Vol. 10 – No. 3308  August 16, 2008

1. Words of Wisdom

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." – Henry Ford

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value." – Albert Einstein

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always." – Oprah Winfrey,

"Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody." – Franklin P. Adams (1944)

"An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life." – Jim Rohn

"The older I get, the better I used to be." – Lee Trevino

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." – Winston Churchill

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2. On the Lighter Side

Some metaphors, thoughts and words of "wisdom" from high school kids essays:

"The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't."

"They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth."

"The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while."

"He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something."

"The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant."

"He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up."

Source: Graphic Humor and Inspiration from Richard Wimer. To Subscribe Send an e-mail to: ghi-subscribe@lists.tagnet.org with Subscribe in the Subject line.

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3. Dreaming to a New Future

In 1904 a man from Milwaukee took a neighbor girl, Bessie Cary, to a picnic on an island in Lake Michigan. After awhile Bessie got a craving for a cool, refreshing dish of ice cream. Ole (that was his name) rowed 2½ miles back to the mainland to get some. Unfortunately, the summer heat melted the ice cream into a globby mess by the time Ole made his return trip.

The embarrassing incident prompted the young mechanic to look for a more efficient means of propelling a small boat. Five years later, Ole Evinrude, patented his revolutionary outboard motor and formed the Evinrude Motor Company. Before long the company was swamped with orders for the little one-cylinder engine. Although most of the success can be credited to Ole, Bessie Cary, soon there after, Bessie Evinrude, was responsible for the management of the business.

Perhaps the Church has become a lower priority in society because it has ceased to dream. By leaving the past and venturing into the future the Church can still make a difference.

Keith Wagner, "Go Fish!" Source: eSermons. www.Sermons.com

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4. Gift of Life

A full-color print (framed or unframed) of this and other poems
by Dick Innes is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/392ak6

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5. How Long Does the U.S. Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, 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 earlier:

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 they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to 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, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

How long do we have?

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6. The Cowboy Code

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (540.4)

I grew up in much simpler times. Television was in its infancy, and the idea of a hero was exemplified by a white-hatted cowboy. There was a clarity and simplicity to this hero's moral code that left no doubt there was a right and a wrong.

As I became more sophisticated, it was easy to ridicule these simplistic approaches to ethics and living. Yet the more I learn, the more I've come to think there's as much danger in muddying our choices into endless shades of gray.

Sure, there are extenuating factors and exceptions that challenge the validity of every ethical principle, but on balance we need clear prescriptive guidelines of virtue. Such standards are provided in the quaintly old-fashioned Cowboy Code promoted by the late Gene Autry:

1. Don't shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. Don't go back on your word or a trust confided in you.
3. Tell the truth.
4. Be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. Don't advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. Help people in distress.
7. Be a good worker.
8. Keep yourself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. Respect women, your parents, and the law.
10. Be patriotic.

     

With a little updating, this code still works.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2007 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

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7. How to Be Sure You Are Going to Heaven

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

"As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."¹

The question has often been asked, "If you knew today was the last day of your life, what would you do?"

Do you have any impaired relationships you would want to resolve before you pass on? Have you left a will so your loved ones will benefit from your life's work? Most important of all, when you come to the end of life's journey and you stand before a holy God at the entrance to Heaven, if God asks you, "Why should I allow you to enter Heaven," what would you say? In other words, if you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would spend eternity in Heaven with God?

If not, I urge you to make that preparation today. Eternity is forever. As I thought in younger days, many people think that if they do enough good deeds to outnumber or outweigh the wrongs (sins) they have committed, this will qualify them to enter God's Heaven. Wrong.

God's Word makes it very clear that nobody enters heaven because of their good works. It is only by God's grace (unmerited favor) that we are given God's gift of forgiveness and saved for all eternity. His Word says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."²

God's Word also says, "For the wages [consequences] of sin is death [spiritual death which is eternal separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."³

Because God is a God of infinite holiness no sinner can ever survive in his presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. Furthermore, because God is also a God of infinite justice, all sin must be judged according to God's standard of holiness and perfection, and his justice calls for death; that is, spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls Hell.

Fortunately however, God is also a God of infinite love. This is why he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cruel Roman cross 2,000 years ago in your place and mine to meet the demands of God's justice so we can be forgiven of all our sins and receive God's gift of eternal life. This is the expression of his perfect love.

All you need to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins, and to ask God for his forgiveness and accept his gift of eternal life. The following prayer will help you to do this.

Prayer: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs/sins I have committed. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen."

NOTE: If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please Click HERE (http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php) to let us know you prayed this prayer, and we will send you the web address of the free "Ten Steps to Christian Growth" which will help you to grow in your new spiritual life.

1. Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV).
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV).
3. Romans 6:23 (NIV).

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8. Receive Daily Encounter E-mail ... Free

Daily Encounter, a free weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 150,000+ 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 28+ million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!

Click HERE for more samples of Daily Encounter

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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.

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10. Know God ... Without having to be religious

Click on: Know God

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11. 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

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12. 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 two prayer reports are emailed monthly. Thank you.

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13. To Submit a Prayer Request

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

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14. 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 150,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 10,000+ 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 3000 in the past 12 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:

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.

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15. Helpful Books and Cassette Messages

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://tinyurl.com/2unmmy

More books, tapes and poems by D. Innes & others are also available at: http://www.actscom.com/store

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16. Free Services

 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 FREE greeting card for all occasions
 8. To check the weather in your area
 9. Hoax Web Sites
10. Plus many more sources of helpful information

GO TO: http://www.actsweb.org/links.php

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17. ACTS in Action Report and Encounter Archives

	ACTS in Action ... Monthly Report Letter
	ARCHIVES: Daily and Weekend E