But what about those consequences?

     This past week I was involved in a conversation with an individual at Hope Street CMC. This conversation centred on a tragic decision that this individual had made that literally went south fast and ended up with the person losing everything in their life... Family, Home and potentially, even their freedom. Through this experience, this person had a visible sign from God about His love for them and took the step of becoming a Christian and accepting Christ as their personal Saviour. That is a huge Amen!!  The problem is now, they are having struggles living with the consequences of that tragic decision they made.

    This is one of many such conversations I have had over my short 10+ years in the Ministry. Although the circumstances and the details all vary, the constant factor is that many have found new hope in Christ but have still been left to deal with the consequences. I myself have a similar testimony every time I have to text or msg my kids and realize I have seen them in person  approximately once a year for the past 9 or 10 years.

     God saves us from our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour and turn from our wicked sinful ways. BUT what about those consequences? Why can't He make those go away? Well the truth is, sometimes He does. I know some people who through their actions and decisions probably should have been killed or seriously injured. I have heard testimony of such people who miraculously survived such an experience and give Glory to God because of it. But the truth is, that is not always the case. Some people have to deal with the entire scope of the consequences. How can we find Hope in that?   God saves us from our sins but doesn't always save us from the consequences, BUT He is always there with you to give you the strength through His Holy Spirit to walk the walk through those circumstances. The bible says in Hebrew 13:5;

     ... "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

     In fact, there many instances of such a phrase from God or more indication of His continued presence to us in the scriptures, Deuteronomy 31:6, 31:8; Joshua 1:9; 1 Peter 5:7; Matthew 28:20; and one of my favourites, Philippians 4:6-7.  These passages show us that God is ever present in our lives. The Holy Spirit is sent as a helper and also a constant companion as referenced in John 14:16-17.

     "I will ask my Father. He will give you another one to help you and to be with you always. He will send you the Spirit of truth..." (Jesus talking)

     So... What about those consequences??  God saves us from our sins when we confess them and then sends His Holy Spirit to help us walk and grow and learn and mature through the consequences. No matter how severe they may be. You just have to have faith that His Holy Word is truth. You have to have faith that God will never leave you nor forsake you. You have to have faith that the God you know and love is still on the throne!!  You need to have Faith brothers and sisters.

 

     Consequences are part of life. There can be no doubt about that. But if you are a Christian, you don't have to walk through it alone. You have the Holy Spirit, you have the community of believers to pray and encourage you, and you have the promises of God. You have a loving Father that is all knowing and knows what will happen if you take the journey with Him by allowing yourself to be yoked with Christ. God knows the big picture. Trust in Him brothers and sisters and take the journey. You will not be disappointed!

 

Be Blessed

 

Pastor Murray Alan Kumm

 

 

   

What does the Bible say about the poor?

     So that's the question I had to ask myself when I first started getting involved with Hope Street CMC (formerly Hope Street Church). What does Jesus say about this poverty issue?  Now I know that as a Pastor, we are suppose to be compassionate. Actually, I scored pretty low in compassion on the personality testing as I was preparing to become a Pastor and that always concerned me a bit. The fact is, Compassion is a part of all Christians but I think it grows inside of our hearts as we achieve a deeper level of Christlikeness...

'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.' - Galatians 2:20 NKJV

     As we see our lives transformed by the living water of Christ, we see that the stuff that mattered greatly to Jesus starts to matter greatly to us! This may not be everyone's testimony, but it is the testimony of so many I have been privileged to work with at Hope Street CMC.

     So now that I have made the apparent reasons compassion grows in Christians clear to us (I hope), the real question I asked in the title asks us What does the Bible have to say about the poor? There are 2100+ scriptures (stats from the Poverty and Justice Bible) about the Poor and Poverty in the Bible, I am not going to try and cover each and every one in this blog posting because I would like to maybe have you want to come back and visit us!! I would however like to refer to one or two of the more relevant ones and let you search out more if you get the itch.

     I think the main scripture that I have always been drawn to is found in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 19:17 says:

'Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done - NIV

   I think this scripture probably says it all as to how God wants us to relate to the poor in our society. 'Whoever is KIND'... to me that says we need to be ever vigilant to opportunities that present themselves to us to show kindness to the poor. Jesus Himself says the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11). That speaks to the fact that things haven't changed since the days that Jesus walked on the earth. This fact shows us that if we have our eyes open, and are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, we should always have many opportunities to show kindness to the poor. AND God will reward them (us) for what we have done. What does that reward look like?  I can't say for everyone, I only know what it looks like for me. For me it is blessing upon my life... sometimes financial but more often than not it blesses me in a way that I can only describe as a noticeable touch of God upon my life. By that I mean I know for sure that God is rewarding me for what I have done. I think that all children of God that are moved to compassion would have the same testimony.

   Is today the day you allow the Holy Spirit of God to use you to be Kind to the Poor in your city/town?  I hope so because I would love to see God be faithful to His promise to reward you and know that you had the opportunity to experience a real touch from the Father. Whatever that may look like.

   Another scripture that I think sums up a lot of the references to Poverty and Justice in the bible is found in Matthew 5:16
 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven - NIV

Let the Light of Christ shine out of your lives. Remember what we learned in the first scripture reference above. It is no longer I who lives... BUT Christ lives in me... If Christ lives in me, then His light should shine out of me... Right??  The greatest thing about this scripture is all glory goes back to God the Father for all we do. That is very humbling but essential to the life of a Christian. If we try to take some of the glory for ourselves... well... I can only say from experience that God is quick to remind me of my place!  Let your light shine for God brothers and sisters and let your kindness be evident to all.

  So that is just a brief understanding of what the bible has to say about the poor. There is a lifetime of reading and learning and discerning ahead of you if you want to explore the rest of the scriptures. I would say it would be time well spent but that's up to each of you to decide for yourselves. I only know for sure that God cares for the poor... He commands us to care about the poor... and Jesus Christ, our example in everything, went out of His way to place Himself in direct contact with the poor. So go forth, showing kindness and shining for Christ and let us see what impact we can have on the world we live in!!!

Be Blessed as you walk with Christ!!

Pastor Murray Alan Kumm

 

Sunday Afternoon FREE Meal

When: Each Sunday Afternoon

• Doors Open at 1:30pm
• Meal Served at 2:00pm
• Seconds Served at 2:25pm (if available)
• Cleanup Starts/Doors Close at 2:45pm

Where: St Barnabas Anglican Church Gymnasium

• 635 - 4th Street SE, Downtown Medicine Hat
• Please use Gym entrance on 5th Street

What:  Hot & Nutritious FREE Meal

• Soup/Chili
• Fruit and/or Vegetables (when available)
• Buns/Roast Beef Sandwiches
• Desserts
• Coffee and Juice/Water

For more information, Contact Pastor Murray at either makumm@hopestreetcmc.ca or 403.458.HOPE

Or visit our website:  www.hopestreetcmc.ca/location.html

Welcome

     Hello and Welcome to Medicine Hat Hope Street Compassionate Ministry Centre or Hope Street CMC's Blog. This blog will be a spot for Pastor Murray Alan Kumm, Executive Director, to share ideas and thoughts about Compassionate Ministry from both personal experience and the Word of God. Thank you for taking a moment out of your busy schedule to check out our blog. Please forward all comments and/or thoughts to Pastor Murray either by directly commenting on the bottom of this post, or by email, makumm@hopestreetcmc.ca.

 

Mission and Vision Statements:

 

The Mission of Medicine Hat Hope Street Compassionate Ministry Centre is: To alleviate and break cycles of poverty by ensuring basic human needs are met for the homeless, working poor and impoverished population of Medicine Hat.

Hope Street CMC will accomplish its mission by: Providing a family safe enviroment where individuals can receive a hot and nutritious meal at no cost.

Please feel free to learn more about Hope Street CMC by visiting our website: www.hopestreetcmc.ca. Be Blessed and have an awesome day!!