By Ken Wytsma, founder of The Justice Conference I often use the phrase “Theology of Justice.” In fact, it was one of the founding ideas and goals of The Justice Conference—to discuss and promote a theological understanding of justice. But what does a “theology of justice” mean? Simply put, it means that our understanding of … Read More
Even if Christians understand the biblical call to advocate for justice, many of us do not participate in public policy advocacy, because the way the world advocates gives us spiritual indigestion. The assumptions are secular: power is seen as limited to law, force, money, and numbers. People are seen as fundamentally motivated by self-interest. Confrontation … Read More
By Nicky Benn “The trend now because of civic awareness is that the community are demanding a lot of accountability from the district. All of us are on our toes now. We are under pressure to deliver and if we don’t, we have to explain why. We are waking up. We have taken them (the … Read More
“Until all of us come… to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” -Ephesians 4:13 To attain the maturity of Christ, we have to go to “whole gospel discipleship.” How do we practice “whole gospel discipleship?” In Matthew 9:35-36, Jesus looked at the crowds and had compassion on them. The word “compassion” … Read More
We believe in prayer. When we love someone who is sick, most of us pray for that person frequently if not continually. We trust that God will respond to our prayers. However, our response to Paul’s injunction to Timothy (1 Timothy 2:1-4) to “pray for our leaders” does not often inspire the same level of passion and fervency. Why? Perhaps some of us have difficulty believing…
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -Martin Luther King, Jr. In January, as we commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., we begin a new series on biblical justice and advocacy – to help us stay grounded in why we do what we do as advocates. You can look forward … Read More
Lisa Bos, World Vision’s senior policy adviser for health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), has been working on the other side of the Water for the World Act for the past three years– on Capitol Hill, in the halls of Congress. She knows everything that has gone into passing this bill and even … Read More
By Dave Erickson “Do you mean, like filtered water?” That question came from the bank teller standing in front of me a few days ago. She had asked me if I’d traveled anywhere recently. I told her my wife and I had attended a clean water conference in Washington D.C. I knew she was thinking … Read More
I just celebrated the start of my 17th year in Washington, D.C. Coming here in 1997 from a pretty small town in Michigan was a little scary, but I was a political junkie and where else do you go but D.C.? I have worked in the legislative/political world my entire career, spending years on Capitol … Read More
Today we welcome a guest post by United States Congressman Adam Smith, representing Washington State’s ninth district. My work has taken me to places where children are most affected by the scourges of extreme poverty. I’ve talked about the incredible impact of polio and malaria interventions in India, visited a community health center in Uganda, and … Read More
By Rev. Adam Taylor Discover the roots of biblical social justice and how this motivates us, as Christians, to fight injustice. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves … defend the rights of the poor and needy.”—Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV). What Does “Social Justice” Really Mean? Social justice is a catch-all term that has … Read More
