Where did Jesus SPECIFICALLY say you MUST ride a donkey, etc?
Also CTB
IMO Giving through the church or missionary (Those who are sent) organizations is the biblical way.
Giving charitable funds through he government seems a poor choice.In actuality they take it out of your taxes - food stamps, etc.
There are other charitable Christian organizations as well.
Personally I check the percentage of donations which are provided for the needy recipients.
Less than 80% and I am reluctant.
Also I like give to those Christian organizations which help non-Christians.
Yes Hank. I give to Christian organizations also. I have no problem with that at all. However, Christians will not give enough to adequately do the job. If all Christians tithed, a gross not a net tithe, then I expect the government would not have to be involved at all.
Also, yes there are charity organizations that seems to exist primarily to enrich the administrators of the organization.
With the needs that are in our society and the lack of giving by Christians to their church and to charity the government steps in to help. As long as that situation exists I support that. I'd rather my tax dollars go to help those in need than to go to kill innocents in other countries ... and it is the innocent that suffer the most in modern wars.
Christ never mentioned giving or not giving to the government to help those in need. This argument is hollow. There is much that Christ never spoke about and we do not see anyone arguing that because Christ did not specifically give permission that we cannot do whatever it is that is being discussed, like owning a car, watching TV or a movie, flying in an airplane, etc., etc., etc., etc.
Jesus rode a donkey, so it must be something we can do. Jesus waked in sandals, so it must be something we can do. Jesus worked with hand tools, there were no power tools, so it working with hand tools must be something we can do.
If you are going to argue that government collecting taxes to help those in need should not be done because Jesus did not say it was all right, then logically there is much in our modern world you should not do. You do not have permission from Jesus to do those things.
I only have one major disagreement CTB. I believe if ALL Christians gave even 1% there would be no issue concerning the needy (both spiritual and material).
Some maybe even much of what is collected by our government is squandered, misappropriated and wasted.
I have often thought that the Lord allowed our huge tax burden because we have indeed neglected the needy.
This is what drew me to the Democratic party under JFK (PRE Roe vs. Wade)
when I became of voting age in the military.
JFK was a champion of the under privileged and needy.
That party was kidnapped and will never return.
The GOP has become sleepy yawning do nothings.
My hope is that President Trump can at least wake them up.
My opinion of course.
We will have to wait and see about President Trump.
We are not required to tithe under grace (but I do).
And yes there would be a windfall if we all did.
Even at that however no amount of money can do any thing without agape love motivating it.
I'm sure you know that.
I agree. But, tithing or not tithing does say something about a person's faith.
I am not sure there is any contributions to charities without agape being involved.
Agape, IMHO, is not restricted to Christians. Agape certainly is part of Christianity and includes God's gracious love for us. It also includes out love of God.
However, that is not the entire meaning of 'agape'. The early Christian writers got the word from the Greeks. The Greeks had coined the term agape, as well as philo, eros, and storge, before Christ. Three of these words, agape, eros, philo appear in scripture. Storge does not.
Agape also means, unselfish love of one person for another without sexual implications.
The obvious question here is: Why did YOU
give this thread the title of "Things Jesus didn't say" if you want to do things he didn't say? Do you contend we should ignore what it was he didn't say?
You can believe that Jesus contradicted himself. I do not believe he did so. There is nothing in Trump's policies that come close to practicing anything Christ taught on how we are to treat each other.
Now, if you continue such trivia as you have posted so far I will simply ignore you. If you are rational and show some thought maybe we can have a good discussion.
Jesus never told us to build each other up with "wisdom" from false gods. Which you have definitely done with your praise of eastern religions and their leaders. In fact, I believe he may have said the exact opppsite.
That is a vicious false accusation. Tell me-- should we love our parents or hate them [Luke 14:26]?
Yes or No:
Should the government's guide be scripture? If only the words of Jesus, then should lust be illegal? Should government confiscate all possession of the richest half of the population and give it to the poorer half, and then switch their roles the next day, as their statuses would already be?
This silly thread OF YOURS, was trivial from the beginning. You can't make up your mind-- is what Jesus did NOT say valid or not? He didn't say clobber people, nor did he say government steal from the rich and give to the poor. Why are you selective about what he did NOT say?