Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 1815 May 2, 2015
Thought for the week: "When the power of love becomes stronger than than the love of power, things will change." – Jimi Hendrix
"We don't have to be sick to get better." – Michael Josephson
"There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity." – Tom Peters
"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
"Take a rest: a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." – Ovid (43 BC - 17 AD)
"Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade." – Rudyard Kipling
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." – Frank Lloyd Wright
My sister had been ill, so I called to see how she was doing. My ten-year-old niece answered the phone.
"Hello," she whispered.
"Hi, Honey. How's your mother doing?" I asked.
"She's sleeping," she answered, again in a whisper.
"Did she go to the doctor?" I asked.
"Yes. She got some medicine," my niece said softly.
"Well, don't wake her. Just tell her I called. What are you doing, by the way?"
Again in a soft whisper, she answered, "Practicing my trumpet."
Dr. David Jeremiah tells about a suburban neighborhood in which several residents were extremely upset at the reckless and fast driving that was occurring in their quiet subdivision. They organized a petition drive and demanded that the police patrol the area with greater frequency and penalize drivers who ignored the speed limits. The police obliged and immediately ticketed five drivers who ignored the speed limits. All of them were fuming at the fines they received. It seems, however, that all five of these ticketed drivers had signed the petition calling for enforcement. We hate sin, don't we? At least other people's!
An army chaplain reported his amazement at the large number of Desert Storm soldiers who gave their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, then asked if they could be baptized. To accomidate their requests, a wise pastor used the only "baptismal" available in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert: a coffin—a potent and perfect symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of which baptism is a picture.
"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind ... let it be something good."
"There's no doubt that our character has a profound effect on our future.
What we must remember, however, is not merely how powerful character is in influencing our destiny, but how powerful we are in shaping our own character and, therefore, our own destiny. Character may determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate."
"'King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe' Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian.'"¹
Brett Blair writes how "on January 23, 1909, a small invention played a crucial role in the lives of 1500 people. The New York-bound ocean liner, the Florida, rammed into the Republic. Jack Binns, the Republic's new wireless radio man, reassembled his contraption which had been destroyed in the collision. He sent out distress calls for the next 12 hours until the crew and passengers were rescued in the dawn light of Sunday morning. Only a few died.
"Jack Binns became a national hero. He was given a ticker tape parade. Songs were written about him. He even testified before Congress on the importance of regulating wireless technology on all ships. Congress listened
politely but ignored his message. Binn gave up his quest, accepted no profit from his celebrity, and went back home to England to await reassignment. Three years later he received an assignment aboard a ship that he turned down. He had fallen in love and was soon to marry. The turned down assignment? The Titanic.
"It is now felt that Binn's message was ignored because so few lives were lost on the Republic. It took tragedy on the scale of the Titanic for the importance of wireless to be understood."2
King Agrippa was an almost-persuaded ... but lost. Be certain not to wait until it is too late to take heed of God's warnings in the Bible. Be sure you have accepted God's plan of salvation from a lost eternity. Whatever you
do, don't be an almost-persuaded.
For help be sure to see No. 10 below.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You for the many warnings in your Word, the Bible, telling me that I need to prepare for eternity and how to be saved from a lost eternity. Help me to be certain that I am prepared. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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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."
