What Kind Of Christianity Is This? (1 views) Subscribe   
  From:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1)   11/26/2001 12:07 am  
To:  ALL   (1 of 14)  
 
  276.1  
 
Sunday evening my wife and I, as well as our children, decided to join others of our faith to worship and praise God. Our church does not have a Sunday evening service and since we were feeling an unction from God to worship Him corporately with others, we went to a church where we had assumed there would be a Sunday night service. 

I will not mention the church's name because it is not important and I believe God will deal with the people involved. I especially pray for the people whom this post is about because it broke our hearts. 
As my wife and I drove into the parking lot of this church we were approached by a disheveled looking man who was obviously homeless. He had asked if we could give him some money to feed himself and his dog. When I told him I had no cash on me, he went on to tell us how the people in the church we were attempting to visit blew him off and told him to go "somewhere else." Apparently, in the church were a few people stacking chairs and cleaning from the earlier services. 

He explained to the people in the church that he was merely looking for some food or a way to feed himself and his pet. He was not forceful or rude when we spoke to him but he was deeply hurt. This man quoted scripture to my wife and I! He told us how Jesus would be very, very angry at the people of this church because, after all, isn't it the church where one might find a meal? A dollar for a can of dog food and perhaps another 3-4 dollars for a burger and some fries? 

He was so distraught that he openly rebuked ALL of Christianity! 

My point? 
Well, if we, the church, are leaving this kind of a witness with our other brothers and sisters, imagine what those who are not Christians must think of us! 
Can we not spare a few bucks to feed a homeless person and his dog???? 

My wife and I had just come from a burger joint and had almost a full hamburger left over. It was mine and I just wasn't hungry went we sat down to eat so, I took the burger to eat later. Instead, I gave it to this homeless man...and his dog. His reaction was one of great joy and happiness and why? His first words after "thank you" were, "I am going to give two thirds of this to my dog and I'll eat the rest," he said....all he really wanted was to feed his companion and the "Christians" of this church told him to go somewhere else.... 

If this is the kind of Christianity that is preached in that church, my wife and I will pass on worshipping with them. 

Again...my point? 
Imagine if my wife and I were looking to go to church for the first time....ever. 

 
  
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  From:  David (DavidABrown)    11/26/2001 8:49 am  
To:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1)   (2 of 14)  
 
  276.2 in reply to 276.1  
 
Hi,

 

Nice post!

 

Its the kind of Christianity that 99% of us practice most of the time, myself included. Im a work in process and God is working on me especially in this area of giving, sharing, and compassion. Some days I do better than others but still have a ways to go!

 

I dont think that you should leave that Church besides any Church (Fellowship) that you go to is likely to be very similar in that area unless you go to a ministry that is strictly given to helping the poor.

 

It seems that God has directed you to that fellowship to be a leader and that He has Given you some insight into what He wants for that fellowship. Now go there and support and encourage them in leadership into the more kind, loving, giving, God thing.

 

Keep in touch!
Let us know how it is going,

God Bless You,

David



David A. Brown
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  From:  123four   11/26/2001 5:54 pm  
To:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1)   (3 of 14)  
 
  276.3 in reply to 276.1  
 
I have found that some church goers 
do enjoy giving to the homeless as long 
as the homeless are in another country.:) 
It's that sitting to them in the pew 
that get's the best of them. :D That 
way, if you give to someone in another 
country, you can talk about your missionary 
giving, right? :D I knowk, I too am a work 
in progress. WE all trample upon the 
mercies of God. 
  
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  From:  David (DavidABrown)    11/27/2001 10:16 am  
To:  123four   (4 of 14)  
 
  276.4 in reply to 276.3  
 
Hi,

 

I had an interesting event yesterday I actually got to live a little of what this thread is about and it was not very Pleasant!

 

Over the weekend I was supposed to go shopping for some snacks for a Bible Study that Im a part of but I finally had some time Monday to go to the store. A Church had made out a check to the store for the snacks. I havent done the shopping before, I was filling in for someone else, so all the sudden there I am trying to buy a months worth of snacks. I ended up filling a cart with well junk food, soda, chips, crackers, cookies, and popcorn.

 

When I went to the check out line everything was fine everyone was nice and funny then I handed the check from the Church to pay for the snacks and I at first I didnt realize it but the cashier got upset because she thought that I had received a hand out from a Church and to her receiving something w/o earning it was totally unacceptable. And she immediately told me that I couldnt use that check there, so I had her call over the manager and the manager said that if I had a check cashing card from the store that I could use the check and I do have a check card so we were able to proceed with the transaction.

 

It took several minutes to scan all my junk food and that cashier let me know that she thought it was despicable. At first I didnt realize the point she was trying to make and told her that we normally shop at another store and that we could go back to the other store and her reply was that she wished we would and she had many more comments then I realized what her point was and worse I also realized that she treats everyone who is receiving help like that. Which did bother me because I have been involved in Ministry giving checks and vouchers to needy people and it really bothers me that the public would take it upon themselves to harass people that are in need.

 

This type of behavior is Actually exactly the Attitude of people in countries like India with their Religious Cast system where people think that you are getting what you deserve in your problems and in no way are they willing or supportive of any help the needy might receive.

 

Acts 20:35 I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the week, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more Blessed to give than to receive.

 

It is more Blessed to give because giving is a Huge blessing but it is still a Blessing to receive. The people who receive those snacks are very Blessed, myself included. Im also going to work on my attitude about people who do receive and are Blessed in that way and for me to be joyful along with them for what they have received!

 

God Bless You,

David



David A. Brown
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  From:  David (DavidABrown)    11/27/2001 10:17 am  
To:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1)   (5 of 14)  
 
  276.5 in reply to 276.1  
 
Nice post!

 

I actually got to live a little of your post, kind of like the doctor that becomes the patient.

 

Maybe next you can post on Missionaries in far away places! I would look forward to experiencing that also!

 

God Bless You,

David



David A. Brown
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  From:  123four   11/27/2001 12:28 pm  
To:  David (DavidABrown)    (6 of 14)  
 
  276.6 in reply to 276.4  
 
oh lol lol Bless you! oh, it's rough out 
there. lol lol I can't see why she was so 
mad. I mean it was for foodstuffs, u know. 
I hear people complain often about the home 
less who are 'there because they want to 
be', etc. Just makes me sick to hear it, 
as I use to work on my regular job with those 
people and I can tell you that there are very 
few who wouldn't give anything in the world 
to have a home and family. I worked for years 
in conjunction with a shelter and one of the 
saddest things I ever saw was an attorney 
whose wife and two of his sons were killed 
at the same time in an auto accident. When 
his insurance ran out, he had by that time 
lost his home, his job, friends,etc. He was 
in such deep depression that he couldn't 
climb out of it, and was then hallucinating, 
and very very mentally ill. He had some days 
that were better than others, but he was 
known to goas many as 5 days without sleep 
and then had further difficulties because of 
sleep deprivation. 

We need to all thank God so much for our 
families and church body and we need to just 
give every opportunity that God brings to 
us to do so. 

Other cases, just as sad, and horrible for 
all of those women 55-60 who fell into 
the cracks and had no income whatsoever, 
and were for various health reasons unable 
to work. "Snap out of it." the unlearned 
tell them. "get a grip." I hated it 
when I walked into the shelter and saw some 
of those women sleeping on a cold sidewalk 
in the winter. 

Where is the compassion of Christians?. I just 
hate to admit it, but there are some who 
are not born again and have more compassion 
than some do. What makes them so hard in 
heart? 

I don't want to give impression that I 
believe all Christians are hard hearted. 
Some would literally give you the shirt 
off their own backs, and be glad to help. 
Others could step over you while you were 
dying, and never batt an eye. 

I believe surely God is and will deal with 
this sort of behavior. We don't have an 
option to give to the poor if we want to 
or after our own entertainment,etc. We 
are commanded by God Almighty to do this, 
and we had all better heed that call, or 
one day we could find ourselves in thatexact 
same position. No, it wouldn't be God's 
doing, it would be our own.
 
  
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  From:  David (DavidABrown)    11/27/2001 1:51 pm  
To:  123four   (7 of 14)  
 
  276.7 in reply to 276.6  
 
Excellent  Post!

 

In the little work that I have done with needy people I was so Amazed to find out the Demonic spirit realm that is so heavily involved in messing up peoples lives.

 

One aspect of this is totally the work of Satan. Satan and his league of demons try very heard to get people down emotionally, spiritually, and physically. That is why Prayer is so crucial, it doesnt take much to pray for people but in a way it does because when we pray Satan comes at us, but who cares it is a battle and it is time to battle for the needy (we are all needy).

 

Also I have been noticing that people are so kind to animals like dogs, cats, etc. but some of these same animal lovers loath needy people, wonder why? Apparently Hitler and many of the leading Nazis were that way. Hitler and several of them were so concerned for animals that they were vegetarians, and they wouldnt hunt an animal (a popular sport at that time) and they were very concerned for their pets yet they considered fellow humans (created in the image of God) as something to discard.

 

Satan has really done a job on the priorities of mankind.

 

It reminds me that the Gifts that God has given to the Church are exactly what is needed to break these bondages of Satan. For example the gifts are, giving, teaching, discernment, prayer, hospitality etc. Each of these gifts will Undo the work of destruction that Satan is trying to do to the lives of people.

 

Im going to start telling people that if they dont want to assist the needy physically at least make sure they assist them by praying for them, and for heavens sake dont add to anyones burdens by giving them a hard time.

 

God Bless You,

David

 

PS after this post Im on my way to the store to buy the cat some cat treats the cat used to get treats only in the evening now it gets them in the morning and in the evening, besides its regular food, so off to get the cat its morning treats. Maybe we should treat each other like we treat our pets!



David A. Brown
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  From:  123four   11/27/2001 2:00 pm  
To:  David (DavidABrown)    (8 of 14)  
 
  276.8 in reply to 276.7  
 
oh Yes, we can pray for those God causes 
to cross our path. There are always things 
we can do. Some things that are generally 
very small things, such as open a door 
for a handicapped person-with a smile 
to go with it, is a big thing to the person 
on the receiving end. To offer a neighbor 
who can no longer drive, a ride with us 
when we go to the grocery store. Imagine 
how much that would mean to the helpless. 
Just the things that God causes us to 
be near. I truly believe He gives us 
opportunities to be blessed by bringing 
us into situations. If we turn down 
these opportunities, we have turned 
down the very thing Jesus taught us to 
do. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited 11/27/2001 5:06:58 PM ET by 123FOUR 
  
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  From:  David (DavidABrown)    11/27/2001 2:14 pm  
To:  123four   (9 of 14)  
 
  276.9 in reply to 276.8  
 
Good point they are just that Opportunities and not problems.

 

There are two audio messages on the start page Audio section titled How to witness to Atheists and others that also goes into helpful ways of helping our neighbors and others.

 

Its a good theme, I like it!

 

God Bless You,

David



David A. Brown
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  From:  123four   11/27/2001 2:31 pm  
To:  David (DavidABrown)    (10 of 14)  
 
  276.10 in reply to 276.9  
 
OH, thanks. Going to hear it. 
  
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  From:  Darin (sinkpiece)   11/28/2001 12:23 am  
To:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1) unread  (11 of 14)  
 
  276.11 in reply to 276.1  
 
Fancy meetin you here.
God bless,
Darin


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  From:  Jim (pentitent)    12/23/2001 9:01 pm  
To:  WORDLOVER (WordLover1) unread  (12 of 14)  
 
  276.12 in reply to 276.1  
 
May God have mercy on their souls! I agree with what you have done, and do the same constantly. I wasn't a Christian until I was 38. But in growing up around my Dad and seeing him give his last dollar to someone who had nothing; he taught me well. The habit carried over into my Christian life and I thank God for every chance he gives me to give! There are times, as with anyone, where things get tight around here, but can it matter that moneys tight if you see someone that has less. I just cannot watch someone go without. To allow it to happen what make me as bad as those you described and convict me so bad, I would have to make it right. Keep giving, my brother!
May God bless and keep you, my brothers and sisters! 

 
  
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   From:  karen (karen10051)   12/28/2001 8:26 am  
To:  Jim (pentitent)    (14 of 14)  
 
  276.14 in reply to 276.12  
 
posting so it doesnt keep coming up as new...
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