Ricco’s Story of Helping His Neighbors

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Ricco and his wife lived on Sadler Lane in Bowie, MD for about 10 years. A few years ago, he noticed an issue happening across the street from him. A single woman (we will call her Susan) in her 50’s was living with her elderly father. Her father (we will call him James) recently moved in with her.

James was living in Upper Marlboro and his son was living with him. Sadly, his son was addicted to drugs and his friends started to come over and essentially took over the house. James felt unsafe in his own house so he left and came to live with his daughter across the street from Ricco.

Ricco said … I noticed the addicted son would come over to the house soon after his father cashed his social security check and forcibly take money from his dad to finance his addiction. Often they would have arguments and struggles in the front yard.

So, Ricco installed a security camera outside of his home that could not only record what might happen in his own yard, but also record what might be happening in James and Susan’s yard across the street. He told the James the next time your son comes over to steal from you, go outside in the front yard. So he did. His son beat up his dad in the front yard and took his money. But this time, it was on video.

Ricco called the police and had him arrested. He claimed his innocence, but once the police saw the video, they charged him with assault and robbery. Then he helped the James and Susan get a restraining order so that if their son and brother ever showed up at the house again, they would call the police and have him arrested again.

James and his daughter felt safe again. But Ricco was bothered by the fact that James owned the house in Upper Marlboro and his son was still taking advantage of him by living in it with his addicted friends. So, he asked James if he wanted to keep the house or sell it. He said sell it. So, while the son was in jail, Ricco changed all the locks in the house. When he got out of jail, he and his friends broke back into the house, Ricco kicked them out, double dead bolted the locks, and secured all the windows with screws so no one could break back into the home. Then Ricco found a buyer for the home and helped James sell it.

When asked about this amazing help, Ricco said … “Well you just gotta do what you gotta do. It was clear he needed help, and God calls us to love our neighbors like the Good Samaritan helped the beat up man along the road”.

You might think the story ends there but it doesn’t. About 6 month later the elderly father got sick and sadly passed away. And sadly his daughter was not in a position to take care of herself. She was mentally incompetent and couldn’t manage on her own. So, Ricco asked the county health services to come in and evaluate her condition. They agreed.

May 2019

Ricco said, “I talked it over with my wife and we prayed about it and we decided to apply for legal guardianship.” It was granted. Ricco and his wife had plans to move to Florida, so they found Natalie a small home and relocated her near them in Florida. She is not far away so we are able to check in on her Ricco said, and make sure she is getting along OK. Then Ricco helped her sell her house across the street from him in Bowie and those funds along with her father’s inheritance were put into a trust just for her support.

Is this an over-the-top example of being neighborly or what? Ricco said his goodbyes to all his neighbors on Sadler Lane when he, his wife, and Susan moved to Florida and said … please continue to love your neighbors. He is being missed on Sadler Lane, but welcomed by the neighbors in Florida.

Written by a neighbor on Sadler Lane

Reasons for Unity in Christ

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Isn’t unity dangerous? Yes. It is because we live in a fallen world and other people could be dangerous, wanting to deceive me and rob me of all I possess. They might even take my life.

But, what if the One you are joining with is completely trustworthy, all knowing, all powerful, and filled with love? What if He modeled unity successfully and perfectly for all eternity?  He is the God of the Bible, the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What if His desire is for the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and every Christian church practice “complete unity” so the world would sit up and take notice?

What if Jesus prayed like this?

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:21-23)

Jesus gave three fundamental truths, which He said would lead His Church into oneness such as the Father and Son enjoyed. That state of divine unity would be accessed when we correctly (1) relate to Christ’s name, (2) relate to His Word and (3) relate to His glory. [1]

When He prayed, Jesus was speaking of the continuation and replication of His life, which is manifested and defined in His teaching; and culminated in the fulfillment of the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).

There is great power when we cooperate with God and collaborate with each other.  This is demonstrated by the team of twelve disciples, the teams of two (Lk. 10:1-3), Paul’s partnerships with Barnabas and Silas, and many others throughout church history changed the world.

In their book, The Art of Neighboring, Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon make the following observation:

“Given all these good results, it seems strange that believers and churches are not better at working together. Why is it that partnerships between people of different congregations seem to be the exception and not the norm? This is a question both ministry leaders and believers need to address. For starters, we believe Christians stay apart for two reasons: we fear that unity equals uniformity, and, we want to focus solely on our own church.”

They continue:
“Often Christians and churches define themselves by how they differ from one another. But we believe there’s incredible power in focusing on the 98 percent on which we all agree. It’s important to realize that, at the end of the day, we are on the same team. If other groups believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he gave us the Great Commandment, then it’s probably safe to partner with them when it comes to neighboring.” [2]

Is unity dangerous?  Yes.  Is unity difficult?  It can be.  Is unity mandated by Jesus Christ the Lord?  Yes.
In my Unity in Christ Bible study, that I published October 2015, I asked that you consider the things that you and other Christians, and your church and other churches have in common.  Then consider what appropriate actions must be taken to repent and obey the Lord and His Word by practicing unity.

[1] Francis Frangipane. A House United: How Christ-Centered Unity Can End Church Division(Baker Publishing Group, 2006), p.150.
[2] Jay Pathak & Dave Runyon. The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside your Door(Baker Publishing Group, 2012), p.178.