Changing the world. We all have that secret desire, don’t we?  Changing the world in Kingdom terms is not measured in the BIG, the BIGGER and the BIGGEST actions in our life and work.

It’s often the exact opposite. Changing the world happens, one person, one word, and one action at a time. It can be as small as smile, a kind word, or a selfless act of service. It’s counter-intuitive, just like the work of Christ. In this episode, we had the owners of Seven Brew Coffee, Ron and Lisa Crume, from Rogers, Arkansas, share their story about how and why they believe God had them start a drive-thru coffee shop (now multiplied to 7 shops). Hear more about how Workmatters has helped them change lives - 45 seconds at a time!

So how about you?  Would you like to change the world? Would you be willing to start today, changing the corner of the world where God has placed YOU?  We invite you to start changing the world RIGHT NOW, with ONE smile, ONE kind word, and ONE kind action, right where you are now.

Featured Guests: Ron & Lisa Crume

Workplace / Ministry: Workmatters & 7 Brew Coffee

Simple world-changing next steps:

• Join the iWork4Him Nation to commit to transforming your workplace!

• Subscribe to the newsletter to have the weekly podcast episodes, PowerThoughts, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

• Get your copy of iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Your Faith at Work, a field guide to shape your workplace ministry.

Is life balance still a goal? If it is, and it’s not really working, listen to this podcast interview with Mike Cook of “Strategic Doers”, who shares a better alternative than chasing after “life balance”.

“Balance is impossible. Balance implies all things are equal.   They are not.” ~ Mike Cook

How many of us are still trying to figure out the elusive “life balance” equation?  Meet Mike Cook, a small business coach in Virginia, who isn’t just about business but whole life coaching. He who helps small business owners tackle the daily challenge of growing and managing their businesses. 

There are some real nuggets in here, not only for business owners and leaders but Christ-followers who want something MORE than a “balanced life.” A glorifying one.

“We need an integrated life, not a balanced life. A life with Christ integrated in every aspect in our life.” ~ Mike Cook

Life/work balance. How many of us have fallen for that myth and tried to make it happen?  Only to fail over and over…Mike Cook, has a better concept.

How about living an INTEGRATED LIFE?  One that brings Christ into each aspect of our life and work, so that we are putting The Lord, not our futile “balance” efforts, first.  When we asked Mike to share a success story with us, he shared his own. Mike is a fix it guy and wanted to fix the work-life balance issues and time management issues that others were facing. God truly showed him the truth of an integrated life and now he shares that with others.

So how about you?  Are you ready to live ONE INTEGRATED LIFE, where you represent the Lord, you listen to the Lord, and let Him show you your priorities every day?

Try praying this prayer: Father, today, I submit my day, my plans to you. Please show me YOUR PRIORITIES for my day. In Jesus’s Name, Amen

Featured Guest: Mike Cook & Mollie Yoder

Workplace / Ministry: Strategic Doers - The Pocket Testament League

Are you stuck in a rut? Have you ever wondered, “why do I work?” “how do I increase my cultural influence?” or “what does it mean to be a good leader?” Today’s podcast guest, New Zealander Bryce Taylor, asked these same questions, and they changed everything.

Bryce Taylor was serving as the Discipleship and Leadership Development Pastor to young adults in a Pennsylvania ministry called The Livingroom. There he spent his Tuesday nights discussing challenging faith topics and running a program that developed leadership skills and leadership qualities in youth. Then in 2018, Bryce and his family took a trip to New Zealand where, after some self-evaluation, he began to wonder if his ministry was stuck inside the box.

Tune in to hear the incredible testimony of how God’s purpose and will for the Taylors went from pastoral to agricultural with a mission. Today, Bryce still does ministry, leadership development, discipleship, and coaching… but it looks a little different.

Featured Guest: Bryce Taylor & Don Hoover

Workplace / Ministry: The Pocket Testament League - Business Community Network

What do hair and Haiti have in common? A lot, apparently, if you’re a woman of God who loves both. Today, Mollie Yoder of the Pocket Testament League introduces us to Salem Hicks, an entrepreneur and hair stylist that heard God’s voice call her to Haiti to birth a unique ministry for at-risk women! 

Salem Hicks was doing hair in the film industry when she began hearing God’s voice calling her to a 1-week mission trip to Nicaragua. That 1-week trip turned into an internship in Haiti where Salem was asked to help lead a team into a brothel to minister to the women there. In the brothel, she shared her story and as she prayed, felt the Holy Spirit say, “this is what I made you for Salem.” God gave her a vision – to start an education and support center for women at risk of abuse and prostitution in Haiti. 

Salem lived in Haiti for 3-4 years running her God-given ministry until she was evacuated out in 2018 amidst political unrest. According to Salem, God had to remove her from the situation she was in so that she could see what He was doing. Now, through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit, the ministry she started is self-sustaining and Haitian run!  

Salem currently runs Bloom Studio in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her hair salon funds Salem’s travel to Haiti and profits go towards ministry expenses. God uses Bloom Studio as a safe space for women to be poured into not just physically but also spiritually and emotionally. 

Featured Guest: Salem Hicks & Mollie Yoder

Workplace / Ministry: BLOOM Studio, LLC  -  The Pocket Testament League

Imagine having 700 children. And someone asks “who’s your favorite?” That’s a tough question for the Product Marketing Business Leader of Dayspring – it’s like picking a favorite child!  Amelia Nizynski shares how they go about choosing products and what prayer has to do with it.

Dayspring Cards was born in a small commercial print shop in Covina, California, in 1971. The company was founded by four Christian men with a common vision, to make Christ known through the printed message.

DaySpring is a name given in Scripture to Jesus Christ. Luke records the prophetic song of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, on the occasion of John’s birth. The Holy Spirit showed Zechariah that John would prepare the people for salvation through forgiveness of sins by the coming Messiah, and that God’s mercy on His people would bring this about. The Holy Spirit also showed Zechariah that “the dayspring from on high” (Luke 1:78 KJV) was to come and “give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). The intent at DaySpring Cards is to spread the light from that sunrise by creating products that honor and reflect His name, His character, His nature, His kindness and His love.

Amelia had some quotable quotes during this show:

“No matter what the challenge is, God has you exactly where He wants you.”

“Our memory leaks, so we need to have things around us to REMEMBER God.”

“The biggest challenges in my life and work have been when I have forgotten WHO God is, or WHO I AM in Christ.”

So how about you? Are you in the midst of a challenge at work? If so, CLING to the words of God. Here are just a few reminders of who you are IN HIM:

I am a child of God,

I am Jesus’ friend,

I am a NEW creation,

I am an heir with Christ,

I am chosen, holy, and blameless before God

and I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Featured Guest: Amelia Nizynski

Workplace / Ministry: DaySpring

We all know what happens when we say “I’ll never do ____________”, right? Find out what happened to Dawn Stanford, Dayspring’s Business Development Manager, when she said it…and how God used it! In this PowerPod we talk career changes, being a control freak, and why one should “never say never” – especially to the Almighty.

The reality is that sometimes change is necessary for the Lord to bring about HIS purpose in your work and life. Dawn’s story is all about hearing God’s voice, listening to God’s voice, and discovering God’s will in your work by letting go and saying yes to His plans rather than yours! 

Are you saying NO or NEVER to something that you should be praying about? Or is your heart open to the work of the Holy Spirit and his purpose in your work?

For more inspiring stories of people who said YES to God like Dawn, check out our new books, sheWorks4Him and iWork4Him!

Featured Guest: Dawn Stanford

Workplace / Ministry: DaySpring

Have you ever wanted to go on a mission trip? And then, reality steps up and you start to think “There is NO WAY. The time, the amount of money, living in a hut for a week, I won’t survive it. It’s just not for me.”

Discover a new and unique way to go on a no-cost mission trip while simultaneously following God’s will and finding purpose in your everyday work with Mike Henry, founder of Follower-Of-One.

We live in a world that acts like God doesn’t exist… and that world includes your job site, not just far-off places. God wants to use you as a missionary to the people all around you – He is calling you to go on a Marketplace Mission Trip! What exactly is a Marketplace Missions Trip? It is as simple as intentionally practicing five daily activities that shift your paradigm from ordinary to outreach. Tune in to find out what these five simple steps are and give your thinking a Jesus-sized shift today!

Featured Guest: Mike Henry

Workplace / Ministry: Marketplace Mission Trips

Who would you say has the most significant impact on your workplace culture? Is it your manager or leadership? Is it your HR? Or is it someone else? Today, we are talking with author and psychologist Dr. Paul White about how you can increase your impact and become a positive cultural influence in your workplace TODAY! 

As a Psychologist, Dr. Paul White is more about the practical than the theoretical. His first book, The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, is all about training up leaders and colleagues that prioritize encouragement and appreciation in the work environment.  This book aims to reform the standard employee recognition programs that only use “employee of the month” or “commissions” into customizable, consistent messages of appreciation for each employee, ultimately creating a sense of purpose in work. 

His next book, Rising Above a Toxic Workplace, describes what unhealthy work environments look like, how to survive them, and how to address the issues in a healthy way. Finally, Dr. White wrote, The Vibrant Workplace, which talks about creating and developing a more positive workplace from the bottom-up! 

Tune in to this power-packed broadcast to hear more about how you can help create a culture of employee appreciation in the workplace!

Featured Guests: Dr. Paul and Kathy White

Ministry/Workplace:  Dr. Paul White

What will people say about you when you’re gone? Join us to hear from Dayspring executive Stephen Bos about how your personal brand can impact your ability to live out your faith at work. Straight from the company’s headquarters in Arkansas.

Early on in his business career, Stephen viewed faith and work (aka money and Christian ministry) as an “either or” rather than a “both and.” But God changed his heart through discipleship – revealing that faith and work are not only compatible but inseparable!

So how exactly do you bring your faith into your workplace? One way is through intentionally creating a personal brand!

Dayspring believes in the use of “brand pillars” – attributes that when someone interacts with their company, they walk away with a certain set of impressions. Stephen believes that brand pillars can be used in all areas of life – including your personal brand.

Sounds cool… but what exactly IS a personal brand? Well, it’s what you bring to the table wherever you are and with whoever you interact with. It is what someone would say about you at you’re funeral or after meeting you for the first time.

Take a moment today and ask yourself, when people interact with you, what do they come away thinking and feeling? Are you a person of stability? Of excellence? Of grace? Of intentionality? Do you have the qualities a good leader should have? Do you find purpose in work? Are you a positive cultural influence?

Featured Guest: Stephen Bos

Workplace / Ministry: DaySpring

Who’s leading YOUR leadership? Today we hear from Cal Zant, the President of Betenbough Homes, and Jeanna Roach about what it takes to lead a true Kingdom Business and how their business mindsets were transformed by the Holy Spirit. Tune in to this power-packed powerpod find out how you can develop the same qualities of a good leader in yourself and others!

Years ago, when Cal interviewed for an engineer position with Betenbough Homes, he knew something was different about the company. Jeanna says she had the same experience when she interviewed for a PR representative position. Both Cal and Jeanna felt instantly that the environment, the attitude, the values, and the mission at Betenbough Homes cultivated employee appreciation, purpose in work, and a culture of joy. Simply put – Batenbough Homes genuinely cared about its people.

How did they do it? By looking at their business as a Christian ministry – not just a business that supports Christian ministry. According to Cal, all the true qualities a good leader should have, begin with being a good follower of God. By listening to God’s voice in their business and loving their employees in their everyday lives, Betenbough Homes has created a powerful example of a biznistry. 

For more information about leadership resources that you can use to help turn your business into a biznistry - listen to today’s show and check out Kingdom Leadership Workshops.

Featured Guest: Cal Zant & Jeanna Roach

Workplace/Ministry: Kingdom Leadership Workshops & Betenbough Homes