Feed them how?

This morning while getting my wife some Curry Donut coffee I was listening to a Christian radio station. The morning guy was blow harding about churches selling their buildings and all their equipment to help people in their community. At first I was in agreement with him. It is the churches responsibility to help the community. Then I remembered the book by KP Yohannon.

KP is a guy who was raised in India. He grew up to become a missionary who was starved and beaten for preaching the faith of Jesus Christ. He had an opportunity to come to America and start Gospel for Asia. His message is about funding home grown missionaries because the west sending missionaries to the east just isn't working anymore. He speaks of how people are starving all over India. We are not called to feed them physically but spiritually.

Selling off your church and all the church's possessions is feeding people physically. When Jesus fed the thousands, he preached and ministered to them for three days before he fed them.

Matthew 15:32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the multitude, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not with to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."

Not to long ago Dr J was preaching on Paul and the book of Acts. He spoke about how Paul had gathered money to be given to the church in Jerusalem I believe. The funny thing is, you never hear what happened to the money. In stead all you hear about is Paul preaching the gospel.

Act 3:1-10
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 2 And a certain man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which was called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. 3 And when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. 4 And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, "Look at us!" 5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene -- walk! 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. (I have no idea who coined that one. It's probably in the Bible somewhere.)

Paul didn't give the man money so he could eat that day. He gave him faith to believe in God so he could be fed both spiritually and physically for a lifetime.

Before a church sells itself off, it really needs to make sure it is God's will. Remember that we are to feed the community spiritually first and them feed them physically. It seems that might be hard to do without the means to feed them spiritually.