Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 2512 June 23, 2012
Thought for the week: "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." – C.T. Studd
"No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." – Unknown
"A man's make [character] can be seen by the way that he treats those who are of absolutely no value to him." – Unknown
"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." – David Lloyd George
"I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail." – Jim Elliot
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." – Cyril Connolly
"Would that God would make Hell so real to us that we cannot rest; Heaven so real that we must have men there, Christ so real that our supreme motive and aim shall be to make the Man of Sorrows the Man of Joy by the conversion to him of many." – J. Hudson Taylor.
Driving home one night, Bill picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, Bill began to feel suspicious of his passenger and checked to see if his wallet was safe in his pocket. It wasn't there! Bill slammed on the brakes and ordered the hitchhiker out, demanding that he hand over the wallet. The frightened hitchhiker gave him a billfold and Bill drove away. Arriving home, he began telling his wife about the experience. She said to him, "Bill, you left your wallet at home this morning."
In Jesus' day, the scribes and Pharisees were quick to judge others while not realizing they had far worse faults in their own lives. Jesus rebuked them for seeing a speck in another's eye while they had a plank blocking their own vision.
Thought: Many relationships have been hurt because someone was too quick to judge. Don't jump to conclusions. "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" (Luke 6:41).
Once upon a time we had the good sense to realize that periodic despair is normal, that squabbles between husbands and wives or parents and children are unavoidable, that not everybody is intended to live in bliss unending. We even had enough horse sense to realize that anyone who is happy all the time must be mad [or lying]. One indication of good health is precisely the capacity to be unhappy when reality warrants it—to be unhappy without anxiety, apology or defensiveness.
I haven't read your newest book yet, You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing, but I will and love the title. I wanted to share an experience I had concerning broken wings. This experience came when I needed it the most. In June 2003 my husband was in a terrible car wreck. He spent several days in the hospital. I have expressed my gratitude to God many times for saving his life. His body was one solid bruise, a whiplash, and broken ribs. I had to get a strong stance just to help him up (he's 6'3" tall) as he couldn't do that by himself. I did great for two weeks, but utter exhaustion and emotional drain attacked me.
I went to bed one night, half praying, half crying and half asleep, sort of in that twilight zone, just before falling asleep. Some may call this a dream, but to me it was straight from God. I had what I call a vision. I saw a beautifully wrapped package with beautiful ribbons and bows. I tore into it immediately and there lay a bird's wing, shimmering in brilliance and outlined in silver and gold. I immediately fell asleep and awakened the next morning totally restored.
I just knew that had to be in the Bible, and I found it. It was Psalm 68:13 (NIV): "Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold."
The Comforter had come to me, and, by the way, my husband recovered.
Not everyone likes sports. Many think it's a waste of time or, at best, the toy department of life. Yet, regardless of your personal views, it's unwise to underestimate the influence sports have on the quality and character of the American culture. The values of millions of participants and spectators, including their views on what is permissible and proper in the competitive pursuit of all sorts of personal goals, are shaped by the values conveyed in sports.
This was part of my message to more than 100 league presidents of the American Softball Association of Southern California, serving tens of thousands of young girls who learn about themselves and life playing softball.
I know volunteer administrators have great responsibility and opportunity but limited authority and meager resources. Yet all youth sports programs can have a greater positive impact if they have the courage and integrity to pursue a child-centered mission, give kids a safe environment in which they have fun, build character, learn to practice sportsmanship, and develop skills and traits that help them become responsible citizens and live happy, healthy lives.
Striving to win is an important aspect of competition but youth sports is not primarily about winning; it's about learning through effort and improvement. You see, kids like to win; but it's the adults who distort the experience because of their need to win. The fact is, with positive coaching, all the values of sport, including enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment, can be derived from the passionate pursuit of victory, regardless of the outcome.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."1
While what I am about to say will not apply in every country, but where I live if we want to find work when times are tough, we need to be willing to work at whatever work we can get. To give government handouts to people who are able to work but are not willing to work at whatever work is available, is irresponsibility on the part of the government which, in turn, is keeping people irresponsible and immature. Furthermore, mothers who keep having babies so they can live on government support is also a travesty of justice. And people in prison should be given work to do and pay their own way. As God's Word says, "Whoever does not work should not eat."2
When overseas students write to ask me for financial support to help them to come to America to study, I share my experience with them.
When I came to the U.S. from Australia to study for Christian work, I had no means of support—no student allowance, no scholarship, no family support, and no government help. Survival meant working part-time during the school year and full-time during the summers to put myself through college.
I took any job I could get even though I was a technical college graduate and a skilled tradesman. I scrubbed floors and walls, weekly cleaned a black soot-filled coal-burning boiler that heated an entire factory; I crawled through huge factory equipment on my back to clean it. In the summers I drove a city passenger bus in Chicago (got lost in it a couple of times) in the morning and evening rush hour shifts, painted houses in the middle of the day, and worked at a large city church as a janitor at nights and weekends—seven days a week!
No job was ever too menial, but I was never out of work and all my bills were paid. I always thanked God for his provision of work. I am sure that this did as much to train me for my life's work as did my formal education. I never asked God to give me money ... what I prayed for was that he would help me find work ... and I never went hungry.
So, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" and in due course "you will reap if you faint not!"
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to keep on being faithful in the little things because they are as important as the big things. And help me always to work with a positive attitude and a grateful heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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