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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

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Vol. 10 – No. 4108 October 11, 2008

 
Thought for the week: "The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work." – Oprah Winfrey
 
    INDEX
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Ambiguous Recommendations
4.   It Is Well With My Soul
5.   Basic Rules for Daily Living
6.   Shopping-Cart Virtue
7.   Signs of the Times
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

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway." – John Wayne

"It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem." – Coretta Scott King

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also with overcoming it." – Helen Keller

"I have witnessed the softening of the hardest of hearts by a simple smile." – Goldie Hawn

"Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because granddaddies have only so many horsey rides in them." – Gene Perret

"Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at the moment, the other for all time." – Chilon

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

You are driving in a car at a constant speed. On your left side is a big drop, and on your right there is a fire engine traveling at the same speed as you.

In front of you, running side by side, are a pig and horse. You cannot overtake them. Behind is a helicopter chasing you at ground level.

What can you do to safely get out of this dangerous situation?

[answer below]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Answer: Get off the children's roundabout]

Cited on Web Evangelism Bulletin. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/webull06oct1.php

Index

3. Ambiguous Recommendations

Robert Thornton, a professor of economics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, was, like many teachers, frustrated about having to write letters of recommendation for people with dubious qualifications, so he put together an arsenal of statements that can be read two ways. He calls his collection the "Lexicon of Inconspicuously Ambiguous Recommendations", or LIAR, for short.

Thornton explains that LIAR may be used to offer a negative opinion of the personal qualities, work habits or motivation of the candidate while allowing the candidate to believe that it is high praise.

Some examples from LIAR:

  • To describe a person who is extremely lazy: "In my opinion, you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you."

  • To describe a person who is totally inept: "I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever."

  • To describe an ex-employee who had problems getting along with fellow workers: "I am pleased to say that this candidate is a former colleague of mine."

  • To describe a candidate who is so unproductive that the job would be better left unfilled: "I can assure you that no person would be better for the job."

  • To describe a job applicant who is not worth further consideration: "I would urge you to waste no time in making this candidate an offer of employment."

  • To describe a person with lackluster credentials: "All in all, I cannot say enough good things about this candidate or recommend him too highly."

Robert Thornton is right, isn't he? We don't like to hurt people's feelings, but we don't want to be totally dishonest either, so we are excited to find a way to be ambiguous. We call it ambiguity, speaking a half-truth, using mental reservation, twisting the truth a bit, being ambivalent. Perhaps at least Thornton was more honest when he called his collection "LIAR".

It may be that no Christian characteristic has suffered more in the workplace than honesty. It shouldn't be that way. Jesus wants his people to be known as a people of truth. It is important that those around us can trust what we say without wondering whether we really mean it or not.

"Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another" (Ephesians 4:25).

     Alan Smith, Thought For the Day.
     To subscribe send a blank email to
     join-thought-for-the-day@xc.org.
      www.tftd-online.com
.

Index

4. It Is Well With My Soul

As related in "On This Day" by Robert Morgan, in November 1873, Chicago lawyer Horatio G. Spafford took his wife and four daughters, Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie, to New York, and boarded them on the luxurious French ocean liner, the S.S. Ville du Havre. The Great Chicago Fire had destroyed everything they owned, and Spafford was sending his girls to an English Academy until the Chicago schools (and their lives) could be rebuilt. As he saw his family settled into their cabin, an unease filled his mind and he moved them to a room closer to the bow of the ship. Then he said "Goodbye," promising to join them later in France.

During the night, as the Ville du Havre glided over smooth seas, the passengers were suddenly thrown from their bunks. The ship had collided with an iron sailing vessel, the Lochearn. Water poured in and the Ville du Havre tilted dangerously. Screams and prayers and oaths merged into a nightmare of unmeasured terror. Passengers lost their footing, clung to posts, tumbled through darkness, and were drenched by powerful currents of icy, in-rushing sea.

Loved ones fell from each other's grasp and disappeared into foaming blackness. Within two hours, the mighty ship vanished beneath the waters. The 226 fatalities included Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie. Mrs. Spafford was found nearly unconscious, clinging to a piece of the wreckage. Nine days later, when the survivors landed in Cardiff, Wales, she cabled her husband: "Saved, alone."

He immediately booked passage to join his wife. On the way over, during a cold December evening, the captain called him aside and said, "I believe we are now passing over the place where the Ville de Havre went down." Spafford went to his cabin but found it hard to sleep. He said to himself, "It is well; the will of God be done," and later wrote his famous hymn, based on those words:

     "When peace like a river attendeth my way,
     When sorrows like sea billows roll,
     Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
     It is well, it is well with my soul."

     Source: Friday Study Ministries, Ron Beckham,
     Pastor. www.FridayStudy.org

Index

5. Basic Rules for Daily Living

  1. Take twenty minutes by yourself at the beginning of each day.
  2. Live above small troubles by losing yourself in big, worthwhile interests.
  3. Grow every day; life is a game; keep your eye on the ball, rather than on the scoreboard.
  4. Have power to see things through; keep remembering that most accomplishments are three-fourths drudgery, and one-fourth joy.
  5. Alternate your interests. It is better to be busy than bored. Balance your life with work, play, love, and worship.
  6. Be gracious to others; do kind deeds beyond the call of duty; remember that every person is fighting a battle.
  7. Talk over your problems with others—with confiding friends, your doctor of medicine, your minister, your God.
  8. Work and co-operate with God, praying that God will do something through you rather than for you.

Thomas Kepler. Source: This Day's Thought.
To subscribe: www.thisdaysthought.org.

Index

6. Shopping-Cart Virtue

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (534.4)

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

According to a story in the book, Hugs for Dad, by John William Smith, a father asked his son after grocery shopping to return their cart to the retrieval area. Although it would have taken only a minute, the son protested.

"C'mon, Dad," he said, "there are carts all over the lot. None of those people returned theirs. No one expects them to."

Then Mom chimed in. "For heaven's sake, they pay people to collect the carts. Returning one more won't change the history of the world. Let's just go."

Dad was about to surrender when he saw an elderly couple walking together to return their cart. After a moment, he said to his son, "We're not responsible for what other people do, but we are responsible for what we do. There are two kinds of people: those who put their carts away and those who don't. We put our carts away because that's the kind of people we are."

This story isn't just about grocery carts. It's about doing the right thing in a world that seems to promote rationalizations and excuses that demean or trivialize simple acts of virtue. There are two kinds of people: those who find the strength to do what they ought to and those who find excuses not to.

People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by the world.

I'm not saying people who don't return their shopping carts are moral felons, but there is a lot to admire in people who have such a strong sense of decency and responsibility that they put principles above convenience.

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. Signs of the Times

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"But Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal it up so that it will not be understood until the end times, when travel and education shall be vastly increased."1

In 1927 in Signs of the Times, John Lewis Shuler wrote: "Sir Isaac Newton made a most daring forecast two hundred years ago regarding a future development in rapid transit, which at that time seemed absolutely beyond the possibility of ever seeing realization. Newton declared that he was convinced from a study of Bible prophecy that there was destined to be a marvelous increase in the speed of transportation on the earth.

"'I believe,' Newton said, 'that in the providence of God, though the method now be entirely hidden, men will yet travel on the earth at the rate of fifty miles an hour.' Newton lived from 1642-1727. In his day the most rapid travel by land was by horse. Stagecoaches drawn about eight miles an hour by horses held the record on land."

I imagine that many would have thought that Newton was crazy when he based such a wild prophecy for his day on what he had read in the Bible. He was certainly right, even if he grossly underestimated the speed at which people would travel in the future. Imagine if he could have seen our day when thousands of people are flying daily across the world at speeds more like 500 mph., not to mention the incredible speed that astronauts travel when circling the earth and/or fly to the moon.

So what about Daniel's prophecy approximately 2,500 years ago? Many Bible students believe that we are living in or are close to the end times—the time when Jesus Christ will come again. Not only has travel speed vastly increased but think about knowledge. We are living today in a time of a knowledge explosion—especially so because of computers, the Internet, email and blogs.

Christ's first coming is an indisputable fact of history. He promised he would come again so we can be just as certain of his second coming—but only God knows the exact day and hour. The important thing is not the date of Christ's return, but that we are ready for him when he comes. "Therefore, keep watch," Jesus said, "because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] will come at an hour when you do not expect him."2

To help you make sure you are ready for Christ's return, click ON: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for your promise that you will come again for all who believe in you and trust in you. Help me to make sure that I will be ready for that day should it come in my lifetime so I will not be embarrassed at your coming. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Daniel 12:4 (TLB).
2. Matthew 24:42, 44 (NIV).

Index

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Index

9. Receive E-mail Edition of Weekend Encounter ... Free

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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

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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.

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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

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10. Plus many more sources of helpful information

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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