Growing in Christ Newsletter

Sunday, January 12, 2003

Volume 1 Issue 20

Take a moment this Wednesday, January 15, to honor the birth of one of the world’s great peacemakers, Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
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Congratulations to Illinois Governor George Ryan for taking a stand against the absolute finality of capital punishment as being immoral by commuting the sentences of all the state’s death row inmates. “How many more cases of wrongful convictions have to occur before we can all agree that this system in Illinois is broken?” The United States is the only Western democracy in which the death penalty is still used. The punishment has been abolished by its closest neighbors and allies, who routinely denounce the practice in the United States. (Emily Kaiser, Reuters)
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You might have read it here first, that the unprecedented preemptive strike against Iraq being promoted by the Bush Administration is inherently immoral. GiC is not alone in its position on this matter; in fact, we seem to be keeping some pretty good company:
Admiral Jack Shanahan (USN, ret.) www.truemajority.com
National Council of Churches www.nccusa.org
United for Peace www.unitedforpeace.org
For a change of pace, you can learn more about the debate on whether or not Jesus would drive a SUV from the Evangelicals for Social Action www.esa-online.org
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You’ll note that Bulletin Board entries that have had no activity in the 90 days following their posting are being removed. This is an effort to keep the board current, and to stimulate more participation. Take advantage of this opportunity to share your ideas and opinions with the GiC community.
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Don’t forget that there’s a new Daily Guide each day. A moment of spiritual reflection and affirmation is as near as GiC. An average three persons per day have used this devotional material since it was introduced at the beginning of the year. The current total of visits to GiC is 910, which means that this may be the week that we move into four digits! Given the total world population of 6,082,966,429 this could seem insignificant, but we’re proud just the same.
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Finally, Rachel will celebrate her nineteenth birthday next Saturday, January 18. E-mail greetings may be sent to her at: XCherryQTX@aol.com.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

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