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Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

Let's give ourselves an A for effort.

  • We keep our minds so preoccupied with work projects that we act and think on autopilot.
  • We keep our kids so occupied with activities that they need day planners before grade school.
  • We keep our schedules so full with church meetings and housekeeping and even entertaining that down-time sounds like a mortal sin.

When we fail to rest we do more than burn ourselves out. We misunderstand the God who calls us to rest--who created us to be people of rest. Let's face it: our rest needs work. Sabbath recalls our creation, and with it God's satisfaction with us as he made us, without our hurried wrangling and harried worrying. It also recalls God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and with it God's ability to do completely what we cannot complete in ourselves. Sabbath keeping reminds us that we are free to rest each week.Eighteen months in Tel Aviv, Israel, where a weekly sabbath is built into the culture, began Lynne M. Baab's twenty-five-year embrace of a rhythm of rest—as a stay-at-home mom, as a professional writer working out of her home and as a minister of the gospel. With collected insights from sabbath keepers of all ages and backgrounds, Sabbath Keeping offers a practical and hopeful guidebook that encourages all of us to slow down and enjoy our relationship with the God of the universe.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In a gentle, concise style, Baab (A Renewed Spirituality) recommends a weekly day of rest as a gift from God that teaches Christians about grace. Although rules and puritanical solemnity have tarnished Sabbath-keeping in the United States, Baab commends the practice as a balm for frazzled moderns: "The frantic pace, the exhaustion that accompanies it and the resulting emptiness call us back to a rhythm that includes stopping and resting." While Sabbath-keeping is commanded in the Bible, God intends it as a reminder of freedom and abundant life. Baab suggests that Christians customize their Sabbath: All are called to cease from work, but one person's work could be another person's play. (Baab also says the Sabbath may involve freedom from multitasking, technology, media, shopping, competition, talking and anxiety.) Also, she says, the day for the observance does not matter, as long as it is consistent. Baab covers the scriptural reasons for Sabbath observance, but the best sections of this work deal with the personal and the practical. Her account of living (and keeping the Sabbath) in Iran, Israel and the United States instructs and fascinates. One particularly helpful chapter about creating a Sabbath celebration offers tips about making the day special. Winsome, passionate and persuasive, this will convince many Christians of the continuing relevance of the Fourth Commandment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Rest. Delight. Are such things even possible in the 21st century? "Absolutely, believes Lynne M. Baab, author of Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest. 'The meaning of the word Sabbath is "stop, cease, desist, pause, rest,"' she points out. 'The Sabbath is a concrete, practical, doable way to build rest into our schedules.'"

-- As cited in Margaret Renkl, "A Day of Rest," Ladies' Home Journal, June 09

"Finally we have a book on the sabbath that avoids the polemics of sabbath law and recovers the biblical and practical experience of sabbath rest. Lynne Baab reminds us that we do not just keep the sabbath as a religious ritual, but the sabbath keeps us as a gracious gift of renewal. Regardless of one's tradition, this is a book that will provide both a theological and practical guide for creating an intentional sabbath experience. This is a 'one size fits all' prescription for maintaining spiritual fitness in a secular culture running at a 24-7 rate. Read it, practice it, and find rest for your soul."

-- Ray S. Anderson, Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry, Fuller Theological Seminary

Baab weaves a compelling argument for incorporating Sabbath keeping into one?s personal life. Baab has taken a subject that could potentially be guilt-inducing and treated it with gentleness.

-- Christian Library Journal, June 2007

"Dorothy Bass once wrote that the commandment to observe sabbath is the only one people brag about breaking--being busy is equated with being significant. Lynne Baab has rediscovered the gift of sabbath keeping and offers wise counsel on the importance of doing nothing."

-- John Ortberg, author of If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat

"Every voice prodding us to keep the sabbath in these hectic times is urgently needed. Lynne Baab's voice is clear; her suggestions apply to a great diversity of people; her own practice offers an excellent model. Keeping the sabbath changed my life; I pray that you too know the freedom of its rest."

-- Marva Dawn, author of Keeping the Sabbath Wholly and Unfettered Hope

"I chose to read this manuscript out of sheer longing and delight because the idea and the reality of sabbath keeping is so compelling to me these days. It is a wonderful book that articulates all the questions that we wonder about and then explores the sabbath as a discipline that soon becomes one of God's greatest gifts to us as human beings. It is a gift that is, as Lynne so eloquently describes it, full of grace, freedom and abundance. Reading this book made me love God more because he thought to craft a gift that is so beautiful and extravagant but also so practical and necessary. The sabbath is a discipline that will save our lives."

-- Ruth Haley Barton, cofounder of The Transforming Center, spiritual director, author of Invitation to Solitude and Silence

"Sabbath Keeping is not just a gentle and informative introduction to sabbath; it is an inspiration. Without question, this is the best book I've read in years on the art and discipline of keeping sabbath. We live in an age of hurry, an age of multitasking and stress; we could not need Lynne Baab's book more."

-- Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath

"Sabbath is not just a day off. It is a way of life, a gift of grace. To rest, to sabbath, to stop--these are ways of acknowledging and receiving that gift. Drawing from the wisdom of the best thinkers on this subject and her own deep experience of the power in 'stopping,' Lynne Baab guides us to a place of rest. She exhorts us to walk in the 'rhythms of rest,' and to realize that keeping sabbath is a way of affirming the deep love of God that cannot be earned through frenetic activity. I recommend this practical and life-giving book."

-- Keri Wyatt Kent, author of God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos, The Garden of the Soul and Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life (2005)

"Winsome, passionate and persuasive, [Sabbath Keeping] will convince many Christians of the continuing relevance of the Fourth Commandment."

-- Publishers Weekly, December 20, 2004 (starred review)

"I've tried so many times to be a better sabbath keeper--but I'm just too busy. And so are my family and friends. We've made a virtue out of being overworked and then rationalizing that as faithfulness. Lynne Baab's book not only called me up short but also called me back to a biblically sound and graciously practical reconsideration of God's gift of sabbath. This is the best book on sabbath that I've seen, and my life is changing after having read it."

-- Dr. Stephen A. Hayner, Columbia Theological Seminary

"Lynne Baab is passionate about the sabbath. Having personally experienced the spiritual enrichment of sabbath keeping, she writes to entice the reader to gratefully accept God's gracious invitation to sabbath rest and renewal. She explores Jewish and Christian sabbath traditions and writings, plus practices of her friends and her family, in this gentle yet challenging book that is practical and practicable. It comes from her heart and will speak to yours. It could change your lifestyle and enhance your relationship with God!"

-- Don Postema, author of Catch Your Breath and Space for God

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004J174HI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ IVP Formatio (October 18, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 18, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 125 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

About the author

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Lynne M. Baab
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I'm pleased to offer my 2021 book to readers who are exhausted by the pandemic and grieving so many forms of loss, yet also wanting to notice the blessings and gifts of life. Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian life draws on the idea that God invites us to hold grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, allowing both to stretch us large. I draw on the Psalms, Jesus' teaching and his journey to the cross, and the apostle Paul's letters. I also describe societal forces and inner messages that must be addressed in order to affirm both grief and gratitude. Plus, as always with my books, I tell you stories from my own life about how this looks in practice.

In a time of increasing polarization, fast pace of life, and constant connectedness, Christian caring has gotten more complicated. My 2018 book, Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-first Century, addresses seven current trends in pastoral care, along with four skills for pastoral care. One of my arguments is that every Christian sometimes provides care and other times receives care. The book will benefit chaplains and people who serve on pastoral care teams, but also people who want to care for those around them in families, neighborhoods, congregations, small groups, committees, music teams, and other groups.

Do you ever long to be a better listener? Check out my book, The Power of Listening: Building Skills for Mission and Ministry. It focuses on the role of listening in congregational life, specifically listening to each other within the congregation, listening to the wider community, and listening to God. When I did the interviews for this book, I learned so much about obstacles to listening, so the book has two chapters on how to overcome common obstacles as well. The Power of Listening is my tenth non-fiction book.

The past few years have been exciting for me as a writer. My 2017 book, A Garden of Living Water, is a collection of short stories I wrote when I was wondering what in the world I might do as a career. The stories center on individuals who are trying to figure out who they are and what God might desire for them in the areas of Christian service, career and family life. I enjoyed revising them for publication, imagining the ways that the journeys of the people in the stories might be encouraging to readers. They join three connected novels -- Dead Sea, Deadly Murmurs and Death in Dunedin -- to make up my body of fiction writing.

I’ve also written three Bible study guides: Prayers of the New Testament, Prayers of the Old Testament, and Sabbath: The Gift of Rest. My wonderful husband, Dave Baab, did the background research on the Bible passages for those guides. He provided the illustrations for a Lenten Devotional, Draw Near, which you can download from on my website for free.

I'm rejoicing about another recent release, the kindle version of my book on midlife spirituality, A Renewed Spirituality: Finding Fresh Paths at Midlife.

I invite you to visit my website, www.lynnebaab.com. I blog there every week, and I've posted many articles I've written on topics related to my books. You can find me on Facebook as Lynne Baab and on Twitter as @lynnebaab.

I am still deeply engaged with the topics I've written about it my books. I try daily to notice God's gifts and practice gratitude, while also grieving losses when they happen -- as they do! I keep a sabbath every week and I still see fasting as a significant way to disengage with the consumer culture. I love and practice a variety of spiritual disciplines that I described in Joy Together. They have shaped my spiritual life. I still enjoy thinking about and talking about personality type and issues of midlife, and I continue to speak and teach about preventing burnout among Christian leaders. And I try to be a good listener and give and receive care to those around me. My books come out of my life and commitments, and I invite you to join with me in growing in these ways.

I am so grateful for the privilege of being a writer. If you have read my books, thank you. If you choose to purchase one of my books for the first time, I hope and pray that it will stimulate your thinking and encourage you to draw near to God in love, joy and obedience.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
90 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book practical and readable, with one mentioning it's filled with numerous examples. They appreciate its pacing, with one customer noting its excellent structure for slowing down. They value its spiritual content, with one review highlighting how it provides food for thought and prayer.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

12 customers mention "Spiritual content"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the spiritual content of the book, describing it as a practical guide to the Sabbath with numerous examples and thought-provoking questions.

"...yet, a quiet afternoon, a nap in the sunshine, a joyful approach to finding peace is encouraging...." Read more

"...I highly recommend this book. She is a good writer. Wonderful needed subject for everyone to consider." Read more

"...I especially enjoy the through provoking questions which I work though in my journal and the prayer focus at the end of each chapter." Read more

"Inspiring with lots info on why practice the sabbath, plus ideas about how to practice the sabbath...." Read more

9 customers mention "Readability"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and easy to understand.

"...I highly recommend this book. She is a good writer. Wonderful needed subject for everyone to consider." Read more

"...I'm taking my time to work thorough it, this is one of the best books of all that I've purchased...." Read more

"Love this book. Find that I keep going back to it in different seasons of my life as I get pulled back into a culture that disregards Sabbath." Read more

"It was delightful to find a well researched and scholarly work to be so readable. I read the book fairly rapidly and with few breaks." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing, with one noting its excellent structure for slowing down.

"...She does not set up rules to follow, but rather shows you ways to slow down, ways to find the gift of rest that was given by God to humankind...." Read more

"...I read the book fairly rapidly and with few breaks." Read more

"This is an excellent structure for slowing down, regardless of your religious background. She presents it in steps so you can take it slow...." Read more

3 customers mention "Sabbath time"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's approach to Sabbath time, with one mentioning its practical suggestions for Shabbat observance.

"...The practical suggestions on keeping Shabbat are also very helpful." Read more

"...It got us thinking about how we choose Sabbath time, defining Sabbath time, and how to improve the Sabbath time we take today." Read more

"Sabbath without trying..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2012
    To say that I love this book would be an understatement. Her focus on being instead of doing is a refreshing away of looking at the Sabbath. She does not set up rules to follow, but rather shows you ways to slow down, ways to find the gift of rest that was given by God to humankind. Her comment concerning God loving us for who we are instead of what we do made a deep connection in my heart.

    As a pastor who works on Sunday, I often find it hard to set aside a day when I can relax without feeling guilty. I too fall into the trap of doing. And yet, a quiet afternoon, a nap in the sunshine, a joyful approach to finding peace is encouraging. In fact, the word celebration as a way of seeing the Sabbath is a special one.

    a list she included is very helpful when it speaks to activities for your Sabbath
    1 Does it promote rest and relaxation?
    2 Does it bring delight and enjoyment?
    3 Does it give you a sense of holiness and sanctify? (In other words, does it add to your sense of the Sabbath?)

    We have let the concept of Sabbath go, filling our lives with busyness and toil. If you are looking to recapture your Sabbath, this is an excellent resource.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018
    My husband and I read this together. We lead very hectic, demanding lives. This book opened our eyes to the need to STOP at least one day a week! I highly recommend this book. She is a good writer. Wonderful needed subject for everyone to consider.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2011
    Though I haven't finished this book because I'm taking my time to work thorough it, this is one of the best books of all that I've purchased. It is practical and biblical and is filled with numerous practical examples. I especially enjoy the through provoking questions which I work though in my journal and the prayer focus at the end of each chapter.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2019
    Inspiring with lots info on why practice the sabbath, plus ideas about how to practice the sabbath. I am not fully doing it but am moving in that direction for at least most of a day.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024
    Just got it and it has blessed me already!!
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2021
    Love this book. Find that I keep going back to it in different seasons of my life as I get pulled back into a culture that disregards Sabbath.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2016
    It was delightful to find a well researched and scholarly work to be so readable. I read the book fairly rapidly and with few breaks.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2015
    Very easy to read. The writer's personal experience with Shabbat is also very inspiring. The practical suggestions on keeping Shabbat are also very helpful.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Ezzie
    1.0 out of 5 stars Sabbath Keeping
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2017
    not quite what I expected, I had a read online before I bought, it only showed certain parts which applied to Sabbath, the Author goes on to say that she chooses any day to make her Sabbath, didnt like her view on that, I wouldnt buy again, it only highlights what most people agree with and not what she actually practises. A misguided book
    One person found this helpful
    Report

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