Posts tagged service

Pray Now Bartow Day 15

Mar15
2010 Written by Warner Smith

On any given night in Georgia, there are over 23,000 children and adults who are homeless. Almost half of the homeless are under-employed like Homer who has a high school education and was once employed in a nearby factory. His company terminated his employment when he was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Then he lost his apartment when he could not pay the rent. Now he sleeps in the woods. Homer has lost all hope.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:34–40

It continues to amaze me at how many in American have more sympathy for their own pets, but refuse to take in individuals like Homer, or to become a foster parent.

Pray for the homeless of Bartow. Ask God to show you how to help them to have a home and hope. Check with the homeless shelter on ways to help. http://www.goodneighborshelter.org/history.html

Before they can hear about our Savior they need us to show them His compassion.

Posted in Uncategorized - Tagged , , , ,

An Easy And Tangible Way You Can Help The People of Haiti

Feb10
2010 Written by Warner Smith

Many of us who wish to help the people of Haiti will never be physically able to go to their island nation and lend a hand.  There is a way now, however, for you to help feed a family in Haiti for one week for around $40.  It is called “Buckets of Hope.”

I am asking you to please go and purchase a five-gallon bucket with handle and form-fitting lid, and fill it.  The buckets must be new and unused.  Originally we were told that the buckets had to be white and could not have any company logos.  I am told by a good friend who works for the North American Mission Board that “the rules are now being relaxed, and orange Home Depot buckets (with or without a logo) are acceptable, because (State Conventions will put a Disaster Relief logo over the commercial logo).  Each bucket must have a sturdy form fitting lid.  For a list of places to purchase buckets look here. In my area the Ace Hardware bucket and lid costs $4.98 before tax with a discount after I told the store manager why I wanted it. The manager told me that if I could get 100 people to buy a bucket at the discounted price she could donate another 20 buckets to the cause. The Home Depot bucket and lid cost $3.32 before tax without any discounts, or value added donations.

The food items can and should be generic, store brand items so that you can afford to help a maximum number of Haitians. Do not substitute any items listed and do not add additional items.  (Each bucket must clear customs.  Were they to check a bucket that was not packed according to the standard your bucket could jeopardize the entire shipment).

  • 2 – 5-pound bags long grain enriched rice
  • 1 – 48-ounce plastic bottle cooking oil
  • 2 – 2-pound bags dry black beans (can substitute with red beans)
  • 1 – 5-pound bag of all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
  • 1 – 20-ounce cylinder container of granulated white sugar (coffee service size)
  • 2 – 1-pound boxes of spaghetti noodles
  • 1 – 2-pound 8-ounce (40 oz) plastic jar of creamy peanut butter
  • 1 – 2-gallon plastic ziplock storage bag (used to wrap the bottle of cooking oil)

The bucket and the food items should be able to be purchased for around $30.  When I purchased these items at my local Wal Mart the cost was $19.89. Adding the costs of the bucket from Ace Hardware the cost was approximately $25. That is not much money to feed a typical Haitian family for a week. An additional $10 is needed to ship the bucket to Haiti.

With millions homeless in Haiti there are a lot of hungry people which we need to feed.

34“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34–40 (NASB)

Please send a ‘Bucket of Hope” to the people in Haiti for $40, encourage your friends and co-workers to send a ‘Bucket of Hope” to the people in Haiti.  Have your church or civic organization send ‘Buckets of Hope” to the people in Haiti.

Visit the “Buckets of Hope” website, or log on to the SBDR Facebook page and tell them what your church or organization is doing.  You can even make a donation to SBDR via cell phone and text message by texting nambdr to 40579. A $10 donation will be charged to your cell phone account and sent to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

The video below shows you how to pack your bucket.  Once your bucket of hope is packed take it to your local Southern Baptist Church or Association office and they should be able to take it from there.  If not, contact me and I will assist you in finding the distribution center nearest you.

[media id=5 width=320 height=240]

Posted in Uncategorized - Tagged , ,

Are You Saying Yes Or No To God?

Feb04
2010 Written by Warner Smith

Have you ever been amused by a child who has yet to realize that you know the truth about that which they are desperately trying to convince you otherwise. It is precisely on such occasions with my own sons that cause me to understand the curse which heredity can be. Whether they were toddlers, young children, older children, or teenagers their belief that they were capable of inventing new ways of pulling “the wool” over their parent’s eyes was amusing and at times bemusing.

This is probably how God feels about us when we try to explain to him why we can not obey Him, or why the clear teaching of His word does not apply to us in our particular circumstance. I have found that too often much of the time I have spent in prayer was wasted by my feeble attempts to rationalize my sin and disobedience to God. I seem to become willfully ignorant of the lesson God taught Jeremiah.

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:4–10 (ESV)

Notice that God tells Jeremiah that He has known him since He was formed in his mothers womb. Further, God tells Jeremiah that He consecrated him and appointed him. The word translated consecrated means that God has set Jeremiah apart. It comes from the idea of being made holy. God has also appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. This was a very strange idea to Jeremiah. His understanding of God did not expand beyond his own nation.

When you take the time to really think about it you realize how many similarities there are to God’s calling of Jeremiah and how God calls and sends Christians today. First, you understand that God has known you since your beginning. Furthermore, in your beginning God set you apart to be different from the rest of the people on the planet. He made you to be unique and in your uniqueness He wants to use you. Being holy to God means that you will be different, very different, and that is not simply O.K., it’s the way you are supposed to be. (If you are the parent of a teenager especially a daughter you need to drive this truth deep into their being).  Next, God has a specific task in mind for you. He called Jeremiah to be a prophet who brought the bad news of judgment to his own people and the people in every nation.

God has called each Christian to proclaim the good news of our sins being forgiven through the sacrifice of His son to all the people in our own family, town and world. Like Jeremiah we want to make excuses for why we cannot go.  Notice what God told Jeremiah. Negatively God tells Jeremiah and us, “Do not say.”  Many of us waste much time negotiating with God.  We try to convince ourselves that we can’t go, we can’t serve, or at least we can’t do it right now.  When you begin to bargain with God about these things remember He said “Do not say.”  Next, God tells us  “Do not be afraid.”  When we are honest about our motivations many of us do not obey God’s calling to tell others the truth about His son because we are afraid.  The thought of simply sharing our faith in Jesus with another person scares us to death.  Some fear what other people might think or say about us if we were to actually talk to them about spiritual things.

Remember God’s answer to Jeremiah “to whom I send you, you shall go! And whatever I command you, you shall speak!” (Why should I not be afraid?) “because I am with you to deliver you.” Our fear and refusal to be obedient in going and inviting others to place their faith in Jesus Christ reminds of the following story.

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Before we begin to negotiate with God we need to remember how foolish our own children seem to us when they attempt to rationalize and explain their own disobedience.  When we refuse to do what Everybody is supposed to do and what Anybody could have done then Nobody does it.  This means that the Somebody whom we were supposed to tell will not hear and that Somebody, is Somebody’s child, and Anybody knows that they might even be yours.

Posted in Daily Devotions - Tagged , , ,

A Christian Response To Tragedy

Jan19
2010 Written by Warner Smith

We often find ourselves focusing on the wrong thing. We seek the answer to the wrong questions. Such is the case anytime there is a tragedy which we determine to be an “act of God”. When lives are lost needlessly, we have great difficulty coping. The underlying reason for this human dilemma is our own denial. To one degree or another we all live in denial of our own mortality.

Barring Christ’s second coming in our lifetime (which could very well occur) each of us will die. This elementary and undeniable fact is routinely denied or ignored by super majorities of men and women all across the globe. When a young person dies due to an accident or disease we have more trouble with our grief than when someone who is aged dies. Why? Because you feel less threatened by death the further you are from the age of the deceased. When someone our own age or younger dies we feel more threatened by death.

When a natural calamity befalls any known group of people we all feel threatened by death and begin to complain because these circumstances force us to deal with how fleeting and arbitrary our lives really are.

We each need to learn the lesson which Jesus taught concerning calamity and tragedy during His own life upon this planet.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:1-5 (NIV)

The tragic truth which Jesus and His contemporaries were forced to live with was that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, did not value human life and killed people regularly who got in his way. Why did God let this happen?

Jesus points out that the deaths in the temple are part of a greater human tragedy which is continuously going on all over the world. He asks about those who died from a falling tower in Siloam. Why didn’t God stop this accident from happening and save these eighteen peoples lives?

If you listen carefully to Jesus, the real question is not “Why did others die?” but “Why have I been left alive?” He then tells the parable of the demise of the barren fruit tree. You see, God expects me to be fruitful. When tragedy occurs I should not ask, “Why did these other people die?” but instead I should ask, “What can I do for God’s glory with the remaining part of my life?”

Because of the fall of man, evil exists and Satan will have his way with this world until Jesus returns to settle all accounts. Until that time, Christians are soldiers on a foreign battlefield. We should be ready to die and while we live our duty is to do as much harm as is possible to Satan, (which means we should do as much good in Jesus’ name as possible) the ultimate enemy and cause of all the tragedy in this world.

When Christians rush to give comfort and assistance to those who are suffering and have suffered, we give God glory. We also defeat the evil intentions of the enemy. Joseph learned this lesson through his own suffering. He told his brother’s:

You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done. Genesis 50:20 (NCV)

When tragedy comes, rather than becoming consumed with asking “Why?”, Christians who bear fruit for our Lord respond by serving those in need, as we would want others to respond to our own needs had this current tragedy been visited upon us.

Posted in Daily Devotions - Tagged , , , ,

Update On Haitian Disaster Relief Efforts by Southern Baptists

Jan18
2010 Written by Warner Smith

The following is an update I have received on Haitian Disaster relief efforts by Southern Baptists.

  1. Baptist Global Response is hoping to have an 8-member, initial assessment team on the ground today.  They will be working to assess the situation and determine an appropriate plan of response.  That process alone is expected to take 10-14 days due to the enormity and increasing complexity of the situation.
  2. The US government is strongly encouraging all untrained / non-credentialed volunteer groups to NOT self-deploy.  There is no infrastructure in place to accommodate volunteer groups.  Transportation and communication is still halted.  The only communication from Port Au Prince of which the North American Mission Board is aware of is via satellite phone.
  3. The top priority at this time (per the Haitian government and the US state department) is medical evacuation and establishment of infrastructure.  Therefore, it is going to be a considerable amount of time before trained, Disaster Relief volunteer groups are going to be ready to enter the country; much-less untrained and inexperienced groups.

This disaster has been likened to “911″ and Katrina rolled into one.

  • 3 million people living in Port Au Prince
  • An estimated 100,000+ dead already
  • Food and water are being quickly depleted
  • Violence is on the rise
  • Bodies are being loaded onto tractors to be buried wherever possible
  • 10,000 vehicles at one border crossing trying to get in from Dominican Republic

What our church and other churches should do!

  • PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
  • Give generously.  Donations can be sent to the GA Baptist State Convention.  Donations can also be made online at www.gbcdisasterrelief.org
  • Minister to Haitian’s you know.  The Joseph family in our own congregation.  They are grieving the loss of many loved ones and are anxious for those they have not heard from.
  • Go to any of the following sites for updates (the NAMB website has a pdf bulletin insert for churches to use): www.gbcdisasterrelief.org         www.namb.net          www.flbaptistdisaster.org           www.gobgr.org

Register for disaster relief training so that when the time comes you will be able to go.

The cost is $35.00.

The next training is February 5-6, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church located at 202 Hebron Church Road in Dacula, GA   30019.  The  REGISTRATION DEADLINE: is JANUARY 29.

Or attend the training on March 12-13, 2010 at First Baptist Church of Thomson, located at 253 Jackson Street in Thomson, GA  30824.  The REGISTRATION DEADLINE: is MARCH 5.

Or attend the training on April 10, 2010 at Ingleside Baptist Church, located at 834 Wimbish Road in Macon, GA   31210.  The Registration Deadline is April 2.

6. What churches should not do!

  • Please do NOT self-deploy.  If you get there, there won’t be anyone to receive you or help you, and the sights, sounds, and smells are overwhelmingly ghastly.
  • Please do not start collecting items to send.  Many times, the cost of shipping items exceeds the worth of the items being shipped, and there’s no one ready to distribute the items if they get there.  More than likely, the collections will end up in a landfill (a lesson we learned from Katrina).
Posted in Uncategorized - Tagged
← Older Entries Newer Entries →