Faith Driven Entrepreneur

The team spends some time with the students and teachers from Entrepreneur Program and Valley Christian School (VCS) in San Jose, CA. Spearheaded by Hannah and Danny Kim, entrepreneurs in their own right, the program has launched high school students into the world of entrepreneurship in the midst of a community invested in seeing biblical values and principles impacting the world. Hannah gives us an overview of the program’s evolution while the team chats with two students about their specific projects, one launched and the other in beta for release around now. Then the team talks with Danny Kim, who heads up VCS’ Quest Institute, which we believe (because there is no one to contest us) has had more tests performed on the International Space Station than NASA. While Quest Institute was inaugurated at VCS it is meant to impact the world and Danny shares with the team some of the ways this is happening today. This week’s episode is packed but we didn’t want to leave anything out for you as we ARE talking about the next generation of faith-driven entrepreneurs. This will close us out for 2018 as we plan to spend time with our families and loved ones over the next few weeks. From all of us at Faith Driven Entrepreneur, we wish you the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year! See you in 2019!

In this week’s podcast, the team answers a few of your questions around profit making and taking as well as consumerism. One Bay Area listener shares his struggles with being in what he believes is a money-driven industry. The team challenges us all to think about how we can redeem the industries we’re in by making figuring out the best way to serve it our number one goal. William believes that almost all industries are redeemable, Henry encourages us in the ways we can show love for the people in these industries for the purposes of transformation and Rusty reminds us of our true identity as a guide to ensure optimal motives while bringing in those returns. One of our listeners in Nairobi, Kenya asks the team for a biblical viewpoint on consumerism in response to the rise of the global middle class and the team takes us back again to a discussion of heart motive by realigning a few marketing and product design concepts back to the kingdom. And no good podcast on entrepreneurism would ever leave out a few quotes from “Wall Street”. As we do our mad dashes this Christmas season to show love for the people in our lives, let’s stop and take note of our heart motives in the doing and giving. Tell us who and what you want to partner with our Father God in redeeming this Christmas season by dropping a line at faithdrivenentreprenuer.com.

The team sits down with John Marsh of Marsh Collective, Opelika Alabama to discuss storytelling, what it’s like to run 10+ businesses (the collective part of Marsh Collective) and how to be the steward of 10 square city blocks for the glory of God and Kingdom while being totally unqualified to do so. John helps us understand the practicalities of living in the midst of kingdom tension: being both dead and alive, content but fruitfully multiplying, living here but not being from here. Rusty has John walk us through what systems need to be in place to redeem a life, a family and a city and Henry has him give us some insight on effective parenting while being an entrepreneur. William closes us out with a request for words of wisdom for entrepreneurs and John’s answer: think cities. John holds a very special place in the heart of FDE and the team is quite excited to have you hear a bit of his story and want you to be as inspired by what’s possible when we let God in to do what He does best: redeem and transform. How has this week’s episode inspired you to be a part of God’s plan to redeem some part of creation He’s asking you to steward? Where can your business better align with God’s redemptive purpose for it? Drop us a line at Faith Driven Entrepreneur and let us know.

The podcast discusses the importance of giving as an entrepreneur, including ways to creatively think about causes and involve others in the decision-making process. They also explore balancing work travel with personal time and the potential for excessive travel to become an idol. The hosts emphasize setting boundaries and using technology for better interaction, and invite listeners to share their generosity experiences.

correction: Chip Ingram is now CEO of Living on the Edge, an international discipleship ministry. In Part Two with Chip Ingram, CEO of Living on the Edge, we find Rusty asking Chip to give his take on a previous mailbag question from an entrepreneur who didn’t see the value of church anymore as what comes out of the pulpit isn’t relatable to his life. While Chip agreed that most pastors aren’t very conversant with the entrepreneur’s life, he flips it from a what do I get to what can I give mode of thinking. He encourages entrepreneurs to see church as God’s company while acknowledging the frustration of not seeing change or progress fast enough. Henry has Chip share on some practical ways of how Pastors can love on the entrepreneurs in their midst before William tackles the subject matter of entrepreneurs struggling with failure, sometimes even a series of failures. Chip tells us that God must first work in you deeply before He can use you significantly. Rusty closes this week’s episode asking Chip to give listeners perspective on how to use power righteously. Chip’s response: it’s about stewardship. We hope you receive encouragement as well as insight from Part Two of our time with Chip Ingram. We’d like to hear from you on how you are stewarding the power and influence God has given you and how you’re overcoming the temptation of self-reliance. Reach out to us in the comment section of Faith Driven Entrepreneur.

correction: Chip Ingram is now CEO of Living on the Edge, an international discipleship ministry In Part One with Chip Ingram, CEO of Living on the Edge, Henry has Chip walk through his experience pastoring many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. While Chip’s own entrepreneurial persuasions began at an early age selling Halloween candy in late November at a significant markup, he realized early on in his life as a pastor that he could teach and inspire far beyond his leadership capabilities. His start as a spiritual coach to entrepreneurs began as a simple exchange: his Santa Cruz church was growing at breakneck speed and he needed wisdom and skillsets to support that growth. He reached out to the entrepreneurs in his congregation and became friends with them, creating a safe and respectful place for these leaders to share what was really going on in their lives. The grass isn’t always greener, to say the least. Struggles with identity, purpose, and the tension between the world’s values vs. those of the kingdom plague these individuals as much as anyone else with one major exception: the extreme loneliness as a result of an inability to find authentic, no strings attached relationships when you command significant power, influence and resources. Henry encourages Chip to dig deeper on the loneliness challenge by asking for wisdom on how these individuals can overcome the temptation of being a recluse. Chip gives us a mandate to care about who we become more than anything else, as well as a construct on how to have the right view of both God and ourselves. We hope you enjoy Part One with Chip Ingram. We’d love to know how you’ve overcome “the great identity crisis” by changing your view of who you believe God to be. Please share with us at faithdrivenentrepreneur.com.

David Brickner, Executive Director of Jews for Jesus, spends time with the team in this week’s podcast. He gives perspective on the tragic events in Pittsburgh and shares a bit on how people of the faith can best share the gospel with Jewish neighbors through relationship building and honoring the common elements between Judaism and Christianity. Rusty leads the discussion into the “Behold Your God Israel” campaign where David shares the entrepreneurial strategies the organization employed to reach Jewish people in Israel over a span of 18 years. David addresses Jews for Jesus’ branding challenge with regard to how the Jewish population views Christianity and his organization and shares on how using customer segmentation principles helped the organization effectively reach Israelis for Christ. David ends this week making a case for the power of transformation – that changed lives give the best witness and taking the time to gather and retell those stories is probably how we’ll reach the next generation, regardless of their background and faith persuasion. He gives some results from his organization’s use of design thinking principles to help better understand and connect with Jewish millennials. This week’s episode really highlights the simple truth that non-profits are as entrepreneurial as for profits and that applying entrepreneurial principles can also be highly effective in spreading the gospel. Let us know how you’ve used entrepreneurial strategies in your non-profit and/or ministry at Faith Driven Entrepreneur.com. We’d love to hear how these tools have been utilized for Kingdom expansion.

In this episode, the hosts tackle the balance between godly contentment and entrepreneurial discontentment. They discuss the importance of deriving identity and joy from a higher source, as well as the challenges and benefits of working with family and friends. The significance of prior relationships and compatibility in the workplace is also explored. Lastly, they delve into addressing and resolving conflicts in a leadership setting through open communication and seeking input from the team.

Mike Sharrow is back for Part 2 of our interview. As you likely gathered from Part 1, Mike leads C12 one of the largest and most successful organizations that put together groups of like minded, and similarly staged groups of Christian CEOs for local community, fellowship and best practices. Think about all the things you've heard about YPO, but imagine something better :). If you're only going to listen to one of the parts of the interview (but why would you??) , listen to this one. The team asks Mike to share his observations on what’s happening in the marketplace from a faith perspective. Mike shares the fact that the Post-Christian era has people desiring authenticity in faith expressions. In fact, according to him, they hunger for it. C12 is seeing a tide lift in activity across the globe of more people wanting to live authentic lives for Christ at work as well as at home and in church. Mike goes on to share how C12 seeks to guide members towards accountability and integration. According to him, it’s not just what you’re doing but how you’re doing it. Jesus taught through disequilibrium. C12 is about keeping members in a healthy state of disequilibrium so that they can learn continuously, a key skillset for any business person. C12 really assists in the personal transformation of individuals as it addresses the whole person – all of one’s life is bought together in one place under Christ. We hope you enjoy this week’s podcast and we’d love for you to tell us how you are pursuing the integration of your work, faith, family and community in your daily lives at Faith Driven Entrepreneur.

The first of two parts, this week’s episode finds the team speaking with Mike Sharrow, President and CEO of C12, an organization that provides a confidential and intimate environment where like-minded peers share ideas, discover and plan for areas in their business that need improvement, hold each other accountable, and encourage one another to conduct business in a God-honoring way. Mike gives us a little of the history of the recent resurgence of faith in the marketplace during the last century that provide the foundation for what C12 has been doing since 1992. He shares with the team some of the most interesting impact stories of how leaders’ decisions to pursue relationship as a key driver of culture led to incredible levels of employee engagement and satisfaction as well as increased supplier commitment. The formula was as simple as finding out what was going on in the lives of direct reports that led to transformative changes in the lives of team members, including two saved marriages. We think you will be greatly encouraged by part one of our time with Mike Sharrow and we ask that you share your stories of marketplace transformation with us at Faith Driven Entrepreneur.