Monthly Archives: August 2024

Stories for Teens

Pilgrim’s Progress (2)

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. Uncle Jeff was just visiting his young friends again, and Betty said, “You were going to tell us more of that story, Uncle”. That’s right”, he said, “Exactly where did we get up to in it?” “I remember,” said Bobby who had just come into the room, “Weren’t his friends wanting him to come back to them instead of going to the gate in the distance?” “That’s right,” said Uncle Jeff. “Yes, and he was a very worried man,” chimed in Sarah who came in then too, “What happened next, Uncle Jeff?”

  “Well, let’s see,” said Uncle Jeff, “His two friends ran after him and tried to get him to turn around. One was called Twisty, and the other one was Obstinate. ‘No, no!’ Pilgrim said, “I’m not going to listen to you. I’ve come from the City of Destruction and I want to find the City of Life where I’ll be safe”.     As he turned to carry on, Twisty said to him, “I’ve a good mind to come with you’, and he started to go with him. “Well, I’m going home’, said Obstinate, ‘I’m not going to be seen with you two crack-pots’, and he went back home. ‘Tell me more of what you expect to find’, Twisty said as they carried on. ‘Well it’s a wonderful place’, Pilgrim said, ‘And I know it’s true because the One Who wrote this book cannot tell a lie’.

“I know who that is”, Bobby said, interrupting Uncle Jeff, “I bet it is meaning that it’s God!” “That’s right Bobby”, said Uncle Jeff, and carried on with the story….

“Pilgrim got quite excited as he was walking along talking to Twisty. ‘It’s an awfully long way’, Twisty said after a bit, and he began to slow down. ‘Oh, but it’s worth it when you get there’, said Pilgrim, and he carried on telling him all about what to expect. The next thing they knew was that the ground had got very wet and slippery and before they knew it, they were up to their middles in a swampy bit of ground. ‘Oh, this is the Swamp of Despair’, Pilgrim said, ‘I’ve heard of it. It’s so easy to caught in this’ ‘This is dreadful’ cried Twisty, ‘I didn’t know it was going to be this hard. Yuk!’ and he spat some of the mud out of his mouth. ‘Why didn’t you watch where you were going?’ he snapped at Pilgrim, ‘If I ever get out of this, I’m going right back home!’ He heaved himself out of the slimy mud and splashed his way back to solid ground. ‘You can carry on by yourself’, he called out to Pilgrim, ‘I’m off!’ And Pilgrim didn’t see him again.”

“Why did he give up so easy?” Betty wanted to know, “I wouldn’t have! I’d have kept going!” “Well, you see some people don’t like trouble and they go back where they’ve come from when things get hard”, Uncle Jeff said. “That’s right,” Bobby chimed in, “and Pilgrim kept on going, slipping and sliding in the mud. So how did he get out?” Uncle Jeff carried on, “Well, as he got to the other side, a man called Help came and pulled him out onto solid ground. “What a horrible place that swamp is!” said Pilgrim, “Why is it like that?” ‘Well, it’s like this,” Help said, “People keep throwing all their good deeds in here to make a solid path through it, but nothing works, it all keeps getting more mucky all the time. All peoples’ good deeds just keep sinking deeper and deeper into the filth. The King has put down stepping stones to get through safely, but most people don’t see them, and they just fall in thinking the good things they do will keep them clean. It doesn’t work,’ said Help. ‘Well, it’s well named Swamp of Despair’, Pilgrim said, ‘I nearly gave up, but I’m going to carry on now you helped me get out’, and he waved goodbye  to Help as he carried on. So Pilgrim carried on his journey towards the Light in the distance.

“What happened then?” Bobby asked. “We’ll leave that for next time,” Uncle Jeff said, “I don’t want you to forget the lessons in this part of the story.” “I guess the lesson this time is that our good works don’t help us when we get to the end of this trip through our life,” Sarah, “We have to trust in Jesus instead”.

“That’s right Sarah,” Uncle Jeff said, “Now I really must go. See you all next time!”

Stories for Teens

Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress (1)

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“When’s Uncle Jeff coming round again, Mum?” Bobby asked one day after school. “Well, as a matter of fact, he’s coming round for tea tonight”, Mum said. “Oh good” said Bobby, “I wonder if he has any more stories for us!” “You’ll have to ask him when he gets here”, Mum said with a smile, “I’m sure he’ll have something to tell you anyway!” She knew that Uncle Jeff loved telling stories and he was very good at it.

   After tea was over, and Uncle Jeff was sitting comfortably on the couch, Bobby went along and snuggled up beside him. “Can you tell us a story please Uncle Jeff?” he asked. “Oh, please”, Betty said and got up on the other side of him. Even Sarah pulled a chair up and pretended she was reading a book, but she was really listening to what Uncle Jeff was telling the others.

“Well, it’s like this”, Uncle Jeff said, “I picked up this book that I had when I was little like you Bobby, and I thought that it was a really good story to tell you children next time I came round”. “What’s it called?” Bobby asked. “Well, it’s what is called a parable story”, Uncle Jeff said, “That means it’s an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Here goes….

  ” There was once a man whose name was Pilgrim, who was walking along a road away from his house. He had this huge bundle on his back like a back-pack and he was crying and sighing a lot as he went along. He was reading a book as he went, and it only seemed to make him sadder than ever. ‘Oh, what shall I do?’ he cried out loud.    When he went home to his wife and family, he would wipe his eyes, and blow his nose and try to be cheerful. One day his wife said to him, ‘I know something is bothering you. What are you reading in that book all the time?’ ‘Oh my dear’, he said, ‘ It tells me that dreadful things are going to come on this world, and I don’t know how to be saved from them’. But his wife had seen him like this other times, and she tried to cheer him up.    One day, he was walking along the road again, when he met a man whose name was Evangelist. ‘Why are you so upset?’ Evangelist wanted to know. ‘This book I’m reading tells me that there are dreadful things going to happen and I’m not ready for them. I want to know how to be saved from them. This back-pack I’m carrying seems to get heavier every time I read this book’. ‘Well, you’d better get ready for this by going to that little gate right over the other side of this paddock. See that light over there? Head straight for it and you will find what to do when you get there”. ‘Oh, thank-you so much’, Pilgrim said and set off at a good pace for the light. His wife and friends saw him going and they called out to him, ‘Come back, come back’, but he started to run.

“I think we’ll leave it there for now,” Uncle Jeff said, “We want to have time for the meaning of it all to sink in, otherwise it will only run  off”. “It seems funny that he ran away at that stage” Bobby said thoughtfully. “Oh, well, we’ll find out what happens next time”, Uncle Jeff said, “It’s time for me to go and talk to the others now”. “Ohhh,” said Betty, “I can hardly wait!”

Random Devotional Thoughts

The Storms of Life

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      We seem to have been attending quite a few funerals in the last few weeks. In each case it has been a man who was taken, leaving his wife to weather the storm that his death was bringing. It reminded me of different times when we too, have been faced with a storm and a decision to make and haven’t known which way to take. Then when things haven’t worked out as we wanted them to, we berate ourselves, saying we have made a mistake.

    But you know, there was a time when the disciples of Jesus were caught in a big storm. They were seasoned sailors and they must have wondered how this came about….why didn’t they see the warning signs? Yet their Master had told them to go across the lake and they had done just what He said. Why then, had this storm come upon them?

      Storms come to us to teach us lessons that we would otherwise never learn. So when the disciples experienced the worst storm of their life, they had been sent across the lake by Jesus Christ. They were experienced fishermen who could read the weather signs and knew how to handle these sudden storms that whipped up the lake surface into a frenzy. Jesus knew all this, and He knew a storm was coming up that would test them to the maximum.  They hadn’t made a mistake that brought this upon them, they were there for a purpose. Remember this….Jesus Christ knows the storm we are in at any given time. He could have stopped the storm coming to the disciples, but He wanted to show them His power. He knows the storm that I may be in right now, but He wants me to go through it so He can show me His power and refine the dross out of my life and strengthen the faith I have in Him.

The Lord speaks to us in these three ways …. In the storm….He comes to us through the storm, walking on the water…”I will never leave you”, He says. Through the storm… He reminds us that He is there with us…”don’t be afraid”, He says, “trust Me”. The storm within you….often when these storms come, they attack us from the inside. We are all in a turmoil because of circumstances beyond our control, and wonder where we are going to turn next.

Don’t be afraid of being afraid….storms always have an end. There will be a period of calm when it is over and then another one may come but because we have proved our Lord’s help with the first one, we have confidence within the next one. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) We cannot stop these storms coming, but we have confidence in the outcome because we have weathered the first one with God’s help!

Remember….He is the Lord of all our storms.

Random Devotional Thoughts

Disaster Strikes

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     We have been going through the book of Samuel in our Bible Study, and there are many lessons to be learned and that we can apply to ourselves. So lets read these thoughts about this passage and apply it ….

As time went by, Samuel was able to reveal God’s word to the people, and all Israel accepted him as he took over Eli’s priestly duties. But things didn’t always go smoothly, and the Philistines began to harass the edges of Israel. We notice this in our own lives….if we neglect God’s Word, the world will begin to creep into our lives and harass us even more…..      The first thing the leaders of the land began to do was to blame God….”Why did God allow this to happen?” they asked. Instead of seeking God’s advice, they did what they thought was a good idea…they went out to battle taking the Ark of the Covenant from its resting place which they should never have done. Eli didn’t like the idea, but had no power to stop them as his sons were the main instigators, going along with it.      

   The trouble was that the people looked on the Ark as some sort of mascot, rather than as God’s resting place….they were merely following a form, rather than having their hearts towards God Himself. This is another thing we have to be careful of….how much do we read God’s Word for ourselves, or do we just open it in church once a week as a matter of form?

    The enemy recognised the Ark as God’s presence and doubled their efforts in battle, eventually overcoming Israel and killing many of them in the process including Eli’s two sons. They also took the Ark for themselves as some sort of magical talisman to add to their collection of idols. The trouble was, that this was exactly all that it was at that time  because Israel had .left God out. of their lives. We need to follow the Lord for ourselves and not just follow a form or ritual for there to be any spiritual strength in our lives. The enemy will have the upper hand in our lives for sure if this is all we are doing.

   The chapter ends in further disaster as when Eli heard the news, he collapsed and broke his neck, and his daughter-in-law went into early labour and died giving birth. So the prophecies that God had given Samuel as a child all came to pass.

When we leave God’s Word out of our lives, We cannot expect to spiritually thrive, God acts for us as we  respond, Following  Him we form a strong bond.