Going to see Stoneking tomorrow:

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Mirth,
You do have a very valid point. But, he also has had miraculous things happen in his services. One incident involved my niece, who was 3 years old at the time! She was crying and got out in the aisle, speaking in tongues while walking up to the front of the church with her hands raised. The whole place went wild. Children praying, crying, speaking in tongues, slain in the spirit. It lasted for hours! Truly a phenomenal night!!

So, this hair thing is very disturbing as I can see it take off in a direction that it was not intended. When you have someone explain it to you as Bob Dylan did on another thread, you can see how and why people embrace what LS is teaching. They didn't carefully study the scripture. If there is any one passage that needs some care in study, that would be one of them.

Was this because of LS or despite LS?

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

More fear.

Women will lose their angelic protection if they cut their hair, and men will struggle with thoughts of homosexuality if they grow theirs long. Ridiculous.

And husbands and children will lose their protection of she cuts her hair, which implies if a man has no wife he is screwed

[Mirth1981]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Mirth,
You do have a very valid point. But, he also has had miraculous things happen in his services. One incident involved my niece, who was 3 years old at the time! She was crying and got out in the aisle, speaking in tongues while walking up to the front of the church with her hands raised. The whole place went wild. Children praying, crying, speaking in tongues, slain in the spirit. It lasted for hours! Truly a phenomenal night!!

That is wonderful. I have also experienced this atmosphere when LS preaches.

I think the miracles, signs, and wonders have more to do with the people of God exercising their faith than anything. Although I will not say that he is not anointed of God. That is not my place to judge. Only God truly knows.

[mental]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

The problem with "scholars" is we use the term too loosely. For example someone quotes some theologian saying "the greek means", and calls him a scholar. But being a theologian does not make you a Greek Scholar

Scholar: a learned or erudite person, esp. one who has profound knowledge of a particular subject.

Not every one with a degree in theology is a Scholar on the greek language. Often such people refer to others who ARE scholars like by quoting a greek lexicon

AMEN! You need to go to the true experts in the field and see what they have to say. You need to check more than one source and see what different experts have to say on any one issue. This is why translation committees are made up of many men who are all highly qualified. They are trying to weed out individual biases in translations. Most of the modern translators, though we may not agree with them on all points oftheology, have a really high regard for scriptiure. This is why I will choose the modern bible translators over Stoneking’s "seat of the pants" translation any day. Stoneking doesn’t even know enough Greek to know who the experts are. He needs to stick to English and preach Christ and Him crucified.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Mirth1981

That is wonderful. I have also experienced this atmosphere when LS preaches.

I think the miracles, signs, and wonders have more to do with the people of God exercising their faith than anything. Although I will not say that he is not anointed of God. That is not my place to judge. Only God truly knows.

I think some speakers make people believe and have more faith. He has certainly done that. I do believe he is used of God. I'm just very concerned over this hair thing. It's a subtle deception that will turn people away and think we, as an organization, have no validity overall. I don't believe that to be the case.

I think the Legalist posted something about long hair being part of history and he is right. Women would trim their hair, but their beauty,, as a lady, was their hair. Apparently, they took the passage seriously as the UPC is doing. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I remember watching Joyce Meyer to get a feel of the kind of person she was. That particular event, she mentioned I Cor 11 and that it is not relevant today and only a cultural issue in Biblical times. A very huge audience and she did not receive a response. Not one! I was a bit astonished at that. I thought some may clap, etc., but total silence. They were participating before, but now it was silence. She moved on. You could feel the audience wasn't sure they wanted to make a last stand on the issue.

My only thing on this issue, I have respect for those that take the Word seriously and are not ready to throw it away to suit their lifestyle. Any portion of scripture, not just I Cor 11.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

And husbands and children will lose their protection of she cuts her hair, which implies if a man has no wife he is screwed.

You have such a way with words, Prax. LOL!

But, you are right, he would be at a loss, which is ridiculous. It's so ridiculous I want to scream!

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Was this because of LS or despite LS?

Well, you know that atmosphere and preparation have much to do with the outcome of any service, so I'm thinking it may be because of him. What do you think?

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

And husbands and children will lose their protection of she cuts her hair, which implies if a man has no wife he is screwed

What if he has a mistress (with uncut hair)?

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Well, you know that atmosphere and preparation have much to do with the outcome of any service, so I'm thinking it may be because of him. What do you think?

Everything contributes to the atmosphere, the strongest thing being the anticipation of what will happen. There are many video's on YouTube showing Derren Brown demonstrating this very effectively.

[Jeffrey]

"you've entered a new level"

"a new anointing is on you"

"possess the land"

What do all these things really mean? Do we really leave on some exalted "higher level?"

What's the point of it all? Is Jesus being glorified?