Hoovervilles

[Neighbor]

Talk about being so old. I just heard the term Hoovervilles being spoken by Robert Kennedy Jr and I understood what it meant!

 I had not thought about the reality that the encampments in the little woods and the lines of hand made tents on city sidewalks are the same poverty Hoovervilles right out of Steinbeck's  "The Grapes of Wrath".

Today's Hoovrrvilles have been the plight of the drug addicted, the mentally ill, and now most anybody in America that misses one too many payments of rent mortgage utility bill or car payment.

Wow it i s The grapes of Wrath! in living breathing color and tears complete with smell o vision on most every communities little wooded clusters or city parks and business streets.

Perhaps as a nation the USA is missing the mark on sharing a cup of cool water. Maybe there can be a sacrificial giving in  the way of taxes, a little more mercy on the downtrodden. Whether deserved or not is it necessary to leave so many  without a thing other than a bag of used goods to tot around in a shopping cart?

Maybe a solid start is to take time to join in prayer and fasting, for what we are doing, though some try hard even now, is not seemingly working well.

Lord how do I help?

Edited March 8, 2024 by Neighbor
to correct several typos - bad eyes this morning

[D. Adrien]

39 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

Lord how do I help?

Support the word being preached and those hearing the word a bit of food in their belly.

Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you to action. Pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to remain unstained from the ways of this world. 

Polycarp was still testifying shortly before his martyrdom quoting Psalms. He in words when that is all that remained within his power, but we all still have time for action.

[Sower]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

Lord how do I help?

After praying,

REACH OUT

1. Work at a shelter. Take an evening or overnight shift. ...
2. Help build or fix up houses or shelters. ...
3. Offer professional skills directly or assist in job training. ...
4. Share hobbies. ...
5. Invite people experiencing homelessness to a community event. ...
6. Organize an event at a shelter. ...
7. Work with children. ...
8. Involve others!

 

Best Charities For Helping Homeless People

• Family Promise.
• Coalition for the Homeless.
• Covenant House.
• StandUp for Kids.
• U.S. Veterans Initiative.
• Abode Services.
• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
• DePaul USA.                               

You Can Help A Homeless Person

• 1) Donate Basic Items. ...
• 2) Cook & Serve A Meal. ...
• 3) Donate Professional Skills. ...
• 4) Job Opportunities. ...
• 5) A Simple Smile. ...
• Serving Others & Changing Lives.

"Join with those who are actually working, without self-interest
and with dedication to find concrete and urgent solutions to the food and housing problem."

"Local churches can prioritize organizing food banks and shelters to help homeless people in their community. The congregation is capable of embracing the homeless and assisting through community outreach, creating meaningful relationships beyond evangelical or missionary agendas"

***********************************************************************************

Support organizations like

“Whoever is kind to the needy honors God”

Proverbs 14:31

"Our guests (men only) check in at 5:00 PM  , they are provided clean clothes if desired, and take a shower.  Chapel service starts at 7:00 PM and is conducted by a volunteer pastor or lay leader.  Christian songs are sung and the gospel is given with an invitation for all to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. A hot meal is served after the chapel service in concluded.

We occupy 4 buildings which contain the chapel, office, kitchen, dining room, dormitories, bathrooms, clothing room, laundry room, storage areas and staff quarters.   Our dormitory can accommodate 40 guests."

***************************************************************************************

 

Our church and others support this mission, and over the years young men in our church that have decided to become ministers, volunteer at the rescue mission to bring a message and minister to the men, exposing them to the realities of being a shepherd, learning while helping.

There is a bazillion ways to help those in need. Praying for the poor is cool, but praying to our father to show us ways we can help individually or within our congregation is walking in faith, abiding. Most everybody is aware of the needy and the problems.  Christians can act and take this to the Lord and then become part of the solution as God directs each of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neighbor]

Yep!

[farouk]

3 hours ago, D. Adrien said:

Support the word being preached and those hearing the word a bit of food in their belly.

Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you to action. Pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to remain unstained from the ways of this world. 

Polycarp was still testifying shortly before his martyrdom quoting Psalms. He in words when that is all that remained within his power, but we all still have time for action.

@D. Adrien I think some ppl use the word as a way of spreading the implication that high taxation is better than economic growth, to safeguard employment.

[Logostician]

When you subtract God from freedom and democracy, they fail.  It isn't freedom alone that made the USA great.  Godliness constrains the greed that would otherwise have characterized the USA.  The founding fathers of the USA knew this when they conceived the USA.  As did the citizens.  And God blessed our nation.

Today our government has rejected God, and sought to eliminate him from every area of public life.  Democrats have not only openly embraced atheism, but they have also rejected freedom for socialism.  Increasingly we have departed from the roots of American greatness, which are the confluence of God and freedom in our lives.

I do not want to see taxes increased so they can be spent foolishly to buy votes, while actually increasing the homeless problem, as we see in Democrat run cities.  I want to see taxes reduced, so I have more to give, and can do it in the name of God.

When taxation is used to redistribute wealth in programs developed by ungodly men, both the payer and the payee are unsatisfied.  The payer feels that he has been robbed.  And the payee thinks he can always get more by playing worldly politics, and voting for more welfare.  But when the Godly man gives freely to the poor, both are happy.  The Godly man has shown his love for God and his neighbor.  And the recipient knows that he was given a gift freely.  And God was the reason.

[Neighbor]

6 hours ago, Logostician said:

I do not want to see taxes increased so they can be spent foolishly to buy votes, while actually increasing the homeless problem, as we see in Democrat run cities.  I want to see taxes reduced, so I have more to give, and can do it in the name of God.

When taxation is used to redistribute wealth in programs developed by ungodly men, both the payer and the payee are unsatisfied.  The payer feels that he has been robbed.  And the payee thinks he can always get more by playing worldly politics, and voting for more welfare.  But when the Godly man gives freely to the poor, both are happy.  The Godly man has shown his love for God and his neighbor.  And the recipient knows that he was given a gift freely.  And God was the reason.

Hi, I do not mind paying taxes. Though  it is a pain to figure out and keep track of for sure.

What I do not want is for spending by any ruling organization without the money  on hand to pay for it as that dilutes the value of what I have earned by my labors and also burdens my grandchild with a debt that likely be so massive that confidence in the prosperity and the economy will collapse altogether.

If the USA for example is going to go waring and be an arms supplier it needs to raise taxes to pay for it or reduce other services it provides, not just increase money supply without providing an offsetting balance.

It is not a choice between one or the other, Government or God. Anyone needing to pay taxes has enough discretionary funds to do as led by God. I cannot successfully  use the excuse of,- the government, it took it, so I can't participate in what I would otherwise in honoring God. 

..."Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' " ....

[Logostician]

2 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Hi, I do not mind paying taxes. Though  it is a pain to figure out and keep track of for sure.

What I do not want is for spending by any ruling organization without the money  on hand to pay for it as that dilutes the value of what I have earned by my labors and also burdens my grandchild with a debt that likely be so massive that confidence in the prosperity and the economy will collapse altogether.

If the USA for example is going to go waring and be an arms supplier it needs to raise taxes to pay for it or reduce other services it provides, not just increase money supply without providing an offsetting balance.

It is not a choice between one or the other, Government or God. Anyone needing to pay taxes has enough discretionary funds to do as led by God. I cannot successfully  use the excuse of,- the government, it took it, so I can't participate in what I would otherwise in honoring God. 

..."Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' " ....

I still think free giving to honor God works better than forced taking.  But Christians must step up and do the giving, despite being under attack by worldly "rulers".

2 Chronicles 26:6-10

So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you demanded that the Levites go out and collect the Temple taxes from the towns of Judah and from Jerusalem? Moses, the servant of the Lord, levied this tax on the community of Israel in order to maintain the Tabernacle of the Covenant.” Over the years the followers of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God, and they had used all the dedicated things from the Temple of the Lord to worship the images of Baal.  So now the king ordered a chest to be made and set outside the gate leading to the Temple of the Lord.  Then a proclamation was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem, telling the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God, had required of the Israelites in the wilderness.  This pleased all the leaders and the people, and they gladly brought their money and filled the chest with it.

[Sower]

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' "

            "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice:

              but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn"  Proverbs 29:2

 

Quoting;
"The default position of Christians is to obey the government that God has established over us. That is what Jesus is telling us when he says “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” As we learn, God has legitimized human government, even the imperfect ones. Therefore, Christians are to respect and obey that government.

But are there times when Christians should disobey their government or practice what is called civil disobedience?
 There is a precedent for civil disobedience in the Bible:

 

- Hebrew midwives disobey Pharaoh when told to kill the male babies.

- Daniel refuses to eat the king’s meat and prays even when prayer to God is prohibited.

- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down to a statue of Nebuchadnezzar.

- Paul is jailed numerous times for preaching a religion in violation of Rome’s law.

 

And what of Jesus’ statement in our Fighter Verse? “Give to God the things that are God’s.” Doesn’t this place God above all human government. Doesn’t it teach us that we must give our lives for God and His Kingdom?
            Shouldn’t we say with the Apostles,
       “We ought to obey God rather than men.”?

So when is civil disobedience called for in the Christian life?
Whenever a government compels you to sin, or prevents you from doing something that is required by God.

The government of every nation is legitimized and even ordained by God.
It is there because he has allowed it to be there.

But God is our ultimate authority.
Christians are called to civil disobedience when it is the loving thing to do.

Therefore, proclaiming the gospel must be done regardless of the law of the land.
Also fighting against injustices that lead to the death and “slaughter” of the innocent is required of Christians.

Christians should practice non-violent civil disobedience. This was modeled by our Savior and the Apostles. They preached even when it was against the law, yet they did not rise up in violence against their oppressive rulers.

They trusted God for protection and lived in faith that their true life and home awaited them beyond their own deaths.

Pastor Brady Wolcott, Grace Baptist Church..

[Neighbor]

4 hours ago, Sower said:

Doesn’t this place God above all human government.

Isn't  ALL government appointed by God? Seems to me all are, BUT men have also taken things into their own hands and appointed government not recognized by  God.

Interesting piece on that  at https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/does-god-appoint-evil-leaders-to-lead-nations/