Happy?
Earlier this month, the Christian Science Monitor reported the findings of a General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago. The survey came back with what they determined to be the “Happiest Jobs”. (http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/The-10-happiest-jobs)
It’s an interesting collection of jobs. At number 10 are Operating engineers. These are the people who get to play with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders and the like. They are very employable as there always seem to be jobs for these folks, and they also seem very happy.
At number 9 are Financial Service Sales agents. They make good money, the work in a comfortable office environment, what’s not to like about that?
At number 8 are psychologists. You get to help people, and you get paid for it. Seems like a nice perk!
Number 7 give us artists. Sure many of them don’t make much money from it, but being able to express yourself artistically gives a great amount of pleasure it seems.
Coming in at number 6 are teachers. Working with, educating and enabling our next leaders must be a great job.
It’s interesting that at number 5 we find special education teachers. This, I believe is a special calling for people, to work with special needs children. I also believe it is truly a special blessing to be able to work with them.
Number 4 surprised me a bit. It’s authors. Like artists there is a great amount of satisfaction in being able to express yourself creatively, but knowing a few authors, I might think the pressing deadlines some publishers put on their authors might have dropped them lower. Apparently I don’t know what I’m talking about.
At number 3 are physical therapists. I can agree with this one as I have a couple of good physical therapists for friends and they do love their work.
Number 2 is an interesting one. Firefighters. I know it’s stressful, it’s physical, but they love it. Who’s to argue?
Number 1 I’m a big fan of. At the top of the list for happiest jobs are clergy. As you look over the list you see a lot of them have to do with working with people, being helpers. Add to it that we see it as a calling in our lives so we can live out what God is calling us to do and I think you can see why it’s up there.
But there are happy people in every aspect of work and life. It doesn’t matter if you’re clergy, or a doctor, a teacher, if you deliver mail or pick up garbage. What matters is, you find what you love, and you do it. You find what special gifts God has placed in you, and you exercise them to the best of your ability.
What has God blessed you with? What skills and passions has God placed in your heart and hands? How might you fulfill your calling as a Christian in the world?
Your job might never make it to the top of the “Happiest Jobs” list, but you might not dream of ever doing anything else. God can use you wherever you are. Living out your God-given calling doesn’t mean you have to stand in the pulpit every week. It doesn’t mean you have to write books or songs.
Living as God calls you to live simply means letting God guide you where you are. Letting your ministry be whatever it is you are doing right now.
How is God using you today?
We Are One
“We Are One”
Ephesians 2
You know, there are a lot of different jobs out there. There are people who do just about anything you could ever imagine. And of course there are shows to tell us just what some of those jobs are. For some reason, those shows like to dwell on the dirtiest, the hardest, the smelliest, the grossest jobs you could imagine. But you know what? No matter what job you look at, there is someone who loves it more than anything else they could ever be doing.
Earlier this month, a report was released indicating what were the “happiest jobs”. On the list were teachers, psychologists, physical therapists, heavy machinery operators, firefighters all kinds of interesting jobs. Yet, what was at number one?
Clergy.
Yes, it was! Honestly! I know most of my colleagues love their jobs. I know I do. I also know many other people out there who absolutely love what they do to. No matter what kind of job it is.
The secret of happiness isn’t really much of a secret at all. It’s discovering your gifts and using them. read more…
Faith, Finances and Future
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I like to watch the news.
Why? To be honest, I’m not quite sure.
What do we see on the news? Well, 90% of it is bad news. Wars, fighting, poverty, recessions, lost jobs, kidnappings, attacks, shootings, beatings, countries/provinces/states/cities all running out of money… and so on and so on.
So… why do I watch the news again?
I suppose I watch it so I can be informed. So I can be a responsible citizen and see where I can help out. To see where there is need in our communities, our nation and our world.
So I know who Jesus is talking about when I read something like:
The king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:34-41)
But as we hear again threats of a global recession when we’ve never recovered from the last recession, it makes you think of the future. It makes you think about what’s going to happen long-term when your investments have tanked and you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to retire.
“The world is on the brink of a financial collapse!” we hear from some analysts. Thanks, that helps a lot.
So what are we to do?
The future looks bleak. Our finances are a mess with no clear indicator that things will improve anytime soon.
We need to have faith.
We need to look to the only dependable constant we have.
We need to look to God.
In the quote from Matthew 25 above, we see what we are to do. We are to help those in need. We are to feed the hungry, close the naked, visit those whose lives are (literally or figuratively) a prison.
When we do these things, which are just an explanation of what Jesus called the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… [And] love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12:30,31) When we do these things, we will be blessed by God.
Do you want to be blessed? Do you want God to smile down on you and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant… Come on in and share my happiness!”? (Matthew 25:23)
If you do. If you want God’s blessing in your life, then you need to do something about it.
The financial crisis, our immediate future as a mass culture, we can’t control those things. But we can control our own fate. We can make a difference in our communities. We can be blessed by God when we come to know our Lord Jesus Christ and let him transform our lives into lives of blessings.
Get to know him. Get to a church and learn about him. He is the source of hope in our lives when the world has nothing left to give.
Grace-Filled Blessings
“Grace-filled Blessings”
Ephesians 1
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Paul gets to the point. Doesn’t he. At least he is in his letter to the Ephesians. In some of his letters, he’ll spend some time praising the folks, or praying for them. In others he jumps right to the point. But no matter what approach he takes, he very much says what is on his mind.
In this letter, Paul starts jumps right into proclaiming and celebrating Jesus Christ, then he prays. He seems to be pretty excited and pumped up for what is happening. He’s really getting into the moment, and instead of spending the entire letter addressing some sort of issue that’s been revealed to him about the community, this letter comes across more of a “how to live” sermon with lots of great instruction on what it means to live in Christ. So for the next six weeks, we’re going to read through the book of Ephesians here in the church, and we’re going to see what it might have to say to us today.
But building on Paul’s excitement, I have to say that I’m pretty excited that we are back here together today. Over the summer, we had a great time worshipping with our friends from our neighbouring United Churches here on the Northside. And now we’re trying out some new things in worship. Our Sunday School has been reshaped in the hopes of giving our children a fuller understanding of the stories of the Bible and having fun while they do it.
One of the key functions of the church is to bring a community together to understand the significance of what Jesus Christ has done for us. We are to build up the body of the church, but we can’t do that unless we also grow in our own faith in our Lord. read more…
Discipling
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20, The Message
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The role of the church is changing. It has to or it will cease to exist in many places. The church needs to take the final instructions of Jesus very seriously. Jesus, after spending three years with his disciples, teaching them, showing them what they are going to be doing, much like apprentices to the master are now charged with continuing his work.
We are the new recruits.
We are the ones who have inherited this task from the generations of disciples who have gone before us.
It doesn’t seem right to simplify this task into a single video, but in a way it really is this simple.
Get the light of Jesus into us.
Share it.
If you have trouble viewing the video, click here.