Urban Ministry

Tired From Life

For the girl, whose mother abandoned and father decided that he wanted his girlfriend more than his daughter....

For the father who lost his job, the bills have piled up, and the landlord says they will have to move....

For the child, who knows hands that bring about hurt, not love. Whose pain reflects the attention of a father.....

To the mother, who is trying to hold it together.  Rejected in love and overwhelmed in responsibility.....

There is hope.

Yet, that hope does not come in the next government initiative.  Not in the next bill passed by Congress.

There will be no answers arriving, hot off the press from Washington D.C.

For 45 year the government has waged a so called "War on Poverty."  The results, an "army" in full retreat, with casualties strewn throughout the battlefield we call the neighborhoods of our cities.

So where does the hope come from......it is not found in the good will attempts either. No, the Hope for our neighborhood comes in Jesus Christ. So, why does poverty grow and broken lives increase.....where is the Hope?

Let me change gears for a moment....what was the sin of Sodom. You know; the city that God destroyed.....

I have asked many, and few answer correctly.

Ezekiel 16:49

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned, they did not help the poor and needy."

While the government has failed in its attempt to defeat poverty, the church may be doing as bad a job.

I pray that we don't be found guilty as Sodom. We worry about the sexual sins of this age (which are wrong), but do we share the same anger over the ignoring of those in need.

May God find us faithful in our attempt to share His Hope to those broken in life.