Newsletter Update

Neighborhood Ministry
Newsletter Update

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

Matthew 25:31-40 “….When the Son of Man comes in His glory….will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Dear Beloved Saints, It has been a while since my last newsletter. In a moment I will discuss why I picked the verse above. But first I would like to fill you in a little since my last newsletter.

So much has happened personally in my life in this past year. You may have even been wondering if this ministry is still going. Well, I am pleased to say that it is. In this past year I’ve had tragedy hit my family in the form of murder as well as hardship and many trials and tests have followed, but I also am very pleased to announce that in September of last year I got married to a very wonderful God fearing woman with 5 children so now I am a father of 6 children, which keeps me extremely busy! Since I cannot raise 6 children with 8 of us living in my trailer that I had before, I had to move. Now, we are living right outside of Chesterton City limits here in Indiana. However Our mission to the at risk neighborhoods remains the same.

There are about 3 projects that we are currently working on....

1. To record my testimony on a DVD and send it to as many people as I can. It is my deepest hearts desire to bring hope, and the message of salvation through the gospel and through my testimony of what the Lord has done in my life. My intention is to reach as many people as I can that are struggling with such despair that they feel they may have no hope at all. I have also put it on YouTube....

Youtube video titled: Overcoming The Odds By The Grace Of Jesus Christ: By Doug McGowan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmsuh1G5-hU&feature%E2%80%8B=youtube_gdata_player

If you would like more information, or to schedule a visit or a speaking opportunity please let me know. It is my passion to help as many people as I can through the Lords message, and to glorify His lovely name.

Now, these next two things especially the third one are the reasons I picked the bible verse above.

2. A community Garden. The Lord has placed it on my heart to have a community garden so that it could provide healthy food but also to establish relationships by the community getting involved together. Being that I have no knowledge of how to do a garden I was reluctant to do this but as I brought this idea to people it was overwelming of the response I received that YES you should do this! So I take that as a confirmation. I have presented this idea to the trailer park in Portage where I used to live and surprisingly they said yes we would like for you to do this and they would provide the land for free and the water for the garden! However, the owner of the park recently changed his mind after realizing how much is going to go into this. So, now we are in need of a new place to put the garden.

3. An awareness of homelessness. Recently I have received an invitation to partner up with this ministry to help raise an awareness of Homelessness. this ministry is called PADS. And this is thier site...

http://www.sspads.org/box_city.html

The intension is to join together and raise an awareness of Homelessness by staying all night in a cardboard box out in designated areas. This is opened to anyone, even preteens and teenagers along with adults. It is Neighborhood Ministry's passion to help those who feel they maybe stuck without hope. We feel this is a great opportunity to meet them where they are at and at the same time gain a small understanding of what they go through on a regular basis.

Please consider these needs. There are so many people out there that are stuck without any hope at all! All they may see are their surroundings which can be extremely overbearing. I think back to the time before I gave my life to my precious Jesus. I was screaming inside with so much hurt and anger and hopelessness. I needed someone to come along side of me and speak with compassion and understanding to me but more than that I also needed truth about the ONLY one who could save me!

Brothers and Sisters, sons and daughters of the King, won't you please join with us to help those who may feel stuck with no way out and shine light to them that there is HOPE! There is SALVATION! And you have the answer in your heart which is the Gosple of Jesus Christ! They need you and God wants you to express this to them!

Thank you and God bless you and may His countenance shine upon you!

Doug & Cyndi McGowan
Neighborhood Ministry Inc.
"Shining God's light to our neighbors"

This is why I hate religion!

Jesus was a homeless man who hung out with fisherman with prostitutes and tax collectors and surrounded himself with people who had catchy deceases. He probably smelled bad because he was homeless and was with fisherman and the bible says he was an ugly looking man. Now, lets put this into perspective. People with leapercy would be like people with aids today but would have the shame from people as if they were a sex offender. And a tax collector was someone who was a cheat who was a greedy thief and a traitor.

So, would we (as a church) let someone who smelled bad, was ugly and homeless and who had thieves and prostitutes and people with aids and sex offenders as friends. Would we let someone like that into our lives and be friends with that person? Would we let Him into our church building with a glad and sincere heart? We need to consider who Jesus the Christ really is and what is his heart. His heart is agape love and mercy to every need everywhere no matter what you think is comfortable!

Get rid of religion and replace it with a close intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and show mercy and Love to a person who needs Someone to care! Jesus hates religion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXECFpGwu8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lowly Jesus shows up as lowly people

Jesus is in the lowliest of places with the lowliest of people. Just a few moments ago I heard of a story that was on my wife's FB page that just broke my heart and it reminded me of this.... It breaks my heart to remember there was one time a man was waiting to get into the church building one Sunday morning when I went to unlock the doors. He was a black man that had a mental disability and he had been sleeping on the park bench all night by the doors of the church. As I approached the doors with church keys in hand he said to me (with an usher standing near), "can I come in and help serve?" I said "sure! We would love to have you." the usher pulled me aside and said "you have to get him out of here. He is scary looking." and I can't help but think of the passage in Matthew 25:33-46 where God separates the sheeps from the goats.....

"He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

We must never forget what Jesus has done and always be mindful that Jesus always ministered to people like that in the lowliest of places!

How do I truly Surrender and give it to God?

Years ago I had a friend who was and still is a believer in Christ. And when I would talk to him about trying to stop having these sexual urges and lusting He kept telling me "you got to surrender and give it to God" and I would just say I know and I would just kinda go on my way not really knowing how to do that. I mean really! How do you give something that is not tangible that you can't hold in your hands to someone who is not tangible and you cannot see or hear? At least that was my way of thinking at those times before I became a follower and believer of Jesus Christ. You see, I went to college for design and engineering classes and I have an associates degree in Design Technology. I have 17 years experience in that field so I like to grab hold of things that are tangible to understand it. If i can't see or hear it that it is hard for me to believe in it so this concept was really difficult for me. And then the Lord finally revealed it to me. It's not about me and my feelings. I am a very feeling oriented person. I think we all are. And it is easy for me to go on my feelings and let them lead me throughout my day and letting them determine how I respond to certain things. But if I do that then I'm saying its all about me and what I'm going through and how I feel. And that is a lie from the pit of hell! As I think about this I'm reminded of the lyrics to the song "Surrender".......

"I'm giving You my heart, all that is within 
I lay it all down, for the sake of You my King 

I'm giving You my dreams, laying down my rights 
I'm giving up my pride, for the promise of new life* 

And I surrender all to You, all to You 
And I surrender all to You, all to You 

I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross......

I believe that to surrender our will to God means that we first start with a filter. By that I mean we need to take a look at what the Word of God says. Are we living according to His will? Are the circumstances in our lives a result of disobedience? Or are they simply out of our control? All we have to worry about is to simply obey. Follow what the Word of God says and you can't do this on your own! It's impossible for anyone except Jesus! So we need to ask Him to help us follow His way. Then simply release it. In your heart and in your mind just release it and know with a clear mind that your doing your part to the best of your ability to do what God wants and leave the results up to Him. Sometimes this may mean you do just the opposite of what your feelings are telling you. If your depressed because you feel lonely then find someone who is in need and help them.

This is what it means to take up your Cross daily and Follow Jesus.