What is your opinion on...

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Permalink Reply by Carla on March 5, 2017 at 4:46am

Hi Jess, 

Here are a few thoughts:

- Do you loathe seeing any of the above in churches today? why?

No.  I prefer that they are in church rather than out of it.  Hopefully the church can be a safe loving environment to learn who Jesus is and grow closer to Him, and in community.  We all have a past.  Jesus wants all of us to come to Him.

I don't care for perfume in church simply because it would be overwhelming if everyone wore it.... SNEEZE CITY. 

Matthew 9

9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

      10Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13“But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

- Do you believe there is a certain way to do things or dress (in a holy way), or do you believe that God's spirit should?

I believe there is a respectful way to dress, but I don't think that's what you're asking.  This makes me think of the Pharisees in Jesus' day who carried themselves with a self-satisfaction and mock modesty, they were very self-righteous.  They were more concerned with staying clean, making sure they would not touch or expose themselves to anyone whom they deemed 'unclean'. The garments they wore were comprised of eighteen pieces, and the material, colour and cut of the garments revealed their 'class'... rich or poor.  Their hearts were the problem.

It makes me think of this scripture:

Luke 10

30Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31“And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32“Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35“On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

- In your church are there certain practices which you must do, such as holy communion, or do you allow the Holy Spirit to do what it wants and move in your midst?

In our church we participate in communion....not because we have to, but because we want to.  We want to remember Jesus and His sacrifice, and honor Him in that way by sharing in the blood and body of Christ.  We don't partake weekly...I'm not sure why, perhaps the leadership is guarding against it becoming a mere ritual.  It means something.  Hopefully the Holy Spirit moves in all of our 'churches', but perhaps more importantly, we desire for the Holy Spirit to move in each one of us daily 24/7, and that we would respond in obedience.

1 Corinthians 1

¹⁶ When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

The word 'church' is crying out to be highlighted here.  What does it mean?

The biblical understanding of the church is defined as 'an assembly' or 'the called out ones'.  The universal church means the group of people who know, love and follow Jesus Christ.  Since we're 'called out, I believe our lives will show that fruit.  Appearance is less important than our motives.  I believe it's important to never judge a person by their appearance.

Ephesians 1

²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Thoughts?  :-)

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Permalink Reply by Seek on March 5, 2017 at 6:09pm

perhaps more importantly, we desire for the Holy Spirit to move in each one of us daily 24/7

This is something brought up by our pastor this morning. Worship isn't something you do on Sunday but what you should do continually.

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Permalink Reply by Seek on March 5, 2017 at 6:03pm

Our church let's the spirit move. Today's service is an excellent example. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1642269176082704&id...

We don't say no to people with piercings, etc. as we believe the Holy Spirit will work on them. However, we're not going to put them up on the front line until they are cleaned up. Standard acceptable discrete tattoos, earrings, and such are not a problem. Short miniskirts leading to lustful thinking would be an issue.

Fake nails are no different than makeup and makeup is often used to hide blemishes. Nails often hide jagged unseemly looking nails.

Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus for his burial if that explains my views on perfume. Perfume is better than body odor. And if anyone is in the pulpit sniffing the worship team, they have more issues than these.

Nothing wrong with dyed hair either. If it's a problem, allowing a cancer patient to wear a wig in the praise team would also be a no no, wouldn't it?

Personally, I feel if we're too hung up on the color of someone's hair, whether or not their nails are real, if they pinched their cheeks or applied blush, etc., then we're not allowing the Spirit to move but are spending an inordinate amount of time judging people on their appearance.

If it's offensive to the church, don't allow it. If it's offensive to one or two, they could be in the wrong church.

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Permalink Reply by Carla on March 6, 2017 at 8:55am

"Personally, I feel if we're too hung up on the color of someone's hair, whether or not their nails are real, if they pinched their cheeks or applied blush, etc., then we're not allowing the Spirit to move but are spending an inordinate amount of time judging people on their appearance."

Amen!

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Permalink Reply by Mary O on March 8, 2017 at 12:06pm

Hi God bless,

Is it distracting? Does it take away from the reason we are in worship service? I know someone who takes pride in her fingernails, but her nails are 3, maybe 4 inches long. She decorates them for different holidays. When people are around her during service, that's all they'll look at. I'm not saying don't do up your fingernails. Just think about who the fingernails are stealing the attention from. She's not an evil person. We've mentioned it to her, and I trust she will eventually figure it out. I would still rather see her in church service.

God's Love,

Mary

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