On a Yahoo group I run a member there had some stories about some recent experiences. I am NOT going to share what she disclosed but I am going to share my response. ~~~~Thank you, Clevsea
I have experienced all of those things.
Immodesty in church....short, shorts, tank tops, mini skirts and then they dance in church wearing this stuff. AND then they go up on stage and sing in the band wearing this stuff and because the stage is 6 feet above the audience it puts their legs right at eye level.
Also -------- you will not believe this but it's so true. I have witnesses. A Christian celebrity came to our town. I had heard him speak many times and he was always going on about his wife. He would have her stand up in the crowd and wave. She looked like a Barbie Doll.
My Precepts Upon Precepts leader did not like my take on the endtimes and had done everything she could think of to reform me. She thinks that if I heard Dr.______________ famous guy talk that I'll be convinced. Never mind that I had seen him over 10 times before and I listened to his radio preaching for years.
So my PUP teacher and my whole class and even a friend of my sister's was there because the whole town was there and my leader made me go forward after he was done talking.He happens to talk about endtimes---maybe she called him.
He had run through nearly all of the endtimes verses. There are so many that made my question easy to ask, because he had skipped the part I asked about. There was a long line and the room was still full. I was about 8 months pregnant and wearing a green jumpsuit so it was clear I was pregnant. The lady in front of me asked if her dog went to heaven. Then comes my turn.
I open my Bible and say, "In light of what you taught tonight what would you say to someone else who asked you about these verses?" My Bible was opened to John chapter 6 where Jesus says 4 times in a row that He will raise us up on the last day. (I did not say that the person who was curious about this was me. I implied that I would be asking for another person without lying about it.)
Dr.________________ got spitting mad me right away. He was bright red and YELLING. Spit literally coming out of him. The anger is unbecoming of any Christian. I had used a meek and quiet voice. I was pregnant. If anyone was getting drowsy they were wide awake now!! I simply pointed the verses to him I did not read them. In my Bible the words "last day" are already underlined and there they were.....4 times in a row the Lord Jesus said that.
Dr.________________ was aggressive and ran through all of the "Day of the Lord" verses like a run-away logging truck, at the speed of light. No one could have answered him. He asked (yelled) about 40 questions in this mean way and then says...."How are all those things going to happen in one day?"
Why do I tell you this story? Because within a week or so he was publically disgraced for sleeping with THE lady he was traveling with on this tour of speaking engagements. He had another Barbie Doll blonde, not his wife, open each meeting with her playing the piano for about 3 praise songs and then he would teach the crowd.
He was fired from his high position at the well-known Bible college and his radio program was cancelled too. Eventually, he wrote a public letter of apology for the blatant affair with this lady.
So, what is the connection between "bad" doctrine and screaming at people?
You tell me.
I also tried a different Church and they were screamers too. I get migraines and these are the kind of men who need no microphone!! We'd hear that screaming style of preaching without a PA system. But they insist on screaming into the mic. Why? Are we naughty little kids? Do we need a whooping? Do we need our weekly scream session to keep us in line with the Lord?
But perhaps one last story will help you. I was attending a church that taught the opposite of what I believe about salvation. I told my friend that I could handle it because I knew better so I wasn't going to be seduced by this misguided teaching. She said, "Don't be surprised if you children all believe like the staff does if you go there for 6 or more years."
She was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE can't allow our children to hear wrong Bible teaching and yet, on the other hand, some of the best churches have okay teaching but modern dress codes that are obscene.
I was in stadium seating at 2 different churches I went to. One I fondly call the "thong" church because the whole row of ladies in front of me each had a different color thong (underpants) on as they stood up to sing. I should not have to know what color your underpants are! And you could see down their shirts because of the seating combined with a neckline that is too low for church. We're not at a nightclub but they dress like we are. Even to daytime, all female Bible studies---they dress like we're going to a nightclub to pick up men. It makes NO sense to me. Why can't we be HOLY? Why can't we dress decently when we meet to read the Bible, study the Bible, to praise the Lord or to hear a sermon?
The other time I had stadium seating was at a more conservative church but the lady in front of me got down on her kneeler and because she was wearing little shorts and a skin tight cami (or tank top) it looked like she was getting into a s*xual position. Sorry to be so blunt. My husband wasn't with me and I never went back. I didn't want him to see that.
There is a denomination that I like, that covers their head for church, and it's called the Plymouth Brethren. I've been to 4 of them and they range in their modesty. The largest one I ever saw had about 200 to 300 people crammed in the auditorium. There was ONE lady covering her head even though that is one of their "distinctives" and the other 150 women were wearing short shorts and camis with spaghetti straps. They were VERY uncovered.
Some of you know all of my stories but with this one I stayed after and I talked to the oldest man there. I thought maybe he remembered a day when they were still a covering church. He did. He said he was THE one who taught them that they could stop covering.
What are we to do?
Some of us suffering with this live in southern California. I'm in the greater Seattle, Washington area where both Seattle and Portland, Oregon are in a competition to see who can be weirder. There are big bill boards in Portland, Oregon that say, "Keep Portland Weird." So they know they are doing this on purpose.
The west coast of the USA is weird and liberal (doctrinally)
It is like the "great apostasy" is beginning. Right here under our noses. It's a big topic with all the ladies who raised their children in the faith. The held Christianity high in their homes. They taught their children right!! And their children, whether there are 2 or 15 of them grow up and don't believe in the basic gospel anymore. They live like they want to live. They are not obedient to the Word and they don't read it anymore.
Our world needs prayer. I would like to see a massive revival of the faith hit the entire globe we call Earth or let's go ahead with the endtimes because God never lies and that means we can't pray away His prophesies. If they are beginning then they are beginning and we can't stop that. We wouldn't want to. We want our God to do these things He said He would do.
He has never lied to us. Every prophesy has occurred right on time, right when He said it would.
But we can pray whether this it is or not because if it's not yet time we CAN pray this unholiness away!!!
Thank you,
Clevsea
