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Category: Things Christians Say

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Evangelical Pastor Michael Orten Defends Allowing Rapist to Work at His Church

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blood of jesus

Thomas Hopper was convicted in the 1990s of raping and sodomizing a thirteen-year-old girl while holding a razor knife to her throat. He spent ten years in prison for his crimes.  Hopper was also convicted of criminal confinement, battery, and trespassing in the early 2000s. He was also arrested for stalking a high school student. Today, Hopper, a convicted sex offender, is a volunteer worker at Truth Apostolic Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. According to news reports, Hopper leads the church’s care ministry, and is responsible for its nursing home and bus ministry.

When asked about Hopper working at Truth Apostolic, Michael Orten, the church’s pastor, replied:

… this is a situation, if that girl chooses…it takes two to tango, okay?  So if that girl chooses to sleep with him, she’s just as guilty as he is.

Orten later stated:

He was mad and angry, both of them were on drugs. Yeah, that’s still his past. It ain’t like we don’t know nothing about this. Like I said, the media and people are ignorant when they want to turn around and dramatize or hurt somebody.

Orten said that Hopper’s past has been washed clean by the blood of Jesus. The past is in the past, and since Hopper is now a new creation in Christ Jesus:

So what you’re saying is, is the church is no good for forgiveness? Jesus Christ can’t save you? So if you steal a piece of candy from a store because you were young and stupid. And make stupid mistakes. You’re still a thief even though now you’re 40-years-old?

When asked by a reporter, Well, I think stealing candy is a little bit different than rape, Orten replied:

No, it’s not. No, it’s not. No, it’s not. It’s still sin. And if you get caught, there are consequences and you will pay.

Dear Pastor Orten, Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

The church’s website currently returns a 404-page not found error message.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Coach Dave Daubenmire Exposes His Racism For All to See

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dave daubenmire

I am proud to be white.

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But I am proud to be white and no matter how much you try to shame me you will not be able to make me recant. Beat me with a stick, ridicule me in public, email me all kinds of hateful comments, but you will not stop me from being proud of who I am.

It is like the story I heard about the young kindergartner who pinched his fellow classmate in a dispute.

“Tommy,” the teacher scolded. “You apologize and return to your seat.”

“OK Mrs. Jones, I’ll sit down. But I am still standing up on the inside!!”

Well, I am still proud on the inside. No matter how “racist” you say that I am.

Proud does not mean superior. Being proud of my heritage does not make me a racist…or a bigot…or a hater.

I am a proud nationalist. I think that our government should put the needs and the interests of Americans first. I didn’t realize that being a nationalist required identification with skin color. I hope all blacks are nationalists. I hope all Chinese are nationalists. I pray all Christians are nationalists. The fact that I happen to be Caucasian should not exclude me from being proud.

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Racism is a made-up ideology.

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I am proud of what I have done. I am proud of what I have overcome. I am proud of my heritage. Can someone please explain to me why that makes me a racist? Would everyone feel better if I were ashamed of being white? Sorry Chief. I ain’t gonna do it.

I’m proud of my heritage. I am proud to be white.

— Dave Daubenmire, Pass the Salt, I’m Proud to be White, August 27, 2017

The attack that’s going on in America today is against the white, heterosexual male. That’s the battle. If Satan can get control of the family, if they can get the white, heterosexual male removed from the scene, if they can get him ‘de-balled,’ if I will, if they can do that, there is nothing to hold back the forces of darkness in America.

It’s not racist, it’s the truth.

— Dave Daubenmire, YouTube Video, May 26, 2016

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Should a Christian black family be able to be in relationship with a Christian white family? Of course. Should a Christian American family be able to be in relation with an Asian Christian family? Of course. Does it require intermixing?

Today, interracial marriage would be considered honorable, when 40 years ago it would have been considered a disgrace,” he said. Now is it a disgrace or is it honorable? Has the mixing of culture been good for America or has it been bad? Is America stronger today than we were 40 years ago or are we weaker today? And could it be are we weaker today because multiculturalism is spiritual AIDS and has brought an infection into what was once a great Christian American culture?

— Dave Daubenmire, YouTube video, October 17, 2017

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Let me just lay it out there, because most people won’t say it because they don’t want to sound racist. Prince Harry’s wife is half-black. Now, wait a minute. That ain’t that royal bloodline lineage there, is it fellas? Isn’t there a little bit of mixed blood coming in there?

Did you see who performed the service? Was it the Bishop of Canterbury or some official WASPy guy? Was it? Did I miss something? Or did we see the ultimate—umm, how do I say this?—a blending of the races; one new world order, one-world government, the blending of the [races] in the House of Windsor coming together for the first time.

I’m going to tell you something, if there was any chance that Harry was ever going to be King of England, do you think they really would have let him just choose any woman he wanted? Of course not. So what’s the message that is being sent to us? … Is it a psy op that now, all of a sudden, sixth to the throne, he ain’t never going to be king, now it’s okay for the crown to be diverse?

— Dave Daubenmire, YouTube video, May 21, 2018

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And yet, Daubenmire still insists he is not a racist. Sorry, Coach, but if it walks, talks, and acts like a racist, it is a racist.

Thanks to Right Wing Watch for their recent article on Daubenmire’s racist beliefs.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Practices of Mindfulness and Yoga are Satanic Says Pastor Daryl McCready

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pastor daryl mccready

I go tomorrow morning to Buckingham Elementary School, because they’ve started a new program called ‘Mindfulness Program.’ And it’s led by yoga instructors. I’m going to go tomorrow morning, because the principal has invited me to come and see the program … and I’m praying for God’s wisdom and discernment. And we’re all praying for discernment and wisdom, because if what’s happening there is in any way trying to indoctrinate our children with a false teaching, then I have to stand against it. And we [the church] should stand against it. All over this community right now, this assault is happening on who Jesus is and who we are in light of him. It’s a clear assault on our community right now. I’m seeing it everywhere I turn. And, listen, I’m concerned.

They’re [church members] saying, ‘Hey, it’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. I’ve never been closer to God.’ Not the true one. You may be close to a God of your understanding, but he’s not the real one, And there is one who likes to mimic God – his name is Satan. And he has a whole legion of demons who want to convince you that you can trust them and that they’re good and that they can help you … But they have one goal, the bible says very clearly: the devil comes to seek, kill and destroy.

Pastor Daryl McCready, March 25, 2018 sermon

The lie that people can be as God or are gods themselves and only need to discover their inner higher self or that they possess the power to heal others by ‘their positive energy’ or that they can bring about their preferred future by the power of their own positive thinking is an old lie from the Father of Lies. God’s people should have nothing to do with such things. I understand not all yoga practices are spiritually focused but the foundation of yoga and many practices are of unBiblical nature and to be avoided by believers. The warning for us is that we ought not be supportive of anything that leads people away from God and the truth. Stretching is not the problem – yoga is. Even though some exercise called yoga may not be evil, there is a whole lot of evil practices occurring in this town under the name of yoga. Yoga seeks to draw and recruit people and in some cases indoctrinate them to false truths and practices.

Pastor Daryl McCready, March 26, 2018 Facebook post

McCready pastors SonRise Church in Berlin, Maryland. SonRise is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. McCready’s church bio page states:

After graduating from Crisfield High School in 1985, I joined the United States Army as a military police officer of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. During the years I served in the military I walked away from the Lord and I did not walk with Jesus or honor Him with my life. After completing my tour of service with the Army I returned back home to Berlin and began my career in law enforcement where I served for more than thirteen years.

For most of those years I did not seek after God nor did I obey His commands for my life. As a result, I made a total mess of my life financially, and relationally. In 1993 I went through a divorce which caused me to take a long look at my life and the path I was on. It was at that time that I realized what I needed and decided to confess my sin and come back home to the Lord. Since that time, God has been calling me deeper and deeper in my relationship with Him.

In 1995, I married the love of my life, Traci and we began our relationship seeking after Jesus and have been on mission for Him ever since. In 1997 I felt God calling me into fulltime ministry. Having witnessed what pastors deal with first hand as a pastor’s kid, and the cost and stress that is placed on a pastor. I was not very excited about responding to the call. So I ignored the call of God on my life for a short time not wanting to acknowledge it due to my own fear and insecurity. Eventually however, I surrendered to the call of God on my life. In 2001 I was approached by the Baptist Convention of MD and DE and asked to pray about considering church planting. I knew nothing about church planting or what it entailed at the time, but as I learned more about it and read about it, I became more and more convinced that God was calling me to plant a new church. After completing an in depth three day assessment process, and after much prayer Traci and I received approval for funding and support from the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware. I resigned from the Police Department and was ordained in December 2001. My wife also resigned from her job a few months later in order for us to give our full time and attention to this new work and our young children. God led 13 other adults to commit to join us in this new church plant and we left our parent church Berlin First Baptist and launched this new church at the Ocean Downs Racetrack in October 2002.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Rape is the Same as Consensual Gay Sex, Says Mormon Quentin Cook

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quentin cook

It is commendable that nonconsensual immorality [rape, sexual assault] has been exposed and denounced. Such nonconsensual immorality is against the laws of God and of society. Those who understand God’s plan should also oppose consensual immorality [gay sex, fornication, adultery], which is also a sin.

— Mormon Apostle Quentin Cook at the 2018 Mormon General Conference

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Egalitarianism to Blame for Sexual Assault of Women, Says John Piper

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men protect womenMy point in that article [Do Men Owe Women a Special Kind of Care?] and in this podcast is that the egalitarian assumptions in our culture, and to a huge degree in the church, have muted — silenced, nullified — one of the means that God has designed for the protection and the flourishing of women. It has silenced the idea that men as men — by virtue of their created, God-given maleness, apart from any practical competencies that they have or don’t have — men have special responsibilities to care for and protect and honor women. This call is different from the care and protection and honor that women owe men. That’s my thesis. That’s my point.

Now, it seems to me that for decades Christian and non-Christian egalitarians have argued, have assumed, and have modeled that those peculiar roles and responsibilities among men and women in the home, in the church, and in the culture should emerge only from competencies rather than from a deeper reality rooted in who we are differently as male and female.

Let me put it another way. If your nine-year-old son asks you, “Daddy, what does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman?” — or if your daughter asks, “Mommy, what does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?” — it won’t do to answer, “What it means is that when you grow up, you will have maturity and wisdom and courage and sacrifice and humility and patience and kindness and strength and self-control and purity and faith and hope and love, etc.” That doesn’t answer the question. Those traits are absolutely right, but they belong to both men and women.

The question was “What does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman?” And “What does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?” “Is there, Mommy and Daddy, a God-given, profound, beautiful meaning to manhood and womanhood?”

The kids don’t say it like that, but that’s what they want to know eventually: is there a difference beyond mere anatomy? Are there built-in responsibilities that I have simply because I’m a male or a female human being. There is a pervasive egalitarian disinclination to say yes to that question. The egalitarian inclination is to define all our relationships by competencies. And my suggestion or my contention is this is hurting us.

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This refusal to answer that question or be burdened by it is hurting us. It confuses everyone, especially the children. This confusion is hurting people.

It has moved way beyond confusion. It’s a firm conviction of most of our egalitarian culture that men as men do not owe women a special kind of care and protection and honor that women do not owe men. I believe they do. I believe fifty years of denying it is one of the seeds bearing very bad fruit, including all those sexual abuses you talked about in your question. There are others seeds in our culture, but this is one of the seeds.

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My point in this podcast is that this divine design for men as men to show a special care, protection, and honor to women is essential for good — for the good of families, churches, society, and for women in particular.

Millions of people in our day would rather sacrifice this peculiar biblical mandate given for the good of women. They would rather sacrifice it than betray any hint of compromise with egalitarian assumptions. What I’m arguing is that we have forfeited both a great, God-ordained restraint upon male vice and male power and a great, God-ordained incentive for male valor because we refuse to even think in terms of maleness and femaleness as they are created by God, carrying distinct and unique responsibilities and burdens.

We have put our hope in the myth that the summons to generic human virtue, with no attention to the peculiar virtues required of manhood and womanhood, would be sufficient to create a beautiful society of mutual respect. It isn’t working.

Men need to be taught from the time they are little boys that part of their manhood is to feel a special responsibility for the care and protection and honoring of women just because they are men.

— John Piper, Desiring God, Sex-Abuse Allegations and the Egalitarian Myth, March 16, 2018

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Michael Anthony Says God’s Inaction to Blame for School Shootings

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michael anthonyTuesday’s shooting at Great Mills High School demonstrates that America’s violence with guns problem is not about the kind of weapon, but the kind of assailant. Tuesday’s events did not involve an assault rifle. Every gun requires an angry or mentally unstable person to pull the trigger, and people would use butter knives to vent their anger if guns were not accessible.

A society that applauds violence on television, computers and gaming (where teens now spend more time on electronic devices than they do sleeping), cannot help but reap what it sows. Is it a coincidence that we are seeing so much violence with guns these days, or is there a correlation between the demonization of God and religion, and the acceptance of violence in nearly every facet of life? Not at all. The correlation should be obvious. Violence with guns is high because morals are low. Morals are low because we got what we asked for: a society where God and religion are demonized, not respected.

In colonial days, young colonists were required to own muskets—but we didn’t see colonists shooting up the local one-room schoolhouses, did we? [No, they just herded 400 Indian men, women, children into a building, locked the door, and burned them alive.] That should not be seen as a coincidence. America does not have a gun violence problem [say this does not make it so]. We have an increasing inability to express our disagreements and frustrations in healthy ways. If we deal with the root problem, the violence subsides.

Violence with guns is a symptom of a deeper and growing trend throughout America: When God is demonized, attacked as the enemy rather than our friend, society grows increasingly evil, not good. The instability, division and anger in our nation will only rise as long as we continue to bully God, insisting he has no place in the classroom, the football field, in civic meetings and a host of other public arenas [God is welcome, but government sponsored sectarian religion is not. Read the U.S. Constitution and reacquaint yourself with the separation of church hand state.] If we want a safe society, it’s time to invoke the author of peace, God Himself [According to Evangelicals, there was a time when God was honored in America. Yet, during that time people still committed violent crimes, mobsters ruled the roost, and the American government killed millions of people in the name of democracy.] As long as we keep him at arm’s length, and continue to demonize and bully Him, we can expect more of the same. [In other words, God isn’t going to do anything about school shootings until everyone is nice to him.]

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— Michael Anthony, Charisma News, When God Is Demonized, Evil Gains Ground, March 21, 2018

Note

Anthony does not say, as headline suggests, that God’s inaction is to blame for school shooting. What I did was take his nonsensical argument to its logical conclusion.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Al Shannon Says Modern Women Wear the Attire of Harlots

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brienne tarth
Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones) dressed modestly. Follow her example harlots!

Here [Proverbs 7] we find a foolish young man seeking sexual experimentation goes to a “worldly-wise woman whose character is known by the manner in which she dresses. This is a boisterous woman who despises to be in subjection to her husband. She is too active to give adequate care to her home and children because she is occupied trying to appear seductive. She has a face hardened by sin, and can no longer blush (Ezra 9:6 f; Jer. 6:15 cf; 8:12). She persuades her victim using flattery to inebriate him.

This young man is described by the writer of Proverbs as a fool who goes blindly and willingly to his own destruction, not knowing just how great a price he must pay for his indiscretions!

The description of this woman makes it clear that she was a harlot. What is a harlot? The word “harlot” here describes a person who is willing to engage in sexual behavior with someone to whom she is not legally married. The more modern day word for a “harlot” is a “whore”.

If one is available for purposes of sexual immorality, how does one advertise this fact? One way, clearly, is to dress in “the attire or dress of a harlot.” What is the attire of a harlot? Proverbs 7 does not give a description of the “attire of a harlot” or of anyone else’s attire, for that matter. So then, what is the attire of a harlot? The attire of a harlot is any manner of dressing which communicates the message of sexual interest so that there is the underlying implication of sexual availability, the freedom from shame and moral or spiritual restraints.

On the other hand, one who wishes to communicate the message of chastity and moral restraint will studiously avoid dressing in a manner which raises doubt about moral character!

There are many modem ways to wear the “attire of a harlot.” Women may wear the attire of a harlot by either overdressing or underdressing. Dressing in a garish manner, wearing too much makeup, wearing slinky gowns, etc., may be as much the attire of an harlot as underdressing in the skimpy shorts, halter tops, modern swimwear, miniskirts, any attire revealing private parts, etc., all characteristic of those who wish to send the signal – “I am available.” Every such woman is either telling the truth or lying by her manner of dress. If she is telling the truth, she is guilty of the sins of lasciviousness and fornication. If she is lying by her manner of dress she is guilty of the sins of lasciviousness and lying. There is just no “Christian” way to wear “the attire of a harlot.”

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All of these things shout one message loud and clear; they are the signals of the decay of the morals of a nation. We are becoming a nation of fornicators – and we advertise it. Celebrities seek a public forum to boast of it. And slowly citizens seek opportunities to imitate the lifestyles of the rich and famous!

No thoughtful Christian who wants to do right will be guilty of wearing the “attire of a harlot” because to do so is to be guilty of lasciviousness, which is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). The penalty for lasciviousness is that those guilty cannot “inherit the kingdom of God.” In other words, those guilty of dressing like a harlot will spend an eternity in Hell.

— Al Shannon, Biblical Proof, Dressing Like a Harlot, March 18, 2018

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Mike Shoesmith Says Stephen Hawking Was Kept Alive by Demonic Forces

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steven hawking says controlled by demons

[Billy Graham] is a hundred percent devoted. The Lord sees his heart, gives him a tremendous ministry, and who do you think is sitting in the background going, ‘I have to do something about this, this guy is sold out, I have to do something’? Who do you think is sitting in the background doing that? The devil, right?

So, in 1942, that is when Billy Graham’s ministry really takes off, and who do you think was born in 1942? Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking comes from a long line of atheists—his father and all these people—so I believe the devil said, ‘OK, this guy was just born and I’m going to use this guy. This guy is already primed to accept my message that there is no God. He is already primed for it, he is going to be awash, immersed in atheism all his years as a child, I’m going to take over this guy’s life.

I believe Stephen Hawking was kept alive by demonic forces. I believe that it was the demonic realm that kept this man alive as a virtual vegetable his entire life just so he could spread this message that there is no God.

— Mike Shoesmith, Carl Gallups radio show interview, March 16, 2018

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Masturbation for Porn Addicts is Just Like Methadone for Drug Addicts

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god is a pervert
Comic by Electric Bunny Comics

If there’s one topic that freaks Christians out the most, it’s masturbation.

When you tune into the discussion, it can get alarmingly serious.

There are believers who stand on either side of the fence on this topic, but overwhelmingly within the Church, masturbation is considered off-limits.

In a world of passionate forbiddance, I’d like to stand up and ask…

‘What If?’

What if masturbation could heal us?

What if there are people and situations being overlooked in the debate?

What if masturbation is more of a grey area that we ever anticipated?

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You’ve probably heard that porn is like a drug. It affects your brain in the same way heroin or cocaine can. Both behavior and substance can become addictive, and users may become dependent, requiring heavier doses to experience the chemical ‘rush’. With both sexual behaviors and drug use, withdrawals are a common struggle when beginning the recovery journey. The suffering associated with withdrawals often leads to relapse.

The solution for heroin or other opioid addicts is Methadone. It is a prescription drug which eases withdrawal symptoms to make the transition to sobriety possible in those first few weeks or months. It is a controlled and safer substance, but is still addictive in itself and carries risk. It has been used successfully to treat recovering addicts and is a method accepted within society.

The sex or porn addict on the other hand, is expected to make a full recovery by going ‘cold turkey’ overnight. Assuming they are unmarried, the addict is encouraged to remove every sexual outlet in their life. Why do we expect success if we know other addictions are so difficult to recover from without a pseudo-drug or at least a gradual weaning process?

What if instead of eliminating absolutely everything sexual, which like a starvation diet, encourages relapse or bingeing, the addict could work on individual struggles one at a time? Masturbation may be the final frontier to conquer. What if it helped them to truly find freedom?

Perhaps masturbation could be Methadone for the recovering sex addict.

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If you’re burning with rage, or are already scheduling in a handy little marathon, hold up. This is not a free for all. Let’s talk accountability.

How would you feel about allowing masturbation in your life…under supervision? I don’t mean your accountability partner needs to watch you do the deed. But, in your ongoing accountability journey, take two simple steps. Firstly, determine your personal boundaries. Within a Christian worldview, perhaps masturbation could be helpful if it’s private, safe, not compulsive, not being used to withhold marital intimacy or bury emotion, is free from lustful thoughts or is part of a therapeutic program (I know, makes it difficult doesn’t it?). Next, commit to being open with your accountability partner about when you do masturbate, and why.

Whether you feel convicted to pursue a life with or without masturbation, accountability is key. Orgasms are powerful. Once you start experiencing them, you’ll think having sex with anything and everything is a great idea. Both lifestyles open themselves to bingeing or relapsing. You need someone to keep you on track.

What if allowing masturbation and removing the shame could actually break the cycle of addiction?

— Alice Taylor, XXXchurch, What if Masturbation Could Heal Us? March 20, 2018

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Jesus is the Only Cure for Depression

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bethDepression has been something I have lived with for most of my life. Thoughts of hopelessness, despair, and a general sense of purposelessness have overwhelmed me on many occasions. Counseling and prescription drugs never helped me, nor did any other outside source I ever tried. The only relief I have ever found was through the redemptive healing of Jesus Christ in my life.

For many, depression is a regular part of your daily life. It can bring about a great swirling cloud of emotions that threaten to take over. Once depression settles in, it is very hard to get out of the thick of it. It can seem like you are living in a fog, with no way out.

The good news is, you are not alone, and you are not helplessly stuck in this bog. Depression does not have to be your normal. With the help of Jesus Christ, you can create a new normal for your life that is filled with hope and joy.

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I personally know the battle within that is depression. I have come from suicidal to filled with hope and joy. I do still have days where depression starts to settle in, but with the help of the Lord, these days are nowhere near as bad as they used to be, and fewer then (sic) every before.

Jesus wants nothing more than to intercede for you (Rom 8:34). Allow His love to bring you strength and healing and most importantly, joy. You are not alone in this battle. Jesus is with you, and His love is greater than any depression or struggle we will ever face. Jesus faced the cross so that He could take all of our pain in this world.

— Beth, The Other Side of Darkness, How To Defeat Depression, February 5, 2018