Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Vocation

April 11, 2014

Why Your Job Pushing Paper Can Help Change the World

More than at any time in the last hundred years, Christians (at least in those in America) are beginning to recognize that, as Greg Gilbert and Sebastian Traeger say, “our jobs are an arena in which God will work in us and through us to make us more like Jesus and to glorify himself.” Yet it’s often easier to recognize this truth in the abstract while failing to understand how it could be true for our own jobs. Continue Reading...
March 31, 2014

Four Decades with Thomas Jefferson

20th Century historian Dumas Malone praised Thomas Jefferson as the exemplar of liberty. “To all who cherish freedom and abhor tyranny in any form, [Jefferson] is an abiding hope that springs eternal,” declared Malone. Continue Reading...
March 18, 2014

Dear Future Mom: Children with Down Syndrome Are a Gift to Us All

“I’m expecting a baby,” writes a future mother. “I’ve discovered he has Down syndrome. I’m scared: what kind of life will my child have?” In response, CoorDown, an Italian organization that supports those with the disability, created the following video, answering the mother through the voices of 15 children with Down syndrome: “Your child can be happy,” they conclude, “and you’ll be happy, too.” Or, as Katrina Trinko summarizes: “Don’t be scared. Continue Reading...
March 17, 2014

The Blight Of Worklessness

Work is good. It gives meaning and purpose to our lives. It affords us an avenue for our God-given talents. It provides our income, gives service to others, and fashions our society. Continue Reading...
March 13, 2014

Survey Results: What Do You Look for in a Pastor?

One month ago, I posted a link to a survey asking ten questions about what people look for in a pastor, promising to post the results one month later. The idea was to try to shed some light on the disconnect between supply and demand when it comes to ministers looking for a call and churches looking for a minister. Continue Reading...
March 12, 2014

The Four Questions of Christian Education

One of the advantages of living in a free society is that parents have multiple options for how they can educate their children, including enrolling them in religious education. Christian education is unique in that teachers can integrate faith and learning in the classroom to unlock academic disciplines from mere materialistic or rational concerns to direct interdependence and collaboration with the providential work of the Triune God in his plan to redeem the entire cosmos. Continue Reading...
February 21, 2014

A Lesson in Work Ethics from Mike Rowe

“The definition of a good job, the meaning of work,” says Mike Rowe, Acton’s favorite blue-collar philosopher of work, “[is] the willingness to see what a lot of people might call a bad job and only see an opportunity.” Rowe said jobs have been available since 2003, but Americans aren’t defining them as “good.” Meanwhile, employers are desperate for people willing to learn a “useful skill” and work hard.   Continue Reading...