Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 0112 January 07, 2012
Thought for the week: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"There's been nothing but discipline, discipline, discipline all my life." – Celine Dion
"How we spend our days is—of course—how we spend our lives." – Unknown
"Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths." – Os Guinness
"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass.' 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.'" – Harmon Killebrew
"Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It's also a powerful motivator." – Yogi Berra
"In this world everything changes except good deeds and bad deeds; these follow you as the shadow follows the body." – Ruth Benedict
"If we are correct and right in our Christian life at every point, but refuse to stand for the truth at a particular point where the battle rages—then we are traitors to Christ." – Martin Luther
The kid had swallowed a coin and it got stuck in his throat, and his mother ran out in the street yelling for help. A man passing by took the boy by his shoulders and hit him with a few strong strokes on the back, and he coughed the coin out.
"I don't know how to thank you, doctor," his mother started.
"I'm not a doctor," the man replied. "I'm from the IRS."*
Written by a police officer. Take five minutes to read this. It may save your life or that of a loved one.
In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation. This is for you, and for you to share with your spouse, your children, everyone you know. After reading these nine crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.
1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, do not hand it to him. Toss it away from you.... Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. Run like mad in the opposite direction!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. Don't do this!) A predator may be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. As soon as you get into your car, lock the doors and leave.
If someone is in the car with a gun to your head, do not drive off. Repeat: Do not drive off! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your air bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat, they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes, bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage: A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars. C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side... If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.
It is always better to be safe than sorry, and better paranoid than dead.
6. Always take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone, and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at night!
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, always run! The predator will only hit you (a running target) four in 100 times; and even then, it most likely will not be a vital organ. Run. Preferably in a zigzag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP ... It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird.... The police told her "Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way. Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes, thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, do not go out to investigate! These people turn on all your outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors! Please pass this message on. It should be taken seriously because the "Crying Baby Theory" was mentioned on America's Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.
No doubt, you instantly recognize the name Jell-O.
Likely, you have even tried a flavor or two of it down through the years. However, you may not know the story behind this beloved product.
Jell-O was discovered by a man named Pearl Wait over one hundred years ago. Although Wait was a construction worker by trade, he dabbled in medicines in his spare time and sold his remedies door to door. In the midst of mixing medicines, Wait got the idea of mixing fruit flavoring with granulated gelatin; and, the wiggly, wonderful product that we know and love was born.
For two years, Wait eagerly peddled his product door-to-door. However, sales were surprisingly slow. Discouraged, Wait sold the rights to his product to a neighbor, Orator Woodward, for $450. Within eight short years, Woodward turned a $450 investment into a $1 million dollar business. Today, 1.1 million boxes of Jell-O are sold each day. Although Wait made an amazing discovery, someone else reaped the rewards of it. Ironically, Wait just couldn't wait.
What about us? Can we wait?
As Christians, we have certainly made an amazing discovery. We have found the truth. However, we must hold it fast (2 Timothy 1.13). We must not sell it for any price (Proverbs 23.23). If we sell the wonderful truth that we have found, we will live to regret it. It will cost us and our descendants greatly. If we sell the truth, we will lose far more than Pearl Wait and his descendants ever did. After all, the value of Jell-O is nothing in comparison with the value of the soul (Matthew 16.26).
Please don't sell out! Hold on to the truth that you have found! One day you will be glad that you did.
Wade Webster, "Wait Just Couldn't Wait," The Searcher, Southaven Church of Christ, May 29, 2011
"Hope in the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it" (Psalm 37.34, NIV).
After a great gathering of Christian youth, a church staff member was counting the offering. At the bottom lay a teen-aged girl's picture. Had someone taken that picture from someone's wallet and thrown it in the offering as a practical joke? That's the kind of thing teenagers sometimes do. But someone turned the picture over. On the back of her own picture, a girl had written, "I have nothing to give but myself."
Whether we have little to give or much to give, the gift God wants us to give is ourselves!
I'm going to mention a few names and I want you to think of the first thing that comes to your mind with each: Tiger Woods, Lindsay Lohan, John Edwards, Kenneth Lay, Britney Spears, Andrew Bynum, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Tressel.
Each person behind the name won fame in sports, business, politics, or music because of some extraordinary talents and achievements, yet it's likely the first thing that came to mind is the last worst thing they did, something that not merely blemishes their names but seems to signify who they are.
An old proverb tells us, "A good name shines forever." And the Bible says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." There was a time when men would kill each other in duels attempting to protect their honor. And our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence with this statement: "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Though there is much less talk about honor and preserving one's good name today, reputations are more vulnerable than ever, and revelations of dishonorable conduct are always damaging and often devastating to careers and personal lives.
Because it's so much more difficult to protect one's name today, there is almost no place to hide acts reflecting bad judgment or bad character. Though we may judge ourselves by our best traits and most noble acts, we will be judged by our last worst act.
Be careful!
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"There are friends who 'pretend' to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."1
Many definitions have been given to describe friendship. Some time ago an English publication offered a prize for the best one. "A friend is one who understands our silence" was one of the thousands of entries. But the one that took first prize was this: "A friend—the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out."
To me, a true friend is one who knows all about you and loves you still, who gives you his or her presence, who listens with his or her heart and actually hears what you are saying—who accepts you for who you are and not for what you have or haven't done. A good friend is one who doesn't judge you, try to fix you, or tell you what you should do. He or she will appreciate your friendship and tell you so, will rejoice with you in your successes and weep with you in your sorrows. And, at times, a good friend will confront you and graciously point out a fault, but no matter what, he or she will stand by you. These friends are rare and precious.
But the greatest friend of all is the One who stepped out of the ivory palaces of heaven and came to earth as a man—clothed in a garment of human flesh—to identify with us, and who died on the cross to save us from our sins, to give us a free pardon and the gift of eternal life. He is "a friend who sticks closer than a brother" and will "never, not ever, no never leave us or forsake us."2 His love is absolutely total, unconditional, and eternal. His name is Jesus.
Prayer: "Dear Jesus, thank you that you are a friend of sinners and, as such, you have accepted me as a friend of yours. Help me to show my appreciation for your dying on the cross in my place by my living for you in every way possible. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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go with peace.
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