Heard a good message today at Mill City Church. One of my favorite things the pastor said went something like this: “We sit around and wonder why God allows poverty and injustice to happen when in reality God is wondering the same thing of us.”
Poverty is not a part of God’s will but much of the time we live as if it was.
We live ignoring the fact God established the first welfare system: “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 23:22)
We live ignoring Jesus’ witness to an even greater form of biblical welfare: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10: 21)
Luckily, some churches are getting it. Slowly but surely we standing up and saying, “It’s not about us.” We are putting aside our likes, our dislikes, our comfort, our safety, our futures all because God needs us to get to work.
Here’s a video I made to share the story of how my home church, Spirit of Joy in Orlando, has been standing up and getting to work for God:
Hey Josh. As I was avoiding doing homework I noticed your web site at the bottom of an e-mail and decided to click on it. Great site. Both my son and I love how you open this post. I know these were someone else's words, but as my son said, "That's cool and deep." Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! I heard the quote at Mill City where I go to church (though I think Richard Sterns writes something similar in his book The Hole in Our Gospel.) The pastor there also happens to go to Luther – getting a PhD in CML. Glad someone else saw this site I need to work on getting it out there more (maybe something I can do while avoiding doing homework?)