Sunday, Apr. 24, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Dear Father PaulDear Father Paul: Did Pope John Paul II go to heaven? — Phil, Fayetteville.
Dear Phil: Yes, absolutely! The Bible says in Romans 10:9 "that, if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." "You mean to say that's all?" you might ask. Yep, that's all. Pretty simple, huh? So simple that "smart" people have a problem understanding it. John Paul didn't, though. He probably said "Jesus is Lord" at least once a day every day of his life from late childhood on, and there is no question that he believed that God raised Jesus from the dead, so, based on the Word of God, he was certainly saved and is in heaven right now with Jesus and all others who said and believed the same thing. I am really looking forward to meeting him someday. Hopefully, by then the crowds will have died down some.
Dear Father Paul: My wife and I are both Christians. We fight all of the time about how much of a "tip" we should leave when we eat out. I say that eating establishments should pay their staff a decent wage and include it in the price of the meal. My wife says that leaving a generous tip is the right thing to do. Who is right? Jerry, Fayetteville. Dear Jerry: Your wife is right! Not only is leaving a generous tip the "right" thing to do, it is the Christian thing to do! In a perfect world, servers WOULD be paid MORE than a decent wage; their's is a really hard job! But the world isn't perfect and most of their income comes from tips.That's just the way it is, and it isn't likely to change any time soon. I've heard servers say that they hate to work on Sunday afternoons because the church crowd are such poor tippers. How sad. One (not a Christian) said, "I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten a one dollar tip on a forty dollar check, from people on their way home from church." What a shame, and what a poor witness for Christ. Can you imagine this server ever attending church? Some Christians complain that, "I never get a chance to share my faith!" Guess what, leaving a decent tip for a hard working guy or gal is probably the best chance a person has all week to really witness Christ's love. Remember, our actions speak much more loudly than any sermon we can preach or "witness" we can bear. Fifteen percent on the check is standard, with twenty percent (or more) for really "go the extra mile" service. Come on, Jerry, walk your talk.
Special to C. F.: From what you say, you both want this marriage to work. Divorce is not the answer. If you will both move closer to Christ, you will find that you will have moved closer to each other.
Father Paul Massey will answer your question. Write him at P.O. Box 510, Fayetteville, 30214 or paulmassey@earthlink.net
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