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SCOOP--RIP, MY DEAR MAX January 25, 2011 18:04:21



This is just one of those really great stories. Read it then watch the youtube video. Incredible! This is really great!! Enjoy!!

Praise God for people like this. They are the hands and feet of Jesus.

Inmate Football In the fall of 2008, 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 They wore outdated, used shoulder pads and helmets.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 visitors’ 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 and 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.” Be kind to someone this week. Be kind to every person you meet. You might be amazed at what God will do with a simple act of kindness. -Dr. Tim Thompson
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  • TommyB January 25, 2011 18:34:00
    TommyB
    +3
    It's inspirational to see someone walk the walk and not just talk the talk. We never know when we just might be the closest thing to a Bible another person ever sees. It always, always, always, pays to take the high road. Some kids might have been saved that night. Thanks for the post.
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  • words to live by January 26, 2011 01:11:16
    words to live by
    +1
    Thank's scoop for that humbling video. Kindness, pass it on!
    reply
  • SCOOP--... words t... January 26, 2011 15:13:35
    SCOOP--RIP, MY DEAR MAX
    +1
    You are very welcome. I am happy you enjoyed it as much as I did. We surely need less hatred and more kindness in America theses days.
    reply
  • TommyB January 25, 2011 18:34:00
    TommyB
    +3
    It's inspirational to see someone walk the walk and not just talk the talk. We never know when we just might be the closest thing to a Bible another person ever sees. It always, always, always, pays to take the high road. Some kids might have been saved that night. Thanks for the post.
    reply
  • SCOOP--... TommyB January 26, 2011 15:14:12
    SCOOP--RIP, MY DEAR MAX
    +1
    You are very welcome. Praise God that this happened and that lives were touched that night.
    reply
  • Bozette January 25, 2011 18:21:22
    Bozette
    +3
    God Bless that coach, those kids and their parents! These kids made mistakes and are paying the price for it. If we, as a society, give up on them...we make the mistake. Thank you for posting this!
    reply
  • SCOOP--... Bozette January 26, 2011 15:15:23
    SCOOP--RIP, MY DEAR MAX
    +2
    You are so welcome. To me this was a heart-warming, tear-jerking blessing to see how these folks treated these young men and it was awesome how the young men responded.
    reply
  • Bozette SCOOP--... January 26, 2011 16:24:46
    Bozette
    +2
    My eyes leaked, too...
    reply

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