Bingo! This guy gets it.
Yes, the cross is vital. Without it, there is no Christianity. This is where the "prosperity gospel" has its heretical roots; in the rejection of the cross.
I must agree. However, if there is a divorced woman who has custody of their children, and the x is paying child support (or vice versa, which is rare), the man who marries this woman really does not take on the problem of raising children who are not his own.
The 2nd guy speaks of widows and orphans. In that regards, I agree. However, divorce is SO rampant now a days, and a lot of out of wedlock children, these women and children ARE NOT widows and orphans.
He was responding to a letter written by a woman who had adopted three foreign children.
The complaint to Pat was that her boyfriend was not too crazy about taking on the burden of her adopted children. What Robertson said is true: men don’t have to take on the burdens others have taken on. They are free to make a choice.
That is an act of self sacrifice and Christian service - to raise someone else’s adopted children. Not all men (and women) are up to that. She needs to let that boyfriend go and find a man who matches her own heart and cause or she and her children are going to suffer taking in the wrong man. That’s pretty obvious!
Russell was way over the top imo. Robertson gave sound advice
Wow - what a lot of derision and scorn of a man who has dedicated many years to help orphans. Pat Robertson was correct in his statements.
We expect everyone to be so careful nowadays in what they say lest someone should be offended.
STOP being so easily offended world. Especially Christians who should know better.
Mel
As others have pointed out, that is factually correct, at least in the precise context: nobody is forced to marry someone who has {fill in the characteristic or situation} with which he doesn't wish to become involved.
However, every Christian is called to love his neighbor as himself, which may, indeed, involve "taking on somebody else's problems." If my neighbors are suffering, I feel an absolute responsibility to assist them in any way I can, even if it's only with pray and sympathy and a batch of cookies.
More specifically regarding marriage, every married person must take on every problems of his or her spouse, and if someone thought, at the time of marriage, that the other would never have any problems that would demand effort or inconvience or sacrifice of suffering, that's no excuse. You "cross-up" and learn to die to yourself, or you are not a Christian.
So far as I can tell, this has very little to do with adoption (international or otherwise) per se.
This is more about an admittedly kind-hearted woman trying to (at least in her own mind) coerce a man she “wants” into accepting characteristics about her he does not (for whatever reason) want to accept.
In effect, he’s told her “no,” and she wants God to change his mind.
Adoption is fine for some people and for others it would be hell, i would not marry a woman who had her own kids, much less adopted ones.
You can help the widows and orphans with out marrying and adopting them.