Maybe it was the release of Johnny Cash’s last CD, seven years after his death, but something got me thinking about the people who have died that I would really like to spend some time with. I find it strange that I can only think of a few. That might… Continue reading
Here is an email that I received a few days ago from a really insightful friend. So… the encouragement I want to give to you is to breathe in the new thing of finding and expressing community and purpose and breathe out the old, stale mindset and I think you’ll… Continue reading
You may think of Willie Nelson as an ancient pothead hippie with a nasal voice and a worn-out guitar. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but that description is vastly inadequate caricature. Thanks to my son and daughter-in-law who gifted us with tickets, we saw Willie in concert at a nearby historic… Continue reading
I recently learned of a large food pantry in our area closing while meeting with some social service providers as a community volunteer. Through personal experience in working at a food pantry, study, and personal conviction, I have come to see food pantries as a band-aid approaches to a much… Continue reading
When thinking about a framework for laying out my personal story, I thought of Moses. While I don’t rate the same biblical or prophetic pay grade as Moses, the great movements in his life remind a bit of mine, only not in the same biblical proportions. Okay, the Moses comparison… Continue reading
Community organizing has gotten a bad rap because of the recent ACORN scandals. There are those community organizing groups that try to garner support to further their interests, rather than that which is in the best interest of the community. Building Powerful Community Organizations by Michael Jacoby Brown provides a healthy… Continue reading
Silos are those tall, round structures that you see on road trips through the Midwest. Each large grain farm will have one or more of them to protect the grain from the elements and store it until the market is right for selling. In the course of doing church work,… Continue reading
I want to close this series of posts with a summary of what I am learning about poverty alleviation. What is the need? (Diagnosis) Is it relief, rehabilitation or development? Are we trying to help alleviate suffering through emergency aid (relief)? Or trying get things back to their previous… Continue reading
Truly helping the poor is so much different from I first imagined. Certainly, it is more demanding, more long-term, and more relational that I ever thought. Part 2 (of 3) of Corbett and Fikkert’s book, When Helping Hurts entitled, “General Principles for Helping Without Hurting,” begins with differentiating between relief, rehabilitation, and… Continue reading
Poverty-alleviation and truly serving the poor is a lot more involved than I once thought. When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, brings together the necessary pieces of the puzzle to get a comprehensive perspective on the topic. Last week, I introduced the book. This week, I want… Continue reading
I have long held the conviction that the Gospel is more about action than it is about words and that it is more about going to people (or encountering them in relationships) than trying to get them to come to some kind of church service. Several years ago we had a… Continue reading
