The Shaniya Davis case broke all of our hearts. Shaquille O’neal’s intervention was likely welcomed by the family, since funeral costs are usually another problem that families are not prepared to face after the death of a loved one.

Shaniya Davis’ mother, 25-year old Antoinette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Her case is a reminder of the dangers of drugs in America and opens a frightening door into the underworld of child prostitution. In spite of the fact that there are ways to save on the cost of a funeral, it is highly unlikely that Shaniya Davis’ mother had anything in place to pay the cost of her child’s burial. So, I give Shaq major “props” for stepping up to the plate, since we all know that it takes a village to raise and protect a child. It is my hope that the other Shaniya’s in the world get the protection they deserve from all of us before it is too late.

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Stop Praying For The President To Die

VIDEO: President Honors Slain At Fort Hood

OPINION: Abortion Is Killing Our Future

Let’s Stop Poisoning Our Children

Grieving Father Rejoices When He Opens Son’s Coffin

“In the photo department,” Ed Peirce said. “The 2-to-10 shift. Proud to do it.”

Peirce, 54, is a former stockbroker. A few years ago, he sold his business – a computer training center in West Virginia – and came to Rock Hill to be closer to his grown daughter. He had two rental houses in West Virginia and a third house in Rock Hill’s Spencer Estates he owns with his sister. He planned to rent out the houses and live off the income.

Yet for 41 days he has gone to work. He took the job, he said, “to help pay the bills on the properties.”

In two of those houses are families who rent from Peirce. One man worked in construction and has a wife and two little kids. A second man worked in utilities contracting and has a baby in the house. But both tenants got laid off several months ago.

Peirce refused to evict them. He didn’t throw the families into the street, though he has every right to.

“I sat with them and prayed for better times,” Peirce said. “These are stand-up guys. Family men. Proud. They paid me before, when they were working. You don’t show your faith, your Christianity, in words. You do it in deeds.”

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Why We Love…T. I.

Rapper Ludacris Gives Away 20 Cars To The Needy

Rape Victim Flooded With Love For Her Unborn Child

Road Rage Victim’s Forgiveness Stuns Court

Foundation Helps Black Single Mom Get Home Back

VIDEO: Samaritan Buys Foreclosed Home At Auction And Gives It Back To Owner!

Setting Goals: Set The Bar High By Creating A Plan

You cannot hit a target without aiming for it. Yet we wake up everyday aspiring to achieve our dreams of being successful without a road map in place. We dream about our success stumbling through life hoping that we will get there by chance. Our lives are spent reacting to the ebb and flow of life wishing things will get better instead of creating a set of goals that will help us reach the target that we are aiming for.

Creating a plan with a clear set of goals is one of the most effective ways to achieve anything we are striving for. A goal is nothing more than a personal objective that can be measure. It will work for the smallest tasks to the largest dreams that we are trying to accomplish. Having goals in place will give us a clear focus and define what we are pursuing. It will help us easily eliminate those distractions or enticing detours that come along to take us off our path.

There are three things you must do to achieve any goal:

1. Be intentional
2. Put your heart into it
3. Be able to make sacrifices for it

Listed below are a set of questions that will help you begin your journey of creating a plan to achieve your goals. Let’s begin with creating a personal mission statement that will describe “what you are here for”.

Questions for mission statement:

What is God’s plan in your life?
What do you enjoy doing the most in your life?
What things are you most talented at?
What issues are you most passionate about?
What do you always want to do for others?
When you die, what would you like people to say about you?

For example my mission statement is:

“To help people achieve there God given goals in the area of stewardship time, talent and treasure.”

Once you create a mission statement, you have to make sure that all of your goals you create support or enhance your mission. If a goal appears important to you, but in some ways does not align with your mission statement then you either have to eliminate this goal or re-write your mission statement to so that the goal support it. Remember your personal mission statement is a living document and you can re-write it anytime. It should reflect who are right now and not what you aspire to be. Also, if your mission statement and goals are not in sync, you will find your self procrastinating and expending a lot of effort without really going anywhere.
Your assignment this week is to write out your personal mission statement and stay positive.

Pastor George

Connect with George on

My Web Page

You Tube

FACEBOOK

My Blog Talk

Twitter

Other Related articles

Think Positive – Introducing The”Set 4 Life Series”

It Cost More To Be Broke Than To Be Wealthy

Five Steps To Get Out Of Debt

Do You Know Where Your Money Is Going

Eight Ways to Know If You Are Fit

]]> http://elev8.com/daily-offerings/georgethompson/got-goals-the-set-4-life-series/feed/ 0 http://elev8.com/daily-offerings/goodsamaritan/elev8-staff/road-rage-victims-forgiveness-stuns-court/ http://elev8.com/daily-offerings/goodsamaritan/elev8-staff/road-rage-victims-forgiveness-stuns-court/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:35:21 +0000 Elev8 http://elev8.com/?p=84197 From The Advocate

A 70-year-old man who lost eight teeth, suffered a cut on his upper lip that required 40 stitches and had his hearing aid crushed into the inner canal of his ear during a road rage attack last year astonished Baton Rouge state court officials Tuesday with an act of forgiveness.

Steve Bonfanti told the court he would set aside the $41,000 in restitution that District Judge Richard Anderson ordered from the mother of his two attackers for the education of her two young grandchildren.

Anderson, who said he had never witnessed such an extraordinary move in his court, sent Baton Rouge brothers Johnny Mutrie, 26, and Eric Mutrie, 19, to prison and put their mother, Rhonda Mutrie, 54, on probation for their roles in the violent beating of Bonfanti.

Johnny and Eric Mutrie pleaded guilty in July to one count each of principal to second-degree battery and principal to cruelty to the infirm. Rhonda Mutrie pleaded guilty to principal to cruelty to the infirm.

Before they were sentenced, the Mutries – all of 9187 Kingcrest Parkway – apologized to Bonfanti in court.

“If I could take it back, I would,” Johnny Mutrie said.

Eric Mutrie and his mother asked for forgiveness.

“I’ve had almost 365 days to think about it. I still feel bad about it,” he said.

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Courageous Nurse Forgives Kidnapper

Why Revenge Is Not For You

Is Michael Vick Really Sorry For What He Did?

Forgiveness Makes You Free To Love

Finding True Love In Spite Of Your Past

“This charity and concert encompass the true spirit of New York City,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We are asking everyone to ‘answer the call’ and support and honor the families of those that lost their lives in the line of duty. There was true camaraderie and resiliency that this city showed the world in 2001, and we continue that today by taking care of our own.”

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Rapper Ludacris Gives Away Cars To The Needy

GALLERY: Michael Jackson’s Philanthropy

It Costs More To Be Broke Than To Be Wealthy

Why God Won’t Make It Easy For Christians (Complainers’ Series)

Do The Copelands Teach Prosperity Gospel?

The 31-year-old teamed up with an Atlanta dealership for the giveaway.

About 4,000 contestants had submitted 300-word essays to the rapper’s foundation, explaining why they deserved a car.

One of the most touching stories Ludacris read was by Mading Duor.

Mr. Duor described how he moved to America six years ago after his mother, father, and five brothers and sisters were killed in Sudan.

The man also wrote that a son was killed by a drunken driver in Atlanta a few years back.

The rapper said: “His story touched my heart. He’s endured so much in his life and he’s still here standing. I’m very proud to have helped him.”

Each of the used vehicles included free fuel for 30 days.

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Five Steps To Get Out Of Debt

Why We Loved…Michael Jackson

Giving Is The Key To Living

Five Really Good Reasons To Serve Those In Need

VIDEO: Samaritan Buys Foreclosed Home At Auction Then Gives It Back To Owner

Thousands of residents have been forced into shelters by The Station fire, the largest of California’s multiple fires, which engulfed more than 100,000 acres within a few hours Monday. Fire officials issued evacuation notices to 10,100 residents whose homes were under threat by Monday afternoon.

“This is a very difficult firefight,” said Mike Dietrich, the U.S. Forest Service’s incident commander, according to CNN. “This is a very angry fire that we’re fighting right now. Until we can get a change in weather conditions, I’m not overly optimist.”

Salvation Army staff and volunteers are currently serving survivors at most of the primary shelters in the area of the fires.

In Palmdale city, located in northeast Los Angeles County, the ministry is supporting the Highland High School shelter population of more than 60 people who had escaped from the Station fire. And a canteen arrived Monday to provide lunches to those at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita.

The Christian ministry also says it is in communication with other case management agencies in preparation to assist those who have lost their homes.

To read more, click here

Other Related Articles:

Last State To Free Slaves Is First To Pass Human Trafficking Laws

Some Days You Just Need To Be Rescued

A Place Where Even The Infants Are Addicts

Are You Your Brother’s Keeper?

Is Your Anger Toward God Justifiable?

I recently landed a contract with a non-profit organization that offers a seven-week curriculum which dispels the many myths associated with adoption, as well as equips those who either feel they’re ready to bring a child into their home, or simply entertaining the idea.  This curriculum is designed to walk one through the process of adoption from A to Z by training leaders in the church to hold small group sessions for their interested congregants and community members.  The key here is that there is only one other organization that offers similar information and it pales in comparison.  But here’s my point…

I’m amazed by the number of churches that blow off this organization.  Perhaps I’m a bit passionate because I know what this ministry offers and have already gotten a revelation of what this could mean for the 150,000 orphans in the United States and more importantly, the fact that James 1:27 (Amplified) says that pure and unblemished religion in the sight of God the father is to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need.

So help me, because I have major problems with pastors that have no interest whatsoever in such a valuable opportunity being offered to them.  People are hurting; women who can’t conceive, children who have no home and no hope, and more importantly, no one to demonstrate the love of God in their lives.  I understand that as the church, many are stretched thin and we can only do so much with the limited resources we have, but when I talk to preachers who tell me they’re headed to a funeral and that they predominately cater to the elderly, I find it disheartening, because those people have sons, daughters and grandkids and I wonder if it’s that mentality that’s keeping them away from the church.

Many seem to have the idea that as long as the inside of the church is okay, they’ve done their portion.   Maybe that’s why they’re attending so many funerals rather than weddings.  Not sure, but at the end of the day, there are still 150,000 children in this country who don’t have the privilege of knowing who they really are.

There’s an exercise that’s done in the curriculum we offer, where we ask the class to list five things that define who they are. I’ll ask you to pause and do the same right now.  Now, take one of the items you listed away and continue to do so until there’s only one left.   If you’re like most of us, I’m sure family was somewhere on the list.  The first thing an orphan loses is their family.  Now ask yourself, if I lose everything that makes me who I am in this world, then who am I?  Orphans ask themselves that question everyday and unfortunately, don’t have the span of influences and spiritual support that many of us do.

While it may be easy to lay blame on our pastors and leaders; let us first examine ourselves.  Let us all be mindful of those outside the four walls of our churches.  I challenge you to start thinking of your own lives in terms of ministry and what you, as an individual in the church can do to help those in need; not just inside your local church, but your community.  I challenge you to look around your church and instead of complaining about what’s not being done in terms of outreach or community service, begin to focus on what you, as an indiviual who makes up the church body, can do to help improve the lives of  the others.  Let us remind ourselves that as we improve individually, so does our local church.

Other Related Articles:

Giving Is The Key To Living

Five Really Good Reasons To Serve Those In Need

What Does Pure Religion Look Like?

Boy Raising Help For Pal Gets Help From Big Names

From CBNNews.com

In the past nine months, the Marilyn Mock Angel Foundation has helped more than a dozen families, and has done it again.

Faye Johnston lost her Texas home to foreclosure in May. She went to Marilyn Mock in hopes of volunteering to help others avoid her fate.

“I felt that I wanted to get in contact with her to volunteer and help her in some way, not knowing she would be helping me,” Johnston, a single mother, told reporters.

To read more, click here.

See How It All Began:

VIDEO: Stranger Buys House At Auction Then Gives It Back To Owner

Other Related Articles:

Struggling, Single Mom Prays, “Father, Help My Unbelief”

Moms To Kids, “I Ain’t Your Daddy!”

Happy Mother’s Day! Get All You Can!!!

VIDEO: “Sunday Best” Season 2 Winner Leaves Judges Speechless

VIDEO: Good Samaritan Gives Away Ticket To MJ Memorial

By the time this video ended I was a sobbing mess! I know it sounds really sappy, but there is something so beautiful about witnessing people treating each other with dignity and compassion. The “stranger” in the video is a woman named Marilyn Mock. She started out by helping a neighbor who faced the same fate as the woman in this video clip. Marilyn went on to found Foreclosure Angel Foundation a.k.a. The Marilyn Mock Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping people rescue their homes from foreclosure.

In a time in history where so many people are loosing so much and many more people determine to hoard their resources, it is refreshing and inspiring to see a person using what she has to help strangers. A house is so much more than a building. It is a place to rest, experience peace, love, and security. God bless Marilyn Mock and her band of angels. The organization is looking for folks to partner with them in their efforts – either through donations or by volunteering – as a matter of fact, one volunteer ended up getting her home saved! If one foundation can rescue a dozen or so families from the clutches of foreclosures, imagine what they could do with our help! Won’t you consider partnering with them? They are open to donations as well.

For more information about The Forclosure Angel Foundation, click here.

Be blessed and inspired Family!

Five Really Good Reasons To Serve Those In Need

GALLERY: Inspiring African Americans

VIDEO: Dad Surprises Daughter With Return From Iraq

VIDEO: Korean Choir Does Kirk Franklin Song Justice

VIDEO: Al Sharpton Boldly Defends MJ’s Legacy