Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 4809 November 28, 2009
Thought for the week: "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." – Albert Schweitzer
"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." – Sally Koch
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." – John Wooden, basketball coach
"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd; a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." – A. Lou Vickery
"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." – Vince Lombardi
Love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep on watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.
Each person comes into the world as a "blank slate" that over time develops a belief system—a grid that filters everything the mind takes in. A child who has been prayed over and taught God's ways will see the world as it truly is. But one who's been programmed by secular culture or another religion will view life as he or she wishes it to appear—or through someone else's tinted lens.
Dr. Charles Stanley http://www.intouch.org. Source, Faith Though of the Day from Ray Lammie. To subscribe send a blank email to RIL3@aol.com with "Subscribe to FTTD" in the Subject line.
One day, a man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his car and got out. Another car pulled up near the driver got out and said, "I always park there! You took my place!"
The visitor went inside for Sunday school, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.
After Sunday school, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit! You took my place!"
The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing. Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye,
"I took your place."
– Author Unknown. Source: A parable sent via an e-Mail.
Management guru Peter Drucker advocated a practice he called planned abandonment. He stressed how important it is that managers develop the wisdom and courage to regularly review what their organization is doing and determine whether it's worth doing. He urged executives to note and resist the systemic and emotional forces that make it difficult to abandon activities that drain resources, detract from central goals, or otherwise impede progress.
Professor Drucker's insights about abandonment seem equally applicable to the management of our lives. Many of us continue to pursue unrealistic career goals or stay in unhealthy or nonconstructive relationships that ought to be abandoned because they keep us from moving upward and forward toward core life goals.
It makes no sense to settle for relationships that lessen rather than enlarge us, that diminish rather than develop our values and character. Thus, we should summon the courage and integrity to abandon dead-end personal or work relationships. We need to recognize how murky notions of loyalty can blind us to simple realities and how unrealistic hopes that things will change can prevent us from achieving our higher potential.
Toxic relationships not only make us unhappy, they corrupt our attitudes and dispositions in ways that undermine healthier relationships and blur our vision of what is possible. It's never easy to change, but nothing gets better without change.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."1
As a boy he worked long hours in a factory in Naples. He longed to be a singer, and when he was only ten years old, he had his first voice lesson. "You can't sing. You haven't any voice at all. Your voice sounds like the wind in the shutters," his teacher said.
The boy's mother, however, disagreed. She believed that he had a talent to sing. Though very poor, putting her arms around him, she said, "My boy, I am going to make every sacrifice to pay for your voice lessons."
Her confidence in him and constant encouragement paid off. That boy became one of the world's greatest singers—Enrico Caruso!
We all need encouragement! We all—including, and especially our children—need someone to believe in us.
As the Bible also teaches, "Encourage one another daily."2 Note that it says daily! So let's be sure to encourage someone today—and every day for the rest of our lives.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for all the people who, over the years, believed in and encouraged me to achieve something worthwhile with my life. Help me also to be an encourager to all the people you bring into my life—and especially to my loved ones. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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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
"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."
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