Strategies@work Podcast

Gleanings - February 2010

As a hiring criterion, few would include the quality of being filled with the Spirit of God. Such an attribute almost seems out of place because we don't connect God and the workplace.

Gleanings - January 2010

Most people attend college to gain the knowledge required to earn the money that will enable them to live the lifestyle that they want. Hence after college, learning is not a high priority for most. Is this wise? Should we stop learning?

Gleanings - December 2009

What does God think of the workplace? A businessman asked his pastor this question. The reply was two words—not much. This perspective is all too common. Many believe that work is little more than a necessary evil—something that we have to do to make money. To these people the workplace is, at best, a place to evangelize and, of course, to practice ethics. But what does Scripture say? Does God care about the workplace? If so, what is His will for the workplace?

Gleanings - October 2009

Gleanings - September 2009

Don’t succumb to the world’s definition of success. Be vigilant about attacking greed in your own life and in the lives of your associates. Model for others the reality that true lasting success is based on obedience to God.

Gleanings - August 2009

Everyone is blessed when they obey God. The best workers in any organization will be people who obey God by embracing Christ deeply enough to transform their lives and, as a result, seek to discover and fulfill their divinely-ordained life purpose. Employers should seek to call each worker into his or her individual, divinely-ordained work so that each worker can do the work of the Lord that has been assigned to them. Concurrently, as the workers are doing the work the Lord, they are enabling their organizations to obey God by fulfilling each organization's purpose. Hence, those organizations are then better aligned with God. Therefore, both workers and employers are blessed when workers find and fulfill their individual life purposes. This is the work of the Lord.

Gleanings - July 2009

Don’t support personal agendas that are not built on Christ. Love people enough to make it a priority to help them find Christ and then help them develop a life plan based on Christ. (The best way to do this is by personally modeling the reality of living a Christ-centered life.) After they have developed a Christ-centered life plan, invest encouragement, counsel, and financial resources to help them fulfill their Christ-centered plan. In this way you really help people and consequently glorify God. Furthermore, when an organization is committed to helping its workers find Christ and to discover their Christ-centered life plans, that organization will prosper and fulfill its purpose.

As unemployed workers find new work opportunities in the near future, it would be wise to consider the lessons to be learned from this recession. Indeed there are lessons for all of us, so consider the following thoughts on how to become a more valuable worker.

Submit to godly pastors and teachers who are committed to holistic Christianity. Furthermore, seek to help everyone in your sphere of influence to develop healthy relationships with wise, godly men and/or women who can provide spiritual oversight and accountability based on a holistic paradigm of Christianity.

Gleanings - May 2009

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is the greatest survival technique and is also the greatest way to prosper. True disciples of Christ obey God on two levels. First, they learn and practice a biblical worldview. And second, they search out and fulfill God’s specific purpose for their lives. In this way they build their lives on the rock—Christ—and can withstand the inevitable storms of life and will enjoy the economic favor of God. Become a disciple of Christ and seek to help others become disciples of Christ. And if you want your work activity to be as profitable as possible, work with others who are also disciples of Christ.

Gleanings - April 2009

Adopt the Bible as your handbook for organizational truth and wisdom. The Bible, as your “instruction manual,” will enable you to fulfill the mission of your organization with excellence. If your local church does not offer teaching and training in God’s principles of business and organizational behavior, humbly challenge your leaders to provide this training.

Gleanings - March 2009