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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

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Vol. 9 – No. 4407 November 03, 2007

 
Thought for the week: "You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person." – Unknown
 
    INDEX
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Stress Management
4.   One Tick at a Time
5.   Faithful in the Small Things
6.   Five Birds and Good Intentions
7.   A View of the Heart
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

"Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue."

"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them."

"Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker."

"Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on."

"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance."

"It's the second mouse that gets the cheese."

"When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane."

"Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live."

"We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull, Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box."

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."

     Authors Unknown. Submitted by Roy Simmons

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

Source Unknown

Index

3. Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. "

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

"Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!

      Author Unknown. Submitted by Roy Simmons.

Index

4. One Tick at a Time

Once there was a handsome clock that became preoccupied with worry about its future. It began thinking about the number of times it would have to tick: twice each second, 120 times per minute, 7,200 times an hour, 172,800 times a day, 63,072,000 times a year. When it realized that in the next ten years it would have to tick 630,720,000 times, it had a nervous breakdown. The clock went to a watchmaker for therapy. While under the watchmaker's care, the clock began to realize that all it needed to do was to tick just one tick at a time. Soon it began to tick again, and it continued ticking, one tick at a time for one hundred years. And everyone loved that old grandfather clock.

     Cited in PreachingWell, Vol. IV, Number 2, p. 8.

Index

5. Faithful in the Small Things

One time I ducked into a busy restaurant for lunch. There wasn't a single table available, so I sat at the bar. A waiter rushed by with a tray full of dirty dishes. He saw me and said, "I'll be right with you." He came back and told me, "This isn't my section, but I don't want to keep you waiting." He took my order, which included a Diet Coke. "We don't carry that, sir," he said.

I told him that a glass of water would be just fine.

Minutes later he appeared with my food, then rushed back to his section.

He showed up again with a surprise. An ice-cold bottle of Diet Coke! "Where did this come from?" I asked.

"There's a grocery store around the corner," he told me.

"But you're running around like crazy. How did you find the time to go get it?"

"I didn't, sir," he said. "I asked my manager to go!"

What terrific service! It would have been easy for him to grumble and think, Why do I have to do everything around here? But he hadn't. I went back to that same restaurant two months later. I asked for my favorite server. "He doesn't wait tables anymore," I was told. "They promoted him to management." I wasn't surprised. He'd been willing to do the small things that often lead to big results.

By John Miller, Denver, Colorado. Source: Guideposts, Copyright © August 2006, www.guideposts.org. Cited on www.witandwisdom.org Richard Wimer.

Index

6. Five Birds and Good Intentions

     By Michael Jospehson of Character Counts (476.2)

This is number six on my list of all-time favorite commentaries.

Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two of them decide to fly South. How many are left? Three, you say? No, it's five. You see, deciding to fly South is not the same as doing it.

If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it's got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire and flap its wings.

Good intentions are not enough. Our character is defined and our lives are determined not by what we want, say or think, but by what we do.

I frequently think of writing thank-you notes, birthday wishes and letters of praise. Unfortunately, only a sad few of these good sentiments ever make it to paper. Still, if I don't look too closely, I can delude myself into thinking that based on my good thoughts, I'm a gracious and grateful person. A truer picture of my character is drawn by my actions.

The challenge for me is to make the time to do the things I ought to do and say the things I want to say. There are lots of occasions to do this at home and at work. And one doesn't have to get sappy or insincere. Just look for opportunities to say something nice to family members, friends or coworkers. Once you get the hang of it, expand your arena of action and call or write a former teacher, a columnist or a public servant you admire.

Quaker missionary Stephen Grellet put it eloquently: "I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."

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. A View of the Heart

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"Samuel saw Eliab and thought 'surely the Lord's anointed [for king] stands here before the Lord.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"1

Today's society places tremendous emphasis on physical appearance, not only for women, but also (even if to a lesser degree) for men. If, for example, two men of equal qualifications apply for the same job, the tallest man is most likely to be given the position.

Because of his amazing courage in the Battle of Lodi in 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte became know as "The Little Corporal." He was only five-feet-two-inches tall!

William Wilberforce was another small man who apparently never enjoyed good health. For twenty years he was under a doctor's care. More than any other person' he was responsible for stopping the British slave trade. He was known for his eloquence, and in 1780, he entered the British Parliament at age 21. Six years later he joined Thomas Clarkson, the anti-slave campaigner, and began his fight against slavery even though the bill to end the slave trade didn't become law until 1807—twenty-one years later.

On one occasion James Boswell, the great Scottish author went to hear Wilberforce speak. Afterward he said, "I saw what seemed to be a mere shrimp ... but as I listened, he grew and grew till the shrimp became a whale."

Often in life, many of the greatest achievements have been accomplished by persons who have had a serious setback, a major limitation or handicap, or a significant failure of one kind or another, but have overcome their defect and risen above their circumstances.

If you feel you have a shortcoming, be encouraged, the people God uses are ordinary people who make themselves available.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you use ordinary people to accomplish your work on earth. I am available. Please use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1. Samuel 16:6-7 (NIV).

Index

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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 104,000+ 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:

Donate Online: You can donate online at ACTS secure web site. Click HERE on ACTS support donations.

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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
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 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

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