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. 10 – No. 1408 April 05, 2008
Thought for the week: "There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men." – Billy Graham
As a high school basketball coach, John Wooden created a "thank you" rule for his players. Every time a player scored, he was required to acknowledge the person on the team who'd assisted.
Of course, some of the players thought this was a silly rule that would take too much time away from the game. But Wooden explained to his team that a simple gesture like a nod, a thumbs-up, or a wink would take them less than a second.
Wooden believed that if you didn't show your appreciation to others, they'd have no way of knowing their contributions were recognized. And without recognition, people start to pull back—both from performing and from cooperating with others. It's a key element of teamwork and success.
When I was young, my grandfather would come to our house with a box of Astoria Toast. This crunchy cinnamon toast was tasty when dunked in a glass of cold milk. I have fond recollections of my grandfather bringing this treat on visits. I was 15 when he gave me his 1948 DeSoto sedan. The engine didn't run, and I learned as much as I could, improving my basic mechanic skills, only to conclude that the car belonged in the wrecking yard. I recall grandfather's gifts as his way of showing Practical Love.
I'm sure you've experienced times when someone did something unexpected for you. It's a great feeling, as though the sun breaks through the dark, bringing cheer to the day. It motivates me to do something unexpected for another person as well.
My present Bible reading is in the book of First John. St. John defines how our relationship with God develops over our lifetime, starting as young Christians, to becoming veterans in the faith, learning the importance of love. The word love is repeated some 40 times and is connected inwardly to our relationship with God, and outwardly to our relationships with family and friends. This book also says that we love because we first are loved. In the third chapter it says that we should not talk about love but practice love, that is to say, put love into practice through what we do. In this context, Practical Love means sacrificial love, not superficial love.
If I show love merely with a token gift, I may end up regretting that I didn't give more. Talk of love is small but practicing that love is big. If we act out of love, we should give sacrificially.
Each time you help a fellow Christian in need, you are practicing Practical Love. For example: giving away a load of firewood, or offering your best clothes. When we act with a genuine heart we are free to let God love through us. Through practice, we develop a fully mature love, generous in everything. When this love permeates our churches, lives begin to flower and bloom because the Spirit of God lives in loving hearts. It's amazing what genuine acts of Practical Love do when you love one another as Christ loves us.
It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man [or woman] worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
Let's face it: It's not easy to become a person of character. It takes a good heart, but it also requires wisdom to know right from wrong and the discipline to do right even when it's costly, inconvenient, or difficult.
Becoming a person of character is a lifelong quest to be better.
A person of character values honesty and integrity and pays whatever price is needed to be worthy of trust, earning the pride of family and friends, and self-respect.
A person of character plays fair even when others don't and values no achievement unless it was attained with honor.
A person of character has strong convictions, yet avoids self-righteousness.
A person of character believes in the inherent dignity of all people and treats everyone with respect, even those whose ideas and ideologies evoke strong disagreement.
A person of character deals with criticism constructively and is self-confident enough to take good advice, to admit and learn from mistakes, to feel and express genuine remorse, and to apologize graciously.
A person of character knows what's important, sacrifices now for later, is in control of attitudes and actions, overcomes negative impulses, and makes the best of every situation.
A person of character willingly faces fears and tackles unpleasant tasks.
A person of character is consistently and self-consciously kind and empathetic, giving generously without concern for reward.
A person of character feels and expresses gratitude freely and frequently.
A person of character is not defeated by failure or dissuaded by disappointment.
A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."1
I read about one lady who, when she turned fifty, wore a button at her work place that said, "Fifty is nifty." All day she got lots of compliments with people saying things like, "Anita, you don't look 50," "Why, Anita, you can't be 50," and "We all know you're not 50."
She knew they were kidding but she loved it. However, the more she heard the lies, the more she believed them. On her way home she got to thinking, I think I need a new husband. At 51 he's much too old for a young looking gal like me.
As she arrived home from work, a young girl from the florist shop was delivering a beautiful floral arrangement with a note that said, "Birthday flowers from a friend."
Seeing the "Fifty is Nifty" button on Anita's dress, the girl said, "Oh, 50, eh?"
"Yes," Anita said as she waited for one more compliment about looking so young when the delivery girl said, "Fifty. That's great! Birthday or anniversary?"
I heard about another lady who, when she was 50, liked to tell people she was 60. "Why do you do this? Someone who knew her real age asked. "Well for 50 I look terrible, but for 60 I look fantastic," she replied.
Kidding and joking in the right spirit when you make yourself the target of the laughter (and not others) is fun and healthy. We probably all remember the axiom that says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." This would probably be better said: "A laugh a day keeps the doctor and the blues away."
Laughter is indeed one of the best medicines. As the Bible taught 3,000 years ago, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."1
"Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the gift of laughter, humor and fun. Help me to take life seriously, serving you seriously, but not myself too seriously. Help me to learn to laugh at myself even when I make mistakes, and to laugh a little with my friends—every day. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 150,000 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 35.6 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 150,000 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 10+ salvation responses and re-commitment to Jesus Christ from around the world—over 5000 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.
