By Alicia Jones

Just as God proves each of his people with test and trials, coaches aren’t just looking for skills on the court, but they want character.  “Alexander Hamilton (Wis.) junior forward Darnell Harris, who scored 18 and 13 points in the team’s first two games against Socastee and Cedar Hill (Texas), respectively, played just eight first-half minutes Wednesday.  Wildcats coach Tom Diener, however, said the benching was about attitude.  ‘He’s a heck of a player. He’s been good all year. He’s a valuable part of this team,” Diener said. “But he wasn’t playing the way he normally does last night and today. He’s a young kid, and part of our job as high school coaches is to build character.’”  (Ripke, Ian G. “Beach Ball Classic Notebook:  Coach Wants Character on the Court.” www.thesunnews.com. December 31, 2009.  Assessed December 31, 2009.)

A person’s position in the church does not guarantee their spirituality, it is the fruit of a person’s life that will ultimately be judged.  A former Catholic archbishop in Argentina has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual abuse of a seminary student in 1992, a court report said Wednesday.  Former Archbishop Edgardo Gabriel Storni “acted with total impunity” and there was enough proof to convict him, Judge Maria Amalia Mascheroni said in the sentencing.  “Being a rector of the faith, his injurious and immoral attitude contributed to the lack of credibility in the religious institution,” the judge is quoted as saying in a report by the Judicial Information Center, the nation’s official court news service.  (“Argentine Ex-archbishop gets 8 Years in Sex Abuse Case, Court Reports.”  www.cnn.com.  December 30, 2009.  Assessed December 31, 2009.)

God’s system made provisions for the priest and Levites, but people are questioning how one priest told his poor congregants to provide for themselves.   “Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, told his congregation in York, northern England: ‘My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift.’  In a transcript of his sermon published in the local newspaper, “The Press,” Jones said: “I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither. ‘I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.’” (“Priest: Thou Shalt Not Steal (Unless it’s from Big Business).” www.cnn.com. December 22, 2009.  Accessed December 24, 2009.)

Just as God established cities of refuge to prevent miscarriages of justice, today, the international community desires justice to be upheld for refugees.  “The U.S. State Department said Sunday it was ‘deeply disturbed’ at the deportation of 20 Uyghur asylum seekers from Cambodia back to China.  ‘The United States strongly opposed Cambodia’s involuntary return of these asylum seekers before their claims have been heard,’ the State Department said.  [Gordon] Duguid urged the Chinese government to ‘uphold international norms and to ensure transparency, due process and proper treatment of persons in its territory’ now that the Uyghurs have been returned.” (“U.S. slams deportation of Uyghur refugees from Cambodia to China” www.cnn.com. December 21, 2009.  Accessed December 23, 2009.)

No one on Planet Earth is perfect. In the area of facilitation the opportunities to make mistakes are comparable to the minutes of the gathering. Mistakes can scuttle the best-laid plans. Some mistakes you will recognize immediately, because you’ve seen so many facilitators use them, others may come as quite the surprise. Let’s take a look at three solutions.
Challenge 1. Repeatedly calling on—or allowing—the same people to speak.
Solutions:
• Scan and walk the room to direct questions to table groups or people who have not participated much or at all. Make sure that the question is not challenging. Ask something that is “right” for them in their experience: e.g., “Joe, what has been our experience or opinion about this?”
•Rotate group leaders and the people who record group decisions.
Challenge 2. Facilitating or presenting during distractions.
Solutions:
• Stop the show. Ask the group to stand to take a stretch or engage in a physical activity.
• Divert the attraction. Lead the group in singing a rousing gospel song or chorus that most people would know.
• Move the stage. Move away from the distracters to divert the eyes and attention—and probably the posture of the group will swivel, turn, or whatever to get their eyes back on you. Or if the distraction is, for example, a noise outside the window, move the group to the hall or send them to refresh themselves while you address the problem with the person in charge of maintaining the facility—a deacon, the Sabbath School coordinator/superinten­dent, or the workshop assistant assigned to you by the event coordinator.
Challenge 3. Refusing to defuse the tension in the room.
Solutions:
• Address the situation. Tell the group that you would be doing them a disservice if you ignored the tension.
• Remind them that sometimes tension can be a good way to move people out of their comfort zones.
• Ask for their input about how they would like you to address the tension, possibly dividing the group into small teams to discuss and record their solutions.
• If the tension centers on the content of the lesson, assure them that your lesson objectives will address those concerns.
• Share a story about a time when tension occurring early in a session helped lead to a sensational session.
• Thank the group for their participation in resolving the tension.

By Alicia Jones

Consequences of immorality affect the entire community. One person’s indiscretions can have damaging effects that extend far beyond the individual to the community of that person. “The private conduct - or misconduct - of Tiger Woods has brought with it potentially devastating public consequences to the sport of golf he has come to dominate, consequences that could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars.” (Jeff Greenfield, “Tiger Scandal Could Cost PGA Millions.” www.cbsnews.com. December 7, 2009. Accessed December 10, 2009.)

Tempters also pay for their role in immorality. Just as God punishes those who entice his people into sin, seven states still allow jilted spouses to file “alienation of affection” suits against the paramour. “Juries in North Carolina have handed out awards in excess of $1 million on multiple occasions.” In Mississippi, Chip Pickering, who served as a congressman for 12 years, decided not to run for re-election after allegations of an affair. Then, his wife, Leisha Pickering filed an alienation of affection suit against her husband’s mistress Elizabeth Creekmore-Byrd. “As a direct and proximate result of the negligent, wrongful and reckless misconduct and behavior of Creekmore-Byrd with Pickering,” the suit says, “plaintiff has suffered damage to the affection and consortium with her husband.” (Wayne Drash, “Beware cheaters: Your Lover’s Spouse Can Sue You.” www.cnn.com. December 8, 2009. Accessed December 10, 2009.)