The Right Way to Write About Right

Rebecca Hagelin
The Heritage Foundation


“Of course I dislike the Nazis. But who is to say they’re morally wrong?”

Whoa. If that statement floors you as much as it does me, then you probably can understand the need for “Christian Ethics in Plain Language,” an eye-opening book by Kerby Anderson that brings a biblical perspective to a variety of ethical issues, from abortion and euthanasia to drugs and gambling.

The statement above was spoken by a student at Hamilton College in New York. “Professor Roger Simon … said that he has never met a student who denied the Holocaust happened,” Anderson writes. “But he also reported that 10 to 20 percent of his students cannot bring themselves to say that killing millions of people is wrong.”

If this isn’t an indictment of how modern society has deified “tolerance,” nothing is. What could illustrate the dangerous folly of moral relativism more perfectly than a student who can’t admit that mass murder is wrong – not because of his feelings but because it’s a fact? A society of people who cannot condemn the Nazis is a society courting moral anarchy.

Anderson, the national director of Probe Ministries International, is well equipped to deliver the wake-up call that this student and his misguided peers need. An accomplished writer and speaker, as well as co-host of the popular radio show “Point of View” (heard on USA Radio Network), Anderson knows how to communicate effectively. His book is ideal for the time-pressed layman. As the title hints, “Christian Ethics in Plain Language” is succinct and accessible, which makes the job of being a Christian parent or teacher that much easier.

Take the chapter on abortion. In only 14 pages, Anderson gives us a history of this abhorrent practice, a brief description of the various abortion methods and an array of arguments against abortion – biblical, philosophical and medical. Readers get a section titled “Answers to Pro-Abortion Rhetoric” and one on stem cell research. The chapter on drugs is similar, with a look at the various types of drugs and their effects, answers to pro-legalization arguments and a biblical perspective.

Parents will find the chapter on sexual ethics particularly helpful. It includes information on teen sexuality, school-based clinics and sex education. Anderson also marshals a variety of studies that show why condoms are far less effective than we’ve been led to believe – and then explodes the so-called “comprehensive” approach to sex education with a telling quote from a New York Times reporter:

“I was sitting at a table with half a dozen 16-year-old girls, listening with some amazement as they showed off their knowledge of human sexuality. They knew how long sperm lived inside the body and how many women out of 100 using a diaphragm were statistically likely to get pregnant. One girl recited the steps of the ovulation cycle from day one to day twenty-eight. There was just one problem with this performance. Every one of the girls was pregnant.”

The lesson here is clear. Mere knowledge isn’t enough. It never has been, and it never will be. What matters is what we do with what we know. Return, for a moment, to the Nazi example: Does anyone doubt that Hitler and his minions were intelligent? No one calls them dumb. In fact, they combined their intelligence with a sickening moral depravity – i.e., ignorance or indifference to fixed definitions of right and wrong – to commit their heinous crimes.

It may seem like the height of sophistication to think that we can (or should) load our children with facts and figures and then leave it up to them to decide what’s right and wrong. In fact, it’s a moral abdication of our duties as parents. No, we can’t make our children see the truth. But we do them a grave disservice if we fail to show them, in word and deed, right from wrong on the most critical issues.

Even the best parent, of course, can use a little help – and that’s where Anderson’s marvelous book comes in handy. But “Christian Ethics in Plain Language” isn’t just for parents; it’s for anyone looking for concise, well-documented answers to the pressing ethical questions of our day. Want to know what the Bible says about cohabitation? What the social effects of pornography are? How to respond to questions about capital punishment, artificial reproduction and genetic engineering? It’s all there.

“We need a clear understanding of the moral issues of our age,” Anderson writes. Mission accomplished.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
by Os Hillman, May 28, 2006

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." - Genesis 50:24

I was boarding the airplane in Frankfurt, Germany, when a mentor of mine asked me this question, "Would you consider why God referred to Himself as the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'? Why didn't He simply say, 'the God of Jacob'?" What a strange question, I thought to myself.

For the next hour I racked my brain trying to discover the meaning to this question. I had never read it in a commentary, and the Scriptures do not really say why this is so. It became a good exercise with the Holy Spirit that led to some interesting observations - one from my mentor, one from my own insight.

First, could it be that the Lord has given us a "type of trinity" in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Abraham was considered a father figure to the nation of Israel. Isaac was the son who had to be sacrificed on the altar. Jacob was the man who had to learn to walk according to the Holy Spirit instead of his flesh. Each of these patriarchs had a particular relationship with God to fulfill.

My friend asked about an hour into the flight, "So, what did you discover?"

I told him of my observation.

"Hmm...that is interesting. I believe that what we also see in the patriarchs are examples of three distinct types of personalities. If the Lord had cited only one of the patriarchs, we would tend to seek to model that leader. However, the Lord has given us three distinct personalities in whom He performed His work. Abraham was the pioneer who ventured out into unknown territory and was considered righteous for his faith. Isaac was faithful to follow in his inheritance with few ups and downs in his life. He had the fewest calamities among the three. He was called simply to be faithful to what had been already given. Jacob had extreme conflict in his life. He suffered more pit experiences than either of his predecessors. He had much conflict in relationships that became the source of his inheritance. Each of us can identify with one of these men in how God has related to them."

God works in each person's life uniquely, and He has provided examples of lives for us to identify with from the Scriptures. Who do you identify with most in your Christian pilgrimage? Discover this for yourself. You will find encouragement as you seek to learn from someone who has gone before you.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

by Os Hillman, May 28, 2006

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." - Genesis 50:24

I was boarding the airplane in Frankfurt, Germany, when a mentor of mine asked me this question, "Would you consider why God referred to Himself as the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'? Why didn't He simply say, 'the God of Jacob'?" What a strange question, I thought to myself.

For the next hour I racked my brain trying to discover the meaning to this question. I had never read it in a commentary, and the Scriptures do not really say why this is so. It became a good exercise with the Holy Spirit that led to some interesting observations - one from my mentor, one from my own insight.

First, could it be that the Lord has given us a "type of trinity" in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Abraham was considered a father figure to the nation of Israel. Isaac was the son who had to be sacrificed on the altar. Jacob was the man who had to learn to walk according to the Holy Spirit instead of his flesh. Each of these patriarchs had a particular relationship with God to fulfill.

My friend asked about an hour into the flight, "So, what did you discover?"

I told him of my observation.

"Hmm...that is interesting. I believe that what we also see in the patriarchs are examples of three distinct types of personalities. If the Lord had cited only one of the patriarchs, we would tend to seek to model that leader. However, the Lord has given us three distinct personalities in whom He performed His work. Abraham was the pioneer who ventured out into unknown territory and was considered righteous for his faith. Isaac was faithful to follow in his inheritance with few ups and downs in his life. He had the fewest calamities among the three. He was called simply to be faithful to what had been already given. Jacob had extreme conflict in his life. He suffered more pit experiences than either of his predecessors. He had much conflict in relationships that became the source of his inheritance. Each of us can identify with one of these men in how God has related to them."

God works in each person's life uniquely, and He has provided examples of lives for us to identify with from the Scriptures. Who do you identify with most in your Christian pilgrimage? Discover this for yourself. You will find encouragement as you seek to learn from someone who has gone before you.

"Thou hatest wickedness."-Psalm 45:7

"Be ye angry, and sin not." There can hardly be goodness in a man if he
be not angry at sin; he who loves truth must hate every false way. How
our Lord Jesus hated it when the temptation came! Thrice it assailed
Him in different forms, but ever He met it with, "Get thee behind me,
Satan." He hated it in others; none the less fervently because He showed
His hate oftener in tears of pity than in words of rebuke; yet what
language could be more stern, more Elijah-like, than the words, "Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretence make long prayer." He hated wickedness, so much that
He bled to wound it to the heart; He died that it might die; He was
buried that He might bury it in His tomb; and He rose that He might for
ever trample it beneath His feet. Christ is in the Gospel, and that Gospel
is opposed to wickedness in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in
fair garments, and imitates the language of holiness; but the prec!
epts of Jesus, like His famous scourge of small cords, chase it out of
the temple, and will not tolerate it in the Church. So, too, in the
heart where Jesus reigns, what war there is between Christ and Belial! And
when our Redeemer shall come to be our Judge, those thundering words,
"Depart, ye cursed" which are, indeed, but a prolongation of His
life-teaching concerning sin, shall manifest His abhorrence of iniquity. As
warm as is His love to sinners, so hot is His hatred of sin; as perfect
as is His righteousness, so complete shall be the destruction of every
form of wickedness. O thou glorious champion of right, and destroyer of
wrong, for this cause hath God, even Thy God, anointed thee with the
oil of gladness above Thy fellows.

How to make the net work for you

By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website



Sometimes it seems that the net is all take and no give, especially when it comes to your hard-earned cash.
You pay good money for your computer, for net access, for domains you own and places to host them. If you play an online game regularly or have a busy blog, you might pay for that too.

To make matters worse, others make money from your browsing habits and e-mail conversations which are used to generate adverts you might find interesting.

Sometimes the websites you use are bought for huge sums of money that are never shared with the community which made that site ripe for acquisition in the first place.

Show time

The net does offer ways to offset the cost of using it by making a little money on the side, but it can involve either a lot of luck or a lot of work.

Luck is the hardest one to court but help could be at hand if you have a video to showcase thanks to Revver.

Founded by movie and grassroots film veteran Steven Starr the site aims to be a showcase for video creators and will share any cash generated by adverts tagged on the end of any uploaded clips.

The Revver site, like rivals YouTube and many others, aims to exploit the word-of-mouth effect by making it easy to upload video and get it passed around among the net's ever-growing audience.


"I'm deeply aware of how hard it is for creators to get their content seen by professional distribution operators," Mr Starr told the BBC News website.
Among other things he wants the Revver site to become a forum for novice film makers to give them an audience for their creations that they would struggle to reach.

"I believe we are going to see really interesting creativity coming from very disparate places," he said.

Adverts are tagged on to the end of every clip and any money made is shared with the creator. Creators can also choose what type of advertising they want to run after their movie. For instance, some may not want to take cash from tobacco firms.

Using advertising to fund distribution of a film can make a huge difference, said Mr Starr citing the example of the hugely popular animated parody of Woody Guthrie's "This Land" that lampooned George Bush and presidential hopeful John Kerry.

The short film was downloaded millions of times and cartoon creator JibJab was reportedly landed with a bandwidth bill of more than $100,000. Via Revver that loss could have been turned into a big profit, said Mr Starr.

Lucky break

Many big community sites, such as MySpace, have a thriving economy attached to them of people that know the system inside out. They make money selling little software utilities they have created to automate common tasks.


Others produce guides to help people customise the blog space they get when they sign up for MySpace and many money from the adverts shown on the website hosting the information.
For many who maintain a blog or their own website, adverts served on their pages can be a very easy way to generate a little cash. One of the easiest ways to do this is by signing up to Google's AdSense program.

This analyses what you are writing about on your site and serves up small ads that are relevant to that subject. When people click on those adverts you get a share of what was paid to Google to place the ad.

A lot of people have signed up for AdSense. But Google has a policy of not saying what the average return is from it but a website has to be very popular to generate a reasonable return.

Only a lucky few websites win a big enough audience to generate the ad clicks and it can often be hard to work out why some sites are popular.

Amateur photographer Paul Mutton set up a site that offers downloadable, printable blueprints for paper lens hoods for a variety of digital and SLR cameras. Lens hoods might seem a bit esoteric but interest in the site has grown virally said Mr Mutton after he told some friends about it on net chat channels.

"Before I knew it, word had spread worldwide across hundreds of internet photography forums and aggregation sites like del.icio.us and metafilter," he said.

Although unwilling to say how much he is making from the site, he said that in the first two months of its operation he had made enough money to pay for the spare time he spent putting it together and to cover his bandwidth costs.

EBay users 'need to be streetwise'

By Martin Shankleman
BBC Business Correspondent



The man in charge of fraud-busting at internet auction company eBay is under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge.
"There will always be the dodgy guy in the trench coat," concedes Garreth Griffiths, head of Trust and Safety for eBay in the UK and Ireland.

"This is one area where there will be fraud, just like any other market place" he admits.

Even though a very small percentage of eBay trades proved fraudulent - the company reckons it around 0.01% - they attract the publicity that threatens to undermine customer confidence.

Experts or not?

Critics accuse eBay of an irresponsible "laissez-faire" approach that means they wash their hands of fraud until after the event.

But Mr Griffiths claims that the criticism is unjustified.

"Its rather like a council and a High Street," he explains. "We created the High Street. We don't own the shops, we're not the police, we do provide the infrastructure, we do have an immigration policy. But there's an element of responsibility for the people walking along the high street".


Look at the trading record of the other party. If there's no information, I might contact the person and ask for a photograph and phone number
Garreth Griffiths, eBay


Mr Griffiths denies eBay is passing the buck on to the public, and says the company lives up to its responsibilities as well.

EBay claims to work closely with the police, and employs an ex-Scotland Yard officer as a liaison point for law enforcement agencies.

It recently established a service, VeRO, for trademark owners to report fake items. If a consumer company spots a counterfeit item for sale, eBay will remove the item.

"We aren't the experts, they are the experts," Mr Griffiths explains. "Where they see fake goods, we'll automatically take it down. It's completely free."

Clear threats

The transparency of the transactions should provide extra comfort.

"EBay is a floodlit highway, it's there for anyone to see 24 hours a day, there are no dark alleys where you can hide," Mr Griffiths continued.

The growth of the eBay.co.uk website, the British version of its auction system, has been astonishing.

Launched in October 1999, the company says it hit the 15 million-customer milestone this month, with the site accounting for 10% of all the time spent by British people on the net.


It says it is the most popular website in the UK, and that at any one time there are more than 3 million items for sale.

But it is the everpresent conmen who pose a threat to the site's reputation. Perhaps the most high-profile was Welsh teenager Philip Shortman, jailed last year for defrauding more than 100 customers, to fund a high rolling lifestyle.

Calling him an "open blatant fraudster, who taunted his victims", Mr Griffiths reckons there were lots of clues which should have alerted the public to the conman.

"He was using zero-feedback accounts, brand new sites with no trading history," Mr Griffiths explained. "The payment method was key as well; he was using cheques which are difficult to trace."

Do as I do

So how does Mr Griffiths avoid getting stung himself when he trades on eBay? He says the answer is to be streetwise.

"Look at the trading record of the other party," he says. "If there's no information, I might contact the person and ask for a photograph and phone number.

"I might say, I'm about to spend £500 on your laptop, tell me about it. If the answers are cagey, if he won't show the computer to me, I'll walk away."

The ultimate sanction open to Mr Griffiths is to throw crooked traders off the site. A first offender might get a warning email.

"If he does it again, we might suspend him for a month. If he persists we might end his account and call the police," Mr Griffiths said.

Mr Griffiths hopes that his approach will increase the protection to customers, and root out the con artists.

He's committed to reducing further the level of fraudulent sales on the site.

"That percentage will go down," he pledges.

But I got the impression that not even he believes eBay can ever be completely fraud-free.

EIGHTEEN SIGNS THAT SOMETHING’S HAPPENING! -

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms." Ephesians 6:12

During my prodigal days, while we were divorced, I heard a pastor
make a sermon statement that has stuck with me to this day; "If you
were able to see the spiritual battle that is taking place all around
you, it would scare you to death." My spiritual eyes were not yet
opened, so I could not fully understand what that respected man of
God was saying, but nevertheless, I remembered.

Since standing with God for marriage restoration is a spiritual
battle, you may not recognize the back and forth of Satan’s ways, as
God’s will is being performed. I want to share with you some of the
ways that you can know something is happening in the heavenly realm.

It is not necessary for all eighteen ways to be seen for your spouse
to be brought home, nor will they happen in any specific order. You
may even see your prodigal coming up the walk before you see any of
these signs, but most likely some of these things will be happening:

* You feel like giving up. "Nothing’s happening and nothing will
ever change," the Enemy has you thinking.

* You start to sense an increased burden for your prodigal’s soul.
The restoration of your marriage does not seem nearly as important as
where your beloved will spend eternity.

* The Lord burdens you to pray for your spouse at the strangest
times. For some people, God awakens them during the night to pray.

* Satan sends a counterfeit into your life. Just when things are the
bleakest, Mr. Right or Miss Perfect arrives. Some standers make the
mistake of thinking, "This must be of God because we are so perfectly
suited for each other." Counterfeits always look better than the
real thing.

* People are constantly reminding you about mate’s free will, and how
you have grounds for divorce.

* People tell you that God wants you to be "happy." In truth, God is
a lot more concerned about your holiness than He is about your
happiness. He also cares about your mate's lost condition.

* You can see no way out of specific circumstances, such as financial
problems. Remember, God works best when nothing else will.

* You are tempted to take off your wedding ring.

* You find scripture that seems to have be written just for you. The
Word speaks to your heart and to your needs.

* Some of the actions of your prodigal spouse are unexplainable.
For example, I repeatedly asked Charlyne to stop praying for me. I
just knew the conviction that I was under came as a result of her
prayers.

* The Enemy can even use your family members to dissuade you when the
spiritual battle is the hottest. An older teen says, "If he/she is
allowed back, I am going." Your parents may become dead set against
restoration. Do not allow this to discourage you. Over the years,
we have been witness time and time again of God restoring family
relationships as well as marriages.

* You mistakenly start to view your local church as a hindrance to
restoration. Satan may give you fear over how your returned prodigal
would fit in. Your pastor may come out against marriage
restoration. The returned spouse/church relationship is one of the
many areas that God can and does heal for restoring families. Right
now, you need the love and support of a church family.

* Prayer partners may be removed. There came a time in Charlyne’s
stand, near the day of our remarriage and before the Internet, when
my wife’s personal prayer partner moved out of state. God was
telling my wife that she needed to depend on Him, and not others.

* Major changes in your prodigal mate’s life are happening, For some,
this is a new job. For others, it is relocation to a distant state,
making restoration seem even more impossible. There may be the
attempted legalizing of adultery through a marriage license, or a non-
covenant child is born to your spouse.

* You are tempted to make major changes in your own life. It could
be reclaiming your maiden name, or changing the door locks on your
home for no reason. Whatever you are considering doing, it would be
something to say to your prodigal spouse, "It’s over!"

* You sense a certain uneasiness in your spirit. Where you had once
started growing in the Lord as a stander, you now feel something
undescribable in your life. Some people confuse God wanting them to
intensify their stand with Him, with God wanting them to give up on
their stand for a healed home.

* You can forgive your prodigal spouse, even to the extent that you
have pity for them, for how deceived they are, and for the situations
they are in.

* Your prodigal makes false starts toward home, or toward family
events, and then just as suddenly withdraws or backs out.

Do you get it? Some of these signs are negative and some are
positive. Together, they allow you to catch a glimpse of the battle
that is raging in the heavenlies. This battle is for much more than
your marriage. It is for your prodigal’s eternal soul, and for
future generations of your family.

The number one mistake that men and women praying for marriage
restoration make is attempting to do spiritual battle with earthly
weapons, based on earthly reasoning. They do not understand that
spiritual battles, such as the one they are in, can by won only by
using spiritual weapons. They use the courts instead of compassion,
seeking revenge instead of restoration. They want to heap guilt on
the absent spouse instead of grace. Instead of covering their
prodigal’s nakedness and shame, they want to broadcast it. Walking
with Jesus, they become better. Walking in the world’s way, they
will only become bitter.

The change we see in successful standers is amazing. The information
sheet sent back to us by new standers is often filled with writings
of circumstances, and how sinful their mate has become. Often they
share what they intend to do about the circumstances. We seldom read
on these sheets what God is doing for the stander, (but we soon will)!

Future correspondence from that person tracks a change. Somewhere
along the way to marriage restoration, the spiritual lights come on,
and the stander realizes they are in a spiritual battle. They start
to do war against the Enemy, and not against their spouse. The may
have their ups and downs, but overall, a steady growth in the things
of God is noted until their prodigal comes home to both them and to
their Lord. May you stand strong until that grand day.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in
which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and
of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at
work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them
at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by
nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God,
who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were
dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."
Ephesians 2:1-5

Blessings,
Bob Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.®

Working Versus Striving

by Os Hillman, May 24, 2006

So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty." - Zechariah 4:6

Your greatest obstacle in fulfilling God's purposes in your life is the skills you have acquired to perform well in your work life. One of the great paradoxes in Scripture relates to our need to depend on the Lord; yet at the same time, we're instructed to use the talents and abilities God gives us to accomplish the work He gives us to do. It has been one of the most difficult principles to live out. How do we know that what we achieve is by the power of the Holy Spirit in our life versus our own abilities, and is there a difference? When we reach a level of excellence and performance in our fields, it actually becomes an obstacle to seeing God's power manifest in our work. What we naturally do well becomes the object of our trust. When this happens, God retreats. You see, God allows us to develop skills, but these must be continually yielded to God's Spirit. There will be times when God will use these skills to accomplish His purposes. There will be other times that God will not use any of our skills just to ensure that we know it is by His power that we can do anything.

It is the oxymoron of all oxymorons for Christian workplace believers. Learning not to act until God shows you to act is a sign of maturity in God. "Do not lean on the natural skill which you have been given. Let God manifest Himself in what you are doing," said a mentor who has learned this balance of skill and walking with God. "You must almost restrain from doing those things you know you are prone to do and actually go against them."

I was learning this lesson recently when I was asked to participate in a large event that would give great exposure and much needed financial increase to my ministry. It made all the sense in the world to participate. Then I prayed with a friend and asked the Lord His mind on it. The Lord showed us this was not His plan for me. I declined the invitation.

Ask God to teach you what it means to walk according to the power of the Holy Spirit in your business life. Develop a listening ear to the small voice inside that wants to direct your efforts by His Spirit.

Philippians 1:27

"Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ."-Philippians 1:27

The word "conversation" does not merely mean our talk and converse with
one another, but the whole course of our life and behaviour in the
world. The Greek word signifies the actions and the privileges of
citizenship: and thus we are commanded to let our actions, as citizens of the
New Jerusalem, be such as becometh the gospel of Christ. What sort of
conversation is this? In the first place, the gospel is very simple. So
Christians should be simple and plain in their habits. There should be
about our manner, our speech, our dress, our whole behaviour, that
simplicity which is the very soul of beauty. The gospel is pre-eminently
true, it is gold without dross; and the Christian's life will be lustreless
and valueless without the jewel of truth. The gospel is a very fearless
gospel, it boldly proclaims the truth, whether men like it or not: we
must be equally faithful and unflinching. But the gospel is also very
gentle. Mark this spirit in its Founder: "a bruised reed He will !
not break." Some professors are sharper than a thorn-hedge; such men
are not like Jesus. Let us seek to win others by the gentleness of our
words and acts. The gospel is very loving. It is the message of the God
of love to a lost and fallen race. Christ's last command to His
disciples was, "Love one another." O for more real, hearty union and love to
all the saints; for more tender compassion towards the souls of the
worst and vilest of men! We must not forget that the gospel of Christ is
holy. It never excuses sin: it pardons it, but only through an atonement.
If our life is to resemble the gospel, we must shun, not merely the
grosser vices, but everything that would hinder our perfect conformity to
Christ. For His sake, for our own sakes, and for the sakes of others,
we must strive day by day to let our conversation be more in accordance
with His gospel.

Wrestling With God

by Os Hillman, May 23, 2006

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. - Genesis 32:24

All that Jacob had lived for was coming down to one event - his reunion with Esau. More than 20 years had passed since Jacob had manipulated his father's blessing away from his brother Esau. During these years God had been changing Jacob from a controller and manipulator to a man who was learning to trust God. He was now ready to meet Esau. However, he was fearful that Esau might take revenge on him and his family for his past sin, so he sent a gift ahead, while he retreated and sought mercy from God.

As an angel appeared to Jacob, he realized the only hope he had was in God. Only if God blessed him would he survive this ordeal. In the past, Jacob would have sought to solve his problem his way. Now, he wanted only God's way. He wanted Him so badly that he wouldn't let go of the angel. He was striving with God, but it was the right kind of striving. Jacob was striving to have all God's blessing on his life. He was seeking God with all that he had. "When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man" (Gen. 32:25). The only way to overcome the strong will of this man was to physically immobilize him. The angel touched the socket of Jacob's hip. It was painful; it broke him. This was the final stage of removing the old nature from Jacob. It was the place of complete brokenness and surrender. No longer would Jacob walk in his own strength. He would now have to lean on a cane, symbolic of his leaning on God alone.

It was the final act from God in Jacob's life that was celebrated with a new name - Israel. No longer would he strive with God or man. The process was now complete. God could now bless this man abundantly. He gave him favor with Esau and restored their broken relationship.

What does God have to do in our lives to remove the controlling and manipulative nature that so often is part of a workplace believer's life? Perhaps it will require a time of immobilizing, loss of a job, loss of income, loss of health, loss of a close relationship. These are His methods of preparation. Your new nature will not be complete until you've stopped striving with God through your own self-efforts. If God is taking you through this process, be encouraged; it is because of the inheritance He has prepared for you. However, the inheritance can only be received when God brings us to total dependence on Him.

"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."-Psalm 138:8

Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a
divine confidence. He did not say, "I have grace enough to perfect that
which concerneth me-my faith is so steady that it will not stagger-my
love is so warm that it will never grow cold-my resolution is so firm
that nothing can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we
indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages,
our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover us
with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature spins time
will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed therein.
The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work.
It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is He who has
carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete.
If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness
which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is!
our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all,
must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what
we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what
the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates- "You will never be able to
stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember
the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you, you
will be certainly allured by them and led astray." Ah! yes, we should
indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our
frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in
despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which concerneth
us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident
when we confide in Him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a
trust.

POSITIVE LETTERS

By --- Tony I Uranta

“it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.” – Jesus (Matthew 3:15b)

Dear Mr. President,

Nigerians are currently celebrating the demise of the ill-advised 3rd-Term nightmare (a demise long-foreseen by everybody, except you and your myopic advisers!). A nightmare which threatened to send our beloved nation over the edge of the precipice of instability on which we have teetered for so long, what with righteous unrest in the Niger Delta, the north, the middle belt, the south-west, and the southeast (in short, all over the nation!), plus the other ominous rumblings that have made many doubt the possibility, for example, of the 2007 elections being fair, transparent and credible, not least of which rumblings being those brought on by your messy personal and political relations with the Vice-President which you are mostly responsible for, plus the understandable perception of your much-touted anti-corruption campaign as being nothing more than you employing an otherwise-relevant instrument of state as a witch-hunt tool against your political foes and personal critics.

By the way, Mr. President, we do not belong to the school of thought that believes that everybody who criticizes the Presidency, or this administration, is a friend of the people. No, far from it! Let it go on record here that we consider many of today’s political and other gladiators who are opposed to you, your administration, and your party to be no more than apostles of “sour-grapes” who have not justified their claims to be representing the Nigerian people, any more than have many of your self-serving aides and boorish party leaders who are clearly anti-people.

We do believe that Nigerians have been monstrously shortchanged by your administration, regardless of your seemingly good intentions, considering the average Nigerian’s very high hopes when you assumed office in 1999, which hopes you have not really justified to date. But we also sadly recognize that most of your critics today are mere political jobbers and hypocritical turncoats who gleefully and self-gratifyingly toed the party line (read “your line”) dogmatically until your abrasive politics and personality forced them to part ways with you; but we also can see how this parting of ways may ultimately turn out to be in our overall interests as a people and a nascent democracy. However, considering their mainly self-serving antecedents, maybe you do have good reason to discountenance any advise or corrections that may emanate from this breed of politicians and “analysts” whose sole ideology is “anti-OBJism”, a non-starter that will be their albatross.

But we all know, you not the least, that apart from the above, maybe suspect, Nigerian politicians, quite a few indisputably well-meaning global, continental and national icons and statesmen have selflessly offered good advice to you, or sought to grant you the benefit of their universally-respected wisdom – only for them to be roundly rebuffed by you, or unconscionably insulted by your houndish aides. For example, you have finally recognized that you must vacate Aso Rock on May 29, 2007, months and weeks after the Mandelas, Rawlings, Negropontes, Annans and Soyinkas of this world tried to let you know this truth which you and your aides were so sure your “carrots and sticks” manipulations of democracy could force on “impotent” Nigerians.

Think of the agony you would have spared both yourself and the good people of Nigeria if only you had listened to your global peers, and all the other wise voices, that warned you against the madness of seeking a 3rd-term in the face of obvious populist opposition to such a high-handed scheme. But no, you had to subsume all other government business to that mad-hatter’s pipe-dream, wasting so much time and money (oh, we want to believe you that you did not touch state funds…but we also know there are many ways to skin a cat… “make we lef dat one, bros”, as my Niger Delta brethren would put it!)… wasting so much scarce resources… on what? … on a project that was so obviously self-serving, so unpopular and clearly doomed to an ignominious end right from day one?! You were, obviously suffering from the kind of disconnect from the citizenry that doomed Abacha, just as it did pre-revolutionary France’s Queen Marie Antoinette. Or, better yet, your advisers who, self-servingly themselves, intentionally kept you in the dark, the very same way the same bunch blind-sided Abacha, sold you a pig-in-a-poke. What a shame! What an irony! What an attempted ridiculing of God’s own people – Nigerians! Maybe this is the time for you to urgently carry out a pragmatic and futuristic re-assessment of your advisory team, both in-house and “honorary”, Mr. President.

Anyway, Mr. President, we believe it is time that you remember how God has been good to you … How He spared you through the Abacha madness of assassinations and gulag; making you a seeming Joseph to this nation (from the prison-rock to the Aso-rock); and keeping you secure, even in the face of many coup-plots (including, maybe, some you know naught about!), nigh plane-crashes, palace-putsches, et al…

In gratitude to God for the opportunity to serve Him and this nation’s peoples, it behooves you to assiduously begin today to “fulfill all righteousness” and be seen to be so doing. How you go about this is NOT exclusively your business, but is also the business of every well-meaning stakeholder in the Nigerian project, and this missive is the beginning of our humble input into the process of your revamping your act to God’s glory, to the common good of Nigerians, and to your leaving a good name for posterity’s sake. You are, warts and all, still our President (this writer voted for you in ’99…forget the “2003 selections” when no Nigerian’s vote counted!), and we affirm our fealty to that office and to our country, without precluding our right to opt out of any contract (political, social or economic) that is not accountable and transparent within the set parameters, or that attempts to veer off the path of Christian propriety, which is why we all were so unshakably opposed to the underhanded attempt to manipulate the constitution merely to satisfy your “messianic-complex”. So what do you do now?!

First, you stop talking down to Nigerians! Your PDP-NEC speech conceding victory to the populist anti-3rd-term movement was a cheap open-ended insult to a people who had, without any question, succeeded in fighting you and your armies retired generals, with all the alleged intimidation and corruption at your disposal, to a humiliating standstill. Instead of curbing your defeated generals by advising them to learn the art of modern politicking and democracy, and telling them to desist from cursing out distinguished lawmakers who were merely exercising their democratic rights of dissent as representatives of the people of Nigeria, you used that speech to resume intimidatory tactics against future resistance, as any discerning listener easily fathomed – which, knowing your style, was your objective anyway! Please save such hitlerian modes for your chickens in Ota in the future.

Secondly, start preparing this nation for credible 2007 elections by helping get the Electoral Bill through the National Assembly without any further delay. Many students of the OBJ-style predict that you are going to change into a “vengeance” mode, one that will see you attempting to victimise anti-3rd-termers to the best of your ability, even if mainly clandestinely. We normally would not loose any sleep over whatever you politicians do, especially since we believe the folks in the National Assembly are, or should be, astute politicians who have a game-plan ready for such an eventuality of your attempted victimisation, if it becomes reality, but we are very worried that you may, in the event of such speculations being true, trigger off series of non-productive actions that could impede the smooth flow of good governance and impact this nation negatively. We pray that you will focus on allowing the political space be vested with the kind of freedom you always espouse, especially with regard to the economy. And that you will realise that the greatest legacy you could ever leave Nigerians is the enshrining of the rule of law, and the establishment of truly effective electoral institutions, that will be proven during through transparently true, free and fair elections in 2007.

Thirdly, stop deploying the EFCC as your personal “bulldog” that serves merely to “punish” people that you have found “wanting”…your political opposition, ex-friends and critics of your administration. Right now, many Nigerians are already anticipating that you will try to get at the lawmakers and others who opposed the 3-rd-Term nightmare by unleashing Ribadu at them. In your own interest, you’d better not adopt this too-obvious ploy of vengeance … in fact, shelve all plans for vengeance, even if such tendencies come naturally and reflexively to you. Over and beyond that, however, there is an urgent need for you to curb the EFCC’s too manifest modus operandi of selective-justice as it were, especially now that many doubt the sincerity of your overall national anti-corruption drive. You can do something to help improve both your image and the state of the nation by just letting the EFCC be seen to be doing its mandated duty without selective and anti-people tele-guiding by the Presidency. For starters, let Ribadu seriously and professionally investigate and report on all the allegations of bribery being leveled against both the executive and the legislature. Anything short of a transparent, impartial and thorough investigation of these “money-for-votes” accusations can only further badly damage your credibility to Nigerians and your foreign “friends” who are mostly highly embarrassed for you already.

Fourthly, you must urgently rein in your aides and get them to stop making “gutter-language” irreverent statements against your critics. Let that respect which you yearn for so much, and which you cried out for in your defeat-accepting NEC speech begin in your backyard, so to speak. The ease with your “spin-doctors” ape your often-caustic tongue leaves a lot to be desired by any civilized person, and the fact that you never call them to order rubbishes your call for respect from anybody towards your person. If you enjoy this troglodyte-style of politicking (which style is obviously favoured by your party chairman whose lips are doing you more harm than good at the moment!), we the citizens of Nigeria do not, and we hate to see our presidency descend to “gutter-talk” levels.

Next, put behind you all bitterness and operate with a true spirit of self-sacrificing love for the good people of Nigeria. This must entail your forgiving all those whom you perceive as having hurt you for good or for bad; it must encompass your operating a truly open-door government, with you giving ear to the advice and criticism of the people you have sworn, before God, to lead to the best of your ability. Cease giving the impression that you are omniscient like God. Know that even if you were to make mistakes, you are only human and your fellow-citizens are very understanding, provided you do not try to make the rest of us out to be fools … especially when, as in this 3rd-term case, you were the one who was not wise enough as to be aware of the so very obvious truth and reality, which is that Nigerians truly think you should leave…today, if it were possible!

Finally, start a true peace process in the Niger Delta, not the ongoing farce of offering “Trojan-horse” sound bites of development-promises that are drowned in your belligerent threats backed with physically evident excessive military presence calculated to cow this much-degraded peoples, whose lands and waters feed the whole nation whilst they starve, into rolling over to die or gain a feudal “belly-scratching” from “Your benevolence”! By the way, be warned now that your advisers are leading you amiss if they make you believe that military aggression in the Niger Delta can gain us anything but a civil war and possible secession, with direr consequences than the ’67—’70 strife that we all prefer to forget today! As the man who had the honour of receiving the surrender of the “rebels” of that war, we want to believe that you do not want to be the man to trigger an easily avoidable conflagration that would easily eclipse that sad crisis. Please let peace and joy be the realities you leave us with as you quit office soon. Release Asari Dokubo and initiate a non-gallery-playing peace process before things get far out of hand … of course, you must be aware that quite a few watchers of the nation have postulated that your plan is to insidiously encourage the crisis in tha Niger Delta to escalate so as to make the nation “ungovernable” and so make the holding of truly national elections impossible, since this could lead us into the position of having to, reluctantly, stay in Aso Rock beyond May 29, 2007. Don’t even let anybody make you take that ripple-effect decision to play cheap tenure-elongation politricks with the future of the Niger Delta.

Let Nigerians and the world remember you as a man who believed in himself and his cause, but who believed even more in both the democratic process and in the right of the Nigerian people to choose how they want to be best governed, even if you truly believe all 150million of us to be wrong and you alone right!

Let it also go on record here that many of us do acknowledge that you have been a blessing to Nigeria in many ways – there’s no denying that God used you to keep us together when, in 1999 many thought we could not but break. It is true that you restored (with the help of your erstwhile good friend, T.Y. Danjuma- do you have ANY friends left?) professionalism to the military, and weeded out the “politicised” members of the military (by the way did you know in advance that you would try to take over the PDP with this same class of ex-military men…one wonders?). Of course you worked assiduously at removing the pariah status we suffered as a nation under IBB and Abacha (another reason why you must work harder now not return us to a worse pariah state); you gave us GSM (which, ironically, helped your opposition better mobilize against your 3rd-Termism); and you jetted all over the world ostensibly to gain debt-relief for us (though you are still borrowing anew…just as you did in the ‘70s when you started us on the slippery down-hill slope of ever-increasing local and foreign debt!).

But it is also true that you have failed to keep your promise to let Nigerians enjoy steady power supply (and your minister has now confessed that this status quo will remain, if your administration had its way, till 2050!); you must admit that you hold sway over a endemically corrupt non-transparent Federal Government of Nigeria which you have been trying to “clean-up” in a questionably selective way; that you have been unable to bring real and lasting peace to the Niger Delta because you refuse to talk to the real leaders of the peoples of this region (forget your selected acolytes who have humoured you by joining your frivolous and unnecessary 50-man council and other such veneer-interventions that do not even begin to address the reality you are ashamed to publicly admit, though you do know the truth—if you do NOT know this truth, then you do NOT deserve to remain in office one minute longer!). You prefer instead to bomb and hound them, God forbid, out of existence, just as continue to harass the press and unconstitutionally detain media operatives and other critics the same way Abacha wrongly harassed and detained you … come to think of it, Abacha was only aping the way you harassed and detained members of the press during your military dictatorship days.

This writer believes you were sent by God to lead Nigeria out of “Abacha-madness”, but whether you are come as a kingdom-flagellating Nebuchadnezzar or as a people-redeeming Cyrus, is up to each Nigerian, along with posterity, to conclude based on your deeds, not just your words. All told, Mr. President, whilst every Nigerian would love to love and respect you, and to support all that your administration stands for, we will do this when, and only when, your deeds show your obedience to Jesus’ injunction that “it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.” Nigeria awaits your next gambit. Shalom!!!

people of significance

Thursday, May 18, 2006
Charles R. Swindoll


How much impact we have, and whether it's positive or negative, depends largely upon the choices we make. I encourage you to be the significant person you are. I have found that people of significance—a few of them famous, most of them unknown—share similar traits. Here are four that I see most often.

A selfless devotion. High–impact people don't care about who gets the credit, and they never complain about the role they fill. With all the risks and all the heroic effort David's men invested in establishing his monarchy, we do not read about a single complaint, or even one glory hog. Each was selflessly devoted to David and to each other in a great cause that was larger than any one individual.

A mission focus. High–impact people focus on the right objectives and don't waste time pursuing things that don't matter. Many organizations have gotten lost in the weeds because their leaders took their eyes off the objective and majored in minor issues. Organizational charts and clearly defined roles are supposed to support the mission, not the self-interest of people.

A harmonious manner. High–impact people nurture harmony with others to achieve the greater good. They set aside petty difference and choose to overlook offenses because they recognize that the enemy is outside the camp. David's men were unified in their objective to seat David on the throne of Israel. When these heroes reached their goal, they sat for the feast and said, in effect, "David this is one of the greatest moments of our lives" (see I Chronicles 12:38–40).

A contagious joy. High–impact people inspire humility and unity in others, a combination that translates into joy. I am convinced that joy is a choice and can be the most attractive quality in a person. Joyous people have the greatest opportunity to impact others positively, and they rarely leave a room the same way they found it

moral purity

Addressing the issue of moral purity is nothing new to us at Insight for Living. Yet more recently the problem has grown to such proportions that warnings and encouragement from the pulpit and over the radio are not enough. We must do more.

We believe that this is a winnable battle, but not one that can be fought with words alone. Real problems call for pragmatic solutions, which require both insight and strategy-an awareness that defines the problem in realistic terms and a plan of attack that makes sense.

While everyone must face the issue and decide how to respond, not everyone does so from the same vantage point. Some face very little temptation and have almost no trouble making wise choices. Others find themselves under a constant barrage of enticing images and outright offers, and they occasionally fail. Still others feel trapped by compulsions they can neither understand nor control. Obviously each needs a solution that appropriately addresses his or her particular set of circumstances.

“Who do you trust?”

Dear Friend of the Ministry,

An old game show on early television used to ask, “Who do you trust?”

That’s a great question because it is so relevant. In fact, it’s being asked today about the very doctrines on which our Christian faith rests. The problem is, it’s being answered by some of the wrong people.

And the answers they are giving out definitely do not gel with what we have been taught to believe about the Bible . . . about the apostles . . . about the Person of Jesus Himself!

Who can be trusted in matters of faith and doctrine and who can’t? That is a major issue today, largely because of the ongoing flap over The Da Vinci Code book and movie.

Before I say more on that, let’s be very clear. Being trustworthy in the things of God did not suddenly become important because some novel with a far-out plot made a big splash. Trust has always been the lifeblood of the Christian faith and the gospel ministry.

Case in point: the apostle Paul. On one occasion when he was on trial for preaching Christ, Paul spoke these passionate words: "I utter words of sober truth. For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence . . ." (Acts 26:25 – 26).

And here is Paul to the Thessalonians: "For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not as pleasing men, but God . . ." (1 Thessalonians 2:3 – 4).

We can trust the apostles who told us the truth about Jesus. We can trust the faithful men of God who received the Scriptures, preserved them, and passed them on — all the way to you and me. We can trust the line of orthodoxy that goes all the way back through the early church to the apostles and to Jesus Himself.

Let me bring it closer to home. Without hesitation or apology, I want to add that you can trust Insight for Living!
Since day one, we have been committed to communicating the truths of Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ in an accurate, clear, and practical manner.

Why am I talking about trust today? Because what is happening with The Da Vinci Code and other questionable issues makes it more important than ever that you build your spiritual life on a firm foundation of solid Bible teaching and reliable application. With absolute confidence in the Scriptures, I’ll always preach the truth of God "which was once for all handed down to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

Having a solid foundation is crucial because there will always be people out there trying to shake you from it.

The history of the early church and the formation of our Bible is a fascinating true story of heroes and heretics, to be sure. But it’s far more. It’s a story you need to know so you can be certain of what you believe.

Thankful for your trust,

Charles R. Swindoll

A Fleeting Shadow

by Os Hillman, May 12, 2006

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. - Psalm 144:4

Every time I fly over a large body of water, I imagine opening the window of the jet and pouring out my coffee into the immense body of water below. I imagine the time that I spend on this earth compared to eternity is no more than that cup of coffee. The incredible size of the ocean compared to one small cup of coffee is what our life is like compared to eternity. Why then do we invest so much in temporal pursuits when we know that our investment here can have so much impact on our eternity? It is the great paradox of human behavior, especially for Christians.

Does your business life have an overall ministry objective to it? This does not mean we must be constantly involved in "Christian activity." It only means that we should be about what God has called us to do with the motive of being obedient to this mission. Do not let the worries and cares of this life keep you from having an eternal impact on the lives of those you meet each day. Satan has a way of keeping our focus on the problems of today rather than the spiritual opportunities before us. He is master of the urgent, not the important.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The Plans of Tomorrow

by Os Hillman, May 13, 2006

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. - James 4:14b

A group of workplace believers meet at my office every week for fellowship, study, and prayer. One man attended our group for several years. Jim was well liked and in good health. One Thursday he showed up as usual. The next morning I received a call, "Jim is dead! He died in his easy chair last night!" Jim had no prior problems and there was no indication he was about to go be with the Lord. Naturally, it came as a shock to us all.

Whenever things like this happen close to home, it brings us face to face with our mortality. A friend of mine said he was challenged by someone to do an experiment. He challenged him to live his life for one year as if it were the last year he would live. He responded to the challenge and did as proposed. It changed his life forever. He began to focus on different priorities and people when he viewed life in these terms.

James gives us a perspective on viewing tomorrow.

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15).

Life is fragile. Consider where you are investing your time and energies. Someone once said they had never heard anyone on his deathbed say that he wished he had made more money in his lifetime or he wished he had made a certain deal. Usually it is something like, "I wish I had spent more time with my kids." Ask the Lord to give you His priorities for your life.

Overcoming Our Past

by Os Hillman, May 15, 2006

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. - Judges 11:29a

We've all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease - these are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God's sight. He was born to Gilead, a result of his father's adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Gilead's wife, who had bore more sons, decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman." Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang. As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

"Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?" he responded. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

Nigeria police killed in oil city

Six policemen have been killed in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt.
Their bodies, which had bullet wounds in them, were found floating in a river in the city. Two other members of the marine police patrol survived.

The police have not said who they suspect is behind the killings and no group has claimed responsibility.

Militants have staged a series of attacks in the region recently to push their demands that local people should benefit more from the oil wealth.

Last week, three foreign oil workers were briefly kidnapped in the city and a US man was shot dead.

An upsurge in attacks on foreign oil interests has cut the country's oil production by 20%.

Last month, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) renewed its threat to continue oil installation attacks, but have denied responsibility for the last week's.

It said the offer of thousands more jobs and a new motorway from President Olusegun Obasanjo did not address its demands for more local control of oil wealth and demilitarisation.

The Mend group has claimed responsibility for two car bomb attacks in recent weeks, one of which was a warning against Chinese expansion in the region, it said.

Yahoo homepage to get make-over

Search site Yahoo is changing its main page to match the efforts of rivals to do more for visitors.
Like Google and Microsoft, Yahoo is introducing clickable tools to let users customise what they see.

Alongside the search box will be an assistant that tells people if new messages are in their Yahoo e-mail inbox, a section for popular searches and an expanded news section.

Yahoo said the revamp was the biggest change its homepage had undergone.

Site search

The new homepage will be available as a beta, or test, version for the next month to assess how users repond to the alterations.

In making the changes, Yahoo is the last of the big three search firms to re-focus its main web presence on what users want to do.

The changes will be seen on the Yahoo homepages in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

The new look pages aim to move away from the old-fashioned static site where people were simply presented with a page listing everything a web portal did.


Instead, users will be able to customise what they see, remove the bits they never look at and add those others parts of the Yahoo empire that they regularly use.

In addition they will be able to change the layout and the colour of the page.

All the big three search sites - Yahoo, Google and MSN - are striving to become the indispensable net companion for their users.

All three are keen to get people using only their portfolio of services largely because they generate a lot of their revenue from advertising.

For these firms, every user that visits a rival page means lost money.

Many sites that have built up a strong following since their creation, such as Flickr and Bloglines, have been bought by either the big search outfits or those with ambitions to become a big net player.

The driving force behind these acquisitions has been the desire to get hold of ready-made communities to sell to.

Custom look

MSN, Microsoft's web portal, is also in the process of changing its front page.

The beta version of the new page also lets visitors tweak the page's colour scheme and adjust what is displayed. The Windows Live page is also a showcase for personalisation technologies.

Although Google's iconic search page has remained the same, it has introduced a personalised page that people can customise. This lets users create their own starting page that can display bookmarks, search history, news feeds and links to other Google services such as GMail.

It is not just the biggest sites that are trying to adapt to users' needs.

In March this year, search site Ask underwent a revamp too.

The most high profile casualty of that change was the iconic valet Jeeves which disappeared from the site's main page. Prior to being cut, the Jeeves character had been associated with Ask for a decade.

During its revamp, Ask introduced a range of search tools alongside the main box for search terms. These let people refine what they are looking for, save their results or carry out very specific searches.

Fresh deadline for Darfur rebels

The African Union (AU) has extended by 14 days a deadline for two of Darfur's smaller rebel groups to sign a peace deal, or face possible UN sanctions.
The AU also said it wanted the UN to take control of the peacekeeping force in Darfur as soon as possible. Sudan wants the AU to stay in charge.

Darfur's biggest rebel group earlier this month signed a peace deal aimed at ending three years of conflict.

At least 200,000 people have died and some 2m have fled their homes.

Concessions

Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, who heads a faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), and Khalil Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), have said they want more concessions from Sudan before they agree to the deal agreed in Nigeria.

Mr Nur on Monday told the BBC that he wanted to be made a vice-president. Last year, a southern rebel leader was made vice-president after reaching a deal to end a separate conflict.


AU members said on Monday that they would urge the UN to take action against the smaller rebel groups if they did not meet the new, 31 May deadline.
A spokesman for the AU, Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adeinji, told the AFP news agency the rebels' failure to sign the deal would "indicate their non-commitment to the peace process".

Darfur's biggest rebel group, the main faction of the SLA, agreed to the deal earlier this month.

The agreement, struck after lengthy negotiations, calls for the disbandment of rebel forces and the disarmament of the pro-government Janjaweed militia.

Sudan's government had hinted that it might drop its objections to the United Nations taking over from the 7,000 poorly equipped and under-funded AU troops in Darfur when a peace deal was reached.

But Foreign Minister Lam Akol said his government still rejects the transfer of the peacekeeping operation but would now enter into dialogue directly with the UN.

Humanitarian crisis

The rebels took up arms in February 2003, accusing the government of discriminating against Darfur's black Africans in favour of Arabs.

The United States says the army and the Janjaweed then unleashed a "genocide" in Darfur, driving people from their homes and still attacking them in refugee camps.

Aid agencies say Darfur is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. A lack of money and insecurity means aid workers cannot reach parts of the region.

Sudan denies arming the Arab militias and says the problems have been exaggerated.

US to renew full ties with Libya

Ties with Libya's leader Gaddafi were frozen for more than 25 years
The US is to renew full diplomatic relations with Libya after deciding to remove it from its list of countries that support terrorism.
The US has not had normal relations with Libya since 1980, and blamed it for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

It lifted many economic sanctions and restored some ties in 2004 after Libya renounced weapons of mass destruction.

The US secretary of state said Libya had since shown a "continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism".

LIBYA-US RELATIONS
1980: US ends diplomatic ties with Libya
1986: Libya blamed for killing US troops in Berlin disco bomb
1986: US jets bomb Libyan capital and military bases
1988: Pan Am jet explodes over Lockerbie; Libya blamed
1999: Libya hands over Lockerbie bomb suspects
2003: Libya says it will give up WMDs and long-range missiles
2006: US says it will restore full diplomatic ties with Libya


History of Libya's US ties
Full text: US statement
Announcing the move to renew diplomatic ties, Condoleezza Rice praised Libya for its "excellent co-operation" in the US-led war on terror.

Washington will upgrade its liaison office in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to a full embassy.

Monday's decision was the result of successful diplomacy and came after a careful review of Libya's behaviour since 1993, a senior state department official said.

David Welch, US Assistant Secretary of State said it showed that when a state "adhered to international norms [it] will reap concrete benefits".

Tripoli hailed the move as "a significant step on the way to strengthening links" between the two countries.

Accepting Lockerbie

Correspondents say the move was a highly anticipated decision that Libya felt was long overdue.

US TERROR BLACKLIST
Cuba
Iran
North Korea
Sudan
Syria

Tripoli's removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism will lift restrictions on foreign aid and arms exports, and is expected to boost economic activities between the two countries.

The announcement comes more than 25 years after diplomatic relations were severed following the 1979 sacking of the US embassy in Tripoli by protesters.

The US carried out air attacks on Libya in 1981 and 1986 and Tripoli was held responsible for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

HAVE YOUR SAY
It is right to renew ties for the same reasons as it was right to renew ties with Germany and Japan after the World Wars

Tom McLaughlan, Western Isles, UK


Send us your comments
In 2003 Libya accepted legal responsibility for the attack and has since paid compensation to relatives of the victims.

It is also reported to have helped Western intelligence agencies with information about the Pakistan underground nuclear network.

In September 2004 President Bush ordered the end of many economic sanctions against Libya and allowed air flights between the two countries.

The restoration of full ties was delayed over concerns about Libya's human rights record, which the assistant secretary of state said must continue to improve.

"Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee."-Isaiah 41:9

If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical
effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful servants, we
certainly are unprofitable ones, but yet, blessed be His name, we are
His servants, wearing His livery, feeding at His table, and obeying His
commands. We were once the servants of sin, but He who made us free has
now taken us into His family and taught us obedience to His will. We do
not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we hear
God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art My servant," we can answer with
David, "I am thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds." But the Lord calls
us not only His servants, but His chosen ones-"I have chosen thee." We
have not chosen Him first, but He hath chosen us. If we be God's
servants, we were not always so; to sovereign grace the change must be
ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging
grace declared, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Lo!
ng ere time began or space was created God had written upon His heart
the names of His elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed
unto the image of His Son, and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of
His love, His grace, and His glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord
loved us so long, and will He yet cast us away? He knew how stiffnecked
we should be, He understood that our hearts were evil, and yet He made
the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle lover. He doth not feel
enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty from His church's eye, and
then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, He
married her in old eternity; and it is written of Jehovah, "He hateth
putting away." The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon His
faithfulness which neither can disown.

USAFRICA BEST OF AFRICA 2006 HONOREES & AWARDS:

Segun Olaleye -- Creative Stylist of the Year


Mrs. Ada Okoro -- USAfrica Teacher of the Year


Dr. Carole Jordan-Harris -- USAfrica Heritage Builder of the Year


Mr. Emmanuel Irono -- USAfrica Businessman of The Year


Chief Mrs. Temitope Ajayi -- USAfrica Mother of the Year


Mrs. Victoria Nwabeke -- Healthcare Businesswoman of the Year


Mrs. Josephine Chidi -- Community Leadership Excellence


Prof. Chukwugozie Maduka -- USAfrica Intellectual Excellence


Dr. Ignatius Bassey -- Faith Builder of the year


Mrs. Judith Momoh -- USAfrica AIDS Health Educator


Zack Orji -- USAfrica International Actor of the Year

Nollywood superstar ZACK ORJI wins the 'USAfrica International Actor of the Year 2006' in USA

ZACK ORJI, one of Africa's most versatile actors, has been honored at USAfrica 14th anniversary BEST OF AFRICA banquet with USAfrica's first International Actor of the Year 2006 honors in Houston Houston, Texas, USA.


The prestigious award was presented to Zack on behalf of USAfrica by veteran civil rights advocate and U.S Congressman Al Green on Friday May 5, 2006, at the Hilton Towers at Westchase, Houston. USAfrica was assessed recently by the flagship of American journalism, The New York Times, as the largest and most influential U.S-based African-owned multimedia networks while USAfricaonline.com is the 1st African-owned, U.S.-based professional newspaper published on the internet.


In the prefacing the presentation of the award citation, Chido Nwangwu (Founder & Publisher of USAfrica, USAfricaonline.com, The Black Business Journal, CLASS magazine and AchebeBooks.com) told the dignitaries that "I strongly recommended Zack for this special award of being thr first USAfrica International Actor of the Year because it reflects Zack's profound artistic and dramatic versatility, Zack's boundless commitment to professionalism, and for being, in very sense, our true ambassador of excellence. He's our own Eddie Murphy and Will Smith, and more. Zack is bilingual in French and English. He is internationalist in outlook. Zack, we're all very proud of you, and we'll push your creative work across the entire networks of USAfrica and other platforms here in the U.S, and beyond."


Immediately, a standing ovation was given Zack by the professionals, creme d'le creme of the African, African-Americans and other Americans at the annual banquet from different sections of the U.S., Nigeria and parts of Africa.


In accepting the international honor, Zack said "I'm humbled by this major recognition. I'm very appreciative of being honored by USAfrica and all of you here in Houston. I thank you for this special recognition, for your support and your kind gestures."


Shortly after the other honorees were given their awards, the superstar attarction of Zack was in full, dramatic flow, as many wanted a picture with him.
Zack was born in Gabon and partly raised in Cameroon. He has been in many Nigerian-Ghanaian co-productions, including his directorial debut, The Web, made with the collaboration of Ghanaians, South Africans, a Sierra Leonean, and an Australian.


The first movie and breakthrough role was in "The Unforgivable Sin” which caused Zack to be nominated for 'Best Actor' award during the 1995 AMEN awards. Since then he has featured in about 158 different films, playing mainly lead roles.


Zack is the President of the Actors' Guild of Nigeria-Nollywood, a guild spread across 16 states of the federation of Nigeria. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) Estate Management degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1984.


A family man and loving father and husband, he has been married for 16 years to his wife Ngozi Orji and they have three children, a son and two daughters.

The UNHCR: A Supreme Mess

One U.N. staffer petitions our high Court.

By Claudia Rosett, NRO Contributor
05 May 06

Even the United Nations’ own employees don’t trust it to deliver justice. Just ask Cynthia Brzak, an American who has worked for the past 26 years at the U.N. refugee office in Geneva, Switzerland. Despairing of a U.N. system that operates immune to any normal jurisdiction of law, Brzak, who two years ago brought an in-house allegation of sexual harassment, is now going outside the institution to ask for a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“You have to be able to go somewhere and ask for justice,” said Brzak, reached yesterday at her Geneva phone number, “I’ve tried as hard as I could within the system.”

Enroute to this unusual step, Brzak’s case has evolved from an initial allegation of an unwanted grope by a former boss, then the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, to a far broader condemnation of systemic problems bedeviling the entire U.N. The motion and complaint sent by her lawyer this week to the Supreme Court seeks to challenge the diplomatic immunity of the U.N. itself, and alleges that in the U.N.’s handling of her case, a number of U.N. officials, including Lubbers and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “engaged in a pattern of racketeering.” Queried yesterday for any comment, Annan’s office did not respond. Lubbers, who resigned from the U.N. last year, could not be reached.

It’s a long shot that the Supreme Court will do anything but dismiss this case out of hand, and perhaps that’s just as well. The legal argument raises questions about U.S. policy in dealing with the U.N., an arena in which quite possibly the only course worse than entrusting our fate to the diplomats would be to turn it over to the lawyers.

But even if this case never gets a hearing, there’s plenty in this lawyer’s discussion that the rest of the world might want to consider—especially the politicians now trying to reform the U.N., and the taxpayers being asked to fund it. Running to 180 pages, the pleadings highlight the fundamental problem that senior U.N. officials enjoy the privileges of sovereign immunity, but because the U.N. is not a sovereign state, they are spared the accountability that tends to come—at least in democracies—with running a national government. This is accompanied by page after page of sordid detail, much of it small-scale, but illuminating about the inner workings of the U.N.

The basic story goes back to a December afternoon in 2003, in a UNHCR conference room, as a staff meeting broke up. By Brzak’s account, Lubbers—then her boss—grabbed her and pushed his groin against her. Four months later, she filed an official complaint with the U.N. The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated, and in June, 2004, reported confidentially to Annan that Brzak’s allegation against Lubbers was “substantiated,” and that a number of other female staffers had come forward with allegations that indicated “a pattern of sexual harassment by Mr. Lubbers.” The OIOS recommended that “appropriate action be taken against Mr. Lubbers for misconduct and abuse of authority.”

But for eight months, Annan did nothing about it. Finally, in February, 2005, the internal U.N. report leaked to the press. Amid the uproar, Lubbers resigned. Annan’s spokesman told the press that Lubbers was leaving not because he had done anything wrong, but only to put an end to the “continuing controversy.”

Brzak alleges, however, that even after Lubbers departed, her troubles at the U.N. continued, as did those of a U.N. internal investigator to whom she had turned for help, Nasr Ishak, who appears in the current complaint as Brzak’s co-plaintiff. Brzak alleges that U.N. officials retaliated for her whistle-blowing by inflicting an array of punishing measures, including sidelining and shunning her on the job, illicitly releasing her confidential medical records, and refusing to restore her credibility following Annan’s public denial that her allegation had been sustained. The complaint includes the allegation, for example, that Annan “ignores the investigation report and U.N. procedures, which is manifestly illegal.”

“There’s no law applicable to these guys,” says Brzak’s lawyer, Geneva-based Edward Flaherty, interviewed by telephone. The U.N. top brass, he adds, “have figured out that they can do anything they want. The difference is that they do it in business suits, instead of with drawn guns.”

He’s got a point. And they don’t just do it in-house. They do it to American taxpayers whose good money has been turned into dirty U.N. procurement contracts. They do it to democratic nations—especially the U.S.—that lend to the U.N. a portion of their own credibility. They did it to the Iraqis, who had billions of dollars worth of rations grafted away under the U.N.-designed and -run Oil-for-Food program—for which not a single U.N. staff member has gone to jail, or even faced a court. Right now, in what almost qualifies as parody, the report of a U.N.-commissioned investigation into allegations of misconduct by the former head of the U.N.’s own Office of Internal Oversight Services is sitting, many months late and still secret, somewhere in Annan’s executive office. If it takes much longer for Annan to release the findings, it may be time to call for an inquiry into the investigation of the former investigator. But at the U.N., that still wouldn’t guarantee the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but (let alone justice). For Cynthia Brzak’s complaint, the Supreme Court may not be the answer; but the rest of Washington would do well to take up this case.

— Claudia Rosett is a journalist-in-residence at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

An Encounter With God

by Os Hillman, May 11, 2006

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision, I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. - Daniel 10:8

Daniel received a vision that troubled him greatly. He wanted understanding of this vision. He set himself out to understand the vision by fasting for three weeks. Three days after his three weeks of fasting, a messenger of God appeared to Daniel. The messenger explained that Heaven had heard his prayer from the first day, but the angel was temporarily prevented from coming by the prince of Persia, a demon angel, who sought to thwart God's messenger from coming to Daniel.

There are times in our lives when we must set ourselves to seeking God with all our hearts. It is in these times that we hear from Heaven in ways we may never have experienced before. Daniel's perseverance in prayer was rewarded with a personal encounter with Heaven. However, in order to receive from God, Daniel had to be left alone, have his strength removed, and be placed in a helpless condition. When we have no ability in our own strength to move Heaven or the events around us, we are in position to hear from Heaven. It is the acknowledgment of our humanity and our frailness that places us in a position to have a personal encounter with the living God.

Do you need a personal encounter with God today? Do you need God to intervene on your behalf? Seek Him with all your heart. Demonstrate to Him you are serious. Get alone and acknowledge your helpless condition before Him. He will reward you with His presence.

"Only be thou strong and very courageous."-Joshua 1:7

Our God's tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the
state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage. Some
esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and
fears, but God thinks not so. From this text it is plain that our Master
would not have us entangled with fears. He would have us without
carefulness, without doubt, without cowardice. Our Master does not think so
lightly of our unbelief as we do. When we are desponding we are subject to
a grievous malady, not to be trifled with, but to be carried at once to
the beloved Physician. Our Lord loveth not to see our countenance sad.
It was a law of Ahasuerus that no one should come into the king's court
dressed in mourning: this is not the law of the King of kings, for we
may come mourning as we are; but still He would have us put off the
spirit of heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, for there is much
reason to rejoice. The Christian man ought to be of a courageous!
spirit, in order that he may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in
an heroic manner. If he be fearful and fainthearted, it will dishonour
his God. Besides, what a bad example it is. This disease of doubtfulness
and discouragement is an epidemic which soon spreads amongst the Lord's
flock. One downcast believer makes twenty souls sad. Moreover, unless
your courage is kept up Satan will be too much for you. Let your spirit
be joyful in God your Saviour, the joy of the Lord shall be your
strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you: but cowardice
throws down the banner. Moreover, labour is light to a man of cheerful
spirit; and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils,
rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He
who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, dear reader, "be thou
strong, and very courageous."

''I'll Change, I Promise''

Six Signs of Real Repentance
by Bryce Klabunde, Vice President Pastoral Ministries

Many changes come naturally as we mature. Sometimes, though, negative habits form deep ruts, and it seems we can't change, no matter how much we want to. Friends urge us to alter course and warn us of dangers ahead if we don't. We read in Scripture about God's path of wisdom, and His Spirit awakens our spirit to a new vision of a better life in Christ. With tears of determination, we tell ourselves, our loved ones, and our Lord that things will be different. "I'll change, I promise," we say. And we really mean it. We feel a deep sense of sorrow for our sin, even disgust. However, as time passes, the pull of the rut overpowers our most sincere promises, and we fall back into old patterns.
Part of the problem may be our mistake in thinking that sorrow and confession are enough to produce change. Another part is the misunderstanding of the process of change-a process the Bible calls repentance.
Is repentance the same as remorse?

According to the New Testament, there's a difference between repentance and remorse. Judas "felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders" (Matthew 27:3). He even confessed his crime: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" (v. 4). Judas had come face to face with the hideous beast of evil in his soul, and he shrank back in terror and shame. Tragically, instead of leading him to God and life, his guilt hounded him to the gates of death. Eventually, his shame turned to self-hatred, and it drove him to suicide.
The apostle Paul calls this "the sorrow of the world" because the world offers no hope for people racked with guilt (2 Corinthians 7:10b). But there is another sorrow that produces life, as Paul describes:
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10a)
The sorrow of an alcoholic, for example, can either drown him in crashing waves of self-pity . . . or carry him to the shores of a new life. The determining factor is not the sorrow itself but whether the sorrow brings the sinner to repentance.
What is repentance?

Repentance is first a decision. The most common Greek word in the New Testament translated "repent" is metanoeo, which is based on the word for thoughts or intentions, nous (see Acts 8:22) and literally means to "change one's mind." Penitent people take a deep look inside and face the truth about themselves-how they've been excusing their sins and hurting others. They come to a decision point, or what Paul called, "the point of repentance" (2 Corinthians 7:9), in which they change their mind from pleasing the flesh to pleasing God, from trusting in self to trusting in a Savior.
This repentance decision may come at the moment of our salvation as we place our faith in Christ for the first time. It may also be a point of recommitment as we determine to follow Christ with our whole heart. In either case, it is the beginning point to a process of change.
Hand in hand with this decision is a second principle: turning. The Old Testament prophets preached a message of repentance using a special Hebrew word that means, "turn around, return." The Lord urges His redeemed people to return to Him because He has forgiven their sins:
"I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:22)
The Lord is asking His people to take a completely new direction in life. This implies two parts: turning away from sin and returning to the Lord. And it implies a relationship between us and God-much like the relationship between the prodigal son and his father in Jesus' parable. After the son comes to his senses in the pigsty, he turns from his sin and returns to his father (see Luke 15:11-32).
The decision of repentance and the turning of repentance are demonstrated by the fruit of repentance-deeds that flow from the life of a changed person. The prophets described these deeds in practical terms: "Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice" (Hosea 12:6a). John the Baptizer specified the fruit of repentance this way:
"Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise." And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:11b-14)
Repentance, then, is not merely feeling sorry for sin. A person may feel deep remorse for his or her critical spirit, anger, or greed. A pastor caught in immorality may kneel before the congregation and weep bitterly over the condition of his soul. As important as it is to feel the weight of our sin, these emotions are not repentance. In fact, if we accept these tears as repentance, we can actually hinder the person from doing the really hard work of change.
With all this in mind, let's draw up a definition: Repentance is the process of turning from our sinful way of life and turning to godliness. It is characterized by a change of thinking and a change of behavior.
The path of repentance often leads through dark periods of self-examination and painful surrendering of selfishness and pride. Repentance includes letting go of cherished sinful pleasures and being accountable to others who help us lift our wheels out of the rut as we plow a new course in life. It marks a renewed relationship with the Lord based on a revived belief that His way is truly best and His righteousness is life's greatest treasure.
What Are Practical Signs of Repentance?

How do you know if you're on the path of repentance? What does the penitent life look like? How can you tell if someone you love is really changing? People who are serious about change tend to display similar behaviors that let you know they are on the right track. Here are a few signs you'll find in a truly repentant person:
1. Repentant people are willing to confess all their sins, not just the sins that got them in trouble. A house isn't clean until you open every closet and sweep every corner. People who truly desire to be clean are completely honest about their lives. No more secrets.
2. Repentant people face the pain that their sin caused others. They invite the victims of their sin (anyone hurt by their actions) to express the intensity of emotions that they feel-anger, hurt, sorrow, and disappointment. Repentant people do not give excuses or shift blame. They made the choice to hurt others, and they must take full responsibility for their behavior.
3. Repentant people ask forgiveness from those they hurt. They realize that they can never completely "pay off" the debt they owe their victims. Repentant people don't pressure others to say, "I forgive you." Forgiveness is a journey, and the other person needs time to deal with the hurt before they can forgive. All that penitent people can do is admit their indebtedness and humbly request the undeserved gift of forgiveness.
4. Repentant people remain accountable to a small group of mature Christians. They gather a group of friends around themselves who hold them accountable to a plan for clean living. They invite the group to question them about their behaviors. And they follow the group's recommendations regarding how to avoid temptation.
5. Repentant people accept their limitations. They realize that the consequences of their sin (including the distrust) will last a long time, perhaps the rest of their lives. They understand that they may never enjoy the same freedom that other people enjoy. Sex offenders or child molesters, for example, should never be alone with children. Alcoholics must abstain from drinking. Adulterers must put strict limitations on their time with members of the opposite sex. That's the reality of their situation, and they willingly accept their boundaries.
6. Repentant people are faithful to the daily tasks God has given them. We serve a merciful God who delights in giving second chances. God offers repentant people a restored relationship with Him and a new plan for life. Listen to Hosea's promise to rebellious Israel:
Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:1-2, emphasis added)
After healing comes living. Repentant people accept responsibility for past failures but do not drown themselves in guilt. They focus their attention on present responsibilities, which include accomplishing the daily tasks God has given them.
One final thought. Repentance is not a solo effort. God doesn't expect us to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Through His indwelling Spirit, God shapes and molds us to make us pure and blameless in Christ. Listen to Paul's hopeful words: "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). For many people, the first cry of repentance is, "I can't change by myself; I need You, God." Thankfully, those are the sweetest words to God's ear.