Enough Already!

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I couldn't help but jump into this already saturated discussion, but I 
also know of a church (I'm not naming names) where it seems the 
standards are a little on the strict side.  The bit about long sleeves 
applies, but women and men must wear their sleeves down to their 
wrists, even in 95 degree heat.  My aunt, who attends this church, 
became very ill one summer--she refused to take off a sweater because 
the shirt under it only went just past her elbow!!  She may as well 
have had a jacket on!!  

Women and men do not pray next to each other, I'm cool with not 
touching, but why not with each other as an assembly in one accord?
Women and men do not sit within 2 feet of each other on the pew--I was 
told at one time that the pastor would actually separate you in the 
middle of a service if he thought you were too close!!

This may be a whole other can of worms, but I am bi-racial, and this 
church looks down at interracial marriages.  When my fiance and I 
visit, we get stares from members who don't know us as well as others 
do.  Excuse me, but didn't God say he was "no respecter of persons"?
Didn't Moses marry an Ethiopian (from Africa, undoubtedly darker than 
your average Israelite)?  Also, there are not many bi-racial people 
around.  Am I supposed to give up on the Pentecostal, God-fearing man 
I've found just because he's the wrong color?

But aside from these standards, there seems to be little order that I 
can see in the services in general.  They seem to be little more than 
pep rallies.  The last time I visited was on a normal, average, 
every-day Sunday (not revival or anything).  Every time the pastor 
uttered one sentence, the whole place was screaming and yelling and 
people were running and jumping.  He was yelling at the top of his 
lungs into the microphone and I couldn't understand a single word. It 
might just be me, but I'm only used to that in revivals or when we 
have special speakers or events, not EVERY SERVICE!  I just found it 
very hard to get much from the services there.  

I wonder what visitors who are unsaved feel like when they visit such 
super-strict churches.  I would feel like an outsider, certainly not 
welcome when I am stared at (remember the race thing) and ignored.  
I'm not saying we should be more like the world to attract the worldly 
people, don't get me wrong, but didn't Paul say that if you are too 
fanatical or undisciplined with tongues, etc. that the world would 
think us "mad" (I Corinthians 14:23).  I don't want to be 'weird,' I 
only want to be a witness.  Who would want to join a church where you 
couldn't even sit with your own husband or wife?

Anneliese