Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does

by Ash Barker, Shane Claiborne (Foreword by)

Overview

Poverty is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. But poverty is not new. And neither is God's deep concern for the poor—it is a theme deeply woven throughout the Bible. Yet sadly, churches and individual Christians have too often been blind to this emphasis, or they have been paralyzed into inaction by feelings of helplessness.

In this urgent, provocative book, Ash Barker offers both challenge and hope. Pulling out and reflecting on significant passages from both testaments, he reveals what the Bible says about both the nature of poverty and about how God calls his people to respond. These studies, ideal for either individual or small group use, are interlaced with personal reflections—first-hand accounts from fifteen years of ministry among the poor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801071898
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/01/2009
Series:	emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ash Barker is the founding director of Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH), a missionary order working among the poor begun in Melbourne, Australia, in 1993. Since 2002, Ash and his family have been serving in Klong Toey, the largest slum in Bangkok, Thailand, planting UNOH's first overseas community. He is the author of Surrender All and Finding Life.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Preface 13

Introduction 15

1 Beyond Excuses: Moses, the Exodus, and Courage to Face the Nature of Poverty 28

2 Hebrew Laws and "Always Having" Poverty 50

3 Hebrew Poetry and the Awesome Truth 64

4 Prophetic Ministry-Radical Hope from the Margins 83

5 The Gospels and Messianic Transformations 112

6 The Early Church: Standing Against Poverty Together 136

7 Epistles: Letters from Jail and Other Tough Places of Discipleship 158

8 Apocalypse Now: Last Things and the Things That Last 179

Final Challenge: Will We Make Poverty Personal? 194

Bibliography 201