Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

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Emotions Can Deceive

On Being Led Astray By Emotions When the pastor of a very large church decided to retire, many pastors called the church saying that God had shown them that they were each the ones who God wanted to become the next pastor. Apparently, even strong Christians can be deceived by feelings! ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Graham Throws Out a Fleece

When Billy Graham was approached about starting a national radio program, he didn?t really want to do it, but couldn?t be positive it wasn?t God?s will. So, he responded this way to Walter and Fred, who kept pestering him about the opportunity: "All right, fellows," I said laughingly, "if before midnight tonight I should get $25,000 for the purpose of a radio broadcast, I'll take that as an answer to prayer and be willing to do a national broadcast." "The thought was so incredible to them that they laughed along with me before heading for the airport. But by that evening, an incredible $24,000.00 had come in! But they were still $1000.00 short. Upon returning to his hotel about eleven-thirty p.m., the desk clerk gave him two letters. "Postmarked two days earlier, they were from people I hardly knew. Both said they believed we should go on the radio and that they wanted to be the first to contribute. And each enclosed a $500 check!? ?Then, when I turned to go to the elevator, who should be standing in the lobby but Walter and Fred. They had been ready to leave at the airport, they said, but something had told them not to get on the plane." Thus began Billy Graham?s "The Hour of Decision" broadcast. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Smart Carpenters and God's Will

On Not Being Rash Remember, smart carpenters measure twice and cut once, whereas foolish carpenters measure once and cut twice.

Blondes to Disneyland

Some people get God's directions all wrong. They're kind of like the three blondes who were driving down the highway trying to get to Disneyland. They saw a sign that read "Disney Land Left." So they went home.

Blonde Goes Ice Fishing

Some of us have a hard time discerning the voice of God. We are like the blonde who wanted to go ice fishing, so after getting all of the right "tools" she headed toward the nearest frozen lake. After getting comfy on her stool she started to cut a circular hole in the ice. Then from the heavens a voice boomed, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE." Startled, the blonde moved further down the ice, poured a thermos of hot chocolate and started to cut yet another hole in the ice. The voice boomed, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE." This time quite scared, the blonde moved to the far end of the ice. Then she started another hole and once again the voice said, "THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE." The very scared blonde raised her head and said, "Is that you, Lord?" The voice answered, "NO. IT IS THE MANAGER OF THE ICE RINK."

Blonde Flies Helicopter

Often we err by misunderstanding the purposes behind what God is doing. We are like the blonde who decided to take flying lessons. The guy at the airport said there were no more plane flying lessons this year but she could take helicopter lessons. The blonde agreed and the man taught her and said I'll radio you every 1000 feet you go in the air. The blonde agreed. She jumped in and took off. At 1000 feet, she radioed him and asked how she was doing. He said she was doing great. At 2000 feet, she radioed him and asked how she was doing. He said she was doing great. But right before she got to 3000 feet, she started twirling to the ground. When she landed, he went over to pull her out of the helicopter. He asked her what went wrong because she was doing perfect before. The blonde said, "At 2500 feet, I started to get cold so I turned the big fan off."

Lucas Changes His Life

Any one who has seen the Star Wars series, or the Indiana Jones trilogy, knows the incredible excitement that producer George Lucas can pack into a movie. But it?s doubtful that Lucas would have made anything at all out of his life, had he not first given up his old dreams. You see, during his teen years, a lot of people considered him a loser who was going nowhere in life. He never applied himself in school and dreamed only about racing cars. But his dreams all ended just a few days before his graduation. While driving home from the library in his Fiat, he prepared for a left turn by glancing in his rearview mirror. But as he started the turn, he heard the sound of another car, a blowing horn, and the impact of a speeding Chevy crunching into the driver side of his car. It should have killed him. The little Fiat turned four or five complete flips before it wrapped around a solid oak tree. The impact was so great that it actually moved the entire tree a couple of feet over, leaving a huge hole in its former position. But miraculously, George survived. Get this: during the Fiat?s third flip, his regulation racing seat belt snapped, throwing him out of the open top and onto the ground. He was close to death, but recovered slowly through two weeks in the hospital and months of physical therapy. His Fiat didn?t survive, ending up in the junkyard. But after the accident, George was a changed person. He decided there must be some reason that God allowed him to survive, so he set his mind to get his act together and make something out of his life. He left his racing dreams behind and decided to go to college. There, he developed an interest in literature and writing. And instead of driving racecars, he began filming them. Today, he?s glad for his decision to let his old life and his old dreams die, so that he could go a new direction. You see, without giving up his old life, he would have never found his niche in the film industry, and no one would have ever seen Star Wars. (Facts from Skywalking: The Life And Times Of George Lucas, by Dale Pollock, Harmony Books, 1983, pp. xiii-39. Wording by Steve Miller) My point is this: Many students are afraid to give their lives to Christ, because they?re afraid of what they will have to give up. So they never let go of their old lives. But today I challenge you to hold those areas of your life with an open hand and look at them carefully. Are they holding you back from a life that you never dreamed possible? ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

What You Want to Be

Adults are always asking children what they want to be when they grow up -- they?re looking for ideas. -- Paula Poundstone

Lord, Whatever You Want

Lord, what thou wilt, where thou wilt, and when thou wilt. ? Richard Baxter?s last words

Putting Inner Urgings Into Action

?From the stories of others who have become involved in mission work, we learn that the initial inner urgings often seem very subtle, hard to discern. In fact, for most of us, the message really doesn?t become clear until we act. It is the process of taking action in response to the Holy Spirit?s urging that often provides the real clarity. Without responding, you?ll probably never know. (Tetsunao Yamamori in Penetrating Missions? Final Frontier)

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