ENTITLEMENT: Those Who Do Not Work!

"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either."

2 Thessalonians 3:10

The Australian Associated Press is reporting new applicants for the dole (Aussie for welfare) will lose their payments unless they immediately join a work-for-dole plan, expected to be announced soon.

The AAP said the tough new measure, to take effect in the new year, is designed by the government to push people off welfare and into work.

Employment Services Minister Tony Abbott will reportedly deliver the following in an upcoming speech, “When government policy makes working more trouble than its worth, it's hardly surprising that welfare should become an entrenched way of life.” The aim of the policy is to ensure that all those “reasonably work-ready” engage in some useful paid activity and those who are reluctant face a “hassle” if they don't.

[“No work, no dole: new plan for jobless” AAP - National News, December 17 1999; © 1997-1999 Ninemsn Pty. Ltd.]

The Aussies are not alone in this dilemma; it seems every descendant of Britannia suffers from some form of welfare anomaly.

And the church herself is besieged with the same mentality. “Why work” church members ask, “when it’s the Pastor’s job?” Or they say, “When I see everyone else working, I’ll join in!” Or, “Oh, Preacher, I’ve done enough around here, it’s time for someone else to work.” They may be correct, but they’re dead wrong.

Yet the most infuriating is an old excuse, “Pastor, I just don’t have the gift of teaching!” Substitute any church job you can think of for “teaching” and you get the idea.

I’ve often wondered what would happen if we told those on the spiritual dole they’d not be allowed to sit at the Lord’s Table this month or feed on His word this next Sunday … unless they engage in some useful church activity. And I’ve fantasized about the reactions of a stubborn few, were they certain they’d be hassled for any unholy reluctance.

But then again, the Bride of the Lion of Judah is old and set in her ways, a toothless aging ewe, unable to chew the solid fodder [Hebrews 5:12-14].

Christianity, Entitlement,
Illustrations, Religion

WELFARE: No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!

BIRD FEEDER: [2 Peter 1:5-8]

My dear sister in Christ Susie L. bought a bird feeder; she and her husband live in the mountains of Arizona. She writes ...

I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food. After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore.

I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down them any nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quite, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see...our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be a automatic citizen.

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor: you child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties. Maybe it's time for the government to take down the ... feeder.

I agree with my friend but we must also remember "the least of these" [Matthew 25:34-46]: they are somewhere in all the mess.

Truth hurts, doesn't it! Forgive me if I just let most of the poop stay where it is.

Maturity

Grow Up [2 Thessalonians 3:10; other topics - Personal Growth, Sanctification]

A new television commercial caught my eye a few weeks ago. It’s for the Holiday Inn hotel/motel chain.

It seems a 37 year old boy doesn’t want to leave home; to go it on his own. The mom and dad, both senior citizens, challenge the boy to get out. He asks, “What about grandma?” (Grandma also lives at home.)

His white-haired mother says, “Your Grandma’s 93 years-old.”

He counters, “What about Larry?” Mom says, “Larry’s the dog, honey.”

But he insists a kid should be able to stay at home free, and eat free (please note that this is Holiday Inn’s advertising slogan). Whereupon dad enters the debate, “What do you think this is, a Holiday Inn?”

This would make a great sermon title - “What do you think this is, a Holiday Inn?” Far too many Christians have taken the attitude that they should be able to stay free and eat free. But the Bible says something different.

Special Days

Spirit of Christmas [John 14, 16; other topics -Carnality, Christmas, Lust (of the World), Materialism, Spirit]

A couple of years ago my wife was getting a jump on the Christmas decorating; being an insensitive beast, I said, “Aren’t the decorations going up kind of early?” She said, “Oh, I’m just trying to get into the spirit!”

Her response made me think: half the world is unable to provide a decent living, home, or meal for their families, yet here we are putting up decorations worth who knows how much and all to celebrate what the world calls a lie; the “spirit” we’re “getting into” is the spirit of this world, and we’re trying real hard to get into it, while we should be trying to get the Spirit of God into us … or if He is already in us we should trying as hard to reveal Him to those around us; and if we put as much money and effort into reaching the lost or caring for the poor, how would the real Spirit of Christmas be manifested? Christmas is coming again this year, PTL; let’s keep it holy because He is holy!


Mother’s Day [Various Scriptures; other topics - Compassion; Drugs; Responsibility; Welfare]

For the thinking and feeling person it comes as no shock when we read things like the following.

In a LA Times story, by Times Staff Writer Sylvia Pagan Westphal, it was reported that, in the drug-culture, "mother’s day” takes place the first week of every month. It's the day when welfare checks are issued in Los Angeles County.

Drug dealers anticipate “mother’s day” and stock up to raid the extra cash. The day is so named because the checks have traditionally gone to welfare-mothers. Social workers and physicians who see low-income substance abusers are well aware of the phenomena.

In a New England Journal of Medicine study released in early July, 1999, it was revealed that more than 4,000 additional deaths occur during the first week of the month as compared to the last week of the preceding month.

You don’t end a person’s problems by feeding it. There is an amazing difference between the welfare of the man in the parable of “The Good Samaritan” and the welfare our culture engages in; take them to Calvary for “by His stripes are they healed.”

[Adapted from “Study Links Welfare Paydays to Rise in Drug Deaths,” Los Angeles Times, Thursday, July 8, 1999, A17]