Over This City

Someone once told that every city has sort of a demon sitting over it. Not so much a demon, but a spirit. Every city has a spirit about it that keeps people from God. He is the pastor of a church in San Diego, CA, so he felt like the demon over San Diego had dread locks, sitting in a hammock, smoking pot telling everyone to relax because everything was gonna be alright.

I got some tough news. One of my good friends here, whom will call Jim, not his real name, and his wife are separated. He is an awesome guy who has been working very hard to provide for his family during this difficult time in our economy. Apparently she didn't feel he had been doing enough. So she asked him to leave. Jim told me what was happening, and my heart shattered for him and his family. I know it's hard being away from his children like this, and feeling like his wife doesn't seem to care.

I have another friend, I will call him Bob. Bob and wife have been married for less than a year. They have been separated for a few months now. She left him only a couple of months after they got married. And another guy I know, Jack we will say, was divorced by his wife shortly after they learned they were having their first child.

What makes things worse is that all of these guys were leaders in their church when this all happened. Fortunately my friend we are calling Jim, is part of a great church and still wants him to be a part of their community. But the other two guys weren't so fortunate. Now, I know for Bob's church, it was a very difficult decision. One that the pastor confesses he wished he never had to make.

So that being said, I feel like Charlotte has a demon over it like San Diego does. It's not a demon that is smoking pot sitting in a hammock. It's a demon that is running throughout churches and tearing apart the families of the leaders in those churches. It's a demon that is telling the married people that they deserve better than what they have, and that it's out there just waiting for them. That demon convinced Jim's wife that there is a man out there who can give what Jim can't, and that she deserves a husband better than Jim. It convinced Bob's wife that she just didn't need Bob, so why stay with him.

It's so upsetting to see the people I know here hurt so badly. It's really quite alarming. Now obviously I know that divorce is everywhere. And it happens in churches all across the nation. But it seems as if the thing to do here in Charlotte is go to Starbucks in the morning, divorce your spouse in the afternoon, and go back to Starbucks in the evening like nothing had happened. It's really inspired me to protect my marriage with Desi even more strongly. It make want to do even more to guard ourselves from those improper thoughts.

I am praying for my friends Jim and Bob. God is in the business of redemption, and I am praying that he redeems my friends marriages, so that He can receive the glory of being a God that can redeem anything, anyone, and any relationship.