Welcome to our first-ever edition of The Grapevine, your weekly connection from Karam Fellowship! We are thrilled to have you with us as we launch this new partnership. 

We want this weekly communication to bless you with inspiration and equipping. Please let us know your thoughts about how we can serve you well! As with any new endeavor, we are open to whatever directions the Lord may lead us in, and we treasure your feedback.

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

II Thessalonians 2:13-17

Workism and Fertility: The Case of the Nordics, Laurie DeRose & Lyman Stone, Institute for Family Studies

What could possibly explain such a large, decade-long decline in fertility to historically unprecedented lows…even in societies that support childbearing through generous policy supports, and where gender egalitarian values have progressed further than anywhere else in the world? In this report, we suggest that part of the answer relates to a previously under-studied social force: the changing social, moral and even ideological place of market labor in the life course.

The Almighty and the Dollar, Samuel Gregg, Law & Liberty

Attempts to assess religion’s role vis-à-vis economic ideas, preferences and practices all too often confuse correlation with causation, or simply advance hard-to-prove and easy-to-dispute hypotheses. Our understanding of how religious beliefs, doctrines, institutions and habits shape economic life and ideas consequently remains fragile, tentative and heavily driven by speculation and ideology rather than compelling evidence. The topic, however, remains a best-seller.

With Greater Access, More Black Entrepreneurs would Thrive, Kim Wallace Carlson, Kauffman Foundation

To create an economy that works for everyone, we need to have conversations about the systemic barriers that stand in the way. Recently, the Kauffman Foundation convened experts for a South by Southwest (SXSW) panel to talk about the state of black entrepreneurship, and how, with greater access to opportunity, support, funding, and knowledge, more black entrepreneurs will be able to prosper. Here are four highlights from the discussion, which was moderated by Amara Omeokwe from The Wall Street Journal.

What Bob Ross Can Teach Us about Faith and Work, John Terrill, Made to Flourish

Ross had a regular moment in his show when he would clean his brush by thrashing it against the front leg of his easel, proclaiming soothingly that one must “beat the devil out of your paintbrush.” Thumping the devil out of one’s paintbrush is an apt metaphor for the identity work we must engage to pursue our labor well….Not only are many of his private paintings rich in texture, shading, and color, but he has something enduring to say about human creativity, agency, and the importance of staying alert in the cosmic battle between good and evil.

Dallas Willard on Well-Being (from our October 2014 newsletter)

The secular conceptions of well-being and the common good are noticeably different from the traditional view of human flourishing in history, throughout the scriptures, and in the literature and practices of the Christian church through the ages. The Christian view of human well-being and flourishing necessitates the action of two nonhuman elements. The first requirement is the actual presence of a living, acting God in human life, both corporate and individual. The second is awareness of and dependence on the provisions (including material provisions) that come from God, that originate outside of the limits of normal human efforts and/or natural events (Philemon 4:19).

The connection of these two elements is conspicuously and abundantly touted in both the Hebrew and New Testament accounts of God’s dealings with humanity. Again, one of the most helpful discourses on these aspects of God’s care is found in Psalm 23. The opening words of the psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” express the two essential elements of the flourishing life in the biblical and Christian view: the presence of God as overseer, protector and guide, which results in the utter lack of any unfulfilled need. Taken by itself, however, this psalm may give a false impression of the well-being that comes with life in God. Other passages in the Bible describe a life of well-being that does not include such a heavy emphasis upon the abundance of material provision. These passages better clarify the adequacy for human well-being of God’s presence and care, even in circumstances where desirable provisions of the usual sort are indeed in short supply or even totally absent. Habakkuk 3:17-19…is one such example…

Although cases of well-being during periods of extreme deprivation are covered, the scriptural texts usually present a life in which people have adequate material provisions while remaining freed from greed and the obsession with material goods – “freed” because of the presence of the kingdom of God “at hand” and always in action. Jesus’s summary statement on this is found in Matthew 6:33: “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [including material needs] will be given to you as well” (see also Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1). This is a point made repeatedly and applied in numerous ways in Jesus’s teaching and in the lifestyle he himself lived and taught to his disciples…

The key issue at hand here is that, in such a situation, the “good life” can be enjoyed while many wants and perhaps some needs go unsatisfied. Utopia is not the objective, despite what political campaign advertisements and product marketers try to fool us into believing – the passage of a particular piece of legislation or the purchase of a particular brand of electric razor or cleaning solution will not create some sort of total bliss. While these things might make some contribution, it is crucial to understand that the environment required for the “good life” is not something that can be acquired or manufactured that easily.

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As we write this week, we sow seeds, trusting the Lord for his people’s future knowledge.

As we teach this week, we sow seeds, trusting the Lord for his people’s future wisdom.

As we mentor this week, we sow seeds, trusting the Lord for his people’s future wholeness.

As we serve our institutions this week, we sow seeds, trusting the Lord for his people’s future provision.

As we strive to live all of life as disciples of Jesus this week, we sow seeds, trusting him for our own future, because he has already won our victory.