The term vocation originates in Christianity and has a far broader meaning than many people limit it to today....
It is about where is God calling you to live and serve....so whilst it may include paid employment vocation also encompasses many other areas of our life.
Gene Veith and his daughter Mary Moerbe have released a new book where they look to explore in the light of Christian vocation:
What does it mean to be called as a husband, a wife, a parent, a child?
How does the grace of the gospel impact how we carry out these particular callings?
How does God's presence address the struggles that our own family faces?
They show how the Christian faith is lived out precisely in our ordinary
relationships, and how a biblical understanding can equip us to move away from
common confusions and dysfunctions to persevere in love.
The Book is called
Family Vocation: God's calling in family, parenting and childhood....
Chapters include:
Confusing family
Vocation in the Nourishing Estate
Vocation of Marriage
Marriage
Office of husband
Office of Wife
Sex and vocation
The crosses of marriage
Vocation of Parenting
Parenting
Office of father
Office of mother
Raising Children
The crosses of parenting
Vocation of Childhood
Childhood
Growing
The crosses of childhood
The rest of the family
Restoring the family
What others are saying about Family vocation:
Pastor Todd Peperkorn (Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Rocklin California) says
Dr. Gene Edward Veith is one of the foremost Christian thinkers today,
especially among those of the more confessional end of Christianity. He has
written works on vocation (God at Work), the arts, literature, C.S. Lewis, and a
host of other topics. So it is with great joy that I saw him turn his agile pen
to this topic.
Dr. Veith, along with his daughter, Mary Moerbe, approach
this topic from the perspective of Christian vocation. God has called us to be
His instruments in various ways and places in our lives. Husband, wife, son and
daughter are some of the most fundamental callings that we as Christians have.
But how do I understand this from the perspective of the Gospel, not just the
Law and a "to do" list for me to feel guilty about? That is the question they
seek to answer.
I look forward to more work from this father/daughter
team, and hope that many will find comfort and life in this book's
pages!
Charles Colson(founder, Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview) says “Gene Veith is one of the most powerful thinkers and apologists in the Christian world today. In Family Vocation, Veith and Moerbe have really hit the mark—we must learn to think of marriage and families as vocations from God. Here is an ancient and sacred vision of marriage and family that we would do well to understand, promote, and most importantly live out.”
Tim Goeglein (Vice President, Focus on the Family) says “A great president once referred to the family as the ‘unseen pillar of civilization.’ He was right, and so is Gene Veith in this luminous book, which underscores the centrality of family, marriage, and parenting. Timely and absorbing, this book arrives on the scene at exactly the right time.”
—James I. Lamb (Executive Director, Lutherans for Life) says“The phrase ‘gospel-centered’ has become almost a cliché when describing Christian writing. Every Christian author would desire such an epitaph for his or her work. However, in so many books, especially those dealing with family, gospel-centered deteriorates into ‘be like Jesus.’ Family Vocation is the epitome of what gospel-centered truly means. The authors introduce it plainly, ‘The gospel—that is, the message of Christ crucified for sinners—relates to every moment of the believer’s life.’ Every chapter has its foundation, built not upon what we do in our various vocations, but upon what God has done in Christ. This approach to vocation is the means through which Christian families can truly be strengthened and restored, and then bring their influence to bear on our culture.”
John T. Pless (Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, Concordia Theological Seminary) says“Martin Luther identified marriage and family as one of three fundamental estates of human life instituted by God for the good of his creation. In this book, a father and daughter team up to bring Luther’s rich insights into the twenty-first century in a way that challenges and encourages Christians to see the family as the arena for God’s work. In an age when the fabric of the family is strained by cultural forces of self-interest and hedonism, this book suggests a way forward for Christian families to see life together as husband/wife, parent/child—encompassed in vocation lived out under the cross.”
Matthew Harrison(President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) says In the church today, there is no more significant issue than the family. This divine institution is in the crosshairs of every evil plan and purpose of the Devil himself. Take down the family, and with it go education, order, decency, law, church, and even faith. How my years in a struggling inner-city parish taught me that the gospel does not thrive in a community of chaos, dilapidation, crime, and disorder! The root cause of it, as I came to be convinced, is institutional and spiritual forces attacking the stability of God’s best agent for good in both the kingdom of the civil realm and that of the church—the family. What was once more commonly an urban reality has become a rural and suburban way of life. As we all struggle in the families we have—often rag-tag rings of sinners, sometimes a patchwork quilt of multiple families and forces—we need Christ and the vocation to forgive.”
To buy the book or for more information click the link to Amazon below
