Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
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Vol. 9 – No. 4307 October 27, 2007
Thought for the week: "Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what's urgent, learn to focus on what is really important." – Stephen Covey
An acquaintance of mine nearly lost his life in a flying accident a few years ago. I had breakfast with him some time after that accident, and I asked him how his accident and his lingering physical problems had affected him. He said, "Bill, I see life so much more clearly now. My relationship with Jesus Christ is now of supreme importance." It hadn't been before. "Now when I hold my wife and when I kiss my children, I realize what a treasure they are." I remember sliding back from the table, thinking, That loss served this brother well. It simplified and clarified what really mattered in life.
Citation: Bill Hybels, "The Often-overlooked Benefits of Losing," Preaching Today, Tape No. 80. Source: Leadership Weekly, http://tinyurl.com/fqm43. Cited on WITandWISDOM by Richard Wimer.
The story is told of a professor who gave a big test one day to his students. He handed out all of the tests and went back to his desk to wait. Once the test was over, the students all handed the tests back in.
The professor noticed that one of the students had attached a $100 bill to his test with a note saying "A dollar per point."
The next class the professor handed the tests back out. This student got back his test score and $64 change!
We live in a world where virtually anything can be bought with money.
Money is sometimes used to buy not only grades, but diplomas, promotions,
special favors, and relationships. Our world is sometimes recognized as
one which follows the golden rule—not the one Jesus taught, but the one
which the world holds dear—"He who has the gold makes the rules."
It's important for us to be reminded every now and then that there are some things that money can't buy. And there are some things God has done
for us which are so precious that all the money in the world couldn't pay
for it.
"Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or
gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot" (I Peter 1:17b-19).
SANTA MONICA, CA (ANS) — The Los Angeles Times reported on cell phone use in Korea that revealed remarkable information about where our digital culture may be heading. They discovered Korean teenagers make up to 90 cell phone calls a day, and social scientists are now beginning to correlate high cell use with rising rates of depression. For some time, I've noticed that many young people value their digital life as much (if not more) than their real life. A friend of my daughter sent 2,500 text messages last month. (That's more than 84 per day.)
Add that to another recent study released by the Knight Ridder News Service that Americans are reporting fewer and fewer close friends. In 1985, pollsters noted that the average person reported having three close friends, but today, it's only two. And the number who say they have no one to discuss important matters with has doubled to one in four. The social implications are significant, from no friends to visit people in the hospital, weakened bonds during crisis, fewer watchdogs to deter neighborhood crime, and a lack of community.
Technology has brought wonderful changes into our lives. Through computers, cell phones, and more, it's made a dramatic difference in our business and personal lives. But at the same time, we need to be aware of how the digital universe is impacting our relationships. Thanks to the news media, we're already aware of online predators who directly target minors for sex, Internet scams that prey on seniors, and the explosion of online pornography.
But one my biggest concerns is how it affects our behavior.
By Phil Cooke Special to ASSIST News Service, Tuesday, September 19, 2006. ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net
This is number four on my list of all-time favorite commentaries.
According to a story in the book, Hugs for Dad, by John William Smith, a father asked his son after grocery shopping to return their cart to the retrieval area. Although it would have taken only a minute, the son protested.
"C'mon, Dad," he said, "there are carts all over the lot. None of those people returned theirs. No one expects them to."
Then Mom chimed in. "For heaven's sake, they pay people to collect the carts. Returning one more won't change the history of the world. Let's just go."
Dad was about to surrender when he saw an elderly couple walking together to return their cart. After a moment, he said to his son, "We're not responsible for what other people do, but we are responsible for what we do. There are two kinds of people: those who put their carts away and those who don't. We put our carts away because that's the kind of people we are."
This story isn't just about grocery carts. It's about doing the right thing in a world that seems to promote rationalizations and excuses that demean or trivialize simple acts of virtue. There are two kinds of people: those who find the strength to do what they ought to and those who find excuses not to.
People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by the world.
I'm not saying people who don't return their shopping carts are moral felons, but there is a lot to admire in people who have such a strong sense of decency and responsibility that they put principles above convenience.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"I [God] have loved you with an everlasting love."1
When my boys were little, I would tuck them into bed every night, say their prayers with them, and speak positive affirmations to them—affirmations such as, "I am so proud of you," "I'm so glad God sent you to be a part of our family," "I love you devotedly," etc., etc.
When my youngest son, Mark, was about nine I crept into his bedroom real early one morning. I was certain he was asleep—because he looked like an angel!
I quietly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "O beloved of the Lord."
As quick as a flash he spun his head around and, looking upward, asked without a moment's hesitation, "Is that you, God?"
When I regained my composure, I whispered back in his ear, "No, it's not God, but he sent me to tell you that."
Dear Reader, God is "sending" me to tell you that today, too. No matter what you have ever done or have failed to do, God loves you with an everlasting love and has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life.
His primary purpose is that you find God and receive his forgiveness for all your sins and his gift of eternal life. If you have never done this and would like to, click on: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9 for help.
Second, God wants you to discover and fulfill his divine purpose for your life and in so doing become a part of what he is doing in the world in which you live. Your life purpose will have to do with using your God-given abilities to serve God by helping others.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, I thank you that you love me with an everlasting love no matter what. Help me to know and experience your divine love, forgiveness, and acceptance and communicate these to every life I touch. Help me, too, to discover and fulfill my God-given life purpose. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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