|
Preparing people for the Second Coming of Jesus, while learning how to LOVE on this earth! Click to send "Chats with God" to a friend Click here To
|
|
Preparing people for the Second Coming of Jesus, while learning how to LOVE on this earth!
Click to send "Chats with God" to a friend
Click here To subscribe
Click here To unsubscribe
Donations: See below! We need your support to expand our outreach! |
By Pastor Harold
"America's # 1 Failure Expert"
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak.Not to act is to act!" -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer. |
We are committed to reaching people for the Kingdom of God! We believe Jesus is coming soon! It's impossible to share with you the number of letters we receive from people who are following God as a result of the ministry of "Chats with God" and the more than 1/2 million people we are connected to via social media. Simply amazing stories!
▪ By check - "LIFE CENTER" - OR "LIFE CENTER 247, Inc" - 30251 Golden Lantern Suite E 232 - Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
▪
Debit or credit card donation. Click here
|
March 10, 2017
WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
Dear Friend:
Immigration and the refugee issue continues to be one of the most politically polarizing issues in America and Europe. The topic of immigration policy has been a heated debate for several months. It has even divided the Christian Church in America.
Many have declared sanctuaries and church building sacred places to protect immigrants who fear being deported. The stories of divided families and even acts of brutality continue to flow through the media in its various venues.
Terrorist attacks from the past have been used as a rationale to ban refugees from coming to the USA. The idea that immigrants in this country are "bad" people has been used as an excuse for deportation. The debate taking place in Europe about how to assimilate refugees from the war-ravaged nation of Syria is dividing countries, and determining the way political systems and elections are decided.
The issue of immigration reform is nuanced, and policies are often legislatively complex. There is no simple answer to the issues facing us.
THIS IS MY MAIN MESSAGE: The issues are black and white, but very complex.
In the case of Mexican and well as Middle East immigration here in the USA very few people consider both sides of the coin.
Many feel sorry for immigrants and they just want to see a stop to deportations and the fear that paralyzes neighborhood, communities and families. Others simply want total and complete deportation of immigrants. There are laws that direct the process of assimilation of immigrants in the USA.
Some of the preliminary studies of the population groups that will fill jobs in the next 15-20 years with the increasing aging and death rate of baby boomers will have to be filled by immigrants. I just read a study yesterday. It's not so simple. The same people who are angry with immigration are the ones who consume moderate price on produce that is picked up at the farms by immigrants. It has been proven over and over again, that whites, blacks and other racial groups will not work the fields like Mexican people do.
Another issue that is seldom consider is the fact that immigrants don't have a choice on the taxes they pay. There is not tax return for them. Federal and State taxes are taken from their pay checks automatically and that goes to the budgets that cover Americans with social and health services and programs. Take city like Las Vegas. The labor infrastructure of Las Vegas is maintained by immigrants. Take the immigrant labor force out of Las Vegas and you will see casinos, hotels, restaurants financially collapsing.
There is another dark reality of the border with Mexico. While we want to see a wall, the dark side of negotiation between the two countries will not be stopped with a wall. Mexico feeds the USA with drugs. Remember the USA is the # 1 consumer of illegal drugs in the world. The USA feeds the needs for arms which are sold illegally, but the arm dealers in the USA make a mint selling weapons to Mexico. That's the dark side of the exchange going on.
What many fail to consider is the complexity of the issue. I am not suggesting that nothing should be done. But some of the economics implications and impact are huge. I will not spend time outlining all the very entangled issues that immigration brings to the table of the national debate.
I want to share with you the wisdom of the Bible regarding foreigners, refugees and immigrants. The wisdom of God is both simple and timeless.
Here are 12 passages that discuss how followers of God should treat immigrants, refugees and those in need of help.
1) Love Refugees As Yourself.
"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt." (Leviticus 19:33-34)
2) Leave Food for the Poor and the Foreigner.
"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner." (Leviticus 19:9-10)
3) God Loves the Foreigner Residing Among You.
"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)
4) The Sin of Sodom: They Did Not Help the Poor and Needy.
Very often all Christian religion people remember of Sodom is the possible implication of homosexual acts. Very seldom you will hear this verse I am sharing with you today.
"Now his was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49)
5) Do Not Oppress a Foreigner.
"Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt." (Exodus 23:9)
6) Do Not Deprive Foreigners Among You of Justice.
"So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty." (Malachi 3:5)
7) Do Whatever the Foreigner Asks of You.
“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name." (1 Kings 8:41-44)
8) Leave Your Door Open to the Traveler.
"No stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler (Job, discussing his devotion to God)" (Job 31:32)
9) Invite the Stranger In.
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’" (Matthew 25:25-36)
10) We Were All Baptized By The Same Spirit of God.
God is described in this passage as the great equalizer of races, gender and the various socio-economic groups of the culture.
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many." (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
11) Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.
<br
"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)
11) Have Mercy on Your Neighbor.
<br
He asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:29-37)
Let GOD LOVE you FIRST, then LIVE LOVED, while LOVING the people of the world!
Pastor Harold
|
Read about "Life Center" journey for the last 8 years, and what our needs are now, as we look for a new location due to construction around CPK, Burbank. The location, the parking, the food, the service, and the people traffic, up to 3 weeks ago was phenomenal. The 9:00 AM time was killing most of us! Lol! So, we are on a venture: Pasadena, Glendale, Hollywood area. Please let us know if you know of a place. Click here to read about "Life Center" and the profile of a location we are looking for at the end of the post |
@ "Life Center" we want you to live a healthy, energetic, dynamic life in all fronts. HEALTH matters to your own happiness and the those around you.
This is a very impressive, simple list of foods in the Bible. Well documented. Click on the image to get the front page that will allow you to subscribe for free. It's a PDF file. |
|
|
|
|
