I believe that single mothers are made of sterner stuff than most of us, myself included. OnRamp has now donated reliable vehicles to almost sixty single moms in our community, and I have been stunned by every one of their stories. For many, abuse or abandonment left them as the sole provider and parent to their young children. Many work multiple jobs to cover expenses, budget and save to the penny to pay bills, and somehow muster the energy after a full day of work to feed, clean, and read to their kids. I don’t know how they do it day after day. I just know we have a responsibility to come along side them, for their sake and the sake of their children.
Read More
Guest post by OnRamp Board Member and Grant Committee Writer, Austin Rogers.
In the month of June 2022, two things rose higher than anyone would have liked:
Temperatures outside, and
The prices of almost everything.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently that consumer prices spiked by an average of 9.1% year-over-year in June 2022. That is the highest increase in the consumer price index ("CPI") in 40 years!
While rising prices at the grocery store, the gas station, and the shopping mall affect all of us, it is important to realize that they don't affect all of us equally. The poor are hit particularly hard by inflation - far harder than those with higher incomes and more resources at their disposal.
Read More
We gave away two excellent, reliable vehicles in the last two weeks, but neither increased our total client count. You see, both are replacement vehicles. While we tend to do VERY well at finding long-term, reliable cars and SUV’s for our clients, no one bats a thousand. When something goes wrong within the first twelve months of a client’s ownership, we make sure that OnRamp takes the loss, not the client.
Read More
Last week’s quiet time had me in James 2:14-26, a famous passage on faith and works that I preached many times over the years. I have come to a sobering conclusion: I preached it wrong. Not exegetically or theologically wrong, at least as far as I can tell. Instead, my mistake was one of emphasis and application. I spent almost all of my time trying to prove that our church’s theological interpretation of the passage was right contrary to the interpretation of other Christian denominations. But why? James clearly cared far more about the obvious application of the passage: that followers of Christ should constantly do good deeds, especially caring for the poor and vulnerable! All Christians can agree with that application even if we’re divided over the theological details. I missed the forest (the clear application) for the trees (the contemporary theological debate). Notice James’ primary application in the passage: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” As he does throughout the book, he points us to our care of the poor. Here it is poor Christians. In other passages, it’s the poor and vulnerable regardless of religious affiliation (e.g. widows and orphans generally at the end of chapter 1). His point is that believers are COMMANDED to give sacrificially to alleviate poverty within the global church, at a minimum, and throughout society as a whole, where possible.
Read More