Workism and the Righteous Paul was described as a tentmaker in Acts 18:3; someone who labored hard with his hands and worked leather into creating tents. Realistically, he could have made a heck of a living off that. Not that I know the state of the economy then but...
You know every Monday morning at our housing company, CRF Affordable Housing, we have a conference call where all of our staff across the state of Indiana can call in and kind of give updates on things that are happening at each of the properties, share stories, and we’re able to share things with them as well. But, the way we have committed to start this call every Monday morning is that everyone shares a win; everyone shares something good that’s happened. Maybe at their property, within the context of their work, or even within their own family or something personal that’s happened.
Recently, I bought a decorative small canvas that artistically displays, "Embrace the imperfections, the chaos, the holy mess of your beautiful life.” I was drawn to it because of the adjectival phrase “holy mess.” Having gone through several months of what could...
You know one of the things we talk about here at The Stone Table is how our stories, the story of our life, the story of our careers, really the story of everything as a follower of Jesus, is really part of a much greater story. We talk about our work and the great story and I’ve had some folks ask me, you know, “What does it look like to engage my work and my career and my vocation through that great story? Is it ok if I like my work? Is it ok if I pursue a career that excites me? Is it okay if I make money and profit from my work? Or, does embedding my story in a greater story mean that I can’t enjoy any of those things?”
Workism and the Hustle Workism is a concept that has been touched on several times at The Stone Table. It is something that continues to pervade our society and work environments daily, and something that appears likely to continue to creep up in increasing measures...
I just wanted to take a second and talk to all of my pastor friends out there today. You know, I spent 12 years in full time ministry and really, I think over this this last year and a half, have felt such a pull and a longing to encourage my pastor friends because I think this season of COVID and 2020, and now into 2021, has been one of the most difficult seasons to be a leader of any kind but especially a spiritual leader in our polarized world where everything seems to create conflict even within the context of our local churches.
We were so excited here recently to launch this brand-new book, this resource, from The Stone Table called Missional Marketplace: Finding Your Everyday Work in God’s Eternal Plan and want to let you know that the paperback has been available for a little while now, but now the kindle book, and also the audiobook, of this is available now at Amazon and at other retail distributors. So, if you’re into audiobooks, I can actually read this book to you as you kind of go about your business. So, if you’d like to hear me read this book to you, you can download the audiobook right now as well. So, Missional Marketplace: Finding Your Everyday Work in God’s Eternal Plan, go pick it up right now and we pray it’s an encouragement to you.
Let’s talk a little bit about humility in leadership. You know leaders are leaders oftentimes because they are very skilled. They’re very talented, they are charismatic, they can draw attention, they have good ideas, they can cast vision, and sometimes that can cause leaders, including me, to begin to think they are the driving force. And so, as Christians, we know that we are called to humility; that arrogance doesn’t really partner itself well with the gospel and the gospel redeemed life.
Workism and Working the Garden “And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17, ESV). Workism is a dangerous thing. It’s dangerous because it takes Jesus out of the position of “holding all things together” and it inserts you,...
B4T: What the Heart Looks Like When I think of B4T, my first question is, honestly, “What is that?” Literally, I had zero idea what it was. What is B4T? B4T is shorthand for “Business for Transformation”; it is a mission that determines to share the gospel through...
Our non-profit organization is dedicated to bridging the gap between faith and work through global missions efforts. As a marketplace-rooted brand, we believe that spiritual fulfillment and professional success go hand in hand. In this video, we explore how our mission is to empower individuals to bring their faith into the workplace and make a positive impact on a global scale. Join us as we work towards creating a world where faith and work are seamlessly integrated.
Let me tell you what the Gospel is not. The Gospel is not, “I am a Sinner; I work hard to improve myself and God approves me because of my effort.” That is not the Gospel. This is the Gospel: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
You know when I was a pastor, my passion was the Gospel; the proclamation of Jesus Christ and the discipleship of people through the local church. That was my job. So, my job was pastor, my passion was the Gospel. But now for the last decade or so, I have been back in the marketplace. And you know what? My passion is still the Gospel. I sit at a different seat now. I’m in a marketplace seat. I’m involved in managing apartments and developing apartments and Realestate but my passion as a believer is still the same. My job is different but my vocation (my vocation or “vocare” from the Latin word “calling”) is still the same; the Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. I just do that now from a marketplace seat. So, I want to encourage all of you, whether you work in a church, whether you work in a marketplace, whether you’re on the mission field, the vocation and calling of every believer ultimately is the same. It is to embody the kingdom and to proclaim and glorify the name of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. That’s your job, that’s your vocation.