Marva Dawn: Do You Take a Sabbath?

Prolific author, speaker, and devout follower of Jesus, Marva Dawn, who’s written a lot on suffering, sabbath, and sharing, says the counter-cultural practice of sabbath-taking can change your ministry and your life.

She started doing it in graduate school, and says she could never get as much done as she does if she didn’t take one day off in seven.

In this interview this beloved saint shares how God has used her to to further the Gospel, and how we might more deeply yield our lives to Christ.

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Synopsis
Marva Dawn, raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran but now calls herself a Transdenominational, faces daily more physical challenges than many people do in a lifetime. Cancer, amputation, blindness, and more – yet her words of encouragement are a testimony to God’s desire to spread the Gospel. Here are my notes from the interview:

Just Do It
When Marva decided to begin honoring the sabbath (nb taking one 24 hour period a week off of work) she went cold turkey and has never looked back. Do you need to ease into it, or can you jump in head first too?

Sabbath as Celebration
Unlike the puritan stereotype, the sabbath is not a day to impress God by being bored – rather Marva says, it’s a day of real partying and rejoicing in all that God has done for us.

Embracing the Day
Sabbath isn’t just about letting go, it’s about embracing the gifts before us, reveling in the joy we have in God, especially the opportunity to imitate God who also rested on the seventh day.

About Marva Dawn
Dr. Marva J. Dawn serves as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Under Christians Equipped for Ministry of Vancouver, Washington, she has preached and taught at seminaries, clergy conferences, churches, assemblies, and universities throughout the world. She holds degrees from the University of Idaho, Western Evangelical Seminary, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and Notre Dame. Dr. Dawn is a popular preacher and speaker. She is the author of more than 20 books and numerous articles, several of which have won awards and/or been translated into other languages. She is married to Myron Sandberg; they reside in Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A.

Books Marva Recommends
How the Church Fails Business People – John C. Knapp

Sponsors I Mentioned
Turnaround 20/20 – Learn from experts who have conquered obstacles to growth and watched God turn things around. Turnaround 20/20 is a unique congregational development conference that brings together 20 experts who speak for 20 minutes each. People like Nelson Searcy, Charles Arn, George Hunter, and Elmer Towns will focus on a specific area of congregational development and are out to spark new ideas and innovations for you and your church. Turnaround 20./20 is Tuesday, October 23 in Nashville, TN.