In Chapter 1 of iWork4Him, Ted Hains recounts visiting the Marine Reserves with his friend Doug during his senior year of high school. It was the height of the Korean War, patriotism was running high, and both boys were interested in joining up. However, while visiting the Rock Island Arsenal, Ted decided he wasn’t ready for the military and postponed signing up. A few months later, the local Marine Reserves were called up, and before Ted had graduated, Doug died in combat. Although he is now 87, Ted writes that he still thinks about Doug and wonders who he would have become and what would have happened if they’d talked about the gospel before he passed away.

In Chapter 1 of iWork4Him, Ted Hains recounts visiting the Marine Reserves with his friend Doug during his senior year of high school. It was the height of the Korean War, patriotism was running high, and both boys were interested in joining up. However, while visiting the Rock Island Arsenal, Ted decided he wasn’t ready for the military and postponed signing up. A few months later, the local Marine Reserves were called up, and before Ted had graduated, Doug died in combat. Although he is now 87, Ted writes that he still thinks about Doug and wonders who he would have become and what would have happened if they’d talked about the gospel before he passed away.

Do you have control issues? Where do they show their ugly faces in your life? Does it come out in your relationships or your attitude towards others? Or maybe it comes out in your work? Wherever it shows itself, being a control freak is NOT a fruit of the Spirit. In fact, it's precisely the opposite! To truly live in the Spirit, we have to give up control.

Following Jesus is about anything BUT normal and anything BUT routine. Being led by the Spirit of God in your life is an adventure - one that will take all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Note that the psalm doesn't say, "your word is a floodlight onto my future." God's will is going to take you in directions you never anticipated, so don't get too caught up in your 100-yard plans; pay attention to what God is illuminating in the one yard in front of you!

For all 23 years of his retirement, Ted continued to serve God actively. Even as his health and energy changed, he didn't quit; he just modified the execution of his calling. Because the truth is that God's purpose for you doesn't come to an end when you retire.

Kathy Book was a high-level manager in a nationwide grocery chain. Outside of work, she was a Christian, but while she was at work, she didn't act so "Christian." But everything changed one day when her boss pulled her aside to have a hard conversation.

“When you left for work today, did you put on your Faith Hat, or did you leave it home? Is your Faith Hat in a hatbox where it is neat and can't be crushed or wrinkled? Do you only bring it out on Sunday, or is your faith hat on all the time, wrinkled and worn but shaped by being used in all kinds of circumstances, especially work time?”

We have lived in neighborhoods filled with predominantly retirees for almost two decades, and I'm here to report that the American Dream of Retirement is an illusion. Living a life with no purpose other than to play golf or tennis every day and eat out every night gets old fast. I can't tell you the number of times that a neighbor has told me how bored they are with retirement. It's why Martha and I wrote the book iRetire4Him. Because here's the thing, God's purpose for you doesn't end when your employment does. The work of Jesus isn't confined to 9-5, and your calling doesn't retire.

Let me ask you a question: When you go into vacation mode, is your spiritual life still switched on? If I’m honest, many of my past summers I went on vacation and switched off my faith-life. All I wanted to do was get out, enjoy, and forget about work and all the stressors of the day. I didn’t think about going to church on vacation. I didn’t think about sharing my faith on vacation. I certainly didn’t think about the gospel on vacation. I was basically a summer vacation Atheist.

There isn't a single person in the United States of America who doesn't have a possession that goes unused for a year. Every one of us has extra STUFF. Martha and I made a rule when we got married 35 years ago that if anything went unused in our home over the period of a year, we would give it away. And guess what, there's only been a few times I've given away something I wish I hadn't. The reality is that we all have things that go unused, whether they are possessions, talents, giftings, or resources.