It’s another exciting day here at iWork4Him as we welcome back 2 of the hosts from the brand new sheWorks4Him Podcast Martha Brangenberg and Nadya Dickson.  The sheWorks4Him Podcast will officially launch on Labor Day, but today we get to hear one of the first interviews with Nadya Dickson, Martha Brangenberg and show guest Jene’ Dunn.

sheWorks4Him podcast is dedicated to empowering Christian working women to live out their calling at work so that the world knows sheWorks4Him.  Learn more about this show at www.sheWorks4Him.com with new content every week beginning August 16, 2021. Welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Essential workers have faced insurmountable stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dealing with death, uncertainty, long hours, and the unknown caused 2020 to be known as the Year of the Nurse for good reason. Our guest Jene Dunn from Castle Rock, Colorado gives us an inside look at what it’s like to lead during uncertainty. 

Jene was raised in a Christian home where she met Jesus at a very early age of three.  With a family of pastors and missionaries, Jene knew that God was leading her into the ministry of nursing to serve in health care.  She is leading several departments of a faith-based hospital as a Clinical Nurse Manager where she lives by her personal mission statement:  “To allow the light of Christ to shine through me as I care for frontline associates who then care for our patients.”  At work and in her home life, Jene has experienced God’s hand even during the pandemic.  Her leadership has grown through a recent revelation that shedding tears in front of staff members is not only okay but validates her authenticity as she leads.  This revelation was recently tested during the death of a colleague from suicide. 

When asked about the difference between her family members serving in a church and Jene serving in the hospital she said they validate the fact that she is in ministry.  A key to her solid foundation is study the Bible.  Jene makes it a point to get in the Word daily and looks to find her wisdom for leadership from God.  Jene’s husband Sean has been a guest on iWork4Him previously and is a graduate of The Master’s Program.  He recently encouraged Jene’ to participate in the Master’s Program for Women, a faith based professional leadership development program for high-impact Christian women.  You can find out more at:  www.mastersprogramforwomen.org .

Jene encouraged our listeners to write their own personal mission statement and asked you to submit them to her at dunnjene@gmail.com.

We promised we would share the link so Jene and others could hear the past interviews with Sean Dunn about www.JesusCares.org

https://www.iwork4him.com/podcast/2017/1/jesuscarescom-is-saving-souls

https://www.iwork4him.com/podcast/2016/10/a-media-blitz-to-save-souls

Featured Guests: Martha Brangenberg & Nadya Dickson with Jené Dunn

Ministry/Workplace: iWork4Him Ministries - The Masters Program for Women - Women in the Marketplace - sheWorks4Him

YouTube Video Interview

Before Covid, virtual working was a cute fascination. After Covid, virtual work is a necessity and it saved lives.  IT also saved, gasoline, wear and tear on our clothing. It saved money on office rent and virtual working made it possible to live anywhere in the world and work right where you always have.  Perhaps you are a business owner or you run an organization like a church or a non-profit. Before Covid you wanted everyone to be in the office 8 to 5. Now you would just love it if you could get people to take a job with you. We bring you the story of Belay Solutions today. They are a kingdom company focused on bringing kingdom excellence to your organization through their virtual assistants who can help you with virtual assistants, virtual bookeepers, web specialists and social media strategists. They can provide you with staffing solutions and they do all the hard work so it is easy for you. Today we are going to hear from Lisa Zeeveld, the CFO and COO of Belay, online at www.belaysolutions.com. We are going to hear her Jesus story and the kingdom story of Belay and the impact they are having in organizations nationwide.

Our time today with Lisa Zeeveld was fun and energetic as this CFO and COO for Belay shared about the pleasure of working for a company with Godly values.  From her first position at BELAY, she learned that the number 1 value of God could direct her steps at her work.  In the early days Lisa worked as a Virtual Assistant while doing the company finances.  BELAY sees how they can help busy people redeem their time and be more productive by having a great working relationship with a virtual assistant. 

Martha asked Lisa if she is ministering to the clients or those who serve the clients and Lisa admitted that it is actually both.  She has the pleasure of praying with staff before meetings, helping them when they need encouragement, and serving the clients to meet their needs.  BELAY has been virtual from the very beginning of it’s existence and they work hard to keep the culture consistent.  This includes having all of the virtual assistants memorize their mission. 

In these current times there are 2 employment issues, finding people that want to work and companies that need workers.  BELAY pays fair wages and endeavors to take good care of their people while serving their clients well.  It’s a win for everyone. 

What a fun conversation with Lisa as we learned more about how God prepared BELAY for such a time as this. 

Featured Guests: Lisa Zeeveld

Ministry/Workplace: BELAY

YouTube Video Interview

When we started iWork4Him on 4/15/13 we thought we were going to be just a radio show but God has done so much more. Tens of Thousands of people have been touched by the almost 2000 radio shows and podcasts and are daily being encouraged by the ministries we have connected them to on our podcasts. What an honor it has been for Martha and I to talk and walk alongside you in this mission to transform the workplace of every Christian into a mission field by transforming the way they think about their faith and work. In January of 2020 we embarked on what we thought would be a 7 or 8 month journey that is culminating now 18 months later. God told us to write a series of books to your our every day listeners to give you the practical tactical, factual and biblical ways of living out your faith in your work. Not just 1 book but 3. One for all of you. One for all of you listening who are retired or on your way towards retirement and one specifically for the Christian working woman. Martha and I are rolling them out today to all of you and opening up our bookstore for you all to get access to this resource which includes contributions from over 54 people. Welcome to iWork4Him and Welcome to the episode we never thought would come, the trilogy book rollout episode. Stay tuned to find out about all three books and what is hidden inside for you.

On today’s show Jim and Martha will reveal – Why they wrote 3 books?

Book titles:  iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Your Faith at Work

sheWorks4Him: Embrace Your Calling as a Christian Woman at Work

iRetire4Him: Unlock God’s Purpose for Your Retirement

Special features include:  information to help you learn how to connect faith and work and retirement and faith.  Also, 54 authors contributed their stories of faith and work or their ministry that helps others on this journey.  Ted Hains wrote stories from his life for the end of each chapter – to help us see what it looks like to wrestle with the different topics. 

Questions at the end of each chapter to help the reader digest what they read.

Podcast links to listen to the writer on an iWork4Him show.

Book recommendations from Jim and Martha.

Ministry connections around iWork4Him, iRetire4Him, and sheWorks4Him.

Books are available in paperback, ebook, and audio book.

Purchase on www.iWork4Him.com/bookstore or on Amazon

Bulk purchases available. Jim and Martha would love to come speak to groups about these topics.

Featured Guests: Jim and Martha Brangenberg

Ministry/Workplace: www.iWork4Him.com

YouTube Video Interview

If there is one thing I know is that the more things remain the same, the more things are changing all around us. At iWork4Him, we have had to pivot many times and today is a momentous time where we shift once more. We realized that the everyday Christian working woman needed a show dedicated to her and the unique challenges she faces every day. Today we introduce you to sheWorks4Him, a podcast we will soft launch on August 16th of this year and hard launch on September 6th. This podcast will be dedicated to Christian working women everywhere hosted by Martha Brangenberg, Catherine Gates, and Nadya Dickson. sheWorks4Him podcast is dedicated to empowering Christian working women to live out their calling at work so that the world knows sheWorks4Him. Learn more about this show at www.sheWorks4Him.com with new content every week beginning August 16, 2021. Today the hosts of sheWorks4Him will share some of their personal stories, how they have learned to connect their faith to their work and most importantly WHY they have decided to start this new show. 3 great stories of Christian working women shared to inspire others to embrace their calling. Welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Catherine Gates is the executive director of Women in the Marketplace where they help build relationships and resources and also desire to impact the community.

Nadya Dickson with The Masters Program for Women gives women the deep dive to elements of life mastery – balance, margin and focus.  They also help women discover their calling through cohorts and retreats.

Martha Brangenberg is co-host of the iWork4Him talk show and ministry that helps transform the workplace into a mission field.

Featured Guests: Martha Brangenberg, Nadya Dickson & Catherine Gates

Ministry/Workplace: iWork4Him Ministries - The Masters Program for Women - Women in the Marketplace - sheWorks4Him

YouTube Video Interview

Coffee, It used to be a simple staple. Black, or add cream or sugar or both. But Today, a simple cup of coffee is hardly ever acceptable. It has to be on ice or whipped or frothed or sugared up. There are so many ways to have your coffee. But how do you turn serving coffee into a ministry and do it among the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  Today we head off to Long Beach Island NJ.  The bastion of peace and prosperity that used to be the playground of the everyday family. Long beach island is THE barrier island off New Jersey that millions flock to every summer and that hundreds of thousands call home or their beach home. Dan and Lori Malay grew up on Long Beach Island and decided to stay and make an impact right in their home community.  They are here to share their story. Dan & Lori Malay with www.howyoubrewin.com

Dan and Lori Malay have a high school sweetheart story.  Although they may differ on their recollection of the details, we know this – they fell in love and got married.  Dan actually led Lori to a relationship with Christ early in their dating relationship. Dan’s career has had many facets, law enforcement, vocational ministry, and entrepreneur.  He thought that he had “arrived” when he took a job within a church.  As a business owner, Dan knows that they are just as involved in ministry in the coffee shop as he was at the church. 

Lori has a huge role in ministry in the coffee shop, www.howyoubrewin.com. She knows that the customers and staff deal with many issues daily, and they never know how God will use a smile, a kind word, or deeper conversation to draw others to Him. 

Dan and Lori have started a coffee shop, acquired an existing one, and rebranded their business into one name, “How you Brewin.”  Being involved in the coffee industry, they have learned the value of building relationships with the regulars and getting to know their heart in the process.  Dan and Lori continue to grow in Christ and see how that has led them to be very people-focused and invest in their staff.  Dan pointed out that they start with real training around their core values and mission before the team ever learns to make a coffee.  They emphasized that they begin with trust and tell the employees that trust is critical in their relationships at work.

Fun fact, this interview came about due to a couple of employees from How you brewin’.  Grant and Grace Carvin have been lifelong friends of ours and told us about how Dan and Lori live out their faith in their business.  But the Malay’s don’t make it a practice only to hire Christians.  They know that their staff is their mission field as well as the customers.  They may get calls or texts about complex circumstances in their employees’ lives throughout any given day.  What a privilege to be able to walk beside their staff and counsel them from a biblical perspective. 

Teaching their staff to execute with excellence, gratitude, kindness, and integrity are just a few ways to learn to represent the heart of Jesus.  We didn’t get to mention it on the air, but the Malays offer a weekly staff Bible study that is a safe place to come and ask questions and for them to invest personally in each other. 

Being an entrepreneurial couple is hard.  When we asked Dan and Lori how they protect their marriage from their business and vice versa, they were refreshingly honest. It’s hard, and they need to be better at it. It’s trying to figure our balance versus integration.  Dan and Lori, you are humble servants using coffee and business as a way to be a light to the world.  Thank you for serving so well.

Featured Guests: Dan & Lori Malay

Ministry/Workplace: How You Brewin Coffee Company

YouTube Video Interview

Virtue – the quality or practice of moral excellence or righteousness. When we were kids Virtue was held in high regard. IS Virtue still held in high regard?  Where do we find virtuous people?  Where do we find people even talking about virtue? Anywhere? And the ultimate question, where do we find those leading virtuously?  Well our guest today is in search of those leading virtuously around the country. He is interviewing them, studying them, and sharing their insights with others in his Leading Virtuously Podcast as well as putting their virtuous insights into practice in his business Spirit Consulting.  Today we talk with Christopher Gomez, a man on a mission from God to find those Leading Virtuously.

Christopher Gomez was no stranger to religion but from age ten to thirty he really didn’t think much of it.  One day God intersected his life in a very real way and Christopher was drawn back into a relationship with our heavenly Father.  He started attending a non-denominational church where as a musician, the music really drew him in.  Fast forward to Chris’ recent experience where he was really seeking to understand what sphere of influence he was supposed to impact and was repeatedly pointed to business.  He has been working in business for years and truly started being intentional this past year or so in allowing his walk with the Lord to impact his everyday.  This interview with Christopher gives some great examples of how God has used him with clients as well as during the work hours just praying for someone he and his wife encountered that needed healing.  God can use us every hour of the day if we allow Him to be in charge.  Through his own podcast, Leading Virtuously, Christopher has met and interviewed some great leaders that teach not only the listener but also the show host.  His audience loves to hear the lessons and allow them to impact and challenge their own lives.  Listen to this complete interview and allow it to impage you today.

Featured Guests: Christopher Gomez

Ministry/Workplace: Spirit Consulting & Leading Virtuously Podcast

YouTube Video Interview

The Urban Islands Project in conjunction with NextWave.community posed a question to us. “How do you plant an iWork4Him church?” “How do you do this in an urban environment?”  We tackled these questions and more as we spoke to the NextWave.community about iWork4Him and how a church focused on work and the value of work can transform a community by meeting the needs of the community before you start inviting people to church. Enjoy the challenges we offered in this conversation. If you are a pastor of a local church, some of these conversations may cause you to look at things differently. Be warned.  Its always fun to see what God is doing all over the country and this group of church planting pastors is a dynamic group trying to meet the needs of rural communities and urban communities.

Our theme for the month is Reinventing Church Funding. In preparation for our interview, I’m posting a article entitled “Lean Staff, Robust Mission.” The point of the article is to help our audience of church leaders expand their imagination concerning the purpose of the people they lead. We want to help them shift from seeing congregants primarily as volunteers for staffing church programs to viewing them as activated disciple makers serving Jesus where ever they go. I believe your core message is in perfect alignment with this shift in thinking.

• Tell us about your family

  • 3 kids – all married – 6 grandkids – all over the country, MN, MO, Northern Fl.

• Tell us about your experience with the Church

  • Both of us grew up in the church

  • Both committed our lives to full-time Christian ministry at 13

  • Both had an entrepreneurial call on our lives

  • Tried to enroll in seminary and twice the Sr. Pastor of our church came and said – Church leadership is not a good fit, we need more “Lay” ministers

  • Lived our lives as entrepreneurs having been told “church is church and business is business – they have nothing to do with each other” and “business is a necessary evil” – did those pastors know Jesus was a business guy??? Did they ever read the bible?

• Tell us about your podcast

  • iWork4Him is a show dedicated to unlocking God’s purpose for Christ Followers in their work. We highlight workplaces faith testimonies, great written resources and ministries that are actively involved in discipling workplace believers at all levels of an organization.

  • 8 years running

  • 1800 shows

  • 3000 guests

  • Daily 1 minute all over the nation

  • Weekly podcasts

• You have said (something like) the most underutilized missionary resource of the Church are the church members themselves. Talk to us about what you mean by that?

  • What I said is this, churches are designed around what pastors have been taught in seminary. Build a little kingdom and get lots of subjects. The bible talks about the church as a manufacturing plant. Everything produced is useless unless it is put into production. NO WHERE does it say in the scriptures that ONE person has everything the Holy Spirit has to say for the week. Pastors rarely know lost people. Workplace believers are surrounded by them – we need to send them on mission.

• What are some healthy ways that church leaders can interact with high capacity parishioners?

  • Love them

  • Live life with them

  • Earn their trust and admiration

  • Invite them into your life

  • Let the Lord lead them to give you money.

  • They are tired of being asked all the time. They want to invest not only their money, they want a place to invest their money where they are wanted for what’s in their life too.

• If you were starting a church from scratch, what habits would you build into the rhythm of the church?

  • Throw all the old ideas away

  • Stop thinking of church being on Sunday and realize that The Church is in action all 7 days a week

  • Stop thinking a building is the central focus and realize it is a tool and often an ostracizing one at that

  • Love on your community – learn about it, what it needs, work to meet those needs, then share Jesus in action – The local church needs to be seen as the solver of community problems through the power and provision of God – not the government.

  • Understand that your role as pastor is not leader, it is chief servant. Your role is not central to the life of those who go to your church – Jesus is and His Holy Spirit

  • Have a manufacturing plant mentality – don’t know what that is? Go work at one for a month

  • Help each person that you touch to see an attribute of God at work, in their work – Jon Van Sloten – Every Job a parable book

  • Study your bible from an MBA perspective not an MDIV perspective – lots of business, government, politics, education, etc. going on there.

  • Share the podium each week with others who are seeing the amazing hand of God in their lives – don’t be afraid if they say the wrong words, if God is working, everyone needs to hear about it.

  • Forget office hours. Work the streets. Go see everyone who goes to your “church” in their work. Stop expecting everyone to come to you – go to them – let them know you love their work and see God’s hand of blessing on it.

• Other questions

  • What ministries have resources we can take advantage of?

  • Who else is doing what we are doing?

  • How can I make sure I am not wasting Kingdom Resources when I am starting my urban ministry.

Featured Guests: Steve Pike

Ministry/Workplace: Urban Islands Project & NextWave.community

YouTube Video Interview

Its fun to share about the exciting things God has asked Martha and I to do with iWork4Him over the years. With this year rolling out two new podcasts – iRetire4Him and sheWorks4Him as well as the new www.AwakenPodcastNetwork.com. In addition, we will be rolling out 3 new books, our first ever, all in the names of our podcasts – iWork4Him, iRetire4Him and sheWorks4Him. Mike Henry host of the Follower of One podcast found on the www.AwakenPodcastNetwork.com wanted us to tell his audience what was going on with iWork4Him and then we turned the tables on Mike and talked to him about his Marketplace Missions Trips and his Marketplace Missions Trip in a Box. It’s a great conversation with one of the many collaborators from within the Faith and Work Movement.

Mike Henry is the real deal.  God allowed us to meet Mike several years ago when we all just started being obedient to discover our purpose in the Faith and Work movement.  His genuine desire for collaboration keeps us coming back for more.  Have you ever gone on a short term mission trip, raised your funds, prepare for the travel, have an amazing time serving and come back home changed?  This is a wonderful experience and we encourage everyone to do it at least once.  What we fail to realize is that our workplace is a mission field we can prepare to visit every day!  Listen to our conversation as we talk with Mike Henry from Follower of One about his aha moment about his mission field and now 100s of Christ-followers have gone on missions trips to their work.  God can use each of us every day in our fully funded mission.

Featured Guests: Mike Henry

Ministry/Workplace: Follower of One & Marketplace Missions Trips

YouTube Video Interview

You could call him my mentor, but he never knew my name for the first 8 years he was mentoring me. You could call him one of the founding Fathers of the Faith and Work Movement, but he would tell you there were many more that came before him. You could call many things, but Martha and I have grown fond of calling him friend. Os Hillman with MarketplaceLeaders.org is just one of 125 collaborators on www.AwakenPodcastNetwork.com. He was so excited about this demonstration of collaboration within the Faith and Work Movement that he interviewed us to find out all about the history of where the www.AwakenPodcastNetwork.com came from and what we plan on doing with it.  Enjoy the conversation between the three of us.

It’s not often that Jim and Martha Brangenberg are asked to share their story.  God is moving in unique ways, and after being entrepreneurs and running their businesses, God directed them to start iWork4Him.  Collaboration has always been a core value for the Brangenbergs, and recently God gave them the idea to put that into practice.  In 2013 when iWork4Him first hit the radio waves, there were not many other talk shows around Faith and Work.  Now, many years later, through the growth of podcasting, there are literally hundreds of Christ-followers that are sharing their stories, encouraging listeners, and proclaiming the gospel through podcasts.  These podcasts can be found if you know the Host personally, are aware of their work or ministry, or through a random search in the podcast apps.  Where can you go to find an assortment of podcasts that might help the listener in their specific line of work?  Where can you go to peruse the variety of voices speaking about faith and work?  Until now, this hasn’t been possible. 

Announcing the launch of the Awaken Podcast Network. A gathering place of over 100 different podcast voices within the Faith and Work Movement, so you can quickly find a voice or two that challenge and teach you regularly.

APN is designed to help you unlock God’s unique purpose for you at work.

This one place can supply you with encouragement, challenge, wisdom, and guidance for today and every workday. You are a workplace missionary, and you have a workplace ministry.

Find a voice that will inspire and equip you to vibrantly live out your faith at work today!

Sit back and enjoy the conversation between Os Hillman and Jim and Martha Brangenberg and then visit the Awaken Podcast Network to find a voice that will inspire and equip you to vibrantly live out your faith at work today!

Os Hillman

Featured Guests: Os Hillman with Jim and Martha Brangenberg

Ministry/Workplace: Market Place Leaders & Today God Is First - Awaken Podcast Network

YouTube Video Interview

When I was a kid, men were men, and boys were boys, and we were good with that. Men defended the honor of women and fought the wars, and they were respected as bosses and fathers.  Then the cancel culture kicked in. In the name of Women’s liberation, they demeaned, de-masculated, and canceled men so that they are portrayed as idiots, sex starved, and singularly minded on TV. Now, hear me when I say this. Women did need to be raised up in our country and our churches. They still need to be raised up to equal status in over 100 countries around the world.  That is not the point of this. We needed to teach men to be Godly men without telling them that their testosterone was wrong.  Where is the church in all this? Sixty years later, where are all the men in the church. Men are addicted to pornography, and men are leaving their wives for the pipe dream in the cubicle next door. Where are men learning and being mentored and discipled by other men to be the kind of Man that God wants them to be?  Where do men go to learn this?  I found just the place. A place where men can hear from men about struggles and victories both at home and at work. Real men with real stories with God as the central character. That’s my kind of action.  Blake Mattocks is passionate about men being Godly men. So passionate that he started  www.365Christianmen.com and he is here to tell us about it.  Don’t disconnect just because you aren’t a man.

Blake Mattocks was angry.  He decided to join the Marines at age 18 in hopes that he could blow things up and not get in trouble.  Blake shares his journey through the military, back home when his mom dies, and then eventually in Bible college and as a pastor.  In 2018 Blake admittedly blew up his relational world and vocational world with an emotional affair.  He and his wife fought to save their marriage and decided to stay in their church. 

A leader approached him in his church with a vision of 365 Christian Men.  The vision was to use stories to inspire men to dig deeper, seek more intently, and be the man God called them to be.  The daily videos show men how to have honor, what a role model looks like – even if they’ve done right or wrong, and teach life lessons.  Their tagline is “Inspirational Stories of real men”. Each story contains four key elements. 

1. Every story contains a scripture that relates to and is relevant to the story. 

2. Each story must be about a Christ follower or a conversion to Christ story

3. What we call a timeless truth. It is a statement or an inspiring quote that is short, memorable and challenging.

4. An application

Blake shared about Dr. James Dobson’s video where he shares a story of someone finding his high school tennis trophies in a dumpster and the lessons that can be learned from that.  Other videos have lessons of forgiveness or integrity.  There are videos by personalities like LeCrae and everyday people too. 

Look on their website for all kinds of resources at www.365christianmen.com .  We are giving away a copy of LeCrae’s audio book by calling our listener line at 866-713-9675.

The foundational verse for 365 Christian Men is Heb 12:1. We want to bring attention to what God has done and is doing in the lives of people. It is the power of story. In the future there will also be resources for another year of content for Christian Men as well as a year for Christian Women.

Featured Guests: Blake Mattocks

Ministry/Workplace: 365 Christian Men

YouTube Video Interview