The iWork4Him Lifestyle

I have a friend I’ve been mentoring for 4-5 years who is in law enforcement. He is an honorable man who served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and is sold out on Jesus. However, making the connection between his work as a law enforcement officer, his faith, and his tours of duty was especially difficult for him. He struggled with the carnage he had seen in the middle east, the current political tension around his career, and the love that Jesus wants him to share with his neighbor... (aka all those he comes into contact with every day). 

Throughout our friendship, I have prayed with him and for him, but making the connection between his faith and his work has always been, frankly, just plain hard.

Then, about two months ago, I got a text message from him that said,

"I'm just mentally preparing for my journey. Nothing fancy. No theology. No arguments. Just going to offer to share the great news that is Jesus Christ. Offer a small ABC to Salvation, and if they would like, I 'd be happy to baptize them. I don't know where this idea came from, but it came to me that I could do it, and it can be my part. Even if I only lead one person to Jesus this year, one more eternal life will be saved. I'm just a nobody who wants to tell everybody."

Talk about a leap of faith - I am so proud of him! And did you catch the last line of my friend’s text message? I’m just a nobody who wants to tell everybody.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When Jesus gave the great commission, it was to fisherman and tax collectors – it was to nobodies. Yet, Jesus chose to use them to spread the gospel to every nation, and it was Jesus who empowered them to do so. In the same way, God wants to use you in whatever profession you’re in to bring the good news to those around you! All you have to do is take the same leap of faith the apostles did, the same leap of faith that my friend did. Say yes to God.

For some easy ways to get started sharing the gospel in your own workplace, pick up a copy of our new book, iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Faith and Work.

Jim

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Hearing God’s Call to the Workplace Mission Field

Growing up, I always wanted to be a businesswoman. I loved numbers and would daydream about walking into an accounting office in a tailored blue suit. But I was never sure if my passion for business was actually something God wanted me to do. Sure, I was gifted in it, but no one in the Church ever talked about business being a God-given calling; it was never endorsed from the pulpit as such. Then, when I was 13-years-old, I felt strongly like God’s purpose for me was to go into full-time Christian ministry. It’s not that my passion for business ever left, just that I couldn’t figure out how to connect those two callings on my life into one. I wanted to serve the Lord, and I wanted to be in business, but NO ONE could connect those dots for me.

After Jim and I got married, we decided the next logical step was to enroll in seminary. Although we both had graduated college with business degrees, we had also committed our lives to full-time ministry and believed that seminary was the obvious right thing to do. But God had different ideas. He stepped in the way of that seminary education and set us off on the path to realizing that business and ministry are connected, that they are both callings from God. 

It took until I was nearly 40-years-old to realize that God truly had called me to both business and ministry, that He had called me to be a full-time minister inside the world of business. My giftings in administration and organization, my love for people, God, and business are all beautifully intertwined in my specific calling. And it is the Holy Spirit who empowers me to live out a life of ministry inside a life of work.

So, what about you? Have you heard God’s voice calling you to full-time Christian ministry? Have you also felt a call towards the marketplace, government or education, health care or the arts?

It’s okay! It's way better than okay, it's great! 

God has gifted you uniquely to carry out the calling He has for your life. It’s time for us to flip the switch; to recognize that God’s will can include both full-time ministry and a role in the workplace.

Your workplace is your mission field, a place of full-time ministry. Celebrate it! Tell everyone around you that you are called to work, and your work is from God.

This month I’ve been talking with Catherine Gates and Nadya Dickson about the unique struggles and triumphs that women face every day as they seek to live out their faith at work.  We are preparing for a new Podcast, sheWorks4Him that will be hosted by Catherine, Nadya, and me. If you are looking for encouragement, resources, and great connections, tune in to our first episode on 4/19/21 and online at www.iWork4Him.com/sheWorks4him

By Martha Brangenberg

About the Author, Martha Brangenberg

Born into an entrepreneurial family, Martha has been involved in small business her entire life. Gifted with an attention to detail and a sweet sensitive spirit, Martha is a servant leader with a deep faith in Jesus.

Something That Really Irks Me

I’ve got something on my mind. Something that really irks me.

Sometimes “Christians “quit a perfectly good job, so that they can go and do full-time ministry work. It’s crazy. Where did we get the idea that we HAVE to quit our job in order to be in ministry? I almost did it several times early in my career. Now, of course some are truly called to preach and teach, but most are called to create, design, manage, organize, and so on.

There is good news. Keep reading…

Let’s shift the paradigm of our thinking within the world of Christianity. Part of being a Jesus follower means living in the world but not being of the world any longer. Our thinking should be different than the worlds thinking.

The world says = ministry is done in the “church building”

Jesus says = ministry is everywhere – to GO

You do not need to quit a perfectly good job that uses your skills, pays the bills, and fills a need. You do need to make a change in your thinking - to recognize that your workplace is your place of ministry. It is full of people who don’t know Jesus because they will won’t go to church to hear about Him. If you quit your job you will be alienated from the very people who actually need to meet Jesus. Your workplace is full of people who need to meet Jesus and you have been placed there on purpose so they can see you live out your faith in Christ.

If you ever really want to know the solution to the problems in the United States of America, look in the mirror. You, as a Jesus follower, are the solution that God brings to earth each and every day. Jesus living through you, powered by the Holy Spirit, is the plan to transform our world. Don’t quit your job just quit your wrong thinking. I REPEAT “DON’T QUIT YOUR JOB! Thanks, I feel better now 😊

Proverbs 8:12 -

For I am Wisdom, and I am shrewd and intelligent. I have at my disposal living understanding to devise a plan for your life.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

The "iWork4Him Nation" Convenant - Tenet ONE

Praying For those you work alongside by name

I want to talk about one of the things I learned from God as He was shaping my heart to understand that my faith and my work should be intricately connected.

That first thing I learned was to PRAY for those that I worked alongside each and every day. It made a difference.

Did it change them? Not necessarily. It changed me.

It changed my heart. It helped me to understand my role as a pastor and missionary to them. When I started praying for my coworkers and employees and my bosses by name every day, along with their spouses and their children, it helped me to see them the way my heavenly father saw them.

Join the iWork4Him Nation today and get started praying for your coworkers employees and bosses. It will change your work life.

It’s easy to join and get started! Just follow these simple steps:

1. Join the iWork4Him Nation by clicking HERE.

2. Write down their names and their immediate family members.

3. Ask for specifics to pray about.

4. Pray daily for this list.

5. See how God responds to this commitment.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

5 Never stop praying.

Special News:

In just 2 weeks - Jim and Martha Brangenberg will join hundreds of leaders for the International Culture Shapers Summit, with Jim as the emcee.  Join us in the nation's capitol and hear from America's top leaders in business, government, media, education, arts & entertainment, family and the church. Register Here

If you are not able to attend in person:  we are excited to be among the first to share the opportunity to LIVE stream this event.  Register for streaming here.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Getting Old and Irrelevant, or Willing to Change?

It happens to all of us. God gives us a direction and we move toward that direction and eventually that new direction becomes routine. That routine has the danger of getting stuck in a rut.

What am I talking about? I know that it's happened to me at least three or four specific times in my life where God placed a ministry in my life and asked me to be obedient serving there for a season, but I didn't recognize the end of the season. Sometimes that ministry was in business, or the church, or my community, but it was still ministry.

Here's what I so often forget - what has a beginning, often has an end. What is relevant today, may not be relevant two years from now.

I need to be open to when the Holy Spirit tells me change is on the horizon. When God asks me to finish one task and move onto another, I need to be willing to let go and obey. I don't want to become out of date and irrelevant, or do things just because I've "always done it that way". Take for instance Sears and Kmart - they didn't adjust and now they are extinct.

The gospel is fresh and brings freedom in new ways every day. How is God asking you to bring that fresh Gospel message of freedom to the people you work alongside today? Is it a different approach than what you have done in the past?

Let's be open to change and realize that God is at the center of that change. He wants to be Relevant to those we work around each and every day.

Truth is truth and it's never changing. How the truth is presented may change. It was once from a street corner or a pulpit and today it may be online blogs and podcasts. Still the same message.

Are you stuck in a rut or are you willing to change?

Let go and let God lead you into new fresh waters.

Here's a few of our favorite resources to help you in a fresh way:

• The Pocket Testament League

• Right Now Media at Work

• Jim and Martha's book lists

Lamentations 3:23

23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

It Was HIS Idea in the First Place

You see, this whole radio thing wasn't my idea. It wasn't Martha's idea. It was God's idea. It was His vision. I believe when God laid a vision on my heart, then He has a plan for it. But, God's timing is His timing and OFTEN it doesn't match up with ours.

That is where adversity and faith come in.

Adversity takes us from who we are to who He can use more effectively. During a time of adversity, my faith is grown - usually while I groan. We don't get to see the complete path He will lead us on in life. He doesn't promise a picture of the end, He just promises a lamp for our feet and a light for the path.

Is our Heavenly Father asking you to do something out of the ordinary? Something that just doesn't make sense on your resume or Linked In profile? 6 years ago, you would never have seen Radio on my Linked In or resume. You would have seen IT Sales, Insurance Sales, Marriage Mentor and Ordained Minister. God has amazingly connected all of those various skills and experiences into one that is fit for radio.

Where is our Father leading you today?

If it is out of the Box then get out the box cutter and let HIM loose you to do things far abundantly more than you can ask or imagine. Then hang on tight for the ride of your life!

Ephesians 3:20 New Living Translation (NLT):

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!

Talking Donkeys and the End of February

This morning I was reading in my devotions the passage from Numbers 22 where Balaam struggled with his internal motivation behind obeying God and tries to keep it a secret.  Did you know that Shrek isn’t the only story with a talking donkey?  

Over 3200 years ago there was a talking donkey God used to put Balaam in his spot.  Balaam had been hired by a local king to curse the Israelites. He was going to be paid big money if he would curse the Israelites. Balaam told the King he could only say what God told him to say but he was definitely enticed by the cash.  On the way to the cursing, which ended up being a blessing, an angel of the Lord came to wipe Balaam out, but his donkey was trying to protect him by avoiding the angel. Balaam beat the donkey silly until the donkey starts talking and asks him why.  Balaam thought the donkey was being stubborn but really he was being a protector.  

Pretty humbling to be challenged by a donkey.

God knows our motivations because he can read our hearts and minds.  Be honest with Him and He will help change your heart. Is He the Lord of your motivations too?

10 months left in 2018, don’t waste them. Look for the mighty hand of God in them, every day.

For the Kingdom

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: To transform Christian-run businesses through mentoring Christian Business Owners (CBOs) by incorporating the servant leadership of Jesus Christ in their businesses, their home life and their walk with Christ.

Does God Have an 800 Number...?

Depends on what you mean.

Does He have a toll free line?

yes

Does He have a place for you to call at any time when you are in desperate need?

yes

Is He available any time to help you with your request or problem or complaint?

yes

Is God there for you?

yes

Are you there for God?

yes

I used to think God was like 911.  There in an emergency – always on standby. I only used Him when I was in trouble – which was often.  Somewhere along the way, I realized that God is there for all of my life. Just a phone call away. Just reach out and touch Him. He desires constant conversation with us – thus the 800 number analogy. He makes it easy for us to call. He desires deep relationship with you and me.

He asks one thing of us:

Give up the Lordship throne in our lives and let Him sit on it. He has earned it and deserves it but He won’t demand it. He wants us to surrender that throne to Him.  He is far greater than the typical Buy One get One free that you usually get when you dial an 800 number. He offers this deal:

Call me and I will answer.  

All you have to do is pick up the phone and give Him a call.

Did you dial God’s number this morning?  

If not – try Him now – He is always waiting and available for a conversation with you.

Jeremiah 33:3New International Version (NIV)

3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: To transform Christian-run businesses through mentoring Christian Business Owners (CBOs) by incorporating the servant leadership of Jesus Christ in their businesses, their home life and their walk with Christ.