Often the church's efforts addressing poverty involve performing acts of service for or to the poor. These acts are sometimes motivated more by one's own needs or self-interest than by a genuine concern for the poor. Tina Carter and Mindy Johnson-Hicks invite readers to take a different approach. In The Wealth of Poverty they invite readers to develop mutual relationships with persons of different economic groups and to foster a deeper understanding of the culture of poverty and the surprising wealth found there. - Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.

"On earth as it is in Heaven," seven words Jesus spoke to put feet on the Gospel...A Bias Toward Action teaches gracious Means which put feet to "On earth as it is in Heaven." We spent this entire book imagining you and praying for you. We pray for those of you who find action effortless, we pictured you reading the words of these pages, saying, "of course, that is so obvious...if only everyone would read this book." We also pictured those who would put down this book several times. We imagined those of you who would find this book heartless, not suited for real ministry work which embodies the gentleness and persistent tenacious love we see in Gospels. After all, God sent Jesus, the only Son, into a world full of broken people who would choose to crucify the Christ rather than give up their own deeply sinful biases. The Gospels, though, appear in context between the ministries of the Hebrew Bible and those organizations arising from the apostolic efforts. To consider the Incarnation of Jesus as the only face of God is to cut out a significant portion of God's literary self-identification in Sacred Texts. As Wesley often said, the whole tenor of Scripture needs consideration to arrive at truth. We imagine and pray for you, and live in hope that you find a bias toward action, as the Hebrews did, as the Apostles did, as the ancient and future faith-holders have done. Tina - My husband says I have a bias toward action and I think he's right. My idea of a life well lived includes actions that result in God getting praise. A life well lived includes intentionality and a willingness to risk. I have lived my life trying to dance with God rather than waiting to make sure I know every step before I enter the dance floor. My idea of a Christian life well lived usually plays out more like a comedy improv than a perfectly scripted drama. This book is written in response to so many people who have heard about the ministries that have been started and continue at the