Good and Bad Advice

January 24, 2024
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: Job 3:1–26
Every person reading this chapter has been the recipient of bad advice. You listened as someone gave it to you. You followed the counsel you received and then suffered the consequences. We have all benefited from someone's good advice too. We were unsure and confused, so we reached out to somebody we trusted. We received good counsel, followed the advice, and enjoyed the benefits.

Take for example Proverbs 12:15: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel." You and I have experienced those very words. We have been foolish, thinking we were right, and along came a parent or teacher, perhaps a friend who talked some sense into our heads, thankfully. As a result we benefited from wise counsel.

"As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man" (Proverbs 27:19). I'm sure you have known such occasions. You've had something deep in the well of your heart you've not been able to pull up. Along comes someone who loves you and has the ability to drop a bucket in that deep well of yours, pull it out, then splash the contents around for both of you to see it clearly.

I need to add that wise counsel is not always easy to hear. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy" (Proverbs 27:6). The Hebrew uses an interesting verb stem here. It's known as the "causative stem," which allows us to render the statement: "Trustworthy are the bruises caused by the wounding of one who loves you." The bruise that comes after the verbal blow of one who loves you is a trustworthy bruise. In genuine love, your friend confronts you with the truth—you're alone, in private, and you hear the hard thing that needs to be confronted. That bruise stays with you, and you're a better person for it. Such bruising is much more helpful and reliable than a phony embrace, the "kiss" of a flatterer whom Solomon calls our "enemy." Good counsel is a good thing, even if it hurts to hear it, whether you are the receiver or the giver of that counsel.

LAS VEGAS 🚨 “Disturbing body camera video shows Vegas Metro police rescuing 6 children, including 2 locked in a cage”

“Ages 9 & 11 - Padlocked In A Dog Cage. The Worst Case They Have Ever Seen”

One of the children kept in the cage had “two black eyes that were swollen shut, multiple marks and bruises all over his body, and he was emaciated,”

In court documents, police and doctors describe the alleged abuse of the children, one whom they described as on the brink of death, as the worst case they have ever seen.

Stamper had told investigators Doss was “violent towards all 7 children” except the 2-year-old, police said. Stamper said he hit the children with “belts, extension cords, skillets, his hands and feet,” documents said. “Amanda said all the children are covered with marks from their neck down.”

Doss reportedly told Stamper he believed the child in the cage was deceased, documents said, because he had “kicked him in the head too hard.” Stamper reportedly told police she believed the child “looked dead for the last five days.”

How does something like this happen?

Welcome To Proverbs Club.
Who Gets Self-Inflicted Wounds?
Proverbs 23:29-30 (NIV).
29) Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30) Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
Proverbs Club Commentary.
Alcoholic beverages must be consumed in moderation.
Abstention is wiser, but not obligatory.
https://pc1.tiny.us/4kb3w8e3
#who #woe #sorrow #strife #complaints #needless #bruises #bloodshot #eyes #linger #wine #bowls #mixed #wine

September 13

Whale of a Story
Bible in a Year:
Proverbs 16–18
2 Corinthians 6
The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Jonah 2:1–10
Michael was diving for lobster when a humpback whale caught him in its mouth. He pushed back in the darkness as the whale’s muscles squeezed against him. He thought he was done. But whales don’t prefer lobstermen, and thirty seconds later the whale spit Michael into the air. Amazingly, Michael had no broken bones—only extensive bruises and one whale of a story.

He wasn’t the first. Jonah was swallowed by “a huge fish” (Jonah 1:17), and he stayed in its belly for three days before being vomited onto land (1:17; 2:10). Unlike Michael, who was caught by accident, Jonah was swallowed because he hated Israel’s enemies and didn’t want them to repent. When God told Jonah to preach in Nineveh, he caught a boat going the other way. So God sent a whale-sized fish to get his attention.

I appreciate why Jonah hated the Assyrians. They’d harassed Israel in the past, and within fifty years they'd carry the northern tribes into captivity where they'd vanish forever. Jonah was understandably offended that Assyria might be forgiven.

But Jonah was more loyal to the people of God than to the God of all people. God loved Israel’s enemies and wanted to save them. He loves our enemies and wants to save them. With the wind of the Spirit at our backs, let’s sail toward them with the good news of Jesus.

By: Mike Wittmer

Jesus, please show me how to love my enemies as You love them. Amen.

Posted: Jun 6, 2022 / 11:21 AM EDT Updated: Jun 6, 2022 / 12:47 PM EDT
Stepdad found guilty of child abuse after Florida waitress rescues boy with secret sign by: Athina Morris

Video: Quick-thinking Florida waitress credited with saving boy from abusive parents (Jan. 14, 2021)

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man was found guilty of abusing his stepson following an incident that made national headlines, WESH reports.

Timothy Lee Wilson, 36, was arrested on multiple charges after his family visited Mr. Potato Restaurant in Orlando last year.

Flaviane Carvalho, a server at the restaurant, said she noticed bruises on his stepson’s face and arms when she waited on their table.

[IMAGE]Timothy Wilson (Source: Orange County Sheriff’s Office)

“I could see he had a big scratch between his eyebrows,” Carvalho said in a press conference, according to FOX 35. “Couple of minutes later, I saw a bruise on the side of his eye. So I felt there was something really wrong.”

She said the family ordered something to eat, but got nothing for the boy.

She wrote “do you need help?” on a note, then stood behind the boy’s parents and showed it to him. When the child nodded yes, she called police.

“I’m super concerned and I don’t know what to do, can you give me some advice?” Carvalho asked the dispatcher. “The boy is with bruises and he’s not eating.”

Investigators went to the family’s home and “recovered multiple items used as weapons—a bent metal pole, a wooden broom, a dolly cart, handcuffs, and ratchet straps used to tie the victim up,” a news release said, according to WESH.

The boy had been tortured and deprived of food, investigators said. He was made to do military-style exercises and was even hung upside down from a door and handcuffed to a dolly cart on Christmas Day.

“We probably would’ve been talking about a potential homicide investigation if she [Carvalho] had not intervened when she did,” Orlando Chief of Police Orlando Rolón said at the time.

* Florida boat captain cut parasailing cable in accident that killed mom: report

The child’s mother, Kristen Swann, admitted to knowing about the abuse and failing to seek medical care for the child. She was arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect, according to WESH.

On Monday, prosecutors announced Wilson was found guilty of false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13, three counts of aggravated child abuse with a weapon, four counts of aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect. He will be sentenced on Aug. 19, the report said.

https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/stepdad-found-guilty-of-child-abuse-after-florida-waitress-rescues-boy-with-secret-sign/