Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 16 – No. 0614 February 08, 2014
Thought for the week: "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiots." – Albert Einstein
Noah's Ark: Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark. One: Don't miss the boat. Two: : Remember that we are all in the same boat! Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Four: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Six: Build your future on high ground. Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs. Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. Nine: When you're stressed, float awhile. Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.
If you are clear where you are going and you take several steps in that direction every day, you eventually have to get there. If I head north out of Santa Barbara and take five steps a day, eventually I have to end up in San Francisco. So decide what you want, write it down, review it constantly, and each day do something that moves you toward those goals.
If every thought
I had of you
was a rose, and
every rose a word,
I would keep
picking endless roses
from the garden
of my heart,
And speak them
all to you.
Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service. Only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food. NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.
As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation. "We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek." The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation. The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle ... the clapping stopped with ALL eyes on him. He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment, then he recited the following:
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; I needed clothes and you clothed me; I was sick and you looked after me; I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame. He then said, "Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?"
Then the service was dismissed until the following week. Being a Christian is more than something you claim. It's something you live by and share with others.
As Lily Tomlin said, "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up."
Our economy has been shattered by widespread corporate fraud; kids lie, steal, and cheat at unprecedented rates; and their parents beat up each other or referees at youth sports events or supply alcohol to fuel organized hazing. Our confidence in the integrity of journalistic institutions, the accounting profession, stockbrokers, college sports, organized religion, and business in general is continually shaken by a relentless barrage of shameful behavior.
It's tempting to throw up our hands in despair and surrender to cynicism.
It reminds me of the tale of the pious young man whose car broke down on his way to his place of worship. He had to walk through an area where homeless people huddled against buildings for warmth, alcoholics and mentally ill adults wandered the streets, and crack dealers sold drugs to kids. He was overcome with a sense of despondency and doubt about the power and intentions of God.
"God," he prayed, "how can you allow all this pain and misery and do nothing?" Receiving no answer, he became frustrated and raised his voice, "Lord, my faith is at issue! How can you allow all this suffering and do nothing?"
Then someone behind him whispered, "He didn't do nothing. He made you."
What a profound insight and daunting responsibility it is to realize that you are the instrument of reform, that your courage, compassion, and creativity in your own sphere of influence can set into motion a ripple effect of healing actions and attitudes to make a better world.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said."1
I have read how, "In the mid-1980s, an Avianca Airlines jet crashed in the mountains of Spain. Investigators reviewing the incident made a startling discovery. Recordings from the black box revealed that several minutes prior to impact, a computer-synthesized voice from the plane's automatic warning system told the flight crew on repeated occasion to 'Pull up!' The pilot, evidently thinking that the system was not functioning properly, switched the system off. Minutes later they plowed into the ground killing passengers as well as crew."2
It may be true that "all roads lead to Rome" even if part of the way is via the ocean, but it is not true that all religions lead to God and Heaven. When we decide to not listen to what God says about life beyond death, or deem that his Word is incorrect and make our own rules, or decide for ourselves as to what qualifies one for entering God's heaven, we place ourselves above God and become a god unto ourselves—and are on a direct course for a lost eternity, separated from God and all that is godly and good, in the place that God's Word, the Bible, calls hell.
Jesus made it very clear when he said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me.3 And God's Word makes it very clear that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."4
Just as imperative as it is that pilots listen to their plane's warning system, so is it that we listen to God's "warning system" as found in his Word, the Bible.
For help to make sure you are following God's directives for life after death, be sure to read the article, "How to Know God and be sure you're a real Christian" at: www.actsweb.org/christian.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the wonderful 'warning system' you have given to mankind via your Word, the Bible. Please give me a hunger to read, learn, and understand what you have to say therein—and the good sense to always adhere to and follow your instructions for this life as well as the life to come. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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