We must admit we have never seen so many homeless. On every street corner either selling newspapers or water, or just asking for help. Tents are tucked away in little patches of woods next to interstate ramps and railroad bridges. I stopped at a place in West Palm Beach where the homeless are just lined up in a large party-style tent trying to sleep, outside Westgate Tabernacle Church. It turns out this particular church was on CNN because the county is trying to fine them for having the tent. On a good note, I have found that many churches down here have a ministry to help these downtrodden people, but unfortunately I also have found that those who don't aren't exactly interested in starting one. Who would have known that a place where this ministry would seem to flourish has been bogged down by unanswered emails, phone calls and visits. The only churches quick to respond are those who are actively serving the homeless in their communities, and need help. We haven't given up, though, we realize God has a purpose for us here. We will visit a successful ministry at First Baptist Church of Pompano on Saturday and hopefully get some good connections there. We have decided to focus on getting a couple of these churches, such as Westgate Tabenacle, some desperately needed support from other churches. Please pray for God to open the doors for us, as this is His Ministry for His glory.
Peace & Grace
Doug & family
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I hear the crying out of the heart of Four Disciples Mission. I sit here on the inside looking out. Inside the warmth of my home, overflowing with more than the neccessities. The imperical reality that your mission is exposed too must be blinding. Concealed to those of us who wish not to see, therefore never moved to respond to the need. I try to conceptualize the impact we could make as Christians if we heed the word of God in reference to such matters. "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7
"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11
"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Proverbs 21:13
"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." Proverbs 22:9
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18
Scripture is abundant in clarity to the matter.
Jesus states
"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33
"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Luke 18:22
How am I to be serving the Lord, and ignore this responsibility.
Why, why the suffering in a world created by our perfect God??????
Jill Carttini Editor of a slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias ministries puts it this way.
When Jesus said that we would always have the poor with us, he did not say it with the despair of one who looks around and sees how vast is the need and poverty of a hurting world. He said it knowing every face in the immense crowd of nobodiness, knowing every name we would try not to learn when the pain of others becomes unbearable. He said it living in time, yet conscious of eternity, showing us the mindset he longed for us to hold: A non-answer is very clearly an answer. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" (Matthew 12:30).
The cries of the oppressed and brokenhearted will continue to resound though we sit in comfortable apathy and languid affluence, and the call of Christ can be heard in the midst of it all, urging us to set aside all that entangles and follow after him. The poor and the downcast will always be with us, and where we will allow ourselves to see, it will be overwhelming. They need justice, they need mercy, and they need our time--even as Jesus seems to tell us that it is we who are most in need of them. "The poor you will always have with you," he said as if it were a promise that he too would be near. He made the comment knowing that throughout most of history the Son of God would not be with us in the flesh. But in the cup of cold water delivered to the least of these, in the reaching out to the downtrodden and oppressed, he is indeed there among us--the hand extended to the one hurting, and the eyes of the one in need--destroying the notion of nobodiness two faces at a time.
I pray for the strength to take action in this world. Serve our Lord to help those in dire need. I through the power of Jesus will become more like him. My material needs will diminnish, my pride extinguished, my faith hardened.
In the name of my Lord Jesus, I pray
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