March 17, 2009, 3:15pm
If you’re an internet junkie like me you’ve probably seen some pretty wild websites. There is some seriously scary, funny, disgusting, and SURFER BEWARE kind of stuff on the WWW. Even so, I couldn’t resist looking at what this website was about.
As I clicked on the link I came across the source of the controversial link (www.pimpthisbum.com). Personally, I wasn’t offended. If I had been homeless I might have taken exception. But I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the sit.
The focus of the pimpthisbum site are the needs of a homeless man named Tim in Houston, Texas. The news generated by the controversial website url has generated criticism as well as real help for Tim. He has been offered a scholarship at a drug and alcohol rehab center. A first step in getting Tim off the street and back into a better life.
The impact of this current economy makes me grateful for what God has given me. And Tim’s plight makes me wonder what I can do for others and why I haven’t done something myself. Even if it is just a little bit because every little bit helps.
James 2:14-16, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”
What can you do to assist those in need? Can you raise a little money for children during Christmas? Can you collect socks, underwear, soap, towels, or bed linens for a homeless shelter? Is there a food donation box somewhere in your community? What about a coat drive as this winter ends before next winter begins?
There are so many different ways we can provide for the needs of the hungry, homeless, and impoverished. It is a shame that the richest nation in the world still has these problems. We can no longer wait and hope that others, the government, churches, or private foundations will solve these problems. Everyone must work together and provide financial, logistical, and volunteer support. If we don’t the problem will only increase.
Matthew 25:35-36, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”
Go to the website www.pimpthisbum.com and learn about homelessness. Find out what you can do to help someone. If not Tim, then maybe someone in your neighborhood less fortunate than yourself. Let us follow the example of scripture and “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” (James 1:22)
