IBAM- International Business As Mission Biblical Entrepreneurship

What does it mean to lead a business as a Kingdom CEO?

In this episode, business and podcasting coach Stephanie Gass shares how she moved from hustle, striving, and trying to build what she thought would succeed to operating in partnership with God. Drawing from 15 years as a full-time entrepreneur, she explains why God—not the business owner—is the true CEO and why major decisions should begin with prayer, stillness, and the question, “Lord, what would You have me do?”

Stephanie organizes the conversation around three key practices: surrender, speak, and steward.

Surrender means committing plans to God and refusing to carry the weight of business or ministry alone. Speak means recognizing that your voice is part of your assignment, whether you communicate through a podcast, a book, a training, or a room. Stephanie also shares how starting a podcast with simple equipment helped her reach more people in less time than years of short-form social media effort.

Stewardship extends beyond money. It includes time, energy, family, health, boundaries, rest, and the capacity to serve well. Stephanie encourages Kingdom leaders to build rhythms of rest, work, and worship, and to plan their week around God first, family second, and business third.

This episode is an invitation to stop striving, stop hiding, and stop burning out. Instead, lead with surrender, use your voice boldly, and steward what God has entrusted to you with wisdom, obedience, and trust, so work remains sustainable, peaceful, and aligned with the calling God has given you.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:57 Meet Stephanie
• 03:07 Operating as CEO
• 06:10 Surrendering to God
• 09:07 Speaking Boldly
• 14:56 Stewardship Talk
• 19:08 Final Thoughts

5 Key Takeaways

1. God Is the True CEO

Kingdom leaders may carry important titles, but God remains the ultimate authority. Before making major business, hiring, ministry, or leadership decisions, bring the plan to Him, become quiet, listen, and ask:

“Lord, what would You have me do?”

2. Surrender Makes the Burden Lighter

Business and ministry become heavy when leaders try to carry everything alone. Surrender means actively partnering with God, committing plans to Him, and trusting Him to establish the way forward.

3. Your Voice Is Your Assignment

Whether you speak through a podcast, a book, a virtual training, an in-person room, or written content, you are called not to hide. Fear, comparison, and concern about what others think should not stop you from sharing the message God has given you.

4. Long-Form Content Can Create Sustainable Impact

Stephanie explains that podcasting allowed her to reach more people while spending less time than she had spent producing short-form social media content. A growing library of long-form episodes can build trust, generate leads, and continue reaching people in the future.

5. Stewardship Includes Your Whole Life

Stewardship is not limited to finances. Kingdom CEOs must also steward their time, energy, health, family, rest, boundaries, and capacity. Sustainable leadership follows a rhythm of rest, work, and worship—and plans around God first, family second, and business third.

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John’s business journey did not begin with momentum, polished systems, or a clear strategic roadmap.

It began with broken equipment, leaking roofs, outdated operations, regulatory pressure, and a company that was barely surviving.

In this conversation, John shares how military discipline, perseverance, prayer, mentors, and a commitment to integrity helped him lead the family business through years of uncertainty. What started as one of the smallest companies in its category eventually became the largest, serving major retailers and earning vendor recognition.

But this episode is about more than growth.

John and Steve explore what it means to put faith into action, lead with excellence, care for employees, choose the right people, and continue doing the right thing even when others appear to prosper by compromising.

John also reflects on the mentors who helped him avoid unnecessary mistakes, the responsibility he felt toward employees and suppliers, and the role Psalms and Proverbs played in keeping him grounded during difficult seasons.

The conversation closes with a powerful reminder for Christian leaders: success does not remove struggle. Leaders still have to get up, press forward, and depend on God every day.

John’s challenge is simple and practical: put your faith into action, talk less, do more, and never give in.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:01 John's Faith Journey
• 03:01 Family and Faith
• 04:20 Military Career
• 09:58 Business Struggles
• 14:04 Keys to Success
• 21:04 Balancing Family
• 27:33 Excellence and Faith
• 32:57 Business Growth
• 40:16 Transition and Legacy
• 49:50 Encouragement

Five Key Takeaways

1. Perseverance often matters more than appearance or natural advantage

John did not see himself as the strongest or most obvious candidate during military training, but he refused to quit. That same perseverance carried into business.

2. The right mentors can shorten the learning curve

Retired industry professionals helped John identify practical improvements and avoid mistakes they had already experienced.

3. Faith should become visible through action

Core beliefs have little value if they never affect decisions, leadership, integrity, or the way people are treated.

4. A company reflects the standards of its leader

When leaders compromise, others often follow. When leaders pursue excellence and consistency, they set the tone for the organization.

5. Finishing strong requires continued dependence on God

John does not present himself as someone who has mastered every challenge. His message is to keep pressing forward, get up after failure, and continue putting faith into action.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/L84hKxup4z4

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What does it really look like to integrate faith into the everyday realities of business?

In this episode, Steve Adams sits down with Chris Chancey, president and CEO of the Jacksonville Area National Christian Foundation, for a practical conversation about faith, work, risk, failure, generosity, and spiritual impact.

Chris shares how his journey began with plans for traditional ministry, but while studying at seminary, his understanding of work began to change. Scripture helped him see business not as something separate from ministry, but as a place where people can serve, worship, grow, and influence others.

That conviction eventually led Chris and his wife into entrepreneurship. One of the companies they built was a staffing agency that placed around 20,000 refugees into jobs across the United States over eight years and grew to 14 offices.

Along the way, Chris wrestled with an important question: How can a company pursue meaningful spiritual impact while also remaining financially healthy?

He shares a simple approach built around spiritual integration activities and spiritual formation outcomes, helping business leaders think intentionally about what they can do, what they can measure, and what they must ultimately trust God to accomplish.

The episode closes with three practical encouragements for faith-driven entrepreneurs: pursue faith-aligned mentors, pursue faith-aligned capital, and practice intentional generosity.

This is an honest conversation about persistence, stewardship, dependence on God, and learning to see business as a place of discipleship.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:15 Guest Intro
• 03:51 Bridging Ministry
• 07:57 Business and Discipleship
• 12:20 Business Journey
• 19:18 Tools for Business
• 24:10 Final Insights
• 32:02 Conclusion

5 Key Takeaways

1. Business can be a place of discipleship

Chris explains that business creates daily opportunities for dependence on God, growth, refinement, and faith. The pressures, decisions, risks, and uncertainty of business can draw a person closer to the Lord when they are open to that process.

2. Spiritual impact should be intentionally connected to the business model

Chris describes the importance of identifying opportunities for spiritual impact within the existing mission, goals, relationships, and stakeholders of the company rather than creating activities that compete with the financial health of the business.

3. Measure the activities you can control and pray for the outcomes you cannot

The conversation distinguishes between spiritual integration activities, such as prayer, devotionals, counseling, chaplaincy, or other intentional practices, and spiritual formation outcomes, such as people coming to faith or becoming involved in a local church. Leaders can measure whether activities happened while recognizing that spiritual outcomes are ultimately not theirs to control.

4. Persistence changes the meaning of failure

Chris and Steve discuss how failure can become a source of learning when a person continues, adapts, and refuses to quit. As Steve puts it in the conversation, without persistence, failure becomes final and costly; with persistence, lessons can emerge from it.

5. Faith-driven entrepreneurs should pursue aligned relationships and generosity

Chris closes with three areas of encouragement: work hard to find faith-aligned mentors, pursue faith-aligned capital before it is urgently needed, and practice generosity with time and resources. He also shares how generosity surrounding the sale of his business changed his perspective and eventually connected with his work at the National Christian Foundation.

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What if you do not have to leave business to enter ministry?

In this episode of the Kingdom Impact Summit, Steve Adams sits down with Jim and Martha Brangenberg of I Work for Him for a candid conversation about faith, work, entrepreneurship, marriage, and purpose.

Jim and Martha both committed their lives to full-time ministry as teenagers. For years, they believed that calling would eventually lead them into seminary or a formal church role. Instead, they built businesses, served clients, raised a family, and eventually discovered a truth that changed the direction of their lives: their work mattered to God, and their workplace was already a mission field.

They share how that realization led to I Work for Him and a growing collection of podcasts, stories, and collaborative projects designed to encourage believers to live out their faith through their work.

The conversation also explores how business can expose character, how pressure reveals what is inside us, and why serving employees, customers, vendors, families, and communities changes the way we think about business.

Jim and Martha also open up about 39 years of marriage, working together, protecting family priorities, choosing friends wisely, apologizing quickly, and making prayer together a consistent part of their relationship.

The episode closes with a challenge for those entering retirement: almost everyone knows what they are retiring from, but far fewer know what they are retiring to.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:26 Three Fish Principle
• 02:53 Jim & Martha's Journey
• 06:34 Faith and Work Insight
• 08:19 Cultural Mandate
• 15:02 Marriage and Business
• 20:28 Marriage Secrets
• 27:04 Ministry Overview
• 36:54 Conclusion

5 Key Takeaways

1. Your work can be ministry

Jim and Martha spent years believing that meaningful ministry required leaving business for a formal church role. Their turning point came when they realized they were already in ministry through their work.

2. The workplace is a mission field

The people believers interact with through calls, emails, clients, coworkers, vendors, and employees are not interruptions to ministry. Those relationships can become opportunities to live out faith.

3. Business reveals your character

Pressure, conflict, deadlines, criticism, and unexpected moments reveal what is inside a person. The conversation challenges listeners to ask whether difficult moments bring out the flesh or the character of Jesus.

4. Business or ministry should not destroy your marriage

Jim and Martha strongly reject the idea that success in business or ministry requires neglecting marriage and family. They emphasize prayer, shared time, family priorities, humility, forgiveness, and choosing relationships wisely.

5. Retirement should include purpose

Through I Retire for Him, Jim and Martha challenge the idea that retirement is simply an extended vacation. Their question is direct: you may know what you are retiring from, but do you know what you are retiring to?

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/_6nF9YAvx9c

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What if the local church is one of the most efficient engines for real community transformation—but often lacks the data, infrastructure, and grant readiness to access larger resources?

In this episode, Steve sits down with Dave and Scott for a practical, faith-filled conversation about the role of churches in solving serious community needs. They discuss why local churches are relationally connected, volunteer-powered, and often more financially efficient than traditional systems. But they also unpack the hard truth: passion is not the same as preparedness.

Scott explains why funders need concrete data, why grants are competitive, and why churches must be ready with fiscal controls, compliance, partners, and clear strengths before pursuing major opportunities. Dave shares how CityServe equips churches through a hub-and-pod model that helps local congregations distribute practical resources back into their communities.

The conversation also turns personal as Dave and Scott speak to business owners, pastors, and leaders who know the loneliness of carrying responsibility. Whether you are leading a company, serving a church, or building community partnerships, the encouragement is simple and strong: keep your eyes on the Lord and serve others as unto Him.

This episode is a grounded look at faith, funding, local church impact, public-private partnership, and what it takes for churches to deliver key societal solutions with integrity and excellence. It is both strategic and pastoral, with plenty of practical wisdom for leaders who want impact without mission drift.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:26 Church vs. Government
• 02:18 Church Efficiency
• 04:21 Faith-Based Solutions
• 07:13 City Serve Initiative
• 09:29 Grant Writing Tips
• 13:20 Leadership Advice
• 16:46 Conclusion

5 Takeaways

1. The local church is relational.

Churches know local leaders, families, needs, and networks in a way large systems often cannot.

2. Churches are often financially efficient.

Because they are used to operating without government money, churches know how to do a lot with limited resources.

3. Grant readiness matters.

Funders want data, research, fiscal controls, compliance, and proof that an organization can manage larger dollars.

4. Partnerships are essential.

Churches that want to pursue major funding need collaboration with other partners in the community.

5. Leadership must stay rooted in service to the Lord.

Whether in business or ministry, the right heart comes from serving others as unto God—not simply reacting to people’s approval, flaws, or disappointment.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/M532g5VDOUk

Listen to Part 1 here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LLJH1IZf4t00P5mt4Rr9z?si=DOt0LmnhSVWFGFrEwu3Zjw

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In this IBAM Kingdom Impact Summit conversation, Steve Adams interviews Dave Pavlin and Scott Wead from City Serve about the powerful role local churches can play in meeting community needs.

Dave shares his journey from the business world, where he and his family built one of the largest durable medical equipment companies for hospice patients in the United States, to helping launch City Serve after selling the company in 2016. He talks openly about the sense of emptiness that can follow business success and how his operational background now supports City Serve behind the scenes through entities, finances, HR, and organizational structure.

Scott shares his path through nonprofit leadership, church planting, and pastoring in Orange County before joining City Serve. What drew him in was City Serve’s heart to support local churches. Along the way, he began writing grants, starting with a pilot project that won five out of six grants for about $9 million. Since then, the National Grant Center has approached major fundraising impact.

Together, Dave and Scott explain how City Serve helps churches collaborate, become practical distribution networks, serve vulnerable people, and explore partnerships that can expand ministry impact. They discuss Farmers to Families, needs-based evangelism, transitional housing, after-school programs, marriage and family initiatives, recovery, prevention work, and the importance of helping churches become grant ready.

This episode is a practical, encouraging look at what can happen when the local church is supported, equipped, and mobilized.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:24 Dave's Background
• 02:15 Scott's Journey
• 06:17 City Serve's Role
• 10:05 Innovative Projects
• 16:01 Conclusion

5 Takeaways

1. Local churches can become powerful “last-mile” partners because they already have direct relationships in their communities.
2. City Serve exists to support churches that are serving on the front lines, especially smaller churches with limited resources.
3. Grants can open major opportunities, but churches need to be prepared to receive, execute, report, and stay accountable.
4. Practical service — food distribution, housing, after-school programs, recovery, and family support — can create meaningful doors for ministry.
5. Business and operational skills matter in Kingdom work, even when they happen behind the scenes.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/g3B-dyV7MYE

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In this episode, Steve Adams sits down with Brad for a rich conversation about faith, work, Scripture, discipleship, and what it means to follow Jesus in the everyday places God has already placed us.

Brad shares how he and his wife entered the real estate world through Keller Williams after becoming empty nesters. What began as a possible investment path became a way to create freedom for ministry, family, biblical counseling, and discipleship. Along the way, Brad also became part of SWAT Radio — Spiritual Warriors Advancing Truth — a daily radio broadcast that grew out of men’s Bible studies and a desire to teach Scripture with real-life application.

The conversation also explores the founding of the Northeast Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce, created to gather faith-based business people not only for networking, but for relationship, Gospel conversations, and disciple-making.

One of the strongest themes in this episode is the call to examine Scripture daily. Brad challenges Christian business leaders not to simply consume teaching, but to become like the Bereans — testing, studying, and being shaped by the Word of God. He also reflects on the Bible his brother-in-law gave him in 1981 and how the words written inside shaped his mission for more than 40 years.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:10 Business Challenges
• 03:23 Faith and Counseling
• 03:50 Radio Program
• 07:04 Christian Chamber
• 13:19 Biblical Inspiration
• 19:59 Conclusion

For Christian entrepreneurs, leaders, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, and disciple-makers, this episode is a powerful reminder: as you go, steward your gifts, serve others, and proclaim His excellencies.

5 Key Takeaways

1. Discipleship happens “as you go” — at work, in family, in community, and through everyday relationships.
2. Business can become a platform for serving others, stewarding God-given gifts, and making disciples.
3. Christian leaders cannot “pedal unapplied truth”; they must be discipled if they want to disciple others.
4. Examining Scripture daily is essential for leaders who do not want to be shaped more by the world than by the Word.
5. Your primary ministry begins at home, especially as a husband, father, and grandfather who wants to finish well.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/8IMJ0yCVg2g

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In this Kingdom Impact Summit conversation, Steve welcomes Brad for an honest and deeply personal discussion about faith, business, discipleship, accountability, and the way God uses both success and failure to shape a life.

Brad begins by sharing how his journey with Christ started in the summer of 1981, when he heard the gospel for the first time and surrendered his life to Christ. The very next day, his brother-in-law began discipling him and gave him a Bible with a challenge that stayed with him: don’t become a spoon-fed Christian. Learn to open the Word daily and feed on it.

From there, Brad walks through his business journey — from men’s apparel, to Ralph Lauren, to starting his own retail store, to stepping into the Mattress Firm franchise opportunity that moved his family to Jacksonville. He shares how prayer, his wife Vicki’s wisdom, and unexpected opportunities shaped major decisions along the way.

The conversation also explores real accountability, marriage, rapid growth, franchising, and the painful season that came through the Whataburger franchise opportunity. Brad reflects on how the stress and loss exposed idols in his own life and became part of God’s transforming work.

Through Romans 8:28 and Romans 8:29, Brad reminds listeners that God does not waste painful seasons. He uses them to conform His people to the image of Christ.

• 00:00 Welcome & Introduction
• 00:48 Faith Journey Begins
• 02:28 Discipleship Importance
• 02:55 Career Beginnings
• 06:11 Transition to Entrepreneurship
• 10:18 Mattress Firm Success
• 18:09 Business Challenges
• 18:48 Conclusion
• 5 Takeaways

One-on-one discipleship can shape a life in ways that last for decades.

Brad’s brother-in-law challenged him early not to become a spoon-fed Christian, but to open God’s Word daily and feed on it.

Prayer played a central role in Brad and Vicki’s decision to move to Jacksonville for the Mattress Firm opportunity.

Real accountability requires trust, openness, and the willingness to let another person speak into your life.

Brad’s business failure exposed hidden idols and became part of how God transformed him.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/3R9YCoUFdMg

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What if the work you do every day is not separate from your faith, but one of the places God has already called you to serve?

In this episode, Steve Adams and Jim Anthony explore the sacred/secular divide and why so many believers have felt that serving God only “counts” if they become a pastor, missionary, or go overseas. From Genesis 1:26–28 to everyday business leadership, the conversation reframes work as something God ordained and something that can advance human flourishing.

You’ll hear how business owners can live out kingdom purpose by doing excellent work, caring genuinely for people, building trust, and staying open to the conversations God brings. Steve shares the story of Suryan in Indonesia, an IBAM student whose helmet and shoe-cleaning business became a simple pathway for serving students and sharing how God helped him with his own problems.

Jim also reflects on leadership, employee care, the importance of getting out of the office, and why people often follow people—not just companies. The conversation then turns to how churches can see business as an extension of ministry, with structure, champions, and partnership.

The episode closes with Jim’s powerful adoption story from Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, a moving picture of grace, family, and being welcomed home. It is heartfelt, practical, and deeply encouraging for anyone who wants their daily work to matter for the kingdom right where God has already placed them today, now.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:58 Sacred Work
• 02:37 Workplace Faith
• 03:52 Inspiring Stories
• 09:01 Leadership Lessons
• 13:14 Business as Mission
• 17:31 Personal Stories
• 22:38 Conclusion

5 Takeaways

1. Work is not second-class ministry.

The conversation reframes business and everyday work as sacred when seen through the lens of God’s design and human flourishing.

2. Excellence is part of the witness.

Jim emphasizes that business owners should first be good at their business, because poor work can damage the testimony they hope to carry.

3. Trust often opens the door to faith conversations.

Suryan’s story in Indonesia shows how kindness, consistency, and trust can lead people to share their problems and become open to hearing how God helped.

4. Leadership is deeply relational.

The episode highlights caring for employees, knowing people by name, getting out of the office, and recognizing that people work for people.

5. Business as mission can work locally and globally.

Jim and Steve discuss how churches can see business as an extension of ministry when they have structure, partnership, and a champion to help carry it forward.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/Mn296aVaG9U

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Listen to Part 1 here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cP9yEdVVQ4YzAku3ehSYn?si=kEqhyDCLTxOTgJRYYiE-EQ

In this conversation, Steve Adams sits down with Jim Batten to talk about faith, work, family, and the kind of leadership that gets tested in real life.

Jim brings a deep business background, including leadership at O’Reilly Automotive, board service in banking, and years of experience carrying high-level responsibility. But the heart of this episode is not simply business success. It is about how a Christ follower leads when the demands of work, family, church, and calling all press in at the same time.

Jim shares about his family, his faith journey, his marriage to Lorna, and the blessing of seeing his children serving the Lord. He also reflects on demanding seasons during his years at O’Reilly, when work required long hours and personal sacrifice.

One of the strongest moments in the conversation is Jim’s picture of “holding the rock.” Sometimes the company needs more from you. Sometimes your family may carry extra weight for a season. But if you never come back and pick up what is yours to carry, things can break.

Steve and Jim also discuss practical rhythms that helped Jim stay grounded, including staying involved in church, staying in the Word, spending faithful time with family, and creating a physical “switch gears” point on the way home from work.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:57 Jim's Background
• 01:56 Family Life
• 03:46 Faith Journey
• 06:02 Banking Experience
• 09:54 Career Path
• 13:13 Work-Life Balance
• 16:34 Spiritual Disciplines
• 20:34 Technology Impact
• 22:54 Conclusion

5 Takeaways

Faith and family are not side issues.

Jim describes family as number one after his faith, and he views his children serving the Lord as a major measure of success.

High-level leadership requires real sacrifice.

During demanding seasons, Jim collapsed much of his personal time so he could work, spend time with family, and stay involved in church.

Work-life balance is seasonal, not perfectly flat.

Jim explains that there are seasons where work needs more, but that cannot become permanent without consequences.

Leaders have to know who is “holding the rock.”

Family may carry extra weight for a while, but leaders must return and pick up what is theirs to carry.

Small rhythms can protect what matters.

Jim used a physical point on his drive home to “switch gears” from work mode to home mode, helping him show up differently with his family.

Source used: EP 98 Transcript.

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