<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] And excuse me, but I feel like you are looking for a loophole to teach children to disobey. As if they needed an help. </font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>This remark is really uncalled for Linda, and it is hardly the truth. Why make such an uncharitable inference? My motive is not to find a loophole to teach children to disobey, but to correctly identify which parent ought to be lawfully obeyed in complicated divorce cases, and this can necessarily lead to disobeying the other.<br><br>It has never been my intention to imply that children can disobey their parents due to the parents' sin. 1 Peter 3:1 and Romans 13 are pretty clear that obedience is necessary to superiors under their sphere of authority even if they are unsaved and ungodly. However, there are various cases in which a living biological parent ceases to act as the lawful authority over the child and hence the child is not obligated to "obey", though he is always obligated to honor. Aside from the example of marriage I would add that a son may leave home and begin his own life, making his own decisions respecting his parents' counsel, not feeling obliged to "obey" their commands. Similarly, a parent may give their child up for adoption, and that child is now obligated to obey the adopting parents rather than the biological parents. Hence, I am sure you can admit that there are points when a biological parent ceases to have commanding authority over a child and my question is intended to discern whether or not such possibilities exist in divorce situations ... not to find a loophole for disobedience.<br><br>I would be curious as to how you would counsel a teen-age girl in this hypothetical situation: Her father has been excommunicated from the church due to unrepentant adultery, which has led to divorce. The daughter is living under the custody of her godly mother after the divorce, while the father is living with his mistress after having willfully deserted the family. She wants to drive to a Reformed Conference on a Friday night and has permission from her mother. She speaks with her father over the phone and he commands her not to go. Must she obey him and abstain from going?<br><br>Sincerely in Christ,<br><br>~Jason<br>