embracing the people christians love to hate
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Posted:Jan 31, 2008 1:59 pm
Last Updated:May 2, 2008 3:41 am 2701 Views
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PEPPERMINT-FILLED PINATAS by Eric Michael Bryant
Would you like to overcome the negative Christian stereotype by embracing the people Christians “love to hate?”
Tired of just talking about diversity and want to discover how to actually create diverse community?
"Peppermint-Filled Piñatas is Saving Private Ryan meets Nacho Libre! Eric calls us to a heroic mission and at the same time exposes our flawed humanity. He tackles one of the most critical and complex issues of our time and brings it down to earth and keeps us grounded in reality. It's quite a gift to force us to face such uncomfortable and serious issues and at the same time keep us laughing. Somebody needed to write this book; I am grateful Eric did. We will all be better for it. Thank you, Eric, for awakening in us a love that knows no boundaries."
- Erwin Raphael McManus
peppermint filled piatas is available at amazon for a reduced rate currently , otherwise get your local christian book shop to get it in for you its well worth it
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you never let go Matt Redman
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Posted:Jan 14, 2009 5:02 am
Last Updated:May 13, 2024 3:40 pm 2098 Views
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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near
And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?
(Chorus
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me
And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth
(Chorus)
Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You
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Two choices
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Posted:Sep 24, 2008 11:26 pm
Last Updated:May 13, 2024 3:40 pm 1957 Views
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What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you
have made
the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school
that serves with learning
disabilities, the father of one of
the students delivered a speech that
would never be forgotten by all who
attended. After extolling the school
and its dedicated staff, he offered
a question:
'When not interfered with by
outside influences, everything nature
does, is done with perfection.
Yet my , Shay, cannot learn
things as other do.
He cannot understand things
as other do.
Where is the natural order of things in my ?'
The audience was stilled by the
query.
The father continued.
'I believe that when a like
Shay,who was mentally and physically
disabled comes into the world,
an opportunity to realize true human
nature presents itself, and it comes
in the way other people treat that .'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park
where some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked,
'Do you think they'll let me play?'
I knew that most of the boys would
not want someone like Shay
on their team, but as a father I
also understood that if my were
allowed to play, it would give him a
much-needed sense of belonging and
some confidence to be accepted by
others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the
field and asked (not expecting much)
if Shay could play. The boy looked
around for guidance and said, 'We're
losing by six runs and the game is in
the eighth inning. I guess he can be
on our team and we'll try to put him
in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's
bench and, with a broad smile, put
on a team shirt. I watched with a small
tear in my eye and warmth in my
heart. The boys saw my joy at my
being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning,
Shay's team scored a few runs but
was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning,
Shay put on a glove and played in the
right field. Even though no hits came
his way, he was obviously ecstatic just
to be in the game and on the field,
grinning from ear to ear as I waved
to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning,
Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases
loaded, the potential winning run was
on base and Shay was scheduled
to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay
bat and give away their chance to win
the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.
Everyone knew that a hit was all but
impossible because Shay didn't even
know how to hold the bat properly,
much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher, recognizing that
the other team was putting winning
aside for this moment in Shay's life,
moved in a few steps to lob the ball
in softly so Shay could at least
make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung
clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps
forward to toss the ball softly towards
Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung
at the ball and hit a slow ground
ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft
grounder and could have easily
thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that
would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the
ball right over the first baseman's
head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both
teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to
first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run
that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline,
wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second,
run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly
ran towards second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
B y the time Shay rounded towards
second base, the right fielder had the
ball .. the smallest guy on their team
who now had his first chance to be the
hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the
second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so
he, too, intentionally threw the ball
high and far over the third-baseman's
head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously
as the runners ahead of him circled
the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay,
all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the
opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third
base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys
from both teams, and the spectators,
were on their feet screaming, 'Shay,
run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the
plate, and was cheered as the hero
who hit the grand slam and won the
game for his team
'That day', said the father softly
with tears now rolling down his face,
'the boys from both teams helped
bring a piece of true love and humanity
into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer.
He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero
and making me so happy,
and coming home and seeing his
Mother tearfully embrace her little
hero of the day!
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO
THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through
the e-mail without a second thought,
but when it comes to sending messages
about life choices, people hesitate.
The crude, vulgar, and often
obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion
about decency is too often suppressed
in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that
you're
probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't
the
'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well,
the person who
sent you this believes that we all can make a
difference.
We all have thousands of opportunities
every single day to help realize the
'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions
between two people present us with a
choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of
love and humanity or do we pass up
those opportunities and leave the
world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society
is judged by how it treats it's least
fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day.
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the unsung heros
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Posted:Apr 16, 2008 1:59 am
Last Updated:Apr 17, 2008 2:39 pm 2181 Views
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well im at a loss for words today, you see yesterday there was a tradgic accident on a river near where i live and 7 people lost their lives. 6 young teenagers and one teacher swept away down a flooded river all from a christian school here in new zealand. usually you hear stories like this and think oh how sad and think nothing more about it cause you dont know the people who lost their lives but this time for me it was different , i guess because my dad was called into work to go and recover the bodies he had just finished work for the day and was having dinner when the call came in and he had to race off, he arrived home at 6am thismorning very somber and had helped recover 4 of the bodies while the other 2 remaind till the helecopter could fly them out in the morning. my heart goes out to the families and friends who lost loved ones but seeing first hand the toll it takes on the rescue workers ambulance staff and police officers i now realise how important it is to remember them also in out prayers at a time like this it takes a special kind of person to cope with the horrible job of finding and recovering bodies and i know they all suffer emotionally and will carry those scars for life but are often overlooked for the amazing job they do.
God bless
miriam
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update
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Posted:Apr 11, 2008 3:25 pm
Last Updated:Aug 10, 2008 1:18 am 2251 Views
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hey everyone thank you so much for your prayers
the mediation conferance was yesterday and the result was better than i could have ever hoped it would be !!
my ex eventually gave in and gave me everything i was asking for with no restrictions so now i have access to my the way it should be, im so happy and thankful for all the prayers and support you have all given me God bless
miriam
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prayer request
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Posted:Mar 31, 2008 2:36 am
Last Updated:Apr 12, 2008 11:09 pm 2458 Views
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hi all
well i culd really use some prayer at the moment you see im going through a particularly nasty and drawn out custody battle at the moment and on the 11th of april at 10am i have a mediation conferance to attend which quite frankly is stressing me out, not only the custody issues that it will be addressing but also at the thought of having to sit down face to face with my daughters father ( long story but very manipulative controlling emotionally abusive man who i am quite happy never speaking to ) for a whole hour.
so if you could please remember this situation in your prayers i would be most grateful
thanks heaps
God bless
miriam
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what a day
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Posted:Mar 17, 2008 2:39 am
Last Updated:Mar 17, 2008 3:49 pm 2250 Views
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wow what a day , i feel like ive been on a rollar coaster of emotions from one extreme to the other and now im wrung out dont get me wrong im really really happy, but for some reason today all these other emotions hit me out of no where like a frieght train lol
i shuld have known to stay in bed for the day and pull the covers over my head, you see it was my birthday and birthdays are always hard, i mean to start off with you have to accept the fact you are now another year older (and no counting backwards doesnt actually work after you hit 21- trust me i tried it haha)then there are all the txts and emails wishing you happy birthday which for some reason the last couple of years have all successfully made me cry, not quite sure why perhaps cause the one person i want to hear say happy birthday to me passed away a little over 12 months ago and nothing has been quite the same since.
then you add in the normal pressures of any given monday !! and yr bound to have an interesting ride, let alone add in a custody battle which just happens to need your attention today of all days, and a talk to write for the youth group tomorrow night and i guess now im beginning to see why i feel so exhausetd oh well tomorrow is another day, the sun will still rise and ill still be 28 and life will go on one step at a time , i think i had better stop trying to eat my elephant all at once and take it one bite at a time , might make things more managable.
sorry for the scatterbrained ness of this post, but hey its good to express your caos, God can make wonderful things out of big black voids of nothing
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my
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Posted:Mar 5, 2008 1:48 am
Last Updated:Mar 6, 2008 1:45 pm 2355 Views
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I love you [image]
I love the way you make me smile
I love you
I love the way you speak my name
I love you
I love the way you hold my hand
I love you
I love the way you are my friend
I love you
I love the way you want to be just like me
I love you
I love the way you cry when you skin your knee
I love you
I love every little thing you do
I love you
I love that you learned to tie your shoe
I love you
I love those little songs you sing
I love you
I love the flowers for me you bring
I love you
I love the way you are growing up
I love you my
(c) M.Milne 2008
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who are you ?!
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Posted:Feb 22, 2008 1:16 am
Last Updated:Apr 16, 2008 1:49 am 2337 Views
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Who are you to treat me like this?
I’m not your slut
To be used and abused
You can’t even hold me or give me a kiss
You use me to fulfill yr need
Sex when you want
Sex how you want
Your ever increasing appetite I feed
I should say no but I live in hope
That you’ll fall for me
We will be together
In the meantime I’m not sure how I cope
It’s always on your term
Never caring how
You cheapen me
It’s partly my fault when will I learn
I hate you for the way you make me feel
Like an object
Like a piece of meat
Like my feelings and desires are no longer real
(C) M.Milne 2008
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