Lay it to Heart

There are other areas of living today where the pastors are failing to lead the flock. There are misconceptions and myths passed along regularly. It is not the end of the world, neither is it a major issue. It is, however, a continual weakening of the body.


When in Rome do as the Romans
I have had a Bible study teacher tell me this one. Should we act this way? No, we should not. The Romans used to get drunk, have improper relations and throw Christians to the lions. We should do what Jesus would have done.


I Don't Think
I have had people tell me when someone says, "I don't think, they usually don't". This is not correct. This is really just a smart aleck or abusive cliche. The phrase, "I don't think..." is most often used as a nice way of telling someone they are wrong or of allowing room for disagreement.


When You See A Therefore
"When you see a therefore, go back to see what it's there for." This is another trite ego booster. It is not necessary and most pastors don't really do it. For example, many people have memorized Romans 12:1 which says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." What does the verse right before it say? Do you know? Can the majority of pastors quote it? Certainly we know chapter 11 comes before chapter 12, but how many verses are there? What is the number of the verse before Romans 12:1? Apparently, people are not practicing what they preach. The word "therefore" appears 350 times in the New Testament. How many of these verses cannot be read stand alone or by themselves and still be in context?


Seeker Sensitive
How far is this one going to go? God does not come to use on our terms, we must come to him on his. Changing or adapting church services is not necessarily wrong but is what your doing or not doing a sin? Romans 6:1 says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" The ends does not justify the means. We should not to have false preachers or politicians on our pulpits even if they support some of the things we are doing. Let them attend and sit quietly in the pews. Interfaith gatherings are often wrong and very wrong. 1 Corinthians 5:11 says, "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat." When a preacher publicly takes a test from the pulpit for a sickness that would only be present if he or his wife had been unfaithful, it is a sin. It may be seeker sensitive but it is certainly a disgrace. If the pastor is qualified and blameless as required in 1 Timothy 3:1, he will not need such a test. If you are holding back on the word of God or tolerating sin in your church in order to be seeker sensitive, then seeker sensitive is wrong.


Rock and Roll
Some pastors will tell you rock and roll is a sin. Actually, it is a sin to say rock and roll is a sin because such a statement is a lie. Have you heard the joke "All generalities are false"? There is a reason for the joke. That statement, of course, is a generality. Not all generalities or blanket statements, however, are false. Here is a true blanket statement; "Without air you will die." What is said about rock and roll music is said without scriptural backup. There is not a verse in the Bible that says rock and roll music is necessarily bad. Are some rock musicians doing bad things? Yes, they are. Should you boycott their music because of it? Ask yourself if you boycott any other business with bad employees. If the guy stocking the food in the grocery store gets drunk every weekend will you stop buying food from that store and all other stores? If some of the auto workers who make your car have improper relationships will you stop buying a cars altogether? 1 Corinthians 8 talks about meat sacrificed to idols. It wasn't a sin to eat the meat purchased in the market place that had been sacrificed to an idol. It was a sin to cause someone to stumble. Concerning rock and roll, more damage is done by categorically classifying rock music as a sin. It is so bad, that some people even think they can't get saved because they listen to rock and roll. If we stop listening as soon as we find something bad and then completely reject all other work of a similar nature then we should stop singing hymns from the hymnal because some of them are wrong (see the page about Christmas or Other Unscriptural songs.) Pastors need to let people know they should not listen to bad lyrics. We should screen out the bad and listen to the good. Just because an artist does something wrong does not make all of their music wrong. Also, just because some artists do wrong does not make all rock and roll a sin.


Wearing Hats Indoors
From time to time some uneducated person will say, "Is your head cold". I totally agree with my one of my professors in college who wouldn't let students wear hats in class as I suspected it could be used for cheating. Men should not pray or prophesy with their head covered as it is a disgrace to Jesus (see the page on why men should have short hair and women long hair). At home or indoors, tradition had overcome the word of God. It is not a sin to wear a hat indoors. On the other hand, concerning his words, God says in Deuteronomy 6, "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes." I prefer to put scripture on my hat and wear it. I also put them on my work gloves. Men make their own tradition as the word of God and then disregard God's word.


A Still Small Voice
Be very careful how you talk about "a still small voice" Often this is abused as people try to suggest that they are directed by a still small voice within them implying that it is the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God. The term "still small voice" is referred to once in the Bible.

The still small voice is a voice like a man in contrast to the mighty wind, to the earthquake and to the fire. It is not a voice which cannot be heard. Now there are times when the Holy Spirit influences people but there are other times when speakers lacking Biblical references, truth or logic try this shameless attempt to prove a point without substance.


Pictures of Jesus
Exodus 20:4 says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:" Pictures of Jesus have become graven images. First of all, no one alive today knows what Jesus looked like. This is a false testimony. Many of pictures of Jesus are of someone who does not even look Jewish. Jesus was not German and he was not African. Why assign these German or African features to him? Why assign western European features, either? Why assign anything at all? Historical fiction presented as truth is a lie. It is a sin. Next, almost all pictures show Jesus with long hair which would be a sin (see the page on why men should have short hair and women long hair). Jesus was not a sinner. Additionally, they often show Jesus with an unscriptural beard. The Jews were not to mar the corners of their beards (Leviticus 19:27). Basically, pictures of Jesus are an idolatrous lie.


Women's Health
It 's an embarrassing subject but an important one. Never has a preacher that I have seen or heard of had the courage to preach on menstruation. Leviticus, "And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people." Leviticus 15:19 says, "And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even." Sex during menstruation is used by some as a means of birth control but it is wrong. It is sin. Pastors won't teach it but when women develop gynecological sickness later they join in with them to say, "God, why did this happen?" God has a plan for our lives but preachers won't preach it. If you care about women or think that women's health issues are important you need to preach the word.


America is Christian Nation
Preachers are out there claiming America is a Christian nation. They've got stop with this nonsense. What makes a Christian nation? It is the same as a Christian person. This nation must first admit that it is a sinner. That is not going to happen. Next, it needs to repent … in my dreams. A Christian must confess with their mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead. America is not willing to do this. It must accept Jesus as its savior. If a nation accepts Jesus as it saviour it will make laws based on Gods laws. It will recognize God and trust in him as its ultimate leader. This does not describe America.


America Supports Israel
From an American point of view, we tell Israel we love her and will respect her in the morning. We claim we love Israel but act as though we our married to many other women. We wake up in the morning and catch the thief taking half of her house and tell her to negotiate with the thief. The thief strikes her, drawing blood, and we say she should show restraint. We carry a gun but tell her she doesn't need to. We have shot thieves before but how dare she even think of doing the same. She goes to the kitchen and we say she is occupying the thief's place. She locks a door and we say she is violating international law. If she wants to join in on the war against crime, she is going to have to cooperate. She calls the police who say she is intolerant and needs to withdraw from part of the house if she wants to get along with the thief. The thief says he wants to run her out of the house and into the sea and we give the thief money. The thief destroys her pictures and scrapbook and we won't even discuss it. We claim that the thief and his friends have rights to share her bedroom as well as she does. Do we love Israel? America is using Israel. It does not really love her.

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