Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter (without charge) click on the Subscribe button.
Privacy policy: We do not sell or rent subscriber's e-mail
addresses to anyone. We value your privacy.
Global Communications Outreach:
Learn how to be a missionary right from your own home and have a vital part in worldwide gospel outreach by becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus Partner. Click HERE There is no charge.
"Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct." – Thomas Carlysle
"The only competition you will ever have is the competition between your disciplined and undisciplined mind." – James A. Ray
"The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing a thing exactly right." – Edward Simmons
"Any man's life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day." – Booker T. Washington
"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress." – Charles Kettering
"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right." – Mary Kay Ash
"We cannot waste time. We can only waste ourselves." – George Matthew Adams
Coach John Wooden chalked up a string of victories while he coached the famed University of California at Los Angeles basketball team. I once heard him say, "Nobody is defeated until he starts blaming somebody else. My advice is: 'Don't fix the blame: fix the problem.'"
This morning at church during worship ... I saw an ice skater skating on a rink. The Lord said, "See the hard, cold ice? The skater must have that ice in order to skate. The things in your life that seem so hard right now are like that ice. You must have them to skate upon. I will make you to skate beautiful patterns on top of your 'ice'."
A cartoon greeting card showed a picture of five frogs sitting on a log.
There was a caption which asked, "If there were five frogs on a log, and one decides to jump, how many would be left on the log?"
A fold in the cartoon formed a pocket from which the curious could draw out the card containing the answer. It read, "Five would be left. Deciding to jump is not the same as jumping."1
1. By Joy P. Gage, When Parents Cry, p. 101. Cited in The Pastor's Story File, October 2005.
When Ron gave his seven-year-old son Nick a ball and bat, Nick wanted to play a game immediately. Ron said, "Son, baseball's a serious game. You have to practice hard before you can play it." So Nick went to the yard, threw the ball in the air, and swung at it over and over and over.
After an hour he said, "Dad, can we play now?"
Ron said, "Show me what you can do."
Nick threw the ball in the air, took a mighty swing, and missed. "Strike one," he said enthusiastically. He threw the ball again and missed again.
"Strike two," he yelled.
Ron said, "Concentrate, son. Remember, three strikes and you're out."
The boy threw the ball again and swung so hard he fell to the ground after hitting nothing but air. Ron winced but Nick had a triumphant grin. "Son, you struck out. Why are you so happy?"
"'Cause I'm really good at pitching."
You gotta love Nick's attitude. He may not turn out to be a great hitter, but he's likely to lead a happy life. What's more, he's likely to bring warmth and cheer into the lives of others, because attitudes are contagious. We can't control what happens to us, but we can choose how to react.
Pessimists disposed to negativism and worry think that people like Nick are deluding themselves by looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Yet Nick's world is really as he sees it and his decision to view himself as a successful pitcher instead of a bad hitter will not only make him happier, but will contribute to his success. We all ought to try those glasses.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
7. Away With Christianity! Crucify It! Crucify It!
Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes
"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: "He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him"'" (Matthew 28:5-7, NIV).
"In about 1930, Nikolai Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly; his subject, atheism. For a solid hour, he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling every argument and ridicule he could think of. At last he was finished and viewed what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith.
"'Are there any questions?' Bukharin demanded.
"A solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform and moved close to the Bolshevik. The audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them first to the right, then to the left.
"At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting, 'CHRIST IS RISEN!'
"The vast assembly arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, 'HE IS RISEN INDEED!'"1
Today here in America at least it isn't Communists who are screaming "Away with Christianity! Crucify it! Crucify it!" It is some of our radical fellow so called progressive Americans. So let those of us who name the name of Christ—not just on Good Friday but every day of the year—by our life and testimony rise to the occasion and stand up as one to claim: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for your great love sacrifice to the world in giving your Son, Jesus, to die in my place on the cross to pay the penalty for all my sins so that you could grant me forgiveness and give to me the gift of eternal life. Because you died for me give me the courage to live always for you in all ways regardless of the circumstances. Please make my life a living testimony and powerful witness for all you have done for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
NOTE: If you have never received God's gift of forgiveness and are not sure that you are a true Christian, for further help read, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9
Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 35,000+ subscribers. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being helped by this brief, practical devotional.
Over 9 million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!
NOTE: Some ISPs (especially AOL) now use e-mail filtering software that allows you to add e-mail addresses to your 'buddy', 'safe', or 'approved' list. Please be sure to add acts@actsweb.org to yours so you won't miss any issue of Daily Encounter.
9. Receive E-mail Edition of Weekend Encounter ... Free
NOTE: Some ISPs (especially AOL) now use e-mail filtering software that allows you to add e-mail addresses to your 'buddy', 'safe', or 'approved' list. Please be sure to add acts@actsweb.org to yours so you won't miss any issue of Weekend Encounter.
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 two prayer reports are emailed monthly. Thank you.
If you have a special prayer request please submit it to David Clark at: www.responda.co.uk/prayer.php. David is not on the ACTS staff but is offering this as a service to Daily and Weekend Encounter readers.
Helpers Needed: If you can help David pray for prayer requests, please could you go to: www.responda.co.uk/member.php
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 34,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 9,000+ 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—over 2100 in the past 15 months!
If you find value in the free 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:
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
Books by Bestseller and Popular Authors: The Miracle of Kindness His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
has topped the charts as the best marriage
book available. More than one million couples
have read it ... made their marriage sizzle. Fall in Love Stay in Love Just Hand Over the Chocolate ... Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships Sex Starts in the Kitchen Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours Harried With Children Adolescence Is Not an Illness Show Time It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian
On Sale at: http://www.actscom.com/store
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://actscom.com/store/cassettes.htm
1. To donate FREE (to you) food for the hungry
2. For FREE Bible concordance and Bible helps
3. FREE: New Hope Crisis Counseling with trained
lay/volunteer counselors. www.newhopenow.org 4. E-Word Today for a daily Bible reading
5. To find your ZIP+4 Area Code in the U.S.A.
6. How to find and write to your U.S. Representative
7. ASK Jeeves ... your questions answered fast
8. Send a FREE greeting card for all occasions
9. To check the weather in your area
10. Hoax Web Sites
11. Plus many more sources of helpful information
