It hasn’t escaped me that following a devastating earthquake in Haiti, that Chile and Turkey have been hit by quakes too. We live in interesting times of biblical importance which means that these events should not surprise us.

Here on WordJourney, I could cover every quake, tsunami, fire, flood or other natural disaster and still miss out on some event that took place recently on the other side of the world. When disaster hits Christians are often among the first to respond, bringing disaster relief and the message of salvation of Jesus Christ with them.

Proclaiming the Gospel

Never do I want to underestimate the importance of sharing the truth with people even during their grimmest hour. It is often during those times when we’ve lost much that our worldly perspective changes. Suddenly all other pursuits in life don’t really matter–but our relationship with our Creator, God, always does.

There are a number of ministries whose work is to proclaim the gospel and help people out during their time of need. Large or small, each of the following organizations is active in their own area as well as overseas. I come up with a list of several for your review, good ministries worth considering for your support:

Christian Blind Mission (CBM)
450 East Park Avenue
Greenville, SC 29602-9602
864-239-0065
cbmus.org

Compassion International
12290 Voyager Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
800-336-7676
compassion.com

Food For The Hungry, Inc.
1224 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034-1102
480-998-3100
fh.org

Food For The Poor, Inc.
6401 Lyons Road
Coconut Creek, FL 33073-3073
954-427-2222
foodforthepoor.org

Lutheran World Relief
700 Light St
Baltimore, MD 21230-3850
410-230-2700
lwr.org

Medical Teams International
P.O. Box 10
Portland, OR 97207
800-959-4325
medicalteams.org

Mercy Medical Airlift
4620 Haygood Road, Ste. 1
Virginia Beach, VA 23455-3455
757-318-9174
mercymedical.org

Mercy Ships
P.O. Box 2020
Garden Valley, Texas 75771-2020
903-939-7000
mercyships.org

Samaritan’s Purse
801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607-8721
828-262-1980
samaritanspurse.org

World Vision
P.O. Box 9716, Dept. W
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716
888-511-6548
worldvision.org

Always acquaint yourself with ministry first before sending a donation.  Specifically, pray how God would direct your giving–He may use you to meet an unmet need through one of these organizations.

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But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised (Luke 11:38 | NIV).

Inviting Jesus to dinner was never so dangerous. At least that is one impression you may get from text found in Luke (11:37-54) where Jesus turned religious convention on its head to pronounce six woes on his host and his guests.

Jesus was invited by a “certain” Pharisee to dinner, but that Pharisee should have considered what he was doing before extending his invitation. You kind of get the impression that the Pharisee wanted to put Jesus on the menu, by roasting Him, as immediately he marveled that Jesus did not wash up before dinner.

During those days religious Jews had a certain way of ceremonially cleaning themselves, but that observance was based on personal piety, not cleanliness. Most telling it was one of the laws the Jewish leaders established which ended up being a burden for the people.

In response to the marveling Jesus offered a lesson that would not soon be forgotten culminating in six woes. In verses 39 and 40 Jesus said, “…Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?”

Jesus then proceeded to talk about giving as unto God, pronouncing each woe to all within earshot. I’ll add some of my comments to make these woes relevant to today’s religious folk:

1. Woe to the Pharisees for wrong priorities (v 42) – The Pharisees had their tithing down pat, but they were lacking in justice and love for God. Are you diligently serving God by bringing forward your offering and doing the work of the ministry? None of this matters if you don’t care for God’s people or if you have lost your first love.

2. Woe for putting personal reputation above godly character (v 43) – Position was of utmost importance to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Today, we still see that in the church: people striving to be known and oftentimes taking short cuts instead of upholding godliness.

3. Woe for being defiled by religion (v 44) – The Pharisees not only practiced a dead religion, but they seemed unaware of their spiritual condition. Lots of people in the church today are operating similarly: their hearts are dead while their religious observations continue.

4. Woe for putting heavy burdens upon people without offering to lift them (v 46) – The law was a heavy burden, an extension of the ten commandments that went beyond the Torah (instructions) to include the Talmud and other Jewish writings. Indeed, there were 613 commandments for people to keep and although all were based on scripture, problems arose in their rigid enforcement. Worse, if you had a burden you had to bear it yourself. There are churches today who have come up with their own set of rules and commandments. Some have absolutely nothing to do with biblical teaching.

5. Woe for killing God’s messengers (v 47) – The prophets brought messages from God to the religious leaders but they were killed because their message was unpalatable, though true. Today, people who have itching ears do not want to hear the truth. Instead, they heap upon themselves false teachers who push whatever manner of doctrine that suits them.

6. Woe to the scribes for not entering into truth while also forbidding others from doing the same (v 52) – Some believe that the Pharisees did not know better. On the contrary they did and made sure that others did not hear or follow the truth. I see this playing out in some churches today: preachers know the truth, but they are in it for financial gain and want to keep their flock from coming to the truth.

Friends, we can look at what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees and miss out on what He may be saying to us. If you are walking apart from the Lord but playing “church” most certainly one or more of these woes may apply to you.

Return to your first love now and put aside anything that will hinder you or others from serving God faithfully. Don’t be counted among the hypocrites who will be found wanting on the judgment day.

Photo Credit: Lionel Titu

Special thanks to Pastor Rodney Finch whose recent two-part message on this topic inspired my article.

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Music never sounded so sweet. At least music belonging to a collection of songs found on a CD put together to benefit Haiti.

Healing 4 Haiti

Healing 4 Haiti is a “CD” featuring 13 Christian recording artists who performed 15 songs, music that will be released via iTunes on March 2 by Integrity Music. Net proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit the relief work going on in Haiti following a devastating earthquake on January 12.

Healing 4 Haiti Music Compilation

Samaritan’s Purse, who has been providing clean water, shelter, medical care and other critical aid in Haiti will benefit as will the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team, who had chaplains on the ground within 24 hours of the earthquake providing emotional and spiritual comfort to survivors. Both organizations are headed up by Franklin Graham, son of the evangelist.

“What I saw while in Haiti is something we must keep in front of the minds and hearts of Americans,” said GRAMMY Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith. “The recovery efforts are going to take a long, long time so we want to do anything we can to raise awareness and to continue to support organizations doing good work in Haiti.”

Haiti Visit

Several of the artists featured on Healing 4 Haiti have traveled to the Caribbean nation located on the island of Hispaniola to witness first hand the work of the Billy Graham Association and Samaritan’s Purse teams.

The benefit compilation includes music from:

• Flyleaf – Break Your Knees
• Michael W. Smith – Come Together Now featuring 100 artists NEW
• Jared Anderson – Carry Me NEW
• Israel Houghton – The Power of One (Change the World)
• Mary Mary – I Worship You
• DecembeRadio – Love Can
• Hawk Nelson – Shaken
• The Afters – Falling Into Place
• Canton Jones – Hello Sunshine
• Lecrae – Beautiful Feet featuring Dawntoya
• Kari Jobe – Healer
• Carlos Whittaker – God of Second Chances
• Lincoln Brewster – Everlasting God

Complex Work

Recognizing the complexity of the work needing to be done in Haiti Franklin Graham said, “The situation in Haiti will be dreadful for a long time and we intend to be there. This is one of the largest disaster responses in the history of Samaritan’s Purse.”

At this time it doesn’t look as if the music collection will be made available in stores, but that may change. Music can be uploaded to iTunes quicker than it can be placed in a physical CD, thus the iTunes route. Visit apple.com/itunes/download/ beginning this Tuesday for details.

Source: Samaritan’s Purse

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