Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 – No. 4411 October 29, 2011
Thought for the week: "A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over." – Benjamin Franklin
"What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give." – P.D. James
"If everything in our youth were easy, with no challenges, we would not be prepared to face the grand challenge of life as an adult." – Ray Lammie
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." – Thomas A. Edison
"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." – Edmund Hillary
"I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders." – Jewish Proverb
"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." – Harriet Beecher Stowe
The new librarian decided that instead of checking out children's books by writing the names of borrowers on the book cards herself, she would have the youngsters sign their own names. She would then tell them they were signing a 'contract' for returning the books on time.
Her first customer was a 2nd grader, who looked surprised to see a new librarian. He brought four books to the desk and shoved them across to the librarian, giving her his name as was the custom.
The new librarian pushed the books back, smiled, and told him to sign them out himself.
The boy carefully printed his name on each book card and then handed them to her with a look of utter disgust.
Before the librarian could even start her speech, he said, scornfully, "At least that other librarian we had could write."
The most dangerous place to be in America is not walking on the streets of New York after midnight. New York City averages 400 to 500 murders each year—on or off the streets.
The most dangerous place to be in America is inside the womb of an expectant mother in New York City, where 41 percent of pregnancies were aborted—totaling 80,629 in the last year statistics were available, 2009.
It is even more perilous to be inside the womb of a non-Hispanic black woman, with abortion rates of 59.8%.
In the Book of Jeremiah God's Word says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart" (Jeremiah 1:5).
And David praises God in the Psalms, saying: "You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13-14;16).
I love the gift of life, Dear God,
with all it's beauty everywhere...
blue skies, white fluffy clouds,
green trees, rocky mountains,
open meadows,
the restless timeless sea,
the black bird on my window sill,
but most of all I love dear friends,
and if you will, please give to me
a greater love for you—
my dearest friend of all.
Muhammad Ali is considered the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He won 56 out of his 61 professional fights and knocked out 37 opponents. His most famous catch phrase was, "I am the greatest!"
One day, Ali was seated in an airplane when the flight attendant came up the aisle to make sure that all the passengers had their seat belts fastened. Reaching Ali's seat, she asked him to buckle up.
"Hmph!" the champ sneered. "Superman don't need no seat belt!"
The flight attendant smiled sweetly and replied, "Superman don't need no airplane, either."
Ali fastened his seat belt.
The greater our success, the greater the risk of us thinking too highly of ourselves.
Here's a small portion of my personal list expressing the beliefs I want to pass on:
I believe I'm a work in progress and there will always be a gap between who I am and who I want to be.
I believe every day brings opportunities to learn and to do something meaningful.
I believe the true test of my character is whether I do the right thing even when it might cost more than I want to pay.
I believe that no matter how I behave, some people will be mean-spirited, dishonest, irresponsible, and unkind, but if I fight fire with fire, all I'll end up with is ashes.
I believe life is full of joys and sorrows and my happiness depends on how well I handle each.
I believe pain is inevitable but suffering is optional, and if I can control my attitudes, I can control my life.
I believe kindness really matters and snide and sarcastic comments and badly-timed criticisms can cause lasting hurt.
I believe there's joy in gratitude and freedom in forgiveness, but both require conscientious effort.
I believe what is fun and pleasurable is not always good for me and what is good for me is not always fun or pleasurable.
I believe no one is happy all the time, but in the end I can be as happy as I'm willing to be.
I believe the surest road to happiness is good relationships.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."1
"Years ago, R. G. Lee told a powerful story about a mountain school that had a hard time keeping a teacher. It seems there was a group of big, rough boys who took pride in running the teacher off. The biggest and roughest of them all was named Tom.
"A new young teacher won over the boys by allowing them to write the rules for the school—which were strictly enforced with a rod. For example, cheating would be punished with five strokes of the rod, and stealing with ten strokes, both to be given with the offender's coat off.
"Everything went well until one day Tom's lunch was stolen. A frail little boy in hand-me-down clothes that were too big for him admitted his guilt. The school rules demanded that he be whipped. When the teacher called the little fellow up front, he came whimpering and begging to leave his coat on. The pupils insisted he obey the rules and take off his coat. When he did, a deathly silence settled over the room, for he had no shirt on and his emaciated body looked like skin stretched over bones. The teacher gasped and dropped the rod. He knew he could never whip that little boy.
"Suddenly, big Tom strode up and stood between the two. 'I'll take it for him, Teacher, for after all it was my lunch he stole.' He shrugged out of his coat.
"At the third blow the switch broke, and the teacher threw it in the corner and said, 'That's all, school dismissed.'
"The frail little boy laid his hand on big Tom's arm and through his tears said, 'Thank you, Tom, it would have killed me.'"2
And that's exactly what Jesus did for you and me when he died on the cross some 2000 years ago—he took your and my punishment for all our sins so we could be freely forgiven and given God's gift of eternal life. And that punishment did kill Jesus.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and, if so, have you accepted God's full and free pardon? You can do that right now by praying the following prayer:
"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. 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
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"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."
