In my town, we have a Sam’s Club, as I’m sure you do. Across the street is another warehouse club, B.J.’s. We don’t have Costco here in Northeast Ohio, but I’m sure that if there were, there’d be one of those down the street as well. In order to shop in these big stores, you have to pay a yearly membership fee. These three big stores want to get customers and keep them. But if you decide that you want... Read more
Our friends at the Center for Public Justice introduced the Kuyper Lecture in 1995 to promote public consideration of three important dynamics at work in today’s world: Religion as a driving force – the deep, driving influence of competing religions in human society. Christ, the Light of the world – the comprehensive and inescapable claim of Jesus Christ on the world. An international Christian community – the strength and influence of international bonds of Christian community. Serving the City, Shaping... Read more
Part 2 of 2: The Rise of a New Generation of Evangelical Christians. (Note: While I was working on my Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I had the great privilege of studying under both Kenneth Kantzer and Carl Henry. They’re wisdom, grace, and love for the Lord were so clearly evident. I will never forget it!) Because of the rise of the “Social Gospel,” conservative Christians embraced what were called the “Fundamentals” (see my last post). “Evangelicals rejected... Read more
Part 1: Evangelicals and the Shift to Seeing Mission as Purely Evangelism. A survey of the recent history of evangelical understanding of Christian mission reveals an ebb and flow between seeing the mission of God’s people as being about the redemption of all aspects of life on earth to being solely about evangelism and the destiny of souls in the afterlife. The Legacy of William Carey The “father of Protestant missions,”[1] William Carey (1761-1834), focused on the “Great Commission” at... Read more
Collective compassion has meant an overall decrease in global poverty since the 1980s, says civil rights lawyer Gary Haugen. Yet for all the world’s aid money, there’s a pervasive hidden problem keeping poverty alive. Haugen reveals the dark underlying cause we must recognize and act on now. Interactive transcript Gary Haugen Human rights attorney As founder of International Justice Mission, Gary Haugen fights the chronically neglected global epidemic of violence against the poor. Full bio Read more
Thou mayest…. two words that run through history and every heart. I recently lectured at the Hill House to a group of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Texas. In a series funded by the Lilly Endowment, its purpose is to deepen our national reflection on the meaning of vocation for the common good. In the last few years I have done something like this at both Cornell University and the University of Virginia, under the same grant.... Read more
Pittsburgh 2015 [button size=”medium” link=”http://redeemingworkpittsburgh.eventbrite.com/” linkTarget=”_blank”]Register For Pittsburgh 2015[/button] – Join us as we explore the biblical vision for work and how our churches can communicate work as a vital part of discipleship. Once the center of heavy industry, “the steel city” has overcome adversity brought by new technology, deindustrialization, and blue-collar jobs lost. Today with a transformed skyline, Pittsburgh has turned into a green, sustainable, and outdoor city boasting healthy job growth. But how do churches communicate the biblical... Read more
Want to lead a missional church? Think “vocations.” The great missiologist Lesslie Newbigin stated, “God’s saving power known and experienced in the life of a redeemed community has to issue in all kinds of witness and service to the world… (The) enormous preponderance of the Church’s witness is the witness of the thousands of its members who work in field, home, office, mill, or law court.”[1] A growing number of pastors are instilling into their congregations a robust theology of vocation,... Read more
The Missional Church in the World Through Vocations. The United States has been shifting into what can be called a post-Christian, postmodern and pluralistic culture. As a result, the Christian church has suffered marginalization and has lost its influence in the culture. In response, a new “missional church” movement has gained traction in the United States. As Michael Goheen summarizes, “Culturally, rapid changes are taking place in North American culture from a modem to postmodern society. Ecclesiastically, the church finds... Read more
In this video, Tim Keller shares the biblical truth that all Christians are engaged in God’s work, not merely Christians working in full-time pastoral ministry. When a baker bakes bread or a musician writes beautiful music, they are the means through which God provides food and art to the world. He makes the case that since Christianity believes that all work has dignity and should be celebrated, Christians must not divorce their faith from their work. We cannot bifurcate what... Read more
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