What is the best way to live life on the planet?

This question driving a global conversation and the birth of a ministry originated by Dr. Thom Wolf, is this: What is the best way to live life on the planet? He has been exploring this question in conversations in the global south (Southeast Asia, Middle East, and in the Western Hemisphere) for decades. He is launching TWIGS, Thom Wolf Institute for Global Studies and focusing on tools, resources, and other materials designed to enliven the global conversation. The question is timely as we witness the challenge among world religions or even no religion to figure out the best way to live life now. Wolf’s gift is to make complex topics simple. Simple enough to understand and hard to forget. More to come about TWIGS.

Over 15 years ago, I wrote a blog on this topic with this title: Seeds, Deeds, and Weeds. I wrote to reflect on a trip to Bangladesh and New Delhi, India to learn about ministry among vulnerable children and families in that part of the world. I was amazed to witness a sister ministry engaging people in abject poverty through micro-finance and other economic support systems along with the reason for our faith. It was a fascinating trip, one that has shaped me over the years.

Wolf has shared the thread of the answer to this question from the Prophet Micah (Micah 6:8) through the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 23:23) and finally landing in the teaching of the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:13). If the thread of these teachings were to be woven into a blanket, they would spell Seeds, Deeds, and Weeds. These are the three actions designed to engage the global conversation effectively. We must be ready to share a verbal witness of our faith in Christ (Seeds); demonstrate the love of Christ through acts of service to those around us (Deeds); and stand with anyone suffering from an injustice of any kind regardless of their faith or non-faith commitments (Weeds). These three strands give us a clue, a hint, a sense of direction for how to share faith in the 21st century.

I plan to integrate the concept of Seeds, Deeds, and Weeds into the current book I am writing. The Jesus Agenda was about the ministry of Jesus outlined in the first sermon he preached in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30); Hope Now is about the balance of spiritual and physical ministry based on the commissioning of the seventy-two (Luke 10:1-9); and Never Alone is a biblical-theological treatise for the 21st century family. The next book I am writing reflects the management and leadership philosophy of Dr. Robert Cooke Buckner, founder of Buckner International. When I visited the Scott Collins Center for Buckner Heritage and Learning at our Historic Campus, I noticed a signed with a line from Dr. Buckner’s teaching: “Good Words, Good Works, and Good Will.” This tagline summarized the ministry philosophy of Buckner 146 years ago and I plan to link it to Seeds, Deeds, and Weeds in my next book. These are 1st century concepts for the 21st century.