Prepping for work each day, chug your coffee and take a short swig of workplace inspiration with the iWork4Him PowerThoughts. Hosts Jim & Martha Brangenberg give you a 1-minute daily challenge to live out your faith at work. Each episode is designed to kick off your day with an idea you can put into practice as soon as you get to work. The iWork4Him PowerThoughts are focused on helping you to recognize that your workplace IS your mission field. Catch new episodes every Weekday.
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IWork4Him Ministries Inc Podcasts
The sheWorks4Him Podcast celebrates and validates the diverse experiences of today's Christian working women by providing a digital gathering space that connects them to God, resources, and one another. Each week join hosts Catherine Gates, Nadya Dickson, and Martha Brangenberg as they interview women of faith that embrace their workplace mission field. Full of incredible stories, biblical encouragement, and real-life tips and tricks, sheWorks4Him will empower you to live out your calling at ...
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Jesus said that our unity would attract others to Christ because our unity would show that Jesus came from our heavenly father. In other words, when we walk as one in the marketplace, our neighborhoods, our communities, and our country, the message is loud and clear: Jesus has transformed the lives of all these people, and they walk as one in love.…
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Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus returned to heaven. In the last 500 years, denominational segregation has plagued the body of Christ. We all go to different churches on Sunday. We live in a town of about 2000 people with 15 different churches and 15 different denominations. Very little ministry is coordinated for the ministry to this smal…
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Do you know what's great about believers? We all experience God differently. I know this because we're all different. Not one of us is the same. Jim and I got to sit down with some friends here in our small town in Missouri just the other day. We go to different churches on Sunday, yet we share a sweet fellowship in Christ. They shared some of thei…
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What has amazed me most in the last 11 years is the incredible unity in the body of Christ out in the marketplace. On Sunday, we are the most segregated, separated people on the planet. But on Monday morning, when we go to work, nobody cares about Denominations. All they care about is, "I want to hang out with and do business with people who love J…
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Have you ever wondered where all of the denominations in Christianity come from? I mean really, 2000 years ago, there were the Jews and the Gentiles. Today, we have 43,000 "Christian" denominations around the world. What happened? I'll tell you what happened. People. Instead of focusing on the unity Christ talked about in John 17, Christ followers …
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I have this funny thing that I do. When I ask people how they're doing, I mean it. So if I ask someone, "How are you doing?" and they say, "Fine," I respond with, "Really? Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. No, how are you really doing?" And I mean it. Then I shut up and listen. When someone shares from their heart after you've had tha…
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Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. You may be saying to yourself, but how do I bring healing to my workplace when I am so broken myself? As a Jesus-follower, you serve the ultimate healer. For the woman at the well, he didn't just give her water; he gave her healing from the inside out. She was a broke…
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Jesus routinely met and ate with people who we would refer to today as very, very lost. They were the most despised people of that day. And yet, Jesus had no issue with spending time with them. Our workplace is not only a place to make a living, but also a place God has ordained for us to make relationships, build trust, and grow friendships – espe…
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In 2006 I started a new job commuting 90 miles each way to work. I made a commitment to not turn on the radio on my way into work. I wanted to dedicate that time to pray for my family, my bosses and their families, my co-workers, and my employees. I learned to be quiet and I learned to make notes when I heard things from the Lord in my prayer time.…
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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 t…
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The body of Christ is made up of many parts; none is more important than the other. Do you ever feel unimportant in the Kingdom of God? Like who you are and what you do is on a lower tier while others are on a higher one? In 1 Corinthians 12, God lets us know that each of us plays an important role in the body of Christ. Verse 18 says, "Our bodies …
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Your voice matters. No matter what you've experienced or been told, your ideas, creativity, and perspectives are important contributions to your work. Unfortunately, many women have been ignored, overlooked, and had their ideas stolen by others. Someone may have assumed you are more junior than you are. As difficult and discouraging as those experi…
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We all have two voices speaking to us daily—God's still, small, loving voice and the accusing, fear-ridden, loud voice of the enemy. How can you tell the difference? If it's encouraging, uplifting, life-affirming, convicting yet loving, aligned with Truth, you can be sure it is from God. If it brings fear, insecurity, anger, condemnation, or confus…
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You, dear sister, were created in God's image. Man and woman were given the same cultural mandate to fill and subdue the earth. Your talents and desire to make an impact through your work are planted in you by your Creator. Your purpose is to steward those talents for His glory by continually leaning on Him. No one else will use your talents in qui…
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Who you are is not the sum of your past mistakes, successes, or talents. You are a daughter of the one true King, created in Christ Jesus, to do work that brings glory to God in your own unique way. Even when no one else seems to notice you, God sees everything you do to support others, contribute to the success of your organization, and share His …
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One day a friend of mine called me and said "Jim, I have been trying to mentor and disciple my friend for 2 years now. He is hopeless. Maybe He will listen to you." That was almost 10 years ago now. My new mentee was not a believer yet, was struggling with issues from the battlefield that impacted his marriage, and was very skeptical of church cult…
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For the first two decades of our marriage, Jim and I did youth ministry as volunteers. We spent thousands of hours with kids from various backgrounds and family structures. I worked with girls who were daughters of pastors and daughters of high-powered executives, some from broken families and some from healthy solid families. These relationships o…
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My husband Jim and I are very different. He has done a lot of formal mentoring, and I tend to do more informal mentoring. Over the years, I have taken the time to live life alongside so many different women. Some older than me, some younger than me. Since Jim and I are involved in marriage mentoring with Christian Entrepreneurial couples, I often s…
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If there is one thing I learned from my first mentor, Mike, it is that mentoring and discipleship is something to be done in the context of life and not in a hurry. It was not a box to be checked but time to be set aside. It was an investment of Mike's life into mine and, honestly, as it turns out, an investment of my life into Mikes. Since I exper…
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As a 16-year-old and a new believer of just 3 years, I needed someone to invest their life in mine. Was that discipleship or mentorship that I needed? Enter - Mike. Many would argue that being a disciple-maker is inherently different than being a mentor. Mentors often help someone become more like the mentor; Disciple makers help someone become mor…
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When you retire, does your calling retire too? Does our calling run out when Social Security kicks in? I don't think so. Your mission field assignment may or may not change later on in life. Some of you have a career that could go until very late in life. Just because you're 65 doesn't mean that you're done working. Sure, maybe you need to change t…
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Why are you retiring? Is it because you're too old to work? Is it because you're ready for a break? Is it because you're ready for a change? We need to recognize why we want to retire. Change is OK. But it doesn't mean that retirement is an end to our work. God gave us work as a gift. That gift continues throughout our lives until the very last bre…
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So many retirees in America have spent a lifetime preparing for retirement. Well, I should say they're preparing their financial means for retirement, but are they preparing for what God has them to do in their retirement? The answer is almost categorically no. How much time have you spent preparing for how God will use you when you retire? Does th…
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The American dream of retirement is a lie. The American dream says that we will retire and live out the remainder of our lives on vacation, enjoying sunsets on the beach where every day is filled with pleasure and deep satisfaction. One problem. It never works out this way. Most of us know what we are going to retire from. We're retiring from a job…
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The American Dream of Retirement is a lie. It's also not biblical. God never intended for us to retire from work and then go on a perpetual vacation. Retirement is only mentioned once in the Bible and only for levitical priests. However, when they retired, their next role was to train up the next generation of levitical priests. We can learn a lot …
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It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, knows what our priorities should look like. The number five priority should be our hobbies and volunteer work. God, Spouse, Kids, Work – they all come first. When your church volunteering gets in the way of family, spouse, and even work time, everyone gets disgruntled. If …
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It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 4 priority should be our work. Work is a gift from God, just as our relationships are. Work is necessary to shape our character and pay our bills. Work is designed to have a start and an end every day. Everything unravels w…
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It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 3 priority should be our relationship with our kids. I know that not everyone listening has kids but listen for your friends. When our kids run our priorities list instead of being in 3rd place, the whole family is a mess, …
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It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number 2 priority should be your relationship with your spouse if you are married. Everything else but God should be prioritized behind your spouse. So often, this gets really messed up. We put work first, and everything else just…
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It shouldn't surprise us. Our God, who is a God of order, design, and truth, has a clear answer for our priorities. Our Number one priority should be our relationship with Him. Our quiet time, our calendars, our checkbooks and our screen time reflect this. When God doesn't take first place in our lives, we always seem to be hurried and harried, nev…
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What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to your community. What does that look like? It means that the service you provide is always done with excellence. It means your product is safe and does exactly what you say it will do. Your community is everybody you serve. But the community also means the area around where yo…
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What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the employees of the business. What's that look like? It means paying your people well, treating your people nicely, providing a safe work environment, and listening to them. There are so many things you can do to be a blessing to your employees, but number one is they need t…
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What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the vendors that supply your business. What does that look like? It means ordering your supplies well in advance. It means being respectful on the phone when you're making your orders. It means paying your bills on time. It means telling others about the quality of service yo…
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What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the customers of the business. That may sound oversimplified, but if your customers aren't feeling blessed by your product or service, then you won't have a business for very long. What does it look like to be a blessing to your customers? It means that the product that you p…
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What's the purpose of business? God designed business to be a blessing to the business owner and his/her family. What does that look like? A paycheck, or is it more? Of course, a business needs to provide an income to the owner, but it must also help his/her marriage and family to flourish. If your business is robbing your family of your time, then…
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We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip. But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field? We need to prepare our openness to God's leading as we work. All day long, decisions need to be made. You will also be presented with opportunities for conversations. How often do you stop before you make t…
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We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip. But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field? We need to prepare our strength daily. I'm not sure who said it first, but whoever said it was right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Exercise isn't a bad idea either. If you never get to e…
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We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip. But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field? We need to prepare our souls daily as we get ready for work. What does that mean? So often, our souls have been hurt and damaged by the people we work with and the people we live with. Preparing our souls m…
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We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip. How much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field? We need to prepare our minds daily as we get ready for work. What does that mean? Spending time in God's word, prayer, journaling, and just plain quiet time. If we jump out of bed, get ready for work, and take …
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We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip. But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field? We need to prepare our hearts daily as we get ready for work. What does that mean? It means confessing our sins to our heavenly Father before our day starts. Confessing just means agreeing with God for what…
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I have never worked a manufacturing line. But I know this. If people don't do their jobs at the manufacturing plants, then many items we count on wouldn't be made. If you feel like you're just a manufacturing worker and want to quit your job to go into full-time ministry. Don't! That's a disaster. Your job is so critical to the lives of thousands o…
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I've been in sales before. For 10 years, I worked in Christian retail. I actually worked at a Christian bookstore inside of a church. Every day I had to manage employees, manage stock, keep track of sales, and please the people that owned the store. I loved selling people things they needed. I sold lots of Bibles. I sold lots of books. I sold lots …
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You might say, All I ever do is clean up after people. As a janitor, I'm sweeping floors day in and day out. I clean them, and other people get them dirty. I clean the bathrooms, and they get dirty again. I just want a job that matters. I'm gonna quit my job and go into full-time ministry. STOP. You are not just a janitor. You have a unique set of …
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I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine. She said to me " I'm a really good accountant but I'm thinking about quitting my job and going to work in a church. I just want my work to make a difference. I want my work to matter to God." So I said, " You are not just an accountant. You are someone uniquely gifted by God to work with num…
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If I hear one more person say that their job doesn't make a difference so they're going to quit their job and go work in full time ministry - I'm gonna explode. You're not just a plumber. You're a plumber who loves Jesus and who's really good at keeping people's water flowing, their toilets flushing, their drains draining and their hot water hot. Y…
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Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner once said, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I believe the greatest need is the healing of the lost and broken. Likely you have noticed brokenness in your workplace that needs to be …
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Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. Frederick Buechner said, "Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the Holy is drawing near." What injustice in your community brings you to tears? Homelessness, poverty, joblessness, sexual exploit…
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Our country needs healing, and it starts with bringing healing to your workplace. There is brokenness in us, in our world, work, and community. There is healing in Jesus. Today as you have zoom calls, meetings, sales calls, service calls, or power lunches, look for the broken around you through God's eyes. See people the way He sees them… as Image …
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How about praying for that bad boss or coworker who you struggle with? Most of the reason you likely struggle with them, is that they are not living or leading with the Holy Spirit's guidance, but how could we ever expect them to, if they don't know God? Now if you're like me, it's still tough to get yourself to pray for bad superiors. But again, l…
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Unforgiveness can destroy us. God knows our heart of flesh can become hardened and lifeless if the wounds we have received are not allowed to heal. Jesus told all his disciples that we are to forgive others as we would like God to forgive us. In the workplace, there are people who look out for only themselves. Many times, their actions and attitude…
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