Taking Back our NEIGHBORHOODS!

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caring, faith, faith-based, generous, help, Holiday Season, needy, neighborhoods, Neighborly, neighbors, Pray for America, prayer, Presidential Prayer Team, sharing

How ’bout a Holiday Block Party?

As we come into the Holiday Season, we must understand that many of our neighbors are financially and/or emotionally stretched beyond their means. Others will run up extravagant credit card bills to lavish their loved ones with “stuff” that will be trashed or discarded within a month. Across the nation, food banks are struggling to keep their shelves stocked for the genuinely needy. Homeless shelters see the weather turning colder and more desperate people in need of shelter. Of course, there are those among us who abuse the system and drain our resources, but that doesn’t negate the true need that exists.

It is my contention that we are ALL people of faith … the question is in what or Whom do we put our faith? It is not up to me to decide, nor is it up to me to sit in judgment! It is up to you and me to CARE about our neighbors! Can we DO this, or are we too ruined by fear and suspicion?

caring …

Years ago, before 9/11 … before the nation went crazy, we knew our neighbors. Our children played together. We got to know different family and cultural traditions through people we lived next to and worked with. It made us richer human beings. Jews, Christians, and Catholics all living together, sharing “American Life!” Germans, Irish, Ethiopian, Chinese, Argentinian, Ukraine, Nigerian, Cuban … it didn’t matter where we came from. We were all AMERICANS. We still are!!!

Listed below is a short list of some of my favorite organizations that help our NEIGHBORS. Maybe if we all added our NEIGHBORS to our Christmas/Chanakah list, we’d appreciate the season more?

• CITY MISSION
• MERCURY ONE
• SALVATION ARMY
• CARE.org
• CATHOLIC CHARITIES

Share Your Holiday Spirit with Your NEIGHBOR!

Be creative! Get acquainted with NEIGHBORS. We don’t have to be best friends, but we all have something to share with one another!
DONATE to one of the organizations listed above, or one of your choice, and help bridge the gap for those in need.

Federal Government Pulls Aid To Food Pantry Because Of Their “Christian Practices”

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charity, Christian Practices, Christian values, community, food pantry, local church, needy, neighbors

From the time the first settlers arrived on our shores until several decades ago, charity and aid to those in need was supplied by the local community and the church. If there was an illness, injury or loss of a family member, the church was there to help provide meals, watch kids, etc. If a barn needed to be raised, the church members brought their tools, the women brought the meal baskets and everyone pitched in to help. The same was true of harvest time. Church families would help each other bring in their crops and in the process, there was usually a lot of sharing and trading of produce.

Back in Arizona, I had the honor of serving on the Board of Deacons. We helped out the elderly and families in need. We would organize meals, help pay bills when necessary and even help others from outside our church who came looking to keep their lights on or to put a meal on the table for their families. It was always a blessing to help our brothers and sisters in need.

Times are changing and fewer churches are providing that vital help to people and families in need. Part of the problem is that today’s people are too busy with themselves to worry about others and in a struggling economy, some churches no longer have the resources to help. Yet others have become so liberal in their theology that they have no concern for the needy. After all, and I’ve heard this on more than one occasion, let them turn to the government for help.

What many churches and Christians fail to realize is that attitude is playing into the government’s hands. Our federal government doesn’t want Christian charity to be the norm in America. Instead, they want everyone, and I mean everyone, to turn to the government for all of their needs. This is socialism 101 to its core.

Read more HERE