Philip Yancey has written an insightful piece for Christianity Today titled “A Surefire Investment” on the impact that the financial crisis should have on our prayer life.   A quote:

“A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in the government’s ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble.”

Read the article here.

The Washington Times is reporting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is signaling some big changes at USAID.  What the article doesn’t mention is that USAID has had three administrators in the last two years, so the agency is becoming accustomed to ‘change as the only constant’.

Tim Keller, the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, NY writes an interesting article on the role of service the poor in the Gospel. He asks two questions: (1) If we are committed to the primacy of the gospel, does the gospel itself serve as the basis and motivation for ministry to the poor? (2) If so, how then does that ministry relate to the proclamation of the gospel?

Read the article here.

Matthew Parris, an athiest, writes a fascinating case for evangelism in Africa in The London Times.

A Quote:
“Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being…offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.”

Read the entire article here.

 It looks like Rick Warren is continuing his PEACE Plan in Rwanda.  An article in Christianity Today online reports that he’s opened a campaign in Kigali Rwanda.

From the article:
“Never sacrifice sustainability for speed,” Warren said to U.S. business, government, and development agency representatives. “This conference is about partnership, not paternalism. The number one problem in international development is not lack of money, but lack of trust in local leaders to know what to do.”

Read the full article here.

Ben O’Dell, who serves as the Associate Director of the Faith-Based office at the Department of Health and  Human Services, recently conducted research that focused heavily on the AERDO HIV/AIDS Alliance.  He was working to learn if “religious identity could drive religious behavior within organizations, specifically collaboration, ”

The abstract for his findings, “The Power of the Space Between” is available here.  If you’d like to read Ben’s full report, please send me an email.

An article from CNN this week shows how Google is using its program, “Google Earth” to map the movement of refugees in crisis situations.  Read the full article here.

Adam Johnston, who led worship for the AERDO forum last year, passed along an article to me that might give encouragement to any of us who are feeling overextended. The article, from RELEVANT Magazine talks about how Jesus chose to minister in a world full of need.

Exerpt:
“[Jesus] was more than willing and able. It’s just that He had only a certain amount of time and a certain group of people to whom He was called to minister. And that’s it. He came to do His Father’s will and nothing else.“

Read the entire article here.

In our AERDO conference call with Dr. Kent Hill of USAID this morning he mentioned an article from First Things that affirms abstinence and fidelity in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Excerpt:
“If AIDS prevention is to be based on evidence rather than ideology or bias, then fidelity and abstinence programs need to be at the center of programs for general populations. Outside Uganda, we have few good models of how to promote fidelity, since attempts to advocate deep changes in behavior have been almost entirely absent from programs supported by the major Western donors and by AIDS celebrities. Yet Christian churches—indeed, most faith communities—have a comparative advantage in promoting the needed types of behavior change, since these behaviors conform to their moral, ethical, and scriptural teachings. What the churches are inclined to do anyway turns out to be what works best in AIDS prevention.“

Christianity Today’s Mark Galli has a fascinating interview with Walter Russell Mead, who argues that evangelicals should not abdicate the public square in the area of international affairs.

“Polling evidence shows that in places like Kenya, Nigeria, and other African countries where Christianity has become a very vibrant presence, people are optimistic about their future; they actually are glad to see American values playing a larger role in their countries.” Read the entire article here.