changes in the pentecostal church

[okieray]

the changes in the pentecostal churches over the years such as men wearing neck ties , women cutting their hair, the old days you would have seen marching up and around the isles. not to many years ago men would not dare wear a neck tie because it was of the world, i still see a lot what we call holiness here still believe that as wll as women cutting their hair and wearing long dresses. do you think the changes in the pentecostal churches are for the best?

 

[MatthewEn]

Its Getting more modern I Think Its Moving Ford

 

[Yitzchak]

changes in the pentecostal church


the changes in the pentecostal churches over the years such as men wearing neck ties , women cutting their hair, the old days you would have seen marching up and around the isles. not to many years ago men would not dare wear a neck tie because it was of the world, i still see a lot what we call holiness here still believe that as wll as women cutting their hair and wearing long dresses. do you think the changes in the pentecostal churches are for the best?

I think that some of the outward changes are for the good. But I think that overall the changes are for the worse.

The thing is making things more strict is not going to make it better. That often ends up being just a bully tactic that pushes people away.

What I think is missing is what they used to call praying through. Tarrying in prayer until the breakthrough came.

Worldliness in the church takes on many forms and is a by product of being distant from the manifest presence of God.

What is needed is for churches to pray through until the power of God comes and sets things straight His way. We might all be surprised at what changes the Holy Ghost would impress upon us as a church.

 

[Ave Maria]

I see the changes as a good thing. I'm not sure I'd be Pentecostal if it weren't for the fact that my church is pretty contemporary.

 

[JEBrady]

the changes in the pentecostal churches over the years such as men wearing neck ties , women cutting their hair, the old days you would have seen marching up and around the isles. not to many years ago men would not dare wear a neck tie because it was of the world, i still see a lot what we call holiness here still believe that as wll as women cutting their hair and wearing long dresses. do you think the changes in the pentecostal churches are for the best?

Neckties and the length of women's hair are cultural things that have no basis in scripture according to the doctrine of godliness. The principles that dictate godly character have to do with principles laid down in God's word, not whether you choose to wear a tie or not.

There are disturbing changes going on in the church today, but the ones you mention aren't them.

 

[MatthewEn]

isint it jewish culture for women to have long hair and men have short ??

I heard it was a disgrace for a jewish guy to have long hair

 

[JEBrady]

In the first century, long hair on men was pretty disgraceful, evidently.

There’s scripture about hair length in the NT, something to do with it being a shame for a woman to shave her head and also a shame for a man to have long hair. The way I understand it, this had to do with the customs of the time, and that those conditions of hair length indicated a person was involved in the rampant prostitution of the time. That isn’t really true today. It does give rise to questions about how much we should look like the world. A young man at a church here locally had a pierced tongue and had one of those bars with the two ball ends through the piercing. When, in obedience to God, he gave that up, removed it from his tongue and placed it on the altar, a revival broke out in his church.

The word says a woman’s beauty should come from within, the meek and quiet spirit that is of great value to God. I’m not convinced it says she has to wear a potato sack and that cosmetics are a sin. But there can come a time when God tells a woman to forgo the paint, and to disobey would be sin to her. To make a doctrine up based on that for all women, though, would be error.

 

[tturt]

Some Christians get so focused on their external and other people's appearance that the commandments to love the Lord and love their fellow man seems to take a back seat.

 

[Brother Jason]

Gal 2:21 KJVR
(21) I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.


I'm not saying standards are a bad thing, but standards based on a misunderstanding of the Word of God is a bad thing. I have heard make up, clothes, hair, jewelry, tv's and who know's what else preached about and some of that is well and good, but we can not make all of these things heaven and hell issues because they are not. God brought me out of a church with strict standards so this is a sore spot with me, people would dress like angles (so to speak) and live like devils. It's what's on the inside, that's what needs preached about, the outside will line up when the inside is right.

 

[JEBrady]

It's what's on the inside, that's what needs preached about, the outside will line up when the inside is right.

Just what Jesus said:

26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

 

[Brother Jason]

Just what Jesus said:

26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Yep, you caught me plagiarizing! Lol, I plagiarize Him all the time!

 

[Dynaric]

I think the change in peoples appearance is pretty much a must change, I think if we all have the squeeky clean perfect christian look going and everyone wears a certain uniform for righteousness we end up closing the door on far to many people. What happens to the guy who has been tattooed from head to toe with 50 piercings and doesn't own anything besides a ripped T shirt, jeans with holes in not so good of locations and sandles? Can that guy come to the dress code church? or how about the girl who is shaved bald and only owns black jeans and black shirts? does she have to go shopping and wait till her hair grows out to come into our church? As our church has been reaching out to our community one of the top three reasons people say they won't come to our church is they don't have the right clothes to dress for our church. How truly sad.

I think the biggest problem is the pentecostal churches are no longer pentecostal. A stat I seen very recently from the Assembly of God is that only about 33% of the members are baptized in the the Holy Spirit. That means the thing that makes us pentecostal in the first place is also making us a minority in our own church... The church has to teach on the hard issues, including things that make some people uncomfortable, such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For far to long to many of our churches have been focusing on being seeker friendly and have put a side the teachings and beliefs that make us who we are thus causing us to forget our pentecostal roots.

If you look at church history it is often the 3rd generation of a denomination that things begin falling apart and in the 4th it dies, the Assembly of God and Church of God are both right in this time frame. I personally don't see that God is done with either movement yet, but I also believe it is up to us to keep it alive through following His will! are we doing it? Are we hungry enough to sit on old wooden planks strung on hay bales under a leaky old tent all night for a week waiting for the move of God? That is the stories I hear from the people who was apart of the 1st and second generations. Personally I see that most of us have a hard time even sitting in a cushioned pew 5 minutes after the end of service, and heaven forbid if the pastor runs over with the message! I have seen far to many churches of every denomination that is far more a social gathering than a place and time to seek the face of God.

Ok I am done I am stepping off my soap box now...

Dynaric