iWork4Him PowerThought

For the first two decades of our marriage, Jim and I did youth ministry as volunteers.  We spent thousands of hours with kids from various backgrounds and family structures.  I worked with girls who were daughters of pastors and daughters of high-powered executives, some from broken families and some from healthy solid families.  These relationships often started when these girls were 11 or 12 and continued until they graduated from high school.  However, two special relationships have lasted over 35 years.  These two young ladies I invested my Jesus life into are now parents of teenagers.  To have lived a lifetime with them has bee...

My husband Jim and I are very different.  He has done a lot of formal mentoring, and I tend to do more informal mentoring.  Over the years, I have taken the time to live life alongside so many different women.  Some older than me, some younger than me.  Since Jim and I are involved in marriage mentoring with Christian Entrepreneurial couples, I often spend time with the wives working life out with them.  You see, mentoring for me looks like phone calls, drop-in visits, shopping trips, and texting.  The women I pour my Jesus life into rarely have time to meet for...

If there is one thing I learned from my first mentor, Mike, it is that mentoring and discipleship is something to be done in the context of life and not in a hurry.  It was not a box to be checked but time to be set aside.  It was an investment of Mike's life into mine and, honestly, as it turns out, an investment of my life into Mikes.  Since I experience God differently than Mike, he learned things from me too.  It's important to understand that every time you pour your Jesus life into someone else, you will, in return...

As a 16-year-old and a new believer of just 3 years, I needed someone to invest their life in mine.  Was that discipleship or mentorship that I needed?  Enter - Mike.  Many would argue that being a disciple-maker is inherently different than being a mentor.  Mentors often help someone become more like the mentor; Disciple makers help someone become more like JESUS.  Discipleship invites someone to follow us as we follow Jesus and then step aside so that we can learn directly from the Master Himself.  I argue that Mike poured his Jesus life into my life and taught me not just abou...

When you retire, does your calling retire too? Does our calling run out when Social Security kicks in? I don't think so. Your mission field assignment may or may not change later on in life. Some of you have a career that could go until very late in life. Just because you're 65 doesn't mean that you're done working. Sure, maybe you need to change things up or perhaps you need to work fewer hours. But it's important to realize that as a Jesus follower, everywhere you go, everyone around you should be benefiting from your faith, whether they believe in Jesus or not. What...

Why are you retiring? Is it because you're too old to work? Is it because you're ready for a break? Is it because you're ready for a change? We need to recognize why we want to retire. Change is OK. But it doesn't mean that retirement is an end to our work. God gave us work as a gift. That gift continues throughout our lives until the very last breath. Our work is meant to glorify God. If you're retiring because you're just tired of the job that you're in or the industry that you're in, maybe God has something new and f...

So many retirees in America have spent a lifetime preparing for retirement. Well, I should say they're preparing their financial means for retirement, but are they preparing for what God has them to do in their retirement? The answer is almost categorically no. How much time have you spent preparing for how God will use you when you retire? Does that planning include how you will use your gifts, talents, and spiritual abilities for God's glory in a community that needs you? Or is most of that time spent dreaming about how you will relax in the sunshine and alwa...

The American dream of retirement is a lie. The American dream says that we will retire and live out the remainder of our lives on vacation, enjoying sunsets on the beach where every day is filled with pleasure and deep satisfaction. One problem. It never works out this way. Most of us know what we are going to retire from. We're retiring from a job we just want to be done with. It has paid our bills and provided a living for our family, but we're ready for some change. Does God desire that change to be a 30-year vacation...

The American Dream of Retirement is a lie. It's also not biblical. God never intended for us to retire from work and then go on a perpetual vacation. Retirement is only mentioned once in the Bible and only for levitical priests. However, when they retired, their next role was to train up the next generation of levitical priests. We can learn a lot from that model. If you are retired or almost retired, God has a plan for the remaining years of your life. That plan is to use your lifetime of experiences wherever you go. Will it involve some v...

It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 4 priority should be our work. Work is a gift from God, just as our relationships are. Work is necessary to shape our character and pay our bills. Work is designed to have a start and an end every day. Everything unravels when work is a higher priority than our families and God. Marriages struggle, kids struggle, and we become strangers with God. When Work is put in its proper place, it is a blessing that ca...

It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 3 priority should be our relationship with our kids. I know that not everyone listening has kids but listen for your friends. When our kids run our priorities list instead of being in 3rd place, the whole family is a mess, especially you. Our lives are not supposed to revolve around our kids. Our kids should clearly be in place behind God and our spouse. When this is done properly, our kids will understand three important things...

It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 2 priority should be your relationship with your spouse if you are married. Everything else but God should be prioritized behind your spouse. So often, this gets really messed up. We put work first, and everything else just    ends up in a mess. When we get married, we are marrying our best friend—someone we want to spend our lives with – all of our lives. When we neglect time with our spouse and our priorities get out of whack...

It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number one priority should be our relationship with Him. Our quiet time, our calendars, our checkbooks and our screen time reflect this. When God doesn't take first place in our lives, we always seem to be hurried and harried, never getting enough done. When our daily schedule reflects God as our number one priority, with first place in our day, things fall into place, time moves productively, and things just work. When God is number one, your wor...

Our God is a God of order. Look at His creation. In our bodies, every heartbeat and breath works with a thousand other systems to maintain life in every fiber of our being. The chemical balance within the kidney is precisely controlled, the fluid pressure in every cell is maintained, and our sleep tonight will initiate a series of brainwaves that defy even the experts to explain their purpose, rhythm, and order. We are created in His image. We are called to be His reflection. On a regular basis, take time to create organization and order in your life. It is...

What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to your community. What does that look like? It means that the service you provide is always done with excellence. It means your product is safe and does exactly what you say it will do. Your community is everybody you serve. But the community also means the area around where your business resides. Being a blessing to your community can look like investing in your city's infrastructure and in ministries that touch the lives of people there. Being a blessing to your community means much more than ju...

What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the employees of the business. What's that look like? It means paying your people well, treating your people nicely, providing a safe work environment, and listening to them. There are so many things you can do to be a blessing to your employees, but number one is they need to be loved… Have you ever asked your employees how they're doing? Have you ever asked them if they feel blessed to work for you as a business owner? If you haven't, maybe today is the day you start...

What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the vendors that supply your business. What does that look like? It means ordering your supplies well in advance. It means being respectful on the phone when you're making your orders. It means paying your bills on time. It means telling others about the quality of service you receive from the vendors. If your business is blessing your vendors, then they will be a blessing to your business, because you're one of their customers. If your vendors aren't happy with how you treat them, then there's something...

What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the customers of the business. That may sound oversimplified, but if your customers aren't feeling blessed by your product or service, then you won't have a business for very long. What does it look like to be a blessing to your customers? It means that the product that you provide is well-built, long-lasting, and meets the needs of the customer. It means that the service you provide is done with excellence, on time, and exactly what you told the customer you would do. Do you ever sur...

What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the business owner and his/her family. What does that look like? A paycheck, or is it more? Of course, a business needs to provide an income to the owner, but it must also help his/her marriage and family to flourish. If your business is robbing your family of your time, then it's not a blessing. If your business isn't providing consistent income, maybe your business model needs a little work. God designed business to be a blessing, to have purpose in meeting the needs of thos...

I have never worked a manufacturing line.  But I know this.  If people don't do their jobs at the manufacturing plants, then many items we count on wouldn't be made.  If you feel like you're just a manufacturing worker and want to quit your job to go into full-time ministry.  Don't!  That's a disaster.  Your job is so critical to the lives of thousands of people, perhaps millions.  God has gifted you uniquely to be able to build things, fix things, and package things.  Without manufacturing, we'd still be in the dark ages.  Every day as a worker in a manufacturing environment...

I've been in sales before.  For 10 years, I worked in Christian retail.  I actually worked at a Christian bookstore inside of a church.  Every day I had to manage employees, manage stock, keep track of sales, and please the people that owned the store.  I loved selling people things they needed.  I sold lots of Bibles.  I sold lots of books.  I sold lots of gifts.  I sold a lot of music.  I saw the joy of matching the right product with the right customer.  I knew I wasn't just a salesperson.  I knew I wasn't just a bookstore manager.  I knew that I was in fu...

You might say, All I ever do is clean up after people.  As a janitor, I'm sweeping floors day in and day out.  I clean them, and other people get them dirty.  I clean the bathrooms, and they get dirty again.  I just want a job that matters.  I'm gonna quit my job and go into full-time ministry.  STOP.  You are not just a janitor.  You have a unique set of gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given you to see dirt and know how to clean.  You see a mess and know how to bring order.  You know how to fix things.  You k...

I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine.  She said to me " I'm a really good accountant but I'm thinking about quitting my job and going to work in a church. I just want my work to make a difference.  I want my work to matter to God." So I said, " You are not just an accountant.  You are someone uniquely gifted by God to work with numbers.  You organize those numbers so they make sense.  Without your set of unique gifts, talents, and abilities to work with numbers, the entire world would collapse.  God designed you right from...

If I hear one more person say that their job doesn't make a difference so they're going to quit their job and go work in full time ministry - I'm gonna explode.  You're not just a plumber.  You're a plumber who loves Jesus and who's really good at keeping people's water flowing, their toilets flushing, their drains draining and their hot water hot.  You're a blessing to everybody you serve because they depend on you for reliable plumbing.  And when you do an excellent job, God is glorified and you have an opportunity to tell people why you do things with excellence...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our openness to God's leading as we work.  All day long, decisions need to be made.  You will also be presented with opportunities for conversations.  How often do you stop before you make that decision and say, "God, what do you want me to do here?" How often do you stop before talking with someone and say, " God, what do you want me to say here?" Too often at work, we are so bus...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our strength daily.  I'm not sure who said it first, but whoever said it was right: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Exercise isn't a bad idea either.  If you never get to eat a decent breakfast and never get a chance to exercise, how can your strength be prepared for your workplace ministry?  We need to be ready to battle the enemy who wants to keep the lost souls of...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our souls daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  So often, our souls have been hurt and damaged by the people we work with and the people we live with.  Preparing our souls means forgiving those who have sinned against us.  Remember, forgiving isn't for them it's for you.  If you don't forgive others, your soul will never be prepared for your workplace mission field.  

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  How much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our minds daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  Spending time in God's word, prayer, journaling, and just plain quiet time.  If we jump out of bed, get ready for work, and take off down the driveway, our minds will be filled with furious thoughts about everything we want to accomplish in the day.  If we prepare our minds, we will focus on the people we work with and how we need...

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our hearts daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  It means confessing our sins to our heavenly Father before our day starts.  Confessing just means agreeing with God for what He already knows about our attitudes and actions.  So often we carry negative attitudes and actions towards those we work with because of frustrations at our jobs.  Our hearts need to be prepared with love for those in our wor...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. There is brokenness in us, in our world, work, and community. There is healing in Jesus. Today as you have zoom calls, meetings, sales calls, service calls, or power lunches, look for the broken around you through God's eyes. See people the way He sees them… as Image bearers. In following Jesus, we are to be like Him. He brought healing wherever he went. Sometimes it was physical, and sometimes it was emotional. Either way, He was a healer, and he wants you to heal too. Yo...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner once said, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I believe the greatest need is the healing of the lost and broken. Likely you have noticed brokenness in your workplace that needs to be healed. What are you doing about it? Praying about it? Seeking to understand it? Trying to find the person who is causing the brokenness? In our workplaces, we often find broken people bring their brokenness to work with them, and...

Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner said, "Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the Holy is drawing near." What injustice in your community brings you to tears? Homelessness, poverty, joblessness, sexual exploitation? What can you do about it? God provided you with a job and an income. What is that income for? For providing for your family and for bringing healing to your community. God asks that you consider 10% of your income for m...

How about praying for that bad boss or coworker who you struggle with? Most of the reason you likely struggle with them, is that they are not living or leading with the Holy Spirit's guidance, but how could we ever expect them to, if they don't know God? Now if you're like me, it's still tough to get yourself to pray for bad superiors. But again, like everyone, they have burdens, internal struggles and pain they have to deal with. And considering they're muscling through on their own steam, with no help of hope from a relationship with Jesus, maybe that thou...

Unforgiveness can destroy us. God knows our heart of flesh can become hardened and lifeless if the wounds we have received are not allowed to heal. Jesus told all his disciples that we are to forgive others as we would like God to forgive us. In the workplace, there are people who look out for only themselves. Many times, their actions and attitudes can create in us something very unholy. We may find ourselves wishing the worst for them, secretly hoping that "they get theirs". This mindset of hatred and bitterness is one that can fester and build over the...

God taught me how to shift the paradigm of work into a place of work interlaced with ministry, a workplace mission field. I prayed for those I worked with, I served them over and above, I befriended them, and I prayed with them. But I realized, none of these actions mattered if my work wasn't excellent. If I wasn't a great employee, with great work production, and great work relationships, no one would care about my faith. Others needed to see that my faith was real and that it applied to all of my life. Excellence needs to define who we are a...

During my morning commute to my new job, I began praying for the people I worked with and then serving them above what I was required to do but I knew that more was needed to shift my faith paradigm at work. I needed to really know these people I worked with. My wife and I started creating ways to get to know people outside of work to develop real relationships. We had people over for dinner, we went out after work, and ate lunch together. My intention was to know more about them as individuals, not just co-workers. I learne...

Have you ever met someone that lives one integrated life? They seem to flow seamlessly between their work and personal life without pause or care.  What is this? It's authenticity. And its attraction is unparalleled. How is it possible? It's living a life based on Godly values. I'd hazard a guess a person like this lives their values in this order: God, Family, and Service.  When we live by our values, decisions are easier, relationships are easier, and knowing where to invest our time, talent and treasure is easier. Because our values are our priority. And our heart lines up with our valu...

We live in the midst of a non-stop world. Our responsibilities at home and work fill our thoughts the instant we wake up, then run with us throughout the day. Our jobs, meetings, phones, TV, personal trials and temptations are relentless, noisy invaders that drive us all our waking hours. The result – we can't hear God in our life, not enough anyway.  Would you recognize the Lord's soft voice if He walked up behind you? You would if you spent time with Him. Find a quiet place to daily ask Him about His Word, His world and your place in it. Before l...

·      Martha: Welcome to the iWork4Him Power thought for the day, we are Jim and Martha Brangenberg with iWork4Him  

·      Jim: During your commute today, whether its walking down the hallway or driving down the highway, what will you think about? 

·      Martha: Will you be caught up in the stress of the day or will you be preparing your heart for what God is going to do today, alongside you in your work? 

·      Jim: God set the workplace standard before evil entered our world. He gave Adam a job to name all the animals. An almost impossible task...

Do you act differently around your pastor than you do around your family or friends?  Most people do – even those who don't go to church.  We feel like we have to be on our best behavior.  We can't be our authentic selves.  On the other hand, how do coworkers act around each other?  It's usually easier to speak freely with the people we work with, especially if we've taken time to invest in a relationship with them.  As believers, that puts us in an ideal position to minister to our coworkers – a position that most pastors just don't have.  Don't lose sight of this incr...