"husk" wrote in message
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He said to go forth and teach. He did not say to go forth and fight.
He said it would be dangerous work that might cost their lives. He equipped
them with various weapons to fight with. They could even exorcise demons and
that is some tough dude who can exorcise a demon. A couple of them could
even raise the dead. Jesus was no wus when it came to establishing His
church.
When we are generous with our time, our labour, our money and our
heart, in the name of Jesus, we are Apostles. For when we do these
things we are asked why. At that point we can teach them about
Jesus. You give first and wait for them to be inquisitive. In your
face missionary work is rarely successful. If it was all Haitians
would be Scientologists by now.
Haitians already had a religion based upon their African heritage. But, you
make a good point. Lead by example but don't be swayed by this turn the
other cheek nonsense. Jesus himself, for example, did not turn the other
check when it came to smacking the money changers in the temple around.
A true story was retold at our church last year. A parishoner heard
of a woman, on her street,who had her hours drastically reduced at
work and had barely enough for rent let alone food and other bills.
He and his wife determined that they had surplus money and the woman
could make better use of it than they. He went over to her house and
gave an envelope of money to her with no explanation. The woman
opened the envelope and was not happy, she went back to the givers'
house and demanded to know what they expected in return for this
money. When told nothing, she was suspicious, but under her financial
circumstances grudgingly took the money and left. Very little of a
thank you was given. During the next weeks the couple and the woman
would pass on the street and exchange hellos, but no mention of the
money was made. One day the woman appeared at the door and told the
couple she needed to know why they gave her the money, why they
expected nothing back as her expeience had been nothing came to you
for free.
At this point the woman was ready to hear the story of Jesus.
We give of ourselves, we expect nothing in return and we wait for them
to come to us.
That's not entirely true.
"Paul writes some instruction regarding Christian giving in 1 Corinthians
9:14, where he states that, "...the Lord ordained that they which preach the
gospel should live of the gospel." In other words, preachers should be paid
to preach. Where does this money come from? In Galatians Paul tells us, "Let
him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all
good things" (Galatians 6:6 - this can be better understood from another
translation: "And let the one who is taught the word share all good things
with him who teaches" (NASB). We see this same concept again in 1 Timothy
5:17-18 where Paul writes, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy
of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For
the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the
corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward." Therefore, we should be
giving to support those who teach us faithfully.
Source:
http://www.thebiblepage.org/biblesays/tithing.shtml
Fighting the secularists is a waste of our time. It's what the
Scientologists do and they are failing miserably.
Don't fight them but preach to them and not in some wuss, PC manner. Teach
them the truth and the Word.
--
Gregory Hall