Christians Central

[Sephiroth]

agreed

[HairyMehoff]

Not Even A Week Old.
Is It Possible Not To Sin?

If you mean is it possible not to sin ever... then i would say no. Nobody is perfect, obviously. An example i'm thinking of right now is of King David. The Bible mentions a few of his sins, but ultimately God still favored him. David was not allowed to build the temple that would house the Ark of the Covenent because he had spilled blood, so his son solomon did. It is now one of the most famous and sought after temples in all of christianity. but thats not my point.

my point is that it is best to try to not sin, repent when we do, and try to spread God's word to those that need to hear it most.

[Fear Of The Duck]

more about charity:
charity is ok as it's based on ppls free will (thay can give, but they dont have to if they don't want to). so i won't give a penny to that li'l bollix begging all over grafton street area that pretends to be mute or/and deaf (i know he isn't, heard him shoutin' courses at someone) and then goes with that money to the bookies to bet on horses.
but i gladly give some for earthquake victims and such.

while goverment grants and benefits are basically robbing peter to pay paul.


about sins:

My question for you think about is whether or not it is possible not to sin having only finite knowledge.

good question. sometimes we have good intentions and make some decisions, but at the end of the day these decisions turn out to be verry wrong cos there was some li'l piece of information we didn't know (the "if only i'd known this before!" thing). we wanted good but achieved evil. what's our responsibility here?

[Spacey]

... i won't give a penny to that li'l bollix begging all over grafton street area that pretends to be mute or/and deaf (i know he isn't, heard him shoutin' courses at someone) and then goes with that money to the bookies to bet on horses.
but i gladly give some for earthquake victims and such.

fully agree
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnist ... 32725.html

If I see someone out in Canadian winter without gloves who is asking for money I'll buy you gloves and a hat or something, and give to a group, but won't give cash... or at least most times I won't.

[Fear Of The Duck]

try this: if "hungry and homeless" asks ya for money, give him/her a sandwich. and then watch (hidden somewhere) what he/she will do with it.

[HairyMehoff]

that ^^ is contradictory to the spirit of good will and charity. if you are goin to give to charity, you should give your trust to them as well. if you can't, then dont give...

what are you gonna do if they dont use it for what you intended? run up and steal it back?

[Fear Of The Duck]

don't support thet particular charity anymore. there's a lot of them out there, ya can always pick something.

[Spacey]

try this: if "hungry and homeless" asks ya for money, give him/her a sandwich. and then watch (hidden somewhere) what he/she will do with it.

Sometimes I ask what they want the money for, if they say food I offer to go with them to buy it for them or say I'll buy it and bring it to them.

...if you are goin to give to charity, you should give your trust to them as well. if you can't, then dont give...

I don't understand your logic.

[HairyMehoff]

Well, Once You give to somebody, You truly don't have a say in what they do with it. You might tell them what you want them to do with money that you gave them but that doesn't mean they have to. So if you dont trust them, and you cant live with the fact that the world is full of dishonest people, then dont give. or give and risk being taken advantage of. it's up to you. i hope that makes a lil more sense

[Sephiroth]

truly most people arent dishonest about there needs, on occassion some one will lie to get something but most people are good at heart.

[Asami Ayano]

What I really feel for is the signs that say "will work for food".

They're willing to work and all they want is food. It's really sad for some of those people.

[Fear Of The Duck]

aye. if they're willing to work, they are serious. fair play to them and good luck!

[Spacey]

Well, Once You give to somebody, You truly don't have a say in what they do with it. You might tell them what you want them to do with money that you gave them but that doesn't mean they have to. So if you dont trust them, and you cant live with the fact that the world is full of dishonest people, then dont give. or give and risk being taken advantage of. it's up to you. i hope that makes a lil more sense

I agree, which is partially why I generally don't give cash anymore. If you give money you have no control in what they are doing with it, but not what I was getting at, and I think I speak to a common ground. I think what you are presenting is a "false dilemma"; in suggesting that it's one or the other when more than two options exist.

If someone says they need 2 dollars for lunch, you don't have to give them 2 dollars to help them. You could say that you'll buy something for them, and if they don't trust you to bring back edible food then come with you to a store to buy a sandwich. Then the use of the money can be assured, and you can help someone. I would not suggest walking off with someone late at night or in a secluded area, but I would not ether suggest opening up your wallet (with ID and cash) to someone you've know for 30 sec. on the street.

I see homelessness as a much larger problem than someone who is out of work. The last time I did research on it I found that a large number of people who are homeless were living on the street for other reasons than being out of work. People can be there due to gambling problems, drug addictions (from alcohol to cocaine), mental illness, prior abusive situations, to name a few. For me, truly helping someone is working toward reducing or eliminating those social issues that may have resulted in that person living on the street, whether it's child/spouse abuse or gambling addiction.

Furthermore, if someone doesn't want to give cash they can volunteer or donate to a 'soup kitchen' or something similar. Such places target the less fortunate to provide a warm place to stop in and a hot meal. If you donate money to the 'soup kitchen' you can consider it like giving cash for food, or subscribe to the ideology that 'time is money' and by giving your time volunteering you are giving paid labour hours.

[Fear Of The Duck]

well said the spacey one!

other thing is that in most cases begging for money is a business as any other out there (well.. not exactly, those guys dont pay taxes and use false advertising, as in the link spacey posted above). that's why i say the more affluent and charitable society is, the more beggars on the streets (dublin city centre is the best example). they beg, cos they make money that way (often more money than lots of ppl on the jobs working in fast foods, coffe shops, internet cafes ect). the only way to reduce their number is not to give them money.

[Mojo Rising]

But there are other times when you just have to put your faith in God that He is leading you to do what is right in these situations. I am not saying that you should reach into your pocket everytime someone asks you for something but I also believe that you should search your heart to find out what the Lord would do in that same situation.