Standards protect inward holiness!!!!!

Originally Posted by OneAccord

And thats what He will have. A truly unted church... not the divided organizations and denominations we have today. A church that is united around Him, not some doctrine ABOUT Him. I believe Paul made it clear that God would present Himself with a holy church, without spots, wrinkles and blemishes. God's church needs an Extreem Makeover so we can conform to His image as He intended. Conform to rules, , creeds and traditions? Not God's church. God' s church conforms only to His Word. It is a UNITED church and not in name only. The brother you speak of must have been one after God's own heart... "that we may be one" was Jesus' prayer for us, and we will be One with Him, or we will be left behind!

You have hit it...great words, said simply but have so much meaning!!!

Originally Posted by Felicity

Without standards everything would be chaos and confusion. Don't you think?

We all have standards...for some chaos is a part of their life, the thing that I see so often is just back-wards thinking that the outside says what is on the inside...it just is not true! It is like a house...it can be beautiful on the outside and chaos and ugly on the inside, but the facade looks great...and does not help the inside at all.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by Felicity

Without standards everything would be chaos and confusion. Don't you think?

But how more confusing can it get than one area be against TV's in the saints home and another area is okay with it or one church you can wear wedding rings and another you can't.

If the standards were standard then there might be less chaos and confusion.

[OneAccord]

Confusing, to say the least. I was thinking about that this morning. In the day when Jesus came on the scene, there must have been many "false Christs" operating throughout Israel. There may be scholars among us that can shed more light on the subject, but I'm sure there were others in His time that were proclaiming themselves as the "Messaih". No doubt there were "prophets" preaching a "gospel" of adherrance to the Law. Yet, through all the clamor and confusion, a Voice was heard proclaiming liberty to the captives. And, behind that Voice were many infalliable evidences that this was, indeed the Voice of God. He declared: "My sheep know MY Voice..." . He also said there were other sheep, but HIS sheep hear and obey His Voice. All the confusion of man-made additions to the Law was stripped away by His Voice. His voice was unmistakable. His Voice didn't look back to the Law for guidance, but to a time when God Himself would dwell in our hearts to lead us to ALL truth. Thank God that time has come. There is no confusion among those who listen to the Lord's Voice.

Just my ramblings...carry on.

Originally Posted by rgcraig

But how more confusing can it get than one area be against TV's in the saints home and another area is okay with it or one church you can wear wedding rings and another you can't.

If the standards were standard then there might be less chaos and confusion.

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Confusing, to say the least. I was thinking about that this morning. In the day when Jesus came on the scene, there must have been many "false Christs" operating throughout Israel. There may be scholars among us that can shed more light on the subject, but I'm sure there were others in His time that were proclaiming themselves as the "Messaih". No doubt there were "prophets" preaching a "gospel" of adherrance to the Law. Yet, through all the clamor and confusion, a Voice was heard proclaiming liberty to the captives. And, behind that Voice were many infalliable evidences that this was, indeed the Voice of God. He declared: "My sheep know MY Voice..." . He also said there were other sheep, but HIS sheep hear and obey His Voice. All the confusion of man-made additions to the Law was stripped away by His Voice. His voice was unmistakable. His Voice didn't look back to the Law for guidance, but to a time when God Himself would dwell in our hearts to lead us to ALL truth. Thank God that time has come. There is no confusion among those who listen to the Lord's Voice.

Just my ramblings...carry on.

Great ramblins....I like that ......

[Sister Alvear]

I really doubt most preachers would ask John the baptist to the platform let alone Jesus who associated with women and children. Aaron would be left out because he had a beard and Mosies because he wore sandels...
Ez. run around naked claiming to be some kind of sign prophet, Jer. cried all the time...

[Michael Phelps]

Originally Posted by Felicity

Without standards everything would be chaos and confusion. Don't you think?

Without Biblical standards, I would agree with this.

However, what many refer to as "standards", as you know, are merely traditions of men that were handed down.

[Sister Alvear]

I agree we need standards but may our standards be GOD"S standards and not some made up something to try to make our church look more "holy" than the church across town.
We need God's holiness. I don't trust those that all they have to say is how a woman should dress. We need a full meal...not just somone's favorite dish.

[Sister Alvear]

Greed has its source in the human will and selfish motives which oppose the will of God. Instead of seeking God's will, people live as they see fit, with their own lusts and desires subjecting their own lives to suffering and unfulfillment.
I say standards should bring us joy and not a long face, standards are our banner and standards are not to be preached because our hearts are filled with greed. We should have an open receiving heart and be tender in spirit so to walk before the Lord in holiness and purity.

Boundries protect us and our families, our churches but at the same time as usual I plead for balance.

[Michael Phelps]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

I agree we need standards but may our standards be GOD"S standards and not some made up something to try to make our church look more "holy" than the church across town.
We need God's holiness. I don't trust those that all they have to say is how a woman should dress. We need a full meal...not just somone's favorite dish.

Excellent post, Sister Alvear, and I could not agree more!