The Christian Way

The Christian way

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  
On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” 
Romans 12:18-21

Martin Luther King Jr. the American civil rights leader said these famous words,
We thank thee, O God, for the spiritual nature of man.
We are in nature but we live above nature.
Help us never to let anybody or any condition pull us so low as to cause us to hate.
Give us strength to love our enemies and to do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us.
We thank thee for thy Church, founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more
than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee.
Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through all eternity.
Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace; help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children, Black, White, Red, and Yellow will rejoice in one common bond of humanity in the kingdom of our LORD and of our God, we pray.
                Amen.
I could not say it more eloquently. We as Christians need to live as he prayed.
Tony Campolo wrote
“Those issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.”
        Tony Campolo.
We as Christians particularly in North America need to be out there reaching out to those in need.
The church where my oldest son goes to has a drop in centre right across from the Salvation army’s bed program. It’s open to every one during the week and holds weekly services for some of the poorest people in our city. People who live on the street. It’s a good program.
Many churches in our city during the winter, Canadian winters can be brutal open their doors to the homeless both as a place to come out of the cold and a place to sleep for the night.
They give them a safe place to sleep and a hot meal. It’s what every church that is able to do so should be doing winter and summer.
We should be reaching not only the poor but also the wealthy.
This was something, someone pointed out to me just recently. The wealthy need God just as much as the poor.
Jesus said,
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 
                                 Matthew 19:24.
I personally think it can be harder for a wealthy person to enter heaven than a poor person.
Having little in the way of money and resources can cause a person to draw near to God.
A person of wealth however can tend to rely on his wealth to get him through both bad times and good.
As a result we Christians of all stripes and income groups need to be reaching out to every strata of our society.
All, be they poor, wealthy or in between need to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Thus it is up to we who believe to take that message to them.
Think about it.