We Need to Stop Being Angry Often

 Anger is a common and often intense  emotion that is characterized  by feeling of frustration, friction, annoyance , or conflict with another person, event, or situation, the USA Today website reports today (May 31, 2025). 

Although a lot of us think of anger as a limiting or mostly negative emotion, there are times it can be useful. "Anger can be helpful when it signals that something isn't right or needs to change ," says Raymond Chip Tafrate, a clinical psychologist and professor at Central Connecticut State University and co--author of "Anger Management for Everyone: 10 Proven Strategies to Help You Control Anger and Live a Happier Life."

Anger can reveal a problem that needs to be solved, motivate you to make a needed change, or push you to have a tough conversation. Think of becoming mad at a healh condition like obesity and deciding to tackle it, participaing in a public protest to affect social change, or getting the courage to approach a friend or colleague to insist their treatment of you or others improve.

At the same time, "anger can become a problem if it happens too often, is too intense, or lasts too long," says Tafrate. And there's a big difference between anger helping motivate you to have a hard conversation in the first place and approaching someone in a state of anger instead of with measured words or behaviors. 

We get upset about injustices in the world, poor treatment toward ourselves or others, the stressors of everyday life, or concerns over one's social, physical, or financial standing. 

Genetics may also play a role. Many people are born with a more negative nervous system that can make them more prone to respond negatively to perceived threats . Genes can also affect how we manage our emotional responses more generally.

Learning to control and manage anger can help you avoid hurting yourself and others, and keep you out of trouble and embarrassing situations. It's also not good for your body to too often experience the flood of stress hormones associated with anger. 

We Need to Follow Christ in How We Speak

 Communication is one of the major building blocks that contributes towards building a strong relationship and helps us connect better with those around us, the Crossmap website reports today (May 29, 2025). 

The best person we can learn from on how to be an excellent communicator is God. We can look up to Him for wisdom. When we study the life of Christ, we can see that He understood the importance of speaking with compassion. The Lord we serve is compassionate,gentle, patient, kind, forgiving, and loving.

Christ followed the Father's commands. He lived in obedience to the Father, and in all He did. He glorified God, including His speech. Christ is the perfect example we should follow. 

As Christians, we should take time to think before we speak and we should also be mindful of"how" we say things. Our tone and body language make a big difference when it comes to conversing with others and can affect how people receive the information we give them. We can have the right things to say, yet our approach at times can hinder a peson from accepting our wisdom.

Christ followed the Father's commands. He lived in obedience to the  Father, and in all He did. He g;lorified God, including His speech. Christ is the pefect example we should follow. 

Franklin Graham: Evangelize and Obey God Despite Hardships

 Evangelist Franklin Graham opened the European Congress on Evangelism on May 27 with a passionate call for Christians to preach "the whole gospel" without compromise, "warning that a secularized and confused world will not be reached by a watered--down message." the Christian Daily website today (May 28, 2025). 

"These are our orders." he told 1,000 evangelist leaders from 56 countries. "Let's preach it with power." 

The opening session of the four--day event saw heartfelt worship led by German bocalist Sarah Kaiser, musical artist Charity Gayle, and pianist Huntley Brown. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Ably Ahmed Ali, also made a guest appearance to encourage attendees at their congress in their faith. 

Reinhardt Schink, a leading board member of the Evangelische Allany Deutschland (German Evangelical Alliance) gave a special welcome to delegates who watched a visual  media presentation of the history of the gospel in Europe. He recalled how a message of  hate emanated from Berlin with the rise of the Nazi party in 1935, "as we Germans exalted ourselves over other people and also over the living God."

"But with this Congress," added Schink, " a message of life and peace will now be sent out from Berlin to Europe. This message must be heard because it is the one life--changing word of God. It's good news to all mankind. It's just Jesus."

Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed in Antisemitic Attack in D.C.

 Christian leaders and advocacy groups in the U.S. have offered their condolences after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.on May 21, the Christian Post website reports today (May 24, 2025). 

The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were identified by the Times of Israel as a  "couple about to be engaged."

The shooting happened at an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The attack appeared to be religiously motivated, as the 30--year--old suspect, Elias Rodrigues of Chicago, reportedly shouted "free, free Palestine!" while in custody.

The shooting comes  at a time of concern over antisemitism in the U.S. following the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel perpetrated by the Hamas terror organization and ensuing Israeli military offensive in Gaza. 

Religious leaders expressed solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people as they mourned the loss of the Israeli Embasssy staffers.

7 Killed in Mexican Church Event; Suspected Cartel Attack

 Seven young people in Mexico were fatlally shot by gangsters while attending a Catholic festival in the state of Guanajuato, the Christian Today website reports today (May 23, 2025).

On the morning of May 19, a  group of gunmen -- believed to be from the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel -- drove into the middle of town and started shooting at those attending the Catholic festival.

Open Doors placed Mexico at 31 on its 2025 watch list of the worst countries for persecution, ahead of some Islamic and communist countries.

While on the face of it a Christian counrtry, the scourge of gang violence means that many ordinary citizens  -- regardless of their faith -- can be the targets of gang violence.  Faith leaders who openly oppose the gangs  face  the real danger of abduction and/or  murder.

The Episcopal Conference of Mexico said of he festival shooting that people "cannot remain indifferent in the face of the spiral of violence that is wounding so many communities."

The local archbishop, Jaime Calderon, said he believed the attack was part of a gang war between Santa Rosa   de Lima and a rival cartel known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. 

Open Doors suggests the following prayer for the situation in Mexico:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for our brothers and sisters in Mexico, and for their courage in standing up to the violence and crime that is so rife in the country. Strengthen them and fill them with Your Holy Spirit; give them the right words to say as  they continue to stand against injustice. 

"Protect believers from being recruited by criminal gangs and bring an end to the hold that these groups have over the nation. Help believers from indigenous backgrounds to find safe places to meet and worship -- may their testimonies shine Your light in dark places, Amen."

Extreme Heat Hits Central and Southen U.S.

 Summer temperatures arrived earlier in the U.S. this year, affecting millions of people in Central and Southern states, the USA Today website   reports today (May 22, 2025).

The National Weather Service said more high heat and humidity are in store for the next few days.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data shows 2025 already has a 39% chance of being the second--warmest year on record, behind 2024, and a 3% chance of being the warmest year on record. There is a greater than 97% likelihood that 2025 will be one of the five warmest years on record, NOAA said.

According to research released by the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global average temperature for April 2025 was 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit above average -- 0.13 degrees warmer than the previous record set in April 2024.

Now and in the coming days, a heat dome will keeep temperarures 15 to 20 degrees above average, well into the upper 90s and triple --digits. The National Weather Service issued heat advisories for aeas in Texas that stretch  from the Texas Hill Country and the Rio Grande to the state's east coast.

Who Is Jesus?

"Jesus and His dsciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked them, 'Who do people say I am?'" (Mark 8:27), the Crossmap website reports today (May 21,2025).

After Peter had spent so much time with Jesus, he became familiar with who Jesus was, so he never was fitting to Jesus' question. "You are the Messiah. It wasn'e the right time for everyone to know who Jesus fully was, even though the whole time He was on earth. He was revealing the Father of God. Was it a big surprise? The fullness of the glory of God was revealed in Jesus after He died on the cross. Jesus became our Messiah. He won the victory over sin  and became the exalted Son, who sits at the right hand of God.

The one thing about our identity that we should never forget is that God tells us who we area and calls us His sons and daughters. We are a new creation because of Jesus. and belong to God's Kingdom.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.