Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• What Does the Book of Romans Teach Us About Work? As he has done with other books of the Bible (John, Minor Prophets, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes), Russ Gehrlein gathers several excerpts from his book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession that highlight what the book of Romans teaches us about various aspects of work.
• Businesses With Beliefs: What Makes a Company Christian? Hugh Whelchel writes “What we need to be focusing on is not whether we have Christian businesses, but whether we have Christian businessmen who integrate their convictions and principles with their work.”
• Faith & Work: How Do I Affirm Goodness in the Workplace? On this episode of The Gospel Coalition Q&A podcast, they begin a six-week series titled “Faith & Work” with Missy Wallace, who answers questions about why work matters.
• Work is Hard, Should We Seek Leisure Instead? Hugh Whelchel writes “We must understand what our work should accomplish, and how through this work we can better steward all God has given us.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• My Review of Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John Maxwell
• Snippets from the book Discipled Leader: Inspiration from a Fortune 500 Executive for Transforming Your Workplace by Pursuing Christ by Preston Poore

• Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available from Amazon in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
• Build the Bench. In this short video, Mark Miller discusses the last of the three best practices for “Betting on Leadership”, Build the Bench.
• 4 Mistakes Christians Make Discerning Calling (And How to Avoid Them). Cameron Presson writes “The desire to glorify God, make a difference through our daily work, and do something that feels connected to who we are is good and God-given, but it can also lead us into a space of anxiety and discouragement when we aren’t sure of our calling.”
• Flourishing in the Setting of our Vocations. Robert Covolo reviews Michael Berg’s book Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing.
• Biblical Wisdom for the Great Resignation. Chip Roger explores the “why” behind the Great Resignation and explores God’s wisdom for the dilemma it presents.
• Defying the Downgrade: The Courageous Leadership of Charles Spurgeon. On this episode of The Leadership Briefing, Albert Mohler looks at the leadership lessons we can learn from Charles Spurgeon’s head-on confrontation with theological liberalism.
• Peace in the Workplace. In this article in his series on the fruit of the Spirit, Joshua Nangle focuses on the peace that is available to us when we seek the Spirit’s will in all of life, including our work.
• Don’t Work for Money. Howard Graham writes “To properly use money we must see money for what it is: Money is a gift from God that is given to us in vastly different amounts for the purpose of building the kingdom of God.”
• The Dark Side of Self-Discipline. Jordan Raynor writes “Discipline is a gift, but it can also be a curse.”
• Redeeming Your Time: Biblical Principles for Productivity. On this episode of the Denver Institute Faith & Work Podcast, Joanna Meyer, Dustin Moody and Jordan Raynor discuss: What does it mean to “redeem” your time, and why is it important? As Christians, what does the Bible show us about the balance of productivity and rest?

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Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week

• We were made in His image to be workers and to do things as God does. Russ Gehrlein
• God wants you to value workmanship over success. He wants you to take enormous pride in work well done and give far less thought to how much money the work makes. Tim Keller
• In America, credentials qualify a person to lead. In Jesus, the chief qualification is character. Scott Sauls
• There may be no better way to love your neighbor, whether you are writing parking tickets, software, or books, than to simply do your work. Tim Keller
• All work has dignity because it reflects God’s image in us, and also because the material creation we are called to care for is good. Tim Keller
• It’s just as important to know who you’re not and what you aren’t called to, as it is to know who you are and what you are called to. Because the clearer your sense of identity and calling are, the more you can focus on what God made you to do. John Mark Comer
• Character development is far more painful than skill development. Carey Nieuwhof
• As long as you are alive, there is gospel work for you to do. You may retire from your career, but you never retire from ministry. Steven Lawson
• Find what you love and what the world needs, then combine them. As Frederick Buechner wrote, “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Jeff Goins

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FAITH AND WORK BOOK REVIEW:

Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John Maxwell. Grupo Nelson. 129 pages. 2012
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John Maxwell’s 101 Series of ten books are not in-depth looks at a subject, but rather a helpful introduction. I was drawn to this particular volume because of my interest in mentoring. I have never turned down anyone wanting to enter into a mentoring or discipling relationship with me, feeling it is what I should be doing as a leader. In addition, even though I’m the mentor, I always learn a lot from these relationships. Maxwell writes that you’ll never regret the time you invest in people, as raising up others is one of the greatest joys a leader can have.
Maxwell tells us that it is essential to focus on raising others to a higher level. He writes that the more you understand people, the greater your chance of success in mentoring. And if you have highly developed people skills and genuinely care about others, the process will probably come to you naturally.
Throughout the book he gives practical advice on the different aspects of mentoring emerging leaders, including getting to know each other, what he looks for in a potential leader that he wants to mentor, believing in the person you are mentoring, putting people into their strength zones, equipping and developing, commitment, goals, earning authority, encouragement, multiplying leaders, trust, consistency, hope, and celebrating success.
Mentoring 101 is a helpful introduction on how to mentor emerging leaders.
Below are 15 of my favorite quotes from the book:

• True success is knowing your purpose, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds to benefit others.
• A great joy in my life has been to see how leaders I’ve developed and equipped have turned around and repeated the process with others.
• You can only lead people whose leadership ability is less than or equal to your own. To keep attracting better and better leaders, you will have to keep developing your leadership ability.
• Commitment is the one quality above all others that enables a potential leader to become a successful leader. Without commitment, there can be no success.
• I have found that the greatest achievers in life are people who set goals for themselves and then work hard to reach them. What they get by reaching the goals is not nearly as important as what they become by reaching them.
• Leaders must earn authority with each new group of people.
• People need the encouragement of being told they’re doing well on a regular basis. They also need to hear as soon as possible when they are not doing well.
• We leaders must provide ourselves as models to copy.
• I have learned that trust is the single most important factor in building personal and professional relationships.
• Hope is one of the greatest gifts mentors can give to those around them. Its power should never be underestimated.
• When you equip people, you teach them how to do a job. Development is different. When you develop people, you are helping them improve as individuals. You are helping them acquire personal qualities that will benefit them in many areas of life, not just their jobs.
• Development always pays higher dividends than equipping because it helps the whole person and lifts him to a higher level.
• Personal development of your people is one of the most important things a mentoring leader will ever do.
• When you equip people, you base what you do on your needs or those of the organization. You teach people what you want them to know so that they can do a job for you. On the other hand, development is based on their needs.
• If you want others to succeed alongside you, then you must encourage them, mentor them, and celebrate their successes.

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Faith and Work Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?

We are reading through Discipled Leader: Inspiration from a Fortune 500 Executive for Transforming Your Workplace by Pursuing Christ by Preston Poore.

Discipled Leader provides struggling, stuck, or merely surviving Christian business leaders with a framework to grow their influence through becoming a redemptive (i.e., change for the better), Christlike presence in the workplace and living a more fulfilling life.
This week we read through Chapter 1: Seek. Here are a few takeaways from this section:

• I discovered that the surest way to realize my leadership potential was to become a follower of Jesus—not just on Sunday or at home but twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
• By disciple I mean someone who passionately pursues an intimate fellowship with Jesus, seeking his presence, will, wisdom, and guidance in every facet of life—family, work, school, and community.
• Becoming who you are meant to be as a Christian leader does not begin with focusing on leadership. Your calling toward better leadership is a calling toward deeper discipleship. That’s how you become a discipled leader.
• Discipled leaders seek God when making decisions.
• The key to not just good, but great decision-making, is to seek God. A discipled leader soaks in God’s Word and asks for wisdom (James 1:5).
• In all our decisions, especially in the workplace, we should be putting our faith into action.
• To make wise decisions as both leaders and disciples of Christ, we need to root ourselves in God’s character, values, and promises as revealed in Scripture.
• As a disciple, invest time with God. As a leader, seek God when making decisions.