Well enough... I have been rightly corrected. It's true that I do consider my own brand of Christianity more "mainstream", but I ought to know better from our time on the public debate boards. Perhaps it might be said that my brand of Christianity is mainstream fundamentalism? (grin). At any rate, I think that A, B, C is a simple way to remember the road to salvation - but no, I'd never been specifically taught that. Yes, I do believe in salvation by faith, one acceptance, belief, and confession serving for all time... but I also believe that a true Christian is shown by the fruits of the spirit, "By their fruits shall ye know them". Mouthing the words, "I accept" is something entirely different from accepting with your whole heart and putting your entire hope of salvation on the blood of our Savior. That was all the thief on the cross did - put his entire hope on his belief that Jesus could and would save him from Hell. And should I be greeted at the gates of Heaven by the question, "By what right are you here?" my answer shall be, "Jesus died for me, I am here by His sacrifice, my name is written in the Lamb's book of life".
I am sadly aware (again, virtue of the old board) that the words "born-again" turn many people off. I wish it were otherwise. We cannot, however, control the actions of all our co-religionists, more's the pity. I would that all of us would shine out with Jesus' light... but such is not to be. We *are* fallen humans, and our Enemy is cheerfully willing to use every weapon to keep souls from grace. The seeds of self-righteousness live in most hearts - and I think that's why evangelicals spend a lot of time saying "Christians aren't perfect - just forgiven." If you've never had someone accuse you of thinking you're better than they are because of your faith, count yourself lucky. I have! And who wants to cut down their co-religionists? There are a few famous fundamentalists that *I* wish would keep their mouths shut, or shut their mouths on certain topics... but who am I to judge their hearts? And sometimes I agree with the core of their message, but NOT the delivery or any of the "outlying" bits. I was reading an article just the other day on the CWA site - great article, except for ONE sentence, but that one sentence would have turned anyone not totally "on their side" off. We are called to speak the truth with love - and that's hard.
Cheap grace - it sounds like an interesting book, and has gone on my Christmas list. :) As for the concept... yes. Our church today is RIFE with hypocrisy and apostasy. It is easy to be saved and then head right to the bar. Do I think it's possible... yes. But eh. A weak yes. Because your fruits show your faith. Can you fall and yet be Christian? Yes. But should you be expected to get back up... eventually? Also yes. 1 Corinthians 3: 11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundsation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. I do like what Dr. McGee says... there'll be some folk in Heaven who smell a bit of smoke from that fire, but they'll still BE there.
I say that partially from personal experience. There were many years when I know that I was a Christian and saved, but I was living in deliberate sin. Do I think that I would have gone to Heaven if I'd died then? Yes. But I'd have had precious little treasure come through the fire with me. Even now, having been surrendered for years, I have to occasionally pull myself back from things that I know are wrong... don't you? That is one of the things I am MOST looking forward to in Heaven - a body without an "old nature", a self that isn't constantly tempted to sin. That is a part of my journey - learning each day to leave my "self" at the altar and obey Christ Jesus. And I become more sensitive to sin the closer I get to Him, the less I am able to tolerate evil in myself. (There is still plenty to go around - icky ew).
As for who you listen to and believe - yes, I am young in this. What I do is very carefully vet who I listen to by first reading their statements of faith and looking carefully at the way they comport themselves (is it Biblical? Are they out for money for themselves or for missions or not really at all?), and then I give them my attention. But I am very well immersed in the Bible, so something that rings false, or doesn't bother to base itself on the Word? No, not going in my brain! My "list" currently is Dr. Stanley, Dr. McGee, and Pastor Mike (my local pastor, and yes he's on the web if you want to give him a listen). Also I am reading through the Bible - four chapters a day plus whatever calls out to me. This is the third? time I've done that, and I expect to continue so long as I'm here. What do you feed yourself with?
All the time I have for now... it's time to kick my slothful self off of my computer chair and off to clean something. :)
Showing posts with label head covering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label head covering. Show all posts
Monday, November 5, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Coverings, experiment day
Friday I tried covering my hair. Put the handkerchief on as soon as I got dressed and left it there until I got halfway to picking up my son, when it blew off for the third time.
When I first pinned it on, I felt "something". Like a covering feeling, a little extra connection? Psychological? Very possibly. But there. And when I was gonna do wrong, I felt a lot of extra pressure not to. Otherwise, not much difference. And, as I said, since I live in SoCal and I've seen everyone on my street from a Buddhist priest to a Imam (in robes and all)... I don't think I got any odd looks. Or no odder than usual anyway... nothing like walking by the parole office.
But that's my report. I think I'll go back to covering while worshipping and sometimes just when I'm hanging at home. I like that extra feeling of connection - and I don't guess it matters how I get it.
Thoughts?
When I first pinned it on, I felt "something". Like a covering feeling, a little extra connection? Psychological? Very possibly. But there. And when I was gonna do wrong, I felt a lot of extra pressure not to. Otherwise, not much difference. And, as I said, since I live in SoCal and I've seen everyone on my street from a Buddhist priest to a Imam (in robes and all)... I don't think I got any odd looks. Or no odder than usual anyway... nothing like walking by the parole office.
But that's my report. I think I'll go back to covering while worshipping and sometimes just when I'm hanging at home. I like that extra feeling of connection - and I don't guess it matters how I get it.
Thoughts?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Head coverings
"Caligirl" - for a second my eyes deceived me and it looked perilously close to "callgirl."
You brought up a number of interesting subjects. I think I will tackle the head covering thing first. I don't quite see the point in what Dr. McGee has to say about the Nazirites in relation to men having short hair and women having long hair. I think the whole point was to be different - visibly different, to go outside the norm, so that in a sense, everyone knew you had made a vow to God. But if that was the meaning of it, to purposefully humiliate yourself for God, why is Paul against it?
It isn't any different from what the Hutterites and Amish practise in terms of dress. They also dress in a way that makes them visibly different as an expression of their faith. Are you saying that because the idea of shorn hair on a woman was tied to prostitution what Paul has to say about it isn't valid for today's Christians?
I haven't been to church for many years and I don't really feel any sort of calling to return. I have never been baptised and the head covering that was common among women in my denomination of the Mennonite church forty and more years ago was exclusively for baptised women.
But even then, aside from the very (to my childish eyes) ancient crones occupying the first two or three rows at the front of the church, who always, as I remember it, wore black shawls over their hair, not unlike that of Muslim women, the younger women, the ones who were not widows, seemed to prefer fashionable hats that would not have been out of place on any non-Mennonite woman at that time. Hats were in fashion back then and not something that only Mennonite women wore in church.
I think that one has to understand the original religious reasons for head covering in order to understand what Paul meant exactly. Orthodox Jewish women also cover their heads - and in some cases of the ultra Orthodox, some also shave their heads, then cover themselves with a wig. If Jewish women were covering their heads or shaving their heads before they came into contact with Greek culture, the association between Greek temple prostitutes and shorn hair that Dr. McGee makes would be too recent to account for it.
Head covering among Jews, as with other cultures of the time, predate the Greek empire. I am not sure however, whether shaven heads among Jewish women predates Greek culture. Although I think it is odd that if the Jews associated a shaved head on a woman with pagan temple prostitution, that shaven heads, albeit covered with wigs, would ever have become part of orthodox Judaism. So I think that either Dr. McGee is wrong in his explanation, or Paul, being a Hellenized Jew, was part of a Jewish culture that associated shaved heads on women with temple prostitutes. In which case, Paul's ideas about that would have been cultural/regional rather than religious.
As far as kneeling to pray in church, I have no idea if it is still done this way, but when I was a girl in church, at least two prayers that were part of the service were done with the whole congregation kneeling. I can certainly see the purpose of it, in that it seems or feels to me that one is consciously humbling one's self before God. I am not usually a kneeler though, mostly because there is always someone around. But I do kneel sometimes, when I want to earnestly connect with God, and I have a moment of privacy. And when I do, I do feel that I am very deliberately humbling myself before Him and kneeling is the physical manifestation of it.
There are so many more thoughts to address, that I will have to give it some more thought before I respond to the rest of them.
Layla
You brought up a number of interesting subjects. I think I will tackle the head covering thing first. I don't quite see the point in what Dr. McGee has to say about the Nazirites in relation to men having short hair and women having long hair. I think the whole point was to be different - visibly different, to go outside the norm, so that in a sense, everyone knew you had made a vow to God. But if that was the meaning of it, to purposefully humiliate yourself for God, why is Paul against it?
It isn't any different from what the Hutterites and Amish practise in terms of dress. They also dress in a way that makes them visibly different as an expression of their faith. Are you saying that because the idea of shorn hair on a woman was tied to prostitution what Paul has to say about it isn't valid for today's Christians?
I haven't been to church for many years and I don't really feel any sort of calling to return. I have never been baptised and the head covering that was common among women in my denomination of the Mennonite church forty and more years ago was exclusively for baptised women.
But even then, aside from the very (to my childish eyes) ancient crones occupying the first two or three rows at the front of the church, who always, as I remember it, wore black shawls over their hair, not unlike that of Muslim women, the younger women, the ones who were not widows, seemed to prefer fashionable hats that would not have been out of place on any non-Mennonite woman at that time. Hats were in fashion back then and not something that only Mennonite women wore in church.
I think that one has to understand the original religious reasons for head covering in order to understand what Paul meant exactly. Orthodox Jewish women also cover their heads - and in some cases of the ultra Orthodox, some also shave their heads, then cover themselves with a wig. If Jewish women were covering their heads or shaving their heads before they came into contact with Greek culture, the association between Greek temple prostitutes and shorn hair that Dr. McGee makes would be too recent to account for it.
Head covering among Jews, as with other cultures of the time, predate the Greek empire. I am not sure however, whether shaven heads among Jewish women predates Greek culture. Although I think it is odd that if the Jews associated a shaved head on a woman with pagan temple prostitution, that shaven heads, albeit covered with wigs, would ever have become part of orthodox Judaism. So I think that either Dr. McGee is wrong in his explanation, or Paul, being a Hellenized Jew, was part of a Jewish culture that associated shaved heads on women with temple prostitutes. In which case, Paul's ideas about that would have been cultural/regional rather than religious.
As far as kneeling to pray in church, I have no idea if it is still done this way, but when I was a girl in church, at least two prayers that were part of the service were done with the whole congregation kneeling. I can certainly see the purpose of it, in that it seems or feels to me that one is consciously humbling one's self before God. I am not usually a kneeler though, mostly because there is always someone around. But I do kneel sometimes, when I want to earnestly connect with God, and I have a moment of privacy. And when I do, I do feel that I am very deliberately humbling myself before Him and kneeling is the physical manifestation of it.
There are so many more thoughts to address, that I will have to give it some more thought before I respond to the rest of them.
Layla
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