….according to Owen Strachan of Kern Pastors Network, who recently published a three-part series over on the KPN blog trying to reframe our perspective on a few things. Here are his thoughts: 1) Work is Good. A fan of “The Office,” Owen notes that in his fandom he may have been taking in a warped attitude: One thing I think The Office, a show about work, got largely wrong was this, though: work. As the show portrayed it, work is... Read more
If you’re sitting in the audience at a business school graduation, you expect to hear the students being told to go out into the world and build big companies and achieve mighty financial things, right? Those sitting in the audience at the recent commencement at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota instead heard MacLaurinCSF fellow Austin Hermann remind them that business has a higher purpose: The year is 2075. You are in the hospital, your family... Read more
The June 2014 issue of Christianity Today has an article with the rather surprising title, “Your Faith May Cost You Your Next Job.” Sociologist Bradley R. E. Wright, noticing an uptick in religious discrimination complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but also the fact that 4 out of 10 complaints were dropped, wondered: One big reason is that discrimination can be surprisingly difficult to prove. If a member of a social group is treated badly, is it because of... Read more
We’ve said it for so long to graduating college seniors it’s become almost gospel. Do what you love. Do what you’re passionate about. Don’t settle for just a job. Follow your dreams. But is this wisdom or just hot air? Gordon Marino recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about his experience at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In contrast to the college students who came into his office, “rubbing their hands together, and furrowing their brows,” wondering if they should... Read more
If you haven’t paid a visit lately to a blog over on the Evangelical Channel, Cranach: The Blog of Veith (Christianity, Culture, Vocation), you probably should. First off, who is Gene Veith? He is…. Provost and Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture. Then, who or what was Cranach? He was a friend of Martin Luther’s who did much to... Read more
Today guest contributor Larry Saunders writes about moving from the white-collar to the blue-collar workplace—and back to the white-collar world because his blue-collar work failed to fulfill. Does his experience sound like yours? How and where have you found meaning in work? What would you say to him? There was never a doubt in my mind that I would end up in the “white collar” world, at least from the age I got realistic about my future and stopped wanting... Read more
A little while ago James K. A. Smith wrote these words on the website of Comment magazine about his experience playing youth hockey in Canada: When you’re ten years old, you think this is just part of the furniture of the cosmos; something given, natural, and taken for granted—that Saturday morning clinics and Tuesday night practices are just part of the rhythm of the universe, as if when God said, “Let there be light,” the big klieg lights in the rafters of... Read more
We love our friends at The High Calling here on the Patheos Faith and Work Channel, and we hope you check out their blog often for the helpful, practical tips about everyday life, work, and the spiritual journey that they offer. THC also has a much more extensive website of their own at thehighcalling.org, where you can find even more posts, tips, resources, and a thriving online community. From time to time we want to make sure to point you... Read more
Earlier this year on the Kern Pastors Network Drew Cleveland called attention to the book The Poverty of Nations by Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus, and to Greg Forster’s review of it on the Gospel Coalition’s website. That review concluded, There is nothing wrong with writing a book about policy, of course; I’ve done the same myself. And economic policy is part of the culture, not separate from it. But precisely for that reason, getting the culture at large right is... Read more
Doug Spada of WorkLife.org sends us that probing question, and a whole lot of others, via his new website where he challenges people to stop “switching God off” at work. Tons of resources! Here are just some of them…. Take the “switch quiz” to see what three issues make you mostly likely to switch God off at work. Order resources for workers, churches, and groups–and download free ones too. Even more resources here. Sign up for a free newsletter. Watch videos on... Read more
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