Have you ever had the embarrassing experience as a small child, clinging onto another man's trousers, believing it was your father? The world is full of stories about mistaken identity, and Christianity of our day is no exception. We are living in a time of increasing deception and falling away from the truth -- in absolute harmony with the prophecies of the Bible concerning the last days before Jesus' return. This is why I have, among other, written the article, 'Another Jesus - A Different Gospel'.

The purpose of 'Faith In The Test Tube' is to shake the foundation of your faith -- with the exclusive purpose to ensure that your faith is not built on a false foundation.

I want to ensure that, spiritually speaking, you are not clinging onto another man's trousers. At the hand of two articles, I want to shake the foundation of your faith -- please note that this is not a hostile shake, it is a loving shake! If the foundation of your faith crumbles at the reading of these articles, please see it as an act of love from Jesus Christ who is reaching out to you to replace the crumbling foundation of your faith with a solid foundation -- to lead you to your true father. The first article is, 'Perhaps, Your Sins Are Not Forgiven'. The other article, is this one. I have originally directed this article as an open letter to the address of my children, and the original title was:

A letter to my daughters - with a copy to my sons

My dearest daughters, I love you very much and all of you have a very special place in my heart. I am proud of you and I thank God for the lovely daughters He has given me. When I think of you, my thoughts involuntarily move to the story of Esther in the Bible -- a daughter who became a queen. Just like Esther, you are also destined to become a queen. If you are standing in the right relationship with Jesus Christ, you are a princess of God -- a queen in the making. God is busy preparing you to become part of the bride of Jesus Christ at His return.

Like Mordecai in the story of Esther and every Christian father, I also have a responsibility towards God concerning my calling as prophet and priest of my house. I am God's representative in your life, to lead you, to admonish and teach you in the fear of God -- and to prepare you for queenhood. I want to share a few thoughts with you concerning your identity as a Christian daughter and woman -- your identity as princess of God. In fact, it would be a good thing if you first read my article, 'The Christian's Identity Crisis'. The before-mentioned article forms the backdrop to this article.

What I want to say to you I have already shared with you previously,  but maybe I have never so carefully explained it to you before. Furthermore, it does not only apply to you but to every Christian woman and -daughter -- also, not only to women and daughters, but to every Christian father, -husband and -son. This is why I am writing to you in the form of an an open letter. Once again, I want you to know that what I am sharing with you today comes from a heart of sincere love -- firstly towards God, but secondly towards you. It is my prayer that you will understand my heart, and that you will open your heart towards me.

You may reluctantly want to continue reading after the following paragraph, but I beg you -- please listen me out! Please read this letter to the end -- for only then you will see the complete picture. I promise you -- it will be worth the while! I have been writing on these few pages for weeks, and have wrestled with the Lord for two years before I have published it. I have weighed every word twice on the scale of God's Word and then I have first prayed over it and asked the Lord, "Lord, do I really have to say it like this?"

I further want you to understand that this letter is not written in isolation. It is written against the backdrop of your upbringing and my continuous message on how to find God's true purpose and calling for your life. If you understand God's true purpose and calling for your life, you will also understand the connection of this message. However, the subject of this letter specifically concerns you as daughter and woman -- it concerns the way you dress. Now, I know exactly how you think and feel! You don't like it when someone speaks to you about your dress. I know -- for many years in my own life I rebelled against it when others did so! However, I am asking you, please give me an opportunity to present my case. What you do with it is your own choice -- and I promise that I will never again speak to you on the subject of dress.

‍Your identity as a Christian

Why is dress and appearance an issue in Christianity at all? Why is dress important at all? We all know that God does not look upon the outward appearance but the heart of man. So why talk about dress and appearance as if it is a fundamental Christian issue? Certainly dress and appearance are not the only, or even the most important issue with regard to my identity as a Christian. So why not rather speak about your love for God and your fellow brothers and sisters? This is exactly what I want to speak about! However, there is an aspect of your love for God and your neighbour that many Christians, and possibly even you, do not understand, namely the living out and carrying out of your testimony as a Christian. This is the issue I want to explain to you.

Many years ago when I was in business management, I had to appoint a representative for our company. Among others, a man applied for the job who arrived for the interview without a tie. Before I have interviewed him I have already decided that he would not be suitable for the post. Okay, I know times have changed -- but why do you think I have excluded this man for the job on the basis of his appearance? The reason was because he had to represent the company with the organisations with whom we do business -- and it was important that the image he would present to our clients, be in harmony with the professional image we wanted to maintain as a company.

The very first exposure that the world has with you as a person, is through your appearance -- before you have spoken a word to anybody! By only looking at you people have already formed an opinion about you -- and if this outward opinion is in conflict with who you are on the inside, you have a credibility problem with your testimony as a Christian. A Christian (and every other person) are being read. That is why we read in 2 Cor 3:2,3: "You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."

Your appearance betrays your heart

Dear daughter and woman, your appearance is a testimony of your heart. Your skinny pants betrays your heart! Of course there are many other examples I could have used to illustrate a betrayal of your heart. Every fashion that aims to make you look 'sexy' falls into this category. However, in this article I am going to speak about skinny pants as representative of every other form of sensual dress. I know -- everyone wears it! This is exactly the problem with the world of fashion -- everyone wears it! That's why it's called fashion!

"What is such a great sin about my dress -- just look how lovely these girls look in the picture?" -- you may be wondering. Let me explain it to you. I am speaking to you as a man -- your dress is a stumbling block to boys and men because it is sensual. Maybe I should use the right word -- it is seductive. Men are sexually stimulated by what they see -- by the way, this is the true reason why you dress like that, not so? You want to be seen -- especially by men! When a man who does not know the Lord looks at you, his unholy imagination kicks into action and completes the picture for him. Your dress gives rise to sin in his imagination which later may develop into a sinful act or deed.

Let me explain this to you at the hand of an illustration that you will understand very well. You are extremely fond of chocolate and this contributed to the fact that you have gained weight. However, with great discipline you have managed to overcome your taste for chocolate and as a result have brought your weight under control. Your friend at work, however, is also very fond of chocolate and regularly offers you a chocolate. This is exactly what your dress is doing to men -- with one difference -- your friend is playing with chocolate, but you are playing with sin! Your friend is smuggling with your weight -- but you are smuggling with lives for whom Jesus Christ have died on Calvary!

Your dress is saying much more about you than what you believe

My dear daughter, you may not realise this and you may also not understand it -- but your dress is testifying of rebellion against God and His Word. As we have already explained, your appearance carries a message -- it is a testimony of who you are. Your skinny pants are testifying of rebellion in your heart. I know you probably do not agree with me and don't see it this way. However, what you must remember is that for a Christian it is not about how you feel and think about yourself, but what others see in you. Being a Christian is first and foremost about your testimony in this world -- for that is God's primary and ultimate purpose for you on earth. Your sensual dress is a symbol or sign of your rebellion against God's purpose for your life! You may be very loving and religious. You may even be praying and reading your Bible every day, but your skinny pants are shouting out -- 'Leave me alone -- I want to be and live how I want!' To put it another way -- your skinny pants are testifying that your 'Great I' is still on the throne of your life.

I want to be sure that you understand this issue very well, for I know that much confusion and disagreement exist among Christians on this subject. It is not your dress that is sinful -- it is the rebellion in your heart of which your dress testifies, that constitutes the sin! You may say, but I am not a rebel -- you are a wonderful exemplary girl with high moral standards. The Bible says in Jer 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Please continue reading.

With your seductive dress you are breaking eight of God's ten commandments

• You are breaking the first commandment which says that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, while your dress shows that you are actually loving yourself more than God.
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• You are breaking the second commandment which says that you may not create an image and worship it, while you are exhibiting the image of your body to the world, that are idolised by some who are looking at you.
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• You are breaking the third commandment that prohibits you to use the Name of God in vain, while your dress testifies of rebellion against God!
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• You are breaking the fifth commandment that commands you to honour, respect and obey your parents.
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• You are breaking the sixth commandment that prohibits you to commit murder, while you are sending some to hell who fall into sin because of your appearance.
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• You are breaking the seventh commandment that prohibits sexuality outside of marriage. You are committing adultery, because you are inviting every man who looks at you to commit adultery with you in his mind.  
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• You are breaking the ninth commandment that prohibits bearing false witness. You call yourself a Christian, while your appearance testifies of a sinful life.
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• You are breaking the tenth commandment that prohibits desiring your neighbour's wife, while you are giving cause through your dress to some men to desire you.

But we are not under law anymore ...

As a young man who at some stage of my life rebelled against, what I interpreted as prude and ancient Christian standards, my deceased father also confronted me with the Word. My response to him was that we are not under the law anymore, but under grace. However, his reply stuck with me for life. He replied as follows: "All people in the world are either under the law, or under grace -- if you are not under grace, you are under the law!" This means that if you are under grace, the evidence thereof is that you desire to please God and to keep His moral law through the Holy Spirit who dwells within you -- and if you are not under grace you are under the law and will be judged by the law!

The Bible says in Rom 7:7: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET.""

Through your sensual dress you show that you have no understanding of your own and other's inherent sinful nature, mind and emotions. That is why a person must come to repentance in order to receive saving faith. Faith in Jesus Christ without repentance has no content and meaning. It is not possible to say you believe in Jesus Christ without being delivered from sin -- for this is what Jesus Christ came to do!

You may be thinking that I am a Pharisee

Some may be saying, but Jesus associated Himself with sinners -- Jesus loves sinners. Jesus did not condemn the woman who committed adultery when the Pharisees wanted to stone her, but acquitted her. It is true that Jesus loves sinners -- but He never associated Himself with sin! On the contrary, Jesus hates sin! Jesus paid with His life for sin and He told the adulterous woman: "... go and sin no more". Jesus came to deliver you from your sin! Jesus is also saying to you: "I forgive you -- go and be a witness unto me of purity! You are My princess -- My queen in the making!"

No woman who is truly saved and delivered from sin, wants to be associated with the sinful world and look like that!

Do you feel I am judgmental?

No, I am not judging you in the negative sense of the word! I am simply practicing Christian discernment. I am interpreting the testimony of your body language -- in exactly the same way I interpret what is going on in your heart by the words you speak and the things you talk about -- and you me! I am judging you on the basis of God's Word in order to help you to judge yourself. I want to help you to come to the full knowledge of God's Word! It is written in 2 Cor 13:5: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." Dear daughter, woman, son, man, the purpose of this article is shake the foundation of your faith in order to ensure that you are not building your salvation on a false foundation. If you are not absolutely sure about your salvation -- please follow this link.

If you are sure you are saved, I have a final word for you.

Are you a stumbling block to others?

Dear woman and young lady, if you have a testimony of salvation and regeneration and you dress like that, I have to tell you that you are a stumbling block to others! In stead of a witness for Jesus Christ whereto you have been called, you are a stumbling block to the Gospel -- and you are part of the reason why more than 66,000 people across the world die every day without Jesus Christ! The unsaved world looks at you and they think you are one of them. In stead of your appearance testifying of your life being a letter written by Jesus Christ, convicting them of their sin, your appearance is hushing them to sleep in their sin!

If you are a princess of God, you must look like a princess

Please note, you do not have to appear unkempt or look like the grave, a ghost or a nun as a Christian woman! There are Christian women who are moving towards the opposite extreme. If you as a Christian-woman are looking unkempt and like the grave, you are also carrying out a distorted Christian image and testimony to the world. Then you are a stumbling block to many unsaved women who think that they must look like you when they become a Christian! It is possible to dress elegantly and tastefully and to look well-groomed without being sensual or focusing the attention on your body. The word 'sexy' does not belong in a Christian's vocabulary!

In the same breath a word of warning. You must guard against the devil keeping you occupied with nonsense. The devil is jumping up and down with joy when he has managed to remove your focus from the central and fundamental message of the Gospel to an appearance syndrome. Satan doesn't mind what you look like, as long as he can only destroy your testimony -- as long as you are only ineffective in reaching others with the Gospel! As long as you just don't look like a princess of God!

If the devil cannot keep you this side of the mountain top of spiritual usefulness and fruitfulness, he will try and push you over the top, down the other side -- as long as your testimony has no impact for the Kingdom of God. The devil will try and occupy you with the appearance syndrome to the extend that every well-groomed and elegantly dressed woman is a stumbling block to you. As long as you can only assist in fanning the flames of division and winning as few souls for Christ as possible!

Has the Church lost its salt?

To many churches the law of God is something that has passed away. Preaching on the subject of sin and its consequences has become an unpopular Gospel. In many churches the only message congregants hear is that of love, speaking life, and positive faith, while Sunday services remind of a rock-concert. Men and women come to church in denim-jeans and women with skinny pants and mini dresses to the extend that little difference is noticeable between Saturday evening's party and Sunday morning worship service! How tragic that some churches have no standard anymore!

Phylicia Masonheimer (a pastor's wife) writes as follows in her article, 'Modesty, Yoga Pants and 5 Myths You Need to Know': "The issue here is not that I wore yoga pants. The issue isn’t yoga pants at all, but the principle of the matter. The pants are skin tight. You can see every curve of my lower body. Not only is it attractive to Mr. M, but from several informal interviews, comments and input from other men, it’s a recurring blind spot with Christian women everywhere. It’s about how hot I look, or how I want to dress, regardless of what anybody thinks."

Kyle Donn writes as follows in his article, ‘The Dangerous Allure of “ Sexy Christianity’. “..., “I’ve got style…and heart.” And when our “style” starts to get a little too close to our “heart,” our faith begins to become as skin-deep as the skinny jeans we like to wear. … Because Sexy Christianity feels pretty good until someone throws a stone at you…or starts a thread of gossip about you…or sends you hate mail…or bullies your kid. … Our culture has hijacked our faith, given it a make-over and has begun selling it for cheap.” … (For the apostles) the Gospel was the hill they would literally die on, and there was nothing cool about it. The world hated them for it. Here is where “Sexy Christianity” starts to crumble. … When a believer is more interested in the idea of loving Jesus than actually loving Jesus, then that is not Christianity. … And we ought to wage a war of wrath upon it — mortifying, dismembering and crucifying it, and then putting it in a tomb where it belongs. … As Martin Luther once said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing is worth nothing.”

Let me summarise. I hear you say, Christianity is an issue of the heart -- not outward appearance. Fair and well, but your skinny pants and mini dress are telling me volumes of what is going on in your heart!  I hear you say, but I can come to Jesus just as I am -- yes, but you cannot remain with Him as you are! You can go to church with your skinny jeans just like you are -- but if you continue to go to church like that, you have either never heard the Gospel in your church, or have never seen the Gospel in those around you -- or you are hardened and blinded by sin!

A revelation of your heart

I have said at the beginning that you will see the complete picture only at the end. If this article has triggered a feeling of rebellion in your heart, I have achieved my purpose. You may find this statement strange. Why would I want to trigger a feeling of rebellion in your heart? Well, you see, if this message has done so, this is where the problem lies! The problem does not only lie with your dress, the problem I want to address is the condition of your heart -- and how you react to this message, reveals that!

Has this message triggered a feeling of rebellion in your innermost being? Know then that God is busy revealing to you the condition of your heart! That feeling of rebellion that you are experiencing is a symptom of an unholy heart.

You may think that I am the cause of your problem, but that feeling of rebellion you are experiencing is the true feeling that lives in your heart towards God. Some may be of the opinion that I am legalistic. Some may deem me as speaking death over you. There will even be some who will accuse me of uttering a curse over you. Don't be misled by deceiving rhetoric. 'Don't cling to a stranger's trousers.' There is only one reaction that will set you free -- that is humiliation! Humiliate yourself before God. Allow this condition of your heart to drive you out in repentance, seeking God with all your heart. Trust Him to cleanse you from every sin and rebellion, and you will become the partaker of an abundant life that will transcend your highest expectations!

If you are longing for a touch from God -- if you are longing for Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to you in His miraculous power -- if you are searching for an intervention from God in your life -- if you are longing for the smile of God over your life, there is only ONE response that will bring it about -- humiliation and repentance! Not denial, not resistance, not self-defence, not positive faith, not proclaiming life, not faith in yourself -- only humiliation! "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." In Psa 51:16,17 King David writes the following: "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise."

‍An abundant, purpose-driven life is your inheritance in Jesus Christ

Dear daughter, woman, son and man, Jesus Christ is the fountain of true life. Jesus is inviting you to come and drink from the fountain of life. Jesus is saying to you: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Joh 7:37,38.

Why do you want to drink from the broken cisterns of this world? You will drink and drink but your thirst will never be quenched. Only when you have drunk from the fountain of life, you will lose your appetite and thirst for the pleasures and satisfaction of this world. When you drink from Jesus Christ's fountain of living water, your life will be filled with inexhaustible fulfillment.

Jesus Christ is inviting you to a life of intimate communion with Himself and an abundant, purpose-driven life of victory over sin, Satan and the world! When you have tasted this life, you will never again long after the standards of the world and the meat pots of Egypt. If you want to know more about the abundant life that is every Christian's inheritance in Christ Jesus, please read 'The Secret Of The Covenant'.

Don't forget to read, 'Perhaps, Your Sins Are Not Forgiven'.