Just wanted to let you know that CF's new Omega Team (pastoral) is in place. We now have a group of recognized clergy from a variety of denominational backgrounds available if you have a situation/question that you think would best be handled by a pastor.
You can ask questions in this thread... or if it is something of a personal nature, you can pm as well.
We're going to have the men handle male issues and women handle female issues-- so if you're a lady, I'll be happy to forward questions/concerns over to one of our lady team members.
Blessings!
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The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.Psalm 34:7-8
This is a very personal question. I am in a serious relationship with a man of God (a Pastor). Soon we will be engaged and are about to start counseling with the Bishop. We recently fell into temptation and I feel so terrible that I hurt God, him and our walk. We made a promise to wait until our wedding night but did not. Now he is so convicted as am I for our sin.
I never thought we would be here, we were doing all of the right things. Now I feel like such a hypocrite, I am not a minister but have witnessed to young girls the importance of saving oneself for marriage.
As a soon to be Pastor's wife, one of the things I know I will need to be able to speak about is temptation and now I can't give a testimony about this. Is there anyone who has dealt with this. If not personally, maybe someone you know. I see posts from other Christians but non from Pastors or the spouses talking about how they strayed before marriage.
I keep praying and meditating on this scripture:
Luke 12:47-48(NIV)
47"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Location: Lorain, Ohio about 30 miles west of Cleveland on Lake Erie
Posts: 21,697
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GOD loves you! He will gladly forgive you! You need to forgive yourself!!
GOD can, and often does, bring good out of evil. You may find that you will be better prepared to be a ministers wife. Maybe you needed to learn about GOD's compassionate forgiveness and you will be able to teach others who fall about our GOD's Awesome love.
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please join Scriptures a wonderful Christian home business. To find out more please read my 1/25/07 blog.
LORD JESUS CHRIST take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I have and cherish YOU have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by YOUR will. YOUR grace and YOUR love are wealth enough for me. Give me these, LORD JESUS, and I ask for nothing more.
Location: Lorain, Ohio about 30 miles west of Cleveland on Lake Erie
Posts: 21,697
Blessings: 194,000
Reps: 90,498 (power: 116)
btw. you say you aren't a minister. that isn't true. GOD calls us all to be ministers!!
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. JESUS To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
please join Scriptures a wonderful Christian home business. To find out more please read my 1/25/07 blog.
LORD JESUS CHRIST take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I have and cherish YOU have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by YOUR will. YOUR grace and YOUR love are wealth enough for me. Give me these, LORD JESUS, and I ask for nothing more.
Hi Father Rick. Thank you and all the pastors participating to bring answers to hard questions.You had said that the women pastors would answer women and the men, male pastors, with pm's or posts. B/c so many would be interested in hearing the answers and would also benefit from them I was hoping that except for very personal issues that those answers could be posted. I'm very interested in what the pastor had to say about the last question as that would help in giving answers to others myself. If it's too private I understand. Thank you pastoral team.
Hi Father Rick. Thank you and all the pastors participating to bring answers to hard questions.You had said that the women pastors would answer women and the men, male pastors, with pm's or posts. B/c so many would be interested in hearing the answers and would also benefit from them I was hoping that except for very personal issues that those answers could be posted. I'm very interested in what the pastor had to say about the last question as that would help in giving answers to others myself. If it's too private I understand. Thank you pastoral team.
Depending on the nature of the discussion, if something is a "public topic" then gender may not come into play when handling a discussion. Things of a more private nature (particularly pm's) will be handled by a pastoral team member of the same sex-- so that there can be no question of impropriety.
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The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.Psalm 34:7-8
GOD loves you! He will gladly forgive you! You need to forgive yourself!!
GOD can, and often does, bring good out of evil. You may find that you will be better prepared to be a ministers wife. Maybe you needed to learn about GOD's compassionate forgiveness and you will be able to teach others who fall about our GOD's Awesome love.
btw Lonnienord, I thought that was a very good answer.
I'm sorry it took me so long to respond. As this is Holy Week, things are really crazy for a few days here.
Originally Posted by dancinginglory
This is a very personal question. I am in a serious relationship with a man of God (a Pastor). Soon we will be engaged and are about to start counseling with the Bishop. We recently fell into temptation and I feel so terrible that I hurt God, him and our walk. We made a promise to wait until our wedding night but did not. Now he is so convicted as am I for our sin.
I'm terribly sorry for the hurt that you are experiencing right now. There's a reason that God doesn't want us to sin-- because it always hurts us and those around us. As scripture says, "the wages of sin is death".
However, that verse continues on to say "BUT the gift of God is eternal life..." Yes, sin brings pain-- but God is a God that forgives and heals us. His heart is not to hit us over the head with a stick because we blew it, but rather that of a loving Father who wants to pick us up in His arms and love us and "kiss the boo boo" when we fall down and spiritually "scrape our knee".
With that in mind, we have to remember as well that sinful actions are the "symptoms" of what is going on within us-- a "gauge" if you will of where we are spiritually. One doesn't just "slip up" and commit sexual sin. It's actually a process that starts with letting impure thoughts, etc. in-- as well as not strengthening ourselves in those area in which we may be weak. Toying with temptation is always a slippery slope-- and when we try to dance around that slope we always wind up falling.
This is why most denominations have some type of "restoration" program in place for ministers who do fall into some form of sexual immorality. There is a recognition that it's not just the actual act that occurred, but the entire process that led the minister to a place where he would be susceptible to falling into sin.
Your post seems to show that you are sorry for what has happened. I'm assuming that you have already taken this to God to ask for His forgivenness-- which He freely gives when we turn to Him.
I would highly recommend that your fiance speak with his bishop about what has happened. I know that's probably not what either of you want to do-- but to keep things from happening again 1) there needs to be some accountability and 2) there needs to be some healing that takes place. I would recommend that both of you seek counseling-- both as a couple and individually. Your fiance's denomination probably has some structure in place already for that.
Additionally, your fiance's bishop may recommend that he step down from public ministry for a time while he is healing. This is for the good of both your fiance and his church. For your fiance, so that he can receive the ministry he needs at this time. For the church, so that people are not wounded if the actions of their pastor become public knowledge. Also, if a pastor has reached a point that he is slipping into sexual immorality, there needs to be a strong re-building of his own spiritual stature before he can effectively lead others for Christ.
I never thought we would be here, we were doing all of the right things. Now I feel like such a hypocrite, I am not a minister but have witnessed to young girls the importance of saving oneself for marriage.
As a soon to be Pastor's wife, one of the things I know I will need to be able to speak about is temptation and now I can't give a testimony about this. Is there anyone who has dealt with this. If not personally, maybe someone you know. I see posts from other Christians but non from Pastors or the spouses talking about how they strayed before marriage.
I keep praying and meditating on this scripture:
Luke 12:47-48(NIV)
47"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Please pray for me and respond if you can.
The good news of all this is simple. While it is true that your actions will have consequences, some of which you are already feeling, it is also true that God is gracious and He will heal and restore.
And, given time, God can even redeem our failures and use them to strengthen and encourage others. There may be a time when you share publicly with others your testimony of God's grace in spite of your own failures. You say that you don't feel you will be able to speak about temptation-- but in fact, you can share with others just how painful sin can be. And, you can also encourage others who have made similar mistakes that God is gracious and He does truly heal and restore.
The first step, however, will be doing what is necessary so that you can heal.
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The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.Psalm 34:7-8
I do not mind answers to my very personal question being answered here. I was blessed by some very compassionate and insightful responses on other threads.
As I am soon to be engaged and married to a Pastor, I thought this was a good thread to place my question. Male or female leadership is welcome by me as I think the answers are about how a person can deal with this situation regardless of gender.
After much prayer and meditation, my goal now is to re-focus my energies on being the best servant I can be. While my heart is broken for what I did to God, my S.O. and potential damage to the ministry, I am not going to give up.
I was told in another thread that I still have a testimony and that was very encouraging.
Peace and blessings to you all. Please keep the prayers and advice coming.
Please help... 
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