Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• Why the Faith & Work Movement Matters. David Bahnsen writes “The faith and work movement has a “next step” theological concession to make: that our work is core to the created design of our lives, and our efforts in technology, finance, entrepreneurialism, marketing, agriculture, manufacturing and commerce are not merely venues for living in the fruits of the spirit; these are domains of God’s Kingdom itself.”
• A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
• Your Influence on a Workplace for the Gospel. Simon van Bruchem shares a few ways that you can do something to make a difference to the people you work with and even the culture of your workplace.
• Good Church Music: A Conversation with Keith Getty, Songwriter. On this episode of the Working with Dan Doriani podcast, Keith Getty joins Dan to talk about his life in music: how he started in a household full of music, how he continues to fill his house with music, and why Keith believes the church needs good music.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Faith and Work Book Review ~ Catch People Doing Things Right: How Ken Blanchard Changed the Way the World Leads by Martha C. Lawrence
• Quotes from the book Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters

• Godly Leaders Go Low and Aim High. Jonathan Leeman writes “What will the people under you say about your leadership? Will they feel like they swam in a river of generosity — that you gave and gave and gave?”
• Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).
• How Can I Bring My Faith To Somone Else’s Workplace? Russ Gehrlein writes “I invite you to consider how we can take our understanding and experience of the theology of work into others’ workplaces. We want to be able to minister to others as the Holy Spirit leads to glorify the God who is very much present in our work, gives work meaning, and helps us along the way.”
• 7 Things I Have Learned From 30 Years of Christian Mentoring. Kara Martin writes “Mentoring is an incredible privilege—to be invited to participate with God in the shaping of another’s life. There are not many more valuable legacies of investment of one’s time, experience, and knowledge. While the motivation for mentoring is always for the benefit of the mentee, there are many benefits I have experienced from mentoring.”
• Business as a Force for Good Human Flourishing. Mike Sharrow writes “It’s time for a renaissance of business leadership fueled by faith, guided by virtue and aimed at societal flourishing.”
• Permanent, Not Private, Equity: A Conversation with Brent Beshore, founder of Permanent Equity. On this episode of the Working with Dan Doriani podcast, Brent Beshore joins Dan to discuss why Permanent Equity takes a different approach—avoiding debt, embracing long-term ownership, and prioritizing the well-being of employees, communities, and investors. Brent shares his personal faith journey and how Jesus helps him be the best version of himself in every area of his life.
• Andy Crouch on Trust Rest vs. Leisure: How Sabbath Breaks the Idols of Work and Technology. Good Faith host Curtis Chang and Andy Crouch explore how practicing true Sabbath rest can help Christians break free from burnout, technology overload, and the constant pressure to produce.

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Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week

• 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
• Since we were made to glorify God, worship happens when someone is doing exactly what he or she was made to do. Andrew Peterson
• Our vocations are one avenue for doing God’s work in the world. Tim Keller
• A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. Charles Spurgeon
• Whatever you do for God’s glory and the good of others – big or small – matters for eternity. Jordan Raynor
• The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve them, but the number of people they serve. John Maxwell
• Retirement from a lifelong vocation can be difficult, especially for those with Protestant work ethics. Properly, though, the laying down of a vocation after many years of work is a kind of Sabbath, a kind of reward for service rendered. Gene Veith
• We glorify God when we use our talents joyfully and effectively. Dan Doriani
• The sabbath is about restoring the diminished. It’s about replenishing the drained. It’s about repairing the broken. It’s NOT just an off day. Tim Keller

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FAITH AND WORK BOOK REVIEW:

Catch People Doing Things Right: How Ken Blanchard Changed the Way the World Leads by Martha C. Lawrence. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 325 pages. 2025
*** ½

For the past twenty-five years or so, I’ve enjoyed reading Ken Blanchard’s books, and hearing him speak, so I was excited when I heard that Martha Lawrence would be writing a biography of Blanchard. Lawrence first met Blanchard in 2003 when he needed an in-house editor to help with all of the book projects he had undertaken. She tells us that it is her hope that in reading about his life, you will not only be informed and entertained, but also inspired to become a better leader at work, at home, and in your community.
When asked about his greatest influence, Blanchard always credits his parents.
Ken was a leader early on, being elected to top positions in student government in every year of middle and high school. He excelled at basketball and thrived in diverse environments with many Black and Jewish friends.
He would attend Cornell University, where he was elected class president his junior year. He completed his master’s degree at Colgate University and later his PhD. He married Margie in 1962.
At twenty-six years old,  Blanchard was firmly focused on the importance of leadership. He accepted the position of Assistant to the Dean of the School of Business Administration at Ohio University and as assistant professor of management in Paul Hersey’s department. Blanchard and Hersey collaborated on a book, that would eventually become Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources. The main premise of the book was that there is no one best way to manage people. Instead, Ken and Paul recommended that leadership styles be adapted to the maturity level of the person being led. In writing, Blanchard had found a true passion. The book introduced the Situational Leadership model to the world under the name of the Life Cycle Theory of Leadership.
Blanchard would then move to the School of Education at UMass Amherst as an assistant professor. He wanted as many of his students as possible to succeed,  which is why he began passing out his final exams on the first day of each of his classes. He would become famous, or infamous, for not following the rules.
In the early 1970s at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a group came together that would change Ken’s life and he would start his own company that many of them would eventually be a part of. In 1978, Blanchard Training and Development Inc. was incorporated.
Blanchard and Spencer Johnson would write The One Minute Manager, in a parable format. The book would sell more than fifteen million copies and be translated into forty-seven languages.
By 1985, all of the company’s original Situational Leadership products had been revised to align with the new SLII model. SLII quickly became the company’s top-selling management training program.
The book discusses Blanchard’s Christian journey, inspired by his friendship with Phil Hodges (and other spiritual mentors), who he would later write Lead Like Jesus with.
Blanchard would go on to write a number of books. They urged leaders to change their beliefs about how people could and should be managed. In the leadership arena, Jesus became Ken’s role model.
As Ken’s Christian faith matured, his leadership philosophy – which had always been about uplifting people – expanded to emphasize leadership as a sacred responsibility. His speeches began to focus less on productivity and more on serving others. Of all the subjects he’d written about, the topic most dear to Ken’s heart was servant leadership.
The book addresses difficulties such as how Blanchard’s organization struggled when it grew so quickly, and to stay afloat after the 9-11 attacks and the COVID 19 pandemic.
I found this to be an interesting and informative look at a man who helped change how leaders, including myself, lead. The book also includes a helpful Discussion Guide, which allows you to take a closer look at the principles that guided Blanchard, the relationships that sustained him, and the insights that helped him lead with love.

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

Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters

This book is recommended by the Center for Faith & Work. They write:

“Few contemporary books have been cited as often by those who are writing about taking up callings and vocations faithfully. This serious little book walks us through the key Biblical themes of the goodness of creation, the seriousness of the fall into sin, the decisive redemption gained by Christ, and the implications of working out the promised hope for a creation-wide restoration. With the keen eye of a philosopher and the passion of a Bible scholar, Wolter’s offers one of the definitive, concise books about a Christian worldview.  One of the most important books for those of us in CFW and highly recommended to understand a uniquely Christian view of cultural and vocational engagement.”

As we read this this book we look at the first half of Chapter 5: Discerning Structure and Direction. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section of the chapter:

• The first implication of the reformational worldview is very broad and underlies all the others. It describes the basic temper and attitude that should accompany the Christian as he or she tackles the societal, personal, and cultural issues of the day.
• It is clearly sanctification that is meant when we speak of the restoration of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• A second feature of reformation is that the avenue of this sanctification is progressive renewal rather than violent overthrow.
• What was formed in creation has been historically deformed by sin and must be reformed in Christ.
• A Christian’s rejection of evil must always lead to a cleansing and reforming of created structures, not to an indiscriminate abolition of an entire historical situation.
• Every situation calls for a crusading activity of societal reformation. The status quo is never acceptable. Every “establishment” needs internal renewal and structural reform.
• Whether we work in the arts, business, or the media, the strategy of reformation must always guide us. We must respect the historical givens and without compromise call for reform.
• God calls us to cleanse and reform all the sectors of our lives.
• The Christian is called to oppose all totalitarianism, whether of the state, church, or corporation, because it always signifies a transgression of God’s mandated societal boundaries and an invasion into alien spheres. But that opposition should always affirm the proper and right exercise of responsibility.
• Christians should actively engage in efforts to make every societal institution assume its own responsibility, warding off the interference of others. That, too, is participation in the restoration of creation and the coming of the kingdom of God.