tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809934799114798977.post666314779616224139..comments2023-06-03T00:56:32.658-07:00Comments on Captain Ahab's Continuing Story: In response...JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04138809383284110876noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809934799114798977.post-88369032589409398842007-04-25T23:46:00.000-07:002007-04-25T23:46:00.000-07:00John David, thanks for sharing your thoughts and y...John David, thanks for sharing your thoughts and your heart and for giving me an opportunity to throw some thoughts out there as well.<BR/><BR/>My hope is this: Poverty will come to an end. Murder, rape, cancer, sickness and all other sufferings will as well. That hope rests in the revelation from God's Word that there will be in a new heaven and new earth.<BR/><BR/>I completely agree, this does not mean that Christians should or can avoid feeding the hungry and helping those in need, but my personal concern (I can only speak for myself on this) is that we can make a lot of loving efforts and in the end do the most unloving thing by not sharing the hope of Jesus Christ with someone. The other concern I have is that we can lulled into the wrong "solution". We cannot fix the fall or the effects of the fall.<BR/><BR/>In Matthew 26, Jesus is critized for allowing perfume to be poured on his head that, "might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." His response to that critcism points out the significance of the spiritual and the gospel. <BR/><BR/>Another passage that speaks to this issue is Matthew 11. John the Baptist sends word to Jesus and basically asks the question of who he is. Jesus responds by sayng, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Why not do and say, "the poor have perfume sold and food bought to feed them"? I do not think it was becuase Jesus was saying that that would be bad, but that there was something more important. Their eternal condition.<BR/><BR/>It is dishearting to see the statistics on how few Christians verbally share the gospel. It is interesting to note that the same percentage of Christians who share their faith (roughly 10% depending on who you read) parallels the number of Christians who read God's Word on a daily basis (again, roughly 10% depending on who you listen too). I cannot help but think there is a correlation there.<BR/><BR/>Apart from the conviction of God's Word, I would rather build homes for the homeless and feed to poor. That is a lot more comfortable for me than saying to my Hindu friend that based on what I understand from God's Word, he will spend eternity in hell apart from a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. But when I read God's Word, the Great Commission, and other passages that speak to the eternal state of man's soul, I am compelled to focus first on his soul and second on his temporal needs. They may not always go in that order in serving him, but I believe Scripture dictates that order need be in my heart in seeking to love him through the gospel.<BR/><BR/>I guess my concern about movements throughout the last few decades that are zealous for meeting the physical needs are that they are not zealous enough. They seem to loose sight of the eternal and focus on the temporal. <BR/><BR/>I think we are all pushing for hope....there just seems to be some confusion at times on where or in who that hope ultimately rests in.Richard Carwilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07504899052867569097noreply@blogger.com