I believe that it is possible to fully integrate faith and work. It was so important that I wrote a book about it. In reality, there are gray areas where I wonder if I am making the right decisions. For example, I invest primarily in passive index funds. These are highly diversified investments that …
Moral Ecology
This past week has been one of extremes. On Friday morning, my wife and I babysat our 8-month old granddaughter for a couple of hours. We fed her lunch, took her out for a walk in her stroller, and then played inside the house with her. She became upset about something and started to cry. This …
Working Women
During my life, I witnessed revolutionary changes in women’s roles. I attended an engineering university during the 1970’s and my freshman class was 11% female, the largest number of entering females in the university’s history. Today, my university has 30% female engineering undergraduates (1,400). …
A Quest for Integration
I desire my faith to be 24/7. I don’t want to be a Christian who goes diligently to church on Sunday, then lives a secular life Monday through Saturday. I want my faith to be present at home, with friends and family, and when interacting in my community. I strive to be obedient to Christ in all I …
Sunday-Monday Gap
When I interviewed at my university’s placement office for my first professional job, I sought a career with good pay, challenging work, and secure employment. I had little money, one business suit, and an old car that was on its last legs. I was tired of being a poor student and the daily grind of …
What Should I Do with my Life?
When I was young, my father would say, “Ken, you are going to be an engineer!” The only thing I knew at that time about engineers was that they worked on trains. I never asked my father why he thought I should be an engineer, but it must have something to do with my organizational and logical …
Theological Model of Work
I recently published my first book, Trading With God: Seven Steps to Integrate Your Faith into Your Work. Part II describes my theological model of work founded on the threefold, distinct, and interrelating aspects of Christian work: self-actualization, community, and new creation. All three aspects …
Secular and the Sacred
I worked almost a decade in Europe. The office environment was completely secular. I rarely heard anyone discuss spiritual issues or their church involvement. We did regularly discuss work, sports, and politics, though. When my wife and I traveled, we toured the great cathedrals, churches, and …
Self-absorption
I do not like to fly in airplanes. I don’t have any phobias about flying and like to travel to interesting places. I just did so many business and personal airplane flights that I grew to dislike this part of the journey. Since the September 11th tragedy and the increasingly competitive airline …
Work versus Vocation
When a person is considering becoming a pastor (minister, priest, vicar, etc.), he or she is asked: do you feel called to the ministry? Many lower paid occupations that serve communities, such as missionaries, social workers and low-income medical workers, are called vocations because these workers …