6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
I’ve been in a book lull lately. I went through a string of great books (you can look at some of the books I’ve read here) during the Fall and Winter, but for some reason the past month or so has been dry. Maybe I needed a break or maybe the right book just didn’t come along.
My hope is that the dry spell is over. I received a copy of Just Courage by Gary Haugen today (I read Good News about Injustice by Haugen a few years back) and it looks to be up my alley.
I just finished watching a video (you can watch below) that has Haugen discussing Just Courage and I’m now ready to open the first page tonight.
Have you read it yet? Do you have other book recommendations? I’d love to keep my book list growing!
A blog I read once in a while, Reeds in the Wind, had a very challenging and eye opening post a couple days ago. Here’s a small section from the post:
One of the conversations in particular has stayed with me. On the way to Gbarnga, in Liberia, James Nowell asked the question, “How do we know when there has been enough intervention for poverty reduction?” This started a long conversation/debate that continued on and off for the rest of the trip. Here is an example of what James was referring to: as we drove by a village, we saw a young boy playing with two rusty cans and a piece of string. My heart immediately went out to him as I thought about all the nice Fisher-Price toys that my children played with…but then I also immediately realized that he was probably happy playing with that toy. So how do we know where to intervene and when… when is enough, enough…and when are we beginning to impose our (Fisher-Price) culture on someone else’s who may understand contentment better than us?
If you missed the last two Sunday’s I’d encourage you to listen to Pastor Kallam’s messages. He entitled the last two weeks “A Matter of Choice” and preached on Matthew 6:19-24.
19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Challenging verses and I’m still processing the message and I think I will for a time to come. Kingdom now.
Brian and Jami Staples have sold their home and Brian is about to start flight training. They hope to be “on the field” in Kenya sometime this summer. Wow! I received an email today detailing some of their immediate needs and I thought it would be helpful to share. I know they would love to hear from you!
Tomorrow is moving day! Furniture and some “loose” things need to find their way down to our temporary location at some point this weekend so we can begin cleaning and making this house ready for the new owners to take possession next week. There are some things we could use some help with if you find some spare time on your hands:
If you have a truck or moving tools, we’ll swap ya for a taco salad lunch tomorrow!
Monday and Tuesday will be deep cleaning days. If I had 5 people to help, I could probably get it all done in one morning.
There are also some light maintenance things needing to be fixed (Brian has the list of these items: 704-293-3349 cell)
URGENT NEED: appliance help! The water that dispenses from the door of the refrigerator is not working! Ice works fine, just no water.
Spin cycle on the clothes washer is like a teen employee: sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t…and never gives a real good reason! J
There are several things that will not be going to Africa nor going into storage. We need to organize a very small garage sale or get things listed on Craigs List.
Melissa Putney, also a fellow CAC member like Brian and Jami, is now in Costa Rica serving with ReachGlobal! Please pray for her transition and her ministry.
