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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes          
Published by: ACTS International

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Vol. 18 – No. 0216 January 09, 2016

 
Thought for the week: "There are two ways to reach the top of an oak tree. You can climb it, or you can sit on an acorn and wait." – Unknown
 
Index
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Praying Purposefully
4.   Remember
5.   My Way or God's Way
6.   Moving Beyond Success to Significance
7.   Feeling Lost or Far From God
8.   Receive Daily Encounter Devotional  without Charge
9.   Weekend Encounter E-mail Edition  without Charge
10.   Know God ... Without Having to Be Religious
11.   Prayer Partners Needed
12.   Please Help Support Weekend Encounter
13.   Helpful Books, CDs, and Cassettes
14.   Services without Charge
15.   ACTS in Action Report
16.   Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounter

1. Words of Wisdom

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." – William Ward

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." – Peter Marshal

"Epitaph: Here lies an atheist. All dressed up and no place to go." – Unknown

"Until a man has found God, he begins at no beginning and works to no end." – H.G. Wells

"Courage isn't freedom from fear; it's being afraid but going on." – Unknown

"A great deal of what we see depends on what we are looking for." – Unknown

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

Smith goes to see his supervisor in the front office.

"Boss," he says, "we're doing some heavy house-cleaning at home tomorrow, and my wife needs me to help with the attic and the garage, moving and hauling stuff."

"We're short-handed, Smith" the boss replies. "I can't give you the day off."

"Thanks, boss," says Smith "I knew I could count on you!"

– Cited on andychaps_the-funnies@aol.com

Index

3. Praying Purposefully

Reinhold Niebuhr often quoted a remark made to him by an agnostic friend who objected to the church, "not because of its dogmas but because of its trivialities," by which he meant preoccupation with trivial concerns with the world hanging on the rim of disaster." Fred Craddock was invited to attend a prayer meeting at a home in a wealthy suburb of Atlanta. He said the group shared "weighty" prayer concerns like a date coming up on Friday night and the purchase of a new car, and one man announced they had had 75 answered prayers since the group started meeting.

Then one of them turned to him and asked, "What do you think, Dr. Craddock?" Craddock, usually more reticent to criticize anybody's praying, was offended by the superficial and mechanistic reduction of Israel's God to what Paul Tillich called, "the Cosmic Bellhop." He couldn't help himself. He said, "Do you mean to tell me when people are starving in Africa and the poor are suffering in India and parents in Latin America can't sleep through the night wondering if the death squads will visit them, you folks are praying about dates and new cars?"1

Ed. note. True, God is interested in the details of our life, but let us not forget the greatest and most urgent needs for prayer.

1. Dr. Larry Bethune, "Friends in High Places." www.ubcaustin.org

Index

4. Remember

Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car
    and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I dragged you to the beach,
    and you said it would rain, and it did?
I thought you'd say, "I told you so." But you didn't.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys
    to make you jealous, and you were?
I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.
Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie
    all over your car rug?
I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance
    was formal and you showed up in jeans?
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.
Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do.
But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you
    protected me.
There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you
    when you returned from Iraq.
But you didn't.

– Anonymous (originally written to apply to the Viet Nam war).

Index

5. My Way or God's Way

A woman once wrote me to say she thought Christianity was fine but, personally, she was "into Zen."

She liked to listen to Christian radio while she was driving because the music "smoothed out her karma." Occasionally, however, she would tune in one of the Bible-teaching ministries. In her opinion, all the preachers she heard were too narrow-minded toward other religions, so she was writing several radio ministers to encourage them to be more broad-minded.

"God doesn't care what you believe, as long as you're sincere," she wrote, echoing an opinion I have heard many times. "All religions lead ultimately to the same reality. It doesn't matter which road you take to get there, as long as you follow your chosen road faithfully. Don't be critical of the alternative roads other people choose."

To those who accept the Bible as God's Word, the folly of that thinking should be immediately evident. What does the Bible say about following your chosen road faithfully?1

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 143:12, NIV).

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6, NIV).

1. John MacArthur. Cited on KneEmail. Kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org

Index

6. Moving Beyond Success to Significance

      by Michael Josephson of CHARACTER COUNTS (428.1)

Most people I know strive for success. For some it's achieving high position, for others it's wealth, and for still others it's achieving some long-held goal. As the final definition of success is personal, success may be no more than "getting what you want."

Success can be sweet or disappointing; durable or short-lived. But either way, it's not an adequate destination. Management guru Peter Drucker writes about the need of many highly successful people to move beyond their success to "significance."

Success is about achievements; significance is about impact. Significance is having a meaningful positive and durable impact on the lives of others.

According to legend, Alfred Nobel discovered the difference when he read his own obituary mistakenly printed by a newspaper that thought he had died. It was a flattering profile of the brilliant chemist who made a fortune as the inventor of dynamite, but it depressed Mr. Nobel, who felt certain that these achievements would not be long remembered. Determined to leave a more significant legacy, he established the Nobel Prizes for human achievements.

Mr. Nobel realized that there's a kind of immortality in significance. Sure, a life devoted to accomplishing personal goals can be worthy and satisfying, but it can be enormously enriched when we consciously use our talents and time to improve the lives of others.

In Living a Life That Matters, Harold Kushner writes, "Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it."

For Commentaries go to: http://whatwillmatter.com/category/commentary/

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2016 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation's leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org

Index

7. Feeling Lost or Far From God

A sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"From one man he made every nation of men ... God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'"1

A Daily Encounter reader writes, "I am feeling lost before God and fear that I will never get to heaven and am on my way to hell. Please can you help me?"

Dear Janet (name changed), feeling lost in relationship to God and feeling far from him is something many people experience, so you are not alone in your struggle. This can be caused by various things such as the following:

First, it can be because we are depending on our feelings rather than trusting in what God's Word says. So be sure to read the article, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at http://tinyurl.com/8glq9. If you prayed the prayer to receive Jesus as your Savior and truly meant it, God has forgiven all your sins and has guaranteed that you have the gift of eternal life in Heaven with God forever. You need to believe God's Word and what he says regardless of your feelings. We are saved by faith in God and not by our feelings.

Second, feeling lost or far from God can be caused by guilt ... that is, if we are acting in ways that we know are sinful and wrong. This causes a barrier to come between us and God. If this is the case, you need to confess your sins to God and change your ways.

Third, another major reason for feeling lost and/or feeling far from God is because of impaired relationships which can go back all the way from yesterday to early childhood. If you have any unresolved issues with any significant person in your life, ask God to help you to resolve this if at all possible. If this isn't possible, you need to resolve any repressed negative feelings in you (such as hurt and/or anger) regarding this relationship so you can freely forgive the person (or persons) whom you feel have hurt you. These supercharged negative feelings not only build a barrier between ourselves and loved ones, but also between ourselves and God. For further help be sure to read the article, "Forgiveness: The Power to Heal" at http://tinyurl.com/dvwh5.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you are close to me regardless of how I feel. Please reveal to me the cause (or causes) of my feelings when I am feeling lost or when it seems that you are far away. With your help I choose to trust in you no matter what, and please help my feelings to catch up with this choice. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Acts 17:26-28 (NIV).

NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness for all your sins and His invitation for a full pardon, click on: http://www.actsweb.org/invitation.php.

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Index

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Index

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Index

10. Know God ... Without having to be religious

Click HERE to Know God and be sure you're a real Christian

 

Index

11. Prayer Partners Needed

One of ACTS greatest needs is Prayer Partners to stand with us as we seek to share the gospel with millions of people around the world through E-mail and the Internet and to win the lost to Jesus. If you would like to be an ACTS Prayer Partner, please subscribe to the Prayer Encounter list. Approximately one prayer report is e-mailed monthly. Thank you.

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Index

12. Help Support Weekend Encounter

    "Changing the World . . . One Person at a Time" 

Weekend Encounter and Daily Encounter are just two of the ways the nonprofit organization, ACTS International, is working to improve the spiritual and emotional life of many thousands of people around the world.

Every weekday Daily Encounter is going to 373,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 7,000+ subscribers worldwide—many of whom are in places where it is forbidden to spread the Christian gospel and message. Plus, we reach several hundred thousand more every week through our advertising. As a result, every day we are seeing an average of 5-6 salvation responses from around the world—almost 3,000 in the past 12 months!

If you find value in the Weekend Encounter and/or Daily Encounter, we hope you will be comfortable donating at least $26. That's only 50 cents a week for an entire year (tax-deductible in the U.S.). You can donate in one of the following ways:

Donate Online: You can donate online at ACTS secure web site. Click HERE on ACTS support donations.

Donate Through PayPal:You can donate securely through PAYPAL. Click HERE on PayPal. Where it says Payment For: type in Donation.

Donate by Telephone: ACTS accepts credit card donations by phone by calling 1-949-940-9050.

Donate Through Postal Mail: If you prefer to write a check or money order, please send it and make it payable to:

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     San Clemente, California 92673-0119
     U.S.A.

Index

13. Helpful Books, CDs and Cassettes

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

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

   On Sale at: http://www.actscom.com/store

CDs/Cassettes:

  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

  On SALE at: http://tinyurl.com/2unmmy

Index

14. Services Without Charge

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 9. Hoax Web Sites
10. Plus many more sources of helpful information

GO TO: http://www.actsweb.org/links.php

Index

15. ACTS in Action Report
 
Click HERE for ACTS in Action ... Monthly Report Letter
 
16. Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounters
 
Click HERE for ARCHIVES: Daily and Weekend Encounters
 

"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."



© 2016 ACTS International


Know God

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