'An extraordinary, authentic example of discipleship, and the honouring and validation of the radiant "broken jewels" on society's margins.' Stewart Henderson, poet, broadcaster and lyricist Zac’s Place is a church in Swansea. It is a small chaotic community of Jesus followers where some of the most fragile of life’s walking wounded try to work out their faith. It’s also the spiritual home for the local chapter of God’s Squad motorcycle club. Zac’s Place, founded in 1998, is led by Sean Stillman, whose front-line ministry has cost him dearly and has included physical beatings. In Zac’s Place, chaos and disorder sit alongside community and grace in an environment resembling an AA meeting mixed with a casualty department. This is Sean’s personal story of a transformed faith amid the broken, the church community that formed from it and the European-wide growth of an unlikely bunch of biker missionaries. God’s Biker asks the questions, ‘What if it’s not about perfection? What if it’s about beauty in broken places?’
Relates the undercover work of George Rowe, who infiltrated the Vagos motorcycle gang, spending three years working to take down the gang from the inside.
"Combining powerful photographic images with gang members' first-person testimonies, Rich Remsbourg shows the ironic juxtaposition of tattoos, leather vests, and the iconography of the biker world with the Christian practices of Bible study, speaking in tongues, and praying at an altar. He explores the lives of men and women who have redirected the extreme nature of their former ways. Through their own powerful stories, they explain how the addictions and uncontrollable violence that once shaped their lives have given way to dramatic worship and zealous ministry."--BOOK JACKET.
Fr. Tom Kennedy's first experience with something totally out of the norm is when he hears the confession of a small boy who scares the priest with his evil description of something he has done and for which he has no remorse. The Nazarene woman approaches a school board meeting for the purpose of lodging a complaint against their removal of all books relating in any way to Christianity. What she encounters at the meeting is our first look at the power of Satan unchecked. A number of other individuals find disturbing human actions and nature gone wrong. What has caused the garden, belonging to Fr. Tom's mother, to rot into plastic-type vegetation? What is behind the riots within the small community where they live? What is the cause of the mysterious behavior the non-believer finds in the wilderness of northern Minnesota? Why is the disturbing prayer life and extreme difficulty with dreams from all the individuals we meet so much of a concern to not only the ones suffering but to us the readers? Fr. Tom and another priest friend call a meeting of all the individuals we know and some we will get to know at this meeting. The purpose of this get-together is to determine the cause of these common effects on the lives of so many different people from different backgrounds and different faiths. The meeting becomes a place where all the concerns are voiced and all the sufferings are exposed. A possible reason for the commonalities is shared and agreed upon by all the attendees. How do we, God's people, face this problem that eventually takes Fr. Tom all the way from his bishop to Rome? Fr. Tom receives some heavenly help in solving this problem as he takes steps to engage the path that he has been directed.
Riding for God's Glory So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Romans 14:23 If you're a biker and a Christian, have you considered that riding, can be an activity that brings glory to God, draws you closer to His creation and provides an opportunity to share your faith with fellow riders? Motorcycle and Jesus enthusiast Tim Riter has some amazing stories and spiritual truths he's collected from riding over 200,000 miles, covering 46 states, and three countries. Discover what happens when a long-haired hippie biker strolls into a redneck bar a new back tire causes a dangerous spill a chance encounter with an angry driver turns into a 20-mile chase These and other engaging devotions will show you how your faith blends into your riding and help you experience that same sense of adventure you get from motorcycling in your walk with God, or in this case, your "ride with God."
Diabolically funny and subversively philosophical, Italian novelist Giacomo Sartori’s I Am God is the diary of the Almighty’s existential crisis that erupts when he falls in love with a human. I am God. Have been forever, will be forever. Forever, mind you, with the razor-sharp glint of a diamond, and without any counterpart in the languages of men. So begins God’s diary of the existential crisis that ensues when, inexplicably, he falls in love with a human. And not just any human, but a geneticist and fanatical atheist who’s certain she can improve upon the magnificent creation she doesn’t even give him the credit for. It’s frustrating, for a god. God has infinitely bigger things to occupy his celestial attentions. Yet he can’t tear his eyes (so to speak) from the geneticist who’s unsettlingly avid when it comes to science, sex, and Sicilian cannoli. Whatever happens, he must safeguard his transcendental dignity. So he watches—disinterestedly, of course—as the handsome climatologist who has his sights set on her keeps having strange accidents. And as the lanky geneticist becomes hell-bent on infiltrating the Vatican’s secret files, for reasons of her own…. A sly critique of the hypocrisy and hubris that underlie faith in religion, science, and macho careerism, I Am God takes us on a hilarious and provocative romp through the Big Questions with the universe’s supreme storyteller.
This book is about the trials and tribulations that we all go through in life. But when we have an anchor in God, upon whom we trust and depend We can make it. In this book you'll experience three stages of our lives; the accident, flirting with death, and spiritual growth that came from it. Robert a manly man muscular stands about 6"4, with broad shoulders, bald with a goatee and very well groomed. Being an entrepreneur the president of his own organization a Christian motorcycle Ministry, "The Heavenly Riders." A talented and skillful young man with many different crafts Like the old clich say's "Jack of all trades master of none." A very gentle man with a kind heart who will give you the shirt off of his back He possesses only one flaw the act of unforgiveness Robert experiences a trip to Hell which changes his attitude. I was born in the small town of Crawfordville Ark. Born at home with the aide of a midwife on a cotton farm . My family chopped and picked cotton for a living. My mother and father separated. We moved around for many years until finally residing in Little Rock Ark. I attend schools in the Pulaski county area. I also attended Horace Mann and Parkview. I dropped out in the tenth grade. I attended adult school in the daytime hours and work nights. Later a teen mom at the age of nineteen giving birth to a handsome son Andrew and four years later a beautiful daughter Jannette. Formerly a single parent who worked two jobs to make ends meet. An old class mate and I were reintroduced and later married. We are the proud grandparents of six. I've been employee at Arkansas Children's Hospital for the past sixteen years.
"Gods Perfect Timing: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty with Education and Faith is about how important events in our lives happen according to Gods timing, not our own. Come with me on a spiritual journey through poverty, child abuse, and my struggle to overcome dyslexia through special education. I share a chilling account of how I survived being struck by lightning at football practice at the beginning of my senior year of high school. After my dream of becoming a professional athlete got shattered, I survived on the streets with dangerous criminals." Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? (Job 38:35) Lucky to Be Alive For on August 18, Caruth was standing in the defensive backfield during Coronados football practice when an incredible event knocked him right off the football field and literally into medical journals. Dressed in full football gear, Caruth was struck by on the head by a bold of lightning. The bolt burned through protective padding in the helmet at the point where a metal screw was fixed, blacked the neck of his jersey, singed his pants, and left his socks looking as though theyd been treated with a blowtorch. C. W. Nevius Forward By Reverend Alfonso Wyatt I spent my career as an educator, youth developer, advocate, counselor, role model and minister transforming the lives of countless young people caught in tumultuous life circumstances beyond their control or choosing. The aforementioned perspective allows me to understand and appreciate the profound power contained in Gods Perfect Timing: Breaking The Cycle of Poverty with Education and Faith, by Dr. David D. Caruth. Brother Caruth unapologetically takes readers into his world and lays bare horrific childhood events namely: physical/sexual abuse, hunger, deprivation, physical, emotional challenges as well as the need for special education. If this were not enough, David, as a promising high school football player, with dreams of turning pro, was struck by lightning while on the practice field100 players were leveled by the bolt, David was the only one that did not get up. The story could have ended right there with yet another African American child failing to thrive, doomed to living in the now all-too-familiar clutch of poverty, crime, drugs, gangs, incarceration, nihilism and neglector dying too soon. The seeds of failure were clearly sown into the life and psyche of the author. Yet the reader will discover that in the midst of seemingly insurmountable odds, David is able to change the odds. This social miracle was accomplished by seeds planted by Davids mother, namely the seed of faith revealed in the telling of biblical stories like David and Goliath (a Divine metaphor if you will). This book shows educators, faith leaders, policy makers, parents, young people and yes, even the naysayer, how the cycle of poverty, perpetuated by low self-esteem, academic indifference, victim thinking/blaming and dysfunctional family life can be broken once and for all. So beloved, come on the arduous and ultimately triumphant journey of David D. Caruths lifetime. If you accept this invitation please be open to the reality that the same power that found a young boy at his most vulnerable time; the same power that snatched him from the sure grip of death; the same power that helped him overcome staggering life obstacles and receive a terminal degree, is the same power that can change the lives of readersnow that Gods Perfect Timing is in full effect. The Reverend Alfonso Wyatt has four decades of experience developing young people as well as working with public, private, community based youth serving organizations and the faith community involved in the same effort. Reverend Wyatt, a D.Min candidate at New York Theological Seminary, is an ordained Elder on the ministerial staff of The Greater Allen Cathedral of New York and he and his wife are co-authors of Soul Be Free Poems Prose Prayers. Preface Gods Perfect Timing: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty with Education and Faith is about how important events in our lives happen according to Gods timing, not our own. Come with me on a spiritual journey through poverty, child abuse, and my struggle to overcome a learning disability through special education. I share a chilling account of how I survived being struck by lightning at football practice at the beginning of my senior year of high school. After my dream of becoming a professional athlete got shattered, I survived on the streets with dangerous criminals. Throughout my life, my mom, Zelna A. Caruth, was my primary source of strength. She was raised in Chicago and overcame more adversity in her life than anyone I knew. Her father died in a fire when she was 4 years old and her mother passed away when she was 12. As the oldest of four siblings, with two younger sisters and a baby brother, she called Bugs, her childhood ended at a very early age. She was also my most important teacher and source of strength. She taught me not to criticize or judge others until I walked a mile in their moccasins. I understood her lessons, because I had seven older brothers and sisters and one younger sister, and my own shoes had cutout cardboard for bottoms. Like a sponge, I absorbed as much of my moms wisdom as I could. She taught me about the Bible, and to believe that God works in mysterious ways. She let me know early on in life that man would let me down, and that I needed to put my faith and trust in the Lord. If I trusted in the Lord, she would say, and not worry so much about what other people had, only then would I begin to see the miracles that God was performing in my own life. She was right of course. When I look at my own life, there are numerous times, too many to count, when my life could have, and probably should have ended, and God made a miracle happen to keep me going. I also learned that not all miracles are pleasant. Unpleasant miracles are difficult for most of us to grasp. We find it difficult to understand why a loving God would not only allow, but cause unpleasant events to happen in our lives. I questioned my mom about why bad things happened to good people and good things happened to bad people. My moms answer was that, God allowed Jesus to die on the cross, only to raise him from the dead to glorify his own power. She left it to me to figure out the meaning of her words. For most of us, those with children anyway, we find it difficult to imagine allowing our child to be crucified so that the world could bear witness to our power. God help us if our children get injured on fields of play. If our children get hurt, our hearts fill with pain and sadness, and we want the world to see us rush to comfort them. We grow up learning that people who love us should protect us from unpleasant events that occur daily in our own lives. In our house, my brothers and sisters seldom felt protected. What we felt on most days was hunger, jealousy, misery, envy and multiple kinds of abuse. I wrote this book, because I believe that, in spite of the challenges we face and endure day after day, miracles happen every day of our lives; however, most of the time, we dont recognize them when we see them. After reading this book, my hope is that you will begin to see how God works through people to influence the lives of other people. You will learn how to recognize Gods Perfect Timing in your own life, and to take action when the time is right. If God can bring me through poverty, child abuse and special education, back from death and homelessness, to earning a PhD, buying several homes for my family, and sending my children to private school, then you too should be able to have faith that God has a design on your life, and has already blessed you with miracle after miracle.
Outlaw biker and notorious brawler, Jordan "JD" Delgado, learns that God's word cuts sharper and deeper than the knife used to earn him 10 years in prison. At his lowest point he looks up and finds freedom in Christ, but remains tormented and bound by guilt and bitterness as he struggles to forgive and be forgiven. JD finds that killing his old self is a tougher fight than any he had ever experienced. Once released from prison, JD is conflicted between his old club life and his new faith. He must find a way to leave his old club without losing the life that he has been given a second chance at living. Unchained Rebel offers a rare glimpse into the intimate, dangerous and often humorous world of motorcycle clubs and motorcycle club ministry. This book is dedicated to all the men and women that are thankful that Jesus can reach down further than we can reach up, and those that understand that they may be the only Bible that some will ever know.
What if, out of the blue, an event in your life that should have left damage was miraculously altered? What if in its place a divine intervention rewrote your story and positively affected the outcome of what should have been? What if the experience you encountered and embraced transformed you into becoming the person you are today? That is what this book “God Writes in Blue” shares with its readers. This is a collection of real life stories that together share how two lives were changed because God intervened again and again with His Blue Pen. Sherri Sumstine shares candidly of her and her late husband’s failures and wrong choices. She opens up to share their brokenness and insecurities. And she can boldly state today that what would have become difficult life events and painful memories are instead embraced because of the valuable, spiritual lessons learned through them and the active relationship with the Divine that was cultivated in them.
