Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 12 – No. 2110 May 22, 2010
Thought for the week: "It is no advantage to be near the light if the eyes are closed." – Augustine
"Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade." – Rudyard Kipling
"Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in money and you may have it taken from you; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity." – D.L. Moody
"There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them." – Denis Waitley
"What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has." – Arthur Schopenhauer
"The four hardest tasks on earth are neither physical nor intellectual feats, but spiritual ones: To return love for hate; to include the excluded; to forgive without apology, and to be able to say, 'I was wrong.'" – Author Unknown
"Who has not served cannot command." – John Florio
His wife's graveside service was just barely finished, when there was a massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance. The little old man looked at the pastor and calmly said, "Well, she's there."
I have one deep supreme desire,
That I may be like Jesus.
To this I fervently aspire,
That I may be like Jesus.
I want my heart His throne to be,
So that a watching world may see
His likeness shining forth in me;
I want to be like Jesus.
Oh, perfect life of Christ my Lord,
I want to be like Jesus.
My recompense and my reward,
That I may be like Jesus.
His Spirit fill my hung'ring soul,
His power all my life control;
My deepest pray'r, my highest goal,
That I may be like Jesus.
Every time I forget to feel grateful to be among them, I hear the voice of an eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, "I don't know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!"
Month One
Mommy,
I am only .25 inch long
but I have all my organs.
I love the sound of your voice.
Every time I hear it
I wave my arms and legs.
The sound of your heart beat
is my favorite lullaby.
Month Two
Mommy,
today I learned how to suck my thumb.
If you could see me
you could definitely tell that I am a baby.
I'm not big enough to survive outside my home
though.
It is so nice and warm in here.
Month Three
You know what Mommy
I'm a boy!
I hope that makes you happy.
I always want you to be happy.
I don't like it when you cry.
You sound so sad.
It makes me sad too
and I cry with you even though
you can't hear me.
Month Four
Mommy,
my hair is starting to grow.
It is very short and fine
but I will have a lot of it.
I spend a lot of my time exercising.
I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes
and stretch my arms and legs.
I am becoming quite good at it, too.
Month Five
You went to the doctor today.
Mommy, he lied to you.
He said that I'm not a baby.
I am a baby, Mommy, your baby.
I think and feel.
Mommy, what's abortion?
Month Six
I can hear that doctor again.
I don't like him.
He seems cold and heartless.
Something is intruding my home.
The doctor called it a needle.
Mommy, what is it? It burns!
Please make him stop!
I can't get away from it!
Mommy! HELP me!
Month Seven
Mommy,
I am okay.
I am in Jesus' arms.
He is holding me.
He told me about abortion.
Why didn't you want me, Mommy?
Every Abortion Is Just:
One more heart that was stopped.
Two more eyes that will never see.
Two more hands that will never touch.
Two more legs that will never run.
One more mouth that will never speak.
Author Unknown.
Submitted by Patricia Brown, Canada
In 1968, when Kent M. Keith was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, he wrote these "Paradoxical Commandments" as guidelines for student leaders to find 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 underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People who need help may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
The essence of these commandments is that all of us must choose to do what we think we should, even when we think we have good reasons not to. They remind us we are capable of rising above common practices that demean our nature and culture.
We can rationalize distorting the Golden Rule to read "Do unto others as they have done unto you" or "Do unto others before they do unto you," but in the terminology of the 1960s, we then become part of the problem rather than the solution.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus] will come at an hour when you do not expect him."1
I read how, "while on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, 'It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!' They replied, 'We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, "He may come today."'"
Christ's coming to earth the first time some 2000 years ago is an indisputable fact of history. His birth was as real as the birth of Julius Caesar. And the temple he visited in Jerusalem was as real as the building of the Coliseum in ancient Rome. The Coliseum still stands. I visited it last year and was awestruck, not only with the marvel of its structure; but also with the history of the time it represented. Equally real is the promise of Jesus that he would return again to earth to take all his true believers to be with him forever in Heaven. That promise still stands.
We don't know exactly when that time will be. As an old pastor friend used to say, all the signs that Jesus said would precede his coming have been happening in some way ever since he was on earth, but today "they are all standing up at once."
Like the explorers on Elephant Island, we need to be prepared and ready for Jesus' coming. He will be coming, whether we are ready or not. What if it were today, which it very well could be? Would you be ready?
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the promise of Jesus' return to earth to take all his followers to be with him in heaven with you forever. Help me to be sure that I am ready for his return. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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