Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
I, too, will be plain.
Frankly, I don't give a rolling donut who cuts their hair. It matters absolutely nothing to me.
I am just SO sick of the constant "what would you do if" silliness from some who have a different view than me regarding hair and the rest.
It is old and tired.
|
Are you inferring that
all my threads are "what if" threads or that every "what if" posts are of
my making? Or are you just venting on me for everybody else's "what if" threads because I do see that there are many, many of these threads started by various people?
The title of this thread is not a "what would you do ...if" thread. It is supposed to be a thread exploring what people's thoughts are about what separation from the world really is.
YOU may not care who cuts their hair or not, but there are plenty of busybodies who DO stick their noses into other people's business and make sure the whole church and everybody around them know it too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
As I rarely post anymore, I will take my time on the soapbox a step further...
I do not appreciate a longer skirt than you might wear, uncut hair, and the rest being called "garbage."
That is my conviction...my personal conviction that I am not imposing on anyone.
I wouldn't dream of referring to your uncut hair, pants or whatever as "garbage!"
Whether I consider it a heaven or hell issue should not concern anyone UNLESS I am telling them "You are hell bound!"
Do you want to know who I respect highly on this forum, and we have never met?
Sherri Cupples, and here is the reason... Tho' we may be miles apart in agreement in certain areas, I know she respects where she came from and what I stand for.
Even going back to the FCF days, I never read a post by Sherri where she low graded anyone.
Likewise, I would never, ever want to offend her or pretend that she is not saved, sincere, and doing a work for the Lord.
It's called kindness.
|
Not talking about Sherri in this thread. She has nothing to do with the issues I am talking about. I likewise admire Sherri, but perhaps we should leave her out of this. Her life experience may be totally different from mine.
Back to the issue at hand.
Is it kindness when some of the pentecostal ladies see a fellow sister in slacks and go running to the church women to gossip about them?
Is it kindness when a fellow sister is not a part of the "in crowd" of sisterhood clique in certain churches?
Is it kindness
that there even is an "in crowd"or cliques in our churches? I thought that we are all brothers and sisters ...all equal together in the Lord!
Is it kindness being shown when one is shunned and treated as if they have the plague, have doors slammed in their faces, deliberately withhold information about church social gatherings, treat your children like they are scum?
You may not consider the
grocery list of standards to be garbage, but
I do when I hear preachers tell people they are hell bound if they do not follow somebody else's bible interpretation.
You may not tell other women that, but there are plenty of other pentecostal men and women who do. Fact is, nobody knows where anybody goes after they die. That is completely left up to the Lord God.
I am just sorry that you took this whole thread so personally. Most people who are not guilty of the above would not think twice about my venting this. In fact, I don't know you from Eve's housecat..so why in the world would you even think that I am talking to YOU personally about this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
And tell me, just how do YOU know, for a fact and not just the gift of suspicion kicking in, but for FACT know that these nameless women in your above post have a pride issue?
Did you hear them say so? What specific comments were made? To whom were they made?
|
Yeah? What woman is going to admit she has a pride issue?
But since you asked for if I knew facts or suspicion concerning this matter, I will tell you that I know for a FACT many pentecostal people are full of pride over themselves and their possessions. I knew the ones who have said or done certain things to other women in my area. I have lived with some of them when I was single. We used to come home after a good church service and they would go through the motions acting like they were taking off their wigs, their false eyelashes, pulling out false teeth, taking off makeup etc and laughing up a big storm saying they hate anything false.
I've seen them make fun of a love-sick middle-aged woman. When I asked them didn't they not think it would hurt that certain lady's feelings if she knew what they were saying about her? Their response was that she will never know.
Backbiting.
I've heard one lady tell the woman who was divorced from her husband before she got saved, that she had her chance at marriage, she should let the other women who were never married before have their chance...all like this poor divorced woman was some kind of competition for the few men in the area.
Fact is...most of the pentecostal men did not want a divorced woman so why did the ladies feel it necessary to dig that into her?
I know one young man who criticized another family's home telling other people that they could do better. This family was living within their means and did not have the financial substance the young man's family had.
That is the pride of life.
I could go on...but why?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
And just what is prancing?
|
Not all people prance, but far too many do prance. I've seen women who take an entire Saturday getting ready for Sunday church.
Prancing people come to church showing off their hair, clothes, shoes and accessories and other particularities. This is not just a "pentecostal" issue, I'll admit, but for those pentecostals who insist that they are separate from the world, yet come to church showing off their stuff....are they really any more separate from the world than those of the world? I find it that the women take great pains to elaborate their hair on top of their head. One will find this prancing in churches of all denominations. This is the sin of the pride of life ...when we are proud of what possessions we have and what we look like while some look down on others who may not have as many physical things as the next person or is not as pretty as the next woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
Whom do you know, personally know and not just suppose is busy scrutinizing other women so that nothing gets done in the church?
Give us names and churches...make it plain.
|
Sister, it is very tempting to name the names of the people and of the churches, but it is very inappropriate.
Would you want your name and church blasted on forums had you been one of these people? No siree! Although I vent about these people, I will not subject their personal names or their churches on a public forum and it is quite inappropriate for you to ask me to.
I prefer to post in the general sense of the terms because from these forums alone, I see that
this is an issue in pockets all over the country. The defenders and deniers of all this nonsense are usually the ones who turn a blind eye to the ones doing it to others. And the ones doing it will soundly place the blame onto others, wiping their mouths clean and saying they have done no wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
I agree, and said so in an earlier post, that our separation is unto the Lord.
Perhaps you missed that...
|
No, I did not miss that...but I did missed reading any explanation you may have had of that very broad sentence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barb
And perhaps it is age that is causing me to be so blunt in this post, but my weariness is taking a toll....just maybe reading the threads here is something I should now forgo.  |
Well Barb, I am quite old also. I've had enough of the hair issue and that issue keeps cropping up over and over again. I've come to these forums trying to find Apostolic fellowship and hoped to find come clarity over what I've been through thinking that spiritual abuse may have been isolated to the few churches in this area. Perhaps I was wrong trying to find something here. I come here hoping for a reason to try to return to a pentecostal church, but only find something written that is even more weirder.....like the HMH doctrine. Some of you may not agree with my issues, but it is not directed at you who do not do these sorts of things. If you do not do it, why should it even bother you if it is not in your heart?
I've lived in a poverty stricken, pagan-type lifestyle before I found Christ. I've lived the Pentecostal lifestyle also. While I found many who are kind and loving, there are an equal amount of people that made their outer covering as a white sepulcher, but full of dead men's bones. And I dare say that the ones who were genuinely kind
never did anything to correct the ones who were not.
Nor did they take up for the ones being mistreated. Perhaps they, themselves did not want to get mistreated. Many who were kind did not want to be seen too often with those who did not make the grade either.
I placed the Pentecostal people up on a pedestal when I first got into the church....until I seen for myself how they acted towards some people behind their backs. And until hair and dress standards became more important than who one is, in Christ. That was my biggest mistake. I also see that things have not changed much within the "holiness" ranks.
Linear Mode
