December 1, 2017 at 6:28 p.m.
Consider Compassion at holidays
To the editor:
The man’s coat was torn, his clothes were not new and his shoes dilapidated.
As he entered the sanctuary of the church, he decided to sit in the front row so he could hear everything. When the pastor spotted him, he was embarrassed and asked him to please move to the back row.
On the way back, the pastor said, “Sir, if you come back here, make sure you wear nicer clothes.”
The next Sunday, the man returned in the same fashion.
“I thought I asked you to wear different clothes if you came back,” the pastor chided.
“Well, the man replied, “I asked the Lord how I should dress at your church and He said He didn’t know, because He had never been to your church before.”
I watched that man walk down the street and by the side of the highway at dark. All of a sudden the car lights spot him. He has slept in the empty barrels in the dark alleys, eaten out of the restaurants’ dumpsters, thanful for the leftover crust left behind by the birds.
Today, the man is still lying beside the road, half-dead. What has hurt him more than anything is the attitude of the passersby. Everyone else seems to know how he should run his life.
It’s so religious and easy to recommend a change and then to walk away.
That’s why our annual Compassion Network goes directly to the landlord or the utility companies.
Why are people in the mess they are in? Did the Lord have a list of questions for the dying man?
No. He just simply met his need.
Divorce, loss of job, loss of health, loss of loved ones, yes, even fear and failure are big roadblocks to recovery.
I presonally go into homes we find in need and verify the problems. And when younger couples hit bottom, everything seems to fall apart.
We believe the Lord stands ready to be their Rock to stand on, if they will let Him into their lives.
That is where you and I come in.
“If we are blessed with the world’s goods and show no compassion upon those in heed, how in the world does the love of God dwell in you?”
Please consider Compassion Network in your giving this year. It is really more blessed to give than to receive.
The Rev. Phill Jellison
Portland
The man’s coat was torn, his clothes were not new and his shoes dilapidated.
As he entered the sanctuary of the church, he decided to sit in the front row so he could hear everything. When the pastor spotted him, he was embarrassed and asked him to please move to the back row.
On the way back, the pastor said, “Sir, if you come back here, make sure you wear nicer clothes.”
The next Sunday, the man returned in the same fashion.
“I thought I asked you to wear different clothes if you came back,” the pastor chided.
“Well, the man replied, “I asked the Lord how I should dress at your church and He said He didn’t know, because He had never been to your church before.”
I watched that man walk down the street and by the side of the highway at dark. All of a sudden the car lights spot him. He has slept in the empty barrels in the dark alleys, eaten out of the restaurants’ dumpsters, thanful for the leftover crust left behind by the birds.
Today, the man is still lying beside the road, half-dead. What has hurt him more than anything is the attitude of the passersby. Everyone else seems to know how he should run his life.
It’s so religious and easy to recommend a change and then to walk away.
That’s why our annual Compassion Network goes directly to the landlord or the utility companies.
Why are people in the mess they are in? Did the Lord have a list of questions for the dying man?
No. He just simply met his need.
Divorce, loss of job, loss of health, loss of loved ones, yes, even fear and failure are big roadblocks to recovery.
I presonally go into homes we find in need and verify the problems. And when younger couples hit bottom, everything seems to fall apart.
We believe the Lord stands ready to be their Rock to stand on, if they will let Him into their lives.
That is where you and I come in.
“If we are blessed with the world’s goods and show no compassion upon those in heed, how in the world does the love of God dwell in you?”
Please consider Compassion Network in your giving this year. It is really more blessed to give than to receive.
The Rev. Phill Jellison
Portland
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