MAX In The News
Making a Difference through Mutual Aid
Mutual aid is never simply a paper/pencil transaction. It is always relational. Mutual aid is never one-way. It is always reciprocal. Each party has something to offer the other.
Have you wondered what the Bible says about poverty? A significant portion of God's Word is dedicated to this topic. Obviously, the poor are very close to God's heart.
MAX Mutual Aid Ministries Enters New Era
Overland Park, Kansas (January 1, 2012) – MutualAid eXchange (“MAX”) has announced that it is increasing its support of the Mutual Aid Ministries program. “Mutual Aid Ministries is the heart and soul of the MAX Enterprise; MAX would be just another insurance company without Mutual aid Ministries. That being the case, it is critical to stabilize and strengthen Mutual Aid Ministries both financially and otherwise” said Dave Wine, President and CEO of MAX.
The Book of Isaiah helps us see the light this Advent Season
Throughout the book, Isaiah reminds the people that true worship must be combined with faithful action; judgment with righteousness; power with humility; purity with justice. Only then will the light break forth like the dawn and our healing will quickly come. We’ve included some ideas on how your congregation can follow Isaiah’s words during Advent and throughout the year.
The Book of Isaiah is the focus this Advent Season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Isaiah is really three books in one, spanning a period of over three centuries in Israel’s history. The book is a collection of poetic oracles, prophecies, and reports; but the common premise is the message of salvation. It contains Yahweh’s vision for the people.
The ‘Single Story’ of Joe
Believing in a 'single story' gives rise to the tendency to abstract people. How do you think you would have responded to Joe?
Joe stopped at the church office. His presence confronted my nostrils; he smelled like he had not showered for a long time. His hair was long and oily. He had dark circles under his eyes.
He told me his car died about ¾ mile down the road. He was walking by the church on his way to a nearby filling station. He was married and his three children were in the car. The two year old was running a fever and needed a doctor that he could not afford.
As pastor, he expected me to drop everything I was doing and listen to his tale of woe ... and respond.
Pay it Forward
What might happen if Pay it Forward and Random Acts of Kindness became the normative tag line for your congregation’s reputation in your community? What might happen if the actions of congregational members spread exponentially throughout your neighborhood, seeking out those for whom life is harsh, inviting those who have experienced inhospitality, offering healing and hope to anyone who is hurting?
The Pay it Forward concept has become a popular tag in our country in the past decade. It proposes the idea that when one is a recipient of a good deed; an appropriate response is to intentionally look for a need that someone else is experiencing and, out of a heart of compassion, do something to assist with that need without expecting anything in return.
The concept is grounded in an 1841 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote: “In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefits we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody.”
