Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me— 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? 7 No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— 9 so that they should live on forever and not see decay. (Psalm 49:5-9) This pandemic has shown just how frail our earthly security really is.…
Idealism and realism are often set in tension. One can cling to ideals, living by a set of principles that others admire outwardly even as they reject them as naĂŻve, simplistic, unrealistic; or one can embrace the harsh reality of the “way the world works” and compromise on those ostensibly noble principles in order to effect real change. But, conventional wisdom has it, you cannot do both. By the grace of God, we as…
Kevin DeYoung recently listed ten distinctions between vibrant, robust churches and their squishy evangelical counterparts. It is worth reading the whole article and carefully reflecting on the ten distinctions he delineates. For pastors and church leaders, it would be valuable to evaluate our ministry in the light of these considerations. I wish to add another distinction to the list: decentralization. I would contend that a vibrant, robust church will move unstoppably outward from the…
It was the stuff of literature, the dramatic juxtaposition of striking contrasts. I spent the morning at a ministry for children in one of the worst barrios in Bogotá. These children face horrors beyond what most of us would dare to dream exist in the world. All live in unimaginable squalor. They have little or no prospect for education or advancement. Many are the children of drug dealers and addicts. Others are the children…
In recent days the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace released an extended treatment of the world’s current economic state, “On Financial Reform.” An unofficial translation of the text is available on the Vatican’s website. What follows is a brief response to this statement, especially the section entitled “A Global Authority.” Much good can be said of the statement, especially its insistence on the need for mature ethical reflection on economic issues, sadly lacking…