Tag Archive for 'poor'

Babylonian Commander Nebuzaradan cares for the Poor

Published
by
Dan
on 10/21/2008
in Bible Study
. 1 Comment

Jer. 39:10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

A commander of the Babylonian army sees fit to give land to people that are poor, but the people of Israel did not. They would not celebrate the Sabbath of the Land or return land to the family from which it came in the year of Jubilee.
What evil shame Nebuzaradan testified to when he gave the poor in the land vineyards and fields to work.

The Risk of Generosity and Con-(wo)Men

Published
by
Dan
on 9/25/2008
in Bible Study and Urbia
. 1 Comment

It’s been quite a week in our neighborhood.

Tuesday night we had about 50 Jr. High kids come down and help out on our street. They picked up tons of sticks and bundled them all up and raked a lot of grass and leaves into bags. It was good to walk down the street and see them all working so hard, and then talk to my neighbors some that had come out to see what was going on.

Last night we had a prayer night and some friends from church and our whole family went to two nearby schools and prayed for the surrounding neighborhoods. I was especially glad to take the kids along so they could participate and witness what we’re doing.

Tonight seemed normal enough. We called it our “night off” since we didn’t have any events planned. I was out in the back yard getting the grill going when one of my neighbors came out to his back yard and we both met in the alley and started talking. He said that the house behind us and over one has been empty for 6 years, and was a crack house before that.

I think in a few days another crew from church will come and clean it up. I told him I would like a corner of it for a garden. He said he’s already done that! He grew corn and tomatoes in somebody’s abandoned yard!

He went back into his house and there I was trying to cook my burgers medium well and figure out where I’m going to put a fence between my yard and the alley. I heard a bike approach and it startled me.

I told the person on the bike it startled me and they just laughed. They asked me what I was doing. I commented about the fence and our wall, etc. THINKING that I was talking to a teenage boy.

Well I was wrong.

It was a woman.

After my comments about the fence, I repeated her question back, “What are you doing?” (looking back, I realize that I speak with a different level of respect to a woman than to a teenage boy)

She said, “I’m just needing some food. I’m homeless-I sleep down by the river-and pregnant and I have diabetes and I just need $5 to get something to eat.”

That is a tough call. In the past I haven’t been able to mix relief w/ the gospel. At the same time I’ve seen that relief w/o the gospel just helps wicked men in their wicked deeds. But here was a beggar, humiliated I could tell, begging.

I gave her two McDonald’s gift cards and she said she smoked too. “I’m not going to help you with that, that’ll kill you. Of course, that McDonald’s might too.” I said. I know it’s hard to be thankful when you’re desperate. She also darted off about as fast as she could after I gave it to her, looking embarrassed.

It’s really embarrassing being poor. It’s humiliating to ask and it’s humiliating to take a handout. I know about all kinds of long-term plans to help people out of poverty, but I also know what it’s like to be hungry and not have enough money to buy the food you need.

I think I would rather give $500 away to 100 con men tricking me into giving them drug money, than say no to a single mom trying to figure out how to get dinner.

Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
1 Corinthians 6.7 ESV

There is a fine line between being foolish and generous. Risk it.

Jesus and the Ubiquitous Poor

Published
by
Dan
on 9/23/2008
in Bible Study
. 1 Comment

When Jesus said, “You will always have the poor with you.” He was not giving an excuse or being overwhelmed. Many people read this like it’s Jesus’ commentary on how we should care for the poor.

“Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.””

(Matt 26:10-13 NIV)

It’s not a commentary on caring for the poor, it’s about the timing of His death. His death is coming soon, and He won’t always be around. Look at how Mark tells it.

“The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

(Mark 14:7-8 NIV)

A little different, isn’t it. You can help the poor any time, but you can only annoint me for burial within the next few days.

The section Jesus is quoting here is pretty interesting. It’s from Deuteronomy 15.

“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 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.”

(Deut 15:10-11 NIV)

It’s like Jesus is saying, “you should always give to the poor, and you always have the opportunity to, but right now I’m preparing for burial, and she knows it because she believes the things I’ve said about how I’m going to die, and she’s mourning and celebrating all at once”

That’s why Judas immediately left. Partially because the expensive ointment was wasted, but here’s Jesus talking about dying again! Where is that ever going to get us!?

A really wild thing is that 10 verses back, God says that there shouldn’t even be any poor people, because there will be enough money to go around. In ancient Hebrew culture, the most degrading thing you could do for a person was to give them money. That’s why it’s so disgraceful to beg throughout the bible, and beggars are ashamed of what they do. The next tier up from that is to give someone money for doing some pitiful thing. To make up a silly job as an excuse to give them a handout. The best way, Hebrew culture wise, was to employ someone with some real task. Give them a real job to do and then pay them a fair wage for it.

I’ve developed a love for Goodwill lately, because they do this. They hire all kinds of people, and they accommodate them however they can to help them work in their shop. Some people may say there are restaurants EVERYWHERE that are hiring all the time. The truth is that if you’re homeless and don’t have an address for the application, they won’t hire you. There is no shower at McDonald’s, so if you don’t have water at your house, you can’t clean up for work. As the obstacles pile up, the motivation to work atrophies. After 3-4 days, discouragement wins out and hope is lost. I’ve talked to several people that have fallen into this spiral, and I’ve tiptoed around it’s edge a lot.

The poor you will always have with you, so be generous to them.

Talking about Money

Published
by
Dan
on 9/22/2008
in Bible Study, Bookstore and Short Quotes
. 1 Comment

I did a bad thing by starting off my quiet time reading “The ABC’s of Financial Freedom” this morning. It is a book on Christian Stewardship. It immediately put me into a critical mode when I read a few quotes:

You and I should do some Christ-centered vision casting of our own and start thinking about what we could do if we were totally debt free…

Here are just a few suggestions to help you get started:

[there is a list of 10, but here are the whoppers-ds]

6. You could finally have that “dream” vacation
7. You could fix things up around you house or even get a new one.
8. You could get some new furniture or a new vehicle.
9. You cold surprise people with secret acts of kindness and generosity
10. YOU COULD DO ALMOST ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE. (emphasis mine)

I’m not even going to comment on that. I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

All of that said, my church is about to have a few weeks of messages on “financial stewardship.” When I heard that we were going to be talking about money (it’s ok to say MONEY, it really is) I was interested. In light of the current economic state of the world, we need to really focus on our earning, spending, and buying with the Life of Jesus in us. There are a lot of people that need help unlearning the habits of the world and learning how to use their money for the Kingdom of God. Now more than ever is a time to speak up for the poor and use our overflow to wisely help them instead of blowing it on the new furniture we need or our “dream” vacation.

I think the hardest thing for me during this coming series will be to keep MY focus on Jesus, and not keep harping on all of the stuff I see wrong. But that focus is terribly important, because if I lose that focus, I will have done the same thing as the people that make finances and resources (money) the focus.

I can already tell that this is going to be hard.

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Luke 16:13

Leftovers and the Tithe

Published
by
Dan
on 9/2/2008
in Bible Study
. 1 Comment

I was just reading Rick’s notes on John 6.1-13 and the recurring theme of God giving in abundance and there being leftovers comes up over and over again. When Jesus handed out the bread, there were leftovers, when He turned the water into wine, I HOPE there were leftovers!, when they caught all of the fish, there were so many the nets began to break…So I’m left thinking…where are my leftovers? It’s sad to say but that was my first reaction. Then my neck was a little sore and I looked around (heh, my stiff neck, Ex. 32.9) and I see all of the stuff we have at our house. My sons have robots! I have 2 nice cameras (still and motion) There are appliances, furnishings, conveniences, lavishings!

I think I’ve spent all of my leftovers on myself. If you add in credit cards, I’ve even spent FUTURE leftovers on myself!

Which makes me want to start giving even more.

Any of the Christian budgeting theories and books and manuals and videos will tell you in your budget to factor in your income, then take 10% off of that for your tithe, and then make your monthly budget. They get the 10% from the present-day teaching that Jews used to give 10% of their income to God. (often thought of as a donation to the temple, but it really wasn’t) Check out this link http://www.acts17-11.com/dialogs_tithe.html I just came across looking for the OT reference.

So instead of arguing the case for giving vs. titheing, I’m just going to post the above link and move on.

When I lived in Asia, I didn’t really have an income. I had a balance of money, and every month I would ask for whatever I wanted that month and I would get it. I also was really convicted by this teaching of Jesus in Luke 6.30 & 34. I wasn’t 100% at it, but I did loan out a lot of things that I would have never considered loaning before. Now if I kept track of what I gave away or loaned out to make sure I stayed at 10%, where would my joy be? And how many times did I meet beggar kids and signal them to hide from the grocery store security guards while I bought them bags of groceries, and keep track of how much I spent on them? Honestly, I did that as much as I kept track of all of the people that would write us a kind note via email and then drop $100 into our account.

A lot of the churches in my neighborhood preach the message that “you can’t out-give God” and I would say that is correct. He is continually out-giving us, and just as He keeps no account of His mercy or our sin, I think He would appreciate us freely giving out what we freely have received. I think they are going to have some regrets when they have to give an account for taking money “given to God” and buying Cadillacs and gold rings, which is why I’m going to spend today looking to see how I can give away my leftovers…but not starting with my sons’ robots.

Postcard from Cashland

Published
by
Dan
on 6/7/2008
in Urbia
. 1 Comment

So we just got a postcard in the mail for the previous residents of our house. It should be noted that our house was a foreclosure and we bought it from the bank.

The postcard is from CASHLAND, a paycheck loan place in town. It says “Because we have missed seeing you for a while, we are making a special offer that we hope you’ll find atractive. Right now, you may be eligible to get a loan for up to 21 days.

21 days. That means it covers 2 pay periods. So you could go in there on a Monday (after using up your paycheck from friday) and then get a loan. In 2 weeks, when you got paid, you could pay it back, or wait 3 WEEKS to pay it back, and ‘accidentally’ blow your next paycheck!

All of that is Class A disturbing and worrisome. But that’s not the worst part.

At the bottom of the postcard is the fine print.

It lists the interest rates they are able to charge in each state.

First make a note of this:
In Kentucky, 16% of the people live at the poverty rate and in Indiana 11 % of the people do. Only 3 states have higher than 17%, to put that in perspective. Ok here we go.

You can borrow $500 in Indiana at 382% interest. That’s right, You pay $344 and they give you $300. If that is confusing, I’m sorry, but that’s the example on the card. (maybe it’s some intentional confusion!)

But that’s just for Hoosiers. Kentuckians are poorer, and there are more poor people in Kentucky. The limit in Kentucky is lower, only $425. That should help keep people from getting into trouble. HOLD ON! The interest rate in Kentucky? 458%  Their example is that you can get $300 for $352.75.

As I read this I think about taking advantage of the poor, the fatherless and the widow. Who are the most desperate in our community? Who are the people that are going to these places? I know some people would have low mercy for the people that are foolish w/ their money and drink up their paychecks or whatever, but I just wonder how many people that visit CASHLAND would desire some lifestyle help, instead of just a check?

CASHLAND is a business and as a business needs to stay in business. What if we had a SERVICE that would help in this way, but not exploit the poor? What if we gave grocery certificate loans at 5% interest, or actually gave out the groceries? I guess the breakdown would be if the person wrote the check and you cashed it, the bank would then oppress them with a insufficient funds fee.

I’m not sure about the solution to this, but I know the solution is sitting in the Church.

GO BUY THIS BOOK NOW

Published
by
Dan
on 3/14/2008
in Bookstore, Short Quotes and Urbia
. 0 Comments

Man, I don’t think I’ve read a book that has forced me to re-think and repent from the way I’ve done ministry more than this book. You should go buy it from the local bookstore right now.

“Perhaps the greatest poverty of all is having nothing of value to offer the community. I want to believe that no one in my community is that poor.”
from Ch. 7, in the context of destroying people’s dignity by giving free handouts.

Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor, by Robert D. Lupton