Information Related to "In the News Jan/Mar 204"
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Do
You Attend a Small Church?
Fifty percent of all churches in the United States (and there are some 350,000
of them) have 100 or fewer members, according to The Hartford Institute. One
fourth have 50 or fewer.
Today, many teens are finding e-mail and IM effective ways to keep in touch with others who share and support their Christian values, especially when there are few or no other teens in their local congregation. Attending United Youth Camps and other regional church activities are effective ways of building relationships with other "church kids."
Who
Makes More?
The New York–based Families and Work Institute (www.familiesandwork.org),
in its new study on the quality of American employment, found that Americans
are working harder today than they did 25 years ago. Two-career couples averaged
81 hours a week in 1977, compared 
with
91 hours today. Self-employed workers tend to earn more than those with regular
wage jobs—$58,000 a year, on average, compared to $45,000. The most successful
group, financially, are small business owners, averaging $110,000 a year, and
they also report more job creativity and satisfaction in life. But they also
tend to work longer hours—38 percent of them work more than 50 hours
a week.
Proverbs 24:27 says to "prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house." In other words, prepare yourself for your "field" of employment first so that you will be able to provide for home and family later. But God also cautions against overwork. He tells us in the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:9-11) that we are to do all our work in six days a week, and to leave the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship. And we are not to become workaholics and neglect our families.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "In the News Jan/Mar 204"
Teens and career: