Religions > Atheism > Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce"
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17 Sep 2004 09:03:53 PM |
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Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
Falwell Confidential
Date: September 17, 2004
From: Jerry Falwell
WHEN CHRISTIANS DIVORCE
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages. The Barna
report reveals that evangelical pastors simply must begin to more seriously
deal with the issue of marriage in our churches.
As the pastor of a church of several thousand members, I have been saddened
to witness the breakup of a number of families; such situations never fail
to break my heart. I fear that many believers have allowed secular notions
and trends to influence their decisions on marriage.
In our feel-good society, many often abandon their marriages when they stop
being fun or when a stream of challenges enters the picture. But in the
Christian life, we have a line of defense against such feelings, that being
our Lord Jesus Christ, our perfect example who is capable of seeing us
through any challenge.
Nevertheless, the Barna study revealed that among married born again
Christians (35 percent) have experienced a divorce, the same percentage as
those identifying themselves in the study as not being born again.
Additionally, the study found that multiple divorces are also unexpectedly
common among born again Christians, with Barna figures showing that nearly
one-quarter of the married "born agains" (23 percent) get divorced two or
more times.
I believe the most significant finding in this study is the fact that a
majority of those born again participants - defined in the survey as people
who said they have made "a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still
important in their life today" - (52 percent) saying they did not believe
that divorce without adultery is sin.
I see this as a major crisis that pastors must begin to immediately address.
We must take on this issue head-on from the pulpit, in counseling sessions
and in all aspects of ministry in order to halt this dilemma within the
church.
Furthermore, I believe pastors must commit to getting involved in young
people's relationships before they get married. We must help them, along
with their parents, to understand the commitment and responsibility a
marriage requires. Lay people in the church - those who have successful
marriages - can also be greatly beneficial in this regard. There must be a
team effort within the church to ensure that we halt what the Barna study
( http://www.barna.org ) has discovered.
There is much work to do though, in terms of teaching people what the Bible
teaches about relationships and divorce.
The Barna study said, "Although Bible scholars and teachers point out that
Jesus taught that divorce was a sin unless adultery was involved, few
Americans buy that notion. Only one out of every seven adults (15 percent)
strongly agreed with the statement "when a couple gets divorced without one
of them having committed adultery, they are committing a sin."
This is a problem that I believe naturally occurs in a secularist society -
the foundational truths of the Bible are forgotten and cast away.
Secularist notions then invade even the church culture.
Throughout the New Testament, we see great emphasis placed on the
"honorable" institution of marriage. These truths remain just as pertinent
today as when they were written. We must recommit to teaching the
principles of godly marriage, but it won't be easy. George Barna, who heads
the Barna Group, says there is no end in sight regarding the plague of
divorce in our culture and within the church.
"You can understand why atheists and agnostics might have a high rate of
divorce, since they are less likely to believe in concepts such as sin,
absolute moral truth and judgment. Yet the survey found that the percentage
of atheists and agnostics who have been married and divorced is 37 percent -
very similar to the numbers for the born again population. Given the
current growth in the number of atheists and agnostics, and that the younger
two generations are predisposed to divorce, we do not anticipate a reversal
of the present pattern within the next decade."
This is where pastors and church leaders must enter the picture. Pastors,
we must boldly and lovingly reach out to struggling couples, attempting to
help them heal whatever wounds are preventing them from moving forward in
their marriages. It will require hard work and dedication, but it is
apparent that the soul of the church is at stake here. Every church suffers
when members within that setting choose to divorce.
Furthermore, if evangelical churches cannot offer clear alternatives to the
secular culture, specifically in terms of marriage, we will lose our way in
reaching out to a lost world. May we prayerfully commit to turning around
this acute problem within our own ranks so that we can continue to be a
beacon of hope to our communities and to the world.
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY HOMECOMING, OCTOBER 1-3
There is still time to register for the 2004 Homecoming Banquet on October
1! Alumnus Brian Bloye, pastor of West Ridge Church near Atlanta, is the
guest speaker and renowned recording artist and Liberty's
artist-in-residence Charles Billingsley will provide the music. The cost for
the banquet is $25/couple and $15/individual. Complimentary child care will
be provided for children 10 and under. Register for the Banquet on-line at
http://www.liberty.edu/alumni or call (800) 628-7973.
Other activities for Homecoming Weekend (October 1-3) include the annual
Liberty parade with Dr. Falwell and his grandchildren leading the
procession, two theater productions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and of
course, the Homecoming Football game against Gardner-Webb at 7:00 p.m. on
Saturday, October 2. Admission to the game is free for Liberty alumni.
.
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| User: "Dennis Kemmerer" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 12:03:15 AM |
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<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
Date: September 17, 2004
From: Jerry Falwell
WHEN CHRISTIANS DIVORCE
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
[snip remainder of teeth-gnashing]
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| User: "No One" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 12:54:10 AM |
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"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
.
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| User: "Dennis Kemmerer" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 12:08:52 PM |
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"No One" <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely
to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian
community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
Osama is hiding out in a Haliburtion-owned chalet in Aspen, waiting to be
'found' amid obscene fanfare, probably right around the middle of October.
The spectacle will put Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' show to shame.
.
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| User: "kaiwainz" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 07:49:00 AM |
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No One <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net>...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
The even more stupid part? GWB thinking that putting a gun ship over
the hide out of a terrorist is going to stop terrorism.
Terrorism has to be fought via two pronged approach, removing the
conditions which allow terrorism to exist, which funny enough are the
same conditions which created and allowed communism to take hold after
WWII in Tsarist Russia. The second prong is to work together with
allies rather than taking unilateral action.
Mind you, I'm not overly concerned about terrorism; it seemed to be
targeted at only three countries, UK, US and Australia; thank the
lucky stars my government wasn't stupid enough to get dragged into a
war with poor planning and shoddy post war contigency plans.
Matty
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| User: "Michael Gray" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 09:32:15 PM |
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On 18 Sep 2004 05:49:00 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
No One <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net>...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
The even more stupid part? GWB thinking that putting a gun ship over
the hide out of a terrorist is going to stop terrorism.
:
I suspect that he thinks no such thing.
It is in GWBs direct interest to stir up terrorism for as long as he
can.
His puppeteers know exactly what they're doing.
.
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| User: "kaiwainz" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
21 Sep 2004 12:28:03 AM |
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Michael Gray <fleetg@newsguy.spam.com> wrote in message news:<6qrpk05dm5hte06cbkc7kn7c7jhnno7g65@4ax.com>...
On 18 Sep 2004 05:49:00 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
No One <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net>...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
The even more stupid part? GWB thinking that putting a gun ship over
the hide out of a terrorist is going to stop terrorism.
:
I suspect that he thinks no such thing.
It is in GWBs direct interest to stir up terrorism for as long as he
can.
His puppeteers know exactly what they're doing.
Which probably explains the very vague "security alerts" that are
given out. They might as well be posting, "we've got a threat by
________ to blow up _______ based on __________, so we're deploying
____ number of _______ to ______ to ensure the publics safety" then
simply let the public fill in the blanks as required.
Matty
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| User: "Michael Gray" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
21 Sep 2004 03:39:22 AM |
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On 20 Sep 2004 22:28:03 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
Michael Gray <fleetg@newsguy.spam.com> wrote in message news:<6qrpk05dm5hte06cbkc7kn7c7jhnno7g65@4ax.com>...
On 18 Sep 2004 05:49:00 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
No One <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net>...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
The even more stupid part? GWB thinking that putting a gun ship over
the hide out of a terrorist is going to stop terrorism.
:
I suspect that he thinks no such thing.
It is in GWBs direct interest to stir up terrorism for as long as he
can.
His puppeteers know exactly what they're doing.
Which probably explains the very vague "security alerts" that are
given out. They might as well be posting, "we've got a threat by
________ to blow up _______ based on __________, so we're deploying
____ number of _______ to ______ to ensure the publics safety" then
simply let the public fill in the blanks as required.
Matty
Yep.
The text is paraphrased from Orwell's Necon Bible; "1984".
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
23 Sep 2004 11:37:36 PM |
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On 20 Sep 2004 22:28:03 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
Michael Gray <fleetg@newsguy.spam.com> wrote in message news:<6qrpk05dm5hte06cbkc7kn7c7jhnno7g65@4ax.com>...
On 18 Sep 2004 05:49:00 -0700, (kaiwainz) wrote:
No One <noone@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<m3acvo2ke5.fsf@nospam.pacbell.net>...
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
The even more stupid part? GWB thinking that putting a gun ship over
the hide out of a terrorist is going to stop terrorism.
:
I suspect that he thinks no such thing.
It is in GWBs direct interest to stir up terrorism for as long as he
can.
His puppeteers know exactly what they're doing.
Which probably explains the very vague "security alerts" that are
given out. They might as well be posting, "we've got a threat by
________ to blow up _______ based on __________, so we're deploying
____ number of _______ to ______ to ensure the publics safety" then
simply let the public fill in the blanks as required.
How do you backwoods bunnies in new zealand do it, boy?
Matty
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| User: "Jez" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "WhenChristians Divorce" |
19 Sep 2004 12:43:06 PM |
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No One wrote:
"Dennis Kemmerer" <dk@suespammers.org> writes:
<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
Falwell Confidential
The Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Group has released a distressing report
showing that marriages between born again Christians are just as likely to
end in divorce as those who do not profess to be born again.
I find this particularly troubling because we in the Christian community
have been leading the national effort to protect traditional man-woman
marriage from those who wish to legalize same-sex marriages.
People in glass houses...
It's a Bush-supporter thing. Bush pretends to try to protect us from
Osama by attacking a country that had nothing to do with Osama.
Falwell and company are making the same mistake - going after the
wrong target.
Bush......doing his protecting........
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/true911.html
--
Jez
'Realism is seductive because once you have accepted the reasonable
notion that you should base your actions on reality, you are too often
led to accept, without much questioning, someone else's version of what
that reality is. It is a crucial act of independent thinking to be
skeptical of someone else's description of reality.'-
Howard Zinn
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| User: "Ian Braidwood" |
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| Title: Re: Sep 17, 2004 -- Uncle Jerry Falwell has Words for us - "When Christians Divorce" |
18 Sep 2004 04:38:57 AM |
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<tock@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:<dIM2d.22228$aF6.17265@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com>...
Thanks for this, but.
I see this as a major crisis that pastors must begin to immediately address.
We must take on this issue head-on from the pulpit, in counseling sessions
and in all aspects of ministry in order to halt this dilemma within the
church.
When did people start using the word dilemma as a synonym for crisis?
A dilemma is a situation where a choice has to be made between two
undesirable possibilities - hence 'di'lemma - di coming from the Greek
for two.
Not that I consider anything Mr Falwell says as beneath consideration,
you understand.
Regards,
(-: Ian :-)
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