LONGWOOD, FL-Author Randall J. Cecrle was in Pennsylvania Amish country when the shootings at a one-room schoolhouse occurred: "As information became available, it was clear that injury begat injury. The world asked ÔHow can you forgive?ÕÓ says Cecrle. How indeed? His book, Balancing the Scales of Justice with Forgiveness and Repentance (paperback, 978-1-60266-040-3; hardcover, 978-1-60266-041-0), provides an answer to that question.
Cecrle, who has served in prison ministries for more than 15 years, witnessed firsthand as others struggled with the satisfaction of personal justice. The remedy to this, he says, is simple. All justice-seekers need to satisfy their need "through forgiveness and a change of mindset that leads to words and actions that focus on the needs of others and create opportunities to restore relationships broken by injury and hurt."
Reconciliation can only take effect when both the injured and the one who caused injury take part. The injured person must be assured they won't be injured again; the party at fault must be willing to say they are sorry. But reconciliation requires more than this. It is a regaining of trust, which only comes to those who have developed a mindset to treat others justly by using the right words and actions. The author admits he struggled to practice what he preaches until he found that the easiest way to prevent a desire for revenge was to "rise above myself through God's means of forgiveness and repentance to satisfy justice for myself and those around me."
Randall J. Cecrle has been active in prison ministries, Stephen Ministries, church growth and planning, evangelism, and both Bible study and small group leadership. He is an information technology manager for a state court in Nebraska.
Xulon Press, a part of Salem Communications Corporation, is the world's largest Christian publisher, with more than 3,900 titles published to date. Retailers may order Balancing the Scales of Justice with Forgiveness and Repentance through Ingram Book Company and/or Spring Arbor Book Distributors. Salem Communications is the country's leading Christian communications company with interests in radio, Internet, and magazine publishing.
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2007