Since it is the presidential election season I thought I would throw out a statement by one of the contenders... Barack Obama. Politics may bore you but it fascinates me.
Read the answer carefully.
Q: Do you consider yourself born again?
"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful."
I think it is awesome that Barack believes in 'the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ'. I do not doubt his faith, his belief, nor his sincerity as his relationship with our Savior is not for me to judge, it is between he and God. It is the 'But...' that is so troublesome and deceptive.'But MOST IMPORTANTLY' he believes..... I can find nothing that would be more important than the death and resurrection of Christ and sharing that good news with everyone. His faith, his driving beliefs, are also in a social Jesus it would appear and that is something I do not agree with. I do believe in taking care of those less fortunate, helping my family, friends and others in need and my wife and I take an active role in that duty today. HOWEVER, that active role is NOT giving more money to the government so they can give more money to other people. It is NOT taking money from the so-called rich, by force, and re-distributing it to others. This is called socialism, wrapped in wonderful words of 'redemption', 'Jesus' and 'feeding the hungry', etc.
Who is NOT for feeding the hungry? Who is NOT for helping those in need (in general)? When someone in government says they want to 'help those in need' I believe their intentions are 'good' but the results are not. But Michael, you say, "if the government doesn't do it then who will?" We, as a society, have failed to do our job as a society and as the people of God in many cases. We now expect the government to be our charity, we look at our taxes (and they are huge) as charitable giving. I remember 10 years ago our VP released his tax return. He made nearly $200,000 and gave $353 to charity. My thoughts at the time were the same, I believe he considered the taxes he paid as charity. Many studies have shown that people of active faith (nearly all major faiths) give significantly more to charity than do secular individuals. People of faith from ALL income brackets give because they too believe in helping those in need, but not because they are forced to give, they give from obedience and from the heart. That should be our motivation, not the IRS, not coercion, not fear, not laziness.
You can tell I'm working on my tax return, can't you?
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