The War on Poverty

  In ‘Perpetual Abundance’, I wrote about ‘Life-levels and its Provision’.
Life-levels:                                                     Provision for Life-levels:
1. Dependence                                                1. Support
2. Independence                                              2. Self-sufficiency
3. Interdependence                                         3. Abundance
4. Generational-legacy                                   4. Perpetual Abundance

Life-levels are levels of existence, each governed by God-designed laws--beginning with the law of work(Gen1:28,2Thes3:10)—allowing each man to reach his greatest potential within the mandate to “…be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth…”
 
   Every man, is born into this God-determined sequence, and gifted with a ‘natural propensity’ to move him/her through these life-levels ending with number 4: Generational-legacy & Perpetual Abundance. In other words, first God created the earth(Gen1:10), and filled it (Ps104:24), and especially designed it as a target of man (Gen1:26-28). Then God created man, gifted him the earth(Ps115:16), and gave him an inheritance comprised of: potential, purpose, gifts* and talents*. Within that inheritance, God included the gift of a ‘natural propensity’, or an innate desire for ‘more’. After experiencing the negatives of life, you will often hear people give verbal expression to the internal ambiguity** created by the ‘natural propensity’ as: “There’s got to be more to life than this!” Because God is unsearchable, He created mankind with this ‘natural propensity’ to forever inspire us to pursue the deep things of God (1Cor2:9,10); the unsearchable riches of Christ(Eph3:8,Rom11:33)!! God designed Life-levels as the methodology to scratch the ‘natural propensity’ itch!
 
  In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared war on poverty in his State of the Union address. “Since that time, U.S. taxpayers have spent over $22 trillion on anti-poverty programs (in constant 2012 dollars)” says Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield of Heritage Foundation in their piece entitled, ‘The War on Poverty After 50 Years’***.   Incredibly, Rector and Sheffield go on to write that the 22 trillion dollar amount is “…three times the cost of all military wars in U.S. history since the American Revolution.” Furthermore, presently “government spends 16 times more, adjusting for inflation, on means-tested welfare or anti-poverty programs than it did when the War on Poverty started” in 1965!!
    In spite of the astronomical amounts of tax-payer money spent on poverty, since 1965, the poverty rate hovers between 11 and 14%. Rector and Sheffield cite empirical evidence that the nuclear family is by far the leading factor affecting poverty! Yet, ‘the family’ reason for poverty is not new, but has been around for decades. Tragically, liberal politicians have been allowed to suppress it (Rom1:18)!
   There are at least two reasons that an almost 50 year old lie still holds sway:
1.The media. The media exists as a lap dog for liberalism. The media simply shouts ‘RACISM’,  drowning out (Rom1:18) any thought contrary to race as the reason for poverty in general, and black poverty specifically.
2.Faith. Because the liberal interpretation of the separation of church and state, which literally means separation of God from the state, is accepted; American blacks have tragically allowed black liberals, to lead them to replace God with government! In other words, liberalism has inspired blacks to seek government as provider, rather than God.
    For example, although the vast majority of black people are not liberal****, and have never been liberal, blacks prefer ‘liberal’ blacks to speak in their behalf, i.e. Malcom X, Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, Malik Zulu Shabazz, Barack Obama, Melissa Harris-Perry, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Michael Eric Dyson, etc. In other words, and even more shocking, is that black Christians do not weigh the philosophies (thoughts, words, life styles) of  the previously mentioned people against the plain teaching of the Bible--because the eight are black! For example, many blacks view the previous people as icons in spite of their contrary views to God’s word! Very simply, because the previous people are black, their blackness is permitted to trump the Word of God!  I’m sorry to report, this is idolatry!
   In spite of the prosperity ‘millions’ of blacks in America now enjoy, blacks often listen to, and are persuaded by any black person who initiates a ‘black’ group, or uses ‘black’ terminology that appears to prefer ‘black’ people, for example Black Panthers, Black Muslims, Black Liberation Theology, Black Lives Matter, etc.
   In reality, help for humanity, including the poor—regardless of race, comes from obedience to the Lord(Is1:19), the God of the Bible! Simply, neither more black organizations, nor black philosophers, nor more laws against racism, nor more welfare, nor more affirmative action, nor more money handed to the poor, will win the war on poverty! On the contrary, there remains only one answer to poverty, i.e. including black poverty—the Word of God (See Life-levels)! The late gospel singer Andre Crouch put it best, “Jesus is the answer for the world today!”
 
  
*God-given gifts include that areas of spirit, soul, and body (1Pet4:10,Jms1:17).
**The cry of the heart!
***http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/09/the-war-on-poverty-after-50-years#_ftnref26
****Liberalism is the social philosophy/doctrine of the religion of atheism.
 
QuoteBit
Most people are just trying to get through the day. Sophisticated people learn how to get from the day.   -Jim Rohn