iWork4Him Podcast

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

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Everyday generosity? Every day! HOW? Easy? – well, maybe not that easy, but worth it – it takes God-led, intentional movement and processes. Hear how from a father-son duo, Drew and Brad Formsma.

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.

Who’s turning Sunday’s inspiration into Monday’s perspiration? Get a taste of how Kingdom Way Ministries is “Making Work and Ministry One” and hear from a slew of workplace missionaries of all shapes and sizes.

Is it OK for a Christian to be in politics, to be involved in a political conversation? Isn’t politics too volatile for a Jesus Follower to be a part of?  Where does our faith fit into the political process of the united states of America?  How do we bring our faith in Jesus into the political arena without destroying relationships? How do we embrace faith, inspire hope, weaponize love and impact a nation? Can any of that be done within politics?  Honestly, I don’t know many of the answers to the questions I am asking. I do know one thing – everyone around me should be benefitting from my faith in Jesus whether they believe in Jesus or not. Is it working??? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that politics is quicksand for me. Soooo, we are bringing in an expert who talks all day long about bringing in the principles of the Kingdom of God into politics. Aamon Ross with Kingdom in politics is with us today to inspire a generation of Jesus followers to get involved in politics and fill the 575,000 political offices in our country.

God calls us to take the Kingdom into every area of the world.  For the last 60 years we’ve abdicated our responsibility to steward the political arena and the results are catastrophic.  If you’re tired of just talking about the problems in politics and want to be part of the solution, Kingdom In Politics is for you.

Aamon Ross from Kingdom in Politics grew up in a Christian family, but it was just six years ago, while on a business/mission trip to the China wall, that God truly grabbed his attention.  Aamon heard God tell him two things, you think too small, and you don’t think generationally.  These two statements changed Aamon’s trajectory that led to Kingdom in Politics.  With only a 5th-grade civics background, Aamon met with his friend Kevin Stitt and shared how he thought God wanted him to influence politics.  At that same meeting, Kevin Stitt confidentially shared with Aamon that he felt he was supposed to run for Oklahoma’s governor.  The short story is that Aamon became Kevin Stitts’s campaign manager, won the election and is currently the Governor of Oklahoma. 

Aamon shared that at their first meeting to talk about their campaign, they wrote a list of over 100 words in politics that they didn’t know and started studying the language. 

When someone decides to become a missionary in a culture, they don’t know anything about it.  Much like a foreign missionary learns a language and culture to serve a specific people group, Aamon sees the need for Americans to understand the political language and culture to serve the people group of politics.  The idea behind Kingdom in Politics is to raise up groups within churches that “send” someone into politics as they would foreign missions, creating a support team to have the most success.

Kingdom in Politics has a goal to raise 100,000 elected political officials in the next ten years.  There are over 500,000 elected positions in America.  What a great goal to fill 100,000 offices with Christ-followers.  These positions could be from the school board to the White House and everything in between.  Their website is full of training and guides to make this possible. 

When asked if Christians should be involved in politics, Aamon likes to ask this question, “How do we like the results of Christians not being involved in politics?”  Wow, what a powerful question.  Is God prompting you to get involved?  Is God tugging at you to see a change in an area you can influence?  Now might be the time to put your hat in the ring and allow Kingdom in Politics to help you get going.  God calls us to take the Kingdom into every area of the world.  For the last 60 years,

Who’s turning Sunday’s inspiration into Monday’s perspiration? Get a taste of how Kingdom Way Ministries is “Making Work and Ministry One” and hear from a slew of workplace missionaries of all shapes and sizes.

Communities have issues. Communities have problems. But their communities. What else so communities have? Community!  We head off to Sunny California where one such community has decided to take the resources they have and put them all to use in addressing the issues of chronic homelessness and many other issues.  I can’t wait for you to hear the story of the e49 Foundation and compassion village and the amazing things they have done. Their founder & CEO & Social Entrepreneur Tammy Vallejo is with us today to tell us the story of transformation in their Del Paso California Community and the way you can do it in your community too.

Tammy was raised in a Christian home and baptized at age 7.  Raised in the mid-west she found herself on the West Coast by the time she was a young adult.  As a married couple she and her husband looked at the community around them and saw many areas of need.  With a background as a real estate broker, Tammy knew how to navigate the housing world.  Seeing such a high level of poverty and chronic homelessness lead to the start of the Compassion Village and The E 49 Foundation. 

Tammy saw a need to pull the church together with the business people in her community and started using events to drive collaboration and cooperation.  God showed her that the DNA of Entrepreneurs and Churches are very different, yet when brought together they can do great things.  Chronic homelessness, having no bed or car for over 1 year has grown from around 2500 to 12,500 in Tammy’s community.  This once hidden issue is now very public and needed to be addressed.  Now through Compassion Village churches and business people are working together to raise funds and provide the labor to build tiny homes.  This is just the beginning of the healing process for the homeless.  They are also offered services to learn skills, as they heal and learn to live in community.  Now there is also the Biblical Justice Leaders Lab, School of Kingdom Business, and the School of Social Justice.  Through the hands and feet of Jesus, a broken world is learning to heal and solve social issues in the process.

What an encouragement to hear how the churches are using their unused properties and really serving outside the walls of the church.  Tammy said the model can be reproduced across the country and they are happy to share what they have learned.  What an example of collaboration.  You can learn more at www.Thee49foundation.org or www.compassionvillage.org

How did the CEO of a construction company reshape it for God? Hear from Dale Hahs and two Marketplace Chaplains and the transformation that occurred when he implemented chaplains in his company.

Featured Guest: Jeff Rinehart, Stacy Cleary, Tom Williams & Dale HahsMinistry/Workplace: Tools For Construction – Marketplace Chaplains

It’s always fun to travel back to the frozen tundra where I grew up—so many great people with so many great stories. Well, traveling to MN is out right now, but we can go anywhere and do anything with Zoom.  Today we are going to talk to an entrepreneurial couple. The Husband takes normal cargo vans and turns them into fantastic conversion camper vans. The Wife is a coach to Christian Working Women all over the Country.  We love talking to couples like this because together, they are trying to change the world by living out their faith in everything they do and running two companies and maintaining a healthy marriage, and raising kids. Gina Marie Lokken with Gina Marie Coaching and Erik Lokken with Narrow Road Van Conversions are with us on the show today.

Erik and Gina Lokken both have Jesus stories that intersected in a singles ministry.  Erik felt like he had a Job experience in his life.  He was doing well, built a huge house, and then experienced divorce and job loss through a series of events.  Erik took to listening to audiobooks while traveling for work and was exposed to the likes of CS Lewis.  God eventually led Erik to work in a church and lead a singles group, which he didn’t feel equipped to do. 

As an adult, Gina had her dream job and yet found herself struggling with anxiety and depression.  One of her vet tech friends invited her to church.  She had been to church in her life but never felt the warmth and welcome she did when she went to church with her friend.  She experienced a joy that overwhelmed her, and she knew it was an encounter with God.  Eventually, Erik and Gina met in the singles bible study and later married. 

Now Gina has a coaching business where she helps others change the world by changing their world.  Gina is a Strengths Finder coach, and John Maxwell certified and uses her coaching to help others gain confidence to do what they are equipped to do.  Gina also has been building community through her Women Rise Up Peer Groups.  Martha recently completed a coaching series with Gina to do the Strengths assessment and was utterly amazed by the process. 

A little over a year ago, Erik did a van conversion for his family to travel and camp in nature in a self-contained vehicle.  He gained so much interest from others that it has turned into a business with orders through next year.  His company is growing, and Erik is seeking how to incorporate his faith in his new business best.  In the past, he worked in a church where it was a natural outpouring of his work. Now, Erik can see his work as a mission field. 

With two growing businesses, it’s important for Erik and Gina to make sure to spend time together.  Recently they have re-instituted date night and know the importance of keeping family a priority. 

Gina is offering the iWork4Him audience a special “Friends & Family Strengths Coaching Discount” – 50% off the 5-hour Strengths Assessment – Regular price $1297 (Clifton Strengths Assessment Included) by emailing at [email protected] “iWork4Him, I’m In”! Learn more at www.ginamariecoaching.com Gina and Erik are also giving back 10% of these signups to iWork4Him.  Thank you guys for believing in our mission and paying it forward.

The Christian Business Network is global. Online. Connecting diverse believers all over the world. Find out more about this new platform. Plus, learn a solid Christian apology format that works at home and work.

Featured Guest: Michael ChetelatMinistry/Workplace: Christian Business Network