Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds by Tom Davis
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Book Reviews of Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds
Book Review: Conviction with Hope. Tired of Being Selfish - Read This Book. Youth/Small Group Leaders -- Take Note!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have turned away from pictures of swollen-bellied starving children.
It's not that I don't care. It's that I care so much.
I've helped emotional basket cases until I couldn't tell where they ended and I began and I had to step away to save my own sanity.
I made eye contact with a two or three-year-old-girl one day. I watched her walk down the hall and smile over her shoulder until she disappeared around the corner. My heart broke for her because her little face was dirty and her adult seemed harsh. I still pray for that child, years later, and my eyes still fill with tears.
My friend just surrendered an eleven-month-old foster baby back to the conditions into which it was born. A mother who has no children though she's given birth eight times. An addict who was clean for four months and therefore earned her right to a child she poisoned with drugs.
To say that Red Letters - a Faith that Bleeds sucker punched me is an understatement. I didn't want to read the statistics of pandemics and poverty. I live so far away. What can I do for those dying in Africa and India when I can't seem to make a difference in my own neighborhood?
But Tom Davis tells the truth without leaving bleakness and hopelessness behind. Little steps towards help and healing are all it takes. After presenting the history and the medical details of AIDS and extreme poverty, Tom then encourages and charges believers in Jesus to offer cups of water and mercy to the "least of these."
I appreciated the practical help options and I appreciated Tom's charge.
If you have someone who is difficult to buy gifts for then buy them this book and make a donation on their behalf.
Red Letters -- with a little work -- could be a great small group/youth group discussion piece. Make Red Letters a building block for a learning project -- try something like looking into the provided medical and historical information regarding AIDS and then making it personal. Assign each person in the group to bring a local story and then as a group do something about them. Or decide as a group to begin a weekly five hour fast and/or one less pop or coffee purchase then pool your money and "adopt" a child or ministry. Take it outside of church. Why not start a "healing" fund at work. Maybe those who are involved could take turns making treats from Fair Trade products, selling them, and sending the proceeds to an organization. There are additional suggestions in the back of the book. Selling products made in a third world country to help supplement income is one of the options.
I'd suggest Red Letters to anyone who is sick and tired of feeling selfish, or who is disgusted with a society made up of millions of people who are out for Number 1.
Warning: This is a heavy, but quick and well-written read, and it will leave readers feeling convicted.
Davis wondered what the world would look like if we all chose to do something to help others. As I watch out my window at the falling snow I can't help but realize that one tiny, unique snowflake falling from the sky, mixing with other unique snowflakes, within hours, even minutes changes the face of a neighborhood. Couldn't one good decision after another mix into a warm blanket of love and charity that can change the world? I think so. If you do too, then start today.
Book Review: Very Challenging and Practical
Summary: 5 Stars
I really liked this very readible, convicting yet practical book. With heart-wrenching stories Davis shines the spot light on the devastation surrounding the issues of world poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. His message to the church is that the gospel is not just to be read, but it is to be lived. Furthermore, there is absolutely no excuse for the church to not step up to the task. He writes:
"Poverty has many faces and none of them is pretty. Consider these difficult-to-comprehend facts: 1.2 billion people are estimated to live on less than one dollar per day, and almost 3 billion on less than two dollars per day. Do the math: That's 3.9 billion of the 6.5 billion people who live in our world.
Doesn't it seem ridiculous to you that billions of people are living in poverty? With all our wealth, all our technology, and all our resources, why haven't we solved this problem? Almost 2.5 million children die every year because of malaria. Hello? We have medicine that kills malaria. It's cheap. It's easy to transport. Yet, we aren't doing what it takes to get the medicine to the people who need it. Here's a surprising and disturbing truth about poverty that really ticks me off: It's preventable."
In regards to AIDS, which Davis calls the "greatest crisis" he states the following:
"Experts tell us World War II killed 62 million people. Even with all of the advances in medicine, AIDS continues on a path to eclipse that number, having already killed 25 million people since the first case in 1981. The UN estimates that 39.5 million people are now living with HIV. Of that total, 4.3 million were new infections in 2006. There were 2.9 million AIDS deaths in 2006, the highest number reported in any year. How do you describe a crisis like this? Catastrophic? Disastrous? Devastating? Words just can't paint an accurate picture of what this disease is doing to our world. Dr. Peter Piot, the executive director of UNAIDS, said, "Countries are not moving at the same speed as their epidemics." Without rapid improvements, the pandemic will only worsen, the officials said. This is the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced."
Davis doesn't leave the topics of poverty and AIDS without some specific ways to get involved. "Taking a step of faith can rescue someone from poverty, provide life-saving medicine for a person suffering from AIDS, or offer an educational opportunity otherwise unavailable to a school-age child."
In the last chapter of Red Letters Davis shares 5 things every person can do to help the 50 million people in our world suffering from HIV/AIDS. Here's how it works:
Give 5 minutes a day to pray for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Give 5 hours a week to fast for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Give 5 dollars a month to the Five for 50 Fund and support worthy causes.
Give 5 days a year to travel overseas & help alleviate poverty & suffering.
Give 5 people an opportunity to join you on your journey.
You can learn more about what you and your church can do at www.fivefor50.com
Book Review: Living the Letters
Summary: 5 Stars
In his latest book Red Letters, Living a Faith that Bleeds Tom Davis leads us into a world that so many of us could not conceive of, the life of an orphan ravaged by the blight of the 21st century, that blight of course is A.I.D.S. He goes much further then reminding us of our Biblical mandate to take care of the widow and orphan and shows us how we, as God's church, can reach out in practical and life giving ways and make a difference. It is a full out indictment of the church and how we have treated this in the past, and then it provides us with the motivation to go and do something about our previous apathy.
The last 30 pages of the book are dedicated to providing you with the practical resources to get involved. Some of it may be familiar, and some of it will not. Please take the time to read the list of organizations and worthy causes that he has compiled and prayerfully get involved. You will not be disappointed. One such campaign of note that Tom himself has recently started is called 5 for fifty.
Soon the world will see it's 50,000,000 (yes that is million) case of A.I.D.S. The unfortunate fact is that it will probably happen to an orphan, and likely in Africa. Without the mobilization of the church it will only get worse. 5 for fifty is 5 steps you can take to begin to change the plight of the orphan.
1) Give 5 minutes a day to prayer for those with HIV/AIDS.
2) Give 5 hours a week to fast for those with HIV/AIDS.
3) Give 5 dollars a month to the 5 to fifty fund to support worthy causes in the regions hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.
4) Give 5 days a year to travel over seas and to work to alleviate the suffering and burdens of children in extreme poverty and burdened with HIV/AIDS.
5) Give 5 people the opportunity to join you in your journey. Not necessarily traveling to the area if you do not have the monetary resources, but sharing about what you are doing in the first three with others and encouraging them to join you.
Tom has written a book that is close to my heart. I work for Compassion International and we are well aware of what HIV is doing to our children. I am forever grateful for Tom and his willingness to shake the church out of it's slumber and say "arise, go forth and do great things in the name of Jesus" The church, allied with governments and other N.G.O.'s has the ability to eradicate A.I.D.S, and to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the same time. Let's step out and do it. God will be in our midst.
Carl Holmes
www.thoughtsofagyrovague.com
Book Review: Is it our problem? Davis takes a stand...and calls "us" out!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Davis' first book, Fields of the Fatherless, earlier this year and it made me revisit my priorities; and it changed my perspective regarding the world I live in...the community I live in. Davis' heart for orphans is undeniable. Davis' vision for caring for orphans is the foundation of the Children's Hopechest (www.Childrenshopechest.com) organization in which Tom Davis is President.
In Red Letters, Davis pulls out all the stops and calls on the Christian church, Americans, me..and you to stop ignoring, start talking, and take action. Davis makes a convincing argument for us to stop acting like HIV/AIDS is not "our" problem.
I was shocked when I read the following statement....."Six and a half thousand Africans are still dying every day of preventable, treatable disease for lack of drugs we [Americans] can by at any drug store."
"Preventable"....."Treatable"
There are several stories in Red Letters that are heart breaking as well as shocking....but yet, as Davis points out, we choose to be deaf, dumb, and blind to what is happening in Africa, what is happening to the world. Even, as Bono of the famed U2 brings attention to the horror of HIV/AIDS....we continue to live in the "me" world.
Davis sums up Red Letters, in my opinon, with this statement...."This is not about charity: This is about Justice and Equality." Davis drives his point home...."We" are letting the "injustice" happen. I am not sure I agree with the usage of the word "justice," but Davis brings attention to what is happening in Africa. The question is "how numb are we?" Is it because it is surreal?
I love the statement in the book (that is a Wealth Lifeline (TM) core value)..."Building walls around our possessions and our lives leads to selfishness and hardened hearts." This is so true and so obvious....but the world's view of wealth encourages this.
The Wealth Lifeline (TM) definition of "wealth" is "To love and be loved." Yet....we focus on being loved by doing all the wrong things...."buy building walls around our possessions...." When we do this...it is impossible to love....and impossible to come close to see the world through Christ's eyes.
Tom Davis' Red Letters will shock you into reality, if you let it.....the question is....will "we" do anything about it?
Rob Powell
www.wealthlifelines.com
Book Review: Warning: This book will wreck your status-quo
Summary: 5 Stars
I will never play the game Chicken with Tom Davis. I would lose, guaranteed.
Tom Davis, author of Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds has the ability, through his writing, to stare you directly in the eye and speak truth that takes your breath away. He begins Red Letters with an apology on behalf of the Christian church, to the 25 million people currently infected with HIV/AIDS. He apologizes for our unwillingness to respond to the Bible's 'red letters'... those words set apart in some Bibles as Christ's own. And Davis clearly outlines his take on Gospel: "The only Gospel worth living is the one that incarnates love. The only Gosepl worth giving our lives for is the one that elevates the needs of others above our own. That's what the "good news" is all about."
Davis weaves biblical passages with his own experiences working with orphans in places like Russia and Swaziland. He names the fears that keep us immobile. He provides statistics that stun. He looks at the sanctity of life and call to justice. He names the immense needs faced by so many of our children living around the world.
But in the most amazing way, Davis does not try to shame us into action. Rather, he informs, inspires and then provides a host of resources to help us follow through with the call Christ has placed into each of our hearts. Somehow he maintains hope for the orphans... and hope for us.
My green highlighter got a work out. While this is not a technically difficult book to read, it was very challenging. Davis takes away any excuse to be inactive because of ignorance. There were many passages I could have chosen to share, but I felt like they were really speaking to my own failings (you've got to appreciate a book that feels like it was written just for you). But I will add here a quote from Mother Theresa that is used in a chapter called A Call to Justice:
"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed."
The proceeds from the sale of these books goes back in to feeding orphans. In fact, the profits from each book will feed a child for a month. Seriously.
This is an important book. Challenging. Practical. Loving, in the most Christ-like way...