Natt

Hi Hannah, I haven't read your other posts but your post really saddens me. I don't know your situation but I pray for reconciliation between you and your husband. Make sure you look after yourself and your baby. Pray to the Lord and seek him. Remember the Lord loves you.

Thanks Mary That does help

But God commanded in Ezra that the men should leave their foreign wives. Ezra 10 10And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. Yet in Corinthians 7 it's the other way round 10And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. 12But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 15But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. This doesn't make sense to me. I'm pretty sure God frowns upon divorce, but why is it not so in Ezra?

Why would God command divorce in Ezra when it wasn't clear that they wanted to divorce their spouse and then Jesus say divorce was permitted because of the hardness of hearts. Then in the NT divorce was definitely not permitted.

What a great story.

Pray for them and ask others to. Accept and love them for who they are (warts and all). Walk the path Jesus would like you to walk.

Thankyou McGyver. Those bible quotes are encouraging

Thankyou ShepherdsGrace

Hi Salos Thanks for your advice. The pastor has backed down on that issue. My issue with the church is about the guy who is in prison. He abused a child of mine. His brother hasn't been at church for roughly 8 months (he came seldomly before that maybe once every 2 months). He turned up at church recently and so I told some people what happened and why I felt uneasy with him being there. They tell me I need to come when I am going through rough times. I'm just thinking, 'when the brother is there?' No one is prepared to address the issue.

At the church I've been going to they've only had Communion once about Easter time. I don't how it was decided or by whom.

Elkie what you say is an encouragement. Yes I do know one pastor very well. He is always talking about Jesus and trying to get people saved. He also goes out his way to help people in need. I also believe it would be ideal for each church to support their pastor so they can devote their time fulltime. I also realise some pastors accumulate their wealth before going into pastoral leadership. I also haven't yet met a pastor who isn't wealthy. I was just wondering is it possible for some to aspire to be a pastor to get wealthy and not for Jesus. I also should say I haven't met any of them either but then I also don't know many pastors.

I picked my son up from after school care today. It is run through a church. One thing I notice every time are there big flash and beautiful cars always parked at the pastor or business manager signs. This gets me thinking, to be materially well off you just need to get into those sort of positions. The world is money mad at present. If we haven't the money just buy it on credit. I wonder how many pastors are pastors because they are good spokesmen and are lured to the paypacket a pastor gets. I hope not many, but I've heard comments that some churches make decisions based on business analysis. For example if it is profitable to have a female pastor they decide to have one. On the other side I know a wealthy pastor who is sold out to Jesus. These are just some thoughts I had today.

Thank you for your prayers.

What if you use more than one?

This explains a lot. So this means anyone can be Righteous just by trusting Jesus. This helps me understand why some OT saints are called righteous.

What is the biblical definition of Self-Righteousness. and can two people act the same but one acting out of self-righteousness and the other not. E.g. one person can give in love and the other give to show themself to be Godly to others. Does Self-Righteousness have something to do with one's motives?

I have a major problem with the church I attend at the present. Most of the issues are towards our pastor and the church's handling of a particular situation which I cannot go into details here. All I can say is someone has now pleaded guilty in court and will be sentenced to prison. The court has brought some things to my attention that is not right in the church. I originally went there because I agreed with most of their doctrine(I'm a bit picky here). The pastor has hinted he could disclose some of my confidences to him which maybe I will before he does because we're talking about stuff I've put in the past a long time ago. I don't think this is right. Other church members don't realise this. My unsaved family have heard what has been going on and have suggested that first I need to go and say how disappointed I am with the church's support of a crisis situation and then leave to find another church. However the pastor is retiring soon so I don't know whether I will come back soon after he is retired. I feel all over the place at the moment. Please pray for me and my family.

My friend has said no to him. I am a bit relieved cause he can be quite abusive.

Pointless, as in doesn't matter or any thinking is okay? Please explain this statement if you would. Bethany I meant that some arguments are trivial. For example what Christian music is played in church or what bible we read. This is what I've seen preached in church that I don't see as important in terms of salvation. I could change my mind but I don't see a NIV reader as a person as someone who is on their way to Hell and a KJV not. I've just reread what I wrote so a hope this is more clearer.

I tend to think it is not the denomination we are in that matters. It rests on our faith in Christ. However denominations do allow people to follow what they believe in (e.g infant baptism with adult confirmation vs believer's baptism). I think that is important. I tend to look for a church that I agree with on doctrine however I can't say I've found one that I agree with 100%. As for our salvation and all the arguments I see that as pointless.

I enjoy telling people what Christ has done for me. He saved me from Hell and washed my sins away. It is such a blessing to be saved and I just find it inside myself to tell others of the free gift that they could also receive. Most of my contacts are non-Christians which I also see as a blessing as I have more opportunities to share my faith. I've been door to door evangelising with a missionary a couple of times and it was a great experience which I'd like to continue in the future when I can find another Christian who wishes to. The missionary is now back in America bless her. I've shared tracts and delivered them all around our neighbourhood. I find evangelising most enjoyable. Just talking about Christ is so natural. I haven't seen any street preaching in NZ. As for people yelling at me I pity them. I've had that experience and it doesn't bother me.

Hi again, Thanks for your your replies. Grace I know a man who has recently slept in the same cabin at a church camp with several boys because the pastor trusted him. He had no police checks and if he had they would have had good reasons not to allow him. Even though nothing happened at the camp, shortly after he has been arrested for crimes against children. I can't say too much now because it will be in court soon.

Hi I'm at present thinking of forming a petitioning to present to the government (NZ) to make it law for all people including Sunday School teachers, those who are responsible for children at camp etc... to have police checks. I'm just fed up with pedophiles targeting churches. I've already discussed this with a couple of people who think I'm being unrealistic. What do you think?

We do quite a lot of walking so I try to remember to always bring a waterbottle so we don't need to buy drinks.

This scripture bothers me. It almost justifies abortion