Not really, but that's what a lot of people (Americans in particular) think. Times are tough for us right now. Really? I think so, this is the hardest I've had it in the last 25 years! What's hard? Let's see...for starters my laptop is 2 1/2 years old! My kids laptop is 3 years old, and my other computer (for my small business which I own) is 3 years old. My car is 10 years old, and my other car (big SUV suburban) is 12 years old! We don't own a house, we have to rent - God forbid! We have 4 cell phones and a business line. But, once again, my phone is not too cool, it's 2 years old. Well - times are so tough, I had to sell my beloved tent trailer, and my canoe is up for sale as well. Yes the bills are mounting, but somehow God seems to provide. Isn't that just amazing? I don't know how we are surviving with all the hardships we are enduring.
Yeah. Imagine now the millions of orphans around the world. Imagine the 11 year old girl who's parents died of HIV and she is responsible for providing for her little brother. Imagine the only way to get a loaf of bread is for her to have sex with some perv of a man...or two. Can you imagine that?! Well that's what real hardship is like and it's real. That 11 year old girl now has a loaf of bread for her brother. She also now has HIV and will die like her parents did.
This and other stories like it and the plight of of orphans infected with HIV/Aids are all told in a gut wrenching, eye opening, must read book by Tom Davis called RED LETTERS. If you think you can - read it. This is the real world! This is the world we don't want to hear about. Out of sight out of mind. That's easy enough. I think I'll go turn on the Red Sox, and sit on my leather sofa while watching the game in the comfort of my heated home, all the while complaining that my chips are stale, and my beer is warm. Please read this book. Please read this book and do something. Anything! There are a ton of great organizations in the back of the book to get involved with.
Click on the badges on the right side of this page for more information on the Red Letters Campaign and the 5 for 50 Campaign.
One last thought...well, maybe two. When you stand before Jesus and He asks you "what did you do with the gifts I gave you?" what will your answer be?
And two - remember what James 1:27 says -
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself form being polluted by the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment