Category: Work

The 40 Year Journey

The 40 Year Journey

Life is a journey for each of us and it is uniquely different for everyone. I’m extremely grateful for my recent journey to the United Kingdom and then to South Africa. This would not have been possible without years of preparation and so many events that brought me to where I am today:

  • The call from God that I felt distinctly at the age of 15.
  • The decision to go to Bible College in Ontario where I met my future wife, yet never dated her during her three years there.
  • The only weekend Cathy would be home in Clarenville between semesters at Memorial University was the very weekend I would visit her church as part of the LifeLine band and we would have our first date.
  • Graduating from Bible College, becoming a pastor, getting engaged and married (October 25, 1986), all within six months.
  • Major life crisis at the age of 25, the trauma of a church split, subsequent job loss that effectively closed the door to ministry, at least that’s how I saw it at the time.
  • The door opening to a career in financial planning in March, 1991 and the following years of struggle feeling like I may have missed what my life was supposed to look like.

This was one time in my life that I questioned how it was ever possible for God to work this circumstance for my good. I have heard it said often: “When one door closes, another door opens” and that was certainly true at this juncture in my life.

  • The Global financial crisis of 2008, and during this time running as a candidate in the Federal Election, then the turmoil it created in my life and the depths of despair that followed. I have often said that the stock market chart of this time mirrored my emotions and level of despair. (I wrote about this in a previous blog post).
  • The discovery of Kingdom Advisors, Randy Alcorn’s book, Money Possessions and Eternity, that I purchased at an Advisors with Purpose Conference in Toronto. This began to transform my thinking about my calling and how I could fulfill that call even as a financial advisor.
  • After attaining significant success in my practice, I was challenged with the potential to leave it after 24 years and become “a pastor to financial advisors,” thus leaving our home province. Then the next challenge, after the move to Ontario, was to transition from a salaried position to having to raise financial support for the ministry of Kingdom Advisors in Canada!
  • Now there are 25 Champions who have faithfully supported this ministry for the past 10 years! This has allowed me to minister to hundreds of advisors, not only in Canada but beyond what I could have imagined or thought (into the countries we just visited).

It’s been quite the journey that includes many great moments but many difficult decisions.

While we were in South Africa, we took the journey from Cape Town to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and spent 18 years doing hard labor in a limestone quarry. Our guide through the prison (pictured above) shared how so many were imprisoned and treated so harshly which caused such a somber feeling in my heart. He then took us inside the prison and explained how he was imprisoned himself for 6 years starting at the age of 15.

I could hardly believe what I was hearing – I was sensing the call of God on my life at age 15 – he was being imprisoned at that age! What we have in common is that we were both on a journey, we would both experience unique trauma in life which would determine our destination in life. He shares his story with thousands of people every year which is therapy for him.

Our trip to the United Kingdom and South Africa in October 2026 was therapy for me. An opportunity to share a little of my experience to encourage other Christian advisors on their journey. I understand better now that every journey has purpose.

We all experience some level of pain and trauma and some joy in life. There is purpose in the pain to take us to a new level of trust.

I am grateful for the experiences in my life that have brought so much joy, but also for the painful experiences in life that have served to shape me into the leader I am today. I have learned that when things don’t go according to my plans, I can be thankful and trust that things are going according to His plan. On October 25, we will celebrate 40 years of marriage!

The Reason We Work

The Reason We Work

Reading through the BibleProject’s plan on the Ten Commandments, I was struck by the simplicity of the instruction in the eighth commandment: “Do not steal.”

In some ways, this commandment represents a shift away from a scarcity mindset.

Why does a person steal? In its simplest form, stealing happens when we see something we don’t have and become driven by the desire to have what someone else has. Stealing becomes the quickest way to get it.

The apostle Paul gives us a very different instruction:

“The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.”
—Ephesians 4:28 (HCSB)

The answer to what we desire is not stealing. What if the answer begins with a change in mindset—from scarcity to abundance?

When we move toward an abundance mindset, we do honest work. And when we truly embrace that mindset, generosity becomes the natural outflow of our lives.

Paul calls the Ephesian church to make a fundamental change: move from being a thief to becoming a worker—a person who works hard and honestly.

But why are we to work?

The typical answer might be: to save, accumulate, and have more.

Paul gives us a different answer. He says we are to work “so that” we have something available to give to “anyone in need.”

Our work is not ultimately about the accumulation of more. It is about having something to share.

The scarcity mindset says, “Giving to someone in need is risky. What if I need this myself?”

The abundance mindset says, “God has given me the ability to work so that I can be a blessing to others.”

Perhaps the opposite of stealing is more than simply respecting what belongs to someone else. Perhaps it is learning to trust God enough to work honestly, receive gratefully, and give generously.

Discover Your Why: Fulfillment in Work and Life

Discover Your Why: Fulfillment in Work and Life

Well the Labour Day weekend is upon us and for many, it marks the end of a season and shifts students back into the school year and those at work into a busy fall. Mark Twain helps me see

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Mark Twain

Finding your why is truly what makes your work significant. I have heard it said that your job is what an employer pays you to do; your work is what you were born to do. I’m convinced that when you discover your why, you truly live out your calling in life.

Ken Boa in his book, Conformed to His Image says:

“Our primary calling is to know and love God. Our secondary calling is to express this relationship in everything we do and with everyone we encounter.”

As a teenager, I felt a “call” on my life and the best way I could interpret it at the time was to become a pastor. However, the majority of my career has been in the financial services industry, providing insurance and investment advice. My perspective was that my work as a financial advisor was my job (secular) and I believed my “calling” to ministry was my true work (sacred). As the years passed, I questioned if I had “missed my calling” or did I choose the wrong profession?

My problem was that my secondary calling (my work as a financial advisor) was somehow disconnected from my primary calling (to know and love God). Ken Boa explains it this way:

“If the secondary is not related to the primary, we slip into the error of dichotomizing the “spiritual” and the “secular” when they should really be integrated. When this happens, our relationship with the Lord is disconnected from the everyday activities of our lives.”

I certainly felt I was serving the Lord in my business, but somehow the everyday activities of my work became disconnected from my calling. My focus as an advisor was on growing my business, developing relationships and serving clients. While that ethic was typical of this industry, my secondary calling lacked the perspective that only comes by incorporating my primary calling. My work as an advisor (secondary) needed to be an expression of my primary calling. Dr. Ken Boa explains it this way:

“Secular work becomes spiritual when done to the glory of God. Spiritual work becomes secular when done to please and impress men.”

My level of fulfillment through my work reached new heights when the secular and the sacred were merged. This seems so simple now as I reflect, but it required a shift in my perspective. Recognizing the opportunity to love and bring glory to God (primary calling) through my practice (secondary calling), transformed my work life and brought a fresh perspective. In essence, I was transformed into the person I was born to be and now Labour Day becomes important – not the day I was born, but a better understanding of “why” I was born. Dr. Ken Boa sums this up perfectly:

“When we keep our primary calling first and seek to express it in and through our secondary calling, we become more holistic in our thinking and practice.”

Our Relationships Don’t Belong to Us!

Our Relationships Don’t Belong to Us!

I read this statement in a devotional recently and was challenged with the thought. Paul David Tripp writes that:

Fellowship is God caring enough to put people in your life to encourage, rebuke and comfort you.

New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp (Aug. 19)

I’ve been in relationship with some people for many years now, which begs the question: “Why are these people (or this person) in my life?”

Tripp explains it this way:

“We cannot allow ourselves to have an owner’s view of our relationships, as if they exist for the sole purpose of our happiness. Our relationships don’t belong to us – They belong to God for his use, for his purpose.”

This changes our perspective – if we don’t own these relationships and they are not “about us” solely, there must be a reason, a deeper purpose. The unseen part of relationship is how they came to be and also why they came to exist.

If we take the “owner’s view” it means either we or the person we are in relationship with took the initiative to establish contact. This easily excludes God’s part in this relationship and means we can miss seeing his purpose.

My wife and I met while we were attending the same college. We take for granted our chance meeting at an airport in late April 1985 and then meeting again the following weekend in her hometown. This was the only weekend she was home because she was between semesters while attending university. That chance weekend meeting clinched my decision to attend the same university that summer where our relationship began to develop. The rest, as they say, is history.

Was this simply a series of coincidences, where each of us initiated our relationship to spend time together? Or was God more involved than we often give Him credit for?

I choose to believe that my relationships are an example of God caring enough to infuse people into my life for His use and His divine purpose.

One of the other life-changing experiences for me was joining the community of Christian financial professionals, known as Kingdom Advisors. It was a game-changer when it became clear that I didn’t have to separate my faith from my work as a financial advisor.

Here’s the advice from Kingdom Advisors:

“Don’t spend another day feeling divided between your faith and your career. Get certified by Kingdom Advisors and fully integrate your faith into your financial practice.”

I’m looking forward to connecting with advisors in a cohort this fall (meeting weekly starting Sept. 4th) to walk with advisors through 20 Modules of Core Training. This journey together will be a key to fully integrate your faith into your financial practice and continue to build God-ordained relationships.

When You Don’t Run Alone: 1924 & 2024

When You Don’t Run Alone: 1924 & 2024

I did have opportunity to watch some of the Olympics that just concluded and one of my highlights was Canada running in the men’s 4×100 Relay race. This was quite a surprise as the announcer shared: “They got the baton around the track faster than anybody else! With four men who didn’t have the individual clock speed here at these games. What a reversal of fortune for these men here tonight.” They did not medal in the individual races they ran, yet had the best time when they ran the relay.

You can watch the video here: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6476926

The key to their success is how they worked together as a team and were able to win the gold medal, which they were unable to accomplish when running alone.

This reminded me of the Olympics 100 years earlier – 1924, long before I was born, but I have read and previously written about Eric Liddell. He was a devout Christian and missionary to China, who felt it a priority to run in the Olympic games. His sister felt that his training for the 1924 Olympics deterred him from returning to China as a missionary. I’m confident she saw his calling and work in life was being a missionary, not running. However, Liddell said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

But when the timetable for the Games was released, the 100m heats were on a Sunday and Eric Liddell dropped a stunning revelation. The Christian Sabbath was the Lord’s Day and there was nothing in this world that could persuade him to run.
Liddell’s decision meant he had to give up on his strongest event and switch his focus to the 400m. Instead of a straight dash to the finish line, this event required the stamina to maintain the pace around a full lap of the track, described at the time as the quarter-mile race.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240705-olympics-hero-eric-liddell-and-the-real-story-behind-chariots-of-fire

Fellow Scottish athlete Tom Riddell said this longer distance exposed Liddell’s idiosyncrasies, but he could still rely upon that electrifying pace. Riddell told the BBC he had asked Liddell about his tactical approach: “In his own words he said, ‘Well, when the gun goes, I go as fast as I can, and I trust to God that I’ll have the strength to do the second half.’ And I think he really did.”

The truth is Liddell was running an individual race but he was not running alone!

We usually would not class running or involvement in a sporting activity as spiritual, or for God, but simply a physical activity. For Liddell, running wasn’t just a fun activity but a God honouring one.

The mistake we often make is in categorizing our activities, whether it’s exercising or working as a non-spiritual activity. We view our walking, running, or cycling as a physical activity and our work as secular. In doing so, we separate it from what is sacred, rather than sensing the pleasure of God in that activity.

Here is a great piece of advice: Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord … (Col 3:23). The reality is that when we serve others (in our work), we are actually serving the Lord, not just men (Eph. 6:7). If we can say when we walk or work that “we feel His pleasure,” God is truly walking and working with us and through us. This adds a brand new energy to our efforts. When you work, you are not working alone.

It’s not original to me but here’s a great question and the best advice:

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

The Apostle Paul – 1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT

The Secret to Growing Your Business

The Secret to Growing Your Business

In the past several weeks I have had multiple conversations with self-employed entrepreneurs who have expressed the urgency to focus on growing their business.

I completely understand the urgency and have been in the exact situation myself ​- fully focused on growing the business with little time for anything else. ​Based on my own experience, as long as my sole focus remained on growing the business, I was working hard and striving for success. I was doing all the right things like marketing myself, networking, asking for referrals and in general, working hard. None of these are really secrets to success, are they? They are simply the necessary elements we would immediately think about and without implementing, success would be extremely unlikely. All of these efforts gave me only a measure of success as a financial advisor.

However, it was only ​when I focused on ​incorporating God into my business that I truly came to reach a level of success that I desired and at a rate of growth that I had never thought possible. In the last 5 years that I was a practicing advisor, my business grew by more than 1200%.

As I look back, this business success happened only when I began to invest some of my time away from the typical business opportunities. I started a training course that gave me a different perspective, namely that God was more interested and involved in my business success than I realized. Somehow, I was convinced that my own efforts had brought me this success, but then again, I wasn’t the first to come to that conclusion. God reminded the Israelites how He fed them manna and cared for them in the wilderness because He knew they might want to take the credit for their prosperity.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Deut. 8:17-18 NIV

Despite this verse being underlined in my Bible, it was far too easy for me to emphasize the part I played in this success, and in so doing, diminish the role that God played in it. Sure, my ability played a part, but who gave me the ability? While my training, education, sales skills had to be developed, ultimately it was God who had positioned me in this role to start with. He had opened the opportunity to be trained in this field and I certainly would not have chosen this path on my own.

The global financial crisis of 2008/2009 was a time of profound soul searching for me but was very pivotal in my journey. It led me to a deeper study to earn my CKA® (Certified Kingdom Advisor®) designation which helped me understand God’s activity in my business.

The result: first, surrendering the ownership of my business to Him, then second, my striving diminished as He grew the business. Maybe that’s exactly what John meant when he said, “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

For the record, the S&P 500 did increase in value from 2010 – 2015 by 92%, so this does account for some of the growth in business. The remaining 1100% growth that occurred in less than 5 years is much more than I could have ever accomplished unless I decreased and He increased.
​

A Child is Born!

A Child is Born!

Christmas Day, December 25th has become a day focused on gift-giving and receiving. On Christmas Day 2019, our granddaughter, Eleanor was born which has changed Christmas Day for our family into her birthday celebration.

Queen Elizabeth said it well in her Christmas message:

In the birth of a child there is a new dawn with endless potential.

Queen Elizabeth, Dec. 25, 2021

When a child (or grandchild) is born, it brings about significant change in the family dynamic. You become more centred on someone new rather than on yourself. Before children (35 years ago), we were newly-weds and the focus was on each other as a young married couple. We were transformed into parents and the years since brought further transformation – We became grand-parents! Christmas Day 2021 was delayed until Boxing Day because our focus intentionally shifted.

Photo taken on Dec. 27, 2019

The process of transformation often involves painful experiences. Here is how the Apostle Paul described it:

I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

Galatians 4:19 (NLT)

While we celebrate Christ being born on a specific day, we have continued the celebrations from a single day to a full season. Paul said he was experiencing labour pains which “will continue until Christ is fully developed.” It is not just the experience of Christ being made alive in our hearts but also that He continues to develop in our lives. Children grow and parents grow with them so each can be brought to maturity and that is the journey of life.

When I think about Christmas, it’s about a child being born but also about that child becoming “fully developed in our lives.” What this means is the focus of life and yes, even our business, is changed forever so that Christ becomes the centre.

There is much in our world that draws our attention away from what is truly important. Often the influences that impact our daily decisions are so subtle that we are completely unaware of them. Make no mistake the goal is to shift our focus away from what is essential. The context of Paul’s statement about labour pains is that there are competing voices that are “zealous to win you over” with the ultimate goal of distraction so that we “would pursue them” (Gal. 4:17).

There is always a competing voice – one that is louder than the whisper of truth! The truth is that we are on this earth to complete the work that was prepared for us and to bring glory to God. The louder voice calls us to focus on other things in our business like products and sales targets. While these are a necessary elements for our success in business, the focal point is to bring glory to God by completing the work given to us.

For every industry, there are “best practices” to follow to be successful. When Christ is fully developed in us, the “best practices” will naturally flow through us into our lives and businesses.

It’s quite interesting that “the glory of God” is something we have all fallen short of (Rom. 3:23) whether in life personally or in business. We have all missed opportunities but the object of our hope is the glory of God (Rom. 5:2).

So as we wrap up another Christmas and journey into another year,

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion!!

Philippians 1:6 ESV

Re-Thinking Retirement

Re-Thinking Retirement

When I consider the many people I know in their retirement years, I can see there are multiple views about retirement. Some who were fortunate enough to have a sufficient pension plan retired at the point of eligibility, while others, despite having enough to retire, have actually continued to work. Even some of those who retired with a pension went back to work, and in many cases, it wasn’t necessarily for the money.  There are many different perspectives about when a person should retire and it is important to consider what shapes that viewpoint.

I recall one conversation with a financial advisor a few years ago now and he spoke to me about how he was challenged in this area. His plan was to retire from work ASAP and after sharing this sentiment a friend asked a significant question, “So you don’t like your work then? (If you want to get away from it ASAP.)”  Let’s face it, our desire to retire is typically determined by our view of our work. If work is stressful, physically challenging or emotionally draining, then retirement obviously looks pretty attractive. However, if one has a sense of fulfillment and pleasure from their work and they have the health and mental capacity to continue, should they retire just because they reach retirement age?

The basic understanding of retirement is ceasing to work. For many, this means retiring as soon as possible and enjoying a life of leisure. I read an article in The Financial Post earlier this month which published the results of a recent survey. Interestingly, the title was “Canadians finding retirement is not all it’s cracked up to be: survey.”

The 2019 Sun Life Barometer, based on an Ipsos online poll, found that many Canadians don’t seem to be financially prepared for retirement, with 23 per cent of retirees describing their lifestyle as a frugal one that involves “following a strict budget and refraining from spending money on non-essential items.”

If that doesn’t sound like much fun, consider the gloomier alternative: almost half of working Canadians (44 per cent) expect they’ll still be employed full-time at age 66. Among the “frugal” retirees still working after the traditional retirement age, 65 per cent say it’s because they need to work for the money rather than because they enjoy it.

The article quoted paints a gloomy picture if you are still working at age 66 but I would like to challenge that paradigm. This perspective assumes that work is burdensome and something you do not enjoy. In my experience, I know many people who are well past age 65 and still working, not because they have to (financially), but because it’s the life they’ve chosen.  If work brings you a significant level of fulfillment then why stop, even if you are past the normal retirement age?

Preparation for something as important as “the rest of your life” (that’s how long retirement typically lasts) must involve more than finances, don’t you think? I turn 55 in a month’s time and I can’t imagine retiring in 2020; I’m just not ready to stop working. To be honest, when I look at some of my peers who are 65+ and are not yet retired, it doesn’t seem to be a gloomy a prospect at all. Continuing to work appeals to me more than ceasing to work because it is an opportunity to fulfill what I see as God’s call on my life.

Culture tells us that retirement should occur at age 65 or earlier, if at all possible. As a follower of Christ, isn’t Scripture meant to be more of a guide than culture? Have we even considered what the Bible teaches about retirement?

The one reference to retirement in the Bible is an instruction from the Lord regarding the Levites who were to serve from age 25, “but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer” (NIV). The next verse clarifies that “After retirement they may assist … but they may not officiate in the service.” (NLT) 

It is difficult to build a case for retirement, especially as culture positions it, based on one verse alone, but you can easily build a case for rest. Strong’s Concordance has a full page of references for the word “rest.” Maybe the biblical approach of rest is a better way to view retirement. In the October 2019 issue of “The Investment Executive,” financial advisor, Sterling Rempel suggested working 24/7, meaning in retirement years, one can work 24 hours per week and 7 months of the year. That’s a neat rhythm of Sabbath rest, don’t you think? If you think about rest, it means resting from something, usually work. I believe incorporating more rest into our work lives may be a better alternative than a complete life of leisure.

This month’s Kingdom Advisors Study Group poses a few questions worth asking when approaching the retirement years of life:

– Do you have a vision for these years? (Without a vision … Prov. 29:18)

– How can your unique skills, talents, or networks be leveraged for greater purpose in these years?

– How can your life experiences benefit others?

Rather than being inherently good, work is often referred to as “a necessary evil” or something we have to do to make ends meet. Maybe we need to view work as an opportunity to fulfill our purpose in life, so that may mean working into what is typically the retirement years. I have been challenged this past month to see work as a means of reflecting the image that I was made in. We all know the creation account of God working and then resting. Maybe we should consider the different seasons of work and rest over a lifetime. Think about that: it means as you age, you will likely work less and rest more but you will continue to find pleasure in both work and leisure.

Are Your Financial Decisions Guided by the Bible?

Are Your Financial Decisions Guided by the Bible?

It seems pretty natural for Christians to desire to be guided by the wisdom found in the Bible. However, as I have worked in the financial services industry for close to 30 years, I have discovered that often what guides many Christians is not significantly different than non-Christians; culture is often a greater influence than scripture.

James 3:15-17 makes it very clear that there is a vast difference between wisdom that is earthly vs. wisdom from above. The basis of all financial decisions should be wisdom from above, but as Ron Blue, the founder of Kingdom Advisors states, “Traditional financial planning is based on earthly wisdom.” Earthly wisdom contains such things as jealousy, selfishness, and an unspiritual focus. The Contemporary English Version clarifies:

Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things.

For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. (Christian Standard Bible)

This passage is often not considered in relation to finances, but the truth is many Christians are financially motivated by selfish ambition and have thoughts of envy when comparing themselves to others. We cannot really escape the truth that what guides many Christians is “earthly wisdom,” and not “the wisdom from above.”

But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.  (James 3:17 Good News Translation)

Lives that are lived based on non-traditional financial planning, “wisdom from above,” or guided by the Bible will produce a harvest of good deeds which comes from being filled with compassion.

Consider your perspective on retirement and what shapes that view. Retirement is often seen as the opportunity to focus more on pleasure and leisure; therefore, the major purpose of financial planning is to get you to a place where you can afford to do exactly that. Our culture has positioned retirement as a time of ceasing from work for a life of leisure; however, this lifestyle will likely be a lot less fulfilling. No doubt, leisure is meant to be part of our lives, but I am not convinced it is to be all-consuming.

Please reflect on “the wisdom from above” around retirement. May I suggest that producing “a harvest of good deeds” should not be limited to our working years but  extend into our retirement years.

Mitch Anthony, in his book “The New Retirementality” shares this wisdom:

For the past 15 to 20 years the institution of retirement has been morphing into something other than what we are familiar with. The idea has been evolving slowly toward something other than a playground for senior citizens. The revolution taking place is that many are seeing this stage of life as just the opposite – the most fertile period of life for meaningful pursuit.

Consider this biblical wisdom: “There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand.” (Eccl. 2:24 CSB) This verse seems a perfect description for retirement, but one thing on the list doesn’t seem to fit … work. Is it possible that culture has developed a distorted view of work?

Culture today positions work as something that defines who we are. When we meet someone for the first time we usually ask, “What do you do?” It is as if our job or position defines us. Work is often referred to as “a necessary evil,” or drudgery and simply a means of earning income. The general thinking is: the harder I work, the greater my income because work is the source of income. If work provides no more meaning than this, it makes perfect sense to work toward retirement and leave our place of employment as soon as we can. Maybe we have allowed culture to shape our thinking around work and retirement more than discovering biblical wisdom on the topic.

It is of vital importance to live our lives intentionally seeking out wisdom (from above) to guide us. Look at Eph 2:10 (CSB):

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

From this verse we learn:

  1. We are a product of God working in our lives, so in essence, He defines us; it is not our work that defines us.
  2. We are created to work (work is normative and expected).
  3. Our work is to be good work (completed with excellence for the good of others having eternal impact).
  4. God has prepared us and equipped us with skills, intelligence experiences, etc. to complete the work He planned for us.
  5. The focus and motivation of our work should not be income. God is the source of our income and uses the work He gave us to do as a means of supply for our needs. Refer to Matt. 6:32-33 (NLT) where unbelievers’ thoughts are dominated by worry for future supply of needs, but those who seek the Kingdom above all else are given all they need (God is their supply). The personal income of believers is linked to trust in God and their focus is not earning that income, but simply doing the work that was prepared for them.

Simply seeing work as something that God has prepared for us to do should shift our thinking. If God has prepared us for this work, how can we retire from it?

Mitch Anthony often says,

“Don’t retire from something, retire to something.”

The point is that you may very well retire from your job or career, but retirement should become an opportunity to continue in your calling, maybe in a different form. You may or may not be paid for this “work” but it will be very meaningful. Anthony stresses the importance of “extracting the most meaning from the means you possess.”

As a Christian, what influences your financial decisions most –  earthly wisdom or wisdom from above?

 

 

 

It’s Labour Day Weekend!

It’s Labour Day Weekend!

Photo taken in my office in Corner Brook, NL in 2015

The long weekend is here and on Monday, we will celebrate Labour Day, a statutory holiday in Canada since 1894. What better time to write about work and our view of it.

For many, work is considered a necessary evil, a drudgery, something we are compelled to do in order to make a living.  We may have all felt that way at times, but surely, life was not meant to be that way.  Why not take some time this weekend to settle your reason to labour.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain

I have heard it said that your job is what an employer pays you to do; your work is what you were born to do. I first published this statement (defining the difference between a person’s job and work) in a blog post a few years ago. One reader wrote saying, “In a few weeks I will go to neither” meaning they would be retiring. The point I was making was that you certainly finish a job or change careers, but I question if you can really retire from your work, especially if it is what you were born to do. Maybe your work (or calling) is something that takes you an entire lifetime to complete.

The term “calling” has often been reserved for members of religious organizations, or people in public ministry, like a member of the clergy or an overseas missionary, for example. However, becoming a politician, lawyer, doctor, fire fighter, police officer, mechanic etc. has been considered more of a career choice and not typically connected to calling at all. It seems that calling, therefore, is “sacred” while the other careers listed are more “secular.”

Dr. Ken Boa in his book, Conformed to His Image says,

“Our primary calling is to know and love God. Our secondary calling is to express this relationship in everything we do and with everyone we encounter.”

As a teenager, I felt a “call” on my life and the best way I could interpret it at the time was to become a pastor. I attended Bible College to earn a theology degree and during my first year, my Bible was open on my desk to 2 Timothy 4 as a daily reminder to: “Preach the word; be ready in season …” but I felt for most of my life my calling was more “out of season.”

Most of my career was in the financial services industry providing insurance and investments. My perspective was that my work as a financial advisor was my job (secular) and I believed my “calling” to ministry was my true work (sacred). As the years passed, I questioned if I had “missed my calling” or was it possible that I could live out my calling by being a financial professional?

My problem was that my secondary calling (as a financial advisor) was somehow disconnected from my primary calling. Ken Boa explains that “If the secondary is not related to the primary, we slip into the error of dichotomizing the “spiritual” and the “secular” when they should really be integrated. When this happens, our relationship with the Lord is disconnected from the everyday activities of our lives.”

Wow! Looking back, I realize that I kept my primary calling separate from my secondary calling. I certainly felt I was serving the Lord but somehow allowed the everyday activities of my work to be completely separate from my relationship with the Lord.

For many years, my focus as an advisor was on building my business, which included developing relationships and serving clients. While my focus was good (and typical of this industry), my secondary calling lacked the perspective that only comes by incorporating my primary calling. My work as an advisor (secondary) needed to be an expression of my primary calling. Dr. Ken Boa explains it this way:

“Secular work becomes spiritual when done to the glory of God. Spiritual work becomes secular when done to please and impress men.”

When I recognized the opportunity to bring glory to God (primary) through my practice (secondary), my work was transformed and took on new meaning.

My level of fulfillment reached new heights because the secular and the sacred were merged after many years. Dr. Ken Boa sums this up perfectly: “When we keep our primary calling first and seek to express it in and through our secondary calling, we become more holistic in our thinking and practice.”

What about you? Are you living out your calling everyday through your work? Is your time at work fulfilling because it is a true expression of your calling?