{"id":19158,"date":"2018-10-10T23:27:22","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T06:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=19158"},"modified":"2018-10-10T23:27:22","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T06:27:22","slug":"deep-works-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/deep-works-in-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Works in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/qwOdU02SE0w<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a clip by Cal Newport that gives an example of what his precursor book, \u201cSo Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You,\u201d was emphasizing. It is an interesting perspective.<\/p>\n

In his book \u201cSo Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You,\u201d Cal Newport challenged the reader to do 5 primary things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Develop rare and valuable skills<\/li>\n
  2. Create control over projects<\/li>\n
  3. Create control over your time<\/li>\n
  4. Which should create a more positive impact on the world<\/li>\n
  5. Which should result in working with people you enjoy[1]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The premise was building up a more successful means of following a path with promise, rather than pursuing a career that was established by impulse and passion.<\/p>\n

    In his follow up book, \u201cDeep Work,\u201d Newport address the ways for the highly-motivated to find better efficiency in a modern, highly distracted world. \u201cAnyone living and working in the twenty-first century will be well aware of the abundance of distractions and the frantic pace that life takes on. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n

    Newport defines \u201cDeep Work\u201d as, \u201cProfessional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.\u201d[3]<\/a>Though \u201cDeep Work\u201d is intended, and most likely read, as a self-help book for the younger generation entering the business field, as usual, I sought to find the potential spiritual or religious implications that could be stripped from its pages; I can honestly say, I was not disappointed. In Sam Davies review of this book, he listed some of the primary ideas that he gleaned from its reading; two of these hung with me:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u201cIn order to produce the absolute best stuff you\u2019re capable of, you need to commit to deep work.[4]<\/a>\u201d Well, this comment immediately brought to mind Paul\u2019s instruction to Timothy; \u201cBe diligent to present yourself approved by God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.[5]<\/a>\u201d In order for us to truly successful as ministers of the gospel, we must never forget what is at stake, and thus, never go into the battle unprepared (I\u2019ll let Mike pick up from here.)<\/li>\n
    2. \u201cThe key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions\u2026\u201d[6]<\/a>As some may have heard me mention in Hong Kong, I have opted to change my dissertation. Though my topic is changing to Baptism, it is more the reason for the change that really related to this reading. I keep hearing the word \u201cmodern\u201d used a lot these days to explain why we can be justified in changing things that I believe are very specific in Scripture. Often the reasons given toward these justifications are established as a means of accommodation, simplification, and\u2026as the author put it\u2026good intentions. However, for our work to be considered \u201cGood\u201d in the eyes of God, we must realize that our ministry has to be built on more than good intentions and accommodation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I believe as leaders, we must establish early on what we will decide is the measure of our success: If a church is focused on money, then often you will see success judged by the bottom dollar; if it is focused on conversion, then it will be based upon baptisms in a year; if it is based upon missions, then it will be determined by how many have been sent how, or how many countries have been reached. However, I believe the struggle is greater than all these things. Jesus said, \u201cIf you love Me, keep My commandments.[7]<\/a>\u201d This tells us that true spiritual success is not founded in how Shawn sees success, but rather in establishing our ministries around how God judges success; after all, Christ also warned us, \u201cFor the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.[8]<\/a>\u201d It seems we have become a church that has focused so much on simplicity and numbers, that we have forgot that we were called to something much greater. Toward the end of \u201cDeep Work,\u201d Newport writes, \u201cThe deep life, of course, is not for everybody. It requires hard work and drastic changes to your habits.[9]<\/a>\u201d Though he was commenting about email-messaging, the fact is that this point has a deep message in regard to how we view our ministries; ministry is not supposed to be about doing things the easy way, but rather, the right way.<\/p>\n

      Though I saw a very broad business nature to this reading, much of which (if I am truly honest) did not move me, what I did find in this book was plenty for inspiring Christian leaders to search for motives in their ministerial direction. Paul also wrote to Timothy, \u201cFor this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.[10]<\/a>\u201d We have been called, and we will be measured one day on the ministries that we have committed to Christ; as leaders, we must realize that we have been called to \u201cLet your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.[11]<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Bibliography<\/h1>\n

      Davies, S. T. (2018). Deep Work by Cal Newport<\/em>. Retrieved from Samuel Thomas Davies: https:\/\/www.samuelthomasdavies.com\/book-summaries\/business\/deep-work\/<\/p>\n

      Lee, K. (2016). Book Review: Deep Work<\/em>. Retrieved from Associate’s Mind: https:\/\/associatesmind.com\/2016\/01\/23\/book-review-deep-work\/<\/p>\n

      Minors, P. (2016, April 5). Deep Work: Book Summary<\/em>. Retrieved from Paul Minors: https:\/\/paulminors.com\/deep-work-cal-newport-book-summary-pdf\/<\/p>\n

      Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success to a Distracted World.<\/em>New York: Grand Central Publishing.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      [1]<\/a>Lee, K. (2016). Book Review: Deep Work<\/em>. Retrieved from Associate’s Mind: https:\/\/associatesmind.com\/2016\/01\/23\/book-review-deep-work\/.<\/p>\n

      [2]<\/a>Minors, P. (2016, April 5). Deep Work: Book Summary<\/em>. Retrieved from Paul Minors: https:\/\/paulminors.com\/deep-work-cal-newport-book-summary-pdf\/.<\/p>\n

      [3]<\/a>Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success to a Distracted World.<\/em>New York: Grand Central Publishing. P 2.<\/p>\n

      [4]<\/a>Davies, S. T. (2018). Deep Work by Cal Newport<\/em>. Retrieved from Samuel Thomas Davies: https:\/\/www.samuelthomasdavies.com\/book-summaries\/business\/deep-work\/.<\/p>\n

      [5]<\/a>2 Timothy 2:15.<\/p>\n

      [6]<\/a>Ibid.<\/p>\n

      [7]<\/a>John 14:15.<\/p>\n

      [8]<\/a>Matthew 16:27<\/p>\n

      [9]<\/a>Newport, p. 262.<\/p>\n

      [10]<\/a>2 Timothy 1:12.<\/p>\n

      [11]<\/a>Matthew 5:16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      https:\/\/youtu.be\/qwOdU02SE0w This is a clip by Cal Newport that gives an example of what his precursor book, \u201cSo Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You,\u201d was emphasizing. It is an interesting perspective. In his book \u201cSo Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You,\u201d Cal Newport challenged the reader to do 5 primary things: Develop rare and valuable skills Create […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1359,956,1037],"class_list":["post-19158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cal-newport","tag-deep-work","tag-dminlgp8","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19159,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19158\/revisions\/19159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}