how to live with the rich

What to do about it part three! This one is all about setting up a Rule of Life in regards to our finances. We talk about asking and answering the following questions as a means to put action to our faith, and align our lives to both the heart and the commands of God when it comes to financial giving: 

1. Step one: Take an audit. 

·    What are your assets, debts, and earnings?

·    How much have you made in your lifetime?

·    W...

Today’s podcast is part two of our “what to do about it” series, and this  episode is all about setting what is called a Rule of Life. A Rule of Life is an intentional set of practices that are used to guard our habits and guide our lives;  structure upon which our greatest desires are brought into alignment with the practices and habits of our everyday existence. 

In the episode today I reference John Mark Comer and his fantastic r...

We are on the podcast home stretch! This episode is part one of four “what to do about it” episodes. This one is all about where we have come so far over the past 20 episodes (a long way!), and what I believe is the foundational ingredient to eradicating global poverty and being a part of positive, practical change, which (spoiler alert) is: getting upset and raising our expectations. 

We all need to find a way to move forward from ...

Today’s episode is the second half of the two-part series on materialism and minimalism. 

Minimalism is the intentional choice to live with less. It is a set of deliberate life choices designed to to simplify our lives in order to magnify what really matters; including (but not limited to) the Kingdom of God, service, and relationships with others.

We cover some practical tools for pairing down our possessions, and I recommend five r...

Today’s episode launches a two part series on materialism and minimalism. 

Materialism is the belief and supporting actions that money, possessions, and comfort are the most important matter to obtain in life. It is a set of lifestyle and worldview practices that is so deeply entrenched within our current culture; a culture that depends and feeds upon our perpetual dissatisfaction and discontentment. 

 Our current levels of material ...

Today’s episode is all about the (horrible and awful) global fashion, textile, and clothing industry. Here are some highlights (lowlights?):

• 1 in 6 people around the world currently work in some part of the fashion industry, making it the largest labor force on earth. 
• It is a $3 trillion annual industry that currently produces over 80 billion new pieces of clothing per year, which far exceeds either necessity or demand. This is ...

Today’s episode is all about the earth! And specifically the fact that 82%  percent of the costs associated with climate change are burdened on the poor, and often by the countries who contribute the least to global emissions. This is obviously deeply unfair, as 50% of global emissions are created by the wealthiest 7% percent of the world’s population. And thus, the poor majority are paying the cost of the wealthy minority’s unsust...

Today’s episode is all about the global inequality of food. We live in a world of food crisis; with starvation and obesity epidemics co-existing side-by-side, and food (on mass) going to waste in the midst of it. 

On the podcast today, we talk about what we can do to close this gap both locally and globally, to be a part of daily and Biblical justice and righteousness, and to provide all people with their basic human right to food.

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This week’s episode is all about health and education - and the vast, deep and terrible inequalities that exist within both arenas globally.

Both healthcare and education are huge, important, and life-changing things that we who live within the minority world too often take for granted. 

Suggested resources for continued education:

BOOKS

Corbett, S., & Fikkert, B. (2009, June 24). When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty withou...

Today’s episode is all about short-term mission trips! The $2 billion annual industry that takes 2+ million Americans on national and international trips each year. Why do we do this, and what (if any) are the benefits short and long-term?

At their best, short-term trips are powerful and transformative experiences both for those who are going, and for those who are receiving the team. However, at their worst they can be a tremendous...

Part three and final of our mini-series on the problem! Namely why we can hurt people when our intention is to help them. 

This week, we talk about the problem with emergency principals, and the difference between relief, rehabilitation, and development. 

By seeing poverty through a strictly material lens, and giving others ongoing emergency relief, not only do we assert ourselves as in every way superior, but we also undermine the G...

Today’s episode is part two of our three part mini-series on the problem, and this one is all about the foundational roots - which find themselves in paternalism and on the back of WWII.

We talk about Poverty Inc, the Haitian rice market, TOMS shoes, and aid as a new form of colonialism, and conclude that with more aid comes less independence, which in turn creates dependency issues that fuels the $153 billion per year global aid an...

Today’s episode introduces a whole new mini-series all about the problem! The problem being that often when we try to help the poor, we cause them harm. 

On this episode, I introduce the series with a case-study on the global orphanage industry, and conclude that we, as Christians, as the church, and as individuals need to look at the systems of help within our world, analyze them, and act in accordance to both the mandate of script...

Today’s episode is all about HOPE! The eternal and never-ending forever kind of hope we have in Jesus, and the real-life-tangible hope we have in the world of global poverty alleviation. 

Ending extreme global poverty within our lifetime is a very real possibility, as evidenced by the abundance of past success. The past thirty-ish years have seen extreme poverty cut in half! 

We do not have to live in a world where people do not have...

Welcome to the misconception! Our second ever bonus episode, and this one all about the so-very-often misunderstood verse where Jesus says “you will always have the poor with you.”

Did Jesus mean this as an eternal promise for all people, for all time? Or, is it better understood within its cultural context?

We talk about Alaskan old people, alabaster perfume, mid-sentence context shifting, misrepresenting the heart of the Lord, and ...

Part four and final of our Bible series, this episode is all about the tithe and why Christians do not give.

We take a look at both sides of the to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe argument by going back to the beginning and working our way through the word.  As it turns out, the tithe is not so much about straining gnats and swallowing camels (as I always say), but instead it comes down to the bigger and more beautiful picture of God’s heart ...

Part three of our four part Bible series, and this one is all about the controversial Bible-y topics of works and rewards. 

We start off in 1878 with a group of Armenian monks, and soak up the goodness of what it means to be a new people with something divine amongst the midst of us. Part of following Jesus is a way of being; one which has always been characterized by moral character, human dignity, and care for the poor.  Our works...