Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Magnificent Hope Tours Author's New York Hometown


July 16-27, Magnificent Hope made an amazing journey from Woodstock, Georgia, to the beautiful Adirondack mountains in upstate New York, with author Darryl Green and his family.  Darryl was traveling to New York to promote Jake and the Buggy Melee, and of course, to take a much needed vacation!

The two day ride from Woodstock to the Adirondacks brought Hope through several US states including:  Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and of course, New York!  Magnificent Hope and the Green family visited several scenic areas on the way including the Shenendoah Valley, middle Pennsylvania, central New York and the Adirondacks.

Hope also accompanied Darryl to two book signings, one at the Old Forge Hardware store and the other at the Old Forge Library, both in New York State.  Ingrid Ehrensbeck, a good friend of the Green family, was kind enough to take several beautiful photos of Hope as she made numerous stops in the Old Forge area.   As an educator and a very spiritual lady, Ingrid quickly embraced Magnificent Hope’s mission and was eager to introduce her to many beautiful areas.

After 10 days in the Adirondacks, it was time to return home.  Hope and the Green family reluctantly said goodbye to the beautiful mountains, friends and family and returned home.  We are all looking forward to the next trip in a few years!










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Monday, July 30, 2012

"One Hope" Contest Finalists Announced

Write Integrity Press is pleased to announce the following authors are finalists in our "One Hope" writing contest. Writers submitted entries that consisted of a short blurb, one-page synopsis, and the first chapter of their unpublished book.

Finalists must now submit a completed manuscript by December 31st for a chance at publication and cash prizes. One fiction and one nonfiction manuscript will be chosen as winners.

Finalists (in no particular order) are listed by category.

FICTION:

Heidi Blankenship
Jeanette Edgar
Bonnie Engstrom
Sharyn Kopf
Molly Noble Bull (withdrew 12/22/12)
NONFICTION:

Pat Ennis (withdrew 12/24/12)
Tina Hunt
Debbie Ryan
Anusha Atukorala
Joanne Sher

Congratulations to each of you. Get busy writing! We look forward to reading your entries!


Don't forget, the "Christmas Hope" Contest ends tomorrow! Get those Christmas manuscripts submitted asap!




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Friday, July 27, 2012

Week 9: Where in the World is Magnificent Hope? Contest


Magnificent Hope went to worship with Dianne and Hal Butts recently, but I bet you can’t guess where. Here are some photos and hints.



We started our day with worship on the steps of a replica of the Temple in Jerusalem (which, of course, does not exist at this point in history). In this first photo you can see the singers on the steps of the Temple leading us, and boy could they sing! It was wonderful. We continued to see these same singers in live patriotic dramas and biblical reenactments throughout the day.





In this next photo, here’s me, Maggie Hope, and my husband Hal in front of, well, can you see what it is? Yeah, I mean that big boat with the giraffes in it.



Next we took a tour of the city of Jerusalem as it was in Jesus’ day or in the years following His death and resurrection. The gate in front of the Temple is the Eastern gate which is currently bricked over (in real life, that is). There is also a Muslim graveyard now in front of this gate because the Muslims know this is the gate where Jesus will enter through when He returns and the graveyard is designed to keep Him from it. Jews are not to touch a grave, so the Muslims believe this will stop the Jewish Messiah from being able to enter through the gate. If you look really closely about half way across the area to the right and towards the back of the model, you can see the three holes in a hill that look like a skull. This is “the place of the skull” many believe was Golgotha where the crucifixion took place.




Here’s me, Magnificent, and Hal in front of an exact replica of “The Jesus Boat,” a boat from the actual time Jesus walked the earth that has been excavated in Israel. I wrote an article “Finding God in the Jesus Boat” which has a lot more information and a photo of the real boat (which is in Israel. Hal, Magnificent Hope, and I are not!)



In these last two photos, Hal, Magnificent Hope, and I stand in front of the stage set of the Temple and many other biblical scenes. Suddenly Jesus graciously appeared and posed with me for a photo op! Maggie Hope disappeared and I had no idea why she didn’t get in the photo. Later we found her flat on the floor and I learned she was just so awed by Jesus’ appearance that she fainted.



Thanks, Jesus, for Your kindness and mercy on all of us, and for the truly magnificent hope we have, because of You!

Can you guess where we are?




So, readers, can you guess where Magnificent Hope is this week? 

Answer the question correctly to be entered to win a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet.

Here's how to play:


Each week, we’ll post a photo of Magnificent Hope near a landmark. If you know “Where in the World is Magnificent Hope?” send us an e-mail with the subject line CONTEST WEEK 1, CONTEST WEEK 2, CONTEST WEEK 3, etc. The person with the MOST correct entries and bonus entries at the end of the contest will win their choice of either a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet, a $100 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card (depending on which reader your choose), and a copy of all our WIP and PNP books published any time during this year!

Bonus entries may be earned three ways:
  1.  By “liking” all three Facebook pages – Write Integrity, Pix-N-Pens, and Magnificent Hope – just be sure to let us know you liked us in your first contest entry, and we’ll add the bonus points.
  2. Bonus entries will also be given for anyone submitting by e-mail one or more photos taken with Magnificent Hope AND at least one of our books anywhere on her journey. One photo per location, please. (For example, if you bump into Magnificent Hope at a Jennifer Fromke event in North Carolina and take ten photos with her at that same event, only one photo will count. But if you bump into Magnificent Hope at Jennifer’s event, and then again at an event with Dianne E. Butts, you can take photos both places and get two bonus entries!) Send your photos in .jpeg format, attached to an email, and we may use them in blog posts or perhaps even a book.
  3. Telling your family and friends about Magnificent Hope, Hope Tour 2012, and our books and authors – through Facebook, Twitter, blog posts, interviews with our authors or Magnificent Hope, or other ways. One share per week gets you an extra entry, so send us your links by e-mail so we can tally your points.

(If you have trouble using the links, the e-mail address to send entries to is: magnificenthope [at] yahoo [dot] com.)

For those of you coming on board in the middle of the contest, you can go back and enter the previous weeks whenever you wish. Just find the "Where in the World is Magnificent Hope?" contest links in the list below and submit your best guess for each week. 



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Bio: Dianne E. Butts and Renee Gray-Wilburn co-authored Grandparenting through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Obstacles to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ, releasing from Pix-N-Pens Publishing August 17, 2012. Dianne is a double-finalist in Write Integrity Press’ fiction and nonfiction “Books of Hope” contest. Her latest book, Deliver Me, is a Nonfiction Book of the Year with Christian Small Publishers Association and was a finalist for a Golden Scroll Nonfiction book of the Year from Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.


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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Celebrate Recovery Offers a Safe Place to Share Struggles


Please welcome one of Hope Tour's charter sponsors, author Naty Matos, as our guest blogger today.

Every time someone hears the words Celebrate Recovery their mind goes to the most known addictions like alcohol, drugs or sex.  Although those life issues are addressed at this program there is so much more to it. 

Many Christians struggle with different issues and fear revealing their struggles for fear of judgment. There tends to be the erroneous conception that once you have achieved salvation the fact that you struggle with habits and hang-ups is lack of prayer or faith.  Nothing can be farther from the truth. 

Celebrate Recovery was created by Pastor Rick Warren out of his own need to recover from hang-ups himself. He’s the Pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA. He struggled with the fact that secular 12 steps were resistant to the notion of Jesus as their higher power. He found that the 8 principles to live were found in the Beatitudes and that there was basis for the 12 steps of recovery in the Scriptures. He then designed the program around that. 

Celebrate Recovery provides hope to believers that there’s a safe place where they can share their struggles without judgment.  The attendees find support from fellow Christians who are further along in the process and others that are at the same level of progress. A great sense of accountability is encouraged. We all know that we act better when we are being watched, but it’s not forced, it’s actually solicited and welcomed by the participants. 

The program allows the participants to dig deep into their pasts. They are able to share hurts that have impacted most of their lives and many times address behaviors for the first time in their lives. They finally experience the freedom of not being held back from their past. They experience acceptance, live and love without condemnation, which ultimately helps them grow in their relationship with God. 

As stated at the beginning of this article, the program addresses more than the known addictions.  Issues like divorce, grief, depression, codependency, anxiety, anger, food addiction, just to name a few, are addressed through this program. It's Bible-based and I’ve had the opportunity to see it work miracles in many lives. I’ve seen marriages being restored, parents and children improving their relationships, and broken people being healed and finding true joy for the first time. 

There are thousands of chapters of Celebrate Recovery around the world and they can be found at www.celebraterecovery.com.




About the Author: Naty Matos was born in the city of New York. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.

Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at The Rising Muse. 


The Road Home

He was finally coming. He told Desiree that once her task was complete, he would be there to pick her up. And they could finally be together forever. Desiree was finally going to be with the one she loved. But what did she need to do? And how was she going to figure out what it was?

Desiree’s life has been less than perfect.  All she wanted was to find true love. To everyone on the outside she was beautiful, fun loving, and the life of the party.  On the inside Desiree is afraid.  Her fear of rejection places her in situations that will alter her life forever and possible tear her family apart. She has the love and support of a good friend, but more importantly she has her prayers. As Desiree makes changes in her own life, she slowly realizes that her dreams are within her reach.  Journey with Desiree as she reflects on her life, through both good and bad times and discover what is really preventing her from having the ultimate dream.  True love!!!



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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Magnificent Hope Shares Hope with Homeless Shelter



Today's post comes from Magnificent Hope herself.

Last Saturday I was privileged to help make dinner for the North Strand Housing Shelter near Myrtle Beach. I joined some ladies from North Strand Community Church to make yummy lasagna. We arrived with the hot pans of pasta and lots of bread and salad. One of the ladies added a big Mississippi mud pie. After serving the residents of the shelter we joined them in enjoying the feast. Later I shared a devotional about God’s magnificent hope with them.


I’m going to admit that I was a little intimidated by the idea of hanging out with the residents. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was told they would be mostly men. I envisioned little ol’ me surrounded by big tough men, trying to think of something to say. Men need hope too, but sharing it with them is a little outside my comfort zone.

But I was wrong. The people in the shelter are just like everyone else I know; they’re just going through a hard time right now. It’s a ranch style house away from the city and has a yard for the residents to enjoy, as well as lots of space inside. The day we came the residents included women as well as men and one delightful baby. They were friendly and welcomed us into their home. But we didn’t get to meet all the residents because many of them were working or in class. The shelter offers people a place to live until they can earn enough to rent a place of their own.

The residents are in tough circumstances and need hope, but it was clear that Jesus lives in the shelter with them. During the devotional I shared some stories of hope, reading from two books: Towdah: A Cancer Survivor’s Song of Hope and Love Letters from the Heart. I closed with the scripture passage from Romans 8 about God’s amazing love. When we prayed many of them had specific requests to lay before the King.

It was truly a blessing to share with these precious people and I invite you to join me in praying for God’s provision for all their needs.



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