Not Ashamed

[Sister Alvear]

and I should would rather do a little extra than not enough but no matter what I do without HIS MERCY I COULD NEVER BE SAVED....

[Falla39]

[QUOTE=Sister Alvear;1098044]Some want to do away with everything...I believe
there is balance and in balance there is safety....

There is no use in worrying about anything UNTIL the heart is right...

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life./QUOTE]

AMEN, SIS. ALVEAR!!

Falla39

[Falla39]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

and I should would rather do a little extra than not enough but no matter what I do without HIS MERCY I COULD NEVER BE SAVED....

Amen AND Amen!

[Dagwood]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

Some want to do away with everything...I believe there is balance and in balance there is safety....

I agree entirely. I think, though, for those who want to do away with everything might stem from them not being able to do anything or got told they couldn't do anything beforehand, thus going from one extreme to another. But, I'd feel safe to leave that on an individual basis between them and God and not categorize them as "backslidden" as some do (not saying you are).

While I may not live under the same rule and thumb in terms of appearance (among others), I can assure anyone my heart is still in the right place, the Spirit still lives within me, and the Lord Jesus Christ is still my God.

Just my thoughts...

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

Sometimes I feel frustrated that we have a hard time being kind even when we disagree.
I don't agree with a lot of people but am not out to say hard things to hurt them...I have 2 sisters that were hurt I wish someone at that point in their life would have been kinder to them...Just because I am not stomping and banging on a pulpit does not mean I do not have things that I live by. I think the way we live speaks louder than what we type here.

I have felt the same way, but sometimes kindness doesn't fit when producing Truth. In fact, without opposition there is no way that Truth can be discovered, and opposition will usually offend someone. Truth is merely the absence of a lie. If there were no lies, there would be no such thing as Truth. As with people in Scripture and in our lives, when lies are revealed, anger and rage can become evident.

Unfortunately, in this World we live in, people who always try to be the nice guy, they are taken advantage of and they can end up enabling an abuser. I came from a very abusive childhood, and it took years for me to finally stand up for myself. Fear drove me away from voicing my inner hurts, but the time came when I told people what happened, which included telling my parents how they scarred the lives of me and the 8 other children in our family.

My wife of over 30 years was sexually molested by her father from the time she was an infant, and until she was 9 years old. After her father went to prison, she slowly emerged with the dark story of what happened to her. Family members accused her of lying, and even her own grandmother who was raising her, thought she was exaggerating. My wife’s father would manipulate the grandmother, and this godly old woman would fall for his absolute lies.

Well, after her father went to prison 2 more times for molesting other children, where he eventually died, all the Family members are now silent regarding this incident. I watched my wife many times, put kindness aside, and even angrily put others in their place when she would tell the World, "My father is a LIAR!" Sis Alvear, sometimes a person needs to be mean, not obeying those who have the rule over them.

[houston]

[Dagwood]

Originally Posted by NotforSale

I have felt the same way, but sometimes kindness doesn't fit when producing Truth. In fact, without opposition there is no way that Truth can be discovered, and opposition will usually offend someone. Truth is merely the absence of a lie. If there were no lies, there would be no such thing as Truth. As with people in Scripture and in our lives, when lies are revealed, anger and rage can become evident.

Unfortunately, in this World we live in, people who always try to be the nice guy, they are taken advantage of and they can end up enabling an abuser. I came from a very abusive childhood, and it took years for me to finally stand up for myself. Fear drove me away from voicing my inner hurts, but the time came when I told people what happened, which included telling my parents how they scarred the lives of me and the 8 other children in our family.

My wife of over 30 years was sexually molested by her father from the time she was an infant, and until she was 9 years old. After her father went to prison, she slowly emerged with the dark story of what happened to her. Family members accused her of lying, and even her own grandmother who was raising her, thought she was exaggerating. My wife’s father would manipulate the grandmother, and this godly old woman would fall for his absolute lies.

Well, after her father went to prison 2 more times for molesting other children, where he eventually died, all the Family members are now silent regarding this incident. I watched my wife many times, put kindness aside, and even angrily put others in their place when she would tell the World, "My father is a LIAR!" Sis Alvear, sometimes a person needs to be mean, not obeying those who have the rule over them.

Wow. Just...WOW! Sounds like a testimony well-deserving of being written about in a book...

And some people are so minutely, tyranically focused on someone's appearance and whether they measure up...all the while so many other people have been and are currently in situations similar to what you've described above...

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by Dagwood

Wow. Just...WOW! Sounds like a testimony well-deserving of being written about in a book...

And some people are so minutely, tyranically focused on someone's appearance and whether they measure up...all the while so many other people have been and are currently in situations similar to what you've described above...

So true! The outward is only a shell and can be used to hide the lies or the truth within.

My wifes grandmother was Apostolic, through and through, yet she sided with the man who was abusing her granddaughter in ways words can't describe.

Outward holiness can carry a darkness far more evil than we realize, and abusers can use this form of Religion to paint the false picture of being good.

[Sister Alvear]

if we only knew how many were hurting and crying...

[J4Truth]

If the outward holy standards can hide what's in someone's heart, do taking them away some how reveals it?

I mean you always hear about the ones that are hiding behind outward holiness standards. So in churches that do not have such a standard do you now see the bad ones?

Or are they still hiding in plain sight?