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Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND
Volume
2
Number
38
Copyright,
1949 Reprint
All
rights reserved
V.T.
HOUTEFF
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
1
TEXT
FOR PRAYER
Judgment
Belongs To God
I shall read from Christ's Object Lessons, beginning on page 72, top of page, and then on page 73, last paragraph:
"Many who think themselves Christians will at last be found
wanting. Many will be in heaven
who their neighbors supposed would never enter there.
Man judges from appearance, but God judges the heart.
The tares and the wheat are to grow together until the harvest; and the
harvest is the end of probationary time..... Not-withstanding Christ's
warning, men have sought to uproot the tares.
To punish those who were supposed to be evil-doers, the church has had
recourse to the civil power. Those
who differed from the established doctrines have been imprisoned, put to
torture and to death, at the instigation of men who claimed to be acting under
the sanction of Christ. But it is
the spirit of Satan, not the Spirit of Christ, that inspires such acts.
This is Satan's own method of bringing the world under his dominion.
God has been misrepresented through the church by this way of dealing
with those supposed to be heretics. Not
judgment and condemnation of others, but humility and distrust of self, is the
teachng of Christ's parable. Not
all that is sown in the field is good grain.
The fact that men are in the church does not prove them
Christians."
Now what are we to pray for? -- According to this reading we should
pray that we judge not others; that we as a Church deal only with open sins.
Let us kneel.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
2
FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
SPECIAL
ADDRESS GIVEN BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SUNDAY
EVENING, SEPT. 8, 1946
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
Prov. 22:3, 6, 10, 15 -- "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.... Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.... Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.... Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
Wise parents look ahead. They
are careful to insure their children's future.
This they do by instilling in their children Heaven-born principles
upon which the children can successfully build their life's career, for upon
whatsoever foundation the parents start them building, that is the only one
they can ever build on. A poor
foundation will forever keep them back from anything superior to what the
foundation itself will permit, be it in the line of religion or a trade.
Parents should be aware that when the children reach their teens, they
become more or less independent, responsible to themselves.
They dance, so to speak, according to their own music.
How important, then, that they beforehand possess the knowledge
essential to carry them safely through those teen years.
To begin with, they should religiously be
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taught
good morals, the value of time, how to obtain results in a given amount of
time. They should be fully warned
of the baleful results of wasted minutes.
Indeed, they should be led to realize that the aggregate minutes and
hours put to good use and the knowledge gained during their teens will shape
their entire lives. They should
know that the moments of the teen years are the most important moments in
their whole lives, and that once wasted, they are forever gone.
The children most certainly need to know these things before they enter
their teens.
These fundamental principles are even more realistically seen when one
takes into consideration that habits are altogether too easy to form, but
practically impossible to eradicate. This
is why children are what their parents made them.
Moreover, boys and girls in their teens have greater energy than at any
time thereafter, and they can therefore accomplish more during those years
than they can later in an equal length of time in the same field of endeavor
and experience.
There is no doubt that the teen age of any child is the most critical,
too. As I said before, parents
should not wait until the crisis arrives, but should long before start to head
it off. To do this, the parents
must early in the child's life, determine what the child's natural aptitude
is, so that they can have him on time decide what his trade or profession is
to be. They should have him set
his goal, and then create in him a zeal to reach it.
Those who have no goal have nothing to work toward.
They are floating as a raft in the ocean, and their goings are as
aimless as that of a butterfly. Children
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
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that
have a goal to strive toward, and who incessantly keep at it, are getting
there, and they are bound to turn the time of mischief into profit.
Children should also be taught the value of the dollar.
Rather than be allowed to get into the habit of spending every penny
they get hold of, they should be educated to save as much as possible.
Once they have had a taste of starting a savings account, even though
it be less than a dollar to start with, they will anxiously continue.
In this way, saving will become to them an exciting habit.
Children who are not taught to earn and to save, and yet finally make
something of themselves do not do it because of their parents, but in spite of
them.
There are thousands of people, some in every community, who have no
idea how to handle money or how to manage a home.
These unfortunates, regardless how much they make, never have anything
for a rainy day. They are always
poor and always in debt, always expecting charity from somewhere.
Teach your children never to purchase anything for which they do not
have the full price in advance, and even then only if they absolutely need the
articles. Anything purchased on
time payments costs more. And
that, of course, means fewer things and more work and a harder time for the
purchaser. In may cases
part of the payments are not carried out, and as a result the articles go back
to the original owners. In
such an eventuation, the purchaser suffers a total loss of his entire
investment. Uncalled for debts
wreck hundreds of homes each year. Parents
should by precept and example educate
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
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their
children against such a pocket-breaking and home-wrecking habit.
Those who talk over their problems with others, often receive helpful
suggestions and light on their path; thereby they avoid loss and
embarrassment.
To continue our study, I shall now read from--
Deut.
11:13-28 -- "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently
unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God,
and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give
you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter
rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
"And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou
mayest eat and be full. Take heed
to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve
other gods, and worship them; and then the Lord's wrath be kindled against
you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield
not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the
Lord giveth you.
"Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in
your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as
frontlets between your eyes. And
ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up. And thou shalt write
them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days
may be multiplied, and the days of
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your
children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as
the days of heaven upon the earth.
"For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I
command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways,
and to cleave unto Him; then will the Lord drive out all these nations from
before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
"Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be
your's: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates,
even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God
shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall
tread upon, as He hath said unto you.
"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a
blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command
you this day: and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord
your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go
after other gods, which ye have not known."
Now let us connect this scripture with--
Deut.
21:18-21 -- "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not
obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they
have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: then shall his father and his
mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and
unto the gate of his
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place;
and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and
rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die:
so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and
fear."
I hardly think these words require any interpretation.
They are written as explicitly as any good writer of today could write
them. In fact, I believe they are
written much clearer than we could ever write them.
You see, long ago,' way back in ancient times, the Lord made known His
commandments and His laws. He
promised that if His people were obedient, He would make of them a great
nation; that they would possess nations greater and mightier than themselves;
and that all nations, would fear them. He
plainly told them, though, that if they would not obey, then curses would
inevitably be their lot.
He charged them to raise obedient children.
The parents were commanded to bring them to the elders if they
themselves could not make their children obey, and the elders were to stone
them. The reason given was
"That all Israel may hear and fear," --a nd depart from evil.
Having this punishment in view they of course were very careful how
they brought up their little ones.
If we were living in the time the Lord thus commanded His people, in
the days of Moses, we would not know whether the Lord actually meant business
or whether he was just talking. But
since centuries have passed, by the results of ancient Israel's disobedience
we can see that God meant nothing but business.
Yes, ever since
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the
Jews as a nation disobeyed, they have been kicked from pillar to post, and now
in the last five years alone, millions of them have been slaughtered.
Even in this day and age there is no room for them anywhere in the
world. There is room for everyone
but for the Jew, and it is plain to see why.
They could have been the greatest nation on earth, but now they are not
a nation at all. Instead, they
are but a football for every foot to try.
They wanted to be like the nations around them, and the nations have
ever since kicked them from one mud hole into another.
We now see that the Lord was not bluffing.
He meant just what He said, and what He said to the Jews then, He is
saying to us today.
It is we, not the Jews, who have now a choice to make.
We may choose to be like the world, and be driven into hell with it.
Or we may choose to do what God commands, and thus be with Him in His
kingdom. One of these choices we
must now immediately make.
I do not think that we are ignorant of what is right and what is wrong.
Most of us have studied the Bible all our lives and have a fairly good
idea of what It teaches. What we
need to do this evening, then, is to decide whether we are as a unit to do
what Inspiration teaches, or whether we are to try to do so as individuals.
You tell us what to do in the matter of discipline: Shall each
individual do as he sees fit, or shall we have a standard by which all of us
may be governed? Are we going to
decide what to do, and do it, or are we to decide, and never do what we
decide?
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The most immediate concerns are these: How shall we run the school?
And how shall we dress the children and ourselves?
Shall we dress like progressive Christians or shall we dress like
progressive worldlings? Shall we
be quarreling about it, or shall we all see alike?
(Congregation: "We ought all to see alike.")
Shall we then have a standard to go by?
(Congregation: "Yes")
What are we to do with the boys and the girls who may be disrespectful,
disobedient, and who do not mind their parents and their teachers?
Shall we leave that to the children to decide, or shall we do what the
Bible demands: That the children be disciplined at home, and if that does not
work, then they be brought to the elders, to be dismissed from the school and
from the congregation? Or are the
parents to go with them?
Anciently they actually stoned the rebellious children.
This they did because the church could not possibly keep the
disobedient in its midst, and the surrounding nations would not have aliens,
and consequently there was nothing left to do but to stone them.
Today, though, they can be dismissed, and when they come to their
senses, they might return.
The parents are duty bound to see that their boys and girls are trained
to obey; that they respect their parents, the elders, and everybody in the
community; and that they sass no one.
How old must the children be before they are left on their own to do as
they please? -- As long
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as
the children are in their parents' house, they are to be under the control of
their parents.
If we are to have a standard, we must all be together on it.
And if the children know that we mean business, that they cannot get
by, they will not try to put anything over on anyone.
Most children, though, have really been trained to be disobedient.
How can this be? -- Well, from the time the children are mere babes,
the parents let them have their own way.
To begin with the children say "Yes," the parents say
"No." Then the trouble
starts. The children win the
argument by crying, then if it does not work, they get results by stamping
their feet on the floor. As they
grow older, they discover new ways to demand and get what they want.
By thus permitting their children to beat them in the game, parents
actually train their offspring to be disobedient, disrespectful.
That is why children are just what parents make them.
Never let a child have his way against yours, and you will never have
trouble with him. "Whatever
it is found impossible to change, the mind learns to recognize and adapt
itself to." -- Education, pg. 290.
Do you boys and girls all pledge to renounce the world and to be
"all out" for the Lord? Do
you determine not to compromise with evil, worldly practices?
Do you determine to make the home, the school, and the church a
success? to influence other boys
and girls in the right direction?
If not, we now warn you that you will be expelled from school and from
the place. If
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there
are any who cannot give us a whole-hearted answer, it will be better for you
to pull out now and go to the city and to the public school.
We are not fooling. Today
we mean business just as they meant business anciently.
If you think this rule too rigid for you, say so now.
Do you, boys and girls, promise to obey your parents and your teachers?
and not to talk back to anyone?
And do you adults promise to do your level best to help the young?
Do you agree not to take your complaints about the children or youth to
anyone but to their own parents?
(All, young and old, raised their hands in consent.)
Do you not think that Advanced Truth believers should be dressed
modestly, attractively, and commendably, in harmony with the religion of
Christ, so as to influence beholders to copy after them, not to turn away in
disgust?
(Congregation: "Yes")
Our dress standards for women and girls, men and boys, are established
from this viewpoint, and remember you have now promised to put them into
practice.
It is well to observe that there is no record that anyone had occasion
from the manner in which Jesus dressed, to speak either for or against Him.
This shows that He was not an extremist.
Besides, His garments must have been well worth having, else His
enemies would not have cared to
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cast
lots for them.
This very same principle should govern our own manner of dressing.
We should so dress as to be remembered, not for wearing a trinket of
some kind, trimming, color, or the like, but remembered for being well
dressed, with attention called to no one thing in particular.
Also, our dress ought to be such that the very poorest will not feel
out of place in our presence, and that the richest will not feel ashamed in
our company.
The sum of the whole matter in a nutshell is this: that we adorn
ourselves with nothing for pride or display, but for respect and modesty.
ADVANCED
CHRISTIAN STANDARDS
OF
DRESS
FOR
WOMEN AND GIRLS
Dresses
Materials.--They are to be of good quality, durable, and appropriate for the climate and occupation of the individual. Nothing gaudy or extreme. Sheer materials and large, showy prints are taboo.
Colors.--Colors
are to be becoming to the individual. Color
combinations should harmonize, and not be showy or sporty.
Sleeves.--In
public, sleeves are to be long enough to cover the elbows when arms are bent.
They should be of a
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style
that does not expose the armpits when arms are raised.
Skirt
Length for Women and Adolescents.--Skirts shorter than about one-half the
distance between the bend of the knee and the ankle are immodest, and hence
improper for a Christian lady.
Skirt
Length for Pre-adolescents.--Skirts are to cover the knees.
Do not make them so long as to cause the child to be uncomfortable or
unnecessarily to be a laughing stock.
The
fit of the Clothes.--The clothes are to be well fitted, and not to hang in a
slovenly manner. They should be
comfortable and neat, but not so tight as to show the lines of the body.
Necklines.--Necklines
should not be lower than 2 or 3 inches below the hollow of the neck, and
should fit so as not to expose the breasts when the individual leans over.
Patterns.--Dresses
are to be designed along modest lines, not sensual or extravagant.
Buttons,
Belts, Trimmings.--These accessories should be conservative, neat, and trim,
as well as becoming to the dress. There
should be nothing put on so as to attract attention to that one thing.
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Except
in the case of pre-adolescents, slip-over sweaters are immodest when worn
without a jacket or coat. Even
jacket-type sweaters are not to be so snugly fitted as to accentuate the shape
of the body.
They
are not to be worn in public places or on the street, but only in such
occupations as would render dresses immodest or dangerous.
Even then they are to be of style designed strictly for women, not for
men. Wear culottes.
Little girls may wear overalls designed for them.
The
amount of clothes is to be governed by the individual's occupation and the
climate, not by ever-changing fickle fashions.
Have only as many clothes as are necessary to keep neat and clean, no
more and no less.
Corsets,
Girdles, etc.
These
should not be worn unless by physician's order for some ailment.
Garter belts that do not interfere with circulation, are all right.
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Veils
and long dresses are not to be condemned for weddings.
Trains are unnecessary.
Bathing
Suits, Sunsuits, etc.
Never
should anything which exposes the body, be worn in the presence of men and
boys. Mixed bathing groups are
taboo.
Style.--Hats
are to be modest and trim, not with extravagant brims, or like pill boxes.
They should not be unnecessarily large or ridiculously small, but
conservative and becoming.
Trimmings.--Adorn
the hat with nothing that attracts undue attention to itself.
Veils and other ornaments hanging for show, are out of place.
The trimmings should be becoming but not showy.
Color.--The
color of the hat should harmonize with the rest of the clothes, and should not
be flashy or conspicuously bright.
The
headcovering should be suitable to the particular occasion, and meant for the
purpose of a headcovering rather
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
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than
be something grabbed at random. The
latter is disrespectful. Little
girls should be taught to wear headcoverings as soon as they are able to
understand about it.
In
other public places.--A hat is more modest-appearing than the bare head in
public.
Style
and Quality.--Shoes should be durable and conservative.
Avoid toeless and heelless dress shoes.
They appear immodest. On
proper occasions, sandals are permissible.
Height
of Heels.--For health's sake, the heels should be under 2 inches.
High heels are unhealthful.
Colors.--Wear
practical colors. White shoes are
not practical on farms and in villages where the streets are not paved.
Black shoes look dressy longer, and are more suitable for the gospel
worker than other colors of shoes.
Trimmings.--Trimmings
should be suitable to the shoe, and not showy or dangling to attract
attention.
Material
and Weight.--Hose may be cotton, silk, rayon or nylon, whichever is the most
practical for the occasion or occupation.
Sheer hose are condemned.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 38
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Wear
service weight.
Rolled
Below Knees.--Immodest if discernible. Put
no flesh on display.
Bobby
Socks.--Taboo if legs are exposed. They
are all right for infants in hot weather.
Stockingless.--Condemned
unless barefooted.
Upswept.--All
right if not extreme.
Medium
length Hair Worn Hanging.--Permissible for girls if kept tidy.
Bobbed
Hair.--Taboo for women and adolescents; all right for infants and little girls
if necessary, but better to let the hair grow.
Naturally
Wavy or Curly Hair.--Arrange it as naturally and as becoming as possible.
Straight
Hair.--Do not try to make something extreme out of your hair that God did not
intend. Arrange it neat and
becoming.
Permanent
Waves, Finger Waves with Hair Sets etc.--All such artificialities are taboo.
Rolling
Hair on "Rats," Rollers, etc.--All right if necessary.
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Hair
Clasps.--All right if necessary, but color of clasp should if possible blend
with the color of the hair. Use
nothing bright or showy to attract notice.
Ribbons.--Permissible
for little girls to hold the hair in place.
Wrist
Watches.--In the fullest sense, a wrist watch is a bracelet with a timepiece
on it, and should not be worn on the street or in public.
Dress
Pins.--All right, if they serve a purpose, and are not showy or fancy.
Ornamental brooches are condemned.
Miscellaneous
Jewelry.--Necklaces, neck chains, lockets, bracelets, earrings, rings, etc.,
are all condemned.
Face
powder, bath powder, lotion, astringents, cold cream are all right if
necessary, and if not purchased extravagantly.
But rouge, lipstick, eyebrow pencil, mascara, perfume, fingernail
polish, nail white, etc. are condemned.
Deodorants,
depilatories may be permissible if absolutely necessary, and if nothing
harmful is used. Antiperspirants
are unhealthful.
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ADVANCED
CHRISTIAN STANDARDS
OF
DRESS
FOR
MEN AND BOYS
Suits
Style.--Suits should be cut along conservative lines--nothing sporty or extreme. Especially should the suits to be worn in the pulpit be neat and conservative. See that the suit fits well and does not hang in an ill-fitting manner.
Material.--The
quality of the material should be durable, and in keeping with the climate and
occupation.
Colors.--Practical
colors that are not flashy, should be used.
If the coat must be of one color and the trousers of another color,
care should be taken that the colors blend well, and do not appear sporty.
On the whole, such combinations should be shunned.
Never should they be worn in the pulpit.
Sport
Shirts with Open Collar.--Open collar sport shirts may be used when on outings
in the country or on similar occasions. In
the church or on the street, though, they are out of place.
Collars should never be worn open lower than the first button.
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Sleeves.--For
dress and pulpit wear, sleeves should be worn full length.
Rolled up or short sleeves may be worn if the occasion demands them for
convenience' sake. Sleeveless
shirts are taboo in public.
Shirts
Worn Outside Trousers.--Shirts hanging outside the trousers mark the wearers
as either being sloppy or trying to appear sporty or something--they know not
what. They detract from respect.
Going
Shirtless.--In public or in the presence of women or girls, the man should
always wear a shirt. Teach the
young boys to do likewise.
Style.--Either
the bow tie or the four-in-hand may be worn--whichever is best for the suit or
the occasion. Wear nothing
extreme.
Colors
and patterns.--The tie should not be sporty or flashy, but it should be
attractive and should harmonize with the suit and be becoming to the wearer.
Loud colors and showy patterns are out of consideration.
In
Outside Breast Pocket.--The wearing of a handkerchief or pen and pencil in the
outside breast pocket can serve no purpose but to attract attention, to
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bolster
pride. Do not thus cheapen your
character, but put them in the inside pockets where they belong.
Wrist
Watches.--In the fullest sense, the wrist watch is a bracelet with a timepiece
on it, and should not be worn on the street or in public.
If you find it necessary to carry a timepiece, use a pocket watch.
Tie
Pins and Tie Clasps.--Tie pins are taboo.
If it is necessary to wear a tie clasp, use one that can be concealed
within the folds of the tie. Wear
nothing for show.
Watch
Chains.--Watch chains on display are as much out of place as is a tie pin,
ring, or bracelet. Keep it out of
sight.
Rings,
etc.--Rings and other jewelry are condemned.
Arm
Bands to Hold up Sleeves.--Arm bands are unhealthful if they are worn so tight
as to interfere with the circulation. If
it is necessary to wear them, use nothing conspicuous.
Better, though, to shorten your sleeves.
Scarfs.--Never
wear scarfs merely for show. Choose
colors that harmonize with the rest of the clothing--nothing gaudy.
Rolled
Down Socks.--Socks should be
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properly
supported, otherwise they appear immodest and untidy.
Shoes.--Select
shoes of durable quality and practical style and color.
White is impractical on farms and in villages where the streets are not
paved. They do not appear
conservative in the pulpit, and they attract undue attention to the feet.
Black shoes look dressy longer, and are more suitable for the gospel
worker than other colors of shoes.
Bathing
Suits and Trunks.--These are all right on proper occasions, but mixed bathing
groups are taboo.
Hair.--Arrange
the hair as naturally and as neatly as possible, doing away with all such
artificialities as permanent waves, etc.
If the hair is dry, use oil that is not overly scented, something that
is beneficial to the hair and not just for "smell."
General
Appearance.--Do not fall into slovenly habits: Keep the hair cut, the face
shaven (if you do not wear whiskers), and the clothing tidy and as clean as
the occupation permits. God
requires His representatives to dress in such a way as to commend their
religion both to the high and to the low, to the rich and to the poor.
Dress neither extravagantly nor shabbily.
Stay in the middle of the road under all circumstances.
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These
are the present standards of apparel, and all Davidians should pattern after
them. Except it be for reasons
herein unforeseen, any divergence from these standards, while they stand
unequivocal, classes the offender with the hypocrites.
"In his sermon on the mount, Christ exhorts his followers not to
allow their minds to be absorbed in earthly things.
He plainly says: 'Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for you life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?'
'And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither
do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.'
"These words are full of meaning.
They were applicable in the days of Christ, and they are applicable in
our day. Jesus here contrasts the
natural simplicity of the flowers of the field with the artificial adorning of
raiment. He declares that the
glory of Solomon could not bear comparison with one of the flowers in natural
loveliness. Here is a lesson for
all who desire to know and to do the will of God.
Jesus has
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noticed
the care and devotion given to dress, and has cautioned, yea, commanded us,
not to bestow too much thought upon it. It
is important that we give careful heed to his words.
Solomon was so engrossed with thoughts of outward display that he
failed to elevate his mind by a constant connection with the God of wisdom.
Perfection and beauty of character were overlooked in his attempt to
obtain outward beauty. He sold
his honor and integrity of character in seeking to glorify himself before the
world, and finally became a despot, supporting his extravagance by a grinding
taxation upon the people. He
first became corrupt at heart, then he apostatized from God, and finally
became a worshiper of idols.
"As we see our sisters departing from simplicity in dress, and
cultivating a love for the fashions of the world, we feel troubled.
By taking steps in this direction, they are separating themselves from
God and neglecting the inward adorning. They
should not feel at liberty to spend their God-given time in the unnecessary
ornamentation of their clothing. How
much better might it be employed in searching the Scriptures, thus obtaining a
thorough knowledge of the prophecies and of the practical lessons of Christ.
.
. .
"Christ is our example. We
must keep the Pattern continually before us, and contemplate the infinite
sacrifice which has been made to redeem us from the thralldom of sin.
If we find ourselves condemned as we look into the mirror, let us not
venture farther in transgression, but face right about, and wash our robes of
character in the blood of the Lamb, that they may be spotless.
Let us cry, as did David, 'Open thou mine eyes,
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that
I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.'
Those to whom God has intrusted time and means that they might be a
blessing to humanity, but who have squandered these gifts needlessly upon
themselves and their children, will have a fearful account to meet at the bar
of God.
.
. .
"Those among Sabbath-keepers who have yielded to the influence of
the world, are to be tested. The
perils of the last days are upon us, and a trial is before the professed
people of God which many have not anticipated.
The genuineness of their faith will be proved.
Many have united with worldlings in pride, vanity, and
pleasure-seeking, flattering themselves that they could do this and still be
Christians. But it is such
indulgences that separate them from God, and make them children of the world.
Christ has given us no such example.
Those only who deny self, and live a life of sobriety, humility, and
holiness, are true followers of Jesus; and such cannot enjoy the society of
the lovers of the world." -- Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, pp. 628,
629, 632, 633.
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