The Least of These ~ Widows and Orphans

Greetings Dear Reader,

Please put on your steel-toed shoes before you continue.  I have no intent to step on toes today but this part of the dance is awkward for me at times.  I love you and wish you no harm.  Remember that I am looking in my own heart and sharing it with you.  If, however, the conviction fits…

Yesterday I talked about the need for fathers and the Father heart of God.  Today I want to address the least of these that we create when we are not faithful loving husbands and fathers.  We create our age’s version of widows and orphans.  We see droves of single mothers working hard to provide for their needs and to care for their children. 

When I failed my wife and sons one of my friends rightly told them that he would serve them as if she were a widow and they were orphans.  When a father abandons his family on any level he creates this.  Those who claim to follow Christ do not do enough to care for these needs.  We have no true faith if we do not care for the needs of widows and orphans.

Too much of our effort goes to things that do not matter when we could stand out to those in need by our generosity and care.  We cannot hope to think that we are faithful if we are not faithful to this.  We let jealousy, greed, judgement, and our own interests get in the way attending to this command from Christ.  We all know someone who is a single parent and could use some kindness and support.

If we know a single mom and are not doing something to ease her burden then we are not taking care of our modern-day widows and orphans.  There are so many ways to help and all we have to do is make that help available.  If we offer our help those in need will come.  It is never too soon to recognize the need to practice true faith Dear Reader.  I know that I can do more.  How about you?

Don’t Tell Them Jesus Loves Them – Steve Camp

Oh, the suffering souls

Crying out for love

In a world that seldom cares

See the hungry hearts

Longing to be filled

With much more than our prayers

And a young girl sells herself on Seventh Avenue

And you hear her crying out for help

My God! What will we do?

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

‘Till your heart breaks from their sorrow

And the pain they're going through

With a life full of compassion

May we do what we must do?

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

All the desperate men

Are we reaching for the souls,

That are sinking down sin?

Oh, cry for the church

We've lost our passion for the lost

And there are billions left to win

And another 40,000 children starved to death today

Would we risk all we have

To see one of them saved!?!

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

‘Till your heart breaks from their sorrow

And the pain they're going through

With a life full of compassion

May we do what we must do?

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

Why have we waited so long

To show them Jesus lives

To share salvation's song!

Why have our hearts become so proud

That we fail to see

To love them is to love God!

And a young girl sells herself on Seventh Avenue

Hear her crying out for help

What will we do?

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

‘Till your heart breaks from their sorrow

And the pain they're going through

With a life full of compassion

May we do what we must do?

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

‘Till you're ready to love them too!

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

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This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

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Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Booking s at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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The Least of These ~ The Fatherless

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have discussed this relative to my own journey.  I have just begun to correlate it to the bigger picture in a way that is vital to the overall journey.  The idea father is one of which I realize that I have so little understanding.   Someone told me recently that I cannot father well until I learn how to be a son.  My understanding of good fathers is so limited.

Our culture has lost the idea of real fathering.  Too many of us have a poor concept of what a loving father is.  We have too many fathers who have abused and abandoned their children.  We are a fatherless society in desperate need of fathers.

The relation to this topic is that so many fatherless are seen as the least of these.  Fathers failing to be there emotional, mentally, and physically for their children have created a poverty that is unparalleled.  It is not only one of physical need but it is a psychological, emotional, and faith poverty that leaves us destitute orphans.

We are supposed to be representing the Father to the world in all of his love and grace.  We are meant to show the Father heart of God to the world.  When we do not show this love by helping those in need, we hinder their ability to see the Father.  We all need to see this.

Attending to the needs of others; really helping the fatherless is a way to see the Father more clearly ourselves.  In helping the fatherless with their needs, we get to see the impact of the Father’s love in real action.  We are benefited by both the giving and the observation.

The idea is for us to become conduits for the love that the Father wants us all to share.  When we see the needs of others through a father’s eyes, we find that we have more compassion, more desire to help, and the motivation to give.  We can abandon selfishness.  We can become better children of the Father.

This terrifies me.  I must admit that it also is evident that I am in the midst of learning how much the Father loves me and wishes to be a Father to me.  I am learning and having to own how poor a father I have been.  I must focus on learning before I can ever hope to be an example to others. 

I do not know what the Father has in store for me.  I am trying to let him Father me.  I am ready to learn.  It is taking a full reset of who I think I am.  It requires that I trust in ways that I do not know how.  I can see how this past year has required me to lose so much to begin to learn this.  Please keep praying for me Dear Reader.  I am praying for you to see the Father and all his love for you.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Novels on Amazon             

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Booking s at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Twitter            Medium    

Kids BLOG

Facebook      Google +   

You Call Yourself A “Christian” ~ Modern Widows and Orphans

Greetings Dear Reader,

It is clear that if we dare to call ourselves followers of Christ that we are to care for those in need.  Further we are to specifically care for widows and orphans.  The first century definition of this is a woman who has lost her husband and children who have lost their father.  Before you get on your “inclusion” or “gender” soap box, let me assure you that I am not limiting my modern understanding of the need to this definition.

For the purpose of your glimpse of my thinking here, Dear Reader, let us say that anyone who has lost a partner who is supposed to share in the child rearing has been widowed.  I may not always approve of the circumstance under which a need occurs but that does not mean that I am not obligated to care about the need.  Dwell on that for a moment.

As to orphans, I would submit that any child who has a parent, biological or otherwise, that has died or forsaken him or her, is an orphan.  The child has needs for support, guidance, and nurture that transcend the circumstances that brought him or her to this place. 

The people of Christ are supposed to care for these needs.  There is nowhere that allows us to regulate it to another entity.  If we hope to be seen as Christ followers we must attend to this need.  No excuse is a good one.  No dodging the responsibility is permitted.  So why then do we dare to call ourselves Christians when we do not attend to this? 

The standard should be that we care for single parents and children in need so well that we are the first thought when a need arises.  Christ followers should be the obvious choice when a child is hungry or a single parent cannot pay a bill, cannot afford medical care, or cannot buy food.

Instead we relegate this to the government who has proven over and over that they cannot do the job.  I am not slamming the government. I am saying they are not good at this.  We are the ones who are told to be the example in caring for “widows and orphans” in our culture.  We are not told we can ignore this if the lives of those in need do not measure up to our moral standards.  Humans are my business whether I wish it or not. 

I cannot say that I am following Christ if I leave those in need behind. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)