Reprinted from the Theology of Work Project, lead contributor William Messenger. When Christians ask about vocation (or “calling”), we usually mean, “Is God calling me to a particular job, profession or type of work?” This is a significant question, because the work we do is important to God. If work is important, it makes sense to ask what work God wants us…
By Chris Armstrong, reprinted from Humanism as a Way of Life. See previous posts in this series starting here and continuing here, here, here and here. One source toward a “spirituality of vocation” Finally, I want to return to the idea that if we take Christian ideas of vocation seriously, we can bridge the sacred-secular divide that so many experience in their work in the modern…
By Steve Rouse, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I…
By James Thobaben, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. The Economic Wisdom Project is best known for our Economic Wisdom Project Talks, which are short, accessible, engaging and rich presentations suitable for use in classrooms and group discussions. But the EWP also features print resources, including our vision paper and our twelve elements of economic wisdom. Economic Wisdom for Churches, our…
Reprinted from the Chalmers Center; part three of a series. We’ve been sharing Ministry Design Principles in a series of posts (you can read last week’s here). All these principles can, in some sense, be bundled under 6 aspects of holistic poverty alleviation—1) forming the kingdom community, 2) addressing false stories of change, 3) addressing broken practices, 4) addressing broken individuals, 5) addressing broken…
By Pam Tinsley, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. Ever since a bald eagle flew over our son and daughter-in-law’s outdoor wedding – and a friend observed that eagles are a sign of blessing – I’ve been mesmerized when an eagle soars overhead. If I hear a murder of crows squawking fiercely, I’ll search the skies for a nearby eagle. Recently,…
By Caitlin Rhodes-Karahadian, reprinted from the Bay Area Center for Faith, Work & Tech. “Wow, this is really beautiful,” are usually the first words out of someone’s mouth when they walk into our free coworking space for the first time. Soon after, they want to know our origin story. Why are we doing this? I usually explain that my husband…
By David Williamson, part three of a series. There are several nudges or suggestions in the early chapters of Genesis that work is done in the context of teams. No grand, rugged individualism, independence or autonomy here! The need for teamwork is most directly stated in Genesis 2:5: “There was no one to till the ground.” In this second account of…
Reprinted from the Theology of Work Project, lead contributor Greg Forster. Competition is a fact of everyday work. But is it godly for Christians to compete? Or is it something we should try to avoid as much as possible? Should we use whatever influence we have to reduce or even eliminate competition? We all know how hard it is to succeed…
By Chris Armstrong, reprinted from Humanism as a Way of Life. See previous posts in this series starting here and continuing here, here and here. Is God’s vocational will for us really inflexible? We’ve noted that bad theology says our single, mysterious vocation is inflexible—that is, eternally fixed and pre-set in the mid of God. If we’ve picked this belief up on our journey, then we may…
The Green Room 