“Even When I’m Not Here, I’m Working”

By Michelle Koh, reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. This is a follow-up to a post we reprinted earlier this year. A few months ago, I wrote about how a lounge spot cleaner’s work made me reflect on how we sometimes measure the success of our work by visible outcomes.  This same cleaner came back again (yes, I seem to have…

Church and City Partnerships Restore Dignity through Work

By Justin Lonas, reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Part one of two. See part two here. Shantel had come to a very difficult point in her life, living in her car with her four-year-old child. Through the Hampton (Virginia) Department of Human Services, she found a jobs preparedness class and decided to take a shot at a new start. Within…

Learning from Lean, Conclusion

By Andrew Parris and Don Pope, reprinted from Christian Business Review. Citations have been omitted. Part seven of a series. What Christian Leaders Can Learn from Lean Christian leaders, workers and organizations can have confidence that they can learn from and apply Lean wisdom to help them succeed in their work and even to strengthen their Christian identity and mission….In line with these…

Bending Imagination toward Hope

By Demi Prentiss, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. Dustin B. Benac and Erin Weber-Johnson are the editors who compiled the recently published Crisis and Care: Meditations on Faith and Philanthropy. The book examines the outpouring of care and funding that seemed to be unleashed by the crisis of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic. In an Insights column for the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy,…

Jesus’ Work

Reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional.  Lately I have been doing some work in the Gospel of Luke. I’ve been looking at Jesus’ work, and how it relates to our working. For most of my life the only connection I heard between Jesus and work was that he was a builder, and then, at age 30, he started…

Review: Church for Monday

By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. Note: Register here to join a free webinar with David Gill and Svetlana Papazov on Aug. 7. This is one of the best and most enjoyable reads I have had in the past few years! Author Svetlana Papazov’s energy, charisma and endless ideas and insights almost knocked me over. While reading! Papazov has…

Character Over Skills

By Jim Grubs, reprinted from Minding the Gap. In a recent conversation with a long-time friend of mine who has just retired as a professor of theology at Whitworth University, I asked him, “What is the most important element of your faith you need to bring into the world of work?” After a few moments of reflection he responded that…

Seminary Spotlight: Sioux Falls Seminary

By Philip Thompson, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. The Oikonomia Network’s student outcome goals include desired outcomes for “pastors, Christian leaders and local churches.” Sioux Falls Seminary wholeheartedly endorses these outcomes and has worked to integrate them thoroughly as we develop “servants for their participation in the kingdom mission,” regardless of the context of their ministry. To give but one very recent…

His Mercies Really Are New Each Morning

By Claire Greenwood, reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional.  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion’, says my soul, ‘ therefore I will hope in him  Lamentations 3:22-24 (ESV) Everyone was looking forward to the new year of…

Work from the Beginning: Genesis 7-8

By David Williamson, part seven of a series. God’s intent in saving Noah and the contents of the ark is broader and more comprehensive than the particular creatures and plants. God uses Noah and this remnant from the original creation to preserve all forms of life. Is Noah in this way an environmentalist, understanding and protecting the whole hearth for future…