Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 â€" No. 3611 September 03, 2011
Thought for the week: "Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier." â€" Albert Schweitzer
"I've felt that dissatisfaction is the basis of progress. When we become satisfied in business, we become obsolete." â€" J. Willard Marriott Sr.
"Long-range goals keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures." â€" J.C. Penney
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." â€" Thomas A Edison
"An athlete may be a great in athletics but this doesn't make him good. God is both good and great. Compare the spelling of the words God and good. True goodness comes from God." â€" Richard Innes
"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." â€" Douglas Mac Arthur
"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." â€" Og Mandino
When you hear Mark Vincent who won Australia's Got Talent in 2009, his voice will blow your mind. Absolutely amazing. Be sure to listen to him. His singing brought tears to my eyes. If this is the music of earth, can you imagine what the music of heaven will be like?
Keep watching/listening after the first song. There are several clips after the first one. He sings a total of five songs on this one site. This is Mark Vincent from Australia. You aren't going to believe this young man's voice. You are in for a treat!
Don't stop listening after the judges speak because he sings the Ave Marie like an Angel! He then speaks about the challenges of being 15. He will then knock your socks off with "Alleluia" and "It's Time To Say Good-bye" is absolutely amazing. What a timely video to see. Absolutely inspiring.
An out-of-towner drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area. Luckily, a local farmer came to help with his big strong horse named Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, "Pull, Nellie, pull!" Buddy didn't move.
Then the farmer hollered, "Pull, Buster, pull!" Buddy didn't respond. Once more the farmer commanded, "Pull, Coco, pull!" Nothing. Then the farmer nonchalantly said, "Pull, Buddy, pull!" And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch.
The motorist was most appreciative and very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times. The farmer said, "Oh, Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn't even try!"
We're a lot like Buddy, aren't we? We don't like to do something if we think we're the only one pulling. Need an example?
Ever said, "Why should I pour my time and effort into the work of the church? No one else seems to care!"
Or, "Why should I put forth the extra effort to do a good job at work? No one else does, and it wouldn't be appreciated anyway!"
Or, "Why should I be nice to him? He's certainly not going to make any effort to be nice to me!"
See what I mean? Like Elijah in the cave, we often find ourselves saying to God, "I alone am left" (I Kings 19:10). Nobody else is faithful. Nobody else is trying.
But God told Elijah he had 7,000 people on His side that Elijah didn't know about. Like Buddy and Elijah, we may be blind. Blind to what others are doing around us. But, even if we are the only one doing what is right, we need to continue.
"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9).
Imagine being put in charge of a residential camp for delinquent teenage girls confined because they are considered dangerous. Many have serious mental health issues, impulse control problems, and an awful lot of anger. One of the last terms you'd apply to any of these girls is lovable.
So when Pauline Starks and her colleague Gerry Davis (both with more than 25 years of experience at the Los Angeles Probation Department) spoke to the Josephson Institute's Board of Governors about the importance of giving these girls love, it was pretty impressive. They refused to write these girls off as if they were social rubbish to be thrown or locked away. Instead, they saw young, damaged girls who needed and deserved to be loved.
They came to talk about how the CHARACTER COUNTS! program helped them change the lives of juveniles confined to Camps Scott and Scudder in Lancaster, California, and there wasn't a person in the room who was not inspired.
It's been said that kids don't care what you know until they know that you care. Pauline and Gerry told stories and cited statistics to prove the effectiveness of liberally applied caring and respect. You might expect that nearly three decades of working with criminals would harden them, yet they spoke of the girls with such tenderness, and described little successes with such pride, that it was evident that their natural compassion and empathy shielded them from cynicism.
What a joy it was to spend an evening with these mortal angels who have found meaning and purpose in changing lives through love.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."1
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help."
There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were doing. The boy recognized his voice and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?" and continued, "What did you write?'
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?
Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.2
Note: Keep in mind that it is one thing to tell people about Jesus, but a totally different thing to show people Jesus. May we always show before we tell.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me always to be sensitive to others' needs, and help me to be 'as Jesus' in some way to every life I touch, so that I will 'show or reflect you', and may this open the opportunity to then tell people about you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name. Amen."
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