How can you judge from the outward what is in the heart and soul.Holiness is loving God regardless what you are wearing.The devil can wear skirts,dresses,suits andslacks.I believe God wants us all to dress and respect Him in all we do.
GOD LOOKS INWARD,NOT OUTWARD. IF THE INSIDE IS CLEAN SO WILL THE OUTSIDE BE.
Hello Sheila - and Welcome!
Good points.
Care to answer the question, or are you a part of a more conservative church?
Tell us why and how you are differentiating from the mainstream denominations and what standards might be observed in your church that are absent (or lacking) in others.
Thanx!
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
I think not. There are people of faith who's dress standards are very much reality to them.
BUT if the feather-in-the-hair ever caught on we would have EXOTIC Standards!
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
You know, when we started this church 6-1/2 years ago, we really prayed about the drinking thing, because we had several people tell us that it would never work in a city. We had been in a rural setting for 20 years previously, and it was never an issue there. We really sought God over it here, but we did not feel like it was something we could let up on at all. And, guess what? We had 953 on Easter and are averaging over 700, so evidently people aren't afraid of a few rules. LOL!
By the way, I just listened to a sermon at a huge youth conference in Seattle that Ashley went to as a representative of Teen Mania. The guy was Joel Stockstill out of Baton Rouge. He preached against tattoos, piercings, R rated movies, and all kinds of stuff. And he has over 7,000 in his youth group!!!!
So beyond the ministry - do these Christian Disciplines apply to all in leadership? Also, do you think a good number of the constituents abide as well seeing the inferred preference set by the ministry?
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
We do ask of our folks that are in platform ministries and our Christian Ed Dept a few things. In no way do we make anyone feel these things we ask are salvational.
We ask our guys not to wear bluejeans and tennis shoes on the platform. and to not wear T-shirts with logos on them.
We ask that our women be modest with their use of jewelry and make up.
That women and men wear their hair in a style that would identify them as a man or women. We only have one gal that does not cut her hair. We don't teach what the bible does not teach about womens hair.
We do not require veils on our women.
Casual dress is what most are comfortable with
First names are what we address each other by. I know it seems strange to some, but I can address Sis Betterthanu by her first name Betty and have no desire whatsoever to sleep with her.
We don't distinguish ourselves from the Baptists or the Methodists down the street.They seem to a modest bunch of poeple.
Hopefully soon we will be able to have a shared Sunday afternoon service with some of the other denominal churches in our neighborhood.
Don't just think necklines here... Surely you distinguish in multiple ways. I bet they claim distinction from each other as well.
We participated in the Community Sunrise Service at Easter.
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
Interesting that we all seem to agree our churches have standards and compared to a lot of mainstream churches high ones.
And while realizing that its not the "standards" that denote whether we are saved, nonetheless it is NOT accurate to say any of the churches represented so far "have no standards"?
So beyond the ministry - do these Christian Disciplines apply to all in leadership? Also, do you think a good number of the constituents abide as well seeing the inferred preference set by the ministry?
Anyone in any ministry that involves leadership or teaching or mentoring or on the platform has to sign a Ministry Covenant, which includes the things I mentioned. To be a member, there is a Membership Covenant, which is pretty basic - to support the church in attendance, prayer, giving, etc. If someone signs a covenant, they know it is serious stuff and they mean it.
Well, I certainly have been guilty of using the terms "standards" and "non-standards", I think almost always I use parenthesis, hopefully to indicate that I don't really agree with them, yet don't really know of a better way of indicating what I am talking about.
As far as the liberal, conservative thing goes, in our area my church would be considered moderate to liberal in some areas. In other parts of the country, our church would probably be considered more conservative.
Luckily, at least for our church, a lot of the things that are "standards" are only ever referred to in the ministry and platform guidelines. Our pastor has taught in leadership classes, if someone wants to come to our church for months or years or forever without ever following our "standards", they are still part of the church body. It is only if they want to be in any leadership capacity that more is expected. And anything that is expected "extra" is always clearly explained why he is asking it. Extra-biblical stuff has never been taught as heaven and hell issues, by the current or former pastor of my church.
I think I have stated before that I am on the fence about all of this, but I do respect both sides of the issue if the spirit in what they are doing is pure.
I do this all the time because I do NOT care for the term 'standards' to define my convictions.
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