Comments on: Don’t Give Up on the Prodigal

By: Sher

Sher — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:42:24 +0000

I believe Mr Pearl is indicating that all prodigal children are the result of bad parenting.

Not true. There are children who are raised in homes where the parents have an unwavering commitment and dependence on Christ, where the bible is taught, prayers led, parents and children involved in mission work, kids are homeschooled–and some of these children still grow into adults who want to take a step back and be independent thinkers and decide for themselves what they believe, without being told what they are to believe. Some of these kids follow a different path for awhile, some sow their wild oats, some follow louder voices than the ones they heard at home—and Praise God, many (if not most) of them come back.

Don’t blame everything on the parents. It’s a fallacy and untruth that the parents are to blame. Look at God’s first children if you don’t believe me.

By: Roxanne Johnsey

Roxanne Johnsey — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:05:29 +0000

Please pray for my family. Through these times of trials, I am thankful to the Lord and faithful friends, who pray for us, our families, our precious children. May God guide my heart, my mouth into love, wisdom, and compassion, for our children. Thank you for this article, and may it burn into the depths of parents souls, so we can help our wayward children. God Bless

By: sandy lee sandoval

sandy lee sandoval — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:44:20 +0000

Please pray for my son Alex, he is running wild. His dad and I are divorced,and he lets him do just about anything. So he hasnt liked me since he was 11. I just keep praying for him.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:09 +0000

Oh how I pain to hear the last response. Indeed there are those that try to brow beat their children into submission. I find them much fewer these days than a generation or two ago. No now there are way too many parents too fearful of our system to raise their children in the ways of the Lord for fear of people accusing them of being those brow beater. The Bible does not command us to beat our children into submission but to train them and not spare them of correction. Our communities our ripe with now physically adult children who ran their parents instead of parents teaching and train. Of please Lord Jesus protect the parents that still hold Your word dear. Separate them from the judgement of those who abuse it for their own gain.

By: Grey Haven

Grey Haven — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:09:01 +0000

There are prodigals and then there are prodigals. If you are talking of young adults who throw off faith altogether, than perhaps they warrant that name. But in my circles and in my own life the brand “prodigal” has been given to adults that stand up to the stifling and often abusive legalism that they were subjected to for years. These are the true champions of faith, not the parents who treated their children like property and animals to be trained. Brave is the woman or man who points out the evil in the patriarchal system, a religion based on brutality, fear and manipulation, and refuse to ever go back or be silent when faced with the resulting injustices of the wrong done to the children of parents who play the martyr.

By: Terri

Terri — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:42:31 +0000

Oh Mr. Pearl, thank you so much for your timely message. Our oldest has been struggling with a heroin addiction for the past 4 years. It started with pot when he was a teen. He has been in many residential treatment centers, Christian and secular. He has been in Jail, the county correctional facility, and prison for a short time to complete an earned early released program, a boot camp for non violent drug addicts. He is respectful, hard working (when he’s straight), and actually a really nice young man to be around, when he’s straight. His 4 younger brothers and sisters love him so much, and he loves them too.
We took him back in after boot camp, he worked the summer, and then relapsed again. He could not get it back. Now he is in a half way house, under probation. Everyone in our extended family has given up. Sometimes Dan and I understand why. Yet we see who he could be in Christ. He does read his Bible, especially when he’s in trouble, yet the drugs are so strong they take him over. He hates it, really he does. He is 25. We keep praying. What a testimony He would have and could use to bring others to Christ, if he could only get there himself. He says he is saved, he grew up knowing the Holy Scriptures, I just wish he would really surrender his life, and be born again. Thank you for your article, honestly, I couldnt believe it when I opened my email to find it. It is exactly what we are struggling with, like you wrote it for us. In Christ, Terri