Walking Wounded

Thursday, November 29, 2007

I need to process this...

A man in prison.
When your brother (your will know them by their fruits) in Christ is a criminal. ????

A phone call just over two years ago stopped an embezzler, a man who almost stole all of our retirement. God protected us in the 11 th hour, 59.9 th second, I made a call that turned friend against friend. Caused brothers and sister in Christ to rift. But I made the call and it was the right thing to do. This man was my brother in Christ (or so I thought), he supped at my table heard my story and targeted my family. We became aware that he had over 100 citations and each one of a child p. nature. God protected my children from him and me too. Once, I allowed he and his wife to tend my kids (for two hours) and he was NEVER alone with them. Thank you God never alone with them, she assures me of this.
He is now in prison for 20-30 years and only 1 of those years is for the embezzlement and crimes he did toward his own wife and daughter. He is now off the streets. As of a month or so ago.

Night before last. In the late hours of the night my husband and I were praying for a dear friend who recently fell victim to a different man again preying on the naive trusting Christians of another church that fell hook line and sinker. Lost many thousands of dollars. We grieve for our dear friend. I am so sorry this happened to you. We were praying for you, and we are very angry that it all happened to you. We suspect many others as well were targeted.
The next evening, out of the blue. I received a phone call from the wife of the man I turned in (It had been a very long time since we had spoken). She asked me if we could get together for a sewing lesson. She was with me all evening tonight. No coincidence. We wondered what ever happened and had no idea. That he was charged and convicted of the se- crimes.

We were spared, we were his last clients. His wife even had the paper work of ours secured after the police had hand cuffed him. When I had learned that he had a weapon I went to the wife even when others thought I was over reacting. This was a brother who headed up a PRAYER MINISTRY! He targeted us! He had an addiction to se-. Embezzled over 1 Million and spent it all on prostitutes and child p. He sat in my living room praying with me hearing me story! I feel like showering just telling you this YUK! I know that if we all got what we deserved it would not be pretty. But that does not excuse us from the consequences of our actions. Our sins will find us out. It is excruciating when the body of Christ has to hold another so terribly accountable. But we must do what is right NO MATTER the price. This may have saved him from destroying a child physically for that is the next step and only God may know if he did cross that very line.

I was used in that type of photography as a small child, I had the stained panties from the torture of grown men. I am glad he is in prison!! So He is my brother perhaps? Yet I will not let sin shine in silence. I will pray for him his spirit. but his body and mind crossed a line that it is the better consequence for him than to be so easily tempted out in society!

God protected us!
We did what was right!
We risked friendships!
We stood up for the views we had that were not popular or shared!
We had the privilege to help stop a predator! Even though we were not aware at the time the full extent of his crimes.
Yes he is (was) a brother...or was he? (you will know them by their fruit)
We saw a wonderful fellowship disband from shock and the wake of the mans devistation (and other things It shook our fellowship hard!).
How many times do we forgive??70 x 7 but that does not suggest that we turn a blind eye to crime.

Jesus last said to us to pray for one another that we would resist temptation. Each one of us has a choice to resist it or not. To fulfill the lust of the flesh or flee it.

He is in prison and he will now be stopped from the advancement of this deadly addiction. Stopped from the temptations that befall him. His victims will only get half of the funds returned by the company he represented they lost half of their retirement savings. Elderly people, his response "They can afford it". His wife lost almost everything except a friendship that we hold dear. She has had to start all over again. His daughter, who he stalked and secretly harassed, devastated. He played the Christian society like a bunch of pansy's. It time we not only be gentle as a dove but WISE AS THE SERPENT!

Pray that you too will resist temptation and pray for one another.
Be Wise, Do not fall for any one in the church getting into your financial matters. You hire a reputable firm. Even then like us you could get hit, but at least the folks got half of the funds returned. Listen to your instincts. I stated mine and that is why I think that God saved us. I was not comfortable and deferred to my husband and prayed over it a lot. God preserved us.

2 comments:

Denise said...

God is so awesome, bless you.

Amrita said...

Praise God you did not let sin shine in silence. i told my Mom your story

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