Happy New Year! Most of us will not mourn the passing of 2020. It was a year of fear and strife. It was a year of lost freedoms and lost loved ones. It was a year we may want to forget but will likely remember forever. When the year began, remember how many people said 2020 would be the year of 20/20 Vision & Clarity? That the number of the year: 2020 represented so much hope and promise. Did that play out? I think it did, just not the way we expected.

In 2020 the U.S. Culture deemed the church non-essential. We saw church doors closed on penalty of a fine. The church was extricated from its buildings. We saw this as a problem, but God can use it for good. Removing the 4-walls from the church forced the church to be everywhere. Our communities are hurting and hopeless, and the church is the messenger of healing and hope.

So, where is the clarity for 2020?

19 years ago today, thousands of people went to work in NYC and never returned home. Thousands of people were working in The Twin Towers when they were attacked by 2 terrorist planes. Thousands of first responders, including Firefighters and Police Officers were doing their jobs, too. No matter what kind of work was being done that day, their work mattered to God.

Hold on tight because I’m going to share some staggering statistics with you in this post. My friend, Chad Connelly with www.FaithWins.us , informed me that the ‘church going vote’ in America is the most powerful voting bloc that exists in our country. Let me say that again, the most powerful voting bloc in the United States, if it was fully engaged, is church goers. The bad news is – the church isn’t showing up and it doesn’t know how to vote with a biblical world view.

Last night I woke up just after midnight with the word “Nineveh” impressed on my mind. God reminded me of the story of Jonah found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The night before Jonah arrived at Nineveh, it was a place much like America today, with wickedness running rampant. In Jonah Chapter 3, Jonah is called once again to the great city of Nineveh to let them know that if they didn’t repent, in 40 days they would be destroyed.

God used one obedient human, Jonah, to save a city of 120,000 people.

Who is our Jonah of today? Who is going to preach to our country that we need to repent?

Ask yourself this question: Do I need a fish symbol for people to know I am a Christian at work?

This cartoon really symbolizes some of the reasons for decline in the United States of America. Way too many Christians, including me early on in my marketplace career, have used a fish symbol to indicate their “conversion” instead of using a transformed heart that “Loves the Lord your God with all your heart, Mind and Soul and loves your neighbor as yourself”. Too much religion is about arrogance and rules and power. Jesus was all about bringing inner healing , “LIVING WATER” he said. He wasn’t about pomp and circumstance.

I think you can see it now. The world is a mess. So much anger, frustration, hurt, calamity, disease. A mess. That is what sin does – steal, kill and destroy. It is why iWork4Him exists.

The people who are hurting so badly, every color of skin, every nationality, men and women everywhere are overwhelmed by the hopelessness of life…without Jesus.

Soon we will get back to our work space, and socializing. We are ready to renew friendships face to face with coworkers and employees and friends at church. It’s time to live but let’s remember to celebrate the valuable lessons we have learned in the last 10 weeks.

Ah, the good old days. Where life was crazy busy and you had little time for family. Where you had time to worry about which sporting events to attend and who was driving to practice…Yeah…Those days…

Do you dream while you sleep? I do. I believe God speaks to me in my dreams. Why? Maybe it’s because it’s the only time I seem to relax enough to hear a message from God. I always ask God to reveal what the dreams mean.

I had multiple dreams this week, with a common element -

In times of crisis will you be remembered for your panic or your peace. Your wise cracks or your wisdom. Your hoarding or your helping. Your isolation or your love. Your rebellion or your flexibility. Your pride or your kindness. Your greed or your generosity. Your false strength or your God.