End Poverty Benefit Concert – August 28

Bryce Harper hits 502ft baseball home run in the 2009 Power Showcase

This kid is awesome but too bad he's not finishing school.

My first mobile post

Sissy Baseball

Baseball… for a hundred years it’s been a symbol of America. Strong, tough men, competing in an honorable game where the best of the best rose to the top, and no one cried for being second. Being second meant harder work, more dedication and mental toughness if you wanted to be called “the best”.

No more. Now self esteem and feelings are the top priority. Read this story about a kid named Jericho, nine years old, who is being forced to quit pitching because its “unfair” and discouraging to the other kids who he strikes out. A “spirit of community” and letting all the kids have equal and fair playing time is now the goal of sports - not competition, overcoming adversity and pushing yourself to achieve.

If we were talking about 4 year old T-Ball, then I agree with letting all the kids play equally… but you can still throw out that self-esteem nonsense, not keeping score, and everyone gets a trophy hogwash. Only since the advent of humanist pop psychology did protecting children from the negative feelings in life become an issue of “mental health”.

Ridiculous! Kids learn just as much, if not more, from the experiences of falling short, losing, coming up second (or last), failing to achieve, etc than they do by winning, being praised, or being number one. “Self esteem” is not the problem… it’s learning not to be selfish, not to be self-centered, not to care about self more than anything else. We have no problem with “self esteem”… we are born selfish and we fight being too self-focused our ENTIRE life.

The Bible says our problem is being TOO self-oriented. It is the sin nature to love SELF more than anything else. The world says we don’t love ourselves enough, and we should continually seek to raise our “esteem” and our level of self-love. The two ideas are incompatible. Who are you going to listen to? The world? Or God?

While the modern Church tenaciously embraces “self-isms” (self-esteem, self-love, self-worth… all in direction opposition to Scripture), even the world is realizing that all this “self” psychobabble has done is create several generations of narcissistic, emotionally fragile, whiners whose only concern is how they “feel” about everything and never being uncomfortable.

Taking Jericho off the pitcher’s mound so the other kids won’t feel “discouraged” is the result of this kind of upside down, destructive pop psychology. Let him pitch. Let him compete. Let him do the best HE can do. Let the other kids use it as a catalyst to try harder, to learn to deal with being “second” and learn to buck up in the face of discouragement. Let the other kids learn to be happy that someone else is getting the attention. Let the other kids learn that the world doesn’t revolve around them, and that winning is not a “right”, it is an opportunity.

Let the other kids learn not to be jealous, critical or bitter about someone else’s blessing. Let the other kids learn that everyone is NOT equal in all abilities and talents… that life is NOT fair and their feelings are way down the line in priority compared to learning character, integrity and sportsmanship.

Oh yeah, let the childish parents who are calling for Jericho to get off the mound, learn all those lessons too. Evidently it is hurting THEIR self-esteem when their kid gets struck out. Think about the lesson these kids are learning: if someone is better than you and you don’t feel good about yourself, get the other person kicked out, kicked off or kicked under.

You know, I would not care so much about this if it were not for the fact that Christians (and the leaders of the Church) embrace the worldly ideas of “self” (Christian psychology anyone?) as much as the world itself. In fact, the world seems to be waking up to this big dangerous joke, while the Church is jumping in with both feet and eyes closed.

Self-esteem, French fries and pimp-mobiles. Just doesn’t have the same ring as a “Baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet” does it?

~ Brent
http://www.brentriggs.com/

W.I.S.E. UP Powerbook

W.I.S.E. Up by Marilyn Schoettle, Geared for ages 6-12, this book provides adopted children with the tools to handle comments and questions about adoption.

W.I.S.E. Up gives children (teens and parents, too!) the power to choose how to talk about adoption with others! Children need W.I.S.E. Up when they begin to be asked questions about adoption and their adoption story.

This TOOL is important when the children begin to hear that others are noticing some differences about how their family was formed. For children in transracial or transcultural families, that may begin as early as age 3 (“Why don’t you look like your mom?”) and for others, it may not begin until ages 6, 7, or 8, when their friends may begin to be curious about their adoptive family (“Why were you adopted?”).


Here is what my wife, Sandy, had to say about this book.

"Hey Gang I had gotten this message on an event from Irving Bible church and while we cannot attend the event, I had ordered the book just for educational purposes. Man, I did not realize what a tool it would become and how God would use it to bless my family! I got it and it has things to color and blanks to complete and it is perfect for school age children to empower them to talk about adoption and to handle unavoidable uncomfortable situations!

My 6 year old kindergartner and I have talked through many things but really I haven't gotten him to tell me how he feels about being approached by kids at school. This opened him up and allowed me to be mom and minister to my son and equip him to deal with these situations as they arise. I was shocked at some of his answers and was so thankful for the opportunity to explore these things with him in a light hearted positive manner! He said (and I quote), "this book is fun"! I highly encourage you to get it from amazon.com. It was only $15 and worth every penny!!!

He even underlined the parts he liked and crossed through the parts he did not like. Talk about getting to know my son's feelings on a whole other level without having to go to a counselor!"

How Many Orphans Are There in the World?

More and more I hear people talking about the millions of orphans that are alive today in the world. I’m thankful for this because most people don’t realize the magnitude of the problem of orphaned and abandoned children.

That said, I think it is also important for us to know what we mean when we throw out statistics. First, as Christians we need to know what we mean because we have been divinely called by God to care for these children. Secondly, we need to know what we mean so we can give care in the most effective way possible.

The latest UNICEF numbers for 2008 indicate that there are an estimated 132 million orphans (the 2006 estimate was 143 million).

UNICEF and global partners define an “orphan” as a child who has lost one or both parents.
Therefore, of the 132 million children they classify as orphans, only 13 million have lost both parents. The majority of orphans are living with a surviving parent, grandparent, or other family member. 95% of all orphans are over the age of 5.

This is crucial for us to understand because as UNICEF writes, “it can have concrete implications for policies and programming for children. For example, UNICEF’s ‘orphan’ statistic might be interpreted to mean that globally there are 132 million children in need of a new family, shelter, or care. This misunderstanding may then lead to responses that focus on providing care for individual children rather than supporting the families and communities that care for orphans and are in need of support” (UNICEF Press Release).

The more I think this over, the more I can’t help but feel this has huge implications on the way we approach our calling to “visit orphans in their afflictions” (James 1:27).

200 Million People...

Have no Bible in their language. These are spiritual orphans, like you and I once were, but with no access to the one thing that will lead to the chance of their spiritual adoption.

“The best thing about having God’s word in your own language is that God becomes your own Father. God identifies with you. You become his child. You are not a stranger. You are not a foreigner. God becomes your God.”

We can give them that verse today that will change their life for eternity!



by Jason Kovacs at The ABBA Fund Blog

What a birthday!

I had a great birthday last year. We went to Pappadeaux and ran into Carlos Lee. It's funny, Caleb looks more like he'd be Carlos's son than mine. I thought this would make Caleb really like Carlos more than other players but his favorite Astro is still "Big Puma".

Hi/Lo Thursday!

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts.

A video to let people know who Abby is, and where her journey through Leukemia has taken her. She is entering a dangerous phase, and we are asking Christians to pray.

Where Laughter Lives

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.