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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

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Vol. 18 – No. 3916 September 24, 2016

 
Thought for the week: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God" – Corrie ten Boom, author, The Hiding Place
 
Index
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   Good Rules
4.   Bird Song
5.   Obituary
6.   One Way to Change Your Life—Change Your Expectations
7.   According to Your Faith
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
14.   Services without Charge
15.   ACTS in Action Report
16.   Archives for Daily and Weekend Encounter

1. Words of Wisdom

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." – Viktor Frankl

"Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." – Lao Tzu

"Don't waste your time striving for perfection. Instead, strive for excellence—doing your best." – Laurence Olivier

"All our dreams can come true—if we have the courage to pursue them." – Walt Disney

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." – Maya Angelou

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success" – Albert Schweitzer

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

Johnny: "Do you think people can predict the future with cards?"

Jimmy: "My mother sure can. She takes one look at my report card and tells me exactly what will happen when Dad gets home."

Forwarded by Gretchen Patti
Source: Mickey's Funnies. To subscribe go to: http://www.mikeysFunnies.com/sub/

Index

3. Good Rules

  • Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  • Marry someone you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
  • When someone says "Thank you," reply with "You're welcome."
  • When you say, "I love you," mean it.
  • When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
  • Be engaged at least twelve months before you get married.
  • Believe in love at first sight. 8. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
  • Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
  • In disagreements, fight fairly. Agree to disagree. No name calling.
  • Don't judge people by their relatives.
  • Talk slowly but think quickly.
  • When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
  • Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  • Say "Bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
  • When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
  • Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
  • Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  • When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  • Smile when answering your phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
  • Spend some time alone.

– Forwarded by Adon Brownell

Index

4. Bird Song

A small bird built a nest in a shrub outside my study window. Every morning he sang.

As I listened, I asked myself, "Do I have a song like that every day? Am I irritable? Do I fret and fume, or do I have a song? Not a song expressed vocally, but a melody in the heart.

Sometimes the shrub sways roughly, buffeted by bitter winds. sometimes the ground was hard with frost, yet always there was bird song.

One morning rain pounded on the study roof. Surely there'll be no song today, I thought. But, yes, it came stronger and more glorious than ever.

When clouds roll over my life, and sorrows and heartaches press down on me, I remember that bird--and also Paul's word to "Rejoice in the Lord always."

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be lad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

– by G Holdway

Index

5. Obituary

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."

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota,Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of Democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million Criminal invaders called illegal's—and they vote—then we can say Goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

Index

6. One Way to Change Your LifeChange Your Expectations

      By Michael Josephson of CHARACTER COUNTS (967.1)

Einstein said it's a form of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result. So, if you want something different, do something different, or change your expectations, or both.

In my own life, I've found that adjusting my expectations has made a big difference in my ability to enjoy my life.

Unmet expectations are frequent and potent sources of disappointment and resentment—both of which generate unhappiness. For a long time, however, I resisted the idea of changing my expectations because it seemed as if I was just lowering my standards so I could become more accepting of failure, mediocrity or a lack of follow-through.

Recently, I discovered I could comfortably adjust my perspective about expectations in a way that has dramatically reduced frustration without compromising my integrity.

I came to realize I have two very different sorts of expectations.

The first relates to my aspirational standards—what I want and hope for from myself, and what I often think I'm entitled to from others. In this sense of the word I think it is reasonable and proper to expect the people I deal with to be wise, prudent and genuinely grateful. Or, in another venue, I expect my teenage children to really want to spend time with me.

The second type of expectation is a prediction, not a standard. It is a reflection of what I realistically think will happen—how I truly expect people to act.

When I impose my aspirational expectations on others I am bound to be disappointed and often my judgmentalnesss is resented by those who have disappointed me. On the other hand, when I look at events through the lens of realistic expectations in the context of the way things really are rather than how I want them to be, it is more likely that I will be pleasantly surprised than frustrated.

I've come to realize that expecting people to meet my hopes and desires is not only unfair, it's unrealistic. Human nature is such that expecting all people to be wise, prudent and grateful all the time is foolish, and when I put myself in the position of a teenager and realize how much more important it was to me to spend time with my friends than with my parents I realize my "expectations" had no basis in reality or common sense.

I find I still hope for the best, but expect much less.

So when the adults in my life are uninformed, careless or ungrateful, or my children seem neglectful, it just doesn't annoy me as much.

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. According to Your Faith

A sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.'"1

Earl Nightingale tells about a strength test in which people were asked to squeeze a dynamometer (a machine that tests the power of your grip) as hard as they could. After that first squeeze had been measured, they were put under hypnosis and told they were very strong. When asked to grip the machine again, their scores averaged forty percent better.

Their physical strength did not increase under hypnosis. But their ability to use that strength did. It wasn't the hypnosis that did it, but their belief about themselves.

When we are led to believe we are stronger, we react accordingly. There is a sense in which we all go through life "self-hypnotized" in that a great deal of what we do is determined by what others have told us--and what we have told ourselves--and believed!

What we need to do is listen to what God's Word, the Bible, says about us, believe it, and act accordingly. As the Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" [that is, things that are in harmony with God's will].2

If there is one thing I have learned over the years it's that God never calls any of us to do anything that he hasn't equipped us to do. And he calls all of us to be faithful servants in His work on earth, and to be faithful stewards of all that He has given to us: our time, talents, money, and our resources.

Suggested prayer, "Dear God, I come to You making myself available. Please use me to be a part of Your plans and the work You are doing in the world today. Like the doubting father in today's Bible text, I do
believe; help me to overcome any and all unbelief. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. Mark 9:23-24 (NIV).
2. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV).

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Index

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Index

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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 389,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 6,400+ 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:

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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

Index

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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


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