Resources for Loving Knoxville through our Vocations

The Bridge returns tomorrow, and I'll be referring to a number of resources. I hope you will check out some of these ways to integrate your faith into your work.

Be sure to pick a copy of the Salt and Light Guidebook from Compassion Coalition. Copies are available at First Baptist Knoxville. I will be using this book as our primary resource in the study, and the guide is full of ideas for businesses, churches, and neighborhoods to love Knoxville.

Check out these websites and other resources.

Mastering Monday by John Beckett.


Doing God's Business by Paul Stevens

The High Calling Blog from Howard E. Butt and Laity Lodge

Duke University's Faith and Leadership website on Vocation

Christianity Today's Faith in the Workplace Website.

Christian Reflection's series on Vocation and faith @ work.

Back to School after Retirement

Emagene Reagan is going back to school...after retirement. This is where vocation intersects with calling, fulfillment, and an encore opportunity. Great story in the Mountain Press about one of our own.

Confirming, Affirming, Ordaining

On Sunday night, we ordained one of First Baptist's own to ministry. Ordination is to Baptists what Graduation is to College. You've got the degree, but the ceremony says what has happened already. We go through this rite of passage because of what is whispered in the ear and shared to the heart. As Bill Leonard challenged us, the early Baptists knew best. The gathering of the believers conveyed and confirmed the presence of the spirit. We touched base with Thomas and others who trusted the words of 1st century women about as much as society does today. In this case, however, we blessed a woman's work in whom we can trust.

Emily is a third generation minister. If ministry can be a family business, the Hull's would be in a skyscraper. But it's not, and it can't be. This is as individual, personal, and private as the salvation moment itself. In fact, family connections probably fight against ministry more than we realize. The preacher's kid resists a call more than the average person to make sure that it's not just what "Momma wants," or what is most familiar to the person.

As the line snaked around the historic sanctuary, I enjoyed several warm moments. On the platform, I sat next to Bill Leonard who willingly put up with my pontifications as a know-it-all undergrad. He pushed me to meet Glenn Hinson. My senior thesis was supposed to be the beginning of a good treatment of his work. Hopefully someone else has written it by now.

I watched the line filled with senior adults, single adults, and seminary adults. These cohorts and clusters called to mind the goodness of a church, the blessing of a community, and the trust and faith that God is still whispering in the night to women and men. And sometimes we get to bless those who got up, moved past their Eli, and said yes to the open door.

I saw another line form in my head. The group of men that snaked around First Baptist, Pensacola, FL, to breathe on me some words I've long forgotten but from which I still draw in the recesses of the soul. It was much different then, but that was still good and meaningful and necessary. Graduations are nice, but ordinations are grace. God's grace to us.

Against and With the Wind

I love running on the beach during vacation. The shoreline stretches for miles, and I enjoy the packed hardened sands of Hilton Head beaches. The waves offer a sound and sights display unlike any other. The problem, of course, is the wind.

This year, when I ran along the shore, the wind seemed to blow with gale force against my face. Running on vacation requires some degree of motivation anyway, and this year was no exception. This was not how I wanted to be greeted by the sea. "No problem," I thought, "when I turn aroud things will be fine. The winds in my face will send me back to my point of origin."

When I reversed course, however, the laws of physics took over. Or maybe they were Murphy's laws of running. The wind at your face feels much stronger than the wind at your back. When I started back, all I felt was the faint breeze blowing. With a sweaty shirt, and an even hotter head, I struggled back wishing I had brought a bottle of water for my thirst.

In life, we know what it's like to feel the wind in our faces. We don't have to be reminded of the gale forces. Just because we turn around (the New Testament calls this repentance), however, does not mean we are guaranteed an adrenaline rush of spiritual wind. Sometimes we get a sweaty slog of faithfulness. So we are then invited to enjoy the show. God offers us waves of grace and guidance to wash ashore that keep pace with life. And it's ok to slow down too. You're on a vacation that leads back to a vocation.

A Culture of Call

Check out the folks who have served as interns at First Baptist. Where are they now? God is using them across the country.

We're looking for more info. If you have served, or know of others, please let us know.