Yesterday we went out to Planned Parenthood in Portland to join our brothers in Christ in standing up for life. Some of you may know that one brother, Brian Ingalls currently has a preliminary injunction against him and is very careful about how loud he is outside Planned Parenthood to avoid arrest. Due to the injunction Brian is no longer preaching outside Planned Parenthood. Yesterday Daddy and Jeremy preached. Daddy can get pretty loud when preaching but has never been warned that he needed to be quieter. Yesterday two police officers showed up and one approached Daddy. We had cameras going. The officer simply walked up and introduced himself and told Daddy that a manager had made a complaint about how loud Daddy was being, not that he was there, but about how loud he was. Daddy asked if there was a decibel level he had to be under and the officer said that if someone was complaining then yes but that he would be right with him. He walked inside and another officer went in as well. After a while they both came out and got in their cruisers and left. No more trouble from the police for the rest of the day. Officer Kevin Haley did an excellent job being professional in the situation. Please be praying for Brian Ingalls as his right to free speech as protected by the constitution is being taken away from him. Pray also for Daddy as there may be more things in the future to try to shut down his preaching as well.
Now to Biblical commands that some write off as just cultural commands.
#1 Head covering
1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1-3 state:
"Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Realize that it says together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you fall into the category of those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is later on in chapter 11 of the same book we find the command for head covering. Now please someone, if you have a verse that states: "This command is only for those in Corinth and does not apply to all those who call on the name of Lord, even though I addressed this letter to them, I did not mean this part." Please tell me where it is. So far I have not found it.
Now, if this command does indeed apply to all those to whom the letter was addressed why do people in modern American churches not want to follow this command? Now, you do not need to completely understand a command before you obey it. You may not understand all the reasons behind the command for a woman to cover her head, but even if you do not understand, the Bible says that it is for all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I do not know for sure if this applies to only wives or women in general but it is better to be cautious. I am a single girl but I do cover my head. There is no harm in doing it now even if it only applies to wives.
The passage in 1 Corinthians talks about a woman's long hair being her glory. It also says that man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. It speaks earlier in the chapter about the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
When a woman covers her head when praying and prophesying she covers the glory of man. When a man prayers with his head uncovered he displays the glory of God. So really head covering is an issue of God's glory. Even if you do not completely understand it, how hard is it to cover your head with a piece of cloth so that you cover the glory of man, so that only the glory of God is seen when you are praying and prophesying.
Here is a podcast Daddy and I did on Cell 53 radio about head covering.
#2 The Holy Kiss
1 Corinthians 16:20 "All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss."
Now, please do not freak out just yet. A holy kiss should not be seen as some evil thing that should never be practiced because that was just a cultural thing. The Bible commands it so before you try to write it off take a minute to think about it. 4 passages talk about the "holy kiss" and another one talks about the "kiss of love". My brother in Christ, Brian Ingalls, was pointing out that a kiss used to be seen as a sign of submission. So if you think about it, the holy kiss or kiss of love can be a sign to show your submission to one another out of reverence for Christ as in Ephesians 5.
The kiss is not romantic and I do not think it needs to be on the lips. I do practice a holy kiss on the cheek with certain people. But some probably find it offensive. Those who I practice it with have not told me it offends them. But why would it ever be offensive to a Christian for another Christian to practice a command of God? Again 1 Corinthians talks about it and that letter was addressed to all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord. Again if you can find a verse that shows that Paul in only speaking to certain people and not to all the people to whom he addressed the letter, please let me know. But I do not see anywhere in the Bible where it excludes us from this command.
No where in the Bible does it give us an excuse to disobey a command simply because we do not like it or because it does not fit into our culture. So think about it, do you have any commands that God has given that you are not obeying because it is weird in our culture? The Bible alone is our authority. Do we live according to that truth?
With love in the Lord,
Virginia
