Part two of a series. Reprinted from Ethos. In this series we are looking at six categories of spiritual formation while working. This post looks at the first three categories in detail: Holy Working, Gospel Working and Prayerful Working. Holy Working Once I was writing about work and spirituality, and someone commented: “I don’t know why you are making it so complicated.…
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 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 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…
Part one of a series. Reprinted from Ethos. In the late 1990s I was a mother of young children who had the opportunity of sitting in a class led by Robert Banks and Simon Holt about the theology of everyday life. It was one of the first units presented by a fledgling organisation, the Macquarie Christian Studies Institute (MCSI), led by Robert…
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…
