Posted on 12/03/2012 6:52:06 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
Jesus Christ, until he began moving around with his small group of disciples, lived as an honest hobo, an itinerant carpenter.
You needed a cabinet built? Hey that hobo Yeshua just built me the best cabinet I just saw! It was absolutely divine! And the price was very reasonable!
Hobo > Tramp > Bum.
Jesus wasn’t a wino.
Some get carted to jail for vagrancy, though that’s less common today. Some might appreciate being steered to a church. It takes all sorts to make an underworld.
And their chicks for free.
Grace comes from the Greek word CHARIS. It means giving something without any expectation of return.
The arrogant foolishly believe that by giving something to somebody with an expectation of how that gift will be used and will be reciprocated by good favor.
Anticipating how charity is used or how grace is applied is not grace, but a work without payment, expecting something due in return.
Those who perform good to God and expect His grace in return simply make Him a debtor and do not understand the meaning of grace.
Not always. Having hard-core IV drug users (dilaudid) and hard-core alkies in the family... Well, sometimes it only takes one junkie.
Hard to believe that in such a case the Department of Humanistic Services”
...they probably did. The fund was to try and save the house they lived in. One of the girls was 20 and left college to care for her sisters who were all under 18.
But he saved a lot of winos when respectable folks were going to hell.
It’s all a matter of perspective, and by no means should we fall into the liberal, contrarian trap of assuming that to be well off means you’re something particularly bad.
And some people are not gregarious and come from families where ugly rivalries reigned. Now that one is needy (simple unemployment, no substance habit) it’s now time for the other one to get their revenge by refusing to provide a place for the needy one.
Your second sentence doesn’t parse.
And none of this means that a giver should not give with discernment and wisdom when possible. The reason church charity works better than government welfare is that the church charity DOES have a face that can watch the result, not just a blind hand.
Rather than give money, I used to always buy someone panhandling a meal and bring it out to them. More than once I was cussed out and had the food thrown back in my face. Food wasn’t want they wanted. I don’t do it as often anymore.
Who said Jesus was an itinerant carpenter? As the eldest son, he probably took care of his mother at their family shop. The shop was probably taken over by another family member when Jesus began his ministry.
Bottom line is that we are generous and love to give but detest being taken for as chumps to be scammed. This is where the spirit of discernment is really needed.
We make jokes on this thread but being generous these days comes with heightened awareness of the deceptions out there.
Asking them in advance whether they’d care for something directly to eat would seem wise. If cussed at that point, no need to go further.
The Bible doesn’t spell it out, but it seems likely given the circumstances and some “sanctified imagination.” Once he began to move around and preach, he had to get his income from something, and they didn’t have a Bank of Galilee with ATM cards for the home shop to keep him funded at that time. Paul, following in the footsteps of his Master, made tents for a living as he went about, so perhaps Jesus also kept himself up honorably doing the thing that he did best. (And if he had no hammer handy, you’d see something that looked like kung fu driving the nails in with karate chops... I don’t know whether I’m kidding or not.) Being God he could of course also do all sorts of things like muster up a fish with a denarius any time he wanted. Much is not known to us moderns. But
That last But shouldn’t be there... except perhaps
But God, who was rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ Jesus...
I mean, at least during the phase where he had left the home shop and wasn’t yet living on some share of whatever the disciples got, minus what Judas filched from that purse of course. How the purse was filled isn’t specified in the bible and it could have been a combination of donations and odd jobs.
The arrogant foolishly believe gracious charity is giving something with an expectation of its use.
Unmerited grace has no expectations upon the recipient.
How can we still have homeless people? We have allocated billions of dollars of hard-earned taxpayer money to help the needy. It’s because they serve a purpose. They tug on our heart strings and make otherwise rational people think that it’s OK to take money from others and give to people who want that money. We’ve had 4 years of “Higher Calling” Obama. Do you think that in that time he could have launched a national end homelessness campaign? Of course he could have! We think they emptied out the institutions because it was too expensive. Nope. They’re part of the big con. They’re scenery....the “Stall”. If you want to understand how the Democrat leaders operate, look up pickpocket teams on the Internet.
He doesn't miss a single thing.
Our church has a food pantry and gives food away every Thursday but you are only allowed to get it every other Thursday they lessen the crowd that way. The only questions asked are, your name and how many in your family. No IDs are checked and nobody need establish "need" but it's implied that you have a need, as opposed to a "want".
The parking lot tells a story, I drive by there sometimes on Thursday and notice the newer and expensive cars. It doesn't stop me from giving, that's the part I answer for, if somebody is cheating, that's the part they will answer for.
Like I said, He doesn't miss a thing.
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