The "Beautiful" Works Of A Gangster

[Coliseum]

As a youth, in the days of the depression, I was in Chicago. I happened to be with a young fellow from Seattle whose rich father sent him away because his stepmother did not want him around. He was a most knowledgeable, worldly young fellow. He knew all about Al Capone. I had wondered as a youngster how Al Capone could hold the city of Chicago in the palm of his hand. Well, this young fellow soon showed me. He took me to one of Al Capone’s speakeasies in the middle of town, right under the nose of forty policemen who patrolled up and down there every day. It was an astonishment to me to observe the illegal gambling and drinking.

But there was another side to Al Capone. Only the Lord knows how many thousands, and perhaps millions of dollars Al Capone poured into feeding the poor and taking care of widows and orphans. He had every precinct bound up in the hollow of his hand. When the time came to vote for aldermen or mayor, all of those people followed the slate of Al Capone to the "T", and the law could not touch him. The people who were starving to death were overwhelmed by his goodness and generosity.

Was Capone actually a worthy man? He was a gangster and a murderer of the vilest sort. The law-abiding citizens of the United States called Capone a leech, a curse, yet they were unable to touch him because of his good works. They finally sent him to the penitentiary because of income tax evasion. This is an illustration of how differently from God people look at their deeds.

….Pastor Criswell

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
⁷  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

When an unbeliever does good works, God sees them as filthy rags. But of the Christian...God created us to do what is beautiful in His sight, not of our own accord, but through Him who lives in us.

 

[other one]

I wish I had Al's millions to help people.   I get to give away a $20 now and then when people come by...

[lovethelord]

19 minutes ago, Coliseum said:

Was Capone actually a worthy man? He was a gangster and a murderer of the vilest sort. The law-abiding citizens of the United States called Capone a leech, a curse, yet they were unable to touch him because of his good works. They finally sent him to the penitentiary because of income tax evasion. This is an illustration of how differently from God people look at their deeds.

Hi Coliseum,

This was interesting info since I didn't know anything about Al Capone except that he was a famous gangster. But God tells us that all our good works won't save us. It's having a regenerated heart lived out in faith and shown by our works. Only God knows if in the end he was a saved man or not.

[Mike 2]

What Al Capone did was no different than what corporations do....it's all business!

The blood running through corporations is money....not love, it's only about the bottom line.

If you see a corporation....or a gangster helping people out, it is ultimately because it will help the bottom line.

Based on the fruits of Al Capone's spirit of killing, stealing and lying I would say that his helping the poor etc. "was only business" just like bumping someone off "was only business".

[missmuffet]

2 hours ago, Coliseum said:

As a youth, in the days of the depression, I was in Chicago. I happened to be with a young fellow from Seattle whose rich father sent him away because his stepmother did not want him around. He was a most knowledgeable, worldly young fellow. He knew all about Al Capone. I had wondered as a youngster how Al Capone could hold the city of Chicago in the palm of his hand. Well, this young fellow soon showed me. He took me to one of Al Capone’s speakeasies in the middle of town, right under the nose of forty policemen who patrolled up and down there every day. It was an astonishment to me to observe the illegal gambling and drinking.

But there was another side to Al Capone. Only the Lord knows how many thousands, and perhaps millions of dollars Al Capone poured into feeding the poor and taking care of widows and orphans. He had every precinct bound up in the hollow of his hand. When the time came to vote for aldermen or mayor, all of those people followed the slate of Al Capone to the "T", and the law could not touch him. The people who were starving to death were overwhelmed by his goodness and generosity.

Was Capone actually a worthy man? He was a gangster and a murderer of the vilest sort. The law-abiding citizens of the United States called Capone a leech, a curse, yet they were unable to touch him because of his good works. They finally sent him to the penitentiary because of income tax evasion. This is an illustration of how differently from God people look at their deeds.

….Pastor Criswell

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
⁷  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

When an unbeliever does good works, God sees them as filthy rags. But of the Christian...God created us to do what is beautiful in His sight, not of our own accord, but through Him who lives in us.

 

I agree big corporations are all about money and greed. 

[Galleon]

I find myself in agreement with Mike 2. He was a criminal and he likely did those "good works" as a way of getting people to cover his tail. It's like Robin Hood - he's still a thief and the high taxes were due to the crusades, not necessarily any greed on Prince John's part. If Hood just stole from the rich for his own benefit, he would've been served up to John on a silver platter.

[Coliseum]

7 hours ago, lovethelord said:

Hi Coliseum,

This was interesting info since I didn't know anything about Al Capone except that he was a famous gangster. But God tells us that all our good works won't save us. It's having a regenerated heart lived out in faith and shown by our works. Only God knows if in the end he was a saved man or not.

I think you missed what Pastor Criswell was trying to illustrate. He is not saying one gets saved by good works, nor did he say Al Capone was saved; in fact, the presumption here is that he was not. Al Capone was a pretty bad guy, but his giving to the poor kept the police off his back. Those who were starving didn't care where the food came from---even if it was from bad money. They saw food as something good, and Al Capone was feeding them. Look again at what is quoted: "The law-abiding citizens of the United States called Capone a leech, a curse, yet they were unable to touch him because of his good works." There was good being done. But Al Capone had less-than desirable motives. The point of the story is that even bad guys can do good things, but in the eyes of the Lord, He sees what they do as filthy rags. In God's eyes, they don't count. 

What does God say about the believer's good works? 
“… and each one will receive His own reward ACCORDING TO HIS OWN LABOR.” (1 Corinthians 3:8) ----also, 
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone ACCORDING TO HIS WORK.” (Revelation 22:12) 

These are rewards given to believers.

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Coliseum

[other one]

Al has given us a lot more than you all might understand...      Saul Alinsky was associated with Al for several years through Al's number one hit man (Big ED Stash)...   he learned most of his organizing skills through the several years he worked inside the Capone mob...   Alinsky then went on to mentor both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in their political skills and the Democratic party uses Alinsky's 12 rules for radicals in most of their political workings.

Basically you can thank Mr. Capone for our present day Democratic Party and two of our last three presidents actions.    And if the country doesn't get itself together we will basically turn into a mob ruled third world country.

And that's what Donald John Trump is fighting....   and he needs our prayers.

[ReneeIW]

8 hours ago, Coliseum said:

Was Capone actually a worthy man? He was a gangster and a murderer of the vilest sort. The law-abiding citizens of the United States called Capone a leech, a curse, yet they were unable to touch him because of his good works. They finally sent him to the penitentiary because of income tax evasion. This is an illustration of how differently from God people look at their deeds.

….Pastor Criswell

This is a blatant lie. He didn’t do any good works. There is zero proof that the Soup Kitchen was actually run by him, or that he donated a dime to it. What most believe to be true was that he shook down local grocers who donated food to a soup kitchen while Capone took credit for it.  And it was mostly to improve his reputation after the “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” that occurred the year before the Soup Kitchen opened.

Before the horrible Massacre in 1929, Capone and the New York Crime families had been glamorized by the press. After the massacre, there was a public outcry to go hard after organized crime and Capone was sent to prison just a year after he claimed to have started the soup kitchen. Lucky Luciano was convicted after that. 

The man was a ruthless murderer that terrorized Chicago  and corrupted the justice system there. When my grandfather became a cop in 1945, after Capone had died, the Chicago Police Department was still under the control of organized crime and it took decades for them to  undo the damage Capone had done. He was nothing but a psychopath and shame on that pastor for suggesting otherwise.

[Coliseum]

4 minutes ago, ReneeIW said:

This is a blatant lie. He didn’t do any good works. There is zero proof that the Soup Kitchen was actually run by him, or that he donated a dime to it. What most believe to be true was that he shook down local grocers who donated food to a soup kitchen while Capone took credit for it.  And it was mostly to improve his reputation after the “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” that occurred the year before the Soup Kitchen opened.

Before the horrible Massacre in 1929, Capone and the New York Crime families had been glamorized by the press. After the massacre, there was a public outcry to go hard after organized crime and Capone was sent to prison just a year after he claimed to have started the soup kitchen. Lucky Luciano was convicted after that. 

The man was a ruthless murderer that terrorized Chicago  and corrupted the justice system there. When my grandfather became a cop in 1945, after Capone had died, the Chicago Police Department was still under the control of organized crime and it took decades for them to  undo the damage Capone had done. He was nothing but a psychopath and shame on that pastor for suggesting otherwise.

Of course what you say with regard to Pastor Criswell's involvement is debatable since he had a first-hand account of what he witnessed. Did you? He said, 

"He knew all about Al Capone. I had wondered as a youngster how Al Capone could hold the city of Chicago in the palm of his hand. Well, this young fellow soon showed me. He took me to one of Al Capone’s speakeasies in the middle of town, right under the nose of forty policemen who patrolled up and down there every day."

I suppose you can get angry and shout "This is a blatant lie," and say, "He was nothing but a psychopath and shame on that pastor for suggesting otherwise," but where did Pastor Criswell suggest anything other than what he observed with his own eyes? More than that, the entire message was not even about Al Capone or Criswell, but about God seeing an unbeliever's works as filthy rags and a believer's works as those gaining reward.