Remember The Poor – What The Poor Mean To Us
Giving What We Have Been Given In our Vineyard Core Values statement we say: “We lean toward the lost, the poor, the outcast, and the outsider with the compassion of Jesus as sinners whose only standing before God is utterly dependent on the mercy of God. This mercy can only be truly received inasmuch as […]
Remember The Poor – What Jesus Said About The Poor
The Poor In The Old Testament In the Gospels, we see Jesus spending a considerable amount of time among the poor, serving them, encouraging them, and even standing up for them. He was carrying on the deep, rich Jewish biblical tradition of providing for those in need. These words from the book of Deuteronomy reveal […]
One Simple Question
I have a distinct memory of sitting in my study one day as I was pulling together thoughts and materials related to stepping out on yet another church planting adventure. I was quite excited, feeling that rush of risking faith that these types of pioneering ventures demand, ready to pull together my demographics, cultural analyses […]
Remember The Poor – How Can We Serve The Poor?
Getting Involved With The Poor There is so much injustice in our world today, we can feel paralyzed by the sheer scope of need. Yet if we ignore injustice, and turn our back on the powerless and the poor, the Scripture tells us that something very sad happens. God hears our worship as “noise” until […]
Remember The Poor – Becoming A Compassionate People
Compassion is a word we often use in the Vineyard to sum up the kind of Christians we want to become. Jesus “had compassion” on the harassed and helpless (Matt. 9:36), and this moves us to want to have compassion in all that we do as churches. Compassion literally means “to suffer with.” When we […]
Remember The Poor – A Vineyard View Of The Poor
Who are the poor? Today, we often see poverty through the lens of economics or personal financial weakness. In the New Testament, however, the poor are generally seen as those who are powerless in society, and who therefore lack the basic necessities they need to sustain their lives. Without resources, and without a voice, they […]
Loving The Poor
God, in his mercy, rescues the poor, saves them, and gives them new life. I’m convinced that if you want an evangelism explosion, if you want to reach the world in the quickest possible time so Jesus can come back, you must go for the poor. I’ve been in Hong Kong for thirty years, and […]
