Are you feeling trapped as a tentmaker? Do you feel like any slip in your job will get you thrown out of the country? Do you feel like you might be prevented from returning to your host country if you travel because someone might have labeled you as a Christian? This dilemma is what is…
“For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: a light, for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” –Simeon at the sight of the baby, Jesus Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles, to those Unreached People who have…
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Work of Influence: Principles for Professionals from the Book of Daniel. Lord willing, it will be in print and available at Amazon in January 2018. This principle of tentmaking that we draw from the book of Daniel is, perhaps, the most profound and, yet, most revolutionary of this…
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 ESV When we consider this verse, we might think of the specific works that we do that are collected into a mass of “works. ”…
My oldest son, Jonathan, recently got his driver’s license and a job at a fast food restaurant. I’m proud of him on both counts. If Jonathan says to me, “Dad, thanks for all you do,” Will that make me happy? Of course, it will. On the other hand, what if Jonathan says to me, “Dad,…
Are missionaries biblical? Absolutely not. The reason, of course, is that “missionary” is a Latin-based word and the Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. So, no, this Latin word is not in the original manuscripts. As far as the equivalent of missionary, yes, of course it is in the Bible! The equivalent New…
I attended Northwestern College for my undergraduate degrees and I often heard students complain about the required chapel attendance five days each week. For me, this requirement was the very reason I was at Northwestern. It showed me that Northwestern was serious about the spiritual vitality of its students. One of the most important lessons…
At Global Intent, we have three passions that really stand out as distinctives: We are passionate about God. We are passionate about Unreached People Groups. We are passionate about work. As a tentmaking organization, a lot of people would wonder why I don’t put tentmaking in those passions. The reason is that tentmaking is inherent…
One of the elements of tentmaking is wielding technology without being enslaved to it. On the one hand, you have some people who claim, “Thumbs rule!” and they would prefer to tweet their term papers in 140-character bites if they could. Other people claim, “If email was good enough for Jesus to write the Gospels,…
Oligodendrites. It sounds like I’m just being erudite, but you should really take better care of your oligodendritic formations. In 2011, Nicholas Carr wrote the book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains and I first thought, “Come on. It’s ridiculous to overstate that the Internet is changing our brains!” Yet, that’s…