Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 19 – No. 1017 March 11, 2017
Thought for the week: "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind." – Albert Einstein
Saudi Kidnap, Rape Victim Faces Lashing for 'crime' of Being Alone With Man Not Related to Her
A 19-year-old Saudi woman who was kidnapped, beaten and gang raped by seven men [14 times] who then took photos of their victim and threatened to kill her, was sentenced under the country's Islamic-based law to 90 lashes for the "crime" of being alone with a man not related to her. The woman is appealing to Saudi King Abdullah to intervene in the controversial case....
The judges, basing their decision on Islamic law, also decided to sentence the woman and her original blackmailer to lashes for being alone together in his car. The Saudi Gazette and The Scotsman contributed to this report.
Slow me down, Lord
Ease the pounding of my heart
by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision
of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day,
the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music of the
singing streams that live in my memory.
Help me to know the magical, restoring
power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations,
of slowing down to look at a flower,
to chat with a friend,
to pat a dog,
to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to
send my roots deep into the soil of life's
enduring values that I many grow
toward the stars of my greater destiny.
Marital arguments can have a significant effect on the physical health of each spouse, a 2005 study from Ohio State University showed...
The study looked at 42 couples who had been married at least 12 years, during two clinical visits conducted two months apart. At the beginning of each visit, the researchers used a suction device to inflict blisters on the arms of each participant.
During the first visit, the spouses were led in positive discussions. For the second visit, however, the couples were encouraged to talk about things on which they disagreed. The sessions were videotaped to determine the degree of hostility between each couple, and the wounds were monitored for blood flow and fluid accumulation. The hostile couples' wounds healed at only 60% of the rate of non-hostile couples.
The study revealed that a 30-minute marital disagreement can add a day or more to the healing process of a wound. (Leadership)
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).
A certain downtown businessman became fond of the little boy who shined his shoes every day. He did such a good job that one day the businessman asked him, "Son, how come you are so conscientious about your work?"
The boy felt complimented. He looked up to the man, and said, "Mister, I'm a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus Christ were wearing them."
The businessman saw something genuine in the shoeshine boy. Soon after that he began reading his Bible. When he decided to be a Christian himself, he credited his decision to the little boy who shined every pair of shoes "as if Jesus Christ were wearing them."
What's inside us comes out in our social and moral behavior. Here is the other extreme:
Another boy was raised by a mother who showed him no affection, no love, no discipline. He was a "loner" in school. The girls teased him and the boys beat him up. He joined the marines but only found abuse there and, eventually, was dishonorably discharged. He married and tried to have a family, but his wife hated him. He lost all sense of self-worth. Maybe you've guessed his name.
One day—it was November 22, 1963—he went out into the garage, took a rifle, drove into Dallas, and put two holes in the head of our former President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Yes, his name was Lee Harvey Oswald. One who lacks self-esteem and has a poor self-image is likely to be negative, anti-social and often deplorably immoral.
"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15).
An article in Parables, Etc., shares how "Author Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
"When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'"
By the time I was five years of age I had learned that "big men don't cry," so I learned well never to cry. As an adult, however, I came to realize that I had a problem because I couldn't cry. So I asked God to give me tears back! Whew! He did!
Not so long ago a friend from church lost her teenage daughter. She was well on a Friday. The following Friday was her funeral. This friend had already lost her son during the Vietnam War. Another friend and I visited her on Saturday night. It was incredibly sad. I had nothing to say. At times like these words can seem so empty and meaningless. I simply sat on the floor and wept with her.
Rare are the friends who know how to weep with those who weep. May God help us all to learn how to be this kind of a friend.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you not only for the gift of laughter, but also for the gift of tears. Please help me to always be sensitive to the hurts and pains of others and learn how to weep with those who weep, as you did when your friend, Lazarus, died. Gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen."
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Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing How to Mend a Broken Heart I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
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