Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 2609 June 27, 2009
Thought for the week: "Heaven will be the perfection we've always longed for. All the things that made Earth unlovely and tragic will be absent in heaven." – Billy Graham
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." – Michelangelo Buonarroti
"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land or opened a new heaven to the human spirit." – Helen Keller, lecturer
"If you are not content with what you have, you'll never be content with what you want." – Unknown
"The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be."
– Og Mandino
"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down." – Mary Pickford
Over in Scotland a confirmed atheist took his boat out to the middle of the lake to do some fishing. Suddenly the legendary Loch Ness Monster popped out of the water and came charging toward the boat. The monster's huge mouth opened wide and was poised to swallow the fisherman and his boat in one gulp. Whereupon, the terrified atheist looked up to the heavens and cried out, "God, help me!" Immediately there came a voice from out of the clouds say, "I thought you didn't believe in me!" And the man in the boat answered, "Please God, give me a break. Until a minute ago I didn't believe in the Loch Ness Monster either."
A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even one year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.
So the doctor said: "Ok, and what do you want me to do?"
She said: "I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."
The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: "I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too."
She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.
Then he continued: "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of two babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms."
The lady was horrified and said: "No, doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!"
"I agree," the doctor replied. "'But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution."
The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same!
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
– Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 to 2005.
Submitted by Douglas Roman
"The Bible gives us a list of human stories on both sides of the ledger. One list of human stories is used as examples—do what these people did. Another list of human stories is used as warnings—don't do what these people did. So if your story ever gets in one of these books, make sure they use it as an example, not a warning."
I've talked about it lots of times before: The high cost of lying and deception by politicians, police, corporate executives, clergy, journalists, accountants, and educators has weakened every major social institution.
As each of these domains wages its separate battle to remove the cloud of suspicion and cynicism that hovers over it, there are six truths about trust that must be understood and dealt with.
First, there is no shortcut to building trust. Rebuilding it on the rubble of lost credibility is much harder. The antidote is nothing less than scrupulous and consistent honesty—especially when the truth is costly.
Second, where trust is important, there are no small lies. Falsehoods, however small they seem, are like germs. Without the antibody of trust, they cause infections that can kill credibility.
Third, the lethal quality of lies lasts long after they're told. Lies told years ago have an immediate poisonous effect on trust when they're discovered. Think of all the prominent people who've been undone by the discovery of trumped-up old resumes.
Fourth, while honesty and forthrightness don't always pay, dishonesty and concealment always cost. It's true that in some settings nothing good may come of admitting wrongdoing, but it gets a lot worse when you don't.
Fifth, lies breed other lies. It's harder to tell just one lie than to have just one potato chip. Once you start deceiving, it takes more and more bodyguards of new lies to protect the old ones.
Finally, don't be seduced by the "I'm just fighting fire with fire" excuse or all you'll end up with is the ashes of your integrity. Self-justifications aside, you can't lie to a liar or cheat a cheater without becoming a liar or a cheater.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And then he [Jesus] told them, 'Go into all the world and preach [communicate] the Good News to everyone, everywhere.'"1
Donald William Dotterer wrote, "Steven Jobs is the man who founded the enormously successful company called Apple Computer. Jobs decided that Mr. John Sculley was the man he needed to help him fulfill his dream of building a completely different kind of computer company, one which [Jobs dreamed] would make computers available to every person in the world. However, Mr. Sculley was comfortably and safely entrenched as president of the Pepsico Corporation, the makers of the soft drink Pepsi.
"In this position, John Sculley had achieved everything that a man could want: power, prestige, public recognition, an enormous salary and a secure future. The thought of a career change requiring a move to the West Coast frightened him. He was concerned about losing pensions and deferred compensation and the adjustment to living in California, in other words, 'the pragmatic stuff that preoccupies the middle-aged.'
"John Sculley knew that he was safe at Pepsico. But he also knew that he had grown to dislike the competitive nature of the business. He also knew how bored he was. Steven Jobs at Apple Computer sensed this. And so he finally confronted his new friend with this pointed question. He said to John, 'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?' That question penetrated deep into the heart and mind of John Sculley. It changed the course of his life. He therefore went to Apple Computer and helped it to grow into one of the most successful corporations in the world. Mr. Sculley's life was changed because he took the risk and decided to invest. Was it a risk? Yes. But without it, there would be no reward."2
I'm not suggesting that you should change your job (though some of you may need to), but I am asking, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life doing only what you are doing now, or do you want to help to truly change the world—one person at a time?"
You can. Here are a few of many simple ways you can do this:
First, make yourself available to God every day and ask him to use you to be as Jesus to every life you touch and that people seeing Jesus in you will want him for themselves.
Second, become involved in serving others through your local church or a fine voluntary organization and help make a difference in your local community.
Third, you can send copies of suitable Daily Encounters to friends and loved ones and share with them these non-preachy Christian messages that speak directly to their personal needs. Hundreds of people are being reached with the gospel and Christian message in this way and it, too, is helping to change the world—one person at a time.
Fourth, besides financially supporting your local church, help support faith organizations that are making a difference and those that are spreading the gospel. There are many such organizations that are dependent on the support of concerned Christians for their operation. And in your giving, please consider becoming a partner with ACTS International (publisher of Daily and Weekend Encounter) through your prayer and financial support and therein be a part of a work that is sending the gospel around the world via E-mail and the Internet every day of the year.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for Jesus, the Savior, the hope of lost mankind, and the only one who has the power to truly change the world. I am available—please guide me in how I can best invest my time, talents, and money in your work, and use me today and every day to be as Christ to every life I touch and therein help change the world in which I live—one person at a time. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Mark 16:15 (TLB).
2. Donald William Dotterer, "Living the Easter Faith," CSS Publishing Company, 1994. Cited on www.eSermons.com, 2002.
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Because the world would die without,
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