Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 – No. 2111 May 21, 2011
Thought for the week: "I saw the angel in the marble and chiseled until I set it free." – Michael Angelo
"Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else." – Peter F. Drucker, Author and Management Expert
"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it—but all that had gone before." – Jacob Riis
"Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).
"Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it." – Irving Berlin
"The bad news is: time flies. The good news is: you're the pilot." – Michael Altshuler
"Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult." – Nadia Boulanger
When I was crossing the Irish Channel one dark, starless night, I stood on the deck by the captain and asked him, "How do you know Holyhead Harbor on so dark a night as this?" He said, "You see those three lights? Those three must line up behind each other as one, and when we see them so united, we know the exact position of the harbor's mouth."
When we want to know God's will, there are three things which always concur: the inward impulse, the Word of God, and the trend of circumstances! God in the heart, impelling you forward; God in His book, corroborating whatever He says in the heart; and God in circumstances, which are always indicative of His will. Never start until these three things agree.
American Christians have always been supportive of Israel, and find Bible-based reasons for that position. Yet Mr. Obama took advantage of major speech opportunities [several months ago] in both India and Indonesia to criticize Israel for building apartments for their citizens in Jerusalem, their own capital city. Speaking before an audience of Muslim leaders in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, he said, "This kind of activity is never helpful." Ken Blackwell, of the FRC, said of his actions in this regard, "I believe he is the most anti-Israel president in U.S. history." And the adverse side is that Jakarta, where he spoke to the Muslim audience, is a city no Israeli is allowed to enter. Blackwell made this comment: "When was the last time any U.S. president condemned Russia, England, Cuba, China or any other country for building homes for their citizens in their capital city? The answer is never."
Abraham Lincoln's words are still valid today. "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." (1881)
This applies to our nation's relations with Israel, and particularly with the capital city, Jerusalem. Again and again God has spoken of His love and His concern for Jerusalem ... "Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to put my name there" (I Kings 11:36). "In Jerusalem I will put my name" (II Kings 21:4). "I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there" (II Chronicles 6:6). "In Jerusalem shall be my name forever" (II Chronicles 33:4). "I am returned into Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem" (Zechariah 8:3). "They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:17). And, of course, there is always before us the words of Psalm 122:6: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee." And that relates to the promise God made to Abraham, "And I will make of thee a great nation ... and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee" (Genesis 12:2-3).
We cannot fail to recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever." We are constantly witnessing the attacks of our president on the nation Israel, and on the city of Jerusalem. Like Jefferson, we should tremble for our country as our president continues to act contrary to God's desires for His beloved Jerusalem.
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 non-constructive 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.
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."1
John Brokhoff explained how, "When the Statue of Liberty was remodeled, it was discovered that the entire inside support system had to be replaced.
"The outside copper skin of the statue was okay; it only had to be cleaned. Rust and corrosion had ruined the inner iron supports. If repairs had not been made, the statue in 20 years would have fallen over. The iron supports were replaced with stainless steel. Now it can withstand 125 mph (200k) winds."2
No matter how it appears on the outside, when a nation discards its inner supports of character and moral integrity, sooner or later it will lose its liberty and be bound by and in bondage to its own fallen sinful nature. The same is true in the life of an individual.
At the rate of the moral decline in North America I grieve about what kind of legacy we are leaving for our children and our children's children. Will someone erect a Statue of Bondage?
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please send a great spiritual awakening to our nation so that we will turn from our wicked ways back to you and rebuild and strengthen our crumbling foundations—foundations that are built solidly on your Word. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Proverbs 14:34 (NIV).
2. John R. Brokhoff, Preaching the Miracles.
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