Blog

You’re watching your favorite TV show when a commercial for world hunger comes on. Images of badly malnourished children appear on the screen . . . one after another after another. You are moved by these pictures and feel sadness, sympathy, and maybe compassion. You see and hear the appeal to give to an organization […]

I have been captivated for a week by a new book—Wonder Drug: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways That Serving Others Is the Best Medicine for Yourself by 2 doctors—Dr. Stephen Trzeciak and Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli. The book’s subtitle is a strong clue to its fascination for me, but it can be for you, too. Mazzarelli and […]

There is a common misconception that churches do a good job of serving people in need. That may be due to the fact that the news often reports churches responding to disasters or conducting high-profile compassion ministry events. But the fact is that a small percentage of believers are personally engaged in these ministries. Churches, […]

Several years ago, I heard something I have never forgotten (indirectly) from a minister friend I respect a great deal. He said something to the effect that he was in the process of shifting his hope for impact for good from the church to business. At the time, I heard that comment as one person’s […]

I love this story. Fred Craddock, a venerable and popular Methodist preacher of the recent past told a story from his seminary pastorate. The church had an Emergency Fund of about $100 (this dates back several decades). Church leaders told him that, as pastor, he could use the money to help people in need at […]

I was talking to another minister the other day when he told me about hearing a speaker recently talk about serving others “on the way.” (I don’t remember the speaker’s name, so if any of you recognize this and are bothered that I am not giving credit here, that’s why.) My friend said the speaker […]

I often get the question as to whether Gen Z is as willing to serve people in need as older generations. My response is Yes, they are . . . but maybe not exactly like my generation—Boomers. The question about Gen Z comes from the suspicion that younger folk are more self-centered and, therefore, less […]

My recent dive into all aspects of serving others has revealed way more applications of it than I ever expected. One is recovery from addiction. My research has shown it is virtually unanimous that serving others aids recovery from addiction. I share here the main points of just one of many online articles/blogs on this […]

Today is National Good Samaritan Day. Bet you didn’t know that. Truthfully, I didn’t either until our Administrative Director told me. March 13 is designated as Good Samaritan Day. The purpose of National Good Samaritan Day is just what you would expect—to encourage people to serve others as an act of compassion. Of course, the […]

Remember the sweet biblical story of baby Moses in the bullrushes? Pharoah had decreed that all male Jewish children would be killed as his way of limiting the Hebrew population in Egypt (Exodus 1 and 2). Moses’ mother hid baby Moses as long as she could but eventually made a basket boat of papyrus and […]