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Originally Posted by Trapped
Trapped: I was sexually abused in the church by a serving one for many years and as a result have trouble trusting anyone and am very isolated and fearful of anyone getting to close to me. I tried to get help from the elders but they dismissed my fears and told me to take the cross, which I did and suffered needlessly for many more years as a result before things got so bad I sought help elsewhere, even though for years I had heard all our problems can be solved in the church.
Drake: Thanks for sharing, Trapped. I was never abused and never experienced any of that or saw evidence of it. None of my serving ones were inappropriate with me. I grew up happily and do not have trouble trusting anyone and am not afraid of being close to people. There is no problem seeking professional help outside the church for serious matters such as this.
What both of us said in that illustration is true.
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So far what we know about our dear brother Drake is that he's been in the local church for forty years, and has gone thru all the "storms."
Obviously, since he also says he has a wonderful church life, the storms are not his church life experience. Storms are just unavoidable events in life.
However :
Mat_7:18* A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
The storms were the immorality and unethicality of the leading family, the Lee family.
A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. So even tho calling on the Lord, pray-reading, and reading HWFMW (sp) and Life Study's et. al. seems to make for a good church life experience, according to Jesus, it can't produce good fruit.
And that's why I'm burdened for our dear brother Drake. We consider storms an "act of God." It's like our dear brother isn't listening to God.