By: Mary Mims on September 6, 2018
The Ghetto, the hood, the projects, and slums, are all names of places that conjure up images of darkness that nobody chooses to go, and certainly not to go and live in by choice. I did not grow up in the ghetto, but I grew up close enough to it that I knew the trappings…
By: Rhonda Davis on September 6, 2018
I am consistently inspired and awed by what God can do through one human life. The fact that He continues to use His broken, flawed creation to bring about redemption in the world is astounding. Pullinger’s story is a beautiful narrative of just how much God loves all of humanity. I am particularly intrigued by…
By: Jenn Burnett on September 6, 2018
I feel a deep connection to Jackie Pullinger’s story because I consider her a spiritual grandmother. Years ago a mentor and friend of mine saw a very short clip of a documentary on what Jackie was doing and promptly bought a ticket to Hong Kong. What he witnessed was completely outside any experience our denomination…
By: Mario Hood on September 6, 2018
Reading through Chasing the Dragon the thought that kept running through the mind was, this is the 29th Chapter of the Book of Acts. I was challenged in many ways while reading the book but will look at three in this brief post. At first, I wanted to define Pullinger’s faith as simple, but it…
By: Andrea Lathrop on September 6, 2018
Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. I kept thinking this while reading Chasing the Dragon[1]. I have heard this statement from a number of leaders over the years. And I think this encouragement is helpful in an era when the negative noise and news has never been louder. This fights against…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on September 6, 2018
In her succinct and classic homiletic text “Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art,” Dr. Nora Tubbs Tisdale discusses the art of “exegete-ing” a local community. Exegesis is a skill many seminarians learn early in their career. To best preach the text, you must first exegete the text. I learned Biblical exegesis by looking at…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on September 6, 2018
Early in the reading I thought, “A title equally befitting Pullinger’s Chasing the Dragon would be Acts 29-46 (MSG)!” The stories were much like those we read of the early Apostles where the light breaks through the darkness and is described with the plain speak of The Message paraphrase. From the opening chapter to the…
By: Sean Dean on September 6, 2018
When I was about fifteen my aunt received her foster license and shortly after had a young boy placed with her. He had had a difficult childhood and as such bore the psychological scars of those difficulties. Anyone who has been a foster parent of a child with a similar background can tell you, helping…
By: Digby Wilkinson on September 5, 2018
I first read Chasing the Dragon in the 1980’s. [1] At the time, Jackie Pullinger was a superstar among missionaries as far as angsty New Zealand teenagers were concerned. She spoke plainly, unreservedly and often confrontationally. Jackie was a force majure to institutional faith, and she got away with it because few clerics were prepared…
By: Karen Rouggly on September 5, 2018
“Ah Ping could really talk when he got warmed up. I respected his honesty, for few Chinese ever tell Westerners what they really feel about them. ‘You Westerners – you come here and tell us about Jesus. You can stay for a year or two, and your conscience will feel good, and then you can…
By: Harry Edwards on September 5, 2018
I was listening to a sermon on the radio the other day and the pastor preached on a familiar passage. In his talk he mentioned that the verses were simple to understand, mysterious to comprehend and difficult to put into practice. These words resonated with me as it brought me back to the story of…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on September 4, 2018
Jackie Pullinger quickly discovered that she needed the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit for her work among addicts in the Walled City. “Jesus did not promise running shoes in the hereafter to the lame man. He made him walk. He not only preached but also demonstrated that he was God. He made blind…
