God, Grace & Grit

By Bishop Dr. Cynthia King Bolden Gardner

Christ in you, the HOPE of glory... By Gods grace, the weak, the base, the foolish are lifted out of the dust and the GRIT and molded to perfection, IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS.

THIS BOOK INCLUDES THE STARTUP PROGRAM TO CREATE A KINGS KIDS BOOTCAMP. THE ACTUAL STARTUP KIT, INCLUDING INCORPORATION AND NONPROFIT PAPERS MAY BE OBTAINED FOR $275 at APOSTLE GARDNER [phone]

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499061291

Bishop Dr. Cynthia King Bolden Gardner

Bishop Cynthia Gardner is a proven leader committed to our communities. She sets a strong example for our children and is willing to take a stand for what is right. Bishop Gardner does not just talk about her faith, she acts upon it in order to build a just and beloved community for all.” - Director Jed Oppenheimer, Southern Poverty Law Center, Jackson, Ms. “Bishop Gardner is a gifted and anointed servant of God. Her love for God and His people is unwaivering. Bishop Gardner ‘s spiritual journey has blessed many people in her life. Her ministry and service to others represent Christ and His love. She is a loving, caring and generous woman of God. I am confident this powerful expose on the plight of youth will inspire, motivate and bless the reader to be a blessing to someone else”.”To God Be the Glory for All He has Done.” - Dean Margaree Coleman Carter, Student Life, Montclair University “Bishop Bolden-Gardner is one of the smartest, most resilient women I know. Despite her personal struggles, she continues to triumph! Maybe it is her constant faith in God, or her ability to maintain a sense of humor. Her intellect and wackiness are awe inspiring!” - Ms. Cheryl Renee Cooper, CPA, AARP Dr. Gardner was deemed an Amazon Bestselling Author in the categories of Counselling and Social Issues on October 2, 2014. She has been featured in Sports Illustrated, USA Today, San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Voice & Viewpoint, Christianity Today, Erie Daily Times, Erie Morning News, Jackson Free Press, AME Christian Recorder, Georgetown Today, Georgetown Alumni Magazine, Mercyhurst Prep School (MPS) Lakers Magazine, Bologna Italy Book Fair, Monterey Capital Defense Seminars, California Public Defenders Assn, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Living Day by Day Atlanta. www.theeaglespeaksgoodnews.com sojournertruthacademy.com www.newmercyseatministries.com [e-mail]

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Copyright © 2014 by Bishop Dr. Cynthia King Bolden Gardner, J.D., D.Div.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 11/20/2014

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Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Grace

Chapter 2 Ball of Confusion

Chapter 3 Emerging Grit

Chapter 4 Seed: When Grit Ain’t Groceries

Chapter 5 Birthing Pains

Chapter 6 Protracted Labor?

Chapter 7 Practicing What You Preach

Chapter 8 Best Laid Plans

Chapter 9 Conclusion

Chapter 10 True Grit: Establishing King’s Kids Youth Bootcamp

Inspirational Bibliography

Author’s Publications

About the Author

Dedication

I JUST WANT TO PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU LORD…Psalms 34:1: I shall bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalms 108:1-6:

O God my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise even with my glory. Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth; That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand and hear me.

Hallelujah

TO THE LIVES OF THE CHILDREN THAT HAVE ENRICHED MY LIFE AND MINISTRY.

OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME DREAM MAKER AND FULFILLER. THERE IS NO FAILURE IN HIM. HE IS IN YOU. YOU ULTIMATELY WIN. YOU ULTIMATELY SUCCEED. JUST REMEMBER TO BE THERE FOR ONE ANOTHER AS WELL AS THE NEXT GENERATION.

NEXT TO HIS LOVE FOR YOU, YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE MY HEART AND AN OPEN DOOR.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Bishop Dr. Cynthia King Bolden Gardner, J.D., D.Div.

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DEAN MARGAREE COLEMAN CARTER

Foreword

Beautiful Grace is present in all of it’s manifestations in this work.

The focal point is God, the omnipotent, omnipresent Creator and His care, compassion and provision for babies and ‘errant seed.’

Grace steps in because we are directed through undeserved Divine favor as we grow, maneuver, manipulate, connive and do everything that historical saints like, Sarah, Jacob’s mother, Jochebed, Rachel, Leah, Hannah and the like do.

On the other hand, we get a microscopic look at the male side of the equation as well. Adam’s faults, Cain’s murder, Moses’ early years, Abraham and the need to rescue Lot from the coming embers, Lot’s drunken incestuous relations with his daughters and grandchildren who were also his children and therefore brothers to their mothers!!! There is much more including the struggles of Jabez and Ichabod to overcome insurmountable odds from birth along with the unnamed female child in Ezekiel 16. See, Woman, Behold Thyself and Castaway Cradles in the book Kingdom Seed, by Bishop Cynthia Gardner.

Grit recognizes that we are made from the dust of the earth; yet we have the breath of God in us which makes us special. We are made from dust and unto dust our bodies shall return.

Thanks to Adam (and Woman), man has to toil to eek a living from the earth after God evicts them from the garden. satan desired to devour the dust so God gives him what he asks for. The serpent gets to crawl around on his belly with a steady diet of dust. Man (Christ, the Second Adam) shall bruise his head and he shall bruise man’s heel.

God, Grace & Grit allows us to see ourselves in the mirror of Biblical personages. If they can make it, SO CAN WE.

We all need help along the way. God, Grace & Grit is a clarion call for society as a whole to look at the plight of our babies and youth. It is a call for us to roll up our sleeves and get involved EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT OUR CHILDREN. IT IS A CALL TO COMMUNITY. IT IS A CALL FROM CHRIST TO LOVE AS HE HAS LOVED YOU!!!

No more patching up the lives of our children with asphalt, pitch and mortar as Jochebed did Moses’ little ark and set him on the river. NO, WE HAVE THE WHEREWITHAL TO DO BETTER, WE SHOULD AND WE SHALL.

I have watched Dr. Gardner make this same transformation. We grew up together in Erie, PA. Her journey began in a four story, four car garage home with her grandmother, to the projects, to Mercyhurst Preparatory High School on scholarship, to Georgetown University undergraduate and law school and Jones, Day a prestigious top ten law firm.

The many hardships she has encountered in life having been frequently physically abused in her teens, wrestling with an alcohol riddled home while her grandmother, the love of her life, was dying with cancer. This was followed by a period of homelessness and no financial resources as an adult, failed relationships and most of all childlessness. This childlessness has given her a love and dedication to children comparable to the fire shut up in Jeremiah’s bones.

Saving and helping children throughout the country attain their highest potential is and has been Dr. Gardner’s life passion.

Her adversity and her barreness became her blessing. She developed one of the strongest homeless and youth ministries feeding over 200 nightly from the tailgate of her Navigator. Despite the numerous impediments, she became Deputy of the Year, 1999-2000 in San Diego County.

My dear Sister’s transformation has become part of her legacy. A legacy that began with what seemed to be insurmountable troubles but because of God’s Beautiful Grace her life has helped to transform others like myself.

Her accomplishments include being consecrated a Bishop in 2007 and attaining her Doctorate in Divinity in 2012. She has a King’s Kids Youth Ministry and Bootcamp in Mississippi and is busy developing Sojourner Truth Academy where the public schools consistently maintain a ‘D’ grade. She will receive the signal honor of recognition of her calling and elevation to Apostleship, June 28, 2015, four months before her sixtieth birthday! My dear Sister never lost her Hope! Hope in God! Hope in His Grace!

Mrs. Margaree Coleman Carter

Associate Dean Student Life

Dean of Student’s Office

Montclair State University

Mid Atlantic I Episcopal Director of Christian Education

AME Zion Church

Voice: 973-655-7548

Fax: [phone]

Introduction

II Corinthians 4:7-13:

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to