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| Dolores Pittman |
According to biblical prophecy, people are going to become exceedingly wicked in the last days preceding the return of Jesus Christ.
Concerning that prophecy, the apostle Paul wrote this: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People
will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boastful, proud,
abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without
self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous,
rash, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness
but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Sadly, we just saw another fulfillment of Paul's prophecy recently when a blind 67-year-old woman named Dolores Pittman, who survives on a modest income, was informed that she had to move out of the only home she's known for the past 55 years.
Why was Pittman forced to move out? Has her town of Cedar Lake, Indiana condemned her property? Did she fall behind on the mortgage payments? Neither. The property hasn't been condemned and the house was paid for by Pittman's family long ago.
Pittman was forced out of her home because the house was purchased by a man named Clayton Pullins in 2009 at a Lake County tax auction for the princely sum of $43. Did Pittman fail to pay the property taxes on her small home?
No. It seems that Pittman's property was owned by a local church that wasn't required to pay any property taxes on the land until 2006 when Indiana changed its property tax laws. For many years, Pittman and her family had paid the church $10 per year to lease the land.
Evidently, when the church began receiving the tax bills, it ignored them. Then, in 2009, Lake County put the property up for sale at a tax auction and Pullins bought it.
Pittman wasn't aware of the sale until she received an eviction notice from Pullins last year. Pittman tried valiantly to keep the house through court battles, but to no avail. She finally moved out and is currently living in a rented home paid for courtesy of donated money from thousands of supporters who have taken up her cause.
However, although Pittman has a new home, her battle isn't over. She's blind and she has to become familiar with the layout in her new home.
If you've never known a blind person--and I do--you don't realize how important familiarity is to them. New surroundings can be difficult and terrifying to them because they must memorize where everything is. Until that happens, everything is a risk.
But there may be even a happier ending to this story. It turns out that Cedar Lake has decided to purchase the property from Pullins and allow Pittman to move back into the only home she's known since she was 12.
What if Pullins refuses to sell the property? Then Cedar Lake will use its municipal condemnation powers to buy the land from Pullins. One way or another, Pullins will be forced to sell the property to Cedar Lake. He has no choice.
When the sale is completed, Cedar Lake will offer Pittman a "life estate" which is a legal arrangement that will allow Pittman to live out the rest of her life in the home she first moved into in 1958. And Pittman has indicated that she plans to use the donated money she received from her supporters to fix up the home.
As for Pullins? He's keeping a low profile and has refused all interview requests from the media in what has now become a national story. He may be a jerk, but he isn't stupid.
However, Pullins' real problem isn't with those who'd like a piece of him for what he did to an elderly blind woman.
His real problem will come when he stands before Jesus Christ on Judgment Day and he's asked to explain what motivated him to do that. I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes on that day.
And so, here's hoping that he repents and gives Dolores Pittman back her house without a fight. Because if he refuses to repent, he's going to deal with an angry God who will judge him severely.
And you know what that means.
Evidently, when the church began receiving the tax bills, it ignored them. Then, in 2009, Lake County put the property up for sale at a tax auction and Pullins bought it.
Pittman wasn't aware of the sale until she received an eviction notice from Pullins last year. Pittman tried valiantly to keep the house through court battles, but to no avail. She finally moved out and is currently living in a rented home paid for courtesy of donated money from thousands of supporters who have taken up her cause.
However, although Pittman has a new home, her battle isn't over. She's blind and she has to become familiar with the layout in her new home.
If you've never known a blind person--and I do--you don't realize how important familiarity is to them. New surroundings can be difficult and terrifying to them because they must memorize where everything is. Until that happens, everything is a risk.
But there may be even a happier ending to this story. It turns out that Cedar Lake has decided to purchase the property from Pullins and allow Pittman to move back into the only home she's known since she was 12.
What if Pullins refuses to sell the property? Then Cedar Lake will use its municipal condemnation powers to buy the land from Pullins. One way or another, Pullins will be forced to sell the property to Cedar Lake. He has no choice.
When the sale is completed, Cedar Lake will offer Pittman a "life estate" which is a legal arrangement that will allow Pittman to live out the rest of her life in the home she first moved into in 1958. And Pittman has indicated that she plans to use the donated money she received from her supporters to fix up the home.
As for Pullins? He's keeping a low profile and has refused all interview requests from the media in what has now become a national story. He may be a jerk, but he isn't stupid.
However, Pullins' real problem isn't with those who'd like a piece of him for what he did to an elderly blind woman.
His real problem will come when he stands before Jesus Christ on Judgment Day and he's asked to explain what motivated him to do that. I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes on that day.
And so, here's hoping that he repents and gives Dolores Pittman back her house without a fight. Because if he refuses to repent, he's going to deal with an angry God who will judge him severely.
And you know what that means.
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