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Fear or Faith at Work?
What’s the most challenging aspect of living out your faith at work? Some of us work at home or with other Christians, so being salt and light, and talking about our faith, come naturally. But many of us work in places where talking about Jesus and faith are discouraged. And some workplaces are downright hostile to Christians, so speaking openly could mean the end of our employment. For all of us, shining the bright light of Jesus in a very dark place can feel scary––even dangerous. The average worker faces situations and decisions every day that test the boundaries of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). Fear is real. We’re…
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Why Work?
Cultures flourish and deteriorate based on how they answer these questions: Why do people exist? Is there some greater meaning to life? What’s our purpose in the here and now? Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” If we’re honest, we all want to know the why. So what if someone told you, “You were born to work.” Seriously? We understand the need to work, at least in terms of providing financial means for individuals and their families. And clearly “born to work” isn’t referring to living in captivity, so there must…
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Accept the Pastoral Position God Has for You
The past few weeks have brought much discussion about the role of women in the church, seminaries, in ministry. To be honest, I found myself several times yelling at my computer screen for reasons I can only describe as temporary insanity. I huffed, not because of the discussions, but because of how nasty the people of God behaved. A bit ironic, isn’t it? Mostly I found it disheartening to read the attacks on those who shared their beliefs. If I could, I’d sit and have coffee (or tea) with all of them. I would pray with them and give thanks to God for the gift we have in thinking beyond…
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Doing a Lunchtime Bible Study at Work
I know several women who have tried gathering co-workers together in their workplace for a weekly women’s Bible study over the lunch break. Though the idea sounds inviting, in reality the time allotment just doesn’t work very well. Most published women’s studies involve too much homework for the average working mom to be able to do at home with her restricted time. And, any accompanying videos are just too long to leave room in the weekly gathering for discussion and getting to know one another. At best, a workplace lunch break allows for 45 minutes. My daughter and I were discussing this challenge just last week—trying to find something that…