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When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself
by Steve Corbett
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an informed and thoughtful approach to poverty alleviation, February 22, 2011


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This is a concise, theologically informed, ground-tested and provocative book on helping the poor, not for the faint of heart. Those who are gungho about mission and going out there to 'save the world' might have to plod patiently through this short but discomforting book without throwing our hands up halfway in despair about what exactly one can do for the poor without hurting them and ourselves. In the last decade or so, Brian Fikkert points out that there has been an explosion of 'short-term mission trips' (STMs) from churches in North America, investing tons of dollars into sending members for a two-week assignment in the developing nations. His hard-nosed critique provides a cautionary note beyond the surface hypes and reports of 'life-changing experiences' that commonly surround STM advertisements. As one who has participated in a few of such trips, I have learned much from his critique and am challenged to reflect on ways we might have unknowingly caused more harm than good in our eagerness to step in and help - that ends up encouraging dependency, deepening the sense of inferior-superior complex between the poor and the non-poor, crippling local initiatives, etc. Through all these, the advice that 'we do not do for people what they can do for themselves' serves as a poignant reminder.

I am glad that his thinking while practical and economically informed ultimately derives its roots from the biblical concept of what constitutes poverty. His working definition of poverty goes beyond the common reductionistic one that is measured primarily in terms of material resources. He proposes a relational, rather than material, understanding of poverty as one that has to do with the dislocation of one's foundational relationships with God, self, others and the rest of creation. Helping the poor thus means addressing these four foundational relationships and helping one to see oneself as God's image-bearer, a person of worth, a member of the human family and steward of creation. This strikes hard at the core aetiology of poverty, namely broken relationships. Hence, he writes:

'Poverty is rooted in broken relationships, so the solution to poverty is rooted in the power of Jesus' death and resurrection to put all things into right relationships again.' (page 77)

'Our relationship with the materially poor should be one in which we recognize that both of us are broken and that both of us need the blessing of reconciliation. Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix both of us.' (page 76)

He devotes the second half of the book exploring what a more theologically balanced and holistic approach to helping the poorer community looks like. The categorization of the various levels of intervention into relief, rehabilitation and development is helpful in clarifying our thinking about the problem we intend to address as well as the desired outcome. The suggestions for a more collaborative rather than paternalistic, asset-based than need-based, locally-initiated and sustained (ie. by the local church and community) than foreigner-run efforts, long-range mission work than short-term trips (though these have their place when properly contextualized) are spot-on. The practical strategies of 'business as missions' and 'micro-financing' schemes are also discussed as helpful alternatives, though these schemes are not without their pitfalls too.

One possible unintended ill-effect of reading this book, however, is of being paralyzed by over-analysis. As the whole exercise of going out of one's comfort zone to reach out to others is fraught with much inhibitions, resistance and rationalizations to begin with, this book certainly does not make it easier. That being said, this book is full of hard truths and practical wisdom one ignores at perils to himself and others.

On the whole, it provides much food for thought and some seed ideas on how to explore a more holistic way of reaching out to the poor overseas and in our own backyard. It also puts a reality check on our possibly misguided motives that often accompany our noble desires to help. Hard-nosed, intelligent and eye-opening, Fikkert's book is a huge pay-off for anyone who will persevere in the challenging task of poverty alleviation with greater discernment and much humility.
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LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day
by Darrow L. Miller
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provides a good exposition of what christian mission looks like in the marketplace, December 28, 2010


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I have found this to be a clear, substantive exposition of what Christian mission looks like in the marketplace. It seeks to correct the narrow view of mission that privileges those called to the 'full time ministry' as 'pastors' and 'missionaries'. Not denying the important place of the latter, he calls for a more holistic view of mission that encompasses the diverse vocations of every member of the church, even in the 'secular arena'. This helps every Christian to seek a transformative/redemptive perspective of his own vocation as contributing to God's comprehensive 'saving' of the cosmos, rather than seeing our jobs as simply a stepping stone for the 'real' mission work of saving souls. In this way, every Christian is sent out in the world wherever they are employed as God's agents of redemption. In this regard, Miller packs in a powerful message, supplemented with excerpts of real-life testimonies of people who exemplify this vision.

A caveat however needs to be placed though, IMHO lest the pendulum swings to the other side, such that the work of proclaiming and embodying the gospel recedes to the backburner. It is easy to fall into the subterfuge of 'working for God's kingdom in my own jobs' where in fact it becomes a facade for building the tower of Babel ie. my personal empire with a religious gloss. It can be a cop-out from stepping out of one's comfort zone and heralding the gospel to the unreached and offering its grace in costly and sacrificial ways. This of course is neither Miller's thesis nor his praxis but I am raising a concern of where his overall vision may potentially be misconstrued.

Ultimately, mission properly understood has to be rooted in the being of the church as Christ's witnesses and that ecclesial identity is in turn rooted in the being of God as one who reaches out to embrace. I am increasingly convinced by reading the NT that the church is the primary (though not the only) locus of God's redemptive activity. If the church, both local and universal, begins to recover her self-understanding as who she is meant to be, such that mission is inextricably tied to her 'being' or 'ontology', i think we have a firmer starting point for seeing our various vocations as an expression of the mission of God.

For readers looking for a missional/vocational perspective of one's lifelihood, this is a solid treatment but for those looking for a larger perspective of what Christian mission entails, I would recommend Schnabel's 'Early Christian Mission', Tom Sine's 'Mustard Seed Vs McWorld' and Simon Chan's 'Liturgical theology' to complement it.
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There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
by Antony Flew
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intellectual rigor and honesty at its very best!, December 28, 2010


This review is from: There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind (Hardcover)
Antony Flew, a contemporary of CS Lewis and his fellow Oxfordian, has written a book akin to 'Surprised by Joy' by the famous Christian apologist albeit a little late in his life. Here is a colossal shift of mind from one that denies the existence of God to one of discovery. Yet, Flew says this is by no means a paradigm shift, as far as the modus operandus of his intellectual journey is concerned. He has simply been following the Socratic dictum as he always does 'to follow the evidence wherever it leads' and in the last two decades has undergone a slow turning of the mind to the weight of the evidence for the existence of God, defined by Aristotle as the Supreme Intelligence/Being, incorporeal, immutable, all-good, all-powerful, transcendent and omnipresent. This God incidentally shares many essential traits with the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

He's made clear that this is not the first time he has recanted his previous positions and his life has been characterised by quite a few revision of views, as is necessitated by a constant quest for truths wherever the evidence or argument points. While he has changed his view here on the existence of God, he has yet to be convinced that the after-life exists. He is not therefore placing a Pascalian bet with his conversion, as his critics have charged. Nor does his 'tergiversation' (apostasy from the atheist fraternity) have anything to do with the ravages of an aging mind. Quite the contrary, as would be evident to anyone who takes the trouble to read this book, the writing bears the marks of not only a lucid mind but a courageous, honest and humble disposition.

The first half of his writings (3 chp) is devoted to his atheist past and his eventual conversion to theism, or deism to be more precise - growing up in a Christian home (his father a methodist pastor), witnessing anti-Semitism in the wake of WWII, indifference to things religious, involvement with the Socratic club at Oxford with Lewis and an educational path towards philosophy under the influence of Hume, Wittgenstein, Russell - that led to a prolific writing, teaching and debating career that made him arguably the most outspoken and systematic atheist thinker of the last 100 years. The turning point came in the last two decades when he began to read and take seriously the theistic claims that were bolstered by a strong revival of Christian philosophy. The works of David Conway, Richard Swinburne, Gerard Schroeder and Roy Varghese were among the most influential in this regard, persuading him to reconsider the growing scientific and philosophical evidence for the theistic position.

The second half (7 Chp) outlines the major arguments that led to his shift. He points out that the proposition at hand belongs properly to the realm of philosophy, contra Dawkins who mistakenly thinks science per se holds the answer to this inquiry. He exposes Dawkins and his ilk as in fact very unsophisticated in their philosophical argumentation, however accomplished they are in the field of science.

The three key arguments for theism that have the greatest purchase for him were:

1. Origin of the laws of nature (the rational order/design)
2. Origin of the Universe (matter)
3. Origin of Life (autonomous agency)

The major objections or alternative explanations for the above such as the multiverse theory, spontaneous abiogenesis, Darwinian natural selection were discussed and shown to be sorely inadequate and for the most part speculative.

The introduction by Roy Varghese and the two appendixes are helpful in extending the readers' mind in considering Christian theism. Varghese basically counteracted the rhetorical waxing by the proponents of the 'new atheism' - Dennett, Harris, Dawkins which was shown to bear more heat than light, more verbal rhetoric than sound reasoning. They take aims at the abuses of organised religions than deal with the rational arguments as such. Varghese added his own take on the theistic argument such as the origins of consciousness, conceptual thought and the self, which cannot simply be waved away with the 'magic of huge numbers' and other conjuring tricks.

Flew's interview of NT Wright completes the book's thesis for the Christian truth claim. Wight shows how in 5 ways, Jesus embodies the Jewish concept and anticipation of God's return/presence in the world (as Word, Wisdom, Law, Temple and Spirit).He also shows how the twin facts of the empty tomb and resurrection appearances buttress the Christian historic claim for the bodily resurrection of Christ. Flew considers this argumentation by Wright to be 'fresh and very powerful'.

All in all, I enjoyed the book for its lucid expression and personal style. On a personal note, I find it a pity that Flew took so long to come to this point. At the risk of psychoanalysing him, I wonder if his slowness in coming to terms with divine revelation has something to do with the poor Christian examples (of bigotry, anti-semitism and the like) he met in his early formative years. Be that as it may, it shows that the best of unaided human reason and observations can only come this far -a belief in the god of the philosophers. Pascal's wager aside, I had hoped that he would find the presence of mind in his golden years to cross the bridge from an intellectual assent on the Aristotelian god to a personal faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, who has made himself known in the face of Jesus, his Son. Alas, Flew passed away earlier this year. But this book may be his best, lasting legacy that caps off an illustrious career in philosophy.

This book's appeal to me lies in the personal disclosure of Anthony Flew's colossal change of mind than as a sourcebook for theistic argumentations. For the latter, one does well to consult the works of William Lane Craig, Ravi Zacharias, JP Moreland, Alvin Plantinga, Paul Davies, Francis Collins, etc. Nonetheless, it is interesting to enter briefly into this famous atheist's personal history and pilgrimage in 'going where the evidence leads' that brought him to a seismic change of mind. As such, this gentleman is an inspiration as far as intellectual honesty is concerned in matters as important as the existence of God.

I do not write to ruffle those who are happy as atheists, nor do I find any basis for suspecting this work to be fraudulent. Taking this book at face value, it is hard to go away unmoved by the brave admission of a towering intellectual, who has lived all his life advocating the alternative proposition. Would that many like him would follow his lead and go further even than him.



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The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work
by Darrell Cosden
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a holistic view of daily work as christian mission, November 29, 2010


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I enjoy this book not least because it is one among several thoughtful contributions that have taken the scholarly works of NT Wright and Richard Middleton to the streets on the *Resurrection of Christ* and the *Creation of human beings as God's image-bearers* respectively. It strongly repudiates the escapist concept of the gospel that has our heads almost exclusively buried in another world, that is to be too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. It exposes the bankruptcy of the truncated idea of Christian mission as one that is simply interested in getting people ready for heaven, and casting a disdainful eye on what one does in his daily life. In Corsden's view, the dichotomy between spiritual and secular arena is a false one. All of life is spiritual and missional if it is oriented towards the kingdom of God. So is the dichotomy between clergy and laity as if the work of the laity is second fiddle to the work of 'evangelistic ministry' and 'overseas mission', important as they are. No, the clergy's main task is to equip and join in with the whole church in doing the work of God. Whether we are preachers, homemakers, educators, office workers, builders,or cleaners and so on, we are out on a mission for Christ.

'We are not saved by works but our works are saved along with us' as he puts it. Our work will survive into eternity if it stands the test of God's judgement. Our work redeemed confirms us as God's image-bearers and there is no extinction of that holy, rejuvenating and life-affirming work in the new heaven and new earth! It is paradoxically bound up with the shalom of our final, eternal rest!

On another front, it is a wake-up call to the humanists who presume that we can build heaven here on earth without God. The disasters of the Enlightenment project (eg. the holocaust, atomic bomb, ecological disasters) are a sober reminder not to repeat the ancient error of building the tower of Babel. The Sabbatic nature of Christian work which leaves much living space for God's mighty work keeps our daily work from devolving into this promethean mindset.

Corsden's theology of work is not new, but a timely recovery of the missional nature of our daily work as participating in God's work in renewing and restoring the good earth he made. Hence, we find here a short, and highly readable exposition of what Christian work ought to be and how understanding it is foundational to our view of mission and calling as God's people recruited to do good works everyday (not just when we are in church!), to the praise of his glory! This book gets even better near the end where he spells out how this practical piece of theology gets to work.
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Interior Castle Explored: St. Teresa's Teaching on the Life of Deep Union With God
by Ruth Burrows
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critical appreciation of interior castle, October 26, 2010


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This is a critical appreciation of Interior Castle by this Carmelite sister. As such, it stands in its own right as a re-presentation of the practice of contemplative prayer in the Carmelite tradition. Departing from the older commentaries on the great Teresa of Avila, Burrows was unafraid to critique her writings and in the process clarify for readers the core of what she meant to convey from her contemplative experiences. This is not to disparage the great saint in any way because she was simply making best use of the literary and theological convention of her day to explicate the virtually inexplicable. As such, she wrote within the dualistic framework (spirit-body dichotomy) of her day and being too credulous of her fellow practitioners' prayer experiences, she muddled up some of the important distinctions between real mystical grace, para-psychological phenomena and her own psychic reactions to them. The discussion on the 'light on' and 'light off' phenomena is interesting, if a little dense. The upshot of her discussion is however crystal clear: the real fruit of contemplation has little/nothing to do with these psychic states and experiences (which are induced from our natural psychic resources) but transformation into the image of Christ - that is pure love.

What I appreciate about this treatment of Teresa is the interface between Burrows' own contemplative insights with those of the great saint. There is no 'idolization' of the latter which is a tendency among most other literature on her but an honest interaction between two Carmelite pray-ers. It is an another insightful book I have added to my own reading of the Christian contemplative tradition. Burrows' other piece on John of the Cross' Ascent to Mount Carmel is worth your every dollar too.
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Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense
by N. T. Wright
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a simple presentation of Christianity for our time, October 12, 2010


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'As CS Lewis' Mere Christianity is for the modern period, NT Wright's Simply Christian is for our postmodern age' would be how these two popular works of Christian apologetics would relate in my view. Recently I have been thinking how to present the faith to a highly educated thinking person who is beginning to show some interest in 'god', and so went back to reread this book. I have found it to be quite helpful in pointing to some entry points into a modern person's mind concerning the transcendent - such as the longing for a world made right. Many of us today feel that the world is in great need of 'repairing' and 'rescuing'. The world has gone awry as far as justice, beauty, and relationships are concerned. Wright paints the gospel as a rescue operation that God has launched forth through a historical nation Israel which culminates in the person of Jesus, who is Israel's Messiah and the Saviour of the world. The church is called to wake up to this good news by imbibing the word by which God's power works in and through us.We are called forth to be part of the church through the practices of baptism, worship, prayer and joint family venture as God puts the world to rights. Wright hence puts quite a bit of time into discussing the nature of the bible and its central place in the Christian community.

This way of presenting the faith has I think an advantage of connecting with the postmodern penchant for stories and how the Christian story addresses real space-time issues. However, having first read Mere Christianity, my verdict is that it does not somehow leave me with as deep a satisfaction intellectually or spiritually in comparison. I cannot quite put a finger on it yet but I guess it lacks the profundity and (greater)universal resonance of Lewis' writings which makes it the enduring classic that it is. Further, there is much more to the good news of Jesus than can be captured by the notion of a 'cosmic rescue operation'. As such, it may not connect with a lot of people for whom faith has more to do with the hard-nosed conception of truth and those that long for a less utilitarian sort of relationship, the bible calls 'communion' with God and others. I hope I am making sense here!
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The Creative Word
by Walter Brueggemann
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a canonical approach to religious education, October 10, 2010


This review is from: The Creative Word (Paperback)
This is an interesting read on what the Hebrew scripture could teach us concerning biblical/theological formation. He uses the tripartite division of the old testament - Torah-Prophets-Writings (Jer 18:18)- as a basic framework for his reflection. He points out that historically this is the order by which the OT scripture was canonised and that this canonical process could shed light on the educational journey of Israel as she moves from a period of certitude (Torah) to a time of disruption by 'new truths' (Prophets) to a time of settling down with the mundane and the mystery (Writings).

This sheds light on the church's appropriation, transmission and growing with the scriptures. How to be faithful in handing down the living tradition without fossilizing it. Brueggemann thus helps us with living out the Word of God faithfully and expectantly for God's words to be spoken afresh and embraced in each generation. The final chaper 'obedience as a mode of knowledge' draws the three strands of God's ethos, pathos and logos into a common mode of discourse: dialogue. Ala Martin Buber's 'I-Thou' conception of true knowledge, Brueggeman shows from the Psalms how Israel's mode of knowing is essentially a dialogic one. Once again, this astute professor has a way of opening up the bible in a fresh and surprising way to any reader who is willing to be taken in wonder by the Word of God.
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The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God--Getting Beyond the Bible Wars
by N. T. Wright
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a narratival perspective in understanding scriptural authority, October 10, 2010


This review is from: The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God--Getting Beyond the Bible Wars (Paperback)
'The Last Word', no doubt a rather odd title when taken in a certain way, is Premier British scholar NT Wright's contribution to getting hold of what it means to submit to the bible as *the last word* for all matters spiritual and ethical. Here, he surveys and critiques the major approaches taken by the church throughout the centuries on what that subject before offering his own - dubbed the 'five-act' hermeneutics. Wright's approach makes much of a narrative reading. He invites us to see the bible as telling a grand story from beginning to end. We can properly see where scripture is leading us to only when we find our place within that larger story. Therein, we imbibe the values and praxis of a people committed to God's/Christ's authority and God's work of renewing his creation through the cross and the power of the Spirit.

Personally, Wright's approach has enriched my reading of scripture. Rather than treating each pericope as a completely self-contained word for the day, I learn to ask what relation it has on the grand scheme of things. It has helped me see that many of the NT stories, doctrines and instructions have to do with God's already-and-not-yet kingdom. This has further concretized for me what it means to be church - not a loose collection of individuals using the bible as a DIY manual to help ourselves but a people called to participate in God's cosmic redemption.

It is a quick read for those familiar with Wright's critical realist approach discussed at length in his magnum opus 'New Testament and the People of God'. I reckon that given much postmodern reinvention of Christianity and the rise of biblical illiteracy in our day, this is a helpful tool that will help steer the ship back on course. For a follow-up read, I would recommend Ben Witherington's 'The Living Word' which will take us further along in our appreciation of what sort of book the Bible is and guide us through some practical issues people have in reading and obeying it.
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We Have Seen His Glory: A Vision of Kingdom Worship (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies Series)
by Ben Witherington
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vision of worship with an eschatological focus, September 6, 2010


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Ben Witherington with his characteristic way with words brings his expert NT knowledge to bear on the subject of worship. This is a comparatively short book compared to the many academic tomes this prolific writer has churned out. It is probably targeted at the thoughtful Christian readers who sit in the pew wondering what the bible has to say about worship, given that worship cannot simply be a habit shaped by one's church tradition or the secular culture rather than what God has said about it. Witherington has some sharp things to say about Christians caught up in the 'what's in it for me?' culture of our time because he contends that worship is about God's glory rather than ours and more of what we do in response to his worth than what we hope to get out of the transaction. On another prong, he challenges the slavish carryover of Judaic practices such as Sabbath, priesthood, sacrifices and temple into Christian worship. While he notes the continuity with the old covenant, he puts the emphasis on the discontinuity by virtue of what Christ has fulfilled through his life, death and resurrection. He therefore restores the Christ event to the center of Christian worship.

The Christ event does not simply call for a backward look into the past but forward to the heavenly worship pictured in Rev 4-5. Our worship ought to recognise the inbreaking of God's kingdom with the first Easter as well as the advanced taste of worship in the new cosmos following the final Easter. This helps situates Christian worship in the proper place within the larger salvation historical narrative.

Witherington fleshes out this eschatological focus of worship by taking us through various NT texts that deal with the various components of Christian worship - preparing to be caught up in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, preaching, singing, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Prayer and the labors of love. In reading this book, one gets the message that much of what gets passed for worship today suffers from some serious deficits - the narcissism, the shallow theological content, the disconnect between worship and life- to name just a few. This is therefore an important contribution to educating pastors, worship planners/leaders and all the people of God participating in worship. The discussion questions appended to each chapter will be useful for small group study.

If worship is the chief end of human existence, then Witherington's call to re-examine and reform our service to God in the light of scripture is an important one. But he does more than call. He has given us this basic primer with which to start exploring what it means to truly worship in the Spirit and in truth.

My only criticism is that it could be better organised around some logical structure or familiar liturgical movements. I find myself bogged down quite easily by the disparate concerns of the selected New Testament passages (as it is the nature of the NT materials to be occasion-based). It reads at times like a cut and paste pastiche of commentary on bible texts related to worship. This leads to the unfortunate (probably unintended) glossing over of the Lord's Supper, which was strangely subsumed as a small subsection under the chapter devoted to talking about the sermon. In fact, if there is one place where eschatology should come to a sharp focus, would it not be the Eucharist? Notwithstanding this flaw, Witherington's textual expositions are as in many of his commentary writings solid and inspiring. But readers need to keep in mind the overarching theme of eschatological worship to avoid getting lost in the interesting bits.

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Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life
by Darryl Tippens
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a helpful retreat companion, September 5, 2010


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I find this book to be a good guide to soul care.. to be put alongside books like 'Keeping the Sabbath Holy' (Dawn) and 'Testament of Devotion'(Kelly). The gentle, conversational tone immediately puts you in the state to receive soul food, soul care and rest. Indeed, in my own frantic world of speed, tight schedule and demands, this is a welcome reminder to slow down and take ourselves a little less seriously and let God be God. For example, I took his suggestion to sometimes take the slowest lane to deliberately drive at a lower gear! Tippens suggests helpful way to prevent the rigor of discipleship and vocation from becoming anemic for the lack of space and time to receive the fresh dews of God's nourishment through the practices of spiritual reading, hospitality, forgiveness, music, art, story-telling and rest. It is still a difficult discipline for me despite the number of very good materials I've read on the subject. The balance between work and rest remains a delicate one to maintain. But Tippens has a knack of slowing you down with every page and opening up a space amidst the clutter so we can breathe deep from the eternal source of life. It is however a different kind of book than what i thought the title suggests. With the title 'the way of Jesus in everyday life' I was expecting to read about the pathos of the suffering cross and the rigor of discipleship but what I have found instead is a congenial retreat companion that every serious Christ-follower will benefit from for its timely reminder to take breaks, care for one's own heart, travel light and enjoy the journey. For the weary, struggling, hurting and beleaguered pilgrims, Tippens has written a balm full of gentle wisdom.