Making It Work: God and Your Work

As humans, we are the stewards of story. The stories we tell apply meaning to our own lives and to the lives of those around us. Stories can move people to tears, to joy, and even towards change. So those with the privilege to communicate stories to an audience have a special responsibility. Storytelling, particularly telling other people's stories, requires great care and integrity. Today we're t...

We talk with guest Reverend Dr. Gary Green about the theology of sports as a spiritual experience, the use of the term beast to describe black male athletes, and the places in the Bible where we see God interrupting the stories we tell ourselves. Dr. Green is an assistant professor of pastoral theology and social transformation and director of anti-racist initiatives at United Theological Seminary...

 Dr Josephine Kim talks about the cultural and social factors that impact mental health and work for marginalized groups. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a National Certified Counselor,  and affiliated faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is an internationally known scholar, speaker and consultant who lends...

Our second episode in a special series on mental wellness.  Our guest today is Laura Smith. Laura is a best-selling author and speaker who speaks around the country sharing the love of Christ. In her latest book, Holy Care for the Whole Self, Laura Smith debunks the stigma around mental health and shows how caring for our own well-being is biblical and can help us better live the lives Christ call...

This month is mental health awareness month in the United States, and we're kicking off a series on mental wellness and work. We discuss how mental wellness connects to faith, barriers to mental wellness at work, and what you can do about it. Guest Becca Brune is the executive director of this Congregational Collective, a new nonprofit funded by the H. E. Butt Foundation aiming to make San Antonio...

Groups reading the Scripture out loud meet all over the world, from pastors in Korea to tech workers in Seattle, to a group of financial services professionals in New York City, meeting every week to listen to the Bible and talk about their work. Tom Cole, our guest today has experienced this practice as one of the leaders of the New York group, Faith in Financial Services. He's here today to tell...

Sensitive, empathic, introverted. These are some of the ways that today's guest Dorcas Cheng Tozun would describe herself. Learning to thrive as a sensitive person, especially in the world of work, where those who are aggressive or assertive may often dominate, has been an important part of her journey and of many of our journeys. Dorcas has nearly 20 years of experience as a nonprofit and social...

We all make plans for our work, whether that's a list of things to do today, or a ten year plan. We have hopes, dreams, and goals for the future. But what does it mean to let God shape your work plans? And how do you know if you're submitting to God's plan, or simply fitting God into yours? We talk with Barry Rowan, author of The Spiritual Art of Business: Connecting the Daily with the Divine. Bar...

In addition to being named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 100 most influential black women in sports, Jasmine Bellamy is an influential figure in bringing the practice of love to transform workplace culture from the inside out. She's the Vice President of Merchandising, Planning and Allocation at Reebok. She also is the founder of Love 101 Ministries, which is dedicated to the theology and practi...

Faith-based employee resource groups can be a bridge to building relationships within your own faith and across different faiths. One example of a successful faith-based ERG is Google's Inter Belief Network. Guest Barbara Villasenor is a founding member and global chair of Google's Inter Belief Network, co-lead of the Google Christian Fellowship chapter, an economics business partner to Google's c...

The enneagram, a personality typing system, has exploded in popularity in recent years. For followers of Jesus, the enneagram can be a useful tool on the road to healthier relationships with God, yourself, and others on your team. Guest Jesse Eubanks is a certified Enneagram coach and host of The EnneaCast, a podcast exploring personality and relationships through the lens of the Enneagram. Jesse...

Research shows that forgiveness may positively impact your experience of the workplace and the people around you. Guest Dr. Loren Toussaint is a Professor of Psychology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He directs the laboratory for the investigation of mind, body and spirit, that studies virtues, especially forgiveness and their relationship to health and well-being. He is the Chair of the Disc...

If you're a follower of Jesus suffering with chonic pain at work, you may find yourself asking, where is God when I'm in pain?  According to the Harvard Business Review, studies suggest that up to 40% of American workers experience chronic pain - pain that persists for more than 3 months - sometimes unbeknownst to managers and co-workers. For workers, chronic pain can be debilitating and discourag...

Anxiety and uncertainty about finances is part of most people's lives, even followers of Jesus. Our choice of work, our feelings about money and our faith are constantly intertwined in changing and complicated ways. Guest Katrina Miles started her own company, a step of faith that has challenged her to trust in God's provision to pay the bills while seeking God's kingdom in her work. Her company,...

How do you find purpose in your work? Does your faith give your work purpose? Or does your work give you perspective on your faith? We explore what the Bible has to say about the purpose of your work with guest Tom Lutz. Tom brings decades of entrepreneurial experience to his work coaching marketplace leaders. He also teaches biblical studies at Metro Atlanta Seminary and leads workshops to help C...

Guests Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker discuss connecting with God when working from home and their new book,  Practices for Working in the Presence of God: A Guided Journal.   Scripture References Matthew 9:1-22 Psalm 62:8 Proverbs 16:9   Additional Resources Practices for Working in the Presence of God: A Guided Journal by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker (2022) Working in the Prese...

Whether you work in management, customer service, as a teacher, or as a parent, no matter what your job is, the daily pressures of work can get to you. You may react in ways that hurt others or don't feel consistent with the person you want to be. If you're interested in improving how you respond when the pressure is on, our guest today is here to help. Recently named among the top 30 most influen...

Over 15 million people in the United States work in the hospitality industry today. You may not typically think of working in hospitality as a particularly powerful job, but this work holds great power when we connect it to God's hospitality and God's powerful welcome to all people. Guest Teena Dare, spent 10 years in the restaurant industry, where she learned to love the rhythms of hard work and...

Our workplaces are broken in all sorts of ways. By greed, by selfishness, short sightedness, lack of consideration, and lack of love for others. As followers of Jesus, how can we resist replicating the brokenness and instead act as a restorative presence in our workplaces and industries? Here to talk to us today about being a restorative presence in his industry is Ben Stamper. Ben is an award win...

Do you feel overwhelmed, distracted or stressed at work? Do you feel yourself hurtling towards burnout? It might not be that your job is a bad fit for you. It could just be that you're working at the wrong pace. Our guest today argues that the leading cause of burnout is an institutional pace that doesn't match the natural pace of workers. Caitie Butler is the co-author of Work Reimagined: How the...

Sam Thevanayagam talks with us about God's work of re-creation and "making all things new" through our everyday work. Sam is the president and CEO of three companies—Parts Life, Inc., DeVal Lifecycle Support, and LC Engineers—focused on aerospace and defense systems used with domestic and international platforms. Sam is a TEDx speaker and the author of The First 10 Runs in Singles: Life Lessons fr...

You might feel out of place, praying at work or offering to pray for someone you work with. But some Christians, including our guest today, Barbara Myrick, credit prayer at work with stronger relationships and even better business results. Barbara Myrick is the president of B&M Construction Inc. Barbara has grown the company to become one of the most respected construction companies in Colorado. S...

Deb Liu is a former VP at Facebook and the current President and CEO of Ancestry. As a woman who has worked her way to the top of the corporate ladder in Silicon Valley, she knows firsthand the challenges that keep the deck stacked against women in the workplace and the ways to overcome them. She is the author of Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work . She's here to talk to not only...

Do you work a job? Or do you live a calling?  Today we talk with guest Bryan Dik about the common myths and half-truths about calling. Bryan Dik is a vocational psychologist and professor of psychology at Colorado State University , where he serves as Director of Training for the university's Ph. D. program in counseling psychology . He is also co-founder and Chief Science Officer of jobZology and...

If you're looking to make your next move, but not sure how to get started, this episode is for you. We talk with Jeff Henderson, an entrepreneur, business leader, former pastor, and author of What To Do Next: Taking Your Best Step When Life is Uncertain .   Scripture References Genesis 12:1 Genesis 15-18:15   Additional Resources What to Do Next  by Jeff Henderson  Jeff's Website: https://jeffhend...