Resources

This book is free to download.  Comments from those who download would be appreciated.  Pastor John Fryters can be reached at campus@inet2000.com

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.

"Why did I write the book and create the website? Perhaps Chris Armstrong, Professor of Church History at Wheaton College, best sums up my reason: “After a lot of searching, I have reluctantly concluded that American Christians of my generation have largely given up on finding any spiritual meaning in our work.” (from Chapter 12, Work: Theological Foundations and Practical Implications, edited by R. Keith Loftin & Trey Dimsdale).

My book, God Loves Your Work, helps believers find that meaning. It lays a biblical foundation of truth about our daily work without using theological jargon. And—in this era when many are rethinking the whole idea of working—the book offers at least seven Kingdom-of-God-related reasons for getting up and going to work.

While writing the book, I kept four groups in view: students about to enter the work world, newcomers to that world, seasoned employees, and those not paid for their work."

Visit also his website at larrypeabody.com to learn more about this book, read his blog and find other Theology of Work resources.

This book is available in Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, and Audiobook versions through Amazon.com.

"HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?

The church is a people without laity or clergy, summoned and equipped by God for the life of the world. The triad of theological virtues (faith, hope and love) appears so often in the New Testament, sometimes together and often singly, that we cannot miss their central significance.1 They are what makes the Christian "tick." For example Paul says, "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess 1.2-3). Vocation, work and ministry can be pleasing to God not because of its religious character (or even its public character in advancing the Kingdom) but because it is done with faith, hope and love (Col 3:23-24; 1 Cor 15:58; Eph 6:5-8)."