SemperFidelis07

3 hours ago, B3L13v3R said:

Quote: SemperFidelis07 "I pray that this "man"uses his time wisely to repent for what he did and come to You so that he may never destroy another girl's life ever again."

You're right. I should follow this advice. 

A few months back, almost a year ago actually, I made a thread asking for prayers for my student and her loved ones after a... "man" (for want of a better term) did something terrible to her and her mother allowed it to happen (she was dating him, she's divorced). That girl is doing fine now living with her father and stepmother... well, as fine as she can under the circumstances, one never truly recovers from this. Anyway, they put this "man" on trial and he got eighty years.

Well, I learned during a meeting with the girl's father a few days ago that this scum was "involved in an 'accident'" in prison. Something involving another inmate "losing control" of a forklift carrying crates, and dropping it on him. "People" like him don't last long in prison once others find out. Forgive me for not being sorry that he's gone. The girl has forgiven him, and I say God bless this kid. I'm not ready to forgive so soon, being a father to two girls. In fact, I hope he suffered, I hope he cried. It would be nothing on the pain he brought on this kid and I hope he'll receive the proper justice in the afterlife.

You know what? No, I am not praying for this heap of human trash. I'm praying for the victim and those who care about her that they could all sleep better at night knowing that he can never do this again; not now, not eighty years from now.

^ Huh? Uh... I'm not sure what you mean by how things are going now, but sex trafficking is still happening. 

Last week's episode of Hawaii Five-0 was really harrowing, and it hit home hard. It dealt with the subject of sex trafficking of underage girls. I have a little girl with another on the way and two boys in between. My little Anya is not even six. To think that there are people out there who'd do that to her... Please pray for the girls and women going through this hell. They need God more than ever now. Additionally, pray for the Ho'olana Pua foundation that seeks to help the victims in their recovery.

I praise You, O Heavenly Father for helping this girl in her recovery, that You gave her the knowledge to speak to a therapist, that from the beginning, she opened her heart to You. I am most grateful to You for standing with me while I testified, and now I ask You do the same next week when the girl's boyfriend takes the stand and please see that he keeps his anger suppressed. Let him not forget that he's there to protect his girlfriend, and help the prosecution make sure this man never has the opportunity to do what he did again. 

I give You thanks for the grand jury sending this case to court and letting justice prevail. Indeed You are most just and know exactly how to deal with these people. I ask You, O Lord, in Jesus' holy name, give the DA the knowledge to get the evidence he needs to convict the man who hurt this innocent girl, give the good citizens of Nashville who will act as a jury the wisdom to declare him guilty, and please let the judge both the legal and moral obligation to the citizens of Tennessee to put him in prison for as long as our legal system allows. In prison, I pray that this "man"uses his time wisely to repent for what he did and come to You so that he may never destroy another girl's life ever again. 

I made a thread in the prayer request forum about a 16-year-old student of mine. Something terrible happened to her.  However, things are starting to brighten up for her. The ones who hurt her are going to be charged and are facing very serious prison time. However, she's now living in a comfortable home with a loving, caring father and stepmother who loves her more than her real mother apparently ever did. She also has a very loving, devoted boyfriend to whom she means the world to and vice versa. Praise the Lord for giving this sweet, smart, and faithful girl a clear path to recovery. 

There is not, nor has there ever been an independent Kingdom, and Emirate, or a Republic of Palestine. There has never been an indigenous Palestinian people, there has never been a Palestinian language, nor has there ever been a Palestinian culture. The name itself was created by the Romans to spite the Jews after they took over the Land of Israel. It was named after the land of the Philistines, a long time enemy of the Jews who were not Arab, they weren't even a Semitic race. Then the Islamic Empires ruled it for a long time, until finally, the British took over and used and Anglicized version of its Latin name, calling it "Palestine". This was until 1948, when the land was recognized as Israel. "Palestine", until 1948 has always been "occupied land". The so-called Palestinians have no religious claim to it. Throughout history, they had plenty of opportunities for a Palestinian land and they turned it down. 

My sister called me yesterday. The man met with his lawyer and decided to plead guilty. They gave him life without parole.

Well, the trial starts in early March. He does not stand a chance in that county. It's a rather red area so I doubt any prosecutor won't ask for the death penalty. Maybe a merciful jury will give him life.

I hope he finds Jesus before they pump in the potassium chloride.

I'm also asking you pray for that guard's family.

Oohrah, brother.

You know something, my nieces are here to spend three weeks Christmas vacation with me and my wife. They arrived Saturday. Just seeing their smiles, hearing their laughs, hugging them makes me forget everything that is wrong with the world. This past morning before heading off to work, I went to check on my nieces. Seeing my older niece, Maya, sleeping there peacefully...all I needed wat to see her angelic face and later hear my sister's sarcastic sense of humor from her at dinner and I forget that she wouldn't be here because of that man (in the loosest sense of the word). You know, I'm gonna write out a letter, keep it in a safe place and maybe one day send it. Right now I can only pray that his time in prison will change him for the better. A lot can happen in 35 years. The judge stated that if he was legally able to, he would have sentenced him to life imprisonment but he gave him the harshest possible sentence that the state of South Carolina allowed.

My favorite is the 1984 version with George C. Scott as Scrooge. I think anything George C. Scott touched turned to gold. The 2009 movie with Jim Carey isa close second.

Of course I'm not gonna tell him about my niece if I do decide to write to him. He won't be paroled for "good" behavior, the court wanted him to serve his full sentence, but I'm still not gonna open an old wound. Maybe I'll take your advice and write it all down and put it to the side and possibly shred it later instead of sending it.

Abortion seems to be a big topic on many Christian forums I'm on. Well, this subject got me thinking about an incident that happened to my sister. Pro-choicers talk about cases of rape or incest. Well...It's easy to say "don't blame the baby for the crimes of the rapist" until it's happened to you or someone you love.

My oldest sister was raped and beaten to within an inch of her life with a chain eight, nearly nine years ago by a man she once considered her friend. She was only 18 and she got pregnant and she made the choice to keep the baby. Her fiance (later that year, husband) agreed because it was her decision. But we would have totally sympathized with her if she decided to abort the pregnancy. However, what came out of this traumatic event for our family was a beautiful little girl. My sister bore a daughter, my little niece who I love more than anything and you know what, she and her husband had another little girl two years later.

As for the rapist, that scumbag got 35 years for rape and attempted murder. He nearly killed my sister, he raped and beat her with no remorse, and now he's getting what he deserves. And I hope one day he'll get to see the beautiful result of his crime that the Lord granted my sister. This beautiful angel of a little girl who will never acknowledge him as her father. He's going to be locked away for decades and when they finally release him (that is if he survives prison), he'll be branded a sex offender until the day he dies. She only visited him at the prison one time and that was in 2010. My sister looked that man dead in the eye through that glass and told him that she forgives him and loves him as a good Christian woman. Now I'm only telling you this because my sister speaks to rape victims and encourages them not to abort. I can only hope he finds Christ in prison because I know I can't forgive him for what he's done but I suppose I should because if he hadn't I wouldn't have my older niece.

Well, now I want to write this person a letter expressing my feelings to him that I kept in me for years. Now that I'm an adult, a proud uncle of two, a Marine veteran with two deployments, and a father to be, I want to write to him not out of spite but just the straight facts. Do you think I should? And what should I say. My sister didn't tell him about her daughter, she was very to-the-point with him. I will not succumb to hatred even though I can honestly say I hate him.

Please, if you're going to post scripture, explain how it's relevant.

I always looked forward to Christmas when it came around. Even as a kid,I knew that the most important thing about Christmas after the birth of Christ our Savior was family, love, good will, and generosity. What I enjoyed the most was doing everything together with the family.

Pre-Christmas: I come from a big family (I'm number 3 out of 7 and the only son), so decorating was never a burden. We'd get assignments by selecting them out of a hat. My favorite thing to do as a kid was to climb up the ladder with my dad and hang up the lights outside. We would also try and buy or prepare something meaningful to each other as presents (in addition to material presents). When we were little, our parents would take us to see Santa in the mall of course. We would also do our tree selection twelve days before Christmas, decorate it with both bought and made ornaments and the youngest one of my siblings (the last one being my fourth youngest sister) would put the star on top. Then my dad would always do the initial lighting of the tree.

Christmas Eve: During the day, I'd help my mom cook Christmas dinner and put the presents under the tree. My dad works as a corrections officer and generally came home at 1900 or later but on Christmas Eve, he'd come home early. Most of the time, it was just the immediate family but sometimes we'd have family over and when we got older, we'd invite our significant others over. We'd go to church, the come home and have a light dinner and then go to the living room. Then we would all just spend a few hours talking, watching a movie, each giving our own view of what the Nativity meant for mankind, and ending it off with singing Christmas songs. When I was a kid, up to the age of seven, I'd sit with my second to oldest sister (who I was always closest with) on the couch by the fireplace looking for shapes in the flames. We'd both fall asleep on the couch so "'Santa' would see us".

Christmas Day: 0800 we're all gathered in the living room to exchange gifts. Now for Christmas dinner, we'd always invite guests to join us. I can count on one hand the number of times our family was alone for Christmas dinner. My dad would lead us in prayer before eating. Most of the day, we'd just spend time together. It was always really nice. I really missed it when I was on my deployments or didn't get Christmas leave when I was in the Marine Corps.

This will be my first Christmas as a married man in a new house and with a new job. My two little nieces are gonna stay with us for Christmas vacation while my oldest sister and her husband will be going to Israel. Keeping with the tradition of my family, I'm inviting my co-worker (who was my first CO in Iraq) and his family over for Christmas dinner.

Do you (or will you) tell your little kids about him? I think my wife and I will tell our kids. No harm in a little imagination and fantasy. All kids eventually find out it's not real. I figured it out when I was 7. But my parents really stretched the fun to make it seem more "realistic". They said it wasn't always the same Santa. They said that one retires when he gets too old and looks for a new one to take his place but not just anyone could be Santa. The candidate must be Dutch, must be Christian, must be named Nicholas, must speak every language, and must have the Christmas spirit in his heart all year long and if he has kids, they must be grown up. That's what we'll do when our daughter is born.

My wife decided, Anastasia Marina Anderson. She says she feels that that's the perfect name.

Before Thanksgiving, I took my wife to the doctor for an ultrasound/appointment. We have a healthy baby girl coming in June. We narrowed it down to four possible names: Anastasia, Nataliya, Marina, and Sofia.

Thanks

So my wife and I just moved to a Chicago suburb. Our nieces will be spending Christmas vacation with us while my sister and brother in law will be in Israel for three weeks. The girls are 8 and 6. I was wondering what fun Christmas events are in the area, particularly in Chicago.

Jesus avoided those who were hostile to His message......He even refused to heal a man in one city but took the man outside the city then healed him. Jesus said do not cast your pearls before swine.....in other words do not waste your time with them because they will not appreciate the value of what you have to say

Bazz, I hope you are not referring to the non believers here as swine, because if you are, shame on you.

I've been here for a long time and seen many many people come and go, and some of them have been non believers...... and some of those non believers stayed here for quite some time, and some of them came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ on this board. They had been people that we had conversations with for long times. I don't think you can understand the answer to the OP's question without being here for a long time and actually interface with people and get to know the personalities that they present here.

I wasn't going to post until you put this in the thread for I do disagree with what I perceive you have written.

It was Jesus who used the word dogs and swine to describe people who were or will be hostile to the gospel and He even called the Pharisees children of Satan. John also used the word dogs as well.

Matthew 7:6 (ASV)

⁶ Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.

John 8:44 (NASB77)

⁴⁴ "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

Revelation 22:15 (GW)

¹⁵ Outside are dogs, sorcerers, sexual sinners, murderers, idolaters, and all who lie in what they say and what they do.

You need to read the purpose of this place Bazz, for it's sorcerers, sexual sinners, murders, idolaters, and all who lie in what they say that need to hear the gospel and see and hear the errors of their ways..... and they can't do that if we treat them badly, call them names and run them off.

All my life I've seen people beat sinners up with scripture as you are here and turn them away from the gospel of forgiveness, and I'm not comfortable with those who do such.

I second that