From time to time, I read about some group that wants to “end poverty” or “stamp out poverty.” I don’t give much thought to such pronouncements—because they will never happen; they can’t. But before I explain why, let me share two similar-sounding initiatives that are more important and can happen: Clean Drinking Water It is […]
Spiritual disciplines are things we do to draw us closer to God or to honor him. But if we do it out of obligation or in response to guilt, we miss the point. To be of real value a spiritual discipline is something we enter into willingly, with joy and anticipation. Unlike spiritual gifts, which […]
Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty By Peter Greer and Phil Smith (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Over half of the people in the world live on less than four dollars per day and one billion of them live on less than a dollar a day. Most of them reside in developing countries. […]
How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself By Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)As implied by the subtitle, the main premise of When Helping Hurts is that efforts to help those who are less fortunate often do more harm than good—to both the receiver and the giver. In communicating […]
The recent issue of Sojourners magazine cited some sobering facts about the state of the prison system in the United States: 7.4 million people were under the control of the US criminal justice system in 2007. I’m not exactly sure what is meant by “under control,” but that is over 2 percent of the population, […]