Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I have been following this forum since Nov. 2013. Here is the link to the sermon:
http://www.redemptionichurchod.com. Hope is applauded for at 4:19 and he embraces her around 4:48.
Please excuse me for the length of my post. I know some do not desire to sit and listen to Ron. So, I took the time to transcribe bits and pieces without the weird throat ticks.
Ron Carpenter’s message centered on God’s high standards for marriage. He highlighted Christ’s explanation regarding Moses permitting people to divorce due to the hardness of their hearts.
Below is snippets of his story of the reconciliation and overall message (as best as I can transcribe):
I am going to stay away from details because I may get them wrong because our lives have been under pressure for the last five months or so.
Reconcilation was not crossing my mind. I just didn’t want to hurt no more and us being together was hurtful so I didn’t see it working out.
* Ron thanks laity for supporting him*
Hope was in a very broken place and people began ministering to her 24/7. Many more circumstances surrounding her brokenness beyond what was told. I proceeded to move forward with PR, lawyers, corporate structure… The whole time deeply, deeply, deeply in love.
Many hearts was shattered at the thought of us not being together again and it was 2–3 weeks into it that one of the therapist/ministers called and said, “well, she can’t just show up a year from now and say, ‘I’m healed and I’m better.’” She says, “There needs to be a plan where Hope is restored a little at a time back to the home, family, the marriage…” I said, “Oh Hope don’t have a home.” There was silence. I was mad. I said, “I’m not sure where she’s going, but she is not coming here.” There was silence. Therapist said, “Okay, that will be a blow, but we’ll do what we have to do.” I got off the phone made my decision. Then nightfall set in (applause)…
I had the most miserable, I mean —no, no, no—agony—I mean God Almighty; not the demons, not the devil—Satan has no ability to make you this miserable… I had the most miserable night of my 45.5 years living on planet Earth… Next morning, … the Lord spoke to me closest to an audible voice that I have ever heard and He said these words, He said, “hopelessness has set in.” He said, “You call her now and tell her you will not abandon her (applauds)…” I said, “No, You ask too much”… He said the same thing again… and out of sheer fear of God. Not lovey dovey feelings, not hearts popping out of my mind, not Valentine’s day cards, out of sheer fear of God and obedience to the God that I fear—I picked up the phone and I called to the facility where she was and I for the 1st time said I needed to speak to Hope. And the one who answered said, “Well the problem is she is not here. She’s gone.”
During that time, God had told me hopelessness had set in and Hope had left the facility on her own two feet and in such a time of forlornness in utter despair when they—driving to pick her up—the word she gave them was, “I was just trying to find a place in the road I could just lie down and let something run over me.” Now God’s on this side saying hopelessness has set in and she is on the other side saying there’s no hope… So, when they got her, she was out on the front road of the facility screaming asking God to give her a miracle.
Hope, do I have the details straight? You had approximately $10,000 in your bank account I think and God told you to give every bit of it as a seed. She went inside wrote out every dime she had and sowed it into the ministry that was helping her and said here is my seed for a miracle not knowing I had just called a few minutes before that (applauds).
They let me know she was back in to the facility and she was in the room together with them and for the 1st time she heard me call her name. I said, “Hope are you there?” She said, “I and here.” I said, “The Lord told me I should not abandon you.” And I said, “I don’t know how to tell you to define that I don’t even know what that looks like or means, but I know that I can not abandon you.” And I said, “Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need anything?” She said, “No, I just got it.” (Applause) She got her miracle. (Applause).
… God was about to take me on a journey of the scriptures to correct me. As I began to realize that pop culture was ruining my life, too…
… Man can only put away his wife because of the hardness of his heart. If you want to you can get rid of them. Because you don’t know how to love and sing about a God you don’t know and profess love you don’t have. Because of the condition of your heart you can do it not because the depth of their sin, but because of your inability to let God do what you just said He can do. I don’t want to live like that.
How can I preach every Sunday with a hard heart? James said, “ You can’t get fresh water from a bitter well.” I don’t want hardness of heart to be the thing I live with and the thing that takes me out of this Earth. I let an event ruin my life and stand up here in hypocrisy as I tell others what God can do in their marriage and the 1st time mine sees trouble everything I’ve been preaching can’t stand the test. I’ve had marriage conferences for 10 years and then when I have to face the same thing that everyone else is in there to get help with I can’t face it myself (standing applauds).
I want to sit under somebody that when it hits him it works for him just like it works for me (applauds). We don’t understand the nature of vows made before God. These are vows to God. These are not just vows to each other… God take covenant serious and if you can not mean your vows don’t go up there… *Ron details all the things they been through—like being broke* … Now, I am going to send her off to stop life and get healed for the 1st time and let her come back to give her to someone else and let them have my harvest (applause). I’m going to be there through the brokenness and not be there to reap the healing? The devil is a lie (applaud). That some other man is gonna get my harvest that I sowed for and then I’m going to turn around a start sowing all over again and die never having got my harvest (applaud).
1 Cor. 13
…. Love suffers… Hopes all things/endures all things/love never fails.
1 Jn 4:18
… There is no fear in love. Perfect love cast out fear.
*Ron expounds greatly on how Christ loves us and how we are to love like Him.*
… Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her to sanctify her and offer her back without spot or wrinkle. I’ve assigned you to take your wife—sanctify the broken places and you are to get her and bring her back to me and present her to me without a broken place, without a spot nor wrinkle and he said, “if you can’t do that you are not a husband because that’s what a husband is. …it takes a strong man to be married to somebody broken. It takes a strong woman to be married to somebody broken and all you need to hear is that everybody is broken.
…Those whose marriage is about to fall apart, if you will just fight. I didn’t say you’ll fix it—just say, “I will fight.” (applause)
…Perfect love is love that can’t be hurt. You can’t hurt, you can’t offend me, and there’s nothing you can do to shake me lose. Because I am here.
