Comments on: Book Discussion Forever & Ever, Amen by Karol Jackowski

By: Her

Her — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:23:00 +0000

My heart’s urgent prayer for God’s people is for any fleeing family on their way from oppression to freedom. I had a dream about it last night…weird, I know. But I awoke to such compassion and conviction that I felt the need to pray all day for families, around the world, in such dire straits.

By: Jemila

Jemila — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:33:00 +0000

Oh what a burden so speak the truth and be cut off as a friend while also seeing someone vulnerable suffer as the result of someone’s fear of loss of position/ego or whatever..

By: Valorosa

Valorosa — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:52:00 +0000

I have just posted a disturbing story that has been revealed to me about the behaviour of a pastor from an emerging church. About a very young teen native girl, the most abused women in our country.

My friend is the compassionate leader that took this young girl and her nephew under his wing. I have been a good friend to him … a sounding board often.
I have voiced my opinion … we have had words about his silence re: this matter … he has an important place in this emerging church and doesn’t want to lose it. So he won’t speak up even to defend his friend, the young native girl.

My request that he speak to the pastor put stress on my friend and he has told me he doesn’t want me to be in his peripheral group of friends anymore. We have been friends for many years …

By: Jemila

Jemila — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:57:00 +0000

Lydia — I wanted to cry when I read your comment. That’s awful! I think it’s worse to be brushed aside by authority than to at least be respectfully engaged in disagreement.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:49:00 +0000

3. Describe a time you took a risk and voiced a dissenting opinion about theology, community or spiritual life? What was it like?

I was about 14 or 15, and my youth group leader was trying to convince us that in order to be truly “spiritual” we needed to stop hanging out with our non-Christian friends (unless we were inviting them to church or something. )

I don’t remember exactly what was said, only that I finally spoke up and told him that I disagreed, that I thought that if anything we should be spending more time with people who didn’t follow our Jesus than who did, as they’re the ones who needed some hope!

In a condescending tone he told me that I’d come to agree with him once I became a stronger Christian. (Or something to that effect….it was a real brush-off, at any rate.)

I was so angry that I walked into another room to cry. I never spoke up in his youth group again.