We walk by them. We ignore them. We drive by them. We look the other way. We'd prefer that they didn't exist. We say things like, "They need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get some work!" Let me ask you a question. Have you sat down with them? Have you listened to their stories? Some of them will take advantage of you. Most of them won't. Some of them just want you to sit down and listen. Some of them are so messed up you can't imagine that they'll ever be anything other than homeless or hopeless. My brother in Christ John Thornton is really messed up. John is a young man who battles addiction demons. He has been in and out of jail and rehab centers. He broke the hearts of his parents more than once. Eventually John burned so many bridges he had no bridges left. Although I am not sure, I think John was fairly close to becoming homeless himself. God led him to The Daytona Outreach Center in Daytona Beach, FL. Daytona Outreach Center is focused on people that the rest of us kick to the curb. Some call them, "Hopeless Causes". John Thornton was one those that many said, "That kid is a hopeless cause!" I felt that way about John on several occasions. I am happy to say that I was wrong. John is doing extremely well. I am so proud of him and I praise God for the work he is doing through John. John is doing ministry 7 days a week at The Daytona Outreach Center. Along with his social media duties, John is putting together great videos like the YouTube clip below. Please watch it and pass it along to others. Thank you.
What does a "Hopeless Cause" look like? They look like you and me.
Click here to find out more about The Daytona Outreach Center.
Great post Bro... Praying with the people at the DOC, Ray and Susan, is always amazing...
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Mike (as usual).
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the guest post on my blog today, it's totally on the same subject: http://blog.hafchurch.org/peter/index.php/2009/10/the-day-jesus-walked-up-to-my-car-guest-post-by-angela/
Mike, the Lord taught me through my ex-brother-in-law Bill -- an abusive, philandering alcoholic who wound up homeless -- that NO ONE is a hopeless cause. I never stopped loving him. Never stopped praying for him. Neither did our family. We learned shortly after his "untimely" death at age 42 that he'd sought out Christ, and was regularly coming to church to get to know Him. (I mention that not for the coming-to-church part, but for the getting-to-know Christ part.) I'm SO looking forward to being able to hug him again, in heaven.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that I don't look at anyone as a hopeless cause any more. I see each one as a person in whom God breathed His life and image. Each person is precious. It doesn't matter if a person is a homeless crackhead, a murderer on death row, a legalistic Christian who gives Christ a bad name, or the hardened CEO of a corporate monopoly.