Page 162 - Push Back

Sodom serves as the origin of the word Sodomite, and the description of homosexual behavior as
sodomy.

As Yahweh informs us through the prophet Ezekiel, Sodom’s problems began with her affluence.
When Yahweh gives a people an abundance it is so that they might be a blessing to others. The
citizens of Sodom, however, were selfish. They showed no concern or compassion for the poor
and needy. They took their abundance and spent it selfishly upon their own lusts. One can
perceive the same attitude at work in America, and in the churches of the nation.

When I was twenty years old I made a trip from Oregon to Georgia, a distance of more than
3,000 miles. I was returning home to my parent’s house, and I had limited funds to get me there. I
had purchased an old van some weeks earlier. I was about halfway home when I had a tire blow
out. The van had custom rims with locking nuts that required a specially designed socket to
remove them. I realized that I did not have the necessary socket, so I could not change the tire. I
ended up having to call a tow service to bring the van into the nearest town to have the tire
replaced.

This was an expense I had not foreseen, and most of my remaining gas money was spent on this
repair. I made it perhaps 500 miles further, but still had a thousand miles to go, when I ran out of
gas money. I stopped in a town and sold some personal possessions at a pawn shop, but I only
received about 40 dollars. I continued driving until my gas gauge was empty and so was my
wallet.

I found myself in a mid-sized town that was located along the Interstate highway. I decided to
seek out a church in the town and ask them if they could help me to get home. I drove up to a
large church with a beautiful new building. The church facilities were expansive. They had a
beautiful sanctuary, a large office complex, a gymnasium with a full size basketball court and
inside bleachers. It was evidently a very affluent church.

I went into the church office and spoke to a secretary, explaining my predicament. She said the
head pastor was out of town that day, but she would get the assistant pastor to speak to me. I
repeated my story to the assistant pastor. He responded by telling me that the churches in the
town contributed to a fund that was administered by the local police department, and these funds
were intended to help motorists who were stranded, such as myself. He gave me directions to the
police department, and I made my way over there, with my gas gauge showing empty.

At the police department, it was confirmed that the town’s churches did contribute to a fund to
help motorists in need, but I was told that the churches donated so little to this fund that it was
exhausted by the first week of every month. The police department said there were no funds
available to help me, so back I went to speak to the assistant pastor once more.

In the course of speaking to this minister, he began telling me about the magnificent building
they had just recently completed. He told me that they had spent millions of dollars on it (this
was at 1981 prices). Yet, when I pressed him again for help, he said that he did not have the
authority to disburse church funds for people in need, and he reiterated that the head pastor was