Os Hillman

Author, speaker and nonprofit leader Os Hillman has been helping Christians enjoy fulfilling relationships with God at work since 1995, when he launched Marketplace Leaders. With the dozens of books he's written and his "TGIF" devotional, Os helps men and women across the globe fulfill their calling and purpose in work and life.

So what inspires Os in the work he does for the kingdom of God? What obstacles has he had to overcome in his journey of equipping believers to walk out God's call on their lives? And what resources have helped him along the way? We ask all this and more in today's insightful interview!

The following is a transcript of a live interview. Responses have been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There's much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

Well, let’s see. I live in Cumming, Georgia, and I seem to order the pecan chicken salad from my local O’Charley’s more frequently than I like to admit it. I’m a chicken guy and grew up in the South, so fried chicken has been the norm for us in this part of the world. “Pecan-encrusted chicken served warm on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce with mandarin oranges, crumbled bleu cheese, dried cranberries and honey roasted Georgia pecans.” (That’s right from the O’Charley’s menu.)

But even more than the great food, the folks that run the restaurant believe in Southern hospitality. They talk about meals being more than what we put on our plates:

“It’s what you share around the table.
The conversations.
The stories told (and retold).
The laughter of an inside joke.
The raised glasses to a heartfelt toast.
And sometimes, a simple, comfortable silence.”

My wife, Pamela, and I have been married five and a half years, and our norm in the evenings has been to order out rather than cook at home, and then we come together in what we call our dog room. We used to have five dogs, but we lost one recently. And we share a meal there — very often from O’Charley’s — and that’s our time to connect. Afterward, we’ll often watch a movie together.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So, what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?

Well, I grew up playing golf. My dad started me early — at 11 years old. I used to caddy for him and his buddies. I’d carry two bags for $5 each. And I thought I was rich!

Anyway, I picked the game up pretty well. I became a very good junior golfer. I had three holes-in-one before I was 14 years old, broke a course record and ended up playing in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Boston, and went to school on a golf scholarship. I even turned pro for three years.

Now I’m 69 years old, and I have a one handicap — though I don’t play from the tees I used to play from. And I still enjoy it. Golf is one of those great games that you can play as you get older. I enjoy the fellowship that it offers, playing with other people. I enjoy the competition, too, and play in some tournaments, though I am not as heavily competitive as I used to be. They call the tournaments that I play in “super-senior” tournaments. I’m not a senior anymore. I’m a super senior!

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So, what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?

Well, I married Pamela five and a half years ago, and ours is my third marriage. As a Christian leader, that became very difficult for me to reconcile — the fact that I had been married three times. Not only that, but I found that the first divorce was pretty much my fault. Dealing with those things was hard, and I didn’t realize how much junk I had in my life until I went through that process. But I did face those things, and I discovered new things about myself.

Gratefully, Pamela and I have a great marriage. But you know, God has given me what I call a Joseph calling, which means that it’s a calling that requires that I be a spiritual leader and provider for others but has adversity mixed into it, too. Not too long ago, I thought my failures would disqualify me from doing what I do today. But God has actually allowed me to share those experiences with others. I created a devotional called “TGIF — Today, God Is First.” It came out of those experiences and failures.

I began writing “TGIF” in 1997, and it’s become the most popular devotional on how to apply your faith to your work life — with over 180,000 email subscribers. It has two main objectives: (1) to help you overcome life’s obstacles with God, and (2) to help you learn what it means to manifest God’s presence in the area of your calling.

What I learned from writing those devotions was that God calls us to fail forward — just like David, who was literally an adulterer and murderer. But despite all of that, God called him a man after his own heart. He gives us an amazing level of grace.

Someone once said that only Jesus made Plan A. For the rest of us, he turns our B Plans and C Plans into his A Plan. And certainly, I can say that about my own journey — that he turned my Valley of Achor, which means “trouble,” into a “door of hope.”

“And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15, ESV).

I wrote “TGIF” for myself, processing my own journey and trying to understand how I got into some of those situations. But God had other plans. It turned out that what I was writing is what a lot of people were feeling — all over the world. “TGIF” is now read in 105 countries. So you just never know!

I would say to those reading this interview … God says that there are no perfect people, and it’s all about what we do with our failures. The question is, are we going to fail forward? Are we going to learn what we need to learn from our failures? Are we going to move forward without shame and without disgrace and allow God to use us, no matter where we are?

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?

Well, I just finished a project called “31 Decrees of Blessing for Your Work Life: 31 Promises of God You Need to Claim with Authority to Bless Your Daily Work.” I’d written 20 books before this one, but I just noticed that Christians in the workplace, and just general Christians too, have lots of tools in their toolboxes — worship, devotions, giving, Bible study, evangelism and so forth. But I noticed that one tool they don’t typically have is one that I have been using for years — and that is to proclaim the Word of God audibly in situations for breakthrough.

I noticed that, in Scripture, God was very expressive. In Genesis, he spoke, “Let there be light … Let there be an expanse … Let the waters under heavens be gathered together.”

God told Ezekiel to speak to the dry bones and Moses to speak to a rock.

“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4, ESV).

“Take the staff … and tell the rock … to yield its water” (Numbers 20:7,8, ESV).

In the New Testament, Jesus said that we could speak to a mountain and that it will be moved (Mark 11:22,23).

“He said to them … ‘For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matthew 17:20, ESV).

Jesus spoke to Lazarus — to come out of his grave. He spoke to the fig tree, and it died. Peter spoke to a crippled man, and the man got up and walked. I believe that, through these passages, God is calling us to do likewise. So I created this devotional to help people understand this idea of “decreeing” — this notion of speaking truth to our circumstances. In the book of Job, God says, “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways” (Job 22:28, KJV). We’re not talking about “name it and claim it” but rather that idea that when the Holy Spirit guides you in a particular direction in a particular situation, you might want to speak audibly to that situation.

“31 Decrees” is divided into 31 days. There’s a different topic for each day, and I share a story around each topic. And then I provide 10 Scripturally based decrees that I encourage readers to speak on a given day. And then there’s a little section called “activation” that draws readers into how will might apply these teachings to their daily lives. Oh, and the book has some great video teaching that readers can access at 31decrees.com.

My overall aim with the “31 Decrees” project is to help readers become change agents in their work lives, to be salt-and-light influencers in this culture in which we live today.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it's God when it happens?

I came to Christ when I was 22 years old. That was in 1974. And one of the habits I’ve had ever since was spending time in God’s Word every morning. I’ve always done it, and I continue to do it. I start my day around 5:30 AM, and I’ll spend an hour or two in the Word or reading something that I think will help me spiritually. And then my wife and I come together for another hour. We will often read a couple’s devotional or something out of the Word, or we’ll just read a book together. That will usually take us to about 7:30 AM.

I find that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Word of God. And as my gifting is primarily in teaching, I find that the Holy Spirit often works through me by bringing to my remembrance a Scripture verse. I coach a lot of Christian CEOs, and I’m always amazed that when I’m trying to help them work through a problem, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind a Scripture verse, something applicable to the circumstances. The Bible calls that a “word of knowledge,” or it could even be considered a prophecy — to help someone come to maturity around whatever God wants them to see. And so the Word is just so precious to both my wife and me. We love reading it together, and we’ll use various mobile apps. There are apps that read the Bible out loud. (Like the YouVersion Bible App.) We’ll use apps like those to read one Proverb per day. That’s the last thing we do before we pray each morning. Then we pray the Jabez prayer and the Lord’s Prayer. That’s our pattern. That’s the kind of daily walk we have.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So, spill it, which spiritual practice is workin' best for you right now?

A couple of Bible verses have impacted me a great deal over the years. Colossians 3:23,24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (ESV).

Back in the 1990s, I went through a seven-year crisis, and one of the things that came out of it was a deep awareness that lots of people struggle to integrate their faith lives and work lives. I found that many people become Monday-morning atheists as they transition from Sunday into the workweek. So I began teaching about not making any one area of our lives more sacred than any others. And that notion became a core focus of our ministry — to help people understand that all of life is sacred.

I’ve really enjoyed seeing how God manifests his presence in my work life. And it’s happened so many times. But there was one case that’s particularly relevant to this question. A publishing house asked me to write a book, but they wanted me to purchase 1,000 copies. That was their requirement. I was an unknown author, so I agreed.

I was working out of my home back then, so I put all those books down in my basement. Fortunately, I had a mentor who modeled this idea of “speaking to the mountain.” He’d seen breakthroughs in his life, in various crises and in his business circumstances. So I woke up one Saturday morning, and in my spirit, I heard, “Go speak to your books and tell them to get out of the basement.” And I thought, Well, that's a strange thing to do. But I did it anyway. I went down to the basement and said, in the name of Jesus, “I speak to this mountain of books and I command you to get out of my basement.” It felt foolish, but then, at 2:00 PM that same afternoon, I got a phone call from a ministry in Dallas. We didn’t have any kind of prior relationship with these folks, but they ordered 300 books. It was a $3,000 order, I’d never had an order anywhere near that big. And it was Saturday! — when my business was supposed to be closed — but the folks at the ministry called anyway.

I’ve had many encounters like that during my years of walking with the Lord.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are some resources that have impacted you?

Well, that’s a great question. It makes me think about 1994 when God allowed me to go through a seven-year period of adversity. One of the books that came along during that time, which was very helpful to me, was one by Oswald Chambers called “Not Knowing Where: A Spiritual Journey Through the Book of Genesis.” I was already a reader of his devotionals. But that book is different. It is the story of the life of Abraham and how he navigated particular seasons. It helped me a great deal during that difficult time.

Another book was from my mentor, J. Gunnar Olson, who is the founder of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce out of Sweden. He came along during that same difficult season, and that became an important relationship for me. He wrote his autobiography, called “Business Unlimited: Memories of the Coming Kingdom.” In it, he shared the stories of the various and numerous miracles that have occurred in his life. It’s an amazing book; it encouraged me a lot.

Going back to Oswald Chambers, his devotional book, “My Utmost for His Highest,” was instrumental in the early days of my walk with the Lord. I read that book for years and years. I would just start over every year. That was a great resource for me, as well.

So I would say those are my key resources; all three were very encouraging to me.

We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it's done for you.

Well, one of the resources that’s been helpful to me is this season is just the technology of Zoom. Even prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was speaking at live events less and less. Because of that, I had redesigned my approach to online training. So when COVID-19 hit, and people began doing everything online, I was able to shift my focus from live events to one-on-one coaching and group coaching through Zoom.

There are currently about 300 people in the Change Agent MasterMentor Program, which helps them to understand what it means to be a kingdom workplace leader today and how to be a cultural change agent. We’re living in unprecedented times. Many of our spiritual freedoms are being attacked and a lot of the things we’ve taken for granted are being attacked. And so it’s really time for believers to be salt and light in a culture that’s becoming more and more adversarial to our faith.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So, give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

Well, I’m in a “winter” season, being 69 years old. I now get to see life from a different perspective. But I’m also investing like a father into his sons and daughters through my professional coaching — one-on-one coaching with Christian CEOs and group coaching with other types of leaders.

I’m also serving on a leadership team of something called the Great Awakening Project. It seeks to encourage and galvanize leaders in the seven spheres of culture — business, government, arts and entertainment, media, education, family and church. It seeks to catalyze a revival in those core areas that define our American culture today. I’m passionate about helping to catalyze any kind of revival that can help change the hearts of our people, because we know it’s really only through heart change that anything is ever going to happen. That kind of change will never come about through politics or anything else. It’s got to start with our hearts. And so my passion is to see those kinds of heart changes in our nation among all the people.

As many as 85% of people are unhappy and unfulfilled in their jobs, according to a Gallup study. How many of those unhappy workers are Christians? How many believers feel their work has no further purpose than paying for their monthly bills?

Probably more than the church would like to admit. So what’s the answer?

According to Os Hillman, the answer is inviting Jesus into the workplace. When we allow our work to have a higher purpose, it changes the way we feel and think about what we do.

The apostle Paul understood this. He wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23, NIV).

So what does that look like for you? How can you invite Jesus into your work this week?