Kidzone 8 - August 07.
Story - Jimmy and the six weird witches.
Part 4 - Library Lizzy.
With the help of the friendly Porter, Jimmy had managed to defeat Moaning Maggie, Old mother Curseandswear and the Tricky witch. He was now inside New Station, waiting for his later train to Seaville. He noticed that there was a Bookstall in the station, so he wandered over to have a look, thinking that he might be able to buy a book or magazine to read on his long journey to Seaville.
Jimmy made sure that the Bookstall had nothing to do with the Tricky witch, but she was nowhere to be seen. The books and magazines didn't seem very appealing to Jimmy, with titles such as 'Gardening weekly', 'Home decorating' and 'Cooking for beginners'. But then he spotted an interesting sounding book. It was titled "Visitors Guide to Seaville'. Jimmy examined it and thought "I'm going to Seaville, this book could help me find my way around when I get there." So Jimmy purchased his book.
Shortly afterwards Jimmy's train arrived. It was one of those that had separate compartments, with a corridor running down the outside. As Jimmy had had enough excitement for one day, he found an empty compartment and hoped that nobody else would get in so that he could read his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' in peace. But just as the train was starting off, the compartment door opened, and a very large lady, carrying an enormous handbag came in and sat down opposite Jimmy.
"I hope you don't start talking to me" thought Jimmy. So he got out his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' and began to read it. But after a few minutes the lady leaned towards Jimmy, and asked "Are you going on holiday?"
"Yes, I'm going to stay with my aunt in Seaville."
"Have you been before?"
"No, but I have this 'Visitors Guide to Seaville' to help me find my way around."
"Let me have a look."
Jimmy handed over the book. The large lady looked at it briefly and handed it back. "That's a funny sort of book for a boy your age to be reading. I thought that you would prefer comics."
"I do like comics, but I think that this book will be very helpful to me."
"Nonsense! This is your lucky day. It just so happens that I run a library for boys and girls your age. I have some of my books with me" said the large lady, as she began to look inside her handbag "I will lend you one of them for you to read instead of that silly book you have."
She handed Jimmy a book. "How about this one 'Screams of Fun - 100 Practical jokes to play on people you don't like.'"
"I don't think I like the sound of that one" said Jimmy.
"Oh but there's a great joke in here. You creep up behind someone while they are sitting down, and when they are not looking tie their shoelaces together. When they get up, they trip over themselves!"
"That doesn't sound very nice to me."
"Never mind. How about this one? You place a bowl of water on top of a door, which you leave ajar. The first person through the door, gets soaked with water!"
"I would get in trouble if I did something like that" replied Jimmy.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that. There is a whole chapter in this book, which tells you how to make quick getaways. And there is another chapter which tells you how to put the blame on someone else."
"I'm sorry" said Jimmy, handing the book back. "I don't like that book at all."
"How about this one then? 'Cross Patch - 200 ways of making people lose their temper.'"
"But I don't like it when people lose their temper. No thanks."
"Well you are certain to like this one. 'Always Right - How to make other people look silly.'"
"No. That book doesn't sound very nice either."
"This is my favourite. Everyone likes this book. '500 Funny and nasty names to call your friends.'"
"If I called my friends nasty names, they wouldn't be my friends much longer. No, I am sorry, but I don't like any of your books" said Jimmy as he handed the last one back.
Suddenly, the large lady's face began to turn redder and redder. She stood up, leaned over towards Jimmy, and began shaking her fist in his face. In an angry voice she began to say "You nasty little boy. You are just a nasty, nasty little boy. Don't like any of my books do you!. Why, I will teach you, you nasty, nasty, little boy."
Far too late, Jimmy realised that the large lady was one of the six weird witches he had been warned about. Frightened, he pressed himself back against his seat as far as he could go. But the witch came even closer "You nasty, nasty, nasty little boy."
Suddenly Jimmy heard the door to the compartment open, and a familiar voice said "Tickets please." Jimmy looked up, and although he was now in a ticket collectors uniform, it was obviously the Friendly Porter. The large lady sat back down on her seat while Jimmy offered his ticket up to be clipped. Then the Friendly Porter turned towards the large lady. "Tickets please" he demanded. The large lady began to look through her bag, but she couldn't produce a ticket. Eventually the Friendly Porter said "Away with you Lizzy." The large lady collected up all her nasty books, stuffed them in her bag, and stormed off down the corridor, slamming the compartment door behind her.
"I'm really glad you came along when you did" said Jimmy. "I think that lady was one of those weird witches you warned me about."
"Yes" replied the Friendly Porter "That was Library Lizzy. She always tries to get people to read her nasty books. I hope you didn't read any of them, Jimmy?"
"No, I gave them all back to her."
"That was the right thing to do. Let me see that book you've got Jimmy."
Jimmy passed over his 'Visitors Guide to Seaville.' "This should help me find my way around while I am on holiday."
"That looks a very good book to me" replied the Friendly Porter as he handed Jimmy his book back "I would stick to reading that one."
The Friendly Porter left Jimmy to read his Guide book, which he found really interesting. And in some places it was very exciting.
To be continued. Come back next month to see how Jimmy progresses on his dangerous journey.
Conclusion. Just like Jimmy had a guide book to help him find his way around, Christians also have a guide book - The Bible. God has given His Word, the Bible to us to help us on our journey through life. If you keep finding out what the Bible has to say to you, we won't go far wrong. However, if you never look at the Bible, or ignore what it says, then you are certain to make mistakes in life, and go off in wrong directions.
God's enemies don't like us reading the Bible, and they have a whole lot of other books and magazines that they would rather us read instead. You need to be very careful about the sort of things that you read. There is a very powerful spiritual law at work in us all. This basically says "Good things in, good things out. Bad things in, bad things out." In other words, if you take in good things (like the Bible) through your eyes and ears, good things will start coming out from you. i.e. You will begin to say and do 'good' things. If, on the other hand, you take in bad things through your eyes or ears, bad things will start coming out from you.
Therefore, be very careful about what you read, what T.V. programmes, films and videos you watch, and what type of music you listen to. You may be thinking "How do I know what is 'Good' or 'Bad'? Very often this is quite obvious. But if you are not sure, test to see how you feel about what you are taking in through your eyes or ears. If you feel uneasy or anxious, that is God warning you through the Holy Spirit that you shouldn't be taking this in. But then, remember, it is still your choice whether you continue taking in that thing or not. God won't send an Angel down from heaven to take your book away, or switch off the T.V.! It is always your choice to do it. But remember, "Good things in, good things out. Bad things in, bad things out."
Illusion - Making the right choice.
A well known "Magician's" trick is to force a volunteer to choose the "right card" from a number of different cards. This technique can be used to ensure a person makes the "right choice" from a number of options represented by different cards.
This trick is very versatile. For example you can pose questions such as "How can we get to heaven?" or "How can we find peace with God?" The right answer is, of course, Jesus. Now, choose seven alternative answers, which some people may give e.g. Prayer, Reading the Bible, Going to church. Keeping the ten commandments, Doing good, Not doing anything bad, Being Baptised, Believe in God, etc. (Other questions you can ask are "Who is the best role model you can follow?" - it is a good idea to choose a mixture of well known "good" and "bad" role models. – or, "Who or what should be the most important thing in your life?").
Take eight pieces of paper and write "Jesus" on one, and the seven alternative answers the others. Put the cards into eight identical envelopes. On the front of each envelope, draw a question mark. However, on the envelope containing the "Jesus" paper, make the question mark slightly different from the others - e.g. have the "dot" slightly nearer the main symbol, or have the "curl" slightly more enhanced.
Choose a volunteer to come and stick each envelope (e.g. with blue tac) - question mark to the outside - on a board. They have complete freedom to stick each envelope wherever they like, provided that they end up with two columns of four cards each. By looking at the question marks, you will know which contains the "Jesus" paper.
Get a second volunteer to come and make what you say you hope will be the right choice. Force him/her to make the right choice as described below. This is a very simple technique, but still seems to baffle the vast majority of people.
Suppose, for example, that the "Jesus" envelope is in the first column. Ask your volunteer to point to either the first or the second column. If they point to the first, say "Fine, that is your choice, so let us now look at the four envelopes you have rejected in the second column." As you open each of these four envelopes, explain why they are wrong choices. If your volunteer points to the second column, say "Fine, you have rejected these four envelopes in the second column", and proceed as before.
You are now left with the four envelopes in the first column. Ask your volunteer to point to any two of the envelopes. If the "Jesus" envelope is one of those chosen, say. "These are the envelopes you have chosen, let's look at the two you have rejected." Obviously, if they don't point to the "Jesus" card, say " The two you have pointed to are the ones you have rejected --------. " I think you will have got the idea by now, ensuring that your volunteer ends by choosing "Jesus."
Laugh Break - Tongue Twisters.
Write out the words below on slips of paper. As you read the words aloud, the idea is to get your friends to guess what is being said. Read the words slowly at first, but then faster and faster to make it easier for the others to guess. You will probably have to give clues to younger children to help them.
1. SAND TACKLE LAWS. (Clue: A fictional character)
2. AISLE OH VIEW. (Clue: A phrase)
3. BUCK SPUN HE (Clue: A fictional character)
4.THESE HOUND DOVE MOO SICK (Clue: A film)
5. TIGHT AN HICK (Clue: A thing)
6. THUMB ILL KEY WAKE OWL LICKS HE (Clue: A place)
Answers. (Just in case someone hasn't worked them out). 1. Santa Claus. 2. I love you. 3. Bugs Bunny. 4. The Sound of music. 5. Titanic.6. The Milky Way Galaxy.
Use a similar procedure to let people try to guess what the following Japanese Phrases mean.
Wa Shing Ka (Cleaning an automobile)
Na Pah King (This is a tow-away zone)
Ai Bang Mai Ni (I bumped into a table)
Tai Ni Po Ni (Small horse)
Your Questions Answered - Which came first the chicken or the egg?
People like asking this question because there appears to be no answer to it. If someone answered 'the chicken', they would say "But the chicken must have come from an egg!" But if someone answered 'the egg', they would say "But the egg must have come from a chicken!"
The answer to the question is - The Chicken. God made the first of each type of creature fully formed. For example, He created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve as mature human beings. God made the first of each type living form, each with seeds within themselves so that they could then reproduce after their own kind. And this is what we find in nature today. Thus oak trees (their seeds are called acorns) produce oak trees, carrots produce carrots, cats produce cats, dogs produce dogs etc. etc. And chickens have seeds, (contained in their eggs) which produce chickens.
Note. If you have a question that you would like answered, email it to me on mnmsweetsur@xtra.co.nz
Reminder. Come back to this site in June for the next completely new edition of Kidzone.
Grown ups. Check out my web site for Children's ministers at www.mauricesweetsur.blogspot.com
