A Heart of Compassion?

Over the next few weeks, I have a feeling God is going to continue working within my heart in respects to reaching out to the helpless victims of our world in the name of Jesus Christ.  I have been praying lately that God continue to show me how best to lead a church/ministry leaders in ministries of compassion that will set the captives free.


Here is what transpired yesterday alone that makes me think this...


I was doing some reading in a College magazine and came across Proverbs 21:13 that states; "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."


I have begun reading "Radical" by David Platt which will no doubt challenge my thinking on what it is to radically abandon ourselves to the person, heart and ministry of Jesus Christ.  There is little doubt that Jesus spoke often of the need to care for the poor and I am guessing He really meant it.


I went with my children to renew their passports last evening and we got looking at mine with the markings from my trip to the Central African Republic.    That trip has shaped me for the rest of my journey here on earth and I am hopeful that I will always feel challenged to keep the lessons learned there at the forefront of my mind.


Finally, we received our Compassion magazine in the mail yesterday that was dedicated to showing how that ministry is making a difference in the lives of preganant HIV positive women who until recently have been losing their newborn infants/children at a rapid pace when it ought not be.


All that in one day... Surely the Lord is trying to get my attention on this matter.  The more I think about it, the more I continue to believe that if we as the church are truly going to claim that God has raised us up to be the "Hope of the World" then we better take that call seriously. 


I hope the church will continue to wrestle with finding the balance in both proclaiming the Gospel and showing the realities of it through compassion type ministry.