What a fantastic post!

"This is not an interruption of God's plan for my life. This is His plan for my life, at least for a season" Wow. Profound statement......I wonder how different the church would look if we thought about this. Usually, we are so focused on ourselves, when we see these "bad" things, we think of it as an interruption of OUR plans for our lives. We think that surely our plans and God's must be the same.

True that we shouldn't be surprised, but I think it's completely reasonable (even Biblical) to be grieved.

I applaud you for taking a dogmatic stand. I have done a fair amount of research on this topic, and you have make statements I've yet to see. I'm bookmarking this for future reference.

Interestingly, I just finished a book by Ravi Zacharias and he shared that he knew several families of different religions (I want to say Muslim, but don't quote me on that) who sent their children to private Christian schools. Their reasoning was that it was then easier to direct the children back to their god than to have to prove to them that God exists to begin with.

Lori, isn't younggodlywoman very wise! She's challenged me. It excites me to find other young women who so desire the truth of God.

I am *so* thankful that all those years Robert stood his ground and didn't let me railroad him. Had he not done that, I don't think I would have come to my breaking point. Had he not stood his ground, the depths of my sin would not have been exposed. What I learned about God's plan is what brought joy to me in being submissive, and the zeal for sharing the message. If he had let me have my way, I'm pretty sure I would have abandoned my Bible and Christ. I was almost there. I was so tired and frustrated from the watered-down-Jesus-is-my-friend-but-powerless teaching of the church. I was seriously ready to walk away. Praise God, my husband didn't make it easy.

What I hadn't said in that quote is that this process is what brought JOYFUL submission. I had already conceded to doing it God's way, but I still wasn't going to like it.

These replies make me want to vomit. My heart is grieved today, and I've read these comments before. There are no new thoughts here, only the poison that is spewed in most of the world, and much of the church.

I have only one question. As women, are we so blinded to our own pride?

Thank you Lori for standing on the truth, even when there are but few who do. Blessings to you, Ken, and those faithfully cherish the word of God, and HIS plan.

I just reread my post and want to make a correction that I made in which an innocent typo could be taken grossly out of context, because we all know there are many people who just really love to twist words.....

Biblically, while adultery was granted an option for justifiable divorce, it was not commanded.**

Hi Cynthia. While I will admit that I was confused because this comment is out of context with the post, after thinking upon it, it must be weighing on your heart for you to post it.

First, I would have to ask the reasoning behind the need to classify porn as adultery. Porn is sin. But, I must ask, why do we need to quantify it as adultery? Sin is sin. Christians should not walk in sin, and when we do sin, and when our either intentional or unintentional sin is exposed, we need to repent of it.

But I must address, to me, what appears to be the root issue. The arguments I've heard with the objective to quantify porn as adultery, are made with the desire to justify divorce over porn.

Thus, I must ask, what is this the reason you want it to be considered adultery?

To me, it's not worthy of debate. It is sin. It needs to be repented of and rejected. But to waste energy on the debate of if it's adultery or not, is not a road I am going to go down. I will explain my reasoning. Typically, if there was adultery, I'd not give it as an automatic green light for divorce. Biblically, while adultery was granted as an option, it was not commanded. I believe that repentance and reconciliation is, at the heart of the matter, what God desires. Why do I say this? Because, marriage is an earthly show of Christ's relationship with the church. We sin and commit spiritual adultery against Christ. Praise God, he doesn't take up our first sin (which me MOST RIGHTFULLY COULD) or second, or third, etc sin as a reason to divorce us.

If you can give me a valid reason, aside from an easy out of marriage, that there is a need to quantify porn as adultery, perhaps I'd consider it. However, with what I've said above, I do not think there is a need to quantify it. It is sin. Period.

When his commentary is on social things that don't have anything to do with marriage, I will sometimes read him. I recently enjoyed a piece he did on homeschooling, if I'm remembering correctly. While I will occasionally read him for social commentary, I'd certainly not put him on my reading list as a spiritual teacher.

Okay, I'll be quiet now.

She sounds like a lovely, truly beautiful lady. I'd think anyone who knows her is blessed by her spirit.