Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 9 – No. 5007 December 15, 2007
Thought for the week: "I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." – Og Mandino
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.'" – William Penn
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." – Albert Einstein
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." – John F. Kennedy
"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it's the size of the fight in the dog." – Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." – Winston Churchill,
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." – Aldous Huxley
"Forgiveness is the fragrance that a flower leaves upon the heel that crushes it." – Author Unknown
"We used to play 'spin the bottle' when I was a kid. A girl would spin the bottle and if it pointed to you when it stopped, the girl could either kiss you or give you a dime. By the time I was 14, I owned my own home."
In an old "Dennis the Menace" cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands full of cookies. Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this." Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn,
"Cross Road: For God So Loved"
Cited on sermons.com
Erwin M. Soukup has compiled what he terms: "The Seven Steps to Stagnation:
1. We've never done it that way before.
2. We're not ready for that.
3. We are doing all right without trying that.
4. We tried it once before.
5. We don't have money for that.
6. That's not our job.
7. Something like that can't work.
Soukup admits that "there's probably an eighth step, but we've never looked it up before."
Although I accept their necessity, I am disturbed and dismayed by new onerous airport security procedures that force millions of people to alter their lives in response to new terrorist threats. It's discouraging that five years after 9/11, small groups of fanatics can still affect our lives so dramatically through fear.
Tim Wrightman, a former All-American UCLA football player, tells a story about how, as a rookie lineman in the National Football League, he was up against the legendary pass rusher, Lawrence Taylor. Taylor was not only physically powerful and uncommonly quick, but he was a master at verbal intimidation. Looking young Tim in the eye, he said, "Sonny, get ready. I'm going to the left, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
Wrightman coolly responded, "Sir, is that your left or mine?" The question froze Taylor long enough to allow Wrightman to block him perfectly.
I like this story because it shows how much we can accomplish if we refuse to be afraid. Fear—whether it's of pain, failure or rejection—is a toxic emotion that creates monsters in our mind that consume self-confidence and intimidate us from doing our best or sometimes even trying at all.
Shakespeare's observation that "a coward dies a thousand deaths" reminds us of the heavy toll we pay to fear. And I'm not talking about just physical fears. I'm talking about the fear to form a committed relationship, to try new things and to cut the ropes that tether us to comfort and security so we can pursue our dreams.
When fear makes us prudent, that's fine, but if we surrender to our fears and let them immobilize or torment us, we sentence ourselves to an emotional prison. The antidote is courage. The good news is, it lies within all of us, just waiting to be summoned.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said."1
I have read how, "In the mid 1980s, an Avianca Airlines jet crashed in the mountains of Spain. Investigators reviewing the incident made a startling discovery. Recordings from the black box revealed that several minutes prior to impact, a computer-synthesized voice from the plane's automatic warning system told the flight crew on repeated occasion to 'Pull up!' The pilot, evidently thinking that the system was not functioning properly, switched the system off. Minutes later they plowed into the ground killing passengers as well as crew."2
It may be true that "all roads lead to Rome" even if part of the way is via the ocean, but it is not true that all religions lead to God and Heaven. When we decide to not listen to what God says about life beyond death, or deem that his Word is incorrect, and make our own rules or decide for ourselves as to what qualifies one for entering God's heaven, we place ourselves above God and become a god unto ourselves—and are on a direct course for a lost eternity, separated from God and all that is godly and good, in what the Bible calls hell.
Jesus made it very clear when he said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me.3 And God's Word makes it very clear that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."4
Just as imperative that pilots listen to their plane's warning system, so is it that we listen to God's "warning system" as found in his Word, the Bible.
For help to make sure you are following God's directives for life after life, be sure to read the article, "How to Know God and Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the wonderful 'warning system' you have given to mankind in your Word, the Bible. Please give me a hunger to read, learn and understand what you have to say therein—and the good sense to always adhere to and follow your instructions for this life as well as the life to come. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Exodus 8:15 (NIV).
2. Mike Benson, Oakhill Church of Christ http://www.oakhillcoc.org/
3. John 14:6 (NIV).
4. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV).
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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.
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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
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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...
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Because the world would die without,
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