A Bulawayo woman is in trouble for sending an image of a naked President Robert Mugabe to a friend via popular social networking platform Whatsapp.

Shantel Rusike of Sunninghill suburb in Bulawayo has appeared before magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa facing charges of causing hatred, contempt or ridicule of the president as defined in Section 33(2)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act or Code Chapter 9:23.

According to State papers, Rusike sent an image depicting President Mugabe in a nude state to a colleague identified as Precious Tshuma on Christmas day. The picture was accompanied by the caption: “Robert Mugabe turning 87 years on 21 February, happy birthday Matibili operation.”

Tshuma filed a police report leading to Rusike’s arrest. The 20-year-old is out of custody on US$100 bail and will be back in court on 11 January. Malvern Nzombe is prosecuting.

Rusike’s case comes hard on the heels of the acquittal of a former manager at food concern Innscor, who had been slapped with criminal charges and fired from work for allegedly coining lyrics deemed as insulting to President Mugabe. Tendai Gumbo (33), a former shift manager at Inn Express supermarket in Bulawayo was facing a charge of disorderly conduct in a public place.

While Gumbo escaped the criminal charges, he has joined hordes of unemployed Zimbabweans. Gumbo confirmed being fired after being fired following the case.

“I was fired after being arrested on false allegations of insulting the president in my song. My main worry is while my case was pending at the court, management quickly cooked up charges against me at work accusing me of having defrauded the company of US$100. I was served with a suspension letter on 8 November. A week later I went for a hearing, but while my case was still in the courts, I received a dismissal letter on 22 November,” said Gumbo.

He added: “Anyway, I know that all the management wanted to do was to disassociate themselves from an individual accused of insulting the Head of State,” he claimed.

The State alleged that on 20 September, while on duty, Gumbo sang: “Zanu yawora nemukuru wayo naye awora (Zanu PF and its leader are rotten)”

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Four Kinds of Love: Greek Words Agape, Phileo, Storge, Eros

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There are four Greek words for love that are important for Christians to understand. They are agape, phileo, storge, and eros. Three of them appear in the Bible. [1] If we are going to understand the Bible and the biblical world, it is important that we understand what these words mean and how they differ.

The Greek word for sexual love or passionate love is eros, and we get English words such as “erotic.” When eros was used as a proper noun, it referred to the Greek god of love. The Greek word eros does not appear in the biblical text, so we will not spend time on it in this article, but it has had such an impact on English and our view of sexual love that it is important to mention.

The Greek word that refers to the love of God, one of the kinds of love we are to have for people, is agape. Agape is the very nature of God, for God is love (1 John 4:7-12, 16b). The big key to understanding agape is to realize that it can be known from the action it prompts. In fact, we sometimes speak of the “action model” of agape love. People today are accustomed to thinking of love as a feeling, but that is not necessarily the case with agape love. Agape is love because of what it does, not because of how it feels.

God so “loved” (agape) that He gave His Son. It did not feel good to God to do that, but it was the loving thing to do. Christ so loved (agape) that he gave his life. He did not want to die, but he loved, so he did what God required. A mother who loves a sick baby will stay up all night long caring for it, which is not something she wants to do, but is a true act of agape love.

The point is that agape love is not simply an impulse generated from feelings. Rather, agape love is an exercise of the will, a deliberate choice. This is why God can command us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44; Exod. 23:1-5). He is not commanding us to “have a good feeling” for our enemies, but to act in a loving way toward them. Agape love is related to obedience and commitment, and not necessarily feeling and emotion. “Loving” someone is to obey God on another’s behalf, seeking his or her long-term blessing and profit.

The way to know that we love (agape) God is that we keep His commandments. Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me…” (John 14:21a). There are Christians who say they love God, but their lifestyle is contrary to the will of God. These people mistake their feeling of affection for God for true agape love. Jesus made this clear: “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching…” (John 14:24a).

Love is the distinctive character of the Christian life in relation to other Christians and to all humanity. The “loving” thing to do may not always be easy, and true love is not “mushy sentimentalism.” There is often a cost to genuine love. For example, punishing criminals to keep society safe is loving but not easy or pleasant, and asking someone to leave your Christian fellowship because he persists in flagrant sin is loving, but never easy (1 Cor. 5:1-5). That is not to say the agape love cannot have feelings attached to it, and the ideal situation occurs when the loving thing to do also is what we want to do. Christians are to be known for their love to one another (John 13:35).

The third word for “love” we need to examine is phileo, which means “to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend.” [2] It would probably be helpful if phileo were never translated “love” in the New Testament, because it refers to a strong liking or a strong friendship. Of course, we see how phileo gets translated “love,” because in modern culture we say we “love” things that we strongly like: “I love ice cream,” “I love my car,” “I love the way your hair looks,” etc. The word phileo implies a strong emotional connection, and thus is used of the “love,” or deep friendship, between friends. You can agape your enemies, but you cannot phileo them.

The difference between agape and phileo becomes very clear in John 21:15ff, but unfortunately it is obscured in almost all English translations. After being raised from the dead, Jesus met Peter. Here is the short version of what they said to each other.

Jesus: Simon…do you love (agape) me more than these [fish?].
Peter: Yes, Lord; you know that I love (phileo) you.
Jesus: Simon…do you…love (agape) me?
Peter: Yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) you.
Jesus: Simon…do you love (phileo) me?
Peter: [Grieved] “Lord…you know that I love (phileo) you.”

Why the difference in words for “love” in this conversation? Why did Jesus use agape and Peter use phileo? Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him with the love of God, a love that may require sacrifice. After all, Jesus had just gone through horrendous torture for Peter’s sake (and ours), something he did not want to do but did anyway because of his agape love. In contrast, Peter avoided possible torture by denying Jesus.

Jesus twice asked Peter, “Do you agape me? [That is, are you willing to do things for my sake that you do not want to do?]” Peter, on the other hand, still felt the sting of having denied Jesus, and was hopeful that their friendship was intact. Did Jesus hold Peter’s denial against him? Would he still treat Peter as a close associate and companion? Peter was not sure where he stood with Jesus, so he was trying to let Jesus know that he was still a true friend, and had phileo love for Jesus.

The third time Jesus spoke to Peter, he came to Peter’s level and asked if Peter were indeed a true friend (phileo), which grieved Peter. Nevertheless, it was important, because Jesus knew what Peter did not know—that Jesus would ascend into heaven, and Peter and the others would be left to carry out his work on earth, which would require that they all be his good friends and do his will even when it meant hardship. [For further study on Peter’s life, click here.]

The fourth Greek word we need to understand is storge, which is the love and affection that naturally occurs between parents and children, can exist between siblings, and exists between husbands and wives in a good marriage. It occurs in Romans 12:10 in the word, philostorgos, which is a compound word made up of philos (the noun form of phileo) and storge. Romans 12:10 is a very important verse, directing us to be very loving and kind to each other.

Romans 12:10 (Author’s expanded translation)
As to your brotherly love, let there be deep friendship and family-affection toward one another.

If one is going to have a wonderful Christian life, obedient to the voice of God and have rich fellowship with other Christians, he or she will need to exercise all three kinds of love. We need agape love because some of the things that God requires of us are not fun or easy, but need to be done. We need to have phileo love because we need true friends to stand with us, people who are emotionally connected to us and with whom we can share our deepest thoughts and feelings. Lastly, we Christians need to have storge love between us, a deep family affection that comforts us and helps us feel connected to all our spiritual family.

Happy New Years Met and Metters! I’m asking you if you can please post this article on your website.

This is my very dear sistren Mum. Everyone ask me the same thing when I tell them about what happen which is ” What is she doing on the train track?” We don’t know what and happen and we don’t know why she was on there. All we know is that she was going to working in the morning when it happen. Maybe she wasn’t familiar with the train station there but it wasn’t a suicide. There is alot of questions that we have. Also we don’t appreciate is the way LIRR is handle it as well so we are trying investigate it more cause it sounds like there trying to covering up something. Also It didn’t even make it on the news stations which we found really strange.

Please I’m asking anyone and everyone to share this on your FB page and to ask any eyewitness to come forward. Also if possible please respond to comments and ask Victoria husband to come forward.

Thanks so much guys and keep her and her family in your prayers!

Long Island Rail Road service was suspended Monday morning on three lines after a person was struck on the tracks west of New Hyde Park, the MTA said.

Delays of 30-60 minutes are expected.
Update: a LIRR spokesperson has identified that the person struck was a woman.

Jamaica’s debt hurricane
The Greece of the Western Hemisphere

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Americans concerned about the impact of public debt on the global recovery have focused — with good reason — on Greece. Closer to home, however, the tourism mecca of Jamaica illustrates the catastrophic effects of borrowing way too much, and the painful choices that follow. This saga, less familiar than Greece’s, is a lesson for lawmakers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The Caribbean nation actually is in worse financial shape than Greece: Jamaica has more debt in relation to the size of its economy than any other country. It pays more in interest than any other country. It has tried to restructure its loans to stretch them out over more years, at lower interest rates, with no success. Such a move would be risky for its already nervous lenders. So Jamaica is trying to wangle a bailout from a skeptical International Monetary Fund. Another deadline for a potential deal just came and went last week, though negotiations continue.

Jamaica is caught in a debt trap. More than half of its government spending goes to service its loans. The country can spend barely 20 percent of its budget for desperately needed health and education programs. Its infrastructure is faltering. It lacks resources to fight crime. It has little margin to recover from natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy.

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To set itself straight, Jamaica needs a restructuring, and a bailout with significant debt relief. No way can a small economy that has limped along with growth at less than half the global average for two decades pay back the fortune that it owes. But as with Greece, as with America, as with the state of Illinois, government leaders have balked at imposing the inevitable hardships. Saying no to favored constituents is no easier in Kingston than in Springfield.

The potential alternative is worse: Defaulting on its debt would ruin Jamaica’s prospects for many years to come: It would undermine the island’s critically important trade relations with the U.S. It would discourage badly needed foreign investment in its tourism, agriculture and mining sectors. The only thing worse than doing what Jamaica must do to live within its means would be not doing it.

That hard fact is being faced to some degree by debtor nations around the world. Jamaica is an extreme example of the fate that could befall Spain, Italy, Japan or, yes, the U.S., if debt keeps piling up. The analogy only goes so far since those much-larger economies have better resources to manage their finances. Jamaica has few options, apart from beseeching the IMF.

The American “fiscal cliff” deal was good news for Jamaica, which could not afford another U.S. recession. The island’s financial stewards have taken some practical steps to depreciate the local currency and curb inflation. The broader solution, however, is as obvious and necessary in Jamaica as it is in Greece and other countries mired in debt: Reform taxes, curb pension costs, cut public payrolls.

In Jamaica, that austerity-based formula has, unfairly, gotten a bad name. Critics of trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation point to Jamaica as Exhibit A of First World policies gone awry. IMF-imposed fixes more than a decade ago — after public debt had ballooned in the 1990s — made conditions worse, the critics say.

What really happened, however, is that IMF fixes gave Jamaica a temporary lifeline, but government never stopped borrowing and spending. The lesson of Jamaica is not that access to credit is bad. It’s that irresponsible stewardship is bad.

We’re cautiously optimistic that Jamaica’s current leaders will do better: Finance Minister Peter Phillips says his government must do whatever is necessary to reduce its out-of-control debt. Job One: Jamaica must make enough painful progress to win the confidence of the IMF, and of private lenders.

While the rest of us wait to see whether the island nation escapes its debt trap, we’ll see whether other countries learn the lesson of Jamaica: Stop digging such deep, deep holes in the beach.

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