What About Men With Earrings...or Browrings -- Is That OK?

It used to be that earrings on men were "wrong" or inappropriate, especially for christians. Well, now that is OK I guess. What about just one brow-ring, or two maybe? Is that OK?

I wish someone who knows better than me would explain to me where we draw the line. How does the Bible deal with these gray areas? (this is not a gray are to me but to some it apparently is)

Is it OK to be in church leadership with an earring, or what about bone ring through the nose? One is OK but not the other? Who says? How about one of those earrings the size of a coin where you can see right through the ear lobe? What about multiple piercings through the ears, brows, nose, and lips?

I am fine with the unsaved lost entering the church as they are but what about when the church leaders are are showing up with these markings? What kinds of statements are being made without words to the youth? Wouldn't this send mixed messages to children?

Let's say you are a christian who has an occasional beer. To many this could be something left up to one's discretion as long as it doesn't offend the younger or weaker christian...right? Personally I do not drink beer but let's just say you as a christian do sometimes. Would you wear a Corona t-shirt to church? Probably not. Why? Well, it's obvious, others may not understand and you may cause a weaker brother to stumble. In that case if you insist on wearing this t-shirt are you doing it for the good of your brother or for yourself? Couldn't it be argued that a church leader with an earring may and possibly could be causing a younger and weaker christian to fall into confusion since earrings, piercings and mohawks are things which make statements of rebellion in the world (at worst) and (at best) are a statement of worldliness? If these are not statements of worldliness then exactly what are they?

Come on men, quit cowering and make a stand!

I think we really need to ask ourselves...do we love the world? 1 John 2:15

Am I crazy on this? Please, somebody correct me where I am wrong. I am open and willing to be corrected.

I think about what scripture says in 1 Cor. 10:23-24 & 33:

23. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.
24. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
33...even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

Also 1 Cor. 8: 9 says:

9. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

And 1 Cor. 8: 12-13 says:

12. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
13. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

So I ask, is the issue about this "mature" christian's "right" to display HIS expression of being a "man of the the world" through body piercings or is the issue about the weaker brother and how we should always be looking out for his good and spiritual health, as scripture clearly teaches?

Frankly, I have a 12 year old son and I would not want him to get his body pierced in any way, even a small earring. Earrings are for girls. When he is around an older, mature christian man, I am going to be faced with a conflict if that older christian man has piercings.

Here is an excerpt from a post on OldTruth.com which I hope helps explain further:

"...in a day when the church is trying to look as much as possible like the world, where we dress like the world, talk like the world, are entertained by the world, how can we even begin to fulfill this command? For many in church-ianity today, the very idea of being holy, separate, and pure, is counter to the real goal of "reaching the world". But where do you get the idea from Scripture that you reach the world by capitulating to it and becoming its mirror image? When Paul said he became all things to all people he was not even contemplating the idea of becoming worldly in thought or behavior, speech or dress."

READ THE REST...

"What Does This Verse Mean To You?"

This video has been around for some time. I don't think I have ever posted it here and it is too good to pass up. If you haven't seen it, it is worth watching since this seems to be a common Bible study technique today:

The Prayer Life

I am reading through a great little book called "The Prayer Life" by Andrew Murray (1828-1917). Here is a powerful quote on what prayer actually is:

"Prayer is not merely coming to God to ask something from him. It is above all fellowship with God and being brought under the power of his holiness and love, till he takes possession of us and stamps our entire nature with the lowliness of Christ, which is the secret of all true worship." (page 41)

Mormonism

This is a cartoon video explaining the beliefs of Mormonism:

13 Evangelistic Phrases That Produce False Conversions

by Todd Friel...

Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.

A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”

D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”

Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).

I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.

1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.

2. Ask Jesus into your heart. Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.

3. Just believe in Jesus. The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.

4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it. We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.

5. Accept Jesus. Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us–and He will, if we repent and trust.

6. Make a decision for Jesus. Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.

7. It is easy to believe. While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.

8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.

9. Come to Jesus just as you are. We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.

10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ________________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage). Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.

11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace. Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.

12. Jesus is the missing piece. Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.

13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune. That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.

If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?

Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.

I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place? Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?

If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?

Worldliness Among Professing Christians

"There is a great deal of worldliness, and earthly-mindedness, and covetousness among the professing Christians of our day. They are worshipers of the golden calf! O sirs! the world is all shadow and vanity. The world is like Jonah's gourd--a man may sit under its shadow for a time, but it soon decays and dies.

The main reason why many professors dote upon the world, is because they are not acquainted with a greater glory. If the heart of man is not filled with God--it will be filled with the world, the flesh and the devil."

--Thomas Brooks, "London's Lamentations" 1670

A Message to Fathers and Children

If you are a christian father I highly recommend you listen to THIS AUDIO sermon from Keith Daniel.

In this sermon he looks at the verse Malachi 4:6-
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Here is a brief description of the sermon from sermonindex.net:

"In this message brother Daniel shows how in the endtimes in which we live there is to be a turmoil between children and parents beyond what has ever been seen before. The spirit of rebellion and strife is being seen and manifested in many youth from godly Christian homes. This message will encourage you parents to pray and keep over your children and to children you will be challenged if your resentment of your parents is sin."

This is a very powerful message from Keith Daniel, like most of his messages, and it is hard to listen to twice.

We don't need a Father's Day to consider a message like this one. It is something we need to hear anytime. I believe the conclusions he is making in this sermon are correct. In that case may God help us.

Watch Your Hearts

Some strong words from the puritan John Flavel. May God give us the grace to do this:

"Oh, study your hearts, watch your hearts, keep your hearts! Away with empty names and vain shows; away with unprofitable discourse and bold censures of others. Turn in upon yourselves, get into your closets, and now resolve to dwell there. You have been strangers to this work too long; you have kept other vineyards too long; you have trifled about the borders of religion too long. Will you now resolve to look better to your hearts? Will you hate and come out of the crowds of business and clamors of the world and retire yourselves more than you have done? Oh, that this day you would resolve upon it!"

--John Flavel (1627-1691)

Error in Doctrine is a Sin

"Error in doctrine is as much a sin as error in practice.

Remember, too, that error in doctrine is not only a sin, but a sin which has a great tendency to increase. When a man once in his life believes a wrong thing, it is incredible how quickly he believes another wrong thing. Once open the door to a false doctrine - Satan says it is but a little one - yes, but he only puts the little one in like the small end of the wedge, and he means to drive in a larger one; and he will say it is only a little more, and a little more, and a little more.

The most damnable heretics who ever perverted the faith of God erred by littles and littles; those who have gone the widest from truth have only gone so by degrees..."

--Charles Spurgeon

KEEP READING...

Ken Silva Radio Interview

Ken Silva will be a guest on WKAT 1360 AM in South Florida, Friday June 15, 7:30 PM (Eastern time).

CLICK HERE to listen live online.

Give him a call, ask him a question. 305-503-1340

We will be discussing the Emergent church.

Those involved in an Emergent church are especially encouraged to call so we can help you escape and warn others.

CLICK HERE to listen live June 15 7:30 PM (Eastern).

Today's Version of the Gospel

I really enjoy listening to Vance Havner. I know he is one of those old dead guys who does not know how to be "relevant" to today's postmodern culture, therefore his old country boy plain spoken ways have no application to today's generation ...but oh...wait he just happened to say something which does address today's evangelical climate. Here he briefly describes today's version of the gospel, the social gospel:

"If they had the social gospel in the days of the prodigal son somebody would have given him a sandwich and some soup and he never would have got home. That's the kind of gospel so many would advocate today. We need to get back to the garments of the righteousness of the Law"

--Vance Havner (1901-1986), from the sermon "What Jesus Wants for His Church"

What the Church Needs Today

"What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer."

--E.M. Bounds (1835-1913)

Another Gospel—Unity Instead of Truth

From Slice of Laodicea:

A.W. Pink wrote of another gospel and what it often looks like. We can identify this in any number of false teachings today where a Global Peace Plan is substituted for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where we are told to find our Best Life Now instead of laying it down for the Lord, and where emerging church leaders tell us to find God in a new social gospel instead of His Word. Here’s what Pink said:

"The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great ‘brotherhood.’ It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to ‘the best that is within us.’ It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed."

–-A.W. Pink (1886–1952)

You Cannot Love God, and Love the World at the Same Time!

"For everyone born of God overcomes the world.
This is the victory that has overcome the world,
even our faith." 1 John 5:4

Faith then is the conquering grace!

Faith gives the victory!

Faith crushes this tremendous foe!

And how does faith overcome the world?

By leading the believer to the cross of Jesus!

True faith deals with its great object, Jesus.

It goes to Him in the conflict.
It goes to Him when hard pressed.
It goes to Him in its weakness.
It goes to Him in deep distress.

On Him it leans, and through Him it always obtains the victory.

Of the martyrs it is recorded that they
"overcame through the blood of the Lamb!"

Paul employs similar language in describing his victory:
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world." Galatians 6:14

It is faith in Christ that gives us the victory!

How could a feeble saint, with no strength or wisdom
in himself, overcome so powerful and subtle an enemy
as the world without supernatural aid?

He never could!

Look at the world!
There are its ten thousand temptations....
its temptations of pleasure,
its temptations of ambition,
its temptations of wealth,
its false religion,
its temporizing policy,
its hollow friendship,
its empty show,
its gay deceptions,
its ten thousand arts to ensnare, beguile, allure and charm.

Oh, how could one poor weak believer ever crush
this fearful, powerful foe but as he is "strong in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus"?

The cross of Christ gives him he victory!

Christ has already conquered the world, and faith
in His blood will enable the feeblest soul to exclaim,
while the enemy lies subdued at his feet, "Thanks be
unto God, who always causes me to triumph in Christ."

Reader! have you obtained the victory over the world,
or has the world obtained the victory over you? One
of the two is certain; either you are warring against it,
or you are its passive and resistless victim; either you
are "born of God," and "have overcome the world," or
you are yet unregenerate, and the world has overcome you.

On whose side is the victory?

Perhaps you profess faith in the Lord Jesus,
yet love the world, and conform to....
its maxims,
its policy,
its principles,
its fashions,
its dress,
its amusements,
even its very religion- for the world has its hollow forms of religion.

Is it so?

Then hear what the Word of the Lord says to you.
"Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you,
for when you love the world, you show that you do
not have the love of the Father in you." 1 John 2:15.

A solemn declaration for you, you who profess faith
in Christ, and who are still lovers of the world!

You cannot love God, and love the world at the same time!

Do not be deceived!

The outward garb of religion will not save you!

The mere name, the empty lamp; these will
avail you nothing when you come to die.

If the world has never been ejected from your heart,
if you have never been crucified to it, then the love
of God is not there; if the love of God is absent,
then you are a stranger to the new birth."

--Octavius Winslow (1808-1878), from "The Soul after Conversion"

Discernment: Detecting The Voice of The Enemy

I found this posted on OldTruth.com. This is a good reminder that we must always be on guard:

Quoting John Murray from his book "Collected Writings of John Murray, volume 1"

"A shepherd protects his sheep from their enemies. Wolves enter in among the sheep. The wolves which harass the church of God are emissaries of false doctrine and of evil practice. Satan is never out of his diocese and his specialty is to destroy the pure witness and the fellowship of the church of God. Perhaps there is no more ominous feature of members of the church than the lack of discernment; they can listen to what is good and true, and to what is bad and false, without discrimination. If we are to live in a world where the enemy is active and error is rampant, we must be imbued with a good measure of critical faculty, and here the elders in tending the flock must cultivate for themselves, and inculcate in the members of the church, that sensitivity to truth and right, so that they and the people will be able to detect the voice of the enemy.

Jesus said of His sheep, "a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10:5). But this discernment does not operate in a vacuum, and it does not act mechanically; it acts in the context of intelligent apprehension and understanding of the truth."

There Are Still Young People Who Look to the Bible

I found this post from Slice of Laodicea.com very encouraging:

There Are Still Young People Who Look to the Bible

"My son Sam recently posted a piece on Slice and was asked to become a columnist with Christian Worldview Network. He was thrilled and reworked his Slice post into a column for the site. I decided to post it again here because I believe Sam’s challenge bears repeating. I have watched God’s hand in Sam’s life over the years. He always had a tender heart for the Lord from a young age—until high school hit. I had homeschooled him for three of his younger years, including sixth grade, in which he spent time writing essays on Spurgeon’s sermons and books like Oswald Sander’s, The Cultivation of Christian Character. He would fall asleep listening to Dr. John MacArthur in those years. I kept all of the essays he had written and when he went off to Christian high school and started to go down a different path, I read to him from some of the things he had written one night. He told me later it was very convicting. For about three years, Sam broke my heart as he sought approval from his peers rather than the Lord. Then, in his Senior year of high school, our family moved to South Carolina and very much against his wishes, he was enrolled in a truly wonderful Christian high school. For one year, he sat under solid preaching in chapel, every day, as well as at church. He had faculty that for the first time seemed to live out their faith rather than undermine that of the students. He found friends who did not find it “cool” to immerse themselves in the world and still call themselves Christians. This was far more than a nominal Christian school as his had been in Milwaukee. The change was amazing. Sam began reading the Word, asking questions, seeking the Lord. Gone was dark music, gone was the attitude and in its place was the joyful Sam who used to curl up with my devotional books by Spurgeon and company. Today he is a sophomore in Christian college, seeking God’s will for his education and life. I tell you this today because as Christian parents, it is sometimes easy to despair. We try to teach our children, we pray for them, long for them to love the Lord, and when sometimes they don’t, we can give up. Don’t ever do that. Continue to pray. Hold fast to God’s promises and trust that He will work in His time and way to accomplish His will in their lives. It isn’t easy to wait. I am still praying for certain others of my children. That is our job as Christian parents, to earnestly seek the Lord for each and every child God gives on loan to us. Sam called me yesterday from work at VCY America. “Mom, I am so excited!” I wondered what was going on. “You’ll never guess what I found. I have been cleaning out the Crosstalk archive room and I found these unbelievable old books covered in junk. I found an old hymnal from the 1800’s, a biography of George Muller, a book on the 23rd Psalm by F.B. Meyer, an old book from the 1930’s on apologetics against modernism, and that’s just to name a few. You won’t believe this stuff.” He came home last night with these dirty old books in a box and his eyes shining. He gave me the little black 23rd Psalm book by F.B. Meyer, and I was deeply ministered to by it last night. I hope to share some of it here on Slice later today. These were rediscovered treasures that many would have shoveled into the dumpster. I hope this site encourages you to blow the dust off the old treasures of the Christian faith in books and hymns that have stood the test of time. My young son is testimony to the fact that the truth of the Gospel IS exciting, no matter what generation you come from. The truth of God’s Word should excite every one of us who struggles to live pleasing to Christ in these dark times. There is still a remnant, young and old, that looks to the Bible. Praise the Lord for that. Praise the Lord!"

--Ingrid Schlueter, Slice of Laodicea.com

Maybe We Should Decorate the Ark...

This sermon from Leonard Ravenhill preached over 20 years ago is very applicable today to churches who decide to apply man-made methods in doing God's work and purposes. Just as David decided it was appropriate to build a cart to help transport the ark of the covenant, churches today try all sorts of techniques and methods in attempts to "improve" upon God's methods, resulting in disobedience and spiritual death.

It's a sad and dangerous thing to see happening all around us.

here is an excerpt....

"... All this man did was try to steady the ark of God (Uzzah, 2 Samuel chapter 6). Oh mercy, how we’re trying to steady the ark of God these days. We don’t just want to steady it. We want to do some new thing.

We’d paint it.
We’d put a musical box inside of it.
We’d put the priest in some new garments.
We’d try to make it more acceptable!

The power and the presence of God were resting on that tabernacle. And while they were obedient, they had success. Are we steadying the ark of God in the way we are presenting the gospel these days?

The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. I heard somebody say, "Well, you know, there’s a different approach today". Is there? Is there really? Is there any difference between the grief of somebody who’s heartbroken today and the grief of somebody who lived three thousand years ago? We say, "Human nature is changed". Human nature has not changed! Human nature is still a sinful nature. Human nature still needs God. It seems though, God is trying to check us, but we won’t take the checking. We won’t take the warning. And again I say to you, the most distressing area, I believe, is the area of the church itself. We are trying to steady the ark.
We don’t want God Almighty to govern the whole thing.
We want a little bit of flesh in it.
We want a little bit of humanism in it.
We want a little bit of organization in it.
We want some of our skill in it.
And God holds off.
The word of God says, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God." Oh, I’m aching on the inside to see somebody that really, really, really has no confidence in the flesh."

--excerpt from a sermon preached by Leonard Ravenhill, Who's Touching the Ark? May 14, 1983