The term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man. Wow, so if that is what that means, then I will have to say that I have seen these words in action so many times. My friend says this all the time "I am blessed to do life with you". I love it. How true is a statement such as this? When my wife and I started this, we had no clue we would meet so many wonderful friends. Not just friends, but we have grown our family. The Hogan family is so blessed.
We are commanded to preach the word that God has provided. We are to love one another and you have done so, with such loving hearts. You take time to gather the needs for our campers, and you take time away from your weekend to share your Agape love to people that sometimes don't show appreciation for what we do. Then we get that one camper, that one person that has nothing. They are not begging for money, they are not doing drugs, they are homeless. They they meet one of you. You show a little Agape love and then this person walks away from our group not just with their basic needs, and a full belly. They just met a Christian. They met a servant of our Lord and we showed them something new. They learn we are not there to hurt them or to take what little they have. They see smiles and then they join us in the prayer circle. Holding hands with our fellow brothers and sister and praying to our Father. Let's think about this for a minute. We all share the same father. He doesn't care on how much you make an hour. God doesn't have special calling hours for different people. When we circle up and we say a prayer, not only are we sending praise and asking for our God's help, we are giving hope through God to someone that has no hope at all. When you are holding the hand of that camper, you can feel the power of prayer, their grip gets tighter and I have seen so many tears fall from the faces of the lost. There is hope.
I understand that recently I was really let down by someone that was supposed to be a spiritual leader. I thought that because of his words that I considered ending my time with LOS. Well, I have to thank so many of you for your emails, phone calls, and talking to me. I almost made a huge mistake. How can you walk away from something that is God inspired. I almost listened to a man and completely walk away from the voice of God. What a sin that could have been. These campers need us and I know I need them. They talk about a church being about people, it doesn't need four walls. When we meet on Saturday we have established a mobile church. We worship together and we preach as ministers. We sing praise loud to our Creator and we feel his presence. There was a weekend where Satan was present at a camp and it really through a new kind of confusion to our friends serving together. i understand we lost several new friends, because of this. So, now we all have to remember what and why we are doing this. Why do you personally take time to help on Saturdays? When you serve and you are talking to campers for several hours, what is the feeling you have driving home? I know that some of you get right on the computer and you are still feeling the greatness of what God has provided you. When you talk the next day at church about what you did the night before, do you think about how you spread the word of God through your actions? Does your heart feel the warmth that mine does because you loved on one of your fellow brothers and sisters that live on the streets?
We are Christians! That is not just a title, it's a life style, it's a privilege and an honor. Our God uses us as a tool to give the street people hope and love. When Nicole and I started LOS, we worried that we would never be able to feed the homeless every weekend. That stressed me out. My wife and I prayed on this and a year and a half later, we are still able to feed the homeless and meet their needs. God brought you into our lives and into the campers lives. Only through the love of our God and the selflessness of all of our Christian friends, that we are able to show God's greatness to the land living homeless. So, once again I am going to say this "we are blessed to share life with you ".
God Bless my friends. Have a wonderful week.
Michael J. Hogan
once again Mike, your words are so beautifully written. Yesterday we had a really nice coverall donated and I told Tom before we headed out that I wanted to keep it hidden and that I knew God would tell him who and when to give it out. We were at the last stop and I was serving the Marzetti from my car when a middle aged man, whom I have never seen, came up to me, wearing the coveralls and grinning ear to ear. He learned I was Ton's wife and wanted to thank me in person too. (Tom didn't share our secret just pointed out that I was his wife). It's a gift from God when we can truly allow ourselves to listen to the voice of God and know that we are sealed by God's Grace through the Holy Spirit. I had FAITH that a man would make his way to Tom and without hesitation Tom would know his need. Tom told me he felt something in his heart tug and he knew it was the Holy Spirit telling him "This is THE one" He told the man to wait and he went and got them from under a blanket in our back seat. He said the man's face was priceless. He was over joyed and couldn't believe Tom didn't want money for them. He put them on immediately. Tom just gave a priceless gift...the gift of Hope to a stranger. Tom got to see his face go from solemn to sheer happiness over something as simple as a pair of Dickie Coveralls. The man came over to shake my hand and thank me and wouldn't you know...they were truly a PERFECT fit! That sealed the deal for me. Humanity can cloud things but when we allow Jesus into our hearts, we are marked by the Grace of God. There is no limit to what we can do and achieve with God on our side! Blessings, Stacey
ReplyDeleteStacey,
ReplyDeleteI find it truly inspiring to hear the story of the coveralls after the fact. Yesterday, as I often do, sought out the new gentleman that you speak of. Until now, I did not know which of our group members they came from. I can attest to the excitment this man had about the coveralls and how thankful he was for them. After our conversation the man disappeared around the side of the building. A few minutes later, I noticed him walking around the parking lot wearing these new Dickies. I made the comment on how perfect they fit and he again expressed sheer thankfulness and excitment. Tom-Stacey, thank you so much for being part of this journey with us and acting when God tugs!! ;)
Stacey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sending a comment. I want to thank you for you and Tom. You have brought so many new friends into our lives. I remember the first time we met. It's kindof funny that of everyone we meet I remember meeting you an your family. Your family has made this journey so enjoyable. I can go down the list on all the great Christians that have joined us on Saturday, because of you. That is really great what you and Tom did for that camper. I remember seeing him walking around with that grin. I had no clue what had happened, just that someone provided him with a pair of coveralls. Awesome.... See you in a couple of days. God Bless!
Michael