5 Celebrity Videos That Will Inspire You

5 Celebrity Videos That Will Inspire You

Listening to the testimonies of highly-successful people can sometimes give you the boost you need to live out your own dreams. Be inspired and receive your blessing by watching the videos below.

1) Celebrity Stories of Faith: Lecrae

“God has called me to be way more than I could have ever imagined.”

Hip-hop artist Lecrae talks about how he initially wrote about money, cars and girls and stuff that mattered to him. However, a shift happened in his life when he began to see those material things as trivial without eternal value.


2) FAITH – Stephen Curry’s Motivational Speech .

“All you need to have is faith in God and undying passion for what you do or what you choose to do in this life…”

It’s a short video, but you’ll get a jolt of inspiration from his on-point advice on how to be successful. The video was shot after Curry won the 2014-15 NBA Most Valuable Player award.


3) Michelle Williams: A Story of Faith

“God’s Word is What Continues to Sustain Me and Keep Me.”

The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and member of Destiny’s Child opens up about her life growing up and battling depression and suicidal thoughts until she dedicated her mornings to reading a Bible app.


4) Denzel Washington Motivational & Inspiring Commencement Speech

“Put God first in everything you do. Everything that I have is by the grace of God.”

Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington delivered the commencement speech at Dillard University, telling college graduates to put God first in everything they do.


5) Chance The Rapper Reads The Book Of Galatians On Instagram

“One thing I didn’t know about the Bible is that it’s not all narrative.”

It’s not so much that this video itself is particularly inspiring, but the fact that a rapper of Chance’s caliber is on video, reading Galatians IS inspiring.

Faith and Work Series: Work. Career. Calling. What’s the Difference?

Many of us tend to do two things with our time: work and sleep. While finding a bunch of articles on sleep is just as exciting, the Urban Faith team will be shedding light on Faith and Work. So, for the next several weeks, we’ll be talking about careers, individual calling, entrepreneurship and all things related to connecting your God life with your job life. Be sure to check back regularly for the next Faith and Work Series feature.

When we are introduced to someone, what is one of the first questions we ask?

“What do you do?”

When we ask this question, what we really mean is, “What is your job?”

We define ourselves by our careers. Even most Christians find their identities in their vocations. Our work no longer serves God. It serves us.

In his article “Careerism and the Ethics of Autonomy: A Theological Response,” J.A. Donahue writes,

As a secular perversion of calling, careerism invites people to seek financial success, security, access to power and privilege, and the guarantee of leisure, satisfaction, and prestige.

Avoiding this “secular perversion of calling” is essential to integrating faith and work. Many Christians desire a deeper, more integrated approach to serving God in their work, but they struggle with how to do this. Understanding the difference between work and calling can help.

The Difference between Work and Calling

In an interview with Fast Company, Harvard Business School psychologist Timothy Butler offers the following advice about how vocation differs from career or job:

There are three words that tend to be used interchangeably—and shouldn’t be. They are “vocation,” career,” and “job.” Vocation is the most profound of the three, and it has to do with your calling. It’s what you’re doing in life that makes a difference for you, that builds meaning for you, that you can look back on in your later years to see the impact you’ve made in the world. A calling is something you have to listen for.  You don’t hear it once and then immediately recognize it. You’ve got to attune yourself to the message.

Christians today have the same difficulty understanding the differences between vocation, career, and job. We also throw in the word “calling,” which further complicates things. Calling may or may not mean the same thing as vocation.

If we look at the origins of the words career and vocation, we immediately get a feel for the difference between them.

Vocation comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means “to call.” This explains why Butler equates vocation and calling. The definition suggests that a person listens for something which calls out to him. The calling is something that comes to someone and is particular to someone.

In the secular world, career is the term we most often hear regarding work. it originates from the medieval Latin noun carraria, which means “a road for vehicles.” Hence the term career path.

A career is usually associated with an occupation. Becoming a lawyer or a securities analyst is a career choice. It is not usually the same thing as a calling.

The most specific and immediate of the three terms is job. It has to do with current employment and a specific job description.

The Difference between Vocational Calling, Career, and Everyday Work

In order to understand the biblical doctrine of work, we must understand a fourth term, vocational calling, and how it differs from career, occupation, or job.

Vocational calling is the call to God and to his service in the sphere of vocation based on giftedness, desires, affirmations, and human need. It is usually stable and permanent over a lifetime (unlike a job or a career, which can change often).

How are vocational calling and career related? A career should be based on the opportunities for service presented to believers, enabling them to fulfill their vocational callings. Finding the right career at any one time is a matter of God’s specific leadership, guidance, and provision.

Vocational calling from God to the workplace is above a job or a career. Luther and the Reformers saw occupation as timely opportunity for service, in God’s providence, presented to believers to enable them to fulfill their vocational calling through what we would call everyday work.

Rather than equate vocational calling with a specific occupation or career, we are called to be Christians in whatever situation we find ourselves. Vocational calling stays the same as we move in and out of different jobs and careers. It is directly related to the discovery of our God-given talents. We develop and hone these talents into useful competencies for the glory of God and the benefit of others, often in various jobs or occupations.

Thus vocational calling provides a framework for our jobs, careers, and occupations. As R. Paul Stevens describes in Doing God’s Business: “The New Testament treats work in the context of a larger framework: the call of God to live totally for him and his kingdom.”

 

This article is republished with permission from the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. IFWE is a Christian research organization committed to advancing biblical and economic principles that help individuals find fulfillment in their work and contribute to a free and flourishing society. The original article can be accessed here. Visit https://tifwe.org/subscribe to subscribe to the free IFWE Daily Blog.