So, as you probably noticed since my first post I've dedicated a grand total of about three posts to "real" writing outside of the Pr. Yang situation. I had big plans for writing all sort of things, but between a ridiculous fourth quarter work schedule and being a new dad, those plans have sort of "gang agly".
For those of you who did read that serious of posts on Pr. Yang, obviously those were meant for more for people internal to the church. My goal in writing that was to hopefully open some eyes and at least start to make people think very critically about what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:1. In the place of judgment--wickedness was there and in the place of justice--wickedness was there. It just happened that I had lots of time to write all that during my paternity leave, mostly in the hours between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM :)
Those of us on the outside looking in can't do much anymore--our voices have been pretty effectively and methodically silenced by the church leadership. So it's going to be up to the "rebels" within the church to shake things up (having seen it yesterday, I'm fighting the urge to make a "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" reference at this point :P). So just another reminder to any of you inside the church who read it and are thinking "something's wrong". Not to speak is to speak.
That said, I've seen the outpouring of comments and emails about how so many of you would love to read other kinds of writings and encouragement on this blog, and so with your continued encouragement and prayers I'm going to make sure in 2016 I write some things that hopefully can help you provide food for the journey and a constant reminder that you're not alone. There are shepherds out there who do care for the lost, and seek the young, and heal the injured, and feed the healthy. Let's use the Internet to look for them--and to be them for each other. And as for the worthless shepherds out there, God will deal with them, there's really no need for us to think too much about them anymore.
There's one last thing. Now that the year's coming to a close, one of the things I usually ask myself is where to donate my tithes. As sad as it is to say, I can't bring myself to tithe to my local churehes anymore, at least not right now.
It's not out of spite nor to "teach anyone a lesson", and it's not even all about Pr. Yang's situation. Admittedly, even before that situation arose, I had reservations--it seems that the only times churches called for donations was to buy bigger church buildings. That always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, when Moses was building the tabernacle and when Solomon was building his temple they called for donations and sacrifices from everyone and all their efforts went into building material and labor. But that was under the old covenant, right? Under the new covenant, people met in each other's houses. Not to say that having service in a church building is inappropriate, but I always thought to myself...are we as churches spending so much time on real estate that we neglect widows and orphans?
But it was the Pr. Yang situation that made me realize that my tithe money was going to support things that were downright contrary to my values. Did you know that when you donate to your local church, a huge chunk (it was about 50% if I recall correctly) doesn't go to your local church but is "taxed" by the IA and GA? The IA and GA of course do some important work (paying ministers' salaries, paying for RE textbooks), but there is some stuff that is downright wasteful (e.g., spending tens of thousands of dollars to fly their board members and their delegates to national and international meetings when a lot of that can easily be done remotely these days).
And worse, I realized that I was subsidizing something downright wrong when delegates to those conferences did nothing but rubber-stamp things that the IA and GA boards have already decided--something I had known for years after having been a participant but something that my eyes were really opened up to after the Pr. Yang situation. Hopefully, if the IA and GA feel a pinch financially, they'll begin to be wiser about how they spend our money.
In any case, here's how I dealt with it. I looked into the best Christian-based charities out there. In the last few years, that's where my donations have gone.
I had two very simple criteria for coming up with these charities.
- First, they had to have a four-star (top) rating at CharityNavigator.org. This means that there's a good chance that the bulk of your money goes directly to the causes they say they're helping. If I'm told my money is going to feed the hungry, I want to know that it turned into a spoonful of rice into a child's mouth, not a plane ticket for someone to fly around the world.
- Second, they had to not just be Christian-based, but to acknowledge God and the name of Christ boldly on their Web site. To me this was important because we live in a world where more and more are being "shamed" into denying the name of Christ just as Peter was and for the same reasons--out of fear and terror. The majority of charities out there were started by a Christian in the name of Christ, but have obfuscated or even obliterated Christ's name from their mission. That's not to say you shouldn't still support them, but I wanted to acknowledge those who kept try to their original mission.
Here are the three charities I found that fit the bill, to whom I try to send donations every year.
World Vision - World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. Working in nearly 100 countries around the world, we serve all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.
Samaritan's Purse - Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Compassion International - In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.
There were others like Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity which are great, but just happen to have less than four stars on Charity Navigator--hopefully they're working on that.
I know what some of you are thinking. Can I really "steal" from the tithes I give to the True Jesus Church and give it to some other charity that's run by people who don't have "the Truth"?? Let's put it this way. Say John donates $100 to Samaritan's Purse and that ends up buying clothes for a orphan in a war-torn country who's struggling to stay alive, and say Joe donates $100 to the True Jesus Church and that ends up paying for a fifth of a plane ticket of someone to fly to a World Delegate's Conference. If you were God, with whom would you be more pleased? Who would you shower more blessings on?
Don't take my word for it--put God to the test. Or, just give to both and receive both blessings if you want to cover your bases. :P
One last one a little closer to home. If you've read the postings on Pr. Yang and want to continue to support his ministry, there's another option you can take. The Lily of the Valley Community Outreach is a charity that was started by some of our church members, but has no relation with the church whatsoever. They do a lot of wonderful work in the Dallas area that's unrelated to buying new church buildings or flying their management around the world for meetings, but rather practicing the "true religion" that James talked about in James 1:27. Some of the great work they did in 2015 can be found here. And as a bonus, you can also ask them to earmark part of your donation to support Pr. Yang and his ministry; since the True Jesus Church has stripped him of his salary and his means of traveling to preach the good news of salvation, it's up to us to lift him and his ministry up.
All of these charities (LOTV included) are registered as 501(c)(3) charities, meaning that if you pay income taxes in the United States you can deduct your donation from on your tax return if you itemize donations. So if you're in a 25% tax bracket, for example, and donate $100 to one of these charities, your taxable income does down by $100 (and you probably end up getting back about $25 as a tax refund). People often scoff at me when I bring this up, but the point is, you can turn around and donate that $25 right back to the charity instead of "donating" it to the federal government (which has raised wasting money to an art form). As long as the charity receives your donation before 11:59 PM on 12/31/15, you can write it off in April.
Have a wonderful New Year...
