Welcome to my Creative Youth Ideas Library,

A fisherman sat on a dock with a ruler and a basket beside him. He caught a fish and measured it. The fish was six inches long. He threw the fish in the basket. He got another bite and pulled in a nine inch fish. In the basket it went.

A little later he felt a violent jerk on the line. He pulled in a twenty inch fish. That fish he threw back in the water!

A little girl had been watching this procedure. She asked him, "Why did you throw back the big fish and keep the little ones?" The fisherman replied, "Because my frying pan is only ten inches across!"

Too often, we receive tiny yields from our efforts because our expectations were too small! There is something to be said for the 'power of positive thinking'; if we do not expect God to fill our cups as we surrender ourselves to Him, then we should not be surprised when we receive less-than-spectacular returns on our spiritual investments.

Posted by Ken Sapp at 09:29 AM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Teaching Illustrations
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Keywords: expectations, vision, God's provision, faith

There are many reasons why God shouldn't have called you. But don't worry. You're in good company.

Moses stuttered.
David's armor didn't fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Jesus was too poor.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul--well, lots of folks did.

But God doesn't require a job interview. He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's more our Dad than our Boss. He doesn't look at financial gain or loss. He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

Satan says, "You're not worthy."
Jesus says, "So what? I AM."

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes.
God looks back and sees the cross.

He doesn't calculate what you did in ' 78.
It's not even on the record.

Sure. There are lots of reasons why God shouldn't have called us. But if we are magically in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite of who we are, where we've been, or what we look like. I pray that as Christians, we will step out of our limitations into the illimitable nature of who God is. Then our passion for God and our passion to communicate Him will make mince-meat of our limitations.

Posted by Ken Sapp at 01:03 AM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Devotional
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Keywords: Limitations, God's Call

Description
Generate discussions about creation with something youth love best-pizza! This discussion starter works great for a pizza party or lock-in. For this event, you'll need pizza dough and tomato paste. Ask kids to bring their favorite pizza toppings.

What to do

• Before you begin making the pizzas, read aloud a psalm that discusses God's creation, such as Psalm 8, 104, or 148.
• Ask everyone to take a few moments of quiet time to reflect on the psalm.
• Then have kids form small groups of three or four persons to make pizzas.
• Instruct students to use their toppings to express something about God's creation that came to mind as they read the verses. (e.g. They might make a fish with pepperoni scales and sliced green pepper for waves, or flowers or trees made from tomato slices and strips of green pepper.)

Take it to the Next Level

• While pizzas are in the oven, begin a discussion on creation with these questions:
• Why do you think God made the world the way he did? What there a purpose? Explain./li>
• What's your favorite thing that God made? Explain.
• How does God reveal himself to you through his creation?
• How do you fit in as a part of God's creation? For what reason were YOU created?
• How are you unique?

Posted by Ken Sapp at 09:32 AM | Link | Comments (0)
Category:
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Keywords: creation, creator, purpose

"Champions are not those who never fail, they are those who never quit...Men love winners. They want to be identified with winners. Men open a newspaper and turn directly to the sports page because it features winners, while the front page usually features losers...Champions are the right man, in the right place, at the right time. Timing is all important.

God has an eternal clock which was started from the beginning of time to make you become a champion for Him. To become a champion, you must see yourself as a champion. Hanging on to the fear of failure, the sins of others and past mistakes will keep you from becoming a champion. Champions are made, not born. Many champions start with severe handicaps in life, but in making the effort to overcome, they find the ability to continue until they have excelled beyond those even without handicaps...The athlete, the farmer and the soldier all have different ways of winning. Each of them does his training, plowing or exercising in private, and they show their abilities in public...The fainthearted never win, they wilt. They start well, but fade before they finish...

Joshua was a member of the championship team. He could hardly stand to see other men who didn't feel the way he did, and finally issued the challenge that lives on forever:

'Choose this day whom you will serve,
but as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord'

I'm proud to be on Joshua's team!"

Source: Edwin Louis Cole in "Courage - Winning Life's Toughest Battles" (ISBN 0-89274-873-7)

Posted by Ken Sapp at 11:05 PM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Resource Reviews
Average: 4.00 (1 votes) | Rate It: 1 2 3 4 5 | (5="Great", 1="Bad")
Keywords: Champion, Team, sports, failure, handicaps, winning