Jumper Fables: Strange-but-True Devotions to Jump-Start Your Faith

by Ken Davis, David Lambert

Overview

This book will teach you things you didn't know you didn't know! Such as: The difference between a dead gopher and a loaf of bread, Why Ken wore a little set of bronze lips on his letter jacket in high school, Why Ken's dog Ralph was a better Christian than Ken was, Why Ken almost ate his wife's glasses, How to turn a bus driver into an armadillo. And that's just a little of what you'll learn in Jumper Fables, a most unusual devotional book by Ken Davis and David Lambert. Jumper Fables is a collection of strange-but-true stories that'll make you laugh — and leave you thinking about the things that really matter. Such as how to know God's will, where sex fits into your life, whether death is the worst thing that can happen, how to talk about Christ with your friends, why parents say no, and why we can trust God to do what he says. Jumper Fables was written with teenagers in mind. Ken and Dave talk about things that have happened to them and to other people, and then they suggest some Bible verses that'll help you understand those stories, as well as some things you can do that'll help you not make the same mistakes yourself. So — want to jump-start your day? Read a Jumper Fable first thing in the morning. They're strange-but true!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310400110
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	02/22/1994
Series:	Youth Specialties S
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.63(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ken Davis provides a unique mixture of side-splitting humor and inspiration that never fails to delight and enrich audiences of all ages. Davis’s daily radio program, Lighten Up! is broadcast on over 500 stations nationwide.

Read an Excerpt

Jumper Fables

Strange-but-True Devotions to Jump-Start Your Faith

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By Ken Davis David Lambert

Zondervan

Copyright © 1994 Zondervan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-40011-2

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Chapter One

IF IT SQUEAKS LIKE A RAT, IT'S A RAT

A few years ago, I took my family into a restaurant. As we sat down, a surly waitress with the disposition of a linebacker who's just had his head stepped on threw our menus on the table and demanded, "What do you want?" She took our orders without smiling once.

It was as if we were being punished for coming into the restaurant! My mission was clear: I was going to get a chuckle-or at least a little smile-out of that waitress before we left the restaurant. I was a comedian, wasn't I?

In my pocket I had just the tool to do it: a little puppet made out of rabbit fur. Properly manipulated and accompanied by the appropriate squeaks, it looked so much like a rat that I could almost fool myself. After she'd brought our orders and stomped away, I hid that little rascal beneath my salad and hung its leather tail over the edge of the bowl. Then I called her back over. "Oh, Mi-iss!"

She stormed back, scowling. I waited until she stood towering over me, yelling "What?"-then I grabbed the puppet's tail and made that furry little critter run screeching up my arm and down my shirt.

My expectations were modest. I thought I'd get at least a grunt of appreciation out of her. Her response went beyond my wildest dreams. She screamed and backpedaled away from the table, arms flailing, knocking over chairs, and sending ketchup bottles, plates full of food, and napkin dispensers flying in all directions. Then she turned and fled the room at top speed, destroying any table in her path.

I hadn't really intended to scare her; I just wanted to brighten her day. Likewise, I'm sure that when we came in, the management had no intention of kicking us out before we'd even eaten our meal, but that's what they did, shouting threats to call the police if we didn't leave immediately. Ever since then, my wife and kids check my pockets before we enter a restaurant.

It's easy to shake our heads at that waitress's gullibility and say, "But it wasn't even a real rat!" True. But she thought it was a real rat. She wasn't running through the restaurant, scattering veal cutlets and hapless patrons, yelling "Fake rat! Fake rat:!" To her, it was real. And that's the point: It isn't necessarily reality that shapes our behavior and our attitudes-it's what we believe about reality.

There's a current TV commercial in which a sexy tennis star says, "Image is everything." Wrong. It's not how we appear to the world but rather, how we see the world that is everything. We can see the world from an earthly point of view-sin is inevitable, so we might as well give in; God isn't real; we're weak and stupid; money and status and beauty are everything; it's the present that matters, so live it up.

Or we can see it from God's point of view: This earthly life is just a proving ground for our eternal life; it's what's done for God that really matters; sin is tempting, but with God's help we can resist it. It's what we do for others-not for ourselves-that really counts. We are beloved by God and have an important role to fulfill in life. We matter to God.

How do we learn to see the world in that way? By reading God's Word, the Bible. Read it daily-and learn to see the world as God does. It will change your life. Best of all, you won't find yourself running from fake rats.

VERSE Of THE DAY:

Do good to your servant according to your word, O Lord. Teach me, knowledge and good judgement. -Psalm 119: 65, 66

HEY!

Want to fee why the Word of God was so important to David the Psalmist? Read Psalm 119:89-93

JUST DO IT:

Have you ever read the Bible all the way through? I know, it sounds like a huge task. And it is. But if you plan to do it over a whole year, you only have to read a few chapters a day. There are several plans available to do that, some of them with little checklists so that you can check off the chapters after you've read them. If you have The Student Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), you'll find a reading plan near the front. If you don't, ask your youth pastor or pastor to recommend a reading plan. And be sure to keep it up every day! It'll help you to spot the fake rats and to zero in on reality.

PLAY TO WIN

Imagine a football coach's giving his team this pep talk: "Okay, boys-we haven't got a chance today. The other team is against us, and they're a lot better than we are. The officials favor our opponents, and they're near-sighted anyway. So there's not much we can do-just go out there and try to keep the other team from scoring. Try not to get hurt, but if you feel any pain, just quit."

That team would never win a game. To win, you have to have a positive, attitude; you have to want to move the ball forward. In the 1987 Western Division playoffs, the Denver Broncos were playing the Cleveland Browns for the championship. It was a very physical game, and the score was 20 to 13 in favor of Cleveland with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. After a muffed kick-off return, Denver ended up with the ball on their own 1 1/2 yard line. They had 98 1/2 yards to go in five minutes to tie the game and gain a chance to win in overtime. As they huddled, facing what seemed like an impossible position, Keith Bishop turned to his teammates and said, "Okay, boys, now we've got 'em right where we want 'em. If everybody does his job, good things will happen."

Now that's a positive attitude. Can you guess what happened? Denver, moved the ball all the way down the field, scored a touch-down, and won in overtime.

Can you develop that kind of positive attitude? Yes, you can-and God can help. Remember these two principles: First, have a positive concept of yourself.

Don't see yourself as a helpless child in a hopeless situation. See yourself as a giant-killer! You were created by a mighty God to accomplish what no one else on earth can accomplish, and he gives you every ounce of power you'll need for the job. You're not a helpless child-you're the child of a king! Because of him, you can accomplish the impossible.

Second, think positively about the future. It can be better than the past, better than the present-it's at least partly up to you.

Don't be satisfied with the status quo, and don't make the mistake of assuming the worst. I met someone the other day who called that "awfulizing" (sitting around thinking about the worst that can happen and then assuming it will).

Instead, think of what you want to happen and then figure out what you need to do to make it happen. Be aggressive!

No matter how difficult things are in your life, look at those challenges the way David looked at Goliath: as an opportunity-for slingshot practice.

VERSE Of THE DAY:

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. -Romans 8.37

HEY!

Here's one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible-and it'd all about thinking positively. Philippians 4:4-8.

JUST DO IT:

It's one thing to say we're going to have a more positive attitude; it's another thing to do something about it. Identify your areas of negativity, especially in the two areas identified above. Now comes the hard part: Decide how you're going to replace those negative attitudes with positive ones. (Hint: Prayer helps. And if you haven't read Philippians 4:4-8 yet, do it now) Write down the steps you're going to take.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Jumper Fables by Ken Davis David Lambert Copyright © 1994 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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