Pastor – Coach – Reader – Cook
After you graduate from college, you will spend more time at work then (probably) anywhere else. Your studies at college, the work you put into your classes, are preparing you for your career. What does your faith that you express at church on Sunday have to do with your work throughout the rest of the…
Continue reading ➞ Everyday Faith – Bringing Faith to Work and Class
In the past year I've been reading a lot of books on a Christian view of work. I think helping people see that God has called them into their field of work is vitally important for both campus ministers, working with people while pursuing their education and preparing for work, and for church ministers who…
Continue reading ➞ Reviews of a Couple Books on Christian Work and Vocation
I am still wanting to share more of what I learned from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's amazing, classic book, Life Together. Maybe I want to keep sharing on it because I am mad no one made me read it in seminary. Or maybe I just really want others to read it. Most of the books on the…
Continue reading ➞ The Holiness of Work – Bonhoeffer’s Life Together (Listening to the Saints)
Growing up in the church I got the impression that there were two sorts of Christians: those called by God to do fantastic things such as pastors and missionaries, and the rest who had to spend their time in less holy and unimportant jobs. It was almost as if the sole purpose of Christianity was…
Continue reading ➞ Work Matters and Love Does (Review of Books on Vocation)
A few years back I was talking to someone about what I do as a campus minister and I made a comment along the lines of how I don't really listen to Christian music. The person was kind of surprised, thinking I listened to such holy music so I could recommend it to my students.…
Continue reading ➞ Is the Church Overprotective? Young Adults Who Wander (You Lost Me 6)
In a few weeks students will return to Penn State Berks. The slow summer of preparation and prayer will become a crazy fall of spending time with students, leading Bible studies and all the other things that go with campus ministry. Students will choose which clubs to be a part of and who to be…
I am going to reflect on a few of my favorite books from 2011. But note that these are books I read in 2011, not necessarily ones that were new in 2011 . One theme I harp on with the college students is calling. Growing up I got the impression that God calls people (well,…
Continue reading ➞ Favorite Books I Read this Year – Christian Vocation
I spent a large portion of this summer reading a few of the works by one of the greatest novelists of all time: Fyodor Dostoyevsky. For the first time I read Crime and Punishment, then I reread The Brothers Karamazov. I also read Notes from the Underground, one of his less well-known works. Dostoyevsky's books…
Continue reading ➞ Listening to the Saints – Classic Fiction (and Vocation)
For some reason I keep wanting to read Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic scholar who lived from 1225-1274. Perhaps it is because he remains the most influential Roman Catholic theologian today. I have read Augustine and Calvin so I want to tackle the other greats. But I tried Aquinas before (reported here) and failed miserably. Then…
I really appreciated these articles from the Internet Monk blog on "Demythologizing 'Radical' Christianity": part 1 and part 2. The two posts are actually comments on Skye Jethani's posts "Redefining Radical" (part 1 and part 2). Two especially good quotes, first from the second post on Internet Monk, quoting Lutheran Gene Edward Leith on vocation:…
