Category Archives: Resource Reviews

Evaluations of books, materials, curriculum, and other resources to help you choose the resources most effective for your youth ministry and your personal growth.

Christ’s Death on the Cross – Trusting in the Catcher

One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, “As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher, The public might think that I am the greatest star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.”

“How does it work?” I asked.

“The secret,” Rodleigh said, “is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything: when I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.”

“You do nothing!” I said, surprised.

“Nothing,” Rodleigh repeated. “A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”

When Rodleigh said this with so much conviction, the words of Jesus flashed through my mind: “Father into your hands I commend my Spirit.” Dying is trusting in the catcher. To care for the dying is to say, “Don’t be afraid. Remember that you are the beloved child of God. He will be there when you make your long jump. Don’t try to grab him; he will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust.”

Source: Henri J. M. Nouwen
“Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation On Dying And Caring” (Harper, 1994)

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A Song of Love

In his allegory “The Singer”, Calvin Miller gives insight into the supernatural war that was waged in those days from the cross to the empty tomb. The Troubadour (Christ) brings a song of love to the world ruled by World Hater (Satan).

Later, as the Troubadour is being tortured, World Hater cries out to God, ” ‘Look how he dies. Cry, Creator, Cry! This is my day to stand upon the breast of God and claim my victory over love. You lost the gamble.

In but an hour your lover will be pulp upon the gallows. Did you tell him when his fingers formed the world, that he would die on Terra, groaning with his hands crushed in my great machine?’

“He laughed and turned to look again upon the Troubadour. ‘Now, who will sing the Father’s Song?’ he asked the dying man.”

Later in the story, Miller paints this scene:
“World Hater reached the threshold of eternity and found the doorway of the worlds, not only open, but clearly ripped away. He strained to hear the everlasting wail, the eternal dying which he loved. All was silent. Then he heard the Song.

“‘ No!’ he cried. ‘Give me back the door and key for this is my domain.’ He felt again and found the great key at his waist had disappeared.

“He steeled himself for the battle out ahead. He would have to fight the Song. He would fight with every weapon in his arsenal of hate.

“But he knew that he would lose. And he knew that when the course of time was done, the door would be put back upon the Canyon of the Damned, and he would be locked in with all the discord of the universe. . . .”

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The Crucifixion of Christ

crucifixion.jpgI posted this last year, but it is worth the reminder. This article was originally printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and is a medically and historically accurate account of the physical death of Jesus Christ. It contains illustrations and walks through the events of the crucifixion from a medical perspective. Its very enlightening especially this time of the year when we contemplate the events around the easter celebration. This is a scan of the images and reformat of the original article. Only the formatting has been changed.

Click here to download the adobe acrobat PDF file [1.25 megabytes in size] from the website

Source:
“On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ”
William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, MDiv; Floyd E Hosmer, MS, AMI
Reprinted from JAMA – The Journal of the American Medical Association
March 21, 1986, Volume 256
Copyright 1986, American Medical Association

If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can get it for free from here:
Download Acrobat reader

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Dice throwing at the Cross?

There was some dice-throwing that went on at the foot of the cross…I’ve wondered what the scene must have looked like to Jesus…

‘All right, all right–this throw is for the sandals.’

Casting lots for the possessions of Christ. Heads ducked. Eyes downward. Cross forgotten…

It makes me think of us. The religious. Those who claim heritage at the cross. I’m thinking of all of us. Every believer in the land. The stuffy. The loose. The strict. The simple. Upper church. Lower church. ‘Spirit-filled.’ Millenialists. Evangelical. Political. Mystical. Literal. Cynical. Robes. Collars. Three-piece suits. Born-againers. Ameners.

I’m thinking of us.

I’m thinking that we aren’t so unlike those soldiers. (I’m sorry to say)

We, too, play games at the foot of the cross. We compete for members. We scramble for status. We deal our judgments and condemnations. Competition. Selfishness. Personal gain. It’s all there. We don’t like what the other did so we take the sandal we won and walk away in a huff.

So close to the timbers yet so far from the blood.

We are so close to the world’s most uncommon event, but we act like common crapshooters huddled in bickering groups and fighting over silly opinions.

How many pulpit hours have been wasted on preaching the trivial? How many churches have tumbled at the throes of miniscuity? How many leaders have saddled their pet peeves, drawn their swords of bitterness and launched into battle against brethren over issues that are not worth discussing?

So close to the cross but so far from the Christ…

Are our differences that divisive? Are our opinions that obtrusive? Are our walls that wide? Is it that impossible to find a common cause?

‘May they all be one,’ Jesus prayed.

One. Not one in groups of two thousand. But one in One. One church. One faith. One Lord. Not Baptist, not Methodist, not Adventist. Just Christian. No denominations. No hierarchies. No traditions. Just Christ.

Too idealistic? Impossible to achieve? I don’t think so. Harder things have been done, you know. For example, once upon a tree, a Creator gave his life for his creation. Maybe all we need are a few hearts that are willing to follow suit.”

Max Lucado – “No Wonder They Call Him Savior”

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While the Boss is Away

“To make the value of obedience just as practical as possible let’s play ‘Let’s Pretend”.

Let’s pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I’m the owner and I’m interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off I make plans to travel abroad and stay there until a new branch office gets established. I make all the arrangements to take my family and move to Europe for six to eight months. I am leaving you in charge of the busy stateside organization. I tell you that I will write you regularly and leave I tell you that I will write you regularly and give you directions and instructions. I leave and you stay.

Months pass. A flow of letters are mailed from Europe and received by you at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations. Finally, I return. Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office and I am stunned. Grass and weeds have grown up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the Receptionist’s room. She is doing her nails, chewing gum and listening to her favorite disco station. I look around and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing. The carpet hasn’t been vacuumed for weeks, and nobody seems concerned that the owner has returned. I asked about your whereabouts and someone in the crowded lounge area points down the hall and yells, “I think he’s down there.”

Disturbed, I move in that direction and bump into you as you are finishing a chess game with our sales manager. I ask you to step into my office, which has been temporarily turned into a television room for watching afternoon soap operas. “What in the world is going on, man?” “What do you mean, Chuck?” “Well, look at this place! Didn’t you get any of my letters?”

“Letters? Oh yes! Sure! I got every one of them. As a matter of fact, Chuck, we have had a letter study every Friday night since you left. We have even divided the personnel into small groups to discuss many of the things you wrote. Some of the things were really interesting. You will be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs. One or two memorized an entire letter or two – Great stuff in those letters.”

“OK. You got my letters. You studied them and meditated on them; discussed and even memorized them. But what did you do about them?”

“Do? We didn’t do anything about them.”

Source: Charles Swindoll, Improving Your Serve


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He is Risen?

“We who read the Gospels from the other side of Easter, who have the day printed on our calendars, forget how hard it was for the disciples to believe. In itself the empty tomb did not convince them: that fact only demonstrated ‘He is not here,’ not ‘He is risen.’ Convincing these skeptics would require intimate, personal encounters with the one who had been their Master for three years, and over the next six weeks Jesus provided exactly that…

I see in the appearances a whimsical quality, as if Jesus is enjoying the bird-like freedom of his resurrection body. Luke, for example, gives a touching account of Jesus’ sudden arrival alongside two forlorn followers on a road to Emmaus. They know about the women’s discovery of the empty tomb, and Peter’s eyewitness confirmation. But who can believe such rumors? Is not death by definition irreversible? ‘We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel,’ one of them says with obvious disappointment.

A short time later, at mealtime, the stranger makes a riveting gesture, breaking bread, and a link snaps into place. It is Jesus who had been walking beside them and now sits at their table! Most strangely, the instant they recognize their guest, he disappears.”

Philip Yancey “The Jesus I Never Knew” (c) 1995

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Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Qualities Necessary in a Spiritual Leader : Counsels

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A Spiritual Leader compassionately guides others

  • ‘He should be sympathic with the weak and erring. “He was to ‘specialize’ in mending bruised reeds and fanning the smoking into flame” (29)
  • “The true leader regards the welfare of others rather than his own comfort and prestige as of primary concern. He manifests sympathy and concern for those under him in their problems, difficulties and cares, but it is a sympathy that fortifies and stimulates, not softens and weakens.” (185)
  • Samual Brengle stated: “We need leaders who know how to read hearts and apply truth to the needs of the people …There are soul-sicknesses open and obscure, acute and chronic, superficial and deep-seated which the truth…in Jesus will heal. But it is not the same truth for each need… This is why we should most diligently study the Bible and pray for the constant and powerful illumination of the Spirit.” (54)

Source: J.Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership


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Qualities Necessary in a Spiritual Leader : Time Management

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A Spiritual Leader is a good steward of his time.

  • “We have each been entrusted with sufficient time to do the whole will of God and to fill out His perfect plan for our lives.” (136) “The problem is not that of needing more time, but of making better use of the time we have.”(137) “We cannot be held responsible for our capacity, [but] we are responsible for the strategic deployment of our time.” (137)
  • “The young man of leadership caliber will work while others waste time, study while others sleep, pray while others play (73)
  • “take interruptions from the Lord. Then they belong in your schedule, because God was simply rearranging your daily pattern to suit Him. To the alert Christian, interruptions are only divinely interjected opportunities.” (143)
  • “In the economy of God, the discharge of one God given duty or responsibility will never involve the neglect of another.” (58)

Source: J.Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership


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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Your Cross

hoofbeats.JPG
“I don’t understand the reasons for suffering and persecution. I don’t know why the churches in one part of the world bear terrible pain and deprivation while other churches are fat and rich and almost pain free. I don’t know why some of the young evangelists who gathered in Amsterdam in 1983 carry scars from where they have been beaten and burned for Christ’s sake while my life has been free from physical persecution. I don’t know why Corrie ten Boom watched her sister die in prison or Joni Eareckson Tada is paralyzed from the neck down–while I have never known a night in jail and I can run the beaches or walk the mountain trails freely.

Perhaps you have faced pain or suffering you did not understand. You may even have become angry at God for allowing it to happen when others seem to have escaped such problems. But don’t let the acids of bitterness eat away and destroy you. Instead, learn the secret of trusting Christ in every circumstance…

I was traveling in an Eastern European country recently. The Orthodox priest who accompanied me while there said, ‘Every believer has a cross. I know what ours is. But I wondered what yours was.’ And looking out over the crowd of reporters he said simply, ‘Now I know!’

All I know from the short letters in Revelation is this: Christ commands us to ‘Overcome!’ in the strength He alone can supply as we turn to Him in faith, trusting His promises.”

“…for I have learned how to be content [satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted] in whatever state I am…I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.”
Philippians 4:11-13 (Amp)

Author: Billy Graham
Source: “Approaching Hoofbeats” Word, Inc


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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Qualities Necessary in a Spiritual Leader: Delegation

spiritual_leadership.jpg

Leaders must be men and women who can delegate. Sometimes it seems easier to do things yourself. Yet no one can be the best at everything. If you do things alone, you are limited by you. But when you learn to delegate you efforts and strengths are multiplied by the efforts and strengths of others. Here are some of the things J. Oswald Sanders says about delegation:

  • “The ability to choose men to whom he can safely delegate authority, and then actually delegate it, is that of the true leader.” (202)
  • The leader who is “reluctant to let the reins of power slip from his own hands…is unfair to his subordinate and is unlikely to prove satisfactory or effective. Such an attitude would tend to be interpreted as a lack of confidence, and that does not induce the best cooperation, nor will it draw out the highest powers of the one being trained for leadership.”(203)
  • “how is he [the subordinate] to gain experience unless both responsibility and authority are delegated to him?” (203)
  • “A one person activity can never grow bigger than the greatest load that one person can carry.” (203)
  • “The man in a place of leadership who fails to delegate is constantly enmeshed in a morass of secondary detail that not only overburdens him but deflects him from his primary responsibilities.” (204)
  • “Subordinates should be utterly sure of their leaders support in any action they feel called upon to take, no matter what the result, so long as they have acted within their terms of reference. That presupposes that areas of responsibility have been clearly defined and committed to writing so no misunderstanding can occur.” (204)
  • Moses example: (Ex. 18:1-27) “Those gifted men, who might have become his critics had he continued to keep things in his own hands, were developed by the burden of their office and became his staunch allies.” (206)
  • “even should they [subordinates] do them [delegated tasks] worse, we should still relinquish them—a severe test for the perfectionist!” (207)
  • We should be willing to delegate responsibility to emerging leaders the moment they evidence sufficient spiritual maturity and be ready to help while they gain experience by trial and error. (208)
  • “In the early stages, a wise watchfulness will be necessary, but a resort to interference should be made only if the need becomes acute. The sense of being watched destroys confidence.” (208)

Source: J.Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership


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…