written by Mary Whelchel                                                    powered by www.WorkLife.org

Do you feel that you receive adequate recognition for the work you do? I can tell you that all of us need recognition and appreciation. As I travel across the country, the people I talk with who are happy in their jobs are usually the ones who tell me that their managers and their companies recognize and reward good service.

Who of us doesn't need some positive reinforcement for the work we do? It just helps you keep on keepin' on, doesn't it? I read where a pastor said we should picture all the people around us wearing big signboards that say, "Appreciate me." Psychologists tell us that all of us need a certain amount of reward and recognition from others in order to be mentally and emotionally healthy. FULL POST

written by Os Hillman                                                   powered by www.WorkLife.org

Stephen: A Workplace Minister

These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. -- Acts 6:9-10 FULL POST

written by Richard Bouch                                             powered by www.WorkLife.org

It's a pleasure to have a good employer. It's a pleasure to have satisfying work. To make a heart commitment to work when conditions are good is fairly easy. On the other hand, it's sad to see, or to be, people whose hearts aren't in their work.

Either way, in favorable or unfavorable work situations, our approach matters to Jesus. He advised people not to overvalue material wealth because that can distort our priorities: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6: 21). These words of Jesus can also apply if we become over absorbed or dominated by work situations that offer satisfaction and rewards. Alternatively, in unsatisfying work situations, people may work for money without much enthusiasm for the work itself. Others may take jobs below their skill level or outside their expertise because that's the work available. Conflicts over ambition, personality, or promotion may take the gloss off a job.

Scenarios like these challenge the hearts of Christians and non-Christians alike. But for Christians, there may be a further difficulty if they've got the idea that their work life isn't really important to God. Inputs that feed this idea include:

• Formal, organized ministry activities give Christians a place to work for God.
• Paid work - a job - isn't worth much in God's sight.
• Workplaces are ‘worldly,' tainted somehow - and so don't deserve our best efforts. FULL POST

written by Charles Colson                                             powered by www.WorkLife.org

Two hundred years ago, Christian statesman William Wilberforce led the drive to end the British slave trade. But ironically, his conversion to Christianity nearly led him to abandon politics. His story illustrates how crucial it is for every believer to have a biblical understanding of calling.

As Kevin Belmonte writes in his book, Hero for Humanity, Wilberforce resisted efforts by friends to convert him. A wealthy and popular young man, Wilberforce was enjoying life to the fullest: dinners, balls, and high jinks with friends. His chief goal in life was advancing his own political career. As he told a friend, "My own distinction was my darling object." FULL POST

written by Michael Ireland                                              powered by www.WorkLife.org

According to Dr. Henry Blackaby, author of the best-selling "Experiencing God" study series, which has now sold over 3 million copies, this is the most biblically illiterate generation he's ever known in 40 years of ministry.

However, Blackaby, who has recently provided notes for the newly published "Experiencing the Word" Holman Christian Standard New Testament, does see hope for American Christianity through his contact with the Christian leaders of corporate America.

Blackaby shared his insights into early 21st century American Christianity at the recent National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas, Texas. FULL POST

written by Gabriele Roden                                          powered by www.WorkLife.org

Recently I had been invited to an informational meeting of the Deacon's Ministry Team of our church. The invitation was prompted by a recent conversation with our minister about my spiritual journey in need of a new spark. My spiritual practice consisted mostly of attending Sunday worship and daily prayer dictated by my mood or my schedule. Lately the stress at the hospital seemed unbearable and I looked forward to my spiritual medicine on Sundays.

We met in the church library as a circle of seasoned deacons and other church members who like myself were considering participating in this ministry. It would consist of assisting our minister with the sacraments of communion and baptism, as well as some pastoral care for church members who are either homebound or hospitalized. Other duties might include overseeing a smooth Sunday worship and working behind the scenes as greeters, coffee makers and making other last minute adjustments. FULL POST

written by John Fischer                                               powered by www.WorkLife.org

Many of you will go to work today. What do you think is your mission at work? Have you even thought about work this way before? If you haven't, now is a good time to begin.

You may think that work is a meaningless exercise in futility that you have to do because... well... everyone has to make a living. But work is much more than that. It is your mission field. Regardless of what you do, virtually everyone works in some kind of community. There are people around you. And whenever there are people around you there is a mission field.

FULL POST

written by Mark Greene powered by WorkLife.org 

A ringing call to get church into workplaces for the sake of ministry and God's Word.

Evangelism is not working.
But it could be... FULL POST

written by Doug Spada                                                       powered by www.WorkLife.org

Over one hundred thirty years ago, a spiritual awakening occurred in America that resulted in over one million people coming to Christ. Most say that this was the greatest revival in American history. The origins of that revival started and were sustained in the workplace. Today, there is a similar worldwide movement of God occurring in the workplace. God is raising up men and women who are beginning to understand their work (vocation) is their ministry. Evidence shows that believers desire to understand why God has created them, and what specific calling God has for their life and work. They're discovering God has not called them to separate their faith and work, but true to the New Testament church they are one and the same.

A great number of the people in our churches are wandering aimlessly from church to work, and then from work back to church, trying to gain meaning out of what they do for over 50% of their lives. One
author called this aimless wandering a type of "Christian Schizophrenia" resulting in the workplace witness being anemic or damaged, and thus many believers concluding that Christianity doesn't apply at all in the workplace. Over time, this has caused the church to grow more irrelevant in the very center of society - the workplace. Our Lord spent a majority of His life out in the workplace - where a majority of the people were, and still are. This dilemma is crippling the very people that God has placed in strategic positions in the workplace (world) to pray and care for the lost, and then share the great news about Jesus as opportunities come. FULL POST

written by Pete Hammond   Powered by www.WorkLife.org
Why God's Holy Spirit is present and concerned about your workplace.

Do you think of God's Holy Spirit as present or even concerned about your workplace? Is God interested in your Monday through Friday responsibilities? Do you view your job skills as gifts from God? Would God's Spirit empower carpenters, stone masons and weavers? Doesn't the Holy Spirit just specialize in working with pastors and missionaries on their religious activities?

To our surprise and delight, we see the "Spirit of God" on a construction site in Exodus 35:31-36:1. God's Spirit is actively involved in a building project here. We are reminded of the Bible's first "construction project" -- the creation -- when the "Spirit of God" was working on the face of the earth (Genesis 1:2). Here, years later, God's Spirit is equipping people to do the work of constructing and decorating the tabernacle as they are directed to apply their skills in metal work, jewelry-making, carpentry, engraving and weaving (Exodus 35:32-35). FULL POST