By Sarah Heynemann, reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. Photo by Sarah Heynemann, taken in Chora Church, Istanbul. “Whom do you position on the throne of Heaven?” Some things in life are truly unpredictable and beyond our control. As a doctor I have a responsibility to inform my patients regarding the desired benefits of a proposed treatment strategy,…
By David Williamson Labor Day Morning is traditionally the last day of summer and the beginning of Fall. Regular hours, routine, work…as I reflect on this year’s Labor Day, at first I’m grumpy. Not only because of the end of summer, with anticipation of Minnesota’s winter, but primarily from thinking about the way Labor Day is treated by society, and…
By Klaus Issler; part three of a series. Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. This series wrestles with the question: Does the Old Testament teach that charging interest on a loan is sinful? Deuteronomy 23:19 states: “You shall not charge interest on loans [nāšak II, verb] to your brother, interest [nešek, noun] on money, interest [nešek] on food, interest [nešek] on anything that…
By Dan Steiner, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Artwork: Light the Lamps, Justin Reddick, mixed media on canvas, 30” x 40”, private collection (used with permission) Justin Reddick wears many hats. He is a husband, father, artist, seminary student and the religious services assistant and creative arts platform facilitator at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. I first met Justin after a lecture I…
By Meryl Herr, reprinted from Made to Flourish. Ten years ago, I was the woman who neurotically hummed “Great is Thy Faithfulness” wherever she went. My husband and I had completed a two-year pastoral residency in the middle of the Recession, and we struggled to find full-time work in our fields. I worked retail while my husband worked odd jobs. With…
By Claire Greenwood, reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:12 Most of us want to get continually better at what we do. However, have you reached the point…
By Lisa Slayton; part two of a series. Reprinted from The Wholeness Journey. MYTH #1: PURSUE YOUR PASSION MYTH #1: You should pursue your passion and find your dream job. This is a big one, and has a related Myth – Myth #1.1, that you should seek a job that “makes an impact.” There is a commonly held adage that furthers this myth:…
By Matthew B. Harper, a resident in a Virginia prison. Reprinted from Living God’s Mission. “What is your ministry?” As I have worked my way through the church’s discernment process, I have struggled when someone asks me this. And it gets asked a lot. It is a good question because it seeks to understand my role in community, and how I…
By Klaus Issler; part two of a series. Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. As we saw in part one of this series, for most of the history of the church, church leaders understood that the Old Testament taught a complete ban on any interest on money loans. The subject of this study is the matter of loans to fellow Israelites who had the potential…
By Abson Prédestin Joseph, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University has had an integrative mission from its founding in 2009. It is against this backdrop that we view our partnership with, and participation in, the Oikonomia Network. There are strong affinities between the way Wesley Seminary fulfills its mission to “prepare Christian leaders to engage in…
