Jump to content

Finding Fran

A blog by fransalley in General

  • entries
    9
  • comments
    12
  • views
    2,352

Did it happen

fransalley

Entry posted by fransalley

1,192 views

 Share

My small group is working their way through the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan, which is about how we Christians tend to neglect the Holy Spirit.  We watched a video this past week that's with the study, and Chan told the story about a church he occasionally visits in Maui.  

He ran into a woman that was acquainted with the pastor who said, next time you visit there, tell him I said hi.

So he did.  The pastor asked, did she tell you how we met?  

His story was that he'd felt a prompting, which he attributed to the Holy Spirit, to go talk to a woman at the end of a pier.  

I guessed the punch line before he even said it:  he ended up saving her from suicide.

It could be that I'm not being fair here, because I don't know the people involved and probably will never meet them.  It could very easily be that the Holy Spirit DID prompt the guy to go talk to the woman and she ended up not killing herself as a result.  

But in a discussion with my husband on the way home, I told him, "My question is, did the event even happen?"

It just sounds too neat, with too many loose ends tied up too neatly.  

I'm finding myself questioning a lot of "preacher's stories" lately.  I wonder if we're really being told the truth about something that happened, or if it's just a packaged story that's meant to make God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit look good (when really, they don't need our help at all!)  

On the flip side, I can tell you of a baptism that happened a couple of weekends ago, because the baptism was videoed.  It happened down at the Gulf during a youth group retreat from my church.  A young man with autism was baptized, and the reason I knew he had autism was because I know the young man.  When he was asked if he was ready to be baptized, he said, "Oh, yeah!"  I know some of his family's story and I was able to congratulate him when I saw him in person.

If that story were told and someone like me said they didn't believe it, that would be hurtful.  

I fear my experiences in an abusive church and my observations of abuses in the evangelical world have turned me into a total cynic.

  • Upvote 3
 Share

2 Comments

Recommended Comments

clueliss

clueliss 31,938

Posted

I've wondered about the validity of some 'pastor stories' myself.  Partly because I've heard the same story told by more than one pastor.  Specifically when I was listening to a lot of sermon/teaching podcasts and one of the story tellers in question was Mark Driscoll (and that was before his fall and booting out of Mars Hill Seattle)

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Lisafer

Lisafer 18,061

Posted

Like Clueliss said, when you hear the same story more than once, it really starts to raise some doubts! I view pastor stories about the same as whatever current tale is circulating on the internet. Might be true, might be partially true, might be a complete fabrication. I especially dislike really vague anecdotes with only first names, no location, no age, no details that can be independently verified. 

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Posts

    • RulerOfTheQueensNavy

      RulerOfTheQueensNavy 148

      Posted (edited)

      Fundie Walk of Shame 2
      On 3/13/2024 at 11:57 AM, hoipolloi said:

      An excellent commentary on the rotting corpse of the SBC and those who are protecting it:

      They are doing a series on Pressler over at The Wartburg Watch.  Nothing really new there, but a pretty good summary if you're not caught up.  

      What a lot of people including Wartburg seem to be missing is that Paul Pressler caring what the SBC believed is just a smokescreen.  The reality is this, the SBC is the single largest evangelical voting block in the country.  The lay people involved in the SBC from the Council of National Policy (like Paul Pressler, or Rod Martin) will do whatever it takes to keep this block voting Republican.  They need to cover up abuse in church, not for the sake of the church, but because it could breakup a huge block that can be controlled right now.

      Edited by RulerOfTheQueensNavy
      Wanted to add thoughts.
    • SassyPants

      SassyPants 94,881

      Posted

      Dillards 95: Next?

      I would think having already experienced a uterine rupture, and IIRC this was with Freddy and about 3 weeks before his due date, Jill is in a higher than average risk for untoward events and likely is on a very individualized OBGYN plan. Navigating a pregnancy and safe birth after having had a previous uterine rupture and never having had a vaginal delivery has to make Jill’s care quite unique. I hope she utilizes high risk maternal/fetal practitioners. 

    • Giraffe

      Giraffe 56,988

      Posted

      Karissa Collins 2: Riding Her High Horse
      1 minute ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

      You weren’t ready for college….. that’s why you dropped out.

      You weren’t ready for that new job…. So you were fired.

      You weren’t ready to potty train… so you gave up after a week.

      You weren’t ready to homeschool….. so your kids fell behind.

      You weren’t ready to buy that house…. So you were denied a loan. 
       

      Does she not realize that when you aren’t ready, things can fail spectacularly? I try very hard not to place expectations on my kids that they can’t handle. They aren’t ready for algebra. So I’m not going to force them to learn it. Her thinking is completely flawed. 

      Exactly! There are way more instances where "no, you're not actually ready" is the appropriate response. 

      • Upvote 1
    • JermajestyDuggar

      JermajestyDuggar 441,923

      Posted

      Karissa Collins 2: Riding Her High Horse

      You weren’t ready for college….. that’s why you dropped out.

      You weren’t ready for that new job…. So you were fired.

      You weren’t ready to potty train… so you gave up after a week.

      You weren’t ready to homeschool….. so your kids fell behind.

      You weren’t ready to buy that house…. So you were denied a loan. 
       

      Does she not realize that when you aren’t ready, things can fail spectacularly? I try very hard not to place expectations on my kids that they can’t handle. They aren’t ready for algebra. So I’m not going to force them to learn it. Her thinking is completely flawed. 

      • Upvote 1
      • I Agree 1
    • Giraffe

      Giraffe 56,988

      Posted

      Karissa Collins 2: Riding Her High Horse

      Here's the thing. "You're never going to be ready so you might as well do it now" can actually be good advice - in very specific situations! But overall as a general post for your broader audience? That's horrible advice! It's also profoundly tone deaf and painfully unaware of her own immense privilege. It's easy to have kids & to start your own business from scratch when "from scratch" is having access to hundreds of thousands of dollars! 

      • I Agree 1


Free Jinger Quick Links

Free Jinger Links

Recommended Reading

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

  I accept