Thoughts on clothes line preachers
 

I have been back into the rain forest of Brazil and with indians that were completely naked...bones in their noses, and war paint on their bodies....I did not feel as unconfortable as I have felt at meetings when all I heard was a clothesline message...
Do I believe they need to put clothes on? Yes, of course...Did I tell them that? No, I told them of a loving savior...He hung naked between heaven and earth so that all men might hear the love story...
My good friends, Americans major on minors and minor on majors...please forgive my frankness but that is so.
Do I dress holy? Ask Brother John, Sister Cooper that write here on this board...Ask Elder Epley he saw me a few months ago. Of, course I do. I am from the old school of thought but.........
We "preach" a holy God...but the real teaching is to "live" a holy God...His ways, His life style, a 24/7 thing....This salvation MUST become a life to us not a Sunday and Wednesday thing for a couple of hours. We must be consumed with HIS HOLINESS not a bunch on man made things.
What is man made? WEll, you go home and study...pray, seek...We must become ONE with our creator. To be one with HIM is to be like him...
Jesus did not see things as we do...He looked from another set of eyes...He willed us, gave us His eyes...He spoke often about it...
I am weeping writing this to think how carnal we have become in the light of eternity...
One preacher came down here and tryed to convince me our women should wear hose...HOW FOOLISH...HOW VAIN...when half the world starves for a crust of dry old bread from your table he tells me to buy my ladies hose...

So many are like firemen who straighten pictures in buring houses...

...and please do not misread my post or read into it things that are not there...please understand my heartbeat...why polish the same 50 saints over and over when there are millions that have never heard the name of Jesus one time...I plead for balance in our thinking. I plead for those that have never heard.

Hey, Berk how are you? Praying daily for you.

Sister Alvear...

An excellent post... making an excellent point... in an excellent spirit.

Sister... that would preach all day long.... actually... it would just preach for a little while... and then we would all go and touch souls. :)

I will have to return and read it several times just to remind myself of what you have shared here.

Thanks for sharing your love & wisdom with us.

Awesome post, Sister Alvear.

While we do believe in standards of dress my husband seldom mentions it...we LIVE it and sheep follow the Shepard. Our people know the Bible contains much more than Peter and Timothy...some people sadly that is all they know. I am not downplaying anything that has to do with what anyone believes but I am saying we really need to pray about what we enforce on other people...I have noticed that what some people call sin is something they don't like to do...we should know the difference in sin and preferences...

Leading by example is the best way, IMO. I sure wish folks wouldn't take their preferences and call them sin, and judge other folks' Christianity by whether or not they share the same preferences.

The problem is...Person A calls his preferences "sins", then looks around to see if anyone else is sinning...he spots Person B flouting one of his preferences, e.g., "sinning", and determines that Person B is not a true Christian, and therefore not worthy of receiving brotherly love, Christian fellowship, and in many cases...not even common courtesy.

I love it when missionaries visit our church, because they have such a different view of what is [most] important....

Great thoughts, Sis. Alvear!! I know when my inlaws were in the jungles of Liberia, the women didn't wear anything above the waist. When they got saved, they encouraged them to pull those sarong things up under their armpits. If someone came to church in the U.S. with bare shoulders (strapless), we would be appalled. But over there, it was totally modest. I think a lot of it is cultural.

All invited to Brazil to visit us...

Great post, Sis. Alvear...

I refuse to Americanize our people...
Some do it for the sake of American offerings...my friend if you come to Brazil and cannot see Jesus in our people and the change that He has made in their lives I will come home and declare myself a failure...
Jesus has brought our people from the depths of idol worship...devil worship...but I do not play little mind games with them trying to force them to be Americans...
I teach them to be like Jesus...in fact have got a class in 5 minutes...so gotta get off here...love and blessings to all...

I have recently been somewhat consumed with the idea of what makes us HOLY is our governor, our guide.

As many as are led of by the Spirit, they are the sons of God.

What separates us from the former man's searching and quests? What is our communion with the new guide in our life? What are we presently being led by?

We will either be led by the Spirit of God or by men making disciples unto to their own understandings.

Being "the called out ones" is established upon following the voice of the one who is calling.

Are we following (with all good intentions) the instruction of a man or are we being guided by God's qualified gifting servants to follow the voice of our Good Shepherd?

Our separation (holiness) is the result of following the understanding that we enter into as we are transformed, day by day, by the renewing of our minds ; leaving behind carnal-mindedness, being renewed in spiritual-mindedness.

Thank you Jesus for all the guides, equippers and bondservants you have placed in my path. I know the best service they can do is bear witness of the journey their own calling and election has been in your spirit. Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, they bear witness of a different place along their own path toward a shared destination; pressing toward the mark, the calling of our Lord Jesus.

Encouraging, equipping, instructing, correcting, are all gifts that we come into contact with, but it will be the Spirit that must lead us concerning how these blessings should be applied within our own search for truth and the manifested love of God.

Awesome post, Sis. Alvear

I totally agree with your post Sis. Alvear.

I agree TOTALLY with Sis. Alvear - Great Wisdom!

"So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face."
II Samuel 14:28
(I just heard a tape of David Fuller from BOTT 1995 "Wounds that never heal" in it he mentions the above and following)

Absalom was in the same locality that the king was BUT he did not see the king's face

Some people, including preachers, go to service after service with NEVER seeing the king's face.

great question

Oh! I want to see the Kings face...please Lord take all impure thoughts from me, forgive all my sins and let me walk humbly before you...LET my heart love what you love and hate what you hate.

Berk,

i think you are misunderstanding Agape's post out of prejudice. I believe he is saying that there are many preachers who are so focused on rules for rules sake they never come to know the true ruler or King, the potentate of our souls.

Go read it again!

Well, you asked what did his post have to do with clothesline preachers.. I was explaining and, apparently wrongly, extrapolating your comments subsequent to your question as being tied back to that original post!

My apologies for the erroneous extrapolation and harsh condemnation!:club

had your mind out playing with it again, Berk... you know that is dangerous.. one of these days your going to drop it while playing with it and then you'll wind up with your mind in the gutter!:killinme:killinme

:club

Then it'll be all covered with crumbs and lint and stuff... and it'll be a DIRTY MIND... yuk!

Do we need to start a new thread about Berk's gutter bound, dirty, but beautiful mind?:poloroid:haloplug

You said it was a beautiful mind... I needed proof before I start a thread on the subject!:poloroid

right

Sis. Alvear- This was a wonderful post. I just wish some - not all - of our ministers would put this wisdom into practice in the US. Thank you for your thoughts on this subject.

They do both here and there.

amen

One of the devil's greatest trips is to mess up our focus...We must KEEP focused...Some go over board one way some another I plead for balance.