I refuse to remove the landmarks

[TalkLady]

Here is the Old Landmark I like to remember....When He brought me out of a pit and placed me in His Church in Him - on a Solid Rock.

Take Me Back....Take Me Back, Dear Lord, to the place where I first believed. What a Landmark that was and is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPoHNPGoC6A

[Neck]

Originally Posted by bhoutreach

Prov 22:28
28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

I find it interesting that many after being blessed by finding the Truth, begin to seek ways to change what they have received.

Men and women before us understood the strength in Holiness, both inside and out. They were wise enough to know that the NEW BIRTH experience was just the beginning. Men were to dress like men and women like women. Because this was right in the eyes to the LORD. And still is. Men and women were to dress modestly and still should. Uncut hair on a women was her covering and showed her submission to her head and long hair on a man was a shame and still is.

Just because culture changes it's view does not mean the church should or that GOD has.

I am progressive in the sense that I believe we should change our methods for reaching the world in need. I am an old time preacher in the sense that I do not believe we should ever change our MESSAGE, any of it.

Just because we walked into a church, or grew up in a church.
Does not mean, that everything we were taught was essential, to the salvation message.
In my church today, women do dress like women and men like men.
The interesting thing, the women do not look 20 years older than their age.
They have a youthful and spiritual glow about them.
They have not lost their travailing prayers, and their spiritual countenance is alive.
I remember the 40 years spent thinking, that every woman needed to look like a portait of the "Mona Lisa".
My thoughts are we can celebrate those who hold onto standards and those who don't.
But we should drop the label of "Holiness Standards". They should be labeled "Standards of Penance".

[Neck]

Originally Posted by bhoutreach

What is your message then?

Paul said, I want to know Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The problem has been many churches took to crucifying good folks.

[Neck]

Originally Posted by Sherri

The gospel - the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ. The GOOD NEWS!

Amen!

[Neck]

Originally Posted by bhoutreach

That is why I started this thread. I am new to this forum and I know that I will not make any friends with this thread, but I wanted to see how liberal people here were. I have my answer.

It is not liberal to shake off weights it is liberating!

[Neck]

Originally Posted by bhoutreach

Glad to find a couple that agree with me. I suspected this was not the forum for this topic. That is why I started it. I want to see where the majority was.

Too many sitting in churches today there is no forum.

There are no open conversations.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Jesus said, "According to your faith so be it unto you."

I sincerely believe that we often place our faith on various things. Sometimes those are external standards. If our faith is rooted in these things due to teaching or personal conviction from self study, one can loose their anointing if their own heart begins to condemn them for what they've done...even if it's not a sin. Many who have studied the occult can tell you that witches also believe that spiritual anointing, or power, is in their hair...they often wear their hair long, straight, and uncut. In fact sometimes it's used in pagan rituals. They also wear long skirts and maintain a "natural" appearance. For example:

http://www.ahighersourcesupply.com/images/julia4.jpg

These witches often claim that their "anointing" wanes if their hair is cut or their appearance isn't all "natural". Here's a disturbing thought...what if some of our "Pentecostal traditions" are mistaken encroachments of witchcraft? We base much of our faith on them, and naturally if they are interfered with our faith is cut short...and the resulting lack of faith would bring lack of anointing.

I knew a man who sincerely believed that he shouldn't read National Geographic Magazine because of some of the pictures depicting unclothed tribal women. Well, one day he picked one up in a doctor's office and read an article about Tsunamis. Later that evening at church he was called on to lead prayer. His prayer was unsteady, broken, and un-anointed. He confessed to me that it was because he had read a National Geographic. I laughed and then he got VERY serious with me. I couldn't believe my ears...he actually believed that he had lost anointing because he read a National Geo. I looked at him thinking, "It's because your own heart is condemning you and weakening your faith." Is faith was in his performance and not in Jesus. If we put our faith in our appearance and not in Jesus...if that appearance doesn't line up...we loose faith and anointing.

Oh well...I'm sure you get the picture. I could be wrong. Just sharing some thoughts.

If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart.
God may convict us but He will not condemn us.
Because we "feel" condemned by something does not mean that something is wrong. We are to go by the Word, not by our feelings. I just read a note I had written in my Bible next to 1 John 5:10-13:
D.L. Moody (1837-1899) said, "I believe hundreds of Christians are being deceived by satan now on this point. They don't have the assurance of salvation just because they are not willing to take God at His Word."

A former pastor of mine (who was UPC District Superintendent of Ohio) told us a story about when he was young. He was going to a Nazarene Church which preached strict adherence to "rules." They taught that we under the New Testament were supposed to obey certain parts of the Old Testament law such as the 10 commandments, but they taught that Sunday was now the sabbath. Since Sunday was the sabbath it was a sin to do any work on the sabbath and a sin to pay someone else to work on the sabbath so paying for a bus ride or buying anything on Sunday was wrong. He was going to a storefront church. One Sunday he and a friend were looking at a large pulpit Bible in their church. It was open to a passage in Hebrews and was marked about committing the "unpardonable" sin. It was a very hot day and they had quite a distance to walk to get home. It would have been a sin to ride a bus because they would be paying someone to work and causing that person to sin. So they walked the long distance toward home. Of course they were dressed in clothes that did not make the journey any easier. Finally, in desperation they stopped at a store that was open and bought an ice cream cone --a sin because they were paying someone to desecrate the sabbath by working. As soon as he took that first lick of ice cream he became very "convicted" and realized he had committed the "unpardonable sin." Now where did that "conviction" or "condemnation" come from?

[Neck]

Originally Posted by Edward Anglin

Old landmarks?

Beard prohibition in the 60s and 70s.

Is that an old landmark?

Old is relative.

Nearly every church stood against birth control, when introduced in various forms in the 1800's and beyond.

How many do not practice some form of Birth control today?

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by TalkLady

Whatever reason he or anyone has for coming here, I think we should welcome newcomers. If anyone gets too offensive or abrasive, then let the admins deal with that person.

That song has helped me a lot. ...If someone starts showing me what some might term a "bad (judgmental) spirit," I like to sing it to myself!!

I'll tell you the kind of people who post here....Most likely people just like the ones who post on Everyone's Apostolic. Everyone's in need of Jesus Christ and Nothing without Him. The older I get, the more I realize it's more about Him and less about me.

When I recognize that someone has come not wanting to truly discuss the scriptures with an open and nonjudgemental attitude, then I avoid them like the plague. He admitted he didn't want to discuss his beliefs or what the Bible says that supports his beliefs. He came to stir the pot so to speak and see what might come of it. And he feels justified in what he did and his opinion of us when in fact, he didn't give anyone a fair shake for believing what they believe.

I hope he sticks around. Maybe he will be pleasantly surprised.

[mizpeh]

If we want to call ourselves "Apostolic" shouldn't our landmarks be those that were set up by the original apostles?