KINGDOM LIFE M AGAZINE
SEPT / OCT 2019
HOME | CULTURE | TRAVEL
TRAVEL TREND OF THE M ONTH:
CHRISTIAN CRUISING Cruising from Norfolk, Virginia is so appealing because of its splendid iteneraries to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
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20 IT' S BACK TO SCHOOL.- For kids, The start of school is like a new year. Here are 5 tips to havng a great year.
34 The definition of strength is the quality of being strong or to w ithstand great force. Lisa Olson has these traits as you w ill find out in her story.
Training camp at the Redskins facility in Richmond Va., is visited by a group of young men, looking to be all they can be.
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CONTENTS COVERSTORY: Cruising out of Norfolk has just begun t o t ake off. The cit y is current ly considering ex panding t he offerings of t he cruise port . For " Believers" ,w hat bet t er offerings are t here t han cruising w it h " Believers" and it ineraries t hat are inspirat ional and pow erful.
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PUBLISHERPEN In Virginia Beach t he t erm " Som et hing In The Wat er" has a double m eaning. Eit her a hugely successfull concert ex perience. or possibly a jellyfish or shark! . Our publisher t akes it t o anot her level.
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MensHuddle International has beenpouringintothe livesof youngmenat alocal highschool in Newport News Virginia.
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5Great toolstoinsure your childhasa HAPPYschool year.
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MARKETPLACE& MARRIAGE
AGENTSOFTHEKING...
This feat ures is about how m arket place Christ ian couples m ust t ruly m pact t he m arket place.
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Today'shomechefs aresmart and sophisticatedand want thelatest tools inthier kitchen.
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Fall isright aroundthe corner,it'stimefor a quickmeal. that the entirefamilywill enjoy.
You do not have t o be a past or t o be on assignm ent from t he King of kings?
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Holloweenishereto stay. Isit wrongfor our children. Itsthe country'ssecond largest commercial holiday.
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Fromthewritingsof Rev. BillyGraham. "Goddoesnot excuse sininanyform."
COVER STORY
WHATEVER YOUR FAITH, YOU CAN CRUISE WITH FELLOW BELIEVERS For m an y people of f ait h t oday, w h et h er Ch r ist ian or Jew ish or New Age, sim ply goin g on a cr u ise leaves som et h in g t o be desir ed. In cr easin gly, t r aveler s h ave been t u r n in g t o r eligiou s an d spir it u ally m in ded cr u ises as an alt er n at ive t o t h e par t y sh ips. Many people of faith have concluded that the atmosphere aboard some cruise ships are not conducive for their ideal vacation experience. Most traveler comments reveal negative encounters with other cruisers, filled with offensive language, boozing, and loose behaviors that make Christian travelers feel out of place. These sentiments, as expressed by Karen on a message board posting for religious cruises, stated, ?My husband and I get tired of all the crude language and the excessive drinking on cruises. We love to cruise and will keep going ? it would just be nice to have conversations with other people who put God first in their lives.? Similarly, other people who don?t identify with organized religion voiced that spirituality is a bigger part of their vacation experience. They opt to spend vacations meeting people of like values, who can relax with kids in a family-friendly space, or reconnect with loved ones
in a meaningful way without distractions. Cr u isin g w it h Ch r ist offers people of faith the opportunity to explore the world and find themselves in the company of others who share like religious beliefs. They offer cruises for just about every major Christian denomination fitting within the broader range of specialty cruises designed for singles, families or couples. These cruises are tailored-made for people who desire to explore architecture, history, or who desire to deepen their faith. Specialty cruises provide an unique atmosphere for Christian singles to enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere in a space where like-minded people can meet. Many Christian cruises center their activities around several key-note speakers or preachers and offer workshops on subjects
ranging from ?communication in marriage,? to ?bringing your spirituality into your everyday life.? Some of the Christian celebrity cruises feature praise bands who entertain and promote star-studded worship aboard the cruise ship.
Anestimated27.2millionwill cruise globallyin2019with$216billionin total economicimpact,.
On -Boar d From high-luxury European cruising to affordable family fun in the Bahamas, Christian cruises are becoming increasingly popular and attracting high-profile names in entertainment and ministry. They aim to please all social and spiritual expectations of the traveler. Christian cruises may not be mainstream yet, but they often charter entire cruise ships from famous cruise lines. Many offer the same amenities of larger cruises like bars, nightclubs, entertainment, pools, spas, restaurants, golfing or rock-climbing.
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Thecruiseindustrydemandhas increased20.5%inthelast fiveyears.
Christianfamilycruiseshave the chancetobecomeoneof your families best spiritual getaways!
Som e cr ui ser ' s ar e seek i n g m or e t h an a cr ui se w i t h spi r i t s an d f un . Th ey h av e f oun d a m or e gr at i f i n g ex per i en ce i n r el i gi ous t h em ed cr ui ses.
PUBLISHER PEN
BERNARDS.HARRISON,JR PUBLISHER/ FOUNDER
Th er e Is Som et h in g In Th e Wat er In t h e secon d sen t en ce of t h e Bible, it says, "An d t h e Spir it of God w as h over in g over t h e f ace of t h e w at er ."
God cr eat es t h e w at er . Set t h ei r boun dar i es. Gui des w h er e t h ey f l ow . -
I n Gen esi s 6, God br ough t dow n r ai n f or f or t y days an d f or t y n i gh t s. W h en God del i v er ed t h e I sael i t es f r om sl av er y i n Egypt , H e par t ed t h e Red Sea. W h en t h e I sr ael i t es w er e w an der i n g i n t h e w i l der n ess, t h i r st y. God gav e t h em w at er f r om a r ock . I n Jesus f i r st m i r acl e, H e t ur n ed w at er i n t o w i n e. Jesus w al k ed on w at er . Jesus cal m ed t h e w at er i n a st or m .
A few months ago, a popular recording artist from the city of Virginia Beach, Pharell Williams hosted a concert filled with many national headliners titled, ?Something in the Water.? The concert site was on the oceanfront where water is plenteous and where a gentle breeze accompanied the soothing sound of the waves. The water backdrop made the difference in maintaining the peacefulness of the crowd and the expectation of the investors. Water is one of the basic needs that without it, man cannot survive. Our body weight is approximately 60 percent water.
Water does more than satisfy your thirst; it regulates body temperature, eliminates waste from the body and keeps you hydrated. Water is essential. The Bible declares when Jesus hung on the cross he became so dehydrated that he said, ?I thirst.? Hanging on the cross for our sins, he denied himself the basic necessity of life; water. I think of those in Africa and third world countries who daily live without clean water to drink. Jesus knows their pain and cares for them because he too was thirsty. Many people in the US take potable water for granted because we have such abundance. However, everyone is not like that. There are a few local God-fearing men who are putting together a program which is designed to create local wealth and build wells in Africa. They are creating a water project so impoverished communities can have clean drinkable water daily. Another local ministry, Haiti Missions Incorporated (www.missions2haiti.org) is involved in digging wells, among other things, to make life better for some of the most impoverished
communities in the western hemisphere. Jesus in Matthew 25:40 said,? I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.? n John 4, Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at the well. She was looking for water and comes to the well at the time of day when no one else was around. Her need for water drew her to the well, and she came at a time when others were not present to be judgmental about her life. After asking her for water, Jesus tells her, ?but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'' (John 4:14) Ar e you t h ir st y f or som et h in g? Thirst creates a desire that can only be satisfied with a specific thing. We thirst for many things. Are you thirsty for your shame to be gone or for the guilt over your past to be removed? Then, you are thirsty for the Living Water. Jesus is the only one who can wash
wash away your sins and remember them no more. He is calling you to a new life; to make you A NEW MAN (II Corinthians 5:17). Are you thirsty for deliverance from an addiction? Jesus is your Passover lamb. He died not only so that you could be forgiven, but so you could regain your life in Christ. Recovery is possible through the blood of the Lamb. There are some things that we must confront that are painful: chronic pain, cancer, or having to live with the scars of abuse, for example. Because Jesus thirsted on the cross, he can guide us to Living Water. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes because Jesus was fully human; he understands our pain. He is the water of regeneration because he is fully God. He is thirsting for you to come to him today. Put your trust in him and remember,
Th er e is som et h in g in t h e w at er ! Special Thanks to Dr. Phillip Lucas!
Lar r y Hales CEO M HI Ronaldjatkinson/ urbanstockhouse.net
FAITH, FAMILY, FELLOWSHIP...
F OOT B A L L
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A couple of years ago, I wrote in an article that my priorities in life were faith, family, fellowship, and football- in that order. A few readers including my ex-wife responded and questioned the order of my listing. I defended my position that faith, family, and football were synonymous. After church on Sundays, we gathered around the only television in the house and watched football games. As a youngster between 12 - 15 years old growing up with a father and brother who were Pittsburg Steeler fans and I alone was a Washington Redskin fan, a lot of good-natured ribbing, fun, and laughter took place at our home in Tampa Bay throughout the football season. During the regular season, we waited for the opportunity to view a few Redskin or Steeler games and ?talked trash?about each other 's team. These were truly some of the best times I remember as a child, all of us together in one room, at one time. Those were the days! Fait h , Foot ball an d Fam ily are inseparable in my book. They go together like butter and popcorn. A few years later,when I played high school football on a horrible team in my freshman season, we once lost a game by 72 points! Looking back, I can gladly say it wasn?t my fault that time, though at other times I did share in the loss. However I remember, my father and younger brother were always in the stands to support me. That?s what family does. From my earliest days, my dad instilled in me a love for the sport and the importance of team
cohesiveness. Occasionally, we won games, but something was missing. I later discovered it was that thing which can?t be taught, diagramed on a chalkboard, nor rehearsed. It was the element that kept us from reaching our ultimate potential as a team. What was it? Could it be because we were brought up in segregated communities where racial turmoil spilled out in the schools and on the field? Or could our poor record be the result of envy and jealousy between team players who separated good players from marginal players? There were many possibilities, but it was after playing for coaches on various levels that I discovered what was missing. Fait h , Foot ball an d Fam ily are inseparable. In 1977, I was blessed to play for FAMU under Coach Rudy Hubbard. The first thing I noticed was after EVERY practice; the team formed a huddle and prayed the ?Lord?s Prayer.? Praying on the field was unusual for me because I was not used to such a display of public spirituality outside of the church. What I learned later was that it brought the team together spiritually and formed a common bond just like that expressed in a family. That year we won the 1AA National Championship. g It was then I realized the missing ingredient was the family component of a team. Years later, I embraced these great moments fondly, not because they were big events for the team, but because I shared these memories with friends who became family, on and off the field. The long passes, the great runs, the super catches, the goal line stance against The University of Miami,
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Gu n s, M en t al Illn ess or Spir it u al Deadn ess ? Our hearts are
inundated with sorrow and amazement as we hear the list of victims from Virginia Beach and now both the El Paso and the Ohio shootings grow day by day. Then comes the relentless battering from the media with its long list of people to blame and possible reasons it all happened. Casting these questions out is as random as the gunfire that cut down our citizens. It sways and provokes our thinking and casts aspersions on many people and institutions all the way up to the presidency. It rings of desperation and it breeds confusion. In the approach of the
election year, next comes the presidential and congressional hopefuls who politicize the shootings. Dems and liberals blame their opponents or the incumbent office holders and rather than making them look bad ? they reveal their own lack of character.
haters themselves.
They foster the very hatred and violence they claim to disdain. They prey on the frustrations of those who are trying to grasp the enormity of events that seem so horrific and evil. Politicizing events like mass shootings should say only one thing about such candidates ? they are not worthy of any office.
Gun laws didn?t help a bit in Chicago where in the same weekend of the El Paso and Ohio shootings,50 people were shot,7 people were killed and 46 were wounded not in a single shooting spree, but in random and separate incidents across the city which has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. Statistically speaking, very few mentally ill people
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Guns are in the spotlight as always. While it makes sense to make it much harder for people to buy guns it is a guarantee of nothing. If you are a resident of any major U.S. city you could probably buy an illegal gun in less than an hour on the street.
people commit violent crimes, which are generally committed by people with full cognizance and those who have the full capacity to acquire guns, learn how to use them and make specific choices about where to use them. That there is a collective mental illness sweeping the country due to a spiritual void is by far more believable. Before concluding that we are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire by seemingly glossing over mental illness, it does well to consider that even Christ made a clear distinction between evil or demonically motivated behaviors
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and mental disorders. To wit: ?And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.? With Hollywood, video gamers, celebrities, leftist media and democrats spewing violence across the full spectrum of American social life could it be that we are all experience a bit of mental illness. After all, if the maniacal hate for President Trump is only
K ingdom Mar ket place Int er nat ional
Th e f i r e t h at Jesus l on gs t o cast on t h e ear t h i s t h e H ol y Spi r i t bui l di n g a com m un i t y of h ope an d l ov e i n t h e m ar k et pl ace. Jesus sen ds h i s f ol l ow er s t o l ov e, t o pr ocl ai m H i s gr eat n ess i n t h e m ar k et pl ace. Joi n our Ki n gdom M ar k et pl ace t o ex per i en ces bot h i n t h e ch ur ch an d t h e m ar k et pl ace.
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Ch r ist ian Bu sin ess Spot ligh t
REVIEW OF THE M ONTH: OVERCOM ER
Suzy Sammons
Lif e ch an ges over n igh t f or Coach Joh n Har r ison w h en h is h igh sch ool basket ball t eam an d st at e ch am pion sh ip dr eam s ar e cr u sh ed u n der t h e w eigh t of u n expect ed n ew s. Wh en t h e lar gest m an u f act u r in g plan t sh u t s dow n an d h u n dr eds of f am ilies leave t h eir t ow n , Joh n qu est ion s h ow h e an d h is f am ily w ill f ace an u n cer t ain f u t u r e. Af t er r elu ct an t ly agr eein g t o coach cr oss-cou n t r y, Joh n an d h is w if e Am y m eet an aspir in g at h let e w h o?s pu sh in g h er lim it s on a jou r n ey t ow ar d discover y. In spir ed by t h e w or ds an d pr ayer s of a n ew f ou n d f r ien d, Joh n becom es t h e least likely coach h elpin g t h e least likely r u n n er at t em pt t h e im possible in t h e biggest r ace of t h e year .
Coach Harrison and his wife Amy (Shari Rigby) are faced with a dilemma: do they tell Hannah her father isn?t dead as her grandmother told her? Harrison and Amy are both Christians, and their influence begins to rub off on Hannah. When Hannah?s dad learns she is near and a runner like he was, he longs to see her.
This movie contains all the mixtures that make a movie great? solid acting, a good story, drama, and some dashes of humor thrown in. When Harrison first takes on The Kendrick brothers have done it again, and the latest in a series of coaching the cross-country team, he films by them is a winner! Joining the ranks of Facing the Giants, Fireproof, decides to run to prove to his wife it isn?t Courageous and others, Overcomer is aptly titled, giving us an unlikely hero such a big deal. At the end of his run he is in Hannah Scott (Aryn Wright-Thompson), a teen girl with a troubled past lying on the ground, out of breath, in but who can run? and run fast. She lives with her grandmother, steals pain, and asking, ?Why does anyone want items like headphones and cell phones, and is unhappy. But she is about to do this?? It?s a delicious and funny to meet Coach John Harrison (Alex Kendrick), and her world is about to moment in the movie. change forever. When a movie is very good, we will see When Harrison?s high school basketball stars move away, he is left with growth in the characters, and Hannah?s no team to coach. But Principal Olivia Brooks (Priscilla C. Shirer) asks him character, without giving all away, to coach the cross-country team, and he reluctantly agrees. There is one undergoes some major changes for the problem: the team has only one runner ? Hannah. To add another better. The film features moments that challenge, Hannah has asthma. Hannah never knew her father, who left will make you tear up, laugh, and even years ago, and, according to Hannah?s grandmother, he was a drug addict applaud. A big race near the conclusion and no good. But her father was a fast runner, and Hannah inherited his of the movie will have you cheering! runner ?s genes. She thinks her father is dead, but in a twist of fate Coach Harrison visits a man in the hospital and learns he is Hannah?s father? diabetic and blind, but very much alive.
A L OOK INSIDE THE NEXT EDITION
Images By: Ronald J. Atkinson www.urbanstockhouse.net
OPINION PAGE Local home-town Hero Amos Lawrence made it to the Super Bowl. Maury Quarterback, Eric Bishop could be on his way towards that goal. He and other boys in the community share another commonality besides skills of honor on the gridiron. What are those gifts? These young men have chosen to use their gifts, talents, abilities, and platform to direct others to give and live their lives to honor Jesus Christ. Hey, we can all get in this game! Let's use our platform of influence to direct others to receive the gift of Father 's love through accepting Jesus Christ as their place holder (Savior).
SPECIAL REPORT The Purpose of Prayer ". . . one of His disciples said to Him, ?Lord, teach us to pray . . .(Luke 11:1) The biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. ?Ask, and you will receive . . .?( John 16:24 )". We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, ?. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .?( Matthew 18:23 ) ". Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits?end.