iWork4Him PowerThought

What do you do when  you're  faced with a problem at work?  If you're like me, you probably go about trying to find a solution, usually starting with Google!   We met and interviewed a remarkable woman named Susan. She went to God first, not google. She asked HIM for the answer to the problem. And kept praying in earnest expectation until He answered .   She said to us "God has the answer to every...

When Jim came home one day and said,  I think  we should hire a prayer intercessor for iWork4Him, I  didn't  know what to think .  We had heard from and interviewed business leaders and organization leaders from around the country with prayer intercessors on their staff. I thought it was powerful,  but  I  had never considered that someone should be paid to pray. We pay people to do all kinds of o...

I have to be honest with you.  I never thought prayer and work had anything to do with each other.  I'm  guessing  I'm  not alone. Prayer seemed like the kind of thing you did at church and around a meal at home, but in a business meeting or around the conference table? Not a chance. I never thought prayer would become an active part of my work life. But  that's  been part of the transformation pr...

I grew up in a household where faith and work  were lived  out daily. My mom and  my dad  prayed over their business all the time.  So  it  wasn't  new for me to see a connection between faith and work and prayer when Jim and I got married. However, we had never been  discipled  to understand the relationship between faith and work. I saw it lived out in my  dad' s and my  mom' s lives, but J im  ...

In praying for those I worked with, serving them above what my job required me to do and in developing real relationships with them outside of "Work ",  I  began to notice  when their demeanor changed and they were having  a bad day . I learned to ask, "How are you doing today?" I really wanted to know the answer. They would respond with "I'm Fine ",  then I would respond, really? Freaked out, Ins...

Do you need to be removed?   Sometimes, we start something and think we are supposed to stay in it, lead it, and serve it.   And,  we stay IN IT…sometimes too long. We no longer seek the Lord's counsel about IF we should still BE where He placed us. Sometimes He just wants us to START something, sometimes He wants us to "help get it off the ground ",  NOT stay and lead it or serve it. Sometimes, t...

Have you ever experienced a major upheaval in your business or work life ?   Something that looked like it was taking you in the opposite direction of where you were headed ?   Or was (you thought) the next logical step?  It's  highly possible that God is using this to move you to exactly where HE wants you to be .   For HIS work, in HIS time, for THIS season. Let Romans 8:28 encourage you today,...

Life-work balance. How many of us have fallen for that myth and tried to make it happen ?   Only to fail  over and over …a business coach we interviewed has a better concept. How about living an INTEGRATED LIFE ?   One that brings Christ into each aspect of our life and work, so that we are putting The Lord, not our futile "balance" efforts, first .   So how about you ?   Are you ready to live ONE...

As a business leader, if you turned your business over to God, what would that look like? What  would be  the result? Hundreds of business owners  we've  interviewed over the past eight years have done it. They say the result is a DEEP sense of peace vs. stress, pressure, and tension. And a new, deepening understanding of their role as a STEWARD of God's business, vs. "being the OWNER of it ".   W...

Martha: Welcome to the iWork4Him Power thought for the day, we are Jim and Martha Brangenberg with iWork4Him    Jim: When you woke up  today  did you find yourself celebrating the first day of the work week or did you find yourself dreading it?   Martha:  It seems that most  of us suffer from TGIF syndrome instead of adopting the TGIM revolution. We need to start Thanking God its Monday.    Jim: y...

Relationship . Relational. Is there any better word to describe Christianity that sets our "religion" apart from all others? Our faith is based solely on  relationship . And is there any better model for us to follow? In our life, in our work ?   And the basis of this relationship model is LOVE. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but  didn't  love other...

72% of people who get up and go to work every day think "nobody cares about me".  That's  a WHOLE LOT of hurting people that will never experience God's love. So, what if we just took God's love to them? What if there was a chaplain in the workplace that looks just like them, that meets them where they are; to just listen, pray and love them ?   Workplace chaplains DO exist and are  more and more...

Per a 2015 Barna Group study, only 20 percent of Christian adults are involved in some sort of discipleship activity .   And,  less than one-quarter of Christian adults (23%) are currently being discipled by someone one-on-one .   Discipleship in the context of work is known as "mentorship ".  How about YOU ?   Are you allowing someone to mentor you as a Christ follower in your work ?   And if you...

After years of meeting with and interviewing people from all types of work and all organizational levels, there is one major truth that keeps bubbling up to the surface. The investment IN PEOPLE,  above all else , pays not only Kingdom dividends, but business dividends as well. This is what Christ did, and it is the ultimate example of Christ's holy character:  Matthew 20:28   says "For even the S...

There is a word that defines the bible, defines Christ, and defines leadership. That word is LOVE. But  isn't  love  seemingly contrary  to business and how it  operates ? Or IS IT ?   Did  you ever have a bad boss ?   What quality of work did you do for them?  Did  you ever have a great boss? One that got the absolute best work from you? What was the difference  in  those two bosses?  I'll  bet i...

Are you feeling as though  you're  just going to work on  auto-pilot ? That you can do your work now, with your eyes closed, with one arm tied behind your back ?   When's  the last time you asked God to stretch YOU, in your work? Comfort is not a place Christ-followers should be camping out in. .... So how about you? Are you brave enough, to ask "Lord, will you stretch me today? Will you put me to...

In the past couple of months,  I've  heard one word repeatedly out of the mouths of followers of Christ who bring their faith into the workplace. INTENTIONALITY. Intentionality is a concept defined as "the power of a mind to stand for things,  properties  and states of affairs ".   WAS and IS Jesus intentional? You bet. Should WE be intentional ?   You bet. HOW DO we shift to this state of intenti...

When's  the last time you were UNCOMFORTABLE, OR PUT YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE in your work? Discomfort = growth, and comfort = stagnation. The people doing the most growing are the ones that  submit  to spiritual and personal growth, like having a group of fellow Christ followers, who challenge them and hold them accountable, in their professional life, their leadership and busin...

After a conversation with Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, of Love & Respect,  I'm  rethinking the way I go about being a  peace-keeper .  Here's  what he said:  Sometimes, as  peace keepers  we hedge on the truth, or just lie, to keep the peace. ....  So   let's  apply that to our workplace. Are you unknowingly hedging on speaking the truth in work situations, to keep the peace? How can you know?  You'll  ...

If  you're  someone who watches or reads the news, then you know that there are a lot of  bad things  going on in the world today. From pandemics and civil wars to inflation and genocides, there is no shortage of darkness in the twenty-first century. How does all this sorrow and hardship affect your life? How about your work? Do you take it with you to the office? Do you chat with your co-workers...

We spend more than one-third of our  life  at work. Yet sadly, Barna research shows  nearly two-thirds  of churched adults say it has been at least three years or more since they heard church teachings on work and career, and yet, the workplace is where most Americans spend the biggest share of their waking hours .   What can YOU  do  to introduce your church to the importance of faith and work? I...

What's  the difference between a career and a  vocation ? Career is defined as an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life with opportunities for progress. A VOCATION, on the other hand, is defined as a person's main occupation, especially regarded as particularly worthy and requiring great dedication .  WOW.  That's   a big difference . We  heard recently  that as a Chris...

·        Jim: Welcome to the iWork4Him Power thought for the day, we are Jim and Martha Brangenberg with iWork4Him    ·        Martha: Do you ever  feel like quitting  your job? Even though  it's   a good job  and it pays well.   ·        Jim: We mean quit your perfectly  good job  so you can go into full time ministry. Have you ever had that thought?   ·        Martha: If you are like us, you fee...

What do you think would happen to our economy, our country, if all the working Christians decided to "go into ministry"? There would be no "marketplace ",  our economy would  collapse  and we would be thrown into chaos. Could it be that is NOT God's plan or design for us? What if each of us were CALLED TO MINISTRY IN OUR WORK, right where  we're  planted? And that OUR JOB IS our pulpit, our work p...

What if our WORK WAS our WORSHIP ?   The Hebrew word avodah means work, worship, and service, altogether! Work: being productive, worship: praising and glorifying God and service: a form of service to the world and our community. We are MEANT to be of service, to be PARTNERS with God in the ongoing creation of the world. The various usages of this Hebrew word that is first found in Genesis 2:15 sh...