Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 1309 March 28, 2009
Thought for the week: "Until you give yourself to some great cause, you haven't really begun to fully live." – Ray Lammie
"A ship in a harbor is safe. But that is not what ships are built for." – John A. Shedd
"The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference." – Elie Wiesel
"According to a comment on the John F. Kennedy library website, President Kennedy's favorite quote was based on Dante's Inferno: 'The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.'" – Michael Josephson
"You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile." – Brian Tracy
"Pray for a good harvest, but keep on plowing." – Nancy Otto
"I think one of life's great milestones is when a person can look back and be almost as thankful for the setbacks as for the victories. Gradually, it dawns on us that success and failure are not polar opposites. They are parts of the same picture—the picture of a full life, where you have your ups and your downs." – Bob Dole
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." -- Booker T. Washington
During the minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one of the back pews. Tommy's mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Tommy, whatever made you do such a thing?"
Tommy answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He did just then!"
French author Victor Hugo has a short story titled, "93." In the midst of this tale, a ship at sea is caught in a terrific storm. Buffeted by the waves, the boat rocks to and fro, when suddenly the crew hears an awesome crashing sound below deck. They know what it is. A cannon they are carrying has broken loose and is smashing into the ship's sides with every list of the ship. Two brave sailors, at the risk of their lives, manage to go below and fasten it again, for they know that the heavy cannon on the inside of their ship is more dangerous to them than the storm on the outside. So it is with people. Problems within are often much more destructive to us than the problems without. Today, God's word would take us "below decks" to look inside ourselves concerning the whole matter of forgiveness.
Stephen M. Crotts / George L. Murphy, Sermons For Sundays: After Pentecost (Middle Third): The Incomparable Christ, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Cited on www.eSermons.com
In a sermon called "Is Jesus the Only Way?" Bill Bouknight observes, "Lots of Americans almost wallow in tolerance. They feel that as long as a person is sincere about his religious beliefs, it doesn't matter what he believes. Isn't it strange that they apply this logic to faith but not to any other area of their lives? They want the pilot flying their next commercial flight to be right, not just sincere. They want the accountant who does their taxes to be right, not just sincere. They want the pharmacist who prepares their prescription to be right, not just sincere. Why then in the single most important area of their lives, their relationship with God, would they be willing to settle for sincerity instead of accuracy? It makes no sense."
If God brings you to it,
He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
Two young men in Florida removed a stop sign and brought it back to their fraternity house as a trophy. Shortly afterward, a fatal accident occurred at the sign-less intersection. The students were convicted of manslaughter.
In Tennessee, two teenagers were in a high-rise building. One dared the other to slide down a trash chute. His friend did so—right into a trash compactor. The one who egged him into the fatal accident was traumatized, possibly for life.
Four college fraternity students in California were charged with manslaughter when a pledge they were hazing died after they forced him to drink gallons of water.
What makes these stories all the more tragic is that we're not talking about bad kids. We're talking about fundamentally decent ones who made really bad choices.
The recurring nightmare of caring parents is that, during the course of growing up, their children will seriously damage themselves or others by an unwise decision. An endless array of bad consequences can result from reckless conduct to impress friends, thrill-seeking, or giving in to the temptation of drugs, alcohol, or sex. When kids get involved with irresponsible, manipulative, cruel, selfish, or simply stupid people who call themselves friends, there's no telling what dumb things they can do.
All youngsters make foolish mistakes, as we did. Still, we can equip them with reasoning tools that can help them see and avoid really big, bad choices.
We can improve their decision-making skills by talking to them often about the importance of acting rationally, even when everyone around them seems overtaken by impulse. We can tell them stories to help them evaluate situations and anticipate potential consequences.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."1
Paul Harvey reports how "Snow Man was a nameless, gray-white gelding that Harry De Leyer picked up cheap at a horse auction. The only other bid for the horse came from a glue factory.
"Harry trained Snow Man, and the horse served well at the girls' school where Harry was the riding master. However, when the school closed for the summer, a neighbor made a generous offer for Snow Man, and Harry could not afford to refuse it. So Snow Man had a new home.
"Snow Man, however, liked his old home. Time and time again he jumped the neighbor's high fences and returned to Harry. Finally, Harry bought his horse back.
"In that series of events, though, was a clue to Snow Man's real greatness. Snow Man was a natural jumper, and the horse that once jumped fences to return to his loving previous master later jumped at Madison Square Garden for two national titles!"2
There's nothing like loving attention and encouragement to bring out the best in all of us! We all need it. And we all need to give it! The word "encouragement" comes from "en" meaning "in" with the word courage. Thus, to encourage someone is to put courage into them—to help them to be and do their very best.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for all the people who loved me, believed in me, and encouraged me to help me get to where I am today. Please help me to be a great encourager to all my friends and loved ones, to all the people you bring into my life, and to those whose path I cross. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen."
1. I Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV).
2. Paul Aurandt, Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story, Lynne Harvey, ed. (New York: Bantam Books, 1977), pp. 6-8.
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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
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