Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, The Enemy Within, Orthodoxy, Restoring Broken Things, Renewal as a Way of Life.

Although this list might make a decent summary of my spiritual journey, it is actually the list of books that I am currently reading. I don’t know what makes me do it, but it seems that every once in a while, I feel the urge to read every book I come across.

Each of these has its own particular reason for attracting me and each is powerful in its own way. Today my thoughts have been riveted around the last one.

Renewal as a Way of Life by Richard Lovelace is a shortened version of his work entitled The Dynamics of Spiritual Life, a book that Burt gave me for Christmas in 2002.

As I read this afternoon (after my nap), I was struck by a comment Lovelace makes in describing what a Kingdom-centered life would look like. Lovelace says:

“…And we (Christians) can redistribute material blessings to help the materially poor. Both spiritual and material goods tend to accumulate in an unbalanced way. God’s material blessings sometimes visibly fall upon believers, commending faith to those who are outside. But Christians can be arms of God’s love reaching out to redistribute material wealth, and hence commend the gospel to the poor, sharing spiritual wealth. A less exalted reason for the uneven distribution of material wealth is human avarice. In this case, Christians can often design or support initiatives which overcome some of the inequities resulting from policies that let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

I don’t think of the poor much. The reality of suburbia is that the poor seem to be a distant problem of someone else.

Who’s my neighbor? Anyone I know of that has a need, even my enemy.

Thought. What would happen if the suburban church in the South spent less on building projects and more on seeking to minister to the poor, wherever they might be?

Could we imagine not only pouring resources into the generational poverty of our county, but also working in the nearby city (Birmingham) to see the Kingdom of God expand through the Gospel in word and deed?

G