...because of the angels

That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. - 1Cor 11:10

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Hurtful are women, my children; because, since they have no power or strength over the man, they act subtly through outward guise how they may draw him to themselves; and whom they cannot overcome by strength, him they overcome by craft. For moreover the angel of God told me concerning them, and taught me that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and they devise in their heart against men; and by means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and instil the poison by the glance of their eye, and then they take them captive by their doings, for a woman cannot overcome a man by force.

Therefore flee fornication, my children, and command your wives and your daughters that they adorn not their heads and their faces; because every woman who acts deceitfully in these things has been reserved to everlasting punishment. For thus they allured the Watchers before the flood; and as these continually beheld them, they fell into desire each of the other, and they conceived the act in their mind, and changed themselves into the shape of men, and appeared to them in their congress with their husbands; and the women, having in their minds desire toward their apparitions, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared to them as reaching even unto heaven. - The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: The Testament of Reuben Concerning Thoughts.

Interesting...

Salute to Legalism Part 3

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” --Luke 18:9-14

Who is the legalist? The one who brags about his or her righteous acts, or the one who does not? We are redeemed by God's mercy, not by how we act or what we wear, and that should leave us feeling very humbled. Very humbled indeed.

Buttons Part 2

My first Buttons post was about the sins of vanity and pride and how what we say and do on Blogger can negatively impact our readers, intentionally or unintentionally.

In the first post I focused on the pride we take in our possessions, achievements etc. But upon further review, I realize people often take pride in the lack of possessions and/or lack of income. Taking pride in NOT having buttons.

Living in poverty as a sign of piousness. Vows of poverty because any effort to make money is greedy, but then announcing to the world how non-greedy, non-materialistic one is, is somehow acceptable.

Buttons. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

Piety?

The most important virtue of the Proverbs 31 woman is found in verse 30:

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

This is the only attribute that matters, the rest are meaningless if the woman doesn't first and foremost fear & love the Lord.

Up On The Soap Box

(I'm posting this here to make cutting & pasting easier - I'll know where to find it next time I'm looking for it!)

The OT contains 3 kinds of laws: the moral law which tells people what their duty is to God and other people; the ceremonial law which dictated the religious practices of the Israelites; and the civil law - the state law of the Israelites. The moral law is what God wrote upon the hearts of His people when He created them. Christians recognize the moral law as the 10 Commandments. God still expects us keep the moral law. Lutherans believe the 6th commandment (You shall not commit adultery) means we should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do. (See Luther’s Small Catechism #55-58)

Our sinful nature makes it impossible for us to keep His law perfectly. We all stand condemned under the law, regardless of our sexual orientation. God sent His Son to be our righteousness that we might have salvation by His Grace alone through faith in Christ alone. The law shows us our sin and leads us to repentance and by God’s Grace and Mercy we are forgiven for Christ’s sake, not because our own merits.

Remember the story of Jesus and the rich young man in Matthew chapter 19? The rich man won’t sell all his possessions and follow Jesus – he loves his things more than he loves the Lord. Whenever we have a sin that we won’t give up (won’t repent) we are just like the rich young man. We love our sin more than we love the Lord. For as long as we cling to our sin we have gone our own separate way and are not following the Lord.

The grievous error of the ELCA is to lead people into believing homosexuality is not a sin and turning people away from repentance and God’s gift of forgiveness. (If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:8-9). Tell me, should an unrepentant sinner (whatever the sin) serve as a pastor? Someone who does not have the Truth within them?

God can and will forgive all of your sins in the name of Jesus, of that there is no doubt. Put your faith and trust in Him and His Word and not in the words, feelings and logic of humankind.

Veiled References?

Candy has successfully blocked the IP addresses of most of the RC sisterhood at VTC and disabled her RSS feed making it difficult if not impossible for them to read her blog. (Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.) I guess that is why they missed her comment on their blog post.

Tracy at VTC wrote in her post "Head covering and Catholic Women": The moral law requires all women to wear the veil on their hearts. A woman should not wear the veil on her head, until she is wearing it first on her heart. A woman who wears the veil on her heart accepts the place that God gives to women in the Church, the family, and society. Women who wear the veil on their hearts are imitating the Virgin Mary in her humility, submissiveness, and obedience to Christ.

Candy at KTH blogs "Are you being tossed in the wind?": I am saddened at the fact that many of those blogs teach that "women must have a veil over their hearts, before the veil on their heads will mean anything." Now that disturbs me. Why? Because 2 Corinthians 3 specifically speaks of a veil over our hearts, and it says that if our hearts are veiled, then we are not in the Lord, but when we truly turn to the Lord, then the veil is removed from our hearts:"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it [he or she] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away." -2 Corinthians 3:16

When I read Tracy's phrase "veil on her heart" it did raise my eyebrows. There are 4 definitions of the word veiled (from dictionary.com):
1. having a veil: a veiled hat.
2.covered or concealed by, or as if by, a veil: a veiled woman.
3.not openly or directly expressed; masked; disguised; hidden; obscure: a veiled threat.
4.lacking clarity or distinctness: veiled sounds; a veiled image.

None of those is particularly descriptive of a Christian's heart. But, I think what Tracy is trying to say is that the inner workings need to be sufficiently humble for the outer symbolism to be meaningful.

Candy replies with what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:16. I'd like to expand on this a little because I think it is applicable.

2 Corinthians 3:14b-18: For to this day, when they read the old covenant, [the law] that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.[the gospel] Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read [the law] a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, [the gospel] the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [from the law] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.[process of sanctification]

In a nutshell: veiled=Moses & law & old covenant; unveiled=Jesus & gospel & new covenant.

Salute to Legalism Part 2

Though technically not given as steps to salvation, the introductory "Dear Reader" letter at Jesus-Is-Lord is a "to-do" list for Christians. I number them as:

1. Find Christ.
2. Leave the internet alone.
3. Leave the television alone.
4. Read the Authorized King James Bible.
5. Obey the Authorized King James Bible.
6. Ask God to show you the old paths.
7. Look for the old ways.
8. Fathers work.
9. Mothers cook.
10. Mothers clean.
11. Mothers care for children.
12. Apply the Word of God to your life.
13. Repent of your sins.
14. Hide the Word of God in your heart.
15. Rise to who you were made to be.
16. Get out of debt.
17. Women teach your children at home from the Authorized King James Bible.
18. Learn the rudiments of everything you need to know from the Authorized King James Bible.
19. Embrace Genesis 1:1 - 2:7 as your outline.
20. Read the Authorized King James Bible to your children regularly.

Now the official Sue Bee "to-do" list for Christian living:

1. Nuture your faith in Christ Jesus.

That's it, folks.

Oh, I suppose I can elaborate a little more.

Four good ways to nuture your faith:
1. Read and study the Bible in a language you can understand.
2. Attend worship services at a Christ-centered church.
3. Pray, pray, pray. To God in Jesus' name.
4. Partake of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.

Through the Grace of God the Holy Spirit will lead you to take care of the details.

And may God bless you as you grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord!

Salute to Legalism

An easy, obvious example...more on this topic later when I have time.

From The Global Anabaptist and Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.

Old Order Amish:
"In theology the Amish have retained the basic doctrines of their forefathers, but have certain characteristic emphases. One of these is the denial of assurance of salvation; they commonly hold that one can only hope to be saved, that it is pride to claim certainty of salvation. There is also little teaching or preaching of conversion, and no pietistic type of piety. There is a strong emphasis on living a righteous life, being and doing good, and obeying the rules of the church."

Rules of the Amish church:
"The Ordnungen comprise the rules and regulations of the church community. The word is used in Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite tradition to cover both the written and oral compendia of modes of behavior and organizational structure which give form and meaning to daily life. The Ordnung may contain broad principles of faith, e.g., nonresistance and common ownership of goods (in the case of Hutterites), as well as very specific applications of principles, e.g., permissible styles of clothing, (dress) or home furnishings.

The purpose of the Ordnung is not only to provide a list of individually acceptable or proscribed ethical behaviors but to structure a whole way of life, lived according to God's will, as expressed in the gospels. The Ordnung reflects God's order as opposed to the order of the world."

More from Religious Tolerance:

"Knowledge of one's salvation: For Evangelicals and other conservative Protestants, salvation is an unmistakable experience which happens when one trusts Jesus. Amish are different. They don't believe that anyone is guaranteed salvation as a result of a conversion experience, baptism, joining the church, etc. "...they would consider it arrogant or prideful to claim certainty of salvation." The Amish believe that God carefully weighs the individual's total lifetime record of obedience to the church and then decides whether the person's eternal destiny will be the reward of Heaven or the punishment in Hell. If a person is baptized into the Amish church and later leaves the church or is excommunicated, they have no hope of attaining Heaven. As a result, an Amish believer lives their life and dies not knowing if they are saved and will attain Heaven. This lack of certainty has made the Amish church susceptible to raiding from other Christian evangelists at various times in its history."

"Authority: They believe that their church has received the authority from God to interpret his will. "Submission to church is submission to God."