Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 15 – No. 1713 April 27, 2013
Thought for the week: "Truth is what stands the test of experience." – Albert Einstein
"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." – George Washington Carver
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." – Vince Lombardi, Legendary Football Coach
"Where you look and the way you lean is the way you will go." – Dick Innes
"What the mind dwells on the body acts on." – Anonymous
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." – William Shakespeare
"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence." – Richard DeVos, Amway Co-founder
A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing ... I know my Master is there and that is enough."
There is an important poem that a wise friend, Anonymous, once wrote which distils the importance of controlling our thoughts if we want to control our destiny. Anonymous entitled this poem, "The Winner's Creed," and may this creed inspire new thoughts and visions of greatness in our lives:
"If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a person's will –
It's all in the state of mind
If you think you're outclassed, you are.
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger woman or man,
But sooner or later the one who wins
Is the one WHO THINKS HE CAN."
In his book, Modern Times, Paul Johnson notes that Stalin was short—just five feet, four inches tall. Furthermore, a childhood accident had left his left arm stiff and his hand slightly misshapen.
So when the dictator commissioned his portrait, he instructed the artist to paint him from his best angle—from below, a perspective that made Stalin seem to tower over the artist. To add to the image, Stalin folded his hands over his stomach, making them appear firm and powerful—more like the pseudonym he had chosen: Stalin which means "man of steel."
It is human nature to put ourselves in the best possible light. But spiritual growth cannot come merely by adjusting the angle of the view. God's Word is a mirror that shows our true condition.
Lew Button, Bedford, Pennsylvania, in Leadership magazine. Cited in Encounter
magazine (Australia) Feb/March 2005.
There's no doubt about it: Trust is an asset to any relationship and distrust an enormous liability. But thinking of trust in terms of its practical value can demean and distort its true significance as an endorsement of our character and as a sign of our worthiness. I get my clearest vote of trust when I stop to appreciate the ways my young daughters trust their daddy. Knowing that they have unquestioned confidence that I will always do the right thing is a source of pleasure and pride.
It is also a source of duty. The trust of our children is a gift we must never take for granted. Trust is fragile. Children trust us completely, until we prove ourselves unworthy. It's a heavy responsibility to protect our kids from our own moral frailties, but I think I'm a better person because I treasure their trust so much. The glow of their faith in me lights the way and helps me to see traps and hazards that could embarrass them or damage their image of me—and frankly I can't think of any gain worth that price.
In the play, All My Sons, by Arthur Miller, the father adores his son and the son idolizes his father, until he decides that the father did some shabby things in the past. As the son's esteem is slipping away, the father says in a desperate plea, "Son, I'm no worse than anyone else."
The son, with teary eyes, replies, "I know, Dad. But I thought you were better."
There are other reasons to be ethical, but for those of us with children, there's none stronger than the honor of earning their admiration.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And then he [Jesus] told them, 'You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.'"1
On one occasion when I was leading a seminar, I asked the group in attendance the following question: "What do you think the Christian's number one sin or problem is?" One jokester called out from the back of the room, "Apathy! But who cares?"
Funny, yes, but tragically, as the old saying goes: "Many a true word is spoken in jest."
Look at today's world, for example: Our government is spending, spending, spending and borrowing trillions of dollars to do just about anything it wants to do without considering the ultimate consequences, but who cares?
Political correctness (which is anything but correct) is destroying us, but who cares? Our country is on an accelerating moral decline, but who cares?
Opposition to Christianity is growing more intense, but who cares?
Giving in to the demands of Islam and their relentless push to have their Sharia law accepted, and for them to gain more and more power and control in our Western nations is also steadily but surely increasing, but who cares?
Surely, Satan has blinded the minds of the masses. But what about us; that is, we who call ourselves Christians, what are we doing to make an impact on today's society? In younger days we used to sing with great enthusiasm, "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before...."
It's been many years since I have heard this grand old hymn sung anywhere, or similar call to action hymns such as: "Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross...." Perhaps there is a lot of truth in another jokester's words who said, "Like a mighty tortoise moves the church of God, brothers we are treading where we've always trod."
As Edmond Burke so simply yet powerfully stated: "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men [and women] to do nothing!" And might I add, "and to remain silent."
Note, too, what Chuck Colson said: "German sociologist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the phrase "The Spiral of Silence" after witnessing Hitler and his ilk intimidate citizens until they were afraid to speak out against the most horrible evils imaginable: the mass slaughter of human beings."2
So, apathy just may be our greatest sin, our greatest danger, and our greatest enemy.
So what can you and I actually do? For one thing, we can pray earnestly for a great spiritual awakening throughout our countries. And in this day of incredible electronic communications, everyone with an e-mail address can become involved in helping to spread the message of Jesus Christ—the only hope of our sin-sick world. To help you do this, I encourage you to stand with ACTS International in our Global Communications Outreach and learn how to be a missionary right from your own home—and therein have a vital part in worldwide gospel outreach by becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus Partner. Click HERE or on www.actsweb.org/people_power/. There is no charge.
Furthermore, there is no greater opportunity and privilege than to share the message of Jesus Christ, so please consider joining with us today so you can be a missionary right from your own home.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of apathy—of doing nothing and remaining silent when there is an urgent need to help share the message of Jesus Christ with people across the street and around the world. I am available; please use me to have an active part in what you are doing in the world today by helping to introduce others to Jesus. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Mark 16:15 (TLB) (NLT).
2. The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Feb. 29, 2012.
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