Struggling with something

[Dude653]

Has God ever given you an assignment that you don't want to do?
A man from my church had not been to church in while, so I asked his wife where he has been. She told me that he is in jail. I figured it was just some drug charge or something. I felt that God was telling me to write him a letter and tell him that we havent forgotten him.

I recently found out why he is in jail. He violated a young girl. I am so angry and disgusted. Nothing in this world angers me more than for someone to harm a child. I feel that God is telling me to reach out to him and tell him that God still loves him and that we still love him, however I don't want to do it. I am torn between having compassion and fogiveness and hoping that he never sees the light of day again. If God is telling me to do it, then I guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and be obedient.

 

[kenisyes]

God will keep after you until you do.

I know a man who was told by God 3 times during the day to deviate from where he needed to drive to for his job and see a certain man at the hospital. He knew the man, and knew that he was close to finding Jesus. Each time the man said "later". The fourth time he went to the hospital as directed. The man had just died a few minutes earlier.

 

[BarlyGurl]

Hi Dude...
I appreciate your candor. In light of the information you have given, IMO, it is inappropriate to write a letter that says. "God still Loves you and we still love you" because too often this type of wording can be interpreted as "absolution" or worse "acceptance" of the wrong doing. You are RIGHT to feel angry about this mans actions... that is righteousness... yet it must be disciplined... lest it take hold in you to become bitterness.
This man has been found guilty of an egregious crime and being punished by the penal system... he is getting a deserved punishment. I am inclined to think the Lord is using this scenario as a "honing" experience to grow and develop your character... as in... if you weren't in this situation.... you wouldn't be struggling with the spiritual ethics... make sense?
IMO... you should not contact this person at all until you have the "matured" in this area beyond your sense of struggle. I would encourage you to seek instruction and study... but leave the outreach to more mature believers. IMO it is likely the Lord is preparing you for ministry.
Putting myself in your shoes... If I really felt "PRESSED" to contact this person... I would send a brief note offering to supply him with a bible and bible study materials if he wished to work on his personal realtionship with the Lord while incarcerated... and follow thru accordingly... but that is all. THis man is not entitled to the bonds of fellowship until he makes a personal repentant apology with actions that support his sincerity.
Keep in mind this man is a SCHEMER... he didn't commit this crime by accident.

 

[BarlyGurl]

God will keep after you until you do.

I know a man who was told by God 3 times during the day to deviate from where he needed to drive to for his job and see a certain man at the hospital. He knew the man, and knew that he was close to finding Jesus. Each time the man said "later". The fourth time he went to the hospital as directed. The man had just died a few minutes earlier.

IMO that is a very poor comparison scenario and an overall superficial answer considering the details contained in the OTP.

 

[BarlyGurl]

I should also throw out that I do know of a man who spent 7 years in prison for sexual assault against a minor... his step daughter... to have her recant her accusation as an adult. Her explanation was that she was a confused angryand messed up girl who directed her wrath at him to make him "go away" .

 

[intercessorginger]

Oh..yeah..I've been there!
Once I lived next door to an Alcoholic who routinely drank himself into a supor and slept on the porch. I did everything to avoid this fellow, until I felt the Holy Spirit urging me to invite him to church! I tried to disobey this voice but it kept at me and finally I did obey. Would you belive this man actually took a shower and dressed for church and was brightly converted that day!!!
He quit drinking and became a member of the church and later moved in with his son who lived in the Midwest. Ifound out from his son (who is a pastor) that they had been praying for that man for over 20 years and he would not listen to a one of them!
Who knew a young girl..who did want to..would be the one that God would use ?
My advice..obey the Lord..you will be so blessed that you did!!!

 

[WolfInOxHide]

OP, if you feel God is telling you to do it, do it.

Satan sure isn't telling you to do it, because a house divided cannot stand. He'd rather see that man be cut off from hope.

 

[1Christianwarrior316]

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Do as the spirit leads you to do.


In Christ, 1Christianwarrior316

 

[kenisyes]

IMO that is a very poor comparison scenario and an overall superficial answer considering the details contained in the OTP.

Okay, let's talk about it.

1. Are you seriously advocating that someone should not listen to God? There is nothing unScriptural about the text of the letter, and God still does love the man, and I sincerely hope that the man's church does as well.
2. Are you certain that what God has in store for Dude is not something different than He has in store for you? You don't know: perhaps Dude is the person who can lead that guy to true repentance and healing, and it starts with a letter.
3. How do you know if Dude is mature enough for this? He honestly separates his feelings (hoping he never sees the light of day again) from God's (compassion and forgiveness). Dude calls it an "assignment from God"; you call it "feeling pressed".
4. My experience is that the guy probably knows what the Bible says ("missing from church"). He needs to know if someone is living by it.

It's great that you provided a four point educational outline for Dude. A lot of people learn that way. But then there's the time when Jesus had 5000 men to feed, and He told His disciples, "you give them something to eat." That was effective teaching, too, judging by the fact that there is now a worldwide Church.

Let's ask this: What would YOU do to "follow up accordingly". Especially given the third post you added. There are many different ways to minister. It would be interesting to come back to this thread in a week, and hear what happened when Dude did what God said, and to hear what you would have done.

 

[MaggieMye]

Dude 653: Sexual molestation/violation IS an horrendous deed against another, child or not. But it is so important to remember a few things:
~Jesus dies for their sins too!
~The odds are VERY good that this person was also violated as a child. When that happens, the door to his soul is opened and the enemy steps in and goes forth and multiplies (the demonic LOVE to multiply their deeds!).
~The Perp is demonized...he needs Jesus and he is a captive that needs to be set free....free from the pain and anger that, in his mind, justify his behavior; free from the torment of having been abused; free from the INIQUITY that is the propensity to violate God's word...and this is passed down to any children he might father.
~Remember also, that just because a person goes to church, does NOT mean he KNOWS the Lord!! Satan goes to church...or his minions do...and they sit beside people and cause them to slumber so as to NOT HEAR ("GIVE THEM EARS TO HEAR!); they cause them to misunderstand and to even hear things that are not said!
Remember...always consider the SOURCE from which evil comes. Try to look BEHIND the person and see that there is demonic influence at play and that the person ...the pawn, if you will, has NO CLUE that they are being used as a tool of the devil.
THEN...look at the person in love and ASK GOD what He would have you do SO that this person CAN be set free and truly know and love and serve the Lord.
Maggie

 

[Dude653]

It's weird when it someone you have had fellowship with, prayed with, say down and ate with Part of me wants to pray for him, to tell him that God will forgive him, while part me wants to see him locked away for life.

 

[BarlyGurl]

Okay, let's talk about it. sure[COLOR="Orange"][/COLOR]

1. Are you seriously advocating that someone should not listen to God? Not at all, Dude specifically said he was STRUGGLING, that alludes that he is not certain. There is nothing unScriptural about the text of the letter, and God still does love the man, and I sincerely hope that the man's church does as well. I didn't SAY it was unscriptural... I cautioned about the potential for "love" vocabulary to be misinterpreted as acceptance
2. Are you certain that what God has in store for Dude is not something different than He has in store for you? This question is just provocative... you make this presumption... I made no allusion. THe majority of my points were prefaced with IN MY OPINION, I wasn't instructing him what to do. He asked for input, I gave mine with respect to the details he presented, as opposed to glossing over the grim details and giving a generalized answer. You don't know: perhaps Dude is the person who can lead that guy to true repentance and healing, and it starts with a letter. YOU don't know either, nothing in my post can be construed as baring that. My position was cautionary and intended to encourage, so unless DUDE feels that I was trying to QUASH his spiritual growth... your complaints are baseless.
3. How do you know if Dude is mature enough for this? UMMM... because if he was mature in this area... he wouldn't be having the ethical dilema, and I commended him for his pursuit in righteousness He honestly separates his feelings (hoping he never sees the light of day again) from God's (compassion and forgiveness). Dude calls it an "assignment from God"; you call it "feeling pressed". Now you quibbling over words in defense of Dude... who at thr time of my writing has made no indication of being offended. I find that remarkable that you are so quit to "Jump" on me for a presumed offense against Dude... but failed to address the complex nature of the scenario Dude presented.
4. My experience is that the guy probably knows what the Bible says ("missing from church"). He needs to know if someone is living by it.

It's great that you provided a four point educational outline for Dude. A lot of people learn that way. But then there's the time when Jesus had 5000 men to feed, and He told His disciples, "you give them something to eat." That was effective teaching, too, judging by the fact that there is now a worldwide Church. Sorry but the continuity of your post has been lost for me

Let's ask this: What would YOU do to "follow up accordingly" Gosh, I am getting an education in the diversity here with respect to reading comprehension... but logically Follow up accordingly would mean, sending a bible and bible study materials... answering beyond that... exceeds the scope of the information provided in the op. Especially given the third post you added. There are many different ways to minister. It would be interesting to come back to this thread in a week, and hear what happened when Dude did what God said, and to hear what you would have done.

It would be interesting to hear how Dude was able to resolve his struggle and what he learned and what actin he took... but that is up to DUDE. What Dude does is between him and the Lord, he asked for input... I gave mine. He is free to catagorecally ignore me now or forever more.
You are making a quarrel against me... that isn't yours to take. If you are offended that I posted a comment saying I thought your response was shallow then you should have responded in that manner... attacking my post under the guise of defending Dude is... IMO... WEAK.

 

[BarlyGurl]

It's weird when it someone you have had fellowship with, prayed with, say down and ate with Part of me wants to pray for him, to tell him that God will forgive him, while part me wants to see him locked away for life.

Maybe because the person you believed them to be is not who they turned out to be... and you feel betrayed?
I DO think you are doing a good job in struggling with these issues Dude, not very many people want to search out the deep things of God or take on contraversial subject matter. I will pray for you.

 

[kenisyes]

I never thought I was attacking your post to Dude. I thought you were attacking my post in response to him. Your post to Dude is great as it stands.

You stated my post is a "poor comparison scenario"; I felt it was good for four reasons: 1. the man who did this is used in mighty ways by the Lord since, and this was part of his learning experience; 2. in both cases eventual salvation of the person being ministered to is the goal; 3. not listening to God is not an option if you wish to grow, and this illustrated my first sentence that God will keep after you; 4. It really happened.

You said it was overall superficial, and your post provided a fairly extensive educational outline. Okay, I teach college for a living. I have taught in prison, and have been involved in rehabilitation ministry. You learn after a while that letting a person step out in faith is a really good way of teaching (that's the discontinuity you questioned). There is nothing wrong with what you posted, but there is nothing wrong with what I said either; both are based on solid educational prinicples.

The difference in educational philosophy is probably why you think I am attacking your post. You are quite right, we both gave the idea we are making assumptions about Dude. I don't think either of us did, but it may have sounded that way. Because you said very much and I said very little, to you my post looked superficial, and to me yours looked like it contained too much detail. You posted many things that could happen as Dude sets forth, but both of us know they didn't have to. I pointed out they didn't have to as a response to mine being too superficial, so I was "attacking your post'.

 

[BarlyGurl]

I never thought I was attacking your post to Dude. I thought you were attacking my post in response to him. Your post to Dude is great as it stands.

You stated my post is a "poor comparison scenario"; I felt it was good for four reasons: 1. the man who did this is used in mighty ways by the Lord since, and this was part of his learning experience; 2. in both cases eventual salvation of the person being ministered to is the goal; 3. not listening to God is not an option if you wish to grow, and this illustrated my first sentence that God will keep after you; 4. It really happened.

You said it was overall superficial, and your post provided a fairly extensive educational outline. Okay, I teach college for a living. I have taught in prison, and have been involved in rehabilitation ministry. You learn after a while that letting a person step out in faith is a really good way of teaching (that's the discontinuity you questioned). There is nothing wrong with what you posted, but there is nothing wrong with what I said either; both are based on solid educational prinicples.

The difference in educational philosophy is probably why you think I am attacking your post. You are quite right, we both gave the idea we are making assumptions about Dude. I don't think either of us did, but it may have sounded that way. Because you said very much and I said very little, to you my post looked superficial, and to me yours looked like it contained too much detail. You posted many things that could happen as Dude sets forth, but both of us know they didn't have to. I pointed out they didn't have to as a response to mine being too superficial, so I was "attacking your post'.

acceptable...truce

 

[kenisyes]

I'm glad we have a truce. But I was just ready to go to bed, and God was not happy with me. You know, Jonah had the same problem as Dude is having.

Dude, sorry we're talking about you in the third person in your own thread.

 

[Bookends]

Have you took it up with your Church elders? Your pastor? Both? I would suggest you do this. Getting confirmation from other Godly people you trust can't hurt.

 

[MaggieMye]

Ummmm Can we nix the orange font? ...really hard to read...

Thanks,
Maggie

 

[loveme1]

Matthew 12

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Do not become the judge for it is written all shall be forgiven.

You may have a message for this man.

 

[Stephen63]

If he has done these things, he will pay for his sin. But God will still deal with him. If God has dealt with you to minister to him, you must do it. But you don't have to do it alone. Find someone who will go with you that's mature enough to walk you through this process. Galatians 6:2 says bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. You simply need someone to help you bear your burden while you are bearing the other guy's.