Posted on 12/11/2017 1:50:26 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion
A few months after becoming pastor of Parkway Baptist Church, a 21-year-old Armour D. Stephenson III, or “AD3” as he is affectionately known, sat down with his deacons — almost all men over 40 — and laid out plans for his own version of the great flood.
“The entire dynamic of our church was about to change,” AD3 recalls of the fateful 2006 meeting. His first decree: “Stop wearing suits on Sundays.”
The congregation’s response? An exodus. Membership dwindled from about 300 to a low of 85. “Any time you’re shifting culture, there’s going to be some casualties,” AD3 says.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
The typical service at my church is 5 praise songs,announcements, and a message. So simple and we love it.
Sorry for the cornfusion...When i originally wrote the context I was thinking of was the Sunday service since that was the gist of the article...
. Obviously he saw value in a welcoming approach.”
Well he didn’t welcome his former members in their suits.
I mean he wants to be welcoming to jeans and t shirts but he isn’t be very welcoming to suits and ties.
So that isn’t actually very welcoming is it.
“...my parents friend said that God didn’t give us clothes, so God just want you to hear His Word..’
Oh my goodness.
God forbids immodestly. Repeatedly.
He gave clothes to Adam and Eve when he cast them out of the garden.
I didn’t see where ties were banned by the parishioners, just the leadership.
Thanks aMorePerfectUnion. All they have to do is stream the sermon and require a paypal acc't. Oh, and drop the emphasis on the Bible, forget about opposition to sodomy and abortion.
That was the way the church I had attended was....no congregational prayer though except for so called “bumper prayer”, about 30 sec, that transitioned from one part of the service to the other. No praying for those sick, the country, those unemployed etc... The kicking point came when I was unemployed for several months a few years ago. The elders of the church never offered to pray for me nor asked how things were going in my job search and family.
One thing I heard Alistar Begg say during a sermon was that a church will never arise above the level of their leadership. So when the church doesnt pray for their people nor model it from the pulpit then the church and people will suffer. The reason they gave for not praying was that there wasnt enough time to allot to it. Like your church they do 5 songs, announcements and a message...whereas in Acts prayer, the word were center points...yes singing was included but not to the exclusion of the other two.
“Sorry for the cornfusion...
No worries. I didn’t want to “talk by each other.”
Merry Christmas!
Did he forget all about II Timothy Chapter 5, where Paul warns Timothy not to let men wear jeans to church?
God sent us to Earth nude, so if we are sinners why wear clothes? My dad was in naturism in New England fighting for free beaches (clothing optional beaches) in the 80s and 90s. It isn’t hurting anyone...and as my dad’s friend say,’God doesn’t care if you are nude or in a million dollar suit.’
Memory of my Mom shines strong—
we may not in the end be rewarded with Heaven
but we can sure look as if we intend to
or words to that end!
Your last sentence strikes at the heart of it.
My initial comment was simply this:
In his own words, his first order of business was to issue a decree telling his congregants not to wear a specific style of clothing. Out of all the issues with which a church has to face, his first order of business was to tell people what not to wear. I would have thought that teaching the Gospel would be the first order of business.
Yes, Conservateen, God sent us to earth nude. Or best to say made us on earth, nude.
“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25)
See? This is noted as unusual to us.
But then we fell into sin and were, to put it mildly, punished, and a lot of things changed. One of the things that changed was God put clothes on us when He drove us out of the Garden:
“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21)
And since then we are continually exhorted to dress modestly and not expose ourselves:
“In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing. . .” (1 Tim 2:9) - it is assumed we know what modest apparel is, and I dare say we do.
“And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,” 1st Cor 12:23, again, it is taken as a given that we have unpresentable parts and we cover them.
Being naked is shown as being crazy, like, the possessed man running around the tombs. Or it is a punishment and shame, for example, Jesus was presumably crucified naked, for His humiliation.
We see an interesting account of how shameful it was for Noah’s very sons to mock his nakedness even though it was in his own tent in Genesis 9:21-25.
Lots of rules against uncovering others’ nakedness in Lev. 18 but there seems to be an implication there that there is sex to some degree involved in it.
Anyway don’t kid yourself, God’s standard for us is to be modestly dressed.
I remember from when I was in second grade, that some family friends were leaving town and stayed with us overnight. The next morning was Sunday and they said they were not going to church because all of their good clothes were packed. That struck me because we always went to church every Sunday (the only exception would be if you were sick) but they belonged to a different denomination.
Thanks for the story. :)
“I’m immediately skeptical of any mega church.
....................
“So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
Acts 2:41
3,000 added. Mega church
I’m not Lutheran and Martin Luther had ample faults - as we all do. But I remembered something I read once, searched for it, and found it posted. I think it is very relevant for this thread - and a warning to many mega-churches. Although it IS longer than some people are supposed to be able to focus:
In regard to doctrine we observe especially this defect that, while some preach about the faith by which we are to be justified, it is still not clearly enough explained how one shall attain to this faith, and almost all omit one aspect of the Christian faith without which no one can understand what faith is or means. For Christ says in the last chapter of Luke that we are to preach in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins.
Many now talk only about the forgiveness of sins and say little or nothing about repentance. There neither is forgiveness of sins without repentance nor can forgiveness of sins be understood without repentance. It follows that if we preach the forgiveness of sins without repentance that the people imagine that they have already obtained the forgiveness of sins, becoming thereby secure and without compunction of conscience. This would be a greater error and sin than all the errors hitherto prevailing. Surely we need to be concerned lest, as Christ says in Matt. 12:45 the last state becomes worse than the first...
...We are to teach the people diligently that this faith cannot exist without earnest and true contrition and fear of God, as it is written in Psalm 110 and Prov. 1, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” And Isaiah says in the last chapter: “On whom does God look except on the trembling and contrite heart?”...
...For many who hear that they should believe, so that all their sins will be forgiven, fashion their own faith and think they are pure. Thus they become secure and arrogant. Such carnal security is worse than all the errors hitherto prevailing....
-Luther’s Works; Volume 40; Church and Ministry II
http://afellowtruthseeker.blogspot.com/2014/07/martin-luther-on-sanctification-and.html
Worth repeating for emphasis:
“It follows that if we preach the forgiveness of sins without repentance that the people imagine that they have already obtained the forgiveness of sins, becoming thereby secure and without compunction of conscience.”
He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” - Luke 24
“...and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations...”
Not sure how you obey Jesus if you skip repentance and just preach forgiveness of...sin? And what is sin? You mean, God may be upset with you? God may actually...not be pleased with you?
“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” - Ephesians 2
“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” - Galatians 6
Contrast that with :
“I’m not worried about your sexuality right now. I’m not worried about what you did Saturday night. I’m worried about what do you know about Jesus and how can I tell you more about him. Not let me tell you why God is upset at you.”
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