As the typical day unfolds, the unexpected expectedly happens. With one eye on the clock and another on our schedule, we can often watch our planning derail throughout the day. And as I realize my plans for the day will not be flawlessly executed, my soul has a tendency to be weighed down by accumulating cares. But rather than humbling myself as I should, I find myself vulnerable to self-sufficiency, at risk of relying upon my limited strength and wisdom. This is pride.
If we are not watchful, our burdens will subtly accumulate over time, and will gradually weigh down our soul. But it doesn’t need to be this way. There is a biblical alternative.
Casting Pride and Casting Cares
Scripture calls us to cast all our anxieties on God, because he cares for us.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7, ESV)
Casting all my cares upon the Lord is a means of humbling myself before the Lord. In reading these passages we discover that casting our cares upon the Lord falls under the command to humble ourselves. Casting our cares is an expression of humility. When I fail to cast my cares upon him, I display prideful self-sufficiency.
A Few Words of Prayer
As I make my way from meeting to meeting, decision to decision, and phone call to phone call, I find the counsel of Charles Spurgeon very helpful. “I always feel it well,” he wrote, “to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.” Throughout his busy days, Spurgeon scattered words of prayer between each activity, a model I have sought to emulate over the years.
The content of my “few words of prayer” is not unique and if you overheard them, you wouldn’t be impressed. I am a simple man and when I think of casting all my cares it is a simple acknowledgement of my dependence upon God and my need of grace throughout the day.
But the very act of pausing in a busy day to pray is an act of weakening pride in my life, acknowledging that I am a dependent creature. I am not self-sufficient.
And taking a brief moment to humble myself in prayer makes all the difference in my soul throughout the day.
At its root, weariness is often the result of pride and self-sufficiency in my life. When I neglect casting my cares upon the Lord, the heavy fatigue of weariness will settle into my soul.
Casting our cares upon the Lord and humbling ourselves before him are critical activities, regardless of how busy we are. And this practice cannot be replaced by hours of careful planning and scheduling.
How about you? Do you follow the practice of Spurgeon and “put a few words of prayer” between everything you do throughout each day? Are you casting cares or accumulating burdens? Are you humbling yourself before the Lord or displaying self-sufficiency?
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Biblical Productivity: This post is likely the final in C.J.’s series. For a complete index of the series posts click here. A printable PDF of the entire series is forthcoming.
Only God gets his to-do list done each day.
This simple sentence informs how I begin my day, what I expect to accomplish during the day, and how I close each day.
When I step out of my office and turn the light off at the end of my day, and the list of to-dos is incomplete, I say to my secretary, “Nora, we will try again tomorrow.” This brief statement is an acknowledgment of my limitations, and is my way of saying that—once again—I didn’t get everything done. It’s a moment for me to cultivate humility.
No matter how much planning, scheduling, and discipline is present in my life, I will never completely redeem the time. I am a finite creature, limited in what I can accomplish, and further limited by my sin. So it should surprise nobody that I leave to-dos undone each and every day.
My joy is not derived from the flawless execution of my goals. My joy each day is derived from the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Only God gets his to-do list done each day. I need the cross of Christ each day.
Welcome to the fourth and final part of my interview with biblical counselor and author Dr. David Powlison.
David, what single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your leadership?
The shepherd must know that he is one of the Shepherd’s needy and
beloved sheep: 2 Corinthians 1:4; 1 Corinthians 10:12–13. You can best
give to others the very things that you are receiving and living.
Where in ministry are you most regularly tempted to discouragement?
I don’t tend to get discouraged in ministry. I think that I was
convinced early on that evil is incomprehensibly deep and tangled, and
that life is shadowed by death. The fewer the illusions, the less prone
to disillusionment. Jesus came for all this sin and suffering,
continues to enter in with light, mercy and power into imperfect and
broken lives, will return to make right all that is wrong. “Tis mercy
all, immense and free….”
Kyrie eleison.
I do get discouraged simply as a man, by my own shortcomings,
lovelessness, and weakness/
astheneia. But time after time the place of
discouragement has become the door for the mercies of Jesus to delight
and refresh me.
Today, as I’m doing this written interview for CJ, I’m nearing the 3
week mark of a post-surgical recovery period. I’ve been quite slowed by
the pain and fatigue. The process has been disheartening at times. But
the very act of doing this interview (something that was not on my
project list—see question above!) has brought me back to basics and
invigorated me, helping restore me to the mindset of work and ministry.
Do you exercise? If so, what do you do? If not, why not? (Please be specific.)
I exercise by walking outdoors in some part of God’s creation where I
can observe something beautiful—stream, field, tree, cloud, bird,
light, rain, snow, mountain…. My physical exercise includes a major
aesthetic component. (This is also part of how I answer the question
below, about leisure). Sometimes I throw in a few sets of pushups or
wind sprints to get the pulse racing and the muscles burning.
Currently, what sport do you like to play and/or watch?
Injuries and aging have pretty much put an end to sports. I loved
surfing, basketball, football, softball, distance running, competitive
swimming, cross-country skiing. I still occasionally do a little kayak
surfing or boogie-boarding (when I visit my family in Hawaii), or some
skiing (when we get 4" or more of snow).
On TV I’ll watch a little of all the major sports, when it comes to
playoffs and championships. And every four years I watch swimming and
track during the Olympics.
What do you do for leisure?
Among the highlights are hiking (both with Nan and alone), reading good
fiction, cross-country skiing or kayaking (when opportunity presents),
and playing with my granddaughter. I find that a half an hour of
something both absorbingly mindful and mindlessly forgetful—a card game
on my Palm Pilot, a computer strategy game, the Sunday crossword
puzzle—can be refreshing. I love the ritual of reading the newspaper
over a cup of coffee.
If you were not in ministry, what occupational path would you have chosen?
God made me to do what I am doing, shaping every aspect of both gifts
and life experience. If I had to do some other job in order to support
myself and my family, I’d do any honorable work as an occupation in
order to enable my vocation in ministry. For me, doing ministry came
with becoming a Christian.
If I had not become a Christian, I’m not sure what I would have done. I
was never occupation-oriented. In fact, I was intensely alienated even
from the idea of an occupation, and came close to becoming a dropout
from society. I was repelled by the degree to which people sought
personal identity and meaning from their occupation and achievements.
My only aspiration had been to write honest and beautiful poetry, song
lyrics, and fiction (not the most promising of occupations). I would
likely have ended up either as a derelict or, if I’d stayed functional
in society, as one of Thoreau’s “The mass of men lead lives of quiet
desperation.”
[Added by Dr. Powlison]
What one further question should C.J. be asking?
Who are your closest personal friends (outside your family)? What role do they play in your life and ministry?
Four men have been in my life through many years (40, 30, 20, and 15
years, respectively). We are honest with each other—a track record of
loving concern creates a depth of basic trust and immediate honesty. We
hold each other to Jesus Christ. We pray with and for each other. I
need the mutual give and take, the simplicity of caring and candor both
given and received.
Here’s a quotation that captures it for me: “Those who lack friends to
open themselves unto are cannibals of their own hearts….This
communicating of a man’s self to his friends works two contrary
effects; for it redoubles joys and cuts griefs in half.” (Francis
Bacon, “Of Friendship,” 1625)
Thank you, David!
Readers who have followed our series on biblical productivity (planning, prioritizing, and scheduling) and who may not be completely tracking with us, thinking that my approach requires too much work, too much of your time, and squeezes out all the spontaneity from life—have I got an alternative approach for you!
Meet my good friend David Powlison. Today in the third part of my interview with the biblical counselor and author, you will see that David sometimes chooses to “waste” time as a way of increasing productivity! David explains why.
David, what single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your effective use of time?
Effective is not the same as efficient. Productive is not the same as mass-production.
I’ll give a bit fuller answer here, as I think my response is likely a bit unusual. I’ve had to learn how I work best, and it’s not the cultural ideal of tightly scheduled efficiency. For me, effective and productive often operate in ways that seem quite “inefficient.” I’m more “third-world” in my use of time: event-oriented and person-oriented, rather than time-conscious and to-do-list-conscious. I operate with an inner gyroscope tuned to whether or not any particular experience or interaction is complete – not to how long it takes or whether it fits the schedule. I’m attuned to whether or not any particular thought is actually finished thinking, rather than whether the product is done on time. So I tend to take the time it takes to get something right—whether that “something” is the close attentiveness of getting fully engaged in this conversation of consequence, or how to craft this sentence and paragraph, or whether I’m stopping and actually noticing the hawk flying overhead right now.
My way of working—of living—means that I’m not very “efficient” in my use of time because I tend to take the time. I am the world’s worst when it comes to multi-tasking and to checking off to-do list items. It can be a fault for which I must repent; it’s my greatest strength, because I’m fully engaged. I usually forget the clock and the list when I’m working best because I become absorbed in free-form exploration and in qualitative aspects of work-in-progress. We seek to compensate for the shortcomings in my way of operating by getting support from more organized and efficient people who can field incoming requests and help me prioritize.
I admire people who seem able to use every moment productively. But I’ve found that I simply do not work well that way. A certain kind of “wasting time” has proven to be absolutely essential to my fruitfulness. (I’m not recommending my way to others, but simply describing what I’ve learned about how I work. Perhaps some readers also work this way, and can find freedom from trying to live up to an ideal—the so-called “Protestant ethic”—that ill suits how God has made them to function.)
Here’s an example. One time I was bogged down and frustrated on a major article that was already past due. Over previous days and weeks I’d been continually interrupted by other urgent necessities. I took a three day writing retreat, seeking to escape the clutter so that I could work on it undistracted. But I completely “wasted” the first day, taking a long walk, then reading a novel, and making a particularly interesting dinner. I completely “wasted” the second day, taking another long walk, and writing a long poem, and getting to know the director of the retreat center. I didn’t think about my article at all during those long walks or that talking. The novel I read was a good one—full of the rich complexity of people. The poem was as full as I could make it of candor and perception and beauty and faith and sorrow and joy. I pondered trees (the first pale green leaves of spring were showing). I watched and listened long to the flow and sound of a stream. I thought about Jesus and how to express what he means to me. Oh yes, on the third day I wrote the entire article in a white heat. I junked almost all of my earlier outlines and drafts. The article took a direction and a form I could never have imagined.
How should I think about those three days of “work”? Were the first two meandering, unplanned days actually wasted? If mass productivity is the chief end, my mastering goal and purpose, then it was mere squandering. I might have written three articles during those three days, if only I were more disciplined and on task. Or I might have at least read some more prosaic, informational books and other articles that were on topic for what I needed to accomplish. Maybe. Probably not. I think I needed the walks, and the novel, and the poem, and the talking, and a certain kind of wasting time. My article needed the walks, the novel, the poem, the talking: the fallow time. It came out better, clearer, surprising even me with where it went and how it got there. It came out more beautiful, as if fresh air came pouring in through an open window.
Again, I’m not recommending this, and it wouldn’t suit many callings and job descriptions. But I’ve learned that this is how I work and work best. Our dominant cultural ideal is that of the busy, efficient executive who is always on task and getting projects done. But that doesn’t fit the neighborly housewife who takes time for relationships and helping in the need of the moment, or the artist who takes the time for trial and error and experimentation, crafting and recrafting. I operate more like a neighbor and artist than like an executive.
I take comfort in the oddity of Jesus’ example of time management. He was certainly on task, but his way of going about his calling was to wander around and interact with whoever he happened to run into that day. He engaged whatever happened to be going on in those people’s lives right then. He took “little” people just as seriously as “big” people, and gave himself to both. His work life was more like Francis of Assisi than like a life structured around the Blackberry, strategic plan, project list, and meeting schedule. God’s kingdom embraces and uses many kinds of people, and we don’t all operate the same way.
Nope, we certainly don’t! At least I don’t. If I were to “waste” my first two retreat days, I can assure you that they would NOT be followed by a third day of creativity and productivity. My third day would be the same as the first two—wasted. And my retreat would be a total waste of time. But approaches to planning, scheduling, and working are not one-size-fits-all and I am amused by your unique approach, David! You are obviously gifted in ways that I am not. And I think your approach works only for the unusually gifted (and not for ordinary guys like me).
Join me next time for the fourth and final part of my interview with David.
Welcome to the second part of my interview with biblical counselor and author Dr. David Powlison (part one here).
David, apart from Scripture, what book do you most frequently re-read and why?
Two books are nearly as marked up as my Bible: Valley of Vision and Luther’s Prayers. I don’t read them straight through, but I frequently return to them, dipping in here and there, returning to favorite places. Why? They freshly express how faith lives, thinks, feels, talks. They struggle, they delight, they need God, they see God.
I extensively annotate, add, reword, update, personalize VoV prayers to make them my own. For example, simply turning “thee/thou” into “You” makes a prayer sing more pointedly and personally. I find that I often add two strands to VoV prayers:
[1] a brighter note of joy, gratitude and meditation on the mercies of Christ (so the prayers don’t turn introspective regarding a sense of sinfulness);
[2] a more candid awareness of and expression of our experience of sufferings (so the prayers don’t turn stoic, as if spirituality rises “above” our life situation). To my ears, the Puritans can have a slight drift towards sin-centricity and stoicism, somewhat slipping from the grace-centricity and humanity of Scripture. But that said, these prayers are a gold mine of living wisdom.
Luther’s way of engaging God and Scripture has deeply shaped me. He takes Scripture (and the Creeds) and puts it to work in a “four-stranded wreath”:
[1] as a textbook, revealing God and His will, wisdom and work;
[2] as a hymnbook, giving reasons that call forth gratitude and joy;
[3] as a book of confession, teaching me where to repent, where I need forgiveness, mercy, and awakening;
[4] as a prayerbook, guiding intercession into rich paths, rather than the “list” mentality that can make prayer so dull and man-centered.
When you finish a book, what system have you developed in order to remember and reference that book in the future?
For many years I used the EndNote bibliography program to track what I read. I’d make summaries, take notes, and write out key quotations. I’ve not been as diligent with it in recent years, as I’ve tended to re-read choice books more often than read new books. I mark up books extensively with highlighting and marginal notes, and I write notes in the front pages that direct me to the page numbers of significant quotes and discussions.
If you could study under any theologian in church history (excluding those men in Scripture), who would it be and why?
I can’t decide on only one! But I can settle on two: Augustine and Calvin. These men lived, breathed, prayed, thought, felt, and communicated so very well all that they understood of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Both men were mastered by the Psalms, and so their humanity and their ministries flourished in the ways of God.
What single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your preaching?
Live your message for a day, a week, a month, a lifetime. Then aim low, and you’re sure to hit something.
What books on preaching, or examples of it, have you found most influential in your own preaching?
I don’t preach very often, but THE influence has been the model of how Scripture brings truth to bear. The Lord and His prophets and apostles always speak TO human beings and what they were facing, and they always speak personally, rather than speaking ABOUT topics and speaking impersonally. Jay Adams calls such I-you directness and relevance in communicating God’s truth “the preacher’s stance.” The Bible is not just “normative” truth about God, but enters into the “situational” realities and “existential” choices of the people to whom God speaks. (That way of putting it comes from John Frame.) Ministry must do the same, afresh, entering people’s experience of troubles (external) and struggles (internal).
Please join me next time for part three of my interview with David.
Meet David Powlison.
Dr. Powlison is a graduate of Harvard (A.B.), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.).
Dr. Powlison is the author of two excellent books:
- Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition through the Lens of Scripture
- Speaking Truth in Love
Since 1977 Powlison has served as a counselor and teacher at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF). Since 1992, he has been the editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He also is an adjunct lecturer at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
But you probably know all this already.
So who is David Powlison? What does he read for fun? What role do his friends play in his life and ministry? And how can he possibly think that “wasting” time actually makes him more productive? Let’s find out.
Thanks for your time, David! Please describe your morning devotions. What time do you wake up in the morning? How much time do you spend reading, meditating, praying, etc.? What are you presently reading?
For the past several years I’ve been sleeping well, after many years of an erratic and disabling sleep pattern. It is a great joy to awaken feeling refreshed at 6:30 or 7:00, after so many years of exhaustion. On a typical day I spend about an hour reading Scripture, meditating, praying, singing – 1/3 to 2/3 of the time on my own, 1/3 to 2/3 of the time with Nan, depending.
I am currently reading through Scripture looking for and highlighting every expression of faith, every faithful response to God. (The last time through I was noticing everything about God Himself – His names, actions, attributes….).
Depending on the day’s responsibilities, I may spend more time, even much more time, in study, meditation, reflection, prayer. I like reading entire chunks of Scripture. This past week I’ve spent 4-5 “extra” hours working through, pondering, visiting and revisiting Psalm 63 and 1 John. This morning I read and highlighted Colossians, making it both my meditation and prayer.
On good, lively days, meditation and prayer consistently arise at key junctures, at points of need, at moments of transition. These living moments, when Scripture “reappears” in the flow of my day, when I am consciously aware of both God and current need, are the proof of living faith, when I am awake to God and to His immediate call.
I don’t only meditate on Scripture, but also on my life and the circle of relationships and responsibilities. Where am I anxious? Irritated? Pressured? Called to love? Thankful? Tempted? Suffering? Where do I need God’s immediate mercies and help? Where are family and friends struggling, and in need of mercies and help? I think about the joys and blessings; about the burdens, troubles, and struggles; about the responsibilities of the day.
This dual meditation brings prayer to life, brings real need to real God, gives shape to the day, and forms the attitudes I bring into the day.
What book(s) are you currently reading in these three categories: (a) for your soul, (b) for pastoral ministry, or (c) for personal enjoyment?
[a] Devotions and Prayers of John Calvin (Charles Edwards, compiler, Baker Books, 1960); Calvin on Scripture and Divine Sovereignty (John Murray, Baker Books, 1960); “The Great Thanksgiving,” the Lord’s Supper service in the Book of Common Prayer pages 333-340; J.I. Packer’s Knowing God; Patrick’s ancient hymn “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity.” These awaken, ground, and instruct faith.
[b] Life Together (Dietrich Bonhoeffer); Marilynne Robinson’s novels Gilead and Home; Some Principles of Moral Theology and Their Application (Kenneth Kirk, 1920). In very different ways, these bring to life the realities of hands-on pastoral care.
[c] Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. For many years these books have been comfortable friends, and sheer pleasure. They are full of keen perception, wit, lyricism, studies of human nature, adventure, beauty, bringing fresh perspective to current human affairs through immersing in the lives of people far away in time, space, and culture.
Please join me next week for part two of my interview with David.
At the beginning of the
biblical productivity series, I stated that busyness is no sign of diligence, faithfulness, or fruitfulness. And that is because busyness does not indicate that we are devoting ourselves to the most important things. We can become busy with everything under the sun except fulfilling the roles God has assigned for us. And no matter how busy I appear, if I am neglecting one of my primary roles, I am a procrastinator, spinning in unproductive circles.
To this point in the series we have focused on how to identify roles, create goals, and block out our schedule to make sure our time is focused on what is most important.
My preference is to retreat to Starbucks on Monday morning (a day off for me). That’s when two very important things take place: (1) I carefully study the
Washington Post sports page. (2) I consider my roles, create goals, and transfer them into my schedule for the coming week.
But no matter how hard we try, it is impossible to plan every detail of our week. Interruptions arise, an unanticipated phone call requires an immediate decision and possible time investment, a new email from a friend requests our help, and a new counseling situation arises that will require the pastor’s immediate attention. The list of possible surprises in our carefully planned weeks is seemingly endless.
So what do we do with the requests we didn’t see coming?
First, it is important to understand our roles, goals, and schedules before we discuss responding to unanticipated requests. Often the procrastinator fails to work from biblical roles to establish his schedule, and is therefore vulnerable to the urgent. So he defaults to the most recent—or easiest—request. He neglects the important tasks and is governed by the urgent and the easy. He is busy, busy, busy, but he is not diligent, faithful, or fruitful.
On the other hand, the one who has been diligent, understands his roles, and has created goals can respond to unanticipated requests with discernment, aware of the time he has available. He can make appropriate scheduling decisions. He has planned for the upcoming week, informed by biblical roles, and can now evaluate requests and everyday surprises wisely.
Each day, both requests and opportunities to serve exceed our capacity and our time. Saying “no” is really a humble response acknowledging our limitations. But if we have not determined in advance who we are to serve, and how we are to serve, we will not be able to say “no” when appropriate.
If you cannot say “no,” you will be governed by the urgent requests of others and distracted from what is most important. Eventually you will become overextended and frustrated.
Evaluating Requests
So how do we evaluate the many requests and opportunities we encounter each day? This is not science, but I personally work from a rough framework when evaluating requests as they arrive. I approach the requests through a workflow that can be divided into three primary questions.
(1) Does the request fit my roles?
First, does this particular request reflect my God-ordained roles? Does it reflect my role as a Christian, or my roles as a husband, father, grandfather, ministry leader, or my commitment to the local church? If so, it automatically moves on to the second question that we will get to in one minute.
But if the request is not consistent with my roles, I ask a further question: Can I complete this in less than two minutes? Sometimes small opportunities to bless others arise but do not fit into our specific roles. If that’s the case, go for it.” If not—if this is a large request that would require a block of time in my schedule and does not fit into my roles—I must decide to delegate, decline, or delete the request (basic David Allen stuff).
(2) Does the request fit my goals?
So the request is consistent with your roles. Good. And in previous posts we have begun considering our goals, which are really sub-priorities within each role.
So does the specific request meet my personal goals? Perhaps not. Or at least not at this time. These requests must go into a folder where they can be prayed about, submitted to the counsel of others, and possibly postponed for later consideration.
If the request is consistent with my roles and goals, then it needs to be done. Time to proceed to the third question.
(3) Can I accomplish the request in under two minutes?
This is a simple question that can help as you put requests on your schedule.
Can the request be accomplished in two minutes or less? If you can complete the request that quickly then it’s really a no-brainer—complete it immediately. There is no reason to wait, no need to schedule a block of time.
But if the request requires more than two minutes of your time, it will require a place in the schedule.
So that is my process for evaluating requests. If we put this entire process together, it may look something like this flow chart:
Conclusion
It’s not possible to schedule all of our lives (nor should we try). And so there is no misunderstanding: I’m not dependent upon my schedule. My dependence rests upon God himself.
The unexpected will arise each day, needs will emerge that we did not anticipate, and situations that we could not foresee will require our attention.
We should not be surprised by apparent interruptions to our schedule. These are part of God’s purpose and plan for our lives. As C.S. Lewis so wisely noted:
The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time.*
So true.
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*
The Quotable Lewis (Wheaton, IL.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1989), 335.
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Want to share a comment or question with C.J.? We invite you to email your suggestions or questions to blog AT sovgracemin DOT org. We cannot promise a personal email response, but we can promise your words will be read and taken into consideration. Thanks for reading! – Tony Reinke
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Biblical Productivity: This post is part of a longer series. Find the complete index of series posts
here.
Meet Jerry Bridges.
Jerry Bridges is 79 years old and has served faithfully on staff at The Navigators for over 50 years. And he continues to serve there within the Collegiate Mission where he is involved primarily in staff development, and speaks at various student events. Mr. Bridges also teaches on the gospel around the country.
Mr. Bridges is the author of numerous excellent cross-centered books like:
- The Discipline of Grace
- The Gospel for Real Life
- The Pursuit of Holiness
- Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
- The Great Exchange: My Sin for His Righteousness
- The Bookends of the Christian Life (March 2009)
But you probably know all this already.
So who is Jerry Bridges? What is he presently reading? How does he structure his devotional time? What is his favorite book on the gospel? Let’s find out.
Thanks for your time, Mr. Bridges! Please describe your morning devotions. What time do you wake up in the morning? How much time do you spend reading, meditating, praying, etc.? What are you presently reading?
On a normal day, I get up at 5:00 a.m.
I spend from 5:30 – 7:00 a.m. reading and meditating on Scripture and spending time in prayer. I begin with what I have tried to teach others to do, which is to preach the Gospel to myself. My usual practice is to read through the Bible simply starting with Genesis and going through Revelation.
I am currently in the book of Numbers. For my prayer time, I start with thanksgiving and move to petition. I always start with the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Over a six-day period (Monday-Saturday), I pray for the progress of the Gospel around the world. I pray for my family, my organization and their leaders, and my own personal growth. I have about eight ongoing special prayer requests for friends who have acute needs.
What book(s) are you currently reading in these three categories: (a) for your soul, (b) for pastoral ministry, or (c) for personal enjoyment?
(a) The Existence and Attributes of God by the Puritan, Stephen Charnock. I’m actually not reading the entire two-volume set but am focusing on two chapters, “The Holiness of God” and “The Goodness of God.”
(b) For my ministry (not pastoral but The Navigators) I have just finished reading Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck because I need to keep up with all the “bad stuff” that students are apt to read.
(c) For personal enjoyment, I have been reading John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology. I have to confess when I’m really mentally tired I read a murder mystery by Agatha Christie.
Apart from Scripture, what book do you most frequently re-read and why?
The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement by George Smeaton because it is the best book on the Gospel that I have ever read.
When you finish a book, what system have you developed in order to remember and reference that book in the future?
I don’t have a very good system but I note page numbers on the inside cover of the book with the key thought I want to go back to.
If you could study under any theologian in church history (excluding those men in Scripture), who would it be and why?
John Calvin, hands down, because he not only was a brilliant theologian but had a heart of devotion for God.
What single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your preaching?
Years ago I took the Dale Carnegie public speaking course. In it I learned three things that I try to practice: 1) Know your subject thoroughly. 2) Be convinced your audience needs to hear your message. 3) Have a strong passion to deliver the message. Though these principles were applied in the context of secular speeches, I found them very helpful for my message preparation and delivery.
What books on preaching, or examples of it, have you found most influential in your own preaching?
Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell, particularly chapters 10 and 11, and John Stott’s Between Two Worlds.
What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your effective use of time?
Arrange your “do list” in order of priority and work progressively through, starting with number one. You can’t get them all done but this way you get the most important things done. I have modified this advice by realizing that the morning hours from breakfast to noon are my most effective, creative hours, and as much as possible I dedicate those hours to study, writing and message preparation.
What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your leadership?
This question is not applicable to me since I have not been leading or managing anyone for about 15 years.
Where in ministry are you most regularly tempted to discouragement?
Too often, after preaching a message, I feel like I have not done a good job.
Do you exercise? If so, what do you do? If not, why not?
My main exercise is walking either outdoors or on the treadmill. I had a practice of minor weight lifting (no more than 25 lbs) but that practice got dropped in the busyness of life and I am trying to re-start it.
Currently, what sport do you like to play and/or watch?
I don’t play any sport at my age and seldom watch any on television. However, my main sport of interest is football and my favorite teams in order are: University of Oklahoma (I’m an alumnus), the Air Force Academy and the Denver Broncos.
What do you do for leisure?
Read something that is outside of my ministry. I like history, biographies and older (19th or early 20th century) novels.
If you were not in ministry, what occupational path would you have chosen?
Teaching.
Thank you, Mr. Bridges, for taking the time to answer my questions!
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Related: Last November, C.J. interviewed Mr. Bridges in the Sovereign Grace recording studio on the topic of cross-centered living (with some sports talk at the end). The interview can be found here.
After a short break, today we return to the biblical productivity series.
In the previous post in this series, I explained the personal goals that flow from my most important relationship: my relationship with God. Because that relationship is a priority, my goal is to practice the spiritual disciplines as a way of communing with God and acknowledging my dependence upon him. This goal shows up in my schedule as I protect my morning devotional time.
Today we begin to explore biblical productivity in my relationships with others, particularly in my roles as husband, father, and grandfather.
Serve and Surprise
As I explained earlier, in my relationships with others I work from two biblical categories. Broadly speaking, my goals are twofold:
- Serve (How can I serve?)
- Surprise (How can I surprise?)
Obviously, I don’t think these are the only categories you may work from, but thinking in terms of serving and surprising has helped clarify my goals and scheduling week after week over the years.
Connect my roles to my goals and you begin to see the basic framework that informs my schedule. If I were to draw this out, it might look something like this (click for larger):
Studying
I can hear you asking, But C.J., how do I serve and surprise my wife? How do I serve and surprise my son? What exactly am I to do? Give me specifics.
Actually, at this point the most effective way I can serve you is to not give you specifics on how I serve and surprise my wife, son, and grandchildren. Here’s why: Those you are called to serve and surprise are unique. This means the specific ways you serve and surprise your wife may look very different from the ways I serve and surprise my wife.
Study Your Wife
For example, let’s look at my role as husband to Carolyn. As I plan how to serve and surprise my wife, I think about a number of categories. Here are my two lists. You can probably add to them.
Do you know how to surprise and delight your wife in specific ways in each of these areas?
- clothing sizes, styles, and stores
- jewelry
- health
- exercise
- books and magazines
- movies
- the arts
- sports
- food
- music
- entertainment
- places to visit
- intellectual interests
- hobbies
- vacations/getaways
- and, of course, sex
Do you know how your wife is faring in each of these areas?
-
theological knowledge
- practice of the spiritual disciplines
- growth in godliness
- spiritual gifts that can be used to serve others
- involvement in the local church
- relationships with children
- relationships with parents
- relationships with in-laws
- relationships with friends
- personal retreats
- fears
- hopes
- dreams
- disappointments
- temptations
Once I have considered these categories, I can put specific ways to serve and surprise my wife on my weekly and monthly schedule.
Conclusion
It’s relatively easy to consider our roles and create goals. The greater challenge is to deliver on our good intentions by transferring those goals to our schedules.
Serving and surprising others requires that we study them carefully, learn their particular needs and interests, and take action based on what we learn. And when we do, our wives and children, and all those we serve, will freshly experience our affection, care, and service.
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Want to share a comment or question with C.J.? We invite you to email any suggestions or questions to blog AT sovgracemin DOT org. We cannot promise a personal email response, but we can promise your words will be read and taken into consideration. Thanks for reading! – Tony Reinke
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Biblical Productivity: This post is part of a longer series. Find the complete index of posts here.