Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

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Howard Hughes Loved Things, Used People

Howard Hughes was one of the wealthiest men of his time. Yet, his self-centeredness kept him from getting close to people. He was more interested in money and the gadgets that made money for him. Although he could travel anywhere and have almost anything imaginable, he lived a lonely, isolated, joyless life. His associates despised him. In his later years, those few who saw him reported that his beard grew out to his waist and his hair to the middle of his back. His untrimmed toenails resembled corkscrews. With so much wealth available to him, why was he so miserable? I'd suggest that all his life he loved things and used people. He lived life upside down from God's way: to love people and use things. (Source: The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979, pp. 20,21)

Cats to Balance Your Life

In order to maintain a well balanced perspective, the person who has a dog to worship him should also have a cat to ignore him. - Unknown

"Minority Report" and Impact

What if we could stop crimes before they happen? A murder's about to happen, but you somehow know it's about to happen and thus go to the scene of the crime and stop it before it happens. Think how many innocent victims you could save! That's the theme of the Spielberg action-adventure movie, "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise. It's the year 2050 and the police have virtually wiped out murder in the Washington DC area. How do they do it? Three people (called "precogs", for "pre-cognition") with psychic powers are able to "see" future murders. Computers take the images generated by the psychics and the chief of the elite crime unit, John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) sifts through the details to discover where the crime will take place. Knowing the location, the elite unit parachutes into the scene and arrest the murderer for his/her future crime. The crime is prevented; the victim saved. (A great clip would be of the time, toward the beginning of the movie, where Anderton sifts through the images, with majestic music playing in the background. It's a pretty cool scene.) Imagine the sense of importance you'd feel if you could regularly stop crimes before they happened! Well?we can! If you think about it, each time you lead someone out of spiritual darkness into the light, each time you help another believer become more like Jesus, you've stopped future harmful, selfish acts they would have committed. By helping a person mold his or her character more like Christ's, you may have stopped a future wife-beating, a future child molester, a future theft, and perhaps even a future murder. Have you ever considered that if some Christians had reached Klebold and Harris and helped them come to learn to forgive as Jesus forgave, that they would have never gone on the shooting spree at Columbine High School. If you had reached them, you would have altered the future of many and prevented incredible heartache. It's hard to imagine the power that God's given us to change lives through the power of Jesus Christ. In this lesson, let's pray that God will show us practically how to leave our mark on the world. (Written by Steve Miller, copyright Nov. 12, 2002.)

Einstein on Virtue

Try not to be a person of success, but rather a person of virtue --Albert Einstein

You Can Be Immature Forever

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever --Larry Andersen relief pitcher

How You Treat Those Who Can't Fight Back

The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back. --Abigail Van Buren

What We Think We Become

What we think, we become. --Buddha

Little Minds Versus Firm Heart

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. --Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

I Had No Character

My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I had no character. --Charles Barkley on hearing Tonya Harding proclaim herself the Charles Barkley of figure skating.

Optimism and Humor Help Survive

Optimism and humor are the grease and glue of life. Without both of them we would never have survived our captivity. --Philip Butler, Vietnam POW

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