Grace M. works for the federal government on issues concerning threat finance. Her daily work involves developing, managing, and overseeing initiatives that make the government better at combating illicit activities from drug trafficking to weapons proliferation. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and pre-school-aged son.
- “My work is one way in which God brings justice to this world and provides security for his people. It is how he cares for us and for our neighbors, and I must do it with excellence. Of course, it doesn’t feel that way when I’m sitting in my office reading emails, yet each day I have the opportunity to carry out God’s will. There aren’t many stories about my work that I can tell in great detail, but I would say that, on some level, work is most meaningful when I see a direct effect—an illegal activity thwarted, money for violent activities frozen, or papers or insights that I provided affect our nation’s future.”
Amanda is a communications director for a Member of the United States Congress. In this role, she oversees public relations, media relations, social media, speechwriting, editing, and marketing. On any given day, her activities can range from talking to TV and radio producers to writing in-depth opinion pieces for print publication. She lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
- “The old joke goes, ‘How do you know a politician is lying? You can see his lips moving.’ But I do not accept that it has to be this way. Communications—even political communications—is a meaningful industry and can glorify God. Our words are powerful. We can use them to inspire, inform, and call people to action for redemptive purposes. Rather than fall back on personal attacks, half-truths, or hyperboles, I try to work to use evidence and story to build a persuasive message and be diligent in using innovative ideas and strategies. Government should be a trustworthy entity that reigns with both justice and care. Part of that must include how government officials communicate to the public.”
Katelyn Beaty is the managing editor of Christianity Today magazine and co-founder of Her.meneutics, CT’s daily website for women. Recently, she was also the editorial director of CT’s This Is Our City, a three-year storytelling project that highlighted ways Christians in six cities wield their vocational gifts to bless their neighbors and communities. Her first book, about women, work, and vocation, will be published in 2016. You can follow her on Twitter: @KatelynBeaty.
- “Most mornings I arrive at work feeling both blessed and stressed! I have an enormous sense of the kingdom value of my work as well as how it fits my disposition, gifts, and education. But great kingdom value brings great responsibility. Believers the world over look to CT to provide wise, faithful reflection on cultural trends facing the church. Will we effectively bring the Good News to bear on those trends, carrying on the church’s historic teachings? Or will we forsake that mission for relevancy or pageviews? These questions weigh on my colleagues and me. On a more personal level, I’m aware of my unique position as CT‘s first female managing editor. I work mostly with men and find camaraderie among them, but I also sense I sometimes have to be aggressive, even traditionally ‘masculine,’ to lead others and ensure my perspective is heard. I’m navigating how to wield influence as a woman, trusting that God created me a woman for his good purposes. And as a single person in her late 20s, I’m aware that work is a primary identity marker for me. In the way a married Christian woman may be tempted to supplant her identity in Christ with her identity as ‘wife’ or ‘mother,’ I am sometimes tempted to let work, not Christ, centrally define my identity and worth.”
Emily Belz is the New York correspondent for WORLD magazine. As a reporter for WORLD, her duty is both “to declare God’s glory and man’s sinfulness through rigorous, simple reporting.” Recent articles have covered a Christian family who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy (here and here) and what New York City does with the bodies of the homeless when they die on the street (here). You can follow her on Twitter: @emzelb.
- “I covered the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and what the spiritual geography was like in that small town. Working on that story was probably one of my most meaningful experiences as a reporter. I arrived in the town soon after the shooting, and I could feel the tragedy in the air, almost as if this dark cloud was over the whole town. Everyone walked around with these shell-shocked expressions on their faces. I was interviewing a dad whose 6-year-old son lost a friend in the shooting, and I remember looking at the child sitting by his dad and almost losing my composure. I kept thinking, How is this real? How does a 6-year-old have a murdered friend? But the tragedy revealed this fierce Christian community in the town. Later in the day, I interviewed a pastor who lost several kids in his congregation; he wept through the interview, wondering how he could preach a sermon that evening. He was bewildered by unimaginable tragedy but clinging to what he knew was true: that Jesus had known unimaginable pain, and as he said, ‘He conquered it and he’s coming back to make all things new. So there’s hope. That’s it.’ It’s an honor anytime someone like that pastor or that dad agrees to let me—a stranger—enter his or her life and write about it.”
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
