Mat 25:34-40 - Helping Those in Need

[Lloyd]

Matthew 25:34-40 - "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: [35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. ... [37-39] Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when [did we these things?] [40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, [When] ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

We have or had a prayer thread where anyone can request prayers for anyone in need. And it would be good to have a link to it here somewhere I think. Okay, here's the link: http://tentmaker.org/forum/prayer-room-%28members-only%29/prayer-thread/, but it's only for members, so I suppose non-members could post here or nearby for prayer requests.

I'd like to carry the message of Mat 25 to the public and public servants and would like to discuss that with others here too. It seems helpful for me to keep things simple, so it feels right for me for now to consider sharing a simple message like that, which seems to have a potentially high impact.

Most of us know people in need and maybe this thread would be a good place to talk about that too. Actually, we're all in need. E.g., I'm in need of collaborators and better physical and spiritual health.

I like to think about things in a fairly organized way, so for me it seems best to think about what help could be given that could do the most good for the most people. Public servants seem to be in a position to do more good than most people and it seems it would be worthwhile to encourage Christians to seek to be public servants, as well as to simply discuss Mat 25 etc with current public servants and their circles.

Some churches probably help a lot of people somewhat effectively. I think ET religions though may do more harm than good by preaching eternal damnation. Charities and science can help a lot of people too, but they could help much more if they were less corrupt. Is ET popular in other religions besides Christianity? Do Jews and Muslims believe in ET? I guess oriental religions don't believe in it much.

Thank you for any potentially helpful discussion.

[Lloyd]

My Plan
As I stated on the Spiritual Discipline thread lately, I've gotten seeming inspiration to carry simple gospel messages like Mat 25 to the public and public servants. And I plan to seek one or more collaborators for each of 3 locations to start with:
1) online;
2) in my local town;
3) in a nearby city.

I'm seeking online collaborators here to start with. For my local town I'm working with my brother and I hope he and I can find collaborators among our family and my brother's friends. In the nearby city, I have a nephew who lives there, so I plan to ask my sister to encourage him to work with us there to find collaborators.

Your prayers are appreciated, as well as discussion, or collaboration.

[Lloyd]

Can anyone share experience or ideas on how to find local collaborators for helping those in need as required by Mat 25? I'm thinking of discussing with librarians.  I guess I'll try Craigslist under Community too. (I posted at http://stlouis.craigslist.org/vol/3703099183.html)

Is there a way to find local UR people?

(I'm near St. Charles, MO)

[shawn]

God seems to drop people into my life that have needs, physical, emotional, financial and spiritual.  Today, they are mostly welcomed distractions from my selfishness and a call to set my mind on Him and the Kingdom of God.  I don't really have a plan (not that there is anything wrong with a plan other than my plans usually get scrapped).  If I were set on a plan to help others, I think yours looks as good as any.  Keep us in the loop and tell us how it works out.

[marie glen]

..be careful on Craigslist..!  :girlheart:

[marie glen]

One of the things associated with yahoo (mail) is "yahoo answers" -
http://answers.yahoo.com/

That's one place I like to go to answer questions.. I hover on the "browse categories" tab and in the list I go to "society and culture"
- - then under that, I go to "religion & spirituality" and browse the questions people have posted, going to the ones which interest me to answer, or try to answer. I try to work rather quickly and give brief answers when possible.. quickly because I think first responders get read a lot more and brief for the same reason..

Like anywhere else there's a lot of wisecracks and even insults thrown around but i pretty much ignore those and simply seek to answer some questions.. I think a lot of people are seeking, and online is often the place these days! if it applies I leave my blog link in the "what's your source" box..
or recently I've put a link to tentmaker.org..
And the new one someone posted (I have to look that up, and see who)
"Universal Salvation University" Love that site! So far just about all Scripture!  :cheerleader: (hooray!)
http://richardwaynegarganta.com/universalsalvation.htm

Another place I go to discuss and answer questions is a place called mylot.com

I know there are other places online.. ask.com ..?

I guess I figure if folks can find truth/ the Lord(!) it will help them with anything and everything

I know there are a LOT of prayer boards, which I haven't been to for some time  :mblush: but I think a person could build a whole personal ministry around them..

[Lloyd]

I'm glad to hear of your efforts, Marie. I may like to do something similar before long. Someone mentioned doing similar things on Facebook. Does anyone know a group or link on Facebook that's possibly productive? Maybe there's a good forum about doing charity where we might find collaborators. Anyone know of such forums?

[marie glen]

There's some christian groups but I don't know if there are any for helping or even outreach.. I think I'll do a search tomorrow.. I'm kind of curious

[Lloyd]

Okay. Maybe I'll get time to do a search today too.

One person replied to my Craigslist ad (under Volunteers under Community) and asked how we want to carry the message of Matt 25 to others. Does anyone have suggestions how to do that? My own thought was that I just need to have one or more people to collaborate with locally and we could decide together how to do it. I have some more thoughts beyond that, but I don't know if it would be putting the cart before the horse. I guess I'll suggest that we discuss our own ideas and see if we want to work together toward following a plan. I suppose I should ask if she wants to discuss our beliefs too. I think I might say that Matt 25 speaks to me most strongly, I guess, though I like pretty much the entire New Testament.

It also occurred to me lately that I should ask each potential collaborator first if they or their loved ones or others seem to have any particular need that they'd like to discuss.

[marie glen]

this search may have potential?:
http://www.facebook.com/search/results.php?type=web&q=christian+groups%2C+helping+those+in+need&form=FBKBFA&wssk=FR0AS0&wssp=1&wspq=christian%20groups%2C%20helping%20those%20in%20need&wssrc=1&wssc=1-39&wsbp=1-1&ref=ts&fref=ts

this came up:
http://www.facebook.com/SamaritansPurse?ref=stream

searched facebook using this phrase "christian groups, helping those in need":
results = "No results found for your query.
                Check your spelling or try another term."

searched "Matthew 25:34-40" on facebook, results = one group - http://www.facebook.com/groups/426292344095360/?ref=ts&fref=ts - OPERATION HELP (Mathew 25:34-40)" out of Memphis, Tenn

[Lloyd]

Thank you, Marie. I found at this link http://www.openbible.info/topics/helping_those_in_need "50 Bible Verses about Helping Those In Need".

[marie glen]

I've been thinking.. did you say you wanted to plan how to carry out Mt 25:34-40.. how to be helpful? I mean spiritually effective..? I found myself thinking about that and thinking how important to be in communion with God.. and then also, how to be an encouragement to others. No matter where the outreach or involvement,  how to build up and strengthen others by having the "fruit of the Spirit".. how to be welcoming, caring, even affectionate, in a holy manner.. I'm thinking if someone really wants to be a help to others, there needs to be the warmth of God's true Spirit of caring and love and welcome.. Like a nice pastor if you've known a nice pastor, only of course most folks unless independently wealthy, are doing so part time.. And of course the way for all that, is from abiding in Him for it's, of course, His Spirit which does it.. reaches out.. loves.. wants to help..
  :gsmile:

P.S - awesome verses.. I don't think I realized there was so many! which included - "love one another earnestly from a pure heart.." (that it all requires that close flowing Spirit of God; can we reflect Him by being a "a shade from the heat" of this desert world?)
- and "liberally you have received" (the Spirit) "so liberally give.."

[marie glen]

..of course maybe all that goes without saying.. and when it involves giving money to charity, investigating closely the charity..  :smile:

[marie glen]

my last P.S!  :laughhand: "given to hospitality" as an attitude..

[Lloyd]

I haven't yet heard back from the first person who contacted me yesterday, but another person contacted me about the ad. Only this time it's someone who needs help. Maybe that's what you meant when you said be careful with CL ads. It's actually a couple with 6 kids, one of whom is just a few weeks old. They have trouble making their rent payments.

So I offered to hire one or both of them part-time to help me get better organized to help those in need effectively. I also offered to train either of them how to be a counselor and I offered to provide free financial counseling. I'll see if this development leads to anything fruitful.

[misszoolander]

Fantastic! I pray Lord that you help Lloyd with his cause  :HeartThrob:

[Lloyd]

I met the couple last night and they had at least two of their six kids with them. I gave them some money and offered to hire one or both of them part-time to help do charity work. The husband says he has some marketing experience (I think internet marketing), so I hope he may be able to help us get volunteers etc. I think he said videos are a good way to do marketing, so I plan to discuss that with them, as well as other ideas, such as what I discussed here earlier.