opportunity: invest your talents
January 13, 2009 by Dan King
Filed under engaged in culture
Matthew 25:14-30 provides an amazing teaching (in parable) from Jesus in which we learn that if we do not invest our ‘talents’ then we will loose them. Of course there is much more that can be said about this parable, but my emphasis on the “use it or loose it” perspective is intentional.
I believe that it is extremely important for every Christian to consider how they should be investing the ‘talents’ that they have been given. Hear my heart when I say this… I know that many people reading this right now already are investing their time, energy, money, and wisdom into the Kingdom. But I wouldn’t be doing what I’ve set out to do (see bibledude manifesto for 2009) if I didn’t challenge you to find new ways to live out your faith.
Therefore, since a ‘bibledude’ (and dudette) should be ‘engaging in culture,’ then we should be regularly searching for ways that we can impact the world around us. And if you’ve been following the ‘children of microfinance‘ series, you’ll know that there is some great opportunity to help microfinance in the war on global poverty. Five Talents is a great Christian organization that is leading the way in this area, and they have an amazing opportunity coming available…
Business professionals, graduate students, seminarians and clergy can now lend their talents in a unique way to Five Talents International as a Five Talents Fellow.
Dedicated individuals with an interest in serving the poor through Christian microenterprise development can now apply to work as a volunteer fellow with a Five Talents partner in Africa, Asia or Latin America for six months to one year. Fellowships will start during Summer 2009. Applications are due Monday, March 2, 2009.
The Five Talents Fellows program was created as a response to the demand from both partners asking for assistance with specific projects and from volunteers desiring to lend their talents to serve the poor through microfinance. The program is designed to strengthen the work and mission of Five Talents to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by advancing the goals of its local partner institutions with meaningful projects or research.
Given the high demand for involvement in the rapidly growing field of microfinance, this program offers significant benefits for interested candidates, including substantial exposure to the unique mission of Five Talents.
For more information or to apply, visit www.FiveTalents.org.
Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 15 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each loan finances a microbusiness that, in turn, supports up to six other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.
Five Talents’ ongoing work is supported by a staff based in Vienna, Va., an office in London, England, and a program office in Kampala, Uganda. Hundreds of volunteers across the United States and United Kingdom participate in the ministry.
If you check them out, then let them know that ‘bibledude.net’ sent you. And if you end up going, I would like to open up the opportunity for you to share your experiences here on bibledude.net either as a guest blogger or through recorded Skype video-call interviews. Let me know if you plan to pursue this great opportunity!
opportunity: online bible interpretation class
January 7, 2009 by Dan King
Filed under bible literacy
In my “bibledude manifesto for 2009” one of the areas that we identified as important for all Christians is being “biblically literate”. So I’d like to offer an opportunity for you to focus on development in this area. One of my many roles is that of Instructor of Biblical and Ministerial Studies at Sarasota Bible College. This is a small school that my church started several years ago to help train people for global missions and/or local ministry. Recently we have broadened our focus to help individuals simply increase their knowledge on the topics that we teach on.
Well, this Spring semester I am teaching my Bible Interpretationclass, and for the first time we would like to open this class up to remote, online-only students. The online version would be run in a private Facebook group where students could access the video of the lectures each week, post assignments, and interact with other students (even the local, in-the-classroom ones).
the bibledude manifesto for 2009
As we move into this new year, I have been taking some time to pray, reflect, and talk with several readers of this blog. As a result, I have decided to put together a sort of vision, a manifesto if you will, for the upcoming year. So as I’ve compiled this list of areas that defines what a bibledude is, it is my intent to focus the majority of my content efforts around these topics. So without further adieu…
.: Biblically Literate :.
One of the most tragic trends that I have noticed in the church these days is that more and more Christians know very little about the Bible. I regularly see Christians get into discussions with non-Christians who know the Bible better than us. Few things are more damaging to Christianity as a whole than a Christian who doesn’t know their way around the Word of God.
.: Heart of Worship :.
Our worship to God can be expressed in a variety of different ways. I’d like to explore this with you all, and find ways that we all can enhance our worship to The King of Kings… particularly by living lives of worship.
