We Praise God by Richard Roberts

And on the island they found an upright broken-down piano from the casino there.  And that was the only one that’s on the island. So they bring it out to this village and place it in this huge school room.  And here are 500 little Haitian kids surrounding me and I’m playing and they’re sitting there like awed, they’d never heard these sounds before.  And then when I was through they were reaching out to touch me and to hold on to me.  And my wife Cheryl was there and they were just reaching out just to and if that doesn’t do anything to you.  These are little children that are, that do not have food to be fed.  I mean, the poverty is incredible, and to be able to go down there and not just share my talent, but also be able to take a piece of bread and just hand it to them and say, “This is for you, representing the Christians of the United States of America.”

SPRR RICHARD ROBERTS Well, but you’re doing more than that, Dino. You’re getting involved in bringing medical help to the people through the hospital.  Now I understand your vision because, as you well know, that’s what our vision is, to take medical missions to the nations of the earth.  So I understand what you’re talking about.

SPKM DINO KARTSONAKIS You know, for years people have seen me play the piano and perform and wear all these wonderful outfits, etc., you know, and they say, that guy has got it made and he goes from one auditorium to the next, one church to the next, you know, and perform every night in spotlights and what have you. But there’s so much more to it.  You know, as Christians it’s not just an entertaining element.  We are to minister. We are called as missionaries and I am called.  I am called and I have a burden on my heart.  Glad Tidings Tabernacle, the little church I was born and raised at in New York City, that’s still there on Toidy-toid Street 33^rd , you know, in New York City.  We had a pastor that had a missions heart and I was raised with a missionary heart.

And again, not just till recently were we able to go down at the Haitian Community Hospital.  And I flew in midnight last night, took five flights to get here.  I must really love you, Richard.  And, anyway, I got here.  Cheryl and I arrived and we feel refreshed this morning with a victory in our hearts because we handed to them a check for $32,000 to complete the wing of that hospital, the radiation department.

And we praise God for that and for people who have given like this letter right here, it’s so inspiring.  God has blessed the United States of America because of people like this who have given from their hearts, that’s why God has blessed us.  And He will continue to bless us if we continue to give.

SPRR RICHARD ROBERTS And when you open up your heart and when you give, then the Bible says God responds to your giving.  Now He describes how He responds to your giving.  The Bible says when you give, He will open you the windows of heaven and He will pour you out a blessing where there shall not be room enough to receive it.  And He will rebuke the devourer, the devil, for your sake. (Malachi_03:10-11 ) I’ve got good news, God does not need the devourer rebuked.  You and I are the ones who need the devourer rebuked.  And whenever I face a situation, Don and Dino, where I need the devourer rebuked, the first thing I think of is that Scripture where God told me what to do.

He said, “When you give, I will open you those windows of heaven.”  Whenever I feel like my windows in heaven and I’ve got windows up there and so do you and so do you whenever I feel like my windows are shut, I realize that God didn’t shut them, I did.  And I realize if I want them open I’ve got to give.  And then when I need the devourer rebuked, I know that when I give, God’s going to do it because His Word is true.  God’s Word is true, He cannot lie.  The Bible says, “He is not a man that he should lie.” (Numbers 23:19 ) God has given us a formula and when we work with His formula, then He multiplies it back to us.  And like this person said, I want to double my giving. He said, “I want to double my giving every year.”  And I just got a letter from a man in Philadelphia who had just sown a very large seed for our medical missions project.  And he said to me, “I’ve got a problem.”  And I thought, you know, I’m ready to pray.  And he began to laugh.  And I said, “You’re laughing, but why are you laughing, you say you have a problem?”  He said, “I have a problem.  Every time I give money to you, I get money back.”  And I said, “Well, what’s the problem?”  He said, “I just gave you this large gift.”  I said, “Yes, I know.”  He said, “The Internal Revenue Service just contacted me and told me that I have a tax refund for almost three times what I gave you, unexpected.”  He said, “My problem is, when I give you money I get more money back than I know what to do with.”  I said, “Well, I can alleviate you of some of that problem.”  But you cannot outgive God.

SPKM DINO KARTSONAKIS You can’t.