Many years ago, a friend and I bought an investment property at a courthouse auction that the IRS was selling for back taxes. Surprisingly, days later the IRS informed us that they were exercising their legal right to redeem the house to sell it back to the family who lost their home. This law allowing redemption was bad for us, […]

Mary Andringa wrote a book as a tribute to her father, Gary Vermeer., a book. As the founder of Vermeer Corporation, a large manufacturing company, Gary knew the importance of keeping an eye out for those who were disruptive to others. When Gary entered the manufacturing plant and saw three or more employees talking together, he noted that they were […]

In this series on how much work is enough, we’ve discussed some thoughts on determining your work schedule. In a Wall Street Journal article, Dr. Pang discovered that shorter work weeks has proven successful for many businesses. For instance, Microsoft Japan turned heads when they announced that productivity increased by 40% and electricity dropped 23% when they shifted to four-day […]

Although the Bible doesn’t give us specific hours for our workplace, we do have some guidance. In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable of a vineyard owner who hired workers for one day. All workers worked until 6:00 pm and some likely started at 6:00 am. If the workers observed the Sabbath and worked just six days, their work week […]

In our pursuit of determining how much work is enough, we need to determine how God perceives and defines work. In Exodus God told us to work for just six days a week. There are at least two different types of work: vocational and household work. This requires that we prioritize our schedule to include how many hours we are […]

For many leaders, work-life tension is a struggle. If only the Bible gave us a definitive number of hours for our work week. Instead, the Bible gives us some boundaries to consider, but leaves us to seek God for specific guidance on our own personal situations. An early boundary Israel received was when God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments […]

In Luke 7 we read of a Roman Centurion asking Jesus to miraculously heal his servant. The final attribute I want to highlight in this series is this Centurion’s courageous faith. This Roman soldier had heard about Jesus and His miracles. Even though the Centurion was a Gentile, not a Jew, he believed that Jesus could heal his servant. Remarkably, […]

In this series we’re examining four attributes of an amazing man who impressed Jesus. In Luke 7, we read of a Roman Centurion asking Jesus to miraculously heal his dying servant. The third attribute I noticed about this amazing leader was his generosity. This Roman solider was likely despised by most Jews. He had little reason to show them any […]

In this series we’re examining some instructive attributes of an amazing man who impressed Jesus. In Luke 7, we read of a Roman Centurion imploring Jesus to miraculously heal this Centurion’s servant. The second attribute about this Centurion that stands out to me is his strategic wisdom. This centurion could have pleaded his case personally, or perhaps, tried to use […]

Imagine, what would it have taken to impress Jesus? Yet, there was a man in Luke 7 whom Jesus marveled over. This impressive leader wasn’t even a Jew, but instead, a Roman Centurion. In this brief story, we learn of a military leader, who commanded hundreds, asking Jesus to heal this Centurion’s servant. This man models several qualities which may […]