Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Mac Bird · Nov 22, 2006, 07:21 PM

Dear MacNN Forum readers,

I know that religion is a taboo subject outside of the War/Political forum, but I just want to ask for a few prayers of support for my brother, Rev. Dustin Salter. He is the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) director at Furman University in South Carolina.

On November 8, he was riding a bicycle in his neighborhood with his two sons. Dustin was not wearing a helmet and fell from his bike. He struck his head and had to be airlifted to Greenville. He remains there in a coma with little medical hope for ever waking up.

I only ask that you pray for him and his/our family during this time. I won't spam the forum with anymore threads, but if you want to know more, you can go to his church's website:
www.redeemerchurch.net/dustin or my blog (less updates than the church): http://thesalterflock.googlepages.com . Thank you all.

Sincerely,
Travis Salter

Chips G · Nov 22, 2006, 11:08 PM

I am terribly sorry about this accident.
My prayers are with you, and everyone involved.

-Chris

Railroader · Nov 22, 2006, 11:16 PM

I certainly believe in the power of prayer and I am terribly sorry to hear about your brother. I will put him on my prayer list and pray for him and his wife, kids, and family.

I see there's a place to snail-mail donations. I would suggest that a paypal or other online donation outlet be looked into.

Sbtrfuge · 11:08 AM

I hope he gets better. That's as much as I can give you.

Annette310 · Nov 22, 2006, 11:56 PM

I will have him and your family in my prayers.

imitchellg5 · Nov 23, 2006, 10:44 AM

I will be praying for him. I hope he comes out of his coma.

ThinkInsane · Nov 23, 2006, 11:06 AM

Is it too much to ask that you give your best wishes, or you don't, regardless of your opinion of religion or prayer? I'm sure Mac Bird has little interest in your opinion on prayer while facing a family tragedy. Show a bit of respect and human decency for others, regardless of your beliefs. It's not that hard.

- - e r i k - - · Nov 23, 2006, 05:44 PM

While I am sorry for people who are faced with tragedy (we all are at some point), this constant trend of "pray for my…" threads here and otherwise come of as egotistical to me. Is it a race for God's attention? One prayer is not enough? Do you need to petition for strangers to pray for you to make it work? Why does it have to be prayers? I can offer my sympathies, should that be rejected?

That said (probably in vain for everyone here who takes religion personally), I offer the original poster all the best for his brother's recovery and hope everyone here takes this as a caution to wear a helmet when they are next out biking.

Dark Helmet · Nov 23, 2006, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

While I am sorry for people who are faced with tragedy (we all are at some point), this constant trend of "pray for my…" threads here and otherwise come of as egotistical to me. Is it a race for God's attention? One prayer is not enough? Do you need to petition for strangers to pray for you to make it work? Why does it have to be prayers? I can offer my sympathies, should that be rejected?

That said (probably in vain for everyone here who takes religion personally), I offer the original poster all the best for his brother's recovery and hope everyone here takes this as a caution to wear a helmet when they are next out biking.

That is a good way of putting it.

Terrible situation but should anyone who faces a personal problem come to MacNN and start asking for a pool of "requests" from strangers for god?

imitchellg5 · 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

While I am sorry for people who are faced with tragedy (we all are at some point), this constant trend of "pray for my…" threads here and otherwise come of as egotistical to me. Is it a race for God's attention? One prayer is not enough? Do you need to petition for strangers to pray for you to make it work? Why does it have to be prayers? I can offer my sympathies, should that be rejected?

That said (probably in vain for everyone here who takes religion personally), I offer the original poster all the best for his brother's recovery and hope everyone here takes this as a caution to wear a helmet when they are next out biking.

Constant trend? I remember one other such thread. As a Christian, I believe that God already knows that the OP's brother is injured. However, by asking others to pray for his brother, the OP is acknowledging that he ( or rather his brother) needs the help of God to pull his brother through this situation. God wants us to pray and to have others pray because that shows that our hearts are where they should be, basically that we realize that we cannot save people by ourselves. Okay, the sermons over. Sorry

Mastrap · Nov 23, 2006, 06:38 PM

I am sorry to hear about your brother. What an awful tragedy, especially this close to Christmas. I sincerely hope that he'll recover.

- - e r i k - - · Nov 23, 2006, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

As a Christian, I believe that God already knows that the OP's brother is injured. However, by asking others to pray for his brother, the OP is acknowledging that he ( or rather his brother) needs the help of God to pull his brother through this situation. God wants us to pray and to have others pray because that shows that our hearts are where they should be, basically that we realize that we cannot save people by ourselves. Okay, the sermons over. Sorry

Thank you. That is a good way of explaining the rationale behind it. Hope that you can see my point of view too.

imitchellg5 · Nov 23, 2006, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

Thank you. That is a good way of explaining the rationale behind it. Hope that you can see my point of view too.

No problem. I do understand your point of view. It is always a good idea to at least wish someone well, regardless of their beliefs.

Mac Bird · Nov 23, 2006, 09:11 PM

To all who have responded and read,

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I can assure you that coming to MacNN was not my first response (note the date of the accident and of the thread). I willingly accept any support on behalf of my brother, whether it's religious in nature or not. I'm open-minded and know abstract concepts and intangibles are difficult to prove scientifically, and I welcome any open dialog with agnostics and atheists. In fact, I personally consider myself to be deeply spiritual, but not religious. Just as a note, I wasn't offended by Sbtrfuge's deleted comment.

That being said, my brother is a minister in the Presbyterian church and was the founder of Texas Christian University's RUF. Ironically, three days before the accident, he gave a sermon on divine oversight and control in one's life (divine Providence). To be honest, I've read the sermon, but not been able to bring myself to hear it (the church has the text and mp3).

Again, thank you all for your thoughts, well wishes and prayers,
Travis

Jawbone54 · Nov 23, 2006, 09:37 PM

My thoughts and prayers are with you, your brother, and your family. I certainly believe that God can change the situation, and I pray that He does.

Sbtrfuge · Nov 24, 2006, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

While I am sorry for people who are faced with tragedy (we all are at some point), this constant trend of "pray for my…" threads here and otherwise come of as egotistical to me. Is it a race for God's attention? One prayer is not enough? Do you need to petition for strangers to pray for you to make it work? Why does it have to be prayers? I can offer my sympathies, should that be rejected?

That said (probably in vain for everyone here who takes religion personally), I offer the original poster all the best for his brother's recovery and hope everyone here takes this as a caution to wear a helmet when they are next out biking.

I said pretty much the same thing, but my post was edited. Why yours was left intact is beyond me. Prayer has been scientifically proven to be useless, time and time again. Millions of prayers from starving and dying people go unanswered everyday. That said, strange things occasionally happen. Because of prayer? God? Who knows. Good luck to your brother. I hope he recovers fully. Also, thank you for not being offended. I wasn't trying to offend, just stating why I can't say I give him my prayers and have a healthy conscious. I've had a lot of members of my family become terminally ill and injured, and so far most of them made it just fine. Hopefully this will happen to you also! Just don't lose hope. Things can always get better.

imitchellg5 · Nov 24, 2006, 10:53 AM

There always has and always will be sick and dying people in the world.

Sbtrfuge · Nov 24, 2006, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

There always has and always will be sick and dying people in the world.

Sure. And there will always be mass genocide, plagues, and millions of people suffering because of corrupt governments. What is your point? That god allows such things?

imitchellg5 · Nov 24, 2006, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by Sbtrfuge

Sure. And there will always be mass genocide, plagues, and millions of people suffering because of corrupt governments. What is your point? That god allows such things?

Yeah. It would get boring if everyone was perfect®.

Sbtrfuge · Nov 24, 2006, 11:00 AM

Ah. How true.