When Married Life Tests Your Patience

Betsy St. Amant

As Christians, we’ve all heard the joke "Never pray for patience, or you’ll get it." Ironically, our prayers sometimes come out sounding a little like this: "Hurry up, God, I need patience NOW."

Nobody likes to wait. We prefer getting things quickly, and with each successive generation our tolerance for waiting seems to diminish. Take, for example, the coined phrased "microwave generation." We want what we want, and we want it as soon as possible! We don’t want our desires or dreams or goals to "bake" in the oven. We want to "nuke" our plans and get results immediately! That is the urgency people feel today, fueled by the media, propaganda, and plain selfishness from within.
Waiting for the Little Things
The vocation of marriage frustrates our natural hurriedness by forcing us to wait – a lot. You wait for your turn in the bathroom. You wait to use the sink to brush your teeth. You wait for your spouse to get home to eat dinner. You wait to use the phone. You wait for your turn to use the computer. You wait for them to finish getting ready so you can leave. It seems nothing is on your time or your schedule anymore – because life is no longer about you.
Everybody waits, but not everybody waits patiently or with grace. What makes patience so difficult? Patience stems from a deep level of unselfishness, something that doesn’t come naturally to most of us. As unnatural as selflessness may feel, being selfish in your marriage is a surefire way to cause problems. These everyday frustrations offer a wonderful opportunity to cultivate a selfless heart. Why not wait with a good attitude, since you’re going to have to wait anyway? When life throws an opportunity to wait at you, put a smile on your face and adopt a carefree _expression in order to avoid an argument over something that is beyond your control anyway.
"A harsh word stirs up anger, but a soft answer turns away wrath" (Psalm 15:1).
In time, these little opportunities to learn grace will strengthen your character when bigger challenges come along – and your spouse will thank you for it.
Waiting on Material Things
Not only do we find ourselves waiting on trivial, every day matters, but as married couples, we’re often waiting for our worldly dreams to come true. My husband has wanted a boat, a jet ski, a four wheeler, and a new truck ever since he was five years old! I personally would love to have a horse again, and a new house in the country with a private office for my writing – oh, and maybe a trip to Europe! But it doesn’t take long to learn that married life isn’t an automatic invitation to material wealth. Married life frequently brings on new responsibilities and expenses, and we find ourselves setting aside our childhood fantasies for the sake of the other.
Newlyweds in particular may struggle with tight funds the first few years and most of the things they want are simply not realistic purchases. It’s more important to pay the house note and put food on the table than it is to put money aside for a recreational vehicle. Paying your car insurance beats out purchasing new clothes, every time.
The good news: All this isn’t to say you’ll never have what you want. It’s a matter of time, and once again, patience. If you start saving now, you could buy a boat or horse several years down the road. God wants us to be good stewards of our money, and I believe that involves saving and planning. My husband started a separate savings account with his credit union about a year ago. A small percentage is deducted from his paycheck and automatically deposited into this account. We never see or touch the money, and it slowly builds up week after week. We pretend it’s not there, and have promised never to use it unless there is a real emergency. The purpose of the money is for us to take an extended vacation somewhere really fabulous in about three years. By then, the money will have built up, with no harm done to our budget, and we’ll have a nice trip together, all expenses paid.
If you put in a little effort now, you can enjoy the fruits later. If you and your spouse feel tense about money matters, sit down and map out a long term plan. Knowing you are working towards fulfilling your financial dreams – even if at a slow pace – will take some of the day-to-day pressure off and make waiting that much more rewarding.
Waiting on the Big Things
Sometimes the call to wait seeps into some of the most profound elements of marriage, including childbearing. Over the past several months, many of my friends and coworkers have welcomed children into their homes. Each case strikes me with an instant case of "baby fever." Every time I get back from a baby shower or from visiting a new mom, I question my husband on our own timeline. "But why not now? They’re so cute!" Once the fever subsides, I step back into reality and realize unless God decides otherwise, right now is not the best time for us to have children and that a few years down the road would be the best choice for us. Then we’ll be more financially stable, my husband will have completed his five year schooling program with the union, and I’ll have put in valuable time at my current job. We’re waiting, even though it’s hard sometimes, because we know it’s the best thing for us and for our future children.
For some, waiting is even a source of profound sadness. Some waiting is an exercise of will, but sometimes marriage presents us with situations beyond our control. A couple experiences infertility, and must wait perhaps indefinitely for a child. A spouse gets sick and waits for treatment and recovery. A door is closed on a certain career or mutual dream, and you find yourselves readjusting your plans together. It’s times like this – when our dreams are on the line – that waiting seems more like a curse than a blessing.
But "wait" does not have to be a four letter word. Patience truly is a virtue. God wants us to be obedient to Him in seeking His will and timing for our lives, and not just our own. Even in sadness and uncertainty, God has great plans in store. He will bless our obedience and give us more than we could have ever dreamed possible according to His will for our lives. In the meantime, recognize the blessings you have right now in your spouse and in your married life together even in the midst of waiting.
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, godliness" (2 Peter 1:5-6).
What are you waiting for today? What is your goal, or dream, or plan for the future? Have you prayed about these plans, and given them to God? Are you seeking His timing on your life, or clinging to your own? There is such joy and freedom that comes when we surrender the burden of our timepieces to Jesus. Hand Him your watch, and be content to keep your eyes on God’s clock. His ways are so much higher than ours, His knowledge so infinite, His timing so perfect. We can trust that if we wait until His timer dings, blessings will be sure to follow.
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The Relationship God Desires with Us
Dr. Beverly Rose
Why would an omnipotent God want to meet us — mere fallen creatures in a fallen world? Why should he care whether or not we want to spend time with him? A powerful, omniscient God could run the universe just fine without us. Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross, reaching out to us in saving grace. He didn’t have to come from behind the veil that we put in place by our sin. In his final hours on earth, he didn’t have to tear the curtain in two to restore our relationship with him. Why did he do all this for us? He did it because we were made for relationship with him.
Why do I continue to pray? Because I know that a loving God is with me working everything for the good. An indifferent God would most likely give us whatever we ask. It would be far easier for him to grant our requests than to deny them. But a loving God chooses, instead, to give us his best answer. He even loves us so much that at times he says no.
A loving God has also given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in our prayers, hoping that we will come to desire more and more what benefits us spiritually. As Richard Foster reassures us, “God is not destroying the will but transforming it so that over a process of time and experience we can freely will what God wills. In the crucifixion of the will we are enabled to let go of our tightfisted hold on life and follow our best prayers.”[i][i]God hopes we will pray our best prayers. Yet he remains ever attentive to the unspoken desires of our heart.
When we fall to our knees in prayer, perched on the threshold between this life and the next, what do we desire most? We wish, first and foremost, for God to be with us. Mercifully that is the prayer he always grants. Just as he answered us long ago by coming to earth, he is answering us still every moment of every day simply and miraculously by being there in loving relationship with us.
Why should I empty myself, relinquishing myself to God? Because I know God loves me and wants to fill me with his presence. In fact, Jesus loves us so much that he emptied himself so that the power of God could work in him. Paul told us, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus could have called in legions of angels to avert his dreaded fate. Instead he submitted obediently to the will of the Father, praying, “If you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Why should I fall silent, believing that I will hear God’s voice? Because Jesus talked to sinners, tax collectors, and outcasts, so why not to me? Jesus didn’t concern himself just with creating masses of followers but forged a relationship with each person individually, especially the ones with whom others didn’t. In reaching out to all of us, he demonstrated that he loves each of us too much not to embrace every one of us.
Why should I believe that if I practice the presence of God, Jesus will meet me in the muck and mire of my everyday life? Because he loved us enough to leave heaven to meet us in a fallen world. It would have been easier for God to stay in paradise or to show up exclusively in the beauty of a majestic cathedral. Jesus could have remained in the Temple, waiting for people to bow down at his feet. Instead he spent time with poor villagers, washing theirs. Maybe God is with us in every messy moment of our lives because he loves us too much to wait for Sunday.
Why should I meditate on God’s Word? Because that’s how a loving God speaks to us. In fact, his love is so great that he was willing to die to bring us the Word.
Why should I fast in hopes of encountering God? Because Jesus gave his body and blood for us — gifts we feast upon spiritually during Communion. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32-33). There is no greater love than this — that Jesus gave his life for us, even calling us his friends.
Why do I seek God’s presence in nature? Because I know that a loving God desires to meet me there, escorting me up mountains when I can barely walk. He didn’t have to make the world beautiful and give us five senses to enjoy it. Nor did he have to make Eden a paradise. He did it purely out of love.
John wrote, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Loving us first, God breathed himself into us before we could take a single breath. He came to earth to be the Answer to our prayers, and he answers our prayers still with his presence before we even ask. And in an act of ultimate sacrificial love, he died on the cross for us, forgiving us before we sin, giving us eternal life in his Kingdom before we enter heaven.
God can manifest himself in big displays or in subtle movements. It is up to us not to be so busy trying to make a divine encounter happen that we fail to notice that the one who loved us first is reaching out to us first in love.
Everything Jesus did, he did out of love. He could have performed spectacular miracles in front of the priests and teachers of the law. He could have stood outside the Temple gates like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Instead he used his powers, not for personal profit, but in the service of love. His healed us in love. He preached to us in love. He died for us in love. He rose in love, and he remains with us today, reaching out to us in love.
Why do I, born and raised Jewish, believe that while lying in a sickbed, Jesus’ presence actually came over me? It’s because I know that what I was experiencing was not some indifferent supernatural entity overtaking my body. It was the presence of a God who personally came to seek a relationship with me. Does that guarantee I will always experience his presence? Not necessarily. None of us can presume to understand the mysterious ways of communion with God. What we can know for certain, however, is that God loves us enough to move heaven and earth to reach us in this fallen world — in thin places.
Simone Weil wrote poignantly, “God wears himself out through the infinite thickness of time and space in order to reach the soul and to captivate it. If it allows a pure and utter consent (though brief as a lightning flash) to be torn from it, then God conquers that soul... The soul, starting from the opposite end, makes the same journey that God made toward it. And that is the cross.”[ii][ii]
The night of my friend’s visit, I prayed in front of a wooden cross someone had given me when I first became a Christian. It spells out the name Jesus and has nails fastened to the back to symbolize his crucifixion. I prayed so fervently that I actually began to see a halo around the cross. It grew brighter and brighter until it shone with the most beautiful golden luminescence I had ever seen. It was as if God were responding to every syllable I prayed, every tear I shed. Or were the tears in my eyes causing the light to appear that way? I don’t know.
What I do know for sure is why I am here. Jesus reaches out to me in miraculous ways every day because he lovingly made me for relationship with him. That is more than sufficient for me.

PEOPLES' CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

THE PEOPLE OF NIGERIA HAVE FINALLY FASHIONED AND PROVISIONALLY AADOPTED A
"PEOPLES' CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA"

BBC Wap use flourishing in Africa

Africa, in particular Nigeria, is dominating international mobile phone access to the BBC's website.
According to July's statistics, 61% of the BBC's international Wap users came from Nigeria and 19% from South Africa.

"Wap is the one platform where African countries continue to appear in the top five in our statistics," said BBC developer Gareth Owen.

Africa is the world's largest-growing mobile phone market with unreliable landlines encouraging the growth.

Wap technology - which stands for wireless application protocol - allows people to access basic information on the internet, like news summaries, through their mobile phone handset.


I'm in Uganda and the only access I have 2 the outside world is this pinhole 2 info
Ugandan texter to the BBC


According to the BBC's statistics, page views for Wap usage are growing at 100% year on year.

UK users account for 65% of Wap traffic; and international usage for 35%. Mobile phone providers in many African countries have only recently begun rolling out Wap-enabled handsets.

And the large take up of BBC news via mobiles in Nigeria contrasts starkly with the relatively small number of users accessing the internet via pcs - hampered by slow and unreliable landlines.

The BBC's Technology correspondent Mark Ward says that in many places on the continent PC ownership is low but PC literacy surprisingly high.

Internet cafes tend to be very popular, as much a meeting place as well as a place where people access their email, he says.


The BBC receives regular messages of thanks from people in Africa, who say the only access they have to news is via their mobiles.

"I'm in Uganda and the only access I have 2 the outside world is this pinhole 2 info cause I don't have access to TV. Thanx," said one texter from Uganda. The country accounted for 7% of BBC Wap usage in July.

Other top countries helping account for the 58m Wap page views in July were Jamaica, Singapore and Israel.

In the UK, the BBC has about a 20% share of the market with a reach of 1.2m users monthly.

Nigeria promises kidnap crackdown

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has promised to act against those suspected of involvement in a string of kidnappings in the Niger Delta region.
He said he had ordered 24-hour patrols in the Delta's creeks and swamps, and threatened action against oil firms who paid ransoms for their workers.

"We are going to be firm and say no to violence and hostage taking," he said.

Five groups of foreign oil workers have been seized in the delta in the past two weeks but no-one has been arrested.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, shortly after four foreign workers were freed unharmed, Mr Obasanjo vowed to confront "force with force".

"Wherever we find hostage-takers now, we will hunt them down. We will not accept this any longer," the statement read.

The two Norwegians and two Ukrainians freed on Tuesday were seized on 9 August from a supply vessel moored in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

They were freed one day after four other workers were seized and five released.

Determination

Earlier this year, Mr Obasanjo pledged to create thousands of new jobs and construct a new motorway to the Niger Delta in an effort to calm tensions in the region.


Wherever we find hostage-takers now, we will hunt them down
Olusegun Obasanjo
Nigerian president

But continued violence and kidnappings have seen a change in the president's tone.
A rise in attacks in recent months by militants, seeking more local control of the Niger Delta's rich oil resources, has cut Nigeria's oil production by 25%.

"Wherever we find hostage-takers now, we will hunt them down. We will not accept this any longer," he reportedly said at a meeting in the region.

"Nigeria is a signatory to international conventions which categorise hostage-takers and their accomplices in non-international conflict situations as terrorists to be hunted down wherever they go."

Confusion

Oil industry sources say hostage-taking has become an attractive business, as oil companies strike clandestine ransom deals.


The Delta is awash with weapons, unemployment is high and communities feel aggrieved at the lack of development.
Armed groups have proliferated, often linked to local politicians.

Three Filipinos, a Belgian and a Moroccan were released on Monday.

But four more workers, including two Britons, were seized on Sunday.

Nigerian authorities say they still do not have full details on how many hostages remain in captivity, although reports say at least six are still being held.

'Cannibals' confess in Mozambique

By Jose Tembe

A husband and wife in Mozambique face multiple charges after confessing to exhuming corpses to eat the flesh and powdered bones, say police.
They were arrested in the western village of Vanduzi last weekend in possession of human organs.

In a confession, the couple said that eating human flesh strengthened their power to heal people, police say.

Gorongosa district police say they are still investigating the case in an area where belief in witchcraft is strong.

Gorongosa district police commander, Jose Cumbe, said that it was the first case of self-confessed cannibalism he had uncovered since he began working in Gorongosa two years ago.

The husband, 50-year-old Neva Mafunga said he had been eating human flesh for more than 20 years, the police say.

His 34-year-old wife, Nhanvura Faera, said she began eating human flesh on the orders of her husband.

Woman jailed for giving son drugs

A drug addict mother has been jailed for nine years for supplying heroin and crack cocaine to her son from the age of nine.
Emma Kelly, 31, formerly of Eastbourne, in East Sussex, admitted the offences, which could have killed the child, at a hearing at Hove Crown Court last month.

Kelly admitted supplying the drugs between August 2002 and May 2005.

She also admitted two counts of cruelty to a child between August 2003 and January 2005.

Judge Anthony Niblett told her she had betrayed her son.


You offered no explanation or excuse for it, and there can be none
Judge Anthony Niblett


He said: "On 5 May 2005 you went to his school and you supplied him there with a wrap of heroin. This was, in my assessment, an act of pure wickedness.

"You offered no explanation or excuse for it, and there can be none."

Kelly was sentenced to nine years in total for supplying her son with class A drugs, including five years to be served concurrently for child cruelty.

This includes two six-year sentences to be served concurrently for supplying him with heroin and crack cocaine, and a consecutive sentence of three years for giving him heroin when he was in foster care.


The court was told Kelly had plied her son with opiates from the age of nine, until he was 11.

She had driven him around as she toured Sussex and London in search of drugs.

Ibitayo Adebayo, prosecuting, said Kelly and her son were arrested in January 2005 on suspicion of shoplifting and taken to Eastbourne police station.

The police contacted a drug referral worker who saw the boy, and noted that the pupils of his eyes were very large, suggesting he was going through a withdrawal from drugs.

Judge Niblett said the boy was able to tell police that he rarely went to school.


He did have a bond with his mum, but that was borne out of his addiction
Det Sgt Wendy Fuller

The boy spent a week in hospital withdrawing from his opiate addiction.

Outside the court, Det Sgt Wendy Fuller of Sussex Police described how the boy was "rocking in his hospital bed, very agitated, crying for his mum" when he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

"He did have a bond with his mum, but that was borne out of his addiction," she said.

The boy, now aged 12, is in foster care and is said to be thriving and back at school.

Rebecca Upton, defending, said Kelly's descent into drug abuse was triggered by the death of her partner in 1996.

'Truly disgusted'

Before then she had a promising career as a jockey and also worked regularly before developing a dependence on drugs.

Ms Upton said Kelly felt "truly disgusted" at her actions and expressed her "utmost and sincerest remorse".

The role of East Sussex Social Services was questioned by Judge Niblett, who said that if it had not been for the arrest, social services might not have intervened.

This was despite a social services case conference about the boy being held in 2004, he said.

The social worker connected to the case was changed "and the situation was allowed to continue".

He said that a social services representative had not attended the court to answer concerns, but added he was pleased that he would receive a report within 14 days.

After the case Sussex Police Child Protection Team (CPT) at Eastbourne said the boy could have died every time he was supplied with the drugs.

'Lessons learnt'

In a statement, Matt Dunkley, director of children's services for East Sussex County Council, said: "Our service has the highest possible rating for child protection and naturally our primary concern is for the safety and welfare of the child.

"The child concerned is still in our care and we are delighted that he is thriving and doing well."

The statement added that all major decisions to protect the child prior to him being taken into care were taken jointly with all the agencies involved, including the police.

"Together with partners in other agencies, we will learn from any of the lessons that arise from this case."

Humble but high?!

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.

Do you find yourself in humble circumstances? If so, James tells us that we are to take pride in this "high" position. These two things would seem to be an oxymoron. Most of us would not consider humble circumstances a high position. Successful business tells us that being on top means being wealthy, attaining favor and status, or having power to influence. However, Jesus influenced not from power, but from weakness.

J.C. Penney is a name synonymous with department store. He first launched his chain of "The Golden Rule" stores in 1907. In 1910 his first wife died. Three years later, he incorporated as the J.C. Penney company. In 1923 his second wife died giving birth to his son. In 1929 the stock market crashed and he lost $40 million.

By 1932, he had to sell out to satisfy...creditors. This left [Penney] virtually broke. ...Crushed in spirit from his loss and his health suddenly failing, Penney wound up in a Battle Creek, Michigan sanitorium. One morning he heard the distant singing of employees who gathered to start the day with God: Be not dismayed, whate'er betide, God will take care of you.... Penney followed the music to its source and slipped into a back row. He left a short time later a changed man, his health and spirit renewed, and ready to start the long climb back at age fifty-six.

By 1951 there was a J.C. Penney store in every state, and for the first time sales surpassed $1 billion a year. [John Woodbridge, ed., More Than Conquerors (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1992), 340-343.]

The success of J.C. Penney can be traced to God's mercy in his life to bring him out of his humble circumstance. Do you find yourself in a humble circumstance? God is the only one who can help you see your humble circumstance from His viewpoint-a high position. It is a high position because of what God is going to teach you in this place. He does not intend you to stay there; it is merely a stopping place to learn some important things you would not learn otherwise. Press into God and trust Him for the outcome to your circumstances.

"SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide,"

We invite you to attend "SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide," a rally and concert in New York City on September 17.

Click here for more information and to sign up to attend.

On April 30, 2006, tens of thousands of Darfur activists gathered on the National Mall in Washington to call attention to the genocide in Darfur and to demand action by the U.S. government.

And our message was heard, prompting President Bush to dispatch an aide directly to the Darfur peace talks in Africa. The Darfur Peace Agreement was signed, offering a glimmer of hope that the genocide could be stopped.

But since then other events have consumed the world's attention and the Darfur genocide has fallen off the agenda.

We must demonstrate a global commitment to establish a lasting peace for the people of Darfur. That is why the Save Darfur Coalition is organizing "SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide," a rally and concert in New York City on September 17 and why organizations around the world are organizing a Global Day for Darfur.

Click here for more information and to sign up to attend.

For two weeks in September, the United Nations General Assembly will meet in New York City. This is an opportunity to bring our efforts on behalf of the people of Darfur directly to the United Nations. That is why, in addition to "SAVE DARFUR NOW: Voices to Stop Genocide," we begin 10 Days of Action on September 7 leading up to September 17.

If you cannot make it to New York City, September 17 events are taking place in cities around the country and the globe all with the same goal: to show worldwide support for the people of Darfur and to put pressure on world governments to protect Darfur's innocent civilians.

Click here for more information and to sign up to attend.

Thank you for your continued support. As we approach September 17, we will announce information on speakers, performers, event time and location.

Sincerely,

David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition

Riots follow killing in Nigeria

Nigerian youths have been rioting in the south-western Ekiti state after the murder of a leading local politician.
Nigeria's police chief has gone to the state capital Ado Ekiti to take personal charge of the investigation into Ayodeji Daramola's killing.

He was found stabbed on Monday after addressing a rally the day before.

Mr Daramola was a leading ruling party aspirant for governorship elections due next year and is the third high-profile figure to be murdered this year.

Three weeks ago, another leading People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor in neighbouring Lagos state, Funsho Williams, was also murdered.

So far, nobody has been charged with the killing.

The BBC's Sola Odunfa in Lagos says there's growing concern there could be a spate of assassinations in the run-up to the national elections.

Reward

Police Inspector General Sunday Ehindero has travelled to Ado Ekiti, some 300km from Lagos, to take charge of the case.

According to reports from Ado Ekiti, Mr Daramola was stabbed to death last night less than 12 hours after addressing a mass rally.

The killing took place in his country home in Ijan Ekiti which is only a few minutes drive from the state capital.

As news of the murder spread violence broke out in the state.

On Monday evening, young men took to the streets burning houses and cars in Ado Ekiti.

Ekiti's state government has offered a 50m naira (about $390,000) reward to anyone with information that will lead to the arrest of the killers.

Our correspondent says the states most vulnerable to pre-election violence are those where the incumbent governors are seeking re-election.

In these states the governors are intolerant of any opposition from either within or outside their parties, he says.

In others, like Lagos, the violence so far has been among candidates of the same parties in a battle for nomination at the primaries.

The Culture of Offendedness & the Christian Challenge

Albert Mohler

A new and unprecedented "right" is now the central focus of legal, procedural, and cultural concern in many corridors -- a supposed right not to be offended. The cultural momentum behind this purported right is growing fast, and the logic of this movement has taken hold in many universities, legal circles, and interest groups.

The larger world received a rude introduction to the logic of offendedness when riots broke out in many European cities, prompted by a Dutch newspaper's publishing of cartoons that reportedly mocked the Prophet Muhammad. The logic of the riots was that Muslims deserved never to be offended by any insult, real or perceived, directed to their belief system. Unthinking Christians may fall into the same pattern of claiming offendedness whenever we face opposition to our faith or criticism of our beliefs. The risk of being offended is simply part of what it means to live in a diverse culture that honors and celebrates free speech. A right to free speech means a right to offend, otherwise the right would need no protection.

These days, it is the secularists who seem to be most intent on pushing a proposed right never to be offended by confrontation with the Christian Gospel, Christian witness, or Christian speech and symbolism. This motivation lies behind the incessant effort to remove all symbols, representations, references, and images related to Christianity from the public square. The very existence of a large cross, placed on government property as a memorial, outside San Diego, California, has become a major issue in the courts, and now in Congress. Those pressing for the removal of the cross claim that they are offended by the fact that they are forced to see this Christian symbol from time to time.

We should note carefully that this notion of offendedness is highly emotive in character. In other words, those who now claim to be offended are generally speaking of an emotional state that has resulted from some real or perceived insult to their belief system or from contact with someone else's belief system. In this sense, being offended does not necessarily involve any real harm but points instead to the fact that the mere presence of such an argument, image, or symbol evokes an emotional response of offendedness.

The distinguished Christian philosopher Paul Helm addresses this issue in an article published in the Summer 2006 edition of The Salisbury Review, published in Great Britain. As Professor Helm argues, "Historically, being offended has been a very serious matter. To be offended is to be caused to stumble so as to fall, to fail, to apostasize, to be brought down, to be crushed." As evidence for this claim, Professor Helm points to the language of the King James Bible in which Jesus says to his disciples: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast in to hell" [Matthew 5:29].

Likewise, Jesus also speaks a warning against those who would "offend" the "little ones." As Professor Helm summarizes, "So to 'offend' in this robust sense is to be an agent of destruction. And to be offended is to be placed in desperate straits."

The desperate straits are no longer required in order for an individual or group to claim the emotional status of offendedness. This shift in the meaning of the word and in its cultural usage is subtle but extremely significant.

Offering a rather robust definition of this new usage, Professor Helm describes this new notion of offendedness as "that one is offended when the words and actions of another produce a feeling of hurt, or shame, or humiliation on account of what is said of oneself about one's deepest attachments."

Professor Helm's definition is rather generous, offering more substantial content to this modern notion than may be present in the claims of many persons. Many persons who claim to be offended are speaking merely of the vaguest notion of emotional distaste at what another has said, done, proposed, or presented. This leads to inevitable conflict.

"People have always been upset by insensitivity and negligence, but the profile of offendedness, understood in this modern sense, is being immeasurably heightened," suggests Professor Helm. "The right never to be offended, never to suffer feelings of hurt or shame, is being touted and promoted both by the media and by the government and interest in it is being continually excited." Thus, "Claims to be hurt or shamed are noticed. They are likely to be rewarded."

The very idea of civil society assumes the very real possibility that individuals may at any time be offended by another member of the community. Civilization thrives when individuals and groups seek to minimize unnecessary offendedness, while recognizing that some degree of real or perceived offendedness is the cost the society must pay for the right to enjoy the free exchange of ideas and the freedom to speak one's mind.

Professor Helm is surely right when he argues that the "social value" of offendedness is now increasing. All that is necessary for a claim to be taken seriously is for the claim to be offered. After all, if the essence of the offendedness is an emotional state or response, how can any individual deny that a claimant has been genuinely offended? Professor Helm is right to worry that this will lead to the fracturing of society. "We all hear things we don't like said about people and causes that we are fond of but in the changed social atmosphere we are being encouraged to give public notice if such language offends us. I am now being repeatedly told that I am entitled not to be offended. So -- from now on -- not offended is what I intend to be. Does this heightening of sensitivity make for social cohesion? Does not such cohesion depend rather on enduring what we don't like, and doing so in an adult way? Does not the glue of civic peace rest on such intangibles as the ability to laugh at oneself, to take a joke about even the deepest things? And is it not a measure of the strength of a person's religion that they tolerate the unpleasant conversation of others? Isn't playing the offendedness card going to result in an enfeebling of the culture, the development of oversensitive and precious members of the 'caring society'? Whatever happened to toleration?"

Given our mandate to share the Gospel and to speak openly and publicly about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith, Christians must understand a particular responsibility to protect free speech and to resist this culture of offendedness that threatens to shut down all public discourse.
Of course, the right for Christians to speak publicly about Jesus Christ necessarily means that adherents of other belief systems will be equally free to present their truth claims in an equally public manner. This is simply the cost of religious liberty. An interesting witness to this point is Salman Rushdie, the novelist who was once put under a Muslim sentence of death because he had insulted Muslim sensibilities in his novel The Satanic Verses. Mr. Rushdie presents an argument that Christians must take seriously.

"The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted is absurd. So too is the notion that people should have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. A fundamental decision needs to be made: do we want to live in a free society or not? Democracy is not a tea party where people sit around making polite conversation. In democracies people get extremely upset with each other. They argue vehemently against each other's positions," Rushdie insists.

As the novelist continues: "People have the fundamental right to take an argument to the point where somebody is offended by what they say. It is no trick to support the free speech of somebody you agree with or to whose opinion you are indifferent. The defense of free speech begins at the point where people say something you can't stand. If you can't defend their right to say it, then you don't believe in free speech. You only believe in free speech as long as it doesn't get up your nose."

As the Apostle Paul made clear in writing to the Corinthians, the preaching of the Gospel has always been considered offensive by those who reject it. When Paul spoke of the cross as "foolishness" and a "stumbling block" [1 Corinthians 1:23] he was pointing to this very reality -- a reality that would lead to his own stoning, flogging, imprisonment, and execution.

At the same time, Paul did not want to offend persons on the basis of anything other than the cross of Christ and the essence of the Christian Gospel. For this reason, he would write to the Corinthians about becoming "all things to all people, that by all means I might save some" [1 Corinthians 9:22].

Without doubt, many Christians manage to be offensive for reasons other than the offense of the Gospel. This is to our shame and to the injury of our Gospel witness. Nevertheless, there is no way for a faithful Christian to avoid offending those who are offended by Jesus Christ and His cross. The truth claims of Christianity, by their very particularity and exclusivity, are inherently offensive to those who would demand some other gospel.

Christians must not only contend for the preservation and protection of free speech -- essential for the cause of the Gospel -- we must also make certain that we do not fall into the trap of claiming offendedness for ourselves. We must not claim a right not to be offended, even as we must insist that there is no such right and that the social construction of such a right will mean the death of individual liberty, free speech, and the free exchange of ideas.

Once we begin playing the game of offendedness, there is no end to the matter. There simply is no right not to be offended, and we should be offended by the very notion that such a right could exist.

Spanish police find 'drugs' sub

A submarine which police say may have been used for cocaine smuggling has been found floating off Spain's north-western coast.
It was spotted by a member of the public in an inlet along the rugged coastline on Sunday.

No drugs were found on board the vessel, but it is now being dismantled at a shipyard in Moana, near Vigo.

It is reported to be about 10m (33ft) long, made by amateurs from basic materials, not by professionals.


It is an example of how narco-traffickers are advancing in technology
Jaime Gonzalez, journalist

Jaime Gonzalez, a journalist in the north-western city of Santiago de Compostela, told the BBC World Service's Europe Today programme that the region was well-known as a gateway for drugs into Europe.
Technical problem

While submarines are not known to have been used for drug trafficking in Spain, they have been used for this purpose in Colombia.


"It could take drugs from a ship in the ocean and take them to the coast without being seen," Mr Gonzalez said.
"There has been nothing like this before in Spain. It is an example of how narco-traffickers are advancing in technology."

Mr Gonzalez said it was thought that the submarine could have been built in southern Spain, in Andalucia, and brought to the north-western region of Galicia by road.

He said one theory was that the vessel was undergoing tests when a technical problem arose.

The owners may have been planning to return to it, he added, if the police had not got there first.

Fr. George Ehusani: SILVER JUBILEE!

Dear Friends,

It is with profound gratitude to God that I announce to you all that the Silver Jubilee of my ordination to the Catholic Priesthood comes up tomorrow, August 15, 2006.

As I mark this occasion quietly on the grounds of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Lagos, I am aware of my indebtedness to you all whose inspiration, friendship, wise counsel, collaboration and support, have contributed to making my 25 years in this privileged vocation such a joyful, fulfilling enterprise. I am who I am today in large measure because I am related in one way or the other to, or have come in contact as some point with you.

Please join me in giving thanks to God at this time, and keep me in your prayers, that as I grow older in age and in His service, I may get closer to God in Christ, and that I may become more wise, more focused, and more passionately determined to bear witness with utmost credibility to the Lord Jesus’ civilization of love, as expressed in the pursuit of truth, justice, peace and reconciliation and in the promotion of human compassion, forgiveness and non-violence.

I have attached below my jubilee poem, “Thunderous Ovation” and my jubilee prayer, “Mysterious Desire,” which I’d like to share with you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. George Ehusani


Thunderous Ovation

The Good Lord has made
These twenty five years
In his Vineyard
A hilarious interpolation
In the eternal stream of laughter
That rocks the Chorus of Heaven
And fills the firmaments
With delight

Providence has made
My twenty five years
In the Presbyterate
The sonorous refrain
Of the beautiful birds of dawn
Heralding good tidings
For all who subscribe
To the logic of the Kingdom

The Almighty One has made
My twenty five years
In the Ministry of Christ
A privileged glimpse
Into the celestial bliss
Of the beatific peace
That is the prize of faith

Ah, my brokenness
My woundedness
And my utter vulnerability
Notwithstanding
The Tremendous Lover
Has made my twenty five years
In His providential stewardship
An astonishing display
Of a potpourri of talents
And a hotchpotch of graces

Oh what mysterious flame of favour
That earned my fragile and feeble self
Such propitious years of fervour
Oh what benevolent vocation
That turned my poor humble existence
Into such a thunderous ovation!

MYSTERIOUS DESIRE

Amidst history’s dark night
Of loveless toil
My soul thirsts and my flesh pines
Like parched soil awaiting the rain

Give me oil in my lamp
Keep me burning with passion
For the Bridegroom whose deathless love
Is the object of my mysterious desire

Ignite the fire of your love
In the sanctuary of my being
Grab my soul as by a magnet
And take hold of even the faintest stirring
In my spirit

Hush my heart
Still my soul
And bend my knees
In humble supplication

Then at the point of convergence
Between my feeble desire
And your awesome love
Dissolve my many loves
Into the One Love
That is better than life.

___________________________________________
Rev. Fr. George Ehusani,
Secretary General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, P O Box 951, Lagos, Nigeria. Phone 234-1-2630347; Fax 234-1-2636680
Official Email: gehusani@cbcn.org
Personal Email: ehusani@yahoo.com; ehusani@infoweb.com.ng

“Jesus and the 12 Dudes Who Did”

Katherine Cottle

John 13: 14-15, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (NIV)

I once heard that a good test of our parenting skills is how well your children act when you are not around. Who are they when they do not have your constant guidance? When given the choice between the forbidden fruit or life in the garden will they have enough sense to choose life and not repeat the fall of man?

With that in mind, I confess that I am afraid whenever we leave our four-year-old son, Ethan, with a babysitter. What will he try to get into that, he knows is off limits? Did I remember to warn the babysitter about his escape techniques? Will he choose to obey? Will my babysitter ever want to come back? I remind myself that perfect love casts out all fear and I take my husband’s hand and pray for both of them as I shut the door (1John 4:18).

One evening our babysitter, Miss Allison, read the book Jesus and the 12 Dudes Who Did by Mindy MacDonald at bedtime. She told Ethan that Jesus washed the disciple’s feet to give them an example of how to serve one another. She explained that we could show others love by serving them. Suddenly, our impulsive son bolts out of the bed shocking Miss Allison. What was going on in his little head? Where did he go? What was he up to?

A minute later, in the doorway stood Ethan with a dripping wet washcloth in his hand.

“I have to wash your feet Miss Allison to show you that I love you,” he said.

My heart was full when Allison told me what happened. Happiness replaced the fear. It was overwhelming to hear how quickly he heard what the Lord wanted him to do and did it. He chose to act like one of the 12 dudes who did. The disciples may not have always gotten it right the first time but we know about salvation today because when Jesus asked them to go out and tell the world about him, they did. They showed Jesus that they loved him by serving others.

I was secretly jealous because “Mom” has to tell Ethan things repeatedly but the beautiful babysitter did not even ask and he jumped at the opportunity to serve her. Looking past my jealousy, I started to think about how often the Lord has shown me ways to serve others. How have I responded? Did I jump right up and do as He asked, or did I run as hard as I could in the opposite direction? Did I make several excuses about how I could not possibly be the right one for the job and give him a complete list with phone numbers and addresses of others who are far more qualified than I am? I am sure they would at least have more time than I do! When given the choice that will lead to life, will I choose it?

Our son is showing signs of a servant’s heart, one that hears the Lord and does what he is asked. I desire to be that type of child. I want to be a “dudette” who does. What type of child are you choosing to be?

My Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, Please help me to be a dudette who does your will, In Jesus’ Name Amen.

Application Steps:

Prayerfully consider what the Lord has enabled you to do and make a list of the opportunities that God has given you for service. Stop making excuses and get to work loving and serving others as God leads.

Reflection Points:

What are some ways that the Lord is currently using you to serve others?
How can you encourage others to serve with you in a community outreach?
Do you need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for service to others?
Jesus washed the disciples’ feet; no act of service is too small or too unimportant.

Power Verses

James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (NIV)

Luke 18:17, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (NIV)

Matthew 20:26-28, “…Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (NIV)

Stop Arguing and Start Agreeing about Money

Whitney Hopler

Studies show that the top reason couples argue is disagreement about money. That’s because money taps into deep emotions and affects every area of spouses’ lives.

If your marriage is one of the many filled with tension over financial issues, there’s hope. You and your spouse’s different views on money don’t have to result in constant conflict. Once you learn to understand and respect each other’s perspectives, you’ll be able to communicate wisely and reach agreements about your finances.

Here’s how you and your spouse can stop arguing and start agreeing about money:

Let your differences complement each other. If one of you is a saver who craves security and the other is a spender who likes to take risks, consider the value you each bring to your relationship by balancing your shared approach to money. Respect and appreciate your partner’s unique desires, without trying to make him or her more like you. Decide to work together to draw upon the strengths you each have to offer, for the benefit of your marriage. Cooperate to take informed, sensible risks that will pay off for both of you, with one spouse helping to think plans through carefully, and the other encouraging the other to be willing to take a risk.

Beware of debt. Understand that debt can cause huge amounts of stress in your marriage. Commit to pay off existing debt as aggressively as possible, and to avoid incurring any new debt. Know that the short-term gain of debt is rarely worth the long-term pain. Don’t allow your emotions to overrule your rational thinking. Think and pray about what you and your spouse are and are not willing to go into debt for, what borrowing limit you feel comfortable with, and how you plan to repay debt. Discuss these guidelines in advance to protect yourselves from the consequences of making impulsive purchases.

Talk about your expectations. Make sure you clearly communicate and understand each other’s expectations about your finances. Understand that the degree to which your expectations are met (or that you can adjust to different assumptions) has a lot to do with how satisfied you’ll each be in life. Discuss issues such as: whether or not both of you will work, how much you’ll each be expected to earn, who will pay the bills and handle other administrative tasks, how much freedom you’ll each have to spend money as you choose, who will contribute your household’s primary income, how much you’ll spend on gifts for holidays and other occasions, whether you’ll have separate or combined accounts and checkbooks, whether or not you’ll pay for your kids’ college tuition, and to what extent should you help each of your elderly parents. Be willing to adjust your assumptions for the sake of harmony in your marriage.

Don’t fly blindly. Get your finances in order so you have a clear idea about where you stand financially. Lay out all your financial records and list all your assets (what you own) and liabilities (what you owe). Throw out whatever records aren’t necessary for you to keep, and organize the rest in well-marked files or envelopes. Cancel every credit or debit card that isn’t essential. Designate a secure spot as a central place to keep your most important documents, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, insurance policies, and wills.

Figure out how your family history has shaped your current attitudes toward money. Explore how each of your family backgrounds have affected the way you handle money. For example: Did your parents argue about money? Who primarily oversaw the finances? Who paid the bills? Did your parents give you an allowance? How much did your parents spend on birthdays and vacations? What patterns did your parents model about saving, spending, giving, and investing? Once you understand how the past has affected you and your spouse, work to get rid of unhealthy habits and create new, healthy ones so you can move into the future together with productive attitudes.

Understand how society’s messages affect your approach to money. Seriously consider the extent to which you may have bought into cultural myths such as: "Money really does bring happiness," "You can have it all now," "Enough is never enough," and "Bigger is better." Pray for the strength you each need to stay true to biblical values like contentment and self-control despite society’s pressures. Decide to live by your convictions instead of the media’s prevailing messages.

Get to know the way you’re each wired. Realize that you and your spouse’s basic temperament types directly affect each of your spending and saving habits. Understand the way you’re wired so you can know why you each respond to money the way you do.

Check your heart. Ask God to reveal what’s in your heart about money, and help you to live by His principles for managing money. Remember that God owns everything because He has created everything. Understand that even the ability to earn your income is a gift from God, because He enables you to do so. Out of gratitude, decide to be wise and responsible with how you use your money and other resources (such as time and energy). Recognize that every financial decision is also a spiritual decision, and always seek God’s wisdom before making the decision. Know that God is much more concerned about your attitudes than He is about how much or how little money you have at any given time. Understand that it’s God – not money – that gives you worth and determines your identity.

Learn from the past. Remember the experiences you’ve had – both positive and negative – that have changed your perspective on money. Discuss those incidents with your partner. Ask God to help you gain wisdom from them, by learning from your mistakes and noticing what you did right that led to your successes.

Schedule regular money meetings. Meet with your spouse every week, every other week, or every month for half an hour to discuss the state of your finances. Focus just on money during these meetings, where you can review your budget and goals, discuss purchases, share feelings, identify action items, and delegate assignments. Be sure to listen intently to each other, give each other compliments and encouragement, give each other equal time to speak, clearly communicate your specific thoughts and feelings, try your best to understand each other’s point of view, accept the fact that you can disagree about some issues yet still both have valid points of view without either of you being wrong. Don’t criticize your spouse, refuse to talk openly and honestly, lecture your spouse, hide the whole truth from him or her, or get distracted.

Use conflict to your advantage. Understand that arguments aren’t necessarily bad; they can be a source of great growth for you and your spouse. Expect conflict to occur as a normal part of life, and don’t avoid it. Instead, make it productive by: focusing on how you’re arguing as well as why to make sure the tone doesn’t become nasty, stopping to determine precisely what you’re arguing about so you don’t get off-track, brainstorming possible solutions to the problem you’re arguing about, settling your disagreements as quickly as possible, seeking a victory for both of you, refusing to demean or degrade your spouse, remaining open-minded while realizing there may be a solution you haven’t thought of yet, and staying focused on the primary goals of your conflict – unity and understanding. Don’t force consensus, but use negotiation, compromise, and teamwork to reach an agreement. When the issue is resolved, celebrate together.

Work toward creative compromise. Be open-minded, flexible, and willing to change. Clearly communicate exactly what you want, and why. Keep negotiations grounded in reality. Set aside plenty of time to discuss options. Stay focused on the end result – a solution you’ll both enjoy. Submit to one another in love.

Hold each other accountable. Don’t look the other way when your spouse acts irresponsibly or unreliably with your finances. Take personal responsibility for your own failures. Communicate openly, tell the truth, refuse to hide anything from each other, and commit to making mutual decisions. Meet consistently to make sure you and your spouse both are fulfilling your agreed-upon assignments, agree on new action steps, and encourage each other.

Dare to dream. Think and pray about how you can use money as a tool to make your dreams come true. Discuss those dreams with your spouse, and listen as your spouse shares his or her dreams with you. Then create a plan to turn your individual and collective dreams into reality. Begin your plan by focusing on where you want to end up. Describe your dreams as precisely as possible. Piece together incremental goals to check your progress along the way. Periodically review your progress. Make adjustments if you get off course. Include some goals that will require extra effort but help you leap ahead. Be flexible and willing to replace old dreams with new ones if your passions and God’s leading change. Work with your spouse to keep each other accountable as you pursue dreams.

Establish and maintain a budget. Realize that a budget is crucial to have for your financial health. For one month, track every penny you and your spouse spend so you can make informed choices about future expenditures. Once you’ve identified your regular monthly expenses and other, less frequent expenses, determine the amount of net income you can spend per month. Then organize a budget around all the different categories of goods and services on which you spend money (housing, food, auto, insurance, child-care expenses, savings, charitable giving, etc.). Work together to live within your budget.

Discuss your future. Talk with your spouse about your plans and options for major future expenses, such as retirement, your children’s college education, and taking care of elderly parents.

Consider investment options. Discuss how you both would like your money to work for you, through investments such as real estate, annuities, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Consider what risks you do and don’t feel comfortable taking as a couple. Diversify by investing your money among a variety of investments to spread out the risks. Think about the time frame in which you want to realize the greatest return on each investment. Handle disappointing results in healthy ways without lashing out at each other, and enjoy success together when your assets grow.

Consider insurance. Ask yourselves what will happen to your family if either you or your spouse isn’t healthy, becomes disabled, need to be cared for on a long-term basis, or die before settling your financial commitments. Then purchase health, disability, long-term care, and life insurance to help provide for your family’s future needs.

Give. Realize that no matter how much or how little money you and your spouse have, God wants and expects you to give to further His work in your church, community, and the world. Make giving a high priority, and give cheerfully and generously as God leads you, remembering how you have been blessed. Communicate freely and often about how much and where to give, and discover mutual passions so you can give to causes about which you both feel strongly.

Gender Roles in Marriage: What it Means to Lead and Follow

Paul Coughlin
Author, Married But Not Engaged


Like a growing number of Americans, we're finally taking dance lessons. You could give both of us a drink with Sodium Pentothal in it and we still couldn't tell you why, after 15 years of talking about it, we finally bought those special shoes and threw pride to the wind. Perhaps we weren't ready to push aside our fear of public humiliation, which was actually kind of fun.

Though we still don't know what got us over the hump and onto the dance floor, we now possess a deeper insight into what it means to lead and support each other in our evolving marriage thanks to some stunning visual displays.

Tango is by far the most arresting dance we're learning. By arresting, we mean what other couples accomplish through unique roles, not what we are able to stumble through. These roles of men leading and women supporting, properly executed, give the impression that there are no roles at all. It's not obvious that anyone is leading or supporting. What you witness is the fruit of their abilities, which is delicious.

You witness two people mustering their talent, power, and sensuality to create a level of physical and emotional intimacy that cannot be created by an individual dancer. He steps forth and leads with intention; she supports his intention, enhancing their shared desire to create something grand. He leans into her, and she into him. Technically it's leadership. But practically, his behavior looks more like guidance, provision, and care with style.

Advanced tango dancers, as in advanced marriages, ad lib their way across the floor because there are no shoe prints outlined in white to follow. They move by the impulses of their hearts, by the room's physical borders, around others in their path, and by the direction of his firm hand and her receptive body. As in marriage, someone has to guide, or they will fall on one another. It would just be a matter of time before everyone on the dance floor fell into a heap of twisted ankles and angry words.

Her support and receptivity are not degrading. She glows with dignity. She honors him with donations of her trust. His lead is not stern or overbearing. He exudes reverence and, in doing so, cherishes her.

He does not fall into the sin of domination; she doesn't cower and become a passive accomplice to such ugliness. That would be heartbreaking to witness: He pushing her around the floor with a scowl on his face, and she retaliating with spiteful words and punitive glares. A creation with so much potential for beauty would become a foul display, another gender-war skirmish and hash mark on the wall of sexual disillusion. It would be like watching an anti-miracle of wine turned into stagnant pond water.

I sometimes stand on the edge of the floor and juxtapose the elegance and harmony of our instructors' display with how poorly we Christian men sometimes understand leadership in marriage. I've heard some crazy ideas as a Christian talk show host from callers regarding this pivotal issue. I've heard even crazier ideas from Christian men over dinner about their role as leader in their home. Substitute the word leader for fearful dictator, and you are closer to the real story.

One of these men, I'll call Bill, had a "biblical" answer for every problem in his marriage, much of which revolved around his wife's inability to "submit." Remarkable how his "biblical" answers helped create one of the messiest divorces I've ever seen.

I stand on the edge of this clean dance floor, water in hand, some sweat on my brow, and I wonder how they would fare. Not whether or not they could dance well because no one does at first, but could they treat each other well on this wide and somewhat slippery metaphor of life where the weakness of rigid roll play is easily exposed.

But Bill is not the dancing kind. Dominating men don't bring their wives to places where something blessedly unexpected might happen. Fear owns them, and fear does not suffer the company of freedom (and with it growth) well.

I also think that the marital insights gleaned from dancing would be lost on him. Such men are transmitters of self-serving information, not receivers of richer insights. As I would see two people creating something inspiring, he would focus on whether she were submitting to her man or not. Such men see what they want to see and in doing so, see hardly anything at all.

When a Christian husband leads well and a Christian wife actively and creatively supports his lead, you don't notice who's doing what because roll play is not the main point that lingers in your mind. What you notice is what kind of fluid and God-glorifying life they forge together. When done well, it's a powerful, graceful, and intimate creation of gender harmony that is uncommon and electrifying. It makes others want to know your secret of your engaged marriage because the blessings they witness are palpable.

DISCUSS: What are your thoughts on gender roles in marriage?

Psalm 104:16

The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted.

Lebanon's cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which He had Himself prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplieth them. Thus it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain. Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are God's trees, kept and preserved by Him, and by Him alone. It is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars which He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter's snows. Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only. The Lord, even the Lord alone hath been everything unto the cedars, and, therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, "Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars." In the believer there is nothing that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord's own hand, and to Him let all the glory be ascribed.

Soyinka Lauds Obasanjo Over NDDC

4th August

By Daniel Alabrah, Regional Editor, Niger Delta
Commendations came from an unlikely quarter on President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday with Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, describing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as one of the positive points of the Obasanjo administration.
Soyinka, a strident critic of the government, made the commendation in Port Harcourt when an advance team of the Nobel Laureates Commission visited the interventionist agency to exchange views and proffer solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta area.
"The NDDC has taken on an enormous burden on behalf of this beleaguered area (Niger Delta region). This organisation, created by the President, should be marked down as one of the positive points of this administration any time I want to criticise him," he said.
An advance team of the Nobel Laureates Commission, an independent international pressure group comprising the almost 200 living Nobel Laureates in the world, was in the region on a three-day visit, which ended on Wednesday after meeting with the Bayelsa and Rivers states governors, the NDDC management and select Niger Delta leaders.
The visit to the NDDC is to assist the Commission promote dialogue, peace, welfare and the well being of the people and communities in the region.
"We are trying to see what can be done to de-marginalise those who have been marginalised for so long," Soyinka said, according to a statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs, Aniete Usen.
Speaking also, the leader of the advance team and Executive Director of Elie Wiesel Foundation, Mr David Philips, explained that, "we are here to identify some of the key areas of concern in the Niger Delta and pave the way for a visit by a larger body of Nobel Laureates in future. We envision over the long term, a strategic partnership with the NDDC."
Under the impending accord, members of the Nobel Laureates Commission will wield their moral authority and deploy advocacy to garner support for the NDDC to develop the Niger Delta.
Responding to an inquiry by the team leader, the NDDC Executive Director (Projects), Beniah Ojum, explained that the agency’s projects are conceived and executed with the active participation of the beneficiary communities.
Similarly, the Managing Director, Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, described the Commission’s method of execution of projects as bottom-up approach. "We ensure that people of the communities where our projects are located are involved in our projects," he said.

Why We’re In N’Delta, By Nobel Laureates

1st August
By Odudu Okpongete (PH) and Emma Gbemudu (Yenagoa)

The Commission of Nobel Laureates to the Niger Delta, on Monday, explained its visit to the Niger Delta.
Nobel Laureate David Phillips said the commission considered the nation oil region as one of the three top areas of the world that deserve international attention and intervention.
Phillips is among the advanced team of the Commission, including Wole Soyinka that arrived the Port Harcourt International Airport on Monday on a preliminary visit to the area. He said the body would suggest solutions arrived at in areas that had similar problems.
The commission, however, ruled out any direct intervention in the political equation of the country in addressing the Niger Delta crises.
The Executive Director of Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity spoke just as militants in the region under the auspices of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) urged the body not to be apprehensive as it visits the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta.
Fielding questions from reporters, Phillips disclosed that Soyinka attracted their attention to the region. He added that a careful analysis of the situation on ground qualifies it as an area of grave concern to the world.
The commission, he said, has no affiliation with any of the parties such as the government, oil companies and host communities. It is only playing a neutral role to find solutions to the problems.
On the expectations from the body, Phillips said it is premature to assess the intervention in terms of whether it would succeed or fail. He promised they will open a channel of dialogue for all stakeholders to meet and agree on a common position.
Soyinka, who is not a member of the intervention team, said the commission has done a lot of researches on the Niger Delta. He promised that it would rely on its status and independence to play an unbiased role in the crises.
"The commission might succeed in the Niger Delta depending on the situation. It might be positive or it might get stalled as happened in Darfur. There are a lot more variants, so I agree that we cannot express optimism or pessimism at this point," he said.
The team later left for Bayelsa in the company of the Executive Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and human rights activists. They were expected to meet with interest groups.
But Bayelsa State Governor Goodluck Jonathan has blamed the 50-year injustice meted out to the region for its predicament.
He regretted that the people have been pushed to the wall, their sources of living, such as fishing and farming, have been terminated by pollution from multinational oil firms in the region. He spoke through his Deputy, Peremobowei Ebebi, at the meeting with the body.
"The people are still largely marginalised, with mass poverty, environmental degradation. The Niger Delta remains under threat with social tension. The situation is so bad due to the lack of political will on the path of the Federal Government," he said.
In his submission, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) President, Kimse Okoko, said the problem of the region started during the colonial administration.
He said the Ijaw nation remains the most disenfranchised in the region, as it has been balkanised into six states.
The INC president stated that the Ijaw produce 70 per cent of the oil resources but the area is riddled with poverty.
"What happens when the oil is gone? The answer is Oloibiri. What happens if there is no Nigeria? I have seen the evil plot of Federal Government on the proposed Interim National Government. We want to own and control our resources," he said.
In his view, Prof. Pat Utomi, said the challenge of the region is to create jobs. He said millions of dollars has been allocated to commissions to develop Niger Delta without positive result.

ARE YOUR PRAYERS WORKING?

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah
was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not
rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced
its crops." James 5:16-18

How would you rate your prayer life today? Are you praying more compared to last month, or even last year? Do you understand about the power of prayer more now than you did a year ago? Are you receiving more answers to your prayers now? I hope you are. Your Heavenly Father loves you and wants the best for you. Think about the prayers of Elijah who was a ordinary man just like you. May I ask you a personal question that needs a honest answer? Are your prayers working in your own personal life and for others that you pray for regularly?

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then
will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal
their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the
prayers offered in this place." 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

As I have studied about prayer, I have learned that there are requirements or conditions to receiving answers to our prayers and there are also hindrances that will block our prayers.

Let me share some conditions that you and I need to havein receiving answers to our prayers.

In James Chapter 5, one of the conditions to receiving an answer to prayers was that they were from a righteous man. What is a righteous man? Righteous means: "without guilt before God." Let me use another example or phrase, "right standing with the Lord." You know in your heart that there is nothing blocking or hindering your prayers.

Your Heavenly Father knows your heart. He knows your intentions and the sins that you think you are hiding, but if you are sincere, repenting when you do a wrong and growing in the Lord, trying not to repeat them again, your Lord is considering you in right-standing or a righteous man or woman. You do not have to be perfect. I fear that you may feel as if your many of your prayers are hitting the ceiling and bouncing off, with your prayers are not going anywhere. I have learned and studied for many years about prayer more than any other subject. Why? Because I know that our Lord created us to have a personal relationship with us daily by communicating with Him by prayer. Remember to use Jesus as your example.

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16

Years ago, I thought praying was optional in my life. I found out very suddenly that was the farthest truth in my life. That was one of the devil's lies to deceive me. I did not understand the power of prayers until after our divorce. I did not know or believe that the Holy Spirit could speak to my heart and I would be able to hear His soft voice to know His will and way in my life. Can you relate?

May you and I never forget the tricks and schemes of the nemy, Satan. He deceptively lurks around masked as an angel of light, causing Christians to be not be alert and fall into the trap of: Indifference, Passivity or Prayerlessness. May I take you back to 2 Chronicles 7 which tells us that we must humble ourselves before God. That means we must recognize our failures, show sorrow for our sins and make a commitment to doing God's will in our lives which will be the best for us. Do you believe that yet?

In this scripture, it shows us that if we want God to intervene in our lives, that we must pray, crying out desperately to Him seeking His mercy, depending and trusting in Him for His divine intervention in our lives of circumstances. The scripture shows us that we must "seek His face" turning our lives (our whole heart), surrendering everything to our Lord's will and way. Then God stresses that we must "turn from our wicked ways." When we confess and repent turning from our sinful lifestyle, we are drawing near to our Lord God to receive His grace, mercy, forgiveness and cleansing.

When these conditions are met then God's says He begins to hear and answer prayers from Heaven. God will forgive His people, cleansing them from their sins, restoring His presence, peace, truth and power among them. Then our Lord God will heal His people and their land (marriage) giving us physical favor and blessings. What a promise.

I pray that you will examine your heart and see if you have been harboring sin in your life such as anger, jealousy, or unforgiveness regarding your spouse and marriage problems. Often, our prayers are not being answered due to the condition of our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

I remind you of David who had committed murder and adultery. Please read Psalm 51 today as David prayed a very powerful prayer that would be wise for each of us to pray, as well as pray, that your spouse will pray this same prayer in the days to come. Are your prayers being answered? I believe the majority are saying right now, "Yes, my Lord God is faithful." If not, may you seek your Lord today and turn to Psalm 51 and pray as David did, asking the Lord to cleanse you from your sins and give you a pure heart. Then your prayers will be answered.

Honing Your Communication Skills

Dr. Neil Clark Warren

Quality of life. We all strive for it. We plan for it. After 35 years of seeing patients as a psychologist, I have decided that there is one central factor that is germane to your quality of life. With it, doors will open, people will feel connected to you, relationships will flourish, and life will have more meaning. Without it, you become more isolated, less happy and influential.

Your ability to communicate is the key to your quality of life.

In part one of this series we examined the four traits are needed to be a great communicator. They are:

1. You need to be able to access you innermost thoughts and feelings.

2. You need to be able to identify and verbalize these thoughts and feelings.

3. You have to be able to accurately understand what another person is saying.

4. You need to be able to make conversations as personal as possible.

Now I'm going to give you a concrete plan for realizing these traits.

I want you to simply have one hour a day that you give to becoming a first-class communicator. One hour a day for 70 days. Are you willing to do that? If you're willing to do this, then here are some ideas about how you can accomplish some things that will make you a great communicator.

1. Go out today and buy yourself a journal. Right now. It needs to have a lot of pages in it. I carry a journal around with me all the time. I have one right now. It has about three, four hundred pages in it, and I want you to buy a journal like that.

I want you to spend 20 minutes each day, exactly 20 minutes, writing in that journal about whatever it is you're thinking and feeling at the time. Don't take your pencil or your pen off the page. Just write for 20 minutes. I don't want you spending longer than that; just 20 minutes to think on the page about what you're feeling and thinking at any given point in the process.

2. Sign up with the very best person you can find for 10 sessions of counseling. This doesn't have to be expensive, it certainly doesn't need to be a psychiatrist or even a psychologist. It can be a marriage counselor. It can be the minister of your church. I want you to sign up for exactly 10 one-hour sessions.

3. Find yourself three partners with whom you can talk for one hour each week for 10 weeks. If they say, "What do you want to talk about?" Tell them, "I'm trying to become a better communicator and I want to talk about anything you want to talk about or I want to talk about or we want to talk about. I just want to talk to you for an hour a week in an effort to build my own communication skills."

I want each of these meetings to be built on what I call the Rogerian format. You talk for 30 or 60 seconds, or they do, it doesn't matter who starts, and then the other person puts into their own words what they have heard the opposite person say. They labor at getting it right until the person who made the original comment says, that's right. That's it. You understand. And then the person who labored at understanding gets to speak for 30 or 60 or 90 seconds. Keep these comments relatively short. After which, the other person labors to fully understand.

What we know about great communication is that both people will feel deeply heard and understood and so we want to build that kind of format in which you begin to really understand another person. Now, what I have to tell you is that sometimes in these one-hour talks, more time is spent trying to understand what the person has said than in actually saying new things. Stay at it.

Once these meetings are over consider the results in your journal. Did you do a pretty good job at understanding what they said? Are you getting better at understanding the deep thoughts and feelings that another person projects? How did it feel when the other person accurately understood you, and how did it feel when they didn't accurately understand you?

4. At the end of 10 weeks, write a final report in your journal. I want you to assess where you think you have made progress and where you still need to work. I want you to ask yourself, "What do I still need to do to become a great communicator?" I want you to commit yourself to doing exactly what I've said in the next 10 weeks.

If you will make this effort for 70 days, I guarantee you will be a far better communicator. If you're a far better communicator, I guarantee every relationship you have will be a better relationship for you and if you're searching out the love of your life right now, let me encourage you. Get to be a better communicator and you will become maximally attractive to that other person. There is no other quality in a romantic relationship that so binds you together as the quality of good communication. You get to be good at communication and your relationships on the romantic level will become so much better. I promise.

Four Steps to Peace in a World Out of Control

Tony Beam


The fighting rages on in the Middle East. Violence is escalating in Iraq and Afghanistan. It sometimes seems as if every demon of hell has suddenly and furiously been released from the abyss to wreak havoc on an unprepared and unsuspecting world.

In addition to the hostilities brewing in the traditional world hot spots, our personal lives seem to lack true peace. We get up every morning and we face whatever the day throws at us with as much courage as we can muster, but at the end of the day it always seems like we have more day than courage. Peace is longed for, sought after, and clamored for, but rarely is it ever achieved.

Why? I mean, after all, didn't the Prince of Peace promise He would leave His peace behind? The problem with the modern-day peace seeker is he misses the message of the ancient peace speaker. Peace is not the lack of conflict in the physical world. It is the presence of God dwelling in the heart of His people.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, the Apostle Paul captured the true meaning of the peace Jesus promised we would experience. "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7).

Cognitive theory speaks of the relationship between activating events (things which occur that have an impact on our emotional health), beliefs (the values we hold which allow us to deal with the activating events), and consequences (the result of activating events).

Where most of us lose our peace is between the activating event and the consequences. If we want to head down the path of peace, we have to change the way we think about the circumstances that arise from activating events. That is where our beliefs come into the picture. Activating events are not the cause of our emotional pain. Our pain comes from what we tell ourselves about the event.

God's word teaches that you win victories in your brain, cutting off the lies the enemy tries to tell you about your circumstances and replacing those lies with the truth. I believe Paul gives us four steps to peace in Philippians 4:6-9.

The first step is to pray. Thankful prayer brings release from fear and worry because it affirms God's sovereign control over every circumstance that is generated by an activating event. Paul says we should be "anxious for nothing," but rather we should "pray about everything." Unfortunately, too many believers reverse this process being anxious for everything and praying for nothing.


The second step is found in verses 6 and 7. Paul says "the peace of God... will guard our hearts and minds" when we pray "with thanksgiving." Satan cannot win a victory over our minds if our minds are fixed with thanksgiving on the blessings and the promises of God. For example, think about the last time you entered a worship service weighed down by circumstances that flow out of an activating event. If you entered into a genuine state of worship with your focus on God, your thinking about your circumstances was transformed.


Step three is the command to "think on these things," which means we need to strive for pure thinking. The things we are to think on are those things which are true, honorable, just, pure, commendable, and moral. The key word is the word 'dwell,' which is the English form of the Greek word logizomai. It means to habitually and consistently practice the art of pure thinking. There are literally millions of thoughts which vie for domination of the mind. We must become gatekeepers, choosing which thoughts we will dwell on and which ones we will reject.


Finally, verse 9 tells us we have to put into practice what we know to be true. Think of it this way... if I couldn't swim but I watched a video about swimming, and then, without actually practicing any of the techniques I saw on the tape, I jumped into the deep end of the pool, I shouldn't be surprised if someone has to throw me a lifeline to keep me from drowning. Most believers have heard hundreds - perhaps thousands - of sermons, but for any truth to take hold we must put that truth into practice. There are many things we have heard, seen modeled, and received from the lives of others, but these things will not bring the peace that passes understanding for us until they become our habit.
Let me encourage you today to pray, praise, focus on pure thinking, and discipline yourself to practice what you know to be true. The world will still rage with conflict but you will find the peace of God will guard your heart, guide your thinking, and bring comfort to your soul.

Should the Church Steer Clear of Politics?

Matt Friedeman

There has been quite a bit of conversation recently about a New York Times article concerning the Rev. Gregory Boyd who, in a series of sermons titled "The Cross and the Sword," advised his mega-church congregation to "steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a 'Christian nation' and stop glorifying American military campaigns."

"When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses," Mr. Boyd preached, according to the Times. "When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross."

Boyd's message contains some food for thought. Even so, 1,000 of his 5,000 members in Maplewood, Minnesota, took a walk. He has raised even more eyebrows with his new book, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, based on some of his messages.

The Church must become very wary of power plays because power, as Lord Acton has reminded, has a corrupting influence. But, in truth, so does powerlessness insomuch that it can make us complacent. And that complacency, on all issues of import, is dangerous to the Church as well.

The "emerging church" movement promotes a term we could learn from -- sacralization. It is, in the words of authors Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger (Emerging Churches), "the process of making all of life sacred" and "represents the interaction of kingdom and culture." Christians should indeed have the goal of making all of life His, and that would include the issues facing contemporary culture and political solutions.

The problem occurs when people start equating the acts of voting, writing to congressmen, and saying "Amen" to the anti-homosexuality sermon to the epitome of Christian living. "Sacralization" demands that a whole life be laid upon God's altar and that a life of political involvement and hard-edged holy pronunciation be accompanied by hands-on compassion on the front lines and in the desperate places of a community.

David Augsburger's volume Dissident Discipleship contains an insight relevant to this discussion. He offers the German "gelassenheit." Not an easy word to translate, it has over 15 acceptable definitions. In medieval devotion, according to Augsburger, this word for self-surrender was invariably passive. But in the Radical Reformation of Anabaptism it came to mean both "passive yieldedness and active unyieldedness." Passive yieldedness as in self-surrender demonstrated by the spirit of Jesus: "yet not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Mt. 26:39). Active unyieldedness as in radical obedience demonstrated by our Lord when He said, for instance, "Enough! ... Up, let us go forward!" (Mark 14:41-42)

The evangelical life is one of both self-surrender and radical, hands-on, demonstrated obedience. To give up participation in politics is simply unacceptable for the Church. So is a Church that becomes absorbed by politicians and political viewpoints. Let us embrace "sacralization" and "gelassenheit," immersed in the humble pursuit of biblical truth and a life of prayer.

Not Comfort only, but Character mainly....

For reading & meditation - Job 2:1-10
"... Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (v. 10)

We come today to one of the most difficult principles to understand in relation to suffering - but it must be grasped nevertheless. It is this - accept suffering as a gift from God. This principle flows out of today's verse - a verse which one commentator describes as "the most profound verse in the Bible." It is obvious from reading this passage that Job's God is not a celestial Being who sits on the parapets of heaven, dropping nice little gifts into the laps of His children, at the same time saying, "There, that will make you happy; that will surely please you." There is much more to God than that. The God of the Bible dispenses the things that bring most glory to His Name. If, in achieving glory, He sees that suffering is the best means to that end, then that is what He will give. So mark this well - God is not under an obligation to make you comfortable. Can you see the truth that is contained in the words of our text today? "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (NASB). You are ready to accept good, but are you just as ready to accept adversity? You see, God's goal is not our comfort, but our character. That is why it is wrong to tell a non- Christian, "Trust God, and your troubles will all be over." It's unfair, dishonest, and downright unbiblical. In fact, becoming a Christian may mean that you will have more troubles than before. And why? Because character is formed in the furnace of affliction - no suffering, no character.
Prayer:

Father, if ever I needed Your help I need it now. It's easy for me to accept good from Your hand; help me also to accept adversity. Etch these words, not merely into my mind, but into my spirit. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

'Airlines terror plot' disrupted

All airports have been put under the restrictions
Reid statement
A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.

Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for.

High security is causing delays at all UK airports.

The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.

Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".

Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted.

Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".

He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent".


We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson
Police statement

Prime Minister Tony Blair, on holiday in the Caribbean, paid tribute to the the police and the security services.

He said they had tracked the situation for a "long period of time" and had "been involved in an extraordinary amount of hard work."

"I thank them for the great job they are doing in protecting our country.

"There has been an enormous amount of co-operation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it," he said in a statement.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.

He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".

"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said.

Airport 'crammed'

Meanwhile, at Heathrow Airport incoming short-haul flights have resumed, but long-haul services are seriously delayed. Several outbound services have been cancelled.

The airport is crammed with thousands of passengers, while at Stansted more than 2,000 people are queuing to pass through customs.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said the alleged plotters had intended "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".


HAVE YOUR SAY
This disruption is one of the short term limits on freedom that are needed
Tony Shield, Chorley


"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and to commit, quite frankly, mass murder," he said.

"We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight. We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America."

Police had spoken to a "good number of community leaders to make them aware that a major operation was under way," he added.

Head of the Met's anti-terrorist branch Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said the investigation had had "global dimensions" and had seen an "unprecedented level" of surveillance.

The decision to take action had been taken on Wednesday night, he added.

According to BBC sources the "principal characters" suspected of being involved in the plot were British-born. There are also understood to be links to Pakistan.


BBC home affairs correspondent Andy Tighe said police sources had told him they had found "interesting items" which were being examined.

In other major developments:



Houses in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, are evacuated by police

US air marshals are being sent to the UK to provide extra air security

The US Department of Homeland Security increased the threat level applied to US-bound commercial flights originating in the UK to "red" - the first time it has done this for flights coming in from another country

The Home Office confirmed there had been meetings overnight and on Thursday morning of the Cabinet's emergency committee, Cobra, chaired by Home Secretary John Reid, to discuss the terror alert

A spokesman for Number 10 said Tony Blair had briefed US President George Bush on the situation during the night

BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said despite the arrests the threat level had been raised "in case there is some other sub-plot, back-up plot around this that the police aren't aware of".


Total: 21 people arrested
London: 'Majority' of arrests - exact locations not known
Birmingham: Two arrests
High Wycombe: At least one arrest

The Department for Transport set out the details of the security measures at UK airports.


Passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.

Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.

"We hope that these measures, which are being kept under review by the government, will need to be in place for a limited period only," the statement said.