Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 15 – No. 2013 May 18, 2013
Thought for the week: "Your abilities don't define who you are, your choices do." – Unknown
"Character is much easier kept than recovered." – Thomas Paine
"Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does— except wrinkles. It's true some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place." – Abigail Van Buren
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
– John Kennedy
"Wisdom is being able to see things through God's eyes or being able to see things as God sees them." – Unknown
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." – Theodore Roosevelt
"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." – Jesus
Two men met recently and struck up a conversation. One was telling the other about some problems he was having with one of his kids.
After a while the other guy said, "You think you have family problems? Get a load of my situation. A few years ago I met a young widow with a grown-up daughter and we got married. Later, my father married my stepdaughter. That made my stepdaughter my stepmother and my father became my stepson.
"Also, my wife became mother-in-law of her father-in-law. Then the daughter of my wife, my stepmother, had a son. This boy was my half-brother because he was my father's son, but he was also the son of my wife's daughter, which made him my wife's grandson. That made me grandfather of my half-brother.
"This was nothing until my wife and I had a son. Now the sister of my son, my mother-in-law, is also the grandmother. This makes my father the brother-in-law of my child, whose stepsister is my father's wife.
"I am my stepmother's brother-in-law, my wife is her own child's aunt, my son is my father's nephew and I am my own grandfather. Wow! You think you have family problems."1
I don't know about you, but now I'm utterly konfuzed with a capital "K"!
One SONG can spark a moment,
One FLOWER can wake the dream,
One TREE can start a forest,
One BIRD can herald spring,
One SMILE begins a friendship,
One HANDCLASP lifts a soul,
One STAR can guide a ship at sea,
One WORD can frame the goal,
One VOTE can change a nation,
One SUNBEAM lights a room,
One CANDLE wipes out darkness,
One LAUGH will conquer gloom,
One STEP must start each journey,
One WORD must start a prayer,
One HOPE will raise our spirits,
One TOUCH can show you care,
One VOICE can speak with wisdom,
One HEART can know what is true,
One LIFE can make a difference,
You see, it is up to YOU.
Author Unknown But Very Much Appreciated!
I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do something I can do.
Pastor Jim Cymbala, pastor of the 10,000 member Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York in New York City, was—in a Sunday morning church service—stressing the importance of prayer if their church was going to be blessed by God. Pastor Cymbala wrote:
"A minister from Australia (or perhaps New Zealand) happened to be present that morning—a rare occurrence. I introduced him and invited him to say a few words. He walked to the front and made just one comment:
"I heard what your pastor said. Here's something to think about:
"You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning.
"You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night.
"But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting."
"And with that, he walked off the platform. That was all. I never saw him again."
Cymbala, Jim, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Zondervan, p. 28
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, "Why did you just do that? That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage—frustration, anger, disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you.
Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.
Abraham Lincoln was very concerned with character, but he also was aware of the importance of having a good reputation. He explained the difference this way: "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
Put another way, your reputation is what people think of you, your character is what you actually are.
In a world preoccupied with image, it's easy to worry too much about our reputation and too little about our character. Building a reputation is largely a public relations project; building character requires us to focus on our values and actions. Noble rhetoric and good intentions aren't enough.
What we're looking for is moral strength based on ethical principles. Character is revealed by actions, not words, especially when there's a gap between what we want to do and what we should do, and when doing the right thing costs more than we want to pay.
Our character is revealed by how we deal with pressures and temptations. But it's also disclosed by everyday actions, including what we say and do when we think no one is looking and we won't get caught. The way we treat people we think can't help or hurt us, like housekeepers, waiters, and secretaries, tells more about our character than how we treat people we think are important. People who are honest, kind, and fair only when there is something to gain shouldn't be confused with people of real character who demonstrate these qualities habitually, under all circumstances.
Character is not a fancy coat we put on for show; it's who we really are.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?"1
Prior to his death, Winston Churchill planned his funeral and requested that at his funeral a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral, play "Taps," the signal that the day is over. However, as soon as "Taps" was finished, a second bugler positioned on the opposite side of the dome was to play "Reveille," signaling that a new day is beginning and that "It's time to get up! It's time to get up in the morning!"
Churchill had it right. Death is not the end of life. It's just the end of life on earth, for the human spirit is immortal. For the non-Christian death is eternal disconnection or separation from God, the author of all life and love. For the Christian, death is but the end of their "day" on earth and the beginning of a new day—the entrance into eternal life in heaven to be "forever with the Lord."
What a wonderful hope to have. If you are not absolutely certain that you have this hope of life beyond the grave, I encourage you to read the article, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian. Herein you will find how you, too, can have hope and the promise of life beyond death.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to prepare today for eternity's tomorrow, and help me always to remember that: 'Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. 1 Corinthians 15:55.
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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."
