Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

Guard Well Thy Thoughts

?Guard well thy thoughts; our thoughts are heard in heaven.? Owen D. Young

Adultery is Still One of Them

Some people think they can bargain with God. Like, "Hey, if You'll let me do this one sin, I'll serve you forever." It's kind of like the story of when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with 10 Commandments. He told people of Israel : "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I got the commandments down to 10. The bad news if that adultery if still one of them." (From file of Barry St. Clair)

Sprayed for Mosquitoes, Killed the Rats

I heard that in Borneo they sprayed poison to get rid of the mosquitoes. It killed mosquitoes, but also poisoned the flies. The lizards ate the flies. The cats ate the lizards, which killed the cats. When the cats died, the rats multiplied unchecked, so much so that they had to parachute in crates of cats to kill the rats. The point? Sinful words and actions don't just affect the people we are with at the time. They poison others down the line. As the bible says, the sins of one generation affect future generations. (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Christianity as the Presence of God

Christianity is not the absence of evil, but the presence of God. (Pastor Peter Lord)

Joke: The Farmer Strikes Back

God's Word says that we reap what we sow. I heard of a used-car salesman who had milked the local farmers repeatedly with shady dealings. Then one day, the car dealer informed a farmer that he was coming around to buy a cow. The farmer attached the following price information to the cow: Basic - Cow $500.00 Two-toned exterior $45.00 Extra stomach $75.00 Product- storing equipment $60.00 Strawchopper $40.00 Four spigots @ $30.00 each $120.00 Cowhide uphostery $125.00 Dual horns $15.00 Automatic fly swatter $38.00 Fertilizer attachment $185.00 ------------- TOTAL $ 1,203.00 (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Stats on Cheating Youth

In a 1995 article for Reader?s Digest, Daniel R. Levine notes that Who?s Who Among American High School Students polled more than 3,000 high school juniors and senior who were at the top of their class. 78% admitted cheating and 89% admitted cheating was common at their schools. In another survey, Stephen F. Davis found that 76% had cheated. He commented, ?The numbers alone are disturbing, but even more alarming is the attitude. There?s no remorse. For students, cheating is a way of life.? (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Loss of Empathy and Compassion

Former National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Lynne V. Cheney tells of an incident that occurred in 1994 that provides ?a chilling vision of life? without empathy: ?That summer Mohammed Jaberipour, 49, was working a route in south Philadelphia in a Mister Softee ice cream truck when a 16 year old tried to extort money. Jaberipour refused, and the youth shot him. As the father of three lay dying, neighborhood teenagers laughed and mocked his agony in a rap song they composed on the spot: ?They killed Mr. Softee.? ?It wasn?t human,? another ice cream truck driver, a friend of Jaberipour who came on the scene shortly after the shooting, told the Philadelphia Daily News. ?People were laughing and asking me for ice cream. I was crying...They were acting as though a cat had died, not a human being.? (From IMPRIMIS March 1996, Volume 25, Number 3)

Whitefield Attacks Sin and Wickedness

Bishop J.C. Tyle wrote of the life and character of George Whitefield who was mightily used of God during the revival of the 18th century. Bishop Tyle said of Whitefield, "He did not sit tamely by his fireside, like a cat on a rainy day, mourning over the wickedness of the land. He attacked sin and wickedness face to face. He dived into holes and corners after sinners. He was the first to see that Christ's ministers must do the work of fishermen. They must not wait for souls to come to them, but must go after them." (Taken from page 48 - Christian Leaders of the 18th Century)

Temptation, The Holy Grail and the Rabbit

It's usually not the big, bad, ugly, smelly sins that take us down. It's the ones that look innocent and harmless, the ones that everyone seems to be doing, that are often the most dangerous. This principle is well illustrated in Monty Python's Search For the Holy Grail, where King Arthur and his faithful companions are brought to the mouth of a cavern they must enter to continue their quest. They are warned of a terrible creature that guards the cavern. (Start the tape here. On mine it runs from about 3950 to 4150. They are duly warned of the creature, only to find that it's an innocent looking rabbit. So, one of the warriors casually walks up to kill the rabbit, only to lose his head to the quick, vicious rabbit. It's hilarious!) Okay, okay, that was pretty goofy. Or was it? What if that innocent rabbit represents a lot of the perils of this world that God has warned us about. You know, those things that look so innocent to us and we're wondering, like King Arthur and his men, how they could possibly harm us. I challenge you to believe God's Word rather than the innocent picture you have in your mind. Sin takes you further than you wanted to go, keeps you longer than you wanted to stay, and charges you more than you wanted to pay.

Where Did Charlie Brown Go Wrong?

Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night. -- Charlie Brown

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