Roots by the River

There have been many evil dictators, kings, emperors, popes, and sultans in the Bible before and since. There have been relatively few good and godly heads of state. People, when choosing a leader, will overlook immorality, infidelity, and lack of ethics but will not stand for incompetence. They would rather have a competent man who lacks integrity than the other way around. It would be nice to have both. It is rare. If this is of interest to you, make a list of leaders to make your case.

The following is a quotation from a letter from Abou-Elia. I remember as a child sensing the eerie calm as a storm approached. Gaza is in the midst of a violent storm… though for you who live far from that patch of real estate bordering Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it may appear to be a storm that impacts only that local vicinity. This will probably not be the case. There are good guys and bad guys on both sides of the issue, as well as a lot of spiritual blindness. I’m not a Muslim and am strongly opposed to extremist ideas, forcing others to accept Islam or Islamic law or harming people who want to further understand spiritual truth that conflicts with Islam. The Islamic side is so focused on honor and gaining better world positioning that they’d sacrifice every Gaza resident. Additionally they would never, EVER admit to fault as they cannot bear the possibility of not being right. But then I look at the Jewish side and am appalled at their dullness, spir...

This quotation is from Bob Flynn, President of The Christian Military Fellowship. One day Jesus said to His disciples, “There will always be temptation to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” (Luke 17:1-4 NLT) I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something very different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says, “Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and e...