Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 16 – No. 1914 May 10, 2014
Thought for the week: "God gives everyone certain attributes, characteristics, talents, and then He says, 'If you use what you have I'll increase it, but if you don't use it, you'll lose it.' Use it or lose it; it's a law." – Charlie "Tremendous" Jones
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." – Neil Postman
"Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience; without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under." – Ronald Reagan
"A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing." – John Tillotson
"It requires less character to discover the faults of others than is does to tolerate them." – J. Petit Senn
"Let us believe neither half of the good people tell us of ourselves, nor half of the evil they say of others." – J. Petit Senn
"The most significant decision I make each day is my choice of an attitude. When my attitudes are right there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme and no challenge too great." – Charles Swindoll
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."
During a question and answer session at a recent speaking engagement, a university student asked me, "Why do you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God?" Now this is a very interesting question; and probably one of the most important questions any Christian could ask themselves. What is so special, so unique about the Bible that Christians believe it is literally the inspired word of God?
In answering this student's question, I encouraged him to consider the following facts about the Bible:
First, the Bible is not just one single book. This is a more common misconception than many people realize, especially with people who do not come from a Judeo-Christian background. Rather than being a single book, the Bible is actually a collection of 66 books, which is called the canon of scriptures. These 66 books contain a variety of genres: history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters, and apocalyptic, just to name a few.
Second, these 66 books were written by 40 different authors. These authors came from a variety of backgrounds: shepherds, fishermen, doctors, kings, prophets, and others. And most of these authors never knew one another personally.
Third, these 66 books were written over a period of 1500 years. Yet again, this is another reminder that many of these authors never knew or collaborated with one another in writing these books.
Fourth, the 66 books of the Bible were written in 3 different languages. In the Bible we have books that were written in the ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic; a reflection of the historical and cultural circumstances in which each of these books were written.
And finally, these 66 books were written on 3 different continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Once again, this is a testament to the varied historical and cultural circumstances of God's people.
Think about the above realities: 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents. What's more, this collection of books shares a common story line—the creation, fall, and redemption of God's people; a common theme—God's universal love for all of humanity; and a common message—salvation is available to all who repent of their sins and commit to following God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. In addition to sharing these commonalities, these 66 books contain no historical errors or contradictions. God's word truly is an amazing collection of writings!
After I had shared the above facts with this student, I offered him the following challenge: I said to him, "If you do not believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, if you do not believe that the Bible is of a supernatural origin, than I challenge you to a test." I said to the student, "I challenge you to go to any library in the world; you can choose any library you like, and find 66 books which match the characteristics of the 66 books in the Bible. You must choose 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, written on 3 different continents. However, they must share a common story line, a common theme, and a common message, with no historical errors or contradictions." I went on to say, "If you can produce such a collection of books, I will admit that the Bible is not the inspired word of God." The student's reply was almost instantaneous, he emphatically stated, "But that's impossible!"
It truly is impossible, for any collection of human writings. However, the Bible passes this test. The Bible contains 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents, with no historical errors or contradictions. The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, bears the mark of Divine inspiration.
The next time you encounter someone who asks you why you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, try sharing this challenge with them.
History has a habit of repeating itself. Please note the date of this writing!
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."
I've mentioned before that, despite my great admiration for people who are instinctively and consistently kind, kindness does not come naturally to me. Yet the older I get, the more I agree with Abraham Heschel, who said, "When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people." Henry James was more emphatic when he said, "Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."
In 1994, Dr. Chuck Wall, a professor of human relations and management at Bakersfield College in California, came up with a concept that turned into an influential movement. Weary of hearing about "senseless acts of violence," he began to teach and talk about "random and senseless acts of kindness." The idea was simple: the best response to a world coarsened by selfishness and cruelty was individual acts of kindness.
In 1999, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a novel called Pay It Forward (later adapted into a movie) that builds on Dr. Wall's initial inspiration. It starts with a teacher's assignment: "Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action." Trevor, the 12-year-old hero, comes up with an idea. If he does something "real good" for three people and asks in return that instead of them "paying him back," they "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three other people, who are in turn asked to pay it forward, the math quickly shows that he could change the world.
Whether acts of kindness are random or spontaneous as advocated by Dr. Wall or premeditated as proposed by Ms. Hyde, acts of kindness are certainly not senseless. To the contrary, they're the best possible proof of good sense. Every single person can send forth ripples of kindness and compassion simply by being nice.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."1
Lee Strobel tells about a mother from Costa Mesa, California, who told about the day her three-year old son was on her heels wherever she went. She was having trouble doing her routine chores.
"Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around I would trip over him," she said. "Several times I suggested fun activities to keep him occupied, but he would just smile and say, 'That's alright Mommy I'd rather be in here with you.' He continued to follow me and after the fifth trip, my patience wore thin and I asked him why he was following me constantly."
He said, "My Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps but I can't see him so I'm walking in yours."
The greatest way we can teach our children about—and show our loved ones—the love of Jesus is through the example of how we live, and how we model his love in our everyday life.
As another has said, "We raise not the children we want but the children that we the parents are."
Suggested prayer, "Dear God, please help me to so live that people, especially my children (and loved ones), will see Jesus in me, and will also want to follow in my footsteps and have Jesus in their life too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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Oprah Winfrey: "Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi." – Oprah Winfrey
1. Bible concordance and Bible helps
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"Because the world is hungry,
go with bread.
Because the world is filled with strife,
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."
