Christians Persecuted for Providing Food, Clothing, and Shelter?

We have a dangerous situation developing for Christians in Texas that should be alarming to believers across the nation. Attorney General Ken Paxton is prosecuting Christian charities in border cities for...wait for it...providing food, clothing, shelter, and transportation to those in need. Not joking.

Once, a hobo in a state of mental duress, and possibly drunkenness, wandered into my hometown. Deacons from our church fed him, clothed him and drove him to a nearby motor inn between our town and the next to spend the night. The next day, they got him sorted out. If that happened today in Florida, they could be arrested for "transporting," the man if he was undocumented. Ken Paxton is trying to persecute/prosecute Christians for doing the same thing in Texas.

Our hometown had a ministerial alliance that maintained a food pantry and a clothing closet for the needy. Local pastors and businessmen frequently provided food, clothing, and gasoline to travelers in need. They didn't do a background check first. They viewed these a gospel-sharing opportunities. These very same activities are now being viewed as illegal for aiding migrants in our increasingly twisted nation.

Missionaries don't card people at the door.

Charities do not (and MUST NOT) check driver's licenses and passports before providing food, clothing and shelter to those in need. This is Christianity 101. If your charitable organization is located in a border town in Texas, you are going to have people from south of the border walk through your doors, some of whom are native Spanish speakers. Human beings from a variety of cultures and backgrounds will come to you for help. Maybe their families have lived here for generations. Perhaps they are new arrivals. It is not appropriate to stereotype individuals based on the color of their skin or to refuse to serve them because of a language barrier. That is called racism and xenophobia. For the Christian minister or missionary, it is an honor when someone comes to you for help. It is an opportunity to show them that Jesus loves them, even if the politburo does not.

Ken Paxton is attacking Christians for exercising the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith. This man must be stopped---and by that, I mean by all peaceful, legal, non-violent, and appropriate means available. My chosen method is raising awareness through social media.

If Christians are to be persecuted and prosecuted for providing food, clothing, and shelter, then our nation has truly descended into madness.

Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor... -Zechariah 7:10

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.… -Deuteronomy 10:17-19

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me... -Matthew 25:35-36

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister lacks daily food and one of you says to them, Go and peace, stay warm, and be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself. -James 14-17