Dig (Matthew Corbitt)
I believe what is not specifically denounced or affirmed by the Bible must be interpreted by the individual through prayer and fasting. (I'm a Libertarian if you couldn't tell.) A person holds all of the cards, so to speak, on their salvation. (I understand that salvation comes from God alone, bear with me.) A person must make up in their mind that they are going to live for God, and act accordingly. Any “worship” that is given to God because it has been forced isn't worship at all, and at best it's half rate. A pastor is there to shepherd and guide you on the paths of righteousness, but cannot save you. You must have Jesus' name applied to your life for yourself if you dare to make heaven your home.
One of my biggest concerns is that we are a generation that doesn't understand why we do, what we do. Yes, perhaps, we may have the knowledge of what to do, or even the wisdom to how to apply what we have learned, but to truly understand why our women wear skirts, why we don't have tattoo’s, why we started shaving, and why our ladies let their hair grow, that will be a challenge that few want to wrestle with in our day. For the most part, people are either holding on to what they have always done, without understanding why (this is scary, and doomed to fail), or they are walking away from all of the ordinances that have come to strengthen our movement (this is also scary and will lead to the total secularization of the church).
We as young adults and youth are going to have to dig deep and figure out for ourselves why our great grandfathers took certain stands on issues. What principles can we draw from them? What rules should maintain absolute and which ones can be fluid?
There is only one sure way to question these ancient landmarks, we have to walk in the shoes they walked in. How much did they pray and how much did they fast? Were they consistent for a lifetime? Were they willing to abandon it all for the kingdom? Only then, when we begin to walk the old paths will we be able to develop an understanding of why; that deep, rich, meaningful understanding, that only lies in one place, where few of my generation have dared to go.
We have to learn to get things for ourselves, you are responsible for your own actions. Pray hard, fast hard and thank God every day for His grace and mercy.