Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Church Sign

It is wise to follow the One who knows the way.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sunday's Message for 10/24/10 - The Righteous Will Prevail

The first reading from the Old Testament is from (Sirach 35:12-14,16-18)
God doesn't play favorites, but He knows our hearts, and hears the prayers of those who love and humbly respect Him....and His judgement. 

The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet He hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.

The second reading is from a letter from St. Paul to Timothy  (2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18)
Against all odds, trust that the righteous, and their mission will prevail.

Beloved:
I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for His appearance.
At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom.
To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The gospel according to (Luke 18:9-14)
Which is more righteous...pride or humility?

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Translating political speak - Is the War On Terror the main cause of our debt?

DOES OUR NATIONAL DEBT AFFECT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY?

Sure, and the Republicans were in charge when that devastating day of  Sept. 11th happened. However, this was not the first time our country's people and interests around the world had been attacked by radical Islamic jihadists (is that specific enough?).  We all know there are some moderate Muslims. 

When Pres. Clinton was serving back in the '90's, he had a weak response in dealing with this threat when Al Qaeda bombed the World Trade Center for the first time in '93, not to mention the other U.S. embassy bombings around the world, and the U.S.S. Cole attack in Yemen, just to name a few. So Pres. Bush ended up going on offense after 9/11 with the subsequent war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, by taking the fight to them. Debate will continue as to whether or not this policy was a good idea or not.  Time will tell. 

No doubt, this has been a huge cost in blood and treasure, but those servicemen and women who did pay the ultimate price for protecting us, need not to have died in vain.  How can you put a price tag on our own national security?  Taking the fight to them on their turf, routing out the bad guys and advancing freedom around the world, comes at a huge cost.  Many believe it is a necessary expense, for our own safety and security.  Some have a different opinion on this and have said our presence over there just increases Muslim anger towards us and helps them recruit even more radicals.  However, others believe a "cut and run" strategy, or giving them a timetable for our departure makes us look weak.  We've invested this much so far, so why not plan to finish the job?  If we call it quits, will that improve our safety?  Will it change our image?  Will the rest of the world, and even the radical's opinion of us improve once we leave?  Don't we have to make them realize their murderous actions against us will not stand?  Our cause is righteous.  Taking out the radical leadership, all while winning over the hearts and minds of the good people who want peace, will and should prevail.

As we all know, this mission comes at a price.  Our struggling economy and our ever increasing national debt is affecting this effort. Even Hillary, as Secretary of State, has said we are so indebted to the Chinese and other nations, it is interfering with our government's national security and affecting the tools we use to negotiate with other nations. We are at the mercy of those we are indebted to. This is not a good position to be in!  All the more reason that we need to get our debt under control, before it controls us!  The clock is ticking.  Tough choices and sacrifices will have to be made.  Are you ready?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Translating political speak - Who actually ran our economy into the ditch?

WHICH POLITICAL PARTY WAS ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR RUNNIG OUR ECONOMY  INTO THE DITCH?

Most of us realize it was the rise in gas prices back in '07-'08 that put a great strain on many American's household budgets.  Then, foreclosures started piling up and the housing bubble burst.  It's been documented that it was Pres. Bush and other Republicans in Congress who raised the red flag and warned of the looming housing bubble that was about to happen. Yet it was the Dems who denied there was a problem (Barney Frank and Chris Dodd), and voted down any attempts to prevent it. They probably thought it was just the GOP's attempt to ruin or discredit one of their wonderful and benevolent programs, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).  They needed to protect those at Fannie and Freddie too. 

There's still disagreement on who caused that housing bubble in the first place. It depends on which side of the aisle you're on. The GOP blamed the Dems which promoted the loosening of the bank's lending standards with the passing of the CRA.  Regular folks also got carried away with the easy credit that was available to them at that time too.  Buying second homes, flipping homes, and using up every bit of equity they had, was partly to blame also. 

The Dems blamed Wall St., who bought those mortgages and sold them worldwide as investments. But, how did Wall St. end up with a bunch of "toxic assets" in the first place? Was it like a game of Hot Potato for them, where they had to pass off those investment instruments of "bundled" bad assets mixed in with some good ones, to the next person (or group)? Unfortunately, they reacted in an unfavorable manner by trying to make lemonade out of lemons, (or making the most out of a bad situation). But wasn't it all due to the coercive government mandates on the mortgage bankers with the CRA (ala Clinton) in the first place?  Those government mandates for easy credit interfered with the private mortgage lending market.  So, who started driving our economy into the ditch?  Was it the ones who came up with these unrealistic government policies that ended up having a devastating "trickle down" effect, which ended up being felt not just here, but around the world too? You make the call on that one!

Recently Pres. Clinton has been bragging about how he left office with a budget surplus, but it was not because of his fiscal responsibility! However, he did actually moderate and move to the center after the Republicans eventually won back the majority and took control of Congress during his tenure. It was thanks to that Republican majority.  They are the ones who gave Clinton that budget surplus bragging right, but you may notice, he won't give the GOP credit for it.


Hopefully, the GOP will gain the majority in Congress this time around. They will be the ones who will once again have to make the hard choices (and get the blame from the left for the cuts that will have to be made) in order to get our fiscal house back in order, after the largest expansion of government has taken place since Obama took office. The truly scary part is, they are predicting Obama will not moderate and move to the center, like Clinton did, once the Republicans get the Congress back. But the GOP will have to play the role of the strict, "just say NO" common sense parents who will have to deal with the Dems, who are like a group of teenagers who wanted it all, but now have maxed out their credit cards, and don't have the money to pay for it, or don't even know how to "earn" it (see tax revenue history post)!

We must find the proper balance of when, and when not, it is necessary for government to get involved with the private sector. Their regulating can either help, hinder or even wreak havoc with our economy. Smart, common sense people are needed in government to make these important decisions, because it can have either a wonderful or a devastating effect on all of us....and yes, even the whole world.

Be ready to continue to make some sacrifices.  It needs to be done, but in the end, we should be better off for it in the long run.  And take the credit card away from those Democrats, before their own fiscal policies drive us into the ditch again!

Translating political speak - Taxing the Rich

TAXES - DO THEY HELP OR HURT JOB CREATION?
WILL THEY INCREASE OR REDUCE THE DEFICIT?

The Dems are banking on the idea that raising taxes on the top 2% will produce "X" amount of dollars of revenue for the government.  I don't know how they come up with these "fuzzy math" numbers.  Taxes are based on profit margins/income.  But how can they predict what a company's profit will be, especially in these questionable times?  That's why I call it fuzzy math.  It's similar to the numbers the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) used in the healthcare debate.  They are only predictions, about as reliable as a weatherman's predictions! 

Well here's a history lesson which has proven that overly burdensome taxation on the so-called "rich" has quite the opposite effect on government revenue. The paradox is....that increasing taxation on businesses has decreased expected revenues for the government. Even a Democrat, New York's Governor Patterson, admitted this happened in his own state when they raised taxes on businesses there. It forced many businesses to leave and relocate to more business-friendly states...and yes, unfortunately, some even moved their operations overseas, in order to remain viable. Also, unrealistic demands from labor unions have been known to sometimes force businesses to make cut backs, such as reducing their workforce (lay-offs or firings), using non-union workers or outsourcing jobs. We don't want that, right? The workers demands are pricing themselves right out of a job!

So, history has proven several times over in the past that increasing taxes on businesses equals less revenue for the Federal government. Instead, wouldn't it be better to lessen their tax burden, to where government revenues, over time, will actually increase!

This is known as the Laffer curve, named for Dr. Arthur Laffer, economist and professor who advised Pres. Ford and Reagan. Business owners, who are the ones taking the risks, that were able to keep more of their profits, more often than not, used it to reinvest in their companies, using it to expand, thus hiring and producing more.  Everyone benefitted from that "trickle down effect".  The Dems may characterize this as going back to the old way of doing things.  Sometimes, getting back to the basics, which have been proven to have worked in the past, is not such a bad thing, is it?!  Learn from history!

Translating political speak - "Transforming America"

Pres. Obama said during his 2008 presidential campaign that "we live in the greatest country in the world....now, help me transform it".  Hope And Change! Yes We Can!

WHAT DOES "TRANSFORMING AMERICA" REALLY MEAN?

The transformation we've seen over the last couple of years involved the rare steps that were taken in the form of government intervention in order to save our economy, which included monetary bailouts of private companies, and stimulus money used in an attempt to save or create jobs, and jump start the economy. Included in with all of this was the largest expansion of, and/or creation of more new government regulations and programs, such as healthcare reform.

Liberal/progressives see all this as a good thing. But these moves are also seen by many others, as a government take over of the banking, auto and healthcare industries. These are major changes to our country, and are quite opposite of how capitalism is supposed to work. Letting companies be allowed to either succeed or fail, weeds out the bad and allows the best to survive. The market is allowed to self-adjust, even bottom out as needed in order to reset itself. Capitalism is NOT a one size fits all, equally distributive "social justice" notion, where your personal investment of time, expense, experience and effort doesn't matter. It does! It fosters the best and brightest of ideas and innovation that are successful....and the fittest survive. Capitalism is a "game" of winners and losers. Even if you're one of the losers, you still have the chance to try again. This is unlike Marxist/socialism. That is the type of "game" that provides everyone with a trophy, no matter if, or how they performed. Sooner or later, however, they will eventually run out of trophies to give out, because there are no wealth producers left in the game anymore to pay for all those trophies. Capitalism, may seem unfair to some, but there's no dispute that this economic system has provided so many individuals the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty....or even the middle class!

The passage of healthcare reform will impact 1/6th of our nation's economy. Also, claims were made that more departments would be needed to service and enforce these new programs. The proponents of this plan claim it would be "deficit neutral" because paying for these costly programs would be accomplished by bleeding the taxpayers dry, taking it mainly from those "rich fat cats". They've not been shy about stating their distaste for them. But isn't this what makes America exceptional? That is, that an average person, given the right circumstances and effort, can have the ability to reach true wealth and prosperity here. Liberals and progressives seem to want to punish those that have become successful in reaching those dreams. They incite class warfare and envy. We were warned back in 2008 of their "Spread the wealth around" mentality. Not all of us listened, or seemed to care about what this "transformational change" really meant. "Yes We Can" take from the successful risk takers, and give it to the less fortunate. Sounds noble, but isn't that what charities are for? No, they want the government to mandate burdensome taxation on the achievers, in order to create more costly government entitlement programs. Thus, their well-deserved nickname "Tax and Spend" Democrats.

They also claim they want to improve the economy and create jobs, but wouldn't their ideology actually hurt the true job creators? Doesn't their government "help" just result in more people becoming dependent on the government? Isn't being self-reliant and having the ability to provide for yourself and your family, give you more control and satisfaction? Many do not want to be "transformed" into a country that is dependent on government hand outs AND bureaucrats who have control over how it's spread around. Some will argue, people are happy with their Social Security and Medicare benefits. The difference is, these people paid into these programs with their own hard-earned money. It was not given to them, at the expense of others.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sunday Message for 10/17/10 - Keep God On Your Side

The first reading from the Old Testament (Exodus 17:8-13)
Praying to God with a little help from your friends!

In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel.  Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."
So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.
As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight.
Moses’hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

The second reading is from the New Testament (2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:2)
Our Christian mission is to spread the Good News, using the power of the Word!

Beloved:

Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

The gospel from (Luke 18:1-8)
Pray frequently, because as the old (non-Biblical) saying goes "The squeaky wheel gets the grease!"

Jesus told His disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.  And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'"
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.  Will not God then secure the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night? Will He be slow to answer them? I tell you, He will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Endangered Species

Fact - A landowner in the lower 48 states can receive from one to five years in jail and/or a $20,000 to $100,000 fine for harming a single American bald eagle, any of it's eggs, or even altering it's habitat.

But are the ones who would send you to jail for destroying the eagle's egg, the same ones who ironically say the destruction of the human fetus is just fine and within your legal rights?

Shouldn't the human "egg" have legal rights and protection also, just like the eagle and it's eggs? To take away a human's choice to live, but protect and save the eagle's life is hypocritical, isn't it?

Many will argue, saying you can't compare the two because the human race is not an endanged species....
or is it? Have we become so hardened as to not give any value to human life, especially in it's earliest and most vulnerable stages?

God never promised us a rose garden. He knows we will be faced with difficult times in our life. But He did promise to give us strength to get through these trials and tribulations....and we will be the stronger for it.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sunday's Message for 10/10/10 - Say Thank You to God!

1st reading is from 2 Kings 5:14-17
Naaman was healed of his leprosy through the help of a man of God named Elisha.  In thanks, he wanted to acknowledge God by giving Naaman a gift. 
Naaman refused saying "As the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not take it," and despite Naaman's insistence, he still refused.
Naaman said, "If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule loads of earth, for I will no longer offer sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord."

2nd reading is from 2 Timothy 2:8-13
St. Paul, while he was in jail, wrote a letter to Timothy, urging him to press on despite the difficulties.  Preaching the Good News was risky business and you could be persecuted for it.  Yet the Word has survived for more than 2,000 years, thanks to the early Christians who took those chances to spread it.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal.  But the Word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.  
This saying is trustworthy:  If we have died with Him we shall also live with Him;  If we persevere we shall also reign with Him.  But if we deny Him, He will deny us.  If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 

The gospel reading is from Luke 17:11-19 
Jesus performed many miracles during His ministry here on earth.  This story tells us about the 10 lepers who were cured, yet only one thanked Him.
As Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem, He traveled through Samaria and Galilee.  As He was entering a village, ten lepers met Him.  They stood at a distance from Him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" 
And when He saw them, He said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."  As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice: and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him.  He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not?  Where are the other nine?  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." 

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Church Sign

What you go after here, determines your hereafter

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Are you holding a grudge?

I do not claim to have a degree in psychology, only that I feel I have lived long enough to be an experienced observer of humans and their relationships. With the fall and winter holidays fast approaching, there is one worrisome thing that really troubles me....that is, how many people are out there who are choosing to estrange themselves from a certain family member or a friend, because they're clinging on to a long held grudge? This, unfortunately, is not an uncommon phenomenon. I am sorry to say that I believe many people can identify with this. Sometimes these splits are partly due to misunderstandings. If someone has chosen to cut off contact with another person and they aren't willing to talk with one another over the reason why, they deprive themselves of being able to air their grievances, and thus never get anything resolved. Maybe a mediation has been tried, but ended without any positive results because tempers flared, and neither side ended up being heard. Sadly, it might have been made even worse, because more hurtful things were said.

It may be that people haven't learned to fight fairly. Using the word "fight" is not the preferred word to use, so instead I could say that you can increase your chances of making yourself heard during a disagreement, and having your points better taken, if you learn to debate and negotiate in a calm and fair way. Some may feel they have a righteous reason to be upset with the other person, but if you let your anger get the best of you and start name calling, assigning blame, or use potentially unfair or exaggerated accusations, and/or belittle the other, it is not a good way to patch things up. It just puts them on the defensive and makes them dig their heels in even more.

But sometimes, the split is not just a misunderstanding. Some may feel the split was necessary because the words or deeds that caused injury were done intentionally. We may not ever want to excuse or forget what that person said or did to us in the past....and I'm not saying excusing it or forgetting it is necessary.  It depends on what the offense was, but does the chosen punishment fit the crime? 

However, you may decide to break the deadlock (end the grudge) because you feel this relationship may be worth salvaging.  You could choose to do this for several different reasons.  It could be either for your own sake or for both of yours, but at least realize that it just might also be welcome news  for the rest of the other people around you who may have been affected by the uncomfortable situation that your dispute caused.  If you can "bury the hatchet" with each other, it can make planning for family and/or friendly gatherings a whole lot easier for everyone. We should be able to deal with the problem in our own minds first, and then decide if there's a need to resolve it, even if it's just for the sake of your friend's or family's unity and harmony.

On the other hand, we may resist the idea of making up, opting to not deal with it at all. You may still have no interest in salvaging the troubled relationship, and choose to continue to avoid any contact with them. You could rationalize it as being a self-preservation measure. You may be saying, "Who needs the aggravation? Why put myself through it?"  That's one way of dealing with it. But once again, you also have to realize how this decision can affect your other relationships, especially with other family members. In this case, we're all connected, whether we like it or not!  Some may agree with you, some may not, but it is ultimately up to the ones initially involved to decide if they want to resolve it or keep holding onto that grudge.  

If you eventually decide it is better to get these grudges resolved, not just for yourself, but for the sake of family and/or friends, one way to do this (and it's not always easy) is to forgive those who offended and hurt you. "What?!"  Well, yes. What I've learned is that it's one of the only ways people are able to free themselves from the ongoing anger and spitefulness they're holding onto. If it helps, try to think of forgiveness as the self-preservation measure for yourself! Yes, you could even consider it as being a selfish way for you to get yourself back into a better state of mind. You're not just doing it for their benefit, you're doing it for yourself! The hardest thing to overcome is that people convince themselves that if they forgive their offender, then they actually think they're doing them a favor, by granting them this. This is normally the last thing you want to do when you're mad at someone! But instead, the opposite can be true. Think of it this way....You don't have to excuse or forget their bad behavior....but by forgiving them, you're helping yourself to enter into a better frame of mind. There's no need for you to continue to drag yourself down by holding on to grudges.  It's a waste of time and energy to be filled with animosity and bitterness. Looking at it in a vain way, holding on to that negative energy, which is held inwardly, is not good for your health, and it's not very becoming in how you project yourself outwardly....and it can age you! If you choose to hang onto the grudge, know that it can wear on you.  Don't continue to be the victim, even though you may believe you are deserving of this title, because you were the injured party.  Instead, free yourself by letting go of this role and become a better person for it!  You have overcome it!  On the other hand, if you are perceived to be the oppressor or offender, free yourself from the hidden guilt you may be secretly harboring because of pride.  Admit your mistakes, forgive yourself, even if you can't receive forgiveness from the injured party, and resolve to make amends and do better in the future.

As bad as anything is though, I have to hope that eventually we can all be willing to patch things up somehow, but you have to have the desire to put in the time and effort to get it done. It takes courage to take the first step.  Be hopeful that it might possibly have a positive outcome. It's well worth it, if you find out both of you are willing to forgive each other.  If you do get rejected, know that the world will not come to an end.  What matters is that you swollowed your pride, and made an attempt to make things right again.  People will take notice and presumably in most cases, they will appreciate that you put forth the effort. 

Another tough thing to do is to be able to accept people as they are. Those offensive people you're mad at may never change their ways.  Understand that we can't control them, or expect to force a change in them for the better, even though it would be great if that happened. Actually, the one exception is that parents should have some control over their young children. Teach and admonish them, in order to encourage better behavior. Demand respect from them. But when you're dealing with adults or grown children, that's another story. It's never too late for adults to learn to change their ways, but they have to be willing to make that change themselves. We can try to influence it, but we can't control what the result will be with the grown ups. In the end, we can only control how we behave and react towards them.

You must know, however, I'm not encouraging anyone to repair a relationship that was ever threatening or caused anyone to be in harm's way. I'm talking about grudges that are held onto because of perceived slights or being on the receiving end of hurtful words or mean spirited deeds.  This turmoil may have also caused tension within your own extended family or circle of friends.

Of course, if you're treated wrongly, you're mainly thinking of your own hurt feelings, and it's only natural to hold some resentment towards the offensive one. But at the risk of sounding repetitive, I'd also like to repeat how important it is to realize how your actions and reactions towards your perceived offender can affect others....not only directly, but indirectly with people who were never involved in the original incident in the first place. An example of this is dragging other people into it and expecting them to show their loyalty to you by taking sides. Not good! Why? Here's an example. If you break a law, and subsequently are arrested and brought to trial, your claims are heard by a jury of your peers. But in personal disputes between two people, their family and/or friends should not be put in a position to become your judge and jury. We're not usually objective anyway! The best case scenario would be that the two of you should attempt to work it out and resolve it among yourselves. Jesus tells the story of a man who tried to draw Him into a personal family dispute, one that he was having with his brother. He asked Jesus to decide in his favor and tell his brother of this decision. Jesus said, "My friend, who appointed Me the judge or arbitrator of your claims between the two of you?" (Luke 12:14)

As I've said, the preferred method is that personal disputes can, and should, be resolved between the two involved parties and shouldn't be something that simmers indefinitely and goes on, unresolved for years. People normally don't want to be put in the middle, or be forced to take sides.  We've learned that God doesn't want that either.  Many believe He will however, judge us by observing how we end up handling our own individual disputes with one another. We can't expect Him or anyone else to step in and resolve all our issues for us. He gave us our own free will, and I'm sure He hopes we can use that free will to work things out with each other. It's up to us.  However, what God did do was give us some guidelines in the Old Testament, such as when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments.  For Christians, we also believe God so loved the world that He also sent us the Messiah, His Only Begotten Divine Son Jesus, who dedicated and ultimately gave His life, according to His Father's will, as the perfect sacrifice for all mankind.  He paid the price for our sins, and He tells us that He is the only One who can provide us with the true path to salvation and our own eternal life.  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)  He also said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” (Revelation 1:8)


Jesus also left us with many parables (stories) that contain useful life lessons concerning what God Our Father expects from us, in addition to His command to love Him and one another.  He set an example for all of us to follow.

We should all realize none of us are perfect. We are all sinners in some way, shape or form. Jesus said in another gospel story, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone" (John 8:7) and then what did they do? They stopped and thought about it. Eventually they all dropped their stones and slowly walked away, because everybody knew they were sinners too. What did He then say to the woman when she saw everyone was leaving the scene, thus saving her life? He told her, "Go forth and sin no more."  (John 8:11) 

He also told us if we expect forgiveness for our sins, we must also be ready to forgive others if they've sinned against us. Hopefully, we're all on a continuous journey, striving towards forgiveness, repentance and self-improvement, like the woman who was saved from being stoned to death.

If it helps, just consider the ways below, on how deal with personal attacks.....whether you were the cause of it, or were on the receiving end of it....

EXCUSE IT - NO!

FORGET IT - NO!

FORGIVE IT - YES!

LIVE AND LEARN FROM IT - YES!

RECEIVE PEACE THROUGH REDEMPTION - YES!