Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 3612 September 08, 2012
Thought for the week:
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'" – C.S. Lewis (The Great Divorce)
During a game, the coach asked one of his young players: "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"Do you understand that what matters is winning together as a team?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you are out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?"
Again, the boy nodded yes.
"Good," said the coach, "now go over there and explain it to your mother."
Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels was the master of the "big lie" tactic in which a lie, no matter how outrageous, is repeated often enough that it will eventually be accepted as truth. Goebbels explained:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile,
but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit –
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever.
Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us to "please do not feed the animals" because the animals may grow dependent and not learn to take care of themselves.
Do you think you're any wiser today than you were five years ago? Do you think you'll be wiser still in another five years? I hope the answer to both questions is an emphatic "yes." One of the benefits of growing older is getting better. And we get better by learning.
I'm not just talking about new facts, like how a volcanic eruption in Iceland can prevent airline traffic in most of Europe.
I'm talking about learning basic nuggets of wisdom that can change our lives.
For starters, I've learned that as long as I'm willing to learn, I can learn, and the fact that I'm wiser today doesn't mean I was foolish or incompetent before.
I've learned that you don't have to be sick to get better.
I've learned that no matter how old I am, my life and character are works in process and that there will always be a gap between who I am and who I want to be.
I've learned that it's easy to mask moral compromises with rationalizations and that my character is revealed not by my words or intentions but by my willingness to do the right thing even when it costs more than I want to pay.
I've learned that my character is more important than my competence and that being significant is more important than being successful.
I've learned that I often judge myself by my good intentions but that I'll be judged by my last worst act.
I've learned that the surest road to happiness is good relationships and that striving to be a good person is the surest road to good relationships.
Finally, I've learned that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional and that it's not what happens to me that matters most but what happens in me.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
To the rich man in Jesus' parable who said to himself, "I have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry," God said, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you."1
This past week a teacher friend of mine attended an extremely sad funeral. One of the younger teachers from his school was on her way home with her two young children. She stopped her car in the driveway at their home to pick up the mail from the mail box. Somehow her car started to run towards the house. She ran to protect her children and got caught between the car and the garage—was pinned to the garage door—and killed. One moment she was alive and vibrant, the next her life was snuffed out.
Life can be like that. One of our ACTS Board members, still in his forties, found out one November that he had cancer. He died in January. Every time I drive on the Los Angeles freeways and see a lunatic speeding driver darting in and out of heavy traffic, I tremble—not so much for him but for myself and/or for someone else's loved one that, in a split second, he is just as likely to kill or maim for life.
The reality is that not one of us has any guarantee of tomorrow. Whether our life is taken suddenly or if we should live to a ripe old age, it is imperative that we are ready to go because, as God's Word says, "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment"2 And again, "Prepare to meet your God."3
According to God's Word, after this life we will all appear before God as either our Savior or our judge. It is crucial that we make that choice today. To be sure you are prepared to meet God as your Savior do read the article, "To Know God and be sure you're a real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that over and over you have warned all mankind in your Word, the Bible, that the human soul never dies in that there is life after physical death—either with you in heaven or apart from you in hell (whatever and wherever that may happen to be). Please help me to be certain that when my time is up, I will meet you as my Savior and not my judge. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. See Luke 12:16-20 (NIV).
2. Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV).
3. Amos 4:12 (NKJV).
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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."
