Christian Living Blog

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed pastor Britt Merrick about his first book, Big God: What Happens When We Trust Him.

Britt is a surfer. When I say he’s a surfer I mean it in two ways. He’s both a man who rides the killer waves of Southern California beaches, and a soul surfer on an intense journey riding the unpredictable waves of life with a lot of moxie.

When Britt started writing Big God he knew that the book would be about faith and exploring the Biblical heroes from Hebrews Chapter 11. What he didn’t know was that he’d be called to the most difficult challenge of his life at the same time. His 5-year-old daughter Daisy, was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer, a Wilms’ tumor, that was about the size of a football in her abdomen. The tumor was removed shortly after discovery, but the Merrick’s still had to face several months of chemotherapy treatments and an uncertain outcome.

So when Britt started talking about faith in our interview, I had to listen. Here is a guy who has clung to Jesus with everything he has in him. I hope you’ll take a listen too. If you do, I think you’ll agree that our God is a Big God, and with His help we can have faith big enough to make it through the ups and downs of life’s storms.

Click here to hear my interview with Britt.

Recently, there have been a slew of books addressing the issue of world poverty and the Christian response. A few that come to mind are The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, Radical by David Platt, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and later this summer, Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado.

I have to admit that I’m in favor of the attention this issue is getting. After two trips to India in 2002 and 2009 my eyes have been opened to the reality of daily life for the majority of believers around the world. As a college student I attended a lecture with Paul Borthwick (How to Be a World-Class Christian) and I remember him saying that if you were to average together all the Christians in the world–North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa–the result would be an Asian woman. Having sat in small house churches in Northern India, knowing that there were thousands more scattered throughout the continent, I started to believe him.

And what are these Asian Christians, who are no doubt below the poverty line by Western standards doing? They are serving the poorest of the poor in their own land with the time and resources they have to offer.  The Good News Bhawan Center in Bhopal has 5 sewing centers where they teach Hindu women from the slums how to sew and read. They come to learn a useful skill, but also to hear the Gospel. In another part of the city church staff go out 5 days a week to  shanty-town, corrugated metal slum neighborhoods to gather the children there and teach them how to wash their hands, brush their teeth, and comb their hair. The children also learn games, songs and basic lessons. They are offered a few hours just to be a kid, free from the crushing realities of poverty. These children are dalits, meaning “untouchables.” They are ignored by Hinduism and forgotten by their government. Some of these children are sponsored, a uniform is bought for them and they attend a local school. With education they have a chance to break the cycle of poverty. There are two of these children programs in the slums of Bhopal, serving about 70 children daily.

I’m amazed by the perseverance and work ethic of my Indian brothers and sisters, but rather than feel guilty about my opportunities and resources living in the U.S. instead I ask, “What can I do?”

If your heart hasn’t been broken yet for the plight of the poor or if you’ve yet to experience Christianity outside of Western culture, I recommend any of the fore-mentioned titles as food for thought. Or better yet, go and see for yourself what the Body of Christ is already doing around the world, and how you can support the effort.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to talk with author Frank Viola about he and Leonard Sweet’s newest book, Jesus Manifesto.

Jesus Manifesto is a passionate exploration and declaration of Jesus Christ. Viola and Sweet feel that many Christians and churches have lost sight of the majesty and supremacy of Jesus. Our lives are filled with activity and spiritual things—spiritual gifts, social justice, ministry, etc, but what is our motivation? They call Christians and the church to renew their first love and come back to simply adoring our Lord and Master.

Click here to listen to the interview with Frank Viola.