Joesph is 75 years-old and homeless. He says he ended up on the streets because someone “cleaned him outâ€, yet Joesph still maintains his serenity.
In 1983, Joesph was shot in the head by a 14-year-old boy with a .357 magnum. The boy was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After the sentencing, Joesph spent 16 months working to get the boy out of prison.
Watch his story:
Via Invisible People
I shared this on most of my social networks this morning – but it bears repeating here.
From Anita Smith, the wife of teacher Ronnie Smith, who was killed last month in Libya:
I hear people speaking with hate, anger and blame over Ronnie’s death, but that’s not what Ronnie would want. Ronnie would want his death to be an opportunity for us to show one another love and forgiveness, because that’s what God has shown us.
I want all of you – all of the people of Libya – to know I am praying for the peace and prosperity of Libya. May Ronnie’s blood, shed on Libyan soil, encourage peace and reconciliation between the Libyan people and God.
Despite what you may be seeing elsewhere in your social feeds today, this is the faith that I strive for.
This is the Christianity I hold to so dearly — loving neighbors and enemies alike.
I know I’ll never live it out 100% but please know that THIS is what I’m striving for.
See more:
I had the privilege of spending some time on Powertalk this past Sunday talking with host (and friend) Rick Walker about forgiveness and second chances.
The audio is about 30 minutes long.
And you can listen here:
Or download it here.
I’m scheduled to be back on Powertalk in a week or so – Sunday, April 7, with friends Steve Knight and Phil Shepherd. It’ll be an Open Line show so you never know what’ll come up in the discussion. Should be a lot of fun!
If you’re in the DFW Megaplex listen in at 9 p.m. on 89.7 FM or you can listen online at 897powerfm.com or via their mobile apps.
What do you think we should talk about on April 7?
Refusing to forgive someone is like drinking poison and hoping it harms the other person.
Live your life in such a way that you don’t have to carry around that burden any longer.
As I’ve written before, I consider myself a pacifist and I want to see much stronger gun control in American because I believe the harder it is for people to get a weapon, the less likely they are to use it.
I truly long for the day when nuclear weapons, assault weapons, semi-automatic guns, muskets, pocket knifes and all other weapons of any sort are made into plowshares.
And I long for Shalom and Pax Dei.
And yet I confess that I understand that even banning all guns of all sort won’t stop all assaults or killings of any other sort. When a person’s heart is set on killing another human being – they’ll find a way.
So with this quandary at our doorstep, how do we as an American culture and society change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen where the life of a 1st grader is just as valuable as the life of the President, a movie star, a drug dealer or an imam living in Iran?
How do we change our mindset that murder is not an option – either in jealous rage, depression, governmental retaliation or by lethal injection?
How do we move from a culture of violence (and especially redemptive violence) to a culture of forgiveness and second chances?
So I’m a bit torn…
The a 30-minute video from Invisible Children started rapidly making it’s way around the web on Wednesday morning.
As of mid-Wednesday morning it had 6.8 million views on Vimeo and 4.2 million on YouTube. The latest stat I heard on Thursday is the video’s been viewed close to 40 million times now.
I think it’s safe to say “It’s gone viral.”
Immediately after I saw it, I shared it on each of my networks – and was prepared to share it here on my blog Monday morning (as an added reminded for folks to watch it if they haven’t already).
Continue reading KONY 2012 and the Insurgency of Love
