Government welfare vs. Christian Charity

by Jody Sparks

In our country, a growing number of people are on Government welfare. Some got laid off and can’t find another job, although they are doing their best. Others, however,  either never worked, so that they could get on welfare, or quit working and now rely on Government funding so they don’t have to keep on looking for work and provide for themselves.

Welfare is a system that was set up, so that when a person got fired, they could have something to fall back on when they ran out of money between jobs. It was never meant as a permanent life style, but it is being lived like one. I went to school with many kids who never planned on going to college because they knew that as soon as they were old enough, they could just get on welfare. They were raised on this mentality, and will most likely pass this lazy life style down to their children too. This is destructive to the economy.

The Government is taking money from hard earned Americans, and giving that money on to people who refuse to work. There are over 100 million people on welfare today! It is a grossly huge number! When I first saw how many people were relying on the work of others to provide for them, I was shocked, and thought that it was a fluke, or a joke.

But sadly, this terrifying number is true. Over 100 MILLION people are on welfare today! America has tried things like this before, and if we were to look back at our history, we would see that America is on a downward spiral.

In the early 1600’s there was a settlement called Jamestown. They tried this type of government, and it failed miserably. The people of Jamestown pooled their food together in a central place, and each person was to contribute to the pile. Each person was only allowed to take a certain amount of food out, and when everyone was working, it appeared to work just fine. No one was getting more food than anyone else, everyone was equal, and no one went hungry. There was plenty of food in the area, but many people starved and died!

You see, a few people stopped working. A few stopped planting, stopped growing, and stopped harvesting. They just took from the pile of food that everyone else was contributing to. More people saw that the few weren’t working anymore and followed suit. This continued, until even the hard working people, the most honest, and diligent people there, were starving because they had to contribute all of their food to the common pool, and divide it up. Eventually enough people weren’t working to completely ruin the colony. The little food that was being added, was nowhere near enough to provide for everyone there, and the people refused to start working again.

Something similar is happening today. As more and more people stop working, and start relying on others to provide for them, the country is feeling the effects. The economy is in a recession, and those people who had enough money from working, suddenly don’t have enough to feed themselves or their families because they are having to support others as well. Those who were middle class, are more and more becoming lower class when it comes to money. As more and more people take advantage of our failing economy, it falls faster and faster.

Not only is the welfare system a bad idea when it comes to the economy, and government, it is also unscriptural.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 it says “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

This is very clear. If a man is not willing to provide for himself, then he should not eat. The Bible is clear on it’s support for self reliance.

Mark 10:7 says “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,”

This verse does have to do with marriage, but notice that it says that a man shall leave his father and mother and be with his wife. Not bring his wife to his parents so that mommy and daddy can take care of them. We need to behave like adults in this country and work for ourselves instead of relying on others to give us our food. There is nothing wrong with being down on your luck and not being able to find a job to support yourself as long as you are still trying to find work to do. But when you stop looking for a job, when you give up looking for ways to be self sustaining, then you are in the wrong. If you are unwilling to work, you should be just as unwilling to eat.

Is it a sin to vote for Obama and the democrats?

Click HERE for a great article on this subject!

Note: We (Youths For Christ and America) are not responsible for anything written on the site listed above as we do not have any affiliation with this organization. We do, however, consider this article to be both helpful and relevant. We understand that some of you may support Barack Hussein Obama and his views. If so, please know we are not forcing our opinions on you, but rather stating relevant facts. Thus, we encourage you to read the article with an open mind and use your God-given powers of logic to form your own thoughtful, educated opinions.

We know you have thoughts on this matter, so we encourage you to share & discuss them with us below.

-Chandler Albers

Voting Smart

by Neil

Voting is one of the great privileges of American citizenship. It gives we the people the a large degree of control in our government through the selection of government officials, and sometimes even the implementation of specific policies. This ability is essential to the maintenance of a free society, as it helps to ensure that rogue politicians cannot seize power and wreak havoc at will. However, for the system work in this way, the people must be educated in the concepts and philosophies of freedom and government. And above all, the people must vote!

As Christians, we are required by God to use our talents and abilities to His glory (Matthew 25:14-30; James 4:17). As Americans, we have the ability through the voting process to steer our country toward Godly principles, as well as the responsibility as citizens to maintain a government which follows the Constitution. Thus, the conclusion is obvious: Christians in America are obligated to vote! It’s that simple, if you are able to vote, it is your solemn responsibility to exercise that right!

However, it is just as important to be educated about the issues and the candidates. After all, voting won’t do any good, and might actually cause harm, if the voters don’t know what they are doing. Now I’m not saying that we all have to be political junkies, but we should all know enough to effectively perform our duty. There are many ways to get educated about politics; talk to friends and others you trust, watch and/or listen to the news (with the understanding that most news sources are biased), find good books on the subject, and of course, read our blog! Above all, don’t let anyone tell you how to think. Everyone has their own opinions, and those opinions will influence the information they give you. Just listen to all the viewpoints, and use your God-given logic and reason to form your own opinions.

Also here’s three important things to keep in mind when you’re voting. First, if you don’t know anything about a candidate’s positions, don’t vote for them! That’s how bad people stay in power, people vote for them without thinking or studying them, especially on the local level and in primaries. Do your best to educate yourself about all the candidates, but if for some reason you miss a few, just don’t vote in that particular race.

Secondly, keep in mind that voting for someone doesn’t mean you approve of everything that they do or believe. No candidate is perfect, in fact, many will hold some positions that you may strongly disagree with. However, it is better to have a mostly good official than a mostly bad one. It’s not about who is the perfect candidate, but who is the best candidate. Of course, some issues are more important than others, especially to us as Christians, and we must not violate our consciences; but we should not feel guilty for voting in a candidate just because they have some problems. As stated earlier, we have the responsibility to put people in power who will bring the country closer to God and the Constitution. There is not a single person who will do that perfectly, so we must select that candidate who will do it better.

Thirdly, remember that sometimes the best candidate is not a viable candidate. Third party and independent candidates sometimes have great ideas, but usually don’t have any reasonable chance of winning. Thus, a vote for them is generally a waste of your power, and could very well hurt the better candidate of those who have a shot. So don’t throw away your vote; vote for the best viable candidate, they’re better than the alternative.

We as Americans have so much influence over the direction of our country. As Christians, we have the obligation to use that influence to spread Truth, and perform our responsibility to uphold our nation’s founding principles as citizens of the Republic. We are the hope of this country; we cannot fall asleep at the wheel. So let’s get educated, get involved, and for all of us who are able, get out and vote!

PrayDay!

by Chandler Albers

Today is November 1st. Needless to say, a lot is going on in America. Hurricane Sandy has been doing incredible damage to the East coast. We’re still trying to figure out just what happened in Libya. Oh, and we have less than a week until election day! So now it’s time for us to do something incredible. And we need YOUR help! We’ve been planning this for a while, and we’re very excited about the 1st ever Y4CA PrayDay!

Today, we will use the biggest difference-maker we have available. It doesn’t matter how much we write here, how much we talk about with our friends, or how much we do to make a difference—unless we give God the wheel.

We are humans. We have limits. But God has no limits! He can do anything!

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

We can’t save our nation. Not by ourselves. We need to rely on God, and trust in Him to do what’s best for us.

Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’

(Malachi 3:7)

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

(2nd Chronicles 7:14)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

(Psalm 33:12)

Please pray for our country. Pray for the people, pray for the election, for current and future leaders, for the military, for those affected by the storm, and for those who need Christ in their lives. Trust in Him to do His will.

But don’t just keep it to yourself! We need to spread the word! So tell your friends. Pray with your friends. We need YOU, the reader, to help us spread the word, and get as many people praying as we can! Once again, this is the single MOST IMPORTANT thing we can do right now. So pray hard, get your friends involved, and trust in God!