{"id":45853,"date":"2007-12-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/new-life-from-one-red-paperclip\/"},"modified":"2007-12-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-17T00:00:00","slug":"new-life-from-one-red-paperclip","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/new-life-from-one-red-paperclip\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Life from One Red Paperclip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Stuck in a dead-end job and strapped for money, Kyle MacDonald came up with an improbable plan: starting with one red paperclip, he would trade on the Internet until he exchanged it for a house.<\/p>\n\n<p>First, he traded the red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen. Next, he traded the pen for a doorknob. He traded the doorknob for a Coleman stove. He traded the Coleman stove for an electric generator. He traded the electric generator for a Budweiser sign and a keg of beer, which he then traded for a snowmobile. Exactly one year and 14 trades later, MacDonald finally reached his goal: he exchanged a part in a Hollywood movie for a home in Saskatchewan, Canada.<\/p>\n\n<p>The true story of Kyle MacDonald is told in his book <em>One Red Paperclip<\/em>. Now the book is being made into a movie. Fame, fortune, a book, a movie deal, and a home&mdash;it all began with one red paperclip.<\/p>\n\n<p>Sounds incredible, doesn&#39;t it? But I believe our Christian faith is like that red paperclip. Jesus said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we will be able to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). A mustard seed is very small&mdash;far smaller than a paperclip. And yet, Jesus says if we have that much faith, &quot;Nothing will be impossible for you.&quot;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3454,3476,3601,3640,3665,3776,3897,3933,4085,4096,4104,4141,4272,4293,4470,4567,4570,4629,4668,4670,4723,4738,5077,5102,5195,5242],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-45853","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-attitude","tax_ctp_tags-beginnings","tax_ctp_tags-church","tax_ctp_tags-commitment","tax_ctp_tags-confidence","tax_ctp_tags-devotion","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-faith","tax_ctp_tags-gospel","tax_ctp_tags-great-commission","tax_ctp_tags-growth","tax_ctp_tags-help-from-god","tax_ctp_tags-internet","tax_ctp_tags-jesus-christ","tax_ctp_tags-ministry","tax_ctp_tags-opportunity","tax_ctp_tags-optimism","tax_ctp_tags-perseverance","tax_ctp_tags-potential","tax_ctp_tags-power","tax_ctp_tags-promises","tax_ctp_tags-provision","tax_ctp_tags-stewardship","tax_ctp_tags-success","tax_ctp_tags-trust","tax_ctp_tags-vision"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A New Life from One Red Paperclip - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/new-life-from-one-red-paperclip\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New Life from One Red Paperclip - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stuck in a dead-end job and strapped for money, Kyle MacDonald came up with an improbable plan: starting with one red paperclip, he would trade on the Internet until he exchanged it for a house. First, he traded the red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen. Next, he traded the pen for a doorknob. 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