Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 10 – No. 3308 August 16, 2008
Thought for the week: "We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves." – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Some metaphors, thoughts and words of "wisdom" from high school kids essays:
"The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't."
"They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth."
"The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while."
"He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something."
"The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant."
"He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up."
Source: Graphic Humor and Inspiration from Richard Wimer. To Subscribe Send an e-mail to: ghi-subscribe@lists.tagnet.org with Subscribe in the Subject line.
In 1904 a man from Milwaukee took a neighbor girl, Bessie Cary, to a picnic on an island in Lake Michigan. After awhile Bessie got a craving for a cool, refreshing dish of ice cream. Ole (that was his name) rowed 2½ miles back to the mainland to get some. Unfortunately, the summer heat melted the ice cream into a globby mess by the time Ole made his return trip.
The embarrassing incident prompted the young mechanic to look for a more efficient means of propelling a small boat. Five years later, Ole Evinrude, patented his revolutionary outboard motor and formed the Evinrude Motor Company. Before long the company was swamped with orders for the little one-cylinder engine. Although most of the success can be credited to Ole, Bessie Cary, soon there after, Bessie Evinrude, was responsible for the management of the business.
Perhaps the Church has become a lower priority in society because it has ceased to dream. By leaving the past and venturing into the future the Church can still make a difference.
I love the gift of life, Dear God,
with all it's beauty everywhere...
blue skies, white fluffy clouds,
green trees, rocky mountains,
open meadows,
the restless timeless sea,
the black bird on my window sill,
but most of all I love dear friends,
and if you will, please give to me
a greater love for you—
my dearest friend of all.
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.
A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.
During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
I grew up in much simpler times. Television was in its infancy, and the idea of a hero was exemplified by a white-hatted cowboy. There was a clarity and simplicity to this hero's moral code that left no doubt there was a right and a wrong.
As I became more sophisticated, it was easy to ridicule these simplistic approaches to ethics and living. Yet the more I learn, the more I've come to think there's as much danger in muddying our choices into endless shades of gray.
Sure, there are extenuating factors and exceptions that challenge the validity of every ethical principle, but on balance we need clear prescriptive guidelines of virtue. Such standards are provided in the quaintly old-fashioned Cowboy Code promoted by the late Gene Autry:
Don't shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
Don't go back on your word or a trust confided in you.
Tell the truth.
Be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
Don't advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
Help people in distress.
Be a good worker.
Keep yourself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
Respect women, your parents, and the law.
Be patriotic.
With a little updating, this code still works.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."1
The question has often been asked, "If you knew today was the last day of your life, what would you do?"
Do you have any impaired relationships you would want to resolve before you pass on? Have you left a will so your loved ones will benefit from your life's work? Most important of all, when you come to the end of life's journey and you stand before a holy God at the entrance to Heaven, if God asks you, "Why should I allow you to enter Heaven," what would you say? In other words, if you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would spend eternity in Heaven with God?
If not, I urge you to make that preparation today. Eternity is forever. As I thought in younger days, many people think that if they do enough good deeds to outnumber or outweigh the wrongs (sins) they have committed, this will qualify them to enter God's Heaven. Wrong.
God's Word makes it very clear that nobody enters heaven because of their good works. It is only by God's grace (unmerited favor) that we are given God's gift of forgiveness and saved for all eternity. His Word says, "For 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."2
God's Word also says, "For the wages [consequences] of sin is death [spiritual death which is eternal separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."3
Because God is a God of infinite holiness no sinner can ever survive in his presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. Furthermore, because God is also a God of infinite justice, all sin must be judged according to God's standard of holiness and perfection, and his justice calls for death; that is, spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls Hell.
Fortunately however, God is also a God of infinite love. This is why he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cruel Roman cross 2,000 years ago in your place and mine to meet the demands of God's justice so we can be forgiven of all our sins and receive God's gift of eternal life. This is the expression of his perfect love.
All you need to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins, and to ask God for his forgiveness and accept his gift of eternal life. The following prayer will help you to do this.
Prayer: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs/sins I have committed. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen."
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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.
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Loving & Understanding People by Dick Innes
I Hate Witnessing by Dick Innes
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