Their Work Was Honorable - 9/11/01

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.  I still remember the image of papers and dust floating through the air after the first tower came down. The papers represented hours and hours of work by thousands of people.  The dust represented remnants of the handiwork that had built the Twin Towers decades earlier.

Today we will continue to honor the fallen heroes. We will honor the thousands that died on 09/11/01 while on the job and the thousands more that have died doing their job to fight the enemy who dared to attack us on our own soil. All of the fallen heroes honored God with their work, because God gave them that work. To all who lost friends and relatives on 9/11 or in the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, God is here to heal your sorrow.  They were brave and honorable in their work and today we honor them.

We will never forget. We live in a nation blessed by God as a light to all nations. Light is a threat to darkness, and the darkness will not win.  Darkness will not win the fight for our country.  Darkness will not win the fight for significance in our work.  Darkness will not win the fight for your soul. The enemy of light has been defeated. Let’s be a light in our work.

We have much to thank God for this 09/11.

• For the memories that keep us vigilant, we thank God.

• For the work that we are given, we thank God.

• For Jesus we thank God most of all.

God Bless America and God bless you in your 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!

Celebrating Work Or Just Another Holiday Weekend?

This weekend is the only weekend of the year where for 3 days we celebrate labor. We call it Labor Day weekend.  Wait, is that what we are celebrating? I thought we were celebrating the end of the summer and it was a weekend to not think about work.  Or maybe in your family it was a work weekend – spending the extra day off prepping for the end of summer and beginning of fall.  Most Americans don’t realize that it was instituted as a federal holiday in 1984, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century. 

So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. Ecc. 3:22

The question we should be asking…Why, as Jesus Followers, should we be celebrating our work?  Because our work is a gift from God and our workplaces are the location of most of the pre-believers in our country. Our work is the central location for Gospel Transfer.  What is Gospel Transfer.  We are to spread the Good News about Jesus and Jesus gave us our workplaces as the best place to do it. We do it through natural conversations and deepening relationships.  The good news is life transformational and it brings hope to the hopeless and freedom to the captives.

So the next time you think about complaining about work and labor, be reminded that God gave you work as a gift and He wants to partner with you in that work for the accomplishment of your excellence in that work, and to share the joy, hope and freedom you have in Jesus with others.  You are a missionary in the ministry place of your work.  God chose you on purpose to be right where you are at! 

Enjoy your weekend and celebrate 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!

Check Your Attitude About Labor

Labor – do we celebrate it? Do you celebrate it?  No, not the giving birth kind of labor but the everyday work kind of labor. Do you celebrate the labor of your hands and mind?  Do you recognize God’s hand in giving you labor as a gift?  When you head off to work each day…or down the hall to your virtual office, are you celebrating or complaining?

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Col. 3:23

 AS we prepare for next week’s Labor Day Weekend, my challenge to you is to recognize the favor in your life that you have work for your hands and that God has blessed it.  God gave us labor as a gift and as a tool for relationship. This tool in our hands is to be used to provide for ourselves and our family and work is also a platform for relationship for Gospel transfer. What do I mean about Gospel transfer?  (we will talk about that next week). In the meantime, check your attitude towards work because your workplace, its your mission field. And in that mission field you and me may be the only Jesus our co-workers and employees may ever meet. That job that you hold, the work that you do, and the people that you work with, none of that is by chance. The people that you work with need to meet Jesus and you may be their only chance.

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!

Jesus Worked The Family Business

It is not insignificant that Jesus was born to a family who had a small business. Carpentry. God could have put Jesus in any number of families but He chose one where the primary source of income to support the family was the small family business. You might find yourself asking why?  I often had until I started researching the Faith and Work movement 14 years ago. It was then that I realized that the major economic driving force in any countries economy is the small family run business. Sure there are huge corporations but 44% of US economic activity is driven by small businesses and small businesses create 2/3 of all net new jobs.  So what does this have to do with you?

God loves business. In fact He wanted His son to experience all the struggles of man including the challenges of being in and eventually running a small family business. Why?  When you run a small business, you are actually running a small niche focused ministry that delivers a product.  This small business experience enabled Jesus to put together the most powerful marketing plan ever and that plan has changed the world.  God loves business and He loves work. God planned it that way when the world was created. When He told Adam and Eve to cultivate the Earth, He meant to harvest its resources and use them to bring flourishing to others. That is all done in the hands of business owners. Jesus’ plan was to use the marketplace to spread the good news because commerce moves products and information.

The next time you wonder if God has called you into business or ministry, realize that He has called you into a Biznistry and its focus is a high priority to Him. You can bring flourishing to the earth by operating a small family business.  You have His blessing and it was His plan to bring the Gospel to this planet.

Jim

Curious about Marketing like Jesus?  This episode of iWork4Him podcast will give you some ideas.

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!

You Have The Power To Turn Around This Country - Vote - Biblical Values

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.

Here are the numbers:

• 80 - 82 million eligible church going voters in the US

• 30 million of them vote regularly but not always.

• 25 - 30 million of them are registered to vote but DO NOT VOTE

• 25 - 30 million of them ARE NOT registered to vote

• 50 million eligible church going voters are not engaged

• 575,000 elected officials in the country – most are elected by a small % of actual eligible voters

• Almost all pastors of churches in America do not talk about voter registration or teach about voting according to our biblical values from a biblical world view.

Now normally the topic of the iWork4Him weekly blog relates in some fashion to living out our faith in our work. Today, I want to focus on living out your faith in all of your life.  We live in a free country and have been given a right to vote for whomever we wish. Are you happy with where the country is heading? Do you think your elected officials represent you and your biblical values well.  Most presidential elections are decided by 60% of the eligible voting population and 40% in non-presidential election years.  If 100% of Church going biblical values based voters actually voted, our country would be headed in a direction based on those values.

The final staggering FACTOID of the day.  It is legal and acceptable in this country for a church to hold a non-partisan voter registration event, even during church services.  Most pastors and leaders think this is illegal.  Unbelievably, there are many organizations and media outlets that have perpetrated the lie that it is illegal for the church to get involved in politics and voting.  They claim “the separation of church and state” is the issue.  You research this for yourselves, but the truth is that Jefferson wrote about protecting the church FROM the state not the STATE from the church. The latter is a manifesto of secularism and communism.

IT IS HIGH TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO RISE UP AND GET INVOLVED IN RUNNING THIS COUNTRY AGAIN.  As the body of Christ we are the only ones with a real solution to the problems of America. Jesus is the only hope for our country. The biblical values we see written and demonstrated from Genesis to Revelation are the only values that bring freedom, equality and justice for all. PERIOD…end of story.

So, when was the last time you voted? Did you vote in your local primary election this year? Are you registered to vote? Are all your friends at church registered to vote?  Will your church, an institution dedicated to the transformation of our communities, allow a non-partisan voter registration the last two Sundays of September in 2020 in order to mobilize voters with biblical values to vote those values in the fall election on November 3rd?

When the church leads in courageous humility, our country will become transformational on a worldwide basis. We have seen it before and we can see it again. It starts with you – register to vote, gather others to join you and help your pastor and local church community to promote participation in our elections.

Pastors – if you are reading this – Christians need to be the thought leaders because Christ gave us all the answers. Start talking through the difficult issues on Sunday and equip your congregations with a biblical world view. It is the ONLY view based on Truth and that offers Hope.

If you want to know how to get started…check out www.FAITHWINS.US for all the resources to take action.

Jim

Intrigued but not convinced?  Listen to Chad in a recent iWork4Him interview.

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!

Keeping it Simple

Are you stressed?  Are financial pressures causing you to eat too much?  After watching the evening news do you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders?  When you look at your calendar of video meetings, are you burdened by the unending tasks?  Maybe it’s the uncertainty of the future that keeps you up at night.

Jesus Said in Matthew 11:28-30

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

The yoke is a farm tool used to join animals together to pull an implement. If paired well, the animals can work well together.  The yoke is a workplace tool in scripture and it still is today.  Jesus is giving us a picture of walking side by side in a yoke with him.  He is willing to bear the burden with us. His ultimate goal is rest for our weary souls.

Jesus did not intend for us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. He intended to bear the entire weight of sin on his shoulders and then walk through life with us, aiding us in dealing with our burdens. We never have to carry about burdens alone, his yoke is easy to bear and the burden He gives us is light. 

So keep it simple. Rest. Breathe Deep the breathe of God and realize that when we approach work from an earthly perspective, we run out of steam and are harried and stressed. When we work from a heavenly perspective, we work from a platform of victory and with the realization that our Savior wants to walk with us in our work.  Listen to His voice and remember His words

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

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!

Nineveh: The Day Before Jonah Shows Up

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. Now understand, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, a growing world power but it was a wicked place. God had issued a destruction proclamation on the city because the wickedness had risen to a level that could not be tolerated any longer on planet Earth. Jonah takes 3 days to walk around the city telling people to repent.   They believed him and from their highest ruler to the last person in the city, they all repented, threw on sackcloth and ashes, and prayed that God would spare them, which He did. There was actually a shrine in Northern Iraq in Jonah’s name because of his work with the Assyrians.  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? I don’t know if there is just one person or if it is the army of 55 million believers in the marketplace that are called to do this job.  I believe we are all called to speak truth to those around us at work, in our homes, and neighborhoods.  We are surrounded by those who are lost and hopeless; those who are enslaved to a life of sin. We have each been sent to a unique place in our work and in our home. We spend our days next to humans that God loves and wants to call out of their sin and give them FREEDOM.

Your role in this is clear. Live a life so compelling, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, that those around you can’t keep from asking what is different about you. Jesus is the solution to all the worlds problems and He has sent you to deliver that message.

So, is it too late for our country or is it just like the night before Jonah arrived? I am praying for the latter.

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!

Holy Moments

Is Holiness even possible today in the workplace?  I read a book this weekend by Matthew Kelly, titled “The Biggest Lie in the history of Christianity”.  In this book Mr. Kelly asserts that Christians don’t believe holiness is even possible today and that belief causes us to shrink back from trying to even make a difference.  I agree with Mr. Kelly.

Religious folks have twisted the Truth about the Gospel. The Gospel is about freedom – setting us free from death by the payment of our sins on the Cross.  Followers of Jesus 2000 years ago were so moved by their faith in Jesus that their very behavior on a daily basis transformed the Roman Empire.  They loved people unconditionally, even those who were persecuting them and killing them.

Mr. Kelly asserts that Holy Moments are possible every day as we encounter people, let’s apply that thought to our workplaces. I don’t think Mr. Kelly would mind. 

Every day at work, we encounter people in varying relationships with our Heavenly Father, from complete atheists to committed Christ Followers and everywhere in between.  We have opportunities throughout the day to be a light to each of them, to encourage them.  We are in our workplace on purpose.  What can we can do?

Offer to work late to finish up for someone who needs to get home to their kids.

• Offer to work through lunch on a project that has burdened a co-worker.

• Have lunch with someone to get to know them better.

• Contribute for groceries or cooking a meal for a coworker who is taking care of a sick or ailing parent.

• Send an email to a co-worker with letting them know how much they are appreciated.

The people we work with need to experience the amazing love God has shown us through Jesus. How can you start today to create these holy moments? How can your faith stick out at work today?

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!

The Time Is NOW

When iWork4Him was born in 2013, Martha and I never imagined what “work” might look like in 2020.  We could have never predicted how important the message of living out your faith in your work might have come. Why? The closing of churches makes it even more vital for our co-workers and neighbors to see and experience Jesus through our lives. 

The Gospel of Jesus will be unleashed in our country through people like you and me, committed to living out our faith 24/7.  At home, in our neighborhood, and through our work (virtual or in person). 2000 years ago the Roman Empire was transformed through Christ Followers living out their faith in their work.  It can happen again today!

So how about you?  Are you living out your faith in your work today. Do people know that your life has been radically transformed by the power of Jesus and His death on the cross?

Do people know that Jesus is the only hope for the problems of this world?

We are the messengers of hope, sent by Jesus. We have been silent about the transformation in our lives. Our country has suffered by our silence. It’s time to speak and share the good news of Jesus and how He is radically transforming our lives.

My life has never been the same since 7/13/79. How about you?   You are needed now to be a messenger of peace.

The time is NOW. 

Jim

 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” 1 Peter 3:15 ESV

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!

Put a Fish on it Part 2

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.  The issues of decline in our society are directly related to Christ Followers failing to bring the Jesus Solution to society.  Every sin issue in our world already has a solution. Jesus paid the price for all sin, even the ones you don’t think are worthy of forgiveness. When our lives depict a reticence and reluctance to forgive and bring healing to our neighbor, we are part of the problem.  A fish symbol doesn’t solve anything.  It’s original intent was to be a secret messaging tool for Christians in persecution, not an advertising tool.

Your workplace is filled with broken and hopeless people who are living in fear. You are a messenger from God to them. Be the healing balm in your workplace today.  Don’t use a fish symbol to announce your Christianity, use love, forgiveness and truth to do that.

Jim

PS. I do have a fish symbol on the back of my car. It is the iWork4Him Logo.  It keeps me in line in my driving because I know it is a statement of my faith. However, I don’t think it has ever inspired someone to follow Jesus, yet.

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!