Different Environments, Same DNA = Splendorous Results!

"In nature, we have a flowering shrub called a Bigleaf Hydrangea. If you took the seed of that shrub and planted it in the soil of Indiana, it would yield pink flowers when it blooms. If you took that same seed and planted it in the soil of Brazil or Poland, it would produce blue flowers. And if you took the same exact seed and planted it in another kind of soil, it would yield purple flowers. (The reason has to do with the different ph levels in the various soils.) However, the Bigleaf Hydrangea will never produce thorns or thistles. It will never bear oranges or apples. Nor will it grow tall like a tree.  Why? These features are not within the DNA of the seed.

In the same way, the church of Jesus Christ . . . when planted properly and left on its own without humanly-devised interference . . . will produce certain features by virtue of its DNA. Like the Bigleaf Hydrangea, it may look different from culture to culture, but it will have the same basic form wherever it is allowed to flourish. However, when man introduces human traditions into this living organism, the church loses her organic features and produces foreign elements that run contrary to its DNA."

- Frank Viola, Present Testimony Ministries