I looked around the restaurant, and my attention was drawn to a South Asian man with a cushioned neck brace. Somehow, I immediately knew that I was to pray for him, and no, it was not from the comfort of my own seat…
Good News to the ____ (pt. 5): The Giving Question
As the lives of those who are poor are difficult, so too, is ministering among them. It carries with it numbers and levels of challenges. You never can address spiritual needs in a vacuum (and that’s not bad news because Jesus courageously engaged people’s needs). Ministering among poor communities, it won’t be long before you […]
Good News to the _____ (pt. 4): We’re Broken, Too
There is a distinct danger when seeking to help others. Working among those who are materially poor, especially for ministers who also carry the Good News, carries with it a hidden, insidious temptation…
Good News the _____ pt. 3: Stories
Globally, glass ceilings are more the norm than exception, and I might even say most of those ceilings are bronze, whether we would like to admit it or not.
Good News to the ____ (pt. 2)
So what does the gospel have to say about ministering to the poor? Quite a lot, actually. The Good News doesn’t only have a brain; it has arms and legs. It’s time for believers to embrace even the inconvenient parts of what Jesus said. If we don’t, it can have real, eternal ramifications.
Proclaim Good News to the _________?
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the lost.” One word has been changed in this quote from Jesus. Can you find which one it is? It may cause a shift in the way you look at Christ’s Kingdom. It has for me.
Prayer: 2 Sides
Prayer can be approached one of two ways. In the first, we bring our troubles and problems to God. We wheel our dumpster of issues up to his throne and unpack the problems one by one, laying them at his feet. I’ve done this so, so often. This is not to say there isn’t value […]
Staring Evil in the Face, Helping One Without a Voice
I’ve heard it said before that if you want to know what your calling is, look to the area where you feel the deep pain of injustice in your heart. Where is your burden? What moves you? Together as we follow Christ, we are finding a clear picture of what his will is for us—-specifically […]
Children & C in Psychology (my story, pt. 4)
(This short series, previewing my upcoming book, talks about how God changed the trajectory of my life during my college years. Earlier entries are:Your “Success” – NOT God’s Plan? (my story)800 Youth in Wild Friendship with God (my story, pt. 2)Pulled into the Wilderness (my story, pt. 3) So it was, that while Jesus grew […]
Pulled into the Wilderness (my story, pt. 3)
What’s the evidence of the work of God in someone’s life? For the demoniac of Gadera, it was that he was clothed and in his right mind. For John the Baptist, it was that the heir of the high priest chose to live in the desert with honey and locusts in his scraggly beard. God’s glory can be displayed in the chaotic becoming decent as well as the polished going wild. In college, my sanctification mean going outside the four walls of my room and looking into the full moon. It was trading my prayer closet for a prayer pasture. It meant becoming less civilized, not more.
800 Youth in Wild Friendship with God (my story, pt. 2)
American evangelical Christianity hasn’t historically emphasized pilgrimages. It’s a practice as distant from the minds of young Christians as the far-off places that men in shaved heads and sandals visit. But the Ramp somehow felt like a pilgrimage–and I don’t know if anything could have prepared me for what I experienced at that radical ministry in an otherwise unassuming corner of rural Alabama.
Your “Success” – NOT God’s Plan? (my story)
I still remember getting the acceptance letter to the Georgia Institute of Technology. The large envelope’s black and yellow facade shone like a golden ticket. Known as the foremost engineering school in the state, it was the natural next step in the plan I had for my life. The vision from my childhood was becoming […]
Rescue the Church from Consumerism
I’m concerned that it’s all too easy for us to go to church week after week and do much more to consolidate our wealth and influence than to bring the gospel to those who are hurting, broken, and look different than us.