How did I end up in a hotel room with a Swedish missionary lady! I must add, rather quickly, that my wife Christine was also present, and that we slept the night fully clothed. Things started going wrong when we discovered that the plane which was to take us back to Colombo had been hijacked by a bank for their own use. We had no option but to travel back by car. We arrived at Vavuniya late at night and found a Sri Lankan “rest house” with only one room available for the three of us.
We were flying low over the forests and jungles of Sri Lanka to Jaffna. It was a six seater plane – and that included the pilot’s seat. I was in the copilot’s seat and I thought to myself, “I had better watch how he flies the plane, because if he has a heart attack I will have to land it myself”! In the back of the plane was my wife Christine, and Pastor Leslie and Shanthi Matthews. Continue reading “Visiting Jaffna”
The room was dimly lit, the temperature must have been 40°C with humidity around 100%. It was 1988 and I was visiting a church in Colombo in Sri Lanka. The Pastor of the church had got together a group of elders and I was there to talk about ways that we could help their congregation and their community.
How did I get here? I had no real experience of poverty relief and development and thought I was ill-equipped to fulfil the vision I had to see the church really blessing their communities. I was in for a big surprise! Continue reading “My first visit to Sri Lanka”
Some time ago when I wrote a blog article on compassion, a friend of mine said that he certainly knew what compassion meant towards his friends and family, but found it hard to feel compassion towards people he had never met. I can understand what he meant and pushing the boundaries to eventually include the whole world is a challenge to us all.
I am using the words ‘love’, ‘care’ and ‘compassion’ interchangeably. Love has many different meanings and connotations. Compassion is putting love in action. It means doing something about what we see: without which it is at best, sympathy, or at worst is just pity. Continue reading “Pushing the Boundaries of Compassion”
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free,
male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:28 NIV)
Paul is often criticised for being pro-slavery and anti-women. But we need to distinguish between the truths he set out and how it was applied to the culture of the day. As a prophet he saw how things ought to be but he was a child of his culture and although what he said was revolutionary in its day, the full implications of what he said would need to wait for progressive revelation in future generations.
Take for instance the matter of slavery. It would take another 1800 years before men like Wilberforce came along and pointed out that slavery was morally and ethically indefensible. People have always considered that their country was superior and even in much of the 20th century, racism was considered normal. Likewise the world is still adjusting to the idea that men and women are created equal.
In this article we will look further into these words of Paul and seek to apply them to the 21st century.
Seeking the common good is a universal concept found in many world religions and in human culture throughout history. The alternative to the common good is selfishness and looking after “number one”. In ancient history it would have been expressed as what is good for the tribe as opposed to what is good for the individual. In more recent times seeking the common good might apply to our local community or to our country. With the world becoming a smaller place the common good can now apply to the whole of humanity.
So what do we mean by the common good, and how does it relate to the biblical command to love our neighbour as ourselves, and to what is called “the golden rule” . This article explores what is meant in further detail.
In these days when ‘celebrities’ are revered it is tempting to think that it is only the big names like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi who have made any difference to our lives today. But these men could have done NOTHING without many thousands of ordinary people who shared their dreams.
In this article we will see from recent history how people like you and me can make a real difference. Continue reading “How ordinary people change the world”
Last week I wrote about Capitalism and outlined some of its plus points and negative aspects. Is it the best thing since sliced bead? Does it need controlling and is it harmful to the world’s poorest people?
I invite you to take part in a simple anonymous poll to express what you think!
Compassion and Justice 