The Call by
The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives. Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study. According to Guinness, "No idea short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith. Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.
Called to Create by
We were created by an infinitely creative God to reflect his love and character to the world. One way we do that is by continuing his creative work. In this energizing book, serial entrepreneur and bestselling author Jordan Raynor helps artists, entrepreneurs, writers, and other creatives reimagine our work as service to God and others, addressing such penetrating questions as - Is my work as a creative really as God-honoring as that of a pastor or missionary? - What does it look like to create not to make a name for myself but to glorify God and serve others? - How can I use my work to fulfill Jesus's command to create disciples? - Will what I make today matter in eternity? To answer these questions, Raynor shares compelling stories from an eclectic group of 40+ Christian entrepreneurs, including the founders of TOMS Shoes, Charity: Water, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burger, Guinness, HTC, and Sevenly, as well as nontraditional entrepreneurs such as C. S. Lewis, Johann Sebastian Bach, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Raynor's "show" rather than "tell," story-driven style makes you feel as if you are sitting at the feet of some of the godliest and most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Perfectly poised to reach today's growing creative class, this unique work restores God's position as the first entrepreneur, helping readers see the eternal value in the work they do today.
Callings by
What am I going to do with my life? is a question that young people commonly face, while many not-so-young people continue to wonder about finding direction and purpose in their lives. Whether such purpose has to do with what job to take, whether to get married, or how to incorporate religious faith into the texture of their lives, Christians down the centuries have believed that God has plans for them. This unprecedented anthology gathers select passages on work and vocation from the greatest writers in Christian history. William Placher has written insightful introductions to accompany the selections -- an introduction to each of the four main historical sections and a brief introduction to each reading. While the vocational questions faced by Christians have changed through the centuries, this book demonstrates how the distilled wisdom of these saints, preachers, theologians, and teachers remains relevant to Christians today. This rich resource is to be followed by a companion volume, edited by Mark R. Schwehn and Dorothy C. Bass, featuring texts drawn mainly from fiction, memoir, poetry, and other forms of literature. A study guide is available from Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation (PTEV) on their website: www.ptev.org
Christians at Work by
Work shapes our lives. Christians at Work gives every Christian worker the inspirational tools to move from toil to empowerment. The principles shared by Jan Wood are as applicable to the student with a part-time job as to a corporate CEO. This book leads us through such workplace pitfalls as control, anger, troublesome people, and seductions. Then it shows us how to make work a realm of sacred rituals and witness as we enter the adventure of workplace partnerships with God.
Courage and Calling by
God calls us first to himself, to know and follow him, and also to a specific life purpose, a particular reason for being. This second call or "vocation" has implications not only for our work or occupation, but also includes our giftedness, our weaknesses, our life in community and what we do day to day. In this book Gordon Smith invites you to discover your vocation by listening to God and becoming a coworker with him.What is my calling?How do I live it out in the midst of difficult relationships or moral challenges?Will my vocation change as I enter a new stage of life?With competing needs and demands, how can I craft a balanced way of living?Smith addresses these questions and many more in the pages of this book. This new edition has been revised and updated throughout with two expanded chapters and a new chapter on four specific areas of calling.Here is rich insight for all who long for the ears to hear and the courage to follow God's call.
Culture Making by
2009 Christianity Today Book Award winner!Named one of Publishers Weekly's best books of 2008 (religion category) It is not enough to condemn culture. Nor is it sufficient merely to critique culture or to copy culture. Most of the time, we just consume culture. But the only way to change culture is to create culture.Andy Crouch unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in creating cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us. By making chairs and omelets, languages and laws, we participate in the good work of culture making.Crouch unpacks the complexities of how culture works and gives us tools for cultivating and creating culture. He navigates the dynamics of cultural change and probes the role and efficacy of our various cultural gestures and postures. Keen biblical exposition demonstrates that creating culture is central to the whole scriptural narrative, the ministry of Jesus and the call to the church. He guards against naive assumptions about "changing the world," but points us to hopeful examples from church history and contemporary society of how culture is made and shaped. Ultimately, our culture making is done in partnership with God's own making and transforming of culture.A model of his premise, this landmark book is sure to be a rallying cry for a new generation of culturally creative Christians. Discover your calling and join the culture makers.
Every Good Endeavor by
New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shows how God calls on each of us to express meaning and purpose through our work and careers. "A touchstone of the [new evangelical] movement." --The New York Times Tim Keller, pastor of New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church and the New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, has taught and counseled students, young professionals, and senior leaders on the subject of work and calling for more than twenty years. Now he pulls his insights into a thoughtful and practical book for readers everywhere. With deep conviction and often surprising advice, Keller shows readers that biblical wisdom is immensely relevant to our questions about work today. In fact, the Christian view of work--that we work to serve others, not ourselves--can provide the foundation of a thriving professional and balanced personal life. Keller shows how excellence, integrity, discipline, creativity, and passion in the workplace can help others and even be considered acts of worship--not just of self-interest.
The Fabric of This World by
An in-depth historical, philosophical, theological--and practical--exploration of work from an evangelical perspective. Hardy discusses several historical views of work from the ancient Greeks onward, highlighting the Christian concept of vocation as articulated by Luther and Calvin; these expositions lead to practical applications regarding the personal issue of career choice and the important (but often neglected) social issue of job design.
Futureville by
Want to see the future? It is brighter than you think. What we believe about tomorrow determines how we live today. As Christians debate how to faithfully engage with our rapidly changing world, our vision of the future has never been more important. But rather than providing a clear sense of purpose for our lives, popular Christian ideas about the future steal it from us by saying our work in the world, apart from ministry, has no eternal value. Is it any wonder why young adults are less interested in church, or why a culture desperate for meaning and hope dismisses our message? In Futureville, Skye Jethani offers us a vision-shifting glimpse of the world of tomorrow described in Scripture. He reveals how a biblical vision of the future can transform every person's work with a sense of purpose and dignity today. Futureville is a smart, inspiring call to cultivate the order, beauty, and abundance that reflects the heart and vision of God for our world.
Garden City by
A purposeful guide for twenty- and thirty-somethings to understand and embrace their calling as well as immediate next steps for their lives. You've heard people say, "Who you are matters more than what you do." But does the Bible really teach that? In Garden City, popular pastor and speaker John Mark Comer gives a surprisingly counter-cultural take on the typical "spiritual" answer of the church. Comer explores Scripture to discover God's original intent for how we are meant to spend our time, reshaping how you view and do your work, rest, and life. Here, you'll find answers to questions like: Does God care where I work? Does he have a clear direction for me? What about what I do with my free time or how much rest I get? In these pages, you'll learn that it's ultimately about the reality that what we do matters, just as much as who we are.
Kingdom Calling by
A 2013 Christianity Today Book Award winnerImagine the scenarios:a CEO successfully negotiates a corporate merger, avoiding hundreds of layoffs in the processan artist completes a mosaic for public display at a bank, showcasing neighborhood heroesa contractor creates a work-release program in cooperation with a local prison, growing the business and seeing countless former inmates turn their lives arounda high-school principal graduates 20 percent more students than the previous year, and the school's average scores go up by a similar percentageNow imagine a parade in the streets for each event. That's the vision of Proverbs 11:10, in which the tsaddiqim--the people who see everything they have as gifts from God to be stewarded for his purposes--pursue their vocation with an eye to the greater good.Amy Sherman, director of the Center on Faith in Communities and scholar of vocational stewardship, uses the tsaddiqim as a springboard to explore how, through our faith-formed calling, we announce the kingdom of God to our everyday world. But cultural trends toward privatism and materialism threaten to dis-integrate our faith and our work. And the church, in ways large and small, has itself capitulated to those trends, while simultaneously elevating the "special calling" of professional ministry and neglecting the vocational formation of laypeople. In the process, we have, in ways large and small, subverted our kingdom mandate.God is on the move, and he calls each of us, from our various halls of power and privilege, to follow him. Here is your chance, keeping this kingdom calling in view, to steward your faith and work toward righteousness. In so doing, you will bless the world, and as you flourish, the world will celebrate.
Leading Lives That Matter by
Leading Lives That Matter compiles a wide range of texts--from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy--related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. This book draws upon both religious and secular wisdom, bringing these sources into conversation with one another. Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass identify four vocabularies typically used in discussions of the meaning of life choices: authenticity, virtue, exemplarity, and vocation. Six guiding questions shape the chapters that contain the majority of the texts. Each chapter's texts provide a variety of insights and approaches to be considered in addressing the question, arranged and introduced in ways that prompt deeper reflection. Leading Lives That Matter invites readers into arguments that have persisted for generations about what we human beings should do and who we should be. This second edition includes forty-seven new readings from a diverse array of writers, including Toni Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, Denise Levertov, Malcolm Gladwell, Julia Alvarez, Alice Walker, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope Francis, and Chung Tzu. Three new guiding questions have also been added: To whom and to what should I listen as I decide what work to do? With whom and for whom shall I live? What are my obligations to future human and other life?
Let Your Life Speak by
With wisdom, compassion, and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and joy, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives.
The Other Six Days by
Throughout history the church has been composed of two types of people--those who ?do? ministry and those to whom it is ?done.? In this provocative book R. Paul Stevens shows that the clergy-laity division has no basis in the New Testament and challenges all Christians to rediscover what it means to live daily as God?s people. Exploring the theological, structural, and cultural reasons for treating laypeople as the objects of ministry, Stevens argues against the idea of clericalism. All Christians are called to live in faith, hope, and love, and to do God?s work in the church and world. This biblical perspective has serious implications for the existing attitudes and practices of many churches as well as for our understanding of ministry. Stevens shows that the task of churches today is to equip people for ministry in their homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods.Written by a scholar and pastor well known as an active advocate for the whole people of God, this thought-provoking book--made even more useful with the inclusion of case studies and study questions at the end of each chapter--offers inspiring reading for anyone interested in what the Christian life holds for the other six days of the week.
A Sacred Voice Is Calling by
What does it mean to find and follow our personal calling? Howdo we distinguish between the "still, small voice" of our authentic vocation and all of the other competing counterfeit voices in our hearts and the needs of our world? Drawing widely on the wisdom of saints, sages, and the traditions of spiritual direction, Neafsey describes a path to living in the place, as Frederick Buechner has put it, "where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.
The Stories We Live by
"Christian vocation," says Kathleen Cahalan, "is about connecting our stories with God's story." That is the basis for The Stories We Live, in which Cahalan rejuvenates and transforms vocation from a static concept to a living, dynamic reality. Drawing from biblical narratives, her own experience, and the personal stories of others, Cahalan discusses how each of us is called by God, to follow, as I am, from grief, for service, in suffering,through others, within God. The various callings that we receive throughout life ground our identity in relationship to others and to God. Readers of this book will come away with a renewed vision for what they do and who they are.
Visions of Vocation by
Foreword Review's 17th Annual INDIEFAB Book of the Year Finalist (Religion)12th Annual Outreach Resource of the Year (Culture)2015 Christianity Today Award of Merit (Christian Living)2014 Leadership Journal Best Books for Church Leaders (The Leader's Outer Life)2014 Book of the Year from Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds BookstoreIs it possible to know the world and still love the world? Of all the questions we ask about our calling, this is the most difficult. From marriages to international relations, the more we know, the harder it is to love. We become cynics or stoics, protecting our hearts from the implications of what we know. But what if the vision of vocation can be recovered--allowing us to step into the wounds of the world and for love's sake take up our responsibility for the way the world turns out? For decades Steve Garber has come alongside a wide range of people as they seek to make sense of the world and their lives. With him we meet leaders from the Tiananmen Square protest who want a good reason to still care about China. We also meet with many ordinary people in ordinary places who long for their lives to matter:Jonathan who learned he would rather build houses than study historyTodd and Maria who adopted creative schedules so they could parent better and practice medicineD.J. who helped Congress move into the Internet AgeRobin who spends her life on behalf of urban justiceHans who makes hamburgers the way they are meant to be madeSusan who built a home business of hand-printing stationary using a letterpressSantiago who works with majority-world nations in need of capitalGeorge who has given years to teaching students to learn things that matter mostClaudius and Deirdre whose openhearted home has always been a place for peopleDan who loves Wyoming, the place, its people and its cowsVocation is when we come to know the world in all its joy and pain and still love it. Vocation is following our calling to seek the welfare of the world we live in. And in helping the world to flourish, strangely, mysteriously, we find that we flourish too. Garber offers a book for everyone everywhere--for students, for parents, for those in the arts, in the academy, in public service, in the trades and in commerce--for all who want to discover the virtue of vocation.
Vocation by
The Protestant doctrine of vocation has had a profound influence on American culture, but in recent years central tenets of this doctrine have come under assault. Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life explores current responses to the classic view of vocation and offers a revised statement and application of this doctrine for contemporary North American Christians. According to Douglas Schuurman, many Christians today find it both strange and difficult to interpret their social, economic, political, and cultural lives as responses to God's calling. To renew this biblical perspective, Schuurman argues, Christians must recover the language, meaning, and reality of life as vocation, and his book helps do just that. Developed in dialogue with audiences as diverse as college students, industrial workers, business leaders, church leaders, and professional theologians and ethicists, the book examines the theological and ethical dimensions of vocation as these have been understood historically and in relation to our modern social setting.
Why Work? by
"Let the Church remember this: that every maker and worker is called to serve God in his profession or trade--not outside it. The Apostles complained rightly when they said it was not meet they should leave the word of God and serve tables; their vocation was to preach the word. But the person whose vocation it is to prepare the meals beautifully might with equal justice protest: It is not meet for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the word. "The official Church wastes time and energy, and moreover, commits sacrilege, in demanding that secular workers should neglect their proper vocation in order to do Christian work--by which She means ecclesiastical work. The only Christian work is good work well done. Let the Church see to it that the workers are Christian people and do their work well, as to God: then all the work will be Christian work, whether it is church embroidery, or sewage farming. As Jacques Maritain says: "If you want to produce Christian work, be a Christian, and try to make a work of beauty into which you have put your heart; do not adopt a Christian pose." He is right. And let the Church remember that the beauty of the work will be judged by its own, and not by ecclesiastical standards."
Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor by
Most Christians spend most of their waking hours working, yet many regard work as at best a necessary evil ? just one more unfortunate by-product of humanity?s fall from grace. Not so, says Ben Witherington III, and in Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor, he considers work as neither the curse nor the cure of human life but, rather, as something good that God has given us to do. In this brief primer on the biblical theology and ethics of work, Witherington carefully unpacks the concept of work, considering its relationship to rest, play, worship, the normal cycle of human life, and the coming Kingdom of God. Work as calling, work as ministry, work as a way to make a living, and the notably unbiblical notion of retirement ? Witherington?s Work engages these subjects and more, combining scholarly acumen with good humor, common sense, cultural awareness, and biblically based insights from Genesis to Revelation. ?Ben Witherington has given the whole people of God something desperately needed to make sense of Monday to Friday ? a theology of work that breaks down the heretical sacred-secular distinction. . . . Offers a work-view and life-view that, if embraced, would revitalize the mission of God?s people in the world. It?s that good.? ? R. Paul Stevens author of The Other Six Days and Taking Your Soul to Work ?Conducting a critical dialogue with the theological voices of our day, drawing upon the wisdom of the Christian tradition, and offering a sensitive reading of New Testament parables, Witherington delivers sound counsel on the Kingdom meaning of work and its implications for our lives today.? ? Lee Hardy author of The Fabric of This World
Working in the Presence of God: Spiritua by
How do we invite God into our everyday lives? Working in the Presence of God discusses the incorporation of spiritual disciplines into the ordinary rhythms of everyday experience. God is already present and active, so by becoming aware of workday rhythms and focusing on where various spiritual practices might be implemented in our jobs, we can be transformed into Christ's likeness through our work. We often think of spiritual practices as preparation for our regular lives; in comfortable spaces and ideal settings, we set aside time to hear from God. But what if we can engage in these practices in the midst of our regular lives, and particularly at work? This transformation takes place when we surrender our working lives to God, begin to hear his voice, accept his pleasure, and allow his guidance at work. The spiritual practices outlined in the book include: - The Liturgy of Commute - Workplace as Holy Ground - Surrendering the Calendar - Reading Scripture in Your Workspace - Affirmation of Calling - Gratitude for God's Blessing and Celebrating Success at Work - Confession at Work - Lamenting Work - Solitude: Working in God's Presence - Prayer of Examen for Work - Sabbath: Ceasing from Work
Work in the Spirit by
Since the rise of modern industrial society, work has come to pervade and rule the lives of men and women. Although there have been many popular books and church documents on on the Christian understanding of work, this is the first scholarly effort to articulate a developed Protestant theology of work. In Work in the Spirit, Miroslav Volf interprets work from a new perspective - in terms of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. He exhaustively explores the nature of work in both capitalist and socialist societies and considers a variety of work, including industrial, agricultural, medical, political, and artistic work. Examining the importance of alienation in work in industrial and information societies (particularly in the relation of workers to management and technology), he analyzes various forms of such alienation, and elucidates the character of humane work. On the basis of the "pneumatological" theology of work that he develops, Volf rejects the traditional Protestant understanding of work as vocation, and takes the concept of charisma as the cornerstone for his theological reflection on work. He denies that one is "called" to do a particular work irrespective of one's inclinations, and asserts, instead, that it is our privilege to do the kind of work for which God's spirit has gifted us. All human work done in accordance with the will of God, Volf argues, is cooperation with God in the preservation and transformation of the world.
Work Matters by
Adam and Eve worked. Jacob and Joseph worked. So did Ruth, David, Daniel, Jonah, Martha, Priscilla and Aquila, Paul ? and most people in the Old and New Testaments. In Work Matters marketplace theology expert R. Paul Stevens revisits more than twenty biblical accounts ? from Genesis to Revelation ? exploring through them the theological meaning of every sort of work, manual or intellectual, domestic or commercial. Taken together, his short, pithy reflections on these well-known Bible passages add up to a comprehensive, Bible-based theology of work ? one that will be equally useful for seminars, classes, Bible studies, and individuals seeking to grasp more fully the theological dimensions of their daily labor.
Your Work Matters to God by
Your Work Matters to God demonstrates just how important secular work is to God. Whether you are a man or woman, once you realize how many different ways there are to influence your coworkers for Christ without preaching a word, you'll be challenged to develop a lifestyle so striking and true, the people you work with will be eager to let you talk about what makes you different. Indexed for easy reference.