| TheSource4YM.com | |
 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
| In This Issue |
- Featured Article: The End is Here … Again? Jonathan’s Two Cents on NBC’s “Revelations” this Wednesday
- Free Contest: Only Three Days Left of the Hideous Heap Contest! We’re Rewarding Youth Workers for Their “Junker” Cars!
- What’s New: Even More Free Curriculum Coming Out Your Ears! Games with A Point, New Topical Curriculum …
- Special Offers: “Thriving Churches Conference” Offers EZINE Subscribers a Sensational Deal …
| If you aren’t a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe – it’s free – just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner. |
| Featured: The End is Here … Again? Jonathan’s Two Cents on NBC’s “Revelations” this Wednesday |
April 12, 2005
A bit preposterous … but a door-opener nonetheless.
Let me explain:
Don’t you love it when fiction masks itself as truth? So much so that people walk away from it assuming that what they just absorbed was factual?
Many of us just finished answering questions from the best seller The Da Vinci Code or the para-normal Keanu Reaves film Constantine. Now make room for the apocalyptic T.V. mini-series Revelations. That’s right … more end-times hype. (And hype, by definition-courtesy of The Source’s Slang Dictionary-is “pure rumor blown out of proportion, i.e. not true”)
This Wednesday, April 13th, this new mini-series hits NBC. It features Bill Pullman who many of us might remember as the President of the U.S. in Independence Day with Will Smith. (But my wife will always remember him as “Jack” in one of her favorite films, While You Were Sleeping.) It also stars Natascha McElhone (Solaris, Ronin) and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in Lord of the Rings). While performances are strong, the plot is based on so much nonsense that it was hard to “check my brain at the door.”
ASININE ASSUMPTIONS:
- Early in the film, a professor is asked if science leaves room for God. He replies that science leaves room for most anything, even God. “If only he would reveal himself to mankind.” Perhaps this writer should read some of the New Testament, starting with Romans 1:19, 20 ” … For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. [20] From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.” (NLT)
- One of the nuns in the “underground convent” makes the comment that the pope might be praying to someone who isn’t there (heaven) while Jesus is cruising down here on earth. Wow. I guess poor Jesus needs an answering machine or something while he’s away … with his limited ability to hear prayers and all.<.LI>
- Shortly after the above scene, another nun makes the statement that she wants to find Jesus so she can protect Him. Whew! I bet Jesus is relieved to get some human help, since we’re so much craftier and stronger than he is.
AN OPEN DOOR:
But let’s not be so dense as to not admit that a positive side exists to these kinds of movies and books. They raise questions … and questions are doors of opportunity to talk about a relationship with a real God that wants a relationship with us.
A while ago one of my wife’s cousins (only one wife … many cousins) was eating dinner with us and began asking us questions about The Da Vinci Code. Question after question-many that I didn’t know the answer to. But after fielding a bunch of questions the best I could, I finally just asked her, “Do you know what this really comes down to?” She looked at me for a second and replied, “No, what?”
I said, “It all comes down to who Jesus really is, and why he actually came to earth in the first place.” And then I laid out the Gospel. Nothing fancy. No more addressing questions of the Da Vinci Code … just a simple basic Gospel presentation. (Believe it or not … the age old “cliff illustration” using the stories and examples from the “How do I share my faith?” article -CLICK HERE- on my HOW DO I …? page)
Fifteen minutes later my wife’s cousin, my wife and I are on our knees praying and she’s asking Christ into her life. And she’s still following him today.
Pretty cool how God can work like that!
So be ready. The weirdest of questions catalysted from the most unbelievable sources might still be an open door. Don’t miss these opportunities that come your way.
ON JONATHAN’S MOVIE REVIEW PAGE
| Contest: Don’t Miss the 2005 Hideous Heap Contest! We’re Rewarding Youth Workers for Their “Junker” Cars! |
HIDEOUS HEAP CONTEST-A FREE contest where you can earn some
great prizes just for being a youth worker
and driving a hideous heap!
If you haven’t seen the entries so far this year … CLICK HERE to check them out. You’ll see what a car looks like when a Canadian youth worker welds a snowboard ramp to the top of it (and video of them snowboarding across it), a car who had a run in with a deer, and a girl who can’t keep the water out of her trunk … just to name a few recent additions.
Youth Specialties is sponsoring the contest again and has kicked in some great prizes, including the grand-daddy of cool prizes … paid admission to their national youth workers convention in one of three U.S. cities. (A $350 value!)
Don’t waste time … the contest ends THIS FRIDAY! Get those entries in now.
| What’s New: Games with A Point, New Topical Curriculum … |
I constantly get emails asking me for specific types of games, ideas and curriculum. “Do you have games that can be played on a bus?” “Do you have games that have a point?” “Do you have any object lessons?”
The answer is “Yes.” We constantly are working to improve our web site with new games, ideas and curriculum. We add up to 20 new game & event ideas each month. Not to mention the new video clip ideas and program agendas that get added regularly.
In addition, we continually are developing new features … Have you tried these cool features on our web site?
NEW TOPICAL CURRICULUM PAGES: Looking for some icebreakers for your small group? How about Object Lessons for your talks or sermons. We’ve just launched pages dedicated to both of these on our TOPICAL CURRICULUM PAGE. Jump on our page and check it out! The pages are brand new-so use the ADD button to help us add to these pages.
CUSTOM GAME SEARCH: Yep … there’s nothing else like it on the web. Our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page has a button that will help you find the game that fits your needs, your location, your numbers, your format, your planning time … you name it. You’ve gotta try it!GAMES WITH A POINT: Some of you like your games to segue you into your topic of discussion. (Did I just say “segue?”) Now our game page features a quick shortcut to “Games With a Point.” Jump on our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page and check it out!
| Special Offers: “Thriving Churches Conference” Offers EZINE Subscribers a sensational deal … |
Bayside Church, 2005 Thriving Churches Conference, April 27-30, 2005, near Sacramento, CA:
Come hear incredible speakers like John Ortberg, Earl Palmer, comedian Bob Stromberg and music from Lincoln Brewster. Then attend great breakout seminars from ministry professionals like The Source for Youth Ministry’s Jonathan McKee.
Author John Maxwell says it well: “In the last nine years I have watched Bayside Church explode from 24 people to over 8,000 while leading thousands of people to Christ. This is a highly contagious church with THRIVING ministries. Need your batteries recharged? This conference will help you and your people fall in love with God and ministry all over again.”
Just call (916-791-1244) or email Bayside’s Mike Sakamoto (CLICK HERE) and tell him that you’re one of THE SOURCE EZINE subscribers and you’ll get a $100 per person discount.
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Copyright ?2005 The Source for Youth Ministry
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Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.