Monthly Archives: November 2006

Devotional

Ruled by Fear

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I came across the following one day…

Articles of incorporation of the Springfield Militia

  1. This Company shall be known as the Springfield Militia.
  2. In case of war, this company shall immediately disband.

(From the Civil War SongBook, published circa 1965)

What causes you to fear? How do you respond to fear? Do you fear the threat of being ridiculed, of losing a friend, of being unpopular, of losing the things you treasure. Too often we a fearful for the wrong reasons. We worship the gods of Power, Popularity, and Possessions instead of the Person- Jesus Christ. When these other gods are threatened we lose our backbone and bow down in fear of the future instead of fear of the Father. Then we lose more than just our treasure, we lose a piece of ourselves.

But praise to God there IS NO FEAR if you are standing in Christ.

“Finally Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes….Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then…” (Ephesians 6:10, 11, 13)

May we pray as Paul prayed….
“Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.” (Ephesians 6:19)


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Humor

Too Much Turkey

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I ate too much Turkey, I ate too much corn,
I ate too much pudding and pie.
I’m stuffed up with muffins and too much stuffin’
I’m probably going to die.

I piled up my plate and I ate and I ate.
But I wish I had known when to stop,
For I’m so crammed with yams, sauces, gravies, and jams
That my buttons are starting to pop!

I’m full of tomatoes and french fried potatoes
My stomach is swollen and sore,
But there’s still some dessert so I guess it won’t hurt if
I eat just a little bit more!

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Food for Thought

Pilgrims

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“The Pilgrims came to America not to accumulate riches but to worship God, and the greatest wealth they left unborn generations was their heroic example of sacrifice that their souls might be free.”
–Harry Moyle Tippett

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Teaching Illustrations

Be Thankful

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Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those
Who are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

Author Unknown

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Teaching Illustrations

Around the Thanksgiving Table

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One Thanksgiving season a family was seated around their table, looking at the annual holiday bird. From the oldest to the youngest, they were to express their praise. When they came to the 5-year-old in the family, he began by looking at the turkey and expressing his thanks to the turkey, saying although he had not tasted it he knew it would be good. After that rather novel expression of thanksgiving, he began with a more predictable line of credits, thanking his mother for cooking the turkey and his father for buying the turkey. But then he went beyond that. He joined together a whole hidden multitude of benefactors, linking them with cause and effect.

He said, “I thank you for the checker at the grocery store who checked out the turkey. I thank you for the grocery store people who put it on the shelf. I thank you for the farmer who made it fat. I thank you for the man who made the feed. I thank you for those who brought the turkey to the store.”

Using his Columbo-like little mind, he traced the turkey all the way from its origin to his plate. And then at the end he solemnly said “Did I leave anybody out?”

His 2-year-older brother, embarrassed by all those proceedings, said, “God.”

Solemnly and without being flustered at all, the 5-year-old said, “I was about to get to him.”

Well, isn’t that the question about which we ought to think at Thanksgiving time? Are we really going to get to him this Thanksgiving?

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Food for Thought

Thanksgiving – Thomas Jefferson

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thomas_jefferson.jpg
“Adore God. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence.”
— Thomas Jefferson

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Devotional

Chili Crab

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Crab.jpg

While living in Singapore I have loved the ethnic variety of the food. One of my favorite foods is Chili Crab. The crab, from which the delicious food is made, is a very unique creature whose entire life is characterized by change. As the crab matures, it breaks out of its hard crusty shell and begins the process of forming a new one. Its life is marked by a passage through successive shells until a shell is built so durable that it cannot be broken. This shell stops growth and then becomes the crab’s coffin.

Life for the crab continues as long as he dares to break his shell. Since his growth is limited by the shell, significant growth occurs when he is in-between shells. During this time he is extremely vulnerable and growing. Old shells are not necessarily good or bad. As a matter of fact, when a new shell is being formed there is tremendous room for growth. The security and comfort gained through the new shell enables the crab to grow and become strengthened in preparation for the next shedding of a shell. Yet there does come a time when any shell limits growth and must be shed if the crab is to grow. It is also significant that once a shell is shed and the crab grows, it can never fit back into the old shell again.

Churches as well as individual Christians can learn much from the life cycle of a crab. Significant growth occurs when our security shells are broken and we are made vulnerable- thus forced to trust God more. Jacob is an example of one who passed through a succession of shells. Leaving home broke his shell and he became vulnerable before God, making the Bethel experience possible. Years later he repeated the same process with Laban. Significant growth took place when Jacob was between shells. Had Jacob not left the security of 20 years of fruitful labor with Laban he might never have become the man of God we so highly respect. You can trace a similar pattern in almost every biblical character.

You have surely experienced the same paradox in your own life as I have. Sometimes we need the loving tap of a friend on our shells to realize that we have become confined and need to break out of a shell of comfort, a bad habit, or other qualities in our life that have confined us before the shell gets too hard and becomes a coffin. Sometimes all we need is encouragement. At other times it may be God, through trials due to job loss, death, illness, and marital difficulties or financial loss that leads us to a state of brokenness. As the shell is broken, we become vulnerable and are forced to trust God more deeply.

Has your spiritual growth become stagnant. Learn from the crab. Maybe there is a shell in your life that you need to shed!


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

Food for Thought

Greatest Virtue

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cicero.jpg

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” –Cicero

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Food for Thought

Acceptable Worship

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plutarch.jpg

“The worship most acceptable to God comes from a thankful and cheerful heart.” –Plutarch

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Teaching Illustrations

Samuel Adams – Thanksgiving Proclamation

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samuel_adams.jpg
“That all the People may with united Hearts on that Day express a just Sense of His unmerited Favors:
–Particularly in that it hath pleased Him, by His over ruling Providence to support us in a just and necessary War for the Defense of our Rights and Liberties;
…by defeating the Councils and evil Designs of our Enemies, and giving us Victory over their Troops
–and by the Continuance of that Union among these States, which by his Blessing, will be their future Strength & Glory.”

Samuel Adams on behalf of the Continental Congress, November 3, 1778, calling for a day of Thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War of the future “United States of America”

More Thanksgiving Quotes

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection