Zacchaeus is NOT my favorite character in scripture. The guy is a stumpy conman, wheedling his way through life. Corrupt. Unlikable. Nasty.
Too bad he's my grandfather.
And he might be yours too.
Read More
Because of where we live, and how we invest our lives, my kids ask me some really curly questions. They drop some real shockers! - leaving me awkwardly grasping for an explanation that will be age appropriate.
For example, the other day, a guy we know was sharing about his work investigating sex trafficking here in Cambodia...
Read More
The other day, my regular coconut-seller lady thrust a dollar into my hand as I was getting ready to pay her. With a smile she told me I had overpaid last time. Knowing she is poor, and every dollar counts, I was touched by her honesty, goodness and self-control.
Read More
I looked around the room and, quoting from Luke 4, shared how Jesus, filled with the Spirit came out of the desert to announce the beginning of his ministry. His mission statement. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news....to who?"
I was teaching last week at a cell group of affluent young Christians in their 20's and 30's.They looked at each other. One reached for his Bible to look it up. Another searched his phone.
Read More
These words of Thomas Merton offer another perspective on loving our enemy.
"Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy of God just because he is your enemy.
Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you that gives glory to God."
A lot of folks question our decision to raise our kids in the slums and inner cities of the world. But from time to time I am reminded of how God has blessed us with two insightful, healthy, confident kids.
My 8 year daughter Micah came home from school not long ago and told me that her teacher had asked the class, "Which would you choose, fame or money?"
Read More
I perched on the plastic stool and nodded towards the broad black sewer that runs along the edge of the slum where I live.
"Is that canal dangerous?" I asked innocently, simply meaning to make conversation.
The woman's eyes filled with tears and I realized I had asked the wrong thing.
Read More
In much of my writing and speaking I try to make a case for the need for more people to relocate into the hard places - the slums and inner cities of the world.
With more than 1 billion people on earth today located in slums, it seems to me that the need is great and the Christian response is pathetically tiny.
But what if every follower of Jesus relocated into a slum or inner city? Read More