Random Questions; Bible-based answers
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Jesus once stated that “the poor you will always have with you” (MT 26:11). However, He also taught us to “give to the poor” (MT 19:21). These verses suggest that we should do our best to alleviate, if not completely eliminate, the problems related to poverty.
We know that “You shall not steal” (EX 20:15) is the eighth of the Ten Commandments (TOJ #110). Yet, implicit in the command of Jesus is that if the rich share their wealth, then people will not need to steal in order to survive.
The apostle Paul synthesized these two commands in Ephesians 4:28, saying: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” Another command (in 2THS 3:10) states: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” Paul also states (in 1TM 5:8): “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” And again, he wrote: “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.” (2CR 8:13)
Equality does not require uniformity or conformity or a communist system, which often has resulted in a smaller pie to share, but rather that every person should have an equal opportunity to earn a living. Sewing these verses together with spiritual thread, we can discern that the will of God is for people who are able to work to seek employment, so that earning a fair wage will provide at least the basic necessities plus something (a tithe or tenth per Malachi 3:8-10) left over for charity.
Full employment at a livable wage is a wonderful goal; the problem is achieving it:
How could full employment at a livable wage be achieved?
Many English / British congregations still only use the KJV , at least during services , they don't all insist that their members do but we Brits mostly find it easy to understand especially as we were brought up with it . It's my favourite by far and I don't usually bother with any other translation , mostly because many so called translations r not in fact translations . They r just modernized versions , where one old fashioned word has been substituted with a modern one , that does not constitute a translation .
Bless you my British sister, but Cockney is akin to Jive talking and tongues in my ear—and Shakespeare was the only class I made a D in during my college years!
That's a good question because it's harder than ever for many people to eat right because everything in the grocery store went thru the roof in price.
But Scripture does talk about it. Maybe this has been posted already, I didn't read 12 pages, I read some. But this is what came to mind.
Matthew 6:25-34
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof..../KJV
Continued...(!!)
That's a good question because it's harder than ever for many people to eat right because everything in the grocery store went thru the roof in price.
But Scripture does talk about it. Maybe this has been posted already, I didn't read 12 pages, I read some. But this is what came to mind.
Matthew 6:25-34
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof..../KJV
Continued...(!!)
We can agree that full employment at a livable wage is a wonderful goal; the problem is how to achieve it.
On one side of the debate are those who seem to believe that government can solve the problem of poverty by giving people welfare in one form or another. On the other side of the issue are those who stress that every able-bodied adult should work and support themselves without charity (sometimes called workfare).
The “welfarists” criticize the “workfarists” for an apparent lack of sympathy for the poor, while the “workfarists” say the “welfarists” create permanent dependency by the poor. The area of agreement by both sides surely includes the fact that people sometimes experience financial misfortunes beyond their control and need help. Perhaps most people would agree that the need for help often exceeds the capabilities of many families and private agencies, so there is a need for government to do something, but what should wise governments do to encourage industry and discourage laziness?
Over...
Would you like to hear about how much the Lord God Almighty Creator of the Universe Loves one of His insignificant servants? This is actually sort of a 2 in 1 testimony.
It was a year or more thereabouts I think after my accident which turned me back to our Lord. So I was studying a lot and praying and God consumes my thoughts now! I was all busted up in that accident and broke me back in two places, and yet somehow (Lol, God) I still walk on my own. No chair no crutches. But I can't walk far, and I wrecked my good truck and had to buy a used PoS that was high miles and needing regular repairs. So I stick close to the house for the most part.
One day I had finished my reading and was sitting there praying and feeling a lot of gratitude towards the Lord for what He has done for me and I prayed that I want to do something to help the Kingdom of God. I can't just sit here in my easy chair reading and praying and never doing anything profitable for the Kingdom. So I expressed these feelings to the Lord and asked if there was something that He can give me to do? ...But Lord, you know I'm in no shape to go door to door, and my truck barely runs and isn't very reliable...so could you please...give me something to do for you...that I can do from my easy chair?! (Lol! I really prayed that!)
So I said my Amen to that prayer and finished it and within 10 seconds, my phone rang. It was an old friend that I hadn't seen in about 2 years! Hi Ed, he says. Long time no see. Uh..., you know about God, right? I know you do. Would you mind if I came over to visit and let me pick your brain a little bit about God...??
I knew immediately that God had answered my prayer. I was all studied up and ready to answer questions, and...evangelize for the Lord. Speak some truth to this man, and yes, you can do it from your easy chair!! Praise the Lord!! I said ok so he said, ok I'll be on my way.
So I went upstairs from the family room to put on a fresh pot of coffee. And I discovered that, I was totally out of coffee. (WHAT?! I can't even offer the man a cup of coffee!) I felt bad for a moment because I like being a good host. My initial reaction was to instantly say a prayer! So I started thinking about praying for some economic help!I was self-empployed so either He could make the phone ring again, or the mailman could bring a check in the mail? And as I'm thinking how I am going to pray this prayer, that scripture pops into my mind (Matthew 6:31-33) and suddenly I thought, Oh, that means I don't need to even pray for that. Just don't worry about it, it says. So I decided to not pray for work or money (so I could run up and get some coffee real quick!) because God knows our needs before we even ask Him! SO I did not pray, I put it out of mind and prepared for receiving my company when he arrived, with what I did have.
In less than 30 minutes from the time i decided to not pray, Knock Knock, he's here. The first thing my friend did was to hand me a 2 pound bag of some sort of Gourmet Hawaiian Coffee beans. He said, here I know you like coffee so I brought you some good coffee! (Thanks Friend!) It was time to put on a pot of Coffee!
I didn't discover that I was out of coffee until after I had hung up from talking to him on the phone. He had no way of knowing that I was out of coffee. So this had to be God that put it in his heart to bring me coffee!
Now waitaminute I thought. I did not pray for this, so why would God answer a prayer that wasn't spoken? And it hit me! I had it in my heart to pray for coffee money, but when I remembered the scripture, and stood on the word of God rather than pray for help...it was an an act of Faith in Him and His Word. And Jesus is all over that! So He answered the prayer of trust in Him. I said, I trust you that your word is true and walked away from that situation trusting Him. (I can hear Jesus now!0 SOmething like, you trust me for Coffee? You need some? How's this?!
Our Lord is such a good guy! The coffee arrived at the exact time that it was time to put on another pot! I have noticed this is sort of become a pattern when the Lord answers my prayers...Last minute Never Late. Every time I think.
So the Lord answered two prayers that day, even though I only prayed one! He gave me something to do to help spread His word and truth, and delivered me gourmet coffee to my house!
Praise the Lord and Forever! He is Soo good if we just let him be.
The Lord has done bigger miracles for for me, but somehow, this one is my favorite! The Almighty Creator of the Universe, GOD, delivered Coffee to me! How cool is that?!
It was a year or more thereabouts I think after my accident which turned me back to our Lord. So I was studying a lot and praying and God consumes my thoughts now! I was all busted up in that accident and broke me back in two places, and yet somehow (Lol, God) I still walk on my own. No chair no crutches. But I can't walk far, and I wrecked my good truck and had to buy a used PoS that was high miles and needing regular repairs. So I stick close to the house for the most part.
One day I had finished my reading and was sitting there praying and feeling a lot of gratitude towards the Lord for what He has done for me and I prayed that I want to do something to help the Kingdom of God. I can't just sit here in my easy chair reading and praying and never doing anything profitable for the Kingdom. So I expressed these feelings to the Lord and asked if there was something that He can give me to do? ...But Lord, you know I'm in no shape to go door to door, and my truck barely runs and isn't very reliable...so could you please...give me something to do for you...that I can do from my easy chair?! (Lol! I really prayed that!)
So I said my Amen to that prayer and finished it and within 10 seconds, my phone rang. It was an old friend that I hadn't seen in about 2 years! Hi Ed, he says. Long time no see. Uh..., you know about God, right? I know you do. Would you mind if I came over to visit and let me pick your brain a little bit about God...??
I knew immediately that God had answered my prayer. I was all studied up and ready to answer questions, and...evangelize for the Lord. Speak some truth to this man, and yes, you can do it from your easy chair!! Praise the Lord!! I said ok so he said, ok I'll be on my way.
So I went upstairs from the family room to put on a fresh pot of coffee. And I discovered that, I was totally out of coffee. (WHAT?! I can't even offer the man a cup of coffee!) I felt bad for a moment because I like being a good host. My initial reaction was to instantly say a prayer! So I started thinking about praying for some economic help!I was self-empployed so either He could make the phone ring again, or the mailman could bring a check in the mail? And as I'm thinking how I am going to pray this prayer, that scripture pops into my mind (Matthew 6:31-33) and suddenly I thought, Oh, that means I don't need to even pray for that. Just don't worry about it, it says. So I decided to not pray for work or money (so I could run up and get some coffee real quick!) because God knows our needs before we even ask Him! SO I did not pray, I put it out of mind and prepared for receiving my company when he arrived, with what I did have.
In less than 30 minutes from the time i decided to not pray, Knock Knock, he's here. The first thing my friend did was to hand me a 2 pound bag of some sort of Gourmet Hawaiian Coffee beans. He said, here I know you like coffee so I brought you some good coffee! (Thanks Friend!) It was time to put on a pot of Coffee!
I didn't discover that I was out of coffee until after I had hung up from talking to him on the phone. He had no way of knowing that I was out of coffee. So this had to be God that put it in his heart to bring me coffee!
Now waitaminute I thought. I did not pray for this, so why would God answer a prayer that wasn't spoken? And it hit me! I had it in my heart to pray for coffee money, but when I remembered the scripture, and stood on the word of God rather than pray for help...it was an an act of Faith in Him and His Word. And Jesus is all over that! So He answered the prayer of trust in Him. I said, I trust you that your word is true and walked away from that situation trusting Him. (I can hear Jesus now!0 SOmething like, you trust me for Coffee? You need some? How's this?!
Our Lord is such a good guy! The coffee arrived at the exact time that it was time to put on another pot! I have noticed this is sort of become a pattern when the Lord answers my prayers...Last minute Never Late. Every time I think.
So the Lord answered two prayers that day, even though I only prayed one! He gave me something to do to help spread His word and truth, and delivered me gourmet coffee to my house!
Praise the Lord and Forever! He is Soo good if we just let him be.
The Lord has done bigger miracles for for me, but somehow, this one is my favorite! The Almighty Creator of the Universe, GOD, delivered Coffee to me! How cool is that?!
The answer to that is in Matthew 6:33 and that is how you achieve it.
That's a spiritual answer and the best, now I'll also give you a secular answer.
You simply must go into business for yourself doing whatever. You can't get ahead by working for the other guy. I never had to lie to get a job, and I never had to steal to get ahead. I've worked self employed most my life. My dad was a Plumbing Contractor in Columbus and I used to go hang out at the shop after school. I learned quite a bit just watching, plus my dad always gave great business advice. Like, you don't need $50K in the bank to go into business, those people are stupid that think so. All one needs is to have the work in their heart and to do good work, then the money will take care of itself and be there. So that made sense to me so I wanted to go into business for myself. Hey, I will even have a built in secretary in my wife! (She turned out a Fantastic Secretary!) So I did
Now II went into the Service industry. If you want to open a Retail store, then, yeah you might need even more than $50K! So even when I was still learning I would be a tool nut. I always liked using my own tools. Shops I worked at usually provided power tools, but you broke it you bought it, so it's still better to own your own. I gave theirs back! I bought my own sawzall! If something happens to a tool, you have to replace it either way. But owning it means you don't have to be chewed out for it at the shop on top it!
I was a big disappointment to my dad. He wanted me to be a Master Plumber like him so much! But a few years down the road of being in the trades I gained the understanding that the HVAC guys carry more respect than the Plumbers do. The HVAC guys are the smart ones! The Plumbers are the ones who you call when you have a crappy toilet and let him fix it. (Oh gee, thanks. My favorite). That's why they charge so much, it's nasty work.
So when it was time to get the 2nd week of of January layoff (they always wait until after Christmas so they don't seem like Scrooge, but that is the slow season. It dies right before Christmas and stays slow until after tax time, until people know where they are again) So one layoff, I went over to the Plumbing & Heating shop. Can you fix furnaces they asked? No but I work hard and learn fast and can use a multimeter. Ok we'll hire you, here's an address, call if you have questions!! I kid you not!. So I learned how to fix furnaces under pressure. Customer behind me, are you done yet? What's the problem? Then the shop calls, are you done yet? Another one came in you have to handle...
The Lord must have been with me because I did a pretty good job and picked it real quick. Layoff! On to the next shop. Heating & A/C shop. Where even though I could fix a lot of them, oh no you not getting into the Service Dept., You are on the Installation crew, new furnaces.
And I stood behind my work.. I went back on my own time to make corrections when the unit I installed did not pass inspection.. That makes a guy learn real fast.
SO I was about 4 or 5years into it at different companies and one year in January when I got laid off, I registered for the Contractor test at the Regional Building Dept. It was only a $20 test back then and I figured it would likely be a very hard test and I will undoubtably fail it. But! I will get my score so I'll know how close I am to being able to pass it.
And I smoked that test! I passed it with flying colors. I got a 93 on it. SO I went in business above board. ...And if you do good work, the money takes care of itself.
That's exactly what it is. The Government wants the entire nation on welfare, depending on them.
I used to think that Retiring was gonna be nice. But I kid you not, I get treated like I am on welfare asking for a hand out. I worked my entire life, but they'll give me no back pay from when I applied, and $23 a month n food stamps, and oh yeah, medaicare A&B. So even if I need to see a doctor, the govt is involved. I don't like it. But the reality of it is, I did not retire. I changed Trades! I work for the Kingdom of God now. That's how I need to think. The Lord takes good care of me. I have lots of time now, and unending peace!
So as I sit in poverty, I grow rich, in the Word.
If I'm an eternal being now, a child of God, then I wont die when my flesh body dies, it will simply cross over my consciousness. They say the hardest part of being an eternal being...is the first 100 years!
PTL! I appreciated hearing your testimony, and the only thing I will say in that regard is that some folks might need to check a tendency
to think their experience is normative instead of Scripture.
Regarding your career I am sorry that it did not provide sufficiently for retirement.
Here is an idea I came up with:
It seems reasonable that governments should encourage employers to pay workers a wage that will provide at least a subsistence level of living (including food, clothes and shelter) plus ten percent (a “tithe”) for a family of four people. In my work experience this occurred with what is called a profit-sharing company. It had above union wages, health care and an IRA benefit.
Also, parents should be discouraged from procreate more children than they can afford to support without resorting to abortion.
Third, it seems reasonable for a typical work week to be no more than six days (then a “Sabbath”), and for a typical work day to be no more than ten hours (although MT 20:1-8 speaks of sunrise to sunset), so that workers have enough time to rest and be with their families.
My idea about how governments might help people find jobs utilizes the concept of indentured employment. Would you like to hear about that or am I boring y'all?
It isn't boring me, it scares me. That's what I am trying to say to stay away from. There will be no form of indentured to the govt for anything. When they have that in place, it will open the door to the antichrist and the mark of the beast.
Digital money? My card wont work today for some reason? I have mmoney on the books...I tried to buy a new gun. Card said denied. 6-8 weeks to work it out, even though the card worked on the way home at the grocery store. It's too much control. Do you understand how much control that is or would be? They didn't like what you said on the christian forum so now my card wont work at the grocery store either!
The ancient Hebrews that were in bondage in Egypt, were never under near as much bondage as we are under now a days! SO my friend, we can't give them more control.
Know how we could do away with the welfare system? Take care of your own, like they used to do. And that elderly neighbor lady who has no family left, take care of her too, she gets an invite to dinner. And when people have this mindset the welfare system goes away.
All anyone has to do is have a heart and stand up and do it.
Kind of late right now for that. We're like, behind enemy lines right now. This country is full of cells of soldiers busy stocking armaments. Prolly a lot like it was back in Noah's day. Business as usual with 99% of Americans. Let's go on vacation, have a party, get married. There's so many hostiles on our soil right now that are going to catch the Americans with their pants down. The only way to prepare at this point is in a relationship with the Lord. It is going to be bad. Without divine protection, most will not live.
Well, I appreciate your concerns, but indentured service similar to how the NFL operates works fairly well,
so it shouldn't scare you. Surely it would be great if we could do away with welfare, but do you have an idea for achieving that goal?
Well, that idea is okay, but mine is more detailed:
Every county seat and large town would have a job assistance office, and all of these would be connected by a nationwide computer system. People could apply for a job anywhere in the country, and the federal government and hiring business would split the costs of relocation and training for those below a qualifying amount of assets. In return the employee would have to commit to some minimum time of employment (similar to the contract rules of the National Football League).
During the term of the contract, 10% of the employee’s wages would be garnisheed until the hiring costs were reimbursed up to some limit. (Assuming a minimum wage of $10 per hour for 10 hours per day for six days per week, the income would be $600 per week or $31,200 per year. If the cost of hiring were $500, the indentured term would be about 1.6 years.)
The federal government would insure the contract and reimburse employers if an indentured employee wanted to quit before the costs associated with their hiring were recouped.
Quitters would not be eligible for welfare; they would have to accept another job, unless they could support themselves some other legal way. (Of course, those who resorted to crime in order to make a living would be punished with a just penalty.)
The amount of hiring costs owed from their previous job would be added to the new contract. Ideally, this program would be self-supporting, but it may need to be subsidized by the federal budget in expensive areas, so that the minimum wage and cost of living would be equivalent for everyone in the country.
Surely the cost of helping people become productive workers should be much less than that of welfare! This program would only guarantee job opportunities for legal citizen adults. It would provide tax incentives that reward companies who have profit-sharing healthcare, retirement plan benefits and thus would encourage more companies to become profit-sharing
What do you think of this idea?
I'll buy that. My experience never reached up to managing that much at once. When I was learning business, I worked in 2 man shops all the way up to a shop (union) that ran over 150 employees. Amd I was one of the guys in the back with the others, so I got to see the material carried out the back from other men. I saw it all the down to 5 man shops. That when it starts getting to be a lot to manage. When it was my shop, I never let it go over 3 men and me. I had 3 trucks on the road at my peak, So whenever it got busy and we needed another man to keep up, I just raised my prices. That made some of the people back off and I continued to grow.
I had my brother working for me too, and he has 4 kids! So many times when a after hours call came in, I'd call him and ask him if he wanted the work, or I would go do it. To give him the option that may just help his family out. I don't think he ever turned me down. My wife noticed and got mad. She said, why don't you go do this work and we'll save money, lol.
Coincidentally, my wife and I are in the middle of watching the 1940 movie, "They Drive by Night" about two brothers who tried to make a living driving a truck, which you might find interesting if you get a chance to see it. (BTW, just curious about why so many #s following your name?)
Cool! It was easier getting agreement among us three regarding that than on the kerygma!
I hope that Trump's success will pave the way for him to force Democrat mayors to do the same in their cities.
The biggest question I have (having a mentally ill homeless relative), is what should we do with those folks.
Any ideas/suggestions?