Side note.

Look at my pretty flowers. The husband surprised me with them even though he's in Thailand right now. :(

Justice II

There is so much injustice in the world. The more I look around, the more overwhelmed in seeing all of the areas where injustice occurs. I've noticed that it doesn't matter what culture or what age group or type of government a country has, where people are, there is injustice. How daunting.

I've been seeing this reoccurring theme in my heart and other blogs to right the wrong in the world. There is something in our generation that sees the hurting and brokenness and wants to take action. We really do want hunger to stop, people to love the earth, kids to be adopted, and ultimately we want world peace. We spend money to go to poor places in the world to be a part of the change that is happening there. We want our lives to mean something. And most times we think our lives have value if we do good. This is in Christians and non-Christians alike. Our generation is striving to do more.

Its so good.

I go back and forth as to whether humanitarian aid for the sake of doing good, is a truly good thing. If these various humanitarian efforts give people cloths, shelter, water, and medical care but have no Jesus, are their efforts in vain? Are they just putting a small band-aid on a would that needs full on surgery? Does it help anything? I still don't know what I think about all of this. I want to say that it is still a good thing. People helping people is great. So, I guess I'll leave it there for now.

What does doing justice/kingdom work look like for me? Well, I've been throwing around a few different ideas. 1, inviting single marines over once a week to give them a free meal and a home to hang out in...maybe some games and a good time. 2, taking most every Saturday and joining with an already established group to feed homeless. (This church has about 200 homeless Japanese people in it...amazing!) 3, trying to help out more somehow with the military wives and kids.

We shall see.

Justice I

Here are some quotes from "Generous Justice," by Timothy Keller.

" Although they(people in his church) were living comfortable, safe lives, they became concerned about the most vulnerable, poor, and marginalized members of our society, and they made long-term personal sacrifices in order to serve their interests, needs, and cause. This is, according to the Bible, what it means to 'do justice.'"

"When most modern people see the word 'righteousness' in the Bible, they tend to think of it in terms of private morality, such as sexual chastity or diligence in prayer and Bible study. But in the Bible tzadeqah refers to day-to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and society with fairness, generosity, and equity."

*tzadeqah is a Hebrew word that is mostly translated as "being righteous," but should be translated as "being just".

"We do justice when we give all human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the righting of wrongs, but generosity and social concern, especially toward the poor and vulnerable. This kind of life reflects the character of God. It consists of a broad range of activities, from simple fair and honest dealings with people in daily life, to regular, radically generous giving of your time and resources, to activism that seeks to end particular forms of injustice, violence, and oppression."