Great News!

chaselayman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:59:40 +0000

I found out some great news this last week that my friend TJ, who I’ve been visiting downtown for the past few weeks, has checked himself into the Jesus House. This is great news because he is going to get a bed, hot food, and some much needed help through AA and programs like that. The only thing that sucks is that while he is in the program he is restricted to the house so for about a month we won’t be able to talk except for the occasional phone call to see how he’s doing. It was definitely an interesting few weeks as I discovered what all went on with the TJ. He would paint entire window adverts for companies for only $20 and thats the only real cash he would make. While he’s in the program he’s not allowed to have a job (which I thought was kinda wierd). Hopefully going through the program will leave him in a better situation. Here is my question for everyone out there—do you think programs like these are good for the homeless or do you think it limits them?

Conversation not Conversion

chaselayman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:03:26 +0000

So the point was brought up in the last post that we need to be more conversation starters than converters. We all know that conversion is always the final goal however I understand where Tim was going with his point. We can’t look at conversion being the goal we need to put our full focus on creating relationships and meeting needs and trying to help people get back on their feet. You don’t know how that person got to where they are today so find out. Learn about them. Don’t just go and give them food and call it good. You can make more of a difference by being a friend and hearing them out than you can by just giving them something. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying make conversation and don’t help them out in any other way I am just saying to make relationships along with the generosity. Now I really want to hear from some of you on this one–Which is better Generousity or Relationships?

Knowledge

chaselayman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:52:59 +0000

So, as of the last post we have had many comments on whether or not we as Christians should be responsible for helping the homeless. We have also discovered however that helping the homeless is not just going and giving them everything they need. In order for a homeless person to really get help do we need to educate ourselves in the matter? Well, yes and no. I believe there is power in just going and helping. Here is a video made by my friend and coworker Nick Jones, it was created for “Love is an action” 2 years ago.

The Block Party is now held by LifeChurch.tv at “the Refuge” in Oklahoma City. I just shot video for it this weekend (I’ll show it to everyone once its finished). The Block Party is a time for Christians living in the suburbs to look at Christ face to face. Look into faces of people that have nothing left and give them hope in the future. But in order to do that we must educate ourselves on how to really help an “urbanite.” We should try and get them out of poverty and not help keep them there. So here is the question that I would like answered – What can we do to educate ourselves on helping the homeless?

Should we be responsible?

chaselayman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:14:53 +0000

Is taking care of the homeless a Christian responsibility? Well, Yes. “Jesus told his followers to take care of those in need. So, as Christians go about claiming Christ, then they need to follow through on Jesus’ instructions.” (thehomelessguy.blogspot.com). Sometimes we forget that Jesus himself was homeless “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58) Numerous times throughout the bible Jesus has told us to give to the needy such as Deut.15:11, Ex. 23:6, Lk. 14:12-14, Mt. 5:42 just to name a few.

So why are we raised today to believe that giving to the homeless is a bad thing. “They will use it for drugs or booze” or “they should get a job” a bunch of sorry excuses that we use to tell ourselves that we shouldn’t sacrifice on behalf of the needy in this world. On my last post there was a great comment “You know there’s only one right answer to that question. So we live in suburbs so we don’t have to be reminded of it.” It is so true, we have moved out of the city where Jesus is and have put up fortifications in our “safe place” so that we can protect ourselves from a big bad world.

In Luke 3:11 “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.” Yes, we do have a responsibility to share and give to the poor but not only to give physical material but also spiritual. So many Christians stop at the giving and think they can check off their spiritual “do good” checklist and they are finished. But we must go into all the world, including those back alleys and street corners, and lead this lost world to Jesus…whew that felt good to get off the chest. Please comment and bring more body to this discussion. Would love to hear from you.

Yo yo

chaselayman — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:19:18 +0000

So few things I hate more than going to weddings. At least I’m filming this one. But anyways I know it’s been a while since I have written a post. I am gonna try and remedy that. From Now on I will be gearing chaseinblogform.com to my random musings and to talking in text form about religion, theology, and christianiocity…my new word for anything that I believe is assumed to be christianity today. Please comment and give your opinions on all the topics. To start off this newly revised blog I will start off with a basic question. I ask for any and all opinions and comments “do we as Christians have the responsibility to take care of the homeless?” Hopefully my next post will be able to further discuss this question.