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9.08.2005    |    Bibles instead of food?
A criticism that is sometimes laid at the feet of missionaries is that they go to a disaster, preach the Gospel, hand out Bibles, but do "nothing to make the people's lives better." This criticism is sometimes on the mark, but not usually. More to the point, such criticism is usually heard from atheists who don't see that faith, that hope in salvation, is at least as important as wordly needs. If not more so.

Well, it had to surface in the aftermath of Katrina. It turns out that Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers got the message that Bibles were urgently needed by victims of Katrina. Found via the WSJ's Best of the Web, here's the post at Michael Hyatt's blog.

The reaction to Mr. Hyatt's charity is as might be expected: anger, fueled by a lack of understanding of the nature of Scripture. Let's be brutally honest here: it is not sufficient to give Bibles to people who are starving and who need shelter and water to drink. But that's not what Nelson did; they're working with Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse, and donations are being made of both Bibles, and the wordly goods we all need to survive in the here and now.

What Christians know already, and which I wish the rest of the world could discover, is that all people need their daily bread, but also the bread of life that can only be found in Christ Jesus. And a Bible is one of the best ways of learning about Him.

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About this site and the author

Welcome. My name is John Luke Rich, (very) struggling Christian. The focus here is Christianity in its many varieties, its fussing and feuding, how it impacts our lives and our society, with detours to consider it with other faiths (or lack thereof).

Call this blog my way of evangelizing on the internet.

Putting it differently, we're only here on this earth a short time. It's the rest of eternity that we should be most concerned about. Call it the care and feeding of our souls.

I was born Jewish, and born again in Christ Jesus over thirty years ago. First as a Roman Catholic; now a Calvinist by persuasion and a Baptist by denomination. But I'm hardly a poster boy for doctrinal rigidity.

I believe that Scripture is the rock on which all Christian churches must stand -- or sink if they are not so grounded. I believe that we are saved by faith, but hardly in a vacuum. That faith is a gift from God, through no agency on our part -- although we sometimes turn a deaf ear and choose to ignore God's knocking on the door.

To be Christian is to evangelize. Those who think it not their part to evangelize perhaps haven't truly understood what our Lord told us in Matthew 28. We must preach the Gospel as best we are able. Using words if necessary.

Though my faith waxes and wanes, it never seems to go away. Sometimes I wish it would, to give me some peace of mind. But then, Jesus never said that walking with Him was going to be easy...

Final note: I also blog as Jack Rich on cultural, political and other things over at Wrong Side of the Tracks

Thanks for stopping by.