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Lowell Busenitz writes in his book, Soul Work. "My story. I was born into a family of six boys and one girl in rural Kansas, where my parents were grain and livestock farmers. By kindergarten age, I was bringing wood into the house for tomorrow's heat and helping in the garden with pulling weeds and harvesting potatoes before my playtime. My days started with my father calling up the stairs at 6 a.m. Boys, time to get up. If I was slow in waking up, my oldest brother would soon call to me, Lowell, your cow is calling, until I responded. Work was central to the enterprise, and we all had our part to do. "Integral Parts, The Mind and the heart, connect to the calling that sets us apart."

Wake Up Lowell

"As active participants in a Mennonite faith community, we regularly prayed for the needs of the day. Sunday was set aside as a day of rest, and we usually attended two church services. Our faith community shared a strong missional orientation, and for the fruits of our labor, full-time ministries were supported. My early years of work provided many experiences, skill, development opportunities, questions, challenges, and yes, even glimpses of God. I recall getting on a horse to ride the cattle in from the wheat pastures on brisk December mornings while enjoying the open horizon and sunrises. I remember planting seeds in my own prepared garden, watching new sprouts poke up through the soil crust. I learned about soil erosion and caring for the land, watched fresh rain revitalize drought-stricken crops, and the art and science of caring for our livestock. When called on to shovel itchy grain or work in cold and windy conditions, I would often connect work to Adam and Eve's sin and think about the resulting curse. In my formative college years, I experienced meaningful relationships and engaged with leadership."

A Better Place to Start

By my last two years of college, I had finally learned how to become a decent student. It was during these years when the longing for a deeper relationship with God really emerged. After graduation, I joined Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in campus ministry, working with student leaders, conducting training workshops, and organizing conferences. After six years with Intervarsity, I began working in the construction industry. After one year, I started my own business and learned about taking care of customers, dealing with competition, bidding on new projects, and developing my own skill set. Entrepreneurship stretched me in multiple ways. As I found that the construction industry was not going to hold my attention for the rest of my working years, I decided to pursue graduate studies in strategic management and entrepreneurship. This journey pushed me substantially beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Upon completion of my PhD from Texas AM University, I became a professor of strategic management at the University of Houston. After six years, I moved to the University of Oklahoma, where I co-founded the Entrepreneurship Program in the Price College of Business.

Awaken Your Soul

My research continued to gain traction, and I had the great privilege of walking alongside hundreds of learners in entrepreneurship and their development of business concepts. In the years following my student ministry days, I often wrestled with the worth of my work spiritually. But in God's grace, he sometimes brought me enough understanding to see his imprints in the work of my hands and mind. These God touches left me pondering spiritually in fresh ways. Eventually, the workplace became a place of opportunity to discover and connect with God. In fact, I discovered that God was already present in my workplace. As a teenager, I had already started reasoning that if faith is real, then it should be equally relevant across all of my life, not just church life. My relationship with God should be just as relevant in my work life as in leading a Bible study or doing ministry. By God's grace, I discovered Him to be abundantly present in the workplace. Furthermore, this revelation enabled me to thrive by discovering the interconnectedness and complementariness and my spiritual life. After a significant pause, Stewart said, I'm going to need to get back with you on this. Like Stuart, most of us have given little or no thought to such a question.

Journey On

Along my pathway, I came to realize that God is the creator and sustainer of our world and lives, and that He is already everywhere present. The touches of our hands and minds are potentially connections for us to God. He wants us to link in with Him. Are you desirous of some serious soul work? But there seems to be a chasm between your work and spiritual life. Maybe you're struggling to make sense of your work at a spiritual level. Maybe you're on a journey toward God, but a personal relationship with Him still seems elusive. If you desire to understand God better, then work can be a channel for discovering Him. The everywhere present God is more than ready to connect with you. Given that you picked up this book, you most likely have a desire for some soul growth. Or you're not satisfied with the proximity of your spiritual journey. Welcome. In full disclosure, my pathway to God is through Jesus Christ. He's alive within me, and he's my lover, my advocate, my guide, my brother, my strength, my redeemer in ever-increasing ways. My relationship with God through Jesus is at the core of my life. He is my eternal hope. But I am still young in my journey and have so much to learn. If you've been embarking on a different pathway to God, I still invite you into this book. This doesn't change the fact that God is present in our places of work. We all have much to learn with coming to know God, regardless of your current position and leanings.

An Invitation

I invite you to join us into this journey of soul work. You'll find God waiting to connect with you at your work. This book offers a new way of thinking about your work, a new paradigm for how you can meet God at work. Work is like a rich resource pool of opportunities for letting God come and touch you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, discovering God in your workplace is possible beyond anything you have ever imagined. I pray you can increasingly connect with the God who longs to connect with you. What's ahead in this book? Part one, chapters one through three, Discovering God already at work establishes the biblical premise for the new paradigm from which I'm building. Chapter 1 notes the most common ways work is viewed by Christians today. I characterize this as the faith-to-work model, where we take spiritual values into the workplace. These often include practices like prayer, good ethics, meditations, the Holy Spirit's counsel in decision making, and loving one another among others. However, such practices, while good, often struggle to encourage much spiritual growth. Chapter 2 presents the God already at work model as the new paradigm from which the entire book builds. Work is a great context for pointing us to God and constructively enabling soul work in connecting us to God. This chapter provides a foundation for understanding this practical approach for discovering God already in your work. Drawing on both the Old and New Testaments, chapter 3 lays a biblical foundation for our work. It moves us beyond the common understanding of work because of the fall. The scriptures point us to consider God's creation and his presence in our work, in how he values our work and how he connects with us through our work. Part two of this book, chapters four through eight, Opportunities for Experiencing God at Work, establishes five spiritual work disciplines for finding God in our entrepreneurial and business endeavors. Chapter 4 delves into the innovation and co-creating processes common to entrepreneurial pursuits. Because we are made in God's image, we have the privilege of innovating and extending what God has created to develop for the good of life on this earth. Furthermore, for those who have eyes to see, engaging in innovation can enable us to discover the deeper thumbprints of God in what He created. Chapter 5 unwraps the relevance of our spiritual giftedness for our work. Far too often, our spiritual gifts are limited to the church context. Just as our spiritual life doesn't need to stop when we enter the workplace, neither does our giftedness. Becoming a light of our God in the workplace usually finds its roots in our individual giftedness. Engaging our work from a position of our giftedness opens our eyes to see God and pursue promising opportunities. Chapter 6 focuses on seeing God in and through our neighbors. The gain of this chapter is in seeing God in the many and varied individuals with whom we engage. The practice of loving our neighbors at work becomes a channel for seeing God's imprint in creating all humankind in His image. In so doing, we deepen our solidarity with God. We also get to see the good that God has put in each of us as we pursue goodness for others. Chapter 7 addresses the pursuit of justice. Injustices in the workplace are commonplace. However, with injustices also come opportunities to address the wrongs and the hurting to help contribute to the common good. Doing so can connect us to the God of justice, who cares far more than we do. God's purity and ultimate justice gives us an anchoring hope. The benefit of this chapter is in its offering of constructive channels for helping with the practice of justice, and so in doing, unite with the heart of God more closely.

The Thinkg we Make it

Chapter 8 probes the pain issues we encounter in our businesses, dealing with challenges such as lying competitors, failed dreams, false accusations, stolen ideas, flaws in our legal system, and co-worker conflicts are painful realities. When going through our valley of death, we invariably have the opportunity to engage in some serious soul work. In Part 3, The Fruit of Being with God at Work, which includes chapters 9 and 10, we will discuss how worship is the climax of uniting with God in and through our work. In that context of chapters 4 through 8, we now consider the implications of recognizing the nature and character of our God more explicitly.

Words, Music and Praise

When we see glimpses of God already at work, we want to respond in worship. The Hebrew word avoda or the root of it appears many times in the Old Testament. Sometimes it means work or service, sometimes it means worship, and sometimes it means both. Avoda is work and worship overlapping in meaning and sometimes becoming indistinguishable. Chapter 10 puts a capstone on work as a central opportunity for spiritual formation. Spiritual disciplines are like resources facilitating the building of our souls to connect us with our God who is already at work. There are pathways to the real presence of God among us. While our workplaces are notoriously challenging, we can prepare the way for some serious soul work within. Our work can become a thriving space for knowing God. As you progress through this book, each chapter starts with a prayer. I will continue to bring these prayers before the Lord on your behalf. Maybe you would also like to take a few moments before reading each chapter to make these prayers your own. The Spirit of the Lord be with you.

Journey On!

"You have your story. And I have mine, we're all on a lifelong timeline. Arrivals from where we've gone. Together and apart. We journey on. Journey on at home. Journey on work for good. Journey on throughout our holy good. Journey on through seasons. Journey on to the night. Journey on me the light. Journey on at home. Journey on work for good. Journey on throughout the whole day. Yeah, journey on through season. Journey on tonight. Journey on and be the light. Journey on you be the light." Richard Beattie

In the Introduction to his book "Soul Work," Lowell Busenitz and Richard Beattie collaborate to present an introduction to "Soul Work" with two new Gospel Songs, "Wake up Lowell!" and "Journey On." This series live presentation brings the listener the concepts of "Finding the Creative Spirit in the Creator in your Entrepreneurial Pursuits." Busenitz and Beattie collaborate on a chapter, verse, and chorus in audiobook form, with music and lyrics. As part of Beattie's Create Daily series, find out how you can be part of this entrepreneurial movement, at home, through work, and in community. For more, email richardbeattie809@gmail.com. From the makers of "Walking the Same Ground," Soul Work is a CORE Production.