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. 3807 September 22, 2007
Thought for the week: "Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." – Martin Luther King Jr.
"There is no traffic jam on the extra mile." – Unknown
"That best portion of a good man's life; his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." – William Wordsworth
"The biggest mistake we could ever make in our lives is to think we work for anybody but ourselves." – Brian Tracy
"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down." – Mary Pickford
"Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day. Then while you sleep your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly." – Tom Hopkins
"And the day came
when the risk it took
to remain tight inside the bud
was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom." – Anais Nin
George was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window.
George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.
He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he said no. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be along when available.
George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.
"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now 'cause I've just shot them all." Then he hung up.
Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up at George's residence.
Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"
George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
So give to the needy Sweet Charity's bread,
For "giving is living," the angel said.
But must I keep giving again and again?
My peevish and pitiless answer ran.
"Oh, no," said the angel, piercing me through,
"Just give 'till the Master stops giving to you."
I have read how, years ago, when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show, he
interviewed an eight-year-old boy. The young man was asked to appear because
he had rescued two friends in a coal mine outside his hometown in West
Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the
audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he
attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did, Johnny inquired, "What are
you learning in Sunday school?"
"Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a
wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried
to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that
story?"
The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this.
But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding,
make sure you invite Jesus!"
Sometimes we forget that, often, the best solutions do not involve the government....
A story in the Wall Street Journal [March, 2007] revealed that one 16-year-old South Carolina boy is not waiting for "the government." Last summer, Rontrell Matthews walked into Capers Preparatory Christian Academy in a poor rural community with terrible public schools. Rontrell held out a check for $32.86—his first paycheck from his after-school job. If they would let him in, Rontrell promised, he would give them every paycheck from then on.
Rontrell—who is willing to literally work his way out of a bad public school—is now excelling at Capers. God bless him and the school that was willing to take him in.
The story made me wonder: What if more kids were willing to do this—to simply abandon bad public schools and work their way into good ones?
So sure—let's help stressed-out moms form healthier attachments to their kids, as David Brooks proposes. But better for politicians to work to prevent problems from forming in the first place.
And we should celebrate when kids like Rontrell Matthews find their own solutions—solutions that show that individual ingenuity always trumps the best government program.
Why do I always have to be the one that starts to do laundry and there's no detergent? I guess it was time for me to do my "Dollar Store" run, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox. So off I go.
I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that appeared to be about sixteen-years-old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there. This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here."
It was obvious now that he was mentally challenged, and also startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him, waiting to squeeze by. His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, "Hey Buddy, what's your name?"
"My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly. "Wow," I said, "that's a cool name; I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Hal."
"Hal like Halloween?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered. "How old are you, Denny?"
"How old am I now, Mommy?" he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle.
"You're fifteen-years-old Denny; now be good boy and let the man pass by."
I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention. He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.
Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son. She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to him. I told her that it was my pleasure, and then I said something I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however, "Blue Roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a "Blue Rose" and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.
She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, "Who are you?" Without thinking I said, "Oh, I'm probably just a "daffodil or maybe even a dandelion," but I sure love living in God's garden.
Pastor Hal Steenson. This story is reported to having
taken place on July 12, 2006. Submitted by Joy Innes.
"Then Moses answered and said, 'But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, "The LORD has not appeared to you."' So the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' And he said, 'A rod.'"1
I have read how a boy who loved to listen to music was bitterly disappointed because he could neither play nor sing. But a kindly gentleman encouraged him with these words: "There are many ways of making music. What matters is the song in your heart." That boy—Antonio Stradivarius—took the man at his word and became the world's greatest violin maker.
I also read about "a well-dressed European woman on safari in Africa. The group stopped briefly at a hospital for lepers. The heat was intense, the flies buzzing. She noticed a nurse bending down in the dirt, tending to the pus-filled sores of a leper.
"With disdain the woman remarked, 'Why, I wouldn't do that for all the money in the world!"
"The nurse quietly replied, 'Neither would I.'"2
As God asked Moses (who was feeling very inadequate) when he was calling him to lead the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, he asks the same question to you and me today, "What is that in your hand?" That is, what are your abilities and talents and how are you using these for the highest purpose? Are they to enrich your own life for your own ends or to help enrich the lives of others?
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to find the most effective way to use my God-given talents and abilities to serve you by serving others in a way that will bring the most glory to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Exodus 4:1-2 (NKJV).
2. Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, p. 130.
Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 92,000+ 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 22 million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!
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.
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.
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.
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
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 92,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 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 5-6 salvation responses from around the world—over 3000 in the past 12 months!
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:
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
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
"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."
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.
