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 Dick Innes


Weekend Encounter

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

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Vol. 18 – No. 1316 March 26, 2016

 
Thought for the week: "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." – John Bunyan
 
Index
1.   Words of Wisdom
2.   On the Lighter Side
3.   The Blame Game
4.   Seven Pillars of Character
5.   The Broken Diamond
6.   The Power of Kindness
7.   Life's Detours
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

"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known by Jesus Christ." – Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" – John Wooden, basketball coach

"God's promises are like the stars ... the darker the night ... the brighter they shine." – Barbara Johnson

"It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done." – Samuel Smiles

"Don't wait for an employer, friend, or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis." – Denis Waitley

"The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss." – Thomas Carlyle, essayist, historian

"Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly." – Lorraine K Mitchell

Index

2. On the Lighter Side

Someone asked me what is it like to have three kids in three years.

I said, "It is much more satisfying then the man who has three million dollars."

"How so?"

"Well the guy with three million wants more."

– By Phil Callaway, heard on "Focus on the Family"

Index

3. The Blame Game

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy."1

1. Wayne Dyer. Cited on "Today's Quote of the Day" http://www.briantracy.com/subscribe.asp?p=NewSubscribe

Index

4. Seven Pillars of Character

The first of these six pillars of character are from Michael Josephson of Character counts to which I have added a seventh:

  • Trustworthiness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Fairness
  • Caring
  • Citizenship
  • Personal Honesty

Index

5. The Broken Diamond

A number of years ago the most magnificent diamond in the history of the world was found in an African mine.

It was then presented to the king of England to embellish his crown of state. The king sent it to Amsterdam to be cut by an expert stonecutter. Can you imagine what he did with it? He took this gem of priceless value and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it hard one time with his hammer, and the majestic jewel fell into his hand, broken in two. What recklessness! What wastefulness! What criminal carelessness!

Actually, that is not the case at all. For you see, that one blow with the hammer had been studied and planned for days, and even weeks. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, defects, and possible lines along which it would split had all been studied to the smallest detail. And the man to whom it was entrusted was one of the most skilled stonecutters in the world.

Now do you believe that blow was a mistake? No, it was the capstone and the culmination of the stonecutter's skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing that would bring that gem to its most perfect shape, radiance, and jeweled splendor. The blow that seemed to be the ruin of the majestic precious stone was actually its perfect redemption, for from the halves were fashioned two magnificent gems. Only the skilled eye of the expert stonecutter could have seen the beauty of two diamonds hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.

Thought: Sometimes, in the same way, God lets a stinging blow fall on your life. You bleed, feeling the pain, and your soul cries out in agony. At first you think the blow is an appalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most precious jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled stonecutter in the universe. Someday you are to be a jewel adorning the crown of the King. As you lie in His hand now, He knows just how to deal with you. Not one blow will be permitted to fall on your apprehensive soul except what the love of God allows. And you may be assured that from the depths of the experience, you will see untold blessings, and spiritual enrichment you have never before imagined. (JHM)

"The hand of the LORD has done this..." (Job 12:9).

KneEmail, http://associate.com/groups/kneemail/

Index

6. The Power of Kindness

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (415.5)

A few years ago a fellow I'll call Bob wrote me to explain, having just lost his bride of 42 years, how profoundly he was helped by grand and spontaneous acts of kindness of strangers. In one case, he said, he was at Kinko's to make copies of the notes of love and support he had received, when he was overcome with emotion. After he began to cry, a young woman seeing his pain walked over and without a word just hugged him until he regained control.

Weeks later he was at a restaurant alone and again began to cry when he thought about his wife. A waitress sat beside him and held his hand. As long as there are people like that in the world, Bob concluded, there is still hope.

The great musician Pablo Casals said, "Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he acts on it and listens to it, he is giving a great deal of what the world needs most. It is not complicated, but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act upon it."

The poet William Wordsworth put it another way, declaring that the best portion of a good person's life is the "little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." And the novelist Henry James said, "Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."

Think how much better the world would be and how much more gratifying your own life would be if every day each of us set out to lighten the life or brighten the day of another with simple kindness?

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. Life's Detours

A sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."1

"The year was 1920. The scene was the examining board for selecting missionaries. Standing before the board was a young man named Oswald J. Smith. One dream dominated his heart. He wanted to be a missionary. Over and over again, he prayed, 'Lord, I want to go as a missionary for you. Open a door of service for me.' Now, at last, his prayer would be answered.

"When the examination was over, the board turned Oswald Smith down. He did not meet their qualifications. He failed the test. Oswald Smith had set his direction, but now life gave him a detour. What would he do? As Oswald Smith prayed, God planted another idea in his heart. If he could not go as a missionary, he would build a church which could send out missionaries. And that is what he did. Oswald Smith pastored The People's Church in Toronto, Canada, which sent out more missionaries than any other church at that time. Oswald Smith brought God into the situation, and God transformed his detour into a main thoroughfare of service."1

Years later Oswald J. Smith had a dynamic impact on my life that changed the course of my life and ministry. Thirty-five years ago when I was the South Australian director of Youth for Christ, I helped organize a week of meetings with Oswald Smith in the city of Adelaide. In one service Smith preached on the power of the printed page. Now I've never heard God speak to me audibly but that night I felt like I was hit with a big "whamo" from God. I felt tremendously challenged about getting into literature (even though I never wanted to be a writer) and walked out of that meeting telling God that "some day I would do something about literature but right now I am too busy with my high school ministry!"

What a dumb thing to tell God! Two weeks later my high-school ministry collapsed. For something to do I wrote the gospel message I had been teaching in the classrooms, printed it, and mailed it to several hundred high school student leaders from some 50 high schools in the greater Adelaide area. Nobody was more amazed than I when I received numerous responses. I've been writing and publishing gospel literature ever since—for the first three decades in printed form and for the last few years via email and the web.

And what was that first message I wrote, printed, and mailed to those high-school students? It was, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian ... without having to be religious." More than three million copies of this message have been printed and distributed. Multiplied thousands more have read it on the web and responded to it. It has also been translated into several languages. (You can see a copy by clicking on the link in No.10 below.)

So ... when God puts a detour in your path, you will never know what results it may produce. And I am only one person among thousands that were impacted by the ministry of Oswald J. Smith—and multiplied thousands have been impacted by ACTS literature, Internet and e-Mail ministry.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You that when I daily commit and trust my life to You, You direct my paths and lead me in the way You want me to go. Please continue to do this for all the days of my life. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. Romans 8:28 (NIV).
2. Brian L. Harbour, Rising Above the Crowd. Cited on http://www.bible.org/

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.

Or if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ,
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Index

8. Receive Daily Encounter E-mail ... Without Charge

Daily Encounter, a without charge weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 376,000+ subscribers. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being helped by this brief, practical devotional.

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Index

9. Receive E-mail Edition of Weekend Encounter ... Without Charge

Click HERE to subscribe

 

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.

Click HERE to subscribe

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 370,000+ 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:

     ACTS International
     P.O. Box 73545
     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

 1. Bible concordance and Bible helps
 2. New Hope Crisis Counseling with trained
     lay/volunteer counselors. www.newhopenow.org
 
3. E-Word Today for a daily Bible reading
 4. To find your ZIP+4 Area Code in the U.S.A.
 5. How to find and write to your U.S. Representative
 6. ASK ... Smart answers fast
 7. Send a Christian greeting card without charge for all occasions
 8. To check the weather in your area
 9. 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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PO Box 73545
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To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter
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