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Christmas Greetings from ACTS International

December, 2016 Christmas Greetings! Dear Friend, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come! / Let earth receive her King; / Let every heart prepare Him room / And heaven and nature sing / And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.”

Painting “Jesus Wept” by Erik Hollander Used by permission.

How grateful we are to God for His great love gift to the world in that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth on that first Christmas so that He could give His life on the insufferable cruel Roman cross—in your place and mine—to pay the just penalty for all our sins so we could be freely forgiven by God and receive His gift of eternal life. For this and for Christ's incredible sacrifice we will be eternally grateful. In ACTS we also remember with sincere thanksgiving all of ACTS faithful prayer and support partners who have made possible all of ACTS ministries of communicating the message of God's love to many thousands of people worldwide for yet another year. Continuing challenges: Besides the many blessings this year there have also been challenges. As long as we keep publishing the gospel, we can expect this. Recently I was accused of presenting a false gospel for which I would be sent to hell. You can see for yourself whether ACTS gospel message is false, the title of which is: "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian." It can be seen online at: http://www.actsweb.org/christian/know_god01.php. ACTS Daily Encounter continues to be a source of encouragement to our 400,000 plus worldwide subscribers who receive a message based on God's Word every weekday of the year. With every issue there is a link to ACTS main gospel message: "How to be Sure You're a Real Christian" (see link above). As a result, almost every issue receives salvation and re-commitment to Jesus Christ responses from around the world. We also receive many responses letting us know what a blessing Daily Encounter is. For example, a high ranking officer in the Pentagon, Colonel X, wrote saying, "Pastor Innes, I can't thank you enough for being the blessing that you are through your ACTS Ministry. I work in the Pentagon and I start each day with your Daily Encounter. Often I forward it through the organization. I, too, am 'available' to God to be used as He sees fit. What an inspiration!" Equally encouraging is the fact that we have been publishing the gospel worldwide for 52 years!, And almost every day of the year from around the world we continue to receive salvation and re-commitment to Jesus Christ decision responses! By the end of this year—2016—we will have sent out over 104 million Daily Encounter messages this year to our worldwide subscribers. We praise God for this incredible opportunity to be able to reach so many people with the gospel by so few people (Joy and myself being our only staff in our U.S. office), and for so little cost relative to the many years when we used hard copy print to publish the gospel! However, to reach people worldwide with the gospel takes vigorous advertising which we budget for every day of the year. This makes it possible for ACTS to reach thousands of people 24-7-365 with the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as we advertise with a service that daily reaches many thousands of non-Christians worldwide. We aggressively advertise Daily Encounter because it is our most productive means of gospel outreach. Our advertising is with a secular media source so we can reach and win as many lost souls as possible to Jesus. ACTS Daily Encounter e-mail devotional is not only a message based on the Word of God for both Christians and non-Christians, but also an effective follow-up ministry for those who have recorded a decision for Christ response. For these people we also have a special follow-up website at: http://www.actsweb.org/living which has ten special articles designed for the spiritual growth of new Christians. God's Word reminds us that: "When the gospel is preached in all the world, then will the end come;" that is, when Jesus Christ returns for all His true followers to take them to be with Him forever in Heaven (Matthew 24:14). With all of today's means of communication the gospel is speeding to the ends of the earth as never before in all of human history, so Christ's return may be much closer than we think! "Even so come Lord Jesus!" In the meantime let us together do as much as we possibly can to reach as many people as possible worldwide with the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—the only hope for our sin-sick world! Furthermore, according to a reliable source, "Every single day more than two million people worldwide are searching the Internet for spiritual hope, meaning and purpose." What an incredible opportunity this is for God's people to fulfill Christ's Great Commission which, in Christ's own words, was and still is: "You are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone everywhere" (Mark 16:15). As the late Oswald J. Smith of Canada reminds us: "The supreme task of the church is the evangelizing of the world." As already noted, almost every day of the year ACTS is receiving decision for Christ responses from around the world. This is made possible because of the sacrificial support of friends such as yourself. By way of interest, 2016 is ACTS 52nd. year publishing the gospel! In thanksgiving to God for his unspeakable gift to the world at Christmas 2,000 years ago, will you prayerfully consider giving a special sacrificial gift for the publishing of the gospel at this time through ACTS International—a gift that will help make a difference for all eternity in the lives of thousands of people—and that will help ACTS finish 2016 with every invoice paid, and have a dynamic start in the New Year? As another has so wisely said: "Our greatest legacy will be those who live eternally in heaven because of our efforts." This year, 2016, has been as an effective year of ministry as ever, but financially we are in an urgent situation as we are $30,000.00 behind where we were at this time last year. So our need is urgent and your support is urgently needed. Will you please help today with your sacrificial support—be it large or small—as every dollar is critical for keeping ACTS on the front line of worldwide gospel outreach. As you stand with us at this critical time may God richly bless and reward you in His own abundant way. Please may we hear from you today? Our need is urgent. Gratefully in Christ, Dick and Joy Innes P.S. Support can be donated online via ACTS secure donor site at: https://actscom.com/donate.php. NOTE too that ACTS International is a registered 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. U.S. donations are thus tax-deductible.