2011-11-10T10:53:52-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/justice http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/who-stole-the-cross-6479 2011-11-10T10:53:52-05:00 We should be outraged! We've allowed Jesus' cross to be stolen from the center of our hearts, and our ministries, and our conversations. "The message of the cross," 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, "is...the power of God." I need to be as passionate about elevating that cross as the world and the devil are about eliminating it. http://ivpress.com/likewisebooks/ 2010-11-04T11:36:07-05:00 Likewise books are meant to help you make those choices. The good news is that culture adapts and changes. So we can shape what it will be. We can make culture, faithfully. That's Likewise. Go and do. Likewise books, at their best, should work like parables. Books like The New Friars or Practical Justice are pictures of active faith meant to inspire you to get onto your donkey, or into your '92 Geo Metro, and go and do something similar. Something "likewise." http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2032:4&version=NIV 2009-10-06T16:45:19-05:00 This verse proclaims that in all things, God is just. He is faithful in His righteousness. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%206:10&version=KJV 2009-09-27T21:19:44-05:00 Even though it might seem to our limited perspective that God isn't as just or righteous as the Bible teaches, we can be assured that He will ultimately bring true justice to the world, rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah%206:8&version=NIV 2009-09-25T11:49:16-05:00 The importance of justice is emphasized over and over in the Bible, but it's almost always linked to the equally important exercise of mercy. Here, we're told that God's desire for us boils down to simply practicing and loving both justice and mercy. Neither can exist without the other. http://hutchcraft.com/a-life-that-matters/radio-program/the-chief-and-the-thief-8247 2009-09-14T14:26:50-05:00 He was known as one of the most respected Indian chiefs of his time; he had this unblemished reputation for being totally loving toward his people, but also totally just when it came to judging those who did wrong. He was troubled that someone from their village had been stealing pelts from his people. He let it be known that the thief would be tied to a stake in the middle of the village when the sun was high and beaten with twenty lashes of the whip. And then he set a trap to catch the thief. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2042:3-4&version=NIV 2009-09-09T11:38:54-05:00 Isaish uses the imagery of a bruised reed in chapter 42. He says that God will not break any bruised reeds or snuff out smoldering wicks. While God is seeking justice he will be faithful to those that have been injured. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2012&version=NIV 2009-08-07T11:42:17-05:00 The prophet Nathan confronts David, who has just murdered one of his faithful soldiers and stolen his wife. Nathan tells a story that prompts David to condemn himself with his own words. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2024:17-22&version=NIV 2009-07-27T17:00:53-05:00 Throughout the Bible, God's people are exhorted to care for the outcasts and rejected, and orphans certainly fit that description in the Biblical world. Here, the Israelites are commanded to make sure that justice is available even to the fatherless and foreigners. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exod.23.1-Exod.23.8&version=NIV 2009-07-16T08:57:53-05:00 This passage from Exodus emphasizes the twin aspects of justice and mercy. As we can see here, God's law in the Old Testament wasn't just about keeping people from sin. It asked people to actively work to create a just and merciful society, helping those in need and refraining from corruption and dishonesty.