Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 4212 October 20, 2012
Thought for the week: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." – Charles Wesley
"Giving alms never lessens the purse." – African Proverb
"Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, it's miles too hard." – Unknown
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." – Robert Louis Stevenson
"Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is." – Blaise Pascal
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." – The Bible (Romans 10:9-10)
"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile; kindness in your warm greeting." – Mother Teresa
As a result of poor planning, Dennis, from Katy, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered one store with a huge sign that read, "One-Hour Dry Cleaners." It was on the other side of town, so he drove out of his way to drop off a suit. After filling out the tag, he told the clerk, "I need this in one hour."
She said, "I can't get this back to you until Thursday."
"I thought you did dry cleaning in one hour?" he queried.
"No," she replied, "that's just the name of the store."
Those of us who carry the name, Christian, but fail to act like the one whose name we bear, create confusion and disillusionment for those who have yet to believe.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another," Jesus said (John 13:35, NIV).
– Cited in Encounter (ACTS Australia magazine),
Issue No. 3, 2011.
Though intensive media attention to bullying has died down, the problem persists in many forms, and it continues to diminish the lives of tens of thousands of young people every day. According to a recent survey, roughly half of all high school students say that in the past year, they were bullied in a manner that seriously upset them. A similar number said they had bullied someone else.
That's an awful lot of meanness.
Trying to eliminate the problem, schools are scurrying to develop new anti-bullying programs, and legislatures are writing new laws to criminalize bullying. Sadly, neither of these strategies is likely to make a serious dent unless they are part of a much broader effort to create a positive school climate that discourages all forms of hurtful or demeaning words or acts.
Anti-bullying strategies seek to crack down on bullying, hoping to deter abusive behavior by threats of punishment. They often create legalistic procedures that put a heavy responsibility on schools or courts to prove the conduct occurred.
A better strategy is to instill, reinforce, and reward the values of empathy, compassion, and acceptance. Instead of anti-bullying programs, we need a pro-kindness strategy. Kind people don't bully and don't look the other way when someone else is bullied.
We need to create a "culture of kindness," encouraging a spirit of generosity and love where differences are accepted and celebrated, rather than targeted. In a culture of kindness, students stand up for, and next to one another, all for one and one for all.
A dedicated effort to teach, advocate, and model kindness will work much better than efforts to punish meanness.1
* * * * * * *
Ed. Note: In a day of increasing moral decline and an ever increasing anti-God climate, how do we achieve a lasting "culture of kindness" without a strong Christian faith and conversion?
1. This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results."1
In response to a recent Daily Encounter on the relation between confession and healing I received the following e-mail from a man I will call John:
"Dear Dick, I am a pastor of 39 years of age and have found what you said about confession and physical healing to be absolutely true. It has happened to me.
"This occurred after I confessed guilt regarding holding onto bitterness against a person who hurt me when I was a child. Even though I had often said that I had let the hurt and the bitterness go, I hadn't.
"But God showed me I needed to confess and repent of my bitterness and I heeded His voice this time. And so I told this person's marriage partner, who is a dear friend of mine, that I needed forgiveness for having borne that grudge for so many years. I received it—with love and affirmation—and since I confessed my guilt, I have lost a severe backache which had afflicted me for 17 years (and for which I had many medical sessions of manipulation, etc). You see, the root of my problem had actually been a spiritual [as well as an emotional] issue and not merely a medical/physical one.
"So, thank you for your insightful and thoroughly Biblical spiritual ministry."
God has given us directives and/or principles that cover every area of life and death. The smartest thing we can do is to adhere to and follow these.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for your Word that contains directives and principles for healing, wholeness and happiness. Give me the hunger to learn these, the wisdom to understand them, and the good sense to apply and follow them. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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