Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 12 â€" No. 3010 July 24, 2010
Thought for the week: "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." â€" Plato
"Recovery is a process, not an event." â€" Unknown
"It is not a question of whether you 'have what it takes,' but of whether you take the gifts you haveâ€"they are plenteousâ€"and share them with all the world." â€" Neale Donald Walsch
"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." â€" J. Sidlow Baxter
"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated." â€" Maya Angelou
"If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful." â€" Michelangelo
"Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'" â€" Unknown
Lovers of the English language might enjoy the following:
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, why are the officers UP for election, and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, to warm UP the leftovers, and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page, and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so it's time for me to shut UP!
"Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness." â€" William Arthur Ward
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." â€" Mahatma Gandhi
"Forgiveness is not an emotion, it's a decision." â€" Randall Worley
"If you wish to travel far and fast; travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears." â€" Glenn Clark
In fact, no one could be more removed from that world than I. However, a couple of years ago, a friend took me to his hunting club to check on the "food plots." I had no idea what these were, but I quickly realized that they existed to lure unsuspecting deer to the shooting area by using their need for food. Wow! Who knew that eating could get you killed? When you think about it, the idea is brilliant: use the animal's basic needs and instincts to entrap it.
The idea is not original. [In the beginning (Genesis 3)] the serpent, Satan, introduces Eve and Adam to the concept of self-will and, through it, the failure of humanity.
The adversary [Satan] is still at it today, and he uses the same strategy. Most of our disappointments, failures and shortcomings are the result of this same trap. I have never met a person who gets up one morning and says, "Today, I will make a mess of my life!" That said, why do we so often find ourselves caught and entangled in the web of sin? Scripture tells us that the adversary "prowls the earth looking and watching...." To makes matters worse, he understands our weaknesses and knows how to exploit them.
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires, and enticed" (James 1:13-14).
The research shows that when pastors evaluate the success of their church, they measure attendance, dollars raised, number of staff, number of programs and square footage. All of those are logical measures to explore. The only problem is that Jesus did not die a horrible and unjust death on the cross to fill sanctuaries, generate cash, populate programs, hire religious professionals, or build out campuses.
A teacher once wrote telling me that a parent with a great deal of clout at her school asked her to change attendance records to make her child's record look better. The teacher said she thought long and hard about the request but eventually refused, knowing it would make the parent angry.
I commended her moral courage. I wish it didn't take courage to do the right thing, especially in such a clear case as this, but in the real world people with power often retaliate when they don't get what they want. This can make our lives difficult.
Still, moral courage is the much-needed bodyguard of conscience and character. The personal costs of putting our integrity on the auction block are so high that we have to take the risk. Once we descend the slippery slope of moral compromise, it's hard to resist the inevitable slide.
My first instinct was to think of the parent who subjected the teacher to this corrupt and corrupting request as a villain, but I suspected she was a basically decent mom so intent on helping her child that she ignored her moral brakes.
But it's wrong to ask someone to lie or cheat. When it comes from someone with power, it's worse. Power is intimidating even when it's not used.
But unswerving integrity can also be intimidating. Improper requests deserve an immediate, firm, and dignified response that leaves no ambiguity that they're inappropriate. Be careful not to be self-righteous, though. Let the person worry about what you think of them. If they persist, let themâ€"not youâ€"worry about the consequences.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."1
Michael Josephson tells about "an old legend ... of a monastery in France well-known throughout Europe because of the extraordinary leadership of a man known only as Brother Leo. Several monks began a pilgrimage to visit Brother Leo to learn from him. Almost immediately the monks began to bicker as to who should do various chores.
"On the third day they met another monk who was also going to the monastery and he joined their party. This monk never complained or shirked a duty, and whenever the others would fight over a chore, he would gracefully volunteer and simply do it himself. By the last day the other monks were following his example, and they worked together smoothly.
"When they reached the monastery and asked to see Brother Leo, the man who greeted them laughed. 'But our brother is among you!' And he pointed to the fellow who had joined them late in the trip."2
Not all, by any means, but unfortunately many today who want to be leadersâ€"be it in the church, the community, politics, or in the business worldâ€"want it for the wrong reason. They want the position for attention, prestige, prominence, control, money, or to manipulate for power to push their particular brand of product, belief, or philosophy (be it good or bad), or for other varied false motives.
There is an urgent need today for leadersâ€"the kind modeled by Brother Leoâ€"and more importantly, the kind modeled by Jesus who came to serve and to give of himself.3 His motive was loving concern for others. It's called "servant leadership." This type of leader leads by example and not by command or demand.
And as Josephson said, "Can you imagine how much better things would be if more politicians, educators and business executives saw themselves as servant leaders?" To which I would add preachers, teachers and, most important of all, to be modeled in the home by we men who call ourselves fathers.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be a servant leader in whatever capacity I find myself, and with your help, always strive to be like Jesus in everything I do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Romans 12:10 (NIV).
2. Michael Josephson, Character Counts (313.3), www.charactercounts.org/.
3. See Philippians 2:6-8.
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