Mission Frontiers 41, 1 (January-February 2019)

The January-February 2019 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles responding to the questions: ‘Is the end of extreme poverty in sight? What’s working?’

According to the introductory blurb:

‘This issue takes a closer look at extreme poverty and examines the problems as well as potential worldwide solutions. Extreme poverty is a state of life for many that warrants significant concern, but this issue looks at ways to address that poverty globally that could potentially make it a thing of the past. You may be challenged to rethink some of your own ideas about poverty, foreign aid and financial assistance as you delve into this issue about what works and what doesn’t. Could we see the end of extreme poverty in our lifetime? Our January-February 2019 issue addresses that hopeful possibility.’

Individual articles can be accessed from here, and the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Recent Articles from Q Ideas

After a few weeks away from internet access, I’m catching up on a few items from the world of Blogdom, including the following from Q Ideas:

Matthew T. Dickerson

Pseudo Salvation: When Science Can’t Save Us

Our advances in science and technology have overcome many of the challenges that our forebears were unable to meet. Our lives are paved with unthinkable convenience, and we expect our engineers to continue providing solutions for the world’s problems. Matthew T. Dickerson, however, says that we must be careful where we place our hopes of redemption.

Steven Garber

The Legacy of John Stott: On Listening to the Word and the World at the Very Same Time

The late Reverend Dr. John Stott will be remembered as one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20th century. From evangelical think tanks to third world activists to the world’s leading newspapers, there have been many who celebrated his intellectual prowess, his tender kindness, and his insistence that faith must be both theologically orthodox and socially engaged for the common good. Steven Garber reflects on a few of his personal memories and the legacy this great man has left.

Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Community in the Time of Culture Wars

Disagreements continue to fracture the Church’s relationships. How do we balance diverse opinions without breaking with biblical orthodoxy and without causing disunity? Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma suggests that we humbly “pursue the love that is the beginning and end of all things” and live out our allegiance to Christ as the head of the Church.

Byron Borger

Help the Poor, Help the World: A review of The Hole In Our Gospel and Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

Is our faith more than going to church, feeling God’s love, and telling others about the forgiveness offered by Jesus? Here are two books that emphatically say, “Yes.” Byron Borger reviews The Hole in Our Gospel and Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.

Tim Keller

The Gospel and Sex

If we can demonstrate healthy sexuality as a Church, what unlimited redemption is possible for our starving, sex-crazed culture? Tim Keller outlines a compelling and orthodox sexual ethic, and the proper role of singleness and marriage within the Church.

Josh Reinders

The Book Industry is Fine

Borders bookstore is closing all of its doors – does that mean that we are closing all of our books? Josh Reinders reexamines the industry’s numbers and finds that the e-book apocalypse may be false prophesying the print world's doomsday.

World Toilet Day

I know the possibilities for scatological humour – intentional as well as unintentional – are endless, but let’s go for it anyway: 19 November is World Toilet Day.

TearFund and WaterAid, among others, are drawing attention to it, campaigning for action to tackle inadequate sanitation, and calling on world leaders, including the British government, to address the problem by creating a global action plan on water and sanitation by 2010.

2.5 billion people worldwide don’t have a toilet, and that lack of a basic facility takes its toll on communities in developing countries, where every day 5,000 children under five die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water. Sanitation also provides dignity; inadequate access is a source of shame, physical discomfort and insecurity.