If you were to browse the websites of any Christian organization involved in addressing poverty and social injustice, you will not be able to avoid the word transformation. Speak to college students about their aspirations, it would not be unusual to hear some of them talk about wanting to change the world. Images of emaciated … Continue reading Does God Call Us to Change the World: Is Transformation a Biblical Concept?
A 2009 study by Tomas Rees on the relationship between poverty and religiousness found that personal insecurity (due to stressful situations, such as poverty, as well as other life events) was an important determinant of religiosity.[1] The poor tend to be more religious. I find the faith of the poor both intriguing and challenging. Intriguing … Continue reading What the Poor Have Taught Me About Faith
There are many passages in Scripture that we are so familiar with that sometimes we miss something important that is being communicated. Matt. 11:4-6, “Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead … Continue reading Being a Witness: Rumors of another Kingdom
The word “righteous” is out of fashion now days. It conjures up images of humourless people, out of touch with this world, calling their misery, joy. It’s an unfair caricature. If one were to ask an ordinary member of any church what does it mean to be righteous, their answer would include ideas of being … Continue reading Being Righteous
I have been intrigued that nowhere in Scripture does God encourage or exhort the poor to seek justice. [1] Throughout the Bible, the responsibility for social justice and care for the poor and those on the margins of life is on society as a whole, on every individual. Micah 6:8 states in no uncertain terms what … Continue reading Is it for the Poor to Seek Justice and Liberation?
Scripture Readings for the week: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3: 14-21 As I grow older, I seem to have a growing awareness of the frailty of human life. I am becoming increasingly aware of grace – the need for unmerited favor from God. Going against every independent streak in my personality, … Continue reading Grace and Compassion
When looking at poverty through a New Testament, Middle Eastern cultural lens, there are insights on how Christ related to and responded to the poor that the western cultural lenses that we read the Bible through completely miss. A worldview that dominates Middle Eastern societies is one of honor and shame. All interactions and conversations … Continue reading The Shame of being Poor
As the challenge of the presence and integration of Muslim communities in Europe grows, I was reminded of something that was mentioned a number of years ago. The person said that historically Christian theology and teaching has assumed that Christians are a minority in society. Hence the teachings about being salt and light, about relating … Continue reading Christians as a Minority – Finding a Place in Society
In 2001 November I was in Iran helping set up a relief operation into Afghanistan. One evening, tired from a full day of planning, I was walking along the streets of Teheran when I saw a very old man in tattered clothes sitting hunched over on the pavement. He had three cigarettes on the pavement … Continue reading The Pathos of God – Why does He Care for the Poor and the Vulnerable Foreigner
The latest Pew Research Center report states that violence and discrimination against religious groups by governments and rival faiths has reached an all-time high. The number of countries where religious minorities are abused doubled between 2007 and 2012. Open Doors’ 2014 World Watch List identifies the top 50 countries “where Christians faced the most pressure … Continue reading Providing Aid as Part of Christian Witness: Manipulation or Acts of Mercy
Compassion and the Mission of God 