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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

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Vol. 11 – No. 1609 April 18, 2009

 
Thought for the week: "Whatever you are most devoted to will determine how your life is shaped." – Tod Bolsinger
 
    INDEX
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Safe on Your Knees
4.   Written in Stone
5.   Where Diplomas Don't Count
6.   Changing Lives
7.   Affliction to Give Advice
8.   Receive Daily Encounter Devotional  Without Charge
9.   Weekend Encounter E-mail Edition  Without Charge
10.   Know God ... Without Having to Be Religious
11.   Prayer Partners Needed
12.   To Submit a Prayer Request
13.   Please Help Support Weekend Encounter
14.   Helpful Books and Cassette Messages
15.   ACTS in Action Report; Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounter
 

1. Words of Wisdom

"Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are." – James Allen

"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." – Marla Jones

"There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men." – Billy Graham

"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." – Paul Valery

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." – John Lubbock

Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of someone else." – Judy Garland

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

Once Winston Churchill received an invitation from George Bernard Shaw to one of his opening plays back in the early 1900s. The note read, "Enclosed are two tickets to the performance of a play of mine. Bring a friend—if you have one."

Churchill sent back this reply: "Dear GBS, I thank you very much for the invitation and tickets. Unfortunately, I am engaged on that night, but could I have tickets for the second night?—if there is one."

Index

3. Safe on Your Knees

As a group of amateur climbers scaled part of the Matterhorn near Zermatt, Switzerland, a vicious gust of wind came along at a narrow ledge. The guide quickly shouted, "Get down on your knees! You are safe only on your knees!"

That's good advice for all of us: The ledges of life are narrow, and the winds are strong. Only on our knees, seeking God relentlessly in our prayers, can we find safety and security.

Turning Point Daily Devotional, (9-15-06). Source: PreachingNOW.

Index

4. Written in Stone

A story is told of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, "Today my best friends slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from nearly drowning, he wrote on a stone, "Today my best friend saved my life."

His friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Stephen Felker, "How Often Should I Forgive?"
Cited on eSermons.com

Index

5. Where Diplomas Don't Count

At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in." Hungry not only for bread—but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing—but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks—but homeless because of rejection.

Mother Teresa 
Source: This Day's Thought, www.thisdaysthought.org

Index

6. Changing Lives

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (586.5)

Long ago when I was a law professor, I was at a conference and a man I didn't recognize greeted me warmly. He said he wanted to thank me for changing his life.

I was embarrassed as I listened to him tell me he had met me after a speech I had given at his law school. He said he had been discouraged and disheartened about ever becoming a lawyer and that he was ready to quit. But I had counseled him and he had decided to stick it out.

He said he had been looking for me so he could tell me personally that not only had he graduated but had just become the nation's first Mexican-American law school dean.

His decision to seek me out to share the story was a generous and much-appreciated gift I'll never forget. But his description did not ignite my memory, and I felt shallow and ashamed.

Here this fellow was expressing deep gratitude for something I could not recall. I only began to forgive myself when I realized I didn't remember the incident because I engaged in this sort of discussion with students often, and this conversation was not extraordinary for me. That's what teachers are supposed to do: share their knowledge, provide alternative perspectives, and offer encouragement and inspiration.

Teachable moments often arise unannounced and unnoticed. Teachers and parents never know what will be remembered and what will be forgotten. But if we want to have an occasional lasting impact, we have to have faith that at least some of the things we say will really matter. And since we can't always know what those things are, we have to presume that everything we say will matter.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2009 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. Affliction to Give Advice

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."1

I remember years ago a friend talking about some people being "cursed with the affliction to give advice." At the time it sure sounded strange as I had no idea what he meant. Now I understand.

According to Webster's Dictionary, people "offering ... unwanted [unsolicited] advice or services" are officious. They can also be obnoxious. Unwanted or unsolicited advice can be a put-down and can be a thinly veiled criticism.

I'm not talking about going to a lawyer, an accountant, a car mechanic, or whatever, where we need and ask for professional advice. What I'm talking about is when we share our struggles and feelings with a friend and they have a compulsion to tell us what we should or shouldn't do. They are putting us down in that they assume that they know the answer to our situation and needs better than we know them ourselves.

Other people have a compulsion to tell you simple things like how to shine your shoes ... how to sweep the floor ... and how to do a myriad of other things that are obvious to all, assuming that you aren't as knowledgeable or as smart as they are. They treat adults like a mother treats a small child! As the saying goes, "they come on parent." They also make people angry.

Even when some people want advice in their personal life, it is a much wiser not to give it, but to help them see what their options are and determine their own solutions. As long as I "come on parent" to others, advising them what they should or shouldn't do, it may inflate my weak ego and make me feel important (falsely so), but it keeps others over-dependent on me and immature. It can also play the part of God and the Holy Spirit in other people's lives!

A good counselor doesn't tell people what they should or shouldn't do. He/she helps his/her clients to face reality (to see the truth ... first about themselves and then about the situation they are in) and decide for themselves what they need to do.

What I want from a friend when I am feeling in the pits, is someone to listen to me with their heart, to give me their presence, and accept me as I am—and in so doing communicate to me that they care. On such occasions I don't want or need advice, unsolicited or otherwise.

In other words, I want friends who rejoice with me when I rejoice and weep with me when I weep. If you have such friends, cherish them forever. They are rare jewels.

Suggested prayer, "Thank you God and Jesus that you are friends of sinners such as I. Help me to be such a friend to others. Help me not to give advice but always and in all ways be as Jesus to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Romans 12:15 (NKJV).

Index

8. Receive Daily Encounter E-mail ... Free

Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 270,000+ 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 67 million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!

Click HERE for more samples of Daily Encounter

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Index

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.

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. Prayer Partners Needed

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.

Index

12. 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

13. 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.

Every weekday Daily Encounter is going to 270,000+ 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:

Donate Online: You can donate online at ACTS secure web site. Click HERE on ACTS support donations.

Donate Through PayPal:You can donate securely through PAYPAL. Click HERE on PayPal. Where it says Payment For: type in Donation.

Donate by Telephone: ACTS accepts credit card donations by phone by calling 1-949-940-9050.

Donate Through Postal Mail: If you prefer to write a check or money order, please send it and make it payable to:

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     P.O. Box 73545
     San Clemente, California 92673-0119
     U.S.A.

Index

14. 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

15. 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

ACTS International
PO Box 73545
San Clemente, CA 92673-0119
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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
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