Follower of One : Missions For The Rest Of Us

Paul challenges the Ephesians (and us) to walk differently, and live differently. But how can we? What must change first? Do our actions change first, or does God change our mind first?

Mike talks about the 3-steps of transformation in this passage. We put off the old self (vs. 22) and we put on the new self (vs. 24). But in the middle, we must be renewed. Our renewal is passive. God renews our mind. We have to break some of our old habits. We have to allow God to change us. We begin that process by taking off the old self and putting on a new self. What does that look like? Check out the next few episodes and see.

Also, consider joining us on the Marketplace Mission Trip. You now can join us on a 2-week activity to practice 5 simple daily activities that put us on mission with Jesus. Check it out and learn more at MarketplaceMissionTrip.com.

In this week's episode of the Follower of One Podcast, Mike talks with Elizabeth Urbanowicz. Elizabeth is the founder of Foundation Worldview, LLC. Foundation Worldview provides research-based Christian Apologetics curriculums for kids and provides pivotal analytical skills at the same time. Please welcome her to the community! 

Episode Breakdown

1:10 - Meet Elizabeth & Apologetics

2:55 - Foundation Worldview Growth

7:10 - Foundation Worldview Curriculum

9:05 - Customer Stories & The Truth Matters 

12:40 - Measuring What We Know Through Scripture

15:10 - Connect with Elizabeth

Faith is The Only Truth

How do you know something is true? Mike and Elizabeth discuss what truth is as it pertains to faith and children. There are some really interesting results when you ask children questions about truth (I'll leave that for your listening pleasure in the episode). Per our faith, the only truth is the scripture. Culturally we have been told that the truth is relative. This is a lie that is being told. In our Christian faith, truth is constant across everything we have in this world. Use scripture to support yourself! 

Measuring Our Knowledge

We just outlined how truth is not relative and constant in our faith. What do you point so that you understand what the truth is? Scripture plays an important role here. Elizabeth discusses why her Worldview Curriculum is so important to the development of children's analytical skills. You need a basis to compare what you hear around you and be able to understand where it is coming from. We measure this using our faith (scripture) and take into account world views at the same time. This is such an important process that even adults need to use this moving forward. If we can't tell what the truth is through our faith, then we can't address the breadth of our knowledge. 

Interview Quote

"The truth is different for different people, and this highlights the cultural lie that our children have bought into"

Connect with Elizabeth 

Foundation Worldview Website

Foundation Worldview Twitter

Foundation Worldview Instagram

Foundation Worldview Facebook 

Connect With Follower Of One

Join us over in our Online Community, get social with us; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Listen to our podcast on your way to work and subscribe using your favorite podcast app. Be a part of our next Marketplace Mission Trip!

Could you use more wisdom? James says that we can ask God. But if you're like Mike, often you want to generate wisdom on your own. We think if we read enough books, and even study the bible enough, we can somehow get what we need. When we go to the world for wisdom, it's like washing our clothes in mud. Our environment is broken so our environment can't possibly give us great wisdom. It's broken already.

God is the source of wisdom. And Jesus is the way we see God. Go to him for wisdom. Ask him in prayer, and in his word. and when you're interacting with other Christians. Listen to pastors, search the scripture. Test one thing against another. Every way you can think of to search is valid as long as you're doing it to ask God. He is the source of wisdom.

So if you'd like to be wise today, start asking. Wisdom also comes with time. The best time to ask God for wisdom was years ago. But the second best time to ask him is today! 

Sometimes we also gain wisdom from acting on what God tells us. Often the test precedes the lesson. That's why we do the Marketplace Mission Trips. You can learn more and sign up at MarketplaceMissionTrip.com

Would you like to become great? Serve. We blow over things like this. But Mike challenges us to listen to God through prayer and the do whatever God tells us as long as it lines up with scripture. Is there a better way to spend your life? Don't you feel your flesh and your circumstances rising up in rebellion. "What if God tells me to use a bunch of my time or my money to do something? I'm too busy!"

When we fail to obey, we miss out. Can you trust God for more today? Can you serve more than you think? Can you carefully devise a way to serve someone at work and ask God to help make it happen? Everything we have, time, money and experiences, all come from God. He will use them. He will inform us and teach us and use us if we will let him. We need other Christians speaking into our lives, but especially those who challenge us to be more like Jesus. And Jesus gave his life for people who would kill him. 

Today, let's ask God how we can serve those around us and then, do it!!! Make a way. As Mike says, solve for how? Don't ask why or begin making excuses. Make it happen. And if you do, please share a note or send an email to [email protected] and let us know how it went. We're grateful for your service to our King!

Don't forget to check out the Marketplace Mission Trip, too. We have another one starting in just a couple of weeks. Head over to MarketplaceMissionTrip.com to learn more and sign up.

Do you ever think of yourself as a warehouse? You probably don't. But Mike spent time in the warehousing business. When you have a 3rd party warehouse, the merchandise in the warehouse doesn't belong to you. Mike talked about how everything we are and everything we have comes from God. It's not our own. We don'w own it. Our job is to use it, not just on ourselves but on others. Today's verse is one of Mike's reminders that we're supposed to be shipping. God supplies the materials, and we ship. We're measured by shipping the right things to the right people. When we do, God gives us more, but again, not for ourselves alone, but for others. He will ask us to ship again and again. 

Is God asking you to ship something today? Who do you need to feed? What can you give away. Our job is to serve everyone and help them move one notch closer to Jesus. God will manage the inventory. Our job is to ship. Receiving is easy. Shipping, especially when there doesn't seem like much in the warehouse already, is harder. But shipping is our job. We don't see Jesus working until we're out of stock. Then the next shipment arrives. 

Let's ship today. Ask God to show you where you can feed his sheep. While this was a specific command for Peter, it also applies to us. We can find ways to serve others so they might see Jesus. This isn't a name-it-and-claim-it gospel. It is a call to ask God where we can be used and expect he to challenge us to use our time, money and experiences to make a difference in the lives of others. Try it out today.

Also, you can try it out on our next Marketplace Mission Trip. Head over to MarketplaceMissionTrip.com to check it out and sign up.

Some translations show this as a new sentence. Either this is part of our patience or it isn't, but Mike wasn't sure which. But it requires humility and patience to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do the will of God. But this is very complex. We often think that everyone should believe and do exactly what the Holy Spirit told us to do. 

The Holy Spirit is working with God the Father and Jesus to guide us to follow Jesus. It sounds simple but in one regard, Jesus is the answer to every question. How we each are used by God to make Jesus visible, that can be different. Rather than evaluating everyone else in light of what the Holy Spirit is guiding me to do and how he is challenging me to live, this verse calls us to diligently pursue the unity of the spirit in the bond or the binding power of peace. 

Mike said he focuses on and follows Jesus and asks the Holy Spirit to guide him. And we all fall short. We practice, because we're not perfect. We practice walking in a way that reflects our invitation to be Jesus' followers. How can you follow Jesus more closely today? Can you ask the Spirit to guide you as you diligently pursue unity with other believers in the bond of peace?

And, in just over 2 weeks, we begin our next Marketplace Mission Trip. This is a 2-week exercise that will help you be more intentional in your walk with Jesus at work. Each day you'll receive an email to help you be more intentional during the day. Learn more and sign up for free at MarketplaceMissionTrip.com.

Today, Mike talks about being patient. He confessed that he isn't a very patient person, but patience is one key way we can make Jesus visible at work. When we're patient, we get outside the norm of what others might expect. Our world is "instant-on" related to just about everything. 

However, as patient people, we tell the world we trust something bigger. We're not lazy, or apathetic, but we show tolerance for others in love. We give others room because we want to do what's best for them. This love isn't as emotional as it is practical. Love is action. We appreciate others at work and do what's best for them even if it costs us, the same way Jesus laid down his life for us.

Today, let's allow God to test our patience and set our minds on showing tolerance for one another in love. Our coworkers may think we've been captured by aliens and replaced by a clone. Are you ready to try?

Also, we have another Marketplace Mission Trip coming up in a few weeks. Please go to MarketplaceMissionTrip.com to learn more and sign up.

In this week's episode of the Follower of One Podcast, Mike talks with Jim and Martha Brangenburg. The Brangenberg's are returning guests on our show and they are here to talk about new things on the horizon for iWork4Him! Please welcome them back to the community!

Episode Breakdown

1:10 - iWork4Him Changes

4:00 - New Books on the Horizon: 2021

5:00 - Collaboration in Christ

10:25 - Opportunity is Abundant 

14:30 - Mission Trip in A Box Preview

18:45 - Compare Yourself Only to God

22:30 - Connect with iWork4Him

Collaboration Increasing With Christ

We struggle as Christians, as a community, and as a Church to collaborate with one another. It would be great if everyone in the world thought the same way we do, but it doesn't work like that. In this episode Jim and Martha talk to Mike about how 2021 is the new year for collaboration. Especially with all the difficulty we have faced over the past year and more, it is more imperative than ever to find common ground, common Christ support, and common objectives of living through Christ daily! How do we do that? Link up with Follower of One and iWorkHim to learn more!

Listening to Other Faith Stories 

This is something we have talked about before and this still rings true as we move forward in the new year. Listening is one of the key skills, as Christians, we need to develop to become more like Christ. Christ was the best listener in the game and he did it with purpose and poise. We need others stories to help us think differently about all situations in life. Take action to listen on other's faith stories and learn from them. That is the key to collaboration, learning, growing, and become more like Christ every day! 

Interview Quote

"God has allowed us each to have our own voice, and a lot of people are using that in the form of podcasting"

Connect with iWork4Him

iWork4Him Website

iRetire4Him

Awaken Podcast Network

iWork4Him Podcast

Connect With Follower Of One

Join us over in our Online Community, get social with us; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Listen to our podcast on your way to work and subscribe using your favorite podcast app. Be a part of our next Marketplace Mission Trip!

What does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the calling? This term translated calling means When we live like people who have been invited into eternal life, Paul suggests we interact with other believers in a particular way. The next couple of verses explain this. Since we're a faith-at-work ministry, I'd like to consider these verse in a workplace context.  

Our workplaces have changed. Even if your workplace didn't change much, you know they have changed quite a bit for others. My office is at home now. I work remotely to everyone and spend much of each day on Zoom. 

The first one is humility, but not just any humility, all humility and gentleness. I confess I feel like an intruder in a conversation about humility and gentleness. I can be pretty arrogant. Arrogance is over-inflating your abilities. I can be very quick to think there's nothing for me to learn. It can be embarrassing. Arrogance gives us sharp edges. We're not gentle, but we're firm, demanding, expecting, entitled. How do you interact with others at work? If you see yourself as a workplace minister, how are you at interacting with the other workplace Christ-followers?

Humility and gentleness lubricates relationships. We create less friction when we're humble. Self-important people live in a small world. We want to be in the center of the universe, but when we get there, the universe gets very small. When we understand our place with accuracy, then we are humble. 

The Greek terms Paul uses seem to charge us to be humble in our mind and in our actions. Are you the only believer in your workplace? Or do you know other believers but you don't interact with them about anything other than work? Take a minute today and ask God how he wants your humility and gentleness to show up. 

invitation. Paul has just explained that we're invited by God to something: life with him. If we live as a friend to the God of the universe, what should that mean? He gives some generic terms in the next verse, but today, let's pause here. What does it mean for us in our jobs, in our places of work, in our job transition to walk worthy of our invitation? 

Do we live like we trust Jesus? Do we believe that every hair on our head is numbered? Can we do things that seem to us to be a waste of our time? Can we put up with micromanaging bosses? Can we serve and pray for people we don't like? Is our life all about our success or is it about Jesus being glorified? Can Jesus be glorified through my failure? Is it possible that he would ask me to fail at something so that he could get the glory?

Can you spend some time today asking Jesus how you can walk worthy of the invitation? And if praying for your coworkers is one of those ideas that he gives you, check out our Marketplace Mission Trip. We're working on a new way of developing the tool so that you can even lead your own group of friends on a Marketplace Mission Trip. Learn more and check it out at MarketplaceMissionTrip.com.