TGIF, Today God Is First by Os Hillman: Recent Episodes
Os Hillman
TGIF Today God Is First Daily Devotional reaches several hundred subscribers daily in 105 countries. Now you can listen to TGIF in Podcast form! Listen to uplifting messages by Os Hillman that go along with today's devotional, and be encouraged to "Live out your faith at work."
There are 3 lies that Satan speaks to every human being designed to turn that person’s heart against God. Jesus knew these 3 lies and even told the disciples they would believe these lies. In order for you not to be deceived by the devil you need to know these three lies. In this week’s TGIF@Work podcast, Os explains these 3 lies.
Our US elections are on November 4, just two months away. This election is extremely important! It will determine if we will continue toward socialism and Marxism and open borders and uncontrolled spending which will lead us off the cliff. Prayer is the only thing that can shift our nation!Please join us for 50 days of prayer beginning September 15. Join us on the 50 Day Fight call Sept. 15-Nov. 5th. Listen to my interview on this important 50-day prayer initiative below. Help us spread the word and promote people to pray for this election! You can by clicking this Facebook link that has the promo video for The 50 Day Fight: https://fb.watch/tINjtrReck/ Thanks for standing with us for the future of our nation!
In this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast I interview my wife Pamela. Before I met Pamela she spent 18 months in prison for drug possession. It was a result of sexual abuse from an early age. Imagine being threatened from childhood that if you did not cooperate you would be killed. That was Pamela’s childhood and early adult life. But God intervened by sending her to prison for 18 months. Prison became freedom and a new start. Here my interview with Pamela and how God did a remarkable restoration in her life. We recently celebrated 8 years of marriage.
What does it mean to live from a false identity? In this week’s podcast, Os explains why it is vital for believers to live from a true identity in Christ, versus a false identity that results from operating from a place of performance, shame and fear. Join Os for this informative teaching that just might be the most important teaching Os has ever given.
After a distinguished career in law enforcement in the metro Washington DC area, Jamie earned an MA in English and developed a unique process called the Identity Method. This process of identity transformation is the key to resolving inner conflict and acquiring new levels of learning and creativity. His unconventional efforts to bring about societal and racial reconciliation led him to Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and back to the U.S.Jamie has worked with leaders in professional sports, business, education, law enforcement, government, non-profit, and other sectors. He is the author of the book Living Fearless.Jamie and his wife, Donna, are co-founders of Identity Exchange, a training and consulting agency that helps individuals and teams discover new levels of creativity and resiliency within the framework of true identity. – Os
Can the Gospel really make a difference in the climate of a city? Dr. Joseph Matterra says, “Yes, it can!”Born and raised in New York City, Joe Matterra has seen it all –murder, gangs, rapes, corruption, violence. You would think that would discourage Joe, but Joe decided to believer the Word of God and saw God move in his city. Hear his story in my TGIF@Work Podcast this week. Learn more about his book, The Mandate.
Mike Seminary features Os on his podcast this week for a conversation about life, ministry, calling and life lessons.
What does it mean to manifest the life of Jesus in our marketplace call? Os explains what this looks like through powerful miracle stories he and others have experienced and how you can too!
How many cities did Jesus transform? The answer is 0. The only city we know that he had a very significant impact was Samaria. His ministry to the Samaritan woman resulted in many believing in SamariaAs a result of the woman testifying to the people in the city. It says Jesus stayedthree more days because of their faith.Over the years I have studied and personally experienced transformation in communities. In this week’s podcast I want to share with you The DNA of Community Transformation. Check it out in audio or video power point.
Do you have a website or manage a website? If so, this week’s podcast is for you. SEO, Search Engine Optimization is how Google ranks companies when someone is searching for a product, service or topic. These terms are what people are searching for in Google searches. James Upjohn provides an overview of SEO, explaining how search engines work and the importance of ranking highly in organic search results. He introduced his background helping companies improve their search engine rankings through on-page optimization and content strategies.We use James’s services to help build traffic to our own websites. In this podcast James will reveal secrets to building traffic your website. James also shows us how to use ChatGPT AI to generate optimized content around keywords that an SEO specialist could then publish after further refinement. This reduces costs compared to hiring writers while providing a framework for high-quality content.James explained how Google Analytics provides free and valuable data for SEOs and clients to analyze traffic and user behavior. This helps identify underperforming pages and guides further optimization efforts to continually improve rankings and business metrics.Join us for this week’s podcast.
As I reflect on my 71 years of life, I've encountered invaluable lessons that have shaped my journey and purpose. These revelations, gleaned from my own successes and more importantly, my failures, are not just personal milestones but universal truths every believer should comprehend and apply in their life. In an effort to share these insights and help others navigate their own paths, I hosted a special Zoom meeting titled, "7 Important Things I Learned that Allowed Me to Fulfill My Purpose" last night. These lessons were illuminated to me through my experiences, and I found that they align with the journeys of many biblical figures and can be found as scriptural principles I found in the Bible.The Bible mentions inheritance 237 times, underscoring the significance of fulfilling the purposes for which God placed us on this earth. I am driven to receive my full inheritance, and I imagine you share that desire.
If you live life long enough, you’re going to find yourself pinned against the wall of life-altering circumstances. I’ve been thinking about this topic for awhile and decided to examine many of God’s leaders in the Bible to see how they navigated their own life-altering circumstances.It’s a fascinating study. I looked at Moses, Elijah, Elisha, the widow who was bankrupt, and many others. I think you will find this week’s TGIF@Work podcast worth listening to.
If you want to have influence, you’ll do this one thing that Jesus did.If you want others to see you as a valuable person, you will do this one thing.If you expect to have the respect of your peers, you will do this one thing.If you want to influence your workplace, you will do this one thing.If you want to transform your community, you will do this one thing.“What is the one thing?” you say?
Former NFL linebacker Bryan Schwartz is my guest this week on my TGIF@Work podcast. Bryan played for the Jacksonville Jacquars for five years. He became a Christian as he entered his second year. Join me for an enlightening interview on his NFL experiences and how God is using him as a coach to executive business leaders.
This week on TGIF@Work podcast, we have a truly special episode that you won't want to miss. Our guest, Krystal Parker, President of the US Christian Chamber of Commerce, shares invaluable insights into the incredible benefits of belonging to this dynamic community.Why should you listen? Here are just a few reasons:Faith in Business: Discover how integrating faith into your professional life can lead to a more fulfilling and successful career.Networking Opportunities: Learn about the unique networking opportunities within the US Christian Chamber of Commerce and how they can elevate your business connections.Supportive Community: Hear firsthand accounts of the supportive community that comes with being a member and how it can positively impact your entrepreneurial journey.Professional Development: Explore the resources and tools available to members that contribute to continuous learning and professional development.Don't miss out on this chance to gain valuable insights into the world of faith-based business and the advantages of joining the US Christian Chamber of Commerce.
CBDCs connects all the other technologies that globalist bankers need for total control and that would include movement passports such as COVID passports, but ultimately it really comes down to the money. So, we are aware of China’s social credit score system, where basically your entire life is in this app and if you're a good citizen you get more credits and if you're a bad citizen you get less credits. They've been doing this for many years and if you say anything bad or negative against government your social credit score goes down and if your credit score goes and you can't buy things like plane tickets or bus tickets or things like that canceling your kids access to college or whatever it may be. So what they are ultimately doing is using an app to restrict you, but how do they restrict you with the payments? They don't allow you to buy a plane ticket or buy a bus ticket or buy food so it all comes down to the money, which is why that's the final piece that they need.This week we will discuss CBDCs and more in our TGIF@Work Podcast.
There are two terms we are hearing more and more about today in the financial markets -- centralization and de-centralization.We are hearing these terms related to the financial markets and more specifically, the crypto markets. Centralization of the financial markets means the financial markets – stock trading, banking, and investments are regulated by the SEC or the FDIC supposedly to protect you, the consumer.Decentralization refers to the fact Bitcoin and related crypto markets have no regulation by banks or governments. Crypto traders believe it is a means of protecting one’s assets from the overreach of government. Countries and especially the US are beginning to implement plans to address their inability to regulate decentralized platforms.However, this may be harder to do than they think. Decentralization is happening worldwide and cannot be controlled by one country. But that doesn't mean they won’t try.Join Os Hillman in this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast as Os explains the unfolding developments in decentralized finance and it’s impact on you.
Os explains why the last two years have ushered our nation into uncharted waters. We could have never have imagined the America we are seeing unfold before our eyes today. How did we get here? Os explains how America has been changed by a small number of people and why they are being successful.
Do you ever feel condemned? Do you have trouble experiencing God’s love? Did you grow up with very little verbal affirmation in your life? Do you reject the love of others? Do you feel you are not worthy of other people’s love? Do you require a lot of verbal affirmation from others to feel loved? Do you have relationships that often end because you reject people because of what you think they are doing to you? Is it hard to maintain long-term relationships? If you answered yes to any of these questions you may be impacted by a spirit of rejection.Join Os this week as he explains how the spirit of rejection impact individuals and relationships.
Where does faith fit into high performance in sports? That is the question we will answer in this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast. Our special guest is professional golfer Veronica Karaman, coach and author. Join us in a fascinating conversation about the role faith plays in sports performance.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was successful in His mission? I rarely hear pastors speak about this in the pulpit, yet it is the single most important attribute to why Jesus was so successful and influential in the lives of people.
In 1998 J. Gunnar Olson became my marketplace ministry father in the faith. He has had a huge impact on my life. Gunnar has experienced a life of miracles and impact in nations around the world. Gunnar is now in his late 80s and rarely speaks in public anymore. In November of this year, he spoke at the International Christian Chamber of Commerce International Conference in Sweden. It is a rare opportunity to hear from one of our international marketplace spiritual leaders. Please enjoy this special presentation by Gunnar on the topic of Crossing Over to the Promised Land.
What can we learn from how FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried is being treated by the media and even the NY Times featured him as a speaker this week at a prestigious event of elites when he should have already been arrested like Bernie Madoff? Os reveals why he believes he will never get prison time.
Have you ever wondered why you or others struggle with sexual issues in their adult life? How did someone develop same-sex attraction? Why are people addicted to pornography? What are the root causes of such behavior? Dr. Sam Serio explains this and more in our insightful interview based on his book and counseling ministry.
This week we are featuring our Faith, Work & Culture Radio broadcast. Our topic in this edition is the role of media in culture influence. My guest in this program is Sean Dunn, CEO of Groundwire. You will be inspired to hear his story and how he is impacting the next generation with the Gospel in a very creative way.
Os Hillman believes every believer should know these 6 things if you’re going to be a Kingdom-led believer in the workplace. Watch or listen to this brief 8-minute podcast.
Join Os, Wayne Shepard and Ken Blanchard as they discuss the role of leadership in business.
This week we are featuring our Faith, Work & Culture Radio broadcast. Our topic in this edition is the role of media in culture influence.
My guest in this program is Sean Dunn, CEO of Groundwire. You will be inspired to hear his story and how he is impacting the next generation with the Gospel in a very creative way.
Wokeism. Christian persecution. Wars. Sexual perversions. Socialism. One world order. Computer chip implants.
What does all of this tell us?
It tells us we are living in the last days.
The Bible is an incredible prophetic book that reveals the mysteries of the days of long ago and the days that are yet to come. But how does one decipher some of the complex dates, times, prophecies to understand the times we live, and if they point to the return of Christ?
Doug Cobb has given us a road map in his new book, And the End Will Come.
In this book Doug explains in easy-to-understand language the history of Christ’s first coming and how it was predicted in the Old Testament and how there are indicators that reveal when Christ will return the second time. Doug is quick to remind us that no one can give the actual time when Christ will return, but we can certainly know the season and how close we are to fulfilling all the conditions for His return.
In this book Doug reveals … • The prophetic scriptures that revealed the time Jesus would come to earth the first time. • Why Israel and its people are key to the return of Christ. • Why we can understand the season that Christ will return with certainty. • Why sharing the Gospel with every human on earth is key to his return with an update on where we are in this assignment. • Why we should not be surprised about what is taking place right now in our culture.
This is a must read for every serious believer! I did a personal interview with Doug that you will receive when you order the book. You won’t get this from Amazon!
Why should you care about people in prison? Because Jesus cares.
This was not an area I was very connected to until I married my wife 6 years ago. She came out of a very difficult past being sexually abused as a child and overcoming a 30-cocaine addiction that landed her in prison. This week I interview my wife, Pamela. You will want to hear her inspiring story. Today she has an international prison ministry that is touching thousands of lives around the world. Isn’t that just like God!?
Why do billionaires listen to David Newby? This week’s TGIF@Work podcast reveals why David Newby has the ear of billionaires. This week I talk with David Newby, author of Beyond Billions. David reveals why over 50% of estate planning fails and why that is true. You’ll discover how to make sure your estate accomplishes what you want it to.
Our world needs disciples who live out the gospel faithfully and fruitfully through their outside through their work outside the church. Author Tom Lutz supports those who offer workers spiritual guidance–whether pastors, teachers, mentors, small group leaders, or chaplains. This practical guide to vocational discipleship can help readers help others to do good work in a good way, serving productively in God's Kingdom.
Join me in my insightful interview with Tom Lutz for this week TGIF at work podcast.
Kenneth Hill had a 30-year career at Home Depot. Those were not all good years. But God used that time in his life to bring him to a deeper relationship with himself and discover some eternal truths about work and calling. He reveals these in this week’s TGIF@Work podcast based on his new book, Elevated: My Journey to Co-Laboring with God.
Join us as Kenneth shares his inspiring story of losses and victories and life lessons you can apply to your own life.
The Bible says that we are to understand the signs of the times. I fear many in the body of Christ are sleeping. The world is quickly changing and you will be left behind if you don’t take notice.
In this particular case, I am speaking about what is taking place in the cryptocurrency universe. It’s a fast-moving train that many have simply resigned themselves to not understanding so they check out. As a believer, you cannot do that and be relevant in the world.
This past December Brett King gave an amazing talk on the Future of Banking at the 2021 Cryptocurrency International Conference in Abi Dahbi. Believe me, this was an eye-opening presentation! Every person should watch this presentation. I’ve watched it several times. At the conclusion of every year the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders gather at end of each year. They pray the New Year in and share what they sense the Lord is saying to the body of Christ. I found some of what they said confirming what I believe is going on in the financial markets. “The Technology Revolution – We are in the midst of one of the greatest revolutions since the industrial revolution. This revolution will be in the “unseen spaces” of the Metaverse and Web 3. Over the next few decades, the use of AI (artificial intelligence) and AR (augmented reality), using at this point technology such as Oculus, will drastically change the world as we know it. The introduction of robotics into our everyday lives will take place. God will give His people new ideas on how to create jobs and be on the cutting edge of developing jobs that will result in the promised transfer of wealth. Generation Z will experience a movement of holiness. They will be so fervent before God that it will provoke the generations before them to join in with their consecration. New waves of technology will be used that will result in hundreds of thousands of genuine conversions through the use of social media, such as Tik Tok and other new innovative tools. There are many new technological breakthroughs coming that will involve the Metaverse and Web 3, as well as crypto currency. Believers will become students of such things, and God will begin to put Christians on the fore-running edge of these technologies. There was an admonition not to demonize these new technologies. They are neutral in and of themselves. Even though there is potential to use them for evil, we need to understand how to use them for good for the Gospel’s sake. The possibilities of using AR for things such as training for surgery, etc., are many. This technology revolution will produce a great decentralization of the way we have done things in the past. Many structures will experience a decentralization. It will be important to discern when God is causing the structures to decentralize as opposed to Satan trying to break up and scatter structures. This will involve the economies of nations as well. The way we buy and sell will dramatically change over the next few years on an even larger scale than it already has. God will raise up a young generation who are “futurists”, or are very prophetic in their abilities to function in the world of crypto-currency, and great wealth will be created for the Kingdom of God. It’s time for the Daniels and Josephs – We have released words about God raising up Daniels and Josephs who will prosper in whatever political climates, as well as financial climates, may come in the future.”
“See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.” Then, in Matthew 7:14, Jesus said: “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” The word “life” in both verses is the very thing you’re looking for every day, in everything you do—true and lasting happiness, peace, security, and love. Jesus also said He came down from heaven to satisfy the thirst and hunger of our hearts forever. In Psalm 16:5-11, David reveals one of the greatest offers of all time: that it’s God’s desire to reveal the path to true Life—a Life full of pleasure, peace, fulfillment, and joy! So, why did Jesus say only a few ever find the path to Life? Find out this week in our TGIF@Work Podcast interview with author, Mark Shattuck. IN THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW … • You’ll discover what Jesus actually meant regarding abundant Life. I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard this one before—and it’s better than you think! • You’ll learn the one thing every person gets wrong that prevents them from finding abundant Life. • You’ll learn why God requires adversity to give you what you desire the most—how adversity is the fast track to abundant Life! • You’ll discover 7 reasons why God leads people into wilderness experiences (yes, He does that) in order to reveal their promise land of abundant Life!
Are we winnning or losing the culture war? Find out in this week's podcast interview with Alliance Defending Freedom guest, Bob Pruitt. Don't forget to subscribe to get notified for future podcasts.
America is headed for a cliff unless we, the people, stand up for righteousness. This week Os interviews Stephanie Maier, author of the Righteous Fight.
There are some age-old truths that never change when it comes to fulfilling your work life call. I discovered the 5 most important and share them in this week’s podcast.
Are you hindered by a generational stronghold in your life? Do you know how strongholds affect your life? Can you be delivered of a stronghold? What does it look like to be free of a spiritual stronghold that the Apostle Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 10:4?
This past weekend Os Hillman gave a message at the Great Awakening Project Leaders Meeting in Birmingham. Hear Os Hillman’s message on what is taking place in our nation in this week’s TGIF@Work podcast.
When is the last time you experienced a real miracle in your work life? Os Hillman shares what he believes the 4 attributes should be modeled by a Christian workplace believer in this week’s TGIF@Work podcast. Join him in this informative teaching. Os shares his own recent miracle.
This week’s session is a special gift to you. We are featuring our monthly call with our Change Agent MasterMentor members and allowing you to experience our program firsthand.
What if I told you there was a breakthrough technology that is helping people with cancer, heart issues, brain functions, diabetes, strokes, COVID recovery, injuries, and dozens of other diseases?
This week we're going to discuss a breakthrough technology that you're going to want to know about. Cick below to access this week's podcast.
Target marketing. Facebook ads. Google ads. But do you know about Geofencing?
This week our TGIF@Work podcast features digital marketing specialist Jon Reames as we discuss the science of target marketing products and services through a new technology, Geofencing.
Join me for this informative interview. You’ll learn how you can pinpoint the target market you are wanting to reach with precise targeting.
Os interviews Dr David Young who specializes in helping business owners maximize the sale of their business.
Dr. David Young would like to help you answer the questions you need to be asking to determine if you should sell your business.
In this week’s podcast we will discuss
How to make a great exit What questions need answers before you make that decision How to value your business The top 10 obstacles to selling your business Keys to success in selling a business And more
Could you ever believe you would be seeing the America you are seeing today? Gender confusion. Open borders. Cancel culture. Defund police. Socialism. The list could go on!
In this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast I provide a 75 year snapshot of the tipping points of how we got to where we are today. Culture isn’t lost in one event, but a series of events over time. We are the proverbial frog in the kettle with the water heating up gradually until we fail to recognize the severity of our condition when it’s too late.
This is a must presentation for every believer to understand what is needed at this hour to save our nation.
Who do you work for? A boss? For yourself? For a ministry?
The answer is really you work for GOD if you are a follower of Jesus. Colossians 3:23 tells us that “Whatever you do, do unto the Lord because therein is your inheritance.”
This week my guests are Jim and Martha Brangenberg with a ministry called IWork4Him. What a great name. That says it all, doesn’t it.
Jim and Martha just released 3 books – that’s right – 3! All at the same time! Find out why and gain some wisdom from two of our greatest advancers of the faith@work movement in America.
This week I had the privilege to interview Brandon Haire, author of The Business Revival. Brandon’s personal story of bringing revival into his business as a sales executive of a large secular business will inspire you to want to do the same in your workplace.
Let’s face it. Politics has become a nasty business. Name calling. Backbiting. Corruption. What can we do?
We can put people in office that have Kingdom values. But how? This week I interviewed Aaron Ross, founder of Kingdom In Politics, an organization that has a vision to put 100,000 people in political office in the next 10 years through his amazing mentoring program.
Vince Lombardi was one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. He won two Super Bowls and 5 NFL Championships.
John Wooden won 10 national college NCAA championships over his 27 years. Arguably the greatest college coach of all time.
Paul Bear Bryant won 6 national championships at Alabama over his 25-year coaching career there.
Do coaches make a difference in outcomes? Do mentors make a difference in outcomes? The answer is YES!
What makes a great mentor or coach? Here are a few things they bring to the table.
• Experience – been there done that. “They can give you some shortcuts. • Hard Knocks – they “failed forward” to gain wisdom. Wisdom can’t be taught, it’s learned. • Save You – from having to make the same mistakes. • Technique – they know the technical part of the journey and can show you • Watch & Observe – if you observe their life you’ll gain more than from what they teach
I often say the difference in a mentor versus a coach is a mentor models while a coach teaches and guides. The coach requires accountability to a process. The mentor inspires through example.
I’ve had both in my life. They both inspired me to be something greater than what I could have been alone.
Do you have that person in your life?
I’m getting a bit older now. I’m not on the road speaking and teaching like I use to be. That means I can invest in others through technology and personal engagement.
So here’s the deal. I’m starting a TGIF CEO Roundtable June 15. I can only handle 14 Christian CEOs or executive level leaders. Are you one of them?
Are you a Christian business owner? If so, let me ask you a few questions.
Does any of this sound like you?
• Are you a Christian business owner who hears the stories in the Bible of miracles and amazing things Jesus did but never experienced them personally?
• Are you someone who wants to believe the stories, but you’ve never had a personal experience with God in your business life?
• Do you struggle with relationships at home or in your workplace?
• Are you concerned about the increased anti-faith movement in America and would like to make a difference in reversing that trend?
• Do you want to grow your business using Biblical principles?
• Would being connected to other like-minded Christian business owners be valuable to you?
• Would you like to know how to increase income in your business by $25,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 a month so you can have greater impact through your business?
In this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast I share a step-by-step guide to growing your business with God, experiencing God’s power and becoming a culture shaping influencer – and make more money in the process!
If 30% of America claims to be Christian, why are we losing the culture?
Do you ever feel like you’re on a Christian performance treadmill?
Do you ever struggle to feel the love of God in your life?
If any of those describe you, this week’s podcast is for you. Collin Ferreira is my guest this week on TGIF@Work podcast. He is the author of a new book entitled, Disrupting Religion. You will find my interview with Colin very insight and will answer each of these questions and more.
In these turbulent and uncertain times, On Purpose With Purpose is the step-by-step guide leaders need to unlock their true potential and adapt for the future, so that they can lead themselves and their team to incredible breakthroughs of their own.
On Purpose With Purpose is not the typical leadership book. With exciting combat and training stories from his F-14 to heart-wrenching examples from his near-fatal accident and recovery, John Ramstead equips readers with invaluable life tools that don’t feel like lessons. Most books in this genre focus on the “what” and the “how” of leadership; but John’s experiences as a Fortune 500 manager, serial entrepreneur, and executive coach taught him that the critical missing component in achieving everything leaders dream of is WHO they are at their core…then the rest will fall into place.
Recently I have been following insights shared by Victor Davis Hanson, a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness. I’m impressed with his common-sense observations of what is taking place in our culture combined with a good understanding of our nation’s history and its founding principles. One of the things that happens in culture when a nation moves away from God is the leaders begin to make decisions that make no common sense. The Bible calls this leanness in the soul. (Psalm 106:15). We are experiencing this every day right now. Do the border decisions being made right now have any common sense to them!?
Join Os and Pamela Hillman for an amazing interview with Mike Lindell. Learn what really happened int he 2020 election and what is about to happen. A must listen to for every American.
Let me ask you a few questions…
• Where do the MAJORITY of men, spend the MAJORITY of their time, interacting with the MAJORITY of the lost world?
• Where do most men gain most of their self-esteem needs?
• Where is the “central nervous system” of a man’s heart? (outside of sex?)
• What type of problems are discussed more than 50% of the time in small groups according to a Gallup Survey?
• What one area do men have a 50-80% dissatisfaction rate in their life?
The answer to all of these questions is the WORKPLACE.
In this week’s TGIF@Work Podcast I share why a man’s work is so vital to having a healthy spiritual life. I have discovered that if a man does not experience God in his work life, he will not experience it in his family life.
What in the world is going on? Well, the best place to find out what world leaders are thinking and doing is by listening to what leaders are thinking at the World Economic Summit.
My guest this week is Marc Nuttle. Marc is a lawyer, economist, author, consultant and businessman. He has represented and advised Presidents of the United States, leaders of foreign countries, state officials and corporations. Marc has lectured around the world on government policy and economic trends. He has advised the United States government, foreign governments, and state governments on the budget process, trade, economic development, currency management, domestic and foreign policy. Marc was part of President Ronald Reagan’s international trade team in the 1980s. He has advised and consulted with cities, states and nations on economic development, tax structure, and budgets. His clients have included the governments of China, Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the United States, the state of Oklahoma and others. He has advised, as legal and political counsel, many candidates for federal and state office.
In this week’s podcast you will
• Learn the real story behind the World Economic Forum and what they really want to do in the world.
• A new marketplace initiative for business owners designed to protect the freedoms of Christian business owners.
• Learn about the Global Partnership Exchange and why you need to know about it.
• And much more…
When is the last time God instructed you to speak to a problem and it was resolved after you spoke to it?
The Bible calls us to speak to our mountains and if you have the faith of a mustard seed it will be removed! That’s a pretty extraordinary promise! But is that reality for us?
• God spoke the earth into existence it says in Genesis 1. • God told Moses to speak to rock to get water for the Israelites. • Jesus spoke to the fig tree. • Jesus spoke to Lazarus to come back from the dead. • Peter spoke to the crippled man to stand up and walk. I could go on…
In this week’s podcast I am interviewed by Moody Radio in Nashville about faith@work, calling, and speaking to your mountain. I believe you will find it helpful as you apply these principles to your work life call.
This week I’m interviewing Rick Boxx, Founder and CEO of Unconventional Business Network. Unconventional Business Network is a nonprofit founded in 2001 that is cultivating a network of Biblically principled small business leaders.
Rick has a daily radio program and broadcast email called “Integrity Moments” that reaches over 2 million leaders and is featured on over 200 radio stations. He’s authored six books, including “Unconventional Business.”
Rick is a past banker, CPA, consultant and multiple time entrepreneur. He resides in Overland Park, KS and is married to his lovely and lively wife Kathy. They have three children and two grandchildren who live in the area.
Rick’s vision is to see 1 million committed and connected leaders applying God’s Word to their workplaces. Rick recognizes that Christians in the marketplace need the opportunity to be in community with like-minded leaders and be provided practical tools to grow their businesses Gods way.
I’ve known Rick since the late 90s when the faith@work movement really began to take off. He was, like myself, an early adopter of a whole new way of looking at work and calling. Rick is an author and radio show host
Rick and I discuss the faith@work movement, current trends and what it means to really apply the Word of God to our businesses.
It was the late 1990s when something happened to Christian men and women in the workplace. They began to realize they were not here just to support the work of their local church, but they, too, were ministers in the workplace through their work lives. It spawned a whole new movement called the Faith@Work Movement.
Hundreds of new ministries birthed during this time. Billy Graham was quoted as saying, “I believe the next great move of God will be through believers in the workplace.”
Many of these new ministries began podcasts but we had no way of knowing how to connect to these organizations…until now. Jim and Martha Brangenberg with IWork4Him radio ministry decided to identify these groups and bring them together under the Awaken Podcast Network.
Join us this week for my interview with Jim and Martha. You’ll learn
• The history of faith and work • Why faith and work is so important • Why the Awaken Podcast Network is so important • What you will gain from connecting with the Awaken Podcast Network
Join us!
James Lockett is not your typical American businessman. He was trained to be a lawyer. But his business experience took him into many different arenas, working for the US government in Asian countries, working in Viet Nam, Indonesia and even for the largest tech company in China where he lived for 6 years. He even married a Chinese citizen and adopted her son.
He has a bit different view of the world than you and me. It’s a fascinating conversation and very enlightening. With all that is going on in the world you will want to hear my interview with James.
James and I have a long history, though we lost contact with each other for a few decades until recently when he returned to America. James was a founding member of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce with Gunnar Olson and we met when I first met Gunnar in 1996, who has been my marketplace mentor for 25 years.
This week’s TGIF@Work podcast features my interview on Atlanta Live TV Show. I discuss the reason I wrote my new book 31 Decrees of Blessing Your Work Life. I explain that this new book is a tool most people do not have in their toolbox. I reveal why the spoken Word is so important in our daily work life call.
In this interview you will learn
Why God used the spoken Word Examples in the Bible where people got breakthroughs by speaking to their problem Examples of modern-day workplace examples of speaking to a workplace problem that resulted in a breakthrough How to use this devotional as a tool in your calling The reason God calls us to make decrees And more
Why is it so hard for the local church to equip men and women to fulfill their work life calling? Richard Blackaby explains why in this week’s insightful interview.
In this week’s podcast you will learn
What local churches can do better to equip their members. How we should view the current downslide in America. Tips on what the local church can do to impact their workplace leaders. What we have learned about the faith at work movement the last 20 years. And more
Is there a difference between a Christian salesperson and a non-Christian? This week professional Christian sales trainer, Dave Kahle is going to help us answer that question. Dave reveals many insights into how a Jesus follower should approach their calling as a sales person. You’ll find this interview insightful and challenging. Check it out.
This is the first video Os Hillman has ever produced chronicling the true story of how God took a personal crisis and led him to be a participant in a world-wide awakening among men and women in the workplace that their work life is a holy calling.
God would ultimately take Os to 26 countries, write a daily devotional that is read in 105 countries and write 21 books.
In this video history Os shares
• When the faith and work movement began • Key events that began to catalyze a movement • Divine encounters that revealed Os’s desire to awaken men and women in the workplace. • Why the Billy Graham organization asked my advice about FW • What Billy Graham said about the faith@work movement • Key events that confirmed God’s move in the marketplace. • And more
What is a Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneur? Shae Bynes, co-founder of Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneurship is going to help us answer this question.
This week you’ll discover
The difference between an entrepreneur and a Kingdom-driven entrepreneur.
What we see taking place today with most business people that keeps them from succeeding.
Tips you can apply to your work life call that will attract the presence of God in your work life.
How to be a Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneur in a toxic business climate that is unfriending toward Christians.
And a lot more
It’s 2021. Do you recognize the nation you are now living? Could you have imagined that our nation would elect some of the leaders that are now in power in our nation and the values they represent?
So how did this happen?
It happened over time through multiple tipping points in culture. Each of those tippoing points moved our nation toward the moral cliff we currently reside. Will we go over the cliff?
Os Hillman provides a thoughtful look at the last 100 years leading up to today and how our nation is in a moral slide if God does not turn the tide.
Mike Lindell shares is personal story of redemption and why he is partnering with Pamela Hillman's prison ministry. This is a replay of a November 19 special virtual event on Zoom hosted by LifeChangers Legacy Ministries. You will hear other inspiring stories as well.
In the last 10 years we have seen an acceleration in the business category of social entrepreneurship. What is social entrepreneurship? It’s doing business with a goal to affect a global problem. It’s incorporating the selling process to include a portion of sales to be given to solve that global problem.
Tom’s Shoes is one of our best examples of this. The founder was overseas when playing polo when next door was an orphanage that he discovered many of the children did not have shoes. The idea was birthed to start a shoe company and give one pair of shoes to kids when anyone buys a pair of shoes. This became a huge success story.
Alovea is a Social Business. It was birthed by Sam Caster, an entrepreneur who has a heart for kids. Sam has developed an innovative product using the ingredient from the aloe plant (acemannan) to be put in a supplement designed to support your immune system, something very needed right now in this global pandemic. This led to several other products serving the health need of all individuals. Over 130 million kids have benefited from their global initiative.
Does generational iniquity impact your life today? If so, this week’s podcast is for you!
My guest this week is Dr Bruce Cook, author of Prayers for Ancestral Bloodlines in the Courts of Heaven. This intriguing interview reveals how generational iniquity can impact our lives today. You’ll discover how you can cancel generational sins through the blood of Jesus who paid the price. You’ll learn how Jesus serves as our advocate in the Court of Heaven.
Don’t let past generational sins affect your life. Get a verdict on them in the Court of Heaven!
Kevin McGary Is an African-American leader who is concerned about the plight of black America today. He’s concerned about the injustices he sees. But he’s also concerned about the agenda of Black Lives Matter.
I recently interviewed Kevin For this weeks a TGIF@Work podcast about what he sees in the Black Lives Matter movement and why he started an organization called Every Black Life Matters.
In this interview you’re going to learn:
The real motivation behind Black Lives Matter
Why Black Lives Matter is not helping the plight of black America
Why corporations are embracing Black Lives Matter
How to speak to others about the Black Lives Matter movement
Why Black Lives Matter embraces violence to cause change
David Blackburn is founder of the Nothing Is Wasted ministry that has a weekly national podcast. His ministry was birthed out of a devasting event – the death of his wife. David called me and expressed his appreciation for my book, The Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness. “It got me through a very difficult time,” said David. “Thank you for writing it.”
David and I visited over the phone. He asked me to be a guest on his weekly podcast. In this podcast he asks me questions no other podcaster has asked before. Some of the topics we discuss are
How I navigated failure in business and marriage. How I dealt shame from failure. Why pain is a common denominator in life. How adversity often ushers us into the larger story of our life. Why mentors are important to navigating difficult seasons in life. How God sees our adversity. Why knowing the truth about our circumstances is key to freedom in Christ. The key to overcoming strongholds in our lives. Avoiding perceptions of disqualification for use by God.
Covid-19 has changed the landscape in a lot of businesses and ministries. Prison ministry is a major ministry category that has literally been shut down because prison ministries are not allowed to go into prisons since the shutdown – except for one.
God gave Pamela Hillman an idea on how to ministry and transform lives in prison through a unique 1-1 mentoring program conducted via email and video chat. Their mentors never go into the prison. So, LifeChangers Legacy has not missed a beat. In fact, many other prison ministries are coming along side Pamela’s ministry to serve those in prison.
This week’s podcast is an interview with founder and president of LifeChangers Legacy Ministries, Pamela Hillman. You’ll hear Pamela’s inspiring story of how she overcame a life of drugs and sexual abuse that landed her in prison for 18 months. It was there LifeChangers Legacy was birthed and is touching hundreds of lives every day.
You’ll hear…
Pamela’s inspiring story of redemption. How her unique 1-1 I See Me FREE! Incentive mentoring program is changing lives. How her program is changing the lives of the mentors AND the mentorees. How you might be a mentor to someone in prison. How you can make a difference in the lives of many who are often forgotten And more.
Recently I gathered with a group of leaders for the purpose of strategizing and praying for revival in America. We all agreed that politics will not cause revival, only humble prayer will be the key ingredient, plus collaboration and thoughtful strategy revealed by the Holy Spirit.
I gave a talk that addressed several elements:
• How we got to this place in history. • The strategy of the anti-Christ movement in America. • The key tipping points that have contributed to our fall. • Lessons we can learn from William Wilberforce. • Attributes of movements • And a great deal more.
If this kind of stuff interest you, I encourage you to watch my presentation. Please subscribe to our channel to be notified of our TGIF@Work podcasts published every Thursday.
Have you ever wondered who is funding the anarchists and the left wing political campaigns? Have you noticed how the left twists the conservatives talking points and tries to redefine language like "progressive" which is far from progressive?
One man is a key player in the funding of that. His name is George Soros. This 15-minute documentary will open your eyes. Learn how the left has invested more than $18 billion and raised up over 200 left wing organizations designed destroy Christianity and the conservative voice in America.
This may be the most important video you’ll watch this year.
He was born into wealth. He could have lived a life of luxury. But God had a different plan for this petite young man, standing only 5 feet tall, but became a giant of a man who moved mountains to abolish slavery in England and achieve 69 world-changing initiatives. He was part of a small community of 10 others who used their time, talent and treasure to reform many social injustices, not the least of which was abolishment of slavery after 20 years of work. Discover why it only takes a few committed followers of Christ to change the world!
How does dysfunction rule a person’s life. The answer is childhood wounds. Os and Pamela Hillman provide insight to overcoming childhood wounds that can result in addictions and dysfunction in relationships. This informative two part session will help you discover how to overcome negative childhood experiences.
Today we’re pleased to share a bonus podcast with you. Today’s podcast is a replay of an interview Os did with Patrice Tsague, founder and president of the Nehemiah project.
Os will be speaker at the Nehemiah week virtual conference that begins today, August 10. Os talks about the role of the 7 mountains of culture in impacting culture. He also talks about the current unrest in the nation and what we need to do.
In addition Os talks about
• The role adversity plays in a marketplace leader’s life. • What the 7 mountains of culture are and why they are important. • How the gay rights used the 7 mountains to shift America’s view of their issue. • Businesses that are standing in the gap today for the culture. • How one CEO’s failure led to a catastrophic moral failure and business collapse. • Why having a Biblical Worldview is important as never before.
Let’s face it. Marriage can be hard. He’s messy, I’m neat. She talks a lot, I don’t. I want more sex, she doesn’t. I discipline the kids, so I’m the bad parent. She’s a spender, I’m a saver. The list could go on and on.
A speaker once said, “The greatest prescription for helping you deal with selfishness is MARRIAGE!” We can all relate to that one.
David and Teresa Ferguson got married at the ripe age of 16. And they are still married after years. It wasn’t easy for two teenagers to begin life together. They had a lot of failure. But they persevered through many trials and have come out the other end as gold. They now help thousands of couples learn how to not just stay married, but actually thrive in their marriage. They direct Intimate Life Ministries designed to help couples succeed in their marriages.
Their book, Devotions for Couples, is a masterpiece of wisdom for couples. They cover 52 topics of marriage every couple deals with on a daily basis. No stone is unturned in this masterful work. They share their failures so you and I can learn from their experiences. Their vulnerability is a fresh ointment for those who are struggling in their relationship. Case studies and personal examples help the reader identify with David and Teresa as fellow sojourners. In this week’s podcast we hear personally from David and Teresa as they share over 35 years of wisdom in marriage.
Buy the book and listen to this powerful interview Os did with David and Teresa Ferguson. You can order at www.TGIFBookstore.com
Join Os Hillman as he interviews Judge Vance Day, Chief Operating Officer for Promise Keepers. Vance shares about the relaunch of Promise Keepers and the importance of impacting men today.
You’ll learn about an upcoming virtual conference and why now is the time that Promise Keepers is relaunching.
Where do you go to find real truth these days? Everyday I am confronted with statements in the media and on television that simply are not based on truth.
The Bible says that “The truth shall make you free.” – John 8:32. Conversely, lies can put you in bondage and even destroy your way of life.
In this week’s TGIF@Work podcast I take a look at some recent statements we’ll discuss if they are true.
Covid-19 is a dangerous pandemic that requires you to avoid interaction with others at all cost.
Is Black Lives Matter helping the African American community?
Should the wealthy be heavily taxed to achieve income equality? Should every American receive money from the government? We should not be concerned about the national debt. It’s a good idea for professional sports team like NFL and NBA to have a separate anthem along with the National Anthem sung before game time.
Change can only happen with a revival in our nation.
We’ll tackle more questions as well. Join us.
How do nations rise and fall? What are the signs a nation is about to lose its world influence. Where is America in the cycle of nation decline? Lifetime missionary Fred Markert reveals this in this week's insightful podcast with Os Hillman.
In this weeks session you'll learn the stages of nation decline and the final stage that reveals where every nation has fallen. You'll learn the average length of time a nation has world influence. And why America is in trouble.
Every week I have someone connect with me that is in a crisis. They’re in a marriage crisis. Or their business is struggling. Or they’ve just lost a lot of money.
I’ve been there. Twenty-five years later I am teaching others how to navigate these difficult seasons and to understand God’s view of their situation.
This week’s TGIF@Work Podcast is about The Joseph Calling. It’s my most popular teaching based on a book I released a few years ago by the same title.
In this week’s podcast you’ll learn
Why leaders go through adversity Why most every leader will experience the “Black Hole” in the beginning Why you’ll thank God you went through your crisis after restoration Why the depth and width of your adversity will determine the level of influence you will have. The 4 reasons we will all experience adversity Not everyone has a Joseph Calling, but if you do, you need to know what is in this podcast
Os Hillman is concerned about the future of America. Join him for this informative video on where America is today, what we need to be concerned about and what we can do. Learn about a new initiative designed to be a catalyst for revival in the 7 cultural mountains.
What role do the 7 cultural mountains of business, government, media, arts & entertainment, family, education and church play in shaping culture? Find out in this weeks TGIF@Work podcast with Os Hillman.
Special podcast with guest Ford Taylor, founder of Transformational Leadership. Our topic will be 5 Dynamics of a Successful Relational Leader.
In this podcast you will learn what it means to be a relational leader versus a transactional leader. So many leaders fail in relationships because they are driven to achieve an outcome. But, there is a better way.
I’ve personally been through Ford Taylor’s training and it has transformed my relationships. It will do the same for you. Ford serves on my board at Marketplace Leaders and has been a close friend and fellow change agent for many years.
Ford Taylor has been helping leaders understand how changing the way we relate to others produces better results. In this session you’ll learn
The difference between a relational leader and a transactional leader. Why men and women view things so differently. The keys to successful conflict resolution. The 6-step apology and why most people fail at apologizing the right way. The keys to being a good listener. And much more.
Did you know Satan always attacks you in the place of your inheritance? I learned this important truth many years ago. Knowing this helps me checkmate the schemes of the enemy. Satan’s mission statement is to steal, kill and destroy from our lives. However, you can checkmate Satan in his efforts to defeat you.
In this week’s podcast we will discuss this important truth and how you can defeat Satan’s attempt to keep your from fulfilling your destiny. Click on the link below to listen or watch this week’s podcast.
Over the years I have been asked dozens of questions about why people go through adversity.
I have learned the answers to these questions partly from personal experience and a great deal of study of adversity in the Bible. With the current pandemic that is disrupting so many lives, we thought it would be good to tackle these questions for our TGIF friends
When someone begins to seek God to grow in their faith and work life call, He leads them to the right source. Hear an inspiring testimony of how Young, a CPA in South Korea connected to Os Hillman and the Change Agent MasterMentor program.
That might sound like a strange question. But the truth is, the gay community has employed a marketing strategy to change America’s view of the gay issue very effectively over the last 25 years. The church can learn from this strategy.
You see, the gay community utilized a 7 mountain strategy to shift their issue from being a moral issue to being a civil rights issue. They developed strategies in business, government, arts and entertainment, media, education, family and even the church.
In this week’s podcast I share how they have effectively won the culture war with their biggest prize of all being legalizing gay marriage in America.
We’ll answer other questions about this topic that you’ve always wondered, such as, are gays born gay. We’ll answer that one with the words of one of their own.
Mark Shattuck reveals the secret to experiencing the abundant life in Christ that most fail to experience in this webinar hosted by Os Hillman on April 23, 2020
Several years ago I wrote a book entitled Change Agent: Engaging your passion to be the one who makes a difference. During the writing of that book I discovered 6 unique stages God took his leaders through to become His change agents.
One of the 6 stages I discovered was an Isolation Stage. It seems God often set aside a leader away from his normal life for a greater purpose. For some it was jail time like the apostle Paul. Paul wrote many of his epistles when he was imprisoned. This would be said of Jeremiah, Isaiah and many others. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me” (Isa 49:2).
The apostle John was put on the Island of Patmos where he received the vision of Revelation. He did not die on this island, but God used his isolation on Patmos to download an important part of the Bible for God’s people.
John Bunyan was imprisoned twelve years for preaching the Gospel. What came from his time in prison was one of Christianity’s greatest classics – Pilgrim’s Progress.
In this brief podcast hear Os explain -the importance of Isolation times and how God uses them -what you should do during times of isolation -why isolation could be the catalyst for a breakthrough in your life -why isolation can be God’s assigned time
Let’s face it! Dealing with healthcare programs is like going to the dentist for a root canal! There’s nothing I’d rather not have to deal with than insurance! It’s a must have -- but what options do we have today in this out of control healthcare industry!? Today we’re going to hear from an insider that has good news for you! Stay tuned!
She was ready to give up. She’d lost all hope. But after she connected with me and started receiving my teaching and mentorship, her whole life turned around. Find out why in this week’s podcast.
Last year Gina was on the verge of giving up when the Holy Spirit told her to sign up for my TGIF devotional.
My lesson on adversity and the Joseph Calling helped Gina to understand what she had been going through for 12 years. During my teaching she realized I was speaking directly to her situation. She reached out to me to share how God met her.
I invited her to send me an email and she did, telling me all of the adversity she had been going through for the past 12 years.
In the letter she sent me some scriptures the Holy Spirit had highlighted to her over the years and when I sent her my book on “The Joseph Calling” she realized they were the very same scriptures in my book that the Holy Spirit kept reminding her about.
Since being a member of the Change Agent MasterMentor Program she has come to the revelation that she has a destiny and that during the time she went through adversity God was preparing her for her destiny.
She explained that my podcasts, weekly TGIF devotional and teaching presentations in the Change Agent MasterMentor Program have been important in her maturation process.
She further explained that since being a member, she has seen God do 4 major things in her life…
-
Started an international 24 hour intercessors group.
-
Begun a ministry that provides online Bible studies and discipleship of all those who are part of it.
-
Mentored 3 people.
-
Received business opportunities from all over the world to incubate and assist clients to grow to the next level by providing strategic management advice. Which has also opened doors to governmental officials.
“I’m grateful to Os for his assistance and have come to realize God has equipped people like Os to assist us in order to fulfill His will has for us. Os has helped me grow so much and I am, in turn, pouring that living water into others,” said Gina.
“Opportunities are endless when you walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and permit those who are called to coach you to the next level to do so by submitting to their leadership,” she said.
Hear more from Gina in this short video interview I did with her recently.
Cancer. A failing business. Financial losses. Where is God when you most need him? Hollywood filmmaker Terry Botwick experienced it all! Find out how he and his wife were victorious through it all in this week’s TGIF@Work podcast.
The Bible says it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. But how do the promises of God work in the greatest crises in our life? Can we trust God to care for us? What happens to our faith when the Bible seems to contradict our experience?
Terry Botwick had a successful career in entertainment. He had wealth. He had influence. He had a great family. But it all came crashing to a halt when his wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and his business dried up.
The good news is that Terry and is wife are now on the other side of this. Terry shares the lessons he has learned from this period of his life. His lessons will be an encouragement to you if you find yourself in a crisis.
In this session you’ll learn
What you can and cannot expect from God in a crisis. How to reset expectations in your life during a crisis. How God uses crises in our life to reset our relationship with God. Tips on how to navigate when you lose control of your circumstances. An opportunity to go deeper in your understanding of God’s ways during a crisis. And more
The nation is in a crisis! Never before have we had to make such drastic changes in the way Americans live their lives. Where is this going? What is God doing through this crisis? Can we know? Stay tuned – we’ll discuss this and more in today’s TGIF@Work podcast.
What are the signs of our times? What are the tipping points that have moved our nation further and further from God? What can believers do to shift the direction of our nation? This week we’re featuring my presentation I made at the 2019 International Culture Shapers Summit. Stay tuned.
In March 2019 Os Hillman convened 350 national leaders in Washington, DC for an international summit on culture shaping. More than 50 presenters over 3 ½ days presented their insights on what we must do in America to shift the current direction of the nation. If you want to watch all 50 presentations you may access them on The Change Agent Network for only $19 a month by going to www.CAMasterMentor.com to learn more. Some of the speakers include Roma Downey, Arts & Entertainment, Steve Green, Business, Del Tackett, Education, Tony Perkins, Family, Hugh Hewitt, Media, Lance Wallnau, 7 mountains, and many more -- 50 presentations in all.
Do you know the 5 secrets to discovering your inheritance? Do you know how to unlock financial resources that have been dormant? Do you know why Satan will attack you in the place of your inheritance? Stay tuned for this week’s podcast to gain breakthroughs in your finances this week.
Do you know why America is so tied to Israel? Do you know why the presidential seal has dozens of images tied to the nation of Israel and the Bible? Did you know America was birthed from one of the 13 tribes of Israel? Do you know why that matters? Find out this week in a fascinating interview with Stephen Spykerman, author of Who Are You America.
Do you know why America is so tied to Israel? Do you know why the presidential seal has dozens of images tied to the nation of Israel and the Bible? Did you know America was birthed from one of the 13 tribes of Israel? Do you know why that matters? Find out this week in a fascinating interview with Stephen Spykerman, author of Who Are You America.
Hey guys, welcome to our podcast this week. You know, have you ever thought about how much you actually don't know? Sometimes we grow in our knowledge and experience, and think that we know a lot about a subject only to find out we really don't know that much. And so this week I'm going to talk to you about what it means to have the number one influencer in your life that can make a difference in where your life ends up. I think you'll find today's session particularly of interest and we have a special announcement today for a very special initiative that we're launching today that I want to share with you as well. So please stay tuned for that. So I hope you enjoy this session today. God bless.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also a woman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIF Today. God Is First.
You don't know what you don't know. That's something I've learned years ago that has served me well, to realize I just don't know everything and I need to learn from other people. So today I want to tell you about the number one secret to being more successful in life and work. And this number one secret has served me well over my 40 years of walking with the Lord. And I know it will serve you well too. Before I get into today, I want to tell you that we've got a big announcement that I'm going to share a little bit later in the teaching today. And so I hope you'll stay around to, let me share that with you. I know it's going to be a blessing to you and it's going to help a lot of people. So what is that number one secret? Well, it's being mentored or coached by someone.
You know, in my life, I've had two major mentors and when we look in the Bible, we see that there were mentors. Moses mentored Joshua, Elijah mentored Elijah, and Paul mentored Timothy. Those relationships were so important because they learn things that they would use later as leaders themselves. And it's so important that we learn from people who've gone before us who understand things that we don't understand, who know things that we don't know. I've learned over the years that wisdom is caught, not taught by hanging around my mentors. I learn things by being around them; they weren't always trying to teach me something, but they did so simply by their life and how they lived their life and conveyed it to me. One of my mentors is a man named Jim Mezick. He's known me since I was 13 years old. And, was very close to my family growing up.
He was an assistant pastor at the church where I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. And he later moved her to North Myrtle beach where he became a senior pastor there. And, it just so happened that when I finished college, I decided to move to North Myrtle beach to try to play professional golf. I wanted to raise money and go on the tour. And so I got into a lot of gambling. I wasn't a Christian yet at that time. And so I really got into a lot of bad stuff that led to me having a lot of disappointments and it looked like I was not going to achieve my goal of being on the professional golf tour. And God used that to draw me to himself. And he also used Jim to be the instrument of that drawing in addition to the prayers from my mother.
And so Jim has stayed a good friend of mine for many years. He's now 84 years old. I was just with him last month in North Myrtle beach and we continue to talk every week and he's followed my ministry. He's participated in many of my conferences and he's even been my Jonathon, if you will. And so he spent a great mentor. He was the mentor for me when I was first being established as a believer, but he wasn't necessarily a marketplace mentor. Later on in my marketplace call that role went to Gunnar Olson. I met Gunnar Olson in 1996 and gunner became a dear friend and spiritual father to me in the marketplace. When he was the man who told me that I had a Joseph calling on my life, and so that was a huge Kairos moment in my life and gunner is now 83 years old and we still stay in touch.
He lives in Sweden now. These two men, I would say, were responsible for where I am today in my spiritual journey. We all need to have mentors and coaches and I believe that you can never go wrong if you find the right coach or mentor in your life. These mentors must have some qualifications though. When you're looking for someone, they need to have life and work experience. They need to have compatible values that you have. They need to have been successful in their life, not necessarily monetarily all the time, but they need to be successful in life and calling because you want to learn from somebody who's been successful. They need to have had failure in their life because failure is important for us to learn wisdom and humility. And you want a mentor who's had that experience, who's had the failures, but they've learned from those failures and they've turned those failures into something that is successful.
So keep these four things in mind as you think about a mentor in your life. Modern advertising founder, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy and Mather advertising, an international advertising agency. I read a lot of his books during my years as an ad agency owner. I share this story often, but I'm going to share it again because it's a powerful story on the value of a mentor or a coach. And so there was a man who wanted to seek David's advice about a business problem. He said, I'll gladly pay you if you'll just give me five minutes of your time. I feel that you could solve this problem for me easily. Ogilvy agreed to go have coffee with him and he listened to the problem and he responded with the answer. The man could not believe what he heard in five minutes. Ogilvy literally solved his problem and so the man asked him, well, how?
“How much do I owe you, Mr Ogilvy?” He said, “$5,000.” Well, the man was livid. He said, “You're going to charge me $5,000 for something that took you five minutes to do?” Actually, sir said, Ogilvy it took me 25 years to be able to give you that answer. Such is the value of a mentor who's had the hard knots, who's had to pay for the lessons they've learned, who had the wisdom and insight to be able to steer you and give you advice and keep you from making poor decisions. You know, after my ad agency days, I did some consulting and I could get up to $2,000 a day for that consulting because I knew something that businesses and executives needed to know. I could save them a lot of money. I could save them a lot of heartache and it was worth that much money to them to pick my brain.
Jeannie is from Malaysia. She's a professional business coach. She found me on the internet, she was reading TGF and she wondered if us could help her be a better coach. You see, she was a professional business coach herself. And so she, as she pondered this, she began to think, well, can I take the time to invest my time in a relationship with us? Can I afford the money to build, to hire us to be a coach? You know, in Malaysia, people there work very, very hard. They are the ultimate workaholics in Malaysia and Singapore. I've been to both those places several times. And so I could appreciate some of the thinking that Jeannie had. Well, she told me that what she was most impressed with was Os's ability to connect the scriptures to business and calling. That was what the determining factor for her hiring me as her coach. And so I want you to listen to some of the comments that Jeannie makes in this video and I think you'll appreciate the value that I was able to bring to her. “Hi, my name is Jeannie and I run a coaching company called Euro in Penang Malaysia. I have a team of coaches in the areas of business, leadership and life. So about maybe six months ago, I was looking for a coach to coach me, not only in the area of life, but I was looking for someone who would understand what it means to be a Christian in the marketplace. So I went on a search and I was so delighted when I came across OS Hillman's coaching program because he is someone who has been in business, educated and is also passionate about helping the marketplace leaders live out their lives at work and life. So, when I read that, it just totally resonated with me. So I decided to sign up. In the program Os asked me my the first question, why would a coach like you want to be coached?
So I just simply told Os that I believe that everyone needs a coach, even coaches because your life just gets so enriched with coaching and people just being accountable to you. What I like about Os's coaching program is that we have a variety of things, one to one sessions, group sessions, and I'm also a host of resources that's available to us, like the TGIF devotionals. And, I really appreciate the Change Agent Network that we have access to. Os is a person that really has a coach's heart, I would say, you know, in our one-to-one sessions He gives up himself to understand where I'm at and he truly makes himself available to fit my time and schedules sometimes. We also have monthly group sessions and I find it very meaningful, um, meeting with a group of people internationally, um, in those sessions all Texas through, uh, key life topics that impacts the way we make decisions in life and also challenges us on building our character.
I find that to be very helpful as it's systematically takes me through areas to help me be grounded in myself and what I truly believe in. No. And, knowing that really helps me to make decisions easily. So yeah, you asked me would I recommend us? Most definitely I would recommend him, especially for those, who are seeking godly counsel. Os is a coach that has a rich background in business, academy and the marketplace. Os has a really rich background in so many areas. I feel like every time I meet him, I have a treasure chest right in front of me. So yeah, your life will truly be enriched, when you meet up with Os.”
Thank you.
There's another form of coaching and mentoring and that's group coaching. Group coaching has some benefits because you hear the perspectives of others. You can apply to your own situation. You develop your friendships with the people in the group and the, you benefit personally from those relationships. You might meet somebody that might want to invest in your business, or you might meet somebody who has an expertise in an area that you need. Uh, you never know who's going to be in a group when you're involved in a group coaching. The other factor of group coaching is it's less expensive. You say, I can share with a group at a lower cost. Then one-to-one coaching and the value you get is great because you're still getting personal input at a much lower rate than what I would have to charge on a one to one coaching.
Now over the years I've discovered 10 core areas that must be learned to have success in life and work. These 10 are areas have helped me realize the God given assignment in my own life to help others discover and fulfill their purpose in life. And today in my announcement, I'm going to share with you how I think I can help you in fulfilling your purpose through a new initiative, calm journey to your destiny change agent master mentor program. And we've had a change agent network for several years, but we've decided to add additional tools in our change agent mentor program along with some online mentoring that I believe many people are wanting. We did a survey of many of the people and what's their greatest needs were. And these are some of the things that they said. One is managing your money. How do you receive your inheritance?
How do you have financial breakthrough in your life? Another is the Joseph calling. How do I turn my adversity into a larger story of my life and I have a lot of experience in that and so I'll share some in depth training for you in that area. Another is understanding your purpose. You'll know how to discover your purpose so that you can fulfill your destiny and use that as a filter for how you're going to spend your time. You'll also realize that you need a devotional life to create intimacy with God and to have a powerful life of miracles in your life. We'll help you with that and another need that we saw was learning from proven culture shapers and we did a culture shapers summit last year and we were able to bring together 50 top culture shapers. We recorded all of those sessions and we're putting them into this program so that you can access every one of them.
You'll become God's culture shaper. We'll help you understand how to have influence, how Jesus was able to be an influencer and then hearing God, everybody needs to better be able to hear God will help you make your work matter and understand the theology of work and how to experience God in your work life will help you experience thriving relationships and become a relational leader. And finally, I'm going to be your mentor in this program and I look forward to the opportunity to have you part of it. Earlier I mentioned the value of group coaching and we have our group coaching as part of this program on zoom conferencing. You either meet once a week or four times a month depending on the level of membership you have in the program. Now, Louis Wray is a financial advisor and wealth manager in st Louis. He contacted me and asked me if I would be his coach. He was in a situation of starting a new business and he had a lot of uncertainty around his life. You know, cashflow was a bit tight at the time, but at there praying about it, he felt that an investment in our relationship would be the best thing he could do. I want you to hear what his experience was from our coaching time as I just want to say thank you for all that you've done for me these last 12 months.
“You're a gifted man Os. You have a lot of talents. And for me to be able to just be with you on a monthly basis and during other separate calls where you would just reach out, it was just awesome that I had access to you the way that I did. The auth, the authentic way that you went about our coaching relationship was, um, uh, just a wonderful, for me, your perspective is, is not only strong in the business world, which is what I needed at the, uh, starting a new business, but also just you're on fire for the Lord. And it just, um, it was just a great compliment for me in a coaching relationship. I would encourage anybody who's, you know, my case, I was starting a new business. It was just a perfect time. It can be kind of lonely at times. And to know that you were there and available to me was a, was a great, uh, great feeling. And I would encourage anybody who's going through any kind of a transition or it feels like they need a coach and to, to, um, to reach out to you. I think you get the double barrel, you get the, the um, person that loves the Lord and also a person who gives a, a good perspective on life and on business. So thank you very much and best of luck for you in the future. “
Now, why is knowledge and wisdom so valuable? Well, the reason is my mistakes and what I've learned say view for making the mistakes it can lead to you making more money and have more knowhow and guidance in your life. Anthony Williams once said, knowledge comes from learning and wisdom comes from living. So in this program we have a number of features. We have 34 different modules with 135 different online video presentations. And,if you look at the value of each one of these items that are part of the program, you'll see significant value. In fact, that first one has a value of over $12,000. Now if you enroll in the program by February 25th, you'll get an added bonus of 15 of my eBooks that have a value of $275 you'll also get 30 downloadable tools to use in your work life. Call that as a value of $1,475 and so you'll also get the monthly engagement with me.
That really has a value between 500 to $2,000 a month depending on the level of membership you have. And then as I say, you'll get access to the 50 presentations from the 2019 culture shapers summit valued at $1,250 and our annual gathering with other leaders that has a value of $4,500 and then our weekly teaching E journal, that has a value of seven 50 and then 50 video case studies where you can learn from other leaders. And 250 leader interview podcasts that has a value of $9,000. So the total value, uh, the program like this and the general marketplace would be around $30,000. But that's not what it's going to cost. But I just want to give you some sense of value here. So what does this mean for you? Well, you're going to fulfill your purpose. This program's designed to help you live the larger story of your life and fulfill what God has called you to do.
You'll overcome obstacles that prevent you from success. You'll have fulfillment by achieving your God given destiny in life. You'll thrive in your relationships and increase your income by breaking barriers to success. You'll have greater influence through your work in life, and you'll use your adversities to move you to the larger story in your life. Basically, you're gonna have a more powerful Christian life. You'll get counsel that could save you thousands of dollars through my input, and those that are part of the program, you'll gain connections with other like-minded leaders from around the country and the world via private Facebook community. You'll overcome strongholds that seek to derail your purpose and much more. So what should a program like this cost? Well, should it be 1200 a month or seven 50 a month? Maybe $495 a month. Four 95 would be a great value, but I got good news for you in that cost is only going to be $79 a month for the foundations program and two 70 a month for our advanced mentoring program.
Now the difference between these programs and the content is only the level of mentoring that you get during a month. And so the 79 program gets just as much content training and equipping as the other. You just don't get as much of my time and time with others on a zoom call. So here's what you get. You get the 34 equipping model modules, the hundred 35 courses, you get the 50 presentations, you get a, uh, the change agent app that can go on your phone. So you can access this anywhere. You get the leader podcast and you get the weekly teaching, uh, uh, newsletter. And, the 250 leader interviews and the private Facebook, we're going to do an annual gathering that has a value of 1250. Then the zoom calls. And then as I say, you'll have an option if you enroll by February 25th, you'll be able to get the two bonuses that we're offering in this.
So you get all that for $79 a month or two 79 a month. And as I say, you'll have access to our private Facebook group so you can ask questions and engage with other members of the program. And so here's an overview of the mini courses that you get, the discovering why God made you six stages of a call walking with God, experiencing the father's love role of prayer in the marketplace, becoming a change agent, equipping the church in the workplace, men at work, my top 10 golden rules for success in business, the kingdom business mastermind, how to start and succeed in your work life. Let me just say something about that kingdom business mastermind. That's an eight session course for business owners. And it's a powerful course. It gives you all the nuts and bolts for having a successful business work as worship. That's a conducted by Doug spade and Jensen Franklin. And then you'll learn from the culture shapers and the other leaders who are culture shapers every week will email you with a suggested course to watch and we'll discuss those during our weekly or monthly calls. But that's not all that's on here. You'll have a course on hearing God and your relationships. You'll have a course on managing your money and becoming a culture shaper. Listen to Ron Hart who is in our program and the value that he gets from this uh, change agent master mentor program.
“Hi, this is Ron Hart out in Santa Cruz, California. And I just want to give a shout out for the change agent network. It's like having mentoring on demand. It's kind of fun. Is that right? We're all in transformation and we have to start with ourselves. So on the change agent, we have access to video courses, uh Oh, webinars with [inaudible] leaders in the marketplace, and a, a searchable database of you name it. And uh, you can find it there. We also have forums to discuss with other change agents. So without segregated, uh, because there's a long road that T can't find your way many times. That is a very good, great resource and it's changed my life.”
So let's take a snapshot of the online membership site. And on here you get to see all the courses and the format by which they're shown. It's a, the latest technology and you have people like Lance wall now and Doug Spada and uh, there are about seven or eight other teachers beside myself on this program. And each one of these teachings is professionally produced and you'll gain so much from it. And I have a lot of, uh, teachings on here that will help you. You can see this format. That's how we use the, um, you know, on camera and then the PowerPoints. And then we have other guests, presenters and case studies from people like Gunnar Olson and uh, uh, George Washington Carver, Jeremiah Lanphier. These are video case studies of leaders that we can all learn from. Uh, William Wilberforce and Gunnar Olson, and then over 250 podcast interviews right there on the site.
And uh, so you'll be able to gain so much from this program. So it's like an online university for your life, you know, and uh, where else can you go get this level of training and mentorship? You're going not going to get that in your local church. You're not gonna have access to people like these that are on our side. Um, if you just looked at each one of these courses as a standalone course, you'd be looking at anywhere from $134 or 67 to three 99. Each one of these has multiple sessions in them. And so, uh, each series would have a, you know, great value. So I hope that you can see that it's a great value. You access all the training 24, seven. Anytime you want to go on the site and watch anything you can do that. You can also say the website on your phone screen and use it like an app to access podcast and webinars, courses and other resources.
And so we've made the website very adaptable to your phone and it really works well with your phone. And what if all this did was help you discover your purpose or it just helped you get breakthroughs that you need right now or give you the process by which God will help you fulfill your destiny. Wouldn't it be worth it? It's an incredible value at $79 or two 79 a month. You can learn about this by going to see a master mentor.com that's C, a master mentor.com that CA means change agent, so see a master mentor.com if you're listening to this on the podcast, I encourage you to like, uh, our program on iTunes and help us serve other people's. You see, one of the greatest benefits is the people you'll get to know in the program. You're going to meet some fantastic people who have a kingdom mindset just like yourself. We'll also have an annual gathering and a that will be a place where you'll meet the people that you're meeting on the zoom call and get to know them personally. Well, in closing, I want to share a testimony from my good friend Mark Shattuck who came to my three day training and has been a friend and someone that I've been mentoring for a number of years. Listen to what he says about the program.
“I’ve been a long time friend of Os's and receiving his TGIF devotionals. They've just been incredibly influential in my life. I'm also read many of his books and so, uh, I knew that I wanted to come to this, uh, conference as well as bringing a friend who's, uh, a close colleague of mine and in a process where I knew this, this, this conference material would be just life changing for him. I've been, uh, walking in an entrepreneurial calling, but at the same time coming out of a missionary background and the blend of, and the confusion of, you know, full time ministry calling versus going into a secular calling has always been something that a lot of people struggled with. Uh, [inaudible] message that, you know, the mission field of the business world is just as valid as a, another country was just revolutionary to me and really freeing and always wanting to get deeper and deeper into that.
But God has been doing a huge thing in my life the last 12 years. And I know that I need to surround myself with other people. And the teaching that is, uh, going deeper into the heart of God, especially in the workplace. It offers so much to so many different levels. It's impossible to put it into one statement, but I know that I would recommend anybody who really wants a walk in the calling that God has for them. Uh, this is a place where they're gonna get an enormous amount of help information, a community, and an ongoing process that'll, that'll continue to feed into where they're trying to go rather than just some good info, good notes, and good look as that you're on your own. It'll be a process that'll keep Ealing a lot of fruit.
Okay, so there you've have it, the change agent master mentor program. Man, I hope you really prayerfully consider being with us in this. I want to equip leaders to be cultural influencers, to be successful in your business and personal life. And I believe this program can do that, but you got enrolled to be able to do that and you especially want to enroll before February 25th so that you get these bonuses worth $645. Those are real bonuses. So, and they have that real kind of value. So I hope that you'll be part of it. I look forward to being with you in the program. God bless.
Hey guys, welcome to our podcast this week. You know, have you ever thought about how much you actually don't know? Sometimes we grow in our knowledge and experience, and think that we know a lot about a subject only to find out we really don't know that much. And so this week I'm going to talk to you about what it means to have the number one influencer in your life that can make a difference in where your life ends up. I think you'll find today's session particularly of interest and we have a special announcement today for a very special initiative that we're launching today that I want to share with you as well. So please stay tuned for that. So I hope you enjoy this session today. God bless.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also a woman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIF Today. God Is First.
You don't know what you don't know. That's something I've learned years ago that has served me well, to realize I just don't know everything and I need to learn from other people. So today I want to tell you about the number one secret to being more successful in life and work. And this number one secret has served me well over my 40 years of walking with the Lord. And I know it will serve you well too. Before I get into today, I want to tell you that we've got a big announcement that I'm going to share a little bit later in the teaching today. And so I hope you'll stay around to, let me share that with you. I know it's going to be a blessing to you and it's going to help a lot of people. So what is that number one secret? Well, it's being mentored or coached by someone.
You know, in my life, I've had two major mentors and when we look in the Bible, we see that there were mentors. Moses mentored Joshua, Elijah mentored Elijah, and Paul mentored Timothy. Those relationships were so important because they learn things that they would use later as leaders themselves. And it's so important that we learn from people who've gone before us who understand things that we don't understand, who know things that we don't know. I've learned over the years that wisdom is caught, not taught by hanging around my mentors. I learn things by being around them; they weren't always trying to teach me something, but they did so simply by their life and how they lived their life and conveyed it to me. One of my mentors is a man named Jim Mezick. He's known me since I was 13 years old. And, was very close to my family growing up.
He was an assistant pastor at the church where I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. And he later moved her to North Myrtle beach where he became a senior pastor there. And, it just so happened that when I finished college, I decided to move to North Myrtle beach to try to play professional golf. I wanted to raise money and go on the tour. And so I got into a lot of gambling. I wasn't a Christian yet at that time. And so I really got into a lot of bad stuff that led to me having a lot of disappointments and it looked like I was not going to achieve my goal of being on the professional golf tour. And God used that to draw me to himself. And he also used Jim to be the instrument of that drawing in addition to the prayers from my mother.
And so Jim has stayed a good friend of mine for many years. He's now 84 years old. I was just with him last month in North Myrtle beach and we continue to talk every week and he's followed my ministry. He's participated in many of my conferences and he's even been my Jonathon, if you will. And so he spent a great mentor. He was the mentor for me when I was first being established as a believer, but he wasn't necessarily a marketplace mentor. Later on in my marketplace call that role went to Gunnar Olson. I met Gunnar Olson in 1996 and gunner became a dear friend and spiritual father to me in the marketplace. When he was the man who told me that I had a Joseph calling on my life, and so that was a huge Kairos moment in my life and gunner is now 83 years old and we still stay in touch.
He lives in Sweden now. These two men, I would say, were responsible for where I am today in my spiritual journey. We all need to have mentors and coaches and I believe that you can never go wrong if you find the right coach or mentor in your life. These mentors must have some qualifications though. When you're looking for someone, they need to have life and work experience. They need to have compatible values that you have. They need to have been successful in their life, not necessarily monetarily all the time, but they need to be successful in life and calling because you want to learn from somebody who's been successful. They need to have had failure in their life because failure is important for us to learn wisdom and humility. And you want a mentor who's had that experience, who's had the failures, but they've learned from those failures and they've turned those failures into something that is successful.
So keep these four things in mind as you think about a mentor in your life. Modern advertising founder, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy and Mather advertising, an international advertising agency. I read a lot of his books during my years as an ad agency owner. I share this story often, but I'm going to share it again because it's a powerful story on the value of a mentor or a coach. And so there was a man who wanted to seek David's advice about a business problem. He said, I'll gladly pay you if you'll just give me five minutes of your time. I feel that you could solve this problem for me easily. Ogilvy agreed to go have coffee with him and he listened to the problem and he responded with the answer. The man could not believe what he heard in five minutes. Ogilvy literally solved his problem and so the man asked him, well, how?
“How much do I owe you, Mr Ogilvy?” He said, “$5,000.” Well, the man was livid. He said, “You're going to charge me $5,000 for something that took you five minutes to do?” Actually, sir said, Ogilvy it took me 25 years to be able to give you that answer. Such is the value of a mentor who's had the hard knots, who's had to pay for the lessons they've learned, who had the wisdom and insight to be able to steer you and give you advice and keep you from making poor decisions. You know, after my ad agency days, I did some consulting and I could get up to $2,000 a day for that consulting because I knew something that businesses and executives needed to know. I could save them a lot of money. I could save them a lot of heartache and it was worth that much money to them to pick my brain.
Jeannie is from Malaysia. She's a professional business coach. She found me on the internet, she was reading TGF and she wondered if us could help her be a better coach. You see, she was a professional business coach herself. And so she, as she pondered this, she began to think, well, can I take the time to invest my time in a relationship with us? Can I afford the money to build, to hire us to be a coach? You know, in Malaysia, people there work very, very hard. They are the ultimate workaholics in Malaysia and Singapore. I've been to both those places several times. And so I could appreciate some of the thinking that Jeannie had. Well, she told me that what she was most impressed with was Os's ability to connect the scriptures to business and calling. That was what the determining factor for her hiring me as her coach. And so I want you to listen to some of the comments that Jeannie makes in this video and I think you'll appreciate the value that I was able to bring to her. “Hi, my name is Jeannie and I run a coaching company called Euro in Penang Malaysia. I have a team of coaches in the areas of business, leadership and life. So about maybe six months ago, I was looking for a coach to coach me, not only in the area of life, but I was looking for someone who would understand what it means to be a Christian in the marketplace. So I went on a search and I was so delighted when I came across OS Hillman's coaching program because he is someone who has been in business, educated and is also passionate about helping the marketplace leaders live out their lives at work and life. So, when I read that, it just totally resonated with me. So I decided to sign up. In the program Os asked me my the first question, why would a coach like you want to be coached?
So I just simply told Os that I believe that everyone needs a coach, even coaches because your life just gets so enriched with coaching and people just being accountable to you. What I like about Os's coaching program is that we have a variety of things, one to one sessions, group sessions, and I'm also a host of resources that's available to us, like the TGIF devotionals. And, I really appreciate the Change Agent Network that we have access to. Os is a person that really has a coach's heart, I would say, you know, in our one-to-one sessions He gives up himself to understand where I'm at and he truly makes himself available to fit my time and schedules sometimes. We also have monthly group sessions and I find it very meaningful, um, meeting with a group of people internationally, um, in those sessions all Texas through, uh, key life topics that impacts the way we make decisions in life and also challenges us on building our character.
I find that to be very helpful as it's systematically takes me through areas to help me be grounded in myself and what I truly believe in. No. And, knowing that really helps me to make decisions easily. So yeah, you asked me would I recommend us? Most definitely I would recommend him, especially for those, who are seeking godly counsel. Os is a coach that has a rich background in business, academy and the marketplace. Os has a really rich background in so many areas. I feel like every time I meet him, I have a treasure chest right in front of me. So yeah, your life will truly be enriched, when you meet up with Os.”
Thank you.
There's another form of coaching and mentoring and that's group coaching. Group coaching has some benefits because you hear the perspectives of others. You can apply to your own situation. You develop your friendships with the people in the group and the, you benefit personally from those relationships. You might meet somebody that might want to invest in your business, or you might meet somebody who has an expertise in an area that you need. Uh, you never know who's going to be in a group when you're involved in a group coaching. The other factor of group coaching is it's less expensive. You say, I can share with a group at a lower cost. Then one-to-one coaching and the value you get is great because you're still getting personal input at a much lower rate than what I would have to charge on a one to one coaching.
Now over the years I've discovered 10 core areas that must be learned to have success in life and work. These 10 are areas have helped me realize the God given assignment in my own life to help others discover and fulfill their purpose in life. And today in my announcement, I'm going to share with you how I think I can help you in fulfilling your purpose through a new initiative, calm journey to your destiny change agent master mentor program. And we've had a change agent network for several years, but we've decided to add additional tools in our change agent mentor program along with some online mentoring that I believe many people are wanting. We did a survey of many of the people and what's their greatest needs were. And these are some of the things that they said. One is managing your money. How do you receive your inheritance?
How do you have financial breakthrough in your life? Another is the Joseph calling. How do I turn my adversity into a larger story of my life and I have a lot of experience in that and so I'll share some in depth training for you in that area. Another is understanding your purpose. You'll know how to discover your purpose so that you can fulfill your destiny and use that as a filter for how you're going to spend your time. You'll also realize that you need a devotional life to create intimacy with God and to have a powerful life of miracles in your life. We'll help you with that and another need that we saw was learning from proven culture shapers and we did a culture shapers summit last year and we were able to bring together 50 top culture shapers. We recorded all of those sessions and we're putting them into this program so that you can access every one of them.
You'll become God's culture shaper. We'll help you understand how to have influence, how Jesus was able to be an influencer and then hearing God, everybody needs to better be able to hear God will help you make your work matter and understand the theology of work and how to experience God in your work life will help you experience thriving relationships and become a relational leader. And finally, I'm going to be your mentor in this program and I look forward to the opportunity to have you part of it. Earlier I mentioned the value of group coaching and we have our group coaching as part of this program on zoom conferencing. You either meet once a week or four times a month depending on the level of membership you have in the program. Now, Louis Wray is a financial advisor and wealth manager in st Louis. He contacted me and asked me if I would be his coach. He was in a situation of starting a new business and he had a lot of uncertainty around his life. You know, cashflow was a bit tight at the time, but at there praying about it, he felt that an investment in our relationship would be the best thing he could do. I want you to hear what his experience was from our coaching time as I just want to say thank you for all that you've done for me these last 12 months.
“You're a gifted man Os. You have a lot of talents. And for me to be able to just be with you on a monthly basis and during other separate calls where you would just reach out, it was just awesome that I had access to you the way that I did. The auth, the authentic way that you went about our coaching relationship was, um, uh, just a wonderful, for me, your perspective is, is not only strong in the business world, which is what I needed at the, uh, starting a new business, but also just you're on fire for the Lord. And it just, um, it was just a great compliment for me in a coaching relationship. I would encourage anybody who's, you know, my case, I was starting a new business. It was just a perfect time. It can be kind of lonely at times. And to know that you were there and available to me was a, was a great, uh, great feeling. And I would encourage anybody who's going through any kind of a transition or it feels like they need a coach and to, to, um, to reach out to you. I think you get the double barrel, you get the, the um, person that loves the Lord and also a person who gives a, a good perspective on life and on business. So thank you very much and best of luck for you in the future. “
Now, why is knowledge and wisdom so valuable? Well, the reason is my mistakes and what I've learned say view for making the mistakes it can lead to you making more money and have more knowhow and guidance in your life. Anthony Williams once said, knowledge comes from learning and wisdom comes from living. So in this program we have a number of features. We have 34 different modules with 135 different online video presentations. And,if you look at the value of each one of these items that are part of the program, you'll see significant value. In fact, that first one has a value of over $12,000. Now if you enroll in the program by February 25th, you'll get an added bonus of 15 of my eBooks that have a value of $275 you'll also get 30 downloadable tools to use in your work life. Call that as a value of $1,475 and so you'll also get the monthly engagement with me.
That really has a value between 500 to $2,000 a month depending on the level of membership you have. And then as I say, you'll get access to the 50 presentations from the 2019 culture shapers summit valued at $1,250 and our annual gathering with other leaders that has a value of $4,500 and then our weekly teaching E journal, that has a value of seven 50 and then 50 video case studies where you can learn from other leaders. And 250 leader interview podcasts that has a value of $9,000. So the total value, uh, the program like this and the general marketplace would be around $30,000. But that's not what it's going to cost. But I just want to give you some sense of value here. So what does this mean for you? Well, you're going to fulfill your purpose. This program's designed to help you live the larger story of your life and fulfill what God has called you to do.
You'll overcome obstacles that prevent you from success. You'll have fulfillment by achieving your God given destiny in life. You'll thrive in your relationships and increase your income by breaking barriers to success. You'll have greater influence through your work in life, and you'll use your adversities to move you to the larger story in your life. Basically, you're gonna have a more powerful Christian life. You'll get counsel that could save you thousands of dollars through my input, and those that are part of the program, you'll gain connections with other like-minded leaders from around the country and the world via private Facebook community. You'll overcome strongholds that seek to derail your purpose and much more. So what should a program like this cost? Well, should it be 1200 a month or seven 50 a month? Maybe $495 a month. Four 95 would be a great value, but I got good news for you in that cost is only going to be $79 a month for the foundations program and two 70 a month for our advanced mentoring program.
Now the difference between these programs and the content is only the level of mentoring that you get during a month. And so the 79 program gets just as much content training and equipping as the other. You just don't get as much of my time and time with others on a zoom call. So here's what you get. You get the 34 equipping model modules, the hundred 35 courses, you get the 50 presentations, you get a, uh, the change agent app that can go on your phone. So you can access this anywhere. You get the leader podcast and you get the weekly teaching, uh, uh, newsletter. And, the 250 leader interviews and the private Facebook, we're going to do an annual gathering that has a value of 1250. Then the zoom calls. And then as I say, you'll have an option if you enroll by February 25th, you'll be able to get the two bonuses that we're offering in this.
So you get all that for $79 a month or two 79 a month. And as I say, you'll have access to our private Facebook group so you can ask questions and engage with other members of the program. And so here's an overview of the mini courses that you get, the discovering why God made you six stages of a call walking with God, experiencing the father's love role of prayer in the marketplace, becoming a change agent, equipping the church in the workplace, men at work, my top 10 golden rules for success in business, the kingdom business mastermind, how to start and succeed in your work life. Let me just say something about that kingdom business mastermind. That's an eight session course for business owners. And it's a powerful course. It gives you all the nuts and bolts for having a successful business work as worship. That's a conducted by Doug spade and Jensen Franklin. And then you'll learn from the culture shapers and the other leaders who are culture shapers every week will email you with a suggested course to watch and we'll discuss those during our weekly or monthly calls. But that's not all that's on here. You'll have a course on hearing God and your relationships. You'll have a course on managing your money and becoming a culture shaper. Listen to Ron Hart who is in our program and the value that he gets from this uh, change agent master mentor program.
“Hi, this is Ron Hart out in Santa Cruz, California. And I just want to give a shout out for the change agent network. It's like having mentoring on demand. It's kind of fun. Is that right? We're all in transformation and we have to start with ourselves. So on the change agent, we have access to video courses, uh Oh, webinars with [inaudible] leaders in the marketplace, and a, a searchable database of you name it. And uh, you can find it there. We also have forums to discuss with other change agents. So without segregated, uh, because there's a long road that T can't find your way many times. That is a very good, great resource and it's changed my life.”
So let's take a snapshot of the online membership site. And on here you get to see all the courses and the format by which they're shown. It's a, the latest technology and you have people like Lance wall now and Doug Spada and uh, there are about seven or eight other teachers beside myself on this program. And each one of these teachings is professionally produced and you'll gain so much from it. And I have a lot of, uh, teachings on here that will help you. You can see this format. That's how we use the, um, you know, on camera and then the PowerPoints. And then we have other guests, presenters and case studies from people like Gunnar Olson and uh, uh, George Washington Carver, Jeremiah Lanphier. These are video case studies of leaders that we can all learn from. Uh, William Wilberforce and Gunnar Olson, and then over 250 podcast interviews right there on the site.
And uh, so you'll be able to gain so much from this program. So it's like an online university for your life, you know, and uh, where else can you go get this level of training and mentorship? You're going not going to get that in your local church. You're not gonna have access to people like these that are on our side. Um, if you just looked at each one of these courses as a standalone course, you'd be looking at anywhere from $134 or 67 to three 99. Each one of these has multiple sessions in them. And so, uh, each series would have a, you know, great value. So I hope that you can see that it's a great value. You access all the training 24, seven. Anytime you want to go on the site and watch anything you can do that. You can also say the website on your phone screen and use it like an app to access podcast and webinars, courses and other resources.
And so we've made the website very adaptable to your phone and it really works well with your phone. And what if all this did was help you discover your purpose or it just helped you get breakthroughs that you need right now or give you the process by which God will help you fulfill your destiny. Wouldn't it be worth it? It's an incredible value at $79 or two 79 a month. You can learn about this by going to see a master mentor.com that's C, a master mentor.com that CA means change agent, so see a master mentor.com if you're listening to this on the podcast, I encourage you to like, uh, our program on iTunes and help us serve other people's. You see, one of the greatest benefits is the people you'll get to know in the program. You're going to meet some fantastic people who have a kingdom mindset just like yourself. We'll also have an annual gathering and a that will be a place where you'll meet the people that you're meeting on the zoom call and get to know them personally. Well, in closing, I want to share a testimony from my good friend Mark Shattuck who came to my three day training and has been a friend and someone that I've been mentoring for a number of years. Listen to what he says about the program.
“I’ve been a long time friend of Os's and receiving his TGIF devotionals. They've just been incredibly influential in my life. I'm also read many of his books and so, uh, I knew that I wanted to come to this, uh, conference as well as bringing a friend who's, uh, a close colleague of mine and in a process where I knew this, this, this conference material would be just life changing for him. I've been, uh, walking in an entrepreneurial calling, but at the same time coming out of a missionary background and the blend of, and the confusion of, you know, full time ministry calling versus going into a secular calling has always been something that a lot of people struggled with. Uh, [inaudible] message that, you know, the mission field of the business world is just as valid as a, another country was just revolutionary to me and really freeing and always wanting to get deeper and deeper into that.
But God has been doing a huge thing in my life the last 12 years. And I know that I need to surround myself with other people. And the teaching that is, uh, going deeper into the heart of God, especially in the workplace. It offers so much to so many different levels. It's impossible to put it into one statement, but I know that I would recommend anybody who really wants a walk in the calling that God has for them. Uh, this is a place where they're gonna get an enormous amount of help information, a community, and an ongoing process that'll, that'll continue to feed into where they're trying to go rather than just some good info, good notes, and good look as that you're on your own. It'll be a process that'll keep Ealing a lot of fruit.
Okay, so there you've have it, the change agent master mentor program. Man, I hope you really prayerfully consider being with us in this. I want to equip leaders to be cultural influencers, to be successful in your business and personal life. And I believe this program can do that, but you got enrolled to be able to do that and you especially want to enroll before February 25th so that you get these bonuses worth $645. Those are real bonuses. So, and they have that real kind of value. So I hope that you'll be part of it. I look forward to being with you in the program. God bless.
What do you do when life becomes a train wreck? Today I want to share with you the five secrets to advance your vision. Do you feel stuck in your own calling? Do you often think that you'd like to be more successful and more influential, but something's in the way our circumstances keeping you from achieving your life goals? If so, this week's podcast is for you.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this? Adversity is God mad at me? I'm all Sylvan and I've been helping leaders like you answer these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF Today God is First podcast. Hey guys, and welcome to our podcast this week. This week we're going to do two podcasts because we've got some special things going on this week. So today's podcast is talking about what happens when there's a train wreck in your life. And I'm going to share with you a few secrets that I learned when I had a train wreck of my life and hopefully it's going to be helpful to you. Now. Over the years I've discovered that most people are in one of three places. Life is good. You're really doing well, you're making lots of money, you're having great impact. I hope that's where you are. Uh, others are, you know, not so lucky. They're not in that place of blessing. They're having struggles, but it's not too bad. But they reason that, well, everybody has those kinds of struggles. And so, you know, I just deal with it. And then there's a third category of people and that is, they're in a very difficult crisis and they need some help in understanding what God is doing in their life so that God can take them through that and really help them fulfill God's purposes in your life through that train wreck. And so that's what I want to talk to you. A, what I'm sharing today is going to be helpful no matter whether you're in one, two, or three stage. And so I hope that you'll stay tuned. I'm also going to give a free resource at the end. If you want to stay with me at the end, there'll be a tool that you can use that can help you again, no matter where you are in that phase of your journey. So I want to do something a little different than I normally do today. I want to take you through some some principles as we start this. The question I have for you is, What’s your story? You know, we all have a story and that story often tells us where we are and what we need to do as it relates to that story. So, you know, the best way for me to communicate this is kinda share a little bit with my story and, and you've probably heard my story many times, but I've never gone to the depth that I'm going to go with you today. Uh, because I think by going to the depth, you get a better understanding of how what I learned is applicable to your own life and how you can navigate and no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, that you can be successful. And, you know, God takes us through these and some of them are very difficult and some of them are seasons of prosperity. And so it's important to understand how to relate in each of those stages. So let us be down and let's talk about your dream and what you had hoped your life would be like. You know, uh, my dream was to be a professional golfer that didn't work out. You know, I worked hard at it and not early twenties, but it didn't work out. And so, but it did use, uh, God you that failure in a good way. He allowed me to come to Christ through that failure. And, uh, gosh, I'd probably not be where I am today if I'd had not had that failure. And so the important thing is to fail forward and understand how to use those failures to take us to a different place. And a different calling. And that's exactly what happened to me. So I ended up going into business and ultimately would end up in advertising and had my own advertising agency. And, uh, you know, we'd had a run for about 12 years and it was a good run. And, uh, so, um, but in 1994, I went through my crisis and you probably already know that, but I lost a half million dollars through a Bernie Madoff situation and, uh, you know, life was very disrupted. And so, uh, what do you do with that? What do you do when there is a train wreck? And I was less with all of those questions as well, but that was my dream. I basically wanted to be, you know, a Christian business leader that impacted lounges of other people that was able to give money to Christian causes to influence our culture. I really wanted to do that. And they, my ad agency after, as Lyndon lion called the Aslam group. And so, and God was using us in that way. It was a very, uh, exciting time in my life, but I had some struggles and I had a marriage struggle and just, uh, uh, you know, things I was being successful financially. Uh, but in 94, went through that crisis and I had a Bernie Madoff situation happen where, you know, my half million dollars in savings that, uh, been taken by this guy, I would never recover it. And then 80% of my business walk out the door and I get stuck with $140,000 bill from that client and my vice president would take me and my wife decided to leave me during that time and said that I shouldn't be into a seven year season. And so it was not until 1996 that I was able to get some revelation about my current situation. And so, you know, I met Gunnar Olson, in Washington D C in 1996 and you heard my story and I said, Oh, I do. You have a Joseph calling in your life. And so I said, what does the Joseph calling? And he explained that to me. It's, uh, a person who's has a marketplace call to be a physical and spiritual provider for others. I say, Oh my gosh. Well, I walked in that day really with a lot of shame and failure that, uh, I had, you know, let my family down. I'd let the others in my business down. And so, so I was dealing with that. And so when gunner spoke those words to me, it was like, Oh, he said, you know, the adversity is not because something you did wrong is because of a consequence or call on your life. And that was what it was for Joseph. He had a consequence of the call on his life that even though the devil was trying to kill him by throwing him in a pit and you know, putting him in slavery, God used that in his life to fulfill a destiny. And he later said those famous words, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And you might be in that place today where you're struggling to know the events of your life and you know, there's no event in your life that Gaza doesn't know about the most important thing. It's what are you going to do with it? How are you going to turn that event into something that can be positive in your life and others? So here I was in my situation, I had a barrier. And that barrier was I no longer had money. I no longer had a wife. I no longer had a means of, you know, making a living. And if 44 years old, I was questioning, God, where are you? What did I do wrong? What is the barrier between you and I that's not allowing your blessing to come to me? I felt like I'd been faithful to God serving him. I was giving money, uh, you know, and so it didn't make sense to me until on that good or awesome. And then I realized that God was doing a different kind of work in my life. And maybe he's doing that with you. And so we need to understand, you know, those barriers are real. Um, but it also says in the scriptures that the truth shall make you free. The truth shall make you free. That's John eight 32. Whenever you discover the truth about your situation, that becomes the beginning of change. Because once you've learned the truth about things, you can begin to change things, at least move toward change. And so what I realized was the truth that meeting with gunner helped me realize the truth about my own situation. It wasn't all my fault. Yeah. I had some things that God needed to work on in my life and he did. In fact, I'm not the same person as I was back then. Uh, I got a lot of strong holes removed and it was a, a process. It got and took me through for seven years. And, uh, it led to a new common lane. Now, I didn't know I was going to be led to a new calling, but many times whenever a crisis happens, that's the front door to your new calling. And so you need to understand that when God disrupts your life, sometimes it's for his purposes, you think is about the apostle Paul. He had his life disrupted, he was blinded by Jesus, and that was a disruption. Uh, Peter's life was just rooted when Jesus met him at the boat that day and other lines were disrupted when a crisis came into their life. So the most important thing is to discover what the truth is about your condition. And sometimes we can go through adversity through, um, sin, you know, go haze on the assistant to Elijah, lost his job and got leprosy because he tried to profit from a healing that Elijah did. And so it's important that we understand that. That's another secret to this whole process. And number four is once we go through the crisis, that means we've got to develop a new plan, a new plan of action, what's, what's the new strategy? And sometimes he doesn't give it all to us and he has to allow us to go through that transition. And my transition was seven years, and I'm in the seventh year. I was able to receive some money from a piece of property that God allowed me to sell for six times what I paid for it. It allowed me to become debt free. And I had begun writing during that time, but I had to survive during that time, before that happened. And so I had to ask myself, what do I have in my hand? And you know, that's a principle in the old Testament where Elijah was, um, ministering to the widow who is on her last meal. And he said, what do you have in your hand? What do you have in your house? And she says, well, I don't have anything other than some oil lamps. And he said, well, go collect all the oil lamps you can, even your neighbor's oil lamps. And a miracle happened where oil appeared in those oil lamps. And she was able to sell that and, uh, care for her needs and her children's needs as a result of that. And so I had to ask myself, what do I have in my hand that could help me transition in my period? Well, I was pretty good at marketing and advertising. And so God opened the door for me to do some consulting with a sports marketing company and later a ministry in um, and Detroit. And it was, I was able to do that for about three years and that was God's man up for me as he was remaking me and reshaping me. So my question do you, is what do you have in your hand? You know, what is it that God could multiply during a tough season if you're in a train wreck season? What is it that God might want to multiply in your hand? The other thing I discovered is it, I had to invest in myself. I had to learn why did I go through the things I went through and to discover those things so that I wouldn't repeat them. And so that's another important part of the process. So by this time I was starting to sense that God was taking me into a new calling and that new calling was to equip men and women in the marketplace. And I'd started writing TJ out during the late nineties. I'd send that off to my computer and people would write back and say how much it helped them. And then it got on a website that was, uh, called crosswalk.com. And, uh, I began to get letters from people around the world. And, uh, the only thing was that I had a desire to equip people, but I didn't feel like I had the skillset. Um, I was very weak in grammar and, uh, I barely got out of English class in high school. And so I felt very insecure about writing. And, uh, I also wasn't a very good speaker. I was very shy. Uh, I was a young man who had a lot of insecurities growing up. Like Moses. Uh, I didn't want to speak. I felt like, uh, I was not the right man for the job, but you know, as God was doing such a deep work in my heart, I began to share with other people and the need to share became greater than my insecurity, if you know what I mean. Well one thing, I was weekend as grammar, as I was writing these devotional and I'd send them out and I would send them to people who wanted them and it was free. And I miss a day one or two and people say, where's my devotion on? I said, what do you mean? Where is your devotion and you're not paying forward? And but that was a verse indication. I got that a, it was helping people. But I also got comments like, Hey, I love your devotional, but have you ever thought about having somebody look at your work grab grammatically? And uh, so I, I, uh, didn't know what to do with that and I asked her about the fifth or sixth one of those comments. I said, well, how about you? Can you help me if you're good at that? And well, it just so happened that it was a Hong Kong English teacher, uh, who responded that email. And that person agreed to be my long distance editor. So I would write the devotional, send it to them, they sent it back and correct it. And so God provided, but you see, I had to put my foot in the water. Sometimes people don't step out because they feel like they are so unqualified. And you know, I understand that. But you can't let that dictate when God calls you to do something and you have a passion and a to do that. And um, so the other thing I had to do was, you know, do something that was very contrary to my current status and that was, money was very tight, but there were certain conferences that I had to felt like I needed to go to that Gunnar Olson was at. And that costs money. I remember one time I said, you know, I believe God wants me to go to this conference. And so, uh, I didn't have the money. It was going to cost $2,500. And so I kept praying and said, Lord, I don't know what, what I'm supposed to do here. And so the very day of the deadline for the registration, a man who was in my Bible study came and wrote me a check for $2,500. He says, I believe you're supposed to go to this conference. And so you did. I did. And, uh, but I began to see a lot of those kinds of miracles. Uh, and sometimes we have to put our foot in the water for the water to, to park. And that's what the, the, uh, priest had to do when they were carrying the art across the Jordan river. They had to put their foot in the water first. And maybe, maybe yours in a place where you don't feel like you could invest in yourself. Well, let me challenge you with that. That, you know, sometimes that can be the greatest investments and the greatest breakthrough I'm going to share with you at the end about a new initiative we're doing that is going to allow you to invest in yourself. And, uh, you know, you might say, well, I can't afford to do that. Well, you can't afford not to, you know, and, uh, God calls us to make us equipped. And sometimes, uh, investing in those kinds of things can really help us. And so that's the other secret that you need to, uh, understand your weaknesses, but not let your weaknesses dictate what you do and then you need to invest in yourself toward your optimization. So in my own journey, God took me through that period and, um, today I can consider what great things God has done because he literally transformed me into a marketplace leader. And I would end up going to 26 countries to equip leaders. I would write, just finished my 19th book and, uh, I'm debt free. You know, after those seven years I received that money, I became debt free. And, uh, and so God has used that. And I'm also happily married to Pamela that, uh, I got remarried four years ago and the God is using us. She has a powerful prison ministry herself. And so, you know, God turns our Valley of a war into a door of hope as Hosea two 15. And it's a hope, this not only for us, but it's others as well. And so whether you're in a place of great prosperity or you're in a kind of a transition period or where you're in that train wreck, you know, God is not, uh, unaware of your condition. Uh, Paul once said, the things that have happened to me have served to advance the gospel. And that's what we need to ask each of us is what has happened to my life? Is it advancing the gospel either in a good way, uh, or you know, some kind of significant way of touching other people. And God doesn't want you to stay in your pants. He don't want you to be a victim to your past or your circumstances or your train wreck. As I began to share many of those things with others, I would often have people say, do you, do you mentor others? And that, you know, God began to invite me to other places to, uh, receive, um, to be able to teach and equip others. And he was learning. He was teaching me to learn how to see God as my provider. I w I remember one time a man called me from New York city and he said, um, I've read your adversity book seven times. It's the only book that has ministered to me because of your marketplace background. And I said, well, that's interesting. And he had just lost his job as, as a major, um, uh, financial, uh, Morgan Stanley type business there in New York city. And his wife was leaving him. And so I began to serve him and minister to him and, uh, just, uh, receive his calls anytime he called. And so we developed a very close relationship. I ended up going to New York a few times and, uh, you know, just talking with him. And after about seven months, I began to think, Lord, you want me to continue to serve this man? And the Lord said, yes, continue to do that. So I did, uh, never got a donation from him and then it was Christmas time and he calls me and says, I've, I've sent you something and, uh, just be on the lookout in the mail. So a few days went by and I got this envelope from him, and in that envelope was a check for $20,000. And I began to realize that God calls us to be obedient. And now whenever there's a vision, he provides the provision for that. And so sometimes we have to be obedient. On another occasion I was invited to speak the Barbados and I was in the middle of my adversity. And, uh, it was a very, very small meeting. I mean, it was like 12 people in a marketplace. People either don't pay me about 150 bucks to and, but, and I knew it'd take two or three days of my time. And so, but God said, go. And so I've mapped and administered to the man who had a marriage problem himself. And, uh, I was there for three days, ended up leaving some of my books behind. And uh, as a result of that, a man began to, who spoke the following month and got some of my books and began reading them and they were administering to him. And so he called me and said, I've, I've been reading your TGI F book. I really like it a lot. It's ministered to me. I'm doing a marketplace conference on the Island of Trinidad and I'd like to have you as our keynote speaker. It'd be 22 Island nations represented. So I went and did that. And that man became a very close friend from that time on. And I taught a workshop during that time and I found that, um, there was a man there that was really ministered to by my teaching on the Joseph calling. It transformed his life. He said he was the largest car dealer in the, um, in the Caribbean. And, uh, that December I got a check from him for $5,000. And you know, so sometimes both obedience does it yield immediately and it takes time for that seed to come back to us. And so sometimes we have to invest in the others. We have to invest in ourselves through training and equipping. Uh, we have to invest in being mentored by others. And so that all of these experiences are to help others fulfill their dreams. And so that's a, that's what the conclusion I've come to over these years is that God has used what I went through to be able to help others. The most common comment I get from people who read TGF is you read my mail today. And I said, what do you mean? And what you spoke right into my own situation. And I think that, um, you know, God did that. I wrote those devotionals for myself, not other people in order to help me better understand the processes of God in my own life. And so it turned out that those devotionals were helping many other people at the same time. And so when people said, do you have a mentoring program? And so, well I, um, I do have a ment, I don't have a mentoring program cause I can't, can't do it right now because I'm traveling so much. And so what came out of that is we put together sort of a [inaudible] mentoring program called the change agent network. And the change agent network had many courses and training, video PowerPoints and so forth, podcasts and interviews with leaders on it. And so that became our mentoring program for a season. But, um, over the last three months, we've been asking many of our friends, what are you going through? What do you need help with? Um, what could we do to help you be able to invest in yourself? And so we heard from a number of people and we took those comments and we said, they need help here. They help here, they need help here. And so what came out of that is a, uh, a more advanced change agent network. We call change agent master mentor program. And in that program we have 10 core things that we're addressing. One is managing your money and the other is the Joseph calling. How do you navigate difficult seasons? One is discovering your purpose. You know, I find that a lot of people just don't understand their purpose. You know, you need to know your purpose. You need to be able to write it down in one sentence because that becomes the filter by which you judge all your activity and what to focus your time on and what not to focus your time on. Uh, you need to learn from other proven culture shaped is one of the things we did last year in Washington is we had an international culture shapers summit. I had 50 different presenters. If you can imagine, over three and a half days, these were top leaders in their area of the seven cultural mountains at business. And they spoke to our group. And we've included all of those sessions on this new program called a change agent master mentor program. And that hearing God, you know, the number one thing that people struggle with, uh, in their marketplace call is hearing God. How do I hear God? What, uh, what, uh, is the way that God speaks to me? How can I discern his voice better? So I know it's him versus me? And so there are 10 ways God speaks and we cover that in the training. Make your work matter to God is another focus and that is helping you understand the theology of work. How do I experience God in my work? How I manifest the power of God in my work? How do I see his hand in my work? How do I, uh, really break through barriers in my calling in the marketplace? And that's what we do there. Experience thriving relationships is another area that we focus on. And that is a powerful session. You know, I was a very much of a performance driven bottom line kind of person. Um, and uh, I was very transactional and so a board member of mine named Ford Taylor still on my board, uh, he has a whole organization called transformational leadership. And so I had him, um, uh, provide some courses on our platform that will allow him to teach others. Like he taught me to be a relational leader and there's, uh, a term he coins called real actionable leadership. And it's a combination between true relational and transactional. And so, uh, you know, we all need improvement on relationships and I wasn't very good in relationships and so I'm pretty good now because I've learned a lot and you have to be intentional about learning these things. And, uh, then Lauren from a mentor, uh, you know, I can't be a one mentor to people, but I can be in a group setting. And so we've created zoom calls to be able to process, of course, each week, you know, a session each week. And then we come together on that call and take questions and engage with each other. And then we have a private Facebook so that you can engage around the Facebook and um, you know, it's only for those who are in the course or part of our TGI inner circle. And so that's why I created the change agent master mentor program. In this course number there are a number of things that make up the program. There are 34 modules in the program, but all these 10 different topics, there's 135 classes. So, you know, you're never going to run out of things to learn. There's 54 case studies. And, uh, as I mentioned, there's mentoring via zoom. There are 250 leader interviews. So here’s you're going to gain from this program. You call requires tremendous wisdom and discernment and knowledge to fulfill your marketplace call. So let me just review with use all of the things that you get as part, um, the program. You just heard the course, these courses and the value of that's over $8,000. And then the presentations of the prison from the change agent network or the change agent, uh, uh, culture change your summit. And I'm sorry, uh, that, uh, those 50 presentations would have a value of over $3,500 on the market. Uh, it costs a lot to go to that summit. And, uh, so this is the real value. And then you get our TGI media app and the change agent, uh, program can be usable on your phone. It works just like an ad and reads re really good. So you can access a lot of the training on your car. Uh, and anywhere you're, you're on vacation or whatever. As I say, the 250 leader interviews that has a value of $950. And you know, we have a weekly teaching blog, there'll be a weekly teaching segment, there'll be sent out. And, uh, as I say, accessing the private Facebook community, you're also going to get 10 eBooks from me. And, you're also going to get a number of downloads, 20 different PDF downloads. These are tools to help you live out your calling. And so, uh, you can access all of this 24, seven. And so it's a, it's a tremendous opportunity. The question is where, where could you go and get that kind of value that we estimate the value of that program to be $19,000 just to just the base, uh, offerings that we're putting on the platform. So where else can you go get training? You're not going to get this kind of training and your, um, church because it's very marketplace specific and you're going to be able to develop a mentoring relationship with myself. So, um, the registration enrollment opens tomorrow and uh, opens tomorrow. That's February the 19th. And so you can, you can't register today, but you can, we'll be giving out the website tomorrow, uh, and uh, you'll be able to register, um, by looking for an email from me. And you can be one of the first to enroll. So already mentioned all the things that you're wanting to gain from that. So we don't need, need to rehash that. I just don't want to encourage you to join us. And, um, I'm going to give you a resource, uh, in a minute called are you a biblical worker? Uh, it's a tool that you've been using, personal study and small groups that we've been giving away for the last couple of months and it's 50 questions, true false questions on, uh, what you would do in a workplace situation. And then at the back of the book we give all the answers. So it's a great little tool for small group study if you have a small group in the marketplace or just your personal study. So I hope you'll take advantage of that free resource for you. And I hope you'll be looking in your email for our announcement on the change agent marketplace mentor program. And, uh, don't forget to give us a comment below what you think about this session today. Was it helpful? Uh, and always good for me to get feedback from you and let me know what you think about this new initiative. And then, uh, uh, if you're on iTunes listening to this audio, then let me encourage you to uh, just give us a comment on iTunes. It will help us, uh, generate more re a listenership on iTunes when you give us a good rating. So I think that's all today. So thanks for being with me. I'd like to pray for you today before we end up by there. I thank you for those listening today and I pray that you will fulfill their purpose and destiny and that you will help them in their transitions, those who are in a train wreck situation themselves. I pray for the grace of God to work in their midst and for those who are living a very successful life, that the things that have happened to them will be used to advance the gospel in a positive way. We thank you father in Jesus name. Amen. I have a red dead. Hi, this is Ron Hart out in Santa Cruz, California. And I just wanted to give a shout out for the agent network. It's like having mentoring on demand. It's kind of fun. Is that right? We're all in transformation and we have to start with ourselves. So on the change agent, we have access to video courses, uh, uh, webinars with leaders in the marketplace and a, a searchable database of you name it and uh, you can find it there. We also have forums to discuss this with other change agents. So without [inaudible], uh, because there's a long road that T can't find your way, man. Anytime. It is a very great resource and it's changed my life. Are you a biblical worker? Do you know what the Bible says about how to work biblically? I've got a great resource I want to give you called. Are you a biblical worker? It's a 50 question. True false self assessment, great for personal study and small groups. Plus you get the answers with supporting scriptures to help you apply what the Bible says about your daily work life. It's a value of $25 but we want to make it available to you as a free. Just go to www.threebiblicalworker.com that's free biblical worker.com.
Speaker 1: (00:00) Hey guys, have you ever allowed perceived weaknesses in your life to keep you from fulfilling your dreams? Well, if that fits you, then today's podcast is made for you.
Speaker 2: (00:12) How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this? Adversity is God mad at me? I'm also a woman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to teach GIF today. God is Herb's. Hey guys, good
Speaker 1: (00:36) be with you today. You know, well, this past weekend was the super bowl and you know, I was thinking about that game with, between the chiefs and the 40 Niners and you know, with six minutes to play in the game, uh, the chiefs were down by I think two touchdowns and I began to think, you know, they got a tough road, uh, to overcome that. Well, they, they, not only did they ever calm, they overcome quite well and they ended up winning the game. But I saw such an analogy of how life can be, you know, we can be down, but it doesn't mean we have to be out. And, uh, so today I want to spend my time talking to you about perceived weaknesses that keep us from fulfilling our dreams. Most of you may know my story and, uh, but I want to go deeper in that story today.
Speaker 1: (01:23) I want to talk to you about some of those perceived weaknesses that I had in my own life growing up and how God allowed me to overcome those. And, uh, so I want you to be able to overcome any kind of, you know, weaknesses that you perceive are in your life right now. So let's begin by just let me share with you my history. You know, I was born in the South and my dad was a toy store owner and it was great growing up having a dad who owned a toy store. I had four sisters and uh, we went to church every week. But I would say that, uh, our Christianity wasn't really relationship based and uh, it was more of a tradition if you will. But my folks were good. My dad was a solid a man. He was a good provider for our home.
Speaker 1: (02:14) And so I, I really grew up in a very positive environment and I love sports. You know, I played sports from, you know, early in my life. My dad started me playing golf when I was 11 years old. And, uh, I quickly picked up the game quite well. In fact, by the time I was 14, I had won several golf tournaments and, uh, won the junior tournament. My club and I had, has three hole in ones and I'd broken cemetery many, many times. And so, you know, most in the community were predicting big things for this young golfer. And, uh, I would continue on in that and ultimately would end up going to school on a golf scholarship. But we did have a major interruption along the way. And that was, I was 14 years old and I was sitting there watching I dream of Jeannie every young adolescent love watching that program.
Speaker 1: (03:06) And uh, so I was watching it. Then a newscast comes on and says, three prominent businessmen in the community had just been killed in an airplane crash. And my dad was the pilot of that plane. And so this really changed our lives dramatically. In fact, his insurance was all tied up in the company and it did not pay off. And so here at my mom with five kids is never been, you know, in the workforce all those years and is now forced with having to consider going back to work. And she did. But through that experience, my mom really came to know Christ in a very deep and personal way. That was a very vibrant relationship with God. And she began sharing that with her kids. But I was at a stage where I didn't really want to hear about it. I had one goal in mind.
Speaker 1: (03:54) I wanted to play professional golf. And so I went to school in a golf scholarship at the university there in my city and a finish without a degree because I was so passionate about the golf and, uh, nothing else really mattered to me. And that was one of my big mistakes in life that I regret. So, but, uh, my mom continued to preach at me and I didn't really want to hear it. So I moved away to North Myrtle beach, South Carolina. And when I was there, there was a pastor who used to be friends, was friends with our family growing up. He was at the church where I grew up in and now he was in North Myrtle beach and he was actually at a church across the street from the golf course. I was working. And so, you know, I was really striving to be able to get on the tour.
Speaker 1: (04:38) It was 1975 and there was a major recession in the country and I couldn't raise money to get on the tour. And so I was kind of nominal, you know, I was kinda on borderline. I had the ability, but I didn't have the understanding and the, uh, the mind to be a competitive golfer. And I'll explain why that was a little later. And so that was one of the perceived obstacles. I had to be able to fulfill my dream. I didn't have money. And so how would I get that? And so over the next several years, um, I would, uh, seek to try to raise money and, and gamble on the golf course and so forth. But along the way, Christ came into my life as a result of kind of coming to the end of myself. And, uh, that is what led me to Christ. And that pastor played a key role.
Speaker 1: (05:29) His name was Jim mesic and I'll never forget his involvement. He's still involved in my life today at 84 years old and we are very close, close friends. He is like a father to me and he's known me since I was 13 years old. And so that was a new chapter in my life. And so, uh, I went to Vail, Colorado and uh, turns out I was a golf pro and they'll Colorado. But along the way I realized that that probably was not going to be something I was able to achieve. And so here I had a change in vocation, a direction and you know, a lot of our dreams, we can't fulfill them, you know, and there's a part two to our dream and that we need to adjust our dream based on our ability. You know, I may have had the ability, but I didn't know how to get to another level with that ability in order to achieve my dream.
Speaker 1: (06:27) And so, you know, sometimes we can make the adjustments, we can invest in education, we can invest in our lives in order to be a person that can fulfill the dream that we want to have. But sometimes God changes that dream and sometimes he changes the direction in our life. And we see that in the Bible all the time where someone is going one direction and God changes the direction of their life. Consider Josephy he had a big vision. He had a dream of what God was going to do with them and something got interrupted. The devil tried to kill him through his brothers, but the dream would actually be fulfilled. But there was a detour. And so often life has a detour. The question is, what are you going to do with that detour? Are you going to learn from the detour? Are you going to allow God to use that detour to make you better?
Speaker 1: (07:23) And so, um, life went on for several years. I would, in getting married, I would go to Bible school thinking I was called to be a pastor. I was so passionate about Christ at that time. Um, and uh, I ended up working at a church for a few months only to realize that wasn't where I was called. And, uh, but I did get married and we had some major challenges in our marriage, but we stuck it out for, uh, 14 years. But then one day in 1994, my wife came in one day and said, uh, I don't, uh, I don't want to go back to counseling. And we'd been in counseling for several years. And, uh, so this was another crisis moment and she did separate and a few other things just happened to take place over the next three months. I had been a very successful businessman in advertising.
Speaker 1: (08:15) I had my own ad agency in Atlanta and God was blessing that it was called the Azlan group. And we worked with clients like American express and Steinway pianos and Thomas Nelson publishers and you know, God was using us and I was leading Bible studies and I was teaching and I was ministering to others and giving money to Christian causes. And so, you know, life was pretty good except for my marriage. But then one day I got a phone call from my financial advisor and he says, the half million dollars you have is gone. I had been the victim of a Bernie Madoff type of scam, uh, that I was getting reports every month of our investments. Uh, but those reports evidently had been fake reports. And so there was no way I could know that, uh, what was going on because I had somebody in between us that was checking those things.
Speaker 1: (09:07) And so it was a devastating situation. And then in the next few days, um, I would hear that, um, my second largest account, actually my largest account, uh, was a company that we serve for almost five years and built them from 20 million to $30 million. So we were very good at what we did. But, uh, we had a conflict over a particular project and it was $140,000 project. And so my client says, we are not going to pay for that project and we're also releasing you as our ad agency. Well, that was $140,000 project of which I had $40,000 of inventory of, uh, a vendor costs related to that project. And, uh, that was devastating. And so then my vice president left me and he took my second largest account. So life went from one place to hold another place. Now it's at that point, either you gotta wonder, okay, where are you?
Speaker 1: (10:04) God, I've been faithful to you to stick it out in these tough places, but where are you? And so, uh, over the next two years, I would operate the best I could kinda navigating this difficult season of life. And um, so two years into that I met Gunnar Olson, the founder of the international Christian chamber of commerce. And, um, it was a strange how I met him. I had been sent on audio tape by him that said God was raising up Joseph's all over the world today. And it's often signified by them going through extraordinary adversity in their business and personal life. Well, that was all I heard on that tape. And so I, uh, said I need to meet this man. Turns out he was from Sweden, but he was going to be in the United States in a few weeks in Washington D C he listened to, I went up there and the hoping to meet him and he was gracious enough to allow me to meet him.
Speaker 1: (11:01) And so when I shared my story with him, he says, OSS, you have a Joseph calling on your life and is signified by a people who go through extraordinary adversity to be a physical and provider. For others. It's a marketplace call. And so he says, he pulls out a napkin and draws, you know, this one thing is this, here's where you are now and here's the next phase of the journey and here's the next phase. And so it was an incredible, uh, Kairos moment for me because I'd walked into that room that day feeling like a complete failure. And I walked out with an understanding that there was an actual call. You see, Joseph didn't go through his adversity because of failure of something. He went through adversity because of a consequence of the call. And that's what I want you to understand today, that there's four reasons we'll go could through adversity.
Speaker 1: (11:54) And one of those is a consequence of the call. And so I would start a whole new journey. And during those next seven years, God would begin to deposit things. I would seek him with all my heart as gunnery encouraged me to do. And so, uh, this went on for several years, but I was trying to make ends meet. Now. One of the challenges during that time was how do I pay my bills? You know, things were really rough and I was having to pay debts. And, uh, so my ad agency really couldn't support what I was doing. But you know, uh, God often provides manner in strange ways. And one of the things that happened as I was beginning to teach and, and share what I was learning, uh, this was the beginning of the birth of our ministry. And, uh, I would begin to write emails and send them out to friends that would become TGIM.
Speaker 1: (12:50) I would also start teaching workshops, uh, about the Joseph calling and that our work is a ministry. And so I was realizing that many of us in the marketplace check our faith at the door on Monday. We act like Monday morning atheist rather than kingdom business leaders. And so I began to really invest in the scriptures and understand how I had gotten to where I was and how do I get out of it? How do I navigate myself out of this? And so it wasn't easy to do. Well, my manner was that I got a consulting job that allowed me to pay my bills and, uh, allowed me to sustain myself. And then I had another ministry that hired me to allow me to serve them during this birthing process. And that's one of the things that we all need to understand is what is the way God might want to provide for us when we get into a tough place and we find a, an old Testament principle of what's in your hand with Elijah and the widow who went around and sold, uh, lamps to be able to, uh, provide for herself.
Speaker 1: (13:58) And that is a great case study on what happens when we don't have money. And you know, uh, money can be a perceived obstacle. It, and I say proceed because it doesn't have to be and may be you're in a lane time maybe or not. But, uh, that can be one of those, um, beliefs that we adopt that keeps us from fulfilling our purpose and destiny. Sometimes you have to invest in things where you least can afford it in order to get your breakthrough. I'm in the middle of that right now where I'm investing in something that I really can't afford it that well, but I know it's key to a breakthrough. And so if you, uh, keep yourself from investing in something that's going to help you, that can be a hindrance to your breakthrough. So, you know, that's where we have to apply faith to believing that God is behind the decision that we want to make.
Speaker 1: (15:00) And so that's just one example. And so I continued on in this process and I began teaching and I began writing. And you know, here's another situation I perceived myself to be a very poor student. I just didn't have a good grasp of grammar. And so when I started writing, I had this perceived idea that I couldn't be a good writer because I had a poor training. And so, but I had a passion to share. And so I decided to go ahead and write and this interesting story, I started writing the TGI F devotionals and I would get people writing me back saying, I love your devotionals, but have you ever thought about having someone look at your work grammatically? I said, well, I don't have anybody right now that can do that, but thank you for bringing that to Matt. My attention. I know there's a weakness there.
Speaker 1: (15:58) Well, this happened about three or four times again. And then finally the last person who asked me that, I said, uh, how about you? Could you help me? Well, he turned out to be an English teacher living in Hong Kong and he agreed to be my long distance editors. So I would write the devotional, send it to him, and then, uh, he was sent it back and I would publish it. Uh, well as time went on, I would learn myself how to be a better writer and to apply it. And so the key point you want to remember there is don't let the obstacle keep you from taking the next step in your journey. You know, I could have said, Oh, well, I'm just not good at that. And so I'm not going to do it. Well today. TGF is red in 104 countries and I've written two versions of it and then I've actually written a three total three 65 devotionals.
Speaker 1: (16:53) And so, you know, God turned my weakness into a strength, but I had to go through a process, uh, of, you know, having a little shame in my life from others. Uh, the other thing that, uh, was surfacing in my life is that people were inviting me to speak. Now, I used to terrify me to stand up in a front, a group of people. I get so nervous that I began shaking and I just didn't like it. And, and so, uh, this was another areas that God had to change if I was going to enter into, uh, my dream of being successful. And so people invited me to, to come and share with them and teach. Well, I realized one time that the key thing was, is it more important to share the passion of what I have inside or is it more important for me to be comfortable?
Speaker 1: (17:46) And so I had to overcome that obstacle. And so what I did is I become very forceful in my teaching. I would raise my voice to overcome the nervousness and just be intentional about my messaging. And over time I've become a good speaker. I'm a, I'm not a high energy kind of guy, but I'm a good communicator on stage. And so now that's become one of my real strengths. I often get compliments on, you know, my talks. And so here again was a perceived weakness. So, you know, I want to challenge you if you think you have some perceived weaknesses that you just hadn't been able to get past, press in a step into it. Learn from those proceeds weaknesses so they don't have to determine your future. And you know, God is now allowed me to write 19 books and he has allowed me to, uh, minister to men and women in 26 countries.
Speaker 1: (18:48) And, uh, so God turned my Valley of ACOR into a door of hope now for the last few months. Uh, I've been sharing about a new program that we've been working on. And uh, you know, we did a questionnaire on our website and ask you a question and the question was, um, what is the biggest obstacle that prevents you from being a Christian leader in the workplace? Many of you gave us some great answers and we took those answers and we've been compiling those answers and learning from what you said to form a new program that we're about to launch on February the 13th, and it's an exciting program and it takes all the 30 years of my business and ministry experience and put it into a program designed to mentor and train you. And it's going to be exciting. Tom, I'm telling you, you know, we've had something called the change agent network that's designed to equip leaders, but this is putting a, you know, a booster on it.
Speaker 1: (19:55) It's adding some dimensions to it that's going to be awesome. I hope these thoughts were helpful to you. Uh, you know, there are always obstacles in our path to fulfill our destiny. But those obstacles don't have to keep us from fulfilling that destiny. They can actually be stepping stones for you and not to fulfill that destiny. And you know, I wouldn't have learned some very important things had I not gone through those obstacles. And so think about what those obstacles are and think about how you can walk through them and use them as steps in your journey. Now, at the end of those seven years, an interesting thing happened to me. Uh, I had a piece of property that God had allowed me to hold onto and uh, I was able to sell that property and become free. I was able to pay off all my debts and, uh, it was seven years to the month just light.
Speaker 1: (20:52) Joseph had his seven years while I had those seven years. And at the end of them, God restored me in the financial area and I was completely debt free, paid off all my debts. Uh, years later I would remarry and, uh, with Mary Pamela and that we have a very, a wonderful marriage today and she has a prison ministry herself. That's a powerful story in the, she has a testimony that's incredible. You can find her on life changers, legacy.org if you want to hear an inspiring story. And so God is restored and continue to use me in the lives of men and women. And I hope that's an encouragement to you to realize that no matter where you are in your journey, God can use whatever you've gone through, whatever you're into today to really fulfill your destiny. So I hope that you'll be on the lookout for our new initiative though. Hope you'll join us and love to hear from you. God bless. Uh, just a reminder, put your comment down below and if you're not part of our, uh, group on YouTube, please join, uh, and become part of our community there. If you're listening on iTunes, please give us a rating so that others will find us. It's so important that you do that in order for more people to be ministered to. By what we share every week. God bless. Have a great day. Take care.
Speaker 3: (22:18) Are you a biblical worker? Do you know what the Bible says about how to work biblically? I've got a great resource I want to give you called. Are you a biblical worker? It's a 50 question. True false self assessment, great for personal study and small groups. Plus you get the answers with supporting scriptures, help you apply what the Bible says about your daily work life. It's a value of $25 but we want to make it available to you as a free ebook. Just go to www.threebiblicalworker.com that's free biblical worker.com.
Speaker 1: (00:00) We're living in a culture today that's becoming increasingly hostile to the Christian faith had. Do we deal with that? How do we have influence? We'll stay tuned today. We're going to answer that with my special guests, Dennis peacock. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity is God mad at me? I'm also a woman and I've been helping leaders like you answer these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIM. Today. God is first. Well, welcome through our podcast this week. I'm so delighted to have a very,
Speaker 2: (00:40) a good friend that I've known quite a while, Dennis peacock out of California and Dennis is with an organization called go strategic and he has a heart to equip leaders just like myself and he's been doing it on the West coast. I've been doing it on the East coast and we've been in a lot of conferences over those many years, and he's had a lot of his Joseph process as well. He fought a major disease in his life that almost killed him. And, uh, God has restored him and get him, given him a second wind like myself. And so, Dennis is great to have you today, uh, good to have you on podcast. See you, Oz. And it's always good to be with a fellow troublemaker. That's right. And so, you know, you've written several books and you've, um, our paths are very similar. And I, I remember the very first time I met you, Dennis, was at a conference you had and my first introduction to you was you walking down the center aisle dressed up as Braveheart. You remember that? Yeah. And, um, but, uh, I've always appreciated your, uh, statesmanship. And then I've been saying to people for the last several years, I said, what has happened to the statesmen in our country and why don't we have them, uh, how did politics get to the place that it's gone to? And so, um, you know, when you look at where our nation is today, uh, what's your greatest concern? What are you seeing?
Speaker 2: (02:18) Great question. Um, I always, if I'm thinking clearly begin with the church, uh, because of the role that God has for the church as the ekklesia, which again is a Greek word. [inaudible] unfortunately, far too many Christians have any understanding of what Ecosia of the Greek word really means or as a body politic what it was. But when Jesus used that word that he built his ekklesia and he didn't say build a synagogue [inaudible] that would have been as offensive to the Jews
Speaker 3: (02:59) as drink my blood and eat my flesh.
Speaker 3: (03:02) And it wasn't a spiritual term at that time, right? It was the ekklesia was the name for the ruling political bodies in the Greek city States, which my background in political theory at Berkeley, I knew what ekklesia was and had studied ekklesia management. They're in the pre Hill, any Greeks. And when I discovered that echo SIA was what we translate church. Mmm. As in many cases, I shook my head and said, how in God's name did we get to where we are now? Because an was SIA is a governing spiritually governing body, very much like a legislature. So when we talk about what's the biggest problem in society, the biggest problem in society is that the instrument God had chosen two manage through Oh his spirit managing through the church and managing through the scripture as in applying biblical principles and biblical law to the structure of society.
Speaker 3: (04:14) If the church does not understand it's own identity, then that is what produces what we see going on in the secularization of Western civilization. We see nations for which Christ died as his inheritance. Some too, we see them being managed with not only no protest, no real direction from the body of Christ as to how God wants to manage culture and manage society. So that's a long answer, but an important journey that I think the simplest way I've said this over the years is when the church as a cold, the world gets cancer, uh, whatever, whatever, uh, deleterious, whatever confusion, whatever lack of focus we bring to surrounding society multiplies its manifestation in deep corruption. And again, uh, you know, with the academic background that I had, uh, know the world, especially in the macro economic side. I've worked as an economist for a number of years. The place that that really shows up and is going to show up even far more than it is now is in the lack of sustainability, uh, in the economic world. Yeah, that's the long answer. But the biggest problem with the world is the church and our lack of understanding or lack of training, our lack of equipping for relevant
Speaker 2: (05:58) in the management of society. You know, that's a, you and I have a good friend, Peter Wagner, that we walked together for years. And when Peter wrote his book about the church in the workplace, I know you and I both had input in his life about that book and, but he was the first one who coined the, the term the nuclear church and the extended church. And the fact that the nuclear church had it's own rule book and the extended church had its rule book. But unfortunately the nuclear church has really fell behind in really understanding the role they played to equip men and women to be cultural shapers. Uh, rather than, uh, being so, uh, internal in the programs inside that church and some of the paradigms that measure success in a local church versus what God calls him to do. And that is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. And that one thing alone has had a huge consequence on society.
Speaker 3: (07:04) Well, you and I would, again,
Speaker 3: (07:06) I remember us meeting in about the middle of the nineties, uh, in Atlanta, several conferences. They're together in that place. And I know many of us, we're convinced that the marketplace ministry was going to be used of God to jolt and influence and affect and infect, uh, you know, what the rest of the church was doing. You and I, I don't have not talked about this in a while, but it did not develop it. It didn't go as far as I had hoped and I had thought that it would go that, uh, because when you get into studying, you know, business is certainly from a biblical economic foundation because you know, God loves work and work is worship and economics is a cumulative management of the labor of humanity. Uh, and what that labor is designed to produce. And we'd hoped that that would have a lot more effect than it has.
Speaker 3: (08:15) What I come to believe now, and again, it's related to your question, what most concerns me is I don't believe the church changes unless it's in great danger. And I think the danger there is an all out increasingly direct on slot and attack against freedom of religion and faith. And I think that is what the primary antidote that God is going to use is snatching away more and more political freedom and spiritual freedom from the church so that the church has no other option, uh, they into re-engineer the way that it relates to society. And that's what I think we're, we're seeing now it's going to get worse. And in some ways, the worse it gets, the closer we are to the church beginning to really discover the nature of the kingdom of God and the way in which God wants that kingdom to influence all dimensions of culture.
Speaker 2: (09:22) Yeah. Yeah. That's so true in, in many ways it seems like we're in a reprieve for these last three years. Yeah. We've been given back the Christian voice in this nation and by the grace of God that we never anticipated that this administration would serve that role in what has taken place. And so, gosh, just think if, uh, the liberalization had taken place, they would have, the slide had already started and it would have just continued further and further. And so, you know, I pray that God allows us to, to reshape some things while we have the opportunity and to really be used of God to restore some of those foundations, but is no, no doubt that we have to have a heart change in the nation and revival in the heart of people to really see change. And so, you know, my prayer is that that will happen. And as a result we'll see leaders raised up in the seventh Sears and other places that can, can be true statesman. You know, it's unfortunate our political system has gotten to the place it has. It's very saddening.
Speaker 3: (10:43) Well, anybody that has an opinion that God is some dour off steer, uh, fuddy duddy is not paid much attention to the irony and the humor of God that God would use Donald Trump to be into what Donald Trump has been being and doing. I just find hilariously funny. He is so objectionable on so many human character levels. And yet as you pointed out, uh, you know, in terms of just straight direct activity designed to strengthen the faith based community in this country, he's probably the most outstanding guy we've had since Reagan and in some ways even much more than president Reagan and that he used a personality like Trump to do it. I just find hilarious, uh, on one level and I, I encourage people who asked me about that irony. Uh, you know, my comment is, look, don't look for Trump to be the virtuous man that you would think God would a, he's a wrecking ball and, uh, enjoy the ride.
Speaker 2: (11:58) Well, last week I published an article on how God often uses leaders with co with flawed character. And, uh, I said, you know, if you look at Jacob, there's a flawed character, right? There are control and manipulation. If you look at David a manipulator and, and really a murder and adulterer harem, if you look at, you know, Paul or Saul who was a, an ISIS leader, if you will, of his day, uh, none of the leaders he chose would pass the evangelical litmus test. And, um, I said, you know, I, I do believe that he probably fits the mold of a J who more than anybody, uh, who was very narcissistic and very confident in his abilities. And Elijah gave him an assignment to clean the swamp, drain the swamp of Jezza bell and Ahab and bring in a whole new group of people. And he did that and he had no bones about it. And I am sure that he was not, um, very good at bedside manner.
Speaker 3: (13:09) Well, it'll be 20, 20 is going to be a highly interesting year. And, uh, I think just maybe closing off what I would say about this piece, if anybody expects whether president Trump wins or loses that there's going to be, you know, finally piece in some direction, you're very mistaken. Uh, you know, the polarization has not reached where it's going. And again, we're back to your first comment. What do I see to be the biggest issue? Most problematic is theirs. There's a heat level that has got to be turned up, uh, in order to change the people of God. And you and I, as the Chinese proverb would say, may you live in interesting times. We live in really interesting times and I think the next five, eight, maybe even 10 years is going to continue to be a sharp, a growing of the two opposites and the polarities, uh, all designed to squeeze the church into changing on fundamental levels so that it does really become the redemptive social organization of community.
Speaker 2: (14:29) Yeah. So given the hand that we've been dealt here, uh, how do you see, uh, us as leaders being able to make a difference in some, at some level and, uh, where we are?
Speaker 3: (14:43) Yeah. Another good question.
Speaker 3: (14:45) Well. Mmm. I would say in the years of real direct activism that I, I would say in my life, which I came back to Christ in the latter part of 1968 the first seven years, God basically said, forget about changing the world. We're going to change you. And, uh, my passion became theology. And it wasn't until the latter part of the 70s really that I began to deal with the crisis that my worldview, I've been totally conceived and directed by the secular world academic systems. At which point I panicked and said, where do I go to be discipled? You know, where, how do I get rid of Pharaoh taught me everything I know about history and economics and psychology and sociology, all the rest of what I was very tied up in. And of course the economic piece was, they are from the beginning. And so I'm saying from that time, uh, you know, with president Reagan and the Evangel, Jimmy Carter and the evangelicals began to get involved in number of us, you know, started working in Washington D C and building coalitions in the U S and beyond.
Speaker 3: (16:18) But that having Ben said, the speed at which globally Christian leaders who actually can think are coming together is happening at a rate I've never seen before. Hmm. It's, I, I liken this time right now to Noah and I'm watching, I'm traveling as much as ever, which at my age is crazy, but it's the way it is. It's like the animals heading for some kind of union, some kind of unity and they are being driven by the Holy spirit. And I'm, I'm seeing small armies of leaders all over the world coming together and uh, uh, very, very excited about that because that is the leadership group that is going to be required to leverage the masses, whatever part of the masses, both Christianity and fellow travelers. You think about Matt, Matthew 13 and the parable of the kingdom net visa said that that net of the kingdom, the message and lifestyle would be cast into the masses and then it eventually would be gathered up and that the angels would come to sort out those that belonged in that net. And those that were just fellow travelers. And I'm, my
Speaker 2: (17:50) eschatology strongly believes that that kingdom net is being drawn, begun to be drawn right now and it's going to have a lot of unsaved people in it who basically are agreeing that they can no longer go along with where culture, society, the corruption, the rest of it is going and they're going to at least join whatever part of the kingdom, significant kingdom remnant is being created. And that is what I see Oz. And uh, if I did not see that I would, we have very pessimistic man because again, the fragmentation, the loss of truth, the stunning loss of the belief that objective truth even exists is beyond words. And if I did not see this net beginning to pull leaders together around the world whose primary job will be to engage and educate, then I would be, I'd be not just concerned, I'd be depressed, but I'm not.
Speaker 2: (18:57) I'm excited. Well, you know, we had a summit in the us in March and we had a 350 leaders of leaders that came. It was a one of the most unique gatherings of leaders collectively from different streams in the body of Christ and different aspects. And, uh, it was, uh, it was impressive time of, of bringing them together. Yes, I'm aware of the meeting, the, uh, you know, what, uh, Wilberforce did and bringing a small group together for collective influence has always been a model that I've admired. But I've been waiting for that model to materialize. Of course, the left, uh, with this initiative called thunder road as raised billions and billions of dollars to fight God and society and to bring our nation into a much more liberal place. Uh, they call it progressive, I call it caressive, but you know, Mmm. Are our people must wake up to the fact that there is another group out there that wants to structure and control and, and socialism and all of these things. And, um, I don't know if you're familiar with zigzag, then you have a niche. And, uh, so that's one initiative. I don't know what that will be, but here was one initiative where some, uh, wealthy philanthropists are coming together to possibly see how they could play an impact on that and maybe answering the thunder road, but only time will Dale is to, as to what God raises up to usher in some of these younger leaders that can really fight the good fight and, uh, be, um, culture shapers and, uh, what we need.
Speaker 2: (20:47) Okay. Uh, how do you see that model Wilberforce model today in an application?
Speaker 3: (20:53) Okay. Well, so he Roy model, and I know the movie was, uh, inspirational, true story. Uh, I have two responses. I, I see that happening. I'm seeing coalitions formed as we speak. Mmm. On the other side of the equation, uh, God is not in a hurry. And, uh, we, human beings tend to be at hurry just because we're trapped. By time. I, I never imagined that we would, and I'm sitting in a lot of sunlight, so my hair does look very white. It's not quite [inaudible], but uh, uh, it's interesting to see the numbers of us that were in the draft of the Holy spirit in the late sixties and seventies are now in our sixties and seventies. And, uh, it's exciting to watch those men and women who had been waiting for this without maybe being explicitly as aware as they now are of the nature of the battle. But watching them come together.
Speaker 3: (22:11) And I think one of the things that is really critical, and this is where prayer is going to be important, is the praying in of the next generations of leaders. We cannot allow what many of us have experienced in terms of wisdom, especially in seeing what doesn't work. I would say I've seen a lot of what doesn't work great theory, but for one reason or another did not pull the test of time or sustainability. I think prayer, he is going to become increasingly important to bridge the generations and make the connections with the gray hairs, with the ones that are in their forties and 50s who will be the next line of leaders. And, uh, I think that's really the great lesson there of what happened on the slavery issue, uh, in England is they had patients and the, there was a connection between the younger and the older that was able to push the ball over the goal line, so to speak. And I believe that happen here.
Speaker 2: (23:22) Hmm. You know, what, uh, your organization specifically is doing what to be a catalyst for this?
Speaker 3: (23:32) Well, we have, uh, several groups, but a public group called States the statesman project, something that we started about six years ago. Uh, the purpose, which is to connect people in different jurisdictions or spheres of life ministry and equip them with a biblical foundations of principles, what we call principle base public policy. So we've got group working on biblically based public policy in the world of monetary creation, uh, and, uh, on high levels, which has surprised me that we would get there as quickly as we have. We've got other groups, uh, working on immigration, uh, working on the major political issues so that when we show up, we're not preaching the Republican party or the democratic party. Most of the people I'm working with, uh, are quite clear that we need to move the church out of the left, right paradigm, uh, because God is going to create something new politically that is not going to be left and it's not going to be right.
Speaker 3: (24:57) It's gotta be based on biblical foundations, the extrapolation, if you will, of old Testament law into new Testament grace. So we've got a number of leaders working in that area working in the area of ekklesia prayer. Convocations we did one on fractional reserve banking, which I'm sure was probably the only prayer convocation in history on fraction reserve. But, uh, we're working in those areas. We're working on elders in the Gates, the model of building church leadership, cooperative leadership and local communities. Um, and in education, uh, and in and in, uh, teaching and working with high level leaders to help them understand a biblically based principles, produce sustainability that cannot be acquired any other way. So we're, we're touching the academic educational, we're touching the on the street, uh, mobilization and service levels, uh, in communities, uh, and, and those kinds of things. Right now, both globally and here in the U S and, uh, making I think genuine progress where we're excited about what we're beginning to see form. Because Nicodemus is showing up at night. We have discovered that if you don't talk about who you're talking to or put those kinds of things in newsletters, or try and raise money by based on who you're working with, it's amazing who you can get to be with and what you can begin to do. Yeah. A lot more I could say about that, but [inaudible]
Speaker 2: (26:45) yeah. So some of our listeners, uh, and those watching, uh, may not be that familiar with you. Would there be a one or two of your books that you would recommend people read that, um, could really get, uh, started and learning from you?
Speaker 3: (27:02) Well, the most basic book I wrote, the first one was called [inaudible] winning the battle for the minds of men.
Speaker 2: (27:08) Yeah. That was a great book.
Speaker 3: (27:11) Uh, the second book was doing business God's way, which deals with the general principles of business and a biblical economics. In the last book I did, it's called on the destiny of nations, which lays the foundation for Christ, managing the nations and focused on the 2008 economic crisis. What was really involved in that and what we need to do to produce sustainable economic growth based on the principles of choice, generational momentum, capital creation, and the recognition of the limits. So anybody that's interested in the political economic world in particular, destiny of nations would be the most helpful,
Speaker 2: (28:00) right? So if you're interested, go to his website, go strategic.org doesn't go strategic.org and you'll find that information there. And uh, is that also where this other initiative is located?
Speaker 3: (28:16) Statesman project. We have a, a tab. When you get to go strategic, uh, you'll go to the website. We've got about 35 pages of strategic description on that website as to what we see wrong in generally what we're working to bring transformation to so that you get plenty of information. And then if you, uh, go through to go strategic, they will connect you where you want to get connected.
Speaker 2: (28:44) Great. And, uh, for those of you who've been listening to our podcast over the last several months, you've heard me talk about a new initiative that's coming soon that we're not quite ready to tell you about it. But if you want to be on the waiting list, just go to our website, um, become God's change agent.com. Become God's change agent.com. And you'll go on the waiting list and you'll be the first ones notified about this new initiative and we hope that, uh, you'll be a part of that and you'll get a free download if you just go there. So. Well, Dennis, it's a always been, uh, always admired. You. Wish we'd spent more time together practically, but maybe, uh, in this season of life, maybe it'll still happen. I got faith for it as well. Thanks very much, Dennis. Thanks everybody for being with us today and we will see you next week. If you're on iTunes, don't forget to, um, you know, give us a rating that helps us, uh, be found by other people. And if you're on YouTube, please, um, become part of our community and give us a comment below. So God bless. We'll see you next week. God bless.
Speaker 4: (29:58) Are you a biblical worker? Do you know what the Bible says about how to work biblically? I've got a great resource I
Speaker 5: (30:06) want to give you called. Are you a biblical worker? It's a 50 question. True false self assessment, great for personal study and small groups. Plus you get the answers with supporting scriptures to help you apply what the Bible says about your daily work life. It's a value of $25, but we want to make it available to you as a free. Just go to www.threebiblicalworker.com that's free biblical worker.com.
Speaker 1: (00:00) Hey guys, Biblical Selling… is that an oxymoron or can it be done? Well this week we're going to find out with my good friend, Michael pink, a master sales trainer that's going to answer that question for us. So, stay tuned. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is Herb's well, Michael, good to have you on our podcast. known each other for a long time. The first, uh, time that we met. Do you remember that? The way I remember it? You were involved in a magazine. Oh my goodness. That was 1990.
Speaker 2: (00:55) Okay. That's kind of the Genesis of my memories. I'm thinking does that go back far enough? But I certainly remember the magazine days, so wow, that's, that's way back there. Yeah. you were in my pit days, you know.
Speaker 2: (01:12) Well I also knew of you from a, from a, uh, a mutual friend of ours, Mark Heron, who uh, did some graphic work with you in your, when you were the, uh, had your ad agency and uh, so
Speaker 1: (01:23) you have really excelled in the sales area over that time when I was on the track of all the faith and work messaging and doing workshops and so forth, then you were kind of along the a similar path but really focused on sales. Uh, give us a little bit of background on yourself in terms of kinda your sales and how you got to be such a specialist in that area. I know you were had a pro, you were professionally in sales, but uh, had it translate to equipping others around them.
Speaker 2: (01:54) Well, it's, it's a good question. It started like this. Uh, I moved to this country, uh, in, um, 1985 and got a job in sales in January of 86. I had to learn to speak the language. She was a whole new language for me. How did you come from Canada? But I moved to Tennessee and you know, they had to learn me how to talk. Right. So at any rate, um, so I got down to Tennessee and I got a job selling copiers. The thing I knew OSS, you have to understand, you want to talk about the Holy spirit. I'm driving, if you know Nashville at all. I 40 goes right through the middle of the town downtown and I'm driving through there and the Holy spirit said, and just the core of my eye corner of my eyes. Hmm. Quantity to a building. So that's where you're going to work.
Speaker 2: (02:40) I mean, I hadn't, I wasn't married or anything. I was just down there on a trip and it's like what? And I, you know, I saw it was copies. I said, Lord, I don't want to sell copiers. I've done that. I don't want to do that again. But he told me that's where you're going to work. So I went by, got it. And I applied. And now long story short, they wanted me and they hired me and put me out in a Murphysboro in a branch office out there. And the fact of the matter is, I want to two things. Number one, I want it to be able to glorify God. And I said, I don't want any intention or fame or anything else. I just want to be able to have enough of a platform to give you glory and credit and honor. Because what I know, we've got a lot of Christians in the marketplace who are doing not doing well.
Speaker 2: (03:20) And so their reputation, they're, they're, they're, um, their messaging of the gospel isn't necessarily well-received. It can be very authentic, but a lot of times people don't regard you very highly if you ha, if you're not doing well, if you're, if that's just the reality, that's just the way it is. So I said, I want to have a platform. I want to do that. And so, and I was a little nervous to be honest, you know, getting back in sales and straight commission and all that. And so I, on the first day when the vice president said to me, Michael, we expect you to make one sale for every four or every five demonstrations that you do. The national average is one out of four. That's what we expected. And we don't expect any sales you first month, but we want to have your second month and for every month thereafter.
Speaker 2: (04:01) So in 90 days they wanted me to make six sales. Now I was with the company two years off, so I didn't see anybody do that, but that's okay. But what really bothered me was selling one out of four minute failing three out of four times. And I, and I've got frustrated with that. I said, Lord, if you call me to do this, I said, what farmer plants four rows of corn and embrace the God, but just one of them come up. And I said, and I picked up my Bible and I said, I'm going to find principles and strategies. I'm going to start starter. Provers and I can apply deliberately and consciously to the sales process. And instead of selling one out of four, I tend to sell one on one. Well, they thought it was a little lofty to be put a mile late.
Speaker 2: (04:36) But as it turned out, 90 days later at the first quarterly meeting that I was involved with, all your results are projected on a screen. And when it came my turn, I said, I've been here 90 days, I've, I've done 22 presentations and I had 22 sales. It was one out of one and was three and a half times a number that I never saw anybody hit. Well, they all said I'm from Mars. I finished the year at about a 90 some odd percent closing rate instead of 25% and they may be the the a sales manager. And that was to find out whether in fact it was transferable. Well, you know what, 10 months later the team that gave me the results were up not 30% for 130% in 10 months. Huge increase. That meant it was transferable. So that was the Genesis of that when I was, cause I was going into the scriptures and mining it and saying, wait a minute, there's a pathway, there's a blueprint.
Speaker 2: (05:25) There's a model, there are things in scripture that are actually practical. It's not just for my marriages, not just for the most important thing, our eternity and all that was important as that is, but it's for the here and now. Even if you're calling to sales and business, there are practical things that you can apply. You can pull from scripture and do it. And so that began, that was the beginning, the Genesis of that. And when I left that and I started my own publishing company, hidden men of publishing and, and from there I went into sales training and in 1994 and I've been doing it ever since. And sharing and continuing to mine the word of and the principles from the,
Speaker 1: (05:58) from the scripture and teach them to the body of Christ or anybody else who's interested. You get some pretty remarkable results. You know, when I think about sales and where we're going to focus on sales and marketing in this podcast, when I think about sales, I can hear somebody say, well, I'm not really in sales. And my answer to that is we're all in sales. We all have an idea that we have to sell. We all have somebody that we need to persuade. We're all in situations that requires certain skill set to communicate in a way that is persuasive. Um, how do you take,
Speaker 2: (06:35) well, you know, it's true because the people, they don't have sales representative on their business card. They may be a CPA or an accountant or a dentist or whatever. They're in sales. Believe me, they're looking at their numbers every month. They're in sales. But it doesn't matter what my definition of selling is this, it's the transference, a passion or you could say the transference of conviction. So if you don't have anything that you're passionate about or con or, or have a deep conviction about that maybe you're not in sales. Okay. But we do have, I'm passionate about a lot of things and things that I believe in deeply. You could say it's a transference of belief. And so in that sense, if you are passionate about something, you believe deeply about something, how do you communicate that in a way, ms goin to get, um, somebody interested in, in your value proposition. So to speak and get them to want what you want. How are you going to do that? And what does the Bible teach about that? And so that's some of the stuff that I open up big time and uh, and talk about is how you [inaudible]
Speaker 1: (07:32) you can actually do that based on biblical mop. Yeah. And I think that's the key distinctive here is how do we bring the kingdom of God into a professional area like sales, you know, and we constantly are teaching men and women too. How do you manifest the presence of God in the area of your calling? It if gunner also, my spiritual mentor said that wants to me, he must have said it 500 times to me, you know, how are you going to manifest the spirit of God in that area? That's what you've, you've really figured out and really saw the scriptures to help people understand that. And, uh, you know, um, when we think about selling being spiritual, um, you know, you know, how do you approach that? What, what, what's the first step in? And really getting to first base on that. Well, first of all,
Speaker 2: (08:27) selling is an activity, but it's between people. It's not between me and the hospital or me and the hotel or me and the other firm. It's between me or you and another individual. And each of us have three parts to us. We know we're body, soul and spirit. And so we are communicating and all of those levels, whether we know it or not. And so it's, I think it's important when you're, you're not just in a selling situation transferring, although some people do that and they're not very good at it by the way they, they suit up, they show up and they throw up, you know, and I hope something comes out of that. But that's not the way to do that. And so you recognize that there's a whole other element there of, of my soul, of my heart, of my passion and my conviction and auction actually the spirit as well.
Speaker 2: (09:15) There's, I call something I call a space between me and you, between me and a buyer, between, you know, two people. I went in a selling situation, I call it, there's the, there's the, there's the spirit of the sale, the there, there's a spiritual substance between me and you. I can't see it, but I can feel it. And so can you, and that's what happens. People say, you know, I don't know what it is. I just don't trust that guy. And the guy was, is he's saying the same thing that maybe somebody else said, but he's unaware of the fact that he's communicating with his entire being. And maybe his motivation is, I don't care about this guy. I'm just trying to get money out of his pocket and put it in mind. And the thing is, people can pick up on that. So there's a spiritual dimension to selling that I think is important.
Speaker 2: (10:02) And so what I want to do is come into the selling situation with, Mmm, what it says in progress three, three and four where I'm going to write mercy and truth on my heart. Okay, I'm going to blind it around my neck and I'm going to go into a situation. Mercy to me meant never trying to get somebody to do something that wasn't in their best interest in truth was basically full disclosure because on us, you know, you've been in marketing for a long time and you're a genius at at that end of it unparalleled by almost anybody. But in that marketing thing, you know that you can tell the truth but convey a complete lie. I tell people as an example, um, I once spoke at the promise keepers meeting in when it was going big time. It was at the RCA dome and Indianapolis 60,000 men there.
Speaker 2: (10:47) It was phenomenal. It was a big experience. People are going, yeah, you did. Yep. I said, no, I was in the bleachers. I wasn't on the platform. Um, but nobody could hear me. And so you can, I tell everything I said was true, but if you leave out certain things, you can convey a lie. And lying is the, is really as the intent to deceive. And so you can deceive intentionally by leaning on certain facts. And so people who have their intent open can pick up and discern those things oftentimes. And so I look at that, his interaction with people as a body, soul and spirit kind of thing. Well let's help our listeners today by getting some tools that might be useful to them in sales. And I, uh, put a question together for you. And the question is five things you've learned about sales that have impacted your life the most?
Speaker 2: (11:38) Well, besides the fact that that I learned at selling is the transference of passion. When you, when you just, when you understand that, that if you're not passionate, you don't have conviction or deep belief about what it is you're selling, you really need to be find that well go find the thing that has that for you cause you're not going to do so well. Number two, this is a very big one off [inaudible] and it's so contrary to how I was trained in sales. Now I was trained by the way, as a young man, I mean I sold insurance, I sold copiers and both of those industries focused heavily on training. And so I'm, I'm familiar with that, but they don't teach what I'm about to tell you. And this one has put millions and millions of dollars in my client's pockets. And it's, it's a simple rule. It's this selling is not about telling.
Speaker 2: (12:27) It's about listening. And if you're going to listen, you need to ask questions. If you're going to ask questions, you need to ask strategic questions, the right questions. So where, cause as a Christian, I'm thinking kid, God, you've called me into sales at this time in my life back when I was in my thirties. So where do I find those questions? What questions should I ask? I asked you about the ballgame last night. Do I ask about the weather? W w where do I go in this thing? And it's that kind of study that got me now to answer that question, when I'm reading the scriptures, I look for patterns. I see patterns of three. I have a pastor friend of mine, uh, that has seen now, um, 1500 of these three full progressions, body, soul and spirit, prophet, priest and King and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of those. I look for those patterns.
Speaker 2: (13:18) I look for patterns of seven and OS. One day I was reading numbers 13 and I noticed Moses is getting ready to send the 12 spies into the promised land, but understand this and for the people listening to this podcast or watching it, when they were going into that promised land, it wasn't like they, the people on the other side of the Jordan river were saying, Hey, I heard you were coming. Come on in. Hey, let me show you my guest house and you got my main house. Here's the keys to my Alexis. Hey, I got an SUV out back and I have all my cattle. Good luck. We're headed to the desert. No [inaudible] that wasn't it. They were going to be met and they knew this. They knew they were going to be met with resistance and if there are going to be resistance, and it wasn't like, Hey, I don't like this.
Speaker 2: (13:56) No, it was resistance to the point of death. They were going to fight to this, to the death on that. So with that in mind, they knew there was risk and if they were successful, they knew there was a great reward. So resistance, risk and reward. Golly, that sounds like business, doesn't it? We, you know, we take risks all the time, all the time, and we have a resistance to our ideas. We think you think, and I think, Hey, this is something that people love. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I mean it's just the way it is. You take a look at acts chapter two you know, Peter gets up and he gives the best presentation ever and thousands of people are there and some people are saying, I don't understand this guy. I'm perplexed. And other people say, no, they're drunk. They're this.
Speaker 2: (14:40) They were mocking them. And I don't see anything worth mocking. And I don't see anything perplexing look like a straight forward presentation to me. But some people said, no, wait a minute. This makes perfect sense. That 3000 of them gave their life to Christ. That's the reality. And you never know which ones you're going to get. Are they going to love it? Are they going to hate you or are they just going to, I don't understand what he's talking about. And you're always going to get those, that kind of a mixture. So they knew they were going to get some resistance. And so Moses has you read it. Number 13 you'll see that he had a verse 17 to 20 his seven questions he had to have answered. Well OS when I saw there were seven questions I that Whoa, wait a minute. That's the divine imprint of God right there.
Speaker 2: (15:21) I want to dig deeper on that. And I spent two or three days reading those four verses and on my knees and at my desk praying and seeking God for what is, what are the implications and what does the application to business. Now I'm telling you, you know this Oscar, cause you're one of the very few people I know that do what I do the same kind of thing. But I know hardly anybody other than you, you and a couple other people who actually will take the time and say, how do I apply this practically in business? Right? They just read the verse and it's a story from 3000 years ago and they move on, Hey, I've checked, I read my three chapters today, or whatever their thing is, right? No, I'm not. I got to understand this thing. And so what happened is, um, I thought I had an understanding of it.
Speaker 2: (16:08) And coincidentally I call this the Moses questioning strategy as it happened us within a couple of days of me getting my understanding of this, I would buy a client who was in the air conditioning wholesale business, meaning they supplied brand X to air conditioning contractors. They kind of guys are calling your house in mind, thanks our air when it goes out. And so they sold their particular line of air conditioning. And so they would call on the big contractors and say, Hey, why don't you install our equipments that are the ones who were installing? That was the business and the president. Uh, I ran into him in the parking lot. I said, Michael, I've been calling this one contractor a big contractor twice a month for six years. You said, I'm taking heat, him and his crew breakfast, lunch and dinner. My wife and I had been to his house, his wife, and he had been to our house for dinner.
Speaker 2: (16:53) We'd gone to movies together, but in six years I haven't got a nickel's worth of business. What would you do? I see, well, it was me. I'd ask him seven questions. I just, I just discovered this and they looked at me like, what are your title? Seven questions? I said, well, they're not seven questions. Exactly. It's more like seven topics. And he said, can you write that out for me? So I created a, I got three or four page document and under each topic I wrote all these questions. Did not at that time disclose where I got it from and I wrote it. The kind of questions like Moses said, first question is, you know, look at the land, what it is. Okay, well what it is, man, he's looking for this. These are the general circumstantial questions, which you know, the art of war, if you, if you've ever read that book by sun Xu, you know that they looked at other box canyons are the, are there mountains or the planes are there, bogs are there, you know, different, what's the lay of the land or the swamps is their forest.
Speaker 2: (17:47) They had to know the lay of the land to have a victory. So that's essentially what Moses was doing were kind of contemporaries. And he's looking at that. So those are the general circumstantial things. So in a business, that's the first question. I want to find out all the general circumstantial things, but then it goes deeper. So anyway, I wrote all this out for the guy and it was a Wednesday when he went to his call with these questions. And now this is a man who's been calling on twice a month for six years and at each other's home. But in that one call he discovered more about that man's business than he had ever known in six years. As a result, the gentleman asked him for a quote, a proposal, which he gave him on Thursday and on Friday, 48 hours afterwards, he received a purchase order for $60,000.
Speaker 2: (18:31) No, he was blown away. I mean he was so blown away. He said, Michael, he speaks to us because, excuse me, it just was too amazing to him. So he called it an emergency sales meeting. Cause us the first thing that you might think and others might think, and I would think that too probably, well maybe that was just the time. Maybe it's just coincidental. Maybe. Maybe, you know, people could think that, but he put me in front of a sales force of 18 guys. He held up the sheet of paper and he said, I don't know what this is and I don't know why it works. I want every one of you using it. And Michael, I was going to tell you how to do it. So he hired me for the day and I trained to Salesforce and this was the end of March. Now this is important because it's air conditioning, so it's seasonal in terms of the demand.
Speaker 2: (19:14) The preceding April, they had done 1.2 million in sales. This was the end of March. They were hoping to do 1.3 million in this April. It's a a hundred thousand dollar increase. Most people are happy with that. It's an 8% growth. I just, when people are, they just think, okay, a hundred grand, we're, we're, we're climbing our business. So that's what he was trying for. But he made them use this questioning strategy and they were reluctant because they thought it was kind of corny, even though they didn't know it came from Moses at that time. The end of the month, I checked with them, said, how'd you do? Well, it wasn't 1.2 it wasn't 1.3 or four or five or six or even seven. They did 1.75 $550,000 Pope 46% I think it is over the year before his face. I'm not exaggerating his face. When I saw him just went white, he was almost speechless. Like how, what, what is this?
Speaker 2: (20:04) And he asked me, what is, what is this? And I know he's thinking, is it Zig Ziglar? Did you learn it from Tom Hopkins? Where'd you get this? I said, I learned it from Moses [inaudible] I didn't realize how that was going to land on his ears. He looked at me, like I said, like I was inferring, I just talked to Moses the other day, you know, and uh, you'd been less surprised. So I just cold cocked him or something. But anyway, uh, I tried to explain it to them as best I could. He thought it was the strangest thing, but that was the beginning of that question. The strategy, and I've taken that to corporations large and small and seeing their sales one company, Ohio, they were stuck at 22 million a year for three years. President calls me, says, Michael, can you help me? W we just can't seem to get above 22 million.
Speaker 2: (20:46) We'd there for three years. Okay. I go there and I bring not only the Moses question he strategy, which is important, the other biblical principles and strategies and tactics that go along with that. Brought that to the table. Middle of the year, I think it was there in the summertime. By the end of the year, they went from 22 to $30 million. Big, huge thing. It happens over and over and over and over and over again. Is that, so that's a big thing when you say, well, some of the things I learned I learned from the Bible. Well, listen, I've been trained by Xerox, I've been trained by insurance corporations, I've had the PSS course. I almost bought a Sandler training system at one time. I understand what's out there in the world of sales. People are married to that, but I decided us, I don't know. I do know about you, but I don't know about dude watching this, but this means everything to me.
Speaker 2: (21:32) And by God I can find it in here if it, if it exists, if it's there, I'm going to find it. And if I can find it and I can synthesize it and put it into project racing or do so, and to prove it, I'm going to take it out into the marketplace before I ever teach anybody. I'm going to, I'm going to, you know, before I start teaching in abroad, you know, all over the place. So a few years ago us, uh, back in, uh, I'm trying to get my timeframe here, 2015, you know, I'd been developing some new materials and really pulling out some stuff and getting a handle on things. And our friend of mine called me, he had a, a commercial real estate agency. Yeah, 12 agents. But when he called me, they were down to three and these three guys were looking for a job.
Speaker 2: (22:15) He was thinking of shutting it down. He said, can you do what you do for me and what you do for all these other companies? Come in and do an analysis. It's expensive, but it's worth it. And so I went in and I did my three day analysis. He's a very good friend of mine and he said at the end of that he said, do you think you could help me for six months? Maybe we could turn this thing around. You do the front end, help me do the sales, I'll do the back end. And I said, okay. At the end of six months we had a 900 and something percent increase in sales. Well, people think that's not bad. [inaudible] he asked me to do it another year, so I extended it a year, 2016 the two year growth rate was 6,000 and something percent you said one more year please, please, please. I did it for the third year. We ended up with 11350% three year growth rate, which made him his company the fastest growing real estate brokerage in the history of the inc 500 and the 16 fastest growing privately held company in America. So that isn't a boast on anything but this boasting on this and the person that wrote this book, Jesus Christ, I'm talking about him and his word and it works. [inaudible] very practical, measurable, meaningful ways. So that's true. It's one of the things.
Speaker 1: (23:27) Well, I want to transition, uh, and talk about a new resource that you've come out with called rainforest strategy. The planet's most successful business model. You talk about seven well secrets that will revolutionize your business, turn your ideas into revenue and your life.
Speaker 2: (23:47) This is a new book you've come out with. Um, what's this all about? Rainforest. Well, you know that the book's been out a little bit longer than that, but the, the, the, uh, content, uh, in some of, I keep developing new content, but the rainforest is this here, here's how it came about. Very important. Nope. You remember how I told you I got the job selling copies when I first came to this country because the Holy spirit said, go there. Right. Well, I'm trying to remember the year now might've been Oh five, I'm not sure. But at some point in that era, that timeframe, I was in my living room, on my knees, praying, having my time with the Lord. And I remember asking him, I said, Lord, how'd you start your business? You know, the one that we call planet earth, not planning on Hollywood, but planet earth.
Speaker 2: (24:32) I mean, how, how'd you do that? I said, I got Tom here. Just explain it to me. Okay. Hmm. And he began to do that. I think he was laughing pretty hard. Uh, and, and he gave me some incredible information, but one of the things he said to me was, and I can't say the words, but the gist of it was he invited me to go to Panama. The country. No, you have to understand something. A, I'd never been to Panama. B. I have never met anybody who had ever been to Panama and see, I never read about or knew anybody in Panama except for Noriega and he was in jail in Miami last I heard. So it wasn't completely completely left field thing. Come the panel. I'm going to show you something. I said what? What? What do you want to talk about? So it's to do with business.
Speaker 2: (25:21) Oh, okay. So I thought I was going to meet some banking things or something I didn't know, but I'll say, okay, we'll go. And so I remember, Mmm. Telling some people, Hey, I'm going to do. And I said, Lord, when he said make haste right, right now, don't delay. I've got on the phone that day and I made a reservation for like a two week notice or whatever it was. And uh, I told people I'm going to Panama. He said, what force? I don't know how long you going to be gone? I'm not really sure. What are you going to say? I don't know. He just told me to go to Panama, so I don't really know. So I'm, but I'm going. So I go to Panama, I fly down there and one of the guys, that kind of mindset, well listen, I'll underwrite the entire trip if you'll, um, look for some real estate for me.
Speaker 2: (26:03) Okay. So we, I got down there, rented a helicopter and his expansion, he ended up putting an offer on a three kilometer wide stretch of beach front property and you know, for 25, 30 million, whatever it was, and you know, help them do that. Because I had no agenda. I didn't know why I was down there. And one day when I was up in the mountains staying in a bed and breakfast, I'm just walking and observing the amazing beauty of the rainforest. Often the distance and the plant life and everything was just staggering to me. I was so impressed and his Holy spirit spoke to me, just spoke to me. Now how was it praying on my knees and saying, speak to me, Lord, my servant listens. I'm just taking in the beauty of it and walking to get some breakfast. And he said, so on everything you need to learn about business, you can learn in the rainforest.
Speaker 2: (26:55) What are you talking about? You can learn about business in the rain forest. I, I went to the lobby, I said, are you guys having, are there any seminars in the rainforest today? I thought maybe somebody doing a business seminar in the rainforest. I didn't know. I was trying to figure this out. No, there's nothing going on. That's a strange thing. Business in the rainforest, you know, and I went and rented the car and you know, took a look around and reinforced, didn't go on a trip that particular time, but I got home after that and I Googled rainforest and the word business. It turns out there was a book written by the CEO of Mitsubishi and, uh, another gentleman and it was called what we learned in the rainforest business, lessons from nature. And I opened it up and I thought, wow, I'm not crazy. [inaudible]
Speaker 2: (27:41) this whole thing. It's really there. It's a real model. I went back to Panama, I went there a total of five times. I went to uh, you know, Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica. I went, I went to the upper Amazon and Ecuador. I mean, I searched this thing out. I went to the world headquarters for tropical research research for the Smithsonian Institute. I mean, I dove in with all four feet, you know what I mean? I mean, I just don't render this thing. I was like fascinated that they got that everything I needed to learn about business I could learn in there. And so I did and I searched it and I found so many amazing things in the rainforest that apply to business and it was just nice to know that somebody else that the world respected because of his stature. Again, you got an ice statute. People pay attention to you.
Speaker 2: (28:27) Give me a few, give me a few. Okay, I'll give you one just that I think is really amazing. Do you know what an an agouti is? A G. O. U. D I know. And agouti is, it's a, it's a mammal. It's, it's kind of like an Otter in terms of how it moves, but it doesn't live so much in the water, but it's probably the size of a dog. Mmm. But it moves kind of like an honor. Right. And when it runs across the land, it's got a bit of a hump to it, but it's an unusual creature. And when I'm down in the rainforest, I saw these booties. One thing I learned about them, and I call this the Brazil not effect, is that in the rainforest, only the agouti of all the creatures that live in the rainforest, the Gootee is the only one with teeth sharpen up and jaws strong enough to open up a Brazil nut.
Speaker 2: (29:16) Now, most people don't know this. I didn't when I first learned it, but in Brazil, not most people are familiar with the Brazil nuts. They see them there. The shaped almost like a section of an orange. What they don't necessarily know is that they come inside a ball like this, like a size of a grapefruit with lots of Brazil nuts in them. And that outer shell is so hard. No other animal can open it except for the agouti. Now as it turns out, the agouti loves Brazil nuts and Brazil nut trees. They have a problem. They don't have legs, they don't have mobility. And so they pay the agouti [inaudible] say you can have all the Brazil nuts you want, man, it's all yours. Just do me a favor. Go down the river a little bit and plant some more, uh, nuts in the ground for me so we can expand our franchise.
Speaker 2: (29:59) And they do like squirrels. They buried the nuts in the ground, so they don't always go back to them. And up comes another Brazil nut tree. So this, this example, yes. What's happening here when you analyze this is that one, one entity. The agouti is trading what it has in excess. And the excess mobility energy could go anywhere for what it didn't have any of, which was food and Brazil. Nut trees has incredible amount of food just dropping to the ground, but it has no mobility, no ability, no ability or mobility. [inaudible] a multiply the franchise. So we employs the agouti and they have this relationship. And so I'm looking at that and thinking, how can I apply that principle in business? How can I take what I have in abundance and trade it for what I don't have? So here's the best example. The first one, first one I did actually first one I did [inaudible] what I have in abundance.
Speaker 2: (31:00) Well, I have knowledge. And the nice thing about this, when I give you or the listeners this knowledge, the beautiful thing is I still retain it. They have it. But I have it too. If I, if I give you my watch now you have it. And I don't if I give you my knowledge now, we both have it. So it costs me nothing to give you knowledge. So I called a friend of mine who was the a part owner and, and participant in a success magazine, been around for a hundred something years. And I said to him, he was doing the relaunch of it and everything was going fine. And they were selling ads in that magazine for $60,000 for a full page ad. And I called him up one day and I said, Hey, listen, you know, actually I got it wrong. He called me up and said, Michael, what would you charge for your training?
Speaker 2: (31:48) And I said, well, I said, what's money among friends? I just learned this, this Brazil nut thing. So what are you talking about? I said, all I want is a piece of paper from you. What do you mean a piece of paper? I said, I don't even want wanna hope he spent, I just want one side of a piece of paper, the full side. And you realize, Oh, you want a full page ad? And I said, yeah, and I want it to run for the year, which at that time was a bimonthly publication. So six issues and they had it on. So see now here's the thing. They had unsold advertising space. I had time and we traded my training for a full page ad in a prominent business magazine success magazine. And the deal was for a year I was $360,000 four me doing my training now, that's the agouti effect. That's the Brazil not effect and it works and everything. I know a guy in
Speaker 1: (32:40) Canada who, and you can, they can Google this if they haven't ever done it. I think it's called one red paperclip or just Google red paperclip. Have you ever heard the story? Awesome. No. It's a young guy and he was on the news, everything. He traded a paperclip. I can't really, I'm going to butcher the story, but you'll get the idea. He traded this red paperclip for a pen that somebody didn't want. They had a lot of pans. Okay. And so he basically traded up and he took the pen. Any traded it for, I don't remember what a letter opener or something and then he traded that for, you know, a little piece of furniture and then he traded that for something bigger. Then he traded it for a snowmobile. Then he traded it for a truck and then he ultimately traded it. What does way up to an Alice Cooper concert and everything else.
Speaker 1: (33:25) We ultimately treated it for a house in the end of the year. He went from a paperclip to a home free and clear in someplace in the prairies of Canada, a good home, nothing wrong with it. And he traded it up and it was just, Hey, I have this in excess. I don't need you have something in excess. And he worked his way up. That principle works in business. I use it to get a, you know, incredible advertising thing, which by the way led to a publishing deal and lots of other things. So that's one. Yeah, that's just what I want to stop you for a moment. And, uh, I was looking over the chapter titles of the book. Um, but as you were talking, I was thinking about, you know, you and I both been equipping leaders for 25 years and, um, you know, we're both getting in a to a winter season of our life, if you will, a little, uh, we don't want to admit it, but we are, and I see that gray hair.
Speaker 1: (34:19) So, um, but, uh, I know that you still have a passion to equip leaders and so do I. And you know, um, we've been thinking about a new program that's going to come out in the next, uh, few months that, um, I think [inaudible] we'll incorporate, uh, things that you're teaching cause you'll be at probably a guest on one of my programs that I'm going to do in this, but it's a very exhaustive program for leaders. And, uh, I just want the listeners, uh, to know that that's coming and if you're interested in it to go to a webpage that we set up to get on our waiting list and that's become God's change agent.com because God's change agent.com and that's just a waiting list. You'll also get a free download of a resource that, uh, is very compatible to what Michael's talking about today. So just go to, uh, become God's change agent.com and just get on our waiting list and you'll be the first to learn about this when it comes out.
Speaker 1: (35:24) So, um, yes. So this reminds me also of some of the things I see in your book. I just want to go through each chapter and the title of that chapter one is the epiphany better than gold. I assume you're kind of share what, what you just shared about the epiphany of the rainforest and then chapter two is breaking the code. The mystery unfolds. Chapter three is spontaneous. Well seeing what others, miss. Boy, is that true? A chapter four, well, secret number one, the fungus factor getting the most from the least. Uh, chapter five is practice abundance or experience scarcity. Chapter six is well, secret number two is grow towards the light powered by vision. Mmm. Chapter seven is well secret number three, enter the no pest zone. Seven natural laws to get control of your time. And chapter eight is the [inaudible] a pathogen problem, the feeding, what's been eating you.
Speaker 1: (36:27) Chapter nine, well secret number four, the photo censuses. Photo synthesis of ideas. That's easy to say. Turning vision into provision. Chapter 10 deals with, well secret number five, the strangler fig phenomenon, a lesson and timing. Chapter 11 Wells circuit number six, the Brazil nut effect. Leverage through strategic relationships in chapter 12 as well. Secret number seven, the orchid element, creating irresistibility. Before we went on, I asked if you'd be willing to share a little bit, uh, of this book. And so you agreed to give away. Mmm, I, uh, first two chapters of the book just to see if people would like what they see and if they, they like it, there's information in there about ordering it, but, uh, you agreed to do that. And so we set up a webpage, a call, Michael pink, download.com Michael pink, download.com. You can go there and download the first two chapters of this book, uh, in a PDF format and, uh, it'll give you some good, good stuff there, but you're going to want the whole book.
Speaker 1: (37:39) Uh, and, uh, as we, uh, close out today, Michael, I just want to talk briefly about the fact that Jesus had 12 salespeople, you know, I call them salespeople and, uh, they all were not highly qualified. Uh, in fact, they had very little training in what they were doing yet. Ah, Jesus. Turn these guys into the, um, the most incredible world movement. Uh, what are some things we can learn about how Jesus related to his disciples? Well, you know, I love all the warm and fuzzies because they're wonderful and nobody is more loving than Jesus. Nobody's more gracious than Jesus. Nobody's more humble than Jason's. He's, he's everything. He's amazing. But people sometimes lose sight of the fact that he also, yeah, he's the ultimate businessman. He's got a ruthless competitor who lies about him, who lies about their own promises, right? Who do anything to succeed and, and he's
Speaker 2: (38:36) up again, but that, that competitor is against up against Jesus where everything he touches is self replicating and self duplicating. And, and so the best the devil can do is imitate what Jesus does and love. This is number one. Numbers are important is business. People are going to appreciate this. I'm going to get down to the nitty gritty, you know, in the parable of talents where it gives one guy, one talent, another guy to another guy, five. And those aren't talents like how now you can sing and chew gum. These are, these are weight measures. Uh, some estimates say, you know, 75 pounds would be a talent and it was either silver or gold was gold. It would be multi-millions, five talents of that. It would be quite a bit. Um, so it kind of depends whether we're talking gold or silver, but it doesn't matter with substantial amount of money that was given in this story.
Speaker 2: (39:20) And it's illustration. But Jesus is telling it for a reason. And so he says now the, in the story, the person goes away, but when he comes back, he wants an accounting. Interesting. [inaudible] so Jesus tells a story and the only question Jesus is reported to a vast, again in his story, [inaudible] what have you done with what I gave you? He didn't say, Hey, how's your mom? How's your grandma? Do you guys have a good Christmas? No, I'm not saying those things aren't there. But the one question that a boiled down to is what I gave you this, what did you get? And so the first guy says, we gave me five, I've, I've doubled it into 10. The other guy says, you gave me two, a double that into four. And the other guy says, Hey, I knew you were a tough guy. I hit it cause I was scared.
Speaker 2: (40:05) And Jesus as you know, took the talent from the guy who he considered to be a essentially faithless guy. And he took it and he gave it to the guy who had doubled the five as opposed to the guy who doubled to, for the simple fact, the doubling, doubling $1 million. It's a lot harder than doubling $100 for example. You and I can double a hundred dollars pretty quickly, but doubling 100 million, that's harder. And so the larger the amount, the harder it is. So we gave it to the guy that had accomplished more, but the thing that I really, really spoke to me was [inaudible] he's zeroed in on the numbers because salespeople have a tendency when you say, how's it going this month? They give you a story. Well there's this one guy and you know, he's got his wife sick and this and that and, and uh, and then, you know, there's other ones.
Speaker 2: (40:52) And they tell stories. Jesus just cut through all that. What are the numbers? That's number one. Uh, number two, what Jesus did that I really like is you read it in Luke 10 [inaudible], he sends the 70 out. Well, the 72 depending on which it is, he sends them out and when he come back, he debriefs them and they said, you know, it says the 70 came back and he said, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And so there was a bit of a debriefing, which puts a value on them. Listen, I wonder what happened, how did it go when you're out there? So we cared about that and debrief them. And probably my third, but favorite thing about cheeses is that, I mean so much I could talk about, but he taught them by example. He didn't just say, and I'll go up there and do this.
Speaker 2: (41:35) They saw him time and time again, laid his hands on people. He's healed the sick, raise the dead. They watched it firsthand, 100% successful all the time. And they, he modeled it for them so that they could actually go out and do that very thing. And so I think that's important as leaders is that people want to know, but they want to know can you do what you're saying? Oh awesome. You know, I teach what I teach. But I took that three year hiatus to see if what I had additionally learned really worked in the non forgiving, highly competitive, somewhat on ethical world of commercial real estate. Can we do that? And by the way, during that time when it became the fastest growing company in America or 16th us, his company, fastest growing real estate brokerage. Wow. A lot of new people. I personally led several of them to Christ who led other people to Christ.
Speaker 2: (42:30) There are other people doing that. They started a Bible study on Wednesdays at noon. I didn't lead it. I wasn't, I didn't want to because of my, my relationship there, let them do it. And there was a revival of broke out in the office. I mean people that would or were maybe born again but had become closet Christians and weren't talking about, now they're vibrant. People that didn't know Jesus were born again and their lives were transformed. All this was happening in this business setting. And, um, so I see that kind of thing happening. I like to, uh, you know, when I learned something, I want to test it out. I want to try it. And so what, what we're sharing here today has, it's not just a good sermon. Hey, I found a verse. I bet you this works like that. It's not that I had to pay a price off three years of obscurity, three years of nothing, three years, and nobody knows anything to gamble on.
Speaker 2: (43:19) Is what I'm learning really going to work? Is it really going to make a difference? Is it gonna have an eternal difference? Yes, it did. Is it going to have a financial difference to the tens of millions? Yes, it did. Is it, you know, is it going to give them a higher platform? Oh yeah. Very much so and so, but I wouldn't, I didn't know that going into it. I believed it and I thought it would. Yeah, I didn't know until I actually get it. You know, when I think of Jesus, uh, one of the things, uh, I saw in the life of Jesus as to why he was so effective with people was a heat, almost every time solved a problem in somebody's life. He served them, he engaged with them, he talked to them and on, I know a lot of the principles you talk about have all those elements in it, but you know, almost every time if you read all the stories of Jesus, he saw the problem, whether it was healing or feed 5,000 or, you know, Lazarus coming out of the grave, you know, whatever the case. And that's how influence happened then, you know, so often I think the world teaches us about sales and, uh, is go in and get that order rather
Speaker 1: (44:31) than taking the first step of serving the people and seeing what need they have and try to solve that need. And, and, uh, that's what you talk about in this book, uh, rainforest strategy. And so I want to encourage our, um, listeners and those watching on YouTube to download this at Michael pink, uh, download.com and you'll get an immediate download of the first two chapters. And so, uh, Michael, thanks for being with me on this, uh, podcast. I want to remind everybody if you're listening by iTunes, uh, please, um, give us a rating on that, that'll help others find us because of the positive ratings, if it's helped you. And if you're on YouTube, uh, become part of our channel is subscribed to our channeling and leave us comments at the bottom of this page so that, uh, we know, uh, if this program has been helpful and we can improve.
Speaker 1: (45:32) And, uh, so Michael, why don't you give out your website to people if they want to reach you or connect with you? Sure. Well, there's two ways of course, Michael pink.com is my, my name's sake. And selling among wolves.com is a, you know, a detailed thing on my sales training. Either one of those ways, selling among wolves.com or Michael pink.com. Either one. I'd be glad to hear from them and let me know if you reach out to me, let me know that you heard about me from us cause I want to make sure that us is it where the of the support that he sent our way. And I want to bless Austin, the process. Well you can uh, see the book behind you. Hold up the book there and behind you on the shelf there. I just self your left shoulder there. This one here.
Speaker 1: (46:13) Yeah. And that's the book we've been talking about. And so really well, well done by Zig Ziglar and Mark Victor Hansen, the chicken soup for the soul guy. I mean he sold over a hundred million copies. He loved this book. He said exciting minds, mindset changing ideas and a lot of good endorses on the back from big name folks. So I don't know if I told you this story, but you'll find it interesting if you don't about Zig Ziglar. So Zig Ziglar grew up in the church. I grew up in, in Columbia, South Carolina. I didn't know, I didn't know who he was. I was a child. Uh, but I had heard that later as I left, that my pastor that, um, you know, led me to the Lord, uh, knew him and he later moved to, uh, I forget where I ended up moving to. But a few years ago, uh, somebody came to me and said, OS I was in a Zig Zig Ziglar conference and somebody asked him, what do you read? And he says, well, I, I do read this one devotional called TGI F and, uh, and that, bro, that blew my mind. Wow. Um, uh, great. A great connection there. Yeah. Well thanks Michael. We will see you next time. And, uh, guys, uh, connect with Michael if you have a need in sales training or whatever, he's a great resource, so God bless you guys. Take care. Thank you. Thank you ass. Bless you, my friend. Hey guys.
Donald Trump, Hugh Hefner, LGBT, Roe vs Wade & (a Declining Culture) Remember! You are God’s Culture Shaper!
Our nation has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. What are the tipping points in culture that have led our nation down this path? Os Hillman gives you a picture of the signs of the times and a warning about where the nation is currently. Listen to this wakeup call from Os.
Are you in debt? Do you need a strategy? to get out of debt? Well, today I've got a guest that's gonna help you do just that so, stay tuned.
How do I bring my faith to work how do I tap into the power of God. Why am I going through this adversity? Hi I’m Os Hillman. I've been helping leaders like you answer these question for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIF Today God Is First .
So welcome to our podcast this week. It is such a delight to have my daughter as my guest this week and her name is Charis Brown and Charis is in the media and she has a new book out and it's a book that everyone's gonna benefit from and so she is author of two books she actually created a new book when she was working for me called TGIF for next generation and her new book is called Alt Money Choices: Securing financial freedom one choice at a time and she speaks to groups about faith and finance she's also an editor for ClarkHoward.com and managing editor for ClarkeDeals.com daily deals website started by a consumer expert radio talk show host and New York Times bestselling author Clark Howard. She lives with her husband just a few miles from a with their cat in North Atlanta well. Charis great to have you on today thanks for having me dad well you've done a great job with this new book and we're gonna get into some details but before we do let me just tell people that you know this is your second book and you wrote TGIF for next generation which is a daily devotional and you can get it online at your website what website is that if they want to go and sign up for your place oh well if they want to get the free devotional its prison ministry at work but of course you guys have copies so I would encourage people to get copies from you too so yeah it's a it's a 365 day daily devotional and her ministry site is Prismministries.org or prism ministries.org but today we're talking about this new book and Clark Howard you know it's interesting he is a household name in Atlanta and a few other cities. How many cities is he in now? He's in quite a few there's a there's a long list of media affiliates that will air the show in different markets um you know LA it's one of those big cities that regularly air the Clark Howard show so yeah well he's quite a name in different markets and he helps people save money and it evidently has rubbed off on Karras because she now has a book that he is endorsing and he won't endorse a book that doesn't prove it's going to save people money so you can be sure this has been field-tested by a Clark but he gave a great recommendation for the book and today we're going to talk about this and listen to what Clark says about the book I loved Charis’s book. I couldn't stop reading it and I finished it in a couple of hours what I love about Charis’s story is she's so methodical about her process and she's not preaching at people she's teaching how to get their money in order and so that's what we're going to learn today and so we're going to go ahead and shut our video off so today we're going to talk about top 10 financial mistakes people make that cost them money and how you can avoid them you know curious when I looked at that list I thought that was an incredible list of things that you know money just flows out of our pockets so easily sometimes and you put together a list and different aspects of what those ten things are that eat people's money and so we're gonna go through each one and you're gonna tell us what we need to know about it and mistake number one is over buying on a home tell us about that alright well a home you know is probably the biggest one of the biggest financial decisions that will make in a lifetime because a home is generally the most expensive part of somebody's budget if you look at someone's pleasure like a pie you know if the housing cost is going to take up a big portion of that pie and so um you know you really want to think about that and not in terms of what your Realtor is telling you and what your banker is telling you because often they're going to try to get you into something that is at the max of what you can afford but what you really want to do is you want to look at your budget and you don't want your housing expense to eat up you know more than 25% 20% if you can get it down to 15 that's really ideal um but you know people so many people over buy on their house and then they don't have money later in retirement when they need it most and so just to give you a couple of figures you know if you buy a $250,000 house that's gonna end up with interest being over $400,000 if you buy a $500,000 house that's gonna end up being over $700,000 because of the interest and so you can see how much that adds up over time you know one of the things people don't realize is if you just pay a little extra every month you can significantly reduce the overall amount that you're going to spend and reduce the term of your loan just paying an extra fifty or hundred dollars a month can make a big difference yes that's so true yes and that's one of the things that we highlight in the book just about you know it's little changes that you can make that will make a big difference so that's definitely one of those choices that you can make yeah all right mistake number two over buying on a car well we just actually bought a new car new to us it's not a brand new car it's a 2009 Honda but we were really feeling good about this decision because we were able to buy cash and just like you dad like when you helped me buy my first car my dad helped me you know you put 50% down I put 50% down and we paid cash for it which is great so we paid for this car in cash and you know when an expense starts to meet a psychological need versus a physical need that's when we tend to overspend so I don't know about you but like I saw all these Lexus commercials and different brands of cars over the holidays it's like this December to remember event and you know it's like Oh your spouse could be surprised by this forty five thousand dollar car and you know I think for most America that would be a surprise but not in a good way because you know if you're married you want to talk to your spouse and your significant other about any big financial purchase and so you know with cars seeing these table. you at CNBC no it's actually forms so Forbes wrote a piece about how buying new cars can delay your retirement by years it can delay it 14 years 15 years just because people you know um take cues from commercials to buy their cars and so what you really want to do is the sweet spot in car ownership is buying a two-year old used car because you know once it starts off a lot it's lost a lot of value so and then really being intentional about researching the kind of car that you want to get making sure it's reliable making sure it's good on gas you know because we want to get all the bells and whistles but those bells and whistles can cost us and when we're paying for image when it comes to cars that can really cause us to overspend yeah that's good I know that we recently bought a car and found out that you know we we searched all over Atlanta and we went beyond Atlanta and don't be afraid to look beyond your own city to find the best deal because sometimes it's it's not in your particular city Atlanta is a very competitive market for certain types of vehicles and so you want to really look everywhere when you're searching for a car but that's good advice all right number three is mistake number three is going out to eat too much ooh that one hurts well yeah I mean you know it's just so convenient to go out to eat one of the things that we did in our 11 month long experiment is you know this book is about the little choices that we made and that we journaled throughout 11 11 months timeframe and one of those choices that we made was making different decisions when it came to going out to eat and maybe choosing a less expensive restaurant over a more expensive one and just knowing how much that adds up over time that can make a huge impact in your budget but even you know you don't have to deprive yourself maybe going to Chipotle or chick-fil-a or something like that um you know instead of going to a sit-down more expensive restaurant that can really make a big difference and just to put it into perspective a $50 meal out once a week cost twenty six hundred dollars per year so you think and you think about wow what can I do with that money I could put that money into my retirement account my brought my IRA I could go on a vacation with it and so it's just about figuring out where your money is going and putting it in places where you really want to go because it's so easy to spend that money going out to eat but maybe you know there's something else that you could do with that money yeah and you say habits you know a lot of a lot of times we get in the habit of just going out and don't even think about it so it's I think it's what you're saying is let's be intentional about you know being frugal or being disciplined about how many times we're going to eat out etc exactly well mistake number four is not saving enough for retirement yeah that's a big one and unfortunately it's it's one that affects so many Americans um you know most of us don't have enough retirement money saved but it is the top financial regret of the elderly and so and that's according to an article by CNBC and so you know if at all possible you know if you're you know even just starting you know start at 1% saving for retirement and then just build up you know year after year and once you get used to a certain amount of income it makes it far easier to live with that income later in life and so um you know I would encourage people whether you're in your 20s 30s you know start now just start with a little bit and see how much that little bit can grow because anything that you put into a retirement savings account a Roth IRA is a great place to start um with a company like Vanguard or fidelity and you know you can see that income really start you know beefing up as it you know works with compound interest and so that would definitely be something that we need to do better at as Americans when you say Roth our IRA why don't you explain what that is for the folks sir so I RA is an individual retirement account and you can use these accounts to stash away money for retirement you can do a traditional IRA or you can do a Roth IRA and a Roth IRA is a better option to many people something that clerk talks about a lot when people are just getting started because you pay the tax now with a traditional IRA you pay the tax once you take it out later but you can stash I believe this year at 6500 dollars in either of those and that's the maximum that you can put in there but if you're not already contributing to a 401k at work the 401k would be the number one place to start because if you have a match that's like free money so definitely want to start with a 401k and then see if you can add them to an IRA probably a Roth IRA if you can yeah and you know saving it's not just saving by putting money away but it's also not spending and you know that's one of the your testimony about writing your own book was about in fact why don't you share briefly with the folks what happened with you and kind of what motivated you to get out of debt yes absolutely and you know this is kind of school of hard knocks for me because dad has always told me not to get into that but I did for school and I started start a business and I was like nineteen twenty and so um I had over thirty five thousand dollars in student loan debt hanging over me and when my husband Justin I got married we had a combined total of three hundred thousand dollars of debt because we had two homes and we bought them at the height of the market and we had to we have credit card debt we had car loans and so we really had to work hard at getting all of those debts out of the way but we kept knocking them out and so the student loan was was the final kind of straw and I really wanted to pay that off as quickly as possible so that's where this whole idea about many choices came from and recording expenses and making a better financial choice and so we were able to pay off that student loan that was $27,000 at the start of the year and we were able to pay that off within 11 months mm-hmm that's awesome so one of those things that you had to do was budgeting and that's mistake number five how important is budgeting that is still hard I think it's always going to be hard for us and many people and you know budgeting is something that you know people hear it and I was chatting with a women's group and I mentioned budgeting and they're all I go it's a groan that will echo throughout the room but budgeting is you know not necessarily constraints it's just kind of guidelines and a plan and so you know there's plenty of free budgeting out there budgeting doesn't have to be hard there's you know clarity money there's mint there's all kinds of apps that you can just plug in you know your info and it'll spit out what you're spending and then you can kind of decide where your thresholds are for different categories so another way to do it is cash one thing that we did is and we continue to try to do is especially with food expenses and grocery expenses we try to use cash because you have that set amount and we treat cash much differently than we treat a credit card that one yeah with a credit card it's so easy to swipe and studies have shown that we spend less when we use cash because we have a different relationship with cash because we see it leave our hand and so it's a much different experience even though most of us are encouraged to use plastic because it's so convenient so budgeting is definitely you know one of those things that we want to try to get a hold of when it comes to success with money yeah and I think that you know talking about credit and debt and you know nowadays they're really trying to lure us into the credit cards because of a 2% cash back or 3% and you know all of that that may be good on the front end but it actually encourage you to spend more because you think oh I'm putting a say I'm putting getting money back though and all you're doing is spending more money and but that's so true you know when I go to the grocery store and pull out cash to pay for something I take it more seriously than if I just use my credit card right exactly exactly and one thing that you could do is you know if you want to use credit cards and you want the benefits of the cashback or whatever you can use credit cards for fixed expenses that you'd be paying for anyway and you know use cash maybe for those more variable expenses that you know can get out of hand easily yeah and it's so important for you to not carry over in your spending and kirie debt on a credit card because that will absolutely eat you up with the high interest rates of most credit cards and so you know the the way you beat the credit cards is those recurring incomes or recurring expenses use the credit card for that if you want to build miles or you want to you know bill cash back but the way you beat them is you that thing off every month and that's that's when it that that card becomes your servant instead of you being the servant to that death right exactly exactly I mean if if you can't do that with credit cards maybe just stick to the cash or the debit you know but yeah that's definitely I mean number one roll of credit cards make sure you can pay it off every single month yeah mistake number six falling for scams well you know there are so many scams that steal people's money and Clark's Consumer Action Center gets calls um you know every day hundreds of calls from people who are who have fallen prey to some kind of scam you know there's tons of scams that are happening right now um one of the most popular ones has been the IRS Social Security scam where you get a call from the IRS and they're telling you that you owe money and are threatening you um you know but the IRS does not communicate that way they send letters and mail so security is the same way so what you want to do is if you're faced with something like a phone call or somebody that wants to sell you software or something do a little bit of research about it um don't immediately take action try to stop yourself from taking action when it comes to any of these things and do some research and see if there is a scam out there that you need to be aware of a lot of times there's government websites that have a list of scams that are popping up and greater frequency I say you can check that out um but that's definitely something that you know to watch out for even gift card scams where you know someone might want to sell you a gift card and then it ends up not having any money on it so just be aware of the scams that are out there um Clark coms a great resource for looking for scams and then some of those other websites are really great too yeah and be careful with investments that are promising very high returns you know back in the 90s I got taken I became a victim to a Bernie Madoff type of scam where he was having 20% interest and you know he just you know that interest those those reports came every month saying oh he made this much he made this much then all of a sudden I get a phone call from my manager and he says all of your money is gone the man that we'd been working with was a scam artist and they had fled the country and that was over half a million dollars and we never got one penny back and so be careful with the types of investments that you go into and when they claim to have incredible returns it's probably a situation that you really need to think twice about Wow and I know that was a really painful and I'm glad that you're sharing it with everyone because so many people have gotten taken by scams like that and you know as the slide says if it's too good to be true it probably is you know you just have to watch out and don't use any income that you really need in an investment you only want to use cash that you can afford to lose in an investment that's a very good word their mistake number seven shopping as a hobby okay well this goes back to habits and you know in the book um I just shared that habits are one of our most money-saving assets and that is so true and what you know being in debt taught Justin I was that you know we'd learn to live on less than what we made and so that was something that I think will just you know have such an impact on me for the rest of my life just trying to live beneath our means and pay off that debt but shopping you know I mean some of us or shopaholics I you know of course I'm looking at deals all the time with my job and it's very tempting but you want to be careful not to make shopping one of those things that's filling another kind of void you know shopping can be fun it's fun to get those deals I love deals deal hunting but we just want to make sure that our habits are not leading us as you said before into a path of you know bondage where you know we're becoming a slave to a certain habit or whatever so that's something that is just good to watch out for well I think the other things addictions can come in a lot of different forms and an addiction is anything that you can't lay down voluntarily and if you find that you simply have to shop or have to do something else then you most likely have some kind of an addiction and you need to look at the root cause of that and what need you're trying to meet that that shopping or whatever it activity it is is trying to meet and so this is an area that is very practical and we need to look at it and see what it might be doing to us mm-hmm yeah that's good mistake number eight not having insurance yes and so you know we often think about insurance like car insurance homeowners insurance renter's insurance but other kinds of insurance are often overlooked for example a disability insurance you know Social Security the Social Security government website tells us that one in four of today's young people will be disabled at some point in their lives and so it's really important to consider disability insurance as you're looking at budgeting and monthly expenses because um you know anyone can become disabled at any moment so it's really good to think about short term disability and long term disability I've got a friend of mine she's she's chronically sick and she's been that way ever since she was 27 and so it's just sad for me to watch that because you know she could have probably had a much easier time if they had known about getting disability insurance when they were in their 20s I said that's just something that I would just just plead everyone to look at just because the statistics are real 25 percent of us will be in some you know place where we're not able to work and so it's really important that we are covered not just in our car insurance but also disability insurance and of course health insurance another factor in that is to make sure that you have income that you can live off of two to three months you know set aside in an account on a amount of money that if something happens that you can go to that money to be able to offset what might happen you know you never know it was what comes across our path sometimes and having two to three months of operating income is a wise thing to do and that's separate from your long-term insurance not insurance but long-term retirement savings this is a short-term money that should there be an emergency in other words it's your emergency fund right so if you can't put that much aside yet just start putting a little bit toward that account and set it up as a separate account as a money market or something like that and just put money in there until you get to at least three months of operating income and if you have that money saved up maybe you won't need the short term disability insurance but yes that is that is definitely something that that would be good for everyone to consider mistake number nine not paying bills on time well you know we live in a credit-based society and I know that there's some financial experts out there that you know don't use the credit cards and don't want to rely on credit but you know credit becomes a lot easier if you're looking at buying a car or you need to buy a house and so paying bills on time is definitely a part of that and so when you're looking at a credit score thirty five percent of credit history is based on our thirty five percent of the credit score is based on your history and then thirty thirty percent is the amount owed so that's over 60% of the total credit score and so when you're paying bills on time especially credit cards your credit score is going to go up and you want to make sure that your debt to credit ratio percentage is below 30% overall which means that the amount that you owe is thirty percent is thirty percent of the overall credit that you have if that makes sense because that also has a big impact on your credit score yeah now a lot of times we get these promos for apps that will give us their credit your credit score do you recommend people getting that how important is it for this them to stay in touch with their credit score yes that's a really good idea and when you know the whole Equifax breach happened a lot of people are very concerned about their credit and rightly so so one of the great ways to keep track of that is Credit Karma it's over the K and so you can go on that site and you can monitor your credit and if there's any changes to your credit say if somebody opens an account in your name Credit Karma is going to alert you of that and so you'll be able to catch it in time a lot a lot of things that people or times what people do is they'll actually freeze their credit and if they're concerned about you know stealing their credit history or whatever or opening accountant accounts in their name they can actually freeze their credit you know if you don't have anything that you need to apply for you know you have a house it's pretty much set you're not making any big changes that's another great way to keep criminals from accessing your credit would be to do a credit freeze good mistake number 10 getting into debt this is probably my top mistake and the book you know all money choices this is all about our journey of getting out of debt and making better financial choices you know but that can cost us so much overtime um you know in Proverbs I know you've said this many times says borrower is slave to the lender proverbs 22:7 and so we want to be careful that money is our slave and we're not a slave to money but the cost of financing can be pretty high we think about mortgages they're generally considered good debt because you're actually you know going to get your house but you're still paying a whole lot in interest for example a one hundred and fifty thousand dollar mortgage is going to cost almost five thousand dollars in interest in the first year and so you know when you think about that compared to um you know the tax write-off you're getting most people don't even Ida Mize so it's kind of a wash so you know when people are touting like home ownership you just want to be aware of what you're actually spending an interest because that can really add up over time I remember you know one of my biggest mistakes was you know buying a house with an interest-only loan I don't know what I was thinking but I thought the market would go up and up and it didn't crash just almost as soon as I bought that house and so when I look back at how much money I was paying an interest it is absurd and how much I could have directed that money in other places like you know saving for retirement or business or whatever and so um that's one thing that you know work generally accustomed to as a society is getting into debt but we you know in order to save more money and you know have more financial stability in our lives we really need to think about and think hard when we are faced with getting into that because that can cost so much in the long run you know over the years I've had people talk about the whether you should pay off your mortgage if you have the ability to pay it off and I have always said yes absolutely you want to do that and some would kind of you know argue that point to say that well why would I want to do that you know I've got my money over here collecting interest and I get an interest deduction on my mortgage and the answer to that is you're presuming upon the future for the first thing now you don't know that you'll be able to pay that in the future when you have the ability now and that's exactly what happened to me back in the 90s when I had that Bernie Madoff situation I could have paid my mortgage off at that time but I didn't based on that logic so then after that happened it was tough for me to make that mortgage for season and so they also that the premise that you're having a tax deduction look you're paying a whole lot more interest than the benefit you're getting from a tax deduction then if you had paid off that completely so there is no better feeling than living in a house that you know is paid for and nobody can take it from you you never know what's coming down the pike and so you know that presumption upon the future is not faith it's presumption so if you have the ability to pay it off paid off if you have the ability to pay an extra hundred a month do that anything you can do to reduce the amount of interest you're paying and to get that house under your belt and not the banks bill right exactly all right so we've been talking about all money choices securing financial freedom one step at a time you can get it on our bookstore at tji at bookstore calm you can also get it on Kara's website at Alton money choices calm and you know some of the practical things you're going to learn in this book are how small choices can really add up and why changing your money habits have a big impact over time and you're going to read about Karis is strategy for paying off twenty seven thousand dollars of debt in 11 months she took small choices that added up over time and how to make saving funny money fun and the science of making better choices money mentalities have separate the rich from everyone else and simple steps you can take I encourage you to get this book so you know Kerris has been on this journey with me for many years and after all these years we've been equipping leaders and we've been thinking about how we can help those that we've been serving for these years go deeper and help them with specific things that they tell us they had help need help with and so we've been listening to some of our listeners and I would encourage you that if you'd like to know about these coming things that we're about to do that we're going to announce very shortly within a month or two about a new program you can get on the waiting list for that it become God's change agent com that's become God's change agent calm and if you get on the waiting list you'll be the first one to be notified you'll get a discount on this new program that we're going to be doing plus you will get a download that's free of my top ten biblical truths for succeeding in life and work and so if that's of interest you just go to become God's change agent comm will cost you anything just to be on the waiting list and that'll be a free download now let me remind you that if you're listening on iTunes we want you to rate our podcast that allows us to encourage others to come to our and subscribe to our podcasts and download the podcast audio and if you're watching us on YouTube we want you to subscribe to our Channel and share your comments at the bottom of the presentation on YouTube and that will allow us also to have more people watching our programs and so let's curious when we come back on the video just for a moment as we say goodbye to our friends and let's see if I can do that there we are there we are both so again the book is all money choices and it's a great read it's not a very big book it's only 118 pages so you you know I like those kind of small books you can read almost in one session but you won't do that in this cuz you need to really study what to do and take the advice that she has there well Kara says we close out today any final words for those that that are out there well I think one of the things that just became such a big theme of the book is you know just realizing how much God gave us choice and how it's one of the gifts that he gave us you know in the Garden of Eden he gave Adam and Eve a choice and so you know one of the most impactful things that I want people to get from the book is just to realize you know you might be in a certain situation or you might be facing a big challenge right now but you know there are choices that that you have that you may not even have thought of yet and you know God has given us creativity as well and so you know even though we might feel like we're in a tough spot um you know he can give us ideas and solutions to those things that we're facing and so um you know he just gave us such a big gift when it came to her choice and so I just want to encourage people with that yeah and that's a good word I think that whenever we are intentional about something like this God sees that it's a it's a step of faith and sometimes when you put your first foot forward towards something God multiplies it and it's amazing how many things can change you know in my own situation although I'd lost a half million dollars at the end of seven years God restored all of it back and I had no idea that was going to happen but I was just seeking God and asking him to help me walk through that season and I paid off all the debts I owed as a result of that crisis and that's important so be faithful in the little things and the big things and God will honor that faith so what cares thanks so much and everybody joining us today god bless you and we'll see you next week
What does Moses have to do with my marketplace call? Can I learn anything from this leader to apply to my own daily work life call? Stay tuned and we'll find out. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life call? Why am I going through this adversity? It's got mad at me. I'm Os Hillman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions and for, for over 30 years, that's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to GIF. Today. God is first.
Hey guys, this week I'm in North Myrtle beach. Every year I come down here between the December 26 and January 1st and I like to do a lot of my writing and just to decompress down here. Also have a very close friend of mine, Jim, who is 83 years old today. Not today, but, this year. He has been a mentor and father to me. He's been a pastor for over 32 years here in this area. And if I was to point the camera down that way, you would see a pier. And that is the peer that I accepted Christ on in 1975 at 11:00 PM one night. And so this place has a special place for me, a place in my heart for me this week. I want to talk to you about the marketplace principles we can learn from the life of Moses. And whenever I think about the ocean, I think about Moses and the red sea.
Moses has a lot of things that you and I can learn from what he did. And you know, he represents a type of leader that made a lot of mistakes. You know, the first mistake he made was when he realized who he was and that God in some way wanted to use him in a very powerful way to deliver a people from slavery. He went about it the wrong way. He used his power and, uh, to try to force things to happen. And we know that he killed an Egyptian. And that led him to have to flee after being raised in the ways of Egypt and no doubt that impacted him and not really understanding how to be led by God or be used by God in such a way. And so, you know, Moses is a, a type of marketplace person where we can sometimes use our force to make things happen, but God, you know, has to take us through a process.
And so God’s process for Moses was to take him into the desert and put him out there as a shepherd. And, you know, the shepherd life was something the Egyptians despised. It was the lowliest of all professions. And, uh, you know, when I think about Moses and when God, after 40 years, decides to reengage him through the burning Bush, and that when he sees this burning over to the side during his work day, I think that's interesting that he does it during his work day. And so God speaks to him. And the first thing he says to him, it says, Moses, take off your shoes for a year on Holy ground. Now what does that mean? Well, you know, even our daily work life, God says that it's Holy ground because my presence is there. And that's another principle we need to understand is that God sometimes comes to us in the day to day activities like our life.
And he wants us to really experience his presence even in that place. And so after the initial discussion with Moses, God asked him a very interesting question and he says, Moses, uh, what is that in your hand? Of course, Moses said, well, it's my staff Lord. I picked up this stick here on the beach and uh, it'll just be our staff for a minute. Okay. And, uh, so he says, Moses lay down that staff. And so he lays out the staff and it turns into a snake and a imagine the shock. And so then God, Elsa and that pickup, that snake by the tail and alive was that important. Whether it was important because he was taking a car to you over the serpent, which is represented as the devil and the scriptures that caused the, uh, problems with he back in the garden of Eden.
And so Moses is taking authority over that. So he picks it up by the tail. And when he does, it turns back into a staff. Now. Then God says something very interesting in the scriptures from that point on. He says, now take that staff and perform miraculous signs with it. And that also says that that staff was no longer the staff of Moses, but it was actually the staff of God. And so now he was going to be a steward over that staff, and he was going to perform miracles through that staff. Not only would he perform miracles, he would actually deliver an entire people from slavery. So we see in this example that God uses Moses in a very powerful way. And you know, Moses wasn't a perfect leader recently. I've been talking about how God uses very imperfect leaders. And he used David who was a murderer and a conniver at, uh, uh, Eno adulterer.
He used Esau. And he also used Jacob. Of course he did despise Esau, but he did turn him into a nation. But Jacob who was a controller and a manipulator, he used him to birth the 12 tribes. And so today when you get upset with leadership and America realizes that God uses very imperfect people for specific assignments, you think about also the, uh, the character in the old Testament, Jehu, where God used him and Elisha and picked him to destroy Ahab and Jezebel, which was an ungodly, an evil rulership. And you know, so when we look today at our leaders, we need to realize that they are not perfect characters and they won't pass the evangelical litmus test many times. But God raises those kinds of people up. You know, Jehu, who is probably the closest thing I can think of to a Donald Trump who was very narcissistic, knew his abilities, was very good at what he did.
He felt God's hand on him. And, yet he was a guy that was, you know, not going to win popularity contest. And so just think about that. When you think about the kinds of leaders God raises up around us and you know that it takes a particular kind of leader to train a swamp in a political system like America that has for the last 50 years has been going far left and you know, further and further into corruption. And so it took a, takes a person like that to really do that. And so when they see Moses now going into deliver the people, an interesting thing happens and he fails to do something that God told him to do. And that was to circumcise his son. And it says that an angel was on the way to kill Moses because he failed to circumcise his song.
And you know, why is that important? Well, it's important because God's representation of covenant between he and his people was the concept that circumcision, they were to be a people set apart for his purposes. And so when Moses didn't honor that symbol of commitment and covenant promise between him and God, that was a very serious thing. And so his wife actually saved him by circumcising the child. And Moses was able to go on and perform what God called him to do. So now Moses is with the people. He's delivering the people. Finally after the plagues and you know the situation, it gets to the point that he got the people released,but during the journey he comes to the Red Sea and it's interesting what God said about the Red Sea. He took them to the Red Sea.
Now the route that he took them to was a route that ended on the shores of the Red Sea. There's an alternative route they could have taken to the North end so that they could go around it and get to the other side. But God didn't take them there. He took them right at the Red Sea. Now if you imagine, let's imagine that that's the Red Sea behind us, that would be an incredible thing to think that that sea could part and that you could walk through that seat unfathomable for you and not to imagine such a thing happening. But if we're believers that we know that the word of God is true and we need to believe that that in fact took place. And so they go through the Red Sea and God takes them along the way. They get thirsty and hungry and God uses manna to feed them because they can't care for themselves and they need water.
And so God tells Moses to strike the wrong in order to get water for the people. And here again is a, you see the symbolism of the staff and how God used the staff to be the instrument of power. And so he strikes the rock and the water comes out of it. And then later on we see a similar situation in which the people are thirsty again. And God says to him, now, Moses, this time I want you to speak to the rock. And this is a very important thing that God does with the people. Now he's now telling Moses, I want you to use the authority of the spoken word. You know, the Bible is very clear about the power of the spoken word and the authority he gives us to speak the word in power. And so he tells him to speak to the rock.
But Moses is not having a good day. And he's very frustrated with the people. And so instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes. And when he does that, an interesting thing happens. The water still comes out of the rock, but it's at a cost to Moses that he actually loses his ride to be able to go into and participate in the promised land that God had promised to the people. And that was the consequence of his disobedience because he dishonored the people by doing that. And that's what the scripture tells us. And so there are a lot of lessons there that Moses tells us. And so I would encourage you today to think about this staff, what is your staff? Your worklife call and what God has put inside of you to deliver a people and to bring people into a place of worship.
That's what God also said about Moses. And the reason they were going to go into the desert was to worship God and have the freedom to worship. And so that's what we see taking place today. That you know, our rights as believers are being fronted every time we turn around in our nation right now. And God needs you and I to stand in the gap, to be able to use our staffs, to really perform the miracles needed to re see our nation restored to some, some foundations that will not be cracked. And so, you know, I've been thinking about, uh, what we can do to help many of you out there who struggle with how to live out your faith in the marketplace, how to live out your faith as a business owner. What can you do to be more successful then applying your faith life and to your work life.
And so we're going to be announcing before too long a new initiative that's going to help you, that that's a, an interest in that you have to be able to go deeper into the things of God to connect with other leaders in a community that will allow you to rub shoulders with others who have the same DNA, the same arc for you, that you have to be able to represent Christ in all that you do. So, you know, if I, when I think about, um, where believers are and how they're getting equipped today, you know, you got to admit that it's, it's, uh, there's not too many places you can go to get equipped, coach, mentor, and uh, so, you know, the church, the local church hasn't done a great job with that. But where do you go to find an opportunity to be equipped, you know, by leaders who are in the marketplace, who've gone the journey, who, who paid the price for those things.
So that's what, uh, the kind of thing that we're planning to release before long. And if that's of interest to you, uh, then you might want to go on our waiting list. And, uh, we've set up a web page that you could go on to, uh, be notified when we released that. It's called become God's change agent.com become God's change agent.com if you'll go there and put your information there, you'll be able to be on our waiting list and you'll also have the opportunity to, to be the first ones to get a discounted opportunity to the initiative that we're going to launch. There's also a download of my top 10 success principles that I've recorded over the years that I found to be most influential. Things I've done that have helped me walk the walk that I've met. So as we enter 2020, I pray that God will really use you this year in the via time where God will use believers to really bring the gospel into our nation and pray for revival in our nation.
Pray for just an awakening of men and women in the marketplace to be used by God. And so if you're watching this on YouTube, I pray that you'll subscribe to our channel so that others can get notified about these things. And if you're hearing this on iTunes, please give us a rating that helps us to be recognized as by Apple to come and listen to our podcast. And so thanks for letting me share with you that this a year end message. And do you ever get to come down to North Myrtle beach? It's a great place to come. So we'll see you next week. Blessed take care.
Are you a biblical worker? Do you know what the Bible says about how to work biblically? I've got a great one for you. I want to give you a resource called, Are you a biblical worker? It's a 50 question. True false self-assessment, great for personal study and small groups. Plus you get the answers with supporting scriptures to help you apply what the Bible says about your daily work life. It's a value of $25 but we want to make it available to you as a free. Just go to www.threebiblicalworker.com that's free biblical worker.com.
Pamela Hillman knows what it means to be sexually abused, used, betrayed, raped, prostituted and a contract placed on her life from the mafia. Men in her own family system held her hostage to sexual abuse under the threat of death. She was in prison to drugs for more than 35 years through a cocaine addiction and a victim to sexual abuse. Drug dealing led to jail and ultimately prison for 18 months. But that is not the end of the story. Stay tuned to listen to this inspiring story of redemption and incredible forgiveness.
Guys, welcome to this week's podcast. Well, I've got a treat for you this week. You know back in 2015, I had been single for several years and just thought that my life was going to be a life of singleness for the rest of my life. And, as it turned out, I ended up going to a movie preview from a friend of mine who produced a movie called Captive. That movie was about a drug addict woman who was taken captive in her apartment in North Atlanta. And, she read the Purpose Driven Life to him and that saved her life. He had already killed three people that day. And, but I was introduced to someone at that movie preview and her name was Pamela and Pamela. And I got to know her from that time and I heard her story and one thing led to the next and we were engaged not long after that.
And so today you're going to hear an incredible story of Pamela that had a difficult childhood and that childhood led her into a lot of difficult places. You know, many of us have had difficult pasts but forgiveness is a key point on whether we're going to move past that difficulty. There are people that have betrayed us, used us, abused us, and so what do we do with that? And so, Pamela has a story of forgiveness. Her story is unlike anybody that I know. And so this week we are featuring a talk she recently gave at our church here in North Atlanta in Dawsonville, Georgia -- Christ fellowship. And this talk is an extraordinary talk on redemption and forgiveness. So I hope that you'll benefit from what she has to say and we'll see you at the end. God bless
Pastor: I've grown to love a couple of them. And now a part of the our fellowship. I discovered Os Hillman years ago, nearly two decades ago. I think he is one of the most prolific authors. I would encourage you to research Os and to go to TGIFBookstore.com and buy everything that you have read. But Os is not speaking tonight. His wife Pamela is speaking to us tonight.
I got to know her and we had lunch one time with Karen, my wife to discover her story. As I said this morning, every speaker at the North Georgia revival, and we had felt a particular leading to bring her before you. I sense the presence of God so strongly. When I invited her, I knew what would happen in this evening. There will be breakthrough tonight. There will be breakthrough tonight in people's lives. How many of you would like to have breakthrough in your life, your family?
You don't need to pull out your phone and I want you to share the link of the North Georgia revival because you're going to want to have the story coming into the advices of people that you love. Christ fellowship awesome is our Facebook page. And you can go there right now, Chrysler shift Austin, he'll find the lightning if you will. And share. Are you going to download the orange? Add the ISN app. It's Supernatural app. Download it. And we are being broadcast all over the world. So I want you to make sure that you share the link. Christ fellowship Dawson. So without any further ado, I want to introduce this video clip on Pamela Hillman. She will come right after the short video.
So are you ready for breakthrough? inside of you? The breakthrough is inside of you. It's one decision away. You have to make a choice. So let's get ready. Okay, awesome. So I have to tell you about my grandmother. I had a praying grandmother. And if you have a praying grandmother that is the key to your life ,it's important to pray for your children. She played the piano for the church for 65 years. She would cook for the pastors. They came to the home and this one jolly old pastor evens everybody puts his hand on me and he says, “You’re special. She's going to do great things for God.
The enemy heard that. The enemy heard that this one here is special. We're all special in God's family. We're all special. When this seed is planted, that was an impartation. I didn't know it at the time, but the enemy came into steal that seed, and it was through my dad. So I was outside playing and there was this little puppy. So I bring this dog home and I said, “Dad, can I have this puppy?” I'm five years old. My mom and my sister aren't home. He said, “Come upstairs with me. You can have the puppy.” I had taken a nap with my dad before. I don't think anything about this. I go upstairs, lay down, and then something happens. So I go running out of the room, go downstairs, and my puppy was gone. The seed was planted. I can get what I want by going on upstairs. The enemy came in right after the impartation.
We are in a battle, you have to know these tactics of the devil. Okay? So by the age of five it was my dad then my uncle then it was my godfather and the godfather was the worst and he had continued on. I was told that I would be killed if I said anything. Actually after I did tell my mom, she didn't believe me when he was with my dad. And then my sister started having my sister. Then she finally threw my dad at God. I thought I caused that. I caused my dad to have to leave and I wasn't going to have a daddy anymore.
Watch carefully. It's a trauma that the enemy brings in. So I was choked, raped, ran over and shot at. I knew Jesus was praying through my grandmother. I accepted Jesus as a child. I didn't know what that was. I mean, she took me to her Bible study, but I didn't really know what that was. But He was with me. When I was shot. I was sitting in a chair. It made a complete circle around me. The chair had holes in it. The picture of my, my head was shattered. I knew, I knew, I know my grandmother was praying for me. There was an angel in front of me and do it. I'm going to run it out of the room.
Oh my liver. I was in so many car accidents. I was in a body cast. I was mauled in this body, and in a wheelchair for a long time. They said I wouldn't walk again. I mean, I'm running today. However, I did cocaine for 35 years. That destroyed my liver. I destroyed my liver three times. I was in the hospital one time when I was on the dying ward with cancer patients and I didn't even know it. I said, “Why am I on this ward?” And they said, “You're dying.” I said, “Well, can I get another liver?” “No, you don't have enough time. You have about six months.” So, you know, I got involved in dealing large amounts through this Colombian mafia guy. One time I kicked his door and so he put a hit out on me.
It was stupid. This is a Columbia mafia guy and it doesn't matter what you do when that happens. But somebody that worked for him contacted me. I was at a lowpoint in my life. I didn't care and so I went to him expected to be killed. I always carried a gun and I just said, you know, do whatever. I can't live with this anymore. I was sleeping with a gun under my pillow and showering with a gun and I just can't live like that. I'm here to reconcile something, okay? Or just do it! So I got tired of running and did this for 35 years. I was on such destruction. Everything that I did that I turned to it was the same guy with a different face. I concluded it was always everybody else's fault. It was dad's fault. It was my mom's fault for not watching over me. Right? It's always somebody else's fault. So we blame others for our situations.
What words you're listening to? We must remake our brains. Demons are going into your soul and you're speaking to them throughout your life. You've got to be careful about your words. They have power. They really have so much power in any, that's the enemy's tactic. He wants us to play the game. It's all the combinations that you can't get out of it. You're in this confrontation within, and I'm going to tell you about the confrontation here shortly. And so I have this big house. I had the hummer and all the vehicles. I was dealing drugs and with drugs comes prostitution. I was miserable.
I had 1800 stamp collecting books, a gun collection, vehicles and a big house and I was miserable. That did not make me happy. I would be sitting on the bed or sitting on the sofa and I would have my Bible open next to me in my lap. I had to have a crack pipe, a line of cocaine, you know, and I was watching TBN while taking drugs. People ask, why are you watching that when you're doing drugs. “I'm never going to get out of this if I don’t watch Christian programming.
I knew Jesus and I know he was the only one that could get to me. So I was like, if you want to hear it, go to another room. I'm not turning it off, you know? So that was my point of surrender. I was praying. I said I don't care if you put me in an institution or jail. But I didn't know he was going to do it quite this way this time. So my point of surrender was to go to prison. Oh my gosh. When you really surrender and you're asking God to get you out, that is when I get pulled over by the cops. They don't find anything, but I go to the bathroom. And then the Lord spoke to me and he said, “I thought you wanted this to be over.” And I said to do. And he said, “Well tell him about the drugs in the car in the backseat of the police car.” He was taking me to jail for violations of probation. So it was my choice.
That was my decision. I had to, no matter what the consequences were, say, “I'm ready.” I went out there and I told the officer I put drugs in the back of your car. He in this inflamed red face, you said, I already knew that and they tried to get me 20 years and I'm like kicking and screaming and say, no thank God. It wasn't for me. It wasn't just for me, it was me, but it wasn't just for me because when I was there, like I said, my 20 years, because I got five years, God can raise me with five to three and I spent 18 months, that 18 is my number now. My birthday is December 18 and you can go into the prison 18 months and I got out November 18.
Okay. My point of surrender wasn't prison and I was trying to get all this stuff and I've been to treatment before. I knew that was just a short my time. And then I said, I'm using, use me in here heaters longer. She gave me more because he was speaking to me. He told me, he said, this is your college campus. I brought him here to train and equip you for what I have prepared for you. I said, Hey, this is my first mission field. I started this class for women. They want to change so bad. They were so angry. They saw me happy all the time. I was like, Oh, everyone's skipping and happy. They said, how can you be happy? You're in prison.
It is so prevalent and people are like, this is the age and this is what the enemy is doing is it's adoption. Okay, and he's got to be mindful of this and I'm like figuring out what is causing me to go back to this. When I would relapse and go back to the drug, it was the because of many insecurities from a lot of the wounds that hadn't been addressed from the sleeping with a guy and then going back to drugs because of the pain. So I'm studying all these books and the Holy spirit spoke to me in my room. He said, the only thing that will change your mindset is the word of God, memorize it.
This is the only way. My other book is and it will be done. My story will be out in spring. But anyways, so the journal book was about this size. I started from the very beginning of it. And I went through the book to the theory and theory first ever memorized to the theory. If you are intentional, if you want to have a change, you've got to do it on purpose. You got get up and make that decision and say, okay, I've got to do this for my own self to change.
I was sitting on the toilet, I'm get a picture of a toilet paper roll. And the Holy Spirit says the center represents Jesus. The Holy Spirit fills you. The inside of the white of the toilet paper is our soul. What are we going to do with all of this garbage? It's the world and self putting in the shame, the guilt, the condemnation, the jealousy, all the anger. What are we going to do with it? It's the sanctification process of tearing off the sheet purposefully to do it.I said some people have a lot more stuff.
He said the Lord spoke and he said, Hey, I want you to write down every name of everybody who was wronged you. I didn't remember some of the names because I've been raped. I didn't know their names and started praying in the spirit over them because my printer was, that was my, he said just put your hands on the paper. Greatest fear. Cause I know Holy spirit since I was 26 so that was core to my sanctification. I've been in the segregation process since I tried to commit suicide when I was 26. So anyway I reviewed all the names on the paper and began praying in the spirit over them and something happened in me. And he taught me to put my name at the end. He gave me this analogy. Look in the mirror and quote scriptures to say who I am.
He says, I am the word of God and you gotta do it on purpose. This is all on purpose y'all. You got to be intentional about your process of sanctification, okay? You already said you got to use this. There's a process. My heavenly father will do the same to you if each of you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart. Okay, I can do it from my heart. I saw Holy Spirit work through me and for you. Okay? Again, had a lot of sickness. I had a lot of stuff going on in my body, handed over to the torturers evil one. Where is there unforgiveness?
He's a torturer. We've got to release it. Writing on the piece of paper. How did you forgive all these people? And myself took me a long time for a couple of weeks. I just, I got to tell you what Greg did. So many I saw on a piece of paper, and I'm going to tell you this is the story towards the end, but at least they're on the phone. My soul, they were in my soul. It was great. I started praying for their salvation, for their healing, for their minds to get right. Do that. And I'll tell you the story in just a bit. Okay. So when I get out, I'm going to tell you this 100%. So when I get out of prison in 2010, my son who was here with me, praise God, he's getting bad taste today. And yeah, um, God has reconciled us. But, um, so I went in to get life insurance because I'm thinking I need to go take out the life.
So I go and I guess they'd have to go to the doctor they call me. This nurse calls me and she says, I thought you might want to know about this. Yes. And I'm thinking I knew somebody right. And she said, well, you are one of 1% of the Americans with 100%. And she said, there's only 1% of Americans that have 100% of the people, all of that garbage for me. Didn't matter how long I was in there, I told them these women were coming up to me after my class, the daughters of science class, and they were saying, you don't know what it's like. This happened to me and that happened to me. I did this and that. And I'm like, I liked it dad. Maybe not to that extreme, but that happened to me. I can relate. I can relate to all these.
I know why I had to go to all of these things. So they're stable. Well, the Lord taught me to pray scripture. He says in Genesis one 26 that created in his right and he also says in Isaiah 55:11 so shall my word be those forth from my mouth. Please. What are you sending out of your mouth? So I created these workbooks and I was like, okay, I was on this module or changed and um, Oh, it's great. It's on identity, everything but Google change. I need an acronym, maybe more in the morning habits around new bro every day.
Good. So it's rewiring your brain every bit of it. Every day, every night when you sleep, you're rewiring your brain. Something can rewire your brain to the neck. Okay? You've got to pay attention. Don't get up in the morning. Oh my gosh. I get out of here and go on the table. God's given me so many dreams. I had one dream. We're in my day room and I fell asleep. I don't ever fall asleep this morning I did. And the Bible starts breathing. I heard decoding the Bible, then Os walks in ourday room, door opens and wakes me up.
I know you weren't expecting part of the condemnation that was so deep in my soul were things that happened with him. If I allow it to happen because I wasn't the mother that he deserved and that, that just, it's still, you know, it still has a place. It's not a wound anymore, but it's a low place dead and he's done okay. For 20 something years, I never really pray this, but when so many would ask me about my mom, I would say she lives in an apartment. We've lived in an apartment all my life, you know, and she's ever had a house. I'm going to buy my mom a house one day. And I know, I knew.
I didn't know. I never knew how it's going to happen, but I kept saying it, the power, they are so critical. Y'all did know that I was going to buy out six months after I got out of prison, the guy's dead. So my dad had got reconciled with my dad, while I was in prison and he was writing and he had dementia and he started it just really bad. So I sit down, I'm going to come take care of you. I'm going to come live with you. And he got so bad that, uh, they contacted me and said, he's in hospice and he's not gonna make it. You're not going to get Amazon. Well, it did. I prayed, I prayed. He says, God, I got to see my dad more time, please. So we've got an inverse. He got steam on Saturday and it was just [inaudible] seven.
He was already dead in this chair. His eyes are all [inaudible] six or four. It's horrible. But when I got to and I got to tell him I forgive him and he started crying, he was waiting for me any time the next day. So I know the power of forgiveness when I was given a say and that $65,000 center and I knew what I was going to do with it. I bought my mom a house. It's a freezer other than the $70,000. We got it for $62,000. It's actually in the workbooks about my story. But all these stories are the power of our words. You know, you've got to speak the word.
And I was praying for my child and got to take me into a mountain for a year. And then Jesus, you know, he's my Lord Satan. I didn't know he was my husband. When I brought him home, God multiply. I didn't so these are some other women. This is our Daughters of Zion for women. Can God use your time wisely? We have this is where she is anointed. Y'all okay. Go to the website, download this, this career shift because I went to my room and I said, what you heard the request they needed for your sheet. And so I was actually, I was leaning over somebody in the prison and never on her badge over her bed. She was in a whole rhythmic accident. Only some people were killed. She was on a Tuesday it off outside detail. Okay. In the whole ban for the women. And some of the women did die, some of their arms and legs, but she saw this bright light in the band and she was in a bubble and nothing happened.
I was praying there were women and then she had this beautiful, it was like, they said, well, we'll pray over mornings or after she was sick and they made us all get out. But let me tell you, we never [inaudible], we never get to come together. We got to see each other name the next day in the cafeteria. And the Lord orchestrated that because she said the Devens choked her every time she got on her knees, she couldn't. She stayed so many countless women just led them to me too. He always had me in his, well, the Lord at the ministry is to borrow ministries but life changers legacies and he says those among you, you shall raise up the foundations. I feel so blessed to be in this search. I am so blessed and I know the annoyances. I am so honored to be you. Okay? It's not just the people in prison, they're the bridge bridges, your neighbor, the person you're sitting next to. We all have a condition or something. Okay. And we need to be praying one another, loving each other through it. Not judging because the Lord has taken me through a lot of courses and it's all preparation for the women to know, to be prepared to be geared at the training. And I have a brand team. I have a lot of Gaston and family team over here.
I'm thankful for my team here and my family. Yes. So in my recent ordination is a chapel and now the Lord told me to become a number of deans for his forum, for his people. So through the different workshops, different counseling classes, everything that I've been in training for the last 10 years. So it's been nine years. I've created this workbook series and it's to go back home to the person. So each woman, we're this presence. So if you want to be a mentor, we do accept as well. This is the thing, I wanted to go into the dorm with them. We had security issues and different people. It was just purpose. So I waited on the Lord, prayed into it, all my experiences or I don't just like the dog. It's important that I tell him the moment when I go into the person, I say, this is just good. Boom, it's an important place. We got to know we weren't in that dark place because he is in the secret police. Right? So this one box came out of my story, my certifications. And I do have a lot of other people's material. And here I've got a couple of bosses pieces and we provide everything that is necessary for the psychotherapy. It's all therapeutic interventions, meaning the psychotherapy, the [inaudible] model, the cognitive, behavioral, everything.
There are all kinds of programs. Like you said, they don't have Jesus. They're only a little stepping stone. So each woman, we provide a mentor for them to walk alongside. So the mentor gets a workbook as well. [inaudible] aged, soar. Both are getting the yelling. Yes. We rely on mentors and partnerships. Let me say anything or everything. We go to a national prayer breakfast and I've been on a 30 day fast and this was day 35 and I hadn't had chocolate. And I said, [inaudible] go upstairs. And I told him I was almost [inaudible] you sure you want to get back on top? We walked around the corner, we walk up the stairs. And um, did you take the video? Nope. Um, so every time I saw Michael Lindale on the TV with my pillow, I said, let him know how great his pillow is. So little did I know going upstairs to get my chocolate. You telling him about my story and that is, you're not going to see a picture of me. [ wow. It was horrible. So if you'll play that video. Thank you.
I first met Pamela Hillman at the national prayer breakfast. We share stories of drug addiction and finding freedom through Jesus Christ. I realized that it was a divine appointment by God. He had brought us together to help others who struggle with drug addiction. Since then, I've learned all about Pamela's amazing one-on-one mentoring program for those in prison and those coming out of prison. This mentoring program is one of the best like they receive. And that's why I chose the partner with Pamela and Life Changers Legacy. I'm endorsee that I saved reprogram and I encourage you to support this life changing ministry as well. This is one of the best ministries ever.
So, as we do have more workbooks, but it's really easy to just, um, he's using his workbooks in his Lindale recovery network. He's opening in January in Minnesota, so there and they had stacks and stacks of books in their room that this licensed counselor she had gone through and she says, that's awesome. So you visited me in person? Yeah. This is the community thing. So many people were like, I don't want to hear them. Neither do I, but the Lord made this program so easy. It is all done. Any video visit, you don't even have dementia. Somebody inside the prison, you do it to your computer and it's 30 minutes to an hour when it's so simple, isn't it? I've had to reserve him.
I was wondering if you give me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me and you did it to your community then, okay, how many times are we doing any of these? Are you stopping or are you saying they're just going to buy drugs? So I did, but I gave him a dollar. I give him $5 because I trust that person. It is my duty. It is their choice. And God knows my anointed dollar isn't going into their hands. It is going to infuse their [inaudible].
If I come up to you and I to say, Hey, how are you today? Because you might, she might make something like he does and he's working through me and I purposely do that every day. Everything you did. So now I'm going to tell you about that. Their biggest forgiving moment. I told you about the letters that I made. All people, right? Mostly guys, well, prostitution, business, drug, business, all of it. Um, I had a, uh, my, the business I had was a lot of wealthy men. They flew in from other States too. And um, I was just one year. But anyway, this one guy, uh, he was just need people. Uh, I, I was at this party, this place and um, and he was ugly. He to people. And, uh, he was very wealthy man, but in all the women were genuine and he wanted me and I said, no, there's no amount of money that you ever offer me because you know, I didn't like his attitude, how he treated people.
And I still had a heart for people. Even though I was in sin, my soul wasn't affected. I didn't know how to get out of that. These women in prison, we have to beat the other hands if we want them to change. If we want our societies to change, 90%, 90%, are we going to do something about it? So there's one guy, he says, I'll have you, I'm going to get you. I didn't really think much about it. And um, so I go to this person's house. I had this guy who's like a big brother and he was kind of, my bodyguard went everywhere with me. And so I go to this, this house I was invited to and um, I wake up and nobody's there and I'm in a puddle and he's, you know, my big brother guy. And when I left and got in touch with him, he called me and he says, I'll help you get in.
I'm going to help you get it. We're going to talk is, and I was like, what happened? What happened? And he said, he came in, you and the other room, he came in at eight, you go water money. And um, six other guys walked in behind him and they pushed everyone out of the room. And I said, yeah, I want to get in there. You know, that wasn't my soul, that violation, that trauma. I held that and I had hatred it because of that. I lived in that and I didn't drink for that man, but the Holy spirit on that piece of paper when I was in prison and I was praying over it, the Lord gave me a vision of this man as the man who was being raped repeatedly.
We don't know what all of these people that are creating all these offenses, we don't really know what's happened in their soul and their life. We've got to back up and say, okay, Sarah, what happened to them? You know, this is not just about us. So I saw that and I started weeping for him. I started to bring for his soul and I get out. It was about three months later, I met a store and this man walks in front of me and when he said, thought you out, you know the whole memory, everything flashed for me and I froze. But he started crying and he said, I've come to Jesus and I have to ask your forgiveness.
It was like to hear y'all. I don't know it. I don't know. Prayer of putting my hands on that paper and none of them, his name people.
Okay, think about it. How many words have pierced hearts of our families and we're carrying our souls ready to release. Is it time? It's time y'all. You can't move forward and like this was your ride for the breakthrough. It's up to you. Yeah.
This was my biggest challenge. It was the self forgiveness because of my children. Hers too though. I come with them so much, but he's [inaudible]. I've had four boys, four different men. I gave up one for adoption at birth, having ever seen another one. I chose to sign him over and say she was old. 13 months. [inaudible] his life. I'm wanting to have him to have a good life and I didn't trust myself and that was 20 something years ago. I know we won't be back because I was weeping in the prison. And I said, Lord, tell him that my children took her forgiveness and the Lord. I said, Lord, speak to me randomly of the word to Jeremiah 31 60 says, refrain your voice for me.
Says a lot of stuff. And then at the very end it says, your children shall return to their own orders. I'm trusting my father. I'm trusting. Most importantly, I want them to know. I want them to know Jesus wherever they want. That's the most important border. So you know we can live in this invisible prison of I forgiveness and has sickness, have headaches, have different diseases and anger, anger. I had rejection issues. I had so many issues in the past 25 years. Billboard is just toilet paper sheets off it is my cheese. It's my decision and it's your decision. It's up to you to release the forgiveness, the unforgiveness and receive his forgiveness.
It's so hard to do. Active your will. Faith is the activating force, what we believe. What do you believe? What is your belief? That's really the question. You keeping the unforgiveness or somebody that offended you. You're staying in a prison, you're not doing anything. But watch what happens when you step forward and you say, I release it to you. I really see your forgiveness. I can't do it anymore. And it does that to you. It says [inaudible], I've had so many new tools in my life and I know it's the cause of decision. It's because of making it on purpose, doing things every day.
Give me the time that I was going to give up the baby for adoption. Christmas three years old and um, I wasn't getting Chell. Some were Brown and I didn't want him to go through a bad wife. I didn't want both of them to go through a bad wife. And so I made that decision. But while I was in prayer, all of a sudden the walls I've been through for hours, over and over, but the wall opened up. All of a sudden this pass everywhere, little sparks everywhere. I rolled my eyes cause I thought, I've just been crying too, right? But something led me to look to the left. There was a huge, huge one, waves bigger than a door. There was a veil on the face. I couldn't make out if it was male or female, but it didn't matter. This is liquid piece that I knew I was making the right decision. I knew that I needed to give him up there. There've been so many times I've seen it, a spirit realm. I've seen evil. I wasn't on drugs. I've seen a man transform right before my eyes into it to an Eagle spirit.
So many people that are carrying the unforgiveness, it as a spirit, it is a spirit. Don't let it overtake you. Tell me it won't be able to shoot every aspect of your life. I invite you. Anyone here that has any unforgiveness, stand out. Bring it to the Lord.
prayer ripped in the walls. There are more Holy spirit. All those places. Oh, there's two places. All those words say you have no more rights. There's more than one person name. You said fill those places right now. Overflowing joy. Freedom out of your soul. Don't listen to the enemy when he comes back and reminds you, don't listen to it. It's out of your soul. Say Jesus, I trust you. [inaudible] forgive me. [inaudible] when someone [inaudible] give me your, give me your, let me know what they're going through. Let me pray for them. Help me remember that
I rely on you. Holy spirit. Every part of my life, I am free. Say it. You have free. Don't listen to the enemy, okay? If the Lord you are afraid to release, you just said it comes off. It reminds you where the person even comes back to mg, step back and say, no, that's been released for fame. Keep reminding yourself. Laura says, we got to remind yourself. Remind yourself, no release for me saying that's a lie. I'm not receiving that. And you'd get a worn out and not receive things, okay? Because the enemy's gonna walk through people. He gets to people he works through people. See, I'm not receiving those words. When they told me , where is it? I said, I don't receive those words. I never see those words because in the hospital with this disease, but they never told me it was up diagnosis. And so I said, no, it tells me I'm healed.
And it's like, Oh, you're one of these Jesus freaks. And I said, no, no. I had Jesus long before I came to prison, three Skype. And so Joseph, before I had to take blood work before I got out, every time I've wanted, I said, I don't receive their scores. I don't receive it. So this day I'm about to get out and they take the blood work. The doctor opens in the fall and he says, something's wrong. I said, no, nothing's wrong. It's three orders, another test, and they come back. It's the same thing. And he says, looks like you're Jesus.
Do you know why God made you? Do you know your purpose? Did you know there is a book in heaven with your name on it? OS Hillman has created an informative called out to discover why God made you. That will help you discover the answers to these and more questions about purpose calling and God's will for your life. This downloadable resource is yours free by going to www.mypurposedownload.com that's www.mypurposeDownload.com.
Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome
Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it.
But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon.
Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?”
And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.”
You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did.
He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember.
It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means.
And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning.
And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path.
You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare.
He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today.
And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that.
But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life?
Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold.
You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish.
And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame.
Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical.
And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes.
And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts.
And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com.
You know, Paul’s sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ.
We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know?
And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions.
So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.
Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome
Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it.
But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon.
Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?”
And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.”
You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did.
He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember.
It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means.
And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning.
And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path.
You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare.
He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today.
And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that.
But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life?
Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold.
You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish.
And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame.
Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical.
And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes.
And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts.
And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com.
You know, Paul’s sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ.
We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know?
And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions.
So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.
Do you know the four attributes of a Christian in the workplace? Do you know why these attributes are key to you fulfilling your destiny as a follower of Christ at work? Well, stay tuned. We're going to answer that one. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm Os Hillman, and I've been helping leaders like you answer these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIF Today God Is First .Welcome to our podcast, we're going to talk about these four attributes of what it means to be a Christ follower in the workplace. You know, maybe you've never even thought about that idea. I hadn't until I was posed this question by the New York Times. And uh, so what came out of that was a real understanding and teaching about what it means to live for Christ in the workplace and what makes us different than a non-Christian. That's really the question that I was posed by the New York times. So, a few years ago I was asked when they were doing an article on Christians in the workplace-- imagine that-- the New York times doing an article on Christians in the workplace. Well, that's what they were doing. And they called me and asked me a question and then interviewed me three different times. They wanted to do a story on Christians in the workplace and so they called me a third time and asked me a very interesting question. They said, “OS we've got this article ready to go. But you know, several people just wanted to know what makes a Christian different than a non-Christian in the workplace? And I thought, well, that's a really good question. As I began to ponder that question, I felt like God showed me four key things. And that's what we're going to talk about today. So let's get right into our teaching. Today's podcast is entitled four attributes of Christ at work and why they're important to your destiny. Well as I mentioned to you, I had this interview from the New York times reporter. He had already interviewed me two times and he came back a third time and he says, “Our employees are wanting to know what defines a Christian in the workplace. And so as I began to ponder that and seek the Lord about that, I felt like God showed me four attributes of a Christian in the workplace.
The first attribute is found in Daniel one 20 it says that Daniel and his three friends did their work 10 times better than anyone else and I feel like excellence is first base. If you don't do your work with excellence, then you're not going to be considered by others and you're going to bring shame to the name of Christ in how you do your work. I think that Jesus probably was very excellent at making his tables and that's why you and I are to do our work with excellence. We find in the old Testament that Bezalel was the man who designed the ark of the covenant. It says that he was selected by Moses and that he had the spirit of God and did his work with skill, ability and knowledge, and all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. They are to make them just as I commanded you.
So we see there that in the Old Testament, God is instructing Moses to have Bezalel, you know, design it just the way he wanted it. He instructed him in how to perform the work. And so this is the first time we hear of anyone being filled with the spirit of God and it was a craftsmen. Proverbs 22:9 says, “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings. He will not stand before unknown man.” Proverbs 22 nine Leonardo DaVinci said, I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have. Oh my. What? A statement. That is. If DaVinci felt that way, what does that say about our work? Well, number two is integrity. In Psalm 51, David is lamenting about his sin with Bathsheba and he says, “God wants integrity.”
God desires truth in the inner parts. He wants that to be pure and Holy. And he says, you know we are to be the same person on the outside as we are on the inside. Are you the same person at home versus the person that is in the marketplace or are you different? And so it's important that we have integrity. You know, we all make mistakes, but one of the things I've discovered over the years is that whatever you uncover, God covers. You know, that's the grace of God in our lives. But what you cover, God uncovers. That means that if you try to hide something, the more you hide, the bigger the stakes go up. And we've seen that in politics and government and just see how people try to hide their sin. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
Sometimes your talent takes you beyond where your integrity can keep you. So the greater the success, the greater the integrity test. And if you don't have integrity now, you're not going to have it later. When you scale the mountain of success compromise will always lead to deceit. And if you live a life of compromise, you're going to find that your judgment is really weakening because you're living in deceit and compromise. When we live in compromise, we lose confidence in the faith dimension of our lives and we struggled to hear God's voice. It affects all parts of our life when we live a compromising life. Number three is servant leadership. In Matthew 27 Jesus says that whoever wants to be a great among them must be servant of all. And of course, Jesus was the servant of all. In that first miracle that Jesus did, it was the servants who saw the miracle of turning water into wine.
That's often the case. Those who are servants, they are up front and close to what God is doing and they get the opportunity to see what God is doing. Number four is miracles. Acts chapter five says that the disciples did many miraculous signs in the public Colonnade where the people could see them. And that's a very important one. You know, the truth is that there are many non-Christians that do one, two, and three better than Christians that I know, but the fourth one is one is not going to be done by non-believers. And so it's important that we live a life of excellence and integrity and servant leadership and miracles. And so I want to encourage you with that to take an inventory of your life and determine whether God is pleased with where you are in these four areas.
I want to mention about something new coming up that you're going to want to know about. Over the last few years I've been pondering about how we can we best serve men and women in the marketplace. And, you know, we've done teaching programs and we've done various things, but what could we do that would really satisfy the needs of men and women who were desiring to live for Christ in the marketplace and be successful in their business enterprise? And so we're going to be sharing something with you soon about this. If you want to be on the waiting list to be informed about this when it comes out, please go to our website, www.becomeGodschange agent.com and there you will get a free download of My Top 10 Biblical Truths for Succeeding in Life and Work, a free gift to you just for going there and signing up on our waiting list. We'll be sharing about this in the days ahead, but we're not ready to share quite yet.
So let's keep going in the teaching and talk about the five dimensions of faith works. You know, Esau, represented the flesh life. He despised his own birthright for porridge. And he allowed his brother Jacob to get the birthright by tricking him. And it became a real conflict between these two brothers. But he represents the “Egypt” life. Egypt is always symbolic of the flesh, the carnal life. It's the world system. If you yield to sweat and toil for outcomes, it's really the life of sin. Then there is the principle-based religion where you use a 10-step program or such, you know, tools that can help us become better and change behavior. There's a place for that because we need to change behavior sometimes like the AA 12 step program that has been very helpful for those who have been alcoholics.
But that's not where God wants us to remain. He wants us to really go to another level. And sometimes getting to that level means that we have to go through our Joseph pit and that requires character development. And sometimes the pit is the very thing that's needed for us to come to the end of ourselves, to really fully live for Christ through our life. And that's going to lead us into a Spirit-led life. Romans 8:14 talks about that “those who are sons of God are led by the Spirit of God.” We're directed by the Holy spirit, and our relationship with God. And then there's Moses who was told by God that He wanted to relate to him in a different way. He told him to speak to the rock instead of striking the rock, which he had done so often before.
And so he was teaching him about the keys of the kingdom in Matthew. It talks about when Jesus told the disciples he was about to leave, he says, “I'm going to give you the keys of the kingdom to bind on earth and bind in heaven and loose on earth and loosen heaven.” And so this was a change. This meant that they were going to have delegated authority from Jesus to represent his interest on earth, to bring heaven on earth. And that's what the Lord's prayer is all about, to bring heaven on earth. So now he is speaking to Moses and says, “Instead of striking the rock, I want you to speak to the rock.” And so here the spoken word was being used for authority by Moses. The only problem was that Moses was really angry at the people for complaining about needing the water to drink was, which was a legitimate need they had.
But he happened to have a bad day that day. And he decided that he would strike the rock instead of speak to the rock. Well, God honored him anyway because the people still needed the water. But it was at a great cost. Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of his disobedience. But the principle is still there, that God wants us to move in a new dimension with him in the marketplace. And this is what he did. It says there in Zechariah 4:6 “This is the word of the Lord, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord almighty.” So when God spoke to him at the burning bush that very first time he came to Moses and said, “Moses, what's that in your hand?” Moses responded to God and said, “Lord, you know it's my staff.”
God turned to him and said, “I'm going to perform miracles through that staff.” But first he told him to put that staff on the ground and when he put it on the ground turned into a snake. And then when he told him to pick up the staff by the tail. You know, you never pick a snake up by the tail because he could bite you. But God told him to do it that way. And he did. And he turned it back into a staff. And that was a prophetic picture of Moses taking authority over the serpent. And in the scriptures, the serpent is always represented as the devil. And so, it says later on in the scripture that when he picked up that staff, that staff became the staff of God, not Moses’s staff.
And so he was becoming a steward of the staff. And so then God says to him, “I'm going to perform miracles through your staff. Take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.” And that's exactly what God did. He made Moses a deliverer of the people to give them freedom to come out of the bondage that they were in. And this is a prophetic picture of men and women in the marketplace that we are called to use our workplace staffs to be deliverers for people to bring them out of bondage, to bring the Gospel into the marketplace. And that's what you're called to do. You're called to bring the gospel in the marketplace and to rub shoulders and to solve problems and become a person that performs miracles in your workplace. We need to understand our spiritual authority in our work life call.
I mentioned to you that the keys of the kingdom are talked about in Matthew 16:19. And then in Mark 11:23, Jesus tells the disciples to speak to the mountain. There are times where you need to speak to your mountain. And so I want to encourage you to think about that as you go into your daily work and consider that God has called you to use the authority that God has given you and to model those four attributes. And so you have a personal brand in the marketplace and people know you buy that brand. You know, I often talk about perception versus reality. You know, sometimes perception is reality. Sometimes it isn't. So what message do you communicate? What perception of you do people have? Are you late or are you on time for meetings? Do you pay bills on time? Do you return calls when you say you will? And do you serve others? Do you live a life of integrity? Are you a generous person or are you a workaholic? Is that what your family thinks about you? That you're always working and not caring for their needs? Or are you a joyful person or do you go around, you know, with a chip on your shoulder? Are you a controlling person or a person who serves others and delegates to others? Do you serve God? Are you disorganized? You know, all these things can define us. They can make us into our brand. And I went encourage you that you take a look at each one of those things so that you are modeling Christ characteristics in you. Psalm 15 is a Psalm that I call the marketplace. Psalm Oh Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your Holy Hill.
He who walks up rightly and walk and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. I encourage you to meditate on the entire Psalm 15 it's a great example of, uh, giving us the character that we want to model in the marketplace. So let's look at the three phase obedience cycle. I believe that there are three phases that most of us go through. The first one is a convenience phase, and if you're a business owner, that's best represented as my business, my way. It's really living as an orphan instead of a son. You haven't really understood the nature of God in your life. And then there's the crisis stage and that's best represented as my business his way. It's a place where obedience is motivated by a crisis.
You know, it's the old thing where you get in a foxhole and you're willing to do anything to get out of it in a battle. God allows you to stay there until you're willing to be obedient. But here we want to move past that. We want to get to a place of conviction where it's best represented as his business, his way and his business his way. And that's intimacy with God and that's best representing us as sons and daughters of our heavenly father. And so take a look at that and see where you are. What best represents you in this diagram. Is it my business, my way? Isn't my business his way or am I living a life that expresses his business his way? Am I living as a son or daughter? In conclusion, Ephesians two tins as we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
So, I hope that you'll be encouraged to live out those four attributes in your own journey. And check out our website, become God's change agent.com to get on the waiting list for some exciting things that are coming down the pike and also get your free download on my booklet, My 10 Top Biblical Truths for Success in Life and Work. I think you'll be encouraged as you download this resource. So take care and we'll see you next week in our next podcast. God bless.
Visit our website to be on our waiting list for our upcoming program. www.BecomeGodsChangeAgent.com
Hey guys. Are you going through adversity or anxiety or fear or depression right now? If so, stay tuned because this session is for you.
How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life call? Why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm Os Hillman and I've been helping leaders like you answer these questions and more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGIF Today God is First.
And welcome to our podcast this week. You know today we're going to be talking about adversity and overcoming hindrances to our life. And it's a topic that I teach a lot about because I went through some major adversities back in 1994 that really changed my life. And so if you find yourself in that place, this session is for you. You know, I've been teaching this session overcoming hindrances to fulfill your destiny for many years. Because I feel like I'm an authority on this topic. And so today's session is a teaching that I did a few weeks ago for a nightly meeting that I did on overcoming hindrances. And you know, it's really tied to what I went through in 1994, where I had major losses in my life. I lost over a half a million dollars. I had my wife leave me after going through extensive counseling. I had 80% of my business disappear within a few weeks when a client stuck me for $140,000. And then my vice president left me and took my second largest account in my ad agency. And this ushered me into a seven year season of adversity. And man I thought life was over.
But you know, two years into that adversity I met Gunnar Olson, the founder of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce. And in our first meeting, he listened to my story and he said, "Os, you have a Joseph calling on your life." And I said, "What is a Joseph calling?" And so he explained it to me. And that would ultimately lead to a relationship that's been over 25 years now. I just talked with him last week and he's been a spiritual mentor to me and father in the marketplace for me. And so this session will help you understand some of the dynamics that we can go through that can hinder us from fulfilling our destiny. And over that time, here now over almost 30 years, I've discovered many of the things that cause my adversity and now I'm able to help many others. So I hope that you'll find this session helpful to you. So let's go ahead and begin the teaching.
I was teaching in Scotland a number of years ago, and someone came up to me after going through this session that I'm about to share with you and said, "I just realized something. You must become a free agent before you can become a change agent." And I said, "Well, that's very true. Both God and Satan want you dead but each for different reasons." In second Corinthians four, Paul says, "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus's sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh so then death is working in us but life in you." And then we see in first Peter five, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." And so Satan wants to kill your destiny. I once heard a mentor of mine say, "Dead men can't have stress." And I said, "Well, that's kind of obvious isn't it. If he can't get out of the coffin he's certainly not going to have stress." In Romans six, it says, "Likewise you also recon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." I once had a mentor say to me, "The only thing wrong with you Os is that you're not dead yet. As soon as you let your flesh die, you will be free. So I suggest you die quietly."
What happens at spiritual birth? Well, we all know that our human existence is made up of spirit, soul, and body. And when we become born again, our spirits instantly become 100% holy by the power of the holy spirit and God's work in our life. But our mind and will and emotions, which reside in our soul, they don't get redeemed completely in the sense that we don't change immediately. It's a process of sanctification. And that sanctification will go on until we die. And then of course we have the physical body. But we relate to God through our spirit. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of the lord Jesus Christ." So that's where we get spirit, soul, and body. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. We live in a war zone, and the prize that Satan wants is our heart."
You know, years ago I read the fictional story of Screwtape by C.S. Lewis. One of his great works. It's about a demon coaching an underling demon. And he says to that demon, "I wonder if you should ask me whether it is a essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence. That question at least for the present phase of the struggle has been answered for us by the high command. Our policy for the moment is to conceal ourselves." C.S. Lewis once said, "There are two mistakes the church makes when dealing with the devil. To blame everything on him or to blame nothing on him." Here's an amazing statistic. 24% of the general population believe that Satan is real and 52% of Christians believe Satan is real, which means 48% of them don't believe he's real. When you're deceived you don't know you are deceived. Satan's strategy is to kill. Jesus and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. So Satan tried to kill Jesus at birth.
Now what are Satan's three greatest lies to human beings? These are common to every person. Every one of us have been tempted by these statements. You are powerless over your circumstances. You are a victim of an unjust God who left you here to suffer. Just think about it. Have you ever thought those thoughts, that you're powerless over your circumstances or that you're a victim of an unjust God who doesn't love you, who left you hear to suffer and deal with this stuff all by yourself? If you're honest, you've probably felt that way at one time or another. We blame God for evil. In Mark 14:27 it says, "Jesus told him, 'You're all going to feel that your world is falling apart and it's my fault.'" He was saying that to the disciples. The story of your life is a story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows what you could become and he fears it. That is the one thing Satan fears is that you're going to really know the truth because the truth shall make you free. "For I am poor and needy and my heart is wounded within me," said the psalmist in psalm 109.
You see, Satan, that word Satan means opposer. And some of the characteristics of Satan are found throughout the scripture. He's an angel of light, he seeks to kill and destroy, he's an accuser. He deceives and lies. He wars against those who obey. He's a lion, a devourer to kill. He blinds unbelievers. So we need to know our enemy and how he works against us. Finally, be strong in the lord and his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil and the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. For this purpose the sun of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. You see, that was another reason Jesus came to earth, was to destroy the works of the devil.
You know I'm often asked by people about why do we go through adversity? And I believe there are four core reasons we will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Joseph went through his adversity because of a consequence of the call. It wasn't because of any sin that he did. He was a typical teenage boy that might have been a little bit narcissistic. But it wasn't because of a major sin. And God used that to save an entire people. The second reason we can go through adversity is sin. Gehazi sinned against his employer Elisha, and as a result he was struck with leprosy because he wanted to get money from the general that was healed by Elisha. And so God judged his sin and if we have any open doors in our life then God will judge those sins. A third reason we can go through is sonship. And sonship means that God's going to treat us as sons and daughters, which means there are times that he needs to reprove us and to really correct us in order that we fulfill the purpose and destiny has over our life.
A fourth reason we can go through adversity is spiritual warfare. As I've said earlier, John 10:10 says, "Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy from your life. But Jesus wants to give you life." And so there's a war on earth vying for our heart. And so our job is to understand what reason we might be going through adversity and it could be a combination of these. But ask the lord and show him, what is the root. Now Jesus had no sin in his life and when he said this verse out of John 14, it references the fact that he had no sin so he would never go through adversity because of sin. He says to the disciples, "Hereafter, I'll not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and that nothing in me." Basically that says, there's nothing in him that he has a right to. There was no sin. There was no open door in his life. He had no entry to Jesus's life due to his sinless life. Now, therefore my primary hindrance is to becoming a Christian who transforms your workplace. And I've talked about this in the past and that is an un-biblical view of work in ministry. We need to understand the holy calling that is upon us. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, do unto the lord. It's the lord Christ you are serving."
And then there's a Greek versus Hebraic view of God. If we fall to the Greek influence in our relationship with God, that can hinder us and then the religious sprit and generational strongholds. And we're going to talk about the ladder three of these hindrances tonight. I've talked over the years about this sacred secular and this dichotomy of calling. If there's one statement I hate hearing it's, I'm in full-time ministry. Well, we're all in full-time ministry. We just get our checks different places. And that's not a higher calling. We need to define our ministry as anything that we're doing that's not against the will of God as a holy calling. So whatever you do, do unto the lord. It tells us in Colossians 3:23. Hindrance number two deals more with the influence of the Greek philosophers versus the Hebraic roots. There's a prophetic verse in Zechariah 9:13, "For I have bent Judah my bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim and raised up your sons, O Zion, against your sons. O Greece made you like the sword of a mighty man." And so this is a prophetic verse about the conflict between the Hebraic heart set versus the Greek mindset. Hebraic deals with the heart and it's active and appeals to the heart. Whereas the Greek mindset is more cognitive and appeals to the intellect.
The Greek philosophers understood the difference between Greek and Hebraic roots. So you see Greeks acquired wisdom by reason and analysis and Hebrews acquired wisdom by obedience. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom in the early church." Understood that knowledge was not what changed the world. It was the power of God working through people. Paul said, "My message in my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." Paul wrote that explaining that the reason he was so effective was it had nothing to do with his knowledge and his persuasive oratory skills, but it was because of the power of God working though him. Now there's two systems that you and I could be relating to God through and one of them would be the Hebraic system. And the Hebraic system is a process focus. Obedience is a priority and relationships are a priority and this yields transparency and love. And it produces mature believers. Whereas the Greek mindset is more cognitive and has more of a program focus. Information is a priority with controlled groups and this ends up being more service and activity based in our relationship toward God. And this ultimately produces shallow believers.
Another hindrance is the religious spirit. See, Peter Wagner wrote, Freedom From the Religious Spirit. And in that book he defines the religious spirit as an agent of Satan assigned to prevent change and maintain the status quo by using religious devices. And of course that's what Jesus ran into in his ministry was the Pharisees. And that's what made him the angriest. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law. Justice, mercy, and faithfulness."
So the spirit of religion says I must do something to be acceptable by God. It puts people under the yoke of bondage and legalism. Religion divides us into sacred secular mentality. And religion says only overt spiritual activity is acceptable to God. If you remember the chariots of fire, the runner from Scotland, Eric Little. He told his sister, "When I run, I feel his pleasure." Well his sister thought running was a secular idea and he needed to be on the mission field. But in reality Eric was a more spiritual person. Another spirit of religion comment would be bible study at work is not necessary. I go to church on Sunday. That would be a statement that comes from a religious spirit. Why do I need to participate in a kingdom initiative like that? Religion versus relationship looks like this. I had this vision of this diagram years ago that I had an illustrator make up. And so many of us have grown up thinking that well if I do all these things on the right, prayer and devotions and church attendance and bible study and giving money and witnessing and perform and be a church volunteer, then I'll earn God's love and acceptance and favor.
But the truth is it's the exact opposite. When we love God, and when we know and understand the acceptance of God, and know his favor, the byproduct of that is that we want to engage in prayer, we want to do devotions, we want to study our bible, we want to be witnesses as salt and light to our community. These become byproducts of a healthy relationship with God. The religious spirit motivates believers to live out their faith in legalistic and rigid ways. And this is especially evident in the south.
Now let's spend the balance of our time talking about spiritual warfare strongholds and childhood wounds. I want you to meet John tonight. He had a need for recognition from performance. Things like civic projects and sports and business success. He had an emphasis on building financial security and so he became a workaholic. He lacked emotional intimacy in his marriage and with other people, and he had an activity based relationship towards God very Greek based. And he exhibited symptoms of over controlling people and circumstances. Well, that person was me. I came out of a family of three generations of business owners and our generation stronghold was insecurity and fear that resulted in motivations to control people and circumstances around us. And the bible says in second Corinthians 10:5, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
So a stronghold can come into our lives because we have a need and we don't understand how to meet that need without allowing ourselves to be opened up to a stronghold. The opposite of stronghold is exhibited in Ephesians 3:17. "And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." So you and I were created with seven basic needs. We have a need for dignity and authority, for blessing, and for vision and security, for purpose and meaning and freedom and boundaries, and intimate love and companionship. These are seen in Genesis one and two. They're not listed like this, but they're evidenced in how God related to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were born with all of these needs and God met those needs for them.
But whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we have set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold. Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs so she chose to meet her own need. Let's look at some examples of generational strongholds. We see deceit and lying in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We see control with Laban, Rebecca, Jacob, and King Saul. We see a sexual stronghold in David, Rahab, Bathsheba, Absalom, Abner, and Solomon. In fact, it would be a pretty good bet that David was probably an illegitimate son. You see, he says in Psalm 51 that I was conceived in iniquity. And then when you look at the fact that his father didn't even consider him when the prophet Samuel came to look at his sons as potential candidates to be the next king. We can surmise from that that perhaps David, not only was he the littlest and smallest, maybe that he was conceived in iniquity.
Well, I learned more about this stronghold concept when a mentor of mine who created this workbook that we later published for him. He said, "There's no problem with you Os. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear." And I said, "You can't prove that." And he says, "Oh, I think I can." And so, he had me take this little self-assessment tool and rank each one of these symptoms from one to 10 and then added the total and took the average. So that, as you can see in the example on the top right, deceit ... The attributes were six, two, one, nine, and seven for different characteristics. You add those numbers up and divide by six, or five I guess it is, you get the average number of five. So you would do that with each one of these strongholds. So when I did it, I did control, and I would rank those and that became the highest one. And then fear and insecurity, that also was a high one at the time.
So he took me through a process of prayer and confession in order to deal with those strongholds. We eventually published a book about this, a workbook called Demolishing Strongholds. We only had the PDF version of that online. But you can find it on our website at tgifbookstore.com. It's a wonderful resource and I've used it to counsel many people over the years. So spiritual strongholds work at the subconscious level. Their influence is often unseen until there is a problem. Strongholds are designed to keep us from experiencing God's love and they're often generational as I have said. All strongholds that are built in our lives are a result of seeking to meet one or more of these needs apart from God's will for us.
So here's how a stronghold develops. Satan inspires a thought into my mind subconsciously. We're not even conscious of it. Which appeals to my natural tendencies to meet needs. We entertain these thoughts and it brings on emotions. And then we give in to emotions and this eventually leads to some sort of action. And continual participation in this behavior causes me to develop a habit. And once a habit's developed a stronghold is built by that spirit. Now, strongholds oppress versus possess. They control, dictate, and influence our attitudes and behavior. Remember when Jesus was speaking to Peter. He said, "Peter, Satan has wanted to sift you." And he was telling him that Satan was impacting his thought life. So strongholds oppress and discourage us and affect how we view or react to situations, circumstances, or people.
I was once in Singapore and a woman came up to me after I'd spoken on this topic and she said, "Oh, would you go to lunch with me and my friend?" And I had lunch available so I went with them and she was very, very aggressive and I could see some things that were coming through her that I picked up on. So when we were at lunch I said, "Tell me about your father. What kind of relationship do you have with your father?" And she said, "Well, why in the world would you want to ask me that? I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about something else." And I said, "Well just humor me. Just tell me how your relationship is with your dad." And she said, "Oh, it's not good. He says I'll never amount to anything and he says I'm fat and he just doesn't have good things to say about me." And I said, "Well, you have a spirit of rejection over your life and part of the reason that you're very, very aggressive is because you're seeking to get approval and you have to be successful at all costs because one of the vows that you've made is that you're going to prove your value to your father by being successful. And so you're a slave to what your father has said about you. So you need to pray. We need to break that over you."
And we did. She began to cry as I began to share that with her. And we broke that over her that day at lunch and her whole countenance changed. I also believe that strongholds are a lot like wearing sunglasses. Let's say that you're born with sunglasses on and you go through life wearing those sunglasses and one day it's cloudy and a man says, "Did you know that if you took those sunglasses off you'd be able to see much clearer?" And so you take those sunglasses off and you say, "Oh my gosh, look how bright it is out here." Well that's the way strongholds are. You don't really know that you're operating in that until symptoms begin to show up. So what we need to do is understand where the entry points of those strongholds came in. And one of the resources that we found helpful in addition to our book on demolishing strongholds is a book called Operating In the Courts of Heaven, by Robert Henderson. This book is a great book to help you understand how the devil operates from a legal basis and how we need to do business in heaven at the legal court in heaven as he is our defender.
Now, we need to look at the role shame plays in our life. Shame says I am a failure or a mistake, whereas guilt says I made a mistake, but I am not a mistake. We need to understand the difference and walk in Godly guilt versus shame. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every good man's conscience in the sight of God.
So I want to pause for a moment and say that if you have any questions or comments, please enter them in the chat area or the Q&A area. Just tell me what you think. Tell me what God's speaking to you about this area in your life. And if you have any questions I'd love to take those.
I want to spend the last few minutes talking about arrested development. And this is out of a book called Broken Children, Grown Up Pain, by Dr. Paul Hegstrom. Dr. Hegstrom passed away last year. He was a good friend of mine. And I actually went through counseling with him years ago. He says, "When a wounded childhood frees his emotional maturity to within two years of a wound, the adult lives as a child emotionally." That's what it means to be arrested in your development. In other words, somebody might say, "Well he's acting like a child." Well, that might be really true. Because your emotional state in life, even as an adult, you might be living as a 12 year old emotionally because you had a trauma happen in your life that froze you emotionally. So we need to understand that arrested development is caused by the wounds of childhood and amplifies or magnifies our sin nature. The deeper the wounds, the more we act selfishly and childishly. And when we have too much childhood trauma, we're hindered in our ability to develop genuine healthy relationships with our creator and others close to us.
We can't readily reach out or accept others because our wounds have made us unteachable. Unable to trust and afraid of truth. Now I believe that Michael Jackson was arrested in his development. Many people felt that there was a sexual issue with him because he liked to hang out with kids. I think that he was arrested in his development and was probably emotionally around a 12 or 13 year old because his father beat him growing up when he didn't sing songs the way he thought he should sing them. And so he had some deep wounds.
We also need to realize that when we are impacted from arrested development we can become a false self and we can be a poser in our way we handle ourselves and try to be somebody that we're not. So we seek to hide from our true self because our shame says we will not be acceptable to others as we are. We are driven to hide behind our fig leaf, our false self or false covering that protects us from our true self. This all happens on a subconscious basis as a built in protection mechanism from wounds we received as a child. You know, the movie Groundhog Day is a good example of this where he learns something about him every time he goes through a 24 hour period. And as he goes through each one of those 24 hour periods he changed one aspect of his behavior to get a different outcome. And that's kind of like what we're talking about with our false self and poser.
Hegstrom says 90% of our marital difficulties are rooted in a trauma experienced by one or more spouses between the age of five and nine. Arrested development sabotages the heart's good intentions and turns us into a spiritual hypocrite. We all require others to live by the rules we were required to live by in childhood. What does that mean? Well, let's say that you're in a situation that, let's say you're a business owner. And you see people that are just totally inept around you and you really lose your patience because you've been trained to do things with excellence and you've been trained to have high performance. So when you don't see that in others, you get angry. Your expectations are not being met. So you're living by a rule that you were required to live by in your life. And this can show up in a lot of different ways. In perfectionism, impatience, and shame. Competence becomes our method of dealing with a wounded heart. So we can hide behind our competence and compensate for our own pain through our competence.
John Eldridge said his plan from the beginning was to assault the heart, just as the wicked witch did to the tin woodman. Make them so busy they ignore the heart and wound them so deeply they don't want a heart. Twist their theology so they despise the heart. Take away their courage, destroy their creativity. Make intimacy with God impossible for them. Of course your heart would be the object of a great and fierce battle. It's your most precious possession. Without your heart you cannot have God. Without your heart you cannot have love. Without your heart you cannot have faith. Without your heart you cannot find the work you were meant to do. In other words, without your heart you cannot have life. "He delivers the afflicted in their affliction and opens their ears to his voice in adversity," says Job. God forces us back into or wound to learn the truth about our wound in order to become healed and free.
It says that Satan is an accuser. "Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." So what voice are you listening to when you hear something in your head that accuses you? Are you listening to that accuser? Whenever we grant anyone other than Jesus Christ authority to tell us who we are, we've made that person a god in our life and entered into idolatry. Let's say that you grew up with a parent that said you're never going to amount to anything, or you're not good at this or that, and you were criticized. You were even shamed. Well, you've got to correct that identity and not believe that identity because that's not what God says about you. You need to believe what God says about you.
Let's talk for a moment about addictions. Addictions are anything you cannot willingly stop. Addictions are rooted in the need to be loved. And anything you cannot lay down by an act of your will is an addiction. It's a counterfeit desire for love and intimacy. It becomes an isolation chamber designed to mask our pain. In the brain we have something called a neurotransmitter. It emits two feel good hormones. Serotonin and dopamine. Negative or painful emotion causes the under secretion of serotonin. And that's where Satan comes into our hypothalamus and the brain stem connection. And this is where we drop in serotonin. But if we start looking at pornography or we do something that makes us feel good, it helps to bring our serotonin back. It gives us a high. And that is what leads to addictive behavior. The neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin act as chemical messengers that relay nerve signals through the brain. Dopamine regulates muscle movement, motivation, and the sensation of pleasure. Whereas serotonin primarily affects mood, impulsiveness, and social behaviors.
My good friend Craig Hill wrote a small book that talks about the lies of an addiction. Anyone caught in addiction believes that God is not faithful and that the addictive habit will satisfy their addiction. They believe the habit is stronger than the power of God and that addiction is just the way you are. So they're all lies. They're false beliefs, if you will, that Satan plants into our life. Now, men who struggle with sex. Sometimes if a man was not nurtured growing up, he can be a sexualized adult. In other words, he may not necessarily be a sex addict, but he's an affection addict. So sex becomes that affection for him and he'll often look to the wife to get what they did not get in childhood. Maybe they didn't get touched much in childhood. Or hugs. They lack touch. And they came to know sex as love. And the unfortunate thing is the wife can never satisfy that hunger for live if that root issue is not dealt with. And you might even hear the wife say, "You're a sex addict," when he might not necessarily be a sex addict. It might be a basic need that was never met as a child.
When we live in compromise we lose confidence in the faith dimension of our lives. We struggle to hear the voice of God, which forces us to live our Christian life through performance and the flesh. In Psalm 106 he says, "And he gave them their requests but sent leanness in their soul."
Hey guys. I want to pause for a minute to tell you about something that just give you a heads up on. For the last many years we've been helping men and women like yourself understand what it means to live the larger story of your life. So my gift is really in teaching and I love encouraging believers to fulfill their purpose and destiny. So we've been thinking about a new initiative that could really help people and so we're getting close to announcing it, but we're not there yet. But if you want to know about that and be one of the first ones to know about it when we do release it, you can get on our waiting list. And we've set up a webpage just for that called becomegodschangeagent.com. Becomegodschangeagent.com. In addition, we provide a free download for you if you go on there and put your name on the waiting list. It's called Os Hillman's Top 10 Biblical Truths For Success In Life and Work. These are 10 areas that I believe contributed to my own journey with God and business. And I hope that this resource will be helpful to you. There's no cost. Just go to that. But you don't need to go there now. We'll make an announcement at the end of this as well so that you have that website address at your fingertips. Let's go back to the teaching and we'll talk about this later. God bless.
So we overcome the influence of these strongholds by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith and Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. Now whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be extreme compared to the offense, you can know there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. So if somebody gives you a response that is a 10, that should be a two on the Richter scale, you know that something is going on under the hood. That their behavior is not logical. So it merely indicates there is a root problem. It's like a dashboard and the lights on the dash coming on. What's the root of this behavior? So you need to revisit the wound. Identify the events, and then renounce it and ask God to bring healing to that area.
Discover the lie. What agreement have you been making with the enemy? And apply the truth. The truth shall make you free. So the steps of freedom from a stronghold is one, identify the strongholds and their symptoms. Rank them from one to 10 by the level of influence they have. And work with someone close to you to confirm the strongholds and confess to renounce the influence of strongholds in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the holy spirit to renounce the influence of strongholds over their life as shown in second Corinthians 10:4. We have the divine power to demolish strongholds. And then you want to meditate and walk according to the word and renew your mind. One of the things I had to deal with, I was a workaholic. But it was rooted in fear. So I had to change the number of hours I was working because I was working out of fear.
Any self-image contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. Who said that? That's what you need to ask every time something comes into your head that might be contrary to your identity. "Let this mind be in you. It is also in Jesus Christ." Philippians 2:5. So whatever God sets you free from this and automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That is your payback on the enemy. For I the lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.
Take a look at this. This is a fascinating comparison of two families over a 200 year generation. Max Jutes was married to an atheist woman. They had 560 descendants, 310 died as paupers, 150 criminals, seven murderers, 100 drunkards, one half of the women were prostitutes. It cost the US government 1.2 million in 19th century dollars. But Jonathan Edwards, a preacher, married a godly woman. They had 1,394 descendants, 295 graduated from college, three state governors, 13 college presidents, 65 professors, three US senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 56 doctors, 75 military officers, 100 missionaries, preachers, and authors, and 80 held public office, three mayors, and one comptroller of the US. Don't tell me the gospel doesn't make a huge difference in family systems. So you need to transform your past into a new beginning. You need to realize your identity and learn to contend for it.
All right, well that concludes our session for today. I hope that it was helpful and encouraging to you. If you want to go deeper in this topic, I have developed a book called Overcoming Hindrances to Fulfill Your Destiny. It has a lot more information in it and more teaching in this resource. It's only about 100 pages and you can get it off of our website at tgifbookstore.com.
Earlier I mentioned about this new program that we're going to be launching soon, but we're not ready to announce it yet. But if you do want to know about it, just get on our waiting list and you'll be the first to be notified. You can go to our website, becomegodschangeagent.com. Becomegodschangeagent.com. And that will have your name on our waiting list and you'll be the first one to be notified. And you'll also receive a free resource called My Top 10 Biblical Truths for Succeeding in Life and Work. And this was a resource that I put together recently that were the top 10 things that I felt were the most important in my journey to be able to be successful in business and in ministry. So I hope that that will be of help to you. Just click on the website listed on the screen there.
So we look forward to seeing you in the next session. We're doing weekly podcasts now. We've set up this on our YouTube page and also iTunes. If you just want to listen to the sessions you can listen to them on iTunes as well as YouTube at the TGIF At Work podcast. God bless. See you next time.
A few years ago Todd Smith had a vision of fire hovering over his baptismal pool in his church sanctuary. Little would he realize what God was about to do. Hear his inspiring story of miracles happening in this church in Dawsonville, Georgia.
Don't let your adversities defeat you; let them be a launching pad to your larger story!
Randy Skinner is a political, judicial and criminal justice consultant known for his work with high crime and impoverished communities. He is an advisor to governmental leaders, bringing his skills to focus on transforming communities from a faith perspective. He has worked and lived the past sixteen years in one of the nation’s poorest and most violent zip codes.
Os shares a powerful interview with Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, he did in 2007 about the history of the 7 cultural mountains, or spheres as he calls them.
“I believe that the Bible speaks not merely to personal, family, and church issues, but to national, community, and governmental issues if we would take the time to listen.” –James L. Garlow
Conservative Christians admit that they do not speak out on political or cultural issues because they do not know how to support their beliefs from a biblical basis, according to a recent poll. Instead, they remain silent on critical issues like marriage, racism, and transgender issues because they feel uninformed and ill-equipped to defend their beliefs.
New York Times bestselling author and pastor James L. Garlow offers the solution—a practical, biblical guide for the 21st century Christian. Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Issues informs and prepares readers to tackle the important issues of the day and engage with those around them in a loving, Scripturally-based manner.
In Well Versed, readers will learn Biblical responses to:
Religion in the Public Square – Purpose of Government, the First Amendment, and Political Correctness Family and Life Issues – Marriage, School Choice, Abortion, Sexual Orientation, and Healthcare Economics – Capitalism vs. Socialism, Taxes, Debt, Welfare, and Minimum Wage Law and Society – Judiciary, Hate Crimes, Social Justice, and Racism Foreign Policy and World Issues – National Defense, Immigration, Israel, the Environment, Islam, and Terrorism Political Participation – Media and Civil Disobedience
David Oyelowo is an English actor, producer, director, and writer. He has played supporting roles in the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Middle of Nowhere(2012), Lincoln (2012), and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in The Butler (2013). On television, he played MI5 officer Danny Hunterin the British series Spooks (2002–04), and as of 2014, provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus on the animated series Star Wars Rebels.[2] In 2014, Oyelowo played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biographical drama film Selma, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor (Drama) and recently played peter snowden in TV movie nightingale which he won a Critic's Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a TV Movie-limited series.
David Oyelowo is an English actor, producer, director, and writer. He has played supporting roles in the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Middle of Nowhere(2012), Lincoln (2012), and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in The Butler (2013). On television, he played MI5 officer Danny Hunterin the British series Spooks (2002–04), and as of 2014, provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus on the animated series Star Wars Rebels.[2] In 2014, Oyelowo played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biographical drama film Selma, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor (Drama) and recently played peter snowden in TV movie nightingale which he won a Critic's Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a TV Movie-limited series.
Hear Os Hillman's interview with David Ferguson, business owner and ministry leader and Carlton Garborg, president of Broadstreet Publishing Group.
Join Os Hillman for an informative webinar where he shares his insights on God's process for raising up His culture shapers. He also discusses the highlights from the 2019 Culture Shapers Summit. Click this link to access the 2019 Culture Shapers Summit replay that Os mentions at the end of the webinar. https://tgif.clickfunnels.com/summitinfo
Are certain vocations more “holy” than others? Is work more than just a means to an end, like a paycheck? Is there a biblical calling for work that isn’t typically recognized as “spiritual?” Our good friend Os Hillman answers these questions, and more, in this important, timely episode.
Join Os and David and Teresa Ferguson as they discuss how to succeed on the family mountain.
Join Os Hillman and syndicated broadcaster, Hugh Hewitt for this informative discussion on the role of media in culture influence.
Join Os Hillman and syndicated broadcaster, Hugh Hewitt for this informative discussion on the role of media in culture influence.
We got a wide-ranging primer on the upcoming “Culture Changers Summit” slated for March in DC as friend of the show, Os Hillman – and some special guests – talked extensively on what this future Summit will look like, what they want to accomplish, and why YOU need to be there.
Hear about an awesome technology designed to create collaboration between organizations for cultural influence.
Tampa Radio Show host with iWork4Him, Jim Brangenberg, interviews Os and Hobby Lobby President, Steve Green about Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible and upcoming Culture Shapers Summit.
Guy Rodgers, President of Pinnacle Forum, interviews Os Hillman about the Joseph Calling and the role adversity plays in a leaders life.
With jobs, cash and opportunities disappearing faster than a locomotive, people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Business and leadership expert, Robert Watkins shares his vital principles to produce personal freedom for you.
Join Os and Pamela Hillman as Pamela shares her inspiring story of redemption of overcoming sexual abuse and a 35-year drug addiction. How God brought Pamela and Os together 2 ½ years ago. Hear how she became an instrument of hope and transformation for the lost and forgotten women in prison today.
We spend more time scrolling through Instagram or Facebook than we do talking with families. We’ve never had more “friends”, but we have no one to meet for coffee. Do you want to shake off your digital fatigue and get back to real-life, real-world relationships with real people?
Os Hillman gives insight into combating the increased level of spiritual warfare you experience when God elevates you to a higher place.
Os Hillman gives insight into combating the increased level of spiritual warfare you experience when God elevates you to a higher place
The anti-God movement is trying to re-brand Christianity today. How can you be a better witness for Christ in the workplace?
Os and his daughter Charis went to share with the girls at Mercy Ministries in Nashville, TN. This is a portion of Os' message on Experiencing the Father's Love - "Does God Really Love Us?"
Are you preventing yourself from fulfilling your calling? Learn how to overcome hindrances in your life with Os Hillman in part-2 of this discussion.
Are you preventing yourself from fulfilling your calling? Learn how to overcome hindrances in your life with Os Hillman. Special Guest Pamela Winderweedle
Is there a financial crisis coming? What do you need to do to prepare? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman with special guest Chuck Bentley, President of Crown Financial Ministries.
What does it mean to be a leader others will follow? What type of leader are you? Find out how you can become a more effective leader in your life's calling in this week's podcast!
Why do we need prayer partners in our workplace call? Can prayer make a difference in your daily work? Find out in this weeks podcast.
How are values adopted? Why is media, arts, and entertainment so important in culture? Find out in this week's Faith, Work, and Culture radio show with Os Hillman hosted by Wayne Shepherd. In addition, hear from this week's special guest, Actor David Oyelowo.
If God is in control, then why do bad things happen? Find out in this week's Faith, Work, and Culture radio show with Os Hillman and Craig Hill, hosted by Wayne Shepherd.
What makes a Christian different in the workplace than a non-believer? Join Os this week as he discusses the 4 main distinctions of Christians and non-Christians in the workplace.
Join Os Hillman in this week's podcasts as he discusses the 7 mountains of cultural influence. How do we connect our work life and our faith life?
Do you know why God Made You? Do you know your purpose? Join Os in this podcast as he discusses why God Made You.
TESTIMONY INSPIRATION - OS HILLMAN - ON HIS LATEST: THE JOSEPH CALLING - WHAT THAT MEANS - IF YOU HAVE ONE - AND HOW YOU CAN KNOW?!
What is the proper role of government? What can we do as individuals to return to Godly principals?
In our life’s journey, we have a lot of experiences that we come up with the principles that we believe to be of great help to ourselves and to other people. Os has narrated the 10 rules that we can use in our lives.
There is a troubling trend of removing God from our schools, how much has education changed over the years? Is there anything we can do to help stop this trend?
The distress you have about the future of our nation is not unwarranted. Join Os Hillman as he discusses concern for our nation with author Lance Wallnau.
Discover how will being apart of a small group at work can be a great benefit to you and your environment.
Develop an ear to hear God in the workplace as we discuss what it takes to live out your larger story. Special Guest Ken Blanchard
What is your God-sized assignment? God has an assignment for you a God-sized destiny for you to fulfill. How can you know what it is, and what is the process to walk in that calling?
The Joseph Calling presents six unique stages that many people pass through to fulfill their destiny.
Os Hillman talks with author of Monday Morning Atheist, Doug Spada, about how to bring our faith life into our work life each day.
Join Os Hillman as he shares his process of discovering his purpose in the Marketplace in Denver Colorado.
Learn to discover the 6 stages of a call from God and engage your passion in life with Os Hillman in this weeks podcast.
How is God going to make my crisis into something good? When do I get out of this pit? You need answers. Jim Brangendberg from iWork4Him interviews Pamela and Os Hillman with special guest Gerard Long about how God has shaped their lives through adversities and how they have come together to help others in today’s trying times.
Are you facing adversity in your work life? How do you navigate difficult work life seasons? Find out in this week's Faith, Work and Culture radio show with Os Hillman hosted by Wayne Shepherd and special guest Jim Lange.
Robbie Romieser interviews Os Hillman on The Upside of Adversity: From the pit to greatness in your career.
Join Os Hillman and Ken Blanchard in discovering just how to see yourself in the larger story God wants to reveal to you.
Are you hearing God or is that your voice? How does God speak to us? Learn how to hear what God is telling you. Special Guest Dr. Bradley Stuart
Do you see your work as a calling? How is the local church responsible for equipping believers to minister in their workplace? What defines the local church? Find out in this week's Faith, Work and Culture radio show with Os Hillman hosted by Wayne Shepherd and special guest Henry Blackaby.
How are values adopted? Why is media, arts, and entertainment so important in culture? Find out in this week's Faith, Work, and Culture radio show with Os Hillman hosted by Wayne Shepherd. In addition, hear from this week's special guest, Actor David Oyelowo.
Why was Jesus influential? Why do did He cause such a stir in His day, even though people did not yet know He was the Savior of the world? Find out in this week's Faith, Work, and Culture radio show with Os Hillman hosted by Wayne Shepherd, with special guests, the Benham Brothers.
Os Hilman has recorded a new radio show called the Faith, Work, and Culture Radio Show. This week's show is entitled "Where Did America Go?" For more information or to request on your local station, visit www.faithworkandculture.com.
Os Hilman has recorded a new radio show called the Faith, Work, and Culture Radio Show. This week's show is entitled "The 7 Mountains." For more information or to request on your local station, visit www.faithworkandculture.com.
Os Hilman has recorded a new radio show called the Faith, Work, and Culture Radio Show. This week's show is entitled "Work Matters." For more information or to request on your local station, visit www.faithworkandculture.com.
Many changes are taking place in America today. What does this mean for our future, and how does our current spiritual environment relate to what is happening financially or politically? Find out in the second part of our Signs of the Times podcast with Os Hillman.
Much is happening in the world today, and many changes are taking place in America. What does this mean for our future, and how does our current spiritual environment relate to what is happening financially or politically? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
Last week the Supreme Court of the United States made a historic decision to see same sex marriage the same as heterosexual marriage. What kind of consequences does this represent for America and people of faith? How should Christians respond? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
This is a portion of Os Hillman's "Receiving Your Inheritance" message at the 2015 Jubilee Conference with Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, Chuck Bentley, and Craig Hill. Listen as Os describes how to walk in faith versus fear when it comes to finances, and how to receive your spiritual inheritance!
How can you be a Change Agent in your sphere of influence? Is work really ministry? Find out in this recording of Os' message during the recent Community Transformation Luncheon in Forsyth County, GA.
How can you be a Change Agent in your sphere of influence? Is work really ministry? Find out in this recording of Os' message during the recent Community Transformation Luncheon in Forsyth County, GA.
Recently Os and his daughter Charis went to share with the girls at Mercy Ministries in Nashville, TN. This is a portion of Os' message on Experiencing the Father's Love - "Are You a Slave or a Son or Daughter?"
Do you have any fears in your life? If we're human, we are going to experience fear. The key is what we do with those fears. In this week's podcast with Os, discover a biblical way to overcome fear. This message is taken from his recent talk given at Lifework Leadership in Orlando, FL.
Recently Os and his daughter Charis went to share with the girls at Mercy Ministries in Nashville, TN. This is a portion of Os' message on Overcoming Hindrances - "Is God In Control?"
Have you ever felt depressed? In this week's podcast, Os shares some helpful tips that can help us when life circumstances seem to be getting us down, and bring us closer to the One who loves us and lifts us up.
What are the 6 stages of the call of a Change Agent? Are there specific processes God takes a leader through? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
In the second part of this podcast, Os shares new revelation on the Joseph Calling. Os also recounts examples of people who successfully navigated the Joseph process and how their lives are after God did a deep work in them. Listen as Os shares in this week's podcast.
In this podcast, Os shares new revelation on the Joseph Calling. What is a "Joseph calling" and how does it relate to what is happening in this season? Listen as Os shares his insights.
This week, Os Hillman is interviewed by Wayne Shepherd during his First Person radio program. Listen and hear what Os has to say!
Are you experiencing miracles in your work-life? This week, Os Hillman shares the importance of experiencing the supernatural in your everyday life.
What does it mean to have integrity in today's business world? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
Listen as Os Hillman is interviewed by Jim Brangenberg on the iWork4Him Radio show based in Tampa, Florida. God is doing incredible things!
Have you ever experienced a low point in life? Elijah certainly did. But God supernaturally provided. And it is during these times that God deposits supernatural insights we will need for the journey ahead. Listen as Os shares in this week's podcast.
Often God gets blamed for the evil in the world. But, is He really to blame? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman!
Listen in as Jim Brangenberg interviews Charis Hillman Brown on TGIF Next Gen as a part of the iWork4Him radio program in Tampa Bay, Florida.
This week, Os shares revelations and insights from one of his favorite books, "Not Knowing Where" by Oswald Chambers. Especially helpful for those walking through a season of adversity!
Do you operate from a redemptive or a fatalist worldview? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
How are Christian entrepreneurs different than secular entrepreneurs? Should Christian entrepreneurs function differently? Os Hillman shares his thoughts on what it means to be a Christian entrepreneur in this week's podcast.
What does success for Christianity in culture look like? That's what Os Hillman is examining in this week's podcast. Join us to hear Os' thoughts on what it means for God to be a part of every area of society.
What is the prophetic meaning of Joel 3:9-11? Os Hillman shares what he thinks in this week's podcast.
What is Renewal of America? Os Hillman shares what he has been involved with in the last several months to pray for America's future and how you can get involved.
How is the next generation different from Baby Boomers and those who have been in the workplace longer? This week, Os shares the differences between the two generations and how we can effectively work together to bring about cultural change.
Are we winning or losing the culture war? Is it too late for America? Os Hillman shares his thoughts on this week's podcast.
In this week's podcast, Os Hillman describes what he would do to equip his members for their calling if he were a pastor.
In this audio podcast, Os Hillman talks about the meaning of the symbols on American currency, and also he talks about a little known man who made a big impact on American history.
What can happen when we are faithful in the small things? The Bible says God can trust us with even greater things. Listen as Os shares what happened to him as he was faithful in the small things.
What is the 7 mountains? Os Hillman says it is not a theology, but a strategy Christians can use for kingdom impact. Listen to this week's podcast to find out more.
How do you confront someone while still maintaining the relationship? We will often run into such situations in the workplace. In this episode, Os shares some helpful tips on how to address the issue, not attack the person.
Can God use difficult seasons in our lives for good? Os Hillman says yes! After going through his own Joseph pit experience, he helps others discover the processes God uses to develop their calling through the crucible of adversity.
What were the foundations of America? If you ask two different people, you will probably get two different answers. In this episode, Os Hillman explores the true foundations of America, and what we need to do to help this country become great again.
God's economy is different than our economy. How do we learn to live in God's economy? Find out in this week's episode with Os Hillman.
What can pastors do to equip their congregations to be a light in the world for Jesus? Listen as Os shares his thoughts in this week's podcast.
Possessions are another trap of the enemy. Discover how to avoid this trap in this week's podcast.
Os Hillman shares how the path to leadership almost always leads us through the valley of adversity.
Os Hillman shares how a network can use its collective leverage to influence culture, focusing on the area of arts & entertainment.
What is required to see a city or community transformed by the power of Jesus Christ? Is it even possible? Were there any cities in the Bible that were transformed? Os Hillman answers these and many other questions about community transformation on this informative presentation given to the congregation at Daystar Church in Atlanta, GA.
Have you ever thought about how Satan entices human beings into sin? Os Hillman explains the process of falling into sin and how to avoid it.
Maintaining a healthy immune system is the key to good health. Science has recently discovered how to ensure you can have a healthy immune system. Os Hillman explains this new science and why every believer can benefit from this science.
Learn the fascinating and inspiring story of Sara Blakely, the world's youngest self-made female billionaire and founder of Spanx.
Sometimes I wonder where the fruit is of TGIF Today God Is First devotional. This radio interview is with myself and someone who has deeply impacted by TGIF and our teaching ministry. He now has a radio show called IWork4Him on equipping men and women in the marketplace. Enjoy this informative discussion with myself and Jim Brangenberg from Tampa.
Do you have unmet expectations from others and maybe even God? In this session, Os Hillman explains the purpose of the Christian life.
Os Hillman explains why it is important for us to reclaim the cultural mountain of education for Christ.
Do you struggle to balance using your skill and abilities with being led by the Holy Spirit? If so, learn how to balance these in this podcast.
Are you living as a son or daughter of your heavenly Father? You might be living as an orphan. Find out in this session.
Where is faith in the workplace today? What are the greatest challenges? How did we get to where we are today? Os Hillman answers these and other questions on the role of faith in the workplace and where we are today.
The battle for the family is heating up with one of the most important issues that could cause a huge tipping point in culture—the redefining of marriage by the Supreme Court. Os discusses the biblical principles involved as well of a history of how we arrived at this tipping point.
What are the 4 attributes of a workplace believer? In this session Os provides the answer to this question posed by the New York Times several years ago.
There is no more painful experience in life than to be rejected by someone you love. The spirit of rejection can attach itself through a number of ways and has lasting consequences on the victim. In this session Os describes what and how the spirit of rejection can impact anyone’s life.
Os Hillman speaks to a group of marketplace leaders in Denver about John 10:10 and why he believes God raised up a nutritional company to address one of the areas Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy from our lives.
Do you live as a son or daughter, or a slave and orphan? Discover the difference in this message.
Do you find yourself in an isolation period of your life? In this session Os Hillman will help you learn what God does in times of isolation.
How does heaven see you? You may never have thought about it. However, understanding how God sees you is important to fully accepting the love of God the Father and embracing your destiny. Most people think God has them on a treadmill of performance. Os Hillman says “No.”
John 10:10 says Satan wants to steal (our money), kill (our destinies and our health) and destroy (our families and relationships). In this session Os reveals why believers are more susceptible to disease and how we can fight back.
Is it God's fault that 26 children died at the hands of a troubled young man? If God were a loving God, couldn't He have stopped this from happening? Every time a major crisis happens like this in the world, this question eventually comes up. What we need to understand is that God's heart breaks when something like this happens.
How many hours of the week do you work? Many people feel like they have to work 50, 60, or even 70 hours a week. However, this can be detrimental to your spiritual, physical and family life. In this session Os describes the characteristics of being a workaholic.
Many believers profess Christ as lord of their life but actually live as an atheist. They do not hear God’s voice or seek His direction throughout their daily work life. In this podcast Os shares how every believer can hear God’s voice.
What is required to see a city transformed by the power of Jesus Christ? In this podcast Os Hillman reveals the "Transformation Trinity" required to impact a city or community for Jesus Christ.
What do you believe about yourself? The Bible says in John 8:32 that "you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Learning to contend for your identity is the first step to overcoming circumstances in your life. In this podcast Os Hillman shows you how.
Learn why the results of this year's election were not so surprising in light of what we know about American society today.
If you were walking through an enemy's battlefield that was filled with explosive mines, wouldn't it be valuable to have a scout that could identify and warn you about each one to avoid imminent disaster? In this podcast, Os Hillman reveals the 5 big pitfalls unique to men.
Both God and Satan want you dead, each for different reasons. Os Hillman shares from a new book on how to defeat the work of the enemy in your life. Learn the strategies that Satan employs against believers and how to overcome him
Satan wants to hinder you from fulfilling your destiny. Os Hillman shares from a new book how to defeat the work of the enemy in your life.
Did you know there are two types of churches? Os explains the Bible’s theology on the church and why local churches must be equipping centers.
In this podcast, Os Hillman will help you understand and discover why God made you. It's crucial for every person to know the answer to this important question. Os will provide a helpful tool you can use as a process to help you discover your purpose that is different than anyone else.
If you’ve ever been through a Joseph Pit experience, you probably know what a communications “black hole” feels like. While you are in the pit of adversity, you feel that your world is collapsing, that your life is out of control—and that God is silent. You call out to Him and there is no answer. The silence of a black hole is deafening. You feel isolated and alone. You question God’s love, His care for you, and even His existence.
If you’ve ever been through a Joseph Pit experience, you probably know what a communications “black hole” feels like. While you are in the pit of adversity, you feel that your world is collapsing, that your life is out of control—and that God is silent. You call out to Him and there is no answer. The silence of a black hole is deafening. You feel isolated and alone. You question God’s love, His care for you, and even His existence.
Os Hillman shares some deep truths he learned from a book by Oswald Chambers entitled Not Knowing Where. If you are having trouble making sense of life, this message may be for you.
Os Hillman gives Sunday morning message at Bethel Church Atlanta on the topic of Being a Change in a Season of Change.
Os gives commencement address to a graduate school in Trinidad. Discover God's desire for every believer in the workplace.
The 2012 Olympic games have had many inspiring stories. One of those was 16 year-old gymnast Gabby Douglas who made history with her gold medal winning all-around performance and team gold medal winning performance. She commented after her win: "And I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me." I pondered her success and recalled another inspiring story that took place in 1996 by a little known change agent mom who may have laid the foundation for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
The Old Testament speaks of four types of fools. Os Hillman explains these four types and also why "fool" is not necessarily a negative term among the Hebrew sages.
Os shares this recent message from his friend Al Caperna. Take up your mantle of authority in the kingdom!
Recorded May 11, 2012. Os discusses equipping others to live out their faith at work, how Christians should view the financial crisis, and other topics in this interview from Aberdeen, Scotland.
Why has God placed you on planet earth? Os Hillman will reveal to you God’s redemptive purpose and plan He has for each of His sons and daughters. Os reveals the truths of our authority that is to be exercised to be God's representative on earth to enforce His covenants. To be an effective change agent you must understand your true identity and your authority in Christ. God's redemption plan is based upon your understanding of these important truths. He’ll help you understand how to manifest God’s presence in the area of your calling. After this session you will have a greater understanding and anointing to carry out the assignment God has given to you and you will realize why your ability to fulfill your assignment is very important to God.
William Wilberforce had over 69 world changing initiatives. His band of about 20 reformers credit their Clapham Group for the reason they were so affective. Learn why you need to be in relationship with others to leverage your resources and influence for Kingdom impact.
What does it really mean to "live by faith"? Os discusses the core attributes of a life lived by faith. You will be encouraged to step into your destiny after learning God's principles of living a faith-centered life.
Os Hillman is interviewed by a radio station on why he wrote his book, Change Agent. Os shares insights about what makes a change agent today and the processes God uses to raise up His change agents.
In this radio interview Os discusses the process for discovering your purpose and calling. You will be encouraged to know and understand your purpose.
Have you ever heard someone say, “He is acting like a child!” Well, even though that person may be an adult, they may actually be frozen emotionally at the age of a 10 year old. This condition is called Arrested Development. Find out if you suffer from Arrested Development in this informative podcast by Os Hillman.
Attention Men! Have you ever told the female in your life, “Stop controlling me!” If so, you may be a byproduct of Mother-Son Bonding. In this podcast, Os Hillman reveals a pattern of behavior that is often rooted in an unhealthy relationship between a mother and son in the adolescent years.
Was Jesus a laid back, conservative man who walked around glibly in a robe? Or was He a fun loving, engaging, and outgoing man? Scripture records a lot about Jesus and the way He interacted with others. In this podcast Os makes his observations about this man and how different He really is compared to the way many in the church describe Jesus.
The Apostle Paul had the greatest adversity of any Christian leader in the early church . Yet in his writings we see a perspective unlike many Christians today. Paul understood that his adversities meant life in others. He embraced his adversities and always looked from an eternal perspective. Os helps you rethink your own adversities and to see them from God's perspective.
How does God view your work? What are the 4 attributes of a Christian worker? Why has work gotten such a bad rap? Why do most Christian workers feel like second class citizens? What is the process God uses to make a Christian a change agent? Os answers these and many more questions in a special presentation to 4,000 men at the No Regrets Men's Conference held February 2012 in Wisconsin.
Do you know that you are part of God’s redemptive plan for planet earth? Sadly, few Christians understand their role as God’s representatives on earth. In this session, Os explains your role, your authority and the power God has entrusted to you.
Every change agent is called to the cross. In this podcast Os Hillman reveals what it means to identify with the cross. The cross is designed to make spiritual deposits into our lives. Jesus said, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself." Find out what this involves for the change agent.
Compromise always leads to deceit. Are you a person of integrity? Whenever we choose compromise God will allow us to make poor decisions. The people of Israel made poor decisions when they were in the desert and God allowed a leanness of soul to develop in their lives. Discover what it means to compromise and the consequences that can result.
God allows tests in the life of believers to let them learn something about themselves and to move them to the next place of leadership.
Ephesians 2:20 describes the two distinct offices the church is built upon. Are they still relevant today? If so, how do they operate practically? Os describes this process from his own personal experience.
Why are some people so difficult to get along with? Is it something you are doing, or is it there issue? Well, that is a very good question. Os Hillman and Charis Hillman Brown discuss a challenging subject, especially as it pertains to being around family and old friends. Some we might rather not be around. Check out this informative teaching and discussion around dealing with difficult people.
Both God and Satan want to kill you, but each for different reasons. Satan wants to kill your destiny; God wants to kill your old man so that Christ can fully live through you. In this message you will undestand why each of us must go to the cross for our old man.
God works through weak things, not strong things. Do you fell ill-prepared for the assignment God has given you? Good! That is exactly what He wants you to feel. However, be encouraged that God works through your weaknesses.
How God Uses Testing, Crisis and Pain in a Change Agent's Life. Are you going through a season of testing? Hear what Os Hillman says the reason you will go through such seasons if you are called to leadership.
God requires us to bring His presence into our work life. Os shares how Moses had to learn this important lesson.
God often births our journey into a larger story of our lives through a crisis. Os shares the story of Moses' recruitment and what we can learn from his story.
Is there a model we can see in scripture for community and city transformation? The answer is yes. In this podcast Os shares two interesting stories on how Jesus impacted a community and how he rebuked his disciples for how they responded to people different from themselves.
What are the end times going to look like as we get nearer and nearer to Christ's return? What does it mean to live by "the gospel of the kingdom"? Find out in this week's podcast.
Do you ever feel like a second-class Christian because you are not a pastor or vocational minister? Do you ever wonder where this distortion came from? In this week's podcast, "The Great Divide", Os Hillman discusses this fallacy and its historical origins. Listen now!
Listen in on this week's podcast as Os describes what it means to live with a Biblical Worldview. Don't miss it!
When God created the world, he gave man certain freedoms, and boundaries. What are some of these freedoms and boundaries? Why is it important for us to live within certain boundaries for our lives? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
What is dominionism? Is it biblical? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this week's podcast. For more on this topic, join us for a special teleseminar August 30th at 8pm EST. Register at www.TGIFbookstore.com under "events"!
This week's audio segment comes from a free webcast on God and the Financial Crisis, including a Q&A with Os and his daughter Charis. Listen and be encouraged in today's financial times.
In this week's podcast, learn with Os as he describes what is going on spiritually related to the recent financial plunge in the US stock market, and where we're headed. Be encouraged with insights as to what is happening now and what God is preparing to do through His "Change Agents" and prepare His people during this season.
Listen to this week's podcast as Os Hillman breaks down the tipping points in America that has led to her decline, and be encouraged to be "God's Change Agent" in culture.
Do you want to make a difference? Listen as Os Hillman reads an excerpt from his new book, "Change Agent." You will be inspired to "engage your passion to be the one who makes a difference!"
Are you someone who wants to engage their passion to be the one who makes a difference? Well, that's exactly what Os Hillman's new book, "Change Agent" is all about! This week, listen as Os reads the first chapter from this new book. We hope this podcast will encourage and inspire you to "be the one who makes a difference."
What is the great wealth transfer? Is the scripture in Proverbs 13:22 often misinterpreted? Find out in this important Podcast with TGIF, Today God Is First author Os Hillman!
How should we pray? What is the most effective way to pray & seek God's heart? Listen to this insightful podcast with Os Hillman as he shares his revelations on how to pray.
Are you experiencing adversity? There is certainly a shaking going on in our culture right now. Hear what Os Hillman has to say about where we are in the body of Christ, the things we can expect, and the opportunities we have as Workplace Christians in this week's podcast, "A Joseph Season."
In the last of the series, The Top 10 Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Destiny, learn the 3 pillars of entrapment. One of these has been at the root of every leader who has fallen from his or her position.
Listen as Os Hillman exposes the 9th thing guaranteed to kill your destiny in this week's powerful podcast.
In this week's podcasts, receive powerful insights into the workings of the 8th thing guaranteed to kill your destiny. Listen now!
Os continues in the series "The Top 10 Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Destiny" with part 7. Be encouraged by this week's podcast!
Os Hillman continues with the series, Top 10 Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Destiny. Find out what #6 is this week!
Os Hillman gives a recap of the 1-4 Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Destiny, and then launches into number 5. Found out what it is in this week's podcast!
Os Hillman continues in his teaching on the "Top 10 Things That Can Keep You From Your Destiny" parts 2 & 3. You won't want to miss this important session!
Both God and Satan want you dead, but for different reasons. Satan wants to destroy your destiny, but God wants your old man to die so that Christ can fully live His life through you. In Part 1 of Top 10 Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Destiny (and how to avoid them), Os Hillman shares 1 of 10 things he believes are strategies of the enemy of our soul to keep us from fulfilling your destiny.
What can we glean from David's life? Obviously, the story of David and Goliath is one of courage in the midst of unbeatable odds. But what was the real reason behind David's courage? Find out in this insightful podcast!
Listen as Os Hillman describes the history of the Faith at Work Movement, where we have been, and where we are going.
Do you need a little courage? There are many people who are afraid in this time of financial upheaval, even Christians. But we need to find courage in the Lord our God. Discover an increased understanding of courage in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
What is the religious spirit? How does it interfere with our relationship with Christ and our work? Find out in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
How do we avoid feeling burdened in our work? How do we find rest in the midst of our working lives? Is work just a means to product income? Discover answers to these questions, and also learn how our vocations as instruments to transform our workplaces in this week's podcast with Os Hillman.
Do you understand authority? Do you know the authority you've been given by Jesus' death on the cross? Find out in this week's podcast.
Joseph had 4 big tests in the Bible. Do you know them? Many workplace believers have a Joseph calling on their lives, but they do not pass these tests. Learn the 4 big tests Joseph had to pass in order to be greatly used by God, and how you can pass them, too.
What is a calling to the workplace? Is being a pastor more spiritual? Find out in this week's podcast.
Moses didn't know the power of his staff. That is, until God revealed it to him. What did Moses' staff signify? What can we can we learn from Moses' example of laying down his staff? Find out in today's podcast.
Have you ever had conflict in your life? There was a conflict in the lives of David, Paul, and many well-known Christian change agents throughout history. What happened as a result of their conflict? What can happen in yours? Find out in this podcast with Os Hillman!
What are the four dimensions of experiencing God's work-life calling? Find out in this insightful podcast with Os Hillman.
Why do we experience adversity in our lives? Is this the call of the Christian? God surely doesn't desire that we suffer... and yet we are called to be "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20) so that His glory might be revealed in us. Listen to this revelatory message by Os Hillman that will help you gain insights into the reasons for adversity.
What are the 7 cultural mountains? Who defined this concept? Why is it important to you and I as Christians? Discover the answers to these questions in this thought-provoking podcast by Os Hillman.
Do you know what your purpose is? Not operating within our purpose can lead to burnout and frustration. Listen to this audio message with Os Hillman as he walks us through understanding our purpose.
Isn't it difficult to let God work through us? We always want to take matters into our own hands. In this podcast, discover how to let God's power shine through you in your work. Os Hillman shares how you almost have to "withhold your natural gifting, to ensure that God is in it."
What is a Change Agent? What is God's intention for you and me? Find out in this week's podcast.
What was God's original intent for humanity? Find out in this TGIF podcast from Os Hilllman.
What does it mean to "labor in vain"? God tells us that there is a way to work without striving - there's a way to conduct business without sweating and toiling for outcomes.
Outcomes are not based on our performance, they are based on our obedience. His desire is for us to see Him working in our lives. He wants us to avoid looking toward our own performance to receive a desired outcome. Instead, He desires that we be obedient to Him, and He will provide for our needs. This ensures against us thinking that it was by our own hands that we were fruitful.
God said the people of Israel would be brought out of 400 years of slavery so they could worship Him. God desired to bring that generation to the Promised Land, but they never went. Why?
Their knowledge never resulting in actions that were based on what they believed. If we believe God, but do not act on our beliefs, then we will be like the people of Israel, never coming into the Promised Land. This requires faith, participation, and risk.
In business and life the opportunity to habor bitterness is great. If bitterness is allowed to take root, we will become imprisoned to it. God's grace will become ineffective in our lives. We will become spiriutally dead. We can even become physically ill! God does not live in bitterness - He lives in grace. This is the real place where God's power is revealed.
If we are truly going to remove the separation between what we think is secular and holy, then we need to expand our vision. It may mean that we make decisions based on prayer, and what we feel God is calling us to do. We need to understand we are called to bless our employees, clients, and vendors as Christians in the marketplace.
In the early 3rd and 4th century, Socrates and other Greek thinkers began to influence the church in ways that were different than the early church. This resulted in more "program" oriented Christianity that focuses on knowledge. The Hebraic model focused on relating to God from the heart. As we focus more on programs versus an intimate relationship with God, we will find ourselves distant from Him. Knowledge without power to express the life within has little value.
If I were to ask you what is your primary purpose in life, what would you say? The most important thing that God desires from each of us today is fellowship with Him. How do we fellowship with Him? Prayer, quiet time, and worship are good ways. We'll find that as we do that everything else falls into place.
God makes us fruitful in our suffering AND our prosperity.
Suffering produces character. It is the change in our character that produces deep-rooted faith, much like trees grow their roots deep in times of famine. We often won't be able to see these character changes occuring, since they are beneath the surface. But, we become "twice fruitful" because of them.
Have you ever heard someone say "I will NEVER do business with another Christian?" We must realize that we are in a war for the souls of men - a war to discredit all that a Christian stands for. Satan wants to discredit Christians by allowing them to fail others by performing work in a dissatisfactory way, or by lacking in excellence. Misunderstandings or lack of communication can further cause damage to our Christian witness. If our motives are pure however, God will give us favor to work toward peace and a good Christian witness in these situations.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
Have you ever felt that serving God had little reward, and the ungodly seemed to be even more blessed than you? This is how the people of God felt during the time of Malachi. God heard them, and responded through the prophet Malachi on this matter.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
Few people of greatness have been without the influence of a mentor. A mentor is someone who takes responsibility for the spiritual and sometimes physical care of another. It requires a commitment from the teacher and the student.
Visit us online at http://www.MarketplceLeaders.org
The prophet Haggai wrote about a people who had lost concern for the need to build God's house because they were so focused on their own worldly needs. It is a dangerous place to get with God.
When we fail to make what is important to God important in our lives this should be a warning to us. When we begin to "blend in" with our culture, we begin losing God's perspective on life. At some point we must ask, "Are we having an impact on our world, or is our world having an impact on us?"
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
A donkey was an animal of commerce in Jesus' day. It was used to carry goods from place to place, and was known as "the beast of burden."
The donkey was an important part of Jesus' triumphant journey into Jerusalem. Jesus used a vehicle of commerce to bring him into His most important public display. The donkey was surely owned by a local trade person.
Will you allow God to use your "donkey" for His purposes?
When David learned that his persecutor Saul had been killed by the Amalekites, he displayed an unusual reaction - he mourned!
When we begin to see people as God does, we'll be able to no longer see them as enemies, but as souls in need of grace.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
If you were to drop a glass of water into the ocean, it would be so small in comparison to the large body of water. This is much like the extent our lives compared to eternity.
Do you have an eternal perspective of significance? Or are you only focused on the here and now?
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
In the third Chapter of Joel, the prophet talks about a time when we will have a great harvest. The tools described in this passage have to do with the catalyst - our work.
Ask God to show you how He can use your work as a weapon of righteousness and love to bring forth a harvest in these last days.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
When was the last time you saw supernatural circumstances in your life that could only be explained as God? If it's been a long time since you've seen God's hand, you may not be trusting to a level that requires faith.
God wants to show Himself in supernatural ways. Allow God to move supernaturally in your life today.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
A stronghold is a fortress of thoughts that controls and influences our attitudes. It colors how we view situations, circumstances, or people.
In order to walk free of spiritual strongholds, we need to repent, and ask God's forgiveness. When we discover the influence of strongholds in our lives, we are freed to love God to an even greater extent.
Check us out at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
God is raising up Josephs throughout the world. A true Joseph is a provider both spiritual and materially. He or she understands that they are managers of all that God has entrusted to them. How does God prepare a modern-day Joseph? Often brokenness and humble circumstances is a prerequisite for becoming a Joseph today, so that He can entrust them with greatness.
Check us out at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
When unexpected calamities happen, we often panic until we can see that God is behind these events. How long do we want to keep our eyes on the circumstances instead of Jesus? We cannot look at the circumstance and Jesus at the same time. Choose which you will look at: The circumstances or Jesus.
Visit us at www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
Do you know how to gain a greater revelation of Jesus? It's all tied to obedience. Why can't I see God's presence in my life or hear Him? Seek God Himself, versus just godly activity. This way, we will live lives empowered by His presence.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org.
Have you ever wanted to go your own way instead of God's way? God called Jonah to deliver a message. Jonah refused. It was Jonah's will versus God's. Do you know who won? God blesses our willing obedience.
Visit us at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
Spiritual death is a requirement of truly becoming alive in Christ. We cannot experience the fullness of life in God and be free to serve Him completely until this death takes place. "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds." Has our spiritual seed been able to die?
Visit Marketplace Leaders at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org
Do you retreat in times of crisis? Do you allow self-pity and discouragement to consume you? Sow-in tears, and be a blessing, even in times of crisis. A harvest will return to you.
Visit Marketplace Leaders at http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
Sign up for the audio version of TGIF Today God Is First, a FREE daily devotional email which combines Bible teaching with practical insights for your work and life. TGIF is also available in book format - visit http://www.faithandworkresources.com to learn more. TGIF currently has over 180,000 email subscribers worldwide. Subscribe by email at http://www.todaygodisfirst.com.
The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day?" -Numbers 22:30
Sometimes we want something to succeed so much that we fail to listen to the Holy Spirit, that little voice inside trying to warn us by directing us on a different path.