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Careers, Calling, & Jobs: Calling

Calling and Career

Internet Resources

Career vs Calling: What's the Difference?

Do you have a career or a calling? What’s the difference? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7accRoOiE

Perspectives

Kingdom Calling

A 2013 Christianity Today Book Award winnerImagine the scenarios:a CEO successfully negotiates a corporate merger, avoiding hundreds of layoffs in the processan artist completes a mosaic for public display at a bank, showcasing neighborhood heroesa contractor creates a work-release program in cooperation with a local prison, growing the business and seeing countless former inmates turn their lives arounda high-school principal graduates 20 percent more students than the previous year, and the school's average scores go up by a similar percentageNow imagine a parade in the streets for each event. That's the vision of Proverbs 11:10, in which the tsaddiqim--the people who see everything they have as gifts from God to be stewarded for his purposes--pursue their vocation with an eye to the greater good.Amy Sherman, director of the Center on Faith in Communities and scholar of vocational stewardship, uses the tsaddiqim as a springboard to explore how, through our faith-formed calling, we announce the kingdom of God to our everyday world. But cultural trends toward privatism and materialism threaten to dis-integrate our faith and our work. And the church, in ways large and small, has itself capitulated to those trends, while simultaneously elevating the "special calling" of professional ministry and neglecting the vocational formation of laypeople. In the process, we have, in ways large and small, subverted our kingdom mandate.God is on the move, and he calls each of us, from our various halls of power and privilege, to follow him. Here is your chance, keeping this kingdom calling in view, to steward your faith and work toward righteousness. In so doing, you will bless the world, and as you flourish, the world will celebrate.

At This Time and in This Place

Seeking to deepen current scholarly engagement with vocational exploration in both theory and practice, At This Time and In This Place champions the themes of calling and vocation as key elements of effective undergraduate education. Growing out of a year-long seminar sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), this book brings together a nationwide group of scholars from a variety of disciplines in order to produce new scholarly writing on this topic. Itoffers a historical and theoretical account of vocational reflection and discernment and also suggests how these endeavors can be carried out through specific educational practices. Attending both to the current state of higher education and to broader cultural trends, the contributors examine thecontours of vocation from historical, theological, and philosophical perspectives. They consider the relationship between vocation and virtue, both of which encourage the cultivation of habits that lead to a life marked by flourishing and fulfillment - for oneself and for others. The authors alsodiscuss how to engage students in actively reflecting on questions of meaning and purpose through classroom conversations, co-curricular activities, programs for community engagement, and attention to a campus's physical features. At This Time and In This Place offers a compelling argument forvocational reflection and discernment in undergraduate education and represents a significant contribution to the emerging scholarly literature in this field.

Big Questions, Worthy Dreams

The "twenty-something" years of young adulthood are increasingly recognized as critical but puzzling. Building on the foundation she established in her classic work, The Critical Years, Sharon Parks urges thoughtful adults to assume responsibility for providing strategic mentorship during this important decade in life. She reveals also, however, the ways young adults are influenced not only by individual mentors but also by mentoring environments. To read Young Adulthood in a Changing World, an excerpt from this book,click here.

Cure for the Common Life

"Sweet spot." Golfers understand the term. So do tennis players. Ever swung a baseball bat or paddled a Ping-Pong ball? If so, you know the oh-so-nice feel of the sweet spot. Life in the sweet spot rolls like the downhill side of a downwind bike ride. But you don't have to swing a bat or a club to know this. What engineers give sports equipment, God gave you.A zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot. But if you're like 87 percent of workers, you haven't found it. You don't find meaning in your work--or you're one of the 80 percent who don't believe their talents are used. What can you do? You're suffering from the common life, and you desperately need a cure. Best-selling author Max Lucado has found it. In Cure for the Common Life he offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, motivation to put your strengths to work, and the perfect prescription for finding and living in your sweet spot for the rest of your life.

Every Good Endeavor

New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shows how God calls on each of us to express meaning and purpose through our work and careers. Tim Keller, pastor of New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church and the New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, has taught and counseled students, young professionals, and senior leaders on the subject of work and calling for more than twenty years. Now he pulls his insights into a thoughtful and practical book for readers everywhere. With deep conviction and often surprising advice, Keller shows readers that biblical wisdom is immensely relevant to our questions about work today. In fact, the Christian view of work--that we work to serve others, not ourselves--can provide the foundation of a thriving professional and balanced personal life. Keller shows how excellence, integrity, discipline, creativity, and passion in the workplace can help others and even be considered acts of worship--not just of self-interest.

Live Your Passion, Tell Your Story, Change Your World

What does it take to revolutionize a person's life and make a real impact? Authors Bob Reccord and Randy Singer have exciting, God-driven ideas they're eager to share. Intended to intensify the reader's passion and purpose in life, they enthusiastically challenge their audience to consider that a mission field is simply wherever you are at the moment and a call to ministry is being faithful to your immediate tasks. Well-known within the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, Reccord and Singer will have special appeal to graduates, leaders, professionals, lay leaders, and anyone with a heart to help heal the wounds of this world.

Success Is Not an Accident

Tommy Newberry's best-selling Success Is Not an Accident(self-published in 1999) has helped over 100,000 readers achieve higher levels of success in both their personal and professional lives. Reminiscent of best-selling authors Stephen Covey and John Maxwell, Newberry teaches readers the power of goal setting, time management, visualization, and "self-talk" so they can achieve peak levels of performance in all areas of their lives.

Let Your Life Speak

With wisdom, compassion, and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and joy, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives.