Filter by Categories
Music and Cultural Freefall
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughThe lyrics of popular songs show that what is on young Americans' minds is sex, rebellion, violence, and a feeling of exclusion. This bodes ill for the future.
Hair Care?
Sermonette by Ronny H. GrahamExperimentation with hair has always been associated with rebellion. Absalom's rebellion seemed to be inextricably tied to his vanity over his long hair.
Watershed Moment
Commentary by Richard T. RitenbaughThe tragic murder of Charlie Kirk feels like a watershed moment. our society has reached a cultural turning point where civil discourse has collapsed.
Facing Cultural Headwinds
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughGod's saints encounter great difficulties keeping their balance and moving toward the Kingdom while being buffeted by the anti-God, progressive culture.
Knowing God: Formality and Customs (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughClothing and hair length signal and reflect areas of rebellion, defiled attitudes, and spiritual health, providing a barometer of a person's character.
The Spirit of Babylon (Part Two)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeDespite Inanna's marriage to a god named Dumuzi, she still took lovers whenever she wished—she would not be constrained by the divine order of marriage.
Even From My Youth
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughSolomon teaches that childhood and youth are vanity, and that having fun while forgetting God may create flawed character and permanent sorrow.
The Beatitudes, Part One: The Sermon on the Mount
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughThe Sermon on the Mount is as vitally important today as when Christ preached it. It contains the way we are to live as God's representatives on this earth.
The Colossian Heresy and Laodiceanism
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughColossae and Laodicea were susceptible to fast-talking teachers, whose plausible words eroded the true Gospel in favor of pagan thought and practice.
The Real Solution to Baggy Pants
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughTo combat this trend, several communities have proposed bans on baggy or saggy pants. The ACLU says they are racially discriminatory. Here's what all are missing.
Grow Up!
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughThe age of maturity used to be somewhere between 18 and 21 but it has steadily risen past college graduation to the threshold of a person's fourth decade.
What does CGG believe regarding cosmetics? dress lengths? hair lengths? men wearing earrings? tattoos?
Frequently Asked QuestionsEarrings on men, tattoos, and other ornaments of the counter-culture may show rebelliousness, though much depends on a person's attitude. Dress and grooming are highly personal, and the ministry does not police members in these areas, but modest dress and grooming are expected, and what a person wears says much about him as an individual and as a Christian. As a Christian grows in the grace and knowledge of God and becomes more humble, modest, and holy, involvement in such questionable practices should diminish and disappear. Money, food, sex, alcohol, clothing, and jewelry are not intrinsically wrong, but when misused, abused, or over-indulged they become a stumbling block. Beyond the matter of attitude, the Bible speaks plainly. Leviticus 19:28 addresses tattoos. Men wearing earrings, a traditionally female ornament, fall under the principle of cross-dressing, which God calls an abomination in Deuteronomy 22:5. Peter's stress on modesty in I Peter 3:1-4 covers the broader principle. Ornamentation turns into a curse when it is used for vanity, selfish pride, and self-glory rather than to the credit of Christ, as Ezekiel 16 and Isaiah 3 show.