iWork4Him PowerThought

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.  Are you a Christian standing alone in your work or professional life? Are YOU standing alone in OTHER areas of your life? What if you prayed and asked for a group that you could "do life and work" together w...

I can't stand getting up any earlier than 6am. Who are these people who love to get up at 4:30am and work out?  I find myself resenting them. I have never had the motivation to do anything before 6am, but I do try to make the most of the time from 6am to 7am. This is my quiet time, the time I use to center myself on God by praying for others, studying my bible, and writing in my prayer journal. Th...

Do you sit all day long like I do?  I find that somedays, the only exercise I get is walking to the mailbox or the kitchen.  I sit in front of this computer and I work.  I have come to realize that my body craves exercise.  IT craves moving around and getting outside, and when I give my body this activity, my mind seems to settle in, and my work seems to flow easier.  My soul needs exercise too.  ...

What is the first thing you do in the morning when you get up?  Do you look at your phone and check emails before you get out of bed?  I find that my best mornings start when I ignore my phone and pop open my bible and my journal instead.  Since we really don't know what is ahead in our work today, its important that we spend time with the One who knows what is ahead.  When my mind is racing, thin...

Did you wake up tired today or press that snooze bar?  Did you find yourself scrambling to get ready for that first zoom call of the day?  Life and work can be exhausting.  What is the best way to prepare your heart for what God has in store for you today at work?  I don't think rushing around and running late is helping prepare your heart.  For me, it's the still, quiet time, that feeds my soul a...

Preparing to go to work these days looks and feels different.  What does that look like for you?  Is it showering and getting dressed or throwing on a robe?  Maybe, for you, it's having that first shot of caffeine or perhaps its eating that healthy meal or drinking a vitamin filled smoothie.  Maybe it involves getting your kids ready or helping your live-in parent get their day started.    Whateve...

It comes as no surprise that less than 20 percent of Americans regularly attend church.  But just about all Americans have a job. So, we COULD say that not everybody has a pastor, but just about everybody has a boss.  So how will the other 80% of Americans find out about Jesus Christ if they are not stepping into a church?  The current population of the US is about 330 million.  So that's 264 Mill...

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 intentional...

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 perf...

Humility. The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which can be translated as "humble", but also as "grounded", or "from the earth", since it derives from HUmus (earth).  The greatest leaders, including our Lord have it. CS Lewis said: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of YOURSELF LESS."  What if TODAY, you and I, tho...

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 Christ-follo...

In our 2021 book, iWork4Him , I wrote a chapter about the four lies we've swallowed that shape how we live out our faith at work – some of which I personally believed for many years. Over the last week, we have touched on each of these lies, and all of them have one thing in common: they strangle our faith. When we relegate Jesus to one day a week, we cut the world off from what it needs most: hop...

In our 2021 book, iWork4Him , Jim wrote a chapter about the lies we've swallowed that shape how we live out our faith at work. The fourth lie he wrote about was that the American Dream is biblical truth for Christians. Because the truth is, it's not. And more than that, it's not guaranteed! Material things will never bring true happiness or fulfillment and they should never be our end goal. After...

In our 2021 book, iWork4Him , I wrote a chapter about the lies we've swallowed that shape how we live out our faith at work – some of which I personally believed for many years. This third lie, I believed until I was 40! The lie was that you are a second-tier citizen in the Kingdom of God if you aren't s pastor or missionary. That somehow your life has less impact for God's glory if you aren't in...

In our 2021 book, iWork4Him , Jim wrote a chapter about the lies we've swallowed that shape how we live out our faith at work. The second lie he wrote about was that you should keep your faith at home because of the separation of church and state. This is one I hear all the time, but the truth is that when Thomas Jefferson wrote about this separation in 1802 it was intended to help protect the chu...

In our 2021 book, iWork4Him , I wrote a chapter about the lies we've swallowed that shape how we live out our faith at work – some of which I personally believed for many years. The first lie I wrote about was that work is work and church is church . They have nothing to do with each other. When we live under this lie, we start to believe that living a life of faith at work will keep us from achie...

Let's be honest – we're all guilty of gossip at one time or another. This sneaky little sin often creeps in as grumbling, complaining, ranting, or venting- especially if we've had a hard day at work. Although gossip may seem small, but the truth is, it's not. I read an article by Erik Raymond the other day where he writes, "Gossip is the Devil's Ponzi scheme to get rich quickly on disunity." And g...

What is the number one goal of most businesses? I'll give you a hint: it starts with a "P" and it ends with "-ofit." That's right, the marketplace is built on profit - on financial gain. But God calls us to a different kind of business: the business of people. Kingdom minded businesses are founded not on a bottom line, but on a bottomless faith. They are all about ETERNAL profit. In Matthew 16:26...

We recently talked with Brenda Long, the Former Director of Infrastructure Operations at Food for the Hungry, about what it takes to end an issue as large as global poverty – her answer: partnership and cooperation. When we face enormous tasks - like ending hunger or bringing the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation - we must remember that we are simply a part of the solution, not the whole t...

You've probably heard the phrase, "actions speak louder than words." And as true as that may be, our words are still a vital part of our testimony! What we say and how we say it can either build up the people around us or tear them down; draw them to Christ or push them away. Ephesians 4:29 says, " Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words w...

The other day I heard about an easy conversational tip to help build quick relationships with new people no matter what situation you're in – from the office to the bus to the breakroom! It's called the FORD Method. The FORD Method is an acronym where the "F" stands for Family, "O" for Occupation, "R" for Recreation, and "D" for Dreams. By asking the other person questions in each of these four ca...

Have you ever found yourself caught up in petty workplace rivalries? If you have, then you know that they can get ugly – fast! When we play the comparison game, it's easy to spend more time looking over at our neighbor's desk and critiquing their work than actually focusing on doing our own work with excellence. In 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 the Apostle Paul writes, " We hear that some of you are liv...

What do you see when you look at your boss, coworkers, or employees? Do you see annoyances and frustrations, or do you see the image of God? As Christians, we believe that God creates all people in His own likeness, each one worthy and inherently valuable. And what's more, each person is also loved by God! Romans 5:8 says, " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sin...

In our book, iWork4Him, Bob Willbanks writes about how he was "miserably saved." A condition where one is focused more on a life guided by the American Dream than on a life guided by Jesus. This mindset may have brought Bob worldly success and riches, but it also led him down the road of alcoholism, cost him his first marriage, and almost cost him his second. He was on the fast track to disaster u...

In Matthew 10:27, a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer: " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself ." God wants your whole life; He isn't interested in just a part of it. He doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. He wants it all . Tw...