I realize that most of you did not know Art Moser, who went home to be with the Lord late Monday evening at age 91. Let me share how he touched my life. I first met Art when he and his wife Millie joined our church several years ago. We served as elders together at the church for a number of years. The last time I saw him was several weeks ago at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria. It was Art’s first time back at church in several months after breaking his hip. He was in good spirits and it was great to see him and Millie. Little did I know it would be the last time I would see him this side of Glory.
For years I’ve told my wife Tammy that Art modeled a life I hope to live as I grow older. Art is a wonderful example of someone not wasting their life. As I was taking one of my favorite classes in seminary, Spiritual and Ministry Formation with Dr. Phillip Douglass, I completed his “Divine Design Assessment”. When asked to name people that I respect, I wrote this about Art: “When I think about people in ministry, I admire Ruling Elder Art Moser for his ability to finish strong. In his 80’s he is still mentoring young men, reading books and writing book reviews and articles for our church newsletter.” I listed him right up there with R.C. Sproul, Michael Card, Scotty Smith and John MacArthur as men I admire in ministry.
I will adapt the Apostle Paul’s words to Art’s life:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)
Over the years Art would write articles for our newsletter called “Small Thoughts”. I’m reprinting one of my favorites below as we celebrate his life and legacy.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Center for Faith and Work Podcast. I’m very excited about this new podcast from the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Listen in on weekly talks, lectures, and conversations about the intersection of theology and culture as it applies to our everyday work. Topics range from vocational-specific (business, law, arts, education, etc.) to practical resources regarding prayer, discernment, calling, and more.
Joy and the Power of a Dream. Steven Garber, who spoke at my Covenant Seminary graduation in May, 2014, writes that the film Joy “a remarkably insightful account of creativity and imagination and gumption and grit, together forming a vocation in the life of Joy Mangano, played by Jennifer Lawrence”.
The Fashion Brand with a Heart for Adoption. Bethany Jenkins interviews Sara Brinton about her work. Brinton is the leader of marketing for Noonday Collection, a socially responsible fashion brand, and believes that entrepreneurship can be a sustainable solution to poverty and injustice.
6 Techniques for Getting the Most Out of Continuing Education. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “It’s never too late to make continuing education a center piece in your life. These six strategies will help you tap into the power of continuing education.”
How Do You Define Success? John Maxwell writes “Success means having those closest to me love and respect me the most.”
10 Ways to Increase Results in Meetings. One of my pet-peeves is poorly run meetings. They are frustrating and a waste of already busy people’s time. Selma Wilson offers these ten helpful ways to ensure your meetings have positive outcomes.
Labor of Love? Jamie Winship writes “What does it mean to work for the Lord on a daily basis? Do people who work wholeheartedly, as if they are serving the Lord, look any different from those who work hard just to get ahead in life? And if so, how?”
Work Is Worship. Enjoy this short video that shows that our work life is an act of worship.
Are Spiritual Disciplines Meant for My Work?Jessica Schaeffer writes “Keeping company with Jesus ought to be sustained throughout the day. He is not companion and Lord only when a Bible is open in the lap. We don’t leave him on the shelf with our devotional books and prayer journal.”
What the Image of God Means for Our Dignity and Work. Art Lindsay writes “Every person is created in the image of God, full of dignity, with unique talents and gifts to use for the glory of God in their work. One reason why so many Christians fail to discover their vocation is because they don’t fully understand what it means to be made in the image of God.”
4 Character Traits of Thriving Employees. Stephen Graves writes about the traits: work ethic, problem solving ability, relational skills and spiritual vitality.
4 TED Talks to Inspire You in Your Work. Here are four videos to inspire you in your work, the first of which I watched with my team and had a good discussion about recently.
4 Types of Tone-Deaf Leadership. Eric Geiger writes “There are a plethora of tone-deaf leaders who are out of sync and rhythm with people and their context. They seem deaf to the people and context around them.”
4 Ways to Attack a Sense of Entitlement. Eric Geiger writes “A sense of entitlement can greatly harm the culture and the mission of a ministry or organization. A sense of entitlement is corrosive and crushes the collective soul of the team. Those the team is designed to serve become less and less important as self-centeredness reigns. When entitlement spreads, the ministry or organization acts as if it exists for itself instead of for others.”
4 Temptations That Leaders Face. Dan Reiland writes “How you handle your temptation will determine, to a great degree, the effectiveness and longevity of your ministry.”
5 Steps to Recovery from a Failure. Ron Edmondson writes that what you do after you fail will determine if – and how well – you recover.
5 Leadership Questions with Dan Rockwell. In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper visit with one of my favorite leadership bloggers Dan Rockwell.
6 Signs That Silos Exist in Your Organization. Art Rainer writes “When they (silos) do exist, leaders will find themselves struggling to move their organization forward and experience a deteriorating staff morale.”
7 of My Biggest Frustrations as a Leader. Ron Edmondson writes “In many ways, I am still learning the secret of being content, but I like continual improvement and think there is usually room to get better in all areas of our life. I think it is true in leadership too.”
7 Core Disciplines Needed for a Spiritual Leader. Ron Edmondson writes “All leaders should lead well, but when one claims to be a follower of Christ their leadership reflects on his or her walk with Christ. I have learned personally that leading well requires discipline. It doesn’t happen naturally.”
10 Things You Can Do Today to Improve as a Leader. Ron Edmondson writes “Most leaders want to improve. I hear from leaders weekly who want to get better in their role. They want to improve so the organization they lead can improve. As much as leaders desire improvement, many leaders wonder where they should go to grow.”
18 Reasons Good Leaders Get Fired. Brian Dodd provides these reasons good leaders get fired in light of the recent firing of Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt.
Success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your full potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.John Maxwel
Intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. Andy Andrews
The book of Genesis leaves us with a striking truth – work was part of paradise. Tim Keller
Dear workaholics: There’s no extra credit for impressing others while losing your family. Burk Parsons
Servant leadership is love in action. Make a positive difference in someone’s life. Ken Blanchard
As a leader, the health of your marriage directly affects the impact of your leadership. Michael Hyatt
Wherever you are, be all there. Live life to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. Jim Elliot
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 9: The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy— A Plea to This Generation
God does not call us to ease, but to faithful joy. He is closing in on some of you, smiling and with tears in his eyes, knowing how much of himself he is going to show you—and how much it will cost. As I write, I pray that you will not turn away.
If you have pity for perishing people and a passion for the reputation of Christ, you must care about world missions.
One of the burdens of this book is to show what life looks like when you believe that you dare not choose between the motives to love people and glorify Christ. They are not separate motives.
This single passion—to see that Christ be glorified as perishing people become eternally satisfied in him—drives the great global enterprise we call world missions.
Missions exists because worship doesn’t.
There can be no weary resignation, no cowardly retreat, and no merciless contentment among Christ’s people while he is disowned among thousands of unreached peoples.
Those of you who stay—the senders—should keep this remarkable fact in mind: Foreign missions is a validation of all ministries of mercy at home because it exports them abroad.
Ministries of mercy close at hand validate the authenticity of our distant concerns.
Just as there is a partnership between the Gospel itself and mercy to the nearby poor, so there is a wonderful partnership between Christians being the merciful church at home and Christians planting the merciful church abroad. Neither is a wasted life.
The partnership that emerged between students, who were going, and businessmen, who were sending, was profound, because there were God-centered visionary leaders in both groups. Both were moved by the same passion not to waste their lives.
Laypeople, pastors, churches—all of us who stay behind—will find the “sweetest and most priceless rewards” as we enlarge our hearts to embrace not only the needs close to home, but also the hard and unreached places of the world.
These businessmen from a hundred years ago saw their secular calling and their missionary vision as an integrated whole.
Missions is not only crucial for the life of the world. It is crucial for the life of the church. We will perish with our wealth if we do not pour ourselves out in ministries of mercy at home and missions among the unreached peoples.
One way to describe the situation is to say that about 1.2–1.4 billion people have never had a chance to hear the Gospel; that is, they live in cultures where the preaching of the Gospel in understandable ways is not accessible. Other analysts estimate the number of un-evangelized somewhat higher. About 95 percent of these live in what has been called the 10/40 window (between latitudes 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator and between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans). This is the great challenge of our day.
There is a call on this generation to obey the risen Christ and make disciples of all the unreached peoples of the world. I am praying that God will raise up hundreds of thousands of young people and “finishers” (people finishing one career and ready to pursue a second in Christian ministry).
Frontier missions does what Paul aimed to do: Plant the church where there is now no possibility of ministry. This is the great need of the hour, not only for missionaries who go to serve the established church in other countries (which is a great need, especially in leadership development), but also for missionaries who go to peoples and places where there is no church to serve.
Don’t think the days of foreign missionaries are over, as if nationals can finish the work. There are hundreds of peoples and millions of people where there are no Christian nationals to do same-culture evangelism. A culture must be crossed.
Missions, not same-culture evangelism by nationals, will finish the Great Commission.
So “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), and ask him if you should be one. Expect this prayer to change you.
Get a copy of the amazing world prayer guide called Operation World, and pray and read and ponder your way through the nations day by day.
if you want to be most fully satisfied with God as he triumphs in the history of redemption, you can’t go on with business as usual—doing your work, making your money, giving your tithe, eating, sleeping, playing, and going to church. Instead you need to stop and go away for a few days with a Bible and notepad; and pray and think about how your particular time and place in life fits into the great purpose of God to make the nations glad in him. How will you join the great global purpose of God expressed in Psalm 67:4, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy”?
Many of you should stay where you are in your present job, and simply ponder how you can fit your particular skills and relationships and resources more strategically into the global purpose of your heavenly Father. But for others reading this book, it is going to be different. Many of you are simply not satisfied with what you are doing.
If the discontent with your present situation is deep, recurrent, and lasting, and if that discontent grows in Bible-saturated soil, God may be calling you to a new work. If, in your discontent, you long to be holy, to walk pleasing to the Lord, and to magnify Christ with your one, brief life, then God may indeed be loosening your roots in order to transplant you to a place and a ministry where the deep spiritual ambitions of your soul can be satisfied.
It is true that God can be known and enjoyed in every legitimate vocation; but when he deploys you from one place to the next, he offers fresh and deeper drinking at the fountain of his fellowship. God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace.
May God give you a fresh, Christ-exalting vision for your life—whether you go to an unreached people or stay firmly and fruitfully at your present post. May your vision get its meaning from God’s great purpose to make the nations glad in him. May the cross of Christ be your only boast, and may you say, with sweet confidence, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Bryan Chapell on Vocation. Former President of Covenant Theological Seminary, where I got my Master Degree, and current Senior Pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church about an hour from our home, recently started a new sermon series titled “Mission at Work”. You can listen to the messages here.
The Realest Authenticity. Barnabas Piper writes “The truest authenticity, the best authenticity is humble. Authenticity without humility is a lie.”
Are You Living a Great Adventure? Chris Patton writes “What great adventure is God calling us to join as we run our businesses? It will be different for each of us, but the same basic elements will be there.”
Unsuccessful Leaders Work as Hard as Successful. Dan Rockwell writes “Lackluster leaders are unremarkable because they know too much and grow too little. There are other success factors like good fortune and talent, but every successful leader I’ve met is hungry to learn, grow, and adapt.”
The Biggest Mistake I Ever Made. Dave Kraft writes that the biggest mistake he has made was allowing competence to replace character.
When to bring it Up – When to let it Go. Dan Rockwell writes “Leaders who bring up every little failure, issue, or shortcoming are irritating nags. They can’t let it go.”
Emotional Intelligence. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell discusses how emotional intelligence allows us to connect with people.
The Secrets of Success, Week Two: Personal Growth. In this second secret of success, John Maxwell writes “Here are two things you can do daily to help your personal growth. They are simple, but just remember, simple to understand doesn’t always mean simple to execute.”
Secrets of Success, Week Three – Relationships. John Maxwell writes “The more you value and connect with the people in your life, the greater your potential to see great things from those relationships. The secret is making connecting with others a daily priority.”
How Three Time Filters Impact Leadership. Dan Rockwell writes “Some leaders make decisions with the past in mind, others focus on the present. Still others, perhaps the most dangerous, make decisions with the future in mind.”
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Real work is a contribution to the good of all and not merely a means to one’s own advancement. Tim Keller Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can. Jonathan Edwards
What a pity it would be to have to tell God that we spent our life earning a living, and that’s it. Erwin Lutzer
Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present. J.I. Packer
Surround yourself with people who acknowledge your progress and challenge you to be better.Dan Rockwell
There are not two worlds—sacred and secular—but one world—created, fallen, and saved by Christ and which will pass thru judgment into glory. Bethany Jenkins
A woman told me about getting involved in a Bible study that demanded strict commitment to the study of God’s Word. ‘You should make the Bible your number one priority,’ she was told. That meant getting up early and the very first thing in the morning doing Bible reading and having a quiet time with the Lord. She did this, but to her consternation every morning as she would start to read her Bible, the baby would wake up. She found herself resenting the interruption. Here she was, trying to spend time with God, and the baby would start fussing, demanding to be fed and distracting her attention away from spiritual things. After a while, though, she came to understand the doctrine of vocation. Taking care of her baby was what God, at that moment, was calling her to do. Being a mother and loving and serving her child was her vocation, her divine calling from the Lord. She could read the Bible later. She did not have to feel guilty that she was neglecting spiritual things; taking care of her baby is a spiritual thing! Gene Veith
The church’s approach to intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: That the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. Dorothy Sayers
The maid who sweeps here kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays – not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship. Martin Luther
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 8: Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5
It would be a mistake to infer from the call to wartime living in the previous chapter that Christians should quit their jobs and go to “war”—say, to become missionaries or pastors or full-time relief workers. That would be a fundamental misunderstanding of where the war is being fought.
The war is not primarily spatial or physical—though its successes and failures have physical effects. Therefore, the secular vocations of Christians are a war zone. There are spiritual adversaries to be defeated (that is, evil spirits and sins, not people); and there is beautiful moral high ground to be gained for the glory of God. You don’t waste your life by where you work, but how and why.
The call to be a Christian was not a call to leave your secular vocation. That’s the clear point of 1 Corinthians 7:17-24.
Therefore, the burning question for most Christians should be: How can my life count for the glory of God in my secular vocation?
Our aim is to joyfully magnify Christ—to make him look great by all we do.
Boasting only in the cross, our aim is to enjoy making much of him by the way we work. The question is, How? The Bible points to at least six answers.
1. We can make much of God in our secular job through the fellowship that we enjoy with him throughout the day in all our work.
When the saints are at work in their secular employment, they are scattered. They are not together in church. So the command to “remain there with God” is a promise that you may know God’s fellowship personally and individually on the job.
One way to enjoy God’s presence and fellowship is through thankful awareness that your ability to do any work at all, including this work, is owing to his grace.
This is the way God speaks to you through the day. He encourages you, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). He reminds you that the challenges of the afternoon are not too hard for him to manage: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). He tells you not to be anxious, but to ask him for whatever you need (Philippians 4:6), and says, “Cast all your anxieties on me, for I care for you” (paraphrase of 1 Peter 5:7). And he promises to guide you through the day: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).
2. We make much of Christ in our secular work by the joyful, trusting, God-exalting design of our creativity and industry.
So if you go all the way back, before the origin of sin, there are no negative connotations about secular work. According to Genesis 2:2, God himself rested from his work of creation, implying that work is a good, God-like thing.
To be sure, when God sends us forth to work as his image bearers, our ditches are to be dug straight, our pipe-fittings are not to leak, our cabinet corners should be flush, our surgical incisions should be clean, our word processing accurate and appealing, and our meals nutritious and attractive, because God is a God of order and beauty and competence. But cats are clean, and ants are industrious, and spiders produce orderly and beautiful works. And all of them are dependent on God. Therefore, the essence of our work as humans must be that it is done in conscious reliance on God’s power, and in conscious quest of God’s pattern of excellence, and in deliberate aim to reflect God’s glory.
When you work like this—no matter what your vocation is—you can have a sweet sense of peace at the end of the day. It has not been wasted. God has not created us to be idle. Therefore, those who abandon creative productivity lose the joy of God-dependent, world-shaping, God-reflecting purposeful work.
True personal piety feeds the purposeful work of secular vocations rather than undermining it. Idleness does not grow in the soil of fellowship with God. Therefore, people who spend their lives mainly in idleness or frivolous leisure are rarely as happy as those who work. Retired people who are truly happy have sought creative, useful, God-honoring ways to stay active and productive for the sake of man’s good and God’s glory.
So the second way we make much of God in our secular work is through the joyful, trusting, God-exalting design of our creativity and industry. God created us for work so that by consciously relying on his power and consciously shaping the world after his excellence, we might be satisfied in him, and he might be glorified in us. And when we remember that all this God-exalting creativity and all this joy is only possible for undeserving sinners like us because of the death of Christ, every hour of labor becomes a boasting in the cross.
3. We make much of Christ in our secular work when it confirms and enhances the portrait of Christ’s glory that people hear in the spoken Gospel.
There is no point in overstating the case for the value of secular work. It is not the Gospel. By itself, it does not save anyone. In fact, with no spoken words about Jesus Christ, our secular work will not awaken wonder for the glory of Christ. That is why the New Testament modestly calls our work an adornment of the Gospel.
So one crucial meaning of our secular work is that the way we do it will increase or decrease the attractiveness of the Gospel we profess before unbelievers.
Of course, the great assumption is that they know we are Christians.
Should Christians be known in their offices as the ones you go to if you have a problem, but not the ones to go to with a complex professional issue? It doesn’t have to be either-or. The biblical mandate is: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23; cf. Ephesians 6:7).
So the third way we make much of God in our secular work is by having such high standards of excellence and such integrity and such manifest goodwill that we put no obstacles in the way of the Gospel but rather call attention to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ. When we adorn the Gospel with our work, we are not wasting our lives. And when we call to mind that the adornment itself (our God-dependent, God-shaped, God-exalting work) was purchased for us by the blood of Christ, and that the beauty we adorn is itself the Gospel of Christ’s death, then all our tender adornment becomes a boasting in the cross.
4. We make much of Christ in our secular work by earning enough money to keep us from depending on others, while focusing on the helpfulness of our work rather than financial rewards.
The curse under which we live today is not that we must work. The curse is that, in our work, we struggle with weariness and frustration and calamities and anxiety.
Able-bodied people who choose to live in idleness and eat the fruit of another’s sweat are in rebellion against God’s design. If we can, we should earn our own living.
How then do Christians make much of Christ in working “to earn their own living”? First, by conforming willingly to God’s design for this age. It is an act of obedience that honors his authority. Second, by removing stumbling blocks from unbelievers who would regard the lazy dependence of Christians on others as an evidence that our God is not worthy of following. “Work with your hands . . . so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). We honor God by earning our living because this clears the way for non-Christians to see Christ for who he really is. Aimless, unproductive Christians contradict the creative, purposeful, powerful, merciful God we love. They waste their lives.
Third, we make much of God by earning our own living when we focus not on financial profit but on the benefit our product or service brings to society.
This is paradoxical. I am saying, yes, we should earn enough money to meet our needs. But, no, we should not make that the primary focus of why we work.
In other words, don’t focus on mere material things in your work. Don’t labor merely with a view to the perishable things you can buy with your earnings. Work with an eye not mainly to your money, but your usefulness. Work with a view to benefiting people with what you make or do.
So don’t labor for the food that perishes. Labor to love people and honor God. Think of new ways that your work can bless people. Stop thinking mainly of profitability, and think mainly of how helpful your product or service can become.
You are not working for the food that perishes. Your goal is to enjoy Christ’s being exalted in the way you work.
None of us in our vocations should aim mainly at the food that perishes—leave that to the Lord. We should aim instead to do the will of him who sent us. And his will is that we treasure him above all else and live like it.
If we simply work to earn a living—if we labor for the bread that perishes—we will waste our lives. But if we labor with the sweet assurance that God will supply all our needs—that Christ died to purchase every undeserved blessing—then all our labor will be a labor of love and a boasting only in the cross.
5. We make much of Christ in our secular work by earning money with the desire to use our money to make others glad in God.
So my point here is that, as we work, we should dream of how to use our excess money to make others glad in God. Of course, we should use all our money to make others glad in God, in the sense that our whole life has this aim. But the point here is that our secular work can become a great God-exalting blessing to the world if we aim to take the earnings we don’t need for ourselves (and we need far less than we think) and meet the needs of others in the name of Jesus.
God clearly tells us that we should work to provide the needs of those who can’t meet their own needs.
6. We make much of Christ in our secular work by treating the web of relationships it creates as a gift of God to be loved by sharing the Gospel and by practical deeds of help.
But now I want to say that speaking the good news of Christ is part of why God put you in your job. He has woven you into the fabric of others’ lives so that you will tell them the Gospel. Without this, all our adorning behavior may lack the one thing that could make it life-giving.
Christians should seriously ask not only what their vocation is, but where it should be lived out. We should not assume that teachers and carpenters and computer programmers and managers and CPAs and doctors and pilots should do their work in America. That very vocation may be better used in a country that is otherwise hard to get into, or in a place where poverty makes access to the Gospel difficult. In this way the web of relationships created by our work is not only strategic but intentional.
In conclusion, secular work is not a waste when we make much of Christ from 8 to 5. God’s will in this age is that his people be scattered like salt and light in all legitimate vocations. His aim is to be known, because knowing him is life and joy. He does not call us out of the world. He does not remove the need to work. He does not destroy society and culture. Through his scattered saints he spreads a passion for his supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples. If you work like the world, you will waste your life, no matter how rich you get. But if your work creates a web of redemptive relationships and becomes an adornment for the Gospel of the glory of Christ, your satisfaction will last forever and God will be exalted in your joy.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
ON LEADERSHIP:
5 Questions You Must Answer to Lead Change, Part II. In this second part of her article on leading change, Selma Wilson writes “Your primary job in leading change is communication and communication is always a two way process – speaking and listening. Communication must include opportunities for open questions and dialogue.”
Four Mistakes Leaders Make When Handling Conflict. Not all conflict is bad, as Patrick Lencioni teaches. Eric Geiger writes “Unhealthy conflict spoils the unity and morale of the team. Unhealthy conflict distracts from the mission.”
How Leaders Can Balance the Past and the Future. In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper visit with Eric Geiger about how leaders can balance having a healthy awareness of past with the right focus on the future. It’s so easy to fall into one extreme or the other and both extremes harm an organization.
No Big Men in Christ-Centered Leadership. Bob Osbourne writes “When I became a Christian, though, God overhauled my life. I began seeing people not as objects to use but as people made in God’s image with unique abilities, passions, and interests. My responsibility as a leader was to serve them.”
The 10 Practices of the Coaching Leader. Dan Rockwell writes authoritarian leaders are becoming dinosaurs today. He states that if you expect you lead, you need to coach. Here’s part two of his series on coaching leaders.
11 Ways to Think Better Thoughts. Check out this infographic of 11 ways of thinking outlined by John Maxwell from his latest book JumpStart Your Thinking that will give you a starting point to thinking better thoughts, making better decisions and, ultimately, succeeding more often in your life and work. Your thoughts are the starting place for success.
Does God Care about Efficiency? Matt Perman writes “As with God, so also with us. Care about efficiency. But care about beauty and service most of all.”
Trust: Better to Give Than Receive. Bob Chapman writes “To get trust, you have to freely give it. This is a tough concept for many people. It’s the opposite of what we normally think. We think of trust as something to be earned. We’ll trust someone when they give us proof that they can be trusted.”
Calling and Work. Mark McConnell writes “You might not be a pastor, you might not be a missionary, you might not be in so-called full-time Christian service, but God has called each of us: to glorify Him in all that we do, to serve Him in all that we do, and to witness to His love and grace in Christ Jesus.”
3 Ways to Make Difficult People Less Difficult. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “what can you do with the difficult people in your life, starting right now? After all, you may not be able to avoid all the difficult people. And you may not be able to turn every difficult person around. But there’s quite a bit you can do to make these encounters less upsetting.”
Development. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell discusses development, a word that signifies improvement, making progress, growth, etc.
7 Signs You’ve Become Too Busy for Your Own Good. Alli Worthington writes “But there are signs our body gives us if we’re paying attention, signs that may look different for each of us. For some the warning signs may be emotional. For others they might be physical, relational, or spiritual. But rest assured, if you are over capacity, you will soon find out— the hard way.”
The Secrets of Success, Week One: Health. John Maxwell begins a new series looking at “three critical decisions that impact everything else in your world. If you can win these three each day, you are on your way to living life successfully.” He begins by looking at the area of our health.
How to Avoid Life’s Flat Tires. In this short video, Dave Ramsey shares the seven areas of life in which you need to set goals this year . . . and every year in your future. Use the Wheel of Life as a guide for keeping your life balanced and flat-tire free.
Strategies for When Life Seems Aimless. In this episode of “Ask Pastor John”, John Piper addresses a question about waiting when life seems to be aimless and going nowhere, specifically when it comes to a career.
Rise to every occasion, give our best effort, and make those around us better as we do it.John Wooden
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. PabloPicasso
If your purpose hasn’t been fulfilled, that means the most important part of your life is still to come. Persist without exception! Andy Andrews
Celebrate and recognize your colleagues as they do things right. You can make a difference in their lives! Ken Blanchard
You want to do large things famous and fast. But most things that truly matter need small acts of overlooked love over a long period of time. Zack Eswine
Your greatest leadership moments will probably be ones that nobody else sees. Private faithfulness leads to public impact. Brad Lomenick
Serve God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience. Charles Spurgeon
The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus. Tim Keller
The leaders who get the most from their people are the leaders who care most about their people. Simon Sinek
The Gospel Goes to Work: God’s Big Canvas of Calling and Renewal by Stephen R. Graves. KJK Publishing. 168 pages. 2015 ***
I have read a number of books about integrating our faith with our work. I enjoyed some of the unique perspectives to this issue that the author brought forward in this new book.
He tells us that the book is about work and the gospel. Not ministry work only, but every kind of work. He aims to focus on the question: What more can you and I do to engage the gospel through our work? He introduces the reader to what he calls the four-act gospel, which provides a comprehensive grid of meaning for our lives, including our work. He states that work itself is a service to God. He argues that the message about the gospel’s integration with work is needed as much now as it ever has been, if not more so.
He provides a different way of looking at the integration of faith and work. He first talks about a lowest-common-denominator application of the gospel that is relevant to all workers and all workplaces. This is what he calls the Baseline. Then, there are individualized applications of the gospel for each of us in our particular wiring and for our particular organizations. He calls this the Blue Sky.
He tells us that The Baseline is the starting point or universal minimum for all people in all environments, regardless of their personality, title, age, background, and other particulars. The Blue Sky represents the boundless horizons of what could be when someone personalizes any idea or insight.
He tells us that the gospel going to work will look different depending on where we work and what we do. He tells us that when we merge the baseline/blue sky pair with the individual/organizational pair, you get The Gospel Goes to Work Grid. It covers the whole range of workplace expressions of the gospel. He then looks at each quadrant in detail as well as four foundation stones. The four foundation stones are:
Foundation Stone 1: You give evidence of your calling
Foundation Stone 2: You display character on the job
Foundation Stone 3: You deliver skill consistently
Foundation Stone 4: You model service to others
I found his list of a “Gospel 500” (think of the Fortune 500) to be of interest. He lists organizations that would make his list in each of four regions of the Blue Sky. Among those listed that you may be familiar with are Chick Fil-A and Hobby Lobby.
He writes that we all must ask and answer, “How does the gospel go to work in my industry and especially in my particular organization?” He feels that this is the most penetrating question anyone can ask in his or her faith and work. It requires vulnerable personalization. And it demonstrates a mature faith that depends on God doing His work His way. He writes that the gospel is intended to penetrate, permeate, and alter the way we consider our work and do our work.
I enjoyed this book and its unique approach to the important issue of how we integrate our faith and work and recommend it to you.
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 7: Living to Prove He Is More Precious Than Life
If we walk away from risk to keep ourselves safe and solvent, we will waste our lives.
If we look like our lives are devoted to getting and maintaining things, we will look like the world, and that will not make Christ look great. He will look like a religious side-interest that may be useful for escaping hell in the end, but doesn’t make much difference in what we live and love here.
Why don’t people ask us about our hope? The answer is probably that we look as if we hope in the same things they do.
Jesus loves faith-filled risk for the glory of God.
If we want to make people glad in God, our lives must look as if God, not possessions, is our joy.
Sometimes I use the phrase “wartime lifestyle” or “wartime mind-set.” It tells me that there is a war going on in the world between Christ and Satan, truth and falsehood, belief and unbelief. It tells me that there are weapons to be funded and used, but that these weapons are not swords or guns or bombs but the Gospel and prayer and self-sacrificing love (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And it tells me that the stakes of this conflict are higher than any other war in history; they are eternal and infinite: heaven or hell, eternal joy or eternal torment (Matthew 25:46).
One of the marks of this peacetime mind-set is what I call an avoidance ethic. In wartime we ask different questions about what to do with our lives than we do in peacetime.
If we are going to pay the price and take the risks it will cost to make people glad in God, we move beyond the avoidance ethic. This way of life is utterly inadequate to waken people to the beauty of Christ. Avoiding fearful trouble and forbidden behaviors impresses almost no one. The avoidance ethic by itself is not Christ-commending or God-glorifying. There are many disciplined unbelievers who avoid the same behaviors Christians do. Jesus calls us to something far more radical than that.
The better questions to ask about possible behaviors is: How will this help me treasure Christ more? How will it help me show that I do treasure Christ? How will it help me know Christ or display Christ? The Bible says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). So the question is mainly positive, not negative. How can I portray God as glorious in this action? How can I enjoy making much of him in this behavior?
Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family.
Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up.
The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God.
Oh, that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause ten thousand times more important than American democracy—as precious as that is. If we would dream and if we would pray, would not God answer? Would he withhold from us a life of joyful love and mercy and sacrifice that magnifies Christ and makes people glad in God? I plead with you, as I pray for myself, set your face like flint to join Jesus on the Calvary road.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Why Joy at Work Matters. Maxwell Anderson writes “And from what I’ve seen, joy can be found in almost any line of work. You don’t need to be convinced of this idea, I just ask you to consider it.” He then shows a video from the program Undercover Boss to illustrate his point.
God Uses Books to Transform People. Carey Bustard interviews Byron Borger about his work. Borger, along with his wife, Beth, has owned and operated Hearts & Minds, an independent bookstore, in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, for 33 years.
Elevate One on Ones to Power Moments. Dan Rockwell writes “When you want others to take personal ownership, say “you” not “we”. Reserve “we” for topics that include several people, including yourself.”
Are You Stuck In Your Comfort Zone? Chris Patton writes “Begin praying that God would call you out of your comfort zone and into experiences you cannot even imagine right now!”
3 Factors That (Almost) Guarantee Success. Steve Graves writes “When I’m trying to get my hands around a new organization or a new concept in fast fashion, or when I want to test its viability, I primarily look at three things: tailwinds, edges, and depth.”
Three Warning Signs You Are Wasting Time. Eric Geiger writes “There is a deep connection between wisdom and making the most of the limited time we have been given. Wise people recognize the brevity of this life and steward their time well.”
Four Ways to Unleash the Power in Others. Dan Rockwell writes “The real issue for those who aspire to lead successfully is the way you pursue success. Don’t suppress your passion to be remarkable. Channel your passion for remarkable leadership into unleashing the power in others.”
What Builds Character? Jon Mertz writes “We need to remember to be big in our character and reduce the size of our personality. Personal brand chatter focuses too much on superficial things and too much on self-importance. If you want to build a sustainable personal brand, focus on your personal character early and often.”
2016: Your Year of Living Intentionally. John Maxwell writes “We live in a culture that encourages good intentions, but is less excited about being intentional – and there’s a big difference.”
Juggling Parenting and Work: 5 Myths to Overcome. Selma Wilson writes “All parents are working parents and the mix of work inside and outside the home is unique to each family. I am often asked to speak on this issue with the hope that I can provide a formula that helps balance it all. I’m sorry to tell you, but there isn’t a formula. There are, however, some myths to overcome.”
Daring Destinations. In this month’s episode of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, Andy starts a conversation with author and CEO Cheryl Bachelder on how to make bold decisions that drive superior performance results.
Christians are called to redeem entire cultures, not just individuals.Charles Colson
I asked that [work] should be looked upon, not as a necessary drudgery to be undergone for the purpose of making money, but as a way of life in which the nature of man should find its proper exercise and delight and so fulfill itself to the glory of God. Dorothy Sayers
It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything.A. W. Tozer
A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by mean of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other. Martin Luther
The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren’t where they should be but that they aren’t what they should be where they are. Os Guinness
Too much of my time passes in busy idleness. John Newton
Our calling is not to stay alive, but to stay in love with Jesus. John Piper
Prayer must not be our intermittent work but our daily business, our habit and vocation. Charles Spurgeon
We must stop dividing business and ministry. We are to make the Kingdom economy touchable in our most marginalized areas. Michael Rhodes
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 6The Goal of Life— Gladly Making Others Glad in God
It is impossible to risk your life to make others glad in God if you are an unforgiving person. If you are wired to see other people’s faults and failures and offenses, and treat them roughly, you will not take risks for their joy.
The question is, do we lean toward mercy? Do we default to grace? Do we have a forgiving spirit? Without it we will walk away from need and waste our lives.
God is the goal of forgiveness. He is also the ground and the means of forgiveness. It comes from him; it was accomplished through his Son; and it leads people back to him with their sins cast into the deepest sea. Therefore the motive for being a forgiving person is the joy of being freely and joyfully at home with God.
What is the nature and aim of glad-hearted, Christian giving? It is the effort—with as much creativity and sacrifice as necessary—to give others everlasting and ever-increasing joy2—joy in God.
By gladly pursuing the gladness of others in God—even at the cost of our lives—we love them and honor God. This is the opposite of a wasted life.
How then do we make others glad in God?
There are two clarifications I should make. The first clarification is that, of course, we can’t make anyone glad in God. Joy in God is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
The second clarification is that gladness in God is not a peripheral religious experience.
I am saying that gladness in God is the goal of all saving work, and the experiential essence of what it means to be saved. Without this joy in God, there would be no salvation.
Your Work Matters to God, But Does It Matter to the Church? Gaye Clark writes “I know there has to be balance. The church needs volunteers for its specific purposes or it cannot function. Still, I believe looking strategically at where your flock spends most of their time during the week could translate into greater opportunities to advance the gospel.”
Work as Worship. I appreciated this short devotional from the Lead Like Jesus ministry.
Stop Using “Work-Life Balance” and Start Using “Work-Life Integration”. Michael O’Hara writes “Work-life integration is the idea that you’re the same person, not two separate beings, throughout your day, so you shouldn’t try to switch on and off between work and home. It’s about recognizing when and where it’s okay to weave aspects of one into the other rather than struggle to be in two places at once. When you integrate successfully, you’ll have no guilt in allowing home and business to mix.”
The Key to Gospel Driven Productivity. Matt Perman, author of the excellent book What’s Best Next, writes “So what happens when we look at the issue of time management and getting things done from the perspective of the gospel? A surprising insight emerges.”
7 Productivity Tips from Productivity Experts. David Murray writes “Ron Friedman invited 26 bestselling science and productivity writers to share their insights for achieving top performance and identified nine overarching themes that encapsulate their advice for peak work performance. Here’s a summary of the seven that I’ve found the most helpful.”
Bob Chapman Interview. Bob Chapman, author of Everybody Matters, was recently interviewed by Charlie Brennan on KMOX in St. Louis.
A Prayer for a God-Honoring Work Life. Check out this wonderful prayer from our friend Kevin Halloran. It is from his new book Word + Life: 20 Reflections on Prayer, the Christian Life, and the Glorious Gospel of Christ.
Break Your Bad Habits Before They Break You. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “To break your bad habits, you need to attack them from many directions. And the more ways you attack this enemy, the greater your chances of success.”
10 Actions to Jump Start Your New Year. Selma Wilson writes “The new year is here and it holds many things for you and those God has placed in your arena of influence. Whether you make resolutions or not, here are a few intentional and easy actions you can take to put you in position to run the race before you this year.”
Six Diagnostic Questions for Life and Work. Steven Graves, author of The Gospel Goes to Work, writes of these simple diagnostic questions “They aren’t particularly profound or complex, but they get to the heart of our life and work. Perhaps best of all, they’re versatile. You can use them when evaluating a strategy, a product, or even your own performance.”
Five Questions that can Release the Power of Humble Leadership. Dan Rockwell writes “It’s important for you to believe in yourself. It’s even more important, from a leadership perspective, for you to believe in others. Successful leaders learn how to have confidence in others.
Five Ways Leaders Lose Credibility. Eric Geiger writes “In the book The Leadership Challenge, researchers and authors, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner claim that the most important leadership characteristic is credibility.”
How to Build a Compelling Culture. Paul Sohn interviews Dee Ann Turner of Chick Fil-A, the organization I most admire, about how to build a compelling culture. I plan to read her book It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture soon.
Trustworthy. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell emphasizes the importance of being a person others can depend on.
The Purpose of Vacation: Preparation for Vocation. Dr. David Leonard, in looking at the relationship between vocation and vacation, writes “If we’re ready to take our vocation seriously, then we ought to take our vacation just as seriously.”
3 Reasons to Keep Praying. Michael Kelley writes “As leaders we frequently find ourselves praying the same thing over and over again. Prayers for the same people with the same issues. Prayer for wisdom to attack the same problem. Prayers for direction, day after day.”
The Courageous Leadership of Winston Churchill. Albert Mohler writes “One thing Christian leaders must always remember is that leaders are speakers. Leadership requires bold, convictional, and clear communication. Churchill knew this principle and we would do well to learn from his example.”
5 Secret Objections to Change. Ron Edmonson writes “In the world of change, I’ve learned there are some common objections. I’ve previously written objections people use to criticize change, but in this post, I’m addressing the root cause of that criticism. These are the secret objections.”
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. Tim Keller
A true Christian lives and labors on earth not for himself but for his neighbor. Martin Luther
Living the mission of Jesus means taking your faith into your work and your life and praying for it to change people’s hearts toward God.Tim Keller
The greatest leaders have learned to take the blame when things go wrong, and give the praise to others when things go right. Andy Andrews
Christians ought to have a different approach to business. We should view work as both service and a form of worship.Charles Colson
Religion does not take a man away from his work; it sends him to his work with an added quality of devotion. B.B. Warfield
God not only wants to join us in our work but to increasingly conform us into greater Christlikeness while we work. Tom Nelson
Just be who God has called you to be right where you are, with the people he has called you to serve. Michael Horton
If you waste your time, you waste your life. Steven Lawson
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 5 Risk Is Right— Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It
If our single, all-embracing passion is to make much of Christ in life and death, and if the life that magnifies him most is the life of costly love, then life is risk, and risk is right. To run from it is to waste your life.
I define risk very simply as an action that exposes you to the possibility of loss or injury.
Risk is woven into the fabric of our finite lives. We cannot avoid risk even if we want to.
One of my aims is to explode the myth of safety and to somehow deliver you from the enchantment of security. Because it’s a mirage. It doesn’t exist. Every direction you turn there are unknowns and things beyond your control.
Queen Esther is another example of courageous risk in the service of love and for the glory of God.
Esther did not know what the outcome of her act would be. She had no special revelation from God. She made her decision on the basis of wisdom and love for her people and trust in God. She had to risk or run. She did not know how it would turn out. So she made her decision and handed the results over to God. “If I perish, I perish.” And this was right.
The great New Testament risk-taker was the apostle Paul. He had two choices: waste his life or live with risk. And he risked his life every day. And this was right.
It is the will of God that we be uncertain about how life on this earth will turn out for us. And therefore it is the will of the Lord that we take risks for the cause of God.
What happens when the people of God do not escape from the beguiling enchantment of security? What happens if they try to live their lives in the mirage of safety? The answer is wasted lives.
Risk is right. And the reason is not because God promises success to all our ventures in his cause. There is no promise that every effort for the cause of God will succeed, at least not in the short run.
We are wired to risk for the wrong reasons.
God has given us another way to pursue risk. Do it “by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). And the way God supplies his strength is through faith in his promises. Every loss we risk in order to make much of Christ, God promises to restore a thousand-fold with his all-satisfying fellowship.
The bottom-line comfort and assurance in all our risk-taking for Christ is that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ.
On the far side of every risk—even if it results in death—the love of God triumphs.
It is simple trust in Christ—that in him God will do everything necessary so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. Every good poised to bless us, and every evil arrayed against us, will in the end help us boast only in the cross, magnify Christ, and glorify our Creator. Faith in these promises frees us to risk and to find in our own experience that it is better to lose our life than to waste it.
Contentment and Ambition: Friends, Not Enemies. Dave Kraft writes “I want to learn how to be content and, at the same time, be ambitious for God and his purposes and plans. I see a solid understanding of true biblical contentment and true biblical ambition to be wonderful friends–not dangerous enemies.”
Serving the Church and Selling Mattresses. Carey Anne Bustard interviews Jeremy Rhoden, co-owner of a small business and a trustee at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary about his work.
Staying Godly in a Godless Workplace. Rick Segal writes “Very few, if any, awake one morning and decide all of a sudden, “Today is the day I’m going rogue. Enough with all that honesty stuff. From now on, I’m all about corruption.”
6 High-Yield New Year’s Resolutions Every Leader Should Make. Carey Nieuwhof writes “You will have some resolutions that are specific and personal to you—which is great. But there are some goals that every leader could benefit from accomplishing.”
6 Ways to Win in 2016. In this “Tuesday Tip”, Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “If you want to ensure your place among the winners, if you want to make next year the best year of your life and career, there are six little strategies you can use.”
The Exponential Leadership Goal for 2016. Dan Rockwell writes “Successful leadership pivots on developing leaders. Leaders, who don’t develop leaders, become bottlenecks.”
The First Step of Highly Successful People. Dan Rockwell writes “The ability to try one more time – in new ways – propels you forward. If you can’t begin again in new ways, frustration and irrelevance await.”
How to Boost Your Energy. In this episode of the This is Your Life podcast, Michael Hyatt and Michele Cushatt discuss how to boost our energy.
Goals. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell encourages us to be growth-oriented, rather than goal-oriented.
Three Indicators Your Email Should Have Been a Meeting. Eric Geiger writes “Some meetings could have been an email, but some emails should be meetings. There are times that people, in attempts to handle things efficiently, resort to an email when a meeting would have been more effective.”
Excuses. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell says that it’s easier to go from failure to success than from excuses to success, and that excuses just don’t fit into a leader’s life.
The Hardest Thing Leaders Have to Do. Dave Kraft writes the hardest things for leaders to do are “Learning how to get along with many different kinds of people, starting with those who misunderstand you, often followed by those criticizing you, judging you, labeling you, questioning your motives, questioning the authenticity of your walk with Jesus; sometimes questioning everything and anything. It always hurts and it’s always painful on multiple levels.”
Work Redefined. Why do we work? What is the purpose of our work, which can take so many hours in our day? This reflective illustration shows how we are divinely placed, wherever we work. It is our opportunity to worship the God who made us by the excellence of our endeavors. Watch this less than two-minute video from the folks at the Work as Worship Network.
Myths of Bold Leadership. In this video, Andy Stanley debunks the myths of bold leadership and states that very leader has the potential to lead with boldness.
Five Reasons a Team Lacks Joy. Eric Geiger writes “A joyless team harms the people on the team and those the team serves. Here are five common reasons joy eludes a team.”
Three Differences Between Busyness and Productivity. Eric Geiger writes “Busyness can give the allusion of productivity as people are doing things, as meetings are happening, and as emails are being sent and read. But not all busyness is valuable. In fact, busyness can mask a lack of productivity.”
16 Tips for Getting 90 Percent of Your Work Done Before Lunch. Neil Patel writes “You can get 90 percent or more of your work done in the morning. Around the time people are groping for the next shot of caffeine, you’re shutting down your Macbook and chilling out.”
Book Review:
Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity by Tim Challies. Challies. 120 pages. 2015 ****
There is much of value in this small book written by popular blogger and author Tim Challies. It is extremely efficient, well-organized, easy to read and practical. He states that he wrote the book because he wants his readers to do more of what matters most and to do it better. He writes that readers will get the most from the book if they read, observe, and imitate—at least at first. As time goes on, they can incorporate those tips they find especially helpful and discard the others.
The author begins by helping the reader to think about their God-given purpose and mission. He writes that there is no task in life that cannot be done for God’s glory, and that God saved us so that we could do good works and in that way bring glory to him. He states that productivity is effectively stewarding our gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God. Productivity, and the book, are about doing good to others.
He looks at three productivity thieves: laziness, busyness, and what he refers to as the mean combination of thorns and thistles. He states that busyness and laziness are both issues that arise from within. They are deficiencies in character that then work themselves out in our lives.
He writes that while the book will emphasize tools and systems and other important elements of productivity, nothing is more important than our own holiness and godliness.
He begins by having the reader create a list, using a productivity worksheet you can download at a web site provided in the book, of each of their areas of responsibility, targeting five or six categories, with no more than nine. He helpfully shares his own list. He then asks the reader to list the roles, tasks, or projects that fall under each area of responsibility. He has the reader define their mission for each area of responsibility. The primary purpose here is to guide us week by week as we schedule our time and make decisions about where to spend our time.
He states that you can do more good for others if you have fewer roles and projects than if you have more. He considers goals to be to be a helpful, but optional component of productivity.
He then discusses tools, indicating that many people try to be productive with tools that are poorly suited to the task. He tells us that our productivity depends to a good degree on identifying and using the best tools for the job and then growing in your skill in deploying them. He states that effective productivity depends upon the below three tools and the relationship between them.
Management tool. A task management tool enables you to capture and organize your projects and tasks. He recommends Todoist (todoist.com) as the task management tool. Todoist will capture, organize, and display your projects and tasks while notifying you about the most urgent ones.
Scheduling tool. A scheduling tool enables you to organize your time and notifies you of pending events and appointments. He recommends Google Calendar (calendar.google.com) as the scheduling tool. Google Calendar will hold and display your important events, meetings, and appointments and, through the notifications function, alert you ahead of any pending meetings or appointments.
Information tool. An information tool enables you to collect, archive, and access information. He recommends Evernote (evernote.com) as the information tool. Evernote is a powerful piece of software that enables you to capture almost any kind of information.
The principle that he uses in organizing our productivity systems is: A home for everything, and like goes with like.
The author tells us that these three tools work together to help plan your day, and the tools work together to help you get things done throughout the day. Thus, your day has two phases: planning and execution. He calls his planning phase his Coram Deo, a Latin phrase that means in the presence of God, and one that I use as the title of my blog.
He states that there are always a few things that are undeniably high priorities and a few things that are undeniably low priorities. But the majority will fit somewhere in the middle, leaving you to make difficult decisions. He also writes about things we should stop doing because they don’t fit into our priorities, much like Jim Collins “stop doing” list.
He discusses the concept of a Weekly Review, in which he looks at the question: How can I serve and surprise in the week ahead? Whereas the daily planning session is tactical, a weekly review is strategic. He writes that that our system will function well when we make time for this review and it will begin to sputter when we do not.
Two helpful bonus chapters are included:
Tame Your Email-6 Tips for Doing More Better with Email.
20 Tips to Increase Your Productivity
He includes helpful “Action” steps after each section. For example “Choose at least one habit other than productivity that you will pursue as you read and apply this book.”
If you are looking to increase your personal productivity, check out this book. It’s a quick read and if the concepts are applied it can reap huge dividends.
Lord, since it is you who feed us and you who meet our needs, ordinary human labor such as farming, cooking, knitting have great dignity. They are means by which you love your creation. Help me to sense that dignity so I can do the simplest of tasks to your glory.Tim and Cathy Keller
We’re not going to have the impact we want if we don’t manage our energy. Michael Hyatt
Work is not, primarily, a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It is, or should be, the full expression of the worker’s faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God. Dorothy Sayers
Work is rearranging the raw materials of a particular domain to draw out its potential for the flourishing of everyone. Tim Keller
Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. John Wooden
Vocation is the specific call to love one’s neighbor. Martin Luther
Work is the expenditure of energy (manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community and glory to God. John Stott
All honest work is worth doing for the glory of God, and we may find ourselves called to do any honest work that we’re fitted for. J.I. Packer
No one wakes up wanting to be managed. We wake up wanting to be led. Brad Lomenick
Real work is a contribution to the good of all and not merely a means to one’s own advancement. Tim Keller
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 4: Magnifying Christ Through Pain and Death
Suffering with Jesus on the Calvary road of love is not merely the result of magnifying Christ; it is also the means.
The normal Christian life is one that boasts only in the cross—the blazing center of God’s glory—and does it while bearing the cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a gift to my generation of students. I pray that his costly message will be rediscovered in each generation. The book that set fire to the faith of thousands in my generation was called The Cost of Discipleship. Probably the most famous and life-shaping sentence in the book was, “The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer’s book was a massive indictment of the “cheap grace” that he saw in the Christian Church on both sides of the Atlantic. He did not believe that the faith that justifies could ever leave people unchanged by the radical Christ they claim to believe. That was a cheap response to the Gospel.
A life devoted to making much of Christ is costly. And the cost is both a consequence and a means of making much of him. If we do not embrace the path of joy-laden, painful love, we will waste our lives.
The Calvary road is costly and painful, but it is not joyless.
If Christ is not made much of in our lives, they are wasted. We exist to make him appear in the world as what he really is—magnificent. If our life and death do not show the worth and wonder of Jesus, they are wasted.
What you love determines what you feel shame about.
Paul’s all-consuming goal in life was for Christ to be magnified. Christ was of infinite value to Paul, and so Paul longed for others to see and savor this value. That is what it means to magnify Christ—to show the magnitude of his value.
But how are we to magnify Christ in death? Or to put it another way: How can we die so that in our dying the surpassing value of Christ, the magnitude of his worth, becomes visible?
If you experience death as gain, you magnify Christ in death.
That is what death does: It takes us into more intimacy with Christ. We depart, and we are with Christ, and that, Paul says, is gain. And when you experience death this way, Paul says, you exalt Christ. Experiencing Christ as gain in your dying magnifies Christ.
Death makes visible where our treasure is. The way we die reveals the worth of Christ in our hearts.
The essence of praising Christ is prizing Christ. Christ will be praised in my death, if in my death he is prized above life.
If we learn to die like this, we will be ready to live. And if we don’t, we will waste our lives.
Daily Christian living is daily Christian dying. The dying I have in mind is the dying of comfort and security and reputation and health and family and friends and wealth and homeland. These may be taken from us at any time in the path of Christ-exalting obedience. To die daily the way Paul did, and to take up our cross daily the way Jesus commanded, is to embrace this life of loss for Christ’s sake and count it gain.
The way we honor Christ in death is to treasure Jesus above the gift of life, and the way we honor Christ in life is to treasure Jesus above life’s gifts.
We are always on the lookout for ways to justify our self-protecting, self-securing, self-pleasing ways of life.
The greatest joy in God comes from giving his gifts away, not in hoarding them for ourselves.
God’s glory shines more brightly when he satisfies us in times of loss than when he provides for us in times of plenty.
No one ever said that they learned their deepest lessons of life, or had their sweetest encounters with God, on the sunny days. People go deep with God when the drought comes. That is the way God designed it.
Christ aims to be magnified in life most clearly by the way we experience him in our losses.
When everything in life is stripped away except God, and we trust him more because of it, this is gain, and he is glorified.
But when all is said and done, the promise and design of God for people who do not waste their lives is clear. “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
What a tragic waste when people turn away from the Calvary road of love and suffering.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles about LEADERSHIP
Are You a Hurried Leader? Selma Wilson writes “Are you a hurried leader? Out of breath most of the time trying to keep up? Are you drowning in emails, things to read, people to call, and not enough time on your calendar? Do you find yourself in your office more than out with your team? Do you look at all there is to do and sometimes it paralyzes you so you do nothing at all? If this sounds like you, then you are a hurried leader.”
7 Common Ways Leaders Waste Time and Energy. Ron Edmonson writes “I firmly believe when we get rid of some common drains on our time and energy we dramatically improve our performance as leaders. With this in mind, I’ve observed in my own personal development some ways to eliminate time and energy wasters.”
Can You Lead? Mark Miller writes “Every leader needs to develop a certain set of competencies. To be even more precise, every leader should pursue mastery in five specific facets of the role. Ken Blanchard and I wrote about these five practices in our book, The Secret. The title was derived from the truth: All great leaders SERVE.
4 Words Leaders Must Say on a Regular Basis. Eric Geiger writes “Leaders are always communicating, even when they are not talking. But what words must a leader say on a regular basis?”
Christian Leaders Desperately Need Four Kinds of Grace to Lead Well. Dave Kraft writes “I believe there is a big difference between me being at work and Jesus being at work. I long to see his fingerprints all over what he is leading and empowering me to do…otherwise, what’s the point!”
Five Ways Leaders Can Get Fresh Eyes. Eric Geiger writes that a downside to tenured leaders is that they can lose their fresh eyes. He offers five ways to get fresh eyes on the organization/ministry you are leading.
7 Powers of Weakness. Dan Rockwell writes “Arrogant leaders parade strengths. Successful leaders understand the power of weaknesses.”
How Leaders Can Avoid Burnout. In this edition of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Barnabas Piper and Eric Geiger address the issue of leadership burnout.
11 Things I Believe About Leadership. Mark Miller writes “I heard a talk years ago from a well-known leader in which he stated several statements he called his “I believes.” These beliefs shaped his life and leadership. The idea of articulating personal beliefs made sense to me then and it still does today.”
7 Effective Ways to Battle Discouragement In Leadership. Carey Nieuwhof writes “If you talk to most leaders long enough to get a real answer to ‘So how’s it going?” you will quickly discover that a surprising number of leaders are disheartened. Even discouraged.”
10 Habits of Ultra-Likeable Leaders. Travis Bradberry writes “If you want to be a leader whom people follow with absolute conviction, you have to be a likable leader. Tyrants and curmudgeons with brilliant vision can command a reluctant following for a time, but it never lasts. They burn people out before they ever get to see what anyone is truly capable of.”
Three Kinds of Leadership Decisions. Dave Kraft writes “Leaders make decisions. That’s what leaders do; the greater the responsibility, the more that can be riding on each decision made.” He states that “Almost all of the decisions that are being made will fall into one of three categories.”
Beyond You Leadership. Andy Stanley discusses common objections and misconceptions about a “Beyond You” leadership style, and discusses the positive impact of leaders who fearlessly and selflessly empower those around them, as well as those coming along behind them.
3 Reasons Your Team Needs Shepherd Leadership. Selma Wilson writes “Shepherd is most often used in reference to someone who herds, tends, and guards sheep. Your team could use your shepherd leadership, and here are three reasons why.”
How to Make the Difficult Look Easy. Mark Miller shares the fourth post in a series outlining a leadership eco-system that explains how leaders grow themselves and their influence. It also explains why so many leaders struggle. The four stages are Lead Self, Lead Others, Lead Teams and today, the final installment, Lead Organizations.
4 Leadership Advantages of Introverts. Kevin Spratt writes “We tend to think that the best leaders are charismatic motivators who are able to be sociable and cast a compelling vision, which are important and valuable leadership tools. An introvert often has a different set of tools, and, with the right motivation, an introvert can be extremely effective.”
Extraordinary Leadership. Dan Rockwell lists qualities of extraordinary leadership. Which ones most resonate with you? Are there any you feel he left off of the list?
Vision. In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell discusses taking the vision from “me” to “we”.
3 Qualities of Every Great Leader. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “There are certain traits that great leaders exhibit. To the extent you can master and exhibit the same traits, you’ll be more effective in getting others to excel.”
I’ve previously enjoyed Dave Kraft’s books Leaders Who Last and Mistakes Leaders Make, and was looking forward to reading his latest book based on the Old Testament character Nehemiah.
Kraft writes that in Nehemiah’s story we see every facet of leadership lived out. He writes that Nehemiah receives a vision from God and then he casts the vision, recruits the vision and works tirelessly to insure the vision happens. In this short book, Kraft focuses on twelve leadership principles he sees in Nehemiah’s life. He includes helpful “Questions to Ponder” at the end of each chapter to stimulate your thinking as you consider your leadership role in light of these principles.
Kraft writes that leadership always begins with God. True spiritual leadership is getting on our heart what God has on His. The first task of leadership is to hear from God and let him form a vision. Kraft writes that if you don’t set the vision, you’re not the leader. Whoever is establishing the vision and goals in your church or team is the real leader. For the Christian leader, God must be the beginning, middle, and end of the vision.
Kraft writes that when a vision is clear, you have a way of measuring progress. When a company, group, team, or church is casting vision, it needs to be as specific as possible.
Kraft states that a leader is a person who is dissatisfied with the ways things are. He has a burden, a vision, and a call to see something different. He wants to see something change, to build a new future. He then begins to communicate what he thinks, and where he wants to go.
He lays out three aspects to leading:
Who the leader is: Identity
Where the leader is headed: Inspiration
How the leader brings others along: Investment
He tells us that anyone who has had a leadership role for any length of time knows that being judged, condemned, or having one’s motives questioned goes with the territory. Unfortunately, in many cases it comes from some of your key people and that’s especially hard to take. But, Kraft states, if everybody likes everything you’re doing, you are probably not doing anything of significant value. Leaders don’t lead and make decisions in order to be popular or appreciated.
Kraft writes that the wise leader confronts people and issues head-on by considering various solutions and then acting prayerfully and decisively. However, many leaders are cowards when it comes to confronting people, especially other leaders. He writes that he has known and worked with leaders who would rather quit and move on rather than confront people.
Kraft writes that it is powerful for leadership to often review what has been happening, both the victories and accomplishments as well as the difficulties. One of the things good leaders do is make a big deal out of victories regardless of the size. People are starving for encouragement and affirmation. Followers are hungry for leaders to express appreciation and affirmation, but seldom hear it.
He also states that leaders are at their best when they are calling followers to their best, not letting them get away with sloppy standards and sloppy living.
A leader should not be afraid to remind people what the organization or group values are and then hold followers accountable for those values.
Kraft states that Nehemiah exemplifies all the best in leadership. He is bold, courageous, confrontational (when it’s called for), and persistent in sticking with what he feels led to do. In his estimation, the book of Nehemiah is the best book of the Bible to study and learn exemplary leadership.
He concludes the book with some suggestions on how to apply what we have learned from these leadership principles seen in the life of Nehemiah. I appreciated this short, but helpful look at leadership principles in the life of Nehemiah.
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Leadership functions on the basis of trust. When trust is gone, the leader soon will be.John Maxwell
Allow your failures to be innovation benchmarks on your way to excellence and greatness. Brad Lomenick
Giving people real responsibility communicates that you trust them. Mark Miller
You discipline those under your supervision to correct, to help, to improve – not to punish. John Wooden
Work is a godly activity. Duane Otto
Essentially, your vocation is to be found in the place you occupy in the present. Gene Edward Veith
One’s purpose anticipates design. What’s your purpose?Tim Keller
It is not freedom for a fish to sun itself on the beach. It is death. The question of freedom is: What were you made for? John Piper
Be the varsity version of yourself, not the junior varsity of someone else. Brad Lomenick
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 3: Boasting Only in the Cross – The Blazing Center of the Glory of God
I plead with you: Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.
One thing matters: Know Christ, and gain Christ. Everything is rubbish in comparison to this.
What is the one passion of your life that makes everything else look like rubbish in comparison?
Paul means something that will change every part of your life. He means that, for the Christian, all other boasting should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should be exultation in the cross.
Therefore every good thing in life, and every bad thing that God turns for good, is a blood-bought gift. And all boasting—all exultation—should be boasting in the cross.
We learn to boast in the cross and exult in the cross when we are on the cross. And until our selves are crucified there, our boast will be in ourselves.
You become so cross-centered that you say with Paul, “I will not boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The world is no longer our treasure. It’s not the source of our life or our satisfaction or our joy. Christ is.
Therefore every enjoyment in this life and the next that is not idolatry is a tribute to the infinite value of the cross of Christ—the burning center of the glory of God. And thus a cross-centered, cross-exalting, cross-saturated life is a God-glorifying life—the only God-glorifying life. All others are wasted.
Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite business authors. His books The Advantage and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are among my favorites. I recently started reading and discussing The Advantage with two colleagues at work. I’m sharing key learnings from the book and this week we look at what Lencioni has to say about Question 1: Why Do We Exist ~
Answering this question requires a leadership team to identify its underlying reason for being, also known as its core purpose.
An organization’s core purpose—why it exists—has to be completely idealistic.
In order to successfully identify their organization’s purpose, leaders must accept the notion that all organizations exist to make people’s lives better.
There is a darn good chance that your company—in fact, any given company—has not yet identified its purpose.
This leads to two problems. First, those teams don’t achieve a real sense of collective commitment from their members.
Second, and this is certainly related, those executives don’t see the company’s reason for existing as having any practical implications for the way they make decisions and run the organization.
Some executives, especially those who are a little cynical about all this purpose stuff, will say that their company exists simply to make money for owners or shareholders. That is almost never a purpose, but rather an important indicator of success.
When leaders set about identifying the purpose of their organization, there are a few critical factors they must keep in mind to give them a good chance at success. First, they must be clear that answering this question is not the end of the clarity process.
Second, an organization’s reason for existence, its purpose, has to be true. It must be based on the real motivations of the people who founded or are running the organization, not something that simply sounds good on paper.
Third, the process of determining an organization’s purpose cannot be confused with marketing, external or internal. It must be all about clarity and alignment.
So how does an organization go about figuring out why it exists? It starts by asking this question: “How do we contribute to a better world?”
The next question that needs to be asked, and asked again and again until it leads to the highest purpose or reason for existence, is Why? Why do we do that?
There are a number of very different categories of purpose, any of which can be valid. Identifying which category fits your organization’s purpose can be very helpful in focusing your discussion of why your organization exists because it better clarifies who the organization ultimately serves.
Customer: This purpose is directly related to serving the needs of an organization’s customer or primary constituent.
Industry: This purpose is all about being immersed in a given industry.
Greater Cause: This kind of purpose is not necessarily about what the organization does, but about something connected to it.
Community: This purpose is about doing something that makes a specific geographical place better.
Employees: This purpose is not about serving the customer, the industry, or the region, but rather about the employees.
Wealth: This purpose is about wealth for the owners.
An organization’s reason for existing is not meant to be a differentiator and that the purpose for identifying it is only to clarify what is true in order to guide the business.
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
Four Productivity Lies. Tim Challies writes “I have invested a lot of effort in understanding productivity and emphasizing it in my life. Eventually I came to peace with it. But I only did so after addressing some of the prevailing lies about it.”
Entitlement. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell discusses what entitlement means to him.
9 Ways to Glorify God at Work in Your “9-5”. Paul Sohn writes “I stumbled across a blog post from John Piper, which he spoke at a conference called Engage whose mission is to equip young professionals in the workplace. The 9 ways Piper he suggests how young professionals can glorify work are worth memorizing.”
Trust: A Currency For Christian Business. Chris Patton writes “As Christian business owners and leaders, we need people to trust us. We need employees to trust us so we can lead them. We want our customers to trust us so they will buy our products or services and remain loyal to us. Our vendors need to trust us to pay them accurately and on time or they will not continue to service us.”
Four Huge Distractions in Meetings and How to Fight Them. Eric Geiger writes “One of the biggest culprits of disengagement in a meeting are distractions. Distractions can steer emotional energy, creative thinking, and collective wisdom away from the important matters being discussed.”
Are You Putting the Gospel to Work? Steve Graves writes “Make no mistake; every community has men and women putting the gospel to work. Those who work next to them and live in community with them know them as catalytic vessels of salt, light, and the sweet perfume of the gospel.”
The Centennials are Coming. Mark Miller talks about the Centennials. He writes “They are a cohort of approximately 73 million young people born between 1997 and today. And guess what… in many areas, they see the world differently from previous generations.”
How to be a Great Mentor. Dan Rockwell writes “Great mentoring is more than developing skills, helping people create connections, and navigating organizational politics.”
Lessons from the First 20 Years, Part 2. In this edition of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, he concludes a conversation that explores the best, most effective leadership principles learned in the first 20 years of his organization.
5 Things for Which All Leaders Should Pray. Art Rainer writes “Leaders have a great responsibility. By the very nature of their role they are responsible for guiding others. For those who choose to take on this responsibility, prayer becomes a necessity.”
Five Reasons Leaders Must Constantly Clarify and Communicate Mission. Eric Geiger writes “It is insufficient to declare mission once. Clarifying and communicating mission is not a once-and-for-all event but a continual discipline. Leaders must constantly repeat the significant things, must constantly remind people what is important.
7 Ways to Gain and Keep Trust as a Leader. Ron Edmondson writes “People follow people they trust. I’ve found trust develops over time and experience – as we witness trustworthy behavior. Honestly, as a leader, I’ve felt a delicate tension in maintaining trust. People look for a leader to be strong, independent and confident. Yet, we trust people who are approachable, inclusive and humble. How do we combine those traits to be trusted leaders?”
Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
The leader’s job is to inspire people to work together in the service of something greater than themselves. Eric Geiger
We are most likely to succeed when ambition is focused on noble and worthy purposes and outcomes rather than on goals set out of selfishness. John Wooden
Tell me how many things you’ve finished, not how many you’ve started. Dan Rockwell
We’re made for work and rest, not toil and leisure. Andy Crouch
We must find a purpose or cause to pursue otherwise all we have left are our imperfections to focus on. Simon Sinek
With all the negative going on in the world, it is important to lead with a mindful and open heart and be the change you wish to see. Ken Blanchard
Clarity is the preoccupation of the effective leader. If you do nothing else as a leader, be clear. Marcus Buckingham
Your team will mirror you. If there is something you don’t like, you probably created it. Brad Lomenick
Leaders who attempt to make all the decisions are stunting the growth of their people and their organization. Mark Miller
When something bad happens you have three choices: You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you. Coach K
BOOK REVIEW: Creating a Business Plan that Actually Works: Especially, But Not Only, for Faith-Based Organizations by Matt Perman. What’s Best Next. 33 pages. ****
Matt Perman is the author of the excellent 2014 book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. That book was so helpful (I’m reading it a second time with colleagues at work) that I’m going to be interested in anything that he writes. He is an important voice in helping people integrate their faith with their work. In fact he states that this resource will be especially helpful for those looking for a resource that makes the integration of faith and work explicit. He encourages us to see our work as an act of service, to the glory of God, stating it is at the heart of how to glorify God in our work and do your business plan in a gospel-centered way.
He writes that this short e-book was written to provide guidance for how to create a business plan that actually works––a plan that will truly help you in launching your new business, department, or other large initiative, without getting you stuck in the details of over-planning. It also gives specific guidance for how to create a business plan from a faith-based perspective.
He defines a business plan as simply a guide or road map for your business, new department, or other large effort. It will help us think through and articulate your mission and values, main objectives, core audience, comparison organizations or competitors, financial plan, core activities, marketing plan, and other key realities. A business plan is not just for those starting a new business. Perman states that if you’re starting anything or want to refine what you’ve already started, a business plan is a key step.
In looking at how to create a business plan that actually works and to do so in a way that relates to the Scriptures, we should learn from the best business minds (Jim Collins, for example), common grace realities as well as the Bible.
He takes the reader through each of the sections of a business plan and briefly explains what they mean and how it translates into the ongoing fabric of our business. He also includes some helpful resources that you may find useful. He stresses that the process of developing a business plan is as important as the final result; as the activity of thinking through your business or new endeavor in this way prepares you for effective implementation.
This short book contains much helpful information and is well worth your time to read it. I know I’ll be sharing what I learned here with others, including my sister-in-law who is the Director of a Pregnancy Resource Center.
BOOK REVIEW: StandOut 2.0: Assess Your Strengths. Find Your Edge. Win at Work by Marcus Buckingham. Harvard Business Review Press. 211 Pages. 2015 ****
I’m a big Marcus Buckingham fan, having read all of his books, with the exception of the one he specifically wrote for women. Eight years ago, when on the leadership team for a professional learning organization we brought him to our community as a part of his book tour for Go Put Your Strengths to Work, one of the most impactful business books I have read. He briefly revisits his “Love it/Loathe it” exercise from that book here, an exercise I continue to use both on and off the job.
Buckingham writes that although the strengths-based approach to managing people is now conventional wisdom, performance appraisal systems remain “stubbornly remedial”. In this new book, Buckingham has taken his StandOut strengths assessment (introduced in 2011) and dramatically increased its power.
A few of the enhancements are:
To make our strengths visible, he has designed a StandOut Snapshot that can be used to present the very best of ourselves to our teams and organizations.
To give us a way to keep learning, he has provided us with our own personal learning channel.
The StandOut assessment has been made to be a “front door” to an online performance system that is entirely strengths based. He wants us to think of StandOut as a toolbox, in which each tool is designed to tackle one aspect of performance management. To help us do more of our best work, the reader will receive a weekly “Check-In” tool that will capture our weekly priorities and track how engaged you feel week by week.
Leaders will find an employee survey tool that can be used to see what your team is thinking and feeling, as well as a performance tool to evaluate the performance of each member.
The above enhancements are designed to help you and your teams to leverage your strengths and manage around your weaknesses. The new tool is not just a descriptive tool but also a prescriptive tool. The StandOut assessment measures you on nine strengths roles and reveals your top two “strength roles”. The book provides you with a key to input and take the assessment, which will take about fifteen minutes. Your results will reveal how you come across to others. Buckingham shares with the reader three lessons for building your strengths. He calls the StandOut assessment an innovation delivery system. It delivers to those who complete the assessment weekly practical innovations, tips and techniques that you can use to sharpen your edge and win at work. I plan to share my assessment with team members and mentees and encourage them to take it as well.
Don’t Waste Your Life Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?
Other than the Bible, this small book by John Piper has had the most influence on my life. It played a key role in my returning to seminary after ten years in 2005. I have read it almost each year since it was published in 2003. Listen to John Piper describe the book in this less than two-minute video.
This week we look at Chapter 2 Breakthrough – the Beauty of Christ, My Joy:
If there is only one life to live in this world, and if it is not to be wasted, nothing seemed more important to me than finding out what God really meant in the Bible, since he inspired men to write it. If that was up for grabs, then no one could tell which life is worthy and which life is wasted.
The driving passion of my life was rooted here. One of the seeds was in the word “glory”—God’s aim in history was to “fully display his glory.” Another seed was in the word “delight”—God’s aim was that his people “delight in him with all their heart.” The passion of my life has been to understand and live and teach and preach how these two aims of God relate to each other—indeed, how they are not two but one.
No one outside Scripture has shaped my vision of God and the Christian life more than Jonathan Edwards. His life is inspiring because of his zeal not to waste it, and because of his passion for the supremacy of God.
Delighting in God was not a mere preference or option in life; it is our joyful duty and should be the single passion of our lives. Seeking happiness in God and glorifying God were the same.
Here was the greatest mind of early America, Jonathan Edwards, saying that God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion. When I saw this, I knew, at last, what a wasted life would be and how to avoid it.
God created me—and you—to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion—namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.
The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.
The Bible is crystal-clear: God created us for his glory.
Life is wasted when we do not live for the glory of God. And I mean all of life. It is all for his glory.
We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life.
God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is.
We were made to see and savor God—and savoring him, to be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth of his presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not to love them.
The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness.
Love has to do with showing a dying soul the life-giving beauty of the glory of God, especially his grace.
Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God. What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God himself known as glorious.
If you don’t point people to God for everlasting joy, you don’t love. You waste your life.
All heroes are shadows of Christ. We love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one Person who conceived all excellence and embodies all skill, all talent, all strength and brilliance and savvy and goodness.
God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever.
Would you feel more loved by God if he made much of you, or if he liberated you from the bondage of self-regard, at great cost to himself, so that you enjoy making much of him forever?
Now we see that in creating us for his glory, he is creating us for our highest joy. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
That is the single, all-embracing, all-transforming reason for being: a passion to enjoy and display God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples.
God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.
Jesus is the litmus test of reality for all persons and all religions. He said it clearly: “The one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). People and religions who reject Christ reject God. Do other religions know the true God? Here is the test: Do they reject Jesus as the only Savior for sinners who was crucified and raised by God from the dead? If they do, they do not know God in a saving way.
There is no point in romanticizing other religions that reject the deity and saving work of Christ. They do not know God. And those who follow them tragically waste their lives.
Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain.
and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Listen in on weekly talks, lectures, and conversations about the intersection of theology and culture as it applies to our everyday work. Topics range from vocational-specific (business, law, arts, education, etc.) to practical resources regarding prayer, discernment, calling, and more.
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles 
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
How Jazz Music Teaches Us to Trust God
The Gospel Goes to Work: God’s Big Canvas of Calling and Renewal by Stephen R. Graves. KJK Publishing. 168 pages. 2015 
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
What Builds Character?
Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
Contentment and Ambition: Friends, Not Enemies.
Goals
Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity by Tim Challies. Challies. 120 pages. 2015
Lord, since it is you who feed us and you who meet our needs, ordinary human labor such as farming, cooking, knitting have great dignity. They are means by which you love your creation. Help me to sense that dignity so I can do the simplest of tasks to your glory. Tim and Cathy Keller 
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
BOOK REVIEW: 
10 Favorite Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni
BOOK REVIEW:
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper