August 19-20

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?” - Matthew 25:34-40 ESV

Last week I was watching our regional news broadcast on TV and was left in open mouthed amazement when it was announced that, after weeks of speculation and negotiation between two giants of club football, the French midfielder Paul Pogba has returned after four years from Juventus to Manchester United, and completed his move by smashing a Guinness World Records title in the process.

Pogba now holds the title for the 'Most expensive football player single transfer' for the reported fee of £89 million (€105 million; $116 million) surpassing the previous record held by Welshman Gareth Bale, who moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for a reported £85.30 million (€99.95 million; $132.16 million) on 1 September 2013. Pogba's personal 'take home' salary will be around £290.000 a week on a five year contract.

This is the 3rd time that a Frenchman has held this record, Jean Pierre-Papin was the first ever £10 million player in 1992 and his compatriot Zinedine Zidane left Juventus, like Pogba, in a £46 million move to Real Madrid in 2001. All a far cry from 1893 when Scotsman Willie Groves became the first 100 pound player when moving from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa.

Compare this amount of money paid as salary, to one person, with the plight of more than 1.2 billion people across the globe, who daily, have a budget of $1.25 for food, medicine and shelter. The World Bank defines this stark reality as the "extreme poverty" rate. On top off this, there are millions more who are just about surviving 'on the bread line.'

The top five poorest countries in the world are India (with 33% of the world's poor), China (13%), Nigeria (7%), Bangladesh (6%) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (5%). Add Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya — and you are looking at almost 80% of the world's extreme poor. About 22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty. - lack of basic medical care....education....sanitation....water....food - one child every twenty seconds dies from hunger.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1kTF3smOE

It's easy to sit back and feel smug faced with this data - “How terrible, WE wouldn't stand for that!” but what about home – the UK? “The UK is the world's sixth largest economy, yet it's a fact that 1 in 5 of the UK population live below our official poverty line, meaning that they experience life as a daily struggle,” meaning homelessness, and dependency on Food Banks.  Oxfam GB “believe it is unacceptable that over 13 million people in the UK do not have enough to live on, and most do not have the power to speak out about what this feels like and why it is wrong.” What a terrible indictment on our world in 2016!

The Lord made us managers of His vineyard....didn't He tell Peter to “feed my sheep....feed my lambs?” (John 21:17). How can we feed them the Word when all around them they, and their loved ones, are dying from lack of even the basics of life? 

Pogba's salary is just one example of the explosion in extreme wealth and income that is widening inequality and hindering the world’s ability to tackle poverty. The Borgen Project (americaan) estimates that it would take $30 billion dollars a year to eliminate world poverty – a drop in the ocean when compared to the individual incomes of the world's top five billionaires.

What will we say, what excuse will we come up with when the Lord reminds us that He said

"You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. "For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'…Deuteronomy 15:10-11 N.A.S.B

Our music is – "Let it Start in Me" – LIVE Click on the picture to listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1kTF3smOE