Christians and Money

A few days ago, some atheist was whining about Churches always asking for money. I suppose he did that because he mistakenly believed that:
.The power company donated electricity to the Church
.The gas company donated heat to the Church
.The furniture company donated the pews
.The publishing company donated the hymn books and teaching materials
.The carpet company donated the carpets
.The contractors donated their time and building materials
.The Pastor donates his time and
.All the charities that Churches support around the world run for free.

Well, atheist ignorance should, I suppose be allowed. How can it be any other way. But he raises an interesting point. Why should people “waste” their money by giving it to the Church. After all, Churches just spend their money on non essentials like
.hospitals,
.orphanages,
.homeless shelters,
.AID’s hospices,
.leprosy treatment centres,
.shelters for battered women,
.shelters for runaway teens,
.food distribution programs,
.schools and universities,
.and on and on that are staffed and constructed around the world and all supported by your local congregations.

While Christians certainly spent their share on some of the following, these are things that atheists think are more important than donating to a Church. Last year in North America we spent:
.22 billion dollars renting videos and DVD’s (this does not include attending movie theaters.
.95 billion making our lawns and gardens greener, including gnomes and bird baths
.389 billion on restaurant meals including 10 billion on fast food
.24 billion on salty snacks
.16 billion on chocolate
.5 billion on anti-aging creams
.10 billion on mother’s day flowers and gifts
.30 billion on pornography
.50 billion on lottery tickets
.50 billion on illegal gambling
.775 billion on recreation

So how does that compare to all the money that Churches are always asking for to run the above charities?

Giving to 690 Christian charities (stuff that Churches receive) came to 2.56 billion.

I’m not sure what percentage of the total that comes to but it’s clear that ending starving children, sexual slavery, taking care of the lost and lonely is no where near being important to anyone except Christians and their Churches.

In Canada the average household spends $66,858.00 on “needs.” Of that, on average, $307.00 goes to the Church. That's 307 dollars for each Canadian household of which perhaps 5-10% actual households that attend and donate to Church. Again, it's clear that staffing and running the above charities are not important at all, in comparison to those who have experienced the love of Jesus in their lives.

So what happens when atheists come together to raise money? What happens when they ask for donations and raise 80,000 pounds? They spend it on signs that say,

“God probably doesn’t exist so screw the world - Eat - Drink and be Merry,”

and then they put them on buses to promote the greatness of atheism.