Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 19 – No. 0417 January 28, 2017
Thought for the week: "Great opportunities to help people seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." – Unknown
Read Chuck Colson's report on "Mental Health and Abortion." Click HERE
"A great attitude does much more than turn on the light in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before we changed." – Earl Nightingale
"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." – Benjamin Franklin
"The price of greatness is responsibility." – Sir. Winston Churchill
"Call on God, but row away from the rocks." – Indian Proverb
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." – Mohandas Gandhi
"The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events." – Winston Churchill
"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done." – Harriett Beecher Stowe
A forestry-service employee was recording the rainfall in his area. One drizzly day, his thoughts were apparently elsewhere as he typed "thirty three inches" instead of "thirty-three hundredths of an inch" into the computer.
It was obvious that the machine had been programmed by someone with a sense of humor, for this message quickly appeared on the screen: "Build the ark. Gather the animals two by two."
A mouse and a dove are conversing.The little mouse said, "Tell me the weight of a snowflake." The dove answers, "Why a snowflake weighs nothing more than nothing." To which the mouse replies, "In that case I must tell you a marvelous story: I sat on a fir branch, close to the trunk, when it began to snow. It was not a raging storm or a blizzard. No, it was just like a quiet dream without any violence. Since I didn't have anything better to do, I began to count the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number reached exactly 4,741,926. And when the next snowflake dropped gently onto the branch weight, as you said, 'nothing more than nothing,' the branch broke off and fell to the ground."
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars—a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid—but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
– Progress Magazine, December 14, 1992 from Sermon Illustrations. Submitted by Leon White.
I ran into a stranger as he passed by, "Oh, excuse me please," was my reply. He said, "Please excuse me, too. I wasn't watching you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way when we said goodbye. But at home a different story is told. How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal, my son stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked him down, "Move out of the way," I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said: "While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
"Go and look on the kitchen floor, you'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quiet not to spoil the surprise; you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."
By this time I felt very small, and now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed, "Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?" He smiled, "I found them out by the tree. I picked them because they are pretty like you. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue."
I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today. I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mommy, that's okay, I love you anyway."
I said, "Son, I love you too, and I like the flowers, especially the blue."
– Author Unknown. Cited in Encounter
magazine (Australia), July/August, 2006, P. 6
In 1964, a young woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in Queens, New York. Despite screams that lasted more than an hour, none of the 38 neighbors who watched from windows intervened or called for help. The incident became a national symbol of a coarse and callous society filled with people unwilling to get involved to aid a stranger.
This week, NBC's Today show simulated a realistic abduction on a busy street in suburban New Rochelle, New York. Over and over they filmed a man acting as an angry parent, grab a seven-year-old girl and pull her away. The little girl kept yelling, "You're not my father," as kids are taught to do in such cases. After watching men, women and couples walk by with no more than a nervous glance at the staged abduction, it actually brought tears to my eyes when two young men intervened to help the little girl.
The central point of the show was to demonstrate that the Kitty Genovese mentality is, sadly, still alive and well: Most people will not summon the moral courage to put themselves to any trouble or personal risk to help a stranger.
But there was another obvious dimension to the story. All the other bystanders, the little girl and the abductor were white while the men who got involved were two young black men dressed in baggy clothes. Through the distorted lens of stereotyping, these were unlikely rescuers.
Yes, it was very disturbing to watch so many people look the other way at the plight of a little girl, but it was inspiring and uplifting to see stereotypes shattered by a simple spontaneous act of conscience and courage.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."1
It seems, at least here in the U.S.A., that our society is plagued by frivolous lawsuits. A man sued MacDonald's because he spilled hot coffee on himself—the coffee that he purchased! I have read that another man sued his company because he backed into his own car with a company vehicle. In student days in Chicago for two summers I drove a CTA passenger bus. We were informed that some passengers would purposely fall so they could sue the bus company.
I was listening to the news last night and once again I could hardly believe what I heard. A woman whose husband was a heavy smoker all his life died so she sued a well-known tobacco company for three billion dollars (yes, three billion) and ended up being awarded $50,000,000.00. Talk about the blame-game! Why judges and courts reward irresponsible behavior is beyond my comprehension.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not justifying the tobacco company in any way, shape or form. They are responsible too, but this man in question chose to smoke, just as the alcoholic chooses to drink. Both are equally responsible for their irresponsible actions.
And when we who are codependents take responsibility for over-dependent family members and short circuit the natural consequences of their irresponsible behavior, we too, are being irresponsible. And when we, as parents, don't discipline our children for their irresponsible behavior, we too are being irresponsible and are guilty of reinforcing their negative behavior.
The same is true of societies as with driving on roads and highways. Irresponsible driving kills people. Irresponsible living destroys societies. From the cradle to the grave, responsibility (with consequences for irresponsible behavior) needs to be taught and adhered to. Among the richest to the poorest ...from the lowliest positions to the highest offices in the land—including in the courts and with judges, ministers, politicians, lawyers and every other profession—responsibility needs to be taught, emphasized and enforced, without which we end up with mayhem and ultimately destroying ourselves.
The fact is, I am responsible. And unless one is mentally handicapped we are all responsible.
Furthermore, before God we are also responsible and in the end will have to give an account to him for how we have lived, what we have done with our life, and whether or not we have confessed our sinfulness and accepted God's gift of forgiveness through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to accept personal responsibility for every area of my life and so live that I will not be ashamed or embarrassed (or grief stricken) when I stand before you to give an account of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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