Brian Fikkert opens chapter one with a story about a well-known pastor in the 1960s south who kept silent about the horrendous suffering of African Americans but lambasted civil rights workers for immorality. He wraps it up with: Like many [...]
“There is hope, because God is at work.” – pg. 27 As we begin our journey with When Helping Hurts, I hope this central theme will permeate everything we read and write about: God is at work. God is [...]
Every once in a while there will be a movie that comes out and totally shapes the cinematic experience. Sometimes it’s on the cutting edge of technology (“Matrix”), has an epic storyline (“Titanic”), deals with tough real life situations (“Philadelphia”) [...]
The story went something like this: “What is the main priority of your ministry, I asked? He was a ministry leader in a Latin American country and I wasn’t sure exactly how he would answer this question. He paused and [...]
John Beckett is a Christ follower, business leader, and author of Loving Monday and Mastering Monday. This month, as we reflect on our Core Value: integrating physical and spiritual, we asked John for permission to repost some of his writings on integration [...]
A few months ago in my church we commissioned a family that was leaving to do “full time” ministry work in Europe. They had felt the call to go to Europe as missionaries and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ [...]
Over the next few months we will be reading through the book When Helping Hurts (Expanded Edition) by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett. We will be taking time on the blog to explore the book and the topics it raises. [...]
When I was growing up (not that long ago, thanks), we had all the inward-focused ministries, like Sunday school and potlucks, and we had evangelism. I think we would have considered any activity that served the poor as “social gospel” [...]
Churches in Nepal have responded to the tremendous needs of the most overlooked communities since the first earthquake struck Nepal on April 25. They have found opportunities to do Acts of Love even in the midst of their own losses. [...]
Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” This tiny verse is how the Bible sums up the first 30 or so years of Jesus’ life. Many of us who are [...]
