Understanding Modesty

When I use the word modest or modesty what do you first think of? The way a woman dresses? It might be useful to take a honest look at modesty.

Miriam Webster dictionary tells us that modesty is the quality of not being too proud or confident about yourself or your abilities. Another source defines it as being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities. Notice that you have to look way down the list before you find any reference to clothing.

But notice that modesty deals with the root issue which is pride. Pride says look at me, look what I have done or accomplished.

When a woman sets up a camera at the gym to video herself working out, what is she saying? Look at me! Look what I have done, not look what I can do. It is pride that calls attention to yourself or how you look or at how appealing by current standards you are.

When a woman exposes her body by what she wears what is the message? Look at me, look at how pretty or shapely I am. Look at how well proportioned my body is. It is pride.

Men tend to be proud of their accomplishments and abilities. A man showing off his physique is being influenced by the feminist ideal of beauty. Pride in men is usually manifest in over confidence without a track record to back it up.

Pride is the root of all sin. Self interest, self promotion, self exaltation, doing what pleases me.

Show me someone who is modest in appearance and I will show you someone who takes their faith seriously.

"These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look..." Prov.6:16-17

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Prov. 31:30

Run With The Runners

"Well, Esau said, let's be going. I will lead the way. But Jacob replied, you can see, my lord, that some of the children are very young, and the flocks and herds have their young too. If they are driven too hard, even for one day, all the animals could die. Please, my lord, go ahead of your servant. We will follow slowly, at a pace that is comfortable for the livestock and the children. I will meet you at Seir." Gen.33:12-14 

Tonight our pastor used these verses in his sermon. The spirit of truth inspired me as he was preaching.

Esau is like the zealous young inexperienced pastor. He is strong. He is ready to act. He is in a hurry to make something happen. He thinks that if I can do it anyone can.

Jacob has grown up and matured in his sojourn with Laban. He has learned a thing or two. He is still strong and able to work. But time and experience have tempered his strength. He wants to arrive at the end of the trail too. But he takes into account the ability and the condition of his livestock and his young children. He has also learned the art of diplomacy.

What's the lesson here? You learn to run with the runners, and you learn to take care of the weak. A wise pastor can keep his spirit under control. 

"The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1Cor.14:32

A wise man keeps his strength under control and he does not wear his heart on his sleeve. He does not tell us everything he knows in every sermon. A wise and mature pastor, like Jacob, can take care of the weak and not overdrive them. 

Every sermon is not for every person. A wise pastor knows who he is ministering to and who he expects to respond. A wise pastor does not make disciples of the whole church. He runs with the runners, and he supports the weak.

PS: in our Fellowship, the weak are not the young new converts. They are the elders who have stayed faithful through the years.

Religion or Relationship?

 Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. What in the world is that supposed to mean? I was married for 40 years. That was a relationship. We share life together. We shared love and trials together. We shared good times and hard times together. We grew closer over the years. I was sad when she died.

We enter the Christian faith with what I call a personal experience. I felt God touch me and He filled me with the Holy Ghost. I have been in the faith for over 50 years now. I do not see this walk of faith as a romantic relationship.

This is what happens when women dictate our doctrine. They come up with crazy ideas. They have romantic fantasies about God and Christ. We sing it in our worship songs. We think that while Christ was on the cross that He was thinking about me personally. He wasn't.

Faith is an action word, not an emotion word. It defines how we live and gives us rules to live by to please God. You cannot have a real relationship with someone who is spirit and not human. Jesus had relationship with the disciples. He spent time with them.

Christ died to satisfy God's demands for redemption. Our job is to believe that is true and to live according to the life of God in us. 

Salvation must be entered individually, but it must be lived out by faith in an unseen God.

Christianity is a religion. It has rules and guidelines. It has standards. We walk by faith, not by sight. Or by feelings.

Spiritual Warfare

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the son of man be." Mat.24:37

One thing about the flood that is very clear is that the flood did not eradicate evil from the earth. It judged evil doers who had filled the earth and corrupted humanity with evil.

Sin has been a part of the human experience ever since the great fall in the Garden. But great depths of evil were not understood until the time of the Nephilim. These were the offspring of the perverse union between heavenly beings and human women.

"...the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose." Gen.6:2

Extrabiblical sources tell us that these women, who knew the story of how the serpent beguiled Eve and got her to rebel against God, seduced the angelic visitors. Much like the women of Baal Peor did to the children of Israel.

"Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods..." Num.25:1-2

Women, who feel powerless and want to be men, had enough power to not only seduce men, but also to seduce angels. And the offspring of these unholy unions were evil and corrupt and demonic. And the mothers of these Nephilim urged them on to do things to increase their wealth and power.

By eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve opened doors that caused humanity to fall to evil and sin.

Did you ever wonder why Noah's wife is unnamed as well as his daughters in law? I have an idea. But not for here.

This curse is still active today. We may not have giants roaming the country. But evil is rampant today just like back then. Women still require an extra covering to prevent them from commiserating with angelic beings again.

"For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels." 1Cor. 11:10

Thank God that in Christ every curse is broken!

Reaching Youth is Important.

 According to Arthur Brooks, three out of five young people in the US today feel that they have no meaning or purpose in life. They are suffering with anxiety and depression caused by an unfulfilled and meaningless life. Part of the problem is that kids today are living what is called a simulated life. Not enough real human interaction. Unbalanced mental and emotional development. And according to mister Brooks, religion is very important to giving meaning to life.

This is just another reason why revival happens among young people. Not only are they open to change, they feel the need to know why am I alive and to give them something to live for.

The things that young people deal with today are nothing new. It is human nature to need a meaning to life. God created us with what one person called a God shaped hole in our hearts that only Christ can fill.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will help our church kids reach their peers. Pray that we can reach this generation while there is time. Prayer is something that grandma and grandpa can still do.

The future of our Fellowship is two fold: preach to the poor, and reach the young.

My Thoughts For Today

What if instead of looking at what successful churches do and copying them, we look at what successful churches do not do well and innovate to do one or two things better than them? We can innovate without straying from or core beliefs. We do not innovate over doctrine, but over practices.

I'm thinking of how we greet visitors, or how e minister to children, or how we follow-up new converts. What kind of worship music we sing and how many musicians we use. What our pulpit looks like. You see what I mean? 

If we copy a successful church then we are no different and therefore no better than them. We become the dreaded cookie cutter church.

A new pioneer church needs to copy it's sending church until they reach a point where they are strong enough and wise enough and secure enough to find a better way. 

A pastor can lead the way first by not always comparing us to the church he got saved in years ago. Pastor does not need to come up with all of the ideas himself. But he does have to be open to innovation from the pews. Pastor can expedite innovation by not being a choke point that every idea must meet his approval.

The worst thing for a local church to become is boring. The other thing that a local church must avoid is sameness. Someone just like you will do it better than you do it.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts for today.

The Ancient of Days

 There is an interesting character introduced to us in Daniel chapter seven. He is called the Ancient of Days. This figure is  only mentioned three times in the Bible, and all three times are in Daniel chapter seven. We first meet this figure in verse 9;

"I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated" verse 9.

Some scholars feel that this must be God the Father. Some even think that this is God the Son. We are not sure except to understand that the figure called one like the son of man is Christ.

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven!" Dan. 7:13.

It says that when this son of man appears he is brought before the Ancient of Days, who gives him a dominion and glory and an everlasting kingdom.

One reason why I question if the Ancient of Days is God is that fact that we are told what He is wearing. God is spirit, he is clothed with light. He dwells in unapproachable glory. But the Ancient of Days is clothed in a garment that is white as snow. He has white hair. God does not have white hair.

What this scene looks like to me is a convening of the supreme court of Heaven. A similar scene is found in Revelation chapter 20.

"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them." Rev.20:4

Note that in both instances there are multiple thrones. Who is sitting in judgement on these thrones? Neither Daniel or John recognized these figures. Maybe it is a mystery we will not understand until we get to Heaven.

That this is a courtroom is illustrated clearly to me.

"I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom." Dan.7:21-22

The Ancient of Days carries the weight of Divinity, and the Son defers to him. He sits as a judge of the nations, and gives kingdoms. He is never explained or mentioned anywhere else in Scripture. He is an important figure and Daniel saw him in a vision. 

In Revelation chapter 20 we see God sitting on a throne.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them" Rev. 20:11

A similar setting with different results.

I can come to no certain conclusion. I will file this in my unanswerable questions file.