Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 8 – No. 3806 September 23, 2006
Thought for the week: "God will use every circumstance in your life to fulfill his eternal purpose for your life." – Tod Bolsinger
"A school is a building with four walls and tomorrow inside." – Barbara Knight
"Tell me and I forget; teach me and I may remember; involve me and I learn." – Ben Franklin
"A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." – Unknown
"When light confronts darkness, light always wins." – Michael Josephson
"Do all the good you can / By all the means you can / In all the ways you can / In all the places you can / At all the times you can / To all the people you can / As long as ever you can." – John Wesley
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." – Oprah Winfrey
"It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment." – St. Bernard (1090-1153)
A car was involved in an accident in a street. As expected, a large crowd gathered. A lawyer anxious to get there first could not get near the car. Being a clever sort, he started shouting loudly,
"Let me through! Let me through! I am the son of the victim."
There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that sand had got under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they're so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the Government, call for an election?
No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,
"If I cannot remove it, I'll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny—stew.
And this small grain of sand which had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral—for isn't it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What couldn't we do if we'd only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin.
The ant lion is a little insect whose larva (also called a doodlebug) lives in regions of dry or sandy soil.
It digs a pit about 2 inches deep and waits for ants to fall in. It is equipped with a highly sensitive alarm system that picks up the slightest vibration. A single grain of sand falling into its hole can activate it. Anchor-like appendages under its body enable it to grip the soil as it struggles with its victim. Even more remarkable is its complex mouth that forms a kind of "drinking straw," ideal for sucking fluids. When an ant is trapped, the ant lion injects it with paralyzing drug and then with digestive juices that allows it to feed on its prey.
The eminent French zoologist, Pierre-Paul Grasse, says that Darwin's theory of natural selection can't explain the "avalanche of ... chance occurrences" necessary for such a creature to evolve. Grasse's research keeps pointing toward a Creator, even though he himself remains an unbeliever.
For years, the opening of "The Wide World of Sports" television program illustrated "the agony of defeat" with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure.
What viewers didn't know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too [icy] fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal. As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble.
To change one's course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.
– Craig Brian Larson, Illustrations for
Preaching and Teaching, Baker, p.15.
Mark Gibson, a former gymnastics coach who worked with many elite athletes, tells a wonderful story about a 15-year-old girl whose work ethic and attitude brought out the best in everyone. Cindy wasn't a great gymnast, but when she was in the gym everyone complained less, worked harder, and, not surprisingly, achieved more.
Cindy was such a powerful motivator because she was blind. When it was her turn to do the vault, her mom would run alongside her telling her how close she was to the vault. When her mom said, "Vault!" Cindy would reach out and jump—trusting her mother and herself.
Cindy loved the sport and kept improving because she and her mom refused to be defeated by her disability.
Mark called her the most important member of the team, not because of her athletic ability, but because of her heart and because she demonstrated a standard of fortitude and courage that inspired others to get more out of themselves. Everyone who watched her strive to be the best she could be realized how much more they could be.
This is leadership—leadership by example—and we see this sort of leadership not only in sports but in families and in the workplace. Often the most important members of the team are not the smartest, most skilled or most powerful. Their power is in their attitude and their ability to energize and encourage others with their optimism, enthusiasm and determination.
People who know how to get the best out of themselves get the best out of others.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
As Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions."1
Francis McNutt, author of the classic book, Healing, and director of Christian Healing Ministries, points out how God's answer to the church in one generation can become a problem in the next or in following generations.
McNutt, in his monthly news report, "The Healing Line," gives the following example: "In the Old Testament God instructed Moses to set up a bronze serpent on a stick, so that whoever might look at it was healed of a snake-bite during their wanderings in the desert. But then, centuries later, the good, reforming King Hezekiah 'broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made' because the Israelites had started to worship it!"
If we knew how Peter "gave the invitation for people to come to Christ" on the Day of Pentecost when 5,000 people were converted, we would cling to this method religiously and tenaciously. We would even fight over it and allow it to split churches. Fortunately, the New Testament is almost totally silent on methodology. What God is concerned about is our heart—not our methods! As E.M. Bounds said, "Men are looking for better methods. God is looking for better men [and women]."
One of the biggest battles in the church today is over the music and manner of worship. One large church I know literally died because the people clung to outmoded traditions of men rather than change.
Reality is that God isn't concerned with our method of worship, be it contemporary, traditional or whatever, but with the spirit of our worship—the attitude of our hearts. As Jesus said to the woman at the well when she mentioned the "proper" place to worship, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."2 Like the brass serpent, when "traditions" become the focus of our worship, we may be going through the motions, but totally missing the point—and missing out on God!
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be real and not to get bogged down in traditions that are no longer relevant, but always be open to the work of your Spirit in my heart and life—and in my church. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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