Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • When Leaders Disappoint You. Courtney Reissig writes “The world has its share of bad shepherds. But Jesus reminds us that he’s not one of them.”
  • A Short Prayer for Before Starting Work. Kevin Halloran gives us this short morning prayer to pray before starting work to better honor God in your productivity, grow in your love for Him and your co-workers, to be a blessing at your workplace, for divine guidance and favor.
  • 6 Lessons for Tending Your Time. Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra writes “With both our gardens and our days, we should aim for nourishing and flourishing, for cultivating healthy productivity. What can us schedulers learn from farmers and gardeners?”
  • When Should I Give Raises to My Employees? Courtney Powell responds to the question “I’ve recently been promoted inside my mid-sized organization, which means I now have a say in how much we pay our employees. How can I think biblically about wages and raises?”
  • Purpose. On this episode of “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell tells us to discover our purpose, find what we are passionate about and what we are good at.
  • Living At Your Best with Carey Nieuwhof. On this episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, Carey Nieuwhof talks about themes from his new book At Your Best.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • My Review of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
  • Snippets from the book Discipled Leader: Inspiration from a Fortune 500 Executive for Transforming Your Workplace by Pursuing Christ by Preston Poore

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Is Your Organization’s Culture Remarkable or Toxic?


My wife Tammy and I eat out a lot. You can learn many things about an organization’s culture by eating at one of their restaurants. You can learn whether the organization is remarkable or toxic.
For example, when I eat out, I notice the condition of the facility – is it in good repair and clean, especially the restrooms. I pay attention to the attitude, friendliness and service provided by those that seat us and serve us. Do they take pride in providing an outstanding customer experience for us, or do they act like they really don’t want to be there, and are just going through the motions? If we ask for something, do we get a response of “No problem”, or “No worries”, or do we hear “My pleasure”?
Remarkable organizational cultures are principle driven and are known for going above and beyond in the delivery of their products and services.  On the other hand, toxic cultures are known for poor service and poor performance. Continue reading


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Roll Tape: Live from Melody League Studios – Jon Foreman
****

2021 was a busy year for Jon Foreman. Roll Tape: Live from Melody League Studios follows the February release of his solo album Departures (four of the twelve songs included here are from Departures), and the August release of Switchfoot’s album interrobang, followed by a tour with NEEDTOBREATHE. Foreman has described Roll Tape, which has an “unplugged” feeling, and some of which may have come from his livestreams, as his attempt to make a live album, his first, in a year when there was essentially no live music due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I enjoyed this new live solo release from Foreman, as I did his Departures, interestingly much more than I enjoyed interrobang from Switchfoot.
Below are a few comments about each song:
Terminal – This song, originally released on The Wonderlands: Sunlight, was written by Foreman. The song, which builds gently, features guitar, some excellent cello, bass, backing vocals, and drums.
Key lyric:
We are, we are the living souls
With terminal hearts, terminal parts
Flickering like candles, shimmering like candles
We’re fatally flawed, we’re fatally flawed

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More of this review
  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics:  Promised Land – TobyMac and Sheryl Crow

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