Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• The Image of God at Work. In this one-minute video, Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, cites the Hoover Dam as an example of the enormous ability and industry that God imbued in humanity at creation. Pastors, he says, need to help their people connect the storyline of scripture with their work and economic lives.

• What Are We Actually Talking About When We Say “Faith and Work”? Matt Rusten writes “While it may be impossible to bring everyone on the same page with a neat and tidy description of what “faith and work” is, there are categories that can help us communicate. David Miller has given one such taxonomy. He defines four different areas in which people integrate faith and work, and encourages us towards a more robust paradigm–that we might seek to understand and integrate them all.”
• When Will the Church Overcome the Sacred-Secular Divide? Hugh Whelchel writes “Our response as Christians to our Heavenly Father should be unlimited, all encompassing, and comprehensive. It should not be limited to church on Sundays and some personal devotions during the week. It should appear in every dimension of our lives.”
• Vocation is Integral. Many people today see their job as nothing more than a paycheck. But is one’s calling more than that? Steven Garber says yes. He says there is an intimate connection between one’s faith, vocation, and culture. “Vocation is integral,” he says, “not incidental to the missio Dei.” Steven explains how most of what God is doing in the world happens in and through the vocations of his people.
• Let’s Celebrate Those Who Rest. Courtney Reissig writes “Learning to praise the person who rests as much as the one who works will take some practice on our part, especially those of us who like productivity. But it’s necessary for our spiritual and physical health. We want to be faithful in our work, but let us also be faithful in our rest, living as his image-bearers, depending on him to work on our behalf, and resting in him who always finishes the work he starts.”
• Quality.  In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that what sets people and companies apart is the quality and excellence of the products or service that that they provide.
• Glimpses of Great Joy: Our Good Shepherd-King. Our friend Kevin Halloran writes “One of the scary facts about life is that a bad leader can greatly damage to a nation and its people. People don’t want their lives in the hands of people who don’t know their needs and seem only out to help themselves!”
• 6 Ways to Stop Being a People Pleaser. Dr. Alan Zimmerman shares six strategies to say “no” more effectively and put a stop to inappropriate people pleasing and start living a saner, more respectful life.
• How Should a Christian Define Success? Scott Rodin writes “If we believe we were created to know God and enjoy him forever, then our daily passion is being conformed to His image and transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is success in terms of becoming a faithful steward.”
• Do More Better, the Course. This course from Ligonier Connect, based on Tim Challies’ book, Do More Better, provides a short, practical guide to productivity. Whether you are a student or a professional, a work-from-home dad or a stay-at-home mom, it will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good unto the glory of God.
• 8 Ways to Use Emotional Intelligence and Make Lasting Connections. Alan Zimmerman writes “Unfortunately, the emotional intelligence researchers tell us that relationship skills are critical, but they don’t tell us how to do it. I suggest you start with the following connective communication skills.”
• Seeing God’s Presence in Government Work. Russell Gehrlein writes “No matter what job we have, we are truly co-workers with God. We bring order out of chaos. We participate in fulfilling the creation mandate to fill, subdue, and rule the earth.”
• 15 New Books I Recommend. Brad Lomenick recommends these books, three of which I’ve read (Designed to Lead, The Ideal Team Player and Living Forward).

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Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• Meet the Christian Who Transformed the U.S. Mint. In telling us the story of Ed Moy, Bethany Jenkins writes “And it wasn’t just a fancy, slick marketing campaign. It was connecting a deep part of being meaning-makers—of who God made us to be—to the larger narrative of working for the public good, loving our neighbors, and contributing to human flourishing. And people responded by enjoying their work.”
• Work Is Central to the Forgotten Message of Advent. Hugh Whelchel writes “What does the Advent Season have to do with our work? Everything. This connection is part of the forgotten message of Advent.”
• Respect for Dangerous Work. Luke Bobo writes that he enrolled in his city’s 11-week Citizens Police Academy because he needed to be fair and allow those men and women to share their side of the story. He states that he enrolled because I wanted to learn about their line of work.
• How to Connect Sermon Application to People’s Jobs. I enjoyed two classes at Covenant Seminary with Dan Doriani. Here he writes “Believers often wonder how they can serve God and neighbor at work, and often doubt the value of their work. But pastors can help, and the strategic sermon illustration is a leading tool in our arsenal. A good illustration is like a parable, presenting a case that is both particular and universal, specific and common.”
• Christians Should Not Fear Speaking about their Faith at Work and in Public Places, Theresa May Says. Steven Swinford writes that the British Prime Minister said people should be able to celebrate Christmas as she endorsed a report which said that Christianity should be “celebrated, not denigrated”.
• Insights I Have Learned About Failure. Ron Edmondson writes “I’ve had failures – but I’m not a failure. Because I got back up every time I failed.”
• Reputation.  In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that a reputation is something that takes a while to earn, but it can be destroyed in an instant.
• An Attitude of Gratitude. In this “Tuesday Tip”, Dr. Alan Zimmerman gives us five actions that will help us toward an attitude of gratitude.
• Why Giving Thanks Gives You an Edge. Michael Hyatt writes “There are at least three ways gratitude encourages resilience. And these apply to athletes, entrepreneurs, parents, leaders … anyone.”
• What John Maxwell Taught Me About Building Relationships. Paul Sohn shares five key principles from John Maxwell’s book Winning with People that will help you improve your trust-ability with your direct reports, colleagues, and bosses.
• Connecting Real Faith to Real Work. Jason Dollar writes “The idea that most vocations are secular while only a few (like pastors and missionaries) are sacred is an idea that is being successfully challenged.”
• The Way Home Featuring Bryan Chapell. Listen to this podcast as Daniel Darling talks to Bryan Chapell about his transition from seminary leadership to local church ministry and what advice he has for young pastors today.
• Solution.  In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that he asks his team members that when they bring a problem to him they also bring three possible solutions to the problem.

• 7 Reasons Why Our Work Matters. Austin Burkhart writes “Our work is one of the primary tools God uses to transform us into his glorious image. And that, if nothing else, is a great reason to get up and go to work today.”
• Your 9-to-5 Is Not in Vain. Andre Yee writes “In our performance-driven world, fruitlessness is usually a difficult pill to swallow (especially for the more driven personalities among us). We expect immediate results and we can quickly become discouraged when we fall short of our own expectations.”
• Mastering Work When Work Masters You. RJ Grunewald writes “We spend a large portion of our day trying to become masters of our work. We train, we hustle, and we network all for the sake of having more control and more influence in our jobs. What many of us have also realized though, is despite our best efforts to master our work, we often feel like our work has mastered us.”
• Grace for Monotonous Work. Andre Yee writes “Unfortunately for me, not all the work I do daily is creative. In fact most of our work is of the repetitive and monotonous type — interspersed with occasional opportunities for creativity. This is true of much of our work that must get done every day, both in the office and at home.”

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Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

WISE WORDS FROM JOHN MAXWELL AND DR. ALAN ZIMMERMAN:

• The Ten Commandments of Confrontation. John Maxwell writes “So is there any good way to confront or correct a team member? I believe there is. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy, or always goes the way we want it to. But there are some guidelines we can follow to create the best conditions for a positive outcome.”
• In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that branding identifies us and it is how we are known by others. Are we being branded in a positive way or a negative way?
• Bounce Back from Your Setback. John Maxwell writes “Of all the traits I’ve learned as a leader, perhaps none has been as useful to me as resilience. The ability to bounce back from a setback often makes the difference between losing and winning.”
• Facing the Challenge of Leading Up. John Maxwell begins what could be considered a refresher course on his book The 360° Leader. Here he looks at the challenge of leading up – of influencing the people above you in your organization.
• The Power of Sacrifice. John Maxwell writes “Whether you’re talking about personal growth, personal health, business or some other aspect of life, nothing of value is easy. The precious things in life require something in exchange.”
• In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that whatever we do, we should be able to sign our name to it with pride.
• Four Questions to Ask Before Moving On. John Maxwell writes “No matter where you are now, if you’re committed to growth, you will eventually feel like you have more to give than your current situation allows. And the good news is, there are always places for people who are pushing the limits of their potential.”
• In this “Minute from Maxwell”, John Maxwell states that it is wonderful when the leader believes in the people.
• Developing a Powerful Positive Perspective. John Maxwell writes “One of the greatest assets any leader can have is a powerful positive perspective – the ability to see the good in any circumstance.”
• Do People Skills Really Matter? Alan Zimmerman writes “Some people hold a “leadership” title, but that is no guarantee that he or she knows how to bring out the best in others.”
• The Payoff Principle – 4 Approaches to Life and Work. Dr. Alan Zimmerman shares a “15-question quiz will open your eyes to the 4 approaches to life and work, as well as the 3 secrets for getting what you really want out of life and work.”
• 6 Attitudes for Dealing with Difficult People. Alan Zimmerman writes “If you work in a typical organization, you’ve probably got more difficult people floating around than you would like. If your family is even somewhat normal, you’ve got a few difficult family members as well.”
• Self-Control. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell states we can be and should be responsible for ourselves.
• The Greatest Secret in Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Alan Zimmerman offers ways to implement the emotionally intelligent practice of making people feel important in your life.
• What You Say Before You Say a Word. John Maxwell writes “Attitude is a choice. Choosing a positive attitude is not always easy. And sometimes we’re tempted to just let a negative attitude flow. But when we do, it will show on the outside. And it will have an effect on our interaction with others.”
• Roadblocks. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell tells us to take a roadblock and make it a moment for learning, growth and advancement.
• Hard Work and Success. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes that working hard involves three things.
• In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell encourages us to find one person or activity that helps us to relieve stress.
• Be Quick to Encourage Growth in the People You Care About. John Maxwell writes “Life is about more than work. And influence is felt in more places than the office. Opportunities exist all around to encourage growth in the people we care about outside of work. That means your family, your neighbors, and people in your community can grow as a result of your influence.”

INTEGRITY, CHARACTER AND KINDNESS MATTER!

• Be a Finisher. Brad Lomenick writes “I love leaders who execute. Leaders who get it done. Leaders who can take a project across the finish line. Leaders who know how to finish. And are motivated towards completion.”

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