Godward Toil

Accountability partner for Godward Toil?

The Bible encourages Christians to confess, pray, and encourage one another.  Every wise brother or spiritual mentor I have known has always emphasized the importance of spiritual accountability.  Proverbs 27:17 puts it this way, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."   For me, accountability is a concept that is inextricably bound up in my experience as a Christian--I don't think I even really heard people talk in terms of "accountability" or "accountability partners" until I started to hang out with Christian believers in my mid-twenties.

If we believe that stewarding time and energy wisely is important, should we pursue accountability in our personal productivity as well?   Matt Cornell has a detailed and helpful post on a two-week experiment in which he incorporated daily accountability into his quest for a productive work day.   Warning:  Matt's post definitely falls into the category of "advanced productivity."  If you're just starting to think about getting an inbox or filing your papers, this post may not be the best starting place.   Nevertheless, accountability might be an important starting point for anyone.  If you want to be more fruitful and and less wasteful for God, why not mention that to a friend and ask him or her to pray for you?

Four books in four weeks? Reflections on Piper Productivity

John Piper is just back from a four-week writing leave, during which he wrote four books.  "It was more productive than I thought it would be," he said.   Yes, I'll say.  Praise the Lord.

What can we learn from this about biblical productivity?

1.  We must avoid comparisons or exalt one person over another because of his visible productivity.  God has given all of us different functions in the church, different gifts, and different measures of faith.   We are not all supposed to be productive in the way:

 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;  if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8)

So we have to fight the temptation to look at ourselves when we hear about some else's fruitfulness.  I'm sad to say that my fallen heart went first in that direction..."How does he do that?  I'll never be that productive."   That kind of self-focus is wicked pride. 

2.  That said, we can and should pray to be as fruitful in our gifts and ministries as John Piper is in his.   May God be pleased to give me the ability and grace to do much in and through me--show me my equivalent of four book in four weeks and be my hands as I do it!

3.  Our life, work, and ministry experience should make us more productive with age.  Piper can write more books per week now than he could 30 years ago because he has preached 30 years worth of sermons, and lived 30 years worth of life with the Lord.   He did not sit down and come up with four books ex nihilo.  He wrote from sermon manuscripts and notes, which he had prepared and prayed over before.  God has given him a ministry that builds grace upon grace, and blesses more people as it goes.  The corresponding questions I can ask myself are, "Am I becoming more fruitful over time?"  "Am I leveraging the experiences and resources God has given me in the past toward greater Kingdom productivity in the present and future?"
4. I want to have the kind of discipline that can take advantage of windows of opportunity.  What would happen if I had a four-week unscheduled leave?  Would I know what to do with it?  Thanks be to God, I feel more equipped than I was a few years ago, but I still fear that I would waste valuable time.   This question is more than theoretical for me right now because I am in the midst of a job transition that will give me more unscheduled time.  Pray that God will be pleased with how I use it.

I can't wait to read the books Piper wrote during his recent leave.  I have listened to many of the sermons that formed the backbone for the books, and I'm so grateful that Bethlehem chooses to give their pastor time to put all of those Bible-saturated messages on printed page to bless and inspire many more people.

Godward Toil at Journey Christian Church

For any readers who are in the Rochester area, I'll be giving a three-part seminar on Godward Toil at our church.  The seminar is titled, "Godward Toil:  Peace, purpose and productivity when there's too much to do."  The first session will introduce the series, and lay a biblical foundation for focusing on productivity.  The next two will lead participants to consider various approaches to task management and organization.

Dates:   9-10am on May 18, June 1, June 8  (church service follows at 10:15)
Location, directions, and other info about Journey Christian Church available on the website. 

The seminar is being hosted by the "Indie Link," a group that connects 20-somethings to the church, the Lord, and each other.   Thanks to leaders Tom, Lara, Erica, and Paul for inviting me to share what the Lord has on my heart about productivity.

eProductivity blog honors mothers, challenges fathers

eProductivity guru and brother-in-Christ, Eric Mack, posted a touching tribute to his wife, and a biblical challenge to fathers and husbands yesterday.   

A Heritage of Habits: GTD for the family

I desire to have children who are fruitful and focused for the Lord, and family that lives in a next-action mindset, ready to take whatever next steps in faith we are called to take.   

In that vein, I have been thinking a lot over the past two years about how to incorporate the GTD methodology and other principles of productivity in our family's life, and how to instill these practices in our children from a very early age.   I mindmapped a bunch of ideas about this a couple of years ago, including how to leverage knowledge of child development to instill next-action thinking in kids.    Here is an example (.pdf) of one such map (note: it's pretty busy, so you'll need to zoom in to read small font in some parts).  I have others that I hope to share as I blog more about this.   

I was inspired to re-look at these old maps by a terrific post by Micheal Sliwinski that I read today at GTD Times.  The article offers good, concrete advice for families based on Michael's experiences implementing GTD at home.   I recommend checking it out if you're thinking about how to do this with your family.    From what I can tell, Michael Sliwinski will be contributing regularly about this topic, so I'm eager to learn more from his experiences.

The inspiration to revisit my maps and ideas about GTD in the family comes at a good time.   First, I am preparing to teach a three-part seminar in Sunday School at our church.   This seminar will build on the pilot seminar I presented a year ago to three couples from our church.   The presentation this month will have many more participants, God willing; and I suspect those who attend will be at various points in the life cycle.   I know that family life and child rearing is important to this group, so I need to refocus myself on these ideas in order to be as helpful and relevant as I can be.   

Second, it's a good time for this to resurface because our family is preparing to move to new home in June.  So, we're in major planning and set-up mode.   We're doing lots of things to try to build GTD into our new living space.   For example, we've dedicated what was the dining room in the house to be a "family office," with the idea of having a dedicated productivity hub for the kids.   I'm also building a home office where I'll have my own hub.   It's an exciting time to think through how we want to order our lives and our children's habits.

With a move and a job change coming in the next two months, I doubt I'll blog any more than my usual 2-3 posts per month.   But I'm eager to use some of these opportunities to gather and pray through my developing ideas about GTD for God's family.

What will I be found doing when He comes?: Productivity reflections on 1 Thesssalonians

2 Thes 1:5-10 refers to the judgment and joy that Christ will bring when "the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels."   Paul draws a stark and frightening contrast between the suffering that "those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" will experience, and the glory and marveling that his saints will enjoy.   As I read this passage, I asked myself, "What will I be found doing when He comes?"   

This question can be (and has been for me at various times) a deterrent from obvious moral transgression.  It is a frightful thing to imagine being found rejecting God and willfully engaging in sin.  But it seems just as important to consider the more subtle aspects and implications of this question.   "What will I be found thinking about, focused on, working on, resting from?"    Productivity is so much about what has your attention.    It doesn't mean we need to be "doing" all of the time--the most productive thing at any given moment might be rest or meditation.  It will be a marvelous thing to be found sitting quietly--or even taking a break in a day of hard work and diligence.   But I do not want to be found wasting time with things that either numb me to God's designs or focus me on myself.  Almost anything can be a candidate:  shopping, overeating, web surfing, worrying, social networking.  I also do not want to be found wasting time for lack of planning, like spending 2 hours looking for a lost document in a pile of un-filed papers, or bouncing from task to task without completing any because I don't know what to do next.

Only God knows when he will come (e.g. 1 Thes 5:2).   And when He does, those who are truly his sheep will forget everything we were doing or not doing when we hear His voice.  In the meantime, faith is staying with Him, peacefully and diligently walking in the good works he has prepared beforehand for us to.

Paul prays for Thessalonians' resolutions, for the glory of God

I took encouragement this morning from Paul's words for the Thessalonians in 1 Thes 1:11-12.  He told them that he was praying that God would, "fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."   

• This passage encouraged me with the following truths:It is good and right for Christians to "resolve for good."  (He wouldn't be praying for God to fulfill their resolutions if it weren't good to be making them to begin with!)
• My resolutions and works of faith are fulfilled by God's power (not my own).
• The end (the "so that") of my resolutions and work is for the name of Jesus to be glorified and for me to caught up in that glory with him ("glorified in you, and you in him").

So, take heart, and be bold in what you resolve for Christ today!

Do you (I) need an Internet diet?

Eric Mack has written a great post about a three-month "Internet Diet" where he unplugged and really got things done.   It is a persuasive and, for me, convicting post.   I highly recommend it.  Before you read it, ask the Spirit to do Psalm 139 in you as you read:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! 
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! 

Stewardship of focused prayer time: Concentric circles and daily themes

In light of the unimaginable importance and privilege of praying, I want to steward my focused prayer time well.    The Lord wants us to pray constantly and spontaneously (1 Thes 5:16-18).   But the Bible also encourages us to "devote" ourselves and be "steadfast" in prayer (e.g. Acts 1:14, Col 4:2), suggesting a kind of discipline and focus.   We are also to pray in, for, and about everything (e.g. Phil 4:2).   Not only about everything, but about nearly everyone--Paul's epistles indicate that a full prayer life includes supplication for lots and lots of people--groups of people (like whole churches) and specific people, like companions, friends, missionaries, and enemies.   (For additional encouragement about focused supplication and the need to "take steps to see that it is part of your regular life, the same way eating and sleeping are"  read or listen to this sermon by John Piper: Devote Yourselves to Prayer)

The enormity of importance and need for prayer can be overwhelming...and, if Satan has his way, defeating.   There have been many times in my life, including very recently, where I got away from praying because I felt like I didn't know where to start.  I would approach the throne of grace, feel lame and distracted, and shrink away into other activities.  Earlier this week, I talked with a dear brother who confessed how much his heart would sink when someone asked him to pray for them, because he knew he wouldn't end up faithful to the request.   I resonated very much with that feeling.

At the deepest level, my failure and that of my brother comes down to an overfocus on self--a "pride of worm" where I am stuck on the lameness I see in the mirror, instead of on the excellencies of Christ I would see if only I would turn away from the mirror and look through the window of His Word.   So, the struggle here is the daily struggle to die to self and live in Christ.   But that struggle happens at lots of levels--from the most mysterious to the most concrete.   One of the purposes of this blog is to explore some concrete tools in that struggle, i.e. how can I set up my life to maximize the chances that I'll let go of it!   

Many books have been written about the disciplines (tools) surrounding prayer, exploring lots of different aspects of it.   I want to share one systematic supplication strategy that has helped keep me focused and encouraged in prayer.   I have just returned to and retooled these structures, so I am excited to share them.  I'm sure this level of lists and structures is not for everyone.   But for my distracted and sometimes overwhelmed soul, these have been a Godsend.

My prayer life is richest when I simultaneously use two strategies:   Concentric circles and Daily Themes.    I got the concentric circles from John Piper, who describes his circles in the sermon I linked to above ("Taking Steps: How" section).    The concentric circles approach starts with the one most in need of prayer (me), then moves out from there.  I start needs I have, then move to my wife, then to my children, then to a list of others that is different each day the week.  So, at the back of my journal I have something that looks like this:

Everyday
Me: Search me, forgive me, and help me (list of heart and other needs such as purity, integrity, gentleness as a husband...)
My wife (list of specific needs she has indicated or I have discerned)
My children (a list of 4 or 5 needs for each.  These range broadly and evolve over time.  For example, a list for one of my children right now reads, "Teachable spirit, Angry growl, Blessing others w/ joy, Intelligible speech, Kindergarten, Salvation")       

Monday:  Work, Career Direction, Coworkers (list of 2 specific co-workers).  [On Monday since it starts the work week.]
Tuesday:   Joy of the Lord for unsaved friends/family (list of 3 or 4 specific people)
Wednesday:  Local church (list of groups and ministries I'm involved in or am considering involvement in, our pastors and staff, specific people at our church I want to pray for regularly)
Thursday:   Universal Church.  Pastors/ministers, other churches/ministries, persecuted church.  (list of specific ministers/missionaries, churches, ministries) [This is a series of concentric circles that moves from specific people in ministry and missions, to larger entities.]
Friday:   World and Current Events.  City, state, country. Elected officials (list of a few, right now includes candidates too!).  Secular organizations (like my undergrad college). Key issues (list of a few like racism, abortion, poverty). 
Saturday:   Family and Closest Friends.  [On Saturday because I desire some of these prayers to prompt me to call people and Saturday is usually the best day for that.]

I can't say enough how freeing it can be to realize that I don't need to pray for everything and everyone every time.  If I tell someone I'll keep them in prayer, it might mean I do that once a week when I reach the daily theme or list that pertains to that person.   I also don't feel the need to hit every item on the daily theme lists every week.   I let my heart, guided by the Spirit, lead me.   After all, despite these  detailed efforts to devote myself to prayer in a focused and diligent way, I don't really know what to pray for!   There is a marvelous paradox at the center of Christian prayer:  What we pray for really matters, really counts.  We need to pray often, specifically, and steadfastly. AND our prayers are like the utterances of a tired baby who knows not what she really needs:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

Knowing this glorious truth should embolden all of us to pray freely and often.   I am jealous for the joy that comes with such prayer, so I am zealous for any tool that will get me there...concentric circles, daily themes, lists, key verses, computer code, resolutions, and whatever else it takes!

Link to Piper Health Wealth Prosperity Message .mp3

Here is the .mp3 of the full Piper sermon excerpted in the video posted earlier today.   

[Via comment on Between Two Worlds by Tony Byrne, pointing to comment by Rae at Purgatorio]

What Biblical Productivity Is Not

There is a terrible danger when talking about "Biblical Productivity" that some might think "Biblical Productivity" promises material wealth or prosperity by following Jesus or the Bible.   The productivity I'm after is that which promotes God's glory.  I want to be as wise and effective as possible for Him, and for others; and I want other Christians to think with me about how best to steward our time and attention so that we can serve and enjoy him most.

I pray that this emphasis is evident when reading my posts.   But I was reminded by the video embedded below (discovered via Justin Taylor)  that wolves in sheep's clothing can twist the language of productivity and pervert the Bible and the Gospel into a message about material productivity and prosperity. 

Hyatt: Don’t Leave God Out of Your Plans

Michael Hyatt is CEO and President of Thomas Nelson, a large Christian book publishing company.  I have linked to him in the past, and yesterday he wrote an excellent post that gets at the relationship between our work and God's, which I have explored here in the past. 

Sin is a waste of time

Thought for the day:   Sin is not only an affront against God and harmful to your soul, it is a colossal waste of time and harmful to productivity.   When a regenerated person violates God's commands and his/her own conscience, a spiritual process of conviction begins.  The pain and anxiety associated with an unclean conscience, and the process of repentance and restoration take time, energy, and focus away from the things over which God has given us stewardship.   Repentance and restoration are glorious, but purity and dwelling with God are so much better....and more productive.

Fighting temptation is often hard and time-consuming.  There is a lie that our minds generate and Satan stokes that we might just save time by giving in and getting on with other things.   We have to fight this lie by knowing that fighting will always be more productive.   We can get more done--through work and through prayer--by staying pure.    For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Pet 3:12)  (See also Jas 15:16, Prov 15:29)

Loss of productivity is not the most important reason to stay in God's loving hands, but it is a good reason.  We should desire fruit and despise whatever would rob it.    

Scientific paper about GTD

A group from Brussels has submitted for publication a paper examining the cognitive science theories behind GTD.   One of the authors posted to the Efficient Academic Google Group that this is the "first academic paper about GTD."   The paper is  interesting, if you like to read academic slants on things and get new words for familiar things.  The full paper can be downloaded using the link above.  It should be noted that this paper has been submitted for publication, which is different from published or peer reviewed, so we'll have to wait to see what the expert scientific community thinks of it.

Getting things done with prayer

In a recent sermon on prayer, John Piper made the following staggering assertion:

...God has ordained to make our prayers real causes of real events. Real causes. The words of James 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask,” do not mean, “You would have had anyway, even if you didn’t pray, since God had a plan and your prayers don’t matter.” “You do not have because you do not ask” means prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen. This is breathtaking. And if you neglect this privilege—your participation in God’s moving the world—you are acting very foolishly. We pray because it is a staggeringly awesome privilege.

I nearly gasped when I heard this.  And it has changed my prayer life.   Why?

Anyone who knows John Piper's mission and theology knows that no one on Earth has a higher view God's sovereignty and supremacy.  In the very paragraph before the one I quoted above, he says,  "God runs this world with infinite wisdom. You and I never inform him of anything he doesn’t already know. We never add to his wisdom about what he should do next."    So when I heard him say "prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen," I knew that  He was not taking about an open theism position in which God lacks foreknowledge and therefore is ever improving and responding.

That meant that I really needed to come to terms with this radical statement.  Does he really mean "cause"?   Do my prayers matter in a "cause" kind of way?   I knew that I hadn't been praying like that.   I asked God to show me truth, to enlighten and enlarge my mind so that I might possibly hold onto such a potentially glorious paradox long enough to examine it and let it touch me.    With that prayer, I went to the Scripture and found just what John Piper found:   We have an inscrutable God who knows and causes all things, and who has taken pleasure in causing prayer to cause things to happen in the universe.   This reality is so profound, that I can barely begin to think about before I exhaust my mental capacity.

Yet, marvelously and inexplicably, my soul can respond to it.  When I was first born of God, I prayed this way.  And I have begun to pray this way again.  Early this week, while I was reading the Bible in the morning, I felt overwhelmed by all of the tasks and responsibilities I had this week.  I could not see how I could possibly do everything that I had to do.  Next actions and projects identified, but not nearly enough time to fit them in.  In my prayer journal, I asked God to help me.   And I asked with the fervency that came from the meditations on prayer that had been sparked by the Piper sermon.   Later that day, one of the huge things I had to do was completed and taken away in 30 minutes.   When it happened, I knew with certainty (with as much unprovable certainty as I know I love my children) that my prayer had caused that to happen.  I thanked and praised Him.   An unbelievable interaction had taken place with the One who holds the universe in His hands.  I participated in God moving the world.  He caused my circumstances (the work I had, the sermon, everything), moved my heart to pray,  heard the prayer, and made it happen.   He ordered all of this such that my prayer was the only way it would happen--and/because it is the way He gets the most glory.

Prayer:  a trusted system for getting things done.

GTD overview for creative types

There is no shortage of GTD resources on the web, but Mysterious Flame recently did a nice concise overview.  The author of this blog is interested in productivity in creative endeavors. 

Blogs Explained "In Plain English"

Several people in my family and church have asked me the whys, hows, whats about blogs and blogging.  There are some good resources about how blogs can serve the Christian community, including an entire book dedicated to the subject for church leaders/planters.  This engaging little video gives the 5 minute explanation of what blogs are and why they are important in our culture.  Since some of the audience I would like to talk with via this blog is new to the whole idea, I thought it would be worth sharing.   
[via Missionary Geek]

Weekly review, the heart, and Satan

Many, many, many people have written about the importance of having a time each week when you review your commitments, calendar, and next actions toward goals.  Right now I have fallen out of the practice in a terrible way, and I'm seeing the consequences...I'm forgetting things, missing needed actions, slipping on my commitments to people, and frittering away time unproductively.   Why does this happen?  If I know that setting aside a couple of hours each week will make me more Kingdom effective ,and save time in the long run, why is it so hard to do it consistently?

With regard to sin, the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said this:  "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."  His idea is that his heart does not follow what his head knows to be good, true, and right.  The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.  Who can understand it?"  (Jer 17:9)  A colleague told me this week that there is a Korean saying that there is no greater distance than that which is between the head and the heart.   

Paul and Jeremiah are most directly talking about the way that pride works to undermine our judgment and lead us to sin.   Not having a weekly review is not "sin" in and of itself, but it is a neglect of a discipline that can lead (and does in my life) to poor stewardship of time, lack of diligence, lack of fruit and good works, failure to honor commitments (integrity), and poor leadership in my family.

When I look at this list of outcomes, I wonder what role Satan plays in stealing my weekly review.  The devil is prowls, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8) and he wants to render me ineffective--wants me to forget that phone call to a brother in need who I promised to call.  I do not pray against Satan nearly enough--and hardly ever about things like weekly reviews!   But I need to take a stand in prayer for my disciplines. 

Father, restore me to diligence in my disciplines.  Show me how to find time for weekly review.  Defeat Satan who wishes to render me fruitless, flailing, and purposeless.   Give me every tool to stay focused on you and the good works you've prepared in advance for me to walk in.   Amen.

The Pastor Is Giving Homework

In September, our church began a sermon series about progressive sanctification called Renovate. The pastor of our church, Steve Matson, is a strong leader and a challenging preacher. This series has been excellent so far—calling people to do the hard, Spirit-led work of real change. (.mp3 files of the sermons are available on the church website).

As part of the series, the pastor is assigning written homework. Each week the bulletin comes with a blue sheet of paper with some scripture for the service, and three or four homework questions. The paper has three holes punched in it, which are there to encourage us to put them in the blue folders the pastor makes available in the foyer after the service.

The homework has really good stuff on it. And I see people in the congregation responding to it. However, from the standpoint of my desire to equip myself and other Christians to do kingdom work, I worry that many people don’t have systems in place to keep track of a handout like this, much less for seeing the homework to completion. I think the blue 3-holed folders are there in the foyer to help people with this level of organization, but I wonder if that’s enough. Where people are putting these folders when they get home? Are any of them ending up on a pile of mail and other miscellaneous pieces of paper? Is the homework on a to-do list? If so, will that list lead to action before next Sunday?

I’d have to ask around, but my suspicion is that many people do not have systems for managing in-flow coming from church--whether it’s a verbal suggestion from the pulpit, a prompting of the Spirit in response to the Word,  or more formal homework like Pastor Steve has been assigning. How many times have you heard a pastor make a wise exhortation that you plan to follow, but don’t? (“Just one time this week, try to….” “Next time you’re with your teenage son, ask him….”)  I think what happens is this:

• People feel and sense the wisdom of the exhortation.
• The Spirit convicts them that it is the right thing to do.
• They agree in their hearts they’re going to act.
• The service ends, other inputs continue, the plan languishes.

These failed plans are not just unfortunate, they are dangerous:  "If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin." (Duet 23:21)

Sometimes our plans fail because we don't have a true heart to act. However, often it’s because we’re just not equipped to keep track of things! That doesn’t take our hearts out of the equation, of course, but rather stands as a call for greater diligence and planning.   If we fail to pursue such diligence it is very much a heart issue--in a sense we neglect our great salvation (Heb 2).  Likewise, the church and its leadership fails the body if it does not “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph 4:11-12).

I am eager to think more about how to better equip myself and my brothers and sisters in this way. What would it take to have a church full of people who knew exactly how to handle a homework sheet offered by their beloved Pastor—how to get the paper home, store it in a place they’d easily find it, have a plan to complete it, work on it diligently, and have it ready to bring to church the following Sunday? What would it mean to our Pastor to see 300 people walk in the door with the previous week’s little blue sheet all scribbled on and ready to share with others?! Talk about encouraging! 

Eric Mack e-Productivity Conference Going Strong!

Eric Mack's eProductivity conference is going strong in Manila.  He cleverly live-posted text and and picture of his audience as part of one of the sessions to demonstrate the ease and power of setting up a website.

I had the privilege of offering some input on some of the the conference content, and I've been praying for Eric and his team, so it's exciting to see the conference in full swing.