A quick note:
I hit my target weight today. I’ve lost 25 pounds in 38 days on the maintenance phase of a low-glycemic diet. That’s simply astonishing to me. I didn’t even do the more restrictive part of that diet, just the maintenance portion.
I think I’m going to attempt to lose another 5-7 pounds. That will put me at the same weight I was when I graduated high school!
For more info on this and the whole issue of overconsumption in America, check out last week’s post, Weighty Matters.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.
—Galatians 6:10-11
Regular readers of Cerulean Sanctum know that I write pointed posts about the need for Christians to help each other, especially when it comes to finding a good job.
Tim Challies put out a call for a job for his brother, Andrew, who has a mild form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Tim’s brother lives in the Chattanooga, TN, area and would like to find clerical or data entry positions. Details can be found at Challies.com.
I’ve never been one to understand the odd way we American Christians view the unemployed. I remember sharing with a group of men at a wealthy church my wife and I were visiting (with hopes of possibly joining) that I had lost my job and was looking for work. They stared me over for a few moments, then returned to chit-chatting, literally turning their backs on me as if I were no longer there. I will never forget that horrid sensation that I had suddenly become a non-entity to them.
Many people can tell these kinds of awful stories. In truth, those stories should never occur within the Body of Christ. When the Lord says that we are to love Him and love our neighbor as ourselves, there can be no truer love for a brother or sister in Christ than to help be their network when they are looking for a job.
After Pentecost, the first thing the nascent Church did was ensure that no one among them lacked for basic physical needs. As far as I see it, no need could be more basic than to have a decent job.
Which is why I’m continually perplexed at the American Church’s slighting of the unemployed. I’ve written many times here that we’re under this cursed 
bootstrapping nonsense that says that “God helps those who help themselves.” That’s the antithesis of the communion of saints, though.
If anything, the continued presence of the unemployed within our congregations is a damning statement about our inability to walk beside our brethren in their time of need. One brother (who recently did find work after nearly a year of searching) asked me for advice on his search. I advised him to ask the church leadership for permission to stand up before the congregation and discuss his need for work. He told me that if he asked for employment in front of his congregation, dozens of others would clamor to make the same request. To which I said, “So? Isn’t that supposed to be the way the Body functions?”
Well, isn’t it?
I’m concerned about the economic state of North America. Disparities between the rich and poor are growing, with the middle class sliding down the pay scale. I believe we’re on shaky ground, shakier as the subprime mortgage fiasco ripples out to touch all parts of our economy. Signs are there for another recession. I also believe we’re in a boom and bust cycle that will have longer busts and shorter booms as time goes on. You think the last recession was bad? Just wait.
If we’re not there for each other, working hard to meet the job needs of our fellow believers (especially those in our local congregations), aren’t we rejecting one of God’s major reasons for the Church to exist?
Honestly, I get really tired of witnessing the following:
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
—James 2:15-16
Indeed, what good is that?
I get labeled as a dour guy sometimes. My problem as I see it is that I am hopeful that we’ll live up to our high calling. That we seem to have so little care to live up to that calling makes me sad. Yes, it’s a high calling, but it’s not an impossible one. Yet we act as if someone’s unemployment is as unmanageable as a tornado.
How big is your God? Mine’s pretty blasted enormous! And that universe-eclipsing Lord we serve is looking for people who believe He can rip up the mountains and toss them into the sea! A job? How hard is that to get?
Well, it may be very hard if no one cares to use the contacts and networks we’ve all built to guide someone to gainful employment. We can bury that network in the ground. We can say that we’re just too busy to get involved. But if that’s our attitude, then we shouldn’t be surprised when the Lord comes back and isn’t totally pleased with how we’ve managed the resources He gave us.
We all know we need to improve our community in our churches. Making sure we help people find work is one of the keys to that better community. Because if we in our plenty won’t actively labor to help those searching for jobs, who will help us when we’re the ones laid off?
Though you can read background information about me in the “About Cerulean Sanctum” tab at the top of the blog body, I still receive e-mails from time to time from readers trying to get a handle on what I do for a living.
I work as a freelance commercial copywriter and copyeditor. My company is Ethereal Pen Productions. People hire me on a contract basis to write for them. By nature, this is a hand-to-mouth business. Some clients return to me again and again for different kinds of writing work. Some jobs are one-time opportunities. As a freelancer, I must always be looking for ways to bring in work.
The type of writing I do is primarily commercial. In other words, I write for businesses. Sometimes I work for a company directly, while other times I’m brought in by graphic design firms or Web site developers to write the text they use in the material they create for others. This makes me a subcontractor for those types of jobs.
What I write consists mostly of marketing materials: brochures, informational pamphlets, corporate Web sites, annual reports, PR, taglines, radio and TV ads, and the like. I also write tech manuals, training materials, speeches, or any other type of written material.
I’ve written material for a number of companies and organizations, including Apple, Inc., NASA, Procter & Gamble, Cintas, LCA-Vision, and more. My clients have included large companies, mom & pops, colleges, non-profits, and ministries—any organization that needs well-crafted documents that capture their essence and communicate their vision to others.
For those looking for written ministry materials, I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Christian Education from Wheaton College. I’ve written hundreds of classroom hours of curriculum for churches and Christian camps. If you need quality material catering to a specific ministry need, I can write it for you.
In addition to my writing, I do copyediting work, cleaning and tightening material written by others. In this role, I often go beyond corporate writing to include editing services for aspiring novelists and non-fiction authors. I’ll doctor manuscripts and polish proposals. If you want to be published but feel your work needs that additional je ne sais quoi, I can help. One recent book proposal I edited helped secure a five-figure advance from a major publishing house for my client.
If you or anyone else you know needs professionally written documents that sizzle, I can help. No job is too small. If you’re part of a ministry that needs to expand its reach, I can write materials to help you. When reviewing their interactions with me and the quality of work I produce, clients continue to laud the following:
If you have a copywriting or copyediting need, please contact me at Ethereal Pen Productions.