Would you prefer someone to buy your lunch or pack your lunch in a brown paper sack? The answer to that question might have a lot to do with your background. Author Laura Schroff recently appeared on Mike Hucklebee's TV show to talk about her recent book entitled "An Invisible Thread". Her story began when she encountered an 11 year old boy on the streets of New York. He ask her for money because he said he was hungry. She took him to McDonald's and bought him lunch. She learned that his mother was addicted to drugs and his father was a member of a street gang. She went on to say that after she developed a long lasting relationship with this young boy she ask him one day if he wanted her to buy his school lunch or pack his lunch in a brown bag. His answer was profound. He told her he did not want her money. He said, I want you to fix my lunch because when the other kids see my brown bag at school they will know that someone cares enough about me to fix my lunch. According to the interview, the young boy was invited to MS. Schroff's sister's house. He loved the house with all the toys and the back yard with the green grass but he was most impressed with a big long table where everyone shared their meals together. He had never experienced having a meal as a family. The young boy is grown now and he is married with seven kids of his own. He has a big long table in his house where his family shares their meals.
There are still 11 year old kids in the USA today who are hungry. That is why the Christian Service Center in Hood County TX, where I volunteer takes 70 plain bags of food to two schools every week. This food is given to children who the schools identify as kids who do not have adequate food on weekends at home. These bags of food are distributed every Friday afternoon by the school on our behalf. It only cost about $4.00 a bag per child. What a small price to pay to make sure that a child does not go without food on the weekend. We wanted Christmas to be special this year so we helped the teachers and staff at one school purchase some new shoes and we provided 80 new warm coats for the kids who needed them.
These kids all know that someone cares about them. One child sent the Christian Service Center a beautiful hand made Christmas card. It was addressed to "Everyone who serves at the Christian Service Center".
H-E-B a grocery chain in our area has awarded us with a $2000.00 grant to help keep this ministry going in 2013. We are very thankful for their support.
Even though the food is appreciated, I expect the two most important items in these bags are love and caring. Love and caring leads to hope and dreams for a brighter future someday.
Gee Man
Monday, January 7, 2013
Friday, November 16, 2012
I Wonder
I wonder why Christians are so vocal and outraged when non-Christians
object to the public display of a cross yet we are silent when it comes to providing food for hungry children. Which is more important the public display of the cross or following Jesus who died on the cross? Which is more important the public display of the ten commandments or keeping the commandments? These questions deserve answers. Is it possible that when people look at Christians they see a disconnect between what that say versus what they do? I wonder?
I work as a volunteer at a Christian Service Center in Granbury, Texas and we have partnered with two local schools to provide weekend food for kids who do not have adequate food to eat on the weekends. We provide food for 70 kids. There are a couple of other faith based groups doing the same thing we are doing yet there are still other schools that have hungry children and no one is helping them. I wonder why? Some say well it is not in our budget and it cost too much. If there is no money then why are all the restaurants full of Christians on Sundays after attending worship?
I am thankful Jesus did not say the cost is too high for me to die on the cross.
I have thought a lot lately about these difficult questions and I have decided it all boils down to our focus. Are we internally or externally focused? If we are internally focused we look after our own interest. We want a comfortable place to worship and the sermon needs to be short because our time is valuable. We want to feel good after our worship experience after all God wants us to be happy.
If we are externally focused we will look after the interest of others following the model of Christ. Did not Jesus say that he came to do the will of his Father? Did he not die on the cross so that others (like us) might live?
So I ask you, should there be hungry children in a community that has more millionaires than most cities our size in Texas? I wonder?
Gee Man
object to the public display of a cross yet we are silent when it comes to providing food for hungry children. Which is more important the public display of the cross or following Jesus who died on the cross? Which is more important the public display of the ten commandments or keeping the commandments? These questions deserve answers. Is it possible that when people look at Christians they see a disconnect between what that say versus what they do? I wonder?
I work as a volunteer at a Christian Service Center in Granbury, Texas and we have partnered with two local schools to provide weekend food for kids who do not have adequate food to eat on the weekends. We provide food for 70 kids. There are a couple of other faith based groups doing the same thing we are doing yet there are still other schools that have hungry children and no one is helping them. I wonder why? Some say well it is not in our budget and it cost too much. If there is no money then why are all the restaurants full of Christians on Sundays after attending worship?
I am thankful Jesus did not say the cost is too high for me to die on the cross.
I have thought a lot lately about these difficult questions and I have decided it all boils down to our focus. Are we internally or externally focused? If we are internally focused we look after our own interest. We want a comfortable place to worship and the sermon needs to be short because our time is valuable. We want to feel good after our worship experience after all God wants us to be happy.
If we are externally focused we will look after the interest of others following the model of Christ. Did not Jesus say that he came to do the will of his Father? Did he not die on the cross so that others (like us) might live?
So I ask you, should there be hungry children in a community that has more millionaires than most cities our size in Texas? I wonder?
Gee Man
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
My Father is a King
I was born in a rural part of central Texas on a farm. My father managed a pecan orchard for another man and after he got off work he grew peanuts on his own small piece of land. He worked from sun up to sun down six days a week. By the world's standards we were poor but I never went hungry. I wore patched jeans to school and I got one new pair of shoes every year. In the summer I hoed peanuts and my mother reminded me every day that hoeing peanuts was an honorable job but if I wanted to do something different I had better get a good education.
At age thirteen something unimaginable happened and it changed my life forever. I was adopted by a King and his name is Jesus. Why would Jesus the King of the universe choose to adopt a poor boy from rural Texas? There was nothing attractive or special about me. I found the answer to my question in the Bible in the book of Genesis. God chose me because I was created in His image and that makes me special. Guess what you are special too because we were both created in God's image.
My life has never been the same since my adoption. I grew up and was able to get that education that my mother talked about. God provided me with an wonderful wife and two almost perfect daughters and then he topped that off with four perfect grandchildren. The blessings did not stop there because when you are a child of a King the blessings just keep coming. God provided me with a job that allowed me to manage the largest Division of the FBI. That experience helped me to be better prepared to serve as an elder in His church. The story still does not end there. Now I have been given another opportunity to serve in our congregation's Christian Service Center. Our Mission is to practice the Presence of Christ to the Glory of God through acts of mercy.
There is a school in my community that does not have many resources and according to the web page of the Tarrant Area Food Bank twenty-six percent of the children in Hood County where I live have hunger issues. As a child of a King, I must work with others to do something about that. Our congregation has decided to adopt this school. I met with the principal of this middle school and I told her that we wanted to adopt her school by providing resources that the school is lacking in proportion to other schools in our district. The principal and her staff will be compiling a list of things they need. In two weeks we will start providing approximately 100 bags of food for the most needy kids in this school who do not get adequate food on the weekends.
When I was adopted by a King at age thirteen, I had no idea how it would change my life. One day every knee will bow before my King and there will be great joy in heaven. It gives me chills to think about that scene. If you are an adopted child of God and that does not excite you, then you better have someone check your pulse to see if you are still a live.
My Father is the King. Do you know him?
Gee Man
At age thirteen something unimaginable happened and it changed my life forever. I was adopted by a King and his name is Jesus. Why would Jesus the King of the universe choose to adopt a poor boy from rural Texas? There was nothing attractive or special about me. I found the answer to my question in the Bible in the book of Genesis. God chose me because I was created in His image and that makes me special. Guess what you are special too because we were both created in God's image.
My life has never been the same since my adoption. I grew up and was able to get that education that my mother talked about. God provided me with an wonderful wife and two almost perfect daughters and then he topped that off with four perfect grandchildren. The blessings did not stop there because when you are a child of a King the blessings just keep coming. God provided me with a job that allowed me to manage the largest Division of the FBI. That experience helped me to be better prepared to serve as an elder in His church. The story still does not end there. Now I have been given another opportunity to serve in our congregation's Christian Service Center. Our Mission is to practice the Presence of Christ to the Glory of God through acts of mercy.
There is a school in my community that does not have many resources and according to the web page of the Tarrant Area Food Bank twenty-six percent of the children in Hood County where I live have hunger issues. As a child of a King, I must work with others to do something about that. Our congregation has decided to adopt this school. I met with the principal of this middle school and I told her that we wanted to adopt her school by providing resources that the school is lacking in proportion to other schools in our district. The principal and her staff will be compiling a list of things they need. In two weeks we will start providing approximately 100 bags of food for the most needy kids in this school who do not get adequate food on the weekends.
When I was adopted by a King at age thirteen, I had no idea how it would change my life. One day every knee will bow before my King and there will be great joy in heaven. It gives me chills to think about that scene. If you are an adopted child of God and that does not excite you, then you better have someone check your pulse to see if you are still a live.
My Father is the King. Do you know him?
Gee Man
Thursday, August 9, 2012
"Family"
Next to God there is nothing more important to me than my family. Abraham was a great man of faith and God chose to bless him by making his descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky. God understood the joy that a family can bring to a man. My spouse and I just returned from Captiva Island, Fl where we spent seven days with our family. There were ten of us and what a blessing it was. Some of us went para sailing, while others enjoyed paddle boarding. We all enjoyed sun bathing and shelling. By my calculations after considering the cost of air fare, housing, car rental, food and all the other related expenses the average cost of "each sea shell", that my spouse and I found, was approximately $54.00. Spending time with family was however "priceless". I love each one of them for who they are. Like every sea shell we found each family member is unique and beautiful in their own way just the way God made them. We hired a professional photographer to preserve the memories we made together.
The day before we left for home we took two of our grandsons out for breakfast. My seven year old grandson said that "serving God was the most important thing we can do". The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3 that the Holy scriptures can make us wise, "so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".
I woke up this morning and I thanked God again for my family. I hope you are thankful for your family as well.
Gee Man
The day before we left for home we took two of our grandsons out for breakfast. My seven year old grandson said that "serving God was the most important thing we can do". The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3 that the Holy scriptures can make us wise, "so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".
I woke up this morning and I thanked God again for my family. I hope you are thankful for your family as well.
Gee Man
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Captiva Island, FL
Went parasailing with two of my grandchildren in Captiva Island, FL. We were 435ft. above the gulf. What a blast!!
Gee Man
Saturday, July 21, 2012
"Darkness"
The tragic events that recently took place in Colorado brought back distant memories of my teenage years. My parents told me several times that, "nothing good happens after midnight". I was always expected to be home by 11:00 pm. I thought my parents were old fashioned and out of touch with the modern world.
My high school sponsored an all night party at a local bowling alley for all the graduating seniors. I was looking forward to staying up all night for the first time in my life. My date (now my spouse) and I worked for weeks to get her parents permission to stay out all night. We were so pumped up when they agreeed to let her stay out all night. When I informed my parents they quickly burst my bubble when they said "no way." You have to be home by midnight. I could not believe it! I was so embarrassed that I was not allowed to stay out all night. At the time I did not realize how wise my parents were.
"You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness". (I Thessalonians 5: 5)
The scriptures are true because all kinds of evil things take place at night. Every day you hear stories on the news about evil things that take place after midnight in the cover of darkness.
"But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Proverbs 4: 19)
We live in a world that is filled with darkness but thanks be to God because He has called us out of this darkness into a world of light.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what has been done has been done through God" (John 3: 19-21)
I was very blessed as a teen to have "old fashioned parents who were out of touch with the modern world."
Thank you God!
Gee Man
My high school sponsored an all night party at a local bowling alley for all the graduating seniors. I was looking forward to staying up all night for the first time in my life. My date (now my spouse) and I worked for weeks to get her parents permission to stay out all night. We were so pumped up when they agreeed to let her stay out all night. When I informed my parents they quickly burst my bubble when they said "no way." You have to be home by midnight. I could not believe it! I was so embarrassed that I was not allowed to stay out all night. At the time I did not realize how wise my parents were.
"You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness". (I Thessalonians 5: 5)
The scriptures are true because all kinds of evil things take place at night. Every day you hear stories on the news about evil things that take place after midnight in the cover of darkness.
"But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Proverbs 4: 19)
We live in a world that is filled with darkness but thanks be to God because He has called us out of this darkness into a world of light.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what has been done has been done through God" (John 3: 19-21)
I was very blessed as a teen to have "old fashioned parents who were out of touch with the modern world."
Thank you God!
Gee Man
Saturday, July 7, 2012
"Freedom"
My spouse and I recently attended a musical entitled "1776". During one of the heated debates the delegate from Virginia called the King of England a 'tyrant' who had taken their freedoms away. The delegate from Pennsylvania objected to the term 'tyrant' and he insisted that the King of England had given them their freedom so he therefore had the right to take away some of those freedoms. The Virginia delegate argued that 'freedom' was a 'God given right' and that no earthly King had the right to take that freedom away.
I could not help but think about the exchange between God and Samuel when God's people rejected Him as their King. God tells Samuel "And the Lord told him: Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their King". The people had rejected God the very Divine being who had delivered them from slavery and given them their freedom.
(I Samuel 8:7)
God told Samuel to warn the people that their new earthly King would take their children and send them to war. He would take the best of their fields, vineyards and animals and give them to other people. The King will oppress you. "When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the King you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day." (I Samuel 8:18)
It seems to me that things have not changed that much. Our Nation has turned its back on God the very Divine being that helped us secure our freedom from the King of England in 1776.
God is the giver of every good gift but our country has rejected Him. Instead we look to our Government (our King) to take care of all our needs and provide for our welfare. We call things that are good bad and things that are bad good. I read the ending of the book and all the earthly Kings will pass away but Jesus the King of Kings will return to claim his own.
I think Joshua said it best when he said "Choose this day whom you will serve but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord."
Your God given freedom allows you to choose whom you will serve.
Gee Man
I could not help but think about the exchange between God and Samuel when God's people rejected Him as their King. God tells Samuel "And the Lord told him: Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their King". The people had rejected God the very Divine being who had delivered them from slavery and given them their freedom.
(I Samuel 8:7)
God told Samuel to warn the people that their new earthly King would take their children and send them to war. He would take the best of their fields, vineyards and animals and give them to other people. The King will oppress you. "When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the King you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day." (I Samuel 8:18)
It seems to me that things have not changed that much. Our Nation has turned its back on God the very Divine being that helped us secure our freedom from the King of England in 1776.
God is the giver of every good gift but our country has rejected Him. Instead we look to our Government (our King) to take care of all our needs and provide for our welfare. We call things that are good bad and things that are bad good. I read the ending of the book and all the earthly Kings will pass away but Jesus the King of Kings will return to claim his own.
I think Joshua said it best when he said "Choose this day whom you will serve but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord."
Your God given freedom allows you to choose whom you will serve.
Gee Man
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