Husband too smart to believe

[Debp]

11 minutes ago, SurrenderedWife said:

Debbie  Nice to hear from you! Funny thing about my husband is he's willing to go see a Christian movie, go to church, meet my Christian friends or pastor etc etc "If I really want him to". He doesn't initiate it though, and is not enthusiastic, so it feels awkward to ask him to come and be involved. What do you think?

Sounds like a good opportunity....ask just in a natural way if he wants to go.   People don't want to be pushed.  Perhaps his heart is seeking the Lord since he is willing to do those things?

 

[SurrenderedWife]

Yeah I guess it doesn't say he will be won over by apologetics.  Then do I not bother looking up answers to these questions and just focus on my walk, meanwhile trusting that I'm not letting my husband down by "just being a Biblical wife only"? I just never heard of a hard-core Bible nitpicker (think Atheist Experience, Aaron Ra, DarkMatter2525(Youtube), Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins - guys that my husband listened a lot to) be converted. My husband ranks with those dudes. XD

[SurrenderedWife]

8 minutes ago, Debp said:

Sounds like a good opportunity....ask just in a natural way if he wants to go.   People don't want to be pushed.  Perhaps his heart is seeking the Lord since he is willing to do those things?

Hmm it's almost like he wants me to make the decision for him, but isn't that wrong? When I ask if he wants to, he says "not really, but I will if you want to" ToT I suppose I'll write it on his "suggestions board" and wait for him to initiate?

[SurrenderedWife]

18 minutes ago, other one said:

It sounds kind of silly, but you might ask the Holy Spirit to mess with him until he understands.....    I've seen that work in the past....

X'D Prov 31:12 says "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  - I wonder if that's referring to his physical wellbeing or spiritual. The soul is more important than the body, yet I'm weary to wish trouble on my husband! I guess I can pray for the Holy Spirit to do whatever it takes... :/ and brace myself for the fallout

I'm also considering how much attention to pay to my husband, as while he's very special to me, he's not the only lost soul on its way to hell. :/ I need to minister to others too, and I'm wondering how much.

I hope this conversation is helping someone else out there, or at least ya'all are heaping up more rewards in heaven...:D Praise the Lord!

Edited August 25, 2019 by SurrenderedWife

[other one]

7 minutes ago, maryjayne said:

I know it's hard to step back and surrender control of this to God.

Everyone I know had trouble with this maryjayne.   No matter what our intellect level.

[other one]

38 minutes ago, SurrenderedWife said:

X'D Prov 31:12 says "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  - I wonder if that's referring to his physical wellbeing or spiritual. The soul is more important than the body, yet I'm weary to wish trouble on my husband! I guess I can pray for the Holy Spirit to do whatever it takes... :/ and brace myself for the fallout

I'm also considering how much attention to pay to my husband, as while he's very special to me, he's not the only lost soul on its way to hell. :/ I need to minister to others too, and I'm wondering how much.

I hope this conversation is helping someone else out there, or at least ya'all are heaping up more rewards in heaven...:D Praise the Lord!

Well  just hope it doesn't take as much as myself,   I grew up in the church and thought I had a handle on everything.  It actually took an introduction to the devil to get my attention.   One of those "Help me God, get me out of this"  kind of moment....    now it's all his because I'm not driving spiritually any longer.

[other one]

1 minute ago, maryjayne said:

My point is in answer to @SurrenderedWife s comments about the degree of nit picking, and sharing the type of mind I have been dealing with personally and in my family. She asked for personal examples. I have shared mine.

It's not a comment about intelligence levels, but the sort of 'logic is all and I have to understand everything right now' mentality one finds in MENSA type mindsets.

and my comment was just concerning turning things over to the Lord...

[SurrenderedWife]

40 minutes ago, other one said:

Well  just hope it doesn't take as much as myself,   I grew up in the church and thought I had a handle on everything.  It actually took an introduction to the devil to get my attention.   One of those "Help me God, get me out of this"  kind of moment....    now it's all his because I'm not driving spiritually any longer.

Ouch! Would love to hear more actually!
Brief synopsis if you hadn't seen my testimony: I denied Jesus 3 times - 1st time almost had my gallbladder rupture and kill me. They said this only happened to "old fat ladies". I was a slim 'healthy' 20 year old. 

Second time I denied Jesus and went back to my ex, he didn't care to hear anything about me, got me to pay for hotel, said to keep our relationship secret and strictly sexual and left. I then got together with another 'humanitarian intellectual' who was also doing polyamory at the time and flirting with every skirt, and just living in all kinds of sin and hedonism.

We argued heaps as I tried to motivate him to live up to his potential. After looking through conspiracy theories I again came back to Jesus, and would not fornicate with boyfriend, so we had over a month of highly intellectual debates and I thought I was winning until I lost. Still, he was moved enough to give up his spirit guide and to pray and fast for 7 days. Slowly we learned more about the benefits of Biblical teachings and became 'culturally Christian', shedding one sin after another. 

My husband's health, career , social life etc were improving while mine were ALL vanishing into thin air. Friends dumped me suddenly and my physical and mental health were worsening despite daily personal development and no takeaways etc. After daily suicidal thoughts about my uselessness (can't drive, quit my job to be pregnant and birthing, no one can help me) and my second miscarriage, I had my "Help me God, get me out of this" moment. He gave me instant peace and comfort that all things will work for my good, and that with the Holy Spirit inside me things CAN get better. And they have, at least for husband and me.

Ok Maryjayne, I'll get him with extreme scepticism! XD We don't understand if we really understand anything correctly - ergo God!  (It worked on me :P). Very curious how you came to believe!

Edited August 25, 2019 by SurrenderedWife

[SurrenderedWife]

1 hour ago, maryjayne said:

 the sort of 'logic is all and I have to understand everything right now' mentality one finds in MENSA type mindsets.

^this, and in our case "if there is any kind of factual, prophecy or doctrinal contradiction in this book, then it can NOT be the Word of a God who claims to be perfect. If we can't trust its accuracy in these places, how do we trust it's accuracy in others?". Each time I denied Christ it was due to REASON, not suffering, difficulty, persecution or things that seem to be difficult for others.

So what made me ignore these same 'problems' that my husband had? 1) I learned the meaning of faith through my husband, who trusted me to be loyal and tell him the truth without investigating, simply on his overall impression of me. The JW friend also mentioned a 'leap of faith' and then it clicked for me. Lord bless them both! 2) Being so completely HELPLESS that I had to "resort to Jesus".

I've talked to him about these two things and he accused me of "believing because I want to" (which hurts, since I've always made it a point to do what's right over what "feels good"). It's because from his perspective I ignored those problems saying "there are probably good explanations for these that are currently outside the scope of my understanding".

Maryjayne and Other one - it's ok, both of you made useful points for me.  

P.S. My husband and mum are sooooo attached to me, that they put up with all my STUFF all the time XD and always crave to be in my presence daily. My husband changed SO much for me, and accepts so much to be with me. I tried to bait them with "hey, you know if you believe, then we can be  together in heaven forever!! No longer separated in different countries (mum and me) or feeling empty without me (husband). They didn't bite.

We both often joke that our cats are "too smart for their own good" but he hasn't made the correlation?
Maybe I'm also too smart with those around me for my own good  This site shows why its preferable to be wise: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/are-atheists-smarter-or-simply-more-self-reliant-and-self-indulgent/

Edited August 25, 2019 by SurrenderedWife

[GandalfTheWise]

55 minutes ago, SurrenderedWife said:

Yeah I guess it doesn't say he will be won over by apologetics.  Then do I not bother looking up answers to these questions and just focus on my walk, meanwhile trusting that I'm not letting my husband down by "just being a Biblical wife only"? I just never heard of a hard-core Bible nitpicker (think Atheist Experience, Aaron Ra, DarkMatter2525(Youtube), Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins - guys that my husband listened a lot to) be converted. My husband ranks with those dudes. XD

Perhaps C.S. Lewis might have something to offer.  Here's his background.  http://www.cslewis.com/c-s-lewis-as-atheist-turned-apostle/