Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the iWork4Him Power Pod. I'm Michael Miracle producer for iWork4Him, the voice of the faith and work movement. We are on mission to transform the workplace of every Christian into a mission field. Each quick listening Power Pod is designed with you in mind and jam packed with Kingdom resources to help you connect your faith and work. How will this impact your work? Let's find out right now.

Jim: First up on the show today is Tammie McClafferty with Life Work Leadership Jacksonville. Wait til you hear the stories about what God is doing with them. Tammie McClafferty, welcome to iWork4Him.

So Tammie, how did you learn to connect your faith and your work?

Tammie McClafferty: Well , again, both my parents were hardworking people, so I saw it demonstrated throughout my childhood. You know, grew up in Pittsburgh and so my dad worked in a steel mill, so hard labor, hard work. My mom worked in a grocery store for most of her life. You know, [00:01:00] so just saw that demonstrated with them.

They love the Lord. They worked hard. But for me personally, I think I came to a better understanding of my work and faith when I had my first child. So I had been teaching, that was what I felt I was called to do. I was a teacher at a public school teaching third grade. And I started having kids and you know, there's kind of this thinking that because I had kids, I needed to give up my job and stay with my kids. And I really wrestled with that because I loved my work. I loved what I did. I felt called to do it. And really started wrestling with that.

And, you know, went to the Lord and said, okay, Lord, I, I think I can do both. I think I can be an amazing mom, a godly wife, a godly mother, and a great worker. And you know, if I'm gonna navigate these waters. I need your help. I need you to show me how to do this. And anytime we ask the Lord, he shows up . So he did. He challenged us and he pushed us in a direction actually to start a daycare, which was not on my radar. But [00:02:00] once I had kids, I had to start looking for a place to put my kids so I could go back to work.

And I quickly realized that in our area, there was nothing that met my needs. You know, I always say there was great centers that were state licensed and they, you know, ticked the academic box, but then they didn't tick my faith box. And then there were ones that were faith-based that I felt like these sweet grandmas would be loving on 'em and singing Jesus loves me, but they didn't have the academic piece.

And you know, I went back to the Lord and I said, Hey Lord, listen, I don't wanna compromise. I want something that's quality on every level. And so he put us to task. So my husband and I started a daycare center, the Sycamore Center up in Pennsylvania. And really that's where he started growing my faith and work because he was like, here, I've given you this now, you know, use it for my glory. And we worked hard. And hopefully, you know, were able to bring the Lord some glory through that.

Martha: So that brings you to today, Tammie, where you [00:03:00] are in a different role. So you made that connection while you guys were starting that daycare environment, but then now you are doing something that looks very different than that at the First Coast Life Work leadership. Tell us about that.

Tammie McClafferty: Yeah, so, you know, life is a journey with the Lord and we took that on and, and were able to, you know, raise our three children with that school and I was able to work and be with my kids.

And honestly, what brought us even to this point was we had the opportunity to go back to seminary, both my husband and I, and there was a seminary in Jacksonville, Florida at the time that did this one year intensive program. And we were just fortunate enough that we said we were gonna come down and take a year and spend it with the kids and still run the daycare but go back to seminary. And that's what got us to Jacksonville.

And as most people who come to Jacksonville, they fall in love with it. It's just the greatest city. And so we were here and we did seminary for a year. Both my husband and I. And we finished that and thought we [00:04:00] were gonna head back to Pittsburgh, which is where we were from, where our business was.

And we did for eight months and we lasted one more winter . And we were like, we're out, we're done. So we moved back to Jacksonville permanently, and this was in 2010 which ultimately we had to sell the business. And so that put us back to, you know, doing our work, just what you know, we were able to do. So I went back into teaching and my husband went back into physical therapy, and I ended up having the opportunity to go back for my doctorate, which that allowed me then to get into the college level.

And I started teaching at a college and became the director of a university. And then that is what I had been doing for the last several years until the Lord, you know, tapped on my heart again and just started stirring in my soul that I needed to be doing something, honestly, that just required a little bit more faith on my part.

Something that really stretched me. And so I resigned from that position that I thought was gonna be the position I would be in forever and waited [00:05:00] on the Lord. And two days after my resignation my husband walked out of the bedroom and said, Hey, you know, Tammie, I think I found your dream job,

And he had read the job description for Life Work Leadership and, you know, they were looking for a new executive director. They said they were looking for somebody that had some teaching experience, some business experience, some ministry experience, and some leadership experience. And, you know, Life Work Leadership is about incorporating your work and your faith. And I read that job description and it was like, you know, my aha moment. I was like, this is what God has called me for - all these things I've been doing, all this education and all these experiences had led to this. And so I was very blessed to start as the new executive director of Life Work leadership in July of last year.

Jim: How often, I mean, how do people, like when they sign up to get involved with Life Work leadership, what are they signing up for?

Tammie McClafferty: Yeah, so Life Work Leadership is about a nine month journey. We call it that because we take [00:06:00] people on, business leaders here in Jacksonville, really to look at the leadership of Jesus Christ.

You know, we see how he took 12 men and he poured into them and he trained them, and he sent them out. And those 12 men changed the world as we know it. And those were business leaders. I mean, those were fishermen, those were doctors, those were tent makers. Those were, you know, he worked with the tax collectors.

I mean, he worked in the business community. And it was those people that he sent out and changed the world. And so we really look at how Jesus led those 12 and what he poured into them. And we take you on this nine month journey of looking at Jesus' leadership characteristics and we break them down every month.

Martha: Tell them who the perfect candidate might be for joining up with Life Work Leadership.

Tammie McClafferty: Yeah, that's a good question. You know, it was interesting today, I was just thinking about it. I had the opportunity just an hour ago to sit and have lunch with about 15 business leaders from here in Jacksonville.

And today they spoke [00:07:00] about a verse in Exodus with Moses and how God called Moses to go talk to Pharaoh. And he kind of protested three times. You know, the first time he's like, why me? And God says, I'm sending you. And then he says, well, who should I say sent me? And you know, God says, tell him I Am sent you.

And then his third protest was, what if they don't believe me? And God said, use the stick in your hand. And we were talking about today at this lunch and how that stick in Moses' hand - he was a shepherd. That's what he did. It was his job. It was his career. And God said, use that. And in and of itself, the stick itself is not powerful, but when you put God behind that stick, it changed Israel.

It moved a nation. Really, that's what Life Work is looking for. It's looking for people who say, listen, I have a stick. And it might be in a law office, it might be I'm an entrepreneur or a teacher, or a nurse or a ceo, but I have a stick that God's given me here in Jacksonville, and I wanna put that power behind that stick to make a difference, to change the city for Jesus Christ.[00:08:00]

Jim: When you talk to alumni that have gone through Life Work Leadership, what kind of results are you seeing? How is what they're learning there impacting their faith and their work?

Tammie McClafferty: That has to be my favorite part of this job is I get to sit every day with people who have gone through Life Work and who are, you know, applying the lessons back in their job and they're seeing it make a difference.

There's so many stories. You can go on our website and see them. We have testimonials, but people who were moved by God through Life Work and he said, okay, I'm going to - you know, I went through the generosity session and I realized that I should be giving my staff more vacation days, and they've implemented a new HR policy to be more generous with their staff.

To somebody who says, listen, I realize I have not been showing compassion to my wife. And ultimately we know that if you have a good marriage, you're gonna be more productive in your business. So this person came out of it and their note to self was, I'm gonna [00:09:00] show more compassion to my marriage. I'm gonna change my marriage.

And we have seen people who have left their jobs and started new businesses. We had just a graduate from last year who was a lawyer and left her job to start a nonprofit, helping people here in the city who need legal counsel and can't afford it. We have seen people who have left as CEOs of companies to start businesses because they heard God, you know, during a Life Work session, say, move in this direction.

And we now here in Jacksonville have over 300 what we call alumni, graduates, people that we celebrated that have finished Life Work, who are doing bible studies all over the city and meeting with each other and holding each other accountable. And, and it's starting to see, we're starting to see the ripples. We're starting to the impact in the city, which for me is such a blessing to hear.

Jim: Tammie McClafferty. How is leading Life Work Leadership impacting you personally? .

Tammie McClafferty: Oh my goodness. How many, how many radio shows do we have? Right? [00:10:00]

Jim: We only have, we only got 40 seconds. There you go. .

Tammie McClafferty: Immensely. And honestly, it has been such a faith stretch for me.

You know, sometimes I think we as Christians - I had been teaching and doing education for so long, I felt like I could go to work with my eyes closed and was just doing the same thing day after day. And I asked the Lord to stretch me and he did. He put me in an environment that made me uncomfortable for him, which when we are in that position, it just requires faith.

That mountain moving faith. You know, every day I get up and say, all right, well I cannot do this on my own. I was not from a corporate background. I have not had nonprofit experience. I don't know how to do this, but God. And that's where it's impacted me the most is it has made me fully, fully rely on Jesus Christ.

Jim: Next up on the show, back to the first coast, our brand new friend Glenn Henderson from the Potter's House International Ministry. This local church in Jacksonville is the first living, breathing local body of Christ that iWork4Him has found where a [00:11:00] believer can't possibly enter the doors of the church without finding out that their calling is significant and that their work is a gift from God.

Potter's House International Ministry owns strip malls and restaurants and bowling alleys. They employ people and they run businesses. Glenn Henderson, our guest, is the marketplace pastor at the Potter's House.

Glenn Henderson, welcome to iWork4Him. Glenn, what was the path that led you to becoming the marketplace Minister at the Potter's House?

Glenn Henderson: Well, Jim , it was a convergence, if you will, of my time in the ministry where I have been working with pastors and also businesses across the country. And then I had an opportunity to meet Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin at at the Promise House. And I learned that they were actually doing everything that I've been teaching about how the convergence of business and ministry is one and the same. And we've called it Business Street. And so I've had the great privilege of being able to join [00:12:00] up with Bishop McLaughlin and he has been the ordained as the marketplace pastor at the Potter's House.

Jim: So what does that look like for you? What does Marketplace pastor mean at the Potter's House?

Glenn Henderson: Well we believe that Jesus had a call for everyone to be out and be meaningful in the marketplace. And so to that end, we think that as the Bible would tell us that our lives, our faith should be lived out in everything that we do. And so what does it mean to love? What is it character, integrity?

What does that actually look like if I'm serving somebody at a restaurant? If I'm sweeping floors? Or if I'm the president of an organization? And so we believe that the Scripture has something to say about every area of life. And everything that you do in the workplace. And of course we call it the marketplace.

Martha: Hmm. So how does the Potters House equip its people, the members of the Body of the Potters House, to better connect or even understand the connection between their [00:13:00] faith and their work?

Glenn Henderson: Well, so a number of ways. Aside from what we do, and I think it's being preached, it taught from the pulpit, we have a number of different I'm gonna call it very intentional tracks, if you will, and segments for being the marketplace pastor there. So we'll do seminars, we do workshops, we have classes, courses, and they really are, Martha, designed to be very specific and intent upon the practical application of, of what faith looks like. As Matthew 7 speaks about, the wise man puts these things to practice and, and so what we do, I believe as a ministry is demonstrate real practical application of the word becoming flesh. Not just studying it, but what does it actually look like? And of course in the marketplace, in our day-to-day lives.

Jim: I don't know if you followed, it's a play on words, but the arc encounter up in Cincinnati when they built Noah's arc, they said, Hey, at night, they [00:14:00] cast a huge rainbow, wanted to say, Hey, they're taking back the rainbow and in a week, Martha and I are gonna do a show on alternative lifestyles, and what you just described was following Jesus. That is the ultimate alternative lifestyle. The, too often we as Christ followers get sucked into the American dream, yet Jesus called us to an alternative lifestyle where, where he wants to change the very way we think. And that's what you just described there in those case studies. It gets people to be thinking about stuff like that.

Glenn Henderson: So there's a diverse way of businesses that we have. There's a mall that the ministry owns. In that mall there's a bowling alley. And there's a number of different things in the business activity that we have that whether it is all designed to employ and empower people and deal with what we characterize as systemic poverty.

So if we can put people to work, let people birth their ideas there, which oftentimes happen, and then we may [00:15:00] assist them and not only assist them financially, but we assist them in the business plans, et cetera. And then we will help them by if they need space, then they can get space there and is a discounted at time perhaps.

But the whole ideal is to farm businesses in the mall, employ people, and let work and we hope, see the vision that God has given them come to pass.

Jim: You've got a passion for reaching the least of these and setting the captives free, as you mentioned earlier. But how do you connect marketplace ministry with this mission handed down to us by Jesus?

Glenn Henderson: Well first of all, and hopefully my passion is spot on with the scripture. And as I read from Genesis to Revelations, the heart of God has always been, it's toward all people. Of course, God so loved the world that he gave his only son for the whole world. But there's, He also seem to have a even more of a bent toward the, I characterize them as the have not, the less [00:16:00]fortunate.

And so what I believe scripture in faith that scripture clearly tells us is those of us who have a responsibility toward, I would once again say the have nots. And so most of the teachings and most of what I work to do is help people understand. And that gets to the why. Why blessings follow is when we find ourselves living toward the heart of God.

Then as Psalm 23 says, goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. And so my mission, as I say, and my purpose on the planet, whether I work with ministries and businesses, and therefore biznistry and Marketplace, is to convey the message of hope and convey the message that I believe is crystal clear in scripture to all people that I come across with.

Talking to folks in [00:17:00] business I speak to 'em oftentimes about don't worry - which is biblical - don't worry about the next business, the next opportunity. Be content and be everything that God wants you to be where you are. I have this coined saying, and this is how people's eyes get when I say this - and I tell them this, where you are is a direct reflection of where you are.

And that almost sounds like a tongue twister, but it reminded me that God put me where I am because this is exactly where God wants me to be.

Jim: You've been listening to iWork4Him with your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers. Our workplace it's our mission field, but ultimately iWork4Him!

Outro: Thank you for listening to the iWork4Him Power Pod with your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. Want more? Hear the full broadcast at iWork4Him.com. Stay connected and receive power packed content when you sign up for our blog at iWork4Him.com, or follow us on social media @ iWork4Him.

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