Parenting, children as demons, demons wrestling with unborn babies in the womb of your pregnant wife? Say what?
by Kathi
“What in the name of all that is holy?”
These were the words that I uttered to Julie Anne when I ran across the post, “Parenting Means Wrestling with Demons,” by Jonathan Parnell on John Piper’s Desiring God site.
I’ll admit, I tend to not see spiritual warfare in everyday life, especially when it comes to child development, pregnancy, birthing, or parenting. I look at these things as normal life happenings. This article, however, suggests that there is a war on our children and that demons hate little children. (The intent of my article is not to focus on whether or not spiritual warfare is real or if demons exist, but to focus on how the mindset of turning normal life events into a spiritual battle may be harmful.)
The very beginning of Parnell’s article had me scratching my head. He starts with a story:
I nudged the door open with my shoulder, hands holding carryout (again). I made my way through the dark living room and set dinner on the table. I could hear the kids playing in the basement as I peeked into the bedroom to find my wife lying there, doubled over with nausea. She felt too sick to think about eating, not to mention preparing food for the rest of us, and so for the fourth time in as many nights, dad was dishing dinner for the fam.
This is how it goes in wartime, and for a few months now at our house, we’ve been in the battle zone. My wife is pregnant with our fifth child.
As many mothers could attest, sometimes it’s not so much morning-sickness as just plain sickness. She hasn’t felt well since the newest member of our family came into existence at the end of last year. But it’s okay — we get it. It comes with the territory. Nausea, in fact, is just one piece of the larger struggle. We’ve learned by now that wrestling demons isn’t supposed to be easy.
Is it me, or does Parnell sound a bit annoyed at his wife’s pregnancy sickness? He may not have intended to sound this way, but he sure comes across that way. He’s bringing home carryout (again) and his wife is unable to prepare food for the family, which leaves him dishing out dinner. . . for the fourth time, for crying out loud!
I’m more concerned about the fact that his wife has not felt well since the birth of their last child “at the end of last year.” Does this mean that they have a 3- or 4-month old and she’s pregnant again? No wonder she feels sick. There is a real physical issue going on. Is she dealing with postpartum depression? Were there concerns for her physical safety after the birth of her fourth child that she not go through another pregnancy? If she did give birth at the end of last year, her body hasn’t had much time to fully recover from birth to go through pregnancy again.
But this is nothing new. They’ve been in this battle zone before. Please help me understand how pregnancy sickness and bringing home carryout (again) equates with wrestling demons and Satan hating children. My concern is that when viewing parenting and children through the lens of spiritual warfare, a line may get blurred when a parent responds to or tries to differentiate between normal child behavior and Satan’s influence on the child or the family.
Parnell calls for a change in perspective:
This calls for a shift in our perspective as parents. If we go into the work of parenting with a Precious Moments romanticism, it won’t be long before despair sets in. It’s just too hard if we think it’s going to be easy. It’s essential to know, especially when the going gets tough, that we are fighting hell.
I would like to know if anyone actually thinks that parenting is going to be easy. I would venture to guess from the moment that baby is born, no parent thinks that it’s raising a child is going to be a cakewalk. But, to go to the extreme of fighting hell? Well, okay I guess.
From this point on, it is made clear that everything a child does is related to spiritual warfare, from peeing on the floor, to not staying in bed at night, to being rude, to even a pre-born abnormality. Forget taking parenting or child development classes. They won’t help you wrestle the demons.
Even though Parnell thinks that children are a blessing (but don’t put those blessings on a pedestal lest they become your idol and certainly don’t let them run your home), the crux of the matter is that children are born sinful and are in desperate need of a Savior.
When does this view of spiritual warfare in parenting and children cross the line?
Let’s take for example the recent disturbing news story of Justin and Marsha Harris of Arkansas. Justin is a State Senator who fostered and adopted two little girls. The oldest was sexually abused and has difficult emotional issues that need addressing. These issues were so severe that DHS reports that they tried to talk the Harrises out of adopting the two girls.
Now, the Harrises are being accused of isolating the girls from each other (because of believed demon possession and telepathic communication) and monitoring them with video devices, of having an exorcism performed on the girls, and “rehoming” the oldest to the person who sexually abused her. The Harrises also run a Christian preschool and a former teacher is reporting that Harris would perform exorcisms on misbehaving children. The teacher also reported that Marsha Harris spoke freely of the demons that possessed their two adopted girls.
This is where parents go too far with their beliefs of spiritual warfare and Satan-hating children, and it crosses the line of inappropriately responding to a child’s natural development. Misbehaving children is normal. Emotional and behavioral disturbances in a sexually abused child is normal. Pregnancy sickness is normal. Bringing home takeout dinners because a spouse is too sick to cook . . . is normal.
Should the response to normal emotional and behavior disturbances be to . . . “fight hell?”
image:Owned by Cupid via photopin (license)
Spiritual Sounding Board 
Just when I thought it could not get weirder, it does.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
LikeLike
“She hasn’t felt well since the newest member of our family came into existence at the end of last year.”
And she’s pregnant again with their fifth.
Hey, here’s a tip: Take a break!
LikeLiked by 2 people
They seem to think the defeat of the satan is just a legal fiction. It is a form of unbelief.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could it be that he is saying she has been sick since the beginning of the pregnancy which occurred a few months ago?
However, he does sound like he is under duress having to pick up take out food. Poor dear.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dee, I thought of that too (after I wrote my comment). The reference to the “newest member of our family (coming) into existence” probably refers to conception and not birth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor, poor husband, having to bring home takeout. sniff
Get in the kitchen and cook something, for crying out loud!
LikeLiked by 6 people
1) I’ve heard of DEEEEMONS under every bed (being a D&D gamer in the Satanic Panic does that to you), but this is the first time I’ve heard of DEEEEEMONS in every womb?
2) “When does this view of spiritual warfare in parenting and children cross the line?” When God tells you to to start LARPing Warhammer 40K and your kids are the Chaos Beasts, that’s when. “IN THE GRIMDARK FUTURE, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE WAR! WAAAAAAAUGH! DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Tim:
@SergiusMartinGeorge:
But then How Can We Outbreed Those Heathens?
LikeLike
HUG, while I appreciate the sentiment, speculating on DV or having charges brought against someone just isn’t appropriate.
LikeLike
Dee & Sergius – Could be conception, could be birth. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling all that sorry for the guy. So, is it horrible of me to say that I don’t care what he meant? She’s doubled-over on the floor and all he’s thinking about is, “Man. I have to take care of feeding the kids (again)?! Satan ruins all of my plans!”
LikeLiked by 5 people
It is if you’re LARPing as THE Mighty Demon Fighter (Anime superhero or Master of Mighty Magick, same thing). “DEMONS! DEMONS! DEEEEEMONS! SHEEKA BOOM-BAH! BAM!!!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Kathi:
Reminds me of Chuckles Mahaney speaking from the pulpit about forcing his wifey to service him while she was puking her guts from morning sickness (chuckle chuckle).
LikeLiked by 3 people
I was confused about his statement “since the newest member of our family came into existence at the end of last year”. Is he referring to having a new baby at the end of last year, or the fact that she *got pregnant* at the end of last year?
LikeLike
Tina – I read it as the baby was born last year, others are wondering if it means point of conception. Who knows.
LikeLike
Well, Kathi, coming from Piper’s site means this author likely believes in complementarianism and the defined rules for women and men. Do you suppose he writes that way because he’s embarrassed that he had to cross the line into “women” territory and do “her” work?
LikeLiked by 1 person
If that’s the case, Julie Anne, what does that say about men who enjoy cooking? I think of Gordon Ramsey, Jaime Oliver, or Emeril Lagasse. Or, my friend Dale, who makes a mean rack of ribs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kathi,
It probably means they are gay, satan-worshipping, demon-possessed, feminist, egalitarian, anti-Christian, brains-of-a-rutabaga liberals!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, exactly. My boys are amazing cooks and their future wives will be greatly pleased (or jealous).
LikeLiked by 2 people
Here’s the guy’s theme song:
LikeLiked by 1 person
This dude is wrestling with demons during his wife’s pregnancy. Yet he calls children as blessings.
You know what, what is up with these guys? Has he been conferring with Kevin Swanson?
First we have Kevin Swanson talking about embedded fetuses in the womb:
and now this guy is talking about demon wrestling in his pregnant wife’s womb?
LikeLike
Methinks we’re watching a narcissist in action.
Can’t talk about his role (cough) in the creation of children therefore he creates a superhero role to play out in his head and has the audacity to brag about it.
Hint: if your spawn are demonic little helians, don’t procreate or at least leave your wife alone for a few years so she can recover and not be the next Andrea Yates. Better yet, stop whining and do your fair share of the work around the house and care for your own children instead of dumping on the little woman and blogging about it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“DEMON WRESTLING IN THE WOMB!”?
Sounds like the next Vinnie Mac angle over at WrestleCrap.com: the WORST of Pro Wrestling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehe! Methinks Parnell is the one being tormented by demons if this is his view of pregnancy and parenting. My advice is for Parnell to leave the children out of it and get help for himself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Takeout 4 nights in a row is not spiritual warfare. In order for takeout to qualify as spiritual warfare he’d have to get it all the way home only to find they’d left the pickles off his burger.
LikeLiked by 6 people
Yeah. OK. I realize I just made a joke about this but truly it’s not funny.
This guy thinks “having” to get takeout for a week is spiritual warfare and a demonic attack??? Seriously?? How about being able to get takeout is a blessing of provision and thanking God for it instead of saying it’s from Satan!?
I mean…who thinks like this??? “Oh God! Satan hates us! We had to eat takeouuuuuut!”
LikeLiked by 4 people
This is so disturbing on so many levels.
Just to clarify, I do believe that all children are born separated from God, and needing that relationship reestablished through Jesus. But that author’s way of thinking, two of my three kids being affected by autism is essentially my fault, because I didn’t effectively battle hell while they were in utero?
If I had followed this line of thinking when one kid was little, she would be a total basket case now. We didn’t realize she was affected by aspergers and fairly serious sensory processing issues until she was 13. In the meantime, she was brilliant, tempestuous, willing to die for whatever argument she was in, breathtakingly creative, hilarious, highly verbal, easily overwhelmed (and then prone to screaming fits to rival the Looney Tunes’s Tasmanian Devil), stubborn as a mule. All by toddlerhood.
People around me kept “recommending” Ezzo’ Babywise and GKGW, but I’m known to have a mile-deep stubborn streak of my own and refused. In fact, it was Sears’s attachment parenting I had naturally gravitated to and found support from.
As an aspie, if I had followed the so-called godly approach with her – rigid scheduling her to my preferences as opposed to her needs, inflexible and punitive correction, treating every meltdown as rebellion – in short, viewing her as the Enemy (or at least being led by him), she’d be one messed up kid now.
And regarding this guy’s extreme sacrifice with respect to takeout… My almost ex-husband once forced me, pregnant with our third and running a 104* fever, to make a long, painful road trip with two toddlers, through a torrential two-day storm, to his parents’ house so he could make a golf date with his dad early in the morning. Which his dad canceled when we got there because of the weather. And never even an apology. So I loathe comments like the author’s. Jackass.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I shall let Weird Al Yankovic speak for me:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yeah, I also meant to add that the heroic sacrifice of feeding the kids takeout (Again.) is exactly the kind of passive aggressive false heroics my 2BX engaged in. I was also really sick when pregnant, and it lasted more months with each kid. 2BX felt much the same as this man describes. And every time I sick enough to be in bed over the last fifteen years, he would pick fights with the kids until I dragged myself out of bed to intervene.
So my Christian narcissist meter is very finely tuned.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I didn’t get where he called children demons or said there were demons in his wife’s womb. And I do believe there is a spiritual battle being waged over many of our children. That being said…
All day long sickness is the pits. Trust me. I know. Like all suffering and disease, I think it’s a result of the fall of mankind. But if this guy’s idea of war and wrestling with demons is having to bring home takeout four nights in a row, all I can say is — he’s led a very sheltered, easy life. Getting all bent out of shape about takeout versus a home cooked meal sounds like a first world problem, and the epitome of entitlement.
Missing from his narrative is any hint of compassion for his wife, any sense of, “I’m glad I could help, even in such a little way, to lighten her load a bit.”
The war he needs to fight is against his own selfishness, and his overinflated sense of importance. He needs to pray for a servant heart. The problem isn’t demons; it’s plain, garden variety life in the real world, and he needs to grow up.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He’s a bit of a drama queen, don’t you think? If he’s this whiny over 4 days of pregnancy-based nausea and take out food (thank goodness they have the money for THAT!), what would happen if his wife got cancer?
LikeLiked by 4 people
My first thought, besides “What in the name of all that is holy?” after reading this article was how long would it take for viewing parenting as spiritual warfare to become abusive? When does the parent finally cross the line to go so far as to “beat the devil” out of the child?
LikeLiked by 3 people
@Kathi:
“So what if I rack him ’til he die? For I shall have Saved His Soul.”
— “The Inquisitor”, Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
LikeLike
“When does the parent finally cross the line to go so far as to “beat the devil” out of the child?”
I pray it doesn’t go that far with him, but I can sure see how someone who is into authority and “devil warfare” could view their kids like that.
It was sad reading that article because 1) he seemed irritated by his wife’s illnesses and there was no empathy for her expressed by him and 2) by viewing your kids as expecting them to do evil 99% of the time and being so surprised when they do any good can lead to not only low expectations for their kid’s behavior by the parents, but also low expectations by the kids (when they are old enough to realize that mom and dad already think I’m evil– so why even try to not be).
LikeLiked by 3 people
Oh…and he drinks John Piper Kool-Aid, which is tragic and unfortunate.
LikeLike
Diane – I was a bit put off by his being surprised when a child does good too. It’s really very simple, all a parent needs to do is take the time to understand how a child’s brain, behaviors and emotions develop at different ages. Children are not little adults and should never be expected to behave in such a way. Does this author view marriage, friendships with other adults, or even church leadership with a lens of spiritual warfare?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Well now I’m confused. I just read another article by him on desiringGod from Feb. 25, 2015– Whatever It Takes and he writes,
“This is the meaning of life: to live each day to experience and show Jesus as the supreme satisfaction of our souls. Now, does this work? We must press in here. Is this answer something we can rally around? Does it hold steady even through the roller coaster of real-life circumstances?
It emphatically does, and does so not despite diverse circumstances, but through them.
In fact, it is the various situations of our lives that invite us to witness to the abundance of Jesus’s glory. It is through the gains and losses, triumphs and setbacks, that Jesus shows himself enough for us. Suffering isn’t a footnote to the true meaning of our lives, but the path for actually realizing the true meaning. When we suffer, it’s because God has brought us there to show that Jesus is of surpassing worth, that his hope is beyond all comparison, that his nearness is enough (Philippians 3:8; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Timothy 4:17–18).”
Well, he should be pleased as punch his wife is sick, he had to suffer by having take out 4 times and his kids are a demon’s battleground-also causing him to suffer. God brought him there to show him Jesus’ worth, His nearness is enough and He is showing him the meaning of life. So why is he worrying about demons and warfare?
LikeLike
Yeah, I don’t get the impression that he’s calling the child in the womb a demon, more than parenthood (life, actually) can be likened to wrestling demons — in the sense that we are continually beset by our own selfish impulses. It’s hard to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
I don’t get the “annoyed” feel from reading what was quoted here. More resignation, actually, as in, “we’re in a war and wars are uncomfortable at the very least”. I sympathize with his wife, having had the all-day-and-night-for weeks on end sickness (who ever thought to call it morning sickness?) in every pregnancy.
If he gets tired of take-out, there are always tv dinners to fall back on.
Perhaps it becomes clearer in the rest of the post, which I don’t have time to read right now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Refuge – I wish it were that simple. Here are some other quotes from the article:
“Parenting is hard enough. We are wrestling demons.”
“When we see parenting in the context of spiritual warfare, we understand that the enemy has more than one way to wreak havoc.”
“It means that when the nausea sets in, or when we’re wrestling the worst of demons, though it’s not easy, we are going to win this battle.”
“But if we understand that spiritual warfare is taking place, we may not run as quickly from their rudeness, or at least not in the same way.”
“There is a war on children, and we are all, in one way or another, playing some role in it. Every time we move forward as faithful parents (or care for kids in any capacity, including advocating for the voiceless not yet born, and volunteering for nursery duty on Sundays), we are wrestling demons — because there is little the demons hate more than little children.”
Oh, he even briefly talks about how child labor is “taboo,” so what is the use of having them in today’s society if they don’t provide an economic resource. It’s subtle, but I get the idea he thinks that children really provide no value to society. So why is he having them (except that he says that they are blessings)? Later on he quotes Jennifer Senior as saying, “Children stopped working, and parents worked twice as hard. Children went from being our employees to our bosses.” Huh?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Read his whole article. I definitely got the impression that he is defining wrestling with demons in a literal sense. He wrote,
“When we see parenting in the context of spiritual warfare, we understand that the enemy has more than one way to wreak havoc. As hard as it may be to swallow, we learn that demons also take pleasure in those homes that are run by children, especially children whose hearts are so shriveled by selfishness and pandering that they lack any category of seeing themselves as sinners in need of a Savior.”
Demons take pleasure? Like… they are laughing at those homes? Sounds like he means actual demons not figurative ones.
And he also seems to think children (what age does he mean?) have the ability, generally speaking, to see themselves as sinners, selfish, evil and in need of salvation. I wonder if small children are able to comprehend what that means. Elementary age children? I doubt it. And I don’t like this “category” talk. It reminds me of CJ Mahaney who used that word when he decided he didn’t want to own up to his bad behavior (I lacked a category for blackmail…how do I process that…how can I know it’s a sin if I don’t have a category for it?…lol) and the mess formally known as SGM.
“It means that when the nausea sets in, or when we’re wrestling the worst of demons, though it’s not easy, we are going to win this battle.”
Why is nausea a battle? A battle with demons? Is he going to start doing exorcisms on his wife and kids? Didn’t Piper do that once?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kathi…get out of my mind. lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
Diane – Great minds think alike. 😉
LikeLike
The idea that a child can do good or be good is contrary to the fact that they are obsessed with sin and our fallen state. I heard this so many times at BGBC: “no one is good, not even one.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Diane, you are reading it exactly as Kathi and I read the article.
LikeLike
“Obessed.” That’s a good way to describe it.
LikeLike
All this talk of demons and spiritual warfare makes the ordinary mystical. I believe demons are real, but a child soiling its diaper is not demonic. Changing a diaper or getting takeout are not “spiritual warfare”. Morning sickness just is, like testicular torsion and influenza. Should we pray for strength and patience? Certainly. But demons are not making these things happen. These are all just part of life in a fallen world.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Diane, this makes me so sad. Like when I used to hear mothers fondly (fondly!) refer to their children as “little sinners” — as if it was some sort of loving nickname.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“…like when our kids pee on the floor when we are grocery shopping..” as an example of “spiritual warfare”. Maybe the child could not hold it any longer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All this talk of demons and spiritual warfare makes the ordinary mystical.
It’s disturbing. I don’t see how it can result in a sound view of the world. It also seems to me that at least one fall out of it is real needs, especially special needs, going unmet because of them being misdiagnosed as “demonic” and “Satanic attacks.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
@JulieAnne:
Which makes Christ into a fool.
You don’t get yourself nailed to redeem something utterly filthy & worthless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@BarnabasInTraining:
They’re “Masters of Mighty Magick” occult fanboys with a Christianese coat of paint.
Wanna-be Christian Aliester Crowleys wielding their Mighty Supernatural Power fightingr demons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
HUG,
That sounds a lot like something I’ve seen in a few Japanese cartoons: They call it “chuu-ni-byo”, roughly translated as “Grade 8 syndrome”. In the cartoons, the afflicted teens are depicted as having delusions of grandeur, imagining themselves as superheroes or possessors of otherworldly power. They give themselves grandiose names, and see the most mundane of occurrences as assaults and plots of their enemies “from beyond”.
I don’t whether it exists among teens outside of the world of anime, but are we seeing the Christianese version of it in Parnell’s article? Perhaps…
LikeLike
If Parnell really thinks that sickness in pregnancy or toilet accidents are aspects of “spiritual warfare”, I wonder what he’d say about one 1st Grade student I had this past school year. He’s a special needs kid — perhaps related to intellectual or emotional development — but also a sweet little boy, and seemed to really enjoy talking with me at recess.
A few months ago, as we were walking and chatting, he said that he wanted to marry me! I thought it was the cutest thing ever, but just what would Parnell have said about it?
I don’t even want to think about the Harrises’ reaction…
LikeLiked by 1 person
one clear teaching I remember when I first became a “Christian” was the idea of just how utterly contemptible all children are. They are pure reflections of the utter and total depravity all humans are. What was even worse about children especially young children was that they were often cute and they invoked feelings of happiness, joy and other vile human emotions. They could be used of Satan more effectively to deceive us into sin. Now of course I think such ideas are contemptible, stupid and totally pathetic. But it was a real vein in the teaching about human depravity.
I always got great joy out of children, I see them as such wonders and reflection of the fatherhood of God and God the artist. What a wonder children are. The idea that God loathes unregenerate children, even those that die before they are born has always troubled me, it still does. But scripture is really clear concerning the salvation of children outside of the covenant, they cant be saved from a literal perspective. The story of Noah is quite clear, there were only eight saved and none of them were children. Again I think the bible is wrong on this and many many other issues but that is another post.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Brian said: “But it was a real vein in the teaching about human depravity”.
Yes, indeed. Yet another thing wrong with teaching such stuff.
Please thank me for not using a common Anglo-Saxon word for taurine fecal matter in my last sentence, above. Even though it would have been more accurate. Parnell sounds like the sort of person who ends up being tried for a series of truly despicable crimes against children. And women.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Serving, what a sweet, sweet story. I hope you write that one down. That’s one for remembering. Love it!
LikeLike
Dear Mr Parnell:
It has been brought to my attention that you are clearly unaware of your own role in the production of offspring. This is not an uncommon problem amongst those who come from a background which forbids that young people be informed of the Facts Of Life, so you need not be embarrassed.
All of us here, reading Spiritual Sounding Board have at least a fair knowledge of the mechanics of human reproduction. To receve such information, simply request it of any of us, & we will impart said knowledge, free for the asking, to you, in a Plain Brown Wrapper.
Be assured that it is quite a simple matter to have a minor (though, in the short term, uncomfortable) surgical procedure performed which will leave you happily free of the condition which produces children. After this, you will no longer be breeding Demonic Creatures every time you turn around.
Sincerely yours,
Zooey
LikeLiked by 1 person
“chuu-ni-byo”, roughly translated as “Grade 8 syndrome”. In the cartoons, the afflicted teens are depicted as having delusions of grandeur, imagining themselves as superheroes or possessors of otherworldly power. They give themselves grandiose names, and see the most mundane of occurrences as assaults and plots of their enemies “from beyond”.
I think you might be on to something here, SKJ.
LikeLike
Wow. Just plain “wow.” This article is reminiscent of a pastor I sat under in the charismatic/penticostal arm of the religious law where it was stated that pastors receive “more” demons coming against them and their families. Due to the fact that “he” is the pastor, satan/demons focus on destroying “his” ministry by attacking him and his family far more, which in fact, provided a perfect segue for excuses as to why his family was more rebellious than most families inside his church. And so us stupid, blind, and dumb pew sitters (sadly, I was one of them-not too proud at this moment) believed this spiritually elite man and his leadership into believing that he was on a far greater spiritual journey due to the “attacks of satan and his minions” upon this great man of god and his family.
The baby and the bathwater stunk worse than my sewer pond in the lower forty. And I sat there for years under this stench of religion believing that this pastor and leadership did not “sin” like the rest of us disgusting, sinful and pathetic lower laity. Their fleece was as white as snow meanwhile the rest of ours were crimped in sinful manure. There were two pens in that church system and the fence dividing the two was infinitely high, making it virtually impossible to cross over unless you were able to reach those attainable traits of seeing visions, hearing audible voices from god, interpreting your dreams, casting out demons and healing the sick with your hands, and at the end of the day, falling down either “drunk in the spirit” or “falling down and “birthing.”
So thankful, our LORD brought me out of this cult……so blessed to be free from that spiritual abuse in my life, Praise God!
And Zooey……your letter writing skills are perfect. Thanks so much for writing what many of us are thinking!
LikeLike
Everyone on here should send him that “plain brown wrapper” with the details about his part in reproduction.
LikeLike
Wait . . .isn’t take-out food a luxury?
LikeLike
That was truly a great comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Julie Anne,
Thank you! I thought it was cute, but I bet Parnell would’ve been appalled. I can just imagine him shrieking, “Homosexual demonic attack! Save us, Lord, save us!!!”
Seriously, though, I’m going to miss that little guy. I’ve been assigned to different schools for the new school year starting in April, so I won’t get to teach him again.
(mope)
LikeLike
Katy said: Wow. Just plain “wow.” This article is reminiscent of a pastor I sat under in the charismatic/penticostal arm of the religious law where it was stated that pastors receive “more” demons coming against them and their families. Due to the fact that “he” is the pastor, satan/demons focus on destroying “his” ministry by attacking him and his family far more, which in fact, provided a perfect segue for excuses as to why his family was more rebellious than most families inside his church. And so us stupid, blind, and dumb pew sitters (sadly, I was one of them-not too proud at this moment) believed this spiritually elite man and his leadership into believing that he was on a far greater spiritual journey due to the “attacks of satan and his minions” upon this great man of god and his family.
The baby and the bathwater stunk worse than my sewer pond in the lower forty. And I sat there for years under this stench of religion believing that this pastor and leadership did not “sin” like the rest of us disgusting, sinful and pathetic lower laity. Their fleece was as white as snow meanwhile the rest of ours were crimped in sinful manure. There were two pens in that church system and the fence dividing the two was infinitely high, making it virtually impossible to cross over unless you were able to reach those attainable traits of seeing visions, hearing audible voices from god, interpreting your dreams, casting out demons and healing the sick with your hands, and at the end of the day, falling down either “drunk in the spirit” or “falling down and “birthing.”
Sadly, this is not just charismatic/pentacostal. I read your first paragraph quoted above with interest, as I encountered this early on, without having a clue as to its origins. I heard a lot of this in my 20s and 30s, the sort of thing espoused by people who would go on to preach “Pigs in the Parlour” at me, a year or two before we were geographically relocated and left that crowd behind.
The second paragraph, however, could be describing the church we just left, a member of a fair-sized “reformed” denomination. The difference was that to cross the fence, the unattainable traits were different. (Such things as you describe were anathema in that church. I think they believed in cessation of whatever-it’s-called-including-tongues-visions-etc. at the close of canon, or something to that effect. I heard it talked about once or twice, but just sort of ignored it as I have seen inexplicable healing a time or two. They were very smug about their stances, though. Since we lived on the “wrong” side of the fence, I’m not exactly sure what the unattainable traits were, since we never attained them, but they probably involved reading a lot of puritan writings and discussing (to me) obscure theological issues, subscribing to Rushdoony’s ideas, dropping names in conversation like Bahnsen, having a large family, hunting and fishing, buying an acreage and raising your own food (large families provide lots of labor), wives staying firmly in their place, etc.
LikeLike
@ JA~
“Well, he should be pleased as punch his wife is sick, he had to suffer by having take out 4 times and his kids are a demon’s battleground-also causing him to suffer.
Wait . . .isn’t take-out food a luxury?”
LOL…it is for me b/c I don’t like to cook and my hub loves take out AND loves to bring it home to us. Maybe, to Parnell, take out is less godly than a home cooked, cooked by the submitter meal that the headship deserves every night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Serving Kids in Japan said:
I’m sad for you that you won’t see that precious little guy. But you obviously left a lasting positive imprint on his mind and that’s just too sweet for words. I think I would be in mourning, too.
LikeLike
“I think I would be in mourning, too.” I truly envy that, I lost two very very close friends this last week, as a Christian I have come to understand that, that should be like water off a ducks back, even mean less than that. You know let the dead bury their dead and other such verses. I cant even bring myself to even entertain the idea of mourning their loss. It makes me physically ill. Yes, faith is the gift that keeps on giving. Personally I wish I could give it back. I dont want it.
LikeLike
I read in the Bible how Jesus was with little children. He did not treat them as demons. He did not treat them as an annoyance. He said let them come to Him. Calling a small child a “little sinner” is not a term of endearment. I believe that Jesus holds those babies in his arms and he has had my 9 month old grandson with him in Heaven for all of the years since he died. He did not send this precious child to Hell. He was born into a world of sin, but he had not yet become of an age of conscious decisions to commit sin.
I have 3 children and had morning, noon and night sickness for 9 solid months. They are 3.5 and 9 years apart so that gave me plenty of time to forget all about the last pregnancy in between times. After the 3rd child and deciding it would kill me to go through it again, I found a cure for it. As others have already said, we do know what causes that and there are cures for it if you so choose. I would suggest that this big wimp have a little snip and a weekend of ice bags and a little discomfort and give his wife a break. I agree with Tim–If you don’t want take out, get in the kitchen and cook. If you don’t want to be inconvenienced in any way, there is always abstinence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am always amazed at how folks like Parnell will use verses such as Psalm 139:14 (I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made) or Psalm 139:13 (For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb) to defend the right to life. However, as soon as a person is born, they are sinful from the start. They will staunchly defend the right for a child to be born then turn around and claim that there is warfare in raising that child. Everything is a battle. I truly don’t understand the mindset.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here is an update on Justin Harris, the Arkansas State Senator who rehomed his adoptive daughter to her abuser:
https://www.change.org/p/arkansas-governor-asa-hutchinson-call-for-resignation-of-representative-justin-harris/u/10218401?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_update&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=facebook_link&fb_action_ids=10204278094255639&fb_action_types=og.shares
LikeLike
I am saddened not only by what this man did to his adoptive children, but no one in the political arena was challenging him. I also find it appalling that only 11,000 signed this petition. There are more signatures on a “save the whale” petition or “free animals from abuse”. I don’t have anything against people wanting animals not to be harmed and have put my name on a few of those petitions, but aren’t children our higher priority? I don’t get it.
Why would anyone adopt a child and then give them away? They are not property. They are real people with feelings. He had to have known what would happen and yet allowed it.
LikeLike
What ticks me off Brenda R., is that he signed a bill that makes rehoming an abused child a crime. A CRIME!!! This guy did exactly that and he is getting away with it. Most likely nothing will happen to him. He is sick.
LikeLike
I’ll have to reread the article. I read it that the sole Rep that was actually signing the bill was opposed to the one that should be drug through briars. So he voted to make a felony of what he personally did after the fact? I have a migraine so I’m not going to try to read the article right now. Can we make this law retroactive to maybe 2000.
LikeLike