| Author | Message | ||
| Madelia (Madelia) |
I have a prayer request for my husband Sam and for me also. I think I wrote a while back about his plans for a Bible Prophecy seminar. It started last night. Only 3 people from outside the SDA church came. A few from the SDA church came as well as the pastor. I have such ambivalent feelings about the whole thing. Because I love him, I want things to go well. He was nervous, I think, because the pastor was there and his voice was loud, like shouting (at least it sounded that way to me.) He's using the Doug Batchelor Storacles series. I don't like the format, because all you do is look up Bible verses and fill in the blank. There is no discussion and you have to use the KJV in order to fill in the blanks correctly. On the other hand, I want these meetings to fail miserably and that the non-SDAs attending will question the lessons and hopefully open up his eyes (and maybe the other SDAs there too). | ||
| Colleentinker (Colleentinker) |
Madelia, I will pray that you will have the mind of Christ to know how to love and support your husband through this in a way that honors God. Your desire for the meetings to "fail" is not necessarily contradictory to wanting your husband to do well. Only God know what's needed right now; perhaps if the meetings "fail miserably" it will cause a question to grow in your husband's mind. I think it's fair to pray that God will protect those who come from falling into error while also praying that you can be a loving wife. Ask God to protect your heart and mind and to put his love for your husband in your heart so you can know how to embrace both your conviction of SDA deception and your commitment to your husband. And why not pray that something will happen in your husband's mind that will cause him to begin to question as he leads these meetings? You are in my prayers. BTW, I'd like to ask for prayer for our 16-yr-old son today. He's having his wisdom teeth out this afternoon, and he's nervous. (All right, I am too!) I know it's "routine"; I know our older son survived, but--well--I know how miserable he'll be for a day or two. So I'mm requesting prayers for an uneventful surgery and a quick recovery for him. Thanks! Colleen | ||
| Cindy (Cindy) |
Madalia, You have a tough situation. I get kind of sick to my stomach remembering all the Revelation Seminars and/or Amazing Facts "crusades" we were involved in. It is a challenge that only Gods' Spirit can meet...to give you a love for the people while still having a Godly anger over the legalistic doctrines espoused in these studies. You are in my prayers. grace always, cindy | ||
| Cindy (Cindy) |
Oops! I guess it is Madelia! | ||
| Cindy (Cindy) |
Colleen, Will pray your son has a quick recovery! It's good he has the weekend to rest... grace always, cindy | ||
| Madelia (Madelia) |
Colleen, Hope your son's surgery went well. I went with my husband to the seminar last night; I asked to stay at home tonight. Last night only one of the non-SDA's came. He can't come tonight, so I'm thinking there could potentially be no non-SDA's there. Apparently one of the people that came the first night is into the New Age movement and believes Christ has already come and established his kingdom on earth. I was in another room with the kids at the time and missed the whole discussion. He is supposed to come again tonight. I find how interesting the SDA's can exaggerate numbers. The pastor sent out an e-mail to the church members saying the first night was a success and that 10 people attended (that would have included the pastor, me, my husband and the 3 kids there!) And at the service this morning it was announced that 16 had attended. They must have added up the numbers from both Thursday and Friday night to come up with 16  | ||
| Colleentinker (Colleentinker) |
Madelia, I'm sure they did add the numbers. When I worked at The Quiet Hour in the mid-80's, I was ass't. editor of their monthly journal, an assignment which meant I was also copy editor. I was proof-reading one article written by the then- (now deceased) director (the founder's son) in which he recounted the tale of his recent evangelistic outreach in some other country. He had stated that the auditorium held so many thousands of people, and he had also said that the meetings lasted a certain number of nights. Then, in a later paragraph, he stated that something like 63,000 people had attended the meetings. I saw right away that he had added a capacity crowd for each night to come up with that number. Such a number would have meant that each night, a completely new crowd of people had attended. I mentioned the problem to him, and instead of acknowledging it, he became--we'll say UPSET. The number remained. Our son's surgery was uneventful, and he's now fine with a noticably puffy right cheek and some low-level aching. (That right lower molar must have been especially large!) Thanks for your prayers! Colleen | ||
| Sabra (Sabra) |
Susan praying for you and hoping that your side is better. Madelia, Praying for you to have wisdom and to uplift your husband even though you don't agree and that God will work in his heart and the others in the church that He would lift the veil and show His truth. Colleen, hope your son is better by now. Glad you are all done with wisdom teeth now! It is rough, I remember! Praise God that all went well. | ||
| Madelia (Madelia) |
Thanks everyone for your prayers. I'm glad your son feels better Colleen. And yes, Susan I hope you're feeling better | ||
| Terryk (Terryk) |
Hi everyone. Just want you all to pray for us on the east coast. They have us geared up for a big storm. It is crazy here you can not find a c battery in the state of Maryland. We have our lights and everything ready. Thanks for the prayers. Terryk | ||
| Melissa (Melissa) |
I have a selfish request... This is my last week off after a 6-month maternity leave. God has been so faithful, providing for all my financial needs, I am only now in a bit of a pinch, but I'll get through it. So, I am very very thankful that he has seen me through. (I was afraid I would run out of money in August as I planned my savings. But God is bigger.) B gave me a little money to help with the medical expenses and that was an unexpected surprise. So, I'm thankful that God has provided. However, it's time to put some space between B and me. My mentors had counselled me before I had the baby that I should stop letting B run my life and I have bent over backwards trying to allow him to enjoy the baby as much as possible. But nothing is better, and the longer I maintain the moral standard I set for myself, the angrier he gets. But God has been so faithful, hearing other prayers and literally changing my desires for the relationship. There was a day that I thought 5 days a week was better than none. But I don't need to compromise myself like that. When God has the right person for me, it will not be Monday - Friday only. Anyway, B has made comments in the past when "visitation" was discussed that he wanted the baby to live with him. He made the comment again tonight. I know once I make the move and his time with Jonathan is not at his every whim, the battle will begin. But I have to stay true to God and just like Pheeki on another thread is defeated by the other website, trying to be "fair" to him without compromising myself is wearing me out. I have talked to my mentors, and Mr. Mentor has talked to the elder board about the possibility of a mediation case coming to them (B had said he did not want to go to court, but would let the elders at my church or somewhere else hear the case and decide what is best ... I think he had been listening to David Jeremiah talking about 1 Corin 6 ... Christians in courts.) Very, very selfishly, I want my son to stay with me. I am going to consult an attorney just to cover those bases in case B does want to go that way, but besides the issue of custody and visitation, I would like to get some child support to help with expenses if he is granted joint custody (without being the custodial parent). All children need their fathers. My other children go to my ex's regularly. I just want him to live with me. I know he thinks I've been unfair. But he's nursing and I have a good excuse to limit his time away from me right now. I just want to protect him when that excuse is gone. So, that's my request ... in a nutshell ... that I can keep my son. Thanks. | ||
| Thomas1 (Thomas1) |
Melissa, There are some things that the courts are REQUIRED for. This is one of them. See the attorney! Get the court orders. Keep your son and have the required papers to make sure that the problems do not become greater, later. Our prayers are with you. This guy sounds like a real bozo! In His grip <>< Thomas | ||
| Chris (Chris) |
Melissa, I believe that Paul was chiding the Corinthians for suing each other over all kinds of petty disputes that could have been settled in a Godly way within the church. I don't think that should be construed to mean that we should not deal with civil authorities for matters that are primarily legal in nature. One obvious example, we can get married in a church, but we still work with civil authorities to get the license and other documentation making it legal. Making sure that your child does not become a pawn in a never ending tug of war and making sure that he is adequately provided for can best be accomplished through a legally binding agreement, or if necessary, a ruling. If B will abide by the recomendation of the church elders it would still be pretty valuable to have a lawyer draw the agreement up and make it legal. I only share these thoughts because when my parents divorced (on a semi-friendly basis) they thought they could do it without legally defining issues such as visitation, and child support. In subsequent years both of these issues became on again off again ugly battles and it was us kids that suffered the most in this tug-of-war. A legally binding agreement would have gone a long ways towards peace I believe. May God protect and bless you and your son. May His plan for your lives be done, and may He make all this to work together for good. Chris | ||
| Sabra (Sabra) |
Terry, I have been praying for the hurricane and I know lots of others are too. I think you are out of the path that far up. Still will keep you in prayer. Melissa, You should have no problem keeping your baby. I would strongly recommend you get full custody and he can have visitiation rights and pay child support still. You need to see an attorney and get a court appointed one if you can't afford it. I would definately not let him have joint custody at all, that just gets you into all sorts of problems. I will keep you in prayer and belive that God will be there for you. | ||
| Colleentinker (Colleentinker) |
Melissa, I also agree that you need a legal ruling. You also need an advocate. One other thought re: Paul's counsel about brothers not suing each other--he was literally talking about Christian brothers in Christ. From what you have said, I question whether B is really a Christian "brother" to you. When custody becomes an issue, people you thought you knew often reveal things about themselves you did not think possible. I speak from painful experience. I will pray for you and for your son. Terry, I've also been praying about the hurricane. I will continue to do so. Colleen | ||
| Sabra (Sabra) |
Guys, I need some prayer here. My mom is coming up again on Oct. 3, you know how it was last time. Please pray that it will go well and I guess she will go to church with us again so pray that God will be leading that service and that it wont freak her out too much. Last time she said it was too loud and too much getting up and down (we some praisin', shouting folks) ;) But she did like the sermon. I'm thinking if I get her in the balcony it wont be so loud. Just pray!!! Thanks! | ||
| Terryk (Terryk) |
Thanks everyone for your prayers. The storm has been down graded but still not out of the woods yet. i will give you update tomorrow. /god Bless you all for your friendship and love. | ||
| Lydell (Lydell) |
Sabra, praying for you. If she does visit your church then it is definitely all in God's hands. He has a way of arranging things. I'm thinking of when my folks (staunch Baptist) first visited our church(a Vineyard). I'd been praying that the Lord would PLEASE not have a particular couple sit in front of us. They were pretty enthusiastic and real distracting dancers (and neither had a lick of ryhthm. ha) So, guess what they didn't sit there,nope,instead it was the new Christian with the tattoo of the naked woman on his arm. sheesh I didn't dare ask what their opinion of the service was. Finally they brought it up themselves later in the day when they were commenting on the friendliness of the people, says mom,"well I tell you one thing about your church, you sure do have a fantastic drummer!" Says straightlaced dad,"well, I think ALL the musicians were just fantastic!" I'm sorry, I know this is very serious. It's just been a rather stressful day here, and my brain gets goofy when I'm stressed. But girlfriend, you just never know what kind of things the Lord will choose to challenge your mom that day! Will be praying. Praying for you as well, Melissa! I know you are nervous and concerned. May you be encouraged in remembering that the Lord loves your child even more than you do. This is not just an issue of you, this is an issue of the Lord's love for your child as well. Okay, I've lost track, how old is your baby? | ||
| Melissa (Melissa) |
Jonathan is 6 months old...Thanks everyone for the encouragement. The enemy has a way of trying to sugar-coat the situation and I tend to "tolerate" a little longer. But I know I should have acted long ago. I tried too hard to be "fair". Just not sure fair to who. But I'm trying to look forward without any further regrets. I know Jonathan is in God's hands and I also know it's rare for a judge to take a child away from a mother. But this isn't a normal father. I'm just not sure what the courts might do. But God knows. (...and I'm glad to get the "okay" to go that way. I felt very strongly I needed something legally binding.) I just need the strength to stand firm and do what I know God has called me to do. Glad you're doing okay Terry. | ||
| Sabra (Sabra) |
Lydell, you are cracking me up. I didn't know your parents were Baptist. We had one of those praisers in front of us too. Now, mind you, I don't sit in my seat with my arms folded but this girl was just delivered from witchcraft and she can do some praising! Mom just stared at her. Our church is so full of diffferent types of people it really is amusing sitting in the choir. We have a lady that dances with her prayer shawl, lots more that just dance in the aisle and it was traditional baptist until about 10 years ago and the sign says Central Baptist so we have lots of visitors that just sit and watch everything. No one speaks in tongues in church because the pastor believes strongly in the guidelines given to the Corinthians but I hope if anyone gets slain in the Spirit she doesn't run out the door! I need to get to bed! |
