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Thursday, November 6, 2014
Tree-lined entrance to Beechdale Farm
Bird In Hand, PA
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
"And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right" (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
We
heard an extraordinary testimony following a nice luncheon yesterday at Lancaster Bible College. Mark
Whitacre was a successful young businessman who became an FBI informant
in the early 90's due to his knowledge of and participation in price fixing in his company, ADM, which was
costing consumers one billion dollars per year! He describes his
pre-conversion experience of being focused on self, greed, and doing
things his own way.
A highlight in his testimony was how his wife, Ginger, stood beside him through the long ordeal including serving a nine year term in federal prison. In addition to his wife's godly influence a Christian business man reached out to him and mentored him for months before his incarceration where he finally surrendered his life to Christ. Charles Colson also mentored Mark through those years before his death two years ago.
Mark shared how people having an experience like his could become bitter or better and how the Lord has blessed him through the entire experience. In speaking to primarily business leaders and business students at LBC he stressed "Do The Right Thing". In the photo above the smaller quote states, "Never deviate from what is the right thing to do."
This sounds like a paraphrase of our daily verse, "Never tire of doing what is right." In the context where the verse is found the Apostle Paul is concluding his second epistle to the young Thessalonian believers. The broader context of the passage has to do with some faulty notions these young believers had about the return of Christ. The immediate context deals with living our lives in the daily grind, summarized with the phrase of the daily text "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." That's a good word for all of us.
We all need to have this truth firmly embedded in our hearts so that it is evident in our daily lives. "Doing what's popular is not always right, and doing what's right is not always popular." So much of what is so popular in the world is certainly not right and many times doing the right thing will simply not be popular.
In the photo above Mark highlights 3 paradigms:
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we enjoy positive results and favorable
comments when we do good. But there are many times that we do good or
take a position, in accordance to the Bible, that results in our being
ridiculed, mocked, leaving us conflicted within our emotions. Would You increase the importance
of eternity in our hearts so that we don't become weary of doing good
and always expect reward here and now. Help us to remember, in many
instances, the proper time that we reap a harvest will not be on this
side but on the other side of eternity. Above all, remind us through
Your Holy Spirit, that we choose to do good because it pleases You. May
the fulfillment of pleasing You be of much greater importance than
pleasing or impressing those among us. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We've had some nice weather so we've been raking leaves, cleaning up our flower beds and garden. But Mollie thought our being outside surely must mean we want to play frisbee! As you can see she customizes all her frisbees by chewing out the center so she can get a good grip with her teeth. She often brings it back to us with her long snout sticking through the hole.
Yesterday we passed these dairy camels on an Amish farm here in Lancaster County.
They look a bit out of place!
"Amish Now Milking Camels" (Article in Amish News)
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Sow Mercy" Video Gaither Vocal Band Song tells a great story!
"Vrednic Esti Tu" Video A huge Romanian Youth Choir and Orchestra Even though I can't understand the words I recognize the Revelation Song and am so blessed by the incredible enthusiasm and joy-filled faces. If you need a spiritual lift today listen to this song!
Here's Mark Whitacre's website.
"Undercover" (2010) Mark Whitacre (The Informant) and FBI Discovery Channel Documentary Video (45 minutes)
Ginger Whitacre discusses her support for her husband, Mark Whitacre (The Informant) We met Ginger yesterday and came to admire her loyalty to Mark as well as her devotion to God. Video
Two of the photos of Mark Whitacre at LBC were taken by Ron Hill.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2014 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Tree-lined entrance to Beechdale Farm
Bird In Hand, PA
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."Do The Right Thing!"
"And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right" (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
We
heard an extraordinary testimony following a nice luncheon yesterday at Lancaster Bible College. Mark
Whitacre was a successful young businessman who became an FBI informant
in the early 90's due to his knowledge of and participation in price fixing in his company, ADM, which was
costing consumers one billion dollars per year! He describes his
pre-conversion experience of being focused on self, greed, and doing
things his own way.A highlight in his testimony was how his wife, Ginger, stood beside him through the long ordeal including serving a nine year term in federal prison. In addition to his wife's godly influence a Christian business man reached out to him and mentored him for months before his incarceration where he finally surrendered his life to Christ. Charles Colson also mentored Mark through those years before his death two years ago.
Mark shared how people having an experience like his could become bitter or better and how the Lord has blessed him through the entire experience. In speaking to primarily business leaders and business students at LBC he stressed "Do The Right Thing". In the photo above the smaller quote states, "Never deviate from what is the right thing to do."
This sounds like a paraphrase of our daily verse, "Never tire of doing what is right." In the context where the verse is found the Apostle Paul is concluding his second epistle to the young Thessalonian believers. The broader context of the passage has to do with some faulty notions these young believers had about the return of Christ. The immediate context deals with living our lives in the daily grind, summarized with the phrase of the daily text "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." That's a good word for all of us.
We all need to have this truth firmly embedded in our hearts so that it is evident in our daily lives. "Doing what's popular is not always right, and doing what's right is not always popular." So much of what is so popular in the world is certainly not right and many times doing the right thing will simply not be popular.
In the photo above Mark highlights 3 paradigms:
- Short-term versus Long-term
- Individual versus community
- Greed versus purpose
- The husband who conscientiously works hard and returns home to his wife and family.
- The homemaker who realizes the dignity in her profession.
- The business leader who chooses short-term, visible loss for long-term, often unseen, gain.
- The student who says "no" to the cheat sheet even though it appears "everyone else is doing it."
- The teen who resists the urge to follow the crowd into perdition.
- The one who passes the bar or the many venues for pornography.
- The millions of faithful believers who will witness in word and deed of their faith in Jesus Christ today; that's the right thing to do.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we enjoy positive results and favorable
comments when we do good. But there are many times that we do good or
take a position, in accordance to the Bible, that results in our being
ridiculed, mocked, leaving us conflicted within our emotions. Would You increase the importance
of eternity in our hearts so that we don't become weary of doing good
and always expect reward here and now. Help us to remember, in many
instances, the proper time that we reap a harvest will not be on this
side but on the other side of eternity. Above all, remind us through
Your Holy Spirit, that we choose to do good because it pleases You. May
the fulfillment of pleasing You be of much greater importance than
pleasing or impressing those among us. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.We've had some nice weather so we've been raking leaves, cleaning up our flower beds and garden. But Mollie thought our being outside surely must mean we want to play frisbee! As you can see she customizes all her frisbees by chewing out the center so she can get a good grip with her teeth. She often brings it back to us with her long snout sticking through the hole.
Yesterday we passed these dairy camels on an Amish farm here in Lancaster County.
They look a bit out of place!
"Amish Now Milking Camels" (Article in Amish News)
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Sow Mercy" Video Gaither Vocal Band Song tells a great story!
"Vrednic Esti Tu" Video A huge Romanian Youth Choir and Orchestra Even though I can't understand the words I recognize the Revelation Song and am so blessed by the incredible enthusiasm and joy-filled faces. If you need a spiritual lift today listen to this song!
Here's Mark Whitacre's website.
"Undercover" (2010) Mark Whitacre (The Informant) and FBI Discovery Channel Documentary Video (45 minutes)
Ginger Whitacre discusses her support for her husband, Mark Whitacre (The Informant) We met Ginger yesterday and came to admire her loyalty to Mark as well as her devotion to God. Video
Two of the photos of Mark Whitacre at LBC were taken by Ron Hill.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2014 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA