From Johanan, Collector at Magdala
to
Zaechaeus, Commissioner of Taxes at Jericho
Dear Zaccheus,

Pagan holiday or Evangelistic Opportunity? The decision is yours….

Rather than debate the issue, I am going to provide some things that could be done as part of a Christian alternative either as a family or as a church or youth group. (For the rest of you, many of the ideas involving pumpkins and other things could also be used at Thanksgiving or any time during the year for that matter.) And many of them are VERY evangelistic in nature!

Introduction
Can you play the wacky game without losing your head?

Game Description
How quickly can you pass the hat around the circle? While you may not lose your head playing this game, the head to head play is wild and fun!

Early one morning I rushed straight into the day,
too much to do, no time to pray.

Problems overcame me, heavier each task,
“Why doesn’t God help me?” He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted great joy, but the day grew quite bleak.
“Why didn’t God show me?” He said, “You didn’t seek.”

Dial soap
Directions: Use like regular soap

Deodorant
Do not use intimately.

Tampax Tampons
Remove used tampon before inserting a new one.

A sticker on a toilet at a public facility
Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking.

Hotel Shower Cap
Fits one head.

Game Description
How fast can you pass the balloon?

Game Materials

• Two inflated Balloons of equal size
• Chair for each participant

Game Preparation
Make a circle of chairs facing inward, one chair for each participant

Game Play

1. Divide the group into two teams of equal number.

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat: “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” he announced.

Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.

So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley (Hosea 3:2, HCSB)

Amos was the prophet of God’s wrath in the Old Testament; Hosea by contrast is the prophet of love. Amos addressed the conscience; Hosea addressed the heart. The truth came to Amos in the desert; it met Hosea on his own doorstep.

What a comfort it is to know that our Lord prays for His own. It is of great comfort to even the very young child to know that his parents love him and care for him so much that they pray to their Heavenly Father about him. The following suggestions might be helpful as you think of praying for your child, for his needs now and in the future.

“Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw,
knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take
this cup of suffering away from me. However, Your
will must be done, not mine.”
Luke 22:41 (GW)
“It went against every human instinct of survival, against every spiritual, God-implanted longing in His human being to face death and sin-caused alienation from God the Father. Body and soul cried out against it, so that in the teeth of an inner storm of protest He had to say with His naked will, ‘Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’