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Jefferson Bethke Books

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“Notice how not even once were we told to just bow down and worship God via song for our entire lives. Yet our churches are nearly addicted to making this the high point of spiritual formation and worship. And let me be clear, this is important and true. But, at least in Genesis, it's not primary. Or another way to put it is, yes, we are called to sing to God but that singing happens through our vocation, not our mouths. Worship at the beginning of the Bible primarily was centered around the job God gave us. Our job was to make, cultivate, create, build, steward, and tame. That is the original mission, the original mandate.”

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Book:Take Back Your Family: From the Tyrants of Burnout, Busyness, Individualism, and the Nuclear Ideal
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“We refuse to turn off our computers, turn off our phones, log off Facebook, and just sit in silence, because in those moments we might actually have to face up to who we really are. We fear silence like it's an invisible monster, gnawing at us, ripping us open, and showing us our dissatisfaction. Silence is terrifying.”

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Book:Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough
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“If your kids are consumers, which most of us raise our kids to be, because our culture raises us to be, then [passing inherited wealth] is a bad idea. We consume and eat and fill ourselves with every technological, sexual, cultural, societal, and emotional pleasure possible. That is the goal of life. And if that's our way of life, then yes, it's a horrible idea to give someone an asset, simply for them to consume and destroy it... In business, passing assets is seen in the opposite way. This is how you build really strong companies. Some of the strongest companies in the world have collected and built and expanded resources every generation. So why is it seen as a bad idea in families? Here's why: business still center themselves around mission, whereas modern families are built around consumption. When mission is the focus, then building to pass something on is the goal. And a great idea.... If you believe we are primarily meant to consume things, then resources become a burden - as they will only stuff that person with more and more. If you believe we are meant to produce things and steward things, then more resources should mean more mission and multiplication of what you're already doing.”

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Book:Take Back Your Family: From the Tyrants of Burnout, Busyness, Individualism, and the Nuclear Ideal
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“The family was sacrificed for the "mission" without realizing that the mission, once you are married and have kids, I'd argue, is never solitary. God doesn't give individual missions to teams.... In any team, the members have different assignments. But all of it is under the umbrella.”

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Book:Take Back Your Family: From the Tyrants of Burnout, Busyness, Individualism, and the Nuclear Ideal
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