Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

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Nascars and Drafting

To the uninitiated, the NASCAR races at the "superspeedways" like Daytona in Florida or Talladega in Alabama are won simply by the expertise of the driver and the power and reliability of the car. But what the casual observer may totally miss is a factor that all the drivers know can make the difference between winning and coming in dead last. That factor is called drafting. You see, on the long "superspeedways," with long straights and high-banked turns, the racers go at full-throttle, about 190 MPH around the entire track. When a Winston Cup style car, races at breakneck speeds, an air pressure bubble forms in the front and a vacuum behind. This is why the cars tailgate one another. The car in front is able to go faster because it loses some of the drag at the rear. The car behind goes faster because it has less air resistance from the front. So both cars benefit. In fact, at Talladega and Daytona you'll see drafts lines from three to ten cars long, as drivers take advantage of the extra speed generated by the draft. So if you want to win, you've got to rely on other cars, using their drafts for either maintaining speed or to slingshot around for a pass. Those who try to win it solely on their own resources will lose. What does this have to do with our lives? God says that we too need other people to succeed. Intellectually, we don't rely on our own wisdom but instead glean from a "multitude of counselors." Emotionally, we need the encouragement of others. Spiritually, we need a small group of Christians who will "spur us on to love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24,25) Don't try to live life on your own, or you may end up dead last in a race that belongs to those who learn to depend on others. (Written by Steve Miller. Information from "Social Science at 190 Miles Per Hour on NASCAR's Biggest Superspeedways, by David Ronfeldt, First Monday, volume 5, number 2 (February 2000), URL: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_2/ronfeldt/index.html )

A Visit From the Pastor

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, suddenly stopped coming to church. After a few weeks, the Pastor decided to visit. The Pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his Pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the Pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and lifeless. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave, he slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the Pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday." We live in a world today which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken. What silent message would God have you share with someone today? "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." -- Matthew 5:16

Jim Otto Endures Hurt

Jim Otto, who wore the number "OO" for the Raiders pro football team, was arguably the greatest center to ever play the game. For those who don't know football, the offensive center mans the middle of the bone-crunching action, on one play protecting the quarterback from 300 pound defensive linemen and on the next play drilling through them to pave the way for a run. His dedication, intelligence and leadership helped transform the Raiders into one of the most successful football franchises ever. He was selected to an incredible 12 Pro Bowls and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But what amazes me about Jim Otto is not so much his talent, but his willingness to play hurt. You see, the center gets hit every play, and Otto took quite a beating. His freshman year in college, he had surgery on both knees, but rebuilt his knees and played both offense and defense the next year. In his 15 years with the Raiders, he broke his nose 10 times and endured 9 knee surgeries. He played with a hip pointer injury, broken fingers, broken ribs, a broken jaw, neck stingers (stretched or pinched nerves), numerous concussions, kicked-in teeth, one eye swollen shut and even double pneumonia in Super Bowl II. With all those injuries, how many games did he miss? None. That's right. He never missed a game, playing 210 consecutive games. In 1972, he tore five ligaments in his knee during a preseason game. He could have gone on injured reserve. Instead, he played so well that he made the pro bowl! Why did he keep playing even while he was hurt? In my opinion, it's because Jim Otto loves football. Although he's had a total of 37 football related surgeries; even though in his retirement he lives with two artificial knees and two artificial shoulders, enduring continuous pain, he holds no bitterness toward the sport and says he'd do it all again. Why? Because Jim Otto loves football. (Three ways to go with this illustration, depending on what you want to illustrate): Persecution: What does this have to do with the Christian life? Some people give up spiritually after so many failures. After Otto signed up with the Raiders, the newly formed team lost 19 straight games. Nineteen straight failures. How humiliating. But he didn't quit. Nor did he give up because of the suffering. One thing that helped Jim Otto was that he knew football was a rough sport and that his body would be beaten. Speaking of his painful retirement, he says, "I don't blame anybody. Every time you put on a helmet, you know ...you were going to get hurt. We knew the score." In the same way, Jesus warned his disciples that they would be persecuted (John 16:1-4). Peter told us not to be surprised by suffering for the faith (I Peter 4:12,13). Church: I'm amazed at how many people I talk to who say they don't go to church any more because someone hurt them or they didn't get anything out of the service - "Nobody sat with me." "The pastor didn't come when I needed him." "Some of the people were hypocrites." Yet, God's Word says to "not forsake the assembling of yourselves together." (Hebrews 10:24,24) If we truly love God, we'll bounce back from the criticism and either learn to live with the parts of the service that bore us or search for a church that's more alive. Jim Otto didn't let hurts keep him from participating in the sport he loved. He played hurt. If we love God, we won't allow hurts to keep us from worshiping Him. Endurance and Goals: Jim Otto endured inexpressible suffering because of his love for football. His last couple of seasons were especially painful. But his wife Sally says that she never told him to retire, because "I knew what his goal was, to win a Super Bowl." As Christians, we have a prize to shoot for far superior to any Super Bowl ring. Our heavenly reward will endure forever. As the Apostle Paul put it, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, be we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such as way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." (I Corinthians 9:24-27) Written by Steve Miller, Copyright 2002. Sources: 1. (Newsday, Special Report: Life After Football (1-14-97, pp. A64) 2. index.htmlindex.html..\index.html..\index.html ; 3. http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/100/78.html ; 4. http://sports.insidebayarea.com/top50.asp?story=Leigh_Steinberg 5. http://sports.insidebayarea.com/top50.asp?story=Joe_Otto 6. Double-O was football's limping gladiator By Dave Newhouse 7. OTTO PLAYED IN PAIN THAT WON'T QUIT, By Bob Kravitz, The Coffin Corner, Volume X, 1988, From The Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 23, 1984 8. Booklist review

Commitment to Church and Commitment to Date

Have you ever noticed that the same girl who says she's never going to a church or youth group again because someone hurt her, wouldn't think of giving up on dating because she was emotionally hurt by the last guy she dated? Why? Because she wants to date. She'll look for a better person to date. Why doesn't she look for a better youth group or church? Because following God simply isn't as big a priority as finding a guy. (By Steve Miller)

Marilyn Manson Rejects Church

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson says that he hates Christianity to such an extent that he's dedicated his life to destroying it. Yet, his ideas of Christianity don't seem to be the result of a long, objective search for truth. Rather, he says that he grew up in a "very secular household," but was turned off by the narrow thinking and rules in the Christian school he attended. His exposure to church seems to have been limited to attending a fringe church with his girlfriend, which was led by a rather strange faith healer who used questionable methods. So did he then determine to visit other churches to see if they were all the same? No. Toward the end of his autobiography he mentions attending a church wedding, which was the first time he'd been in a church since he was a kid. Isn't it amazing that a person who continually speaks of how smart he is and how dumb Christians are has such little knowledge of what he opposes? As Jesus said, it's those who are willing to believe who will find the truth about him (John 7:17). (Written by Steve Miller, Copyright April 25, 2002. Source: Marilyn Manson in his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, Regan Books, 1998, pp. 118, 233)

Quit Griping About Your Church

Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn't belong.

How To Get a Better Pastor

If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.

Can't Recall Sermons; Quits Church

I heard the story of a person who wrote a note to the local newspaper complaining that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. He wrote, "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." Someone responded with this letter to the editor, "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Youth Attend Church

If your view of the average American youth is formed from TV, you'd never think that many youth went to church. But even if we just look at the last week, not an entire month, many youth are involved in church. According to the April 16, 2002, Gallup Tuesday Briefing?based on interviews with 454, 13-17 year old teens from July to September 2001?45% of American teens report attending church or synagogue during the past week. 21% of teens participated in religious events and activities beyond weekly services, which comprised of youth group (37%), dinners/picnics (10%), Bible/Torah/Scripture study (7%), and retreats/camp programs (6%). http://www.gallup.com/poll/tb/religValue/20020416b.asp

Why Jim Otto Played Hurt

Jim Otto, who wore the number ''OO'' for the Raiders pro football team, was arguably the greatest center to ever play the game. For those who don't know football, the offensive center mans the middle of the bone-crunching action, on one play protecting the quarterback from 300 pound defensive linemen and on the next play drilling through them to pave the way for a run. His dedication, intelligence and leadership helped transform the Raiders into one of the most successful football franchises ever. He was selected to an incredible 12 Pro Bowls and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But what amazes me about Jim Otto is not so much his talent, but his willingness to play hurt. You see, the center gets hit every play, and Otto took quite a beating. His freshman year in college, he had surgery on both knees, but rebuilt his knees and played both offense and defense the next year. In his 15 years with the Raiders, he broke his nose 10 times (over 20 times in his football career). His wife would rearrange his nose regularly in the parking lot after Raiders games. He endured 9 knee surgeries. He played with a hip pointer injury, broken fingers, broken ribs, a broken jaw, neck stingers (stretched or pinched nerves), numerous concussions, kicked-in teeth, one eye swollen shut and even double pneumonia in Super Bowl II. With all those injuries, how many games did he miss? None. That's right. He never missed a game, playing 210 consecutive games. In 1972, he tore five ligaments in his knee during a preseason game. He could have gone on injured reserve. Instead, he played so well that he made the pro bowl! Why did he keep playing even while he was hurt? The answer's pretty simple. You see, Jim Otto loved football. According to Otto, his drive to continue playing was "all because I loved football more than I can possibly explain in words that make sense to those who've never played the game." (p. 6, Jim Otto) He grew up in poverty. One summer he lived with his family in a chicken coop until they moved into a house with two other families. Not being very good at academics, football was Jim's ticket to college and out of poverty. In his own words, "football saved me." And no matter what the price, he'd always be grateful. Although he's had a total of 37 football related surgeries; even though in his retirement he lives with two artificial knees and two artificial shoulders, enduring continuous pain, he holds no bitterness toward the sport and says he'd do it all again. Why? Because football saved him and Jim Otto loves football. In the light of Otto's life, I'm amazed at shallowness of people who say they don't go to church any more because someone hurt them or they didn't get anything out of the service - ''Nobody sat with me.'' ''The pastor didn't come when I needed him.'' ''Some of the people were hypocrites.'' Yet, God's Word says to ''not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.'' (Hebrews 10:24,24) If we truly love God, if we're truly grateful that Jesus saved us, we'll bounce back from the criticism and either learn to live with the parts of the service that bore us or search for a church that's more alive. Jim Otto didn't let hurts keep him from participating in the sport he loved. He played hurt. If we love God, we won't allow hurts to keep us from worshiping Him. Written by Steve Miller, Copyright 2002. Sources: 1. (Newsday, Special Report: Life After Football (1-14-97, pp. A64) 2. index.htmlindex.html..\index.html..\index.html ; 3. http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/100/78.html ; 4. http://sports.insidebayarea.com/top50.asp?story=Leigh_Steinberg 5. http://sports.insidebayarea.com/top50.asp?story=Joe_Otto 6. Double-O was football's limping gladiator By Dave Newhouse 7. OTTO PLAYED IN PAIN THAT WON'T QUIT, By Bob Kravitz, The Coffin Corner, Volume X, 1988, From The Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 23, 1984 8. Booklist review 9. The Pain of Glory, by Jim Otto and Dave Newhouse, Sports Publishing, Inc., 2000.

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