DoG have you yourself sold all your land, property and possessions for distribution among those that have need? If you have can you share about your experience and how God met your needs after that?
Hi ER, I have on occasion sold possessions and assets and given the proceeds to the poor among the believers - don't really want to go into details.
When 'living by faith' I have always found the Lord to be very faithful in providing for His family. I have had cash fall out of my personal Bible (no idea how it got there) and received hundreds of pounds through the mail from areas of the country that I've never visited.
When we left full time missions three years ago we sold all of our assets in the foreign country and gave the money to the believing poor. We arrived back in this country as a family of four with very little as a result. Within a few hours we were given a very servicable car and a job was not too far behind. God provides when we need Him too.
I don't think the exhortation of scripture is to sell ALL of our possessions. I don't think God wants us destitute, He just wants us to steward what He has given us appropriately.
IMHO it's not appropriate to pray for God to meet the needs of one of the brethren if there are people of that fellowship driving £30,000 cars and going on two holidays every year.
The example of scripture is that the rich among the believers are ready and willing to forsake their material wealth for the sake of a poorer brother or sister. That is how I read Acts 2: 42-47 anyway.
I am personally convinced that the Lord has provided for every work of His Spirit, be it church planting, missions, out reach, etc. and that the constant pressure upon people called of God to try and raise funds to do what God has called them to do is evidence that the Body at large has misappropriated the resources of God.
As Lynn rightly said we should all be living below our means in order to support our poorer brethren and to fund the work of God's Spirit. There are still hundreds of thousands of people in this world that live in tribal groups who have never had a single gospel witness, nor is there any current strategy to reach many of these people.
With that in mind God's people going on a skiing holiday or for two weeks on the beach is an affront. And we wonder why the presence of God is not dwelling among His people??!
Maybe if there were genuine Apostles this would be more commonly seen.
I suggest start with a few close believers and start to live what we read in Acts.
Maybe the world will then have something to see?
I wonder if this is what we should be doing?
Cant be... could the church have it that wrong??
Couldn't agree more 'thos', just got to find some like minded people...
DoG