In His Name Ministries, Inc
P.O. Box 1208, • Bethany, OK 73008 • United States • 405-947-7415 • http://www.inhisname.org
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Fruits of Repentance
FRUITS OF REPENTANCE John the Baptist preached about fruits of repentance prior to the beginning of Jesus' ministry. If you have two tunics and your neighbor has none sharing with a neighbor shows God that your heart has changed. Jesus himself spoke about fruits throughout his ministry. In Matthew 25 he dramatically emphasized them. He spoke of giving water, food, clothing, and time as fruits of repentance. James later explained that faith without works is dead. In our day the importance of fruits may be diminished as believers emphasize other aspects of "being a Christian." Giving a shirt, sharing groceries, or money, may not seem to be important. Yet, after four hundred years of silence this is what the prophet emphasized in Jesus' day. And it is just as important for us today. There will always be fruits of the new life in Christ. Since 1983, this theme has compelled In His Name Ministries to reach out to the Oklahoma City community. The ministry offers individual Christians, and churches, specific cases of human need to which they may respond. Christians whose hearts are open to God respond to these needs, showing the fruits of their repentance. Typical cases of need which may be found in any town are a call to action for the Christian community. - An elderly widow who needs a new water heater, or an overdue utility bill paid. - An abandoned wife (and mother) who cannot pay her immediate bills. - A disabled person who faces six months without income while Social Security tediously ponders their eligibility for assistance. The Spirit of God guides His people into appropriate responses to human need. Loving a neighbor by meeting his need is a spiritual act - a fruit of repentance.
As Christ Loved Us
Loving Others As Christ Has Loved Us In His Name Ministries, an interfaith Christian ministry, has been serving the needy in Central Oklahoma since 1983, by directly giving financial assistance, or by informing caring Christian people about specific needs to which they may respond. Who Receives Help? A variety of human situations demand response by the Christian community. Here are some examples. Ina Lee, a mentally disabled retired waitress, had been a widow for twenty years. A friend reported her situation to the ministry. She needed groceries. So Margaret and Dee Stribling, co-directors of the ministry, purchased and delivered food. Later a Sunday School class in nearby Yukon, OK began to help the woman regularly. One man became their outreach person. He kept in touch and reported needs back to his Sunday School Class. Later they took up a collection and re-roofed her home. When she asked to meet the people who had been helping her, they took her to a class picnic where she was their guest of honor. Linda, a single parent, mother of six children, first called the ministry in 1986. One of her daughters needed insulin, and their supply of groceries was low. Their income was very meager - no room in the budget for extra expenses. So over the years she has received groceries, clothing, utility assistance and has been introduced to a dozen or more people, some of whom kept in touch with her. A single woman in her early twenties shared clothing and took hamburgers on her visit. She became a special friend of the teen age girl in the family. Often the ministry could not respond to her need. But through help from other sources she has kept going. Recently she and her husband remarried. Cheryl, a registered nurse became physically disabled. The ministry helped pay bills, and located a group to move her belongings into a senior center. Another local ministry also gave her substantial help. When she was granted a favorable judgment by the Social Security court, she began to befriend others to whom we introduced her. She now writes letters, prays for individuals and sometimes sends someone $10 to help pay a bill. Leslie was unemployed. He, his wife and their two year old baby lived briefly with a relative, but when the relative moved they had no place to live. He got a job changing tires at a truck stop on I-40, and his wife also was employed the same week at a McDonalds. The ministry helped them with first month's rent, and part of the deposit on their electric bill. One other agency also gave financial help.
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