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

  • Faithful Presence in the Public Sphere. On this episode of the How to Reach The West Again podcast, Tim Keller explains why Christians living out their faith in vocations and other public spaces is crucial for a missionary encounter. Missy Wallace casts a vision for viewing our jobs as one of the primary venues for putting our faith into practice. Artist Makoto Fujimura invites us to see artists as bridgebuilders between the church and the world.
  • Skills to Explore Your Calling. In this message from the Center for Faith & Work Los Angeles Annual Conference, Joanna Meyer discusses “Skills to Explore Your Calling”. Meyer is the Founder & Executive Director, for Women, Work, & Calling and the Director of Public Engagement at the Denver Institute for Faith & Work. She is also the author of the book Women, Work, & Calling: Step into Your Place in God’s World.

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread. Joshua Nangle writes “In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is teaching us to trust in God not just for long life, a future spouse, or that dream job. Rather, he wants us to depend upon God for his provision during every day of our lives and for everything.”
  • Mere Christians: Jena Viviano Dunay. On this episode of the Mere Christians podcast, Jordan Raynor visits with Jena Viviano Dunay, founder of Recruit the Employer, about how Christians can think redemptively about layoffs.
  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
  • Assuming It’s Legal, Your Work Is a Calling from God. Confex Makhalira highlights three important implications that the doctrine of vocation has for every Christian.

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  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • Faith and Work Book Review ~ The Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders by Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard
  • Quotes from the book Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Moses Doubted His Leadership Abilities – Can You Relate? Russ Gehrlein shares part two of an article that explores the long conversation Moses had with God at the burning bush. Moses expressed five doubts about his qualifications to fulfill his calling as God’s co-deliverer of the Israelites in Egypt.
  • “I Feel Guilty When I’m Not Overworking.” Reagan Rose writes “We often focus on vocation as one area God has given us to steward. While it’s important to do our work well and treat it with care, problems arise when relationships, recreation, rest, or our spiritual lives are pushed aside because we’re working too much.”
  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).

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Leaders, Shepherd Your Church

My wife Tammy and I began attending the church we belong to in December, 1994. I became an elder at the church in March, 1996. We were a small church back then, with attendance of approximately 80 for worship each Sunday. Over the years, we’ve seen slow, steady growth and now we have approximately 400 in attendance each Sunday morning, and are in the process of adding an additional site in our community as a result of the Lord’s blessing; we have outgrown our current facilities.
Whether you are a large church with thousands of members or you are a church with less than one hundred, the challenge of how to care for your members remains. Timothy Witmer’s book The Shepherd Leader is helpful in doing this. Continue reading


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Moses Questioned His Calling – What About You? Russ Gehrlein shares part one of a two-part article that will explore the long conversation Moses had with God at the burning bush.
  • Mere Christians: Mike Sharrow. On this episode of the Mere Christians podcast, Jordan Raynor visits with Mike Sharrow about how to create “mini–Bema Seat moments” to judge your work before God does.
  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
  • Carry Your Faith Into All of Life. Terence Chatmon writes “Faith in the workplace is a non-negotiable. We are called to work and live a fully integrated and balanced life. There should be no sacred and secular divide or split in living out our faith in the workplace and life.

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  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • Faith and Work Book Review ~ Women & Work: Bearing God’s Image and Joining in His Mission through our Work, edited by Courtney Moore
  • Quotes from the book Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Calling and Burnout. Meryl Herr writes “Could having a calling be bad for you? It may seem like an odd question in an age where books, articles, and podcasts on finding and living your calling abound. But research suggests that having a calling could be harmful in some cases.”
  • The Calling of Motherhood. Bethany Belue writes “My calling is to love my children well in this season and to disciple their hearts to know Jesus.”
  • How Kids Find Their Calling. Luke Bobo and Sarah Haywood write “As parents we have a responsibility to study our kids and appropriately and wisely guide them to the vocations for which they have been divinely designed.”
  • Albert Mohler on a Popular Pastor Who Fell. Albert Mohler shares a word from the heart in chapel to Southern Seminary and Boyce College students about a popular pastor who recently fell.

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Getting The Family Settled After a Job-Related Move. Russ Gehrlein writes “Starting a new job is hard enough, but relocating to an area where you have never lived and where you have no support systems established, such as family, friends, and church, is quite stressful for anyone. Where can the ordinary Christian look for assistance to be able to navigate these rough waters?”
  • Mere Christians: Jenna Barrett. On this episode of the Mere Christians podcast, Jordan Raynor visits with Jenna Barrett about how to discern what God wants to renew in your workplace, three positive things boasting in weakness produces, and Jordan’s new vocational dream for the New Earth.
  • What’s Missing from the Faith and Work Movement? Bill Fullilove writes “And yet, at its idolatrous worst, the faith and work movement, if unmoored from broader biblical truth, will sprinkle the American dream with a gospel-flavored pixie dust, sneaking in selfishness as if it is gospel ministry.  I fear the modern faith and work movement will forget the balancing biblical truth: sacrifice.”

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Education and Vocation Belong in the Village. Gregory Thornbury writes “Everyone loves a comeback story. And for people of faith who sometimes feel in exile in contemporary society, nothing fires the imagination as much as someone reconnecting to their vocation through their trust in God.”
  • Christian Vocation Disrupts the Culture. Jay Kim writes “A job is necessary, but what most people are seeking is vocation—their voice(from which the word is derived) into the world, their unique contribution to the ongoing conversation of human history.”
  • When Motherhood Feels Invisible. Kira Nelson writes “There’s no such thing as an invisible mom or a supermom. But there are moms who are fully known, fully forgiven, and fully loved in Christ.”
  • The Case for Taking it Slow. Abby J. Perry interviews Michaela O’Donnell and Lisa Pratt Slayton about their new book Life in Flux: Navigational Skills to Guide and Ground You in an Ever-Changing World.

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Should My Construction Company Help Build a Casino? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the question “I was asked to join up with a construction partner I have worked with before, and one I really like and enjoy working with, to help complete one of their own projects. The project is a Mormon temple. Is this out of the question for a Christian who leads a construction crew to consider working on such a project like a temple like this, or even a mosque or casino or other things like that? How should I think through making this moral decision on behalf of the crew I lead?”
  • Truth, Love & the Golden Rule. Our friend Russ Gehrlein was a special guest on the syndicated radio program The Plumb Line, hosted by Jay Rudolph, on Monday, June 17. Russell and Jay discussed the importance of truth-telling in work and life. Here is a partial transcript of part two of their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.
  • Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • A Leader Others Want to Follow. My next book is tentatively titled “Be a Leader Others Will Want to Follow”. Over the years, I worked with many talented individuals, some of whom wanted to move into a formal leadership position. In addition, I mentored several emerging leaders. I would often tell them that I wanted them to be a leader that others would want to follow. The book will discuss 35 leadership attributes that are important for those who want to be a leader others will want to follow, as well as some applications of those attributes. I’m in the early stages of editing the book at this time, and would appreciate your prayers if you are so inclined. Thanks.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Faith and Work Book Review ~ Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society by Amy L. Sherman
• Quotes from the book Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker. Continue reading