Tuesday, April 26, 2011
follow up to yesterday's post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
Monday, April 25, 2011
"There has to be a penalty for stealing our services,"...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110425/us_yblog_thelookout/rally-for-prosecuted-homeless-mom-who-sent-son-to-a-better-school-district
"There has to be a penalty for stealing our services,"...smh...Homeless woman faces $15,000 fine and up to 20 years in jail for sending her son to a better school...Please, I need people to respond who think that this is justified...help me understand the reasoning behind this...and, if you can...work something in about Brown vs. the Board of Education where "seperate but equal" was ruled unconstitutional.
"There has to be a penalty for stealing our services,"...smh...Homeless woman faces $15,000 fine and up to 20 years in jail for sending her son to a better school...Please, I need people to respond who think that this is justified...help me understand the reasoning behind this...and, if you can...work something in about Brown vs. the Board of Education where "seperate but equal" was ruled unconstitutional.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Can I Be A Christian and NOT Help the Poor? Part 2
WWJD? In this case the answer is “What DID Jesus do, and say and teach and believe?”...let's see shall we...
Prov. 29:7. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such concern.
Luke 12:33. "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys."
Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, "Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise."
Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Prov. 22:9 He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.
Prov. 19:17. He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.
Is. 58:10. "And if you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."
Luke 14:12-14. "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
I could go on...but The Word doesn't just stop there with the warm fuzzies...there are consequences for treating the poor and downtrodden with so much disregard...
Is. 10:1-3. "Woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who continually record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of My people of their rights... Now what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the devastation which will come from afar?"
Jer. 5:28f. "[The wicked] do not plead the cause, the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people?" declares the LORD. "On such a nation as this, shall I not avenge myself?"
Ezek. 16:49ff. "Behold, this was the guilt of your sisterSodom
Luke 16:19-25. "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony...'"
Seems pretty clear cut the calamity the Lord will visit on a person or COUNTRY that fails to look out for the poor and needy. And as Christ stated in his excellent parable in Matthew 25: 31 - 46;
So "Can I Be A Christian and NOT Help the Poor?" Not according to the Bible, at least...not a good one. But you must choose for yourself which is more important...to serve God or to serve Count - wait, this isn't really about Country is it...so I guess it is serve God or political expediency? So am I first a Christian or an American? As Peter said in Acts 5:29…” We must obey God rather than men.”
Resources:
http://www.zompist.com/meetthepoor.html
http://niv.scripturetext.com/matthew/25.htm
Prov. 29:7. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such concern.
Luke 12:33. "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys."
Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, "Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise."
Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Prov. 22:9 He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.
Prov. 19:17. He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.
Is. 58:10. "And if you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."
Luke 14:12-14. "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
I could go on...but The Word doesn't just stop there with the warm fuzzies...there are consequences for treating the poor and downtrodden with so much disregard...
Is. 10:1-3. "Woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who continually record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of My people of their rights... Now what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the devastation which will come from afar?"
Jer. 5:28f. "[The wicked] do not plead the cause, the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people?" declares the LORD. "On such a nation as this, shall I not avenge myself?"
Ezek. 16:49ff. "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister
Luke 16:19-25. "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony...'"
Seems pretty clear cut the calamity the Lord will visit on a person or COUNTRY that fails to look out for the poor and needy. And as Christ stated in his excellent parable in Matthew 25: 31 - 46;
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“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. 35For 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, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41“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. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.’
44“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?’
45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Resources:
http://www.zompist.com/meetthepoor.html
http://niv.scripturetext.com/matthew/25.htm
Can I Be A Christian and NOT Help the Poor? Part 1
1 John 3:17. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
After posting this blog a few weeks ago
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3451&emailView=1
I was told by a friend, a good Christian brother, that he fully supported Chairman Ryan's budget cuts even though two- thirds of the cuts come from programs for lower income Americans. Since that time I have been kicking around an idea and I feel I have to pose this question now. Can I Be A Christian and NOT Help the Poor? Or In tough economic times can I make the hard choices that will hurt the disadvantaged for the sake of the country despite my beliefs?
These a difficult times, faced with mountains of debt, social programs on the verge of insolvency, banking and financial systems going haywire and jobs and sustainable housing at a premium the ground America seems to be standing on seems shaky at best. If we can't tighten our belts now then our glorious country, that "city on a hill" is set for a tumble.
But i was always told that you can't squeeze blood from a stone. So how is it that we plan to balance the budget on the backs of those who have the least? This may seem to be fiscal prudent policy, but is it morally right? How can I stand on the Christian values that The Bible lays down and yet bite the economic bullet and condone cuts to desperately needed social programs? Or to go even deeper, “Am I a Christian first or an American first?”
And just what does the Bible say about helping the poor?
Deut. 15:7. "If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks."
But what about
Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
Proverbs 19:15”Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep and an idle person will suffer hunger." and
2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." Aren't these clear cut ordinances that say those who are lazy deserve their lot in life and if they were more industrious they would enjoy the fruits of their labor and not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from? Isn't that what the Bible teaches?
This shows the general misconception i.e...The poor have little money and few resources and depend on the aid of others to make ends meet (charity, Government programs etc...) and lazy people are generally poor so All poor people are lazy. Logically I know most of you realize how spurious an argument this is...Logically. But emotionally....emotionally many people feel there are boatloads of truth in this statement, even though it flies in the face of logic, the face of facts.
Most of the poor are no more content in their situation as an ant is under a magnifying glass on a bright, sunny day. Most of the poor work a hard scrabble existence and do more with little than most should be able to do. Underemployed people, unemployed people who are desperate for work-ANY work (I have seen stiff competition for dishwasher jobs), single mothers, grandmothers raising grandkids on social security and food stamps. Ex Cons who are desperately trying not to fall back into old habits washing cars for tips to keep from going back to jail, people with bachelors and masters degrees unloading trucks and flipping burgers because those were the only jobs out there to get. Are these the lazy, the lay-abouts the sluggards and hobos? So when we ask for a hand UP-for the sake of fiscal responsibility are you to slap it down? Can we do that and with a clear conscious dress up in our Sunday's best and head down to our local tabernacle and worship God with a settled and happy heart?
After posting this blog a few weeks ago
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3451&emailView=1
I was told by a friend, a good Christian brother, that he fully supported Chairman Ryan's budget cuts even though two- thirds of the cuts come from programs for lower income Americans. Since that time I have been kicking around an idea and I feel I have to pose this question now. Can I Be A Christian and NOT Help the Poor? Or In tough economic times can I make the hard choices that will hurt the disadvantaged for the sake of the country despite my beliefs?
These a difficult times, faced with mountains of debt, social programs on the verge of insolvency, banking and financial systems going haywire and jobs and sustainable housing at a premium the ground America seems to be standing on seems shaky at best. If we can't tighten our belts now then our glorious country, that "city on a hill" is set for a tumble.
But i was always told that you can't squeeze blood from a stone. So how is it that we plan to balance the budget on the backs of those who have the least? This may seem to be fiscal prudent policy, but is it morally right? How can I stand on the Christian values that The Bible lays down and yet bite the economic bullet and condone cuts to desperately needed social programs? Or to go even deeper, “Am I a Christian first or an American first?”
And just what does the Bible say about helping the poor?
Deut. 15:7. "If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks."
But what about
Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
Proverbs 19:15”Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep and an idle person will suffer hunger." and
2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." Aren't these clear cut ordinances that say those who are lazy deserve their lot in life and if they were more industrious they would enjoy the fruits of their labor and not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from? Isn't that what the Bible teaches?
This shows the general misconception i.e...The poor have little money and few resources and depend on the aid of others to make ends meet (charity, Government programs etc...) and lazy people are generally poor so All poor people are lazy. Logically I know most of you realize how spurious an argument this is...Logically. But emotionally....emotionally many people feel there are boatloads of truth in this statement, even though it flies in the face of logic, the face of facts.
Most of the poor are no more content in their situation as an ant is under a magnifying glass on a bright, sunny day. Most of the poor work a hard scrabble existence and do more with little than most should be able to do. Underemployed people, unemployed people who are desperate for work-ANY work (I have seen stiff competition for dishwasher jobs), single mothers, grandmothers raising grandkids on social security and food stamps. Ex Cons who are desperately trying not to fall back into old habits washing cars for tips to keep from going back to jail, people with bachelors and masters degrees unloading trucks and flipping burgers because those were the only jobs out there to get. Are these the lazy, the lay-abouts the sluggards and hobos? So when we ask for a hand UP-for the sake of fiscal responsibility are you to slap it down? Can we do that and with a clear conscious dress up in our Sunday's best and head down to our local tabernacle and worship God with a settled and happy heart?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Are You Kidding?
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3451&emailView=1
This is so offensive that I can not speak.
This is so offensive that I can not speak.
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