“Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland” (Jeremiah 12:10).

The on again, off again marriage relationship between Pastor Eddie Long, head pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, and his wife Vanessa appears to be over.

The split comes a about a year after a lawsuit filed against Eddie Long alleged that he used his influence and lavish lifestyle to lure four men into sexual relationships. Long settled the cases but has never admitted to any wrongdoing.

On Thursday December 1, 2011, Vanessa Long filed for divorce from her husband,  Eddie Long. In a statement, she said the decision to end the marriage followed “a great deal of deliberation and prayer.”

A change of heart by was reported early on Friday December 2, 2011, just hours after Vanessa Long had announced that she had filed for divorce from Long after 21 years of marriage. In a statement issued through Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church she said that she loves her husband and planned to withdraw her petition.

“Upon prayerful reflection, I have reconsidered and plan to withdraw my petition for divorce from my husband, Bishop Eddie L. Long,” she said in an emailed statement bearing the New Birth logo. “I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage.”
She went on to blame “years of attacks in the media” for her initial decision to seek a divorce.

But In a another statement issued late Friday December 2, 2011, Vanessa Long’s attorney says “she has determined that dismissal of her divorce petition is not right at this time.”

Believers, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We are the examples of Christ. Therefore, we should walk in His footsteps and “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:12).