To Pharisee or not to Pharisee; that should NOT be in question

If you are a Bible reading Christian, I'm sure you've noticed a continuing theme throughout Jesus' short ministry with us here on earth that the Pharisaical following of the Law, without the inclusion of the Father's Heart, which is Love and Grace, is a dead end road that can scare others away from the faith. I think that Paul put it quite well in Romans 2:20-24 where he stated:

"...an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

While in this instance he was addressing the educated Jews in the above verses, he could very easily have been addressing the modern day Pharisees we find in Christian Churches all over the world. You know the type; these people are happier pointing out other people's perceived sins and shortcomings than following the Law themselves.

These modern day Pharisees cling to their favorite sin and milk it for all they can. These people don’t seem to recall any of Jesus’ teachings on Love and Grace. As the Scripture says “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles” (and other non believers), because of them. Why is it that these people think they have the right to call attention to the mote in someone else’s eye when they have their own large impediment to clear vision?

I know that acceptance matters not to people like this, except among fellow modern Pharisees, but can’t they understand that their actions are unacceptable to God! John 3:16, the cornerstone tells us all: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God didn’t tell us that this promise only to self absorbed, wannabe Pharisees, He made that promise to everyone who would just accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; simple as that!

But here’s the rub, by vocally crying out judgment to those they hate (oh another sin they commit), they are impeding the word of God from reaching the lost and the searching. I don’t know about you but when someone yells at me I usually shut them out, after all, who wants to subject oneself to verbal abuse. So instead of being good Christians, they are being the enemy’s helper in keeping the Word from those who need it most.

I know that most of my friends who are Christian are not the type mentioned here, so please don’t take it as so. But please DO pray for your lost bretheren who feel it nessecary to condemn others in Jesus’ name, so that they may again work for God. Please also pray for the lost and searching souls who are missing God’s grace because of badly acting Christians.

I look at things this way; once I master Matthew 22:36-40...
“'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

...then, I might have some feeling that I can offer to talk to people about how they live their lives, but until then, I’ll just keep working on myself and offering spiritual advice to those who seek it from me.

Have a blessed Holy Week my friends. May God bless and keep you, in Jesus’ beloved name, Amen!

Convicted to Help!

In reference to the poor child that is all skin and bones that I posted here today, I am feeling heavily convicted by the Holy Spirit to bring the plight of hunger up, and to warn some in the US that they are heading us in this direction...There but by the grace of God go we. Some conservatives want to do away with food stamps and other basic care services in the US. I guess that this is what they want to see. I wish they would only look upon this poor child to see why we CAN'T do away with the marginal safety net we have in our country. Don't they understand what they want to do?! Are they evil or just plain heartless or stupid. Someone told me today it wasn't the government's job to take care of the poor. If not the government, who then. The government represents our society, and if society has gotten so hard hearted that they have no compassion for God's least, then God have mercy on their souls.


Beth Butler added
I love how the reasoning is this, "Churches and Civic Organizations will pick up the slack." When every study is showing, and every Church planting book is stating the rapid decline of Churches in the US. Tithing and donations are at an all time low for Churches and civic groups- so where are they supposed to get the funding? I love the argument that governments are not to help the poor, that God never wanted that, when the Bible shows clearly that God charged in the OT Jewish Kings with their people's welfare. And to show such disdain for the poor is so wrong for a Christian, when there are over 300 verses in the Bible about the poor, and how God wants us to treat them. 


I understand the need to cut govt spending. I do. We are out of control. But we can do so without relegating the poorest among us to the direst straights of poverty. We can do so without yanking the safety net out from our seniors. For the seniors- let us honor the promises we made and they earned. For the needy, let us make programs that train people for work, and while they are training provide them with limited income, food/housing/medical aid. So by the time they are done with a training course (say as a Plumber's training, or electrician, or a welder, etc...our country sorely needs more trained tradesmen) they have a good paying job and are able to step out of the cycle of poverty. Let's focus our cuts on aid to oil companies, massive tax breaks for billion dollar corporations, build a few less fighter jets a year, and cut aid to countries that don't agree with our policies in the UN at least 60% of the time. (Why give money to places that hate our way of doing things? ) But let's not turn our backs on our most needy, lest we become a caricature of what we were. (As it is, we're on that road already. But we can turn around and redeem ourselves.)

More Scriptural Principles for Helping the Poor

For those who claim to believe in Jesus Christ- yet do not feel the poor, the elderly, the outcast and the alone need to be taken care of- have you read your Bible lately?

James 2:15-17
"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Your actions do not save you, you cannot earn eternal life. You gain it only be believing in Christ- who He is, that He died on a cross to make atonement for your sin, and rose again, by repenting of your sins and professing your faith.

But if your faith does not produce fruit, if it does not result in you doing actions that are pleasing to God (to care for the poor, to help the elderly, to love your neighbors (and everyone is your neighbor) to do good as best you can) then your faith is not a true faith and thus you are not saved. If you are saved- you will then want to do actions pleasing to God. If you say you are saved but don't want to do God's work, then you are not saved. If you despise the poor, love money above people, refuse to help those in need, put things or ideas above your faith in God, are cruel or unfaithful to your family, etc....and say you are saved, you are lying- to yourself and others.

We all need to always examine the state of our soul and our faith, we need to look at our lives and if they reflect our faith.

Is your focus on God and what God loves?

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Or are you focused on the world?

Mark 8:36
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

Do we REALLY need to feed the poor, or was that just God's suggestion?

When considering your vote for our next President, consider where they stand AND especially what they have done, not just said they would do. I am an Independant so I have no political Party to endorse either way. I just vote with the following Scripture in mind, whether it be for a Democrat or Republican:


Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.


34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.


42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

My problem with all of the so-called Christian candidates is their lack of care for the needy. While they have the anti-abortion rhetoric down to a T, they mostly want to fix things by taking from the poor and giving to the rich, kind of a reverse Robin Hood thing. While I don't agree with abortion either, the Christian must address how we will take care of the less fortunate. We must stop caudeling the rich with lower tax rates and then giving them corporate welfare in the form of subsides and bailouts. The rich aren't all bad, I'm certainly not saying that. But they can stand up for themselves as they've always done, how about someone standing up for the rest of us. Stop being Christian posers! There's more to the Christian than a purely pro-life agenda.