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. 11 – No. 0909 February 28, 2009
Thought for the week: "Habits are like comfortable beds; they are easy to get into, but difficult to get out of." – Denis Waitley
In his fine book, The Business Bible, Rabbi Wayne Dosick tells of a soapmaker who challenged a rabbi: "What good is religion? It teaches honesty, but most people are dishonest."
The rabbi answered, "My dear soapmaker, religion—like soap—only works when you use it."
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight."
An elderly man lay dying in his bed [or so the story goes]. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands.
With labored breath, he leaned against the doorframe, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven: There, spread out on the kitchen table, were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it merely one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?
Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table. His aged and withered hand made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when his wife suddenly smacked it with a spatula.
"Stay out of those," she said. "They're for the funeral."
She's not the only person to save something for a funeral that should have been shared long before. It often seems a shame that flowers are sent at a funeral rather than beforehand when they could truly be enjoyed. Many of the comments made at a funeral reflect the realization that we didn't express our feelings adequately to those we love while they were alive: "What a wonderful friend she was. I never told her how much I appreciated what she meant to me!" "I hope he realizes how much I loved him!"
If someone means something special to you, don't save it for the funeral. Share it with them now!
Alan Smith, Helen Street Church of Christ,
Fayetteville, North Carolina www.tftd-online.com
Ben was a lumberjack who swung his ax with great power and could fell a tree in 20 strokes. In the first few days of a new job he produced twice as much lumber as anyone else. By week's end, he was working even harder, but his lead was dwindling.
One friend told him he had to swing harder. Another said he had to work longer. Neither idea worked. Finally, an old fellow asked Ben how often he sharpened his ax. He said he had no time; there was too much to do.
The lesson of this parable contains the remedy to ineffectiveness in today's workplace.
Dedicated executives may work enormous hours not realizing how much their failure to sharpen their ax by taking time off reduces their effectiveness. As one exceeds the limits of intellectual and physical stamina, both the quantity and quality of work suffer. Fatigue affects judgment and mental acuity, and the time and energy needed to fix errors can offset the extra time devoted to the task.
Organizations fail to sharpen their ax when they give short shrift to screening job applicants and training new hires. Burdened with heavy workloads, managers consumed by urgency to fill positions often succumb to the "warm body" fallacy: anyone is better than no one.
You need three things in a good employee: competence, commitment, and character. Shortcomings in any area can be costly, consume time and resources, and damage morale. Sharpening your ax in this setting means taking the time to be more diligent in background checks, more selective in hiring, more serious in training, and more demanding during probation.
Without the right tools, hard work isn't enough.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."1 And "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."2
A Daily Encounter reader wants to know about perfectionism and asks, "Is it healthy and mature, or is it a sickness and a form of immaturity?"
Perfectionism is a compulsive behavior where one is under bondage seeking to gain approval from others and to prove to him or herself that he/she is a good/perfect person. It comes mostly from early childhood training and, unfortunately, from some churches where people are taught that they can achieve sinless perfection. This is a heavy and impossible burden for anyone to carry. As John said, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."3
The fact is that we—including Christians—live in and are a part of this broken, sinful and imperfect world, and will not be freed from our sin nature and imperfections until we go to heaven. And while the Bible encourages us to always do our best, it never implies perfection this side of eternity. In fact, where the Bible says, "Be perfect," the word can be equally translated "complete" or "mature." What God wants is that we grow towards completeness (wholeness) and maturity and that we learn to be satisfied when we know we have done our best.
Perfectionists are not born. They are made. For instance, say Johnnie gets five A's in his school exams and one B, what does his mother and/or father say? "How come you didn't get all A's?" And this is the way Johnnie grows up. No matter what he does and how well he does it, it is never quite good enough. He can never please his parent/s and forever drives himself in a vain attempt to win their approval. Our society tends to confirm the teaching that our worth depends on our performance—by getting good grades, being a great athlete, getting promoted at work, by being physically attractive, and so on.
As an adult he still feels that what he does is still never quite good enough. When he projects this attitude on to others, he can ruin his relationships, as his wife and kids can never please him. He feels that same way towards God—that he can never please him either. So he lives in a constant state of inner turmoil and can be very difficult to live with.
So what can he do to overcome this bondage?
First, he needs to acknowledge the fact that he learned this negative mind conditioning—and admit that it is neurotic. It is only as he admits this, can even God help him to overcome. While this conditioning was not his fault, it is imperative that he accepts full responsibility for what he now becomes and not stay stuck by playing the blame–game. To blame others and/or say, "This is the way I am," is often a handy excuse not to grow up.
Second, with God's help and the help of a trusted friend and/or counselor he will need to reprogram his feelings to learn that he doesn't have to be perfect or do anything to be loved and accepted just as he is—the way God loves and accepts us all. In time (and it does take considerable time), when loved and accepted unconditionally, he can learn that his worth as a person is never dependent on his performance, but on the fact that he is who he is and not what he does. In doing so, he can also learn to grasp the fact that God loves and accepts him for who he is and that he doesn't have to keep striving to be perfect and earn love and acceptance.
To reprogram his feelings will be extremely liberating from a life of compulsion and bondage. As Jesus said, "You will know [experience] the truth and the truth will set you free."4
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to acknowledge all of my weaknesses and bring them to you and to safe people for healing and deliverance. Help me to know at a very deep level that I am loved and accepted by you and others for who I am and that my worth as a person is never dependent on my performance. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Matthew 5:48 (NIV).
2. Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV).
3. 1 John 1:8 (NIV).
4. John 8:32 (NIV).
Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 254,000+ 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 60 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 254,000+ 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 15-16 salvation 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.