Posts tagged ‘hope’
Entrepreneurs: Undertaking more than business
While the editor for PLNU’s alumni magazine was away on maternity leave, I got to manage the production of our fall issue. One of the perks of being in charge is that you sometimes get to push your own agenda. And, well, my agenda is helping people make a meaningful connection between faith and work. I encouraged the executive director of our Fermanian Business and Economic Institute, Randy Ataide, to pull together some of his thoughts on entrepreneurship, faith and culture. He had been writing along these lines in the academic arena with lots of big words and complicated concepts. He was kind enough to write an original piece for our magazine that is very personal and puts some complicated concepts into easy-to-understand terms. Check out the article.
In the article, he shares his personal reflections on the opportunities for connection between the church and the entrepreneur, as well as the mischaracterization and misunderstanding that he has personally experienced. His article explores some exciting connections that entrepreneurs can help the church make in the world, including the ability to critique the dominant culture, serve the poor and do justice, and reach the lost.
I hope you enjoy reading the article as much as I enjoyed getting it printed for 40,000 alumni to read!
A very personal faith and work talk
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this online, but what the heck, I have never held back before. I had an opportunity to give a talk at the quarterly staff chapel at Point Loma Nazarene University (where I work). It was a personal talk about what I learned about having a dream for your life after my dad passed away.
I hope you will get to know me even better by hearing some personal stories about my dad and me. The powerpoint I used was mainly photos. You can’t see them in the video, so I’m linking to them here.
Go to the 20-minute video: http://vimeo.com/11745819
Dave Ramsey on Hope
“People are waiting for someone to come along and fix their life. Hope is the word of the year. Real hope doesn’t come from Washington; it comes from getting off your butt and fixing your own life.” These words by Dave Ramsey floated through the airwaves the other morning as I was getting ready for work.
I was stopped in my tracks and reminded of where my real hope comes from.
In chapter 3 of Lamentations, Jeremiah is walking through the city of Jerusalem after it has been destroyed by the Babylonians. Despair and destuction were all around him. Everything had fallen apart. In the midst of his lamenting, Jeremiah understands that there is hope in the Lord.
In Lam. 3:22-24, he proclaims, ”Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ’The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’”
More often than I would like to admit, I struggle with pride and place my hope in me. When anxiety creeps into my life because I am trying to get my butt in gear and fix my own life, I can rest in the fact that the Lord is my strength and in Him I can place my hope.
I’m not suggesting we just sit and do nothing and expect everything to get better, but I know a lot of good people being affected by this economy who are putting their best foot forward and coming up empty.
When emptiness seems to define your life, remember the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil in 2 Kings 4. The woman’s husband was dead and the creditor was coming to take her two sons to be his slaves. The woman had nothing in the house but a jar of oil. Elisha told her to go and borrow as many empty bottles as she could find. She was to shut the door behind her and pour the oil into the empty vessels. The oil filled the vessels until she ran out of vessels. Elisha then instructed her to go and sell the oil and pay off her debt.
Only when we are truly in an empty place can God reveal to us His deep provisions. Only when we are no longer dependent on ourselves can we really rely on Him. Only when our own resources have dried up can we draw from His special reserve for us. Our emptiness is a gift from the Lord.
Are you running on empty? Have you lost hope? Are you ridden with fear and anxiety? May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
