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Pastor for Diversity and Tolerance Christ's Rottweiler
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The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-26-2019, 01:38 PM
When Christ said, “Mar 14:6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
Mar 14:7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.”
He spoke of the inevitability of the poor – poverty and the poor cannot be abolished. Some idiots try, but they never try hard enough, nor do they try in any way that is effective. And we have to ask ourselves, “Why is this?”
It is my invariable opinion that when something is “This way”, it is because it is God’s Plan. In the same way that God gave us eyes to see his glories, ears that we may hear his word, and lips that we might tell others, He gave us the poor too.
We can see that everything in the world has a purpose, and to remove it would cause disaster! If we were to remove disease, the place would be overrun with stupid, poor people. If everyone got free food, farmers, grocers, truckers, meat-packers would be out of work and then where would hedge fund managers be?
It is in this light that I examine
“The Function of the Poor in a Christian World.”
1. The poor are there to do the dangerous, dirty, dead-end, temporary/seasonal, under paid undignified, menial jobs. Cleaning sewers, supermarket checkouts, picking cotton – that sort of thing. Nobody is going to do these things in heaven, so why should the True Christian do them now when God gave us the poor?
2. They subsidize the activities of the normal True Christian: domestics, tourist guides, hotel and staff, etc. Nobody wants to pay outrageous prices for these services, so the poor do them.
3 They act as guinea-pigs for testing drugs. Their diseases are treated with "innovative treatments" and if they work and are safe, the normal True Christian can benefit as an adjunct to prayer. They get a few dollars for their blood, etc.
4. They create jobs for the professions who service the poor such as the police and prison officers, prostitutes, pawn shops, the army, etc. Now normally, you don’t want many of these, but, if you do, it is the poor who keep them available and in business.
5. They buy good nobody else wants and thus prolong the life of these things - day-old bread, second-hand clothes, automobiles and they occupy buildings that are falling apart. This means that you get a better return on your investments.
6. They are the base-line of morality. This is remarkably important. They are proof that morality is absolute and thus must have come from God’s Word. The poor can be identified and punished as alleged or real deviants in order to uphold morality. When it comes to hard work, thrift, honesty, and monogamy, the normal True Christian may need examples and must therefore have people as examples of the lazy, spendthrift, dishonest, and promiscuous.
(The advantage here is that the poor lack the power to attempt change these perceptions – but that is because the perceptions are true.)
7. An often overlooked function is the poor's cultural contribution. They gave the normal True Christian The Blues, Country and Western, Spirituals, etc. And more than that, you need not actually get close to poor people to enjoy these things. They also serve as folk heroes to liberals - the hobo, the cowboy, the miner, the hipster, etc,. They are perfect examples of how anyone can become President if they work hard - it is simply that these people do not.
8. The poor are a confirmation that you are not poor. Someone has to be at the bottom and, in America where anyone can be a normal True Christian, the poor provide a measuring rod for status comparison. Are you richer than someone who is poor? Then you’re not poor, and that’s good. (It must be remarked that even the poor look down on poorer people, so we need not feel guilty when we look down on them without needing to ascertain the level of poverty.)
9. The poor provide the stepping stone for the American Dream: many a poor person has risen out of the mire of poverty by providing goods and services to his fellow poor. Slum landlords, drug dealers, numbers racket, prostitutes, i.e. mostly immigrants, spring to mind.
10 The poor help keep the normal True Christian busy. Society uses the poor as clients of settlement houses, beneficiaries of charities set up by the normal True Christian to demonstrate the way that God has blessed them.
11. Despite rarely taking part in politics, the poor stabilze the political process. Republicans, knowing Christ's Words, ignore them. Demoncrats attempt to obtain "street-cred" by saying that they help them - the poor have to vote Demoncrat as they have no other home for their vote. In truth, the Demoncrats are interested in keeping the poor poor because if they became rich, they'd vote the right way.
12 The poor are necessary for a laissez-faire economy – the economy of the Bible. A laissez-faire economy accepts the poor as men who are inferior, degenerate, and unwilling to work and thus must accept charity and welfare. The moral turpitude of the poor moderates any reason to go against God’s Plan and eliminate poverty or have sympathy. As a bonus, the poor can be dissuaded from wanting to receive any welfare as they know that anyone who gets benefits or charity is lazy, spendthrift, dishonest, etc.
If you are reading this, you have access to the internet – poor people do not. You may show your gratitude to God by making a donation that reflects the Blessings He has given you.
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Mayor of Freehold
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-26-2019, 02:26 PM
Excellent analysis, Pastor Bathfire. I find it annoying when this lady at the Freehold Senior Center goads me with, "You Christians don't care about the poor."
We do care that they carry out their appropriate place in society--taking care of we the prosperous people. Yes, when they do not work and try to take our money through welfare we object. We object partly because they are no longer serving us but also because their own self respect suffers. When they are serving us it is a win win situation.
Isaiah 24:1-3 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty (2)...as the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. (3) The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken his word.
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An old soul
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-26-2019, 05:32 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johny Joe Hold
Yes, when they do not work and try to take our money through welfare we object. We object partly because they are no longer serving us but also because their own self respect suffers.
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Maybe in return for welfare they could do something actually useful like investigating Joe Biden's son. But oh no the Democrats would object. They'd rather they sit on their hands and enjoy a warm trickle of wealth flowing down on them from above and raising everyones' boats (those that have a boat anyway).
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Pastor for Diversity and Tolerance Christ's Rottweiler
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Posts: 22,727
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Location: Toiling selflessly towards Salvation
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-26-2019, 06:13 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johny Joe Hold
Excellent analysis, Pastor Bathfire. I find it annoying when this lady at the Freehold Senior Center goads me with, "You Christians don't care about the poor."
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The idea of God being at our beck and call is regrettably common, even among those who have had a lifetime to read the Bible. The proposition is not at all supported by Scripture. The Ruler of the Universe is not there to help us - He is there to carry out His Plan and we are His servants. It is not for the servant to question or correct the Master when the Master has already provided all we need.
Quote:
We do care that they carry out their appropriate place in society--taking care of we the prosperous people. Yes, when they do not work and try to take our money through welfare we object. We object partly because they are no longer serving us but also because their own self respect suffers. When they are serving us it is a win win situation.
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I did consider that a small pool of poor might be enough, but this tends to fail as quite a large number of poor are required to keep general wages to a reasonable level. At my meat-packing concern, I have reduced wages when the cost have threatened shareholder profits, and the majority seem to understand this as they do not leave - those that do can be replaced from this pool of the unemployed.
The point here is "The Greater Good": it is more important that all God's Children people get cheap meat than that one or two are paid more than the going rate.
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Trying to out-Methuselah Methuselah You kids get off his lawn!
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-27-2019, 01:54 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezekiel Bathfire
The poor are there to do the dangerous, dirty, dead-end, temporary/seasonal, under paid undignified, menial jobs. Cleaning sewers, supermarket checkouts, picking cotton – that sort of thing. Nobody is going to do these things in heaven, so why should the True Christian do them now when God gave us the poor?
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Amen to that! And after Jesus kills them their bodies should be used to fill up potholes and their families should work even harder to pick up the slack.
Amazing how the Fake News Media helped by the Do Nothing Democrats keep claiming the poor are "victims" instead of blaming the poor for refusing to simply become rich. It's as if they haven't even heard of Bitcoin.
As Proverbs 14:31 teaches us, the poor shouldn't be oppressed but they should be put to work until they die so they go to Heaven (or Hell if they voted for Hillary Clinton) faster.
Freedom means voting for Donald Trump!
To most "Christians" The Bible is like a license agreement. They just scroll to the bottom and click "I agree". All those "Christians" will burn in Hell!
James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
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Completely CRAZY for the Lord
True Christian™
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-27-2019, 12:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezekiel Bathfire
2. Subsidize the activities or the normal True Christian: domestics, tourist guides, hotel and staff, etc. Nobody wants to pay outrageous prices for these services, so the poor do them.
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To what extent should immigration be encouraged to satisfy this demand? Many donor nations are not Christian and it's possible that they could start voting. I've often suspected that social liberals promote the interests of such groups to get more votes and bring down The Church. Am I mistaken?
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Didn't write the Bible, just obeys it
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
10-31-2019, 10:24 PM
Thank you. You have proved that not only will the poor always be with us, but that the poor SHOULD always be with us.
I remember the last time I said "It's easy to be generous with other people's money".
A liberal replied with "That's the whole point! The world needs more generosity, not less, so of course we should organize things that make generosity easier. Thousands of years of charity never put a dent in poverty, yet a generation or two of liberalization - of easy generosity - and now there's 3 billion middle class people in the world."
I didn't have a response at the time, but now I do.
Disagree? By failing to register and debate me, you prove that liberals are factless frauds who only persuade through intimidation. To prove otherwise, debate me!
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Mayor of Freehold
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
11-01-2019, 03:32 AM
A thread like this illustrates the idealism that is central to the mission of Landover Baptist Church. Instead of just accepting things as they are, we are passionate about how they should be.
The poor have a perfectly respectable place in our society, to be poor. As our economy grows and those at the top become more wealthy the poor can look with pride at their contribution to this wealth.
All the Democratic politicians have some perverted idea we can make the poor better off by making the rich worse off. No. The poor should make the rich better off.
Isaiah 24:1-3 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty (2)...as the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. (3) The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken his word.
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Pastor for Diversity and Tolerance Christ's Rottweiler
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Posts: 22,727
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
11-01-2019, 11:58 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johny Joe Hold
A thread like this illustrates the idealism that is central to the mission of Landover Baptist Church. Instead of just accepting things as they are, we are passionate about how they should be.
The poor have a perfectly respectable place in our society, to be poor. As our economy grows and those at the top become more wealthy the poor can look with pride at their contribution to this wealth.
All the Democratic politicians have some perverted idea we can make the poor better off by making the rich worse off. No. The poor should make the rich better off.
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The English poet, John Milton, was cursed by God with blindness in his 20s. Milton was a True Christian and understood that God's actions were, in fact, an honor - God was using him to show how powerful He is (Joh:9:3)
The sonnet goes thus:
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask.But Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
If we render this into Modern American, we have: When I think about being blind
Before I've lived half my life
[and I think about] My ability [as a poet], which The Lord commands me I should not hide, (Matthew 25:14-30)
Seemed to be useless to me, even though my soul wishes me
To use it to serve God and thus explain
My actions, because otherwise God will return on Judgement Day and complain about me;
"Would God want a day's labor from me in darkness?"
I fondly ask myself. But my Faith, in order to prevent such a mistake,
Corrects this idea by quickly saying "God does not need
Either a man's work or the talents He has given him; Whoever best
puts up with God's trivial demands, they are the best servants. He is
Like a King (or a President). Thousands, whenever he asks, rush
And do, tirelessly, that which He requires anywhere in the world:
[And so we can conclude] They also serve who only stand and wait."
You can see that Milton was inspired by God to do nothing much. And, in some ways, this is a poem of Prophecy: For is not "They also serve who only stand and wait." also the prediction of welfare lines?
God even has a reason for welfare lines! He is truly amazing!
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Completely CRAZY for the Lord
True Christian™
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
11-01-2019, 01:12 PM
The idea that we can make the poor better off by making the rich worse off suggests a community fund to make up for the shortcomings within society, as a social liberal would describe it – in their eyes a type of atonement. It's not a new idea, even if they follow a debased version of it excluding plague prophylaxis but instead turning to physicians for remedy after the fact.
The Bible does mention common funds but they are never controlled by a headcount except insofar as contributions are concerned. And unlike the socialist idea where everyone pays in a different amount (according to their means) God spells out a very different assessment method.
Exodus 30:12c-16 When thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them, this they shall give: Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
Communists seek to replace God with doctrinaire institutions and to drive a wedge in wherever His Perfect Ideas bind us together, to drive us apart. They don't declare themselves to be Marxists or Stalinists at first or even use words like "commie" and "collective-ownership-of-the-means-of-production" but we know that's what they mean. The rich giving more and the poor giving less (to support their profane redemption scheme) is a dead give-away.
The Bible also explains that poor people can sometimes be lifted up, even to great riches or other forms of influence as a conduit for God's blessings to reach others. God can just bless people directly of course but sometimes chooses individuals to be His instruments in exactly the way Mother Teresa was not.
I Samuel 2:6-8 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.
Making rich people poor, or lining them up and shooting them for that matter, just makes everyone worse off.
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Possibly retarded pothead
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
11-01-2019, 04:01 PM
Greetings!
As President Barak Obama said- White folk's greed runs a world in need. The truth is that the reason there are so many poor people is that white people steal all the money and every kind of thing from the Black and Brown and Yellow and Red people who are the true owners of the world. And the Eskimos too but I am uncertain as to what color they are. Once proper reparations are paid from the monies stolen from the people of color there will be no poverty and everyone will live happily ever after.
Jah Guide!
Trevor
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: Extol him that rideth upon the heavens By his name JAH, and rejoice before him.-Psalms 68:4
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Unsaved trash aka The Flood of Disinformation
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
06-04-2020, 02:41 AM
In a true Christian country there is no room for the non-wealthy and non-healthy.
Ecclesiastes 5:3b "A fool's voice is known by multitude of words."
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South of the Border outreach program True Christian™
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Re: The Function of the Poor in a Christian World -
06-04-2020, 04:24 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Stanford
In a true Christian country there is no room for the non-wealthy and non-healthy.
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Have you not understood a word of Pastor Bathfire's sermon?! You need to put Das Kapital away and start reading the Bible!
The Bible is very clear that we need the poor to feel better about ourselves. Charity is an important aspect of being a True Christian™. When we give crumbs to the poor, God rewards us with even more riches:
Proverbs 19:17 - He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Also, we need the poor to serve the rich - the rooms in Flint mansion are not going to vacuum themselves! This is why the Bible contains verses which are directed to slaves/servants:
Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
We also need the sick to keep proving the Power of Prayer:
James 5:14-16
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
I hope this was helpful, dear.
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