r/Apostolic

I saw a clip of a campmeeting sermon, where a preacher preached against beards, saying he saw more beards in one church than the world, and that having beards is pride.

Many people take this suffering servant passage as indicating that the Lord Jesus' beard was plucked out as a part of His sufferings.

Psalm 50
^(6) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

The speaker said that beards had nothing to do with the formula for anointing?

Psalm 133
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

^(2) It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

^(3) As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Notice the reference to the ointment being poured out, and the beard. If you read the Hebrew of verse 1, the word 'dwell' translates a word that means 'sitting around.'

Compare that to Acts 2
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

^(2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

^(3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

^(4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

These brethren were sitting around in unity. The Father sent the Spirit as the Lord Jesus had promised. Christ is our High Priest also. Remember that picture described in Psalm 133 of the ointment running down Aaron's beard.

The Old Testament word translated 'elder' is 'zaqen'-- which means bearded one. The Lord took of the spirit (or Spirit) that was on Moses and put it on seventy elders. Elders carry over into the New Testament, with the church having elders appointed to be bishops/overseers of the flock.

Now, if we wanted to be legalistic, we might expect those who are ordained to pastor to have beards. I don't think we should be legalistic about it or treat it as required.

But beards are definitely NOT presented in a negative light in scripture, and if one wanted to be nit picky and legalistic about it, it makes more sense to insist on men, or at least church leaders, growing them than to treat having them as a sin.

IMO, some of the anti-beard sermons one-up some of the KJV-onlyist arguments for ignorance and stupidity.

Please be patient with me as I’m still studying. I’m apostolic Pentecostal of course, baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.

But, whenever I hear trinitarians explain their view of God. (Which is not 3 gods, what I’ve learned) it’s sounds like we argue over semantics.

I’ve experienced God in my church and have heard God tell me he is one. But, I’ve seen Pentecostal Trinitarians full of the spirit as well. Is it possible God won’t saved them because they believe in the trinity rather than oneness even if they are baptized.

I understand people say titles vs the name of Jesus but I mean people who truly walk in the Lord are they unsaved because they are baptized in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit? If you ask any apostolic they’ll tell you they’re unsaved and going to hell but it just doesn’t make sense to me

Because I think of before we had the term oneness and trinity,how did people view God. They weren’t declared saved/unsaved because of their belief in the terms because they did not exist.

I know people will argue up and down but it causes so much division, and I can’t imagine God is pleased by it. Even when I ask my pastors, they’ll automatically tell me they’re unsaved if they believe the trinity or they’ll think I’m falling from the faith but I’m not I just have questions. 😭

So I'm having a hard time with this one. I was raised up you can lose your salvation. One key point is if you take anything out of God's word he will take you out of the lambs book of life. Also Matthew says he who endures to the end will be saved. So saying who doesnt endure to the end will not be saved. In John it says no one will snatch them from his hand. I've heard well fi you lose your salvation then you never really converted. I don't belive that. I've seen people backside who received the gifts but listened to people who lead them astray. The big thing is i got into a discussion with a baptist today and he was angrily saying oh that's a false doctrine to me.

I’m genuinely struggling with this. It says Abraham was justified by faith, before he was circumcised, and it specifically says this was for us today.

If baptism is the new circumcision and to be justified means to be made right with God… how do we reconcile it all?

Fake AI websites for courses or online training are going viral. They attempt to manipulate internet users into taking a step and making a payment for something that is not real at all.

Which sites or examples do you come across?

How is the Apostolic God different? How is the Apostolic God better than the God of other denominations? How is the Apostolic God worse?

What kind of personality would the Apostolic God have as opposed to the God of other denominations?

“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.” — Jeremiah 18:2 (NKJV)

When I was a kid, I had the opportunity to spend time at Philbrook Art Museum in Tulsa participating in art programs centered around Native American culture and craftsmanship.

One of those projects was pottery.

I have to admit…

I wasn’t very good at it.

My “vessels” usually ended up looking more like lopsided bowls than anything useful.

But while I don’t remember much about what I made, I’ve never forgotten watching an experienced potter work.

Years later, Jeremiah 18 gave those memories an entirely new meaning.

God didn’t send Jeremiah to hear another sermon.

He sent him to watch.

The first thing I remember learning was that nothing happened until the clay was centered on the wheel.

If it wasn’t perfectly centered, every attempt to shape it would fail. The faster the wheel turned, the more obvious the wobble became.

Life can feel that way sometimes.

As responsibilities increase… as trials come… as life begins spinning faster… whatever is at the center of our lives becomes impossible to hide.

Before the Potter shapes the vessel…

He centers the clay.

Before God changes our circumstances…

He often changes our hearts.

Then came the pressure.

Watching the potter’s hands almost looked uncomfortable.

He wasn’t simply smoothing the surface.

He pressed.

He stretched.

He shaped.

One hand supported the outside while the other worked from within.

Without both hands, the vessel would collapse.

Isn’t that often how God works in us?

We notice the pressures around us.

The disappointments.

The delays.

The unanswered prayers.

But while circumstances are shaping us from the outside, God is quietly doing an even deeper work within us.

The pressure isn’t always punishment.

Sometimes it’s preparation.

Perhaps the greatest lesson of all was this:

The clay never shaped itself.

Its responsibility wasn’t to decide what kind of vessel it wanted to become.

It simply remained in the potter’s hands.

That may be one of the hardest lessons for us to learn.

We want to control the process.

We want to choose the timing.

We want to understand every turn of the wheel.

But faith often means trusting the Potter more than understanding the process.

Jeremiah watched as the vessel became marred in the potter’s hand.

It wasn’t what the potter intended.

Yet he didn’t throw the clay away.

Scripture says,

“So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

He made it again.

What a beautiful picture of redemption.

If you’ve ever felt like your life is just going in circles…

Maybe you’re not wandering.

Maybe you’re still on the wheel.

The wheel keeps turning because the Potter isn’t finished.

The clay only feels the pressure.

The Potter sees the finished vessel.

Trust the hands more than the motion.