Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

Rockefeller Leaves Everything

John D. Rockefeller, Sr. was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived. After his death, someone asked his accountant, ?How much did John D. leave? We know he was an immensely wealthy man.? And the accountant answered, ?Everything.? (Your Finances in Changing Times, Larry Burkett, p. 40)

Iacocca on Time With Family

Lee Iacocca is reported to have said that he has never seen a businessman say at his retirement that he wished he had spent more time in his work. It is his family that is finally seen as most important.? (Straight Talk, by Dobson)Note: Iacocca is CEO of Crysler, credited with turning the company around. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Nothing Else Makes Much Sense

?I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, a moment or two from now, I must look backward on something more meaningful than the pursuit of houses and land and machines and stocks and bonds. Nor is fame of any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, a consistent investment in the lives of people, and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me. Nothing else makes much sense.? (What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women, by James Dobson)

Materialism Devastates Students

Many campuses are divided into neat social cliques. One Texas school was divided into Jocks (football team), Preppies (social elite, well dressed), cowboys (Complete w/ hats, boots) and Freaks (They even referred to themselves as the ?freaks.? They dressed down and did drugs). Jeannine, a sweet c. 14 year old, aligned herself with the freaks. I asked her why. She said, ?I don?t have the money to dress like the jocks and preppies, so they look down on me. But when I hang out with the freaks, we can light up a joint and they accept me as I am.? Jeannine didn?t just choose a life of drugs. She was snooted into drugs by the campus materialists. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Henry Ford on Wealth

?Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It always comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.? (Henry Ford)

Materialism in a Poor Tribe

A man from a poor African tribe was asked, ?What is the greatest problem in your tribe?? His answer went something like this: ?Materialism. If someone has a small hut, they want a larger hut. They are always wanting something they don?t have.? ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Magic Johnson Falls

He is one of the best basketball players who ever lived. And for a time, ?Magic? Johnson had the world at his feet. As point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, he led his team to five NBA titles. He was named NBA?s Most Valuable Player three times. As you can imagine, this brought incredible wealth and fame. But with his success came temptations that most of us never encounter. According to Johnson, ?When you play in the NBA, there are women waiting to meet you in every city along the way. ?Just about every time the bus brought us back to our hotel after a game, there would be forty or fifty women waiting in the lobby to meet us. Most of them were beautiful, and a few were just unbelievable.? (p. 228). And they weren?t there to discuss theology and play chess. In his autobiography, ?Magic? quotes a joke that he says describes life in the NBA. ?Question: What?s the hardest thing about going on the road? Answer: Trying not to smile when you kiss you wife good-bye.? (p. 228) Needless to say, most of us don?t face the temptations that ?Magic? faces. (My Life, by Earvin ?Magic? Johnson, with William Novak, Random House, NY)?Magic? Johnson?s wealth and fame gave him access to a constant flow of beautiful women. But he knew that one day he would want to settle down with the one woman he really loved. That day came for ?Magic.? As he describes the wedding, ?To see her walking down the aisle with her father, looking so beautiful in that dress?it was just breathtaking. It was the happiest day of my life, and the best thing that had ever happened to me.? (p. 236) But a few short weeks later, tragedy struck. A routine physical found him testing positive for HIV, the virus that develops into AIDS. His lifestyle, made possible by his fame and fortune, ruined his career, and handed him a death sentence. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Hughes' Billions Don't Bring Happiness

Howard Hughes? billions practically gave him his pick of Hollywood women (and men. He was bisexual.) But his wealth came as a package deal. His ruin came from acquiring a sexually transmitted disease, Syphilus, which eventually went to his brain. His greed consumed him in the end, as he lived a lonely, tortured existence. After using people all his life, never even understanding the meaning of love, his close associates despised him and few even attended his funeral. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

Ashamed of their New Car

A salesman was supplied with a company car to use in his business and to drive home. He had been driving a two litre, fuel-injection Cavalier, and the time had come for him to get a new car. But to his horror, he found that the new car would be a downgrade, an inexpensive Maestro 1.3. ?Shaking with emotion, he explained to an interviewer that his wife had refused to even enter the car. ?We both sat down and wept?, he said. ?We felt so ashamed!?? (Mark Roques, p. 28.)

Mission Trip Cures Greed

?Elizabeth? came back from a mission trip a changed person. Before she left for the trip, she had a major argument with her parents over the amount of spending money they were allowing her as she would leave for college. But on the mission trip she found that the average salary of the country?s adults was equal to the amount her parents were offering her as spending money! She came home less greedy, more appreciative of what she had. ? Copyright 2002 Steve Miller - All Rights Reserved

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