1. How much skin showing is too much skin? I ask this because some profiles say the right things but the women do not look the part according to what I think I know about modesty.
2. Does earning potential factor in to the clothes a woman will present her self in?
3. What do women expect their men to be dressed like in a setting such as CDFF? Should we wear a shirt and tie? A suit? Business casual or casual in the sense that we are going to the store or to the beach?
The idea is they were not secluded and alone, indeed their conversation was personal but, they were in public. The concept is the same with a man ministering to a woman or vice versa. A private conversation in full public view.
The Job test is for ministers. It is not up to the one being counseled to have control, it is the minister that has to maintain that ideal. If the minister has weakness in his armor he or she must strengthen that armor with the group... IE, wife and counseling members of the congregation. The main point is one should not minister alone, and by that I mean in seclusion away from the power of the group unless has never waivered from his or her convictions. It is purely a safeguard against inequity.
And good day to you too sir! You know, I truly thank God that He looks upon the heart of man and not the exterior! How others see us, I strongly feel, will never effect what God is doing in and thru us!
If I'm ministering to anyone one on one or as a part of a group, whether I'm in a public or private arena, my trust and faith in God's judgment of who and where He desires me to minister will be all that I'll need, by the power of The Holy Spirit, to move in obedience knowing that because I'm taking care of His business, He'll be in full control of the situation! Seconds can make the difference between whether a soul needs ministering to or to be saved!
This just happens to be where I am in my personal walk in and with Him......trusting completely that He's the only One who can change His rules of life to fit His needs as He pleases! Understanding and respecting very well your stance, but knowing quite well the experiences He's taken me thru that I know bought honor and glory to Him that.....well let's just say were far from the norm(smile)!
There are several examples of the behaviors I was speaking on:
John Hagee
Martin Luther King Jr.
Jim Baker
Jerry Falwell
Of course they are men and you are not but, if they were never alone with women other than their wives the adulterous escapades are not a possibility. That being said there are not a lot of examples of women pastors cheating, however, there have been nuns raped so again there is some evidence to ponder...
I did read your profile the other day and it said you are from NYC so I am sure of your prowess in discerning a potential risk. I digress, do you think there is ever a risk in ministering in seclusion with a member of the opposite sex?
Brother, since this conversation has turned in the direction of "can a man resist a Jezebel" I have a story to share.
When I was 17, I got my first job off the farm. I was a dishwasher in a motel/hotel. When things got busy, I sometimes had to deliver food orders to the rooms.
One morning, it was a Saturday, the kitchen manager told me I had to deliver breakfast to one of he rooms. I took the tray and went to deliver it. I knocked on the door and a woman of about 25 answered. I brought the food in and turned to leave when the woman asked what time I finished my shift. I told her I finished at 1pm. She said for me to come back after my shift and then she opened her bathrobe. She was only wearing a bathrobe and nothing else.
I wished her a good day and left. I immediately told my manager and he said that things like that happen and that I should get used to it. I told him I was a Christian and that I didnt have to get used to it. I told him that I quit. I walked out of the business and never return having told him to mail me my pay.
Only if a man is weak in faith does he give in to temptation.
Apostelle.......amen, amen! What you've exclaimed also, in my opinion, answers my brothers last question regarding if there could be a "risk" in ministering in seclusion......if your faith whether you be a man or women is weak, then your resistance to temptation will be weak as well!
A_Cool_66, yes there is a risk, but first I would hope it's something you wouldn't find yourself doing often. That prayerfully, it would only be done in extraordinary circumstances, being that The Lord will never give you more than you can bear!
Ah but man makes his own choices, and he chooses sin in several instances like the choices I mentioned a post or two up. Talent on loan from God... Sho' Nuff, but mankind is saddled with the blessings and curses of choices he makes. That is the idea of learning the word and having a partner to help make sure the word is followed. Evenly yoked and around each when in the presence of single people of the opposite sex. Fool proof method. :winksmile:
My friend, I've decided......to agree to disagree with you my brother(smile)! I thank God for many reasons, making us all wonderfully unique! How we're all wired differently, will without question determine how we, especially as His own, interpret and then carry out His truth!
The main objective: that He and He alone receives all the honor and the glory! That the gospel is preached and souls are saved! Would you agree?
I agree it has been a great conversation and that is what I am agree to so far... Additionally I am surprised, through exposing your intellect, that several hundred men have not asked for your number and a date. An articulate and handsome lass such as yourself is in high demand 'round these parts and that is the other thing I agree to... NOTHING ELSE!
Ok my friend....NOTHING ELSE? Can you elaborate(smile)! And thank you for the wonderful compliment, but if I had such a bevy of interested fellows trying to engage my attention......well I would have hoped that the right one for me would have surfaced by now(smile)! Not to say that what and how you've shared yourself here and the pic you did post earlier, would have many ladies out there who'd want to know you a lot better(smile)!
I'm so optimistic however about who God has prepared for me and how He's preparing me for him! It's the waiting, I've concluded, that's strengthened my faith and trust in expecting God's best!
Mmm I think I have spoken to quite few, and none besides yourself have engaged is this format, therefore it is unknown who they are and where they stand according to the real principles that guide us.
Well if you wait then you are not seeking... However you are seeking because I see you!
