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BUILDING BIGGER BARNS

 

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When a man came to Jesus complaining that his brother wasn't giving him the correct share of their inheritance, the Lord told this parable – "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly...." Go ahead and click on the barn to read the rest of it! The point isn't that we should not have any "barns" – savings for the future – but that it must not be the focus of our lives. Look at verse 21 – "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." We should be laying up our riches in heaven, not just on the earth. The second greatest commandment – "Love your neighbor as yourself" assumes that we love and take care of ourselves, but too often we focus exclusively on ourselves and forget our neighbor, ignoring the whole world of hurt all around us!

Imagine that you woke up one morning and learned you had just won the Megabucks lottery: you have $200,000,000 in your account. What would you do with it? In Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, King Solomon wrote – "He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?" To sum it up:
    1. Those who love money will never have enough.
    2. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
    3. The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.
    4. So what good is wealth – except to see it slip through your fingers!

So now that you've done it all and had it all... what's next? "As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, he shall go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand" (verse 15). I've never seen a U-Haul being buried along with a coffin at the cemetery! So...

"Whoever wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:34-37).

The Apostles and leaders of the Early Church laid heavy emphasis on not striving after riches. St. James, step-brother of the Lord, wrote in his Epistle (ch. 2:1-20 and ch. 5:1-5) decrying those who profess Christ but live in luxury while neglecting the poor, as St. Clement (2nd cent.) echos this in his essay "Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?" (See www.Agape-Biblia.org/literatura/#rich-man-saved). The title of Clement's essay refers to the incident in Matthew 19:16-22 where a certain rich man came to Jesus asking "What must I do to be saved?" He was a religious Jew who kept all ten commandments, but not the second greatest one – "Love your neighbor as yourself" So Jesus told him – "Go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come follow Me!" This story is so important that it's repeated in Mark and Luke as well.

St. Basil the Great (4th cent.) composed his famous sermon "To the Rich" on this same scripture from Matthew, quoting the passage in full in the start of his sermon (See www.Agape-Biblia.org/literatura/#to-the-rich). St. Gregory the Theologian (4th cent.), considered by the Early Church as the greatest theologian since the Apostle John, wrote his essay "Love of Poverty" (See www.Agape-Biblia.org/literatura/#love-of-poverty). And St. John Chrysostom (4th cent.), called "The Golden Tongue" because of his many eloquent and compelling sermons, penned his "Sermon on Almsgiving" on this same subject (See www.Agape-Biblia.org/literatura/#almsgiving). These are considered to be the Three Greatest Church Fathers, whose writings are some of the most powerful expository sermons on the Scriptures.

In more recent times, the eminent theologian Protopresbyter Georges Florovsky, a Russian emigre' who fled to Paris after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, wrote "St. John Chrysostom: the Prophet of Charity" (See www.Agape-Biblia.org/literatura/#chrysostom-charity). Chrysostom wrote often about freedom: man is created in God's image with a free will to choose and rationality to choose freely what is best, not merely to satisfy one's own desires. To conclude:

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing,' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.' He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 2:14-22).

"You can do something. You can't do everything, but that's not an excuse to do nothing!" So far, people have given almost nothing for Vision Complex's ARC (Agape Restoration Community) project in Tanzania. Our small non-profit has given over $10,000 to start laying the foundation for the ARC. So we sent another $250 for 16 chickens, 2 roosters, and a chicken coop to raise and sell chickens and eggs (watch the video!), but now we're almost broke. We need your help! Can you donate some chicken feed? Please go to https://Agape-Restoration-Society.org/Vision-Complex and do what you can!

 

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DON'T THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATHWATER!

 

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"You can do something. You can't do everything, but that's not an excuse to do nothing!" We see so many pleas in the media to support this or that cause and often our eyes glaze over, or we receive so many pieces of junk mail asking for donations, etc., that often we just throw them in the wastebasket... especially during election season: it's too much for us to handle! But here's a really worthy cause that deserves your full attention and response:

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The volunteers at Vision Complex Orphanage and School in Tanzania have made this huge pile of bricks to build the ARC. They have plenty of good clay soil to mix with water, place in forms, and bake them into bricks.

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Here's some of the cement, reinforcing rods, and boards we've provided to use for the foundation. They will need more, but these are a start so you can see that they're pushing ahead with this project.

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After starting to clear the land for the foundation, they realized that this pile of huge rocks was too big to break up by hand, so they moved the staked-out ground and cleared some more land.

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(video:) Here they are, after clearing more land and marking where the foundation will be laid.

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(video:) The volunteers are working for free: after all, it's the children of this town, Bunda, who are going to school and being cared for at Vision Complex. But digging, carrying rocks, gravel, sand, cement, and water is hard work, so the men have to be fed!

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(video:) It's painful for me to imagine carrying such huge rocks, because I injured my back 46 years ago doing the same thing while building a retaining wall for our garden. So pray for the safety of these volunteers!

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(video:) They're filling in the forms with cement to hold the rocks, gravel, and sand together. They have enough of these materials to build a part of the foundation to show you that this is the real deal, not a just pipe dream or a scam.

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The 23rd chapter of Jeremiah is full of warnings to and judgement of false shepherds and false prophets. Frequently I come across such self-appointed "prophets" - people on the Internet who "command and declare" this or that as the word of the Lord. Here's what the real Prophet Jeremiah wrote about this:

"I haven't sent these prophets, yet they ran: I didn't speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have caused my people to hear my words, and would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Don't I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart" (Jer. 23:22-26).

The problem today, however, is there are so many of these false pastors and false bishops that we tend to generalize that they're all rotten apples, and thus discredit the good and genuine bishops, priests, pastors, and helpers. I have examined closely and tested Simon John's work at Vision Complex: as you see here, he's the real deal!

Simon and his volunteer workers have been working hard during the last few weeks, but now they're out of rocks... and funds. They have the cement, sand, gravel, and reinforcing rods, but need more rocks, and 20-liter and 80-liter water containers to carry water from the 1,000-liter tanks that we already provided to the construction site. Right now they need $5,000 to finish the foundation. Then they can use the bricks to start building the walls. Our small non-profit organization has provided much more than that, but now we don't have even that much in our account. So...

"You can do something. You can't do everything, but that's not an excuse to do nothing!" Now is the time to DO SOMETHING! Go to our →Vision Complex← page and donate what you can: whether it's $5 or $50 or $500: every buck and brick help Build the ARC!

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LIVING FAITH THAT WORKS

 

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Go to www.agape-biblia.org/Living-faith-that-works.htm – "Faith without works is dead." ... and click on each one of the cross-references after verse 27... then apply those verses to what you read next:

WATCH THE VIDEOS!! We're starting to "Build the ARC"! Vision Complex in Tanzania, an orphanage and school for HIV/AIDS orphans and other young kids, owns the land and has the building permit. Now they need an extra $5,000+ to start digging and laying the foundation, feed the volunteer laborers, etc. CAN YOU HELP? Here's the link: www.agape-restoration-society.org/Vision-Complex/ – share it!

 

(video:) Vision Complex Orphanage and School in Tanzania provides for 50 orphans whose parents died from HIV/AIDS and kids with Sickle Cell Anemia (a genetic disorder that's most prevalent in East Africa) whose parents have died or can't afford to pay for medical care. Simon John, the director, met us in our online "Morning Prayers" a few years ago. See the photos below of the kids who need a sponsor.   Also, write to Simon about visiting Vision Complex in Tanzania.   Now, see the latest news:

 

BUILD THE FOUNDATION: Here's the (video:) land for the ARC in Tanzania! Agape Restoration Society (ARS) has started the project at Vision Complex to "Build the ARC" – an Agape Restoration Community, a wheelchair-accessible building for disabled kids and elderly people that includes a large community room/chapel, several apartments and classrooms.

ARS has provided funds for (3 videos:) sand, gravel, and large stones to start the foundation. Local officials have issued a building permit, but Simon needs about $5,000 for the remaining materials to start building the foundation plus a fence and solar lights over the site (this is the first of many lights). Local volunteers are leveling the site and will dig the foundation... but they need to be fed – that's another $200/week for 3 weeks. So please designate "Vision Complex – build the foundation."