HOW WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Courtesy Spencer Irvine

YOU can change the world by sponsoring a child!  So exactly what does the phrase SPONSORING A CHILD mean?  In short it is simply providing funds to charitable organizations who provide food, clothing, shelter, education and various services to children who would otherwise have limited access to these basic necessities.

When I recently read economist Bruce Wydick's article "Want To Change The World? Sponsor a Child" in Christianity Today it was never more clear to me why God called my family to sponsor children.  It was not the adorable pictures of the children or the letters of appreciation they send.  Those are nice things.  But the real reason for sponsoring children was Biblical for us and is found in part in the following passages:

1. James 1:27 - "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress:..."
2. Proverbs 19:17 - "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord..."
3. Deuteronomy 15:11 - Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor..." 

Let me suggest that even if you don't have a relationship with Jesus and the Biblical reasons for child sponsorship don't have application in your life - it's my sincere prayer that they someday will - sponsoring children still makes sense for the Christian and non-Christian alike.  Here's why:

1. You'll feel better inside simply knowing you've helped another human being.  We're all wired with an inherent desire to care for and help others.
2. You won't wind up paying to provide the same services through high levels of taxation when the government steps in and provides the assistance.  Governments are generally proven to be very inefficient and ineffective providers of such services.
3. You will provide basic needs and education for a generation that will be more self sufficient and will create a better world in which you, your children and their children will come to live.

The following organizations are two that we are personally acquainted with and that we sponsor children through.  There are hyperlinks which direct you to their websites where you can find very detailed information on their mission, finances and programs.  Charity Watch at http://www.charitywatch.org/ provides ratings of these two charities as well as many others.  For about a dollar a day the organizations below will see that your charitable, tax deductible donations go a long ways towards changing lives for the better: 



Compassion International

Compassion International - online at http://www.compassion.com/, this organization invests 80 to 85 cents of every dollar donated to life changing programs.  Their commitment to Christ, to Children, to the Church, and to Integrity are unsurpassed.  They serve and make a difference in the lives of some 1.3 Million children around the world. 



 



World Vision

World Vision - online at http://www.worldvision.org/, the folks at World Vision invest 80 to 85 cents of every dollar donated tackling the causes of injustice and poverty.  Serving close to 100 Million people in 100 countries World Vision is making a huge difference in many lives.

I encourage you to read Mr. Wydick's article for a detailed explanation of how Child Sponsorship can change the world.  By sponsoring a child today you can begin to change the future for the next generation and you will be able to show others HOW WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.  Feel free to post a comment and share other ways in which we can work to make the world a better place.

WILL GOD TURN AWAY FROM US?

Most Christians and Historians are very familiar with the on-again-off-again relationship the Israelites had with God.  Over hundreds of years God sent one Prophet after another to remind the Israelites of His commandments and to warn the Israelites of the consequences of their continued sin. They didn't listen.

In Verse 20 II Kings Chapter 17 the consequence for Israel's persistent sins is given "The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight." God turned from Israel and allowed other nations to conquer Israel because of their systemic and persistent disobedience. He did not forsake them. But He no longer protected them from their enemies as He had done.

Curious as to what it takes for God to turn away from a Nation He has favored?  Here is a list of the systemic and persistent sins which God felt deserved specific mention in II Kings Chapter 17 as reasons for His turning away:

1. Idol Worship
2. Sexual Sins
3. Child Sacrifice
4. Worldly Living

Does our nation, America, which God has highly favoured have significant issues with this list of sins?  Well let's see:

1. Idol Worship - there is certainly evidence our Nation as a whole does not worship God.  There are statistics that report over half of our nation does not have a true relationship with Jesus Christ.  God is actively being pushed out of places He has always been - schools, public gatherings, public places.  God is being replaced with what the world wants.  And according to God's Word whatever we replace God with has become an "Idol".
2. Sexual Sins - the porn industry reportedly generates $14 Billion dollars per year in revenue.  Traditional marriage as God defined it is under daily attack and has now been "redefined" by the world's laws in some parts of America.  Divorce due to infidelity (adultery) is reported to be at all time highs in this country.
3. Child/Infant Sacrifice - approximately 3500 babies are electively aborted in the US every day.  Statistics report the majority of the babies that are aborted are conceived in sex that occurs outside of God's sacred covenant of marriage.  And more subtly a generation of children are being abandoned by parents who shirk their responsibility to raise their children in a Godly manner.
4. Worldly Living - much is written that it's becoming increasingly harder to separate the Church from the World.  And it's not because the World has become more like the Church.  Quite the opposite is reported to be occurring.  The Church has become much more "tolerant" and "accepting" of the World.  God did not call his people to live as the world.  He called them to do the exact opposite.

Just as in the days of Israel these disturbing trends in living are not shared by everyone.  There are plenty of people striving to live like Christ and sharing Christ as God has commanded.  And no Nation is perfect - and God could not expect us to be - He knows us because He made us.  But God never guarantees us favor as a Nation if we continue to live in and/or increase the level of our disobedience and sinfulness.

So is America at risk of God "turning away" as He did with Israel?  Is it possible it's happening today, right now as you read this?  The falling away of a Nation is a slow fade where things almost imperceptibly become more and more like the World with every passing day.  WILL GOD TURN AWAY FROM US?  What do you think?