As I have seen marriages torn apart lateley with issues such as this, this video ripped at my heart. Watch the video, pay attention to the message, and try to hold back the tears with the little girl at the end.
Marriages, Families, Men are not destroyed in a day. It's a Slow Fade.
Please stop at the end of this video and just say a prayer for those in our churches, our lives, and our world. Pray that the God of all Power and Comfort will give us all the courage and strength to honor the commitments we have made to love our spousese for the rest of our lives. Pray that we will all have the strength to live everyday like Jesus has called us to live.
Casting Crowns Slow Fade Music Video on Yahoo! Music
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3 comments:
Cory,
That video says it all. Thanks for the heart wrenching reminder of the destruction of families. I feel like I have been through absolute fire the past year and a half with marital, family and relational issues of people around me and in our church. My heart is still ripped open with the reminder that not all of those relationships were successful in their recovery. I have always known and believed that the process was a "slow fade" in secret and in the shadows until it all begins to rip apart. I am struck with two thoughts.
Firstly, how do we foster an environment that will be conducive to families confiding in someone---anyone-- that they are in trouble. Or how do we make a place for husbands or wives who are in the midst of relationship ending secrets confide in someone who can encourage them to get help and to admit that they are powerless to fix their own situation without help and without God.
Secondly, how do we become more proactive in dealing with relationship issues in the church? It is obvious from a quick mental review of this past year that so many our young (and not so young in some cases) families have been ripped and torn to shred by the work of secrets, sin and satan. Why can't we play offense instead of defense and help families deal with these issues before they destroy relationships and leave a wake of destruction in their path? Don't we have to someday assume that ALL families are potentially affected by major relationship destroying issues. If we come to assume that ALL families are POTENTIALLY affected, then we can maybe put into place classes, seminars, literature and programs to deal head on with these issues BEFORE the volcano erupts!! I am sick to death of waiting for the next crisis and dealing with the aftermath and fallout of a long pattern of deceptions, secrets, mistrust, rationalizing and lies.
I don't know the answer and maybe all of the above is too simplistic and would not amount to any solution, however all I know is that I am tired, weary, sad, grieved and used up--- and I am tired of watching the results of that long slow fade.
Joe,
I too wish that we could enter into the lives of the hurting before the volcano erupts! All the questions you asked are valid questions. I wish I had immediate answers to all of them. Probably the most obvious, and maybe most simplistic (to use your descriptor), is intentional and meaningful relationships. I know that many would respond that most, if not all, of their relationships are meaningful. The key word here is intentional!
As a minister, I myself have many significant and meaningful relationships, but I must be honest and say that I am not always intentional with those same relationships. By intentional I mean intentionally calling my friends to take up their cross and follow Jesus daily; intentionally asking about their marriage, their work, their family; intentionally asking them about their purity. I pray everyday that God would give me the courage and boldness to ask my friends the hard questions about life, family, and relationships. Much of this would come, I believe, from an idea we have discussed before..."triads." Smaller, more intentional relationships that go beyond the small group environment, and much deeper than that environment will allow.
It won't happen overnight, but I believe that we are on the right track because we are passionate enough to ask the questions. It is obvious to me that you all are very passionate abou this subject, and the pain you feel for your friends is equally as obvious. We must continue to seek God and his counsel as we work to determine the best possible solution for strengthening our families and marriages within the church.
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