What time is it? It's Top-5 Tuesday time. Here are 5 articles/videos that caught my attention this week.
The Story Behind "Rejoicing in Lament" - J. Todd Billings talks about the struggles that led to his book "Rejoicing in Lament" and how a rock-solid faith in the goodness of God encourages lament.
The Whole Foods Movement and the Developing World: Organic, whole foods, anti-GMO. Amy Medina, an American working with Reach Tanzania in Tanzania, share her thoughts on how North America's new food revolution affects the third world. My favourite paragraph:
Sometimes, I wonder if Americans forget that we used to be a Developing Country. I wonder how many Americans realize that DDT is what eliminated malaria from the United States. Yet then the Developed World banned its use, and now millions of Africans still die from malaria every year. I think of the story in On the Banks of Plum Creek, when swarms of grasshoppers regularly decimated thousands of acres of American crops. Yet that doesn't happen any more. Why? Pesticides.
How Churches Can Protect the Poor Against Predatory Lending: The story of how one church is helping battle against predatory lending without leaving the poor unable to access loans and, in doing so, bringing renewal to their city.
The Gospel in an Age of Public Shame: A particularly poignant article for our time and place form Christianity Today editor Andy Crouch. How does the gospel relate to the honour/shame rubric that is increasingly taking hold in our culture (and is intrinsic in Asian cultures). Not only does this article deal with the theological question but also shows how a Twitter troll takedown provides an opportunity for gospel witness.
Communities on Mission (video): From the Austin Stone church, the stories of three "home groups" who have taken the idea to be a renewing force in their local neighbourhoods to heart. Each group is different and approaches their mission in a different way. The commonality? They each are providing a context to reach their friends and neighbours with the gospel by being on mission as a community.