on a Thousand hills; He owns the silver and gold in earth; in fact, He tells us through the Psalmist in Ps 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it!”
Finally, you and God, Mr. Fouche, are majority! Stand tall!
Alex J. Rhowuniong
September 13, 2012
I forgot to add Mr. Fouche: THE LORD OWNS THE COMPANY THAT FIRED YOU AS WELL! HE OWNS EVERYTHING… THEM JUDGES TOO THAT WERE ON THAT PANEL THAT RULED AGAINST YOU!
May God be CONTINUALLY praised!
Banabas Seaton
September 16, 2012
Those who believe that the seventh day sabbath (Saturday) is no longer binding, and that (Sunday) the first day of the week is now a Christian sabbath really does not understand the scriptures.
There is only one SABBATH and that’s the 7th Sabbath of the LORD which is SATURDAY.
(GENESIS 2:2,3.) (Exodus 20:8-11.) (ISAIAH 58:13,14.) (JOHN 1:10.)
Any claim of the first day of the week as a sabbath to Christians or otherwise is false, and is of the devil.
Try as man may they cannot make a day which God did not make Holy!
You can search the whole scriptures and you will never find a passage endorsing the first day as a sabbath. Acts 13: 42 The gentiles wanted the word of God to be preach to them as well. Paul could have instructed them to come back the next day which was the first day of the week. Instead Acts 13:v44 said, And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. “NOT ON THE FIRST DAY”
The fourth commandment is for all man kind, it is not for the Jews only. Mark 2: 27,28.
GALATIANS 3:26-29.
God promised blessing to all those who keep the seventh day sabbath. Isaiah 56:2 (Revelation 22:14)
In the book of John 14:15 Jesus says If you love me keep my COMMANDMENTS. ‘What commandments if they are no longer valid”? The fourth commandment is not only an Holy institution, it is also a sign between God and his people Ezekiel 20:12,20. Exodus 31:13-18 it is also apart of the ten commandments. Exodus 20:1-17.
Many first day Christians read COLOSSIANS 2:14-17 and say see, the law was nailed to the cross we are no longer bound to keep the commandments of God because we are now under grace. But if any one take a close look at what the text is saying, it is talking about handwriting of ordinances, which was against us that was contrary to us, which was the ceremonial law of ordinances written by Moses. LEVITICUS 23: see v 37,38. Tell me , what in the ten commandments that is against us or contain ordinances of meat offering and drink offerings? everything is for us. Four commandments with love towards God, and six commandments with love towards our fellow man.
The ten commandment law was written not by Moses, but was written with the fingers of God and given to Moses and they will last for ever. Exodus 31:18.
Lifting up the first day of the week (SUN-DAY)as a sabbath day of worship, is lifting up a day man has instituted as the day of worship to the pagan SUN god, over the day of worship to the SON of God. This day of worship is the institution of the Roman catholic church as their ecclesiastical power and authority to change God’s law. DANIEL 7:25.
When this day SUN-DAY is put into law as a national day of worship, then the whole world will be force to make the decision to either worship God on the seventh day sabbath and receive His seal, or worship on SUN-DAY which will result in receiving the mark of the beast. Please read (Revelation 13)See v 4,8,14,15-17.
Also see the result of worshiping the beast and it’s image and receiving it’s mark. Revelation 14: 9,10.
George Irving
September 21, 2012
It is good when someone is willing to stand up for what they believe in. I know that Mr. Fouche God will reward your faithfulness. Whether your belief as to what constitutes the Christian Sabbath is another issue in and of itself. I for one believe in the Seventh-Day Sabbath as is kept by the jews and the Seventh-Day Adventist; for which i am a member and other groups. A number of individuals have outlined in my view very well why the Seventh-Day is the Sabbath of the Lord and is binding today. If you are indeed an earnest seeker for truth i believe you will come to understand and accept the Seventh-Day as the Sabbath of the Lord eventually. Until then i wish God’s blessings upon you as you continue to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Mutinta
October 18, 2012
Fouch, you are standing on what you know is right, which is Good, the world today just like the days of old are facing all these calamities because they have not heed to the Teachings of our Loving Father in Heaven. An intrunction is given"6 days thou shall labour and do all your work but the 7th Day is the day of the Lord in it YOU SHALL DO NO WORK.
Our God knows that man needed rest and needed to spend time with Him, refrain from all his works( it means deniying self and putting God first, seeking Him with earnestnes of Heart.) here we find True Joy, Happines and Peace.
PLEASE PEOPLE OF GOD LET US GET BACK TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, SUNDAY IS NOT SABBATH AND WILL NEVER BE SABBATH. NO MAN CAN MAKE A DAY HOLY, ONLY GOD ALONE.
Isaiah 8:20 (NKJV) says To the LAW and to the TESTIMONY if they DO NOT speak according to this word, it is because there is no TRUTH in them. Revelation 19:10, 12:17. says the Testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy and the Law being the Ten Commandments.
this is a sure test of who really is the child of God or the true prophet of God, Test every Spirit…. for false prophets have gone out in the world to decieve, with many lying wonders.
The war as it was in heaven is still about WORSHIP, IT REALLY MATTERS WHICH DAY YOU WORSHIP. Saturday, the 7th day is Holy unto the Lord it is the Lords Day. Not Sun the 1st day.
Gods Mark, Seal is the 7th day Sabbath, Satan’s Mark (the Beast/ Dragon) is Sunday. the Bible tells me all that i have stated above may it speak to you too through the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all Truth.
Mutinta
October 18, 2012
Sorrry i mearnt “God’s Mark… NOT Gods
Roger Fouche
October 19, 2012
As a reminder the issue here is not of a theological nature but is in fact Judicial. Don’t loose focus!