Posted on 04/06/2013 1:53:51 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., announced in a letter today that his son, Matthew, 27, committed suicide.
In his letter, Warren wrote that "after a fun evening together with [wife] Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life." He also recalled a time years ago when Matthew asked him, "Dad, I know I'm going to heaven. Why can't I just die and end this pain?"
(Excerpt) Read more at twitchy.com ...
so sad... someone who is suicidal is in such a dark, desperate, seemingly hopeless place... how scary to be the parent, spouse, child or sibling of a suicidal person... actually, any close relation to a suicidal person... obviously, suicide is an anomaly...
My prayers to the family. May their son rest in peace.
I will keep you in my prayers. Keep strong and stay close to God’s love.
“Dad, I know I’m going to heaven. Why can’t I just die and end this pain?”
Good lord. If my son said that to me, I would immediately get him help. I don’t care how much it costs. Yes his son was selfish and his parents lives are ruined most likely forever, but the Father should have known something was wrong. The guilt these parents are going to have is going to be tremendous. I pray for them.
“Slamming my car into a bridge at 120 mph.
Jumping from my 20th floor balcony.”
Whoah! Are you serious????
Thank you
For some people it is the dichotomy between respect and humility.
I can imagine what Rick’s son was going through.
But we will never know for sure.
Having individual thoughts without the ability to express them or failed attempts to express them, can cut a man down.
“Slamming my car into a bridge at 120 mph.
Jumping from my 20th floor balcony.”
Whoah! Are you serious????
Not today, but, yes, I have been there a number of times.
May God comfort the family and have mercy on the son’s soul.
Bill sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV.
The 10 PM news was coming on. The news crew was covering the story of a man on the ledge of a large building, preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Bill and said, “Do you think he’ll jump?”
Bill said, “You know, I bet he’ll jump.”
The blonde replied, “Well, I bet he won’t.”
Bill placed a $20 bill on the bar and said, “You’re on!”
Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy on the ledge did a swan dive off the building, falling to his death.
The blonde was very upset but willingly handed her $20 to Bill. “Fair’s fair. Here’s your money.”
Bill replied, “I can’t take your money. I saw this earlier on the 5 PM news, so I knew he would jump.”
The blonde replied, “I did too, but I didn’t think he’d do it again.”
Bill took the money.
Attention for a lonely man.
LOL - I gotta steal that one!
Keep your faith and stay close to God.
May God bless you, Zeneta.
Rick is playing with fire in attempting to convert Muslims unless he can clearly distinguish between Muslims who want to kill you and Muslims who want to be friends, but I haven’t seen anything personally that he is compromising his Christian beliefs or preaching anything against scripture at all.
I’ve been there, too and, like you, my faith in God kept me from doing something terribly wrong. I still have those dark thoughts but getting through them much better these daze.
Keep your faith and talk to others - just to vent is helpful.
We are all here for you.
I finally escaped that tyrrany in 1970 and never went back.
I understand the frustration. If it were not for our church library where I could check out Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books to distract me during those seemingly endless and repetitive services, I would have gone insane.
Just a quick question/comment. When we are speaking or interacting directly with a fellow Believer concerning a possible error in our actions, this scripture makes sense assuming our comments are made privately, with respect and out of love (agape).
I am not aware that Pastor Warren is a member of FreeRepublic and suspect that if he is, he would be otherwise occupied with larger issues than reading this thread. When the individual is not present or we are not interacting directly with them, but instead are interacting with others, how would our comments differ from gossip?
This is merely a question, not an admonition.
Depression is a terrible thing. Anyone who has experienced it from time to time, or even worse, continuously, can attest to the helplessness and hopelessness of the experience. Nothing that anyone says seems to help.
So sad for the family which experiences such a loss. It’s like watching a loved one drown and not being able to rescue them.
Suicide is an awful thing, such finality in response to temporary problems. It’s also outside God’s will. It’s not our decision to make. I’m not going to condemn this young man personally, for who knows whether he was even capable of understanding what he did, or whether he was able to repent of it before he left this world? I surely don’t know. And, I’m sorry for the pain and sadness he left in his wake, for the family and friends who loved him.
Having watched Rick Warren for years, though, I’ll be waiting to see just when he begins trying to bend scripture to justify suicide and make it acceptable in the eyes of God. Truth appears to be a malleable thing based upon personal circumstance for Mr. Warren. I’m not sorry to say that this is utterly wrong, and if he preaches or publishes any such thing he will be leading souls not to salvation but to destruction.
Over the last year especially, me too. My wife left one year ago, then I got laid off. I was unable to perform up to my previous level, mostly due to the shock of her leaving, so I got a package. That is now gone, so I am cashing in some RRSPs to live on and pay bills (I think Stateside you call them IRAs). No job interviews yet and losing our house is a distinct possibility at 52 YoA. My former church closed in January. I pray that I do not experience a year like this again, nor would I wish it on anyone else, but I thank the Lord for this past year’s experience.
During this past year, my faith has grown deeply, sinking roots and turning rocky ground into fertile soil. We sometimes think that we have built our foundations on rock, but we can be easily mistaken. It is in the valley where we grow. Many scripture passages refer to the Lord passing us through a refining fire. Is it painful? Of course, trials (fire) are painful but we learn to appreciate the mountain-top only if we experience the valley. Our ‘instant gratification’ society does not understand, nor wish to understand trials. Most leftist/socialist voters (Democrat in US, Liberal & NDP in Canada) flee trials. Unfortunately, Pastor Warren’s son may have had emotion/mental issues and could not understand the ‘beauty’ of trials.
No matter what the challenge, hold on to Jesus! Remember, Peter walking on the Sea of Galilee? When he focused on Jesus, he could walk on the water, yet when he looked away, he sank. (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21) Keep your eyes on the Lord and watch Him do amazing things!
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