As silly as this may sound the other day I was flipping through the channels and stumbled across Morgan Freeman, who portrayed God in the movie Evan Almighty, make this quote. I thought it was a very interesting quote and certainly something to consider.

Hopes do you think you are being provided an opportunity here?

I'm sorry, but the Lord is not telling you this. You are lying to yourself. You are listening to your heart and calling it listening to the Lord.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/17-9.htm

I am certain the Lord wants you to be a part of a church, because He wrote that in His Word for all to see. But I am equally certain that He does not demand that people sit around and suffer in adulterous marriages. Again, because He wrote that in His Word for us all to see!! It's in red letters. It came out of the mouth of Jesus.


This is the problem. You want to tell yourself you don't have to do anything to get out of the work involved. You need to run, and you don't want to do it, so you'll blame the Lord for your inaction.


God did show you the way - He led you to Marriage Builders, didn't He? And then you chose to ignore the help provided?

Have you heard the story of the man on his roof in a flood who prayed for help from God?

The way out is here; you just don't want to do it.


Of course he said this. He LIKES getting to have his cake and eat it too. He likes doing two or more chicks at the same time. Any man would, if he could get away with it.

It will not recover your marriage. He will just proceed more boldly, while you end up in the hospital.

Has this pastor actually saved any marriages?

Why would you listen to this pastor if he hasn't saved any marriages and is out and out contradicting Jesus? Jesus did not say to forgive your adulterous spouse. He just didn't say that!

I am certain the Lord wants you to know that your sins did not cause this situation. It was caused by your lousy husband's sins. The husband who is putting you in the hospital by his sins. The husband who will put you in the hospital again by his sins. The husband that Jesus said you don't have to stay with.

But if you'd rather listen to a pastor who knows nothing and can't even get what Jesus said right, just because it makes it where you don't have to do anything, be my guest.

If you're standing in the road and a truck is about to mow you down and your friends and Jesus Christ shout "run" and a pastor says "stay where you are and see the glory of God!" are you going to listen to the pastor? That's your choice of course, but doing nothing is going to get you killed.

This place is all about shouting "run" when a train's about to run over you, instead of being an enabler while people plan their own destruction.

We don't want to see people hurt.

You did not answer my questions:


Do you really believe that people who divorce for adultery are not Christian? I would like an answer to this. Not only are you denying the teaching of Jesus so that you don't have to do anything and can stand there and let the truck hitting you, your position is very unmerciful towards those who are in trouble - you believe the Lord wants people to stand around and be hurt, when He said the opposite!

At the very least, even if I can't persuade you to get the help the Lord says you are entitled to, I can show other people who are listening that this is not what the Lord said, so they don't make the same mistake. I think it's very irresponsible for people like that pastor to go around contradicting Jesus and encouraging people to "forgive" adultery, when Jesus said nothing like that at all. And I believe it's irresponsible of you to do the same thing, just to make yourself feel better in your poor decision. Other people are watching and listening to you and will use what you say as they make their decisions. They need to know what Jesus really said about adultery, because sitting around in that trauma is the worst thing that could happen to any human being.

Do you want other people to wind up in the hospital constantly while they put up with adultery in their marriage and call it "Christian"?

No Markos I don't think people who divorce for adultery are not Christians. The Bible is clear that is a reason for divorce. However back to that experience I had on the way back from Galveston. I don't completely think this is entirely my husbands fault. In fact there is one out there that came to steal, kill, and destroy. I firmly believe that it was some sort of attack and my husband was not strong enough. Now I am worried about him. He is loosing weight and is really down about this. I am ok though Jesus fixed my heart. I don't hurt anymore. I just listen to my music and it makes me feel better. Its like praising Him healed me.

I went to a church but it wasn't a good fit. I agreed with some of the stuff he said. I liked that he said don't let old sins keep you from growing as a Christian. That when God forgives your sins are as far as the east is to the west. That was a good message for hubby. However one part of it didn't sit right with me so I had to leave. It might be just me and I am not a theologian but it seemed wrong.

I don't know if going to a church right now is the right thing for me. Its been a lot and I don't feel exactly ready for prime time yet. Plus I always had problems with churches I like some of what they say but disagree with other things. I kind of took bits a pieces of what everyone said and made my own version.

Anyway sorry if my decision upset you. That was not my intent.

Hopes

Hopes-Do you believe God makes people do things or not do things?

I hear excuses and denial, it is not going to get you anywhere.

God doesn't just forgive, you must be repentant. Catholics have confession. God has accountability.

Not letting your old sins wear you down, is not whalloping in the past. LEARN from your mistakes and move forward.

Your husband made a choice, not once but twice. That is not weakness. That is not learning from your mistakes.

I'm also curious if you are aware of what being a Free Moral Agent means in the eyes of god and how this would apply to how god interacts with people.

I know it will sound nuts but I mentioned that was the trip from hell, well it was. First we are going thru Oklahoma City in bad traffic and then the tornados hit. I am driving that rental car as fast as I can in that kind of traffic. We were maybe 20 to 30 min ahead of them. On the radio they are screaming something about them being rain wrapped. It was pretty stressful.

OK we get to Houston finally. We are almost to the bridge and for some reason they closed the whole freeway. This is like 1 am or so? Hardly any traffic and so we have to exit the freeway and those people do not know how to build an off ramp. Hubby has to use the rest room and suddenly there�s a ton of traffic zipping all over the place, these people will not let us over so he can find a bathroom.

Finally we get to the bridge and to the island. We were going watch the sunrise on the beach and then go back to our room. Somehow the bank card now does not work. All we have is the cash on hand and they gave our room away. No other rooms to be had that are not a king�s ransom. Oh I almost forgot, I walked probably 10 feet onto that beach and a piece of glass lodged itself into the inside of my Crocs and cut the bottom of my foot. I can�t get the glass out of my shoe so now I am shoeless in the dark trying to enjoy the beach while my foot is bleeding all over.

So we watch the sunrise and start looking for a room. We are very tired by now. We drive 250 miles away from the beach before we find a room in our price range because the card still isn�t working. We get into this room and hubby says something is biting him. I freak thinking bed bugs so now we can�t stay there either. More driving until hubby can�t drive no more. He pulls over and sleeps for a few hours in the car.

Later we stop for gas and to use the restroom. People already think I am nuts so why not? I either found the only haunted bathroom in Texas or something else was in there and I don�t believe in ghosts. So we drive and drive and drive and all a sudden the bank card works now. It still works fine, just quit working long enough to ruin the closest thing to a honeymoon we ever got.

Then there is this, I love my husband dearly for who he is on the inside. He�s not a young guy, he�s 45 bald and more salt than pepper, I love him and I wouldn�t have him any other way. Anyway so a 27 yr old throws herself at a bald grey haired old man? It can�t be because of money because we don�t have any. Yeah and Brad Pitt is gonna show up here on bended knee to profess his love for me (sarcasm). This whole thing has been a bit too weird. Nothing makes sense so I am thinking it might be some sort of satanic attack.

I am not saying he is innocent but I do think there's something to this. Am I wrong?

Here's what God says about that:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.1 Corinthians 10:13

Stop making excuses for your husband. Satan certainly tempted him, but he did not drag him to sin kicking and screaming. Your husband CHOSE to give in. Your husband, and your husband alone, is responsible for his actions.

What relevance does this have to your situation, Hopes?

20Yr

I can say yes and no. God did sorta make Jonah do what he wanted because he had him swallowed up by a fish. But for the most part No I don't think he makes people do things. I am not sure what you mean by your other statement.

Maybe I am in denial I don't know. Its all so much right now. I probably have to talk to my new Dr. because I keep getting these strange thoughts about all this but they cant be right. I am thinking it must be my illness but just coming out differently than last time. Sorry if I cant explain it better its a little hard to explain.

Yes

You are ignoring humans free will. Did he have a gun to his head?

You are driving yourself crazy with this, this is NOT healthy!!!!! Even the sanest of people are driven beyond by betrayal.

Even if he was 'weak' for a moment, this is at least the 2nd time you know of. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Insanity: doing over and over again, expecting a different result.

Maybe your right. I just wish I had someone to talk to irl that don't have the keys to an institution to lock me up in. If my kid ever comes back with my car I might go to the park and clear my head. That's another thing. My kids are almost all grown but they live with me and are making me crazy. They are lazy and don't listen or help out. They backtalk and I am telling oldest son tonight he's got 6 months and by then he needs a place of his own. He is 25 and I am really having trouble dealing with him. Sometimes I feel like running out of here screaming and never coming back.

Your right about the Church, I am going to force myself to go to a different one. I went there before a long time ago They had good music. Kind of Christian pop music. Anyway I can least try it I guess. It was in the middle of town, I just got to remember which one it was.

Why isn't your 25 son on his own? Why are your adult children living with you?

Hopes, why don't you talk to Dr. Harley of Marriage Builders?

mbradio@marriagebuilders.com

He used to run a large chain of mental health clinics in Minnesota before he did Marriage Builders. He dealt with a really, really wide variety of situations.

Hopes, I encourage you to visit lots of churches till you find the right one. Remember though that your focus is not on the people there, people will always fail. God never fails. So yes, it is important to find a church where the pastor and the flock have the same ideology as you do, but at the end of the day you go there to worship God, to hear from his word and to renew your spirit.