Gifts, Reactions and Jesus’ Example

Gifts, Reactions and Jesus’ Example11-25-18 Kelly Durant

Prov 11:24

24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

2. All across the United States the Salvation Army makes the news for giving away toys! I looked at the stats for last year online and 3.2 million people got toys and food from us through the Angel Tree!

But do the news channels report this amazing feat year after year? Rarely! The world has become more and more unthankful and indifferent towards Christians and their loving generosity. But still we are a light shining in the gross darkness of the world! In the small towns of the U.S.A. you will find the Salvation Army more on the headlines because small town people are usually more connected, appreciative, and Christian. 

As many know, there is actually a big cultural divide between the conservative Christian mentality in rural America and the liberal debauched mentality in the big cities, and the conservatives, I can testify, do show more thankfulness for gifts. But still we serve, give, and love all no matter how folks react!  

3. Let’s explore today the feeding of the 5,000. Open your Bibles to.. Matt 15:34-38

34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

When it comes to God’s work, there are many times in which we see miracles to make the supplies be enough for everyone. Last year that happened here and there was enough for everyone! We got 400 turkeys and we need another 400 again! 

The gifts Jesus gave to people were food, healings for the sick, the liberation from demons, and ultimately He gave himself as the ultimate sacrifice to take away the sins of you and me.

4. Of the multitudes served, I know hundreds of children and parents are made happy! Our shining example to the world causes thankful people to notice and think, If there are people in my neighborhood that can care enough about my happiness to organize the obtaining of thousands of toys and food boxes to share with my family, then there is a possibility that there is a God up in heaven somewhere that can love me and care about me! He has no hands and feed but ours!

But always after these events of giving and receiving there are many reactions by the people. I want to refresh your mind on the story of the donkey, the man, andthe boy.When you or I get anything, paid for or a gift, people will talk, good or bad!

5. Once upon a time there was a small village in Mexico and the father had saved his money from the harvest to buy a donkey to work on his farm. He went into the big city and paid for his donkey, you know he asks, how much, and the seller says $100 and the man says, no, too much, I will offer $50, but the man ends up paying $75. Then the man tries out the strength of the donkey and rides it with his young son, then one person in the street says, hey, look at the cruel old man, he makes his donkey’s back hurt! So the son walks while he rides! They get criticism for that as him being a mean man to make the boy walk. So…

they change places, the man walks and the son rides. Then further down the road, a schoolteacher in the street walking by says, what a bad child, he rides and makes his old father walk! So they both get off and they both walk but further down the road, some men see them and laugh and say, look at those two, they have a donkey, and they both are walking! The father then couldn’t take any more. He got a long wooden branch and tied the donkey’s feet to it and the father and the son carried the donkey out of the town making sure the people had something to talk about then! People always talk trash!

6. Now, in reference to giving, the giving of toys or anything, there are some that will take the gift and be happy and that is what we would like to see, but there are others that will not. 

Let’s revert back to the feeding of the 5,000 as an example. For sure there were people there that complained that it was too much workto carry around all that heavy fish in baskets to give to the people. They just wanted to eat and they didn’t come to have to help pass out the fish and bread!

And then there are those that may have said, I didn’t want fish, I wanted beef or chicken!And then there were those that went away home hungry, leaving early not wanting to wait so long ( a few days). It was a miracle that there was food multiplied, but since they didn’t get served when they wanted, they left for being impatient!Plus there were the skeptics that asked, why is Jesus giving me fish and bread? I know it is because He is going to ask something of me later, or He wants to convince me He really is the Son of God, so I will just take this and run because I do not want to have to be committedto nothing and have to give anything back or do anything in return!

7. Also, some may have said, ‘Hey, why is my neighbor’s fish a little bigger than my fish?And then there are the jealous ones that complained, why is it that Jesus and His followers get to be the ones getting the attention for giving this away?I want some glory in administrating this operation! 

And then there are always the greedy ones. They say, give me a double portion so I can eat now and then take some more home to eat again later!These do not think of the others that haven’t even eaten yet!  

So there are many reactions to people getting gifts and free stuff. Consider some people will:

1.   Show thankfulness and acceptancefor the gift

2.   Complain about the work involvedaround the gift 

3.   Complain that it was not the gift the person had in mind

4.   Complain that their neighbor is getting more than them

5.   Be skeptical over what they have to do in return for the gift

6.  Jealousy over them being the receiver and not the giver

8.These are some reactions of people, but now let’s put this in the context of God’s gift of love to the world, His Son, Jesus Christ! The word says we should react in this manner…. 1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

What God expects is that His gift of Jesus will totally change you and me to make us thankful, loving, giving and pure people!

9. Let’s look at the reactions of people in our line of work considering we expect people to recognize Jesus as God’s gift, The gospel is free, but it takes the work and funds of you and me to get it to the people. That’s our responsibility, how people react is their responsibility.

1.   Many are thankful like you who are faithful to come here to serve, learn, worship, and celebrate in fellowship

2.   Some complain that it is too much work to go to church and serve others andworship God so they are ungrateful 

3.   Some proud intelligent people reject Jesusbecause His salvation message is too simple, that more has to be done

4.   Some Christians have more money than others and often it is God’s blessings for living righteously, but other times some greedy rich people are not even Christians even though they go to church (God determines the truly generous)

5.   Some people instead of loving God backwant to do their own idea of good worksso other people will think they are “holy” and “buy” favor with God, (repay the gift) but we are not saved by our own works but by His Grace!

6.   Some people are proud as Satan, and they want to be the source of the power distributing gifts to get praise, so it is not God and His people recognized!Or in vain some preachers or some Christians want praise for their giving of the gifts, messages, or healings, etc., but that is idolatry, pride, and hypocrisy!

The conclusion is… the things we do, such as the giving of toys and food gifts are only shadows compared to the real gift of God: Jesus!

We should all accept God’s son Jesus and the gifts He bestows, with no pretexts, complaints, or contexts! And in reaction to Him as our life-changing gift, we must give back how He wants so…

We should love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind, for being born in the flesh and dying on the cross to give us eternal life! What gift can we give Him back?  Our lives, our souls, everything in service to Him and others! How have you responded to gifts, and responded to Jesus call. Answer now!

Corps Cadet Maturity: We need young leaders!

Corps Cadet Maturity: We need young leaders!       Kelly Durant. 11-4-18

1 Timothy 4: 12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 

2. Don’t you hate the phrase, ‘young and dumb’? I think it is true we can all look back and see the mistakes of our teenage years and like it or not we know our lack of experience in things caused us to get into trouble. But still this expression is a bit insulting, because applying it does not allow for a young person to be trusted with things as much as they should be. One can be ‘mature and smart’!

I recall my mistakes and the biggest one is that of thinking some things are alright to do because almost everyone else my age were doing them. Instead of comparing my standards to what I knew Jesus would expect of me, and I was comparing my standards to what my peers were doing. When you are a Christian, this is a terrible mistake because you are then failing God! Consequences follow.

The ideal situation in the Christian life would be that every young person have an elder person as a mentor to guide them. The only problem with that is who will take the time for it, have the desire (from both parts) to do it, and there be a sincere dedication to set goals with an accountability to achieve them. The Cadets in our college have mentors, usually they are Advisory Board or businessmen that share their experience on how to do relations in the community.

3. Young people have sharp minds and usually learn quickly. Young people usually have more flexibility and sports skills that the older ones. And young people due to this agility may often tend to be proud, ego centric, and intolerant of others who are not doing things as fast as they would like. 

There are pluses and minuses to being young, and while you are young you need to be aware of your situation and position in society or you may miss the mark with God’s will for your life or lose out to getting respected and promoted as you would like to be. Young people can go really positive or really negative. 

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

4. Because you have a church/Corps in the Salvation Army you have a head start in life to learn much more about ‘righteousness, faith, love, and peace’ that others your age lag behind in: I am referring to things that apply to the practical as well as the spiritual. Those that obey and follow get God’s protection and blessings.

The most important life lesson teaching material that the Salvation Army produces is Corps Cadets and it is very important that these lessons get your undivided attention. God’s word, applied on your level, must be a priority.

A sad phrase you often hear is, ‘I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger’. Life goes so much better when at an early age you take a mature attitude to advance and get plugged into being responsible, accountable, and wise. If you play it right, you get to be the head, not the tail!

5. A sad reality is some people stay childish even though they are older. I recall when I worked at DHQ there was a 30 year old computer tech guy that as often as he could, instead of attending to those with computer issues, would sit back in his office and play computer games. Usually people that are in their 20’s and 30’s have stopped being selfish, foolish, and are carrying their own weight, but lately in the modern world this is not the case. 

As a matter of fact there are many articles about how many young people are not as focused and responsible for their selves as in decades past, but they are becoming info junkies, on their iphones wanting to get entertained continuously with an attention span of 15 seconds. Here is a good  article to understand the younger generation. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html  

But no matter how addictive and dark the world becomes, we still have a few wise youth that chose to rise above the crowd, and be wise in the things of God. What will make a young person want to stay on the path of God? Their continued connection to study God’s word! It is very helpful it is if he or she has been learning about God since their youth. The parents may have brought the kids here when young, but it is on the kids when as teens to decide to be faithful!

6. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. This is a great verse, but in most households children are not taught to pray, read the Bible, or volunteer their time for God. Sadly, many of our young people only get exposed to the things of God when they come to the Corps, so that is 2 to 4 hours a week times 50 weeks (if they are very faithful) so there you have 150 hours out of the 8,760 hours in a year, or less than 

2% of their life! But God would use you 24/7, or 100% if you will let Him! 

1 Timothy 4: 12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. So why is this in God’s word? Because God wants the youth respected, not despised, but they have to meet the right conditions which are to be loving, faithful, and pure.

The typical carnal conduct of teens (and I remember all too well in High School)  is the opposite: to be a bad example, mouthing off to others, doing unloving things (a jerk, doing jokes), out of the spirit of God, with no faith or purity. The typical is to fall into trouble, even with the law because of sex, drugs, or being belligerent. 

7. In order to train the youth with more skills in life, the practical and the spiritual, we as older adults need to be an example and have them more involved, and that implies the parents helping them to learn  to connect and study God’s word more.

It is only by the study of God’s word that a person can understand how to live so they will be blessed and not be a victim to the evil in the world that wants to entrap them and destroy them spiritually, mentally, and physically. We all need to wake up and seriously be sober and vigilant as Satan wants to take over anyone weak in the faith. No one likes a proud arrogant know it all.

What does Satan want to do to your kids? He wants them addicted to the internet to the point they have such a short focus and entertainment expectation that they will find God’s word unclear and boring. He wants the youth addicted to Satanic, depressing music, which glorifies drug and sex addictions, Satan also wants kids to (by law in CA already) get a surgery and ‘sex change’ and be a trans, which is a defilement of keeping our temple, or body pure. And ultimately, he wants to introduce the ‘mark of the beast’, a chip implanted in the hand or forehead, because techo things are our gods and we need them for our security, entertainment, and convenience. But there is an eternal hell to pay for this. 

8. Rebellion and revolution is again contaminating the youth worldwide. It’s not just here in the narrow minded liberal colleges that kids are being taught to hate and want to kill the old conservatives who are in the way of allowing a false utopian secular socialism to be the answer to our world’s problems, it is everywhere. And look at Venezuela, the political parties, and we see as in Nazi Germany, they got the 14 year olds (brown shirts) and teens to do the street fighting so they could take over. Hungry and poor, and oppressed the world sees that the youth getting their way of revolution is not the best way to bring on the answer to our problems. Obedience to God, love, and cooperation are what work.   

Speaking of 14 year olds, either God or Satan is ready to use you! In the Salvation Army you become a Senior Solder at that age and historically, as in England in the 1800s, you were expected to be an adult, to preach in the streets, to teach Bible, to watch the little kids, and be fully responsible. Only in the past decades have the youth become so dependent and unprepared in life skills to be helpful, but they can learn them here if they will show up to study, to get mentored by adults, and to come to volunteer so they get on the job training.

And I will end with this, young people don’t expect to get things handed to you on a silver platter. Everyone of us had to earn our respect and place in the world and we got it by proving to others that we could be responsible to show up, learn, and do the work. We expect you, the youth, to be teachers and helpful volunteers.

9. Study God’s word, as Paul said to young Timothy. And be the opposite of the world’s conditioning, be a good example in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity!

Work on making yourself less rude, less judgmental, less demanding, less contaminated by the world, and be more loving to all, even those outside of your group! Did you know I left going to church at age 14 because I was turned off by how the youth had their clicks and I was not a part of it so why be there looking stupid? Clicks make me angry and may we never be guilty of allowing them! 

The Salvation Army has a much less problem with this than other churches I have seen. You have many good people and lessons at your disposal and it is up to you to pray and get serious with God to mature, grow, and be what God expects. Nothing can replace age, and experience except God’s word to help you to become ‘wise before your time’. Prayer…