Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 18 – No. 0316 January 16, 2016
Thought for the week: "What we see depends mainly on what we look for." – John Lubbock
"We do not attract that which we want; we attract that which we are." – James Allen
"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires ... courage." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It only takes one lie to taint your entire testimony in a court of law. Honesty is a vital part of having a good reputation." – Jim Rohn
"The journey you wish to take can only begin from where you are right now this very minute." – Ron Atchison
"A decision is made with the brain. A commitment is made with the heart. Therefore, a commitment is much deeper and more binding than a decision." – Nido Qubein
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." – Beverly Sills
"When you're finished changing, you're finished." – Benjamin Franklin
A Methodist dentist, Dr. Thomas Welch, objected to the church's use of fermented wine in the communion service. Experimenting at night in his kitchen he came up with a nonalcoholic grape beverage, which he named "Dr. Welch's Unfermented Wine."
He approached church officials to persuade them to substitute his beverage for the traditional wine. The elders regarded his suggestion as being an unacceptable innovation.
A son, Charles, who was also a dentist, changed the name to Welch's Grape Juice. He set up a production facility in a barn behind the family home. Response was so overwhelming that he gave up dentistry and devoted full time to making and distributing grape juice.
Tony Campolo, the Philadelphia sociologist, found himself seated beside the
Pennsylvania governor at a state prayer breakfast. In the course of conversation the governor said that he was sympathetic toward Christianity
but not personally committed. Campolo asked, "Why not?" The governor
replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, no one ever invited me to commit."
Campolo said, "I'm inviting you." within five minutes that governor had committed his life to Christ.
We have good news that is essential to every human being; it's a matter of
their eternal life or death. We may be the only conduits God has to certain
persons. We must help him reach them.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
"Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital, Tom," the friendly man on the ham radio said. And that's when he began to explain his theory of 'a thousand marbles.'
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, people live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied seventy-five times fifty-two and came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail and by that time I had lived through over 2800 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about 1000 Saturdays left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear bowl right there in my shack next to my ham radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really important things in life.
"There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
"Now, let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can use is a little more time. It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again on the band."
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV).
Frank Lloyd Wright, the world-famous architect, tells how a lecture he received at the age of nine helped set his philosophy of life. An uncle, a stolid, no-nonsense type, had taken him for a long walk across a snow-covered field. At the far side, his uncle told him to look back at their two sets of tracks. "See, my boy," he said, "how your footprints go aimlessly back and forth from those trees, to the cattle, back to the fence then over there where you were throwing sticks? But notice how my path comes straight across, directly to my goal. You should never forget this lesson!" "And I never did," Wright said. "I determined right then not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had."1
"Life without emotions," said one humorist, "would be like playing a trombone with a stuck slide," which of course would be dreadfully monotonous and boring. The same is true when one's emotion of wonder is repressed, the effects of which are to be characteristically bored with life.
Emotions are God-given. They are a vital part of living a life with vitality, joy and wonderment. So learn to enjoy the emotion of wonder. Learn to let your hair down more often. Have fun. Hang loose. Go with the flow. Plant a tree. Write a poem. Draw with your non-dominant hand. Tell your spouse and kids how much you love them ... tell them now and tell them often. Get out of your ruts. Do something different. Stretch your imagination. Step out of your comfort zone.
As Robert Frost said in his poem, "Road Less Traveled," "I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence / Two roads diverged in a wood / And I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference."
And by the way, being in touch with all of your God-given emotions and using them as God intended is a vital part of being whole and living the abundant life Jesus spoke about. It's also being authentic. Repressed people are a part of the living dead.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be in touch with all of my God-given emotions and use them as you intended. Help me to be authentic and free, and an open channel through whom your love can freely flow. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Gary Swanson, "Living in a Powder Keg," Focus on the Family, Sept. 1992, p. 14.
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Books:
Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing How to Mend a Broken Heart I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
Communications
Healing, Wholeness & Happiness by Dick Innes
Loving & Understanding People by Dick Innes
I Hate Witnessing by Dick Innes
God's Formula for Success by Dick Innes
Damaged Emotions by David Seamands
Healing of the Memories by David Seamands
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