Men, would you have problems being with someone who looks like a Mennonite?

[DuckieLady]

I've never understood this. How can one expect to be taken seriously when dictating terms to another as to what must be done to be saved other than what is contained in the simple Gospel message. Everyone must be convinced in their own minds, especially on peripheral issues. The way some people carry on you would think the Holy Ghost had retired.

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

UPC is very dangerous and the moment you question them, you are going to hell. they refused to baptize my grandmother for wearing earrings. you could show them all of the verses relating to God showing jewelry in the Bible as an example of different things. I have a tattoo and a nose piercing. they relate it to slavery. I think the cult like mission is to keep the women dowdy and rob their confidence. they have odd ideas.

 

[quietthinker]

Is there really no difference between the evils of slavery and a tradition of dressing modestly?

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 Timothy 2:9)

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; (1 Peter 3:3)​

In the mouth of two or three witnesses...

The point I was making BF was that of the similitude or the principle of justification by using scripture. One justifies slavery from scripture, the other a dress code from a bygone era. It was not intended as making no moral difference between the two.

I favour modesty. Anything that advertises 'look at me, look at me' sends a message I find distasteful.....and that goes for anything that flaunts.

and I will add, because of the subjectivity of this subject it can be difficult to nail.

For me personally, living in the jungle alone means I can make my own dress code which for the most part is pretty scant particularly when the humidity levels rise.

An experience..... it's a hot steamy day.....a quarter of an acre of trees have been taken out to allow sunshine into the otherwise enclosed and thick forest....there is bare earth everywhere and the time has come to get septic disposal trenches in so I get to with pick and shovel....naked.

The sweat is dripping and combined with the dust from the diggings I looked like a moving mud ball. From time to time I'd need to rinse off in an improvised shower under a tree.... Sooo, you get the picture!
I'm engrossed in digging when surprisingly a 4x4 turns up full with people of both genders...Jehovah's Witnesses. They didn't know where to look....up or down or over my shoulder as I stood there shovel in hand. Folks turning up silently and unexpected has happened several times....I've learned to keep articles of clothing in different corners of the property....for their sake......can't offend unnecessarily!

 

[DuckieLady]

@BarnyFife

Also worth noting that different Pentecostal churches, probably more in the south, do the drinking poison/snake handling thing. Completely ignoring, "Thou shalt not test the Lord thy God."

After having "demons" cast off of me and being terrified from one guy, and praying for weeks for demons to leave me and stop screaming in my ears, he kept saying, "They're leaving. I feel it. They're leaving." I was like "It's still there..." He's like, "They'll be gone soon." It didn't stop. So he lectured me about never marrying out of the UPC and insisted I get married immediately. (That didn't help and also I didn't listen to him.)

Eventually I had a dream where the ringing was loud and I was screaming for them to stop, my parents were screaming, "It's your brain!" And then I ran out of the house and saw Jesus. I don't remember him saying anything but kept hearing my parents tell me it was my brain.

So I realized it was tinnitus from a new kind of birth control I was trying to regulate my hormones. It was $4 a pack and new to the market. Was stuttering/stammering a lot at the time from stress/untreated anemia too, slurring my words, so was probably about to have a stroke.

That was a bad thing to go through when I was already in spiritual warfare.

 

[quietthinker]

@BarnyFife

Also worth noting that different Pentecostal churches, probably more in the south, do the drinking poison/snake handling thing. Completely ignoring, "Thou shalt not test the Lord thy God."

After having "demons" cast off of me and being terrified from one guy, and praying for weeks for demons to leave me and stop screaming in my ears, he kept saying, "They're leaving. I feel it. They're leaving." I was like "It's still there..." He's like, "They'll be gone soon." It didn't stop. So he lectured me about never marrying out of the UPC and insisted I get married immediately. (That didn't help and also I didn't listen to him.)

Eventually I had a dream where the ringing was loud and I was screaming for them to stop, my parents were screaming, "It's your brain!" And then I ran out of the house and saw Jesus. I don't remember him saying anything but kept hearing my parents tell me it was my brain.

So I realized it was tinnitus from a new kind of birth control I was trying to regulate my hormones. It was $4 a pack and new to the market. Was stuttering/stammering a lot at the time from stress too, slurring my words, so was probably about to have a stroke.

That was a bad thing to go through when I was already in spiritual warfare.

yeahhh, our stories are complex and varied. It's just not possible to get the whole rounded enchilada into a few posts. It's a good reason for me to withhold judgement.

 

[DuckieLady]

yeahhh, our stories are complex and varied. It's just not possible to get the whole rounded enchilada into a few posts. It's a good reason for me to withhold judgement.

yes but your JW story gave me a pretty good chuckle still laughing out loud

 

[quietthinker]

.

 

[quietthinker]

yes but your JW story gave me a pretty good chuckle still laughing out loud

I'm happy that that's your response fluffy....I have no difficulty seeing the humour in this either.

 

[amadeus]

UPC is very dangerous and the moment you question them, you are going to hell. they refused to baptize my grandmother for wearing earrings. you could show them all of the verses relating to God showing jewelry in the Bible as an example of different things. I have a tattoo and a nose piercing. they relate it to slavery. I think the cult like mission is to keep the women dowdy and rob their confidence. they have odd ideas.

I must say for the other side that I was baptized with the Holy Ghost and given the incentive to buy a Bible and start reading it for the first time in my life in the UPC. Not all is bad. However, at the end of 11 years with the UPC and two other closely related groups, it was definitely the end. I had purposed to leave the UPC when I moved from California to Wyoming in 1985, but God gave me no alternatives. When I moved from Wyoming to Oklahoma in 1987 God still gave me no alternatives, but I knew that the UPC was out of the picture for me. We moved to Oklahoma blind to our future in churches. Not being a Trinitarian I really found myself trusting in God for His will. He led me to a place which I thought was better. It was better for the moment, but the best place is always exactly the place God puts us for that moment. In 2018 I found myself outside of all formally organized groups. The advent of Covid-19 and all of its results let me know that it is unlikely I will ever have what people name a 'home church' again. But my vision is improving.

On the woman thing, God granted a boon in that. My wife could and would never fit into the place you have described. As always she knew long before I did that the end in the UPC for us was coming. She did not push me but after so many years, I had finally learned that God always spoke with her first about a need for a change in our work for Him. I knew then from her foreknowledge that it was going to the happen... the final separation from each group, including the UPC and why. God always knows what He is doing but so often we get out ahead of Him as if we knew what we were doing all alone. We don't! My wife gave me the lead but He gave the direction to my wife if you can understand that. Alone we each would have been in trouble. Together? What a mighty God we serve!

 

[TheslightestID]

Na, might even like it.

To the right man, what you speak of could actually draw them to you.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I'm feeling pretty insecure today and sometimes I'm painfully aware that as an anabaptist that I look pretty Amish/Mennonite. (Prayer covering/long dresses/not super flashy/etc)

Fluffy, I think a head covering might be red flag #1.

If you said the first date had to be in a horse-drawn wagon, that would be red flag #2.

But knowing you, a little off color humor and things would start relaxing in a hurry, LoL.

 

[Triumph1300]

Not all is bad.

That's true. I am still in contact with United Pentecostals and I find the younger generation in leadership
are not what leadership was , say 25 years ago. They changed.
I remember a woman in jeans not to be allowed to come up front.
Thats not like that anymore at the UPC I am familiar with.

 

[Hidden In Him]

You don't have anything to worry about concerning your looks if that is you in your avatar.

@FluffyYellowDuck. Actually, the above is true. Barely noticeable. Are you talking about a full head covering, or more like what you're wearing in your avatar?

 

[DuckieLady]

@FluffyYellowDuck. Actually, the above is true. Barely noticeable. Are you talking about a full head covering, or more like what you're wearing in your avatar?

the one in my avatar is usually the style i wear. usually my hair is in a chignon or halo braid bun though. so i look more boring. LOL

 

[amadeus]

That's true. I am still in contact with United Pentecostals and I find the younger generation in leadership
are not what leadership was , say 25 years ago. They changed.
I remember a woman in jeans not to be allowed to come up front.
Thats not like that anymore at the UPC I am familiar with.

The family who effectively won my wife and myself to the Lord were in the UPC. They live still in California but even after all of these years we still communicate periodically. I still have yet to meet any family anywhere that serves God setting a better example than they always have done and still do... God has people where He chooses to have people. No one should try to put either God or His people in a box.

 

[Hidden In Him]

the one in my avatar is usually the style i wear. usually my hair is in a chignon or halo braid bun though. so i look more boring. LOL

Ok. I suppose it makes a difference. With your hair down that's attractive. The typical man isn't even going to notice your "covering." With your hair up, it does present a more traditional, reserved look, but the covering itself isn't oppressive looking; just more like an adornment.

If you want my honest opinion, it would make many men more attracted to you, not less. The ungodly ones won't know what planet you're on, LoL, but you don't really want them anyway, so it's just a way of weeding out the trash.

 

[DuckieLady]

Fluffy, I think a head covering might be red flag #1.

If you said the first date had to be in a horse-drawn wagon, that would be red flag #2.

But knowing you, a little off color humor and things would start relaxing in a hurry, LoL.

so who will help me push my carriage into the sea ?!

 

[DuckieLady]

Ok. I suppose it makes a difference. With your hair down that's attractive. The typical man isn't even going to notice your "covering." With your hair up, it does present a more traditional, reserved look, but the covering itself isn't oppressive looking; just more like an adornment.

If you want my honest opinion, it would make many men more attracted to you, not less. The ungodly ones won't know what planet you're on, LoL, but you don't really want them anyway, so it's just a way of weeding out the trash.

very good point and i am EXTREMELY picky. so i like the automatic process of elimination. its like sorting from lowest to highest on amazon with extra filters

 

[Mayflower]

I'm feeling pretty insecure today and sometimes I'm painfully aware that as an anabaptist that I look pretty Amish/Mennonite. (Prayer covering/long dresses/not super flashy/etc)

I am not looking to change that and don't want to get into the details about why some of us dress that way, but I do want to know what the outside perspective is. It's just something I'm wrestling with/feeling heavily insecure about as far as outside judgments, but also have to stick to my convictions.

I blame it as being a reason for some things in my life at times. What do you think? Would it bother a man/would it not? Curious.

Edit: I explained it anyway in #11.

When I first moved to Indiana, I saw decked out Amish for the first time, and never saw that before. I kept staring, but didnt mean it in a judgemental way. I am just a very curious person whonloves learning sbout M people. I was so afraid to ask though. I understand better now. I know you may get looks, I am sure of it. But sometimes, maybe not think judgement, but "different." They may be a bit shy to ask. There will always be those who judge, but I guess I like to rhink the best of people, that people really just want to understand what they see. Id be all foinf up and saying hi, how are you. Saw you looking. LOL. But I am a very open/friendly person to go do that.

I would start feeling self conscious someone staring at me too. LOL.

 

[DuckieLady]

When I first moved to Indiana, I saw decked out Amish for the first time, and never saw that before. I kept staring, but didnt mean it in a judgemental way. I am just a very curious person whonloves learning sbout M people. I was so afraid to ask though. I understand better now. I know you may get looks, I am sure of it. But sometimes, maybe not think judgement, but "different." They may be a bit shy to ask. There will always be those who judge, but I guess I like to rhink the best of people, that people really just want to understand what they see. Id be all foinf up and saying hi, how are you. Saw you looking. LOL. But I am a very open/friendly person to go do that.

I would start feeling self conscious someone staring at me too. LOL.

lol! Yeah, it was weird at first but really people are nicer and really they automatically feel comfortable talking about God and they usually bring it up! I wasn't introduced to being Anabaptist. I studied like A LOT and old Christianity before it was modernized and by the end of it, I was living what I believed and still didn't know what to say when people asked. discussed it with Mennonites online, presented to them my beliefs, and afterwards and they explained it to me"you're an Anabaptist" lol. actually i am convinced most of you here are too without the covering

 

[Mayflower]

lol! Yeah, it was weird at first but really people are nicer and really they automatically feel comfortable talking about God and they usually bring it up! I wasn't introduced to being Anabaptist. I studied like A LOT and old Christianity before it was modernized and by the end of it, I was living what I believed and still didn't know what to say when people asked. discussed it with Mennonites online, presented to them my beliefs, and afterwards and they explained it to me"you're an Anabaptist" lol. actually i am convinced most of you here are too without the covering

I typoed that up good!!!! LOL. I was A Baptist. Now I am some sort of charismatic, non denominational Baptist.