Pages Menu
TwitterRssFacebook
Categories Menu

Posted by on Apr 17, 2018 in Faith and Work Movement, Theology, Work | 0 comments

7 Ways to Pastor Working Men and Women in Your Church

7 Ways to Pastor Working Men and Women in Your Church

  Here’s a recent presentation I gave at recent event for pastors in the DIFW article. This article appeared originally in the DIFW blog. I hope it helps you think about to ‘equip the saints for works of service’ in the rhythms of your church. Here are the slides.  Pastoring Professionals_Presentation Living out our faith at work looks different for doctors, lawyers, accountants, and professionals in various industries, and ministry leaders often struggle to fully understand the challenges their members face in the workplace. At a recent event for our Church Partnership Network, Jeff Haanen shared seven practical ways to disciple the professionals in our pews. 1.   Visit your members in the workplace. “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (Ephesians 4:11-12) One of the easiest ways to learn how church attendees spend the majority of their time is to visit them where they work. It’s also the best way to understand the challenges...

Read More

Posted by on Jan 4, 2018 in Economy, Politics, Theology | 0 comments

Loving Faithful Institutions: The Building Blocks of a Just Global Society (From Comment Magazine)

Loving Faithful Institutions: The Building Blocks of a Just Global Society (From Comment Magazine)

  Occasionally I’ll post on this blog an article I really like. And I really like this one by Dr. Jonathan Chaplin, who’s on the divinity faculty at Cambridge University. It’s about an unpopular topic that should be popular: the importance of institutions. One of my convictions at the founding of DIFW was that in order to change the conversation about faith and public life in Denver, we needed not just an event or a “network” – we needed an institution that can last for years, decades…generations. And that meant doing things like admin work, building a board, building long-term relationships, writing emails, and zillions of other unsexy tasks.   Happy reading – and I hope you’ll commit yourself to building strong, healthy institutions as well.  Postmodern Christians won’t get very far in transforming society until they learn to love institutions again. Institutions and organizations are out; networks and relationships are in—or so goes conventional “postmodern” wisdom on how to transform society, at least among those who hold out hope that societal transformation is still possible,...

Read More

Posted by on Sep 13, 2017 in Theology, Work | 0 comments

The Prayer of Awareness

The Prayer of Awareness

  Several weeks ago I sat down to breakfast with my friend and spiritual mentor Barry. Since Barry is the CFO of a publicly traded company, I’m always wanting to talk business. Turn arounds, strategies, stock price, leadership. Yet he continually takes the conversation back to a moment-by-moment relationship with Christ. “My spiritual director shared with me a practice that I’ve found very helpful,” Barry said. “And it centers on the concept of awareness. The first step in this prayer is just this: (1) Recognize that Jesus is aware of you in this moment.” Awareness. Interesting thought. One of my unspoken barriers to prayer is that Jesus is high, far off, and mighty – and that I need to get in the right room, position, or posture to pray. But the truth is that Jesus, who is with us to the very end of the age, is aware of me right now. At a computer. On the way to the bathroom. In a meeting. In the car. Putting on...

Read More

Posted by on Aug 21, 2017 in Culture, Theology, World | 0 comments

Nine Quotes from Author Gisela Kreglinger on “The Spirituality of Wine”

Nine Quotes from Author Gisela Kreglinger on “The Spirituality of Wine”

  On Sunday evening we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Gisela Kreglinger (PhD in historical theology, University of St. Andrews) at Denver Institute for Faith & Work. She spoke on her delightful, powerful book The Spirituality of Wine (Eerdmans, 2016). Here are nine quotes from the event (posted on my Twitter feed ) that gave me new appreciation for God’s world and his good gifts – including the gift of wine (especially Pinot Noir!). (And here’s another article Joanna Meyer wrote on the book before the event). Enjoy! 1. “The reason why wine is compared to the kingdom of God is because it’s vast and beautiful.” 2. “Exploring the spirituality of wine is a way to develop a theology for all of life – and a theology of joy.” 3. “Thirst for perfection is the death of joy,” (Alexander Schmemann). 4. “Reconnecting with ‘place’ – including where our food and drink come from – is a gift of God.” 5. “Attention, taken to it’s highest degree, is the same thing as prayer,” (Simone Weil)....

Read More

Posted by on Aug 12, 2017 in Economy, Theology, vocation | 2 comments

The Miracle of the Reformers: Why Teaching Your Kids Hymns is Good for the Economy

The Miracle of the Reformers: Why Teaching Your Kids Hymns is Good for the Economy

  Perhaps the songs we teach our children is one the most important legacies we can leave for posterity. This morning I sat down to breakfast with my wife and four daughters. After eggs and sausage, we listened to the classic hymn “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.” My wife educates our kids (and really our whole family), and this year we’re memorizing classic hymns, with the hunch that our ancestors have new light to shed on our 21st century lives. Amongst the sound of chattering kids and clanking forks and knives, my wife turned on the iPad at the breakfast table and flipped on the speaker. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near; Praise Him in glad adoration. Written in 1680 by Joachim Neader, a German Reformed Calvinist, I couldn’t help but notice that this song begins not only...

Read More

Posted by on Jun 22, 2017 in business, Economy, Theology, Work | 5 comments

The Quiet Unraveling of Work in America

The Quiet Unraveling of Work in America

  On July 16-19, I will be presenting a brief paper at the Christian Economic Forum in San Francisco entitled, “The Quiet Unraveling of Work in America: Three Economic Challenges and What Christian Leaders Can Do.” The CEF Leadership collated the conference papers into a book, and kindly provided a PDF of my paper for distribution. The content of the paper is below, and the PDF can be accessed by clicking the link above. The Quiet Unraveling of Work in America Three Economic Challenges and What Christian Leaders Can Do On August 1, 2007, the I35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis looked like any other bridge in America. Commuters stuck in rush hour were waiting impatiently, talking on their phones, and assuming they would get safely to their destinations. Yet at 6:05 p.m., a strange noise was heard underneath the bridge. Suddenly it collapsed, sending 111 vehicles and 18 construction workers plummeting 115 feet into the river. In total, 13 people were killed and 145 injured in an unexpected tragedy....

Read More