Setting ourselves apart

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Freehold's charming Mayor gave me a wonderful idea!

He said:

Maybe some day it will be legal to take a branding iron and burn onto the forehead of everyone of these phony people, "Not a Christian."

Now, that's pretty good in itself, but there are a couple of down sides to it. First, there are billions of non-Christians, including all infants. (Imagine a True Christian™ couple having their child marked as a non-Christian!) Second, non-Christians can become Christians, but as we know, no True Christian™ has ever become a non-Christian.

Instead of marking the non-Christians, why not mark the True Christians™? A simple mark on the forehead, or perhaps the right hand, could make it clear who is Saved© and who is not.

It could even be a two-part mark; the Christian-in-Training gets the first half upon making an initial commitment to Jesus. Once fully vetted and verified, the True Christian™ receives the second half.

What do you think?

I suppose if Landover were to be the leader of the program, the below "brand" would work nicely. Maybe the Christian-in-Training would receive the L, and the True Christian™ also receive the B.



Can you imagine how, in time, millions of Americans would be clamoring to become Christians-in-Training and receive the L on their foreheads?

[Faith_Machine]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

I'm pretty sure the Biblical proscription against tattoos also applies to branding. Furthermore, this would make it easier for people to identify and persecute us.

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

I'm pretty sure the Biblical proscription against tattoos also applies to branding. Furthermore, this would make it easier for people to identify and persecute us.

The whole point is to make it easy to identify each other, Brother! Do you hide your light under a bushel?

This way, we would know who could be allowed in our homes and our places of business, just by looking at them. No opportunity for lying! No homosexuals or adulterers or Catholics sneaking into our grocery stores and buying food!

I think the big L branded on the forehead, followed by those who get verified as Saved(c) with the big B, would be a highly visible, proud display of Godliness.

(A brand is neither a tattoo nor a cutting.)

If preferred, we could use microchip technology and just embed an identification chip for scanning, but it's not nearly as dramatic an option. Then it'd be secret, and people could pretend to be True Christians(tm) if they weren't scanned. Or people ashamed of Jesus--I'm not naming any names--could pretend to be unsaved, for whatever bizarre reasons they might have.

[Johny Joe Hold]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

Thank you, Rev, for thinking about new ways to move forward the cause of Jesus Christ.

The tatoo prohibition is an interesting one I had not thought of. My take on this problem is we would have an exemption from the prohibition if we were branding sinners, but it would apply to branding ourselves.

But, I'm not a theologian and am not certain I'm correct here.

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

Thank you, Rev, for thinking about new ways to move forward the cause of Jesus Christ.

The tattoo prohibition is an interesting one I had not thought of. My take on this problem is we would have an exemption from the prohibition if we were branding sinners, but it would apply to branding ourselves.

But, I'm not a theologian and am not certain I'm correct here.

A brand is not a tattoo.

There's no ink involved.

However, if people are concerned about it, we could try pop-riveting a metal piece to the skull instead. That would take a bit longer to heal, and there's always the risk of a brain infection, but it's also removable if someone abandons Jesus.

Maybe that would be better; a temporary "L" (for "Landover", also for "Learning (about Jesus)") on the forehead, which is later removed and replaced by a cross.

I think it'd be wonderful, to see thousands of Christians-in-training, all proudly showing off the shiny L on their foreheads. Or, I suppose, on the right hand, but that'd be somewhat restrictive of movement, no?

[Faith_Machine]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

This might be a good way of using social and economic pressure to bring people to the Lord. I can envision a future in which folks refused to do business with those who did not have this mark in their forehead. After all, if you had a choice between trusting a non-Christian in a business transaction vs. buying from or selling to a Christian, which one would you choose?

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: Setting ourselves apart

This might be a good way of using social and economic pressure to bring people to the Lord. I can envision a future in which folks refused to do business with those who did not have this mark in their forehead. After all, if you had a choice between trusting a non-Christian in a business transaction vs. buying from or selling to a Christian, which one would you choose?

Exactly my thinking, Brother!

We definitely shouldn't buy from the m, but selling to them is also unwise. How do we know they won't use counterfeit money?

I'd limit high value transactions to "LB"s, and mid-value to "L"s.

The "nones" could probably use vending machines, as long as they were clearly marked so no Christian or Christian-in-Training used them without first invoking the Armor of God.