Too Beard, or Not Too Beard
If you check out my profile picture you
will discover that I have a full beard.
My thing with beards started when I was in the Army. Every time I went on leave I would let my
beard grow till I had to return to military duty. It aggravated my wife quite a bit. When I
left the service in 1978 I started growing a beard on a serious basis. I made up my mind I was not going to shave it
off and I didn’t for quite a few years. Somewhere along the way I found a Biblical
basis(Leviticus 19:26-30, and 21:5) for not shaving my beard. I also found a reason for not trimming my
beard and several other things that are pretty much standard for me today.
Leviticus 19:26Ye shall
not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe
times. 27Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar
the corners of thy beard. 28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for
the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. 2
My wife was constantly on my case to shave
it off or at least trim it. She liked it the few times I trimmed it in a Kenny
Rodgers style. That all ended when she
went on my truck with me. We stopped at
a mall somewhere along I-10 in Louisiana to get something to eat. It ended up being a pizza place. As we were sitting and eating a little girl
about probably three to four years old walked up to our table. She took hold of my arm and in the sweetest
southern drawl possible said, “Mr. Santa Claus can I give you a kiss?” My heart
melted as I said, “Sure” She left and went back to her table and watched us the
whole time we were eating. My wife was smiling from ear to ear and she said,
“Now I know why you don’t shave your beard. Experiences like that are
priceless.” I agreed that they are and
since then she no longer gives me the hard time she used to. When she seems like she might I just say,
“Remember Louisiana?”
There are a couple other benefits to
having a beard that I can’t explain or prove but I know it is true. At least in my case it’s true. When I was in the military for 13 years I
caught every cold or sniffle that came through the barracks. Since I started growing a beard I hardly ever
get sick. I have been sick only a handful of times since I got out in 1978. I have asked other people I have met who have
a beard and they generally agree they have had similar experiences. So there may be something to having a
beard. That being said I have shaved
seven times I know of since leaving the service. Each time I have a new Grandchild I shave it
off, and now every time I have a new Great Grand Child I shave it off. I have
six grandsons and one granddaughter.
Also I have twin great grand-daughters, two of the grandsons are twins
also.
There is a story in II Samuel 10 that
relates how some of Kind David’s men went on a mission for him and the people
he sent his men to abused them by shaving off half their hair and half their
beards. When King David heard of it he
had his men go into a private place until their beards and hair grew back. It
says in the Bible the men were humiliated.
It implies being without a beard was not good. In America beards were very common. Even in the pictures of the Civil War many
American soldiers had beards. It wasn’t
till the time of the Spanish American War that shaving became a standard
practice.
Most American military units banned
having beards for a number of years. About the time of the Vietnam War some of
the Navy personnel started growing beards again as a part of Navy tradition. The Army however has stayed pretty much away
from it. While on vacation in September
I met an Officer at a skydiving center near Ft. Bragg who had a full
beard. He explained that he was growing
it to make it easier for him to blend in with the Afghan community where he
would be serving shortly. So the Army is
willing to make exceptions. If people stood up for what they believe maybe more
would have them.
If you happened to read the verses I
referenced for Leviticus you noticed there were several other things we were
commanded to do or not to do. Not trimming beards was not the only thing I
learned that we should not be doing if we are following God’s Word. We should not get marks in our skin
(tattoos), shave our heads, eat anything with blood in it, or listen to
enchantments or those who claim to have gifts of visions, or fortune telling. You can find most of this in Leviticus
19:25-30 and 21:5. If that is not bad
enough Leviticus 20:1-5 makes it pretty clear that abortion is a crime against
God as he is the author of life, not death.
In fact God said anyone who participated and did not punish those who
did killed children, he would kill them and destroy their nation.
The recent decision by our government to
take away the health care of nine million children may also have consequences
for our nation. Genesis 22:21-24lays out
some pretty plain things that God hates and from my reading the treatment of
immigrants, of which almost all Americans were at one time or another, will be
judged,
21Thou shalt neither
vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23If thou afflict them
in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 24And
my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your
wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Sadly many of the things mentioned are
standard practice in the world we live in today. Today’s world has a sort of smorgasbord view
of the Bible. Most people pick and choose the things they do not want to
obey. Many say the Old Testament does
not apply any more. Yet they will tell
you creation is still valid. Their view
on the Ten Commandments will depend on the denomination they follow.
When I found the verse on marks in the skin
it verified something I had learned growing up.
It condemned me for some time as I already had a tattoo, but I realized
God can forgive most anything. Then I
found two verses in the Bible that literally changed my life. I found them while I was going through some
trials in my life that God gave me a very clear answer to. Listen to him, not man. The verse I found at that time in my life was
1st John 2:27. It makes very clear who we are to listen to and follow. The second verse he gave me was Jeremiah 17:5
and it makes clear my trust should be in Him and not in any man. The issue that bought it up was the issue of
tongues. I finally came to believe what
the Bible says on the matter and contrary to some denominations it has nothing
to do with your salvation. That is
entirely in the hands of God and His Mercy and Grace.
Reading the Bible and listening to God
can cause you problems also. Genesis 1:29 tells us something God said we had
the right to. Yet many of the laws of
man today go against that teaching. Even
our Declaration of Independence says we have certain rights given by God. My only question is who is benefitting from
the present laws, God or Satan? The
Bible says every Word of God is true and every man a liar. Based on that verse, it becomes clear to me
Satan is twisting the Word of God to accomplish his will on this earth. The Bible also says,”My people are destroyed
for a lack of knowledge.” He did not say the evil ones, the lost, or the
sinners. He said very clearly “My people
are destroyed” The only way we have of
avoiding destruction is knowing what His Word says and standing on that alone.
Genesis 1: 31says, that God looked on
what he created and said it was good. Making laws against creation is like
saying God is wrong. The Supreme Court
and our Congress would do well to wake up and turn this nation back to God, before God decides to do what His Word says and start killing us. The Bible
says you reap what you sow and this nation has killed millions of people worldwide,
Maybe God is about to make some payback with the Korean situation and the Mad Man we have in the White House.
Second
Timothy makes it clear what it will be like in the end. Read it, think about it
and admit it is a pretty good description of this nation . For those who don’t know, reprobate means Godless
and that doesn’t sound anything like the Christian nation we claim to be.
II Timothy 3:1This know
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into
houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their
folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
It is not enough for this nation to know
what is right, this nation must act on what it knows. Decriminalizing marijuana
would be a step in the right direction. Start treating the addicts, not
incarcerating them. Making it acceptable to seek help for your problem, instead
of forcing them to hide for fear of persecution, remove the profit incentive for
the criminal elements. After prohibition was lifted the whole country did not
become alcoholics. Regulate the drugs so they do not use chemicals that destroy
people for an extra dollar. Create
industry to fully maximize the industrial potential of the plant and tax it so
the people using it pay for the treatment of addicts, not the honest hard
working taxpayers. It is funny how to stop a few thousand pot heads from
getting high, our government lays a major burden on taxpayers that the
industrial development could pay for.
California may have fired the last shot
that has a chance of saving our nation and turning it around.
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