Have you ever noticed that the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) comes right after the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)? There is a purpose in that — the authors of the gospels arranged their material very carefully, with thought and intention. The connection between the two is not hard to see. […]
4 Types of Mercy
All seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan: Advocacy Assistance Finances Spiritual Here’s the interesting thing: When we think of showing mercy and serving others, we don’t often think of advocacy. But it is often a critical, and simple, form of mercy. Just advocating for the person — taking up their cause, defending them, […]
Can the World Still Feed Itself?
Stated that way, it sounds like it’s a set-up to say “no, we need less people on the planet,” and so forth. I don’t think that way, and only gave the post that title because it’s the title of a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal. And, the answer of the article is: […]
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
Here’s a book I’m looking forward to reading more of: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. I don’t know if I will agree with everything — or even most — of what I read here. In general, the main way I assess a book is to see whether it […]
Benjamin Warfield's Answers to Objections to Giving to the Poor
Warfield (quoted in Keller’s Ministries of Mercy): Objection 1. “My money is my own.” Answer: Christ might have said, “my blood is my own, my life is my own.” Then where should we have been? Objection 2. “The poor are undeserving.” Answer: Christ might have said, “They are wicked rebels . . . shall I […]
Why Should We Help Those Who Brought Themselves to Poverty Through Their Own Sin?
To say “this person is poor (or suffering or in other financial hardship) because of their own sin and therefore should not be helped” is to utterly misunderstand the love of God. Jonathan Edwards nails this: If they are come to want by a vicious idleness and prodigality [wastefulness]; yet we are not thereby excused […]
The Great Reversal in the Parable of the Good Samaritan
Tim Keller explains what Jesus is doing in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) in his book Ministries of Mercy: The call of the Jericho Road. Read carefully. This is very, very fascinating. Most commentaries on the gospel of Luke note that Jesus reverses the lawyer’s original question. He had asked, “Who is […]
The Potential of Low-Cost Digital Book Distribution for Massively Improving Global Literacy
The Stanford Social Innovation Review has a good article on Worldreader.org’s effort to help improve global literacy through getting e-books into the hands of children in the developing world, rather than print books. The lower cost of digital distribution makes it possible to get more books into the hands of more people in the developing […]
Tegu: Addressing Poverty by Harnessing Business
Here’s a video that briefly gives the story of Tegu, “a toy company on a mission to improve the way your kids play and create social change in one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.” If you don’t have time to watch the video, here’s a good brief description of what Tegu does […]
Extreme Poverty Can be Ended in Our Generation
This is a fantastic and enlightening video by Scott Todd, who I believe is a ministry adviser for Compassion International. After watching the video, check out the site he points to, live28.org [update: here’s a better link], which is “an action-based alliance of world-class, poverty-fighting organizations joining forces in the largest, most unified effort ever […]