Saeed Abedini, Franklin Graham, Online Behavior
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Saaed Abedini, former prisoner held captive in Iran, has published some strange posts on his Facebook page. In the following posts, he rants against Franklin Graham, Jay Sekulow, his ex-wife, the Idaho court system, a pastor who raised money for him, Dr. Wood, etc.
While Saeed Abedini was a prisoner in Iran, Franklin Graham used Saeed to further his platform of religious freedoms. In this Facebook post, he speaks strongly against Franklin Graham:
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The first sentence in this post is very revealing: Saeed thinks he is the NUMBER ONE face of the persecuted church. Oh, Saeed, humble you ARE NOT. Apparently, he is afraid of losing money. We didn’t hear this kind of rampage when he was in Iran. He was calm, cool, and collected. Perhaps he means he’s currently the number one face of the imagined persecuted church in America. Cry me a river. He still has over 23,000 Facebook followers and many still doting on him. Maybe some of them can cough up some money for him.
In his most recent Facebook post, Saeed Abedini speaks out against Pastor Merrily Hagerman who raised money to purchase a home for the Abedinis, claiming he didn’t receive the money.
Here are some other recent posts. Here is Saeed having an enjoyable time taking a selfie. S.M.I.L.E. 🙂
I think we see projection here:
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Uh-oh – the Spirit of Jezebel. He means business now:
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And more ranting . . .
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And more ranting . . .
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Spiritual Sounding Board 
Poor guy. Might have to get a real job rather than get by on begging money for a living
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I was calvary chapel while he was in Iran. He wasn’t a martyr. He was imprisoned before for evangelizing against the Constitution of Iran. Actually agreed and signed papers, in order to be released that time, vowing to leave Iran and never to return. He agreed not to continue his religious activities in order to come home.
Then… he went back, with his family no less and continued what he had agreed in writing not to continue. He was put back in prison to serve the remainder of his original sentence.
He is not a martyr. He’s an idiot, zealot and someone who put his own family in danger, then made a living out of it. False stories of harsh treatment and death threats, beatings and Torture to Jazz it up for the folks back home.
Then he came home and alegedly started abusing his wife. The wife started spilling the beans on what was really going on.
He’s the worst of missionary stories. No one to hold in high regard at all. He needs to get a regular job and stop exploiting the compassion and Empathy of the Christian churches he begs money from.
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Yesterday Saeed’s posts focused on Naghmeh and Franklin Graham encouraging him to write a book. Something big happened between yesterday today for him to turn on FG and Calvary Chapel pastors. The fact that he finds himself “the face” of the persecuted church today makes me think he is delusional.
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I skimmed over Saeed’s post that was critical of Graham.
As someone at the other blog noted, it sounds as though he’s mostly just upset that Graham is not giving him money any more.
Not that I’m a fan of Saeed’s, but if what he says is true about some pastor who promised to raise funds to get him a home but then didn’t follow through on doing that, I am a little empathetic on that point.
Since my mom passed, I’ve noticed a lot of Christians either won’t do practical stuff to help you out (not even acting as a source of encouragement, just to take the occasional phone call from you, etc.), or, they offer to help (or to pray for you), but they never follow through.
Christians should not make promises they won’t follow through on.
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Hi Kia,
Thanks for sharing your information. I have heard the same thing about being told not to go back to Iran. I have one correction to make. Naghmeh has said that he started abusing her before he was in prison (and there is also court documentation about this).
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Even in his ongoing delusions Saeed is speaking some truth about F.Graham and ACLJ. They both used him for their own benefit and have cut him loose once he was of no value to them. They just want him to go away…
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You’re right, Loren. Graham and Sekulow know that he’s bad for their image. He’s gone in their eyes.
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Saeed’s rants are very typical of the language abusers use when their tactics of ‘playing the Christian nice guy’ to recruiting allies among people of influence are ceasing to be effective and the noose is tightening in on them. They do not bother conceal their true natures any more. I have seen this often in my work at the blog A Cry For Justice which addresses spousal abuse and particularly how it manifests in Christian circles.
Bear in mind, the abuser’s primary victim has seen his forked tongue for years already. But now the abuser’s forked tongue is being seen by the bystanders as well.
The abuser starts to publicly accuse those who were once his allies but are no longer his allies. He makes these false accusations boldly and ferociously, without trying to restrain or hide his forked tongue.
And while firing out these false accusations from his machine-gun mouth, he is simultaneously depicting himself as the victim. He depicts everyone else (not just his ex-spouse) as his persecutors. He tries to bully everyone into believing that HE is the most persecuted saint in all the world. If he can bully enough bystanders to take his side, fewer bystanders will support his primary victim. That’s his agenda. He’ll keep his primary victim isolated and thus prolong her suffering and delay her healing.
He HATES the fact that his primary victim has escaped him and got free from his clutches, and he wants to pay her back no matter what it takes. He is virtually obsessed with this payback agenda and he does really stupid things, like biting the hands of the people who were supporting him in the past. That’s pretty stupid act for an abuser: to attack the celebrities who had given him credibility with the masses. But in the profound distortions of his mindset and beliefs, he actually thinks it is a good and sensible and JUSTIFIED thing to do.
And in doing this, his grammar and syntax often show flaws. Now I know that Saeed’s first language is probably not English, but he was able to compose sensible English sentences before on his FB page. These latest rants of his show many examples of poor grammar and syntax. We have observed this kind of poor English in the language of many men who abuse their wives. (However, some abusive men are so well educated that they can use proper English to do ALL their verbal abuse.)
Sometimes the poor English is like a word salad. Or a concept salad. The words and phrases are ‘christianese’ but they do not hang all together logically, there are skips and jumps, the flow of thought is not logically connected. This is evidence of how the abuser’s thinking and beliefs are so very distorted. In attempting to mimic the language of people who have functional consciences and Christian values, abusers have learned how to string phrases together to sound like they are morally upright people, but their hearts are wicked and stony and they are NOT regenerate believers and they cannot actually string the phrases together plausibly all the time.
It’s rather like a parrot who has learned to mimic the language of human beings.
When the abusive man is desperately trying to regain control and crush the oppostion he may not always do the parroting act well. His snake suit starts to show through his pinstripe suit.
PLEASE bear in mind that Saeed is not becoming ‘unhinged’. He was always this evil. The abusive man does not behave way because is ‘crazy’ or ‘mentally ill’. The abusive man behaves this way because he has an ABUSE problem. His thinking and his beliefs are profoundly distorted and he has seared his conscience, so he believes he is fully entitled to treat people this way. It’s just now showing to the public view. His wife has been subjected to this evil of his for years.
Here are some of our posts about the language of abusers, which discuss this kind of thing:
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2012/04/29/he-speaks-with-forked-tongue-by-jeff-crippen/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2012/01/16/how-to-spot-an-abuser-who-claims-to-be-the-victim-by-jeff-crippen/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2012/06/17/how-easy-is-it-to-spot-an-abuser-when-he-is-both-jeckyll-hyde/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2013/02/28/the-language-of-abusers-who-portray-themselves-as-victims-pt-1-vagueness-contraditions/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2012/04/03/abusive-people-tell-us-what-we-should-do-by-jeff-crippen/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2015/11/16/abusers-love-to-tell-us-what-our-thoughts-and-motives-are/
https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2015/11/23/how-miles-davis-misrepresented-his-assault-of-his-wife-frances-a-case-study-in-the-language-of-abusers/
And this post of gives an example of “word salad language” that is actually uttered by a pastor who is advising a woman who is married to an abuser: https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2015/11/20/to-every-man-an-answer-but-if-its-an-abused-woman-lets-lance-her/
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They are all grifters…
What has become of the American evangelical church?
Glad I moved on, but they are a stain on Christ’s body and a huge reason Christianity is held in such disfavor and our children want nothing to do with any church.
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200,000 K wow I remember asking 400 bucks to help with my father’s memorial service. I will, on my soul, ever do that again in some faith communities.
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Somehow this fits Saeed and his friends:
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Ok this is weird and i find this very informative. I’ve never trusted saeed… but his words here make alarm bells go off for me. His mention of Hormoz Shariat, being the uncle of his ex-wife …. very….. interesting……!! Not only the connection, but what saeed says about the actions and interference (alleged) of Shariat, in the underground church in Iran.
I wrote an article once decrying the agony of personally hearing a Christian pastor boldly preach many things that are completely contrary to the teachings of Christ, at a Church conference supposedly about “the global persecuted church”, sponsored by VOM. The speaker… Dr. Hormoz Shariat. Yep something is up and it is more than saeed coming unhinged because he’s not having an easy time remaining “in the cool club” with all of America’s Superstar Pastors.
Shariat preached 7 Mountains Dominionism, Zionism, Militarism, war and killing (it is necessary, he said), he preached fear, he preached we must convert “them” before “they” kill us all, and he preached political motivation (for getting converts). This man sounded not like a disciple or shepherd of Christ, but like the pope and the US Government propaganda media. There. Now why do you think that might be?? These types (in Churchianity masquerading as pastors) are agents of change…..they are not speaking for Jesus Christ but for earthly lords and masters. But so many Christians listen to them. Thus, the saints find themselves in mired in Babylon (confusion).
I documented everything the man said at the conference here in this article. I’m not ashamed to say that his comments are outrageously un-christian, if you define what is Christian by the teachings of Christ, rather than the teachings and traditions of ChurchState Christendom.
https://witnessingencouragement.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/heed-not-the-motivation-of-fear/
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Thanks, Loren, you really wanted me to have that song stuck in my head so I can’t sleep, right? haha
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I think Mr. Abedini needs to reinvent himself right into another field of enterprise. He clearly doesn’t meet the scriptural guidelines required for an elder. That being said, If funds were raised for him and his family illegally they must go to them. To do otherwise is a clear predicate for a prosecution under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization ACT. Mr. Abedini should file a criminal complaint with the U.S. Attorney that covers the area where the fundraisers operate and perhaps sue under the civil side of RICO.
The whole matter is another reason to DEfund the church until they clean up their act, or give to small local churches with policies of total financial disclosure.
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Oh man. A lot to unpack here.
It’s funny, I would agree with him about all the people fundraising on this and then not using the money as intended if his entire motivation for being irritated wasn’t that he wanted his cut! I wonder if Naghmeh got a cut.
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That’s not all, Julie Anne. At the end of his rambling rant against Calvary Chapel, Saeed has the nerve to call himself an “apostle”. It seems humility isn’t a virtue he’s developed yet.
And has anyone else noticed the way he keeps pushing his upcoming book? In a few of the posts JA showed us here, he promises to name names and give us all hard proof of the shadowy conspiracy that’s ruining his life (poor, poor Saeed). He won’t tell us this all-important info for free, you see. We’ll have to buy his book to find out the whole story.
What if you buy it and find out that it’s all nonsense? I imagine his response will be, “Too bad, sucker!”
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Saeed is going to have a hard time finding a publisher for his tell all book because he would be speaking against the christian Celebrity industry. Good luck with that!
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Is Saeed finally losing it?
Or is this just two feral junkyard dogs turning on each other?
(Don’t call them “Wolves” — Wolves have more class than that.)
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@SKIJ:
As my burned-out preacher writing partner put it:
“If a preacher titles himself ‘Apostle’ or ‘Prophet’ — RUN!”
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@Loretta:
Don’t know about Persians, but Arabs always keep everything in the Family.
“Me against my brother;
Me and my Brother, united against our cousin;
Me, my Brother, and our Cousin, united against the Other.”
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@JulieAnne:
JulieAnne, here’s something about “that song” that’ll also keep you up at night.
I’m old enough to remember when the Helen Reddy arrangement of it was on the Top 40. And when I was in-country (during the heyday of Hal Lindsay) Christians would tout it almost as a hymn about the Bride of Christ and the Rapture.
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crazy… wow… test everything… I don’t know… it’s possible God is using (various degrees of) false shepherds to expose each other… i’m sure a secular publisher will pick up SA’s book if that is what he is doing… I am not willing to say FG or SA are not believers, but something is very, very off and we’ve had a sense of this for a while, especially more so in the last 5 years it seems… and God might be using this to expose some (hopefully a lot of) the very ugly cesspool that has been hidden for decades in the 1st world church, His Bride is being prostituted/trafficked… if He is doing this, it is an answer to prayer of exposing what is hidden in darkness, of bringing into the light what has been hidden in the dark out of fear of being exposed.. yes, it’s going to be ugly, but it is a good thing, and needed to purify the Bride, so she can be ready for her Groom, Jesus Christ… and those who are not prostituting the Bride will stand strong… He is raising up humble, servant leaders who are truly serving His Kingdom for His glory, not their own, and who are truly empowering and encouraging and equipping those who have been marginalized in and by the spiritual leaders in the Church… I know this seems really harsh, but the Bride is being prostituted by some/many of the spiritual leaders and the “business” going on in 1st world churches… and Jesus is NOT OK WITH THAT! These celebrity pastors are stealing God’s glory. NOT OK!
ps. are we sure this is credibly SA and not some hacker? even so, there is some degree of truth in what is being shared… I don’t follow SA, and so just want to make sure it is SA writing these things… but treating the Bride like a business by the celebrity pastors and their supporting institutions is a HUGE problem, and needs to be exposed and addressed!
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@BarbaraRoberts:
(You know I almost spelled your name “Barabbas”?)
Like stalking with intent to abduct or kill?
I’ve heard when someone’s in the middle of having their life melt down (like Saeed’s is now) is when they’re the most dangerous. Especially at the point where everything crashes and he’s sitting amid the wreckage.
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LorenHaas– wrong, wrong, wrong. He has enough interest that he could get a publisher. Secondly, he doesn’t need a publisher. Lots of books are self-published today.
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@ SKIJ and HUG:
Maybe Abedini’s reinventing himself as the Richard C. Hoagland of the evangelical world.
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Funny how a man, who, according to his ex-wife, suffered (suffers?) from a pornography addiction and acted physically and sexually abusive toward her, can quote Revelation 2:21 as a rebuke against the American Church: “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality….” Saeed urges readers to “Wait for the book.” No thanks, Saeed. I, for one, am not holding my breath for its release.
As a side note, commenter Loretta, above, mentioned VOM (Voice of the Martyrs). This reminded me of VOM’s previous executive director Tom White, age 64, who committed suicide five years ago just before he was about to be arrested for sexually molesting a 10 year-old girl. White, too, was highly regarded as a “martyr,” having served time in a Cuban prison for disseminating Christian literature.
God looks at the heart; He doesn’t see as man sees. It is not good to label anyone a “saint” “martyr” “apostle” or any other “holy” title if this can cause people’s judgment to be clouded and they just unequivocally assume the person is “of God” because he suffered so much for the kingdom, and they blindly put their trust in him–no questions asked! There is no way he could possibly be an abuser (the reasoning goes).
As if suffering persecution automatically makes the “martyr” immune to committing heinous offenses. After all, how could they boldly withstand such spiritual opposition if they weren’t something else? They are a superior bunch. They’re not wishy-washy compromisers like the rest of Christendom (this sentiment is felt throughout Saeed’s denigrating, prideful posts). How dare you speak evil of me. I’ve earned my stripes. I am a martyr (gag!!).
Sadly, a lot of people treat “martyrs” as if they are better than the rest of us. But to put someone on a pedestal above reproach is idolatry. We’re not saved by works. God does not turn a blind eye to abuse, even if it is perpetrated by an “ex-martyr.” God is not impressed with our “holiness.” It’s all filthy rags to Him.
From what I’ve heard, the 10-year-old molestation victim was the daughter of ministry colleagues of Tom White (that’s how he had access to her). That just makes it all the more horrible.
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@Staphanie:
Especially when the “Saint/Martyr/Apostle” starts believing his own P.R.
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It strikes me that this has been going on for a while–when I read accounts of the police report from years back, it was something of a “say what?” kind of experience. Combine that with the “diploma mill” ordination, going to Iran, apparently having something of a porn problem while there, etc., and you’ve got a pattern that says “hey, folks, ya better step in and help this guy before this gets really bad.” Even his Abercrombie shirt is a sign–middle aged men like myself and Saeed generally don’t wear that stuff unless we’re going through a mid-life crisis.
In other words, what’s new is that he’s trying to cope with the consequences of what’s been going on for a while.
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I agree with you, BB, and it makes me wonder what was in Franklin Graham’s mind when he decided to use Saeed as a public face for his religious freedoms platform. He obviously did not do much vetting! Now Saeed is just an embarassment to him.
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I understand that Saeed has issues, but as others have mentioned Saeed is not wrong about Franklin Graham. Graham does make over $1M a year in salary off of his father’s charities. The money given to Samaritan’s Purse and Billy Graham Evangelical Association is meant to provide food, water, medical treatment and the Gospel to those hurting and in need, not fund lavish lifestyles. Many people give sacrificially to help the needy children that Franklin posts exploitative pictures of constantly.
After the information came out about Franklin’s outrageous salaries, which don’t include all his C-Suite perks, Franklin used more donations to have his father’s charities re-categorized as an association of churches so he will never have to disclose his salary again. Imagine the kinds of raises he gave himself now?
Franklin did use Saeed. That 50 state Decision America Tour he conducted to promote the GOP for the Presidential election used a lot of fear mongering over escalation of the persecution of Christians and the loss of religious freedoms if American Christians didn’t get out and vote Republican. Franklin profited handsomely off of that tour, earning himself a seat at the President’s table. He could have quietly put Saeed into some insignificant staff role at one of his organizations or any one of thousands of churches that would do his bidding. But he didn’t. If Saeed, was still exploitable, things would be a lot different.
I hope some readers will consider watching this link below to a five minute video from last night on Fox News where Piers Morgan calls out religious leaders for not condemning the atrocities committed against two Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday. Trump has dozens of high profile televangelists and megapastors claiming to be on team Trump and claiming to champion religious freedom for all. But Piers is right. Where are they now? Why is the silence so deafening?
Gateway Church PARTNERS with an Egyptian Church. It’s all well and good, when they can use them to say they support persecuted Christians and use them as a super fun tithe funded vacation spot. The gaggles of pastors going to Cairo each year post pictures of visiting the Pyramids of Giza, riding camels and going on river cruises down the Nile while staying at gorgeous resort hotels. Not much about any missions work.
This weekend and week, not one pastor at Gateway has publicly said a thing about this Egyptian atrocity. There have been no announcements or email requests for prayers or requests for donations for crisis relief. They had not a single call for prayer at the beginning of the services on Sunday, despite Egypt being 7 hours ahead of Texas, so the failure to call for prayer was not due to lack of awareness of this tragedy. Why? That would be a buzz kill, duh! People go to Gateway to feel good about themselves, not think about innocent women and children turning into grease spots for worshipping Jesus on Palm Sunday.
Then again, Robert Morris did not once mention that this Sunday was Palm Sunday. Can you imagine? What he did mention was how great and famous he was since Franklin Graham had just paid him to speak at his big Samaritan’s Purse Conference this last week. They also had time to mention that Gateway had paid for a Texas Ranger’s sponsorship so that Robert’s son Josh could throw out the first pitch. Then he was back to literally rewriting the Ten Commandments about how God wanted him to take more time off for rest. So Gateway and Franklin Graham’s priorities are pretty clear. Me, me, me, me, I’m famous, I’m rich, it’s all about me, me, me, me. People may not like Saeed, but celebrity millionaire pastors ARE running their churches as businesses and they ARE ignoring very real persecution. ahttp://insider.foxnews.com/2017/04/10/piers-morgan-slams-media-coverage-egypt-isis-attack-christians-palm-sunday
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Regarding Graham, there is a point where if we really believe in religious liberty, that does include those we might not consider to be “presentable in public”–that is, Saeed and perhaps even me. :^) The place where I’d fault Graham is in not admitting that Saeed, like a lot of us, isn’t an exemplar of what we ought to be. I can stand for someone’s religious freedoms without saying “this person ought to be my pastor”, no?
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Wow.
Let me see if I have this straight.
…Franklin Graham, Jay Sekulow, and Merrily Hagerman all used the Abedini’s to fund raise and then kicked them to the curb when they weren’t useful to raise funds or be good PR any longer and wouldn’t follow their plan. Like that could happen. sarc/
Saeed is sued, without his knowledge, by the Calvary Chapel pastor Hagerman to keep the $200k raised for the Abedini’s to purchase a home.
Saeed the ‘Apostle’ followed the advice of Franklin to be quiet and rumors spread by speculation and picking sides, then Franklin doesn’t play by the same rules when Saeed goes public, so Saeed calls him a hypocrite on social media and these stories end up on national media again.
Saeed knew about Caldwell’s adultery and told Chuck Smith and Brian Brodersen about it and was ignored and his wife Nagmeh was being advised by the adultery committing pastor (which by definition here on this blog makes him a spiritual abuser and criminal) up until the adultery committing pastor (who said he was leaving the pastorate to pursue missions) was busted or maybe still is advising her.
Saeed is posting bits and pieces (so as not to ruin the book) on Facebook in very broken English making him look loonier than he probably is and is showing a “failure to communicate”.
And there is a lot more to this story! A book is definitely necessary as they say “truth is stranger than fiction”.
In the meantime I suggest Saeed use Google Translate…, and get help getting his thoughts together…
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Is Barbara saying that abusers talk in circles and have inconsistent logical thoughts thus have confusing speech?
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LT– The publication called Charity Watch reports that no one at Samaritan’s Purse makes more than $622k.
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We don’t know what kind of beatings and abuse Saeed endured in the Iranian prison. We do know he was beaten, and we know the treatment of Christian prisoners in that part of the world is deplorable. Of course, none of that excuses his abusive behavior toward Nagmeh. I wonder though, if he was beaten around the head and now suffers delusions? He’s calling himself an Apostle now… would be interesting to know if he believed that before going to prison, or only since he’s gotten out? Whatever the reason, his rantings don’t seem quite sane.
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I agree with Bike Bubba that religious freedom is a stance to be taken, regardless of whom it benefits. A lot of non-Christians, secularists, and atheists stand for religious freedom, too. This is not a uniquely Christian position. What I have an issue with is people elevating “martyrs” (or anyone for that matter) to God-like status where no one seems to care if they perpetuate abuse on other humans because of their “Holy, Martyr, Saintly, Missionary, Persecuted, etc. Poster-Boy image they embody.
Let’s not forget that Naghmeh Adedini, Saeed’s estranged wife, has stated that Saeed has inflicted “physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse” upon her (the sexual abuse stemming from Saeed’s pornography addiction), and there is concrete evidence confirming the physical abuse (Saeed pled guilty to a charge).
Also, does anyone remember how the children of missionaries to Africa (4 little girls, to be exact) were sexually abused at the Gospel Missionary Union-run “Ivory Coast Academy” boarding school in the 1970s, while their parents were away serving on the mission field? The “dorm father” the girls accused of fondling them was allowed to finish the school year in the male section of the school and continued “ministering” afterward in the denomination, from which he subsequently retired.
How about all the Catholic priests that got away with sexual abuse for decades because no one could believe that these holy, saintly, celibate, self-sacrificing, poor folk could hurt a fly?
Maybe Saeed has problems securing viable employment due to the fact that he has a “rap sheet.” That is not Christendom’s fault!
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Daniel 11:32-35;
and Mark Demoss (FG’s PR guy) was public relations for Mars Hill after the Mark Driscoll drama…
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Christina, I confirmed with a source today that the behavior we are seeing now is consistent with his behavior before he was imprisoned. I spoke with a separate person last year who also mentioned this behavior.
It’s important to keep in mind that everything that Naghmeh said publicly had to to through someone to make sure it was approved. It makes sense that we wouldn’t have seen this behavior before, if everything was filtered. Saeed has no one overseeing his public communication and has free access to his Facebook page.
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Hi Irene, you asked whether I’m saying that abusers talk in circles and have inconsistent logical thoughts thus have confusing speech?
That’s pretty much what I’m saying. But it’s important to state that when abusers do this. it is usually not evidence of them having a diagnosable mental illness. Most abusers do not have a mental illness or fit the criteria for a “mental health disorder” according to the DSM.
The abusive man has a distorted belief system: he believes he OWNS his female intimate partner and that she is not really a person whose rights and personhood need to be respected. He believes she is only an object for him to use and manipulate. He believes he is entitled to control her. He believes that an intimate partner relationship should go ‘his way’ the vast majority of the time. So he believes it is completely fair for him to punish his victim when she doesn’t comply with his wishes and demands and his spoken or unspoken rules.
And when she leave him, he goes to great lengths to recruit allies who support him and who do not hold believe he is an abuser and do not hold him accountable for his abusive behaviour. If his allies later discard him, if they later give him the cold shoulder, he might start verbally abusing those allies as well. This is what Saeed has done.
The abuser’s verbally abusive speech shows signs of disconnected and distorted thinking not because he is mentally ill, but because his fundamental belief system is so very different from the fundament belief system which most people in civil society agree upon: namely, that we have no right oppress and mistreat others for our own selfish ends and that we must restrain and temper our conduct in order to honour and respect the rights of others. The disconnection in the abuser’s verbally abusive rants is evidence of how much his fundamental belief system differs from those of us who respect and protect the rights of others.
Hope this helps. I’m publishing a post about this at A Cry For Justice in the next 12 hours or so which you might like to read. It will explain this more.
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To Irene: The issue, at least a few years ago when Franklin Graham’s salaries were noticed publicly, is that he was double-dipping — several hundred thousand from Samaritan’s Purse, several more hundred thousand from Billy Graham International Ministries, etc.
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These are the rantings of a narcissist who is losing all of his narcissistic supply!
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Brenda wrote: “These are the rantings of a narcissist who is losing all of his narcissistic supply!”
A little god whose worshippers have abandoned him.
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“The abusive man has a distorted belief system: he believes he OWNS his female intimate partner and that she is not really a person whose rights and personhood need to be respected. He believes she is only an object for him to use and manipulate. He believes he is entitled to control her. He believes that an intimate partner relationship should go ‘his way’ the vast majority of the time. So he believes it is completely fair for him to punish his victim when she doesn’t comply with his wishes and demands and his spoken or unspoken rules.”
@Brenda,
So true. My dad abused my mom for 26 years. He had absolutely no respect for her, until she risked losing everything to make a long term stand for herself. (They are divorced, but get along just fine now that he knows she has some fight in her and can survive without him. He actually respects her, now.). My dad even tried to use my brother and me against my mom when she left him. He tried to recruit us with lies, then bribery, then blackmail, and then threats – no dice! We weren’t going to lie for him.
I will add something to what you said. An abuser will also put up a false facade – sometimes for decades. He will be one person in private, and a completely different person in public. He will lie to his family and closest friends about what is going on.
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Franklin Graham was reported to have made $880k from being the full time CEO to Samaritan’s Purse and Billy Graham Ministries.
(+ Flying around in private jets paid for by the charities)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/religion/why-franklin-grahams-salary-raises-eyebrows-among-christian-nonprofits/2015/08/18/023ce940-45f2-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html
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Re: The original post. I am unable to see the quotations or the linked material from Saeed. I can read your post, including your introduction to each item, but nothing else.
Here is the text of all that I am seeing in your post. Any thoughts on this technical problem for me?
Thank you.
EXTENDED QUOTATION:
Saaed Abedini, former prisoner held captive in Iran, has published some strange posts on his Facebook page. In the following posts, he rants against Franklin Graham, Jay Sekulow, his ex-wife, the Idaho court system, a pastor who raised money for him, Dr. Wood, etc.
While Saeed Abedini was a prisoner in Iran, Franklin Graham used Saeed to further his platform of religious freedoms. In this Facebook post, he speaks strongly against Franklin Graham:
The first sentence in this post is very revealing: Saeed thinks he is the NUMBER ONE face of the persecuted church. Oh, Saeed, humble you ARE NOT. Apparently, he is afraid of losing money. We didn’t hear this kind of rampage when he was in Iran. He was calm, cool, and collected. Perhaps he means he’s currently the number one face of the imagined persecuted church in America. Cry me a river. He still has over 23,000 Facebook followers and many still doting on him. Maybe some of them can cough up some money for him.
In his most recent Facebook post, Saeed Abedini speaks out against Pastor Merrily Hagerman who raised money to purchase a home for the Abedinis, claiming he didn’t receive the money.
Here are some other recent posts. Here is Saeed having an enjoyable time taking a selfie. S.M.I.L.E. 🙂
I think we see projection here:
Uh-oh – the Spirit of Jezebel. He means business now:
And more ranting . . .
And more ranting . . .
I’m not sure what is going on, but Saeed’s behavior seems unstable.
END OF QUOTATION
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Since my mom passed, I’ve noticed a lot of Christians either won’t do practical stuff to help you out (not even acting as a source of encouragement, just to take the occasional phone call from you, etc.), or, they offer to help (or to pray for you), but they never follow through.
Christians should not make promises they won’t follow through on.
In response to Daisy: A couple decades ago I was an overseas missionary and I unexpectedly had to return to the States to help with some family issues. I was grateful to my supporters who continued generously with their funding. But, when I knew that I couldn’t go back, I got a job so I could support myself. I had a personal medical crisis a decade ago, and church and friends were so generous with both their time and gifts, but I was back at work as soon as I could be. The point being, I find that most Christians are extremely generous. At the same time, no one likes someone whiney, like Abedini, who has received so much help from so many.
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@Nancy2:
Duly with knees that feign to quake–
Bent head and shaded brow,–
Yet once again, for my father’s sake,
In Rimmon’s House I bow.
The curtains part, the trumpet blares,
And the eunuchs howl aloud;
And the gilt, swag-bellied idol glares
Insolent over the crowd.
“This is Rimmon, Lord of the Earth–
“Fear Him and bow the knee!”
And I watch my comrades hide their mirth
That rode to the wars with me.
For we remember the sun and the sand
And the rocks whereon we trod,
Ere we came to a scorched and a scornful land
That did not know our God;
As we remember the sacrifice,
Dead men an hundred laid–
Slain while they served His mysteries,
And that He would not aid–
Not though we gashed ourselves and wept,
For the high-priest bade us wait;
Saying He went on a journey or slept,
Or was drunk or had taken a mate.
(Praise ye Rimmon, King of Kings,
Who ruleth Earth and Sky!
And again I bow as the censer swings
And the God Enthroned goes by.)
Ay, we remember His sacred ark
And the virtuous men that knelt
To the dark and the hush behind the dark
Wherein we dreamed He dwelt;
Until we entered to hale Him out
And found no more than an old
Uncleanly image girded about
The loins with scarlet and gold.
Him we o’erset with the butts of our spears–
Him and his vast designs–
To be scorn of our muleteers
And the jest of our halted line.
By the picket-pins that the dogs defile,
In the dung and the dust He lay,
Till the priests ran and chattered awhile
And we wiped Him and took Him away.
Hushing the matter before it was known,
They returned to our fathers afar,
And hastily set Him afresh on His throne
Because he had won us the war.
Wherefore with knees that feign to quake–
Bent head and shaded brow–
To this dog, for my father’s sake,
In Rimmon’s House I bow!
— Rudyard Kipling, “Rimmon”, 1903
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@ Linn
. . . no one likes someone whiney, like Adedini, who has received so much help from so many.
Exactly! How long does Saeed expect to be on the dole? He was released from prison 15 months ago.
Seems to me, he could have used this time to take some ESL classes. It greatly improves your chances of landing a job if the employment application is free of grammatical errors. Although, I have heard that pornography can mess with your brain’s ability to learn and retain new information and can negatively impact scholastic performance. (It’s hard to concentrate on spelling when naked images of “Miss September” are floating in your head.)
In my town, Walmart is always hiring (I even worked there myself on & off for 5 years). It’s hard work though, with minimum pay, and not-so-great-hours (sometimes I would get off at midnight and have to be back at work at 7am), and they treat everyone fairly and don’t take whining. The “martyr” card won’t work there.
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Just had to comment on a portion of Saeed’s FB post. He writes:
“During the whole last 1/5 year, I asked Franklin Graham to help me to find a job to pay my bills but he didn’t and he always gave me the worse and lowest he could. Until today, still I couldn’t find a job. . . .”
First of all, Saeed is not in any worse position than before he was imprisoned in Iran. From what I understand, at the time, his wife Naghmeh was the one working, and he was a stay-at-home Dad. So the only apparent difference between then and now is that he doesn’t have Naghmeh supporting him anymore. That’s what happens when you abuse the hand that feeds you!
Saeed also contradicts himself in the above quote. First, he says Franklin Graham didn’t help him find a job, then he bemoans, “he always gave me the worse and lowest he could.” So which one is it, Saeed? Did Franklin Graham provide no job leads, or were they just too crummy to accept?
For awhile, I even cleaned bathrooms to put food on the table (and was grateful to the Lord for my janitorial post), so I do not empathize too much with Adedini’s pitiful predicament. I am sorry, Saeed, if you felt Franklin Graham’s suggestions for employment were beneath you, but people with criminal records, unimpressive educational qualifications, little secular work experience, and a poor command of the English language can’t be too choosy. That is just how the American corporate world functions–for all prospective applicants. Franklin Graham is not to blame.
I, for one, do not find Franklin Graham to be guilty of partiality. When his nephew (the son of his sister), Tullian Tchividjian, became unemployed, Franklin Graham did not offer him a cozy position at his ministry. And Tullian holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the accredited Columbia International University as well as a master’s from Reformed Theological Seminary, but this did not sway Franklin.
Since when are Christians obligated to hire people they don’t want to? According to the Bible, we don’t owe anybody anything but to love them in the Lord, and, also, the United States is a free country. If someone wants to improve his chances of landing a kick-back dream job, he better be competitive and have marketable skills.
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Regarding the $200K lawsuit, here’s the breakdown:
Merrily and Jerel Hagerman started fund raising for the Abedini’s while Saeed was imprisoned in Iran. The money was to be given to Naghmeh for her and her children for the purchase of a home. Saeed has now returned and he and Naghmeh have divorced. Entitlement of the funds is in dispute because Saeed is demanding the money. The Hagerman’s are asking the court to determine how the money should be dispersed between Saeed and Naghmeh. Both were served so that they may enter their pleas.
Not quite a lawsuit, is it? Surprise, surprise.
https://www.scribd.com/document/344880515/Joshua-Springs-Calvary-Chapel-vs-Abedini
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The church mentioned, JSCC, has all the money still in a segregated bank account.., waiting… for the right time & thing to do. It was not raised “for Saeed” and him alone. It was raised for his wife and kids so they could be reunited with their daddy when he was released in a home of their own. Now that the marriage is dissolving, what is JSCC to do in good faith on behalf of all the donors? Well, since Saeed demanded that the cash be given to him now, and not his kids, the courts will have to decide the right thing to do. Trust fund for kids? Give the money back to all the donors? Buy the Abedini’s a house and let them arm wrestle over it? The court of public opinion of course will have a lot to say about this, but the intentions were & are true. The church stepping out in faith to help one another…. ergo, LOVE.
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Christian Post and Fox News are picking up this story… here is a link:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/12/who-is-entitled-to-200g-raised-for-saeed-abedinis-family-church-files-suit-to-decide.html
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There are consequences for speaking out against Franklin Graham. TBN has dropped him.
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Saeed has since added many more damning posts to his Facebook page, but a lot of people leaving comments are not agreeing with him. Also, in an April 11th post @ 4:56 pm, Saeed outright calls Franklin Graham a hypocrite, but, in addition, it is revealed that Franklin Graham had given Saeed Adedini $20,000 to pay his rent, about which Saeed (if I’m understanding his broken English correctly) remarks that it would have been better for him (Saeed) to give back the money to Graham and just remain alone in Germany. (What makes you think Germany wants your presence in their country, Saeed? Maybe they have immigration laws prohibiting the granting of residency to convicted abusers.)
Well, Saeed, you’re still in time to pay back the funds Franklin Graham has so generously bestowed upon you for your rent. How long does the American Church have to compensate you for your woes in Iran? If I had been miraculously released from prison, I wouldn’t stop shouting praises to God and doing the victory dance; I most certainly would not be spending my time complaining about money. Just basking in sweet liberty would be enough for me, thank you ,Jesus.
Also, in a post today, April 12th, Saeed states that before he went to prison, he had $100,000 in a bank account, plus stock and land holdings. Not bad for a man, who according to Naghmeh, his estranged wife, was an unemployed stay-at-home Dad. Obviously, the accumulation of wealth is not wrong, as long as Saeed is the one doing it.
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Here’s my latest tweet with a screenshot:
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Julie Anne said, “Christina, I confirmed with a source today that the behavior we are seeing now is consistent with his behavior before he was imprisoned. I spoke with a separate person last year who also mentioned this behavior.”
Welp. There’s no excuse for it then.
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I’m not a fan of Franklin Graham because of the way he basically dropped Naghmeh like a hot potato, cast doubt on her accusations, & offered couple’s counseling the worst thing for abuse victims. I believe it was all to save face rather than care about the Abedinis. If he cared about them, he’d have cared for/protected Naghmeh & their kids & confronted Saeed, but then he would have had to eat some crow for backing a Christian superhero that wasn’t a superhero after all & risk losing the donors who would turn on him for daring to confront their superhero. He then promptly had his well paid PR guy Mark Demoss put distance between him & the Abedinis. I don’t believe for a minute that Franklin is naive about abuse/abusers & that he didn’t know couples counseling was a bad idea when his nephew Boz Tchvidian is the head of G.R.A.C.E. Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment. (Other reasons I don’t care for him is the exhorbitant salaries he draws from both Samaritan’s Purse & the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the latter of which he now can hide from the public, because he no longer has to file an IRS form 990 because he got the charity to be reclassified as an Association of Churches. And lastly because he didn’t honor his mother’s wishes to be buried where she wanted to. Instead she’s buried at the Billy Graham library for the benefit of bringing donors through.). So I snickered a little at first when reading the post thinking the chickens have come home to roost for Franklin & I am delighted that Saeed’s actions are in fact vindicating Naghmeh. Unfortunately it doesn’t make Franklin look so bad now. He still comes out smelling like a rose. It just looks like Saeed is ungrateful. Saeed is clueless that he’s overplaying his hand.
And to TBN, why did it take Saeed dissing Graham for you to ditch him? Why didn’t you ditch him for his abusing & leaving his wife and kids? Or better yet why did you hire him in the first place? Apparently bad mouthing Franklin Graham is worse in your book than hurting his wife & kids?
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This, right here^^^^^ Preach it, Sister!
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I apologize to our non-Iranian Christian brothers and sisters, and I just want to say Saeed does not represent the great work that God is doing among Iranian nation today.
Iran is fastest growing Christian country and we owe it to the blood of martyrs like “Mehdi Dibaj” and “Haik Hovsepian Mehr” and many others who truly suffered ONLY for their faith.
Sadly Saeed is not well-accepted in our Persian Christian community, since many who know him personally, know that he got himself into trouble wanting to end up in prison and become a hero.
It is more of a cry for a platform, than a humble response to God’s call. Many Iranian pastors have tried to help him, but (just like his posts claim) he thinks of himself like Jesus or apostle Paul, and has not made himself accountable to anyone. his new mission seems to be “Exposing others and cleaning up the temple” with a “holy anger”. It breaks my heart that non-Iranians who have invested so much time in praying for him and his family, have to deal with this now. Only God can calm and humble a rebellious heart!
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JA,
Is this the kind of prophetic rubbish we are to expect from the newly-minted “Apostle” Saeed that “the Spirit of Jezebel is causing female judges to go against men in the US”? According to his latest Facebook post “the female judge Jury” won’t allow his kids to sleep over with him at night in his apartment.
Great. That means that Saeed could have saved a bundle by renting a room, instead of an apartment. When I was low on funds, I moved into a room to save money. It was a very nice, safe room in a relatively new home, and I paid $400 monthly which included utilities. Plus, I had access to a restroom with shower that only I used, and kitchen and laundry privileges. So my yearly rent/utility expense was $4,800.
Perhaps room rentals are cheaper in Boise, Idaho, than in Southern California where I reside. Even if the prices are the same, this means that Franklin Graham’s $20,000 rental subsidy would have lasted Saeed at least 4 years, if he had opted for a room, rather than an apartment. The free rent, coupled with available County food stamps, would have gone a long way toward his maintenance. But in my county (Riverside), young, able-bodied food stamp recipients must be working at least 20 hours a week to receive benefits (or be actively looking for work).
Don’t know how that would have rubbed Saeed seeing that, further down in the same April 11th Facebook post @ 4:56 pm wherein he mentions the $20,000 received from Graham toward rental assistance, Saeed complains that he performed labor for Graham “like a Mexican worker in Alaska.”
I guess Saeed prefers to work with his tongue, rather than his hands.
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Saeed:
Here are some words to consider from one of America’s most famous female judges–JUDGE JUDY:
GET A JOB!!!
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He also referred to his wife getting 1/5 of a million. Weird.
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Seriously! Priorities much?
Absolutely no need. We wish you the best.
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Yesterday, Franklin Graham responded publically via Mark DeMoss to Saeed Abedini’s statements.
https://www.christiantoday.com/article/franklin.graham.hits.back.at.saeed.abedini.over.claims.he.failed.to.help.the.pastor.after.his.release.from.iranian.prison/107217.htm
Not much new insight, just interesting he felt he needed to respond for the last time according to the article.
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Song of Joy – – In other words, since Saeed was not giving FG the results he had hoped for, Saeed and Naghmeh were dropped like a hot potato. They are now a liability to FG’s causes. (of course this is JA’s opinion).
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It strikes me that whatever the flaws of the Graham organization, they did not have an ongoing responsibility to provide for Saeed. If indeed Naghmeh supported him prior to/during the troubles, he seems to have been on the wrong side of 1 Timothy 5:8–that if a man provide not for his own, he is worse than an unbeliever.
The sad reality at this point is that Mr. Abedini simply needs to man up and find a regular job, any job. Given that a lot of companies don’t want to hire people with a criminal record, I’d have to suggest Wal-Mart and/or construction. And I hope and pray that a real pastor is able to get through to him–his problems are deep and old.
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It may be true that Graham dumped Saeed for multiple reasons; however, it is very apparent that Saeed sure has an attitude.
Also, he’s a leach, crying incessantly “give, give.”
And ungrateful (nothing seems to please him, and he’s got an entitlement complex).
And a complainer (he’s always railing on someone).
And greedy (he seriously needs to learn how to budget his finances– a lot of people going through divorces have to make lifestyle/economic adjustments).
And lazy (he only wants a kick back job).
Who needs him? It’s enough to make you want to run fast when you see him coming. King Solomon says, “A man who wants friends must show himself friendly.”
Saeed is just too high maintenance. It gets old….quick.
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Here is the link to the latest article from Leonardo Blair at Christian Post. He’s been the main writer at CP, tracking this story for the past several years.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-saeed-abedinis-divorce-finalized-amid-adultery-conspiracy-allegations-180289/
p.s. I will be updating the Resource Bibliography on this case soon, and then post that link in this thread.
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Thank you, Brad!
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Here is the link to the just-updated Resource Bibliography on this situation. Links in primarily in chronological order, so the 2017 links are near the bottom of that article, although there are several “Archive” sections below the “Chronological Links 2017” section.
https://spiritualsoundingboard.com/2016/04/28/resource-bibliography-on-the-saeed-and-naghmeh-abedini-situation/
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I just clicked on Brad’s link above, which also contained Franklin Graham’s response(through spokesman Mark DeMoss) to Saeed’s allegations, wherein Graham asserts that he did provide “various offers of employment for Saeed.”
So, Saeed, how come you ain’t workin’?
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Iranian Christian:
Thank you for your post. It is very interesting to read about Saeed Abedinis pre-imprisonment reputation AND motivation. SO MUCH more to this story than anyone realizes. It would leave most people aghast is my guess.
I struggle between wanting someone to just lay it ALL out there so that Saeed can no longer stay on this abusive rampage, and then I think it may be best to just keep ignoring him and not give him more fuel so that he will at some point wear out and STOP TALKING for the sake of the young children who are at the center of all of it. They do not deserve this and I feel so awful for them. I pray for their emotional, spiritual, and physical protection, and I pray for healthy examples of loving Fathers in their lives. I pray for their resilience through all of this in the decades to come. The damage Saeed has done is very real.
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Regarding the possibility of someone “laying it out there” for Saeed, the old proverb “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still” comes to mind. There are some people out there that in certain areas, there is no amount of evidence, authority, and the like to budge them from their position one iota.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to persuade such people, but it does mean you go in there with open eyes to the possibility that this is simply one issue where he’s got his mind made up, and there isn’t anything you can do about it but pray.
And that’s what I plan to do.
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Re: The original post.
I am unable to see the quotations or the linked material from Saeed. I can read your post, including your introduction to each item, but nothing else.
Any thoughts on this technical problem for me?
Thank you.
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Thanks for your educational post, Iranian Christian; very much appreciated.
I find it interesting that so many people seem to think that Saeed was hacked. Wonder if he’ll milk that too? But, I might too if I knew him personally and was stuck in the “he-said-she-said” stuff. Time will tell, right?
He’s insulted because Franklin Graham suggested he apply to work in fast food? I worked in fast food for a total of 6 years, and might again. It may not pay as well as what he wants, and it certainly isn’t glamorous, but it is work, and God can and does use people there too, to minister to others. If he really believes he is called to spread the Gospel, he WOULD take that, and commit to it at least a year, before pursuing something “better”. His credibility is pretty much shot, and this would at least be a step towards working on rebuilding it. Truth be told, he’s making Josh Duggar look good; at least he’s gone back to car sales, and is working on it, and mostly staying out of the spotlight.
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raswhiting, what browser are you using?
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“He’s insulted because Franklin Graham suggested he apply to work in fast food?”
When my father was unemployed, my mother worked at Jack-in-the-Box. It was hard work, but a very positive experience. One of the supervisors was a Christian lady, and she and Mom would talk about the Lord and pray together and, in addition, minister to homeless people who would stop by for coffee. I even applied there myself, but got hired at Walmart, instead.
My Mom has nothing but good memories from that period of time, and saw the job as a blessing, not a curse. And when God opened new doors for Mom, she left Jack-in-the-Box in good terms and was able to list the position, and her supervisor, on her resume` as a reference.
To this day, whenever I walk into that Jack-in-the-Box, that supervisor tells me, “Your Mom & I are great sisters in the Lord; we go way back.” And she is so polite. Whenever the customers ask her, “How are you?”, she replies, “I’m blessed.”
Jesus was a carpenter, Paul (from what I understand) a tentmaker, and Peter a fisherman. They didn’t have glamorous jobs.
Also, there are student loans for those who don’t want to go the fast food route. Here in Southern California where I live, you can study at accredited institutions to become a medical assistant, dental assistant, pharmacy technician, chef/cook, licensed vocational nurse, etc. In most cases, the course of study is around 12 months.
Praise God for all these wonderful opportunities! He truly blesses the work of our hands.
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HUG wrote:
“Don’t know about Persians, but Arabs always keep everything in the Family.”
“Me against my brother;
Me and my Brother, united against our cousin;
Me, my Brother, and our Cousin, united against the Other.”
Leon Uris wrote extensively about this facet of Arab culture in his novel:
The Haj
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Firefox, Win 10, up to date on both. Sorry, I only now saw this question.
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Ok, from here on out, I’ll also copy the text as well as include the link, just to be safe. I appreciate you letting me know!
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