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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes          
Published by: ACTS International

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Vol. 18 – No. 4116  October 08, 2016

 
Thought for the week: "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." – William Ward
 
    INDEX
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Glory Seekers
4.   Positive Quitters
5.   A Debt We Can Never Repay
6.   Fiber for the Soul: Aroma Therapy
7.   God's Goal Is Not to Make Us Good
8.   Receive Daily Encounter Devotional  Without Charge
9.   Weekend Encounter E-mail Edition  Without Charge
10.   Know God ... Without Having to Be Religious
11.   Seven Pillars of Character
12.   Prayer Partners Needed
13.   Please Help Support Weekend Encounter
14.   Helpful Books
15 
  Free Services
16.   ACTS in Action Report; Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounter
 

1. Words of Wisdom

"A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers." – Robert Quillen

"What would you do, how would you change your life, if you learned today that you only had six months to live?" – Brian Tracy

"Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway." – Mary Kay Ash

"There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less." – Philip Yancey

"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." – William James, psychologist

"The bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you forget to make the turn." – Submitted by Kathy Savage

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult ... I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking." – Og Mandino

"Every intersection in the road of life is an opportunity to make a decision." – Duke Ellington

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

Funny Oxymorons

open secret
larger half
clearly confused
act naturally
alone together
Hell's Angels
found missing
liquid gas
deafening silence
seriously funny
living dead
jumbo shrimp
advanced basic
tragic comedy
unbiased opinion
virtual reality
definite maybe
original copies
pretty ugly
same difference
plastic glasses
almost exactly
constant variable
even odds
minor crisis
extinct life
genuine imitation
exact estimate
only choice
freezer burn
free love
working holiday
rolling stop

– Cited on Outback Patrol
    www.outbackpatrol.com.au

Index

3. Glory Seekers

It's like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared up at the immense wall of Hoover Dam, "No, I didn't actually build it myself. But it was based on an idea of mine."

– Charles Townes
   (Nobel Prize winner in laser technology)

Index

4. Positive Quitting

Employ the power of positive quitting. Most of us view quitting as something negative, but it's not. "Winners never quit," we're told, when, in reality, winners quit all the time: choosing to stop doing things that aren't creating the results they desire. When you quit all the things that aren't working for you, when you quit tolerating all the negative things that hold you back, you'll create a positive "charge" in your life as well as create the space in your life for more positive experiences.

– Jim Allen Inspirational Speaker, Author
   and Life Coach http://www.coachjim.com/
   Cited on Inspiration Peak
   http://www.inspirationpeak.com/

Index

5. A Debt We Can Never Repay

At Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78, George Washington and his troops were in utterly desperate straits...

He appealed to the governor of Pennsylvania for help. Jacob DeHaven was a staunch believer in the revolutionary cause and lived near Valley Forge. Hearing of Washington's appeal, he loaned him $50,000 in gold and $400,000 in supplies. The army survived the winter, but after the war DeHaven was never repaid. Now his descendants are trying to collect. They claim that the loan, compounded at 6 percent interest daily, amounts to $141.6 billion.

In one sense, all the money in the world could never repay DeHaven for what he did. In reality, he saved the cause of freedom for all America.

THOUGHT: There's another debt all of us owe that we can never repay. It is the price Jesus Christ paid to give us liberty from the bondage of sin's guilt and judgment. He redeemed us with His precious blood so that we might have spiritual freedom [and the gift of eternal life].

Vernon Grounds. Cited on KneEmail
   kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org

Index

6. Fiber for the Soul: Aroma Therapy

by Gary Kallio

I must admit that I have not had "Aroma Therapy" treatment as a means of managing stress. There are times however while photographing roses that I let the aroma waft into my nose. I pause and smell the rose before proceeding with a click of the shutter button. There are other times when I recall the pleasant aroma of a yellow rose.

Yes, there is something worthy about taking a moment to smell roses. There is also something about walking into a men's locker room after a sporting event. With the hoopla of winning a game, one may actually overlook the smell of victory. Another thing that carries a lingering aroma is the smell of ozone at the beach before a rainstorm. 

I am reading through the book of 2 Corinthians and in the second chapter, found the thought that as Christians, our lives carry a certain aroma. We are being examined by the world around us, and our deeds and actions show the aroma of Christ who loves us, and through us show others how to live exuberantly and victoriously. At the end of this particular chapter St Paul says that our lives are an aroma to those who are destined for eternity. To those who are destined for everlasting destruction, our aroma is a rotten smell; and for those destined for eternal life with Christ, our aroma is sweet and refreshing like a newly opened rose on a warm summer morning.

To carry this simile of a rose a bit further, it dawned on me that tending a rose bush is hard work. To get a beautiful long-stem rose, one must cut away small shoots and water the ground correctly. It also takes time and attention to keep pests away, and to prune in just the right spots. The same thing happens with our lives over a period of time.

In the sixth chapter of this book, I read how our lives go through thin times and thick times. We may feel sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.  We may be flat broke, but because of joy we enrich others. We may be regarded as one of society's unknowns, but are well known to God. We may feel overworked and underpaid, yet our patience and kindness speaks a good reputation. Whenever God wants to do something in response to prayer, he often works through those who have been down the pot-holed roadways of life. To encourage people who have never seen real Christianity at work, he displays us along with our wrinkles, our scars, and our broken lives. This demonstrates beyond question a sweet flavor of faithfulness, one in which Christ uses our lives of kindness and love as an Aroma Therapy to change our corner of the world.

– Gary Kallio, http://fiberforthesoul.com/

Index

7. God's Goal Is Not to Make Us Good

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete [mature] in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me" (Colossians 1:28-29, NASB).

We don't have to be good for goodness sake!

In fact, as strange as it may seem, being good may be our worst enemy. It was for the Pharisees. Their external goodness was a cover-up to avoid seeing who and what they were on the inside. Jesus didn't approve of their external religiosity! In fact, he opposed it vehemently.

It can bring a great sense of freedom to realize that God isn't into rules, but rather relationships. His goal isn't to make us good, but to make us whole and to see us healed from the inside out. The end result will be goodness but goodness that comes from a healed heart--not from adhering to rules dictated by legalism.

This is not an excuse to act out in sinful or destructive behaviors. Not at all. As the Apostle Paul said, "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means."1

What it does mean is that I need to grow towards wholeness and maturity by recognizing my inner brokenness, my weaknesses, and my unresolved character issues and bring them not only to God for healing, but also to a trusted friend and/or counselor. As James said, "Therefore confess your sins [and faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."2

Again, God's goal is not to make us good, but to make us whole. It's the heart that counts with him, not the externals. If all I have is external goodness, I am no better than the Pharisees. Realize too, that only to the degree that we are made whole will our lifestyle, our attitudes, our actions, our behaviors, and our relationships be "wholesome."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to see my broken parts so I can bring them to you for healing. Face me with my reality, make me whole, and lead me to the help that I need to do this. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Romans 6:1 (NIV).
2. James 5:16 (NIV)

Index

8. Receive Daily Encounter E-mail ... Free

Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to over 374,000 worldwide subscribers every weekday of the year. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being helped by this brief, practical devotional.

Over 100 million e-mail Daily and Weekend Encounters are thus delivered to subscribers every year!

Click HERE for more samples of Daily Encounter

 

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Index

9. Receive E-mail Edition of Weekend Encounter ... Free

 

NOTE: Some ISPs (especially AOL) now use e-mail filtering software that allows you to add e-mail addresses to your 'buddy', 'safe', or 'approved' list. Please be sure to add acts@actsweb.org to yours so you won't miss any issue of Weekend Encounter.

Index

10. Know God ... Without having to be religious

Click on: How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian -- without having to be religious. Know God

Index

11. Seven Pillars of Character

The first of these six pillars of character are from Michael Josephson of Character counts to which I have added a seventh:

  • Trustworthiness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Fairness
  • Caring
  • Citizenship
  • Personal Honesty

Index

12. Prayer Partners Needed

One of ACTS greatest needs is Prayer Partners to stand with us as we seek to share the gospel with millions of people around the world through E-mail and the Internet and to win the lost to Jesus. If you would like to be an ACTS Prayer Partner, please subscribe to the Prayer Encounter list. Approximately two prayer reports are emailed monthly. Thank you.

 

Index

13. Help Support Weekend Encounter

    "Changing the World . . . One Person at a Time" 

Weekend Encounter and Daily Encounter are just two of the ways the nonprofit organization, ACTS International, is working to improve the spiritual and emotional life of many thousands of people around the world.

Every weekday Daily Encounter is going to more than a-third-of-a million worldwide subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 6,400+ subscribers worldwide—many of whom are in places where it is forbidden to spread the Christian gospel and message. Plus we reach several hundred thousand more every week through our advertising. As a result every day we are seeing an average of 5-6 salvation responses from around the world.

If you find value in the free Weekend Encounter and/or Daily Encounter, we hope you will be comfortable donating at least $26. That's only 50 cents a week for an entire year (tax-deductible in the U.S.). You can donate in one of the following ways:

Donate Online: You can donate online at ACTS secure web site. Click HERE on ACTS support donations.

Donate by Telephone: ACTS accepts credit card donations by phone by calling 1-949-481-4262.

Donate Through Postal Mail: If you prefer to write a check or money order, please send it and make it payable to:

     ACTS International
     P.O. Box 73545
     San Clemente, California 92673-0119
     U.S.A.

Index

14. Helpful Books

Oprah Winfrey: "Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi." – Oprah Winfrey

Books:

Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter
   You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing
   How to Mend a Broken Heart
   I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
      Communications

   On SALE at: https://actscom.com/books_sale_5-14.php

Index

15. Free Services

 1. To donate FREE (to you) food for the hungry
 2. For FREE Bible concordance and Bible helps
 3. FREE: New Hope Crisis Counseling with trained
     lay/volunteer counselors. www.newhopenow.org
 
4. E-Word Today for a daily Bible reading
 5. To find your ZIP+4 Area Code in the U.S.A.
 6. How to find and write to your U.S. Representative
 7. ASK Jeeves ... your questions answered fast
 8. Send a FREE greeting card for all occasions
 9. To check the weather in your area
10. Hoax Web Sites
11. Plus many more sources of helpful information

GO TO:
http://www.actsweb.org/links.php

Index

16. ACTS in Action Report and Encounter Archives

ARCHIVES: Daily and Weekend Encounters





"The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."


Know God

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PO Box 73545
San Clemente, CA 92673-0119
U.S.A.

To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter
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addresses to anyone. We value your privacy.

 
   
         
   
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