ACTS International
Home Page of ACTS International
Home Page of ACTS InternationalHow to Find and Know God without having to be religiousLife Help Articles dealing with faith, family, and practical helps for purposeful livingDaily and Weekend Encounters with more than a third-of-a-million worldwide subscribersSupport the Work of ACTS International a not-for-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible for U.S. donorsCurrent report on the ministries and services of ACTS InternationalOnline Store of ACTS ... ACTS CommunicationsAbout ACTS International
ACTS International Home Page Click here for the current issue of  Daily Encounter
         
     
   
Tell a Friend Site Map Share and/or Bookmark
   
         
   
 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter (without charge) click on the Subscribe button.

Privacy policy: We do not sell or rent subscriber's e-mail
addresses to anyone. We value your privacy.

 
Global Communications Outreach:
Learn how to be a missionary right from your own home and have a vital part in worldwide gospel outreach by becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus Partner. Click HERE There is no charge.

Vol. 9 – No. 2507 June 23, 2007

 
Thought for the week: "Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved." – William Jennings Bryan
 
    INDEX
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   A Gentle and Tender Hand
4.   A Child's Giving
5.   True Riches
6.   The Concept of Enough
7.   Failure Is Never Final
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.   To Submit a Prayer Request
14.   Please Help Support Weekend Encounter
15.   Helpful Books and Cassette Messages
16.   Free Services
17.   ACTS in Action Report; Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounter
 

1. Words of Wisdom

"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning." – C.S. Lewis

"The further backward you look, the further forward you can see." – Winston Churchill

"If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you want people to say about you after you die—and live backward." – Author Unknown

"Pain is inevitable but misery is optional." – Barbara Johnson

"Good people are found, not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice people.' Wow! What a clever short cut." – Jim Rohn

"If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it." – Chinese Proverb

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." – Unknown

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

A church bulletin blooper: "Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on June 9 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days."

"Would the person who lost a fat roll of hundred dollar bills, wrapped in a rubber band, please report to the Lost and Found Department. We found your rubber band."

Index

3. A Gentle and Tender Hand

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

Henri Nouwen. Cited on Inspiration Peak.
http://tinyurl.com/y7ubsb

Index

4. A Child's Giving

A little girl was given 10 shiny, new pennies. With the greatest care she spread her treasure out on the living room rug.

"This penny is for God. And this penny is for me."

"And this penny is for me."

"And this penny is for me."

"And this penny is for God."

Her mother interrupted her daughter and said, "You already gave one penny to God!"

Yes, Mommy," she said, "the first one already belonged to Him! But this one is a gift!"

By Pastor Dick Rentfro, Thorp, Washington

Cited on Richard Wimer's
 www.witandwisdom.org

Index

5. True Riches

A few days ago you wrote about being rich—not materially but spiritually. It brings back a conversation I had with an engineer on an offshore survey boat I was on. My dad had just passed away a couple weeks before. My mom had a memorial service right after his death, then planned his funeral for a month later when all the family would get together.

I had returned to my job when the engineer asked if my dad were rich. Without thinking I said "Yes."

His next question was "How much money did you get?"

I then told him none, my Dad was rich in the fact he was married 48 years to one woman, had 3 kids with successful careers and family. None of us got into any serious trouble, went to jail or committed crimes. I can't see being any richer than that. I remember this because the words were spoken through me as I had never pondered this question. It was then I had a better understanding about happiness and "riches." My wife and I appreciate what we have no matter how little it may seem. I felt God used me that day to not only to make him see truth but me as well.

Scott Bighorse on board M/V Olympic Orion

Index

6. The Concept of Enough

    by Michael Josephson of Character Counts (492.4)

Have you heard about the man who was feeling sorry for himself because he couldn't afford new shoes until he met a man with no shoes? And the man with no shoes was almost overcome with grief about his lot in life until he met a man with no feet?

Comparisons can help us put our lives in perspective and know what we ought to be grateful for. But they can also build barriers to happiness. For some, it's not enough to have something good. It's important that no one has anything better. So the man who was happy to have a warm place to sleep will become discontented when he meets a man who owns a house. Why is it that our happiness is diminished when we think someone else may be happier?

One way to deal with the seduction of comparisons is to develop the concept of enough by thinking more clearly about the difference between our wants and our needs. It's okay to want and enjoy comforts and pleasures beyond the necessities, but when we convince ourselves we need whatever we want, we mount a treadmill that can never take us to happiness.

When we confuse our wants with our needs, we diminish our ability to appreciate and enjoy our lives. And when we feel cheated in life, we're more likely to become cheaters and sacrifice integrity, the one thing we can all have in abundance. And when integrity goes, no amount of material success will make a difference.

Knowing what is enough need not sap ambition to get more than we have. It merely frees us from the sense of deprivation that could cause us to be less than we can be.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2007 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation's leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org

Index

7. Failure Is Never Final

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"God ... comforts us in all our trials so we can comfort others who are experiencing difficulties."1

In his book, Beginning Again, Terry Hershey writes, "God not only says that failure is never the final word, but that your area of weakness will become your area of strength. Where you were weak and learned grace will become a means whereby you can reach out and touch the lives of others who need the same good news.

"God is not only working to heal you, but to heal others through you, to make you what Henri Nouwen called a 'wounded healer.'

"Such healing doesn't happen through the man or woman who has all the answers. It happens through the man or woman who understands pain and grace. Nouwen explains, 'For a deep understanding of his own pain makes it possible for the [wounded healer] to convert his weaknesses into strength and to offer his experience as a source of healing to those who are often lost in the darkness of their own misunderstood suffering.'"

I believe it was Ernest Hemingway who first used the phrase, "Growing strong in the broken places." The idea behind these words is that where a bone is broken and heals, it becomes the strongest part of the bone.

The same is true of our broken places—where we have been hurt, have fallen or failed. When we bring these to Christ for his healing, his strength is then made perfect in and through our weaknesses. This is certainly true in ministering effectively to other people. They are helped, not through our brilliant logic or persuasive speech, but through the sharing of our struggles, and how, with God's help, we have overcome. It is a case of one beggar showing other beggars where to find bread.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please heal me in my many broken places and use me to be a wounded healer to many others who have fallen, been wounded, hurt, or broken-hearted. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 2 Corinthians 1:4.

Index

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

Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 70,000+ subscribers. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being helped by this brief, practical devotional.

Over 15 million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!

Click HERE for more samples of Daily Encounter

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 Daily Encounter.

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. To Submit a Prayer Request

If you have a special prayer request please submit it to David Clark at: www.responda.co.uk/prayer.php. David is not on the ACTS staff but is offering this as a service to Daily and Weekend Encounter readers.

Helpers Needed: If you can help David pray for prayer requests, please could you go to:
www.responda.co.uk/member.php

Index

14. 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 70,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to almost 10,000 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 10 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 Through PayPal:You can donate securely through PAYPAL. Click HERE on PayPal. Where it says Payment For: type in Donation.

Donate by Telephone: ACTS accepts credit card donations by phone by calling 1-949-940-9050.

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

15. Helpful Books and Cassette Messages

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

Books by Bestseller and Popular Authors:
   The Miracle of Kindness
   His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
     has topped the charts as the best marriage
     book available. More than one million couples
     have read it ... made their marriage sizzle.
   Fall in Love Stay in Love
   Just Hand Over the Chocolate ...
   Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships
   Sex Starts in the Kitchen
   Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours
   Harried With Children
   Adolescence Is Not an Illness
   Show Time
   It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian
   On Sale at: http://www.actscom.com/store

Cassettes:

  Healing, Wholeness & Happiness by Dick Innes
  Loving & Understanding People by Dick Innes
  I Hate Witnessing by Dick Innes
  God's Formula for Success by Dick Innes
  Damaged Emotions by David Seamands
  Healing of the Memories by David Seamands...
  On SALE at:
http://tinyurl.com/2unmmy

More books, tapes and poems by D. Innes & others are also available at: http://www.actscom.com/store

Index

16. Free Services

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

11. Also donate to Food for the Hungry

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

Index

17. ACTS in Action Report and Encounter Archives

ARCHIVES: Daily and Weekend Encounters




"Because the world is hungry,
    go with bread.
Because the world is filled with strife,
    go with peace.
Because the world is filled with deceptions and lies,
    go with truth.
Because the world would die without,
    go with the love of God."



Know God

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

To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter
without charge click on the Subscribe button.

Privacy policy: We do not sell or rent subscriber's e-mail
addresses to anyone. We value your privacy.

 
   
         
   
Site Map   Top
   
     
         
Find Peace With God footer
 
  ARTICLES
About God
About Faith
Relationships
Success/Failure
Solutions
Recovery
Ask the Teacher
Better Living Tips
Friendship
Words of Love
Words of Inspiration
People Power for Jesus
Simple and Effective Witnessing for Christ

SITE TRANSLATIONS
Spanish Espanol
French Francois

  DEVOTIONS
Devotionals
Daily Encounter
Weekend Encounter
Encuentros Diarios
Archives
Subscribe
When God Is Silent
Prayer Partners
  Needed

Special Needs

BIBLE HELPS
Helps and Studies
Today's Reading
Annual Reading

  QUOTES AND TESTS
Today's Quotes
Happiness Test
Stress Test

ACTS IN ACTION

ACTS Websites
ACTS in Action Report

COMMUNICATIONS

Syndicate ACTS Articles
"I Hate Witnessing"
   Audio—No Charge

Opening Closed Minds
Effective Communications
Jesus, the Communicator
Punching Holes in
   the Darkness

  REPORTS
About ACTS
Be an ACTS Friend

MISC.
People Power Invite
Links
Weather
Privacy Policy
Snail-Mail List
Contact Us/Feedback

ACTS BOOKSTORE
Online Bookstore


Site Map
Report problems to ACTS International
All pages in this site © Copyright 2005-2024 by ACTS International
P.O. Box 73545, San Clemente, CA 92673 U.S.A.
 
HOME   Daily Encounter  Find Peace With God