Open Your Eyes!!!!

This has been bugging me for a while now and it just keeps getting worse the longer I stay silent. You hear from the pulpit how far America has come from its Godly foundation, how so many evil things are happening, how there's so much twisted thinking, how it's so sad that the people don't want to hear, and on and on and on. What you DON'T hear (in our pulpits anyway, because we leave that for those we call dead faith churches) is that it's our own bloody fault!

I finally got shoved over the edge last night reading Our Daily Bread, which is a devotional that I know is considered by some a terrible thing, because it wasn't published by "true Christians" naturally meaning: "Someone from the ALC." PS, that's BS. Thanks. But anyway. Here's an excerpt:

"A homeless man spends time in our local library. One afternoon, while I was writing there, I took a lunch break. After I finished the first half of a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich, an image of the man’s face came to mind. A few minutes later, I offered him the untouched part of my lunch. He accepted.

This brief encounter made me realize that with all that God has given me, I needed to do more to help those who are less fortunate. Later, as I thought about this, I read Moses’ instructions on providing for the poor. He told the Israelites: Do not “shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but . . . open thine hand wide to him” (Deut. 15:7-8). An open hand symbolizes the way God wanted His nation to provide for impoverished people—willingly and freely. No excuses, no holding back (v.9). God had given to them, and He wanted them to give generously enough to supply whatever was “sufficient” for the need (v.8).

When we offer open-handed help to the poor, God blesses us for our kindness (Ps. 41:1-3; Prov. 19:17). With His leading, consider how you might “draw out thy soul to the hungry” (Isa. 58:10) and freely give to help others in Jesus’ name."

Here, so I can't be accused of completely quoting some "heathen," let me tell you what GOD had to say about this subject. In that same section of the Bible —which by the way is Old Testament AND I believe is relevant to US since that's the SCRIPTURES that Jesus EXPOUNDED from... Deuteronomy 15:7 "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in THY LAND which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." and Deuteronomy 15:11 "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in THY LAND." (emphasis added) And it's very interesting... Nowhere in that spot did I see anything about heading off to India, Africa, Indonesia, China, Haiti, Russia, Mexico, Guatemala and on and on WHILE complaining about the way these terrible wicked people in San Diego, Houston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland are living.

And no!!! I'm not AGAINST foreign mission stuff. I'm against sitting around with your self righteous thumb up your butt complaining about your country while sending your money somewhere else. And YES. I have been told, "Well then, if it's so important to you, get busy!!" (how's that for a sorry response??) and I have been told, "I heard from this man who had just come back from >some foreign place< and he'd had a wonderful experience!! The people were eager to hear about God and they seemed just hungry for the Word!! And then he came back and when he was in the airport he tried witnessing to this man and he just seemed closed off and cold and didn't want to hear anything about it!"

To that I replied, "I wonder why??! Let me ask you this??! What do we do when we go to foreign places?? We head over there, and if they're hungry we feed them. If they're naked we clothe them. If they need teaching we build them schools and teach them. If they need medical attention we doctor them up and build clinics for them. If they need a well we dig one. If they need a house we build it. If they need a goat we buy them one. And WHILE. We. Do. It. We tell them that we love God and He loves them and we are His children so we want to help those who need it. In. His. Name. But what happens in America?? America is SUPPOSED to be a CHRISTIAN nation. Americans are SUPPOSED to know all about Christianity. So what do we do? "You dirty old drunken bum. You lazy homeless person. You're gonna go to hell if you don't REPENT and BELIEVE!!!" And they say "Screw you!!" and I agree with them."

HOW are they supposed to know this? And WHAT on earth should make them trust a CHRISTIAN when most of the time we're busy fighting about who should remodel the steeple, meanwhile throwing the UNOPENED stack of abortion awareness flyers in the garbage??! Why should you be OPEN to listening to what someone from the church that "doesn't want a reputation of giving to people who aren't CHRISTIANS" has to say?!

Slap my neck for buttering your confusion, but let me tell you something. When someone comes up to me (or my husband) without knowing a bloody thing about where we're from, where we're going, how we're getting there or why, and says we're going to hell because THEY decided we're SINNERS, I close up and have no reason to speak to them. If I have a baby out of wedlock and the people from the church refuse to give my baby any gifts or do anything to help me because I SINNED, I ain't gonna wanna EVER go back there. If you can paint the world with a broad brush and denounce everyone who doesn't agree with you and send them packing off to hell, I see no reason in trying. Do you get the picture??

Speaking of all this nonsense of "dead faith" churches, (and yes I agree, there are SOME that could be called that) if you disagree so wholeheartedly with them, then just answer me one single solitary question. WHY. Are you letting THEM be the only ones who care about your own nation instead of hiking off your butt and doing something about your pet rant??

I'll leave you with one more verse. Or two. Or however many jump of the page and smack me... "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." Matthew 25:41-45 and since apparently Americans are "the least" to those who love them some mission work... Think about it.

Here's Deuteronomy 15:7-11 all written out; "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Huh. Interesting. We've come full circle.

There's a sign at a church I've been to... One of those that has "dead faith" ya know? As you leave the driveway there's a little sign to your right. It says "You are now entering the Mission Field." I couldn't have said it better myself.