Now, let me tell you where I am coming from: by the time I was twenty-five years old, I had started five corporations. Then, in a one week period in December of 1970, everything fell apart: stockholders filed charges against me with the SEC, banks called all our corporate loans due, the IRS sent a registered letter saying they were going to audit our corporate records, and I was evicted from my home. I lost everything, and it appeared I was headed to jail for at least 10 years for securities fraud and possibly more for tax evasion. I was 27 years old – and scared to death.Then, out of the ashes of this devastating time, God brought me to faith in Jesus Christ. God used 3 different businessmen, over a period of 6 months to show me the gospel and after I was born again everything changed—especially my work.

After all my companies went under, I found myself unemployed and deeply in debt. First, I began looking for a “job” for some reason, no one wanted to hire a guy who had just ripped off his investors and was headed for jail. So finally I called up my friend who had led me to the Lord, we met at Abe’s Restaurant In downtown Littleton, Colorado. I told Sven about all the things I had done in the business world. And I then asked him for a JOB.

Well, my friend leaned forward and whispered, “You don’t need a job - you need work”.

I said “What?”

He repeated but this time he didn’t whisper – he screamed: “You don’t need a job –you need WORK!”

Everyone in the restaurant was staring at us then my friend went on to say “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll provide the funds to set you up in a new business.”

Well, I thought to myself, “This is more like it.”

My friend then paid for breakfast and asked me to come with him. We got in his car and drove to a nearby grocery store where we went in and he purchased a large bottle of ammonia, a box of stainless steel sponges, and a package of paper towels. I didn’t realize this represented the funds that he was providing to set me up in a new business Well, we got back in the car and drove to residential area west of Denver.

My friend parked the car on a side street and announced, “Here we are.”

I asked: “Where are we?”

He said, “This is the location of your new business.”

Bewildered, I said, "Really! What’s my new business?"

He said “Cleaning ovens, door to door.”

And then he went on to explain in detail what he expected me to do. Well! I was—quite offended. I reminded him I was an accountant, a corporate executive, I told him I‘d never cleaned an oven in my life! He said, “That’s good, you won’t have any bad habits.” Then he reminded me of all the business accomplishments that I had been bragging about over breakfast. This ought to be easy for me. If I could sell a bunch or high profile people on investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in my businesses, Surely, I should be able to sell a homeowner a $10 service—right? Well, quite reluctantly, I got out of the car with the bag of ammonia, steel sponges, and paper towels. My friend then shouted out the window that he would be back in 6 hours at the same corner to pick me up. And he handed me a piece of paper with a Bible verse he had written on it: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither does he deserve to eat” 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

I stood there on the street as my friend drove off. It was cold – about 5 degrees out with a foot of snow on the ground. I thought about what my friend had said – about how this should be easy for me. So, I turned into the cold blowing wind to start up the street. I stopped and outlined a quick “sales pitch which I thought was quite powerful & persuasive. Then, I began knocking on doors. For two hours I went up and down several streets knocking on doors. I usually didn’t get to use my persuasive sales pitch. And when I did, it was always rejected. By this time I was so cold I could hardly move my hands. I noticed a restaurant a couple of blocks away and headed for it. I only had enough money for a cup of coffee & an order of toast. As I sipped the coffee, I pulled out a new testament that I had in my pocket.

First, I looked up 2 Thessalonians 3:10 to make sure it really was in the Bible. - It was. Then, I began reading Matthew 20 where Jesus disciples were seeking how to be “great” in the kingdom of God. What Jesus said to his disciples hit me like a lightening bolt. He said: “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” I finished my coffee and headed back to the street. I stopped on a street corner and prayed, “God, please show me how to be a servant”. Then, with a completely different focus, I again began knocking in doors. In the next 3 hours, I cleaned 4 ovens & made $50 including a couple of tips. All because I began to focus on how I could genuinely be of service – instead of trying to persuade people to buy.

Well, I cleaned ovens for about 3 months. During that time, in the sovereignty and mercy of God the SEC charges were dropped on a technicality and the IRS seemed to have just forgotten about me. I never heard anything else from them—and I never called them to find out why! But, it was during this time, cleaning ovens and learning what it meant to be a servant, that God began teaching me about the importance of work. As I was cleaning ovens, and meditating for hours each day in my Bible, God began to show me what He required in order to truly be a servant, and, to my surprise, within the first 2 weeks of cleaning ovens, people begin asking me to come to work for them! It was also during this time, that God began working miracles in my life financially.

As I mentioned earlier, after all my companies went under, I ended up with a substantial amount of debt. My income, cleaning ovens, was less than a $1,000 per month. Yet God was enabling me to pay down my debts – in seven years, the debts were totally paid off. I began sharing with other Christians what God was teaching me with people struggling with financial problems and business owners struggling with the challenges of business. Again, to my surprise, before long people were actually offering to pay me for my counsel.

This was the beginning of my counseling business, which I still do today. Truth for work remains a passion of mine even today, over thirty years later. Everywhere I go: church, business world, preaching in a jail ministry etc. it gets worse and worse. People don’t understand what it means to be of service, but think that they are entitled to a job just by the fact of their existence. This is not God’s calling on our lives as Christians. We know that we are entitled to nothing but the wrath of God, but through His mercy in Jesus Christ we can know the joy of working in excellence to His glory for His pleasure. This is the beginning of the truth for work, the gospel of Jesus Christ. So check out the link on the side, and read the gospel once again. We can never tire of the truth that is the center of everything we do.

Still learning, 

John Patrick