Please Respond Ladies. I am at my wits end...

[Amante]

This is the pastor who christened me. I was born in his church and grew up in his church from birth until the age of 15.

Megachurch Pastor Announces He's Gay - Video - WSB Atlanta


This is the church I attended in Georgia all throughout high school after I left the previous church.

YouTube - BISHOP EDDIE LONG ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE


And this is the pastor, whose church I was attending for the past four years:

Bay Area Pastor Paul Sheppard Resigns Amid Moral Crisis

I am feeling so sad over all of this. How is it possible that every pastor I have known/ church I have ever been a member of is having MAJOR public battles??

What are your thoughts? I NEED A WORD. I am battling discouragement settling in.

In Him,
Amante

 

[LifeafterLHCF]

Baby you can't worry about these things.We are all humans and we fall into sin if we don't check that thang at its root.There would have not been any way for you to know they had issues.As long as your faith is deeply rooted in our heavenly daddy Jesus God can the wrecked soul to get his glory..

 

[Shimmie]

Amante, gird up and keep your heart and mind on Jesus and not on the 'fall of man.'

Sweetheart, 'men' [male and female] will fall and fail, but Jesus NEVER will. Don't let this stop you from attending Church and growing deeper in the love and knowledge of God.

satan would love nothing more than to have you give up and come into his court of deception and destruction.

My very first Pastor also fell into sexual sin. But when I remember the strength and the respect and the love of a 'Father' that he always gave me and my children, as I 'grew' in his Church, I am all the more stronger, for I know how to still love him and pray for him and for God to restore him.

Amante, you are bigger than all of the diversities that have arisen in the Church. Amante, you are indeed above it; far above it. Amante, you are above anything that satan could ever throw at you and you will not sink, neither will you stumble or fall. For you are planted upon the Rock, our Lord Jesus Christ and not upon the sinking sand of the sins of man.

Amante, Jesus said, that He will always be with you and to look to Him who is the true Author and the Finisher of your faith. And in this life with Jesus, Amante, we have 'GREAT' faith. For who is it who came to our rescue time and time again when we thought there was no other rescue. Jesus came and He always will, for He is our Jehovah Shammah, our God who is always and already there.

Amante, thank God for the man who baptised you. Thank God for him and his life.

Amante, thank God for Bishop Long and for all that you learned in God's word for him.

Amante thank God for Pastor Paul Sheppard for the integrity that he has 'still' as a man of God, who has fallen and has been humble enough to bow before God, to seek God's mercies and to not seek approval of man upon the pulpit. For even in his fall, Pastor Sheppard is still living the life of God in humility and I RESPECT him for it.

Amante, with your tender heart, though it may feel broken and very sad at this moment in time, with your tender heart, allow your love for God to bring forth all that you have learned and use it to crush satan's head for he has not won. Do you hear me? Amante, satan has NOT won. And he will not win by aborting the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ which lives richly and abides in you.

Amante, precious love of God... ARISE and show the devil who you are and let these men who have fallen see the good that they have done and the beauty that has grown in you in spite of their sin.

Write them a letter of love, letting them know that though they fell, you are still standing and you thank God for their lives and for all of the good that they have done for you and for others.

For they have done, some good. Have they not? Of course they have, The very proof of it resides within you. Beautiful you.

Love and blessings, Amante. You are more than a Conqueror in and through all of this, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now... rejoice for you have reason to; you've earned the rights to happiness and it is not to be stolen from you.

 

[Shimmie]

Baby you can't worry about these things.We are all humans and we fall into sin if we don't check that thang at its root.There would have not been any way for you to know they had issues.As long as your faith is deeply rooted in our heavenly daddy Jesus God can the wrecked soul to get his glory..

God is soooooooooo proud of you. What a loving support you are, Your post has blessed me so much. I love you, Baby sister.

 

[Amante]

Hi ladies,

Thank you for the responses.

My concern is not that I would fall away from God, but rather that I can see my perception of men morphing right before my eyes, as much as I don't want it to. Besides my father-who also has fallen in one of these areas recently - these are the only men in my life & the only male role models I have. I have no brothers, no uncles, and few male friends. I guess my question is this: though our spiritual hope is not in man, how can we, as (single, Christian) women, keep from loosing hope in earthly men of God, our husbands, pastors, fathers figures, etc.?

Again, thank you for the responses ladies. I know I can always come here when I need spiritual guidance!

-Amante

 

[Prudent1]

Hi ladies,

Thank you for the responses.

My concern is not that I would fall away from God, but rather that I can see my perception of men morphing right before my eyes, as much as I don't want it to. Besides my father-who also has fallen in one of these areas recently - these are the only men in my life & the only male role models I have. I have no brothers, no uncles, and few male friends. I guess my question is this: though our spiritual hope is not in man, how can we, as (single, Christian) women, keep from loosing hope in earthly men of God, our husbands, pastors, fathers figures, etc.?Again, thank you for the responses ladies. I know I can always come here when I need spiritual guidance!

-Amante

Good question. The answer is the same thing that Shimmie and Goddessmaker have shared. You/we must keep our eyes on Jesus. The same weapons you use to keep going through any type of trouble are the same weapons you must brandish right now. Praise(God inhabits our praise. If you need him to show up, praise is an invitation he cannot refuse), prayer(if you pray in tongues- let 'er rip), keep a song in your heart, get into your concordance in the bible (look at the lives of those who were mighty, fell, but didn't stay there- Moses, Noah, Jacob,Peter, Paul, David the list goes on), daily confessions (open your mouth and speak the word), fellowship w/those of like precious faith, cry, vent, ask God to show you what he wants you to take away from these experiences. Ask him to strengthen you and show you how to guard your heart against thoughts that some future man may have these same shortcomings. YOU need to decide if you are willing to TRUST God in this area too. You need to encourage yourself in the Lord. Sometimes, we just gotta do that.
I've been there. There are a couple of ministers who have greatly influenced me I have found out some very unChristlike things about them. I am an abnomaly though. My parents taught us as kids to look to Jesus not ppl. So, I've never looked to a person to be anything other than human. It still hurt to learn of some of their struggles but, it did not cause my faith in God to falter. I love my pastor and first lady! If I learned of some short coming this week, I would engage in the same things I've listed above for you to do. I would be hurt and disappointed but, I would not allow that to separate me from the love of God. Don't let anyone, anything, any event or circumstance keep you from God. He loves you. He will show you who you need to keep at arms length and who you can let into your heart when you ask him. Expect ppl to be ppl. At the end of the day, you can only change you. Ppl, even good godly ppl, will disappoint you in this life. God is the only constant that does not disappoint and fail. We forgive ppl, pray, and KIM. Use this time as a period of reflection of what you really believe about ppl/God. Ask him to show you area your mind needs to be renewed in. Don't look to your left or your right. Keep your eyes on God. I'm praying for you. Keep your head up!
Luke 22:32
32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Rom 8:37-39
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.





"...satan has NOT won. And he will not win by aborting the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ which lives richly and abides in you.

Amante, precious love of God... ARISE and show the devil who you are and let these men who have fallen see the good that they have done and the beauty that has grown in you in spite of their sin.

Write them a letter of love, letting them know that though they fell, you are still standing and you thank God for their lives and for all of the good that they have done for you and for others.

For they have done, some good. Have they not? Of course they have, The very proof of it resides within you. Beautiful you.

Amen, Shimmie!!

 

[Laela]

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[PinkPebbles]

Amante -

I came in this thread to give you a hug but I really wish that I could give you a hug in person.

My heart feels your pain because I truly know and understand what you are going through. I have so much to say but my emotions are a little overwhelmed at the moment.

The advice I'd like to share with you right now is to pray. Pray for your mind, heart, and soul. Draw closer to God like never before and put your faith and trust in the Lord.

Right now the devil is out to kill, steal, and destroy and the issues that's taken place in some churches with some pastors is giving the enemy the opportunity to discourage and confuse some believers in hopes to turn their backs on God and the body of Christ.

Amante - I will keep you in my prayers and others. But hold on and in this situation turn to God and your bible. I also pray that the Lord will lead you to a church where the word of God is taught, applied, and the spirit of truth is present. If He did it for me, I know He can do it for you (((HUGS)))).