When we began learning about God and business over four decades ago it seemed to be something that a fringe few were talking about. About 25 years ago I predicted that within five years every major church would have a ministry to businesspeople just like they have one for children or the elderly. Well, it took longer than that, but there is now a growing acceptance that work is worship, business is ministry, business is a calling and most people are called to the marketplace… and this is not a lower calling than pulpit preaching or being a traditional missionary.

Many of the initial core team called by Jesus were fishermen and they seemed to have a progressive experience with Jesus in their place of work, especially their boats. Let’s look at seven of these boat experiences to see how it goes from disassociation to integration:

1. “He just used my boat!”

Imagine what it was like for the pre-followers of Jesus to have the new street preacher show up and ask to...

 How should we rethink our ordering of businesses?

God is infinite and personal, so we do well to personalize this God-man connection. Jesus came to earth and talked more about a new kingdom than anything else, a realm where his will is done, no matter the old modus operandi or political climate of the day. This practically spiritual “shadow government” where people pray daily “Your kingdom come, your will be done” is a better way of thinking and living, a way of obedience and surrender rather than grabbing and power. Also, Jesus said, “follow me” not “do this and that” and kingdom of God people seek to emulate his strategy: “I only do what I see the Father doing.” This is easier said than done, of course, and we would be up the creek called Great Aspirations or Impossible Dreams BUT…

Jesus knew then and knows now that emulating his life without his fuel source is impossible. To make this upside kingdom a...

I have been reading John’s account of the death of Jesus. We rightly understand from scripture that the death of Jesus secured the eternal life of every person on the planet, past, present, and future; all we must do is believe in Jesus. This personal interpretation is correct, but it is not the only thing that the death and resurrection of Jesus was intended to accomplish.

John chapter 19:31-34 records (with a few sections emphasized):

Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water...

Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting. Leviticus 26:5

Even business leaders whose companies are doing well wonder whether their current business performance can be sustained. What if Scripture showed a possible way to avoid business downturns? The first thirteen verses of Leviticus 26 hold the conditions and the promises of sustained business performance. Our challenge is that we read it and think it is Old Testament mumbo jumbo and therefore miss the truth.

The conditions don’t seem that onerous: No idols of any sort, observe the Sabbath, reverence the sanctuary, follow God’s decrees, and obey his commands. What does this look like if we put that into New Testament speak—make that 21st Century language? 

• Idolatry for ancient Israel meant buying into the worldview and religious system that were not from God. In business, this means basing our business practices on assumptions that are not Biblical....

but in the future Isaiah 9:1

I was reading Isaiah 9 and felt it had strong relevance to the challenge we see of getting people out of the common way of doing Christianity and into a kingdom walk. The big hurdle of “recruiting” people for this or that initiative has little to do with leave, time commitments, or finances; it has to do with the possible new future for people, and how our enemy is determined to help people avoid it. The two phrases that hit me from Isaiah 9:1 were “In the past…” and “but in the future.”

As we end another Venture season (which feels much like the Old Testament times when kings returned from war) I am so blessed that the future of many people has been radically changed by God’s interjection these past four or five months. The future of many consultants has been changed forever because of the training they received. They grew spiritually when they had to serve clients in a way that went beyond their skills...

My wife likes the TV series, Call the Midwife; it is a little too blood-and-gory for me, but, I must say, I feel like a midwife for businesses.

During my first visit to a chiropractor, he asked, at the end of the exam, "So, what do you do?" "Oh, I am a corporate chiropractor!" 

This led to a conversation about a key thing I do: coming alongside existing businesses and helping them align with truth, or at least with an amazing purpose. Some of the companies we work with describe themselves as faith-based, some as purpose-driven.

Being a chiropractor happens after a regular old business sees the light or, as one client put it, gets "born again." Just as Christian parents do not automatically give birth to Christian children, likewise Christian businesspeople do not inevitably have businesses that further the business of what some call "the kingdom of God." 

On a trip to Morocco, which is a kingdom, I realized how little Westerners know about living under the rules...