Reprinted from the Chalmers Center. In our Helping without Hurting in Benevolence Ministry training, we share principles and tools to help you build a ministry that leads to real change. But there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for every church. In order to create a benevolence program that works for your specific church context, you may need to make adjustments to fit your…
By Pam Tinsley, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. Over the past several weeks I’ve noticed a common theme in several sermons and reflections. “Listen, believe, and act” were the words of wisdom that my late friend Rena offered to her son-in-law years ago. In another instance, an engaging preacher reminded the congregation that “gratitude, study, and reflection” are the principal…
Reprinted from The 313. Workplace Discipleship 101: A Primer is a twelve-part introduction to the basics of following Jesus Christ (“discipleship”) in our workplace, wherever and whatever that may be – paid or volunteer, novice or veteran, blue collar, management, art, technology, child care . . . it all counts. It is available in print, e-book, and audiobook formats. And now…
By David Williamson. My wife and I cherish some marvelous art treasures, product of two exceptional artists, both from the United States and known internationally. Their work and that of a third artist have prompted me to reflect on the capacity of human work to create beauty, and the empowering Christ gives us for that calling. And that in turn…
By Isabelle Hamley, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Happy are thosewho do not follow the advice of the wicked,or take the path that sinners tread,or sit in the seat of scoffers;but their delight is in the law of the Lord,and on his law they meditate day and night. Psalm 1:1-3, NRSV Happy, or blessed, is the first…
Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. One of the most popular highlights of Karam Forum 2022 was our Friday morning session titled “Christian Entrepreneurship: Communities Thriving in a Changing World.” The session consisted of two parts. The first part presented research findings on Christians in business, with particular attention to entrepreneurs; the second featured local business leader Helen Young Hayes. (We’re…
Reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Defining poverty is not simply an academic exercise. The ways we define poverty – either implicitly or explicitly – play a major role in determining the solutions we use in our attempts to alleviate that poverty. When a sick person goes to the doctor, the doctor could make two crucial mistakes: (1) Treating symptoms instead…
Reprinted from Living God’s Mission. Dennis Raverty, writing for The Living Church, recently took a closer look at a widely-distributed 19th century print of a painting by George Caleb Bingham, titled The Jolly Flatboatmen. When the engraving was distributed to American Art-Union subscribers in 1846, some objected that the realistic subject matter was “uncouth.” Raverty believes that Bingham was intentionally mirroring a far more…
By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. Courtney Moore is the El Paso-based founder and president of the non-profit Women & Work and co-host of the podcast “Women & Work.” She is a graduate of the University of Mobile and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this book she has gathered essays from ten of her women friends reflecting on various aspects of biblical…
By David Williamson. It has been a few years now, but have a lasting and profound image of Stephen Clapp, then dean of the Juilliard School, performing a solo in the middle of a communion service I was leading. Simply standing from where he had been seated, near the back of the worshiping group gathered for participation in the Lord’s…
The Green Room 