Before we examine how the Christian and Pagan differently deal with the poor, we should try to figure out what God’s definition of poverty is. The Bible has a lot to say about the poor, almost all of it extremely sympathetic. There seems to be an assumption of victimhood as there is great concern that they are susceptible to being exploited. And in a world without hospitals and government safety nets, we can easily imagine how an injury to the bread-winner could quickly impoverish an entire family. With a call to help the poor, the Israelite would have to make. . .
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It is interesting how just a little taste of something can awaken an appetite that you didn’t know you had. And obviously, that taste doesn’t have to be food. It can be an experience, a relationship, a word of encouragement, or an opportunity to use a latent gift. In 1990, I was a recently married salesman for an industrial gas company. We had just begun attending Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which was pastored at the time by Frank Barker, one of the finest, most humble and effective pastors I have ever known. Frank led a men’s Bible study. . .
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Life is simpler when you live where you worship and work where you live. Geographically separating these three strands of life introduces all sorts of complications that take a great deal of common sense and godly wisdom to untangle. Instead of arbitrarily settling on work or home or church to be the center of your life, or choosing on the basis of convenience or high-minded principles, Proverbs 27:23 encourages us to “know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” The people in your household matter most. If they are flourishing even in the wild ride. . .
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Landmark Birthdays I’m young for my age and so all year till now, I’ve been watching my former classmates turn fifty and finally it’s my turn. Many of these same friends have Facebook pages filled with pictures of them with their college freshmen or even recent college graduates. I’m on a different path; Lindsay and I have five children and the oldest is but seven. Yes, I had a late start. And yes, she is much younger than I. Birthdays like this—when the AARP solicitations begin—are a time for reflection. I’m not at all where I thought I’d be at. . .
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God didn’t create us as disembodied spirits to hover idly in space, He created men and women with hands and feet, and placed them in a garden on the earth. He assigned work to do: multiply, subdue the earth, take dominion.
“The church has never really come to terms with the invention of the internal combustion engine.” Carl Trueman You can choose where you live. You can choose where you work. You can choose where you worship. Sometimes those choices converge, but usually balancing those poles of a life means commuting. Either you live close to your job and commute to church, or you live close to your church and commute to your job. Sometimes both. The time spent commuting can easily be redeemed, but it is much more difficult to counteract the de-stabilizing impact of a commute on a lifestyle. . .
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Big Problems In the course of a day, how many times do you make contact with the suffering of another living being? Really, if you counted them, how many would there be? It is 6:00 a.m. your radio alarm clicks on and reports that another suicide bomber took out twenty-three more people somewhere in the Middle East (one). Good morning. After mining the nighttime crusties from your eyes and brushing your teeth, you take a scroll through your social feeds. Your college friend just got back from India, a medical mission to the slums, and she brought back scads of. . .
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We are primarily speaking about young men starting to work but the conversation is applicable to us all. Join us as we share thoughts on how we might deliberately and with wisdom move our young men out of the home and into the world of work.
Our kids need to learn how to manage money wisely: saving, spending, being responsible with digital money, tithing, stewardship, and being a cheerful giver. What about allowances? How do you deal with entitlement issues? Should the teaching approach be different with boys and girls? What about debt? We need to very intentionally teach our kids about money. Steve and Kara talk about all these things and more in this episode of HomeWise.
Sunday is the high point of our week. Having a restful Sunday requires some planning and preparation during the week. Kara talks about some things you can do to help diffuse the stress and hurry of Sunday and truly make it a restful day…even for Mom!
Significant Changes Change is a big theme in my life these days. As many of you know, I have recently returned to the pastorate and this vocational shift has brought about many other changes to my life as well as to the lives of my children. We have relocated to a new state, three of my children are either working or attending school in other locations, and my three at-home children are attending a Christian school for the first time, instead of homeschooling. For the younger children, unless you have experienced this, you have no idea how significant the changes. . .
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When I started making knives I was twenty-eight years old. I had a new baby girl, a new little house and life was simple. I bought some tools and set up a small shop in my two-car garage. Blink my eyes and boom, my little girl is now six-feet tall, I also have another son and daughter, I don’t work in that little garage anymore, I don’t live in that house anymore. Heck, I don’t even live in that time zone anymore! I have a new home, new friends, and a very different life than I did when I started.. . .
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Health Insurance Insecurity Last month, my health provider informed me that my family was being dropped from their coverage—nothing personal—we represented just one of thousands of other families who will soon be without health insurance unless we scramble around looking for another company to take us on. Trusting God This is, of course, due to politics, and economics, and while much is being debated in those realms, my personal and individual dilemma is this; what makes me feel most secure? Is it an attachment to a large faceless corporation that will cover everything from major medical expenses to co-paying for. . .
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Difficulty of Office Evangelism The office. An environment that is challenging in the very best of circumstances. As chaotic and rowdy as a kindergarten class (but without the graham crackers and the much needed naptime) and with the social hierarchy of the playground and some of its cruelty too. Evangelism When You’ve “Blown It” Many of us work in quite difficult situations: highly competitive environments with hostile colleagues or angry bosses, or with pressing deadlines, or for a struggling company. And we find ourselves as Christians in a world that may be, at best indifferent, or at worst, hostile to. . .
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In the Greek, Economics means Oikos (Household) + Nomos (Rules). The goal is the establishment of guidelines for how something should be done. In this conversation we look at money, chores, responsibilities, gifts, labor, opportunity costs and entrepreneurial activities in our attempt to understand how best to run our households.
This conversation looks at the delight of a job well done, arguing that craftsmanship isn’t simply a calling, but a reward in itself.
