Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

this lc, was the way it was meant to be i believe. this is also what i will do when i have children. unfortunately there are so many they don't have this same attitude. i think some of the oldtimers might be rolling over in their graves at what we have done to their message, using it to condemn instead of be holy.

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

Chances are; they are all over fourty and fat!!!

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

you're telling her she followed standards without the Spirit leading her. how could you possibly know that?! good grief! i guess i did the same thing then...with about a million others! sorry but i am one of the most headstrong, stubborn, skeptical-by-nature people you'll meet and NOONE said one word to me about standards. it was almost a full year before i adopted any standards. i went to church with my full makeup and earrings, etc. and people were loving and friendly to me. the ONLY reason i did what i did was through MUCH prayer and bible reading. i was actually...gasp... convicted by the Spirit. i am noone's copycat.

no, i don't believe standards are essential for salvation and i don't follow a lot of them strictly by ANY means. i do think they can be a good thing if they're not used to judge someone else by. my goal every day is not to look like a pentecostal cookie cutter, it's to be modest/moderate in all things and Christ-like. if someone NEVER adopted any standards that's not my right to judge. i know people that have attended our church for years and years but have never followed one standard. but never once has our pastor ever had a little "talk" with them about it. he loves them and accepts them and treats them no differently. that's why i wish my friend lived close to me so she could come with me and if she chose not to follow standards, she wouldn't feel pressured. i hate to see her find a Spirit-filled, truth teaching church and possibly (don't know for a fact) be made to feel like she isn't "good enough". all i care about right now is that she is very hungry for more of God. she is a Christian lady but i want to see her filled with his Spirit, etc.

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

Haven't been following this thread but I read the last couple pages earlier and have decided it might be worth going back to page 1 and reading it all the way through.

In regard to your post, the church I'm attending presently is a great church and has been experiencing a real move of God in the year with new people coming in. Some of those people are still wearing pants, earrings, cutting hair, etc. I'm glad that they're being given time to develop in their relationship with God and not being jumped on and told that they need to get rid of this or that.

I expect to see them gradually conform to church teaching and standards as the Holy Ghost continues to work in their lives.

Not everyone grows and matures at the same rate of speed. Give them time. :)

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

My post was TIC

I posted it in sarcastic form to repeat what some are saying on here

and if you didn't like my post. well guess what

that is what some are saying on here

let me enlighten you

Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWayne http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com...s/viewpost.gif
I always wondered how many would be "convicted" to either cut, or let grow, their hair. Or start wearing a dress, or get rid of the ol TV...... If a majority around them weren't already doing it.

The vast majority of "conviction" is nothing more than peer pressure. Whether it be in-your-face or subtle, people want to fit in and LOOK like the rest of their group. Ever see groups of teenage boys where every one is wearing a baseball cap? (And not because they play on a team.) If any new boy joined their group, how long do you think it would be before he started wearing one also?

(CC1 responds)

*CHA CHING* We have a winner here!

(I have had even conservative OP friends, preachers included, tell me that they don't know many women who if left in an enviroment where it was taught it was ok to cut their hair would not do so eventually)

You will see your statement about the vast majority of "conviction" being peer pressure denied but I believe it is true. I have observed it a lot in my almost 49 years. I would only add I believe it goes beyond peer pressure to "psychological conditioning". Not in any intentionally evil way but just as a result of the way the legalism is taught and maintained in the movement.

Below is bro. staysharp's response to the same post by me that you don't agree with

Quote:
Originally Posted by scotty http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com...s/viewpost.gif
No God didn't ,

It was monkey see , monkey doo


you just fell in place with everyone else because you are psychologically unstable and you want everyone to love you and accept you so you followed along. No God or Spirit involved there..


TIC

Hope you don't mind being told that...

If you do , you wont last in here.


(staysharp responds)
Glad you are finally understanding how peer pressure works.



so you see my post was to inject the "enlightenment" (if that is what you call it) of others in order to :stirpot

Don't hate me, I'm just the messenger..

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

And male! :lol

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

stop the insanity! :) no-i read the other posts. i just replied to yours b/c it was there. i do believe A LOT of people conform b/c of peer pressure but not ALWAYS. i admit some things i did at first in order not to dissappoint or b/c i felt guilty (not from someone telling me, just because) but later after rethinking and prayer changed my decisions. example-i went five years w/out trimming one split end but a year or so ago after researching/prayer i started trimming again and don't feel guilty about it. same thing with going to movies, etc. but i do still feel convicted over getting my ears re-pierced or wearing pants/shorts in public. in consider these personal convictions. i think some don't know the difference. they think all or none and it isn't always the case.

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

Yes

PREACH!!!!!!

We are in the minority though because as you can see..

The vast majority of "conviction" is nothing more than peer pressure

our walk with God is just a phsyological false hood to some others on here

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

Well, to be fair. When I left the group, I realized that I didn't have any real convictions. So it does happen.

Re: Should standards be an issue when witnessing?
 

Just wondering, it seems you believe that the Holy Spirit guides people in dress/hair standards. E.g., a woman may be led by the Spirit never to cut her hair and never to wear pants. Is that correct?

If so, does He also, in some cases, not lead certain other believers in the same direction? E.g., a woman may feel no conviction about pants, or cutting hair. Is that correct?

Or is the latter woman just not listening to the HS? Or does the HS usually lead people in the same direction as other people in the same local church?