Whether we’re talking about countries or individuals, there are responsibilities on both sides when a loan is made.
Continue reading “Justice (2) – Responsible International Lending”
I’m writing about the need for justice in our relationships with the poor and oppressed in developing countries. Much poverty is directly caused by injustice.
In a previous article I wrote about compassion and how this is an excellent motive for wanting to help the poor and oppressed of the world. But an equally important motive can be a willingness to help out the sense of justice. Continue reading “Justice (Part 1)”
This is a study of how justice for the oppressed and righteousness are linked together in the Bible. Justice in the Bible is about putting right the ways in which men oppress the disadvantaged, the poor and the stranger. Righteousness is about right living and is applied to men, kings and to God. There are 35 instances in the Old Testament where the words justice and righteousness appear together, linked in the same verse. Continue reading “Justice and Righteousness”
Compassion is a great word involving our intellect, our emotions and our actions.
“A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering”.
Compassion means so much more than pity. Pity is a feeling of sadness, but can stay as a feeling and is soon forgotten. It can be quite condescending.
Compassion means more than sympathy. Sympathy means, “feeling with” somebody. When someone is sick we express sympathy but there may be nothing we can do about it.
Compassion means taking action as well, otherwise it is not compassion. Continue reading “Compassion”
I have been thinking about the moments, events and influences in my life that define who I am and have shaped my past, my present and my future.
One particular influence on my life was my religious knowledge teacher at secondary school, Mr. J. My family were always churchgoers. Continue reading “Defining influences in my life.”
We are all familiar with the words from the Lord’s Prayer that says, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
These words are some of the most powerful words ever spoken and affect the whole world, and have an effect upon the whole of human history, past, present and future. The Kingdom of God as proclaimed in Matthew’s gospel has often been a mystery. Continue reading “Your Kingdom Come”
It is my contention that the whole world needs freedom from poverty. It is not just the desperately poor who need that freedom. In tolerating a situation in which two billion people survive on £9 a week, we are all implicated and all need setting free from the slavery of poverty.
This article explores this freedom, and the casual, underlying and root causes of poverty. Continue reading “Freedom from Poverty”
For many years the strap line for Kingscare has been, “God’s love in action”. Love is voluntary, and is an excellent motive for giving.
We can stand alongside the Continue reading “Love and Justice”
Compassion and Justice 