"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth."

"Then Jesus looked at him and said: 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions."

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of god."

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor."

"When you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

"Abraham said: 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.'"

"Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

I believe that Christ was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. I follow his teaching every day, and help the poor, help the sick, help the needy.

But I cannot believe that Christ changes hearts in a divine way, because most who profess to love him love their homes, cars and bank accounts, love their seats in important places and their status more than they love their fellow man.

Christianity is a failure, as even Christ claimed it would be. Like the rich man who wanted to get into heaven, the well-off Christians love their possessions more than they love their supposed God. The way is narrow, and few will find it.

Jesus gave a lot of clues about how to attain eternal life, and they all involve helping the less fortunate.

We all live only a short time on this earth. You can choose to spend it having more than you will ever need, judging the sik and the weak and the poor, and refusing to help the least of these, or you can put your faith in helping humans rather than hoarding your gold.

I hope that Jesus is real, for I have followed all that he has commanded the best that I can. But judging from posts like yours, I don't hold out much hope. I do know a handful of Christians who live Jesus' teachings, and they are splendid, humble, kind people who live in poverty in order to help the less fortunate, so perhaps there is a tiny window of hope.