Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 15 – No. 2213 June 01, 2013
Thought for the week: "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." – Thomas Aquinas
"Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it." – Unknown
"Love God, love people, do something about it." – Motto of The Rock, Conway's Community Church, http://rockc3.com
"We must take change by the hand or rest assuredly, change will take us by the throat." – Winston Churchill
"Each man [is] the architect of his own fortune." – Appius Caecus
"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love." – Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." – William Faulkner
A police officer in a small town stopped a motorist who was speeding down Main Street.
"But officer," the man began, "I can explain."
"Just be quiet," snapped the officer. "I'm going to let you cool your heels in jail until the chief gets back."
"But, officer, I just wanted to say...."
"And I said to keep quiet! You're going to jail!"
A few hours later the officer looked in on his prisoner and said, "Lucky for you that the chief's at his daughter's wedding. He'll be in a good mood when he gets back."
"Don't count on it," answered the fellow in the cell. "I'm the groom."
For years, the opening of "The Wide World of Sports" television program illustrated "the agony of defeat" with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure.
What viewers didn't know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal.
As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble. To change one's course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.
– Craig Brian Larson, Illustrations for Preaching
and Teaching, Baker, p. 15.
In the classic, Acres of Diamonds, Russell Conwell begins with the legend of Ali Hafed.
Ali, blessed with a farm and many orchards, was still discontented. He wished for great wealth. So he sought out the village priest and asked for guidance.
The priest advised him to look for a river with white sands. There he would find diamonds; many diamonds. So Ali left his family with neighbors, sold his farm and went in search of diamonds. For years Ali searched, never returning to his family.
Ultimately, Ali walked into the ocean's waves, willfully ending his life—penniless and broken in spirit.
While Ali was searching for his great wealth, the new owner of Ali's farm continued about making it a productive piece of land. One day, as his camels were drinking from the river that ran through Ali's property, he saw a strange rock. Pulling it out of the stream and examining it, he was in awe. It was a very large diamond.
That farm became the site of the world's largest diamond mine! Right there in Ali's back yard was the river with white sands the priest had spoken of.
Montana Gray is a speaker, author, trainer and dream weaver.
To those who see with loving eyes, life is beautiful.
To those who speak with tender voices, life is peaceful.
To those who help with gentle hands, life is full.
And to those who care with compassionate hearts, life is good
beyond all measure.
These are powerful words. Authentic apologies can work like a healing ointment on old wounds, dissolve bitter grudges, and repair damaged relationships. They encourage both parties to let go of toxic emotions like anger and guilt, and provide a fresh foundation of mutual respect.
But authentic apologies involve much more than words expressing sorrow; they require accountability, remorse, and repentance.
An accountable apology involves a sincere acknowledgment that the apologizer did something wrong. "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt" is a fake apology because it accepts no personal responsibility.
A better apology is "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings." An even better one reveals an understanding of the wrongdoing from the point of view of the person injured and asks for forgiveness. "I'm sorry I called you a bad mother. I was speaking out of anger, and I ask you to forgive me." Given the natural human tendency to interpret our own words and actions in a manner most favorable to us, it takes great self-awareness to be accountable.
An authentic apology also conveys remorse. It's easier to forgive persons who have hurt us if we believe they have suffered some pain themselves in the form of regret, sorrow, or shame. Self-inflicted guilt is a form of penance or reparation that clears the road to forgiveness.
Accountability and remorse must also be joined by repentance— recognizing something we did was wrong, coupled with a credible commitment to not do it again. Without such a commitment, an apology is hollow. Thus, repetitive apologies for the same conduct are meaningless and often offensive. "I'm sorry" is not a Get Out of Jail Free card that lets people off the hook who repeatedly break promises, get drunk, or say cruel things.
It takes character to both give and accept an authentic apology.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Therefore He [Jesus] is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him."1
Perhaps you have heard of Arthur Malcolm Stace, who became affectionately known as Mr. Eternity and lived in Australia. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who, before reaching middle age, was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner preacher.
Shortly after becoming a Christian, he heard a sermon entitled "Echoes of Eternity." He was so captivated by the importance of the word "eternity" that he began using his free time to spread the one-word message across Sydney. "Eternity went ringing through my brain. Even though I could scarcely write my own name, I felt the divine urge to write this word."
Fifty times a day for over thirty years, Arthur Stace wrote Eternity on the sidewalks of Sydney, usually in the early morning, with white chalk and with faultless script. When he passed away, the Sydney morning newspaper carried a story of this unusual man who had chalked Eternity on the city streets over half a million times in that metropolis of significant population. The thought of eternity impresses upon us the seriousness with which we must regard our soul.2
Multiplied thousands of Aussies saw this message on Sydney sidewalks. Plus, on the eve of the new millennium celebrations, more than a million people, gathered around the Sydney Harbor Bridge, saw it emblazoned in neon lights across the bridge. It was also beamed around the world to more than two billion TV viewers and shown again at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games later in the year.
Eternity. It is a powerful word with eternal consequences. In his own simple but profound way, Arthur Stace was posing the question, "Where will you spend eternity?"
Eternity! Where will you spend it?
If you should die tonight, are you 100% absolutely certain you would spend eternity in heaven with God? If not, be sure to read the article: "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian Without Having to Be Religious" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you have provided the way through the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus, so that all who believe in and accept him as their Savior, have your promise and guarantee of spending eternity with you in heaven. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Hebrews 7:25 (Amplified Bible).
2. Echoes of Eternity, Dennis Kastens, CSS Publishing Co.
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