Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 3509 August 29, 2009
Thought for the week: "No matter what you achieve, somebody helps you. Behind the creation that we call our own are the thoughts and efforts of many." – Althea Gibson
A bill collector knocked on the door of a country debtor and asked the woman who answered the door, "Is Fred home?"
"Sorry, Fred's gone for cotton."
The next day the bill collector tried again. "Is Fred here today?"
"No, sir. I'm afraid he has gone for cotton."
When he returned the third day he humphed, "I suppose Fred is gone for cotton again,?"
"No, Fred died yesterday."
Suspicious that he was being avoided, the collector decided to wait a week and check the cemetery himself. But sure enough, there was poor Fred's tombstone, with the inscription, "Gone, But Not for Cotton."
3. Exchanging Biblical Correctness for Political Correctness
"Having exchanged Biblical Correctness for Political Correctness, we are in the process—like the frog in the kettle—of slowly but surely self-destructing." – Dick Innes
Hear the Word of the Lord: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."1
It doesn't make sense not to bring God—the Creator of the universe—into the creative process. No matter how much natural talent God has given us, God always can make it greater, better, bigger. That's why I pray for creativity. And when I pray for creativity, I ask for two things—I ask God to give me an idea or give me an example.
By Dr. John C. Maxwell. As seen on Faith Thought of the Day.
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Most of us are pretty good at the first half of talking, but not so good at the second half. We are proficient at talking, but deficient at listening. As you recall, this was especially true of Job's friends. When they heard of the evil that was come upon their friend Job, they made an appointment together "to come to mourn with him and to comfort him" (Job 2:11). It seems that their intentions were good. They wanted to comfort him. However, they proved to be "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2). In large part, they were "miserable comforters" because they failed to listen to their friend. They were so busy telling him what a great sinner he was that they failed to hear his declarations of innocence.
By Wade Webster on "Life's Challenges, Your Opportunities," by John Hagee." As seen on KneEmail. To subscribe, send ANY message to: kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org.
In 1968, when Kent M. Keith was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, he wrote the Paradoxical Commandments as part of a booklet for student leaders. He describes the Commandments as guidelines for finding personal meaning in the face of adversity:
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them
anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
The essence of these Commandments is that each of us must choose to do what we think we should do, even when we think we have good reasons not to. They remind us that we are capable of rising above common practices that demean our nature and our culture.
We can rationalize distorting the Golden Rule as "Do unto others as they have done onto you" or "Do onto others before they do onto you" but, in the terminology of the '60s, we then become part of the problem rather than the solution.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
When God called Moses to deliver the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, "Moses answered, 'What if they [the Israelites] do not believe me or listen to me and say, "The LORD did not appear to you"?' Then the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The LORD said, 'Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.'"1 This was to confirm to Moses that God was the miracle worker and Moses only God's agent.
On one occasion, I believe it was to the evangelist Dwight Moody, a woman said, "Mr. Moody, I don't like the way you do your evangelism."
To which Moody replied, "I don't particularly like the way I do it either. How do you do it?"
The lady replied, "I don't do it."
"Well I like the way I'm doing it better than the way you're not doing it," Moody answered.
Moody's answer may have been somewhat blunt but he made a good point. In more youthful days I was invited to a planning session for the college-age youth group in the church I was attending at the time. They asked for my opinion about what I felt was not working and how their program could be improved. I said, "I don't feel I have a right to criticize if I am not willing to do something about it." So guess what? I was made the new program director!
It's very easy for all of us (including myself) to sit back and criticize our group, church, politicians, leaders, etc., etc., and not do anything about it.
Michelangelo had a great answer. He said, "Criticize by Creating." True, most of us will never be a Michelangelo and none of us can do everything--but every one of us can do something no matter how small to help the world we live in become a better place in which to live.
And none of us will ever be called to do what God called Moses to do. But in essence God says to every one of us: "What is that in your hand?" That is, "What ability do you have?" Whatever it is, God wants and expects us to use it to serve him--and we serve him by serving others.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the gifts and abilities you have given to me. Help me to know what they are and find a place to use them in loving service to you and others. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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