Work has become for many people the central reference point in their lives and the main consumer of their time and energy. Whether people have much or little money is what much of life revolves around. There is an implicit theology in everyone's attitude to and handling of work. This book looks at the relationship between God and the marketplace, at work as a spiritual discipline, and at how to handle some of the main pressures and dilemmas that arise in a work setting. The combined wisdom of dozens of experts makes this volume a great place to start thinking about how Christians should approach subjects such as: . ADVERTISING . BUSINESS ETHICS . COMPETITION . COMPROMISE . CONTRACTS . CREDIT. DEBT . FIRING . GOSSIP . INSURANCE . INTEGRITY . INVESTMENT . LEADERSHIP . LOYALTY . MANAGEMENT . NEGOTIATING . NETWORKING . OFFICE POLITICS . PROMOTION . RETIREMENT . SHIFTWORK . STEWARDSHIP . STRESS . STRIKES . UNIONS . VOLUNTEER WORK . WHISTLE-BLOWING R. Paul Stevens is the David J. Brown Family Professor of Marketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College in Vancouver and the author of many books on marriage, work and everyday life. His many books include The Other Six Days, Liberating the Laity, Marriage Spirituality, Living the Story and Down-to-Earth Spirituality. Robert Banks is past director and dean of Macquarie Christian Studies Institute in Sydney, Australia. He has written widely on work, community, and popular culture, including The Tyranny of Time and Redeeming the Routines.

Equipping Laypeople Many Christians fail to see their places of work as their most logical mission field, missing opportunities for both workplace ministry and evangelism. Those who do see their places of work as a mission field are making a tremendous difference where they work. Given the amount of hours typically spent working, the personal trials and dysfunctions many carry with them to work, as well as the poor working conditions of many American workers, there is a tremendous need for Christians to transform their places of work. Even though many pastors tell their church members to go out and reach people, they are not providing them with the necessary training to reach those in the workplace. There is a great need for laypeople to be built up, to be creative, and to live out their faith at work. Pastors have been given the ultimate privilege of equipping God's people for service. Churches must be intentional about providing laypersons with the theological tools and practical information necessary to understand and effectively exercise workplace ministry. We must begin by accepting that all God's people are placed in workplace ministry, and seek to know God's original plan for work, as well as how to integrate work and faith. In EQUIPPING LAYPEOPLE FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL WORKPLACE MINISTRY, Caroloretta Tucker offers her Doctorate's thesis research results to pastors and churches as a firm foundation for this effort.

During the last few decades there has been an increasing interest in the connection between our faith and our work, along with the growth of resources and organizations to bring the two into dialogue. Despite this, most Christians continue to feel that their daily work is less valuable than that of pastors, missionaries, or full-time workers in a religious organization. In a fresh and practical way, this book sets out the biblical, historical, and theological grounds for challenging this commonly felt view. It includes a range of engaging personal case studies that demonstrate the profound effect integrating one’s work up into one’s faith can have—relationally, institutionally, and societally as well as evangelistically, pastorally, and missionally. Attention is also given to the increasingly addictive, fragmented, and precarious nature of work today, and to how we can spiritually find our way to discerning and expressing our unique God-given vocation. The final section of the book considers whether any of our work has eternal value, and retells a compelling parable of what this might look like.

Become a minister in the marketplace! Ministry in the Marketplace: Joining Your Personal Faith and Professional Life shows how to bridge the divide between calling and career. If you ever wondered whether or not God could work wonders in your workplace, then this is the book for you. Quit leaving the ministry to professional ministers and start reaching people in your sphere of influence! We were made to represent God and touch people's lives and when we don't do what we were created to do we are left feeling empty and dissatisfied. Yet this book is more than just about purpose, but also a practical discussion about how to really walk with God as a minister in the marketplace. Those that are not called to the full-time ministry still have a real calling to reach out to others on God's behalf because we were created to touch the world with the love of God. That does not mean we have to be in a pulpit ministry, but that our daily lives are our pulpit, and the people around us our congregation. Inside this revolutionary book, author Michael Kocurek reveals: - It is God's will for us to minister to people around us even while we are on the job. - A godly definition of success doesn't exalt work at the expense of God's purposes. - We have placed too much of the work of ministry on the pastor of the local church. Michael Kocurek is a husband, father, and marketplace minister who expresses his Christianity through the vocation of professional selling. A graduate of Texas Tech University, Michael has committed his life to communicating the message of marketplace ministry. He resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife and four children. To learn more or to order copies of his book, visit www.ministryinthemarketplace.com.

Do you feel that taking your faith to work is as welcome as driving a truck through a living room? Please God, Let There Be Another Boom is a reasonable and helpful guide, showing foundations for integrating faith with work, and exploring the practical impact of faith at work. In an era where workers change jobs or move from city to city in order to sustain themselves and their families, hope to continue will be found in these chapters. After pouring solid footings for faith at work, the author presents ten important areas where workers balance belief with business. These areas include: authority relationships at work verbal witness pay and its problems rest meaning at work prayer at work and more! For over thirty years, author Grant McDowell has shepherded people who live with the impossibilities and rewards of the workplace, and he has engaged in their world via his blue-collar background, his involvement in the local business community, and by seeking ways to encourage those who refuse to pretend spirituality is reserved for wooden benches in quiet sanctuaries.

Business as Mission (BAM) is a growing global movement. Christians active in the arena of business, charity and ministry are on a journey to integrate business with holistic mission. But what exactly is BAM? In this book, Gea Gort and Mats Tunehag explain the BAM concept through theory and theology, with stories to show what it looks like in real life. The authors explain that Business as Mission is an expression of a much broader movement. Ideas regarding mission, church, and charity are shifting, and growing number of Christians are aiming for a missional way of living out the whole incarnated gospel in their daily lives where they work and live. The inspiring stories of thirty practitioners active on all continents provide insight into how the gospel can be shared in innovative and practical ways in challenging settings: in developing nations, secularized Western cities, or even closed countries. This book will not only capture your mind and heart as you learn about Business as Mission in theory and praxis, but it will also give you a broad overview of this remarkable movement. This book provides insight into this global movement and is of interest for a broad range of people: pioneers, early adapters and leaders within church, missionaries, and business leaders, as well as for Bible schools and universities. Dr. Gea Gort, a trained journalist, studied Transformational Leadership in the Global Urban Context at Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, where she serves as adjunct faculty and regional board member. She is passionate about innovative mission in an urban and global context. In her hometown of Rotterdam (Holland), she initiated City Prayer, directed a Christian leaders network, and advised the government on multicultural affairs. Gea has authored several books in Dutch and in English. Mats Tunehag is a speaker, writer, and consultant from Sweden. For over twenty years, he has focused on developing the Business as Mission (BAM) concept as well as national, regional, and global strategic alliances of people and BAM initiatives. A global lecturer, he is also a BAM senior leader in the Lausanne Movement and the World Evangelical Alliance.

Evangelical discourse on the role of arts in the church can be radioactive, and the twenty-one contributors to this book walk right into the "hot zone" to pick up on twenty contentious questions. The volume is a series of written dialogues, each one keyed to a cranky question, one that a skeptic might raise (hence the title). Herein, the gainsayers are taken seriously and given their voice. They even find support in some of the contributors' comments. But apologists for greater use of arts and artists in the church have their say, and things can get edgy. Topics range from the biblically august (the Second Commandment; the regulative principle; Great Commission priorities) to the prudential (expense; "bohemian" influence; weaker brothers) to the programmatic (Christmas festivities; committee makeup). Some of the parties to the discussion are church staffers (pastors and ministers of music); some are professors; several are doctoral students; one is a college student; another, a gallery owner; yet another, a denominational ethicist; and there's a Canadian and a Korean in the mix. The collection of speakers and opinions is illuminating and bracing, and the fruit of their thinking makes for great reading and discussion.

Every workday millions of Christians enter the marketplace. Whether as sales associates or engineers, auto mechanics or executives, Christians are called to serve God in the workplace. But most need help integrating faith and work. How can you be salt and light on the job? Where can you turn for help in developing a biblical and satisfying view ...

Are you a workplace Christian who desires to purposefully live out your faith at work? Has the concept of calling personally affected you even though you are not a vocational minister? Are you interested in tried and true methods of impacting a city through marketplace ministry? If you can answer yes to one or more of these questions, Navigating the Needle's Eye is a must-read for you. It is the story of Needle's Eye Ministries in Richmond, Virginia, one of the earliest marketplace ministries, and its founder, Buddy Childress. Personal, insightful, motivational, and visionary, this book will touch your heart, excite your mind, and motivate you to action.