Summer kid’s lunches-Kids offer breakfast, however, there is no school in summer. Some parents don’t have from poor families can get free lunches at school and some schools even sufficient funds for meals, though food stamps are usually readily available. Some parents might not want to apply or are not eligible for some reason. More often the reason is due to the parent not being able to plan good meals or is just lazy. The parent may work and children are left alone to fend for themselves and do not know how to prepare adequate meals, or do not want to bother. As a result, the children suffer. School meals provide their only truly nutritious meals. When school is out, they do not get adequate nutrition. The government has money for meal programs in the summer but needs someone to handle the program since the schools are closed. Community organizations can contract for the funds and provide the meals. Churches can and often do contract to provide the meals but cannot include religious training during the meal because it uses government funds. However, there is nothing to stop the church from having the meal at noon and having a Children’s Bible Club at 1 PM and inviting the kids to stay, though they cannot be required to stay. Some churches have Children’s Bible Clubs on Wednesday evenings and provide a meal so parents aren’t rushed getting home and preparing a meal for the kids before the Bible Club.
Archive for the ‘Church & Society’ Category
Church and Society-O
The government spends large amounts of money to help people and they think they are better off because of all the services the government provides them. They send their money to Washington and are happy for all the government does for them. However, they don’t realize that for every dollar they send, they only get a quarter in services so they are really seventy five cents poorer since government bureaucracy absorbs three out of every four dollars paid in. In addition, the government can’t really solve the problems, it can only make them invisible so it appears they are solved. In spite of all the money the government has poured into helping the poor, the number of poor continues to grow because it isn’t helping people get back to work, it is only providing food and housing so the people no longer feel the need to work. Since they have food and shelter, people think they aren’t poor anymore. Yet if the government money ends, they will be worse off then before because many gave up low paying jobs to get government assistance because they can make more off welfare than many low paying jobs. While the government has finally realized that and put term limits on welfare, it continues to support people in other ways. If taxes were cut, we could save the four dollars and use part of it to meet our own needs and use the rest to help others in need.
Church and Society-N
Down through history Christians have reached out to those in need and helped them. As a result, the church has always been highly respected in the community, even among unbelievers. However in recent years, the church has turned that over to the government which now distributes the vast amount of aid to those in need and new programs are being developed constantly. As a result, people feel the government is the solution to all their problems and many people, including Christians vote in people like President Obama who used government money to provide services to people to get them to vote for them. People see all the gifts and services they get from the government and think it can solve all their problems but forget that that is our money it is giving to us. For every dollar we give to the government, we only get a quarter back. Meanwhile Christians say they care about those in need, but when people turn to the church for help, the church often sends them to the government to get help. It is no wonder that people, including Christians, turn to the government in times of need and many non-Christians despise the churches who say they care but who won’t help them when they need it.
Church and Society-M
People wonder why Christians are so hated today. Part of it is the way many act, who call themselves Christians. I have seen many leave the church because of lying, cheating, and stealing by church leaders. That is regrettable, but it is more than that, it is the way Christians are seen by unbelievers. Part of it is that liberals engage is trying to smear the reputations of Christians by spreading lies but people wouldn’t believe the lies if they really knew Christians. Today many people isolate themselves and only communicate as needed. Unfortunately many Christians do also, so unbelievers never really get to know them. As a result unbelievers are willing to believe the lies. However, a big part of it is the image we project. In the 1970’s, Russia and the U.S. were fighting for the hearts of the African and South American nations. Russia supplied the governments with guns and tanks to oppress the people while the U.S. supplied them with food, yet the people of those nations rioted in the streets calling for the Americans to leave. It was found that the U.S. sent the food but it sat on the docks because the governments couldn’t distribute it so the Russians delivered it. As a result, the people thought the Russians were supplying it. The Russians told the people that Americans were rich but would not share with them. The people believed them because they saw the Russians helping them but didn’t really see the Americans helping them. As a result, the people hated the Americans and wanted them to leave. When the Americans started to deliver the food themselves, the people turned on the Russians and threw them out. The church has turned social services over to the government. People see the government helping but they feel the church doesn’t care.
Sixth Sunday of Pentecost-June 28
Neighborhood Center Ministry-Poor areas have many problems caused by poverty. Lack of transportation makes it difficult to get assistance from agencies and there are many needs that agencies can’t help. The Salvation Army has developed the greatest network of neighborhood centers of any church. Each church is usually in a poverty area and provides not only a religious center but social services and community programs. People coming to get social services become aware of religious services and other services. Formerly, churches were centers for community activities since they had the only facilities for community gatherings other than schools. Eventually, many community activities gravitated to the schools. However, by consolidating schools, many communities, especially small towns, no longer have facilities for community activities. Many churches today do not offer activities in their facilities to non-members. Any church today, especially those in poverty areas and rural areas, should be a community center ministering to social needs around them, as well as their spiritual needs. Ministering to the community often leads non-church people to ask why they do it opening the doors to tell them about the Love of God. It also enables members to get to know non-church people and invite them to church.
study course-Value of the Rule of Law-free coupon
Our country was founded on the principle that all men are created equal and God has granted every man the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but we are seeing the emergence of a new philosophy of law which threatens our freedom by declaring that those in power have the right to grant or withhold those rights. We are currently offering our course “The Value of the Rule of Law” for free until 7/15/2026 to the first 100 who sign up at https://www.udemy.com/course/christian-values-rule-of-law/?couponCode=CC9C9D
Fourth Sunday of Pentecost-June 14
Meeting A Need-If there is a need in your area and there is no one meeting that need, you may consider organizing a ministry through your church or in your community. The small groups may check to see if there are nearby residents needing lawns cut, snow shoveling of simple repairs. If the group doesn’t have anyone available, they can ask neighboring groups. Some needs may be beyond the resources of the local small group. Churches often claim they don’t have the resources. In the mid-1970’s, I belonged to a house church consisting of only six families. They became concerned about the large number of suicides in the area after I told them about the hour, I had spent the previous week on a railroad bridge with a teenage girl who could not decide whether to jump. They set out to organize a crisis hotline and contacted Contact International and with their help laid plans for a crisis phone line for the county. In only 12 months, the members of that church gathered 129 volunteer phone workers and trained them, and secured enough voluntary contributions to support a phone bill of almost $1500 a month, plus cover utilities and rent for an office, to provide a place where people could call toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the county. They went on the phones only a year after I sat on the railroad bridge with the girl. They provided continuous phone service 24 hours a day and seven days a week for 49 years with no government funds. They drastically cut the suicide rate in their area. If a church of only six families can do that, what can a church of 100 or more families do?
Church and Society-L
After President Bush, we had President Obama who showed us how far from Christian values our nation has drifted. Many younger voters have no church experience and get their values from the secular press. President Obama openly attacked the value of life by promoting abortion, attacked the value of law by pushing to defund the police, and attacked the value of the family by pushing Gay privilege and gender confusion. He also attacked the church and tried to suppress Christians who sought to promote Christian values. They thought they had control of the elections and could remain in power, but were shocked at the response of the voters who elected Donald Trump to restore Christian values. He sought to remove programs that violated the value of life, the rule of law, and the family, but he was hampered because he remained within the law and would not make laws through executive order and did not have the support of Congress who could make the laws. However, he repealed many of President Obama’s executive orders that violated the law and undercut moral values. The voters apparently forgot how bad things were under President Obama and believed Joe Biden when he said he would restore America. However, he followed the same destructive path as President Obama. Americans have shown that they still have some support for moral values by reelecting President Trump. He now has a Republican dominated Senate and House but unlike Democrats who are united in tearing down moral values, Republicans are not united in supporting them. While Democratic party leaders pressure their representatives to support the party policies, regardless of what their voters want, Republicans still seem interested in listening to the voice of the people, so it is important for voters to be informed on the issues and let their representatives know how they want them to vote. While laws can prevent actions, like killing, stealing, and divorce, the church must teach values and lead people to Christ to help people really understand and believe the moral values, which can eliminate the hatred and greed that lead to the killing and stealing. Presidents like President Bush and President Trump can open the door to allow the church to teach moral values, or Presidents like President Obama and President Biden can close the door and prevent the church from teaching them. That is why it is important who we elect. For a full understanding of Christian values, see my series of lectures on Christian values vs manmade values.
Church and Society-K
In 2001, terrorists struck the twin towers. I believe God allowed that to tell us that He would no longer protect us unless we turned back to Him. It was Rosh Hosanna, the Jewish holiday reminding them of the coming judgement where God would judge men and they blew the trumpets to sound the warning and read the Scripture that told that if God’s people would turn from their wicked ways and pray, God would hear their cry and would heal their land. They did not know that God allowed it to serve as a wakeup call. Unfortunately America did not listen. They rushed back to church for a little while, but did not change their ways and many soon drifted away from church again. George W. Bush was in office and trying to maintain the values that made America great but laws can only control evil when they are enforced and then they can only control actions, they cannot control feelings. It can stop a lot of killing but it cannot control the hatred that causes it. Unless people value life, they will find a way to kill. Unless people value the law, they will not obey it if they feel they can get away with it. Unless people value marriage, they will not preserve it. Many churches no longer teach the value of life, the value of law, and the value of marriage and many in church have gotten their values from the world.