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Post by Nikkol on May 7, 2007 8:33:14 GMT -5
I wanted to share this letter with you guys...... also to see what thoughts that you had as it relates to the church and how this situation should be handled: STRAWBERRY LETTER FOR TODAY Date: 05/07/2007 Subject: Torn between the Preacher and the Deacon Dear Shirley, Steve. Carla, and Tommy; I am a 27 year old disciple of a mega church in the DC area… I have a problem in which I would like for you all to read and I am open for all your opinion and trust me I am ready for the feed back from Steve and yourself Shirley. Today I went out with one of the deacons of the church and he explained to me he have became closer and will like our relationship to grow, he stated to me, he do like the inner and outer qualities about myself. One suggestion that he made, I will need to become more active in the church in order for the suspicious of him selecting me to do things in the church will not become obvious. That is not the problem, Shirley the problem comes where I have been also sleeping with the PREACHER of this church…In which the preacher have ask me not to make myself known that much in church in order to keep our relationship a secret. Also, for the first lady not to know who I am at all. Trust me the preacher and deacon have been taking care of me at home and in the bed. Please tell me what I should do. Also, Shirley and Steve and the listeners of the Steve Harvey Morning Show. I am a MAN …who is not openly gay and no one would ever expect that I am sleeping with the head deacon and the preacher of their wonderful church. Thanks for your time and the opinions in which i will receive from the staff and the general public. Laverne. The comments made thus far can be found HERE |
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Post by Beck on May 7, 2007 9:27:38 GMT -5
I don't even know how to respond to something like this... Its clear the homosexual doesnt want to change, he just wants drama. Its clear the pastor doesnt want to change, he doesnt even believe his own preaching. Its clear the deacon doesnt want to be christian, he wants to live in Sin...
Sad... very sad... Perversion has taken over the Church.
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Post by And Such Were Some Of You on May 7, 2007 10:11:24 GMT -5
Out of the 3 people involved (and only hearing one side of the story) it seems none of them want to live right.
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Post by livinganewlife on May 7, 2007 11:11:07 GMT -5
This is a hot mess and an issue that no one in the churches won't to speak out against...... I am attending a funeral on tomorrow of a young man who has died of AIDS; who informed me that he was dating several well known preachers across this country..... He didn't want to change and had no intentions of changing.....he was of course living very LARGE....... But when he became obviously ill this boy decides he wanted a wife to cover up because all the Bishops he was running with got "skerred" to see one of their adjutants or assistants stricken with a questionable disease and still single..... I am sick of this mess and I am sick of these punks covering up their mess by marrying these desperate single women and no one is speaking out against this...... But everyone want to talk about how tight and short a woman's dress is  I guess no one can preach out against anything when the Head Deacon and Pastor are both on the down low..... That letter is a hot mess but not unusual at all if folks would just open their eyes........ |
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Post by Nikkol on May 7, 2007 12:03:48 GMT -5
Question #1:
Would you (general) be just as upset if the person that wrote the letter was a woman? Is the extra emphasis that we put on the issue based on gender? If so, why?
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Post by krazeeboi on May 7, 2007 23:12:39 GMT -5
Good God.
Sis. Nikkol, the fact that this is a gay love triangle going on adds another level of sin to an already heavily sinful situation.
I agree that this guy does NOT want to do the right thing; he's just wallowing in the drama. So my first bit of advice is this: get the Holy Ghost and get delivered![/i]
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Post by nina2 on May 8, 2007 4:15:04 GMT -5
If the situation described in this letter is in fact actually happening, imho the issue is not gay or not. It is sin, and sin is sin, whether the person is gay or straight, man or woman.....
Regardless of our personal feelings, what prevails and stands is God's word.
I don't know how it should be handled.... Is it happening? It is a topic that keeps coming to the surface more and more often. It seems to me that for one proeminent Christian leader who is exposed - by the secular world - many, privately, breathe a sigh of relief that it was not them. Do they change? Why should they?
I think that, and that's just me, it is time to set some things straight, no pun intended.... The Bible says "love covers a lot of sins", it does not say "love covers up a lot of sins."
The church at large is going to, and should already have, made some critical choices, one of them being - again, just my opinion - to stop trying to be politically correct...
Maybe the question is do we fear God less than we fear the world?
Or, we (general) can go further and ask ourselves: What do we have to lose?
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Post by giantsdodie on May 8, 2007 8:17:01 GMT -5
Sad torn between two men but none of the men we are torn up about is JESUS....
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Post by stillfocused on May 8, 2007 12:41:56 GMT -5
We lose alot..and this is happening more and more across our country. Sadly, many are being hurt and torn between loyalities. How many have walked away from the Lord because the madness ? God is pulling the covers ..there must be a turning back to the Lord..as many have forgotten about their First Love..because the focus has been on the song, the dance, the gift of prophesy, the worship, the Man and Woman of God, and other things that seem important..dresses, hats, etc..ugly as this truth maybe it's a very good example of idoltry. Sad, the enemy didn't have to destroy anyone..because man's selfishess many are destroying themselves and pulling everyone down that they can with them.
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Post by nina2 on May 9, 2007 6:08:59 GMT -5
We do lose a lot.
Most of us can quote Malachi 3:10-12 by heart... Yet, if we keep reading, just a little, God says:
Malachi Ch. 3
14. You have said, "It is futile to serve God, and what profit do we get for keeping His charge and for going about in anxious worry because of the Lord of Hosts?"
15. And now we praise the bold transgressors. Yea, those who work wickedness are built up. Yea, they tempt God, and they have, nevertheless, escaped.
16. Then the God-fearing men spoke to one another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared the Lord and for those who valued His name highly.
17. And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, for that day when I make a treasure. And I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
18. And you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who has not served Him.
The fact is that if the Bible mentions the fear of the Lord so many times, God's people should pay attention. And, there are many benefits when they do:
Prov. 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Prov. 15:16 Better [is] little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Prov. 15:33 The fear of the LORD [is] the instruction of wisdom; and before honour [is] humility.
Prov. 22:4 By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life.
Even Isaiah, prophecying and speaking of the coming Messiah:
Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
And in the beginnings of the church:
Act 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
Maybe it's easier to talk about God's love than the fear of God. However, if we try to explain it better, it's not a contradiction:
"We love God best when we love Him for Who He is, in all His Glory (i.e., unconditionally) rather than for all the great good He grants us (i.e., conditionally, and only occasionally).
Let's touch upon the idea of "fearing" Him, which is a notion that many people are troubled by.
An alternative translation of the term for fear ("yirah", in Hebrew) is "awe", which is actually the highest form of yirah. For when we fear God's might, we tend to draw away from Him, whereas when we stand in awe of it we tend to draw closer to Him in sheer wonder.
In short, "loving" and "fearing" God comes to an intense relationship to Him that’s expressed either by an ardent yearning for Him, or a stunned dread of Him.
The "higher" sort of fear (or "awe") is referred to as "reverence for God's Grandeur".
It’s rooted in the realization of two truisms: "that God's Presence is found everywhere, and that He involves Himself in everything, great and small"; in the teeming appreciation of the fact that "nothing is hidden from God, either... great or small, scant or imposing"; and in the idea that "wherever you are, you stand in His Presence" (Ch. 25)."
As Giants said:
Selah
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Post by stillfocused on May 9, 2007 11:27:46 GMT -5
Nina2..you're correct !! There is no fear of God..because we are not being taught that it all begins and ends with the fear of the Lord !!
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