Bio

Dave has been trying to understand the world since his parents took him overseas to serve as missionaries in Nigeria and Lebanon. Studying theology in college and then securing his M.Div. at Andrews Theological Seminary in Michigan, he planned on doing urban ministry with an integrated medical-spiritual approach. Instead, he’s been in government public service: providing public relations counsel for the Air Force in Europe and the Pentagon, teaching ROTC at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, leading online learning innovation for the Department of Agriculture and analyzing computer systems used in military decision-making for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff while finishing his PhD in applied psychology. He and his wife, Joanie, have been married for 30 years and have two grown children.

Workshop Description

Working for Caesar: A Christian's Guide to Public Service

Every day, we work for Caesar… by paying taxes and agreeing to obey the laws of the Republic of which we are a democratic shareholder. Though far removed from our Founding Fathers, we agree with the words that served as a Preamble to our Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

So how do we make certain that the money we pay to run our country—about half of the money we make, when you included added taxes for fuel, property, sales, and entitlement payments--has been accounted for as an honorable Christian servant? This workshop will give you practical tools to use in examining how Scripture’s stories can help you accountably interact with those who are working in government on your behalf. You’ll get an understanding of how to help bring in God’s Kingdom, while you’re also working for Caesar.