free

a sermon for you and Jesus Christ

--by Dr. Bob Benchoff 5/19/02

It is difficult to give things away for free. If you try to give away something of little or no value, people don't want to be bothered and feel insulted. If you try to give away something valuable, people first need qualifiers and may bombard you with questions, such as "What's the catch?"; and then after relentless badgering you might no longer want to give it to them.

If you try to give valuable things away and people think they understand why and think there are no strings attached, then new difficulties can emerge from strangers not party to the transaction.

For instance, a business that makes devices to hold the wrist at a certain angle to help typists that have carpal tunnel syndrome may initiate a lawsuit against you if you freely suggest to their customers that instead of wearing the device, simply tilt their keyboard, the way old typewriters were tilted.

From experience I can tell you it is great to be able to offer things of great value for free, and from experience I can tell you that amidst the difficulties, amazing success can occur. Praise the Lord, all people can offer things of great value for free, even people in comas can hold to ideas of giving honor and love (Reference: How to come out of a coma).

By your giving freely, by your extraordinary charity, you may be surprised to find you can discern spirits. Of course pure (Reference: Pure Love) charity hopes nothing in return.

I once visited a church that had no Bibles in the pews. The pews had extensive book holding capacity, and had hymnal books, with a lot of unused book holder space. So I asked the church leader why there weren't Bibles in the pews and the response was about how much Bibles cost. I asked if I could put Bibles in the pews and he was delighted and smiled and said yes.

Due to previous investments I was struggling financially, but it seemed like such a good deed that even if I took time to pay it off, it was God's will.

I went to the book store and found they had a tremendous sale on Bibles and they augmented the sale for the volume I purchased.

I went to the then empty church, removed the celophane wrappings, and started putting the Bibles in the pews. Someone mowing the lawn came in looking shocked and upset and asked who said I could to this. I told him and he hurried away, I guess he made phone calls. Soon people started arriving and the lawn guy told me to stop and started throwing the Bibles out of the room.

The leader I had spoken with previously arrived then and hurried toward me exclaiming I shouldn't have done this and he over-stepped his authority.

I loaded the Bibles in my car again. Talk about discerning spirits...you are certainly known by the fruits of your labor, and that event opened my eyes as to the leadership spirit type of that church.

It felt Godly to place the Bibles in the pews. I contacted my realtor who just had a life-long club foot miraculously healed at another church during their religious meeting. She told me of two churches who she thought would be happy to receive the Bibles and she took the Bibles. Again it felt good to do God's will.

You are a leader. Christ sends you out as sheep amidst wolves. Sometimes the ones that do the most harm, need your help the most. If nothing else, follow Christ and lead by example. Make it easy for others to see your good free work examples so they may learn by your work for the glory of God. Your personal freedom is accountable to that Holy Spirit, of the Lord (Reference: United States Constitution Article VII).

When I removed information on free offers sites earlier this month for lawyers, it was likewise easy to discern spirits, and it was clear how loopholes remove this nation's freedoms.

When we read how Jesus Christ was accused for freely healing on the Sabbath, the point of the law loophole became clear.

When you work to provide free gifts and help for the elderly, for children, and for all other people, thank Jesus Christ for showing the way.

To see a list of sermons by Dr. Bob Benchoff, click here.