What does it mean to enter the kingdom of heaven? What difference do our motives make?   “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 ESV   Why did Jesus say this right after the passage on the tree and its fruit above?   Jesus seems fairly harsh in this little section. Is there something for us today?   Our actions matter; words, not so much. Talk is easy. The fruit analogy continues. However, what is the motive behind our actions. What is the result of what I claim? What is the outcome of what I do? Those are the things that matter. Did we live following Jesus with our actions or only our intentions?   Today on our Marketplace Mission Trip, we talk about the need to deliver excellent work. Quality work is a baseline requirement of workplace ministry. But people who don't follow Jesus can also do a great job. Do a great job because you follow Jesus. Serve others because you follow him. Bless others because you follow him. That completes the circle.   We can produce bad fruit. We can produce good fruit. Regardless, if we're not following Jesus and growing our knowledge of him, we miss out.   Today, listen to God and do what he says. We're called to be different. Why not join a community of believers who want to follow Jesus more closely. Check out community out at https://community.followerofone.org.  

This powerful analogy has been used many ways. But what does Jesus mean. Notice where this is in the sermon.   Do you ever think about the impact you have on others?   "Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits." Matthew 7:20   When you interact with others, how do they feel? I confess there were long periods in my life where anyone I interacted with got angry or disappointed. I can be an critical jerk. I hope that doesn't cause you to stop listening. If you're honest, you can probably also judge the impact you have on others, too.   This passage is famous. We know a tree by it's fruit. Healthy trees bear good fruit. Diseased trees produce diseased fruit or none at all. As God's people we're challenged to bear good fruit. So what kind of mark does a meeting with you cause? How do you make others feel?   Jesus is making a point in this section about false prophets. (See verses 15 and 16). But our lives speak for God. How we live is a testimony of what we believe. When people interact with a Christ-follower, it should be different, in a good way. Even if the outcome is negative. Even if you have to report bad news. Even if you have to fire someone, a great question is, how would Jesus do this? What would Jesus do?   Today, let's do our best to produce good fruit. Let's create positive interactions with people today. Let's be God's blessing to them.   Also, are you blessed by these podcasts? We're a donor-supported ministry. Would you consider making a gift so we can grow this ministry. Our goal is to help everyday marketplace Christ-followers be intentional about integrating their faith at work. Head over to www.followerofone.org/partner to share a gift. We even have a matching gift going on right now that will double your new contribution to our ministry. Thank you for making a positive difference in your interactions today.  

Today on the Follower of One podcast, Mike Henry sits down with Becky Robinson. Becky Robinson is the Founder and CEO of Weaving Influence, a full-service marketing agency that specializes in digital and integrated marketing services and public relations for book authors, including business leaders, coaches, trainers, speakers, and thought leaders. For more than a decade, under Becky’s leadership, the firm has provided a wide range of services to help clients launch more than 160 books. Becky's first book, Reach, launched this year. In this episode, Mike and Becky talk about how Weaving Influence got started, Becky’s new book Reach, the importance of leaving a lasting impact, valuing generosity, accessibility is the key to expanding an audience and leaving a lasting impact, and how God uses His followers to bless others.    Outline of the Episode 00:59 – About Becky Robinson and Weaving Influence 03:08 – About Becky’s new book Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause 03:49 – The importance of leaving a lasting impact  04:47 – Valuing Generosity 08:10 – How accessibility is the key to expanding audience and leaving a lasting impact  10:50 – How weaving Influence got started 16:09 – Following God and seeing who he wants to bless through you   Valuing Generosity Generosity and accessibility is the key to expanding an audience and leaving a lasting impact. When you remove the barrier of finances from resources that you have, you open the door for more people to use those resources. If you want to expand your audience, you need to be generous.   God uses His Followers to Bless Others When you agree with God’s will for your life and follow Him, you allow God to use you. God will use His followers to bless the people around them. So, next time you are at work, ask God to see how you can bless the coworkers around you.    Follow Becky Robinson Instagram Twitter LinkedIn   Connect With Follower Of One Join us over in our Online Community, get social with us; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Listen to our podcast on your way to work and subscribe using your favorite podcast app!

Do you get in a hurry?   “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14 ESV   I'm often in a hurry. It's silly. God's in charge and I know it. But if I can get there a little quicker, I can do something else. Often, the something else isn't any better, it's just "next." You can tell God is working on me a bit here.   Today on the Marketplace Mission Trip, we talk about making time for others. This verse is about doing things Jesus wants us to do, rather than what's easy. I thought they went together.   Fast, selfish, without caring for anyone else - that's the easy, or wide way for me. I can attack the world the way everyone else does. Or I can go through the world slowly, carefully, intentionally. I believe Jesus calls us to the latter. He wants us to pay attention to our brothers and sisters. (Remember, we all have the same Father.)   One idea for taking the narrow gate and the hard way is to trust God and do things his way. It was his idea to have us slow down and pay attention to others. Therefore it must be that the life he mentions in this verse is worth it.   Today, make time for others. Let God set your pace and give you direction. It will feel like the slow, hard, narrow way. But the end if life.   Thanks for being a marketplace minister. Thanks for making a difference. What we do because we follow Jesus matters. Why not join a community of believers who are actively working to follow Jesus? Head over to https://community.followerofone.org and join us?  

What does Jesus expect of us?   But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Matthew 14:16 ESV   Today is the first day of Action Week on the Marketplace Mission Trip. When we hang out with Jesus, we quickly find we have a job to do. The story about feeding the 5000 is in every one of the 4 Gospels. This was a big deal. Probably more than 10,000 people had been following Jesus for some time. There is no fast-food restaurant around. It dawns on the disciples that these people are getting hungry so they bring it to Jesus' attention.   Jesus tells them to solve the problem.   Jesus left you and me here on this planet at this time to be part of the solution to the global problem. He called us to take part in the answer. We have a job to do.   Every day, we interact with people who need to see and experience Jesus. They need to know he cares for them. They need to sense his love for them. They need to swim in his joy about them. Every one of us could use benefit from sensing the joy and excitement Jesus has when he thinks about us as his children.   We who follow Jesus have been given the job of distributing his love, joy and grace in the world.   On this, the first day of Action Week in the mission trip, we're challenging you. Step into the call God has for you. This isn't just about staying out of trouble. This is about loving people. We've been given that job. Will we step into it?   Why not join us on the next Marketplace Mission Trip? You can learn more and join our online community at https://community.followerofone.org. What's holding you back?

Why are you doing this?   "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;" 1 Peter 3:15 NASB   Peter challenges us "to give an account for the hope that is in you." In the ESV, it says "give a reason." Our fifth daily habit is to speak for ourselves.   I watched another video the other day about someone who gave advice on how to turn a break-room conversation to spiritual things. I'm sure this person is very good at those things. But I never had a particular "skill" at manipulating conversations. Maybe I'm a 2nd class Christian in that regard, but my experience has been that most of my coworkers have one of 2 perspectives on bringing our faith to work: some appreciate it and some do not.   Almost no one appreciates us having an ulterior motive. If we want to become friends with people simply because we appreciate them and want to be friends, that seems more genuine than wanting to be friends with them to get them to trust Jesus. I have to ask Jesus to give me a genuine appreciation for others.   But I can serve others all the time. (I don't, but I can...) When I serve them, I'm talking about doing something for their benefit. Maybe I can change the way I do my job to make theirs easier. Maybe I can buy them a coffee. Maybe I can give them a ride. Anything like that is what we talked about yesterday. Often, when we go out of our way to serve people who don't do that for us, they'll ask. Why are you doing this.   Peter is instructing us. When asked, we should give an account. We don't have to try and turn a conversation. We just serve until someone asks. Then we can give an account. We talk about using "I" and "me" statements so we can do it respectfully. We didn't do it to get them to do something. We did it because we follow Jesus.   Today, practice how you would answer a coworker who asked you, "Why are you doing this?" The more natural you can make this the easier it will be. And you'll have the confidence to serve more, too.

Are you qualified to serve?   2 Timothy 2:20-21 says "Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work." (ESV)   Sometimes, I meet people who think their job as a Christ-follower is to just stay out of trouble. They don't think of themselves as being very spiritual so they plan to sneak into heaven. They're just trying to stay out of trouble until they die.   I started today's reading in verse 20. Paul makes an analogy in verse 20. In a large house, there are some special rooms, and some special furniture and some everyday stuff. If we cleanse ourselves from "these things," he says, we "will be a vessel for honor, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work."   These things means the things he talked about before hand. We need to avoid worldly and empty talk (vs. 16), and abstain from wickedness (vs. 19). But when we do, and when we're prepared to talk about our faith (vs. 15), we're prepared for every good work.   So are you prepared? We're working on it at Follower of One. We practice living our faith daily and in our online community we engage to integrate our faith into our daily lives better. You can get involved and begin growing purposely in your faith in just a minute or two a day. Head over to https://community.followerofone.org to create a profile and take part in the next mission trip.

Are you qualified to teach others about Jesus?   "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV   I've talked about this versxe before, but it never hurts to talk about it again. Today, on the Marketplace Mission Trip, we talk about knowing what you believe. We're called to be ready to accurately handle the word of truth.   Can you explain why you're different in a way that explains to someone else who Jesus is and what part he had in your transformation? This passages challenges us to "accurately handle the word of truth." We need to be studiers and we also need to discern error from truth. That's why we need teachers and we need others who can give us input. But we also have the Holy Spirit living in us.   We also need to think about what we believe and practice talking about our beliefs. When you're with Christian friends, ask questions about spiritual things. Hear what they have to say. Practice talking about what you believe. All of that is practice for when you're with someone who doesn't follow Jesus. If all we talk about are politics, sports and weather, we never feel ready to talk about our faith. But our job as a marketplace minister is to be able to explain why we're different. So let's practice!   The Marketplace Mission Trip is a tool we use to be more intentional with our faith on a daily basis. There's an online version and a discussion group for offline group discussion. Check them both out at www.marketplacemissiontrip.com.

Do you appreciate other people?   Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (CSB)   Ministry is service. When we serve others, so they might see Jesus, we're in ministry.   Everyone wants to be appreciated. Even those that seem to reject appreciation do so because they believe there's a hidden motive. But we all want to be valued, appreciated, first in someone else's mind.   The Bible calls it love. But in our Western world, love has too many other connotations. So our second daily habit is to appreciate others. Appreciating others is speaking to them in their love language. We need to genuinely appreciate them so they will feel genuine appreciation. We know Christ loves them. He died for them. We established yesterday they're our brothers and sisters so we should show them some love or appreciation too.   This verse and this chapter reminds us that anything we do, if we don't do it out of love, it's nothing.   Today, let's show some appreciation for the people we typically don't even notice. Someone cleaned up where you are. Someone delivered your mail. The police and fire protect you. So does the military. Appreciation is one way we serve others. And we're the only limit on the supply of appreciation. We can always ship more appreciation.   Three things last forever, faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.   If this podcast or our community is valuable to you, please consider supporting it. We're donor-supported ministry. In 2023, we have a matching partner who will take your new gift to our ministry and double it. Would you consider making a donation. Head over th https://followerofone.org and click the Donate button in the menu and help us mobilize every workplace Christ-follower.

How often do you pray? Do you think about prayer much?   Matthew 6:9 (ESV) - "Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."   Today we're starting a Marketplace Mission Trip. And the first of our 5 Daily Habits in Follower of One is to pray. When we read Matthew 6, we find Jesus talking about prayer and in verse 9, he starts one of the most-repeated prayers. Notice how Jesus starts at the beginning, praying to Our Father.   This is a universal prayer, so we all have the same Father. That, by itself may cause you to live differently today. Every person you interact with is your brother or sister. They may not hold your political beliefs. They may have a different idea how to worship our Father. They may not speak the same language. They may be in a different place than you in wealth, experience, resources, etc. You may look down your nose or look up at them. But they're your brother or sister.   This is convicting to me. If they're breathing, they're loved by God and he's their Father. As you think about that, how will you work today? How will you do your tasks? How will you pay attention to them, or treat them? How will you act when the other person is as loved by God as you are?   Let's let God transform us. Remember he's our Father and he has a plan. We're to represent him in the workplace today. Punch in with the prayer, "Here I am" and let him put you to work on his agenda, in his kingdom for his eternity.