Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 16 – No. 0414 January 25, 2014
Thought for the week: "If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. No one would have remembered him, either." – Anonymous
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."– Melody Beattie
"One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life."– Edward Butler
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." – Albert Einstein
"God feeds the sparrows, but he doesn't throw their food into their nest." – Anonymous
"Government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." – Thomas Jefferson
"Christians can disagree on matters of faith and practice while agreeing that the world needs Jesus. Someone told Dwight Moody, the famous evangelist, "I don't like your soul-winning methods." Moody said, "I don't like them much, either. What are yours?" The man admitted he didn't have any. Moody replied, "I like mine better than yours." – Anonymous
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely.
"The front row please," she answered.
"You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "The pastor is really boring."
"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired.
"No," he said.
"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly.
"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 that if he completed the jump, he would land beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal."1 He suffered only a few minor injuries.
Sometimes in life when we are heading on a dangerous path—one that will lead to a serious calamity—we need to take the plunge as it were and get off that path even if it requires breaking off a relationship, quitting a job where one is expected to be dishonest, or whatever is required to avoid a coming catastrophe. Remember, it is choice—one's own choice—that determines one's destiny.
1. Craig Brian Larson, Illustrations for preaching and Teaching, Baker, p 15
Words spoken
may soon pass away
and forgotten be,
But when spoken
in love and kindness,
are like beautiful flowers,
and even though
they fade and die
from conscious memory,
their fragrance lives on
embedded in the
deeper mind –
forever.
In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
"From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Professor Joseph Olson, of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
I love maxims, those concise capsules of worldly wisdom. I collect them and write them and, of course, love to share them. Here are 18 random rules of life worth posting on your mirror or, better yet, using as dinner-time discussion starters.
Find the lesson in every failure and you'll never fail.
The likelihood that you're right is not increased by the intensity of your conviction.
Real friends help you feel worthy and make you want to be better.
When you're in a hole, stop digging.
Don't confuse fun with fulfillment, or pleasure with happiness.
Refusing to let go of a grudge is refusing to use the key that will set you free.
Hating hurts you more than the person you hate.
Counting on luck is counting on random chance. Your odds are much better when you plan and work.
Being kind is better than being clever.
Don't underestimate the power of persistence.
The easy way is rarely the best way.
It's much easier to burst someone else's bubble than to blow up your own.
You can't avoid pain, but you can avoid suffering.
Self-pity is a losing strategy. It repels others and weakens you.
Shortcuts usually produce short success.
Control your attitude or it will control you.
It's more important to be significant than successful.
The world is waiting for you to heal it.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"As He [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.'"1
Walter Wangerin in his book, The Manger Is Empty, "has a wonderful story, called 'Matthew, Seven, Eight, and Nine' about how he tried to stop his son Matthew from stealing comic books. He tried various uses of the law over several years and continued to fail. Finally, he resorted to something he rarely used: a spanking. He did it deliberately, almost ritualistically, and he was so upset when he finished that he left the room and wept. After pulling himself back together, he went in to Matthew and hugged him.
"A number of years later, Matthew and his mother were doing some general reminiscing, and Matthew happened to bring up the time when he kept stealing comic books. 'And you know why I finally stopped?' he asked. 'Sure,' she said, 'because Dad finally spanked you.' 'No!' replied Matthew, 'No, because Dad cried.'"2
When Jesus' friend, Lazarus, died, the Bible records that Jesus wept.3 And, today, when you and I suffer, and when people reject him, Jesus still cares and grieves deeply just as he did over the death of Lazarus, and as he did over the people in Jerusalem in his day when they rejected his offer of eternal salvation.
Frank E. Graeff, the hymn writer, asked, "Does Jesus care when my heart is pained / Too deeply for mirth and song / As the burdens press and the cares distress / And the way grows weary and long? O yes, he cares; I know He cares / His heart is touched with my grief / When the days are weary, the long nights dreary / I know my Savior cares."
Yes, dear reader, Jesus cares about you and longs that you will come to him with all your heartaches, and especially that you will come to him for the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. If you have not received God's forgiveness and his gift of eternal life, for help be sure to read the article, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian—without having to be religious," at: www.actsweb.org/christian.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you know and understand me more than anyone else ever could, and that you care deeply for me. Please help me to grasp the fullness of your love and concern and learn to trust in you implicitly no matter what. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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