Worthy Brief - 6/23/2023
Friend, take a break -- enjoy your Shabbat rest!
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Leonardo da Vinci, who excelled at many things -- as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher said a wise thing:
"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen."
Have you found this to be the truth? We have! Any time we step back from a situation or project and take some time away, we undoubtedly gain new perspective and insight about it. Now, I know not all of us can take a week-long vacation at a luxurious resort to take time away from our difficulties, but we can, and must take a retreat with the Lord (which by the way, can be much more restful)! The Word says He makes me to lie down and green pastures -- It doesn't say He'd like us to, if we could try to take some time from our busy schedules -- it says He makes us!
Friend, it's time to take a rest from all the things that make us weary today -- ministry work included. Let's take some time out with the Lord and get quiet before Him. He has so many things He wants to reveal, if we would only give Him a chance to show us! He's has so many ways He wants to refresh us and refill our empty places, if we would only be obedient to His call!
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Dallas, TX)
(Baltimore, MD)
Editor's Note: We are planning our Summer and Fall Tour so if you would like us to minister at your congregation, home fellowship, or Israel focused event, be sure to let us know ASAP. You can send an email to george [ @ ] worthyministries.com for more information.
UN: ‘Russia Kills, Maims, Hundreds of Children In Ukraine War’
The secretary-general of the United Nations accused Russia on Thursday of killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022 and using 91 minors as human shields, while Russian authorities blamed Kyiv for a missile strike.
UN Seeks New Financial System to Support Crisis-Hit Nations (Worthy News Radio)
Some 40 leaders, including a dozen from Africa as well as China and Brazil's president, are gathering in Paris to work out a United Nations-backed new global financing pact. The gathering in the French capital includes a proposed pause in debt repayments for nations facing poverty and disasters.
All Five Aboard Titan Sub Dead After ‘Catastrophic Implosion’
The U.S. Coast Guard says all five people aboard a submersible that tried to reach the Titanic shipwreck have died in a "catastrophic implosion.”
New Zealand teacher has license revoked after refusing to use preferred name of transgender student
A New Zealand Disciplinary Tribunal has revoked the teaching certificate of a Christian man who refused to use the preferred name of a transgender student, the New Zealand Herald (NZH) reports.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Netanyahu: Drones helping Israel flip the equation on Palestinian terror
Israel has flipped the equation on its head when it comes to dealing with Palestinian terrorism using drones, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address released on Thursday.
Inside the United States
US House Votes For Impeachment Procedure Against Biden
A controversial impeachment resolution aiming to remove U.S. President Joe Biden from office for “failing” to secure the southern border has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
Senate votes to keep Biden rule toughening requirements on stabilizing braces for firearms
New rules that require owners to register stabilizing braces for firearms will stay in place after the Senate rejected a Republican effort on Thursday to overturn them.
US prison ministry has distributed over 1 million Bibles since 2019, “the demand right now is unlike anything we have ever seen”
Responding to a dramatic increase in demand, the US Prison Fellowship ministry has now delivered more than 1 million Bibles to inmates in American prisons since 2019, The Roys Report (TRR) has reported. The US has both the highest number of prisoners in the world (2,068,800 - around 25% of the world’s prison population), and the highest rate of incarceration in the world (625 prisoners per 100,000 people) according to a World Population Review report for 2023.
Utah school district reinstates Bible for elementary and junior high school libraries
The Davis School District in Utah has voted unanimously to keep the Bible in all its school libraries, reversing an initial committee’s decision to remove it from elementary and junior high libraries on the grounds that it contains "vulgarity and violence” that is not appropriate for children, KSL News reports.
Fewer than half of Americans donated to charities last year, report shows
A new report by Giving USA shows that charitable giving in America fell sharply in 2022, with less than half the population making donations, the Washington Times reports. Last year’s decline in giving represents only the fourth time in 40 years that year-over-year donations fell.
Christian News
Nigeria: 15 more Christians killed in Plateau state – but new governor gives message of hope
While Fulani jihadists in Nigeria ignored a government curfew and murdered 15 more Christians in Plateau state this week, the region’s recently inaugurated governor Barr. Caleb Mutfwang gave the grieving community a remarkable message of faith and hope, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Together with Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa, Fulani jihadist herdsmen have murdered well over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria since 2009.
Turkey “weaponizes” law to block Protestant missionaries from entry
According to a report by the International Christian Concern non-profit organization, Turkey’s government has been blocking Protestant missionaries from entering the country by “weaponizing” Turkish entry laws against Christians.