CHARITY

[Deleted]

T. posted:
“Heck, we are even told in James that true religion is taking care of widows and orphans. So, we are to have humanitarian care and love AND present the gospel. And like back then, you may have people come for just the human care, but some may receive the message. But to discount charity and love to only give the gospel would be a mistake. That's not the way Jesus did things and as His followers, I don't believe that is the way Christians should be.”

If I just focus on your own words, you seem to have taken what Jesus did and although He said it was to fulfill prophecy and because He had compassion, you appear to have turned that into a teaching about what WE should do. You then take that position and force it into your reference in Acts and James when it is not in those texts. To come to a conclusion and be unwilling to be moved is a great quality as long as you are in line with Scripture and I have read from your posts that you also think being in agreement with Scripture is the most important thing. If you will allow me to, I would like to present some verses and point out to you that your position, as you have stated it, does not seem compatible with what these verses clearly say.

You referenced Acts as the ideal representatives of how charity should be administered both then and now. Do you realize that it says in 4:32 that it was the believers being of one heart and mind who sold all they owned and distributed the gain amongst themselves. It was the church ministering charity to the church.

You also mentioned widows. I would like you to take a look at what the teaching section has to say about regulating church funds to widows. James does not define the term “widows” but Paul does and so we have to take what James said as being in line with what church regulations were since he did not add any new information. 1Timothy 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day. 1Timothy 5:6 But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. Again this is the teaching section and note that it does not say all widows, but defines who can receive the charity. She must be a believer in a certain age group amongst other qualifications in order to be on the list. Even if she is a believer but fails the other qualifications in verse 10 she cannot get onto the list and receive much needed financial aid. That right there I would think, would be a problem with your position. Further more young widows are completely bared from the list regardless of qualifications. And yet this is Paul’s direct instruction to Timothy to be carried out in the church at Ephesus. If you maintain your position, you would have to say that the church who is being obedient to Paul’s inspired teaching is doing it wrong.

Lastly, it was Jesus Himself who said that they (the lost) will know that the believers are His disciples if they love one another. The word for “one another” means of the same kind. The principle method of the world seeing Christ in action is our love for one another.

I realize that you can bring up other verses that show a humanitarian act, but you will still have to deal with these and my hope is that you can see that you just need to take a closer look at what these verses are actually saying and let that course-correct your position. I can assure you that all I want to know is the meaning God intended and if the roles were reversed here, I would course-correct. But I just don’t see how these verses leave room what your saying regarding charity.

[T]

Thanks Mark for clearing that up. Way to use scripture to make your one-sided view on this. No kidding we are supposed to love and care for each other as Christians, but I don't believe that means to turn a blind eye to others. Since I don't know all things, I have no idea whether or not I am feeding one of God's future sons or daughters. Actually, I might be feeding a non Christian now in this time zone, but on an eternal time clock, this one just might BE one of God's. I have fun caring for strangers...hey maybe one might be an angel...wait I probably misinterpreted that piece of scripture too.
As I told Ryan in a private letter, I may not know as much as you, but I know when I have a passion in my heart to act upon it and I've learned it's different for everyone, so maybe you just need to except that about me. Once again, I realize we are commanded to love the church first and foremost, so you don't need to try and convince me (or teach me) of this any further.
I also confessed to Ryan that I have a hard time expressing myself clearly and I am often misunderstood. I have been frustrated in the past with friends over letters or Face book posts, only to talk personally on the phone with them and find that we were both on the same page the whole time. Maybe we are closer in agreement than we both realize...I don't know.

[Deleted]

Oct 15, 2012 20:41:46 GMT -7 @T said:

Thanks Mark for clearing that up. Way to use scripture to make your one-sided view on this. No kidding we are supposed to love and care for each other as Christians, but I don't believe that means to turn a blind eye to others. Since I don't know all things, I have no idea whether or not I am feeding one of God's future sons or daughters. Actually, I might be feeding a non Christian now in this time zone, but on an eternal time clock, this one just might BE one of God's. I have fun caring for strangers...hey maybe one might be an angel...wait I probably misinterpreted that piece of scripture too.
As I told Ryan in a private letter, I may not know as much as you, but I know when I have a passion in my heart to act upon it and I've learned it's different for everyone, so maybe you just need to except that about me. Once again, I realize we are commanded to love the church first and foremost, so you don't need to try and convince me (or teach me) of this any further.
I also confessed to Ryan that I have a hard time expressing myself clearly and I am often misunderstood. I have been frustrated in the past with friends over letters or Face book posts, only to talk personally on the phone with them and find that we were both on the same page the whole time. Maybe we are closer in agreement than we both realize...I don't know.

If I have some how misunderstood you T. I apologize for any part I may have had in doing so. I have done my best to present what the verses discussed actually say and in context. I am still learning the lesson of being specific to avoid misunderstanding myself. I wish I could do it with less words. Sometimes it just comes down to not lumping everything into broad sweeping statements that are easily misunderstood, committing to being overly polite without compromising the Word and all while trying to keep a frame of mind that is set on learning what exactly the text is saying and how to best communicate it. For instance, when saying “church”; do you mean the individual, born again believers, scattered around the world or an organizational movement with a sign over the door? When you say “believers”, do you mean those that possess the Holy Spirit or those who profess belief in their head that they are saved, but Jesus, however, would say He never knew them? And when you say “love”, do you mean what the world today calls love, or what the Scriptures define as an attribute of God, separate and distinct from man, that can only be wrought by God? I have found it very helpful to make sure I add a little pointer as to which definition I mean when I use one of those terms so as to not create misunderstandings. This also helps to minimize “return fire” responses that were neither warranted nor edifying. I don’t believe I have given you any cause to think that my intent is to be demeaning so I hope it is not coming across that way since I don’t see it as a mission to prove one knows more, but a hope that the Spirit of Christ in one person is ministering my means of Scriptures to others and visa-versa. Also, as it may help your frame of mind, I do not believe that the only alternative to your position, as I understand it, would be to “turn a blind eye” to the lost, sick and poor. I just think that before we can talk about how the church (possessing believers scattered around the world) is to Biblically respond to those groups, we have to determine the purpose of the Church (possessing believers scattered around the world) as Christ laid it out. My sole intent is to clear up, if possible, where any possible misunderstanding may be coming from and a sincere hope to find that “eye to eye” you speak of.

Take your comment: “If we were living Christ in us to the world, we should look like a people forgiving, loving, compassionate, with a message of the gospel to those who will hear. This is not the image of most churches today.

Your use of “we”, “living Christ in us” and “churches” can cause a reader to not know exactly what you are saying. I would appreciate it if you just consider the questions below and how they interact with your statements both above and in prior posts since they, along with the following question about your position are the main point of this post.

1. When you say “we”, who do you mean? Do you mean a born again believer who is by definition possessing the Spirit of Christ Himself inside themselves everywhere they go? If so then does Christ only become visible when one does humanitarian works? And if a “professing only” christian does humanitarian work, would the lost be able to see Christ in him solely because he belongs to a church? (building or organization)

2. When you say “living christ in us” what do you mean? Do you mean there is a “work” like humanitarian service for example, that will cause Christ to be seen in me? Or that He is not seen in me unless I go and do humanitarian and passionate work?

3. When you say “churches”, do you mean The Church that is made up of individual born again, Spirit possessing believers scattered around the world, or do you mean some group or organization who is not leading their flock out on humanitarian missions?

These are just questions, not attacks. But how you answer them to yourself, will determine your theological positions which you will then find yourself having to defend to others and yourself. You can trust me when I say that you will want a better defense than that is just what I believe.


This is how I understood your position and therefore formed my responses, so let me ask a specific question so there won’t be any misunderstanding.

IS THIS A FAIR STATEMENT OF YOUR POSITION?:

THAT THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH (THE SCATTERED POSSESSING BELIEVERS AROUND THE WORLD) IS TO SEEK OUT AND DO HUMANITARIAN WORK HOPING THEY (THE SICK, POOR, AND LOST) MIGHT THEREBY GET SAVED BECAUSE 1. THE HUMANITARIAN WORK LEADS THEM TO THE GOSPEL. 2. WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, MANY WOULD NOT LISTEN. AND 3. WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, THE CHURCH IS NOT BEING COMPASSIONATE AS CHRIST WAS COMPASSIONATE AND IS THEREBY FAILING IN IT’S MISSION.

Thank you for you patience,
Mark

[T]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh wow!. Yeah, this:


IS THIS A FAIR STATEMENT OF YOUR POSITION?:

THAT THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH (THE SCATTERED POSSESSING BELIEVERS AROUND THE WORLD) IS TO SEEK OUT AND DO HUMANITARIAN WORK HOPING THEY (THE SICK, POOR, AND LOST) MIGHT THEREBY GET SAVED BECAUSE 1. THE HUMANITARIAN WORK LEADS THEM TO THE GOSPEL. 2. WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, MANY WOULD NOT LISTEN. AND 3. WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, THE CHURCH IS NOT BEING COMPASSIONATE AS CHRIST WAS COMPASSIONATE AND IS THEREBY FAILING IN IT’S MISSION.

.........is NOT even CLOSE to what I believe. Tell, you what. Since you know Ryan and Justin and NOT me, it would just be easier to have you pretend like you are talking to one of them when you talk to me. To sit here and have to define what I mean by 'church' or what I mean by 'we' or 'work' would be a waste of my time and very exhausting! As far as the above question: IF that was my position, I would say that I would have to be a very badly, misled, taught individual. If Paul Washer thought I believed that, he would hit me upside the head with the bible and tell I'm a false convert and if I'm preaching that, then I'm a false prophet leading false converts. If Ryan or Justin thought I believed that, they would WALK, if they had to, 900 miles to my house and start some kind of intervention on my behalf. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to remain a guest on this forum, sit back, read and learn some things. It just will be better that way.

[Justin]

T - I'd like to see you continue this discussion. A lot of good things have been said and answered but neglected. You and Mark should go back through and re-read each others posts carefully; responding to the questions asked and addressing what is being said.

Our discussions should be based upon God's Word and what it says - if we can agree that it only says one thing then we should be able to come to a mutual conclusion.
Unfortunately if we base our doctrine on what we feel then we tread on dangerous water. The heart is deceitful and wicked and we can't know it. The way that seems right to a man ends in death. There is no good thing in the flesh.

This means that either our actions are motivated by the Lord in us or our own human compassion. We need to therefore determine what is taught by scripture and not just extract examples. We will be judged by Paul's gospel (Rom) who in turned learned directly from Jesus. Being the apostle to us Gentiles, Christ gave him the instructions for us and we must be very careful that our doctrines line up with what is taught.

We need to mutually see what God's Word says and come to a conclusion. It has to boil down to a right answer or the Lord is hiding His truth from us.

This conversation is fruitful for those of us on the sidelines and I am praying for all of us that the Lord reveals His truth.

[Deleted]

T. I recognize your freedom to participate or not participate, but the unanswered questions regarding your statements remain. I did as Justin asked and re-read your posts. I believe I said I answered your question from out of John 6 about why Jesus performed signs as best as I can from Scripture; to fulfill prophecy and out of compassion, neither of which he expounded on, therefore I cannot expound on. The teaching section of the New Testament has much to say about how the Apostles carried out His teachings in the church and that should be the source for learning church procedure. You last posted that my understanding of your position was "not even close”. I again direct your attention to your statements from various places which indicate a recurring "theme" or "position" you have. I am only asking in what way am I misunderstanding your statements and the conclusion I came away with for each? I honestly don't know how to continue a conversation that I am being told I don't currently understand. added note: I see only two possibilities here. Either you didn't and/or don't understand the implications of your statements, or there is something else in these statements that I am not seeing. Either way, I am asking for your help.

“And like back then, you may have people come for just the human care, but some may receive the message. But to discount charity and love to only give the gospel would be a mistake. That's not the way Jesus did things and as His followers, I don't believe that is the way Christians should be.”

my conclusion:you believe, THAT THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH (THE SCATTERED POSSESSING BELIEVERS AROUND THE WORLD) IS TO SEEK OUT AND DO HUMANITARIAN WORK HOPING THEY (THE SICK, POOR, AND LOST) MIGHT THEREBY GET SAVED



“I still remain convinced that if all Jesus did was stand on a corner and talk, He would not have drawn the crowds that He did and would not have been a prominent person to listen to. The apostles did the same with their God given powers and people responded in droves.”

I take it that by “powers” you meant humanitarian signs like feeding, healing, etc. my conclusion:you believe,
WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, MANY WOULD NOT LISTEN



“Yes, did the majority of the people use them to just get healed and not believe the gospel, probably? But, charity (love) and compassion was almost always used together with the message of the gospel given.”

my conclusion:you believe, HUMANITARIAN WORK LEADS THEM TO THE GOSPEL


“If we were living Christ in us to the world, we should look like a people forgiving, loving, compassionate, with a message of the gospel to those who will hear. This is not the image of most churches today. The reason, same as always, lack of pastors reading the word without their own spin”

my conclusion:you believe, WITHOUT THE HUMANITARIAN WORK, THE CHURCH IS NOT BEING COMPASSIONATE AS CHRIST WAS COMPASSIONATE AND IS THEREBY FAILING IN IT’S MISSION

[T]

I believe it would help if one of my main questions was answered:

Why did Jesus heal the sick if it was NOT for compassion?

Mat 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Mat 15:32 Now Jesus called His disciples to [Himself] and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."
Mat 20:34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
Mar 1:41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out [His] hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."
Mar 5:19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."
Mar 9:22 "And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
Luk 7:13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."
Luk 10:33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

When I read these scripture, I see Jesus doing these things for the people because He had compassion on them. NOT because He wanted to WIN them over. His greatest gift to all of mankind was His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, and it was for a bunch of sinners, enemies of God. 2Cr 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Are we supposed to do good deeds to win people over for Christ? NOPE. Can we be moved by compassion to do good things in the name of Christ? Yep, I believe so. Does this lead to an opportunity to share the gospel? If the Spirit leads, you bet it can.

Okay, so after all that, don't forget my question by getting side-tracked with other comments I made that you may disagree with. Here it is again:

Why did Jesus heal the sick if it was NOT for compassion?

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2012 16:51:43 GMT -7 T said:

I believe it would help if one of my main questions was answered:

Okay, so after all that, don't forget my question by getting side-tracked with other comments I made that you may disagree with. Here it is again:

Why did Jesus heal the sick if it was NOT for compassion?

The main purpose of the signs was to demonstrate that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. That is why I keep calling them signs. They point to Jesus as that promised Messiah.

Secondarily, we are told many times that Jesus had compassion upon the people. But that does not separate compassion from the other two reasons. It is part of or included in the other two reasons. That is why He said Matthew 17:17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” It is also a key point of His compassion that it was always the people coming to Him and recognizing who He was.

Third, His physical signs always represented His authority in the corresponding spiritual issue. Ex:

Matthew 9:5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘ Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? Matthew 9:6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” He made the man whole physically to demonstrate He has authority to make the sinner whole spiritually.

As far as I have noticed, that is all that is presented as a historical account of what HE did. Again, the teaching section of the New Testament has much to say about how the Apostles carried out His teachings in the church and that should be the source for learning church procedure.

[T]

Okay, thank you Mark.

[Deleted]

you are welcome T.

[T]

Of course, we can't ignore the two commandments in which all the law hinges upon can we?
Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Of course the rest of this passage explains who our neighbor are, that is, not just those who are our fellow brothers and sisters, but our enemies are included in this command. Can we forget the "Golden Rule?" Luk 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Yes, I already know what you might write, so I'll cover that real quick. "But T, we are no longer under the law." Yeah I know we are not under the law, nor justified by it, but it never was meant to do that anyways. The law is good and points to our need for an advocate, a redeemer for it shows we are guilty before a God who demands perfection. But just because we know WE can't fulfill it, doesn't make the law NOT good and right.

Here are other verses that seem to make mention of the poor and what the Lord has to say about them:

Pro 11:24 There is [one] who scatters, yet increases more; And there is [one] who withholds more than is right, But it [leads] to poverty.
Pro 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.
Pro 14:21He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy [is] he.
Pro 14:31He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.
Pro 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.
Pro 21:13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.
Pro 21:26 He covets greedily all day long, But the righteous gives and does not spare.
Pro 22:9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Pro 24:11 Deliver [those who] are drawn toward death, And hold back [those] stumbling to the slaughter.
Pro 24:12 If you say, "Surely we did not know this," Does not He who weighs the hearts consider [it]? He who keeps your soul, does He [not] know [it]? And will He [not] render to [each] man according to his deeds?
Pro 28:27 He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.
Pro 31:10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth [is] far above rubies. Pro 31:20 She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
Luk 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.

[Deleted]

Okay T, I only have a few minutes right now, which is a bummer, because all of these could be talked about for days. I’ll assume from your post that you are not aware of a few things. Forgive me in advance if you already knew these things.

The “commandment”, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God...” grammar wise is not an order to perform as if it said “you are to love”. The “thou shalt” is a future tense indicative verb. It literally means that you will, as a matter of fact love God. Now you can see what God meant when He said You (the Jews) WILL BE my people and I WILL BE your God. All future tense indicative matter of fact verbs. Note added: This is why when God, who is love, dwells in a person, who has no love, they will now love God. Again, much more to this, but for what your asking, this is what matters.

All of the Old Testament verses are to Jews. They were strictly prohibited from marrying or living among all other peoples. We are told that they were called out of Egypt by God and set apart as His Holy people. The word Holy means literally “to be set apart”. God set them apart for His purposes. What the nations are is ordinary common people. What the Jews are is Holy. For the Jews to mix with the nations would be the sin of taking what was set aside by God for God’s purposes and using it for the common. This is what has happened when God says something has been profaned. What I am saying is that they were to remain together as a people separate from all other nations.

In that light, the word “neighbor” takes on a different context than the English word “neighbor”. The Jews were only allowed to be around other Jews. If there was a pagan among them, it was because that pagan wanted to join them to serve The God of the Jews, and in doing so was told under the law, that they must observe all the Jewish laws and customs. The word “neighbor”, in the Bible, means the person closest to you at any given time. So Jews around Jews would mean that a neighbor is always a Jew, even if he is an “enemy” or Jew trespassing against him.

With regard to your New Testament questions, they involve understanding the difference between a human produced love defined by culture, and the Agape love defined as being an attribute of God, from out of God, and produced by God and again, the teaching section of the New Testament is where we are to get our understanding for the believer today. Also to realize that most of the time it is God's comments to a Pharasiticle (might have made up a word there) Jews treatment of a saved Jew or a Pharasiticle Jews treatment of a Gentile who had received Christ.

I feel that you might be loosing sight of what’s being said here, so please permit me to say that nobody ever said that all compassion or humanitarian work to the unsaved is wrong. It is not, but It’s a matter of when and how and why and to make sure that our understanding is formed by God’s word.

I would think that these things should give you something to chew on for a while.

[Justin]

Remember also, Christians were never told to "Love the Lord and Love your Neighbor". Jesus never told us to do that. He was answering a Jewish law student/lawyer questions about the law.
To reiterate what Mark said, after the in dwelling of the Spirit - we are not commanded to love... the Lord will be loving through us. Since God is love (AGAPE) and AGAPE is not human emotional love and since we can not produce God or His love, it makes perfect sense that His Spirit will place us in situations where His love will flow through us. Often this will NOT look like love from our perspective.

[T]

Justin, I don't love or care for others because it is a commandment. I only mentioned that because the command came from God, so I assume it is His desire that we do so and it represents the very nature of God. Like Mark mentioned above, the command I guess is better translated "You shall or you will love ME..." If nothing good is in my flesh, then I can only assume the love coming out of me IS God's love. What else, if my heart is soo evil and wicked, could it be? Am I going against God's will and following my wicked heart when I extend my hand to the poor? I never knew that I could be compassionate and evil at the same time! I'm sticking with the wisdom of Solomon and his proverbs that it is a righteous act to have mercy on the poor. And because I know that my flesh is evil, as a believer I attribute any mercy, or act of compassion is God's righteousness IN me being exemplified. If one example of a virtuous person in the bible is one who extended their hand to the poor, then it's an example I want in me; I expect it to be, if God is IN me.
I understand learning the original New Testament language is very enlightening, and because of that you must deal with people on a daily basis sayings things that are "wrong" and you knowing the truth must really be bothered or tired having to correct people ALL the time. Therefore, if I use the improper term or verb that may imply in any way a Christians "duty" or a Christian "applying" scripture to his life, or a Christian "giving to the poor" is an act that we do on our own, in our own strength, because we are commanded to, however it can be said, forgive me, I never mean for it to come out that way. Can you please just assume when I speak of doing ANYTHING good and true as a Christian, that I ALREADY KNOW that it is God IN me, NOT my flesh, NOT me, NOT because I'm following a commandment. ALL GOD, OKAY! Gee whiz. And don't forget, based on past forum conversations, we determined through scripture that God's Spirit will convict us of wrong doing on an individual basis, (I believe this took place in our discussion on Ryan’s daughter wearing make-up). So, I have yet to be convicted by God for feeding the poor, or helping someone stuck in the snow, or listening carefully to my neighbor and piecing together his needs, since he would never clearly tell me them, lest he burden me with his troubles. So, throw all the scripture you want at me, I'll read them, but if I have no change in heart over this matter than I leave it to God who will judge me when I stand before Him. And for crying out loud, don't make me define what I mean by judgment. If you don't know that I know the difference between the judgment of non-believers and the judgment of believers, I WILL SCREAM! Yes like a girl, I will scream.

[ryan]

Just to make a quick comment. "No good in our flesh". This doesn't mean that there is nothing that "Looks" good in our flesh. We can do things that "Look" good and humanitarian in this Earthly life, that in fact are not from God at all. Some of the most giving, "Loving" (in a human sense), humanitarian people on Earth are the Mormons. Does this mean that when they are doing these things that it must be God doing it through them? Not at all. Justin's point (I think? ^_^) above is that AGAPE love doesn't always look like "Good" humanitarian things. Sometimes the AGAPE love of God will make people SO mad that they want to kill you. Sometimes the AGAPE love of God will make a person NOT help another person out in a humanitarian way. And I think it's already been said, but I will say it again. God MAY use a Christian to help another person out in humanitarian way. He DOES indeed do this, but as Scripture has shown above, it is for a Spiritual purpose. Not just to make them happy. I guess the point that is being made is that every time we "Feel" that we should do something humanitarian or helpful in a human sense, this is in and of itself is not proof that God's love is working through us. It could be, it could not be. This is where we need to try and be SPIRITUALLY minded and not EARTHLY minded. (Matthew 16:23).