==================================== WEEKEND ENCOUNTER September 02, 2000 ====================================

To Subscribe or change your address click ON: http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm

Editor: Dick Innes ACTS International http://www.actsweb.org Partnering with NCF Ministries http://www.ncfliving.org

See online edition AT: http://www.actsweb.org/encwknd3600.htm

Thought for the week: “All that I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Like Weekend Encounter? Please forward it to a friend! 6,197 subscribers from around the world.

A Family Moment Online Bookstore … many discounted books, gifts, etc. Purchases help support “Daily Encounter” http://www.actsweb.org/bookstore.htm

INDEX 1. WORDS OF WISDOM 2. ON THE LIGHTER SIDE 3. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD 4. IS ROMANTIC LOVE LOVE? 5. IN WHOSE HANDS? 6. GREAT FREE SERVICES 7. MONKEY ADDICTS 8. WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY 9. FORGIVENESS: THE POWER TO HEAL 10. FREE: DAILY ENCOUNTER DEVOTIONAL 11. WEEKEND ENCOUNTER EMAIL EDITION 12. TO FIND GOD WITHOUT BEING RELIGIOUS 13. TURNING STRESS INTO SUCCESS 14. PRAYER PARTNERS NEEDED 15. WEEKEND ENCOUNTER NEEDS SUPPORT 16. FOOT NOTE

== 1 == WORDS OF WISDOM == 1 ==

“Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson”

Our strength is shown in the things that we stand for: Our weakness is shown in the things that we fall for.” — Anonymous

“Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.” — Chinese Proverb

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it … For the love of money is the root of all [kinds of] evil” (1 Timothy 6:6-7,10, NIV).

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” — Booker T. Washington

== 2 == ON THE “LIGHTER” SIDE == 2 ==

A police recruit was asked during the exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?

He said, “Call for backup.”

******* A wise schoolteacher sends this note to all parents of the first day of school, “If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I’ll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home.”

******* “First, you believe in Santa Claus. Then you don’t believe in Santa Claus. And before you know it, you are Santa Claus.” – Cited in Bits & Pieces

== 3 == LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD == 3 ==

If you are a citizen of the U.S.A., you can let your voice be heard by expressing your opinion on issues of national significance. Your vote will be sent to where it counts.

For example, a recent issue was: “Should President Clinton sign the bill to repeal the estate tax?

“Log on to http://www.vote.com and your vote will be sent to the President.

== 4 == IS ROMANTIC LOVE LOVE? == 4 ==

Romantic love is the single greatest energy system in the Western psyche. In our culture it has supplanted religion as the arena in which men and women seek meaning, transcendence, wholeness, and ecstasy.

As a mass phenomenon, romantic love is peculiar to the West. We are so accustomed to living with the beliefs and assumptions of romantic love that we think it is the only form of “love” on which marriage or love relationships can be based. We think it is the only “true love.”

But … in Eastern cultures, like those of India or Japan, we find that married couples love each other with great warmth, often with a stability and devotion that puts us to shame. But their love is not “romantic love” as we know it. They don’t impose the same ideals on their relationships, nor do they impose such impossible demands and expectations on each other as we do ….

For romantic love doesn’t just mean loving someone; it means being “in love.” This is a psychological phenomenon that is very specific. When we are “in love,” we believe we have found the ultimate meaning of life, revealed in another human being. We feel we are finally completed, that we have found the missing parts of ourselves. Life suddenly seems to have a wholeness, a super-human intensity that lifts us high above the ordinary pain of existence. For us, these are the sure signs of “true love.” The psychological package includes an unconscious demand that our lover or spouse always provide us with this feeling of ecstasy and intensity.

With typical Western self-righteousness we assume that our notion of “love” — romantic love — must be the best. We assume that any other kind of love between couples would be cold and insignificant by comparison.

But if we Westerners are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that our approach to romantic love is not working well. Despite our ecstasy when we are “in love”, we spend much of our time with a deep sense of loneliness, alienation, and frustration over our inability to make genuinely loving and committed relationships. Usually we blame other people for failing us; it doesn’t occur to us that perhaps it is we who need to change our unconscious attitudes — the expectations and demands we impose on our relationships and on other people.

— Robert A. Johnson, “The Psychology Of Romantic Love,” London: Arkana, 1983, pp.xi,xii. Submitted by Rowland Croucher of John Mark Ministries http://jmm.org.au/

== 5 == IN WHOSE HANDS? == 5 ==

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A baseball bat in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball bat in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth $19 million. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands. A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands is a Wimbledon Championship. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A slingshot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A slingshot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in.

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands. It depends whose hands it’s in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse. Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce salvation for the entire world. It depends whose hands it’s in.

As you see now it depends whose hands it’s in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because it depends whose hands it’s in.

— Submitted Pastor J. Michael Walls, Jr. Cited in ” The Pastor’s Helper Mail List” http://ld.net/?pastor

== 6 == GREAT FREE SERVICES == 6 ==

1. To donate FREE (to you) food for the hungry 2. For FREE Bible concordance and Helps 3. To find your ZIP+4 Area Code (U.S.) 4. How to find & write to your U.S. Representative 5. ASK JEEVES. . .your questions answered fast 6. Send a FREE E-Greeting Card for Birthdays and all occasions 7. Check the weather in your local area 8. Plus many more sources of helpful information

== 7 == MONKEY ADDICTS == 7 ==

I have read that a scientist conducted an experiment in which he made cocaine available to some monkeys. These monkeys could pull a lever in their cages to release a little cocaine into their feeding tray. Not surprisingly, the monkeys became addicted to the drug. As the experiment continued, the scientist found that if the addicted monkeys could get additional cocaine hits any time they wanted by just pulling the lever, all of them would overdose. They all ended up killing themselves.

The scientist then tried another experiment with addicted monkeys. He began to withhold the fix when the monkey pulled the lever. Over and over these monkeys pulled the lever, trying to get cocaine. They continued to pull the lever not ten times, not a hundred times, or even a thousand times. Those addicted monkeys pulled it an average of 12,800 times!

Powerful addictions can rule the lives of people — addictions to work, food, gambling, sex, alcohol, or drugs. Some finally reach a point where they lose any hope of breaking free. Some even turn aside from help offered, convinced that they’re a hopeless case.

But there’s hope in Christ. He can set any person free from the addiction of sin. He can give you a fresh start on your life. When you invite Christ into your life, the change begins to take place — from the inside out. You can’t beat addictions on your own, but through the power of Christ, and the support of his people who are loving friends, you can be set free. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Editor’s note: To overcome addictive behaviors, often professional counseling and Twelve-Step programs are needed as well.

– Submitted by Jeff Morris. Cited in The Pastor’s Helper

== 8 == WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY == 8 ==

Sometimes the naive question, “Why do we do this?” may be the necessary catalyst for change in routines that have been carried out in the same way for years.

As a young girl watched her mother prepare her ham for baking, she noticed her mother cut off the ends of the ham before placing it in the pan. When she asked, “Why?” the mother could only say, “That’s the way your grandmother always did it.” When the grandmother was questioned, she responded, “That’s the way my mother always did it.” Visiting Great-grandmother, the girl asked her the same question, to which the old woman replied, “All I had was a small pan, so I had to cut off the ends to make it fit.”

— Author Unknown

== 9 = FORGIVENESS: THE POWER TO HEAL = 9 ==

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes”Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21-22, NIV).

Some years ago during a visit to Yellowstone Park, one writer observed that the only animal that the grizzly bear would share his food with was a skunk. It wasn’t that the grizzly wanted to share his food but rather that he chose to. With one swing of his powerful paw he could have crushed the skunk. So why did he allow the skunk to eat with him? Because he knew the high cost of getting even.

Clever bear!

Undoubtedly he learned the hard way. Strange that we humans often aren’t as smart. Sometimes we carry grudges for years, often repressing them from conscious memory, and end up hurting ourselves more than the ones we would like to get even with. We fail to see how damaging an unforgiving spirit is.

In his book, “None of These Diseases,” Dr. S.I. McMillen says, “Medical science recognizes that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses. Estimates vary from 60 percent to nearly 100 percent.”

I read one report of an astonished patient who was told by his doctor: “If you don’t cut out your resentments, I may have to cut out a part of your intestinal tract.”

Fortunately, the man took the doctor’s advice. He had been nursing a bitter grudge against a former business partner. He went to see this man, resolved their differences, and forgave him. When he returned to the doctor, his physical condition had cleared up.

That advice isn’t new, of course. The greatest physician who ever lived, Jesus Christ, pointed out 2,000 years ago the importance of forgiveness. When he encouraged us to “forgive seventy times seven,” he was thinking of our physical as much as our spiritual well-being. As Dr. McMillen says, he knew that a forgiving spirit would save us from “ulcerative colitis, toxic goiters, high blood pressure, and scores of other diseases” including ulcers, asthma, arthritis, neuro-dermatitis, and heart ailments — all possible effects of resentment.

The Bible’s advice is therefore just as relevant today as it was when written 2,000 years ago: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

“Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you God that you have forgiven me for all my sins, failings and shortcomings. Help me to forgive others as you have forgiven me. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

= 10 = RECEIVE DAILY ENCOUNTER FREE = 10 =

“Daily Encounter,” a free week-day inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 13,088 subscribers. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being blessed and helped by this brief devotional.

http://www.actsweb.org/encounter.htm

== 11 == WEEKEND ENCOUNTER == 11 ==

To subscribe to the email edition of Weekend Encounter click ON: http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm

= 12 = FIND GOD WITHOUT BEING RELIGIOUS = 12 =

Click ON: http://www.actsweb.org/htbs1.htm

== 13 = TURNING STRESS INTO SUCCESS = 13 == Click ON: http://www.gospelcom.net/actsi/solutions/stress1.htm

== 14 == PRAYER PARTNERS NEEDED == 14 ==

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 join with us as one of our Prayer Partners, please fill in the box At: http://www.actsweb.org/prayer.htm

Or send an email to In the Subject Line type: Prayer In the Message Body type: Prayer Partner

== 15 == WEEKEND ENCOUNTER NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT == 15 ==

“Weekend Encounter is published by ACTS International, a non-profit organization. It is made possible by the generous donations of interested friends. Your help at this time is a big need and will be greatly appreciated. (U.S.A. gifts are tax deductible). If you would like the opportunity to share, you can donate online at (secure web site): http://www.actscom.com

If through mail, make checks or Money Orders payable

ACTS International 250 W. Colorado Blvd. #100 Arcadia, California 91007 U.S.A.THE ACTS

== 16 == FOOT NOTE == 16 ==

See ACTS Int. Monthly Report Letter: http://www.actscom.com

See back issues of Weekend Encounter at: http://www.actsweb.org/encdewe.htm

Have a “God” week and a great forever!

(c) Copyright by ACTS International, 2000

If copying any of the content, please add the following:

Have a “God” week and a great forever! Visit us AT: http://www.actsweb.org