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God Loves Your WorkNEW BOOK

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN WORKING CLOTHES: The Marketplace and the reign of God (Wipf & Stock,, 2022)
by R. Paul Stevens, Professor Emeritus, Marketplace Theology Regent College, Chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation

There are many books on the kingdom of God and, thankfully, many on work., But few have brought these two realities together. Dualism is a pernicious heresy, keeping faith separate from working life, but Stevens brings faith and work together in this volume on marketplace theology. This book covers the why, the how and what for, including the church's role in bringing in the kingdom.

This book  is available in e-book, paperback and hardcover at Wipfandstock.com and Amazon.com

 

 


2023 GRANT APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN FILLED AND CLOSED.  

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Why We Work

A Brief Summary of the Theology of Work

God Works:  The Bible opens with God working. Genesis 2 calls his creating activity in Chapter 1 “work.” No less than three times! Later, the Bible speaks many times of God’s “works.” For example, “his works are perfect” (Deut. 32:4). God is called a potter, a shepherd, a musical composer, an architect, a builder, a judge, a ruler, and so on. Jesus said both he and his Father are workers.

We Work Because God Does: God himself is the pattern for who we are and what we do. Made in his image, his likeness, we are similar to him. We cannot, of course, create from scratch, know everything, or be present everywhere all at once. But working is a major way we can show our God-likeness.

After he finished his work of creating earth, sky, land, oceans, plants, animals, and people, he stopped to savor and enjoy it, calling it all, “very good” (Gen. 11).

We Rest Because God Does: Just as we work because God works, we rest because God rests. So God is not a workaholic, and—made in his likeness—neither should we overwork. He set up the sabbath for our well-being. So we need to put into practice a rhythm that includes both working and resting.

Featured Video

Must worship and work remain strangers? This brief video says no—and explains why.

This video was created by Dr. Larry Peabody and the written text of the video can be found in his blog

Dennis Bakke's Resources

Document Resources

Download Link Subject
Decision Maker (Slides) v. 1
Theology of Work
Decision Maker Bible Study
Theology of Work
Joy at Work (Postscript)
Theology of Work

Video Resources

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Joy at Work (Seminar Video)
Theology of Work

Audio Resources

Download Link Subject
Joy at Work Audiobook

This is the audiobook version of Joy at Work by Dennis Bakke, narrated by Dennis Bakke, 9 hours 28 minutes.

To download one track at a time, click on the link provided.  This will take you to a folder in mediafire with all 57 tracks.  Click on each title to download.

To download the whole folder, click on the green button with the down arrow at the right top of the page in mediafire.

Joy at Work

Book Resources

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Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach To Fun on the Job
Book Description: 

Imagine a company where people love coming to work and are highly productive on a daily basis. Imagine a company whose top executives, in a quest to create the most "fun" workplace ever, obliterate labor-management divisions and push decision-making responsibility down to the plant floor. Could such a company compete in today's bottom-line corporate world? Could it even turn a profit? Well, imagine no more.

In Joy at Work, Dennis W. Bakke tells the true story of this extraordinary company--and how, as its co-founder and longtime CEO, he challenged the business establishment with revolutionary ideas that could remake America's organizations. It is the story of AES, whose business model and operating ethos -"let's have fun"-were conceived during a 90-minute car ride from Annapolis, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. In the next two decades, it became a worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries and revenues of $8.6 billion. It's a remarkable tale told by a remarkable man: Bakke, a farm boy who was shaped by his religious faith, his years at Harvard Business School, and his experience working for the Federal Energy Administration. He rejects workplace drudgery as a noxious remnant of the Industrial Revolution. He believes work should be fun, and at AES he set out to prove it could be. Bakke sought not the empty "fun" of the Friday beer blast but the joy of a workplace where every person, from custodian to CEO, has the power to use his or her God-given talents free of needless corporate bureaucracy.

In Joy at Work, Bakke tells how he helped create a company where every decision made at the top was lamented as a lost chance to delegate responsibility--and where all employees were encouraged to take the "game-winning shot," even when it wasn't a slam-dunk. Perhaps Bakke's most radical stand was his struggle to break the stranglehold of "creating shareholder value" on the corporate mind-set and replace it with more timeless values: integrity, fairness, social responsibility, and a sense of fun.

Theology of Work
The Decision Maker
The Decision Maker by Dennis Bakke
Book Description: 

Who makes the important decisions in your organization? Strategy, product development, budgeting, compensation—such key decisions typically are made by company leaders. That’s what bosses are for, right? But maybe the boss isn’t the best person to make the call.
That’s the conclusion Dennis Bakke came to, and he used it to build AES into a Fortune 200 global power company with 27,000 people in 27 countries. He used it again to create Imagine Schools, the largest non-profit charter-school network in the U.S.
As a student at Harvard Business School, Bakke made hundreds of decisions using the case-study method. He realized two things: decision-making is the best way to develop people; and that shouldn't stop at business school. So Bakke spread decision-making throughout his organizations, fully engaging people at all levels. Today, Bakke has given thousands of people the freedom and responsibility to make decisions that matter.
In The Decision Maker, a leadership fable loosely based on Bakke's experience, the New York Times bestselling author shows us how giving decisions to the people closest to the action can transform any organization.
The idea is simple.
The results are powerful.
When leaders put real control into the hands of their people, they tap incalculable potential. The Decision Maker, destined to be a business classic, holds the key to unlocking the potential of every person in your organization.

Theology of Work, Joy at Work