Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie

Wait just a minute! I don't believe it is the GOVERNMENT'S responsibility to redistribute what I have worked hard for, so in that regard I completely agree with Pastor Ron.

I believe it is MY responsibility as an individual and within my FAMILY, coupled with the efforts of THE BODY OF CHRIST. WE can do it much more efficiently, see a more significant impact in the type of change in a person's life, have long-lasting change, and affect greater numbers of people. But I believe the greatest strength of us shouldering that responsibility rather than the Government is that we are able to reach those in their greatest area of need by pointing the way to fulfilling their spiritual thirst. We are able to do that because WE have the ability to choose WHO we allocate the most resources to without the implications and entanglement that bureucracy, politics, and other religious or philosophical paradigms can bring, and secondly because we have the only answer that is true and everlasting, the only answer with eternal implications, that which is Jesus Christ.

Nice one Casey. Exactly how I feel. We can *always* do it better than the government as far as taking care of those in need.

The problem is that many of us who call ourselves christian, including myself, have not always taken this biblical principle and applied it to our lives practically. I know that I need to help those in need more. I need to give more financially. I need to invest and sow my time and energy into others to bring about this change. Many times, we are just not willing to do that. Sometimes our own little world seems so much more important than the grand picture of God's sovereignty on this earth.

The problem we have with God's principle of providing for those in true need is that it is MY responsibility as an individual! That means that when I drop the ball, I am not in God's will. When we as a body of believers do nothing to give those in need a hand up and an opportunity to improve their circumstances, it is OUR fault. NOT the government's. That is why we have fallen so short in this area. WE haven't stepped up and done what is necessary because it is a little uncomfortable for us. The less efficient, less effective government has tried to fill a role that it simply wasn't meant to fill. We can see how not following God's principles have turned out. It is so much easier for us to sit back and do nothing. Others are doing it instead, and their gospel, their worldview is being presented, rather than the love and provision of Christ.

Who says we all have to agree?