We have seen in the past month, more than a month, the drama of the government shutdown that's been going on in Washington, D.C. Of course, both parties are pointing at each other, blaming each other. The Democrats are saying that Republicans are refusing to negotiate. They are not giving them what they want. They want to subsidize certain things in perpetuity. The Republicans, on the other hand, are saying we have a clean resolution, a continuing resolution that's been passed by Congress. We just need to pass it by the House. We just need a few Democrats to agree with us on this, and we can get the government temporarily funded. And at that point, we can debate anything you want to debate. And I would have to say that it's probably more a Democrat problem right now than a Republican problem. But the good news tonight is that it looks like they are going to push something through and finally end this madness. Of course, it's affecting everything from flights to paychecks to personal benefits that people are receiving. Of course, we might think of someone who is perhaps widowed and not living on substantial income. We might think of people who are handicapped, not able to work. We could be thinking about a lot of different people who need EBT or SNAP benefits who are not receiving them at this time because of the government shutdown. And that can be a problem. Of course, there's also debate to be had as to whether we need 42 million people on or on these benefits, whether they should be receiving these benefits. Could it be that some of them are on that list illegitimately or perhaps somehow abusing their privileges on that list? And I would say, yeah, that's probably taking place. There was a Somali, Somalian restaurant that was just raided. They claimed that they were feeding 5,000 children a day, which was just incredible for a single restaurant to be able to do. And they were receiving millions of dollars in subsidies from the government to do this. And the FBI has been watching them. And they've been having maybe an average of 20 people a day coming in and out the doors of that restaurant, a far cry from the numbers that they have Promoted there have been lots of cases like that. Could it be that there are people who are on? These programs who do not deserve to be on to be honest and the answer is yes We want able-bodied people to be working however We also because of the Christian heart want to have charity and we want to be able to help people out and who need help. And so that's what brings up this topic tonight, especially as we are beginning to consider a Thanksgiving outreach where we can reach out to the community with partnerships to be able to feed maybe up to 500 people. That would be incredible here. And to be able to do that would certainly be the blessing of God. So what do we need to think about as we're thinking about these things? Well, again, Proverbs 19 says that he who is gracious to a poor man lends to Yahweh and he will repay him for his bountiful deed. Proverbs 19, 17. We should have a heart of compassion. We should have a heart of compassion. And this should be something that motivates us as we move forward as a church and as individuals. But of course, this tells us something. It is up to us as believers to have this heart of compassion. We should not trust in government to exercise this heart of compassion for us. It is not upon us to say, well, I pay my taxes, therefore, I'm doing what I need to do for the poor. It is for us to be providing the charity for the poor. We should not be outsourcing all of this to the government. I'm not saying that the government can't do some things or that the government should do some things, but perhaps part of the problem with the welfare state today is that the church has abdicated its role in charity. Jesus never delegated care for the poor to Caesar. When the 5,000 came to him, he did not say, let's get Tiberius down here. Let's get King Herod down here. Let's get someone else down here and see if we can't do something for all of these poor people. No, he sat them down and he fed them. Now, of course, he did that with a power that is uniquely in him. We could not just simply have two loaves and two fish and feed everybody. But he could, he could do that. And he does command us to wisely, as much as we can, reach out as well. And so let's, let's consider some, some parallels to this. And again, these are things that we looked at yesterday in our men's fellowship, but I think they're helpful. Let's look first to the law. And this is going to be Deuteronomy chapter 15, Deuteronomy chapter 15. verses seven through 11, Deuteronomy 15, verses seven through 11, and this is the command of God to Israel as they are thinking about how they should take care of the poor. Deuteronomy 15. Verse seven, he says, if there is a needy one among you, one of your brothers in any of your gates of the towns in your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. So there's that reminder that God has given you this land, right? And so if there's someone in need, what does he say? You shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your needy brother. And those are just two great images. Hardening your heart. It's not great in the sense of what a person should do, but it is a good picture of what actually happens. Sometimes people, as they see a poor person, it is as though their heart grows hard towards that person. They don't feel compassion toward that person. The walls go up. Something grows around the believer's heart, around the heart of the person of God, and they don't want to feel some kind of sympathy for someone who has blight. That is one image that's given to us. Another image is closing the hand. And so if you had some money in your hand, you had some shekels in your hand, and you see someone in need, you perhaps might close your hand so the person doesn't see what you have there and ask for that because you're not certainly opening your hand to give it to that person. And so those are the two images that are given there, two images that God commands be absent from his people. He says, but, and here's the positive of the command, you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware, lest there be a vile thought in your heart saying, the seventh year, the year of remission of debts is near, and your eye is hostile toward your needy brother, and you give him nothing. Then he may cry to Yahweh against you, and it will be a sin in you. There was a year of remission of debts, and someone might feel as though he is about to lose some money that is owed to him. Therefore, his financial situation is on the whole tighter. And then he sees someone who is needy, someone who is begging on the street. He may in that, in that moment, because he's not trusting in the Lord to provide, say, I can't give to this person because I need to start holding on to as much money as I can because my financial house is about to be worse. And there may even be a vile thought toward that person. Why is that person even here when I am struggling with my own financial insecurities? Well, that person is there as a test to you from God. How will you handle that? And again, this is specifically talking about a needy brother. This isn't necessarily talking about feeding the poor of the world. This is talking about feeding a fellow Israelite, a fellow child of Abraham, or in our case, as we apply this to the eternal principle to the New Testament age, a fellow believer. And so this is where our heart should be. Our heart should be beating for fellow believers even more than certainly the heart of the government would be beating toward that person. We should be closer to that person than anyone else because they are within the family of God, whoever this is, he or she. And so that command is there. We will freely, we must open our hand and not have any of these vile thoughts. He says, you shall generously give to him and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him. I don't know if you've ever given and think, oh no, what have I done? That is what we're being told not to do. Because for this thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you send forth your hand to do. And then watch us, for the needy will never cease to be in the land. " Now, it may be that a poor person might receive some money and receive that leg up that they need and be able to be delivered from their financial distress and perhaps get on better footing. But then there will be someone else who's poor there. There's always going to be poor until the kingdom Therefore I am commanding saying you shall freely open your hand to your brother to your to your afflicted and needy in your land And so this is a direct command and it is commanded of individuals. By the way, this is not commanded of the king This is not saying. Okay, let's go get King David and get him on this and This is not where the state is to open its treasury. This is commanded of individuals. And so this is something that is helping us to see where our heart should be in regard to charity. Now, I'm not saying that there might not be some cases that we need to evaluate. But for right now, we're just considering the general heart. where we should generally be, the rule of thumb, if you will. Luke 14 is another good example, to give a New Testament example. And Jesus challenges the conceptions of the day, because in that day, it was common for people to invite family and friends over, and give them a banquet so that they in turn would be invited to some kind of a function, some kind of a shindig, and then they could enjoy something in return. Luke 14, verses 12 through 14, we read there, and he also went on to say to one who had invited him, a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and that you be, and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you, for it will be repaid to you at the resurrection of the righteous. Now what is he saying here? Is he saying that if one of our children one of your grandchildren has a birthday coming up that you are not allowed to throw a party and invite your family and your friends? No, of course, Jesus isn't saying that. Of course, there are times for that. There are times for weddings, for feasts, for all kinds of celebrations. He's not talking about that. He's talking about the practice in that day where someone might be invited so that that person would be owed. and so that there would be some expectation of repayment. Jesus is challenging that and saying, no, your heart should be it with charity. Your heart should be with giving. And if you want to throw one of these receptions so that people owe you something, why don't you throw a reception for people who could never repay you? That's where Jesus is challenging people. I think that's appropriate for what is going to be happening here in a couple of Saturdays where we are going to have this outreach and we're thinking about possibly having more outreaches like this, where we have people coming in who could never repay us, who are not necessarily going to be big givers to the church. Of course, we do hope that people will come and join our church, but we have no expectation that they're going to be people who could give to the church, we want to give to them so that they are being fed at least physically, materially, and then if they come to church, also spiritually. And if we have enough tracts and everything to hand out to them, we can also let them go home with something. We can talk to them while they're here. We can pray with them. The goal is not to get personal reward. In fact, we should have no expectation of that until the resurrection. And it may not be until the resurrection of the righteous that we see the kind of reward that God has prepared for us. We just are to be faithful with what God has given to us. I'll give you one more, Acts chapter four. You can turn there, I'll just read it to you. This is where the early church was first gathering up. And we read there that there's not a needy person among them. This is 434 and 35. For there is not a needy person among them. For all who are owners of land or houses would sell them And it was being distributed to each as any had a need. Of course, this is where we meet Barnabas there, who's called the Son of Encouragement. And you might remember in the very next chapter, you have a family who does this for show. They sell a piece of property, and they give some money to the church. There's nothing wrong with selling property and giving some money to the church, but they wanted it to look like they sold the property and gave all the money to the church. Like this was this great act of sacrifice for them. They gave up their property and they're giving it to the church It would have been just as fine if they had sold the property and kept some for themselves That would have been fine as long as they didn't say that they didn't keep anything for themselves So they were doing it for personal gain That obviously is not the heart that we should have where we're trying to exalt ourselves But with the early church, there was a sense in which perhaps not everybody could give a lot. There may have been some who were of little means there, but they were not homeless, let's say, and they could give maybe a shekel or two toward the cause. And then there were others who were more wealthy and they could perhaps even do something great like sell a piece of property and give that to the church. And as the pooling of resources happened, they could help out people who were in Jerusalem, who had just come to Christ, who had no means inside of Jerusalem, and they could perhaps get them into a house and get them some food. Maybe even if it's just living with someone they could get them some food and help them to have some means of sustenance While they are there in Jerusalem learning the gospel and learning the truth for the first time This is a way that the church was helping young brothers and sisters in the faith This was voluntary. It was not something that was mandated by the church. It was spirit-led. It was the church's family, their generosity. And it was not taxation. It was not taxation. This was not communism. Some people have read this and think, okay, this is the commune coming together and everybody is giving. It doesn't say everybody gave up everything they had. It just says that nobody had any needs because there were people who were so alive with generosity that when they heard that people had needs, they had something that they could give toward those needs. And that is what we see there. Now, a government that seizes money by force and redistributes it is not fulfilling this mandate. It is not fulfilling this mandate. When you have someone in New York, like the new mayor there, who says, we're going to tax white neighborhoods because white people have more money, and we're going to take that and give it to other neighborhoods as forcibly redistributing the wealth, That you assume is there I guess that is not biblical that is not love that is not charity When when when you have the government's coming in and saying we're going to seize this this apartment complex and we are going to make it now a government complex or they tried to take something else that is tyranny and That is tyranny. That is a twisting of compassion, and that is something that is actually harmful to society. And what you see in communist regimes is typically not that people are lifted up out of poverty, but that the rich go down into poverty with everyone else. Nobody has anything, and everybody starves together. That's typically what you see there. What does Scripture exalt in? Well, Scripture exalts in cheerful, sacrificial, personal giving. This is something where it's a joy. 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says that it is supposed to be done with joy and not with compulsion. I once had someone come up to me and say, I have a question. Is it right that my pastor is telling me that I'm not giving enough money? He's like, what do you mean he's telling you you're not giving enough money? He's like, well, yeah, he knows that I gave $100 towards something, and he came to me and said I need to give $300. I said, that is not right. Your pastor is not right for doing that. Your pastor does not have that authority. He said, well, the pastor said that God told him to tell me this. And I said, God did not speak to that pastor. to tell him, to tell you that you need to give $300. God says, you purpose this in your heart ahead of time. And that actually helps us. Think about this. I don't know if you've ever had this situation where you give to the church, perhaps, and you're afraid that you might not be able to pay your bills that week. You just feel really excited about giving, and you give, and maybe you think, I'm giving out of faith, but you're really worried as you put that check in the offering plate and you go home and you're worried and you're not feeling the blessings of God. You're starting to sweat a little bit and you're wondering and you're afraid to do the math because you know that once that check goes through and you certainly don't want your check to bounce to the church but you're afraid that once the check goes through that maybe just maybe You won't have enough money to pay your bills. Maybe your lights get turned off or something else, and you've just put yourself in a difficult situation. Well, that's why you decide ahead of time. You pray about it. You look at your finances. You see what's there. You don't just guess. You see what's there, and you know, okay, I can give this money. And if for some reason you feel like that wasn't enough, you could give a little bit more, but you know you could give a little bit more because you already have done that. You've already done the math and you've already decided that ahead of time with God. That's what it should be. It shouldn't be under compulsion. It should be cheerful. God is not honored when we're giving and we're sweating about the amount of money that we gave. We're worried about it. You're like really dreading it, and there's that sinking feeling. That is not what God wants. He wants us to give, and we're just happy about it. All right, yeah, we were able to help with this cost. That's wonderful. I couldn't help a lot, but I was able to help. And I know that I have money left over for other things, and maybe you even find that God blesses you because of your generosity in which you gave. That's the way that God wants us to give, and that's the motivation that we should have. We shouldn't be compelled to give. Now when the state becomes the primary giver, Christians are robbed of that blessing of giving. And we forget what it's like to practice charity because, well, the state's doing it all. This church used to have the power lunches where we would give a meal once a week to the local school here. And the kids would come over and we would feed them and they would get a Bible lesson. But guess what? That won't work today because they get free lunch at school. So why would they come over here for some hot dogs or whatever, whenever they have something that's a lot better. They got tacos and pizza and everything else that the state's giving it to them for free. So we can't engage in that ministry anymore. And the temptation is to think, okay, well, there's nothing we need to do. Well, we can do other things. We can do other things. Let's not let the state take that blessing from us. And so we should have a heart for compassion. Now that was my biggest point for this evening, but I want to note something else here as well. We need to give generously, but wisely. We need to give generously, but wisely. Now I've already kind of touched on that. When I say that we need to evaluate how much we can give, there shouldn't be a sense in which you're giving everything. Some people look at the story of the widow giving her last two mites and say, ah, see, Jesus is exalting that because he says she gave more than everyone else. Well, she did give more than everyone else. She gave her last two mites to be able to, or to this cause, to the treasury. And the Pharisees accepted it. But if you look at the context, it's right after he was saying that they devour widows' houses. See, she was supposed to be receiving help. Instead, she's giving her last two mites. And the Pharisees are just accepting it. Oh, bless you, sister. Bless you for your offering. It's just two mites, but thanks. No, they need to be helping her rather than taking her last two mites from her. And that's part of the problem that a lot of people have. We need to give, we need to give wisely though. We need to understand what God says about giving. We need to understand who should receive it and who shouldn't receive it. We need to understand that not only that we need to evaluate our needs and not put ourselves in a situation where we're the ones who are going to need to receive from the church the next week. But we also need to consider others who we are giving to. Do those people have need? Do they have genuine need? This is something that's unpopular in Christian circles, because it's almost as though we, we want to just give with our eyes closed. And so if someone says they broke down and they're out of state and they just need $20. and $20 they can get back home. And how often have you heard that story? But when someone tells it to you, you're like, well, maybe this one's true. Maybe this one is the true one. So you're like, all right, let me just give this person that $20 because this person is honest. And I think that's part of Christian compassion, but also it's playing on our emotions. And we have to consider the fact that the New Testament refuses to romanticize indiscriminate handouts. Let's consider this case, 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy 5. And if you don't know where 1 Timothy is, it's right before 2 Timothy. Isn't that nice that they put it in order like that for us? First Timothy chapter five. It's right after the Thessalonians as well. That helps. First Thessalonians, or first Timothy five. And we'll start in verse three. He says there, honor widows. Okay. That sounds good, Paul. Honor widows who are widows indeed. Ooh. I remember hearing from a church and one of the elders was upset. He's like, we were having a debate as to whether the person we're trying to help is a widow indeed. And I just think that's useless. We shouldn't be arguing about that. Well, actually that is something you need to consider. Honor widows who are widows indeed. Well, what does that mean? Well, verse four, but, oh, but if any widow has children or grandchildren, They must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now that tells us that the church should not just be handing out money to even all widows. And that's something that, again, is not popular. But it is something that needs to be considered. I heard of a church once that had a widow in this situation, and the widow needed help. She had children, she had grandchildren. But she was on her own, her air conditioner had gone out, and this is in Florida, so You need that air conditioner, just like you need a furnace out here. You need an air conditioner in Florida. And she was in need. And the church was saying, OK, we've got to help her out. She also was having trouble getting food. She was having trouble with a lot of things. And the pastor said, I tell you what, why don't you come in here? I want you to bring your son in here, too. Your son comes and visits you, right? Yes. but you'd bring him in here too. And the pastor proceeded once the two of them came in here, came into his office, into here, into his office. He said, I want you to understand what the Bible has to say here. Scripture says that you need to take care of your mother. It's not the church's job to take care of your mother. Wait, she's a widow. Yes, she's a widow. And we don't want to see her in need. And so we're talking to you. We're going to try to help where we can, but part of us helping where we can means that we are encouraging you to start doing more for your mother. You need to start sending her some money. You need to start doing work around the house. You need to start taking care of things. You know, there are widows right now. who live with their adult children, who don't work, and they're able-bodied children. That should not be, and it doesn't fall to the church to subsidize that kind of lifestyle. It falls to the church to encourage that family to operate in a God-honored way. needs to, if it's a man, he needs to get out of the house. He needs to find work, whatever he can do. He doesn't need to be leeching off of whatever retirement funds that his mom has been drawing from. He needs to get a job and he needs to help take care of her. And that's what Paul is saying here. If any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety. in regard to their own family, and to make some return to their parents. That doesn't mean that they can do everything, and maybe the church still needs to step in, but that's after the family is operating as God has called the family to operate. Verse 5, now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone, I mean, obviously no husband, but no children, no grandchildren, has fixed her hope on God and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. But she who lives in self-indulgence is dead even while she lives. And command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, He is denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. King James says worse than an infidel. Now we often apply that to a husband who doesn't take care of his family. Maybe he's living off government subsidies. And he's just exited the workforce. Well, I just don't work anymore. And there is some application that could be made there. But this also applies upward to the other members of the family. If he's not taking care of his mother, who's a widow, for instance. And so there should be an encouragement from the church to take care of the vulnerable, but also to urge those in the church to take care of their own. We don't pick up collections so that Billy Bob can continue to just live and eat Cheetos and play video games all day, right? He needs to get out and do some work. A widow is to be put on the list. Look at that. There was a list. Only if she is not less than 60 years old. having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in affliction, if she has devoted herself to every good work. In other words, is she a Christian? Is she taking care of people? Some have wondered, maybe this is a special class. Maybe there were some widows because they didn't have husbands at home. They were dedicated to some work in the church. It's possible. It's possible. But all Christians should be engaged in some kind of good works. And as we're looking at that, and as we're considering that, okay, who is being provided here? Or who is the person that we are thinking about providing for? Is this someone who is living a lifestyle of license? Or is this someone who's living according to God? If this person's been giving to the church with her efforts, With all of her work, with her prayers, we need to take care of her. We need to do whatever we can. Verse 11, but refused to put younger widows on the list. Oh, okay, Paul, you're about to get in trouble with a feminist you don't understand. For when they feel sensual desires in disregard to Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge. Maybe they were thinking about being part of a special class of women who did help in ministry. But he warns that at the same time they learn to be idle as they go around from house to house And not merely idle but also gossips and busybodies Talking about things not proper dimension therefore I want younger widows to get married bear children keep house and give the enemy no opportunity for reviling whoo now that right there is Going to offend someone Younger widows, let's say they got married in their 20s. Maybe they were, let's just say 20 years old. They got married, and then her husband went off to war. He was conscripted to fight. He went off to war, and he gets killed. What happens? Well, she's 20. She's a widow, technically. Yeah, she's a widow. Even though she's only 20, she's a widow. Should she live the rest of her life just on the church's dime? No, she needs to find a man. She needs to get married. Now, some people think that's bad, but here's the stark reality. Verse 15, for some have already turned aside after Satan. There are women who refuse to live as God has called them to live, and they actually open themselves up to Satan as a result of that. And the church has to consider all of these things before they start giving to people. So it's not just a question of, oh, is there a need? Yes, no, yes, then we give money. That is not how the church is to operate. That's not even how the church honors widows, let alone just random people who might be walking in from the street. There are people who do that. There are people who wonder about that, who think that, yes, the church is here to give to me. I've been in jail ministry, as you guys know, and I know of at least one inmate who admitted that once he got out, he grabbed the yellow pages. Back in the days when there were yellow pages, I guess there's still yellow pages around, but he grabbed the yellow pages, He turned to the church section and he just began calling everyone up. Hey, my power just got turned off. I need help. Hey, my rent is due. I've got kids. I need help. Hey, my car ran out of gas. I'm stranded here. I need to get to some other state. My family's there. I was just down here for a funeral. I need help. And they, they have a story for each one. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And they call all of them. Because if just some of them give him some money, he's made money that day. And that's how it works. Second Thessalonians 3.10, for even when we were with you, we used to command you this. We used to command you this. If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat. Oh, Paul, that's so mean. Well, Paul, how could you say something like that? There's a lot of reasons why people can't work. Okay, there are reasons why people can't work. He's saying if anyone is not willing to work. There's a big difference between those two things. Able-bodied idleness disqualifies a person from church age. I've taken phone calls. I had one guy yelling at me because I was asking questions. He was like, why are you asking so many questions? It's your job to give me money. I was like, no, you've misunderstood something here. It is not my job to give money. It is my job to steward the money that has been entrusted to the church. And if you have a need. I need to know what that need is and I need to counsel you and help you to get past that need because I don't know you. You're not a member of this flock. I need to get to know you. I need to get to know your situation. I need to get to know where this money is going. If I've been honored or entrusted with this money, I have to honor the people who have entrusted me with this money. I have to honor God because this is God's money. I have to consider the fact that If I am giving all the money away to just anyone who calls, regardless of whether they had a real need or not, there might be someone in the church with a real need. And we can no longer meet that need because all the money has been given away. And so we have to think about that. We have to be wise stewards. And the government's no different on this. The government should also be thinking about these kinds of things. Because it's a closed system. And there is limited resources. Even if we're talking about the government and the number's a lot bigger, it's still limited resources. And we have to consider that. So we have to consider what it means to be a wise tutor. We can't be soft touches. We have to investigate, we have to ask questions, even hard questions. We have to require work when possible. And then we prioritize those who are truly desperate. Because in all of this, we should have that heart of generosity that I mentioned earlier, where we are giving to those who have a need. orphans, those who are widows indeed, victims of disaster, people with disabilities. Of course, we want to give to people in those situations. That's why it's so important that we don't get taken advantage of. So yes, we do want to give and we want to do what we can to give. And we must do so with discernment, with discernment. For it to imitate Christ, we have open hands, but we don't have empty heads. We have to use the brains that God has given to us. And perhaps if we see something and we're thinking something's fishy, but I can't quite put my finger on it, we pray about it. Maybe we say, let me call you back. Let me get back with you on this. We talk to other people about it. It's funny how sometimes something may get past some of the filters. There was one guy who was calling him. There was something fishy. He said that he was a veteran. He had just got out of the hospital. He's trying to get home. I was like, okay, this sounds like pretty much just a variation on the stories I usually hear. But he's staying here because he's not well enough to travel. His heart is still not healthy. His legs were inflamed. So he's staying at a hotel. And the first question I asked is, why are you at a hotel if you're still having medical issues? Why are you not in the hospital? Well, they released him. Okay. Well, where are you now? Well, I walked over to such and such. I thought you said your legs were inflamed. Are you, well, it was really difficult to walk. And so even as I'm standing here on the phone, you know, it's really hard to stand here. So I can't be on the phone much longer. Oh, okay. Okay. Where, where are you at? And he told me the hotel and said, let me give you a call back. And so I called the hotel and I could, I told the guys yesterday, I could hear the, the receptionist roll his eyes on the phone. when I mentioned this particular person. And he said, oh, so they called you too, you're the new church, huh? And I said, what do you mean the new church? How many people has this guy called? Oh, he's been staying here for about two weeks and he's been telling churches whatever he needs to tell them so that they will pay for another night at this thing. I said, do you know if he's injured, if he's been released from the hospital, does he appear to have any physical ailments? No, no, this guy, you know, they're out there drinking with buddies who come into the hotel room every night. They're cussing up a storm, everything else. There doesn't seem to be any sign that, okay, thank you very much. And so I called the guy back and I said, yeah, sorry. You know, there's nothing that we can do. I can pray for you though. And I prayed a prayer that God would would move him to a more truthful place and that he would repent of his sins and trust in Christ. And he's like, why did you pray that way for me? I said, because you've been lying and you need to repent and you need to trust in Christ. And he got mad at me and hung up the phone at that point. But that is what we have to do. We have to practice discernment with these things. And so with that, it's getting a little longer. I knew that it might get a little longer, but we want to exercise compassion while exercising discernment. And we don't farm this out to the government. This is something that we do as believers. We don't be foolish about it, but on the other hand, we don't grow hard-hearted and we don't close our hands to anyone who's in need. In fact, we become discerning so that we have to give to those who are in need. We want to be able to have resources, money, whatever else that we need, maybe food, canned goods, whatever else that we can give to someone who has a genuine need. We don't want to be irresponsible. We don't want to create dependency. We want to instead consider people around us, those who might have genuine needs and give to them. And it doesn't have to even be through the church. This can be something if it is a smaller need and you can meet it, it can also be something that you can do individually. It is something that God has called you to do. individually if you can. And sometimes there are those smaller times where you can give. Maybe it's someone who has just the need of clothing, for instance, and you have extra clothes. Or, you know, it's a young mom who needs diapers. And those SNAP benefits have run out. And you know you can go to the store and buy a box or two of diapers. It's not a huge expense. It's a little bit more expensive than it used to be, but you can help out in that way. And so these are things to consider. And I hope that as the Church of Christ, we would consider all of these things so that we are both being faithful with our giving and with the resources that God has given to us.