Most people now realise that we really need to look after the planet where we live. After all it is the only place we have to live (at least for the foreseeable future). We tread a delicate path between wisely using the resources available to us and exploiting the earth and damaging the environment beyond repair. Continue reading “Looking after our world”
Author: George Dowdell
I was the founder of Karuna Action (formerly Kingscare) and was the director for 24 years. I have now handed control over to younger people but continue as an advisor and trustee.
My passion is to see extreme poverty eliminated and to see justice for the powerless.
Where on earth is the Church going?
We need a church which is a community effective within the wider community. 500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five thesis to the door of his church in Germany in what is considered the start of the Reformation of the Church. I think that we are due a new reformation that will totally overturn the organisational structure of the church, radically effect our programs and many of our beliefs. In fact there are many hopeful signs that this process has already started.
Community not organisation
Jesus never intended that the church should be an organisation, or indeed 40,000 different organisations! He told his disciples to “make disciples”, not make church members. What would it mean if the church was not organisations but a collection of people who seek to follow Jesus Christ as his disciples. If we stopped being an organisation there are enormous re-percussions which we will explore below….
Continue reading “Where on earth is the Church going?”
Same sex relationships
I am on a journey, a journey which is not yet over. Over the years, my ideas, my beliefs, my politics, my heart and my attitudes have changed enormously. But my faith in a living God who loves us and wants a relationship with us has not changed. So I approach this subject with some trepidation and I hope with some humility. Continue reading “Same sex relationships”
Knowing right from wrong
As a follower of Jesus Christ I want to follow his plan for my life and do not want to displease God in any way by my actions, speech or thoughts. I may judge for myself what is right for and what is wrong for me, but I have no right to judge other people or to impose my standards or my morality on another human being.
Continue reading “Knowing right from wrong”
The struggle for change
Why does Christianity, as a religion, seem to lag behind society in its lack of acceptance of people who are different in some way? When confronted with truth we can listen to reason, even change our minds on an issue, but dealing with the emotional impact of a new way of thinking takes time before we can whole heartedly embrace the truth. What am I talking about? Take the abolition of slavery as an example. Continue reading “The struggle for change”
Hunger for justice
I long for a just society is where each member of the community cares for the rights of each other member. This sounds a little idealistic but we can hunger and thirst to live in a world where this ideal for humanity is paramount. Jesus told us that God blesses those who seek justice for their fellow-man.
“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 New Living Translation)
The Pale Blue Dot
In 1990, the Voyager 1 space probe took a picture of the earth, named as the “Pale Blue Dot” from 3.7 billion miles away. This earth, home to mankind for thousands of years, is smaller than a speck of dust in the immensity of space. We can feel so insignificant, and yet we cannot place limits on what mankind is meant to achieve. Just what is our destiny? Let’s explore the vastness of the universe but also look at how unimaginably large we are compared with the infinitesimally tiny. Continue reading “The Pale Blue Dot”
Guns, Kids and the Arms Trade
Once again we hear of kids being massacred at a school by a man with a gun. Most people I know who live in Britain rather than America are horrified and puzzled by the American obsession with gun ownership. The statistics clearly point to drastically reduced gun related deaths when there is strong gun ownership control. But strong government control is anathema to many citizens in the ‘land of the free”.
Viewed the situation from the outside, I and many others, can be judgemental of our American cousins. We are actually in danger of being hypocritical, bearing in mind how much money Britain makes by selling weapons around the world. Continue reading “Guns, Kids and the Arms Trade”
Compassion and Justice 