"HOT MESS" Starting now homeless crackdown in Austin Texas

yeshuaslavejeff

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Would you agree that it is difficult to assess their willingness to work until you try to help them take the steps necessary to get work?
I did not even get any farther than this first sentence in the post.

TO me this way (in teachings, examples, and experience and practice) lacks the requirement of doing what is righteous as Jesus says (i.e. is not seeking to be obedient to Jesus, but is practicing some other religious deed designed by man's ways) , and seeks to place blame on the poor person.
 
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Ted
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For somewhere else - i.e. another section or thread -
in the original languages
I believe Yahuweh shows quite a difference , as well as the observable results, between those obedient and those not obedient, and sometimes if not often shows things in order as in "FIRST", "SECOND", "AFTER FIRST AND SECOND"..... (most obvious - do not neglect father and mother or family, and say korban instead of caring to be helping , or rather to appear to help, someone else).... likewise also "to the Jew first, and then the gentiles (even Yahuweh did this); and probably to "members of the assembly (of faith), first, then outsiders; and so on..... Yahuweh's Directions Always.

Hi YSJ,

So, let's just cut to the chase. You believe that Jesus didn't mean 'all' others when he said that we should treat 'others' as we want to be treated?

God bless,
In Christ, ted
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Hi YSJ,

So, let's just cut to the chase. You believe that Jesus didn't mean 'all' others when he said that we should treat 'others' as we want to be treated?

God bless,
In Christ, ted
Sorry but that sounds too much like a (so-called) humanistic gospel, not in line with God's Word, and based on emotions and feelings and man's ways , instead of obedience to God, following Jesus, abiding with Him always.
 
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Endeavourer

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As long as if someone has a need for $5.47 and asks for that , it is given freely expecting nothing back in return, that might be okay. But to say , "go and pretend you are helped (go and be warm)", yet not giving what is needed when it is already at hand available to be given, would be/is/ sinful as Jesus Says.

But giving them $5.47 is pretending to help them. It is not helping them at all.

Mentoring them with the wisdom from your life experiences, your knowledge of budgeting and your ability to plan for the future is what will warm them.
 
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Endeavourer

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Until we can come up with some way to ensure that everyone has enough money to keep a roof over their head, or provide enough 'social' housing to just give such people a roof over their head, the problem will not be solved.

For the mentally ill and incapacitated, yes.

For those who are capable of working, this is exactly what they don't want. It sucks the sense of ability and accomplishment out of their soul. The homeless we encounter want to provide for themselves. They don't want to be takers. They just can't function in a way that puts them on that path and need a brother or sister in the Lord to come beside them to show they are loved, and to mentor them on next steps.

We've found that being in a shelter for a while is kind of uncomfortable. The discomfort they experience motivates them to stay on the path to getting out into their own home. They know if they leave the shelter that is helping them, our material help is out as well. We'll still love on them, pick them up for church, etc. but until they make the choice to get back on a path to recovery, we have to take a step back.

Caring for someone's success more than they care for it (when they have the tools to be successful) is also a form of enabling and does not help them.
 
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Endeavourer

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yeshuaslavejeff

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The only thing that seemed obvious to me is that you wanted to feel superior to the homeless or throw $5.47 at them instead of help them.
So that seems to be where things in 'your'? mind think/ and that's not good.

If someone DOES NOT OBEY JESUS, as written, (as I posted), then they are not doing what Jesus Says, are they!?
 
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For the mentally ill and incapacitated, yes.

For those who are capable of working, this is exactly what they don't want. It sucks the sense of ability and accomplishment out of their soul. The homeless we encounter want to provide for themselves. They don't want to be takers. They just can't function in a way that puts them on that path and need a brother or sister in the Lord to come beside them to show they are loved, and to mentor them on next steps.

We've found that being in a shelter for a while is kind of uncomfortable. The discomfort they experience motivates them to stay on the path to getting out into their own home. They know if they leave the shelter that is helping them, our material help is out as well. We'll still love on them, pick them up for church, etc. but until they make the choice to get back on a path to recovery, we have to take a step back.

Caring for someone's success more than they care for it (when they have the tools to be successful) is also a form of enabling and does not help them.

Hi endeavourer,

While your understanding is correct in many cases, as with pretty much any society of 300 million people, it's rare to find a 'one size fits all' answer to such problems. Secondly, I also agree with you that often times christian based help organizations can do better, much of that reason is because they will deal with people on more of a one to one relationship. Cities with thousands of homeless people don't have thousands of people to offer such focused mentoring.

There are a number of reasons that people find themselves homeless and yes, there are many of these who do respond well to someone taking personal attention to their needs. However, on size rarely fits all. So, I'll ask you a similar question to what you've asked me. Are there no homeless in your city? I would assume that since you've found the 'answer' to the homeless problem, that there are no homeless people where you live.

God bless,
In Christ, ted
 
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Sorry but that sounds too much like a (so-called) humanistic gospel, not in line with God's Word, and based on emotions and feelings and man's ways , instead of obedience to God, following Jesus, abiding with Him always.

HI YSJ,

It was a yes or no question, so I'll ask it again:
You believe that Jesus didn't mean 'all' others when he said that we should treat 'others' as we want to be treated?

God bless,
In Christ, ted
 
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Endeavourer

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So, I'll ask you a similar question to what you've asked me. Are there no homeless in your city? I would assume that since you've found the 'answer' to the homeless problem, that there are no homeless people where you live.

Your comment doesn't seem very nice, but hopefully I have misunderstood your intent.

We minister to the neighborhood around our church. We are incapable of addressing a whole city.

Edited to add: I asked you what you have found that works; I did not ask if you had taken care of all of your city's homeless.
 
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Blade

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I watched this news .. forget his name. Dressed as homeless and got $90 one day. Said they offered 10 or more a job a way out. Only ONE came back. Living in LA ...seen it. For ME to give some money or food and then .. see ya praise GOD! No.. I am not helping the homeless/poor. As I read the word to help them is.. you stay with them. You keep helping giving till they are back on their feet.

Helping is like.. say that poor family moved in across the street. They come over say hi and WOW they say.. "never had a couch. We have some chairs." You say... its yours. What else do you need? If we truly knew this is not our home. And if we truly knew GOD was our Father... so much more blessed to give. For God GIVES and GIVES and GIVES. We here on earth.. take take take lol.

Praise GOD for those that help give. But.. we need to remember to give GOD all the glory and praise and thanks. If we ask for it.. if we take it.. THAT is your reward.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Perhaps it is something to note: DOING what God Says is ALWAYS RIGHT, but does not ALWAYS WORK.
God Still Says to DO HIS WORD - DO what HE SAYS. Not plan something instead, not 'thinking' something man plans is somehow 'better' than obeying God.

Self-sacrifice is the way to live, Jesus Says. A self-sacrificial life is required to be His disciple/ Ekklesia. Not trying to build up something , not DOing something different, instead of what the Father Says to DO.
 
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Your comment doesn't seem very nice, but hopefully I have misunderstood your intent.

We minister to the neighborhood around our church. We are incapable of addressing a whole city.

Edited to add: I asked you what you have found that works; I did not ask if you had taken care of all of your city's homeless.

Hi endeavourer,

Yes, and my fellowship sometimes takes someone who is homeless as a special cause. However, the issue of homelessness isn't going to be handled by a few fellowships offering a meal service once a week or taking an interest in one or two homeless people. That's the point that I'm trying to make with you. You seem to have this idea that homelessness can be handled in the way that your fellowship has been handling it, but the reality seems to be that as a real solution to solve the total problem, what you're doing isn't really meeting that need.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that your work is worthless. It's like the story of the boy and the starfish. Some of your posts seem to infer that you think the solution to the problem is fairly simplistic and I haven't ever found that it is. I too, have spent a good deal of time ministering to the homeless and my experience, mainly in Miami-Dade county FL, is that it's a big, big problem in the larger cities. There hasn't ever been found a one size fits all remedy for the problem.

Yes, there are some who are homeless who will just take and take. What do you do for them? Do we line them up in some empty field and shoot them and bury them in a large hole? Do we just ignore them and let them continue to sleep in store front doorways and under bridges? So, let's all agree that there are some people who take advantage of social services, but we have to be careful that we don't allow our jaded understanding of such people to cause us to stop offering help altogether.

God bless,
In Christ, ted
 
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