Tuesday, June 15

Priceless……hidden-in-the-open evil



"And the word of Jehovah was to Zechariah, saying,
So says Jehovah of hosts, saying, Judge true judgment, and practice kindness and pity, each man with his brother.
And do not oppress the widow, or the fatherless, the alien, or the poor. And do not devise evil in your heart, of a man against his brother." Zechariah 7:8-10 LITV

Tom Davis, an author and missionary, who came to my attention when I was checking out of Family Christian Bookstore and saw his book RED LETTERS; Living a faith that bleeds. The title intrigued me, for that is what I'm passionate about…..bring my faith and that of my extended family in Christ out into the real world…out from the closed doors of our homes, our churches and our personal space….into a living, breathing and 'bleeding' example that doesn't require words to attract those un-believers or non-believers into discovering what it is you have……

The Amazon editor's review of this book really says it all……..

"I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
Matthew 25:42-43 ESV

In many Bibles, Christ's words are set apart with a red font. It should be obvious, but this distinction helps remind us that when God becomes Man and that Man speaks--it's probably something we cannot afford to miss.

So why doesn't the church take these " red letters" to heart? Why aren't we doing more to be Christ's hands and feet to the poor, the disenfranchised, the weary, the ill, the fatherless, the prisoners? It's all there--in red letters. Why has the Church shirked its responsibilities, leaving the work to be done by governments, rock stars, and celebrities?

The Gospel wasn't only meant to be read--it was meant to be lived. From the HIV crisis in Africa to a single abused and lonely child in Russia, the Church must seize the opportunity to serve with a radical, reckless abandon. Author Tom Davis offers both challenge and encouragement to get involved in an increasingly interconnected, desperate modern world.

Tom Davis' advocacy organization HopeChest is a Christian-based group helping child orphans in Eastern Europe and Africa not through the funneling of money into these countries but taking the impact of a faith born of an amazing passion to be a father to the fatherless, a beacon of hope in a world so torn and evil that such fledgling gems are often killed by the harshness of others towards these precious little ones.

Tom's latest book, Priceless, is another example of a bleeding faith lived beyond the comforts of a life that he could have sought and how a life lived in the uncomfortable front lines of this battle for the orphans can be an example and reflection of experienced love, agape love, that we know in the deeply intimate relationship with our Father. Though it is a fictional account, the horror and the reality of the sex-trafficking trade is real.

I would recommend, even without reading the book, that you pick up Davis' latest offering and dare to be a 'father to the fatherless' as this book transforms your thinking into a movement of love, compassion and mercy in a world gone mad.

There is a current 'contest' to win a free copy of Priceless and some Saints coffee.....you can see my post on facebook for the details.

See http://www.hopechest.org/support-moldova/ and http://www.hopechest.org/ministry-centers/."  Tom Davis

http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2010/06/beyond-the-game.html

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/ctomdavis?ref=ts