WAS JESUS A POOR MAN?

1. Christian and Secular World’s View of Jesus 2. A Poor Man’s Wisdom 3. Jesus Our Example 4. People Jesus Attracted 5. Were Jesus and the Disciples Beggars? 6. Jesus had a Treasury 7. Jesus and the Disciples Paid Taxes 8. Can A Poor Man Perform Miracles? 9. Did Jesus Have A House? 10. Did Jesus Have A Job? 11. Did Jesus Wear Designer Clothes? 12. Jesus Had a Car 13. A Final Thought

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I want to give all glory, honor and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Gethsemane you prayed, and asked the Father to let the cup of the crucifixion pass from you. But then you said something for which I am eternally grateful: …..nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matthew 26:39). It was through your desire to be obedient to the will of your Father that I am alive and born again. Through your sacrifice I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, who has endowed me with the knowledge to write this book.

I want to pay tribute to my friend, mentor, and mother in the gospel, Evangelist Michele Butler. You were the one who shared with me the words of eternal life that December day in 1980. The Word of God says in Romans 10:15 How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! Your feet were, and always will be beautiful to me for as long as I live. I thank my heavenly Father every day for the tremendous blessing you are to me. I remember you telling me one day I’d write a book. Well, Michele, it looks like you were right again.

Next, I want to thank my mother who gave me life and for being the great mom she is to me. She prays for me, sets a godly example for me and encourages me in whatever I set my hand to do. Her motto has always been: “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do, and don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t.” Having her in my corner has inspired me to accomplish things I never thought possible. She also told me I’d write a book and is credited for the cover design.

I want to say thanks to my cousin David Dennis, and his wife Belinda for their encouragement. It really touched my heart when you told me that you were going to spread the news about my book, and that my college education made me into the author I am today.

Special thanks to Carol Connell, book buyer for the Gospel Shop, for her invaluable wisdom and guidance in the preparation of this book. Without her expertise this book would not be in the form it is today.

I’d like to thank many times over my English Literature professor, Dr. Wavie Gibson. Your class was not easy by any means. I thought you were the toughest professor on campus. I see now that you were the best professor I had. I appreciate you for not letting me “skate” through your class. It was in your class I discovered I had a flair for writing. The Lord used you to bring that gift to fruition.

Special appreciation goes to my philosophy professor and Department Chairman Dr. Jerome Miller. You awakened an interest in Philosophy in me through one of your former students who gave you rave reviews. When I told you I was writing a book you said you never would have imagined I’d be a writer. I shared with you that you “chewed up” my papers and “spit” them right back at me. Then you told me something I’ll never forget, and that never even entered my mind: “I helped you get to where you are today.” As I ponder that statement, all I can say is you are absolutely right.

I also don’t want to forget another one of my philosophy professors Dr. James Hatley, who said he enjoyed reading my work and encouraged me to write a book. He challenged me to think outside the box, and to stretch myself intellectually. For this I am so grateful.

I also want to thank Stacy Ennis, Computer Technician, who imparted to me her wisdom and knowledge and who assisted me in obtaining the needed software for the production of this book.

I’d like to make special mention of Miranda Lecompte, granddaughter of Harry and Edna L. Lee, authors of the book (which later became a motion picture), “All That Heaven Allows.” You sharing about your grandparents’ successful careers as authors, and telling me that I too can attain the same heights, has inspired me more than you’ll ever know.

Last but no means least, I want to especially say thank you to my New Testament Church family. Though we are few in number, your faithfulness and unwavering faith is a great blessing to me. You have believed in me when others have not. Your encouragement and patience has afforded me the opportunity to become the man of God I am today.

Chapter 1

CHRISTIAN AND SECULAR WORLD’S VIEW OF JESUS

Many people believe that Jesus Christ was a poor man when he walked on the earth. I also believed to an extent the same thing. I had been told, read in books, and heard from countless people that he was poor and had no place to lay his head; meaning he didn’t have a house or a permanent home. I remember reading a tract a few years ago leading the reader to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The tract said that after one accepted Christ, God would probably keep that person poor to keep him humble. That sounded ridiculous to me. I asked myself how someone could write a tract like that and honestly believe it. If the author really believed that God wanted his children to be poor, he should not have been selling them to make money. By doing this he was saying to me the reader that it was alright for him to make money off of me and get rich, but I had to remain poor. That in my eyes was hypocritical. A childhood friend came to my home one Sunday afternoon. He said he was hungry. During that time he was a drug addict. He was sitting at my kitchen table and asked me for some food. I told him we didn’t have any leftovers from dinner. He saw an empty bag of leftover unpopped microwave popcorn seeds from the previous night. He asked if he could have those, grabbed the bag off of the cabinet, and proceeded to eat them. I asked him was he crazy to be eating those seeds. Then he asked if we had any more food. I told him we had scraps for our dog in our furnace room on the floor. He asked could he have those. I told him no, and asked him how he could live like that, reduced to eating scraps. His response to me verbatim was “I’m living like Jesus.” I share this to point out that many people no matter what state they’re in, honestly believe that our Lord and Savior ate scraps or leftovers. There are even people who believe that he survived on handouts from others. There is a lady I am told who refuses to get a job. She is married and believes that her husband is the man so he should work. He works at what my generation used to refer to as “hustles,” meaning he does odd jobs for quick cash. While he’s working at his hustles, she wanders around the neighborhood begging for money. One day she asked someone to give her some money. The person refused and told her to get a job. She told that person she was begging like Jesus begged when he was here.