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Old 03-30-2011, 10:47 AM
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mfblume mfblume is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Portage la Prairie, MB CANADA
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Re: Mark Johnston Drops from UPCI, Garner Next???

When Jesus spoke of what the world sees to know we are saved, it is something they do not need to be trained to recognize we are saved. They automatically get the impression of God when they see believers loving each other. But to see people with certain forms of hairstyles and clothing does not bring GOD to their minds. The world would have to be taught that long hair on a woman means she is a Christian, because that is not what comes to their minds when they see long hair. Same with modest apparel. The world does NOT think of Christianity when they see modest apparel unless they were first somehow taught that. And then it only becomes a certain denomination's way of uniformity, in their minds.

I had a sinner say to me once that Pentecostal girls wear long hair and dresses. That town had a large UPC church in it. Had the church been tiny and few attended there is no way he would know it was a pentecostal thing. Word simply got around. Did it tell him they were Christians? Not it told him they were from a specific denomination. This gets the organizationally minded believers going, but it does not effect a reference to God. He simply saw them as adherents to a certain denomination.

But compare that with love for one another. Loving one another goes beyond apparel for identity and into an entirely different and meaningful level. It points to God. It touches hearts. God is "LOVE". He is not "modest clothing of long and short hair". Jesus and the apostles led by the Spirit picked their words carefully. And we have to be careful to notice what REASONS they actually stated for certain things. And the only one that touches the world, that the world immediately knows is God, is love for one another. It's an instinct in the human spirit.

Think of a tiny church in a town and the believers there have an incredible love for one another. Compare that with a tiny church with dress standards. The church membership in town would be so small that the reputation would not work. The commoners would not see the dress standard and think "spiritual". But they sure would connect the love of God with God!
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"Many Christians do not try to understand what was written in a verse in the Bible. Instead they approach the passage to prove what they already believe."

Last edited by mfblume; 03-30-2011 at 10:50 AM.
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