Awhile back, I watched with shock as countless cars drove right by my stranded vehicle.

Later, safe at home I realized that if I see someone on the side of the road with car trouble, often I drive past, hoping that the next person will help them.  I know someone should help, I’m just not sure that person should be me.  What if I’m late? What if they ask me for something I don’t have? What if they are dangerous? It’s so much easier not to risk it and just keep driving.

The world is filled with apathy and hardship. When someone returns a wallet or does a good deed, it seems incredibly abnormal.  Sometimes it is even newsworthy.  It takes so little to make a difference in someone’s life and in their perspective of mankind as a whole.  Why do we shy away from  making a difference more often? Do you believe the world can become a better place?

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The shooting began at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood – the largest US military base in the world, home to about 40,000 troops.

The commander of the base, Lt Gen Robert Cone, told NBC News that, according to eyewitnesses, Mr Hasan had shouted the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar!” [God is great] before opening fire.

He was shot four times during the attack and is currently being treated in hospital under armed guard.

Reports suggested that he had been increasingly unhappy in the military and that his work at his previous post – Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC – had been the subject of concern.

The New York Times said the FBI had been investigating internet postings by a man called Nidal Hasan that appeared to back suicide bombings – but said it was not clear whether it was the suspect.

How can we respond to such acts of terrible violence? Recently, Gary, a young man with a family living in Canada, faced an attack of his own: A package bomb left on the back steps of his home. Not knowing what the package was, he picked it up, and it exploded in his hands. Read Gary’s story of his survival, and how he was able to respond to an act of senseless violence.

If you are grieving or dealing with disappointment or despair, please contact us today to talk about it, we’re always here to listen.

Image credit: Daniel Greene, used with permission, Creative Commons 2.0 License.

“The world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not. … This is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran. This is an issue of the Iranian people.”

The election in Iran, where previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was retained power in the country, have resulted in calls for a recount, protests, and violence in the country. Threats (and acts) of violence against protesters of which Mr Obama elsewhere said “We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people,” Obama said in a written statement. “Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” (CTV)

Recently, “Iran expelled the BBC’s correspondent in Tehran yesterday and accused Britain of pouring agents into the country to sabotage the election.” This came after Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called “Britain the “most treacherous” of the Western powers that were fomenting unrest in Iran.” (Times Online)

As the unrest and violence in Iran continues, what role should other countries play? What response should we have as individuals and nations when we hear about injustices in the world?

Image credit: marctonysmith

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30am EDT.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

When we look at the world news, our hearts tend to get frightened. So much unrest, violence, fear! Jesus predicted it would be this way. “In this world you will have trouble,” He said. “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

How can we as Christians make a difference in our world? Paul gives us some practical steps in Colossians 4:2: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1.  Devote yourselves to prayer for your families, church leaders, and governments. Is there a friend or neighbor you could team up with for prayer on a weekly basis?

2.  Being watchful–instead of looking at the problems, keep your eyes on Jesus. As long as Peter kept looking at the Lord Jesus, he walked on water. The moment he focused on the waves, he began to sink. Readjusting our focus may mean cutting back on news watching. Smile.

3.  Be thankful for your blessings–for the things that are going right. Write them down in a gratitude journal. Pray them out loud in thanksgiving.

No matter what happens in the world, Jesus Christ is still the victorious One and Our Sovereign Lord. “I know that you can do all things,” says Job. “No plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2 ).

Remembering this, we can have the peace Jesus spoke about.

Father, I thank you that You are working out your good plan in my life and in our world.

Questions: What steps can you take to put your heart at ease about the future?

About the Author Helen Grace Lescheid

Daily audio podcast: Hear today’s daily devotional, Peace in a World of Turmoil, read aloud, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Love isn’t an unattainable mystery. The Bible tells us clearly: “God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:8 – 10).

God Himself is the definition of love. He demonstrated His love to us by sending Jesus to take the penalty for our sins, making us righteous and giving us life.

There are no qualifications we must submit; no requirements we need to fulfill. Regardless of who you are or what you have done, God loves you

Maybe you have abandoned or perpetrated violence against someone in your life. Perhaps malicious words are your habit, or anger your constant companion. None of these or any other sins disqualify you from receiving God’s love. In fact, our sinfulness proves that God’s love comes without conditions. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

You don’t have to wonder if anyone loves you. You can know. The knowledge that we are loved by God frees us from our past. His love gives us power to overcome obstacles, refreshes us when we are weary and fills us with hope.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16).

Dear God, Thank you that You love me so much. Please make it real in my heart. Where there have been lies told to me that I am not worthy or that I cannot be forgiven make Your truth known to me. Thank you that I can know and rely on Your love. Amen.

Questions: How has God been the definition of love in your life? Does it free you to know that God loved you first?

About the Author Suzanne Benner

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Strength and Endurance, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back taillights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

Last night I attended a personal safety workshop and it jolted me. It was given by an amazing man, Pat Malone, who has been a bodyguard for famous figures like Farrah Fawcett and Sylvester Stallone. He works for the FBI and teaches police officers and Navy SEALS hand-to-hand combat.

This man has seen it all, and knows a lot. He focused his teachings to us on how to avoid being the victim of a violent crime. He gave us some statistics about how much the occurrences of random violence have escalated over the recent years and it’s terrible. Something like 99% of us will be exposed to, or become a victim of, a violent crime.

Here are some of the most important points that I got out of his presentation:

The three reasons women are easy targets for random acts of violence are:

• Lack of awareness
  You must know where you are and what’s going on around you.
• Body language
  Keep your head up, swing your arms, stand straight up.
• Wrong place, wrong time
  Don’t walk alone in an alley, or drive in a bad neighborhood at night.

Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.). Don’t do this! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. As soon as you get into your car, lock the doors and leave.

A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

• Be aware – look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor and in the back seat.
• If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
• Look at the cars parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall or work and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. It is always better to be safe than sorry. (And better paranoid than dead.)
• Always take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot.)

RUN!

If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, always run! The predator will only hit you (a running target) four in 100 times. And even then, it most likely will not be a vital organ. Run!

Sympathy – stop it!

As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: stop it! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good looking, well educated man, who always played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Pat Malone told us the story of his daughter who came out of the mall and was walking to her car when she noticed two older ladies in front of her. Then she saw a police car come toward her with cops who said hello. She also noticed that all eight handicap spots in the area were empty.

As she neared her car she saw a man a few rows over calling to her for help. He wanted her to close his passenger side door. He was sitting in the back on the driver’s side and said he was handicapped. He continued calling, until she turned and headed back to the mall and then he began cursing at her.

In the meantime, she wondered why he didn’t ask the two older ladies or the policeman for help, and why he was not parked in any of the empty handicap spots.

As she got back to the mall, two male friends of hers were exiting and as she told them the story and turned to point at the car, the man was getting out of the back seat into the front and the car sped away. Don’t get caught in this trap.

Please be safe and not sorry! Just a warning to always be alert and use your head!

One headline reads: “Hindu Threat to Christians: Convert or Flee.” Scroll down a bit further and another reads:  “Bombs Hit Mosul, as Christians Are Offered Protection.”

This past Sunday, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, five Iraqis were killed and dozens wounded by the hands of two suicide bombers. That same day, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki sent National Police Forces to stand guard and watch over Christians there. Yet as Iraqi leaders show their support for the Christian minority in Mosul, the threat continues to hang in the air. In less than two weeks time, 11 Christians have been killed and 485 families have abandoned their houses for villages further north.

In India, religious clashing isn’t new. But violence has escalated since the late August murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu preacher, whose death Hindu radicals have blamed on Christians. Since then, in the most affected district of Kandhamal, 130 churches have been leveled to ruins, 3,000 homes burnt to ash and more than 30 people murdered.

Religious persecution has gone on since Biblical times. It’s included Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Catholics, any person or group of people who have subscribed to any major world religion. And it’s still happening.

Are you aware of the religious persecution that goes on in our world? What would you do if you faced persecution?

image credit: Jasmic

“If we want to move from a culture of war to a culture of peace then we are going to have to unite”

Not only did he advocate a day that would promote unity and a worldwide ceasefire, but he discovered that on this day, instead of fighting, children could be immunized, aid could be distributed, and lives could be saved.

To think that one man pushed the first domino that saw every member state of the United Nations sign on for Peace Day is incredible. I always think of the calendar as this be-all-and-end-all written in stone. Not as something I could actually influence. Yet Gilleys, demanding the ideal for peace on our planet, walked up to the calendar with a permanent marker.

What are your thoughts on Gilleys and Peace Day? Did you know Peace Day existed?

To visit the website, go to: www.peaceoneday.org or to watch the YouTube video, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FmEIP46B-E

Image credit: jcolman

An expert stated that the number of young people who are joining gangs is increasing, with an estimated 11,000 to 14,000 gang members under the age of 21. That’s almost doubled from the estimate of 7,000 gang members under the age of 21 six years ago in 2002.
Last month, a 15-year-old street gang member was charged in a triple murder at a house party in Winnipeg. What is going on that kids are getting involved in crime and murder?

Are gangs all about peer pressure? Why are kids joining gangs in the first place? Do gangs fulfill a need for people to belong?