Month: July 2023

The deadly side of hurt feelings

Hurt feelings are a sign of an underlying struggle with forgiving those who have hurt us. What you may not know is that unforgiveness can send a person to grave if they die without resolving those issues in their life. The Bible makes it clear that if we are going to be unforgiving, we not only become spiritually defiled (Hebrews 12:15) and turned over to tormenting evil spirits (see Matthew 18:23-35), but our unforgiveness actually blocks God’s forgiveness towards us concerning our own sins:

Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

That means if you are an unforgiving or bitter person, then you are not clean to stand before God. You’re sins are still hanging over your head, if you fail to release others for what they have done to you.

In the Spiritual Warfare Series, there is a powerful two-part teaching on how exactly to go about forgiving those who have wronged us, and releasing those hurt feelings from our system: See Unforgiveness and forgiving others

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Emotional buildup: Easily offended? Irritable?

Today I was in a restaurant, and looked out the window to see a river. The Lord said to me, “Do you see the rough surface of that water? That is because there is turmoil under the surface. The same is true with people who are rough around the edges and are easily triggered to things such as pain, anger, hurt, etc.”

Have you ever seen somebody who is tense, where it is easy to get on their nerves? Do they always seem irritable? Does this describe how you feel? Have you ever wondered why a person is like that? It is certainly not part of God’s design for us, for His Word is clear that we are given a sound clear mind:

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Turmoil in one’s system is usually caused by emotional buildup (things in the past that were never let go of) or unclean spirits. If something is bothering us, we need to make the choice to release our concerns to the Lord. Whether it be bitterness, fear, hurt feelings, emotional damage, feelings of rejection or abandonment, those feelings are devastating to our spiritual health and must be released from our systems. God’s Word clearly tells us to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us:

1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

God wants us to release our emotional buildup, hurt feelings, etc. and give those things to Him. Why did God tell us to do this? Because He knew the devastating effects that such negative buildup can have on our systems. If we don’t fail to follow God’s command, and allow an emotional buildup in our systems, we then make ourselves available for spirits of anger, hate, bitterness, rejection, etc. Once that happens, those spirits can lay under the surface, and continually remind us of why we are hurt or angry. It’s like a record playing in your mind over and over again, continually escalating you to higher levels of bondage and turmoil. If this has happened, the first step is to release the negative buildup to the Lord, stop listening to all the reasons as to why you are upset, etc., and if the problem seems to linger… seek deliverance from those spirits! It is not normal for our rivers to be rough from turmoil that has been brewing under our surfaces!

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Cops: Kohl’s Theft Foiled by Dead Battery in Getaway Car Whoops

An unfortunate turn of events for two would-be thieves. (Getty Images/BirdShutterB)

Two apparent would-be thieves probably thought they had the perfect plan—one would run into their local Kohl’s, grab a bunch of merch, and run back out to the parking lot, where the second guy would be waiting with the getaway car. What the suspects likely didn’t count on was their getaway car’s battery dying. Clackamas County deputies say they responded to a call about an alleged theft at the Clackamas Promenade around 3:30pm Monday, and when they got there, they say they found the hood of said car up, and Raymond Stavig and Derek Shurts trying to get a jump from bystanders, per KOIN and KPTV. Found inside the car, among other items, per authorities: phones, laptops, clothing from other stores, stolen credit cards and a credit card reader, drugs, and counterfeit cash.

Deputies say Shurts—who was the one who allegedly lifted the items from the Kohl’s and who authorities say also had counterfeit bills in his pocket—told them that before they arrived on the scene, Stavig had offered him $1,000 if he took the blame for the theft (an offer he apparently declined to take). Stavig, meanwhile, told deputies the items in the car all belonged to his wife. Also stolen: the getaway car itself, deputies say. Stavig was arrested on charges of theft, identity theft, possession of methamphetamine, and a warrant for aggravated ID theft. Shurts, meanwhile, was arrested on charges of theft, possession of a forged instrument, and a warrant for heroin possession. (Read more weird crimes stories.)

‘World’s Unluckiest Burglars’ Called Cops on Themselves UK police say it was an easy arrest

(Getty/Yingko)

Police in Britain say they received a “suspicious call” related to a burglary on Wednesday, one that came from the unsuspecting burglars themselves. Police say one of two men later arrested had butt-dialed 999, the emergency number in the UK, allowing authorities to listen in as the crime was in progress, reports the Guardian. The call detailed “all of their antics up to the point of hearing our patrols arrive to arrest them,” Chief Inspector John Owen of the Staffordshire police wrote in a tweet, which included a clip of one of the ill-fated burglars from Home Alone. “I think we have just arrested the world’s unluckiest burglars,” Owen wrote. “It’s a bum rap,” a user added, per the BBC. The two men from Stoke-on-Trent, aged 49 and 42, remained in custody as of Thursday, per the Stoke Sentinel.

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Man Escapes Hotel Quarantine—for 8 Hours A bed-sheet rope got him out

Police shared this image showing bed sheets fastened together to form a rope, dangling from a fourth-floor hotel room. (Western Australia Police Force)

An Australian man ordered to spend the night in a quarantine hotel made a temporary escape early Tuesday down a rope made from bed sheets, which he dangled from his fourth-floor window, police said. The 39-year-old had arrived in Perth, Western Australia, from the Queensland capital of Brisbane on a Monday flight but was denied entry due to restrictions related to COVID-19 and the spread of the delta variant, per CNN. He was sent to a quarantine hotel and told to leave the region within 48 hours. Instead, “he climbed out a window of the fourth floor room using a rope made of bed sheets and fled the area” just before 1am Tuesday, police said in a Facebook post, sharing a photo of the tied-together bed sheets reaching all the way to the ground.

The man was arrested across the city by 9am and charged with failing to comply with a direction and providing “false/misleading information,” reports Reuters. Mandatory hotel quarantines for international travelers, and some domestic travelers, have helped curb the spread of COVID-19 in Australia, where just 11% of the population is fully vaccinated, but compliance is an issue. Also Wednesday, a 33-year-old American woman appeared in Perth Magistrates Court to face five counts of failing to comply with a direction after she was accused of leaving a 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine to visit a cafe and go shopping, per the Courier Mail. Her bail application was rejected, meaning she’ll spend at least the next nine days in prison. Both alleged quarantine-breakers tested negative for COVID-19.

Man Arrested After Breaking Into a Jail California man said he was fleeing a man with a gun

Stock image of a jail cell. (RODNAE Productions/Pexels.com)

Guards usually don’t have to watch for people breaking into a jail, so it’s maybe only a little surprising that they didn’t notice the man climbing over two fences then scrambling up to a second floor door. An alarm went off in the Maple Street Correctional Center in Redwood City, CA, and a correctional officer went to check it out, SFGate reports. The source of the ruckus was Moises Dona Robles, 35, who was more than a little confused and under the influence of meth and alcohol.

He was sitting in a lobby inside the facility. The officer who saw him did a double take—Robles was wearing street clothes in an area reserved for inmates. Robles told police he was fleeing a man with a gun, the San Mateo Daily Journal reports. He admitted to being under the influence, and also had other peoples’ credit cards with him. He pleaded not guilty to some misdemeanor charges on Wednesday. It’s not the first time someone has made an arrest incredibly convenient for police. In 2014, a man broke into a police station in Vermont, and a woman in Pittsburgh trying to steal a car chose a cop car with the cops still in it in. (Read more dumb criminals stories.)

Man Steals Reporter’s Phone, Has Face Seen by Millions Egyptian man was arrested hours later

A Cairo-area reporter had his phone grabbed from his hands by a thief on a motorbike, but it wasn’t exactly the perfect crime—the reporter had been livestreaming a broadcast at the time, and the thief’s face was seen by millions. The Youm7 news site says its reporter, Mahmoud Ragheb, was on a bridge in the city of Shubra Al-Khaimah when his phone was taken, the BBC reports. Ragheb had been reporting on the aftermath of an earthquake when viewers suddenly saw the face of the thief, who was smoking a cigarette and looking back nervously as he sped away from the scene. The phone’s camera was pointing toward the man during the getaway and it wasn’t switched off until minutes later.

Some 20,000 people were watching the livestream at the time, and millions more viewed video of the theft on the site’s Facebook page. Viewers joked that the man shouldn’t have bothered looking behind him because “the whole world is watching you.” Officials from Egypt’s Ministry of Interior said the man, identified using “modern technology,” was arrested hours after the theft, the Guardian reports. Officials said the unemployed man admitted to the crime and told police he’d sold the phone to a trader.

Cops: Bank Robber Made Deposit in ATM Outside He was a Wells Fargo robber, and also a customer

McRoberts Williams. (Delaware State Police)

Police in Delaware say a man who robbed a Wilmington bank on Saturday didn’t keep the cash for long—after fleeing the Wells Fargo branch, he paused to make a deposit in the ATM outside. Police say McRoberts Williams, a 44-year-old California resident, handed a note to a teller Saturday morning saying a robbery was taking place, WBZ reports. The 25-year-old woman gave him an undisclosed amount of cash.

Williams fled on foot and made the deposit in a machine on the exterior of the building, Delaware State Police said. Officers responding to the scene found him behind a nearby shopping center and took him into custody without incident. He was charged with second-degree robbery, a felony, with bond set at $6,000.

California Cops Chase Stolen Party Bus 40-foot bus was pursued from San Diego to northern Los Angeles County

The California Highway Patrol chased a stolen party bus across southern California Tuesday before it slammed into a sedan north of Los Angeles. Top Dog Limo Bus owner Susie Leitzke tells KTLA that the 40-foot vehicle was stolen in San Diego Tuesday morning when a person jumped in while the driver was doing a pickup. She says local cops searched for it until around 90 minutes later, when she received a call from somebody on the 405 Freeway who complained that somebody in one of the company’s vehicles was “driving crazy on the freeway and doing 90mph.”

“I explained to him that was a stolen bus and he stayed on the phone until we called dispatch and got somebody out there,” Leitzke says. Police say the driver continued speeding during a pursuit on freeways through Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, and Santa Clarita before they exited the freeway in Palmdale and hit a silver four-door car minutes later, Fox 11 reports. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the vehicle was heavily damaged. Patrol units surrounded the bus and a woman exited the vehicle and was taken into custody at gunpoint, reports the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

2 Arrested in Theft of Sheriff’s Speed-Warning Trailer ‘It appears they were trying to get the batteries to sell the batteries,’ sheriff says

Police say the suspects apparently wanted the trailer’s batteries. (Getty Images/steverts)

Two Alabama men have been arrested over an audacious, but extremely ill-advised, theft. The Russell County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Tuesday that Gabriel Mendoza Garcia and Steve Gerome Spann were arrested Monday for allegedly stealing a speed-warning trailer that belongs to the sheriff’s office. “It appears they were trying to get the batteries to sell the batteries,” Sheriff Heath Taylor tells the Ledger-Enquirer. “Batteries are bringing a high dollar now.”

Both men have been charged with first-degree theft of property and first-degree criminal mischief. Taylor says the suspects were tracked down through the trailer’s GPS. WRBL reports that the trailer is also equipped with a camera, which captured video of the theft. “It just shows you we’ve got crazy people running around,” the sheriff says.

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