I Srv Him
 

A week ago I had a craving for fried chicken. The wife and I swung by the local Popeye's on the way home from the gym. (The irony does not escape me.)

We pulled up to the speaker, gave the young man our order, and pulled around the corner. In front of us was an S500 driven by a black man with the license plate "I SRV HIM". Must be a southern baptist minister, I thought to myself. I made some comment to my wife along the lines of: "It looks like that serving is working out pretty well."

I pulled up to my window, handed the kid a $20, and waited for my food. About 2 minutes later, the kid comes back and hands me my food, and my $20 back.

"Sir, the man in front of you wanted to pay for your meal. Have a good night."

Wow!! Buying strangers dinner? Congregation must be doing good!!

My office used to be next door to a Southern Baptist Church. My landlord (the whore that he was) would rent to anybody and rented a commercial bay out to a church. We ended up surveying the Ministers private home by coincidence.

He drove to church in a beat up old Toyota pickup. When my crew got to his house they called me. He lived in a $600K McMansion. Brand new Escalade in the drive alongside the Mercedes.

I saw what his congregation basically drove, and they were mostly beaters with an exception here or there. I am a heathen and will work on Sunday mornings when its quiet. Well, its not quiet when their church was rocking and no one could hold a note when they sang. I wanted to scream sometimes.

I heard of a similar story about an insurance agent who would pay the toll of the car behind him and would often get a new client out of it.

So which is it? Did you buy a whole life policy, a funeral plot or front pew seat in the congregation?

The man had taken off by the time I got the news. We decided to add the now extra $20 to our donation on Sunday morning.

So what you all are saying is, if you serve him that you call God that you must be poor? Pretty weak argument.

"Theres no such thing as a free lunch". :D

Process server?

I thought this was a Stevie Ray Vaughn thread...

If the kid taking your order had a brain, he would have kept his mouth shut, pocketed the $20 and spent it on booze / porn.

S500 - he obviously could afford it. Probably made him feel real good about himself the rest of the day - for a relatively small amount of money.

A cynic - moi.. ?

Some of my friends used to do that at a drive-through coffee place in Washington. When their "Buy 8 get one free" card was full, they'd hand it to the barrista and ask that it be used to pay for the next person's drink. Sure, it's small -- but it's a gesture of simple kindness.

You can pick up a used S-class (previous gen - not the one that just came out) for around $35k.

Interesting how so many of you twist a good deed around. Sometimes a cup of coffee is a cup of coffee - there are some giving people still in this world...

-Z.

My Carrera is worth maybe $15k tops - paid $18 for it 10 years ago. However, people see me driving a Porsche - what's that worth? $60,000? He must be rich! All the while they are sitting behind the wheel of their $40-50K SUV sipping a $4 latte.

I'll second that. People in my office used to roll their eyes and say "wow, we must be paying you too much" when I'd roll up in my 930. I got so annoyed after a while I reminded them that by the time they got done making payments on their Camry they were well past what I paid for my car... ...and if they did it twice I'd remind them that I also enjoyed driving my car. :rolleyes:

The car he drives does not indicate wealth, but to answer your question:
(Mark 10:23) Jesus looked around and said to his disciples," "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God." It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!"

My lame interpretation? Wealth does not preclude entry into heaven, but wealth breeds sin. It is rare to find a rich man who is not driven more by greed and worldly posessions than caring for his fellow man.
If a person gives his wealth to others he will find favor in the lord.

Now, I don't concider myself wealthy although most of the world would probably disagree with me. I do give to others through my church but not 10% as suggested many times in the bible.
My point? If we value a dollar (or a car, or other posession) more than our fellow man, we should probably re-evaluate our priorities if we plan to go to heaven.
I know I have a long way to go but I'm working on it.

And that is how I interpreted it.

He didn't approach me.

He didn't try to convert me.

He didn't even wait for me to try to contact him.

Charity should not be measured by how much one gives, but by how effective one's giving is.

"I Srv Him"

Cannibal?

Jeff Dahmer could have had those plates.

I am really curious, where in the bible does it say to give 10%?

This is an honest question I am not trying to be a smart ass.


I worked with a "Music Minister" from a local church. He was ranting and raving one day because he did not get a raise and the "Youth Minister" of his church did. He was venting at me over it and telling me he was going in to quit his position unless he got a raise. I asked why he was even being paid, if he loved god he would do it for free. He told me he has 4 mouths to feed and needed the money.

I don't get it. Unsing God for personal profit does not sit well with me.

I have a buddy that does that all the time. He looks in his mirror, checks the car, pays and tells the operator to tell the next driver, 'VW's are free today" or whatever. Then slows down to watch the grin on the person's face when they go by.

Legion;

What you have to remember is that when someone looks in the mirror and sees you behind them, they see the look that is on your avatar.

I'd pay $20. to get that guy off of my a$$.

Actually, it was a nice gesture.

I'm surprised nobody asked Legion, what did this guy see in his rear view mirror at the drive thru that made him want to buy you a meal?

Did you really look that pathetic / broke? Made the guy think, "man those people are bad off, I better buy them lunch" ;)

Maybe we should take up a collection plate for Legion. :D

This kind of stuff happens way more than most folks realize. The people that perform these gestures NEVER tell anyone they did it. That would defeat the purpose.

I would do a very poor job of explaining the theory on here so I'll let someone else.SmileWavy

[QUOTE]posted by sammyg2

I do give to others through my church but not 10% as suggested many times in the bible.


Does God keep a Balance Book?

So, in a way... you got served.

Sunday morning, ITS ON!

Oh snap, no you didn't!

I dont do it to total strangers. I do however help those around me who I see need help or are struggling for whatever reason and I do not do it because its the christian thing to do I do it because I want to help.

For the record, that's not a picture of me in my avatar. I'll let someone else identify the picture.

I'm pretty careful about keeping my likeness and personal information off of the internet. While I trust most of you, I don't trust anyone who might be lurking. I do give out personal information by PM (the number of things I've bought and sold among forum members kinda necessitates that), but not on public posts.

"It would be nice to have that kind of job security."

Anyone driving a 944/951 has to be short on dough...

Matthew 23:23

"Away with you, you pettifogging Pharisee lawyers! You give to God a tenth of herbs, like mint, dill, and cumin, but the important duties of the Law -- judgement, mercy, honesty -- you have neglected. Yet these you ought to have performed, without neglecting the others. "

Various places (mostly in the Old Testament) refer to giving a tithe to "repay" someone for a blessing or gift. Also, the word Tithe originated from the word for Tenth in Old English. I'm not a Biblical Scholar or historian, but that is my understanding of the origin of it.

P.S. Don't let this thread go too far, it shows a Chrisitian actually doing something good, not trying to subvert the lives of Americans everywhere and crush their individuality...

Hah!

Anyone driving any Porsche has to be short on dough.

SmileWavy

Ain't that the truth. In fact I could stand to skip a few meals for the benefit of the Porsche fund.

Just don't stand between me and my ribs or you'll find out about Christian mercy first hand when you wind up talking to Gawd about it. Gawd will say, "Better to have stood in front of a herd of elephants then Tabs. " Gawd is a little behind the times, he doesn't recognize that the modern world has things like Freight Trains.

So we are supposed to be like the pettifogging Pharisee lawyers and give 10%?

Again not being a smart ass just trying to understand where this whole 10% comes from. It seems to be the Pharisee is being blasted and you would not want to be like them. It alsmost seems it is more important to follow the "important duties of the law" rather than be cincerned with how much tithe you are giving the church. Maybe I am reading that passage wrong.

Jim, I don't have time to look it up right now, but it seems like it's an OT requirement based in Levitical law. I'll see if I can find it later this evening, but the idea was that the Levite tribe didn't do any work except God's work (you know, in the temple), and they were supported by the tithe from the other 11 tribes.

As many have pointed out, Jesus never re-iterates a command for 10%. He never says "If you want into heaven, you need to give X amount." There's no NT scripture discussing the minimum requirement, or what will get you into the "black" in God's "Balance Book." Somehow, people have latched onto 10% as a convenient thumbrule -- maybe it just works well in a base-10 number system. It seems more like Jesus is asking for everything, come to think of it, almost along the lines of what sammyg2 was saying -- it seems like Jesus argues more for a "love people, don't stress over possessions" position.

(shrug) I'm sure someone else can express this better than I can.

To me the passage is saying that the lawyers were giving their 10% tithe yet not living their lives in a Godly way through their actions. Note the last line "Yet these you ought to have performed, without neglecting the others." To me that means that not only should they be giving their 10% but also treating others in the way God would want them to.

As far as the 10% thing goes, I think it is just a teaching from the OT which the church has continued. No where does it say that you have to tithe to have a relationship with God or to get into Heaven. If any church is teaching that, run away quickly. To me, tithing is my way of giving back to the church so they can continue their work. I don't get hung up on 10%, I give whatever feels right to me.

Got it!! Thanks for your help.

i am flying southwest airline end of the month. i have a stack of those free drink coupons. i plan on getting my area buzzed.

The bible mentions giving a tenth throughout the old testiment and in the new testiment also, just not as often.
And no, God does not keep a balance book but he knows what is in our hearts:
2 Cor 9:7 (Jesus said:) Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

You can twist it around anyway you want but the whole point is that man should care about his fellow man and take care of one another. Sharing wealth with those less fortunate is one example. I can imagine that some folks think that is a sucker's belief, but we are judged by how we care.

You know, from a devout agnostic, Kudos to I SRV HIM.


Regardless of your religious/spiritual convictions, that was a damn fine gesture.

Me too. I want my click back!