Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 4715 November 21, 2015
Thought for the week: "The true measure of people is how they treat others who can do them absolutely no good." – Ann Landers
I would rather stumble a thousand times
Attempting to reach a goal
Than to sit in a crowd
In my weather-proof shroud
A shriveled and self-satisfied soul.
I would rather be doing and daring
All of my error-filled days
Than watching, and waiting, and dying
Smug in my perfect ways.
I would rather wonder and blunder
Stumbling blindly ahead
Than for safety's sake
Lest I make a mistake
Be sure, be safe, be dead.
Did you know that of the 110 uses of the word 'preach' in the NT, most relate to what we would call conversation? Only Mars Hill in Acts 17 was a formal address as we understand it—and that was a Greek locale where the Greek philosophers gathered. The only other time where Paul preached in the contemporary sense of the term was when someone fell asleep in the window and had to be resurrected!
When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency at the death of FDR, Sam Rayburn gave him some fatherly advice. "From here on out, you're going to have lots of people around you. They'll try to put a wall around you and cut you off from any ideas but theirs. They'll tell you what a great man you are, Harry. But you and I both know you ain't."
Later on, when Sam Rayburn discovered that he was quite ill, he announced to the House of Representatives he was going home for medical tests. Some wondered why he didn't stay in Washington where there were excellent medical facilities. He supplied the answer when he told Congressman Jim Wright, "Bonham [Texas] is a place where people know it when you're sick, and where they care when you die."
I like that last statement because I think it's true of the church. We live in a world where people often don't care what happens to others around them. Everyone is too interested in getting what they want to even notice what is going on in the lives of others. But the church is a place where people "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). It's a place "where people know it when you're sick, and where they care when you die."
God knew that we need a place like that—a group of people who share the same commitment to God that we have, a place where we will be loved unconditionally, a place where we can find shoulders to lean on and arms to comfort us in times of trial.
I hope that each and every one of you have a church family that serves that purpose in your life.
"We must continue to hold firmly to our declaration of faith. The one who made the promise is faithful. We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming" (Hebrews 10:23-25, God's Word).
– Alan Smith,
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina
What Do You Want to See More of and Less of?Inspirational author and speaker Stephen Covey once said, "Start with the end in mind."
So whenever a company wants to launch an ethics initiative, we at Josephson Institute use a simple exercise: "Look at your organization today – its managers, line employees, and customers—and list behaviors and attitudes you'd like to see more of and less of."
We use the same exercise when a school is starting a character-development program. Once the desired outcomes are identified, it's not difficult to devise a strategic plan to achieve them.
This approach can also work with self-improvement. But instead of asking yourself what you want to see more of and less of in your own behavior, ask the people at home and at work to tell you what they want. Interestingly, whether we're talking about a company, a school, or an individual, the lists are likely to be similar: more respect and kindness, less criticism and complaining. More honesty, less evasion. More accountability, less excuse-making.
Here's another: If your family and coworkers were told they could choose only five words to describe you, what would you like them to be? What do you think they would say? To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, "Could you handle the truth?"
It takes character to engage in open-minded self-reflection and to acknowledge and address your flaws, but it takes even stronger character to commit to getting better. It's like the old proverb: "If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you want people to say about you after you die—and live backwards."
"Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."1
About mental illness: Fortunately, it is accepted today as an illness perhaps more than ever before. In the past, mentally ill people were criticized, condemned, rejected, and even accused by some uninformed people of having a demon. I don't know any easy or simple answers to help such sufferers, except to assure them of our love and acceptance. Medication helps many, but not all. I have two family members who are bipolar, but as long as they stay on their medication, they do very well.
With my grown son who is bipolar, I'm thankful that the medication he is on has helped him cope very well. Regardless as to whether he is up or down, I constantly assure him that I love him devotedly. But what I've also done to help is to encourage him to try to change his thinking so he will see that he is living with a challenge—rather than a problem.
If you have a toothache, positive thinking is pretty much impossible. This is why I like to think I am a positive realist. If you are a positive realist and have a toothache, you will get to the dentist as quickly as you can. A positive realist sees his setbacks and problems as challenges that, with hard work and commitment, can be risen above and overcome. It has been well said that every one of us either has a problem, lives with a problem, or is a problem.
If you are living with a discouraging situation, try to think in terms that you are living with a challenge—not a problem, and with God's help and that of others where needed, you will do your best to rise above your challenges and become a better, healthier and more fulfilled person. And for those who suffer from mental illness, let those of us who are not so afflicted remember God's Word which says, "Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone."2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to learn how to harmonize my thinking with Your Word, and in so doing turn all my problems into challenges and, with Your help, rise above and overcome them. And help me always to understand and 'encourage the timid, take tender care of the weak, and be patient with everyone.' Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus's name, amen."
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