Tag: care

Helping a neighbor

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I’m amazed at the growing number of stories I continue hearing about people hurting financially. Recession or not, people are struggling. I’m not always able to help, like I want but I want to do more to share their stories and to find ways to help those who are able to help – to help.

Sometimes their needs might be financial, sometimes it might be warm clothes or a hot meal but I want to do what I can to share their stories when I can. Other times, it may be folks doing God’s amazing work around the world that can use a helping hand.

You’ll notice on the top of the sidebar a new “feature” that will highlight the latest way you can help others.

As Clive Parnell will mention on this week’s podcast, “We become so very isolated. As Christians we need to be about others. We need to be finding ways to reach out to others” (loosely quoted).

Today I got a text message and voice mail about a family living in Waxahachie in a mobile home. A family of seven (parents and five children) are living in a single-wide home with no electricity, no water and about to get behind on their rent. My friend took them three boxes of groceries today and found out they’re $930 behind on their bills.

So far my friend has been able to get $600 for them! God’s working quickly! I’m hoping folks will be able to help out and raise the remaining $330 in the next day or so and then we can go to work helping the family even further.

Let me know if you’re interested in helping.

Matthew 25:31-40
“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'”

Change the world for $10

Kevin Hendricks is always finding great ways people can make a real difference. And these two ways don’t take much at all.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one person.”


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50,000 Shoes in 50 Days
Anne Jackson teamed up with Soles4Souls to issue a challenge: Buy 50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days. $5 will buy you two pairs of shoes! Soles4Souls gets shoes to people who need them, helping to keep them safe and healthy. There’s less than a week left in the challenge and nearly 40,000 pairs of shoes to go.
Buy a pair of shoes now.

Dreaming of a Dry Christmas
invisiblepeople.tv is a great site telling the stories of real homeless people. The man behind it, Mark Horvath, is working with homeless people in Los Angeles and has seen a need for raincoats. Michael Buckingham of Holy Cow Creative wants to send Mark 100 coats. He’s dreaming of a dry Christmas. $4.29 is all it takes to buy a raincoat for a homeless person.
Buy a raincoat now!

Two great ways to change the world for three different people. Just as a note – I gave to both of these groups. How many of you will match me? What other gifts are you giving this holiday season that will make that kind of impact?

I’ll add one other way you can change a person’s Christmas for under $10.

Giving Christmas to Daniel’s Den
Josh got word last week that there are five women living at Daniel’s Den in Waxahachie, the only homeless shelter for women and children in Ellis County. These five women are not going to be getting anything for Christmas, but Josh’s wife and several other women are putting together several gift packages for the women and I do believe you can still help. Drop me an email to find out how you can participate.


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You too can change the world – 50 words or less

“We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can change the whole world for one person.”

Shaun Groves and his band of bloggers are returning from the Dominican Republic today. Take some time to learn what they’ve learned.

(What are other folks saying this weekend in 50 words or less?)

twisted pressure on pastors

Brian shared some thoughts on the encounter blog about pastors and a new book by George Barna, Pagan Christianity…

  • 94 percent feel pressured to have an ideal family
  • 90 percent work more than 46 hours a week
  • 81 percent say they have insufficient time with their spouse
  • 80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively
  • 70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend
  • 70 percent have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry
  • 50 percent feel unable to meet the demands of the job
  • 80 percent feel discouraged and deal with depression
  • more than 40 percent report that they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and unrealistic expectations
  • 33 percent consider pastoral ministry an outright hazard to their family
  • 33 percent have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year
  • 40 percent of pastoral resignations are due to burnout

Brian says he’s rarely faced any of these issues since encounter began, but I wonder if there are other pastors in our lives that might be struggling with these issues while there are things we can take off their plate, encourage them about, or ensure them that its not expected of them.