Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

John Wesley's House Burns Down

Once, a distraught man rode his horse up to John Wesley shouting, ?Mr. Wesley, something terrible happened! Your house burned to the ground!? Wesley weighed the news, then calmly replied, ?No. The Lord?s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.? Wesley?s reaction wasn?t denial. Rather, it was a bold affirmation of reality ? God is the owner of all things, and we are simply His stewards.? (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 25)

A Few Months In America

Randy Alcorn, in his book "The Treasure Principle," illustrates how to live in anticipation of our heavenly home. He asks us to imagine that we live in France, but are visiting America, living in a hotel for a few months. We know that we can't bring anything back to France on our return flight. But we can earn and have it wired to our French bank. Alcorn asks, "Would you fill your hotel room with expensive furniture and wall hangings? Of course not. You?d send your money where your home is. You would spend only what you needed on the temporary residence, sending your treasures ahead so they?d be waiting for you when you got home.? (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 45)

Wealthy, But Miserable

Listen to some of the wealthiest people of their day: ? "The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it." W.H. Vanderbilt ? "I am the most miserable man on earth." John Jacob Astor ? "I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness." John D. Rockefeller ? "Millionaires seldom smile." Andrew Carnegie ? "I was happier when doing a mechanic's job." Henry Ford (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, pp. 50-51)

Keep These Words Near Your Cash

"I carry in my wallet a little card. On one side it says, ?God owns every treasure. I?m His investment manager.? Under this are three Scriptures. The other side says, ?God wants me to use earthly treasures to store up heavenly treasures.? Underneath are Christ?s words in Matthew 6 and Paul?s in 1 Timothy 6. Keeping the card near my cash is a powerful reminder of what is true.? (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 56)

Money Never Stays With Me

"John Wesley said, ?Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart.? Wesley earned significant book royalties during his life ? yet his goal was to give so generously as to leave virtually nothing behind when he died."(Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 68)

Don't Get Stuck With All Your Cards

Have you ever played one of those card games where the winner is the one who runs out of cards first? At the end of the game, every card left counts against you. The American dream is to die with as many cards in your hand as possible. But maybe we?ve got it backwards. Maybe our strategy should be like John Wesley?s ? to not get stuck with all those cards at our life?s end. (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 69)

Almighty Dollar and Almighty Curse

Andrew Carnegie said, ?The almighty dollar bequeathed to a child is an almighty curse. No man has the right to handicap his son with such a burden as great wealth.? (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, Multnomah Press, Sisters, OR, p. 70)

Scrooge Finds Incredible Joy

People don't get it. In every generation people believe the lie that just a little more money and just a few more things will give them the joy and peace that eludes them. They've missed the lesson learned by the contemptible Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken's classic tale, the Christmas Carol. Consumed by his greed, he lives a lonely, joyless life. People mean nothing to him. But after three spirits reveal to him the misery he's caused others and the way others despise him, his life is forever changed. He begins to empathize with others, forgetting about himself and meeting their needs. By turning outward, he finds an incredible joy he never knew. Listen carefully to how Here's how Dickens describes the changed man: Do you lack joy? Perhaps you need to learn from Ebenezer the joy of giving. He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows; and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk ? that anything ? could give him so much happiness? Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them? His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him." (Written Steve Miller, Copyright September, 2002, quote from Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.)

Don't Wait Upon Fortune

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. --Benjamin Franklin

Empty Your Purse Into Your Head

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. --Benjamin Franklin

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