One Seed of HOPE

Inmate Football

 

There was an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas . The game was between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School .  Faith is a Christian school and Gainesville State School is located within a maximum security correction facility.

 

 

Gainesville State School has 14 players. They play every game on the road. Their record was 0-8. They've only scored twice. Their 14 players are teenagers who have been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault to robbery. Most had families who had disowned them.  They wore outdated, used shoulder pads and helmets. Faith Academy was 7-2. They had 70 players, 11 coaches, and the latest equipment. Chris Hogan, the head coach at Faith Academy , knew the Gainesville team would have no fans and it would be no contest, so he thought, What if half of our fans and half of our cheerleaders, for one night only, cheered for the other team?  He sent out an email to the faithful asking them to do just that. Here's the message I want you to send, Hogan wrote. You're just as valuable as any other person on the planet.

 

 

Some folks were confused and thought he was nuts. One player said, Coach, why are we doing this? Hogan said, Imagine you don't have a home life, no one to love you, no one pulling for you. Imagine that everyone pretty much had given up on you. Now, imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you. The idea took root. On the night of the game, imagine the surprise of those 14 players when they took the field and there was a banner the cheerleaders had made for them to crash through. The visitor’s stands were full. The cheerleaders were leading cheers for them. The fans were calling them by their names. Isaiah, the quarterback-middle linebacker said, I never in my life thought I would hear parents cheering to tackle and hit their kid. Most of the time, when we come out, people are afraid of us. You can see it in their eyes, but these people are yelling for us. They knew our names. Faith won the game, and after the game the teams gathered at the 50-yard line to pray. That's when Isaiah, the teenage convict-quarterback surprised everybody and asked if he could pray.   he prayed, Lord, I don't know what just happened so I don't know how or who to say thank you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about us.  On the way back to the bus, under guard, each one of  the players was handed a burger, fries, a coke, candy, a Bible, and an  encouraging letter from the players from Faith Academy . What an incredible act of Christian witness and kindness and goodness that was.  Proverbs 11:17 says, Your own soul is nourished when you are kind. Proverbs 3:27 says, Do not withhold good when it is in your power to act.

A Seed of HOPE cont.

As believers we are to carry the seed of HOPE. As I watched this video and read the article, there was such a conviction and repentence that came on me. Being a believer is not enough. If we are not giving HOPE to a dying generation, then what are we doing? (...and we call ourselves "Believers") What are we believing?  that it's just about Me, Myself and I or "my four and no more".When is the last time we loved our neighbor as we love oursleves and sewed HOPE into their life or situation? When is the last time we shared the Love of Jesus with someone that has never known Him?

Sewing a seed of hope into someone who is imprisioned and/or in prison is what  we were created to do. Jesus is HOPE to the lost, broken, down and out, so "Believer" when  they see you they should see HOPE. After all christ is in you RIGHT?

Matthew 5:13-14 NIV
"You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world."

Romans 8:19-21 NIV
" The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Romans 8:24 NIV
"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?"

Romans 10:14 NIV
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

The Stranger in Your House has Muzzled Your Mouth

Ok last day believers, what's the problem? why are you so quite? why is it that homosexuality is the lastest fad from child to adult, from sinner to believer? Or allowing your 12 year old daughter to wear make up so that she can feel better about herself, and then when she begin to so called feel better about herself she will then get that desire to feel something else like a boys penis or a girls tongue between her legs or maybe ending up in a man's bed. Come on BELIEVERS that stranger in your house has put the muzzle on your mouth!!!!!!!! The Word of God tells us in Isa. 58:1(NIV) "Shout it aloud, do not hold back, Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of jacob their sins."  Mother's why are we loving our children to death so much so that we will let them date but not tell them that Jesus is their mate and oops they "slip" up and get pregnant and you the parent are in agreement to hide it. Hide it from who? Abortion become the answer and you and your family move on with a smile on your face and say "it's God's grace". Not speak the truth that in ICor. 6:19-20 (NIV) "Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you havr received from God? You are not your own;20 you were brought at a price; therefore honor God with your body." Come on BELIEVERS that stranger in your house has put a muzzle on your mouth!!!!! Believers we come to church day in and day out and look at our young generation dying, crying and lying because they are looking for something REAL. We walk past the lost daily but we pick and choose who we want to minister to or pray for when in John 14:12 " I tell you the truth,anyone that has faith in me will do what I ahve been doing. he will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father." We have that something but.... the strangers in our house has muzzled our mouth. We want to fit in, don't want to hurt feelings, want to be popular but yet we say "we want to be like Christ." Could it be that we have not dealt with some root issues in our own lives that we can't take the muzzle off of our own mouths.Our body(temple) is our "House" and things that we hold on to unforgiveness, iniquity, lust, greed,lying,hidden sin, secret past etc. are the "Strangers". Last day BELIEVERS get the strangers out of your house, take the muzzle off of your mouth.Suit up with  Eph. 6:10-18 ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
 ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. We have work to do
 Will the REAL, TRUE BELIEVERS stand up and cry out!!!!!!!!  How many more people have to die on your WATCH before you come face to face with those strangers in your house?

A Light That Shines Bright

Are you that Light that is shining bright with the word of God, the Father's love, and reaching out to the unsaved,unchurched and backslidin. Is your light leading those that are in darkness to Jesus. If your light is not doing any of these things, who's light are you caring?  Has your light gotten dim because of disobidence, pride, self-righteousness, religion?  Has it gotten so dim that you can't even find your own way back to Jesus. Let's check our light(heart) people and not walk in self-deception.

Let's check our light:
Are you focused on Jesus or our own intellect?
Are you in the Word of God daily?
Do you have a consistant fast and pray life?
Are you allowing the Word of God to transform you life?
Are focused more on yourself, situations, family money, job etc. then Father?

If you can not say "Yes" to any or all of these questions, then maybe you need to check your light(heart). Check your light people because this world is getting darker and we as the believers should be caring that light that shines bright.

What you focus on will determine how much light you bear. Luke 11:33-34
To focus on anything else other than Jesus will demenish your light.
You should focus the eye of your heart on Jesus, regardless of what is going on around you.
The more you focus on Jesus the less you are looking at yourself.
As you follow Jesus you will learn to act like Him.

Check Your Light......

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Restoration