ChristianAlts

Tim Macready has watched impact investing since the mid-2000s, and he has seen how a movement can lose its meaning. In this conversation, Matt Johns talks with the Bright Light leader about how ESG investing drifted from its original purpose, and why Christian investing faces the same risk without clear standards.

It is a conversation about faith and money at the point where growth can outrun integrity. Tim covers 17% year-on-year growth in Christian investing, the roughly 15% of products Bright Light believes hold companies that don't fit their stated convictions, and a hope that Christians will one day be known for investing differently.

In this episode:

• Impact investing before ESG: additionality, intentionality and measurability
• How ESG lost its meaning when existing products were simply relabelled
• Why there is no single Christian portfolio
• A nutrition label for faith based funds
• Beyond screening: engagement, private markets and impact measurement
• Nonprofit partnerships and sacrificial returns

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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

Dominik, founder of Dominus Lab, spent four years helping build 1,000 tech startups in Switzerland before turning his focus to a bigger mission: proving that Christian business and Christian entrepreneurship can outperform, not just coexist, in the age of AI. In this conversation with Matt Johns, Dominik makes the case that faith-driven founders are undervalued in the current AI boom — and backs it with hard numbers, pointing to Chick-fil-A out-earning competitors per location despite being closed on Sundays.

What started as a reaction to secular bias in mainstream AI models has become a global movement spanning six continents, physical events in Armenia, and outreach to the Vatican. Dominik and Matt talk through the theology behind it — Imago Dei, the value of a human being in the age of AI — the mechanics of building Christian large language models on open-source foundations, and what it actually looks like to build wealth and technology on a Christian foundation rather than just talk about it.

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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

Wes Lyons and Vip Vipperman run a venture fund built entirely around one bet: that a company can get paid to do the exact thing you want to see change in the world — not bolt charity onto an unrelated business, but make the good outcome the business model itself.

In this conversation with Matt Johns, they tell the story of Ashley, an entrepreneur who retrained hospital staff to spot trafficking victims using role-specific cues instead of generic awareness training. Days after implementation, that training led staff to a girl who turned out to be eleven years old and trafficked and she led police to twelve more girls at the same location.

From there, Wes and Vip walk through how Eagle Venture Fund turns that kind of moment into a repeatable, fundable model: a fund, a venture studio, and an accelerator working together across hospitals, hotels, child safety, and global supply chains backed by real regulatory and insurance economics, not goodwill alone. They talk about why they believe the fight against trafficking isn't short on capital. It's short on hope.

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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

What does it actually take for a Christian angel network to say "yes" to funding you? On this Kingdom Builders Live panel recorded live at a Gatherly virtual event alongside Catalyst 501, host Matt Johns sits down with John Cannon (founder of Send Angels) and Will Thomas (founder of Ambassadors Impact Network) to compare two very different answers.

Will's network runs applicants through a formal "spiritual underwriting" score, evaluating documented values, internal practices, and product alignment — only 15% of applicants pass both the financial and spiritual screens, and AIN will accept concessionary returns, sometimes half of market rate, when the mission case is strong enough. John's Send Angels takes a looser, founder-led approach instead, built on volunteer associates and syndicated pre-seed and seed checks with no formal rubric at all.

Along the way, you'll hear how a former Air Force pilot and a former Carmelite monk both ended up building faith-driven investing networks, why the parable of the talents became a catalytic moment for one of them, and the story of a portfolio company that spun out a dedicated Christian app and grew it 5x in a year.

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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

When it comes to christian real estate investing, most people stop at the numbers, the returns, the debt, the market. Nick Stromwall (Oak and Vine Capital, Rise48) argues Christians are missing the biggest risk in any deal: the character of the people actually running it.

Nick's path started while working in campus ministry, wrestling with a real question: how do you build wealth without losing your marriage, your kids, and your community along the way? That question shaped a faith-driven approach to real estate built on stewardship rather than ownership, one that's produced a converted learning center in an Iowa apartment building and neighborhood serve days at Rise48 properties, complete with free food, prayer walks, and real connection with residents.

In this conversation, Nick and Matt talk through what it actually looks like to vet an operator's heart alongside their financials: watching how someone treats a waiter, asking about their marriage, and one simple test, asking them to describe a deal that didn't go according to plan. Nick also shares his "buy box" framework for weighing financial return against real, tangible impact, and why he's upfront with investors that a deal could lose money entirely.

This episode is about who you're actually trusting with your money, and why that matters more than the pro forma.

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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

After 35-plus years on Wall Street, Roger Aguinaldo had a realization that reshaped his career: the Church is sitting on trillions of dollars, and almost none of it is actually managed by Catholic or Christian hands.

In this conversation, Roger shares his own journey, from checking his faith at the door as a young Wall Street analyst, to converting to Catholicism through RCIA, to now leading the Catholic Faith Investors Summit and building faith-aligned investment vehicles through Farceels Capital and Pray Investment Management. Matt and Roger talk about what it actually means to think bigger, not just what the Church should avoid, but what it could own, build, and influence with the capital it already controls.

Roger breaks down how faith-aligned investment products actually get built, the difference between negative screening and positive impact investing, and the real diligence criteria his team applies to private deals, how a company treats its employees, its customers, and its community. It's a practical look at what faith-driven stewardship actually looks like, not just in principle, but in practice.

Learn more about the Catholic Faith Investors Summit at catholicfi.com.

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📌 Subscribe to our Youtube for new episodes:    / @ChristianAltsTV
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https://newsletter.christianalts.com/
📌 Follow on LinkedIn for investing insights:   / matthewbjohns   

DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

What can a banking system built on Islamic law teach a Christian investor about money? Dr. Angela Thomas, a German-born entrepreneur who relocated her life and business to Dubai, sits down with Matt to unpack the mechanics of Sharia-compliant finance, including how entire categories of business get excluded from the banking system on principle, not just preference.

The conversation moves from banking structure into something more universal: trust. Angela shares what it actually takes to build a business in one of the highest-trust, highest-stakes environments in the world, and why she believes shortcuts simply don't exist, in finance or in life.

For Christian investors and advisors thinking seriously about where conviction and capital intersect, this episode offers a rare outside perspective on a question our own tradition asks constantly: what should money be for?

Subscribe to the Christian Alts newsletter for more conversations like this one, delivered straight to your inbox.

📌 Subscribe to our Youtube for new episodes:    / @ChristianAltsTV
📌 Join the ChristianAlts newsletter:
https://newsletter.christianalts.com/
📌 Follow on LinkedIn for investing insights:   / matthewbjohns   

DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

Every major Hollywood studio said no to this film. So the director spent $30 million of his own money, took a $0 salary, and structured a distribution deal that gave away almost none of the profits. It made $612 million worldwide.

In this episode of Kingdom Builders, we break down how Mel Gibson self-funded The Passion of the Christ after every studio in Hollywood passed, the risk, the deal structure, and the grassroots campaign that sold out theaters before opening weekend.

In this episode:

• Why Fox, Columbia, MGM, Paramount, Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros. all rejected the film
• The $20 million acting fee Gibson gave up to make it
• How a 10% distribution deal beat the standard 30-50% studio cut
• The theater buyout that became a viral moment before "viral" existed
• The final numbers — and the $400 million personal payday nobody saw coming

📌 Subscribe to our Youtube for new episodes:    / @ChristianAltsTV
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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

Jennifer Edwards is a Certified Financial Therapist and founder of Breakthrough Financial Wellness, one of a small number of professionals in the country working at the intersection of psychology and personal finance. She joins Matt Johns for a conversation about why intelligence and discipline alone rarely fix someone's relationship with money.

Jennifer explains the research behind why ninety percent of financial decisions are made emotionally and subconsciously, not logically, and walks through her framework for understanding financial behavior in layers, from societal and generational forces down to the belief systems formed in early childhood. She also gets into why the nervous system can respond to something as ordinary as checking a bank account the same way it responds to real danger, and how faith fits into working through all of it.

If you have ever wondered why you keep repeating the same financial patterns despite knowing better, this conversation gets at the actual reason.

📌 Subscribe to our Youtube for new episodes:    / @ChristianAltsTV
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📌 Follow on LinkedIn for investing insights:   / matthewbjohns   

DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.

Who is actually voting your shares?

In this episode of ChristianAlts, Matt sits down with Jerry Bowyer to unpack the hidden world of proxy voting, Christian shareholder activism, and the quiet corporate battles happening inside some of the largest companies in America.

Jerry explains why many Christian investors, advisors, churches, ministries, and institutions may not realize how their shares are being voted — or whether those votes actually reflect their convictions. He also shares the story behind major corporate engagements, including work with companies like JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others.

The conversation covers why selling is not always the only answer, how shareholders can engage companies directly, what changed in corporate America after 2019, and why proxy voting may be one of the most overlooked tools investors have.

Matt and Jerry also discuss Jerry’s background as a former Marxist, the rise of Christian shareholder engagement, the difference between values and virtues, AI-related corporate risks, and what everyday investors should ask their advisors, funds, churches, and institutions about how their money is being used.

If you own stocks, invest through funds, work with an advisor, or give to an organization with assets, this conversation will help you think more carefully about stewardship, ownership, and influence.

📌 Subscribe to our Youtube for new episodes:    / @ChristianAltsTV
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DISCLAIMER: This video represents the views and opinions of it's guest and does not reflect the views and opinions of HoneyHive Capital Partners LLC. Nothing in this video nor any communications from it should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment.