Random acts of kindness

When asked to help, the two most common responses are always “I do not have the time” or “I do not have any money”.  Yet, most of the time those giving these answers DO have the time to watch their favorite television show and DO have the money to indulge themselves at a nice restaurant, show or sporting event.

The poor woman who gave all she had into the Temple treasury shows us that no matter how destitute a person is, they always have something they can give IF THEY WANT TO.  Giving is a state of mind and not something bound by the limitations of time and resources.  Some of the most giving people who ever lived had the least available from which to give.

When people decide that taking care of themselves, family and even their church is more important than helping someone they do not know, they fall prey to the Pharisaical spirit that Jesus constantly railed against.  The ability to give is NOT dependent upon one’s means but rather one’s willingness.

Random acts of kindness are the greatest expressions Godly charity available.  Giving with strings attached and only for the recognition of gifts given are a total waste of time and effort.  Jesus taught us that when it comes to prayer we should do it privately and when it comes to giving, we should do it anonymously.

For those who believe their prayers must be the longest and loudest, they really need to re-read what Jesus had to say about such matters in the Sermon on the Mount.  For those who believe their giving should make the 6 pm news and be rewarded with windows and monuments named after them, really need to re-read what Jesus had to say about the subject.

If you cannot give without recognition for the giving, then your giving is in reality selfish and self-serving.  If you cannot pray without everyone hearing and praising you for your “spirituality”, then your prayers are selfish and self-serving.  If your acts of charity are accompanied by fanfare and accolades, then they are selfish and self-serving.

If you need the recognition for what good you do in this life, then don’t do it for it is not right.  Whether in prayers, service or giving; what we do needs to be done with great humility drawing no attention to ourselves.  Anyone who only does good with the stipulation they are honored for their act is automatically rejected as being egotistical and vain.

If you can honestly pray and no one knows it, you are praying the way Jesus intended.  If you can honestly give and no one knows you did it, then you are giving the way Jesus instructed.  If you can honestly do whatever you do with no anticipation of reward, then what you are doing is done from love and God WILL reward it.

Everyone one of us has time to pray and the means to give in one way or another.  If we can cease either finding good excuses NOT to give or demand recognition for our giving, we can walk in the glorious thrill of anonymous and random acts of kindness stemming from love and love alone.

Do what you do for all the RIGHT reasons

Here is a test of your ability to identify a very famous person who lived in the 20^th century and made the following statements:

“There is enough for the needy but not for the greedy”

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

“The slave clings to his chains and he must have them struck from him.”

“All fear is a sign of want of faith.”

“To a man with an empty stomach food is God.”

“I have known many meateaters to be far more non-violent than vegetarians.”

“No sacrifice is worth the name unless it is a joy.”

In case you were wondering, all these thing were spoken by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) who was perhaps the greatest spiritual and political leader in India’s history.  Whether one agrees with his philosophies or beliefs or not, there is no denying the man was incredibly wise as evidenced by some of the statements above.

Gandhi’s quote about sacrifice is the reason for this world history lesson for I think too many times people confuse the act of sacrificing with being automatically profitable when in reality that is not the case.  Look at what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says in the NKJV:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

There is a song I have heard for 40 years which I dearly love that has the following line in it:

“I was doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.”

That which is done is not what is most important in this life but rather that it is done with love.  A person can give away all his material possessions to feed the poor and have it profit him nothing if it is not done in love.  A person could serve 80 hours a week doing the work of the Lord and all he/she will have to show for it is burn out if not done in love.

In order for us to receive profit from our giving (whether spiritual, financial or of our selves), it needs to be done out of a heart filled with love and compassion.  Over the years I have seen many people (myself included) go through all the right motions and appear to be doing all the right things, yet they end up discouraged, angry and destitute.  Surely this is not what God intended.

No sacrifice is worth it unless it is done with joy.  God is not interested in going through motions.  What God looks at is the heart and the motive of the heart.  We do not give because he have to, we give because we WANT to reciprocate for all we have been given.  Giving, in any realm, is supposed to be the spontaneous outpouring of thanksgiving arising from the deep appreciation of something received.

As we determine each day/week/month what and how much to give of our money, time, talents and heart; please make sure to check the motive along with the resources.  God loves a cheerful giver and never wants His people to give out of necessity or grudgingly.  From what God has provided we are to give and do with a smile on our face and joy in our heart.

“Let the Lies Begin”–Today marks the beginning unimaginable deception

DANGER, DANGER, DANGER

Unless the true Christian community wakes up, the incredible lies overspreading this world and especially this country are going to eliminate once and for all the notion that this is a Christian country. Good lies are rarely flat out direct challenges to the truth, but rather cleverly crafted counterfeits which unless exposed, fool the vast majority of beholders.

In no particular order here are only a few of the incredible lies being promoted as truth and being sucked up like a vacuum cleaner by Christians as well as non-Christians alike:

1. There are conservative Christians, liberal Christians, Democratic Christians, Republican Christians, black Christians, white Christians, rich Christians, poor Christians etc. All these tags attached to Christians are simply an attempt to splinter and break up the body of Christ into small compartmentalized groups which fight against each other, envy and hate each other and blame each other for all the problems in the church and the world.

Listen, people are either Christian or they are not. They have either fulfilled the requirements of Romans 10:9 (by making Jesus Christ their Savior and Lord) or they have not. Christianity is not a religion or a catch phrase to describe “good people”. Any and all attempts to place Christians into categories and attach tags to them need to be confronted for what they are—blatant attacks upon our faith with the goal of division, envy and strife.

2. It is the government’s job to feed the hungry, visit the sick and elderly, provide for the poor and in all ways seek to make everyone equal. This is not the government’s job; this is the CHURCH’s job. Only because the church has willingly given over this responsibility to the government has this become the role of the state instead of simply providing for the “general welfare” of its citizens.

When the church becomes preoccupied with only preaching the gospel instead of DOING it, then people start falling through the cracks and socialistic state programs step in and seek to meet the needs. The state welfare states of Europe have failed and so will the USSA. State sponsored socialism, even if preached from pulpits in ultra liberal churches will only produce a secular religion which parades around looking “sort of like” true Christianity.

3. Every citizen of this country has the obligation to serve through some form of national service program that is both compulsory and tied to the receiving of state benefits. This is perhaps one of the scariest lies only starting to be propounded with the new administration. Again, because the church has so woefully turned over so many of the everyday activities associated with helping the poor, sick and elderly; the government has and will gladly step in and MAKE all of us do these things if we want the carrots dangled before us as far as state benefits.

This whole concept of the state dictating acts of “charity” is absolutely absurd. Yet, because so many “Christian” denominations refuse to get involved with any aspect of helping the disadvantaged and only want to “play church” each Sunday for their own; it is now coming to this horrible state of affairs. The state will soon dictate to the church to get off their rear ends and go help the poor if they want their cherished tax exempt status to remain. How’s that for irony?

4. Somehow the government is going to print enough money and provide enough programs to solve all the nation’s problems including poverty, loss of assets, lack of health care, civil rights and unemployment. Yes, the government’s grand lie in all this. To so trick people into believing it is bigger than God so as to eliminate the very phrase stamped on our money. Instead of “In God we trust”, the truth is “In the Government we trust”. If this is allowed to happen, there will be no future for true Christianity in this country just as there is currently none in Europe.

Socialism and/or fascism has ruled in Europe for years and the undeniable consequences are a population absolutely dependent upon the government for just about everything, a watered down and useless religion and a church whose building sit as empty as the boloney they pass off as Christianity. Is this really what we want in this country too?

The American people spoke via their votes in November that they were ready for a profound change in the way the government is run and their willingness to allow government to step into their personal lives in ways never known in this land before. Starting today, the age of government intervention and intrusion will commence. Along with it will come the age of an ever diminishing role of God, the church and those who are honestly Christians first and everything else in this life second.

I am going to say this knowing it will kick off a firestorm of controversy, but it is my right for a little while longer to speak what I want without fear. I believe the mark of the beast as mentioned in the Book or Revelation is speaking of the point when a person willingly turns over their ability to function in this life to the government instead of God. When people finally cave in and yield to the pressure to compromise by trusting government to be their god; that will be (one day soon) indicative of receiving the mark of the beast.

Those who lived in the Book of Daniel refused to honor the king’s command to worship the image he set up. They faced the consequences of fiery furnaces and later, lion’s dens. What was proven in Daniel is that God will watch over and in one way or another save those who refuse to bow. Whether His salvation is immediate as it was in Daniel or eternal as promised in the Book of Revelation; either way our God is a God of salvation for those who stay committed to Him and trust in Him with all their heart.

Shortly the announcement will be made for all to hear; “Let the lies begin”. Shortly, the vast majority of all that will flow out of Washington, New York, Paris, London and other places where great worldly leaders dwell will be a simple and direct message. That message will be to quit fighting them, for they have all the answers. The message will be that if people and countries want assistance they must follow the rules in every category. In other words, if you bow we will take care of you and if you don’t; you will burn.

Soon, rules regarding the environment, free speech, compulsory service, sharing wealth and a whole host of other things will start pouring out of these world centers. Soon, only fools and true Christians will be the only ones not bowing to the great gods of this world who hold in their hands the means to make people obey them “OR ELSE”. These things, folks, are not scare tactics on my part but the simple realities of the age we are embarking on today which should set some clock in motion hopefully signaling the soon end to this ever more evil age of man’s arrogance and deception.

The “Christian Religion” is not the same as “Christianity”

Here is a question to “test” your faith: If a haggard looking soul with sores all over his body and obviously dehydrated and starving to death stumbled up to you; what would you do?

Pull out a Bible and start yelling at him to repent for all the sin in his life which brought upon him all these horrible curses.

Ignore him and let someone else take care of him for you don’t have time to get involved lest you be late to church.

Take him to an Emergency Room to receive evaluation and treatment for medical conditions.

Take him to a shelter for the indigent.

Take him home, feed him, bathe him, share with him the story of Jesus and pray with him.

Why do we make everything so hard? The obvious answer to this question is #5. Yet, obvious or not, the number of Christians who would actually ever do such a thing would maybe be 1 in a thousand. The truth in the matter is that almost every Christian would do exactly what any unbeliever with a little compassion would do, and that is either #3 or #4. Of course a few zealots would do #1, but I don’t want to go on this post lest I never come back.

What do we Christians offer, if we do nothing differently than those in the world for those who are hurting? The typical Christian response to a disaster such as Hurricane Ike is to drop some old clothes off at Goodwill and write a check to the American Red Cross or Salvation Army and move on with life. With conscience appeased and back sufficiently patted for being such a “good person”, the average Christian will go his merry way and never think or pray again about the situation.

Aren’t we supposed to manifest the love and compassion of Christ as Christians? When confronted with need, aren’t we supposed to reach out and help with the love of Christ? Where and how Christianity turned into merely a meeting place for theological discussion is beyond me. Where and how Christianity turned into a building frequented once per week for worship services is beyond me. Where and how Christianity turned into a heartless and dead religion is beyond me.

For the most part, the “Christian Religion” is totally heartless and completely dead. There is basically no life and very little love manifested. There are only motions to be gone through and facades to be put up and hypocritical lies to be told. The “Christian Religion” is merely a convenient front to hide behind, masking the spiritual indifference and dead works of the actor using it to “look good”.

The hearts of many of God’s people have turned cold as ice and hard as rocks. The willingness to give is strictly dependent on how much remains after indulging in everything that appeases the lust of the flesh and of the eyes. Charitable giving is relegated to nothing more than the scraps left over after the feast. Truly the pompous attitude manifested by those who practice the “Christian Religion” is sickening.

Notice all these things I am saying are directed at those who practice the “Christian Religion”. There is little comparison between that which parades around claiming to be Christian and that which is Christianity INDEED. True Christianity loves not in word, but in DEED. True Christianity doesn’t just talk about helping people—it gets out there and does it.

I hate to keep beating a dead fish here, but unless Christians step up and start willingly putting others ahead of themselves all that will be left is Christian religiosity. Anybody can say anything that sounds good and in the process fool many people. But they can never fool themselves and they can never fool God. As Christians, we should willingly and freely give because of the appreciation and love in our hearts for all our Savior did for us.

There is a huge chasm between the branches of Christianity which seek to manifest compassion towards those who are in need and those which seek only to continually bless and take care of themselves. On another site, I was appalled to read someone make the statement that God wants Christians rich so they can impress the unbelievers and win them to Christ.

There are Christians who believe they are on earth to stockpile riches, live in mansions Donald Trump would envy, drive $100,000 cars and spend months each year relaxing on yachts. All the while, they wouldn’t freely give a nickel to anyone unless they got an IRS write off or a building named after them. God may very well bless someone with material wealth, but if it was really God blessing them, He expects the person to SHARE that which He gave with those who need it.

Religion talks about God, Christ and religious things but never lives them or does anything spiritual. Godliness knows God, Christ and spiritual things and lives them. God needs Christians who are Godly not religious. I pray He finds some who are willing to take up His cause and forsaking all, follow Him. There is a world of hurting, angry and confused people out there who, as Steve Green once sang about, “need the Lord”.