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. 2808 July 12, 2008
Thought for the week: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." – Unknown
"If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together." – African proverb
"Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist.'" – Unknown
"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." – Napoleon Hill
"No God—no Peace. Know God—know Peace." – Unknown
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." – Albert Einstein
"Control your own destiny or someone else will." – Jack Welch
The following "supposed true story" speaks a lot about the quality of Japanese products and their quality standards. Supposedly, they're still laughing about this at IBM.
It seems the computer giant decided to have some parts manufactured in Japan as a trial project. In the specifications, they set out that they will accept three defective parts per 10,000.
When the delivery came in, there was an accompanying letter: "We, Japanese people, had a hard time understanding North American business practices. But the three defective parts per 10,000 have been separately manufactured and have been included in the consignment. Hope this pleases you."
Tim Tebow, quarterback for the University of Florida, became the first sophomore in history to win the coveted Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the country. With 29 passing touchdowns and 22 rushing touchdowns, Tebow displayed the kind of versatility and athleticism for which every football coach prays. However, if doctors had had it their way, Tebow wouldn't be here today, according to the Gainesville Sun and lifenews.com
Pam Tebow and her husband Bob were Christian missionaries in the Philippines in 1985 and they prayed for their child even before Pam became pregnant. When she did, she contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. As a result, Pam entered a coma.
The treatment for the medical condition required strong medications which would cause irreversible damage to her unborn son and leave him with devastating disabilities. Doctors advised her to have an abortion.
Pam Tebow refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. She ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a completely healthy baby in August 1987.
"The combination of Timmy's God-given talent, hard work, character and leadership have made a mark on and off the football field," said Pam.
Former New York Giant Chris Godfrey shudders to think of the millions of Tim Tebows who aren't here today. "You just have to wonder how many good things did not come into our world because of our unwillingness to say 'Yes' and to trust in God," he said. (Pastor's Weekly Briefing, 12-04-07; www.family.org)
"It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that does not mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." – Mahatma Gandhi
I love this quote from Gandhi. He must have been a long term planner and thinker. We usually are most concerned with what our actions will mean tomorrow or next week. We don't want to plant seeds and wait years for fruit! In reality my parent's actions still have "fruit" and so it is with you. Our grandparents, and probably their grandparents, have fruit [or rotten fruit] still harvesting. The same with the early mentors we had in life. Some school teacher, neighbor or youth coach may have said something that didn't click back in the day, but is now hitting home 10/20/30/40 years later.
I had several excellent role models and mentors in my 20's. They taught me some wonderful lessons, but I never realized their true value until many years later. I wish they were still here so I could thank them for all they have meant to me over the years. Their "fruit" is still growing.
What we do now, today, and every day, has a chance of affecting others in some way, for a very long time. The only question is—will there be any "fruit" that will grow years from now, as a result of what we do today and tomorrow and...?
Source: Thought for Today by Ray Lammie. To subscribe send a blank email to RIL3@aol.com with Subscribe in the Subject line.
Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes.
Watch your attitudes; they lead to words.
Watch your words; they lead to actions.
Watch your actions; they lead to habits.
Watch your habits; they form your character.
Watch your character; it determines your destiny.
These words of unknown origin tell us that our silent and often subconscious choices shape our future. Every aspect of our lives, at home and at work, can be improved if we use our power to think, reflect, and make conscious choices about our thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, and habits.
Instead, many of us think of ourselves as victims. We complain about our circumstances and what others did to us. Whatever psychological comfort there is in feeling powerless and blameless when things aren't going right, in the end, victims lead unsatisfied lives.
We're most vulnerable to victimitis when we're under the influence of powerful emotions like fear, insecurity, anger, frustration, grief, or depression. These feelings are so powerful, we believe our state of mind is inevitable. Our only hope is they will go away on their own. Yet it's during times of emotional tumult that using our power to choose our thoughts and attitudes is most important. We can't make pain go away, but we can refuse to suffer.
Even when we don't like any of our choices, we do have some -- once we realize we can take control. It isn't easy, but what we do and how we choose to feel about ourselves has a profound impact on the quality of our lives. Victims may get sympathy for a while, but that isn't enough.
Taking personal responsibility for our happiness and success can be scary, but the payoff is enormous. Although we can't make our lives perfect, we can make them better—usually a lot better.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
* (Editor's note: The opening poem is widely attributed to Frank Outlaw on the Web, but we've found no confirmation that this is the correct source. Popular quotation books including Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Roget's International Thesaurus of Quotations, and The Harper Book of Quotations don't include it or any reference to Frank Outlaw. In 2003, we received an e-mail message from a reader who claimed to have penned the verse and sent it in 1998 to members of an e-mail group of people living with lupus. Another e-mailer, however, noted that he first came upon the poem in 1996 at a workshop in the UK.)
"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect [mature] and complete, needing nothing."1
In much younger days I was the South Australian director of a youth ministry. Most of my ministry was teaching Religious Instruction (RI) classes in the public high schools. This was done through local churches. In one night the major denominations voted to withdraw from teaching RI in the schools. Their vote eliminated at least 90% of my work. I turned in my resignation but the board enforced my contract that required three months notice if I were ever to quit.
I thought they were being far less than reasonable. I had a job but no work. For something to do I started writing ... and have been writing ever since.
Out of what seemed to be a very disappointing experience the work that I am doing today—over 30 years later—has grown far beyond what I could have ever dreamed possible. What happened to me back then was one of the best blessings of my life.
I have read how, during the Great Depression, Wallace Johnson, a dynamic Christian, was fired from his job at a saw mill. To Wallace and his wife this was a devastating loss. So what did Wallace do? He mortgaged his house and went into the building business. Within five years he was a multi-millionaire and was the founder of Holiday Inn.
Wallace said, "If I could locate the man who fired me I would sincerely thank him for what he did. At the time it happened, I didn't understand why I was fired. Later I saw that it was God's unerring and wondrous plan to get me into the ways of his choosing."
So, dear reader, are you going through a rough time—a time of loss or disappointment? If so, be sure to ask God what this painful experience is seeking to teach you and prepare you for so that you can become a more fruitful Christian and servant of the Lord. Remember, too, the story of Joseph.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, in all of life's painful experiences please help me see that there is always some lesson you are seeking to teach me to help me become a more mature and fruitful Christian and a more effective witness of your saving power. 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 179,000+ 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 41 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 179,000+ 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 16 salvation and re-commitment to Jesus Christ responses 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.
