Please read the following story and give your thoughts thanks.
Jake has a friend named Samantha, they met through mutual friends and decided to stay in touch. Their friendship grew and Samantha who is a born again believer, loves the Lord with all her heart, is in ministry and has shared the love of Jesus with Jake.
Funny thing; love, Samantha loves Jesus and Jake has fallen in love with her. He's kinda shy around her and it makes for an endearing sight for he doesn't know how to tell her and he always comes off as awkward. Then one day after many invitations he comes to church and goes into the prayer line to accept Jesus into His heart. After a while he makes other friends who encourage him in the faith but he only has eyes for Sam. He to tries to involve himself in the church. One day while hanging out together Jake works up the courage and kisses Sam. Taken aback she asks why did he do that? Because I like you. She smiles softly and looks at him. "Jake I like you too... but--"
"Then let's try to make something work between us!" he says boldly, Sam is full of regret, "Jake although I like you maybe a relationship isn't what we need right now, you're fairly new to the faith and you should take time to work on that relationship before you try one now."
Jake clearly upset rears back and starts pacing, "Are you serious?! You invited me so I came, I got saved and started involving myself and now we can't be together?"
Sam's eyes widens as realization and asks the questions she now already knows the answer too. "Jake did you come to church and accept Christ to be with me?"
He looks her square in the eye "Yes." and storms off angrily.
To be continued....
Thoughts? Comments?
I don't really want to ask direct questions here as to guide thinking but after reading give it some thought and tell me what do you think of such a situation?
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence. 1 Timothy 2:12
(Sigh) Really?
How many times do I have to hear this one? Paul when he wrote those letters said himself that some things came from the inspiration of God and some his own opinion, believe this to be his opinion for the era of that age. Men use this verse to subdue the voice of the women. But the God that I know and that I love is not into favoritism. MY God that I serve anoints all those he has called for a purpose and ministry. I am a woman and I have been called to minister, should I sit down and be quiet? God forbid, God has placed a message in me and I shall declare it to all who He sends me to! I am not a feminist I am a daughter of the most High God and I am tired of those using this text out of the content and age it was written for. God has promised to pour his Spirit out on ALL flesh, should I be in silence then and make my life of no effect? I know many women who are ministers and their husbands stand beside them. My friend is an Evangelist and God has called her husband into ministry with her but she stands at the pulpit. Because of this MISUSED scripture should she therefore sit in disobedience to the Lord? This is not men against women but accepting what God is doing in the lives of men and women, even the young who he has called because they are strong. I understand what the scripture means but do not use it as a means to shut up what God is doing this is not freeing, it is bondage.
It sounds to me like a very young female who was allowed to operate outside of the scriptures, and the will of God in the church. Being a novice, ( 1 Tim 3:6 ) she should not have been allowed to minister one on one with Jake. This was behavior that was in direct conflict with the word.
In addition, Jesus was the one who said we must count up the cost of what we do. I do not attribute this to the teachings of men.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down
first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to
finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Luke 14:28-30
It also sounds to me like you are now attempting to chance the story to somehow sanitize the conduct. In your own words, you clearly indicated that Samantha noticed Jake's "shy" and "awkward" behavior prior to him coming to church, and prior to him attempting to kiss her. You also indicated that Samantha felt this conduct was due to him being "in love", and not being able to tell her.
If things were so innocent as you say, why are now changing the story and going on the attack.
Read you own words, before you falsely accuse others of making things up.
"He's kinda shy around her and it makes for an endearing sight for he doesn't know how to tell her and he always comes off as awkward. Then one day after many invitations he comes to church and goes into the prayer line to accept Jesus into His heart. After a while he makes other friends who encourage him in the faith but he only has eyes for Sam. He to tries to involve himself in the church. One day while hanging out together Jake works up the courage and kisses Sam."
Please, take your cultic beliefs elsewhere. There's no reason to get judgey about characters in a story, even if they represent real people, and Christ is the only mediator any woman - any PERSON - needs between themselves and God.
Personally, I would take Jake's attitude of entitlement towards Samantha ("I came to church/accepted Jesus/served in ministry/whatever for you, so you owe me a date/dinner/a kiss/sex/marriage") as a red flag, but that's something that is really clear on paper (in this case, computer screens) and maybe not so black and white in real life. I think that religious minutia aside, if Jake and Samantha have any kind of genuine friendship, they need to honor that friendship by being honest with one another. I'm not clear on whether or not Samantha is interested and feels like she has to abide by particular Christian rules, or if she's not interested. I think either way, God shouldn't be blamed for it. Either she is interested in getting to know Jake better - in which case I don't think there is any harm in continuing the friendship/relationship without commitment and seeing where it goes, as they both grow and mature - or she isn't, in which case she needs to tell him honestly and trust that their friendship is strong enough to handle that. And if it isn't, I think it's good to find that out too.
I could be guilty of oversimplifying because it all makes sense typed out when you're not in it, but I think we complicated things a lot. If Jake and Samantha are friends and respect one another they need to be honest with one another, and that means taking ownership and responsibility for their own feelings without attributing them to God.
Devotedlove47 I am no longer addressing your comments after this because you are seeing what you want to see and judging by taking things out of context. Samantha is not relating the story I am. It's called a third party perspective, which you seem not to grasp. My reason for writing this post was to speak on something that happens alot in church. Apparently where you come from you do not allow young women to speak to the opposite sex but in the greater world if God speaks to your heart gender should not be a barrier. Man puts too many barriers upon themselves when God has made us free to live as He has lived. Walk in His precepts. Samantha met Jake as most do, through friends hanging out together because it's rude not to introduce people when they enter a room. When they kept in touch it was in a friendly manner. She never tried to get him alone to work her "seductive magic" on him. You have issues that need to be dealt with sir and I pray God heeds my prayer that you receive it. If there was a majority of people who saw the way you do I could understand but everyone has seen the situation for what it was you keep beating and hammering away at this to expose some dark hidden truth when there is none. No matter how I try to simplify this matter that you understand that and you may not judge a young woman who was concerned for a soul but sir (sigh)... you categorically refuse.
After Jake stormed out he came to church a few times each time not really engaging in worship, many reached out to him and encouraged him in the faith. Things in his life started to get weird, things that he was comfortable with all of a sudden grew uncomfortable. He could no longer carry on conversations with co-workers that he normally would. He came to church and spoke to the Pastor and the Pastor told him it meant there was a change taking place, what was righteous was pushing through and bothering his conscience. He decided it was too much for him to handle having to give up so much. But thank God for praying people, people who did not want to see a young man no matter what his first motive go back into the world. There were many phone calls many visits and we thought we had lost him, but then one Sunday he came the Pastor was preaching on letting go of our wills and exchanging them for the Lord's. On that Sunday something changed, Jake saw that He needed God more than anything. He went up into the prayer line and rededicated his life. He is now pressing on and growing in the ministry, has even started bringing friends and family to hear the word of God and everyone is believing with him for the promise of salvation. "What happened between Jake and Sam?" you may wonder. God works everything together for good, even though love doesn't die easily Jake has put God as his focus, he and Samantha are still friends, he has opened up more to the people around him and is thriving in the Lord. Please continue to pray for him. This writer is glad hat whatever "plan" we may hold to and try to accomplish, God's will always prevails.
I know how tempting it can be to "missionary date", since the only women that ever throw themselves at me are non-christians. Christian women expect you to be practically perfect from the start, and offer very little in return. Non-christian women, on the other hand, are just happy to have a guy who treats them with respoct and isn't spending all him time trying to get into their pants. But, no matter how tempting it may be, it's not safe to do.
Until you can walk in the humility of Christ, I am truly hoping in all honesty that you won't address any of my future comments Why should anyone believe any of the things you are posting here, seeing that you clearly cannot walk in the Spirit, while receiving the comments of others, without acting out in the flesh.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ�s have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25
It does not matter which person YOU WERE TALKING IN, the point is this. YOU CAME on this forum and PRESENTED a matter for which you obviously lack the wisdom, patience, kindness, maturity, honesty, virtue, and self control to discuss as an adult female.
Based on the INFORMATION WHICH YOU POSTED, I commented from a biblical perspective on the matter, and for that, you chose to attack me, and make this into a personal issue to avoid TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COMMENTS YOU CREATED.
Is this the conduct of a Godly woman whose heart is in Christ? I think not.
Jesus clearly taught us that " Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt.4:4
In addition, the apostle Paul, ( who was chosen by Jesus himself ), clearly informed us that " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
Based on these, and many other portions of scripture, I believe that we (both men and women) have an obligation to God to uphold the standards taught to us, by those he chose to instruct us. I do not believe that God inspired these words, just for us to ignore them, or to live life as though we have some exclusive right to "opt out " of doing them. This is the mindset of many professing believers in the church today. They want the glory of being known as a doer, without actually having to do what the word says do.
So again, until you can show more of Christ in you behavior, I would prefer that you would do what you have just spoken, because God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Cor. 14:33)
