coffeeman777

[coffeeman777]

God’s timing is always better.

[coffeeman777]

Funding for medical expenses

Hello everyone. Normally I'm not the one to speak up on this account, though we could definitely use some help.

My wife has been struggling for a long while with a brain tumor that has caused us both no shortage of headaches (no pun intended) and we're looking to try and finally put it to bed for good. We're hoping to raise enough to get her in for a non-invasive surgery before the end of the year, and any little bit before then would help immensely.

[coffeeman777]

Doctors appointment today. Going to discuss the tumor removal, medication and my suicidal ideations/plans. Please pray for good news I suppose

[coffeeman777]

Who's your favourite Winx Club fairy?

I'm afraid I don't know what that is.

[coffeeman777]

Hi there. I just want to ask for your opinion on my experience.

To provide a background context: a few months ago, one of our members (a guy) underwent a church discipline because of a public sin involving porn. For safety concerns, women church members are prevented from meeting him in his apartment and only men church members were tasked to admonish him towards repentance. The thing is, he didn't repent and was even found lying. His discipline and membership suspension was extended. This suspended guy was a really close friend of mine.

Our pastor told us to not have "sweet fellowship" with him because he needed to realize his sin and repent.

One Sunday at church, this disciplined member sat in front of me during lunch and initiated the conversation. A visitor was with us that time and I thought it would look rude if I acted cold towards the disciplined member. The conversation eventually led to a hobby both of us shared—and I started to get enthusiastic talking to him. We were a bit loud and laughing.

That Sunday at the church meeting, I was public corrected/rebuked by my pastor about it. Apparently, even talking about anything under the sun is considered "sweet fellowship". I admitted my wrong after the meeting and my pastor told me he was not holding it against me because clearly, this guy under disciplined was the one who initiated the conversation.

I just thought we were over this issue. But the next Sunday, I noticed my pastor talking to and greeting everyone—EVERYONE, including visitors—except me. It was glaringly obvious.

I am just so confused and emotionally hurt. I was already publicly rebuked for it and submitted to it so I thought this issue is over now. I don't understand this seemingly passive-aggressive silent treatment from MY VERY OWN pastor. He could've just talked to me in private and taught me or guide me about what "sweet fellowship" is—it felt like he was demonstrating it by being cold towards me and warm towards other people. I think this is immature and ridiculous.

Please do enlighten me. I'm not making this up to make fun of Christians whatsoever.

Thanks in advance,

A confused and hurt Christian

Hey!

So, it seems like your church is attempting to employ 1 Corinthians 5 to discipline it's members, which is good, but some of the details in what you're saying are strange to me.

"Sweet fellowship" isn't a Biblical term.  I've never heard of it.  1 Corinthians 5 doesn't create grades of fellowship.  According to that passage, if a professing Christian is found to be engaged in some ongoing sin and they refuse to repent, they're supposed to be put out of the Church completely, and all fellowship ("sweet" or otherwise) should be halted. 

1 Corinthians 5:

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

"3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

"6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”"

So, in my experience, a Christian in this situation is first confronted and warned, and if they repent, all is good.  No on-going discipline, no breaks in fellowship.  If they refuse to repent, they're brought to the church leadership and confronted again.  If they repent, all is well.  But if they refuse to repent still, then they are excused from the church and all fellowship with members of that community is broken.  And in certain circumstances, usually depending on the severity of the sin in question, if the ejected Christian attempts to go join another church without repenting, a letter could be sent by the home church leadership to the leadership of the church the unrepentant Christian is attempting to join informing them of that Christian's unrepentant sin.

So, what seems strange in your situation is that the unrepentant guy is still attending church meetings; that would constitute a violation of this passage just as much as continued fellowship with the guy would.  It's weird to me that your pastor would be so inconsistent in the application of 1 Corinthians 5. 

Also, it seems odd to me that you would be rebuked publicly for talking with the guy, and super weird that you would be shunned after being corrected and accepting the correction.  I don't want to pass judgement on your pastor or your church, but that really seems off to me.  I agree with you that this was off-base.

If you're old enough to find another church, I'd recommend praying about doing so.  No church is perfect, but there are some things that raise red flags that shouldn't be ignored, and this kind of treatment is one of those things.  If you're not old enough to find a new church on your own (like, you're still living at home with your parents or something), then just stay in the word, stay in prayer about all of it, follow the rules of your church as best you can (unless those rules violate the Scripture), and give the hurt to the Lord. Forgive your pastor for his behavior, don't let it become a grudge.  I'll pray for you, too.  God will take care of you.

I hope this helps!  Be blessed!

[coffeeman777]

Hey guys!

New update on our situation:

My family and I are still in Florida. I have a full time job (I've had it since October), and it's really not a bad gig at all, except that it just doesn't pay enough.

Money is tight. God has kept us going, and I have no doubt He will continue to do so. But this has been such a difficult time, and there's no end in sight. On top of that, I've had old work friends from New Hampshire reach out to me with very high paying job offers. The temptation to go back is extreme. I've been struggling to get into various new fields, getting paid bottom dollar, being low-man on the totem pole for the last almost four years (I can't believe we've been here that long), and the opportunity to go back to a career field where I'm skilled and experienced, where I'm being very well paid, and where there's a high level of job satisfaction, it's almost irresistible.

God called us here to Florida. We can't go back. The Lord's way is always the best way. The Lord gave back to Job twice what he lost. We gave up a beautiful house and a fantastic job to come here. I have to believe that God will give us more than we gave up once our time in the wilderness is over.

Please keep us in prayer. Pray that the Lord will give us grace to resist the temptation to run away, and whatever else we need to learn our lessons quickly so we can finally stop wandering through this desert. God is good!

I love you guys! Be blessed!

[coffeeman777]

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[coffeeman777]

Colossians 1

1 From: Paul, chosen by God to be Jesus Christ’s messenger, and from Brother Timothy.

2 To: The faithful Christian brothers—God’s people—in the city of Colosse.

May God our Father shower you with blessings and fill you with His great peace.

3 Whenever we pray for you, we always begin by giving thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard how much you trust the Lord, and how much you love His people. 5 And you are looking forward to the joys of heaven, and have been ever since the Gospel first was preached to you. 6 The same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world and changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard it and understood about God’s great kindness to sinners.

7 Epaphras, our much-loved fellow worker, was the one who brought you this Good News. He is Jesus Christ’s faithful slave, here to help us in your place. 8 And he is the one who has told us about the great love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

9 So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what He wants you to do; asking Him to make you wise about spiritual things; 10 and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor Him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better.

11 We are praying, too, that you will be filled with His mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens—always full of the joy of the Lord, 12 and always thankful to the Father who has made us fit to share all the wonderful things that belong to those who live in the Kingdom of light. 13 For He has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 14 who bought our freedom with His blood and forgave us all our sins.

15 Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, 16 Christ Himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for His own use and glory. 17 He was before all else began and it is His power that holds everything together. 18 He is the Head of the body made up of His people—that is, His Church—which He began; and He is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that He is first in everything; 19 for God wanted all of Himself to be in His Son.

20 It was through what His Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to Him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by His blood. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were His enemies and hated Him and were separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now He has brought you back as His friends. 22 He has done this through the death on the cross of His own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before Him with nothing left against you—nothing left that He could even chide you for; 23 the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting Him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others.

24 But part of my work is to suffer for you; and I am glad, for I am helping to finish up the remainder of Christ’s sufferings for His body, the Church.

25 God has sent me to help His Church and to tell His secret plan to you Gentiles. 26-27 He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased Him to tell it to those who love Him and live for Him, and the riches and glory of His plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.

28 So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them. 29 This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.

[coffeeman777]

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[coffeeman777]

𝔠𝔞𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔬𝔰𝔱

[coffeeman777]

He Is Risen!