Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 18 - No. 4416 October 29, 2016
Thought
for the week: "Jesus did not command the whole world to go to church. Jesus commanded His church to go to the whole world." - Unknown
Food For Thought: "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed." – Unknown
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." – Aldous Huxley
"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." – Winston Churchill
"Disgust and resolve are two of the great emotions that lead to change." – Jim Rohn
"I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness." – Abraham Maslow
"Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have
left." – Fulton J. Sheen
"Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then ... do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen." – Lee Iacocca
"Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf." – Native American Proverb
"No one can teach you that which they have not done. Beware of who you
choose to learn from." – Tom Hopkins
The runners in an NCAA cross-country track championship held in Riverside, California, came to a turn that was not well-marked...
Mike Delcavo knew the way and waved frantically for the other runners to follow him. Only four did. One hundred twenty-three out of the 128 runners took the wrong turn and lost their opportunity to win the race. Delcavo later said his competitors were laughing as he chose to take what he knew was the right way.
Thought: In the spiritual race we are running, the crowd may be small or large, but the size of the crowd is not how we determine the right path.1
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
"It is easy to think that slavery is a barbaric practice from the past, but
according to the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, the sale
of human beings is still being practiced around the world. Over 700,000
women and children are sold into slavery every year around the world. Most
of these work either in sweatshops or in prostitution. They are forced into
dangerous, demeaning work, and are in danger of being killed if they try to
escape. The United Nations estimates that the human slavery trade rakes in
seven billion dollars per year."1
Ed. note: I wonder what the United Nations is doing about it.
1. "Women for Sale" by Michael J. Weiss, Ladies' Home Journal, June 2002, p. 131.
More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.1
At least once a year, the guidelines for low risk drinking are exceeded by an estimated 74% of male drinkers and 72% of female drinkers aged 21 and older.2
Sixty-five percent of youth surveyed said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.7
Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.5
Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never drink alcohol.3
Among current adult drinkers, more than half say they have a blood relative who is or was an alcoholic or problem drinker.1
Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers.1
More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.6
Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6-33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes.4
Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year-enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.2
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people.1
Problem drinkers average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers-mostly because of drinking-related injuries.1
Alcohol kills 6½ times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.1
Concerning the past 30 days, 50% of high school seniors report drinking, with 32% report being drunk at least once.1
Sources 1 Substance Abuse: "The Nation's Number One Health Problem," Feb. 2001
2 Mothers Against Drunk Driving
3 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
4 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
5 Alcohol Health & Research World
6 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Analysis
7 The Century Council
Ed note: The news media almost daily report on the numbers of deaths in the war on terrorism (which is extremely sad and tragic), but rarely, if ever, do they report on the abominable death rate caused by alcohol, nor the number of babies killed every day by abortion-not to mention the barbaric murder of babies via partial birth abortion every year.
"80,000 people died at Hiroshima, 35,000 died at Nagasaki; yet in America, alcohol kills almost this many in one year." - Johnny Burkhart
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1).
During an experiment, pigeons were put in cages with one green and one red
button. In one cage, if the birds pecked the green button, they got food
every time. In the other, the green button yielded food erratically and the
pigeons had to persist to get enough of it. In both cases, pecking the red
button did nothing. Both sets of birds thrived, learning what they had to do
to survive and ignoring the red button that yielded no food. But when the
birds that were used to getting a reward every time were put in the cage
that fed them only occasionally, they failed to adapt. They hit their heads
against the cage and pecked wildly at everything in sight.
There are two worthwhile lessons from this study: First, the pigeons quickly
learned from experience to avoid the red button because it was unproductive.
There are lots of people who would lead smoother and happier lives if they
just stopped pushing red buttons that never give them what they want.
Second, even birds that have it too easy get spoiled and develop an entitlement mentality that prevents them from adapting to situations where
they can solve their problems if they just work harder. Some people are like
that, too. They don't deal well with new circumstances, especially those
that require persistence.
Part of being responsible is learning from experience to appreciate the
benefits of tenacity and the wisdom of avoiding useless, harmful and
self-defeating patterns of behavior.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ [Messiah]."1
"There's a story about a woman finding herself alone in an elevator with the famous and very handsome Robert Redford. As the elevator moved up the floors, the woman, like many of us might, found herself uncontrollably staring at the movie star. Finally, in her excitement and nervousness, she blurted out: 'Are you the real Robert Redford?' To which Redford responded, 'Only when I'm alone.'"
"That story reveals that Robert Redford is not simply another pretty face, but he has grown into a wisdom that must serve him well. For like John the Baptist, he obviously knows who he is not."2
In my limited experience, the closer I have come to some well-known leaders, the more disillusioned I have become.
Perhaps one of the best measures of a genuine leader is how he treats us "little" people; that is, how does he treat someone who is not a business prospect, a potential donor for his non-profit program, or a person whose name he can drop to impress others?
Yes, it's good to know who we are but, like John the Baptist, it is better to know who we are not. This principle also applies to people who constantly put themselves down!
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be realistic about myself, knowing both my strengths and my weaknesses-and who I am and who I am not. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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