More Than a Pastor

Are you looking for the best way to make money quickly? Well you’re going to love today’s show, because I’ll share 6 reasons why providing a service that solves a problem for someone else is one of the fastest and best ways to generate income. And I’ll share practical steps you can take to get started today. That’s all coming up in this edition of the More Than a Pastor show. Let’s get started!

Links for Today's Show

• Blog Post/Show Notes for this Episode: The Best Way to Make Money Quickly
• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YZuwVvuQmxA
• Free PDF: How to Know if Starting a Business is Right for You
• My Last Post: How to Find the Time to Launch Your Own Business or Side Hustle
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee

Deciding that you want or need to earn extra money as a pastor is one thing. But finding the time to do it, in addition to your regular ministry position, can be a challenge!

So how can you find the time to launch your own business or side hustle? And is it really possible to build your dream business in just 15 hours a week, or even less? We’ll talk about that in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show. Let’s get started!

4 Keys to Success in Starting Your Own Business

If you’re a pastor thinking about starting a business or side hustle, I believe there are 4 keys to success that will help you start strong and stay motivated in your ministry work and your entrepreneurial journey. I’ve put them all together a free PDF aptly called the Four Keys to Success in Starting Your Own Business.

I’d love to give you a free copy, so you can avoid some of the common pitfalls that trip people up as they’re starting something on the side. Download your copy today at www.morethanapastor.com/keys.

 Links for Today's Show

• Get the Blog Post/Show Notes for this Episode: How to Find the Time to Launch Your Own Business or Side Hustle
• Watch this Episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/GChGyeVYNWw
• Free PDF: Four Keys to Success in Starting Your Own Business
• My Last Post: Greg Atkinson on the Secret Power of Kindness, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of the Church
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee

Will the 21st century pastor look more like the co-vocational tentmaker of the 1st century church than the full-time pastor of the 20th century?

Church leadership expert Greg Atkinson says YES, and shares several reasons why pastors and churches need to embrace entrepreneurship now, in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show. 

 Links for Today's Show

• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fHzhlTTCIJA
• Get the Blog Post/Show Notes: https://www.morethanapastor.com/blog/greg-atkinson-on-the-secret-power-of-kindness-entrepreneurship-and-the-future-of-the-church
• Greg Atkinson's Website: www.gregatkinson.com
• Email Greg: [email protected]
• Get Greg's New Book The Secret Power of Kindness: https://amzn.to/3OyUl3M
• Free PDF: How to Know if Starting a Business is Right for You
• My Last Post: Burned Out Pastors: Don't Quit, Give Yourself a Reset Instead
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee
  
  

Introducing Greg Atkinson

I’m excited to have Greg Atkinson join us on the show today. Greg has been in ministry for nearly 30 years.

He is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, speaker, leadership and life coach, and consultant. He has worked with churches of all stages and sizes, including some of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the country, as well as with businesses, non-profits, and organizations.

In this conversation...

• Greg and I talk about how he began to leverage his ministry skills into resources that served pastors and churches, and how those resources have generated multiple streams of income.
• I also ask Greg for his thoughts on what the future of the church will look like over the next 5-10 years and beyond. His answer might surprise you.
• He takes us into the backstory behind his new book, The Secret Power of Kindness, which is available for pre-order starting today on Amazon. And we explore why the message of Kindness is needed in the church, and in our world, now more than ever.

And now let’s get to our conversation with Greg Atkinson!

Church attendance and giving are down 30% over the last two years, according to recent surveys. If this trend continues, churches will be forced to make more serious cutbacks. Programming and staffing are often the first places to cut.

But what happens when churches need to cut back on support for missions? Are self-funded missionaries the future of the church? We’ll talk about it in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show.

Links for Today's Show

• Watch this Episode on YouTube: 
• Join our Members Community: Become a Founding Member
• My Last Post: Burned Out Pastors: Don't Quit, Give Yourself a Reset
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee

Nearly 50% of American pastors say they struggle with burnout and have considered quitting in the last year, believing that a fresh start somewhere else is just what they need.

What if you didn’t have to go somewhere else to get a fresh start. What if you could press the reset button on your life and ministry right now, and create a fresh start right where you’re at?

Well I believe you can, and today I’ll share 5 steps you can take to get unstuck, give yourself a reset, and move forward in your life and work, in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show.

Links for Today's Show

• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DWbtaGSR3NA
• Get the Blog Post/Show Notes for This Episode: https://www.morethanapastor.com/blog/burned-out-pastors-don-t-quit-give-yourself-a-reset-instead
• Join our Members Community: Become a Founding Member
• My Last Post: How Pastors Can Create Income Through Online Platforms
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee

Have you noticed how quick we are in the church to celebrate marketplace leaders who feel called to leverage their business skills in the church, but not church leaders who feel called to leverage their ministry skills in the marketplace?

It’s like co-vocational ministry can only go one way, from the marketplace to the church, and not from the church to the marketplace.

Today I want to share why I believe now is the time to celebrate and encourage pastors to leverage their ministry skills in the marketplace. And how the shift to co-vocational ministry will benefit pastors, churches, and the communities they serve. 

Links for Today's Show

• Get the Blog Post/Show Notes: Why it's Time to Celebrate Pastors Leveraging their Ministry Skills in the Marketplace
• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3LEunaSSk
• Join our Members Community: Become a Founding Member
• My Last Post: How Pastors Can Create Income Through Online Platforms
• Want to Support the Show? Buy Me a Coffee

What would you do if your church suddenly couldn’t pay you anymore? For Pastor John Stange, it sent him on a mission to create multiple streams of passive income through his own online platforms. We’ll show you how he did it, and how you can too, in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show.

Links for Today's Show

• Connect with John Stange: PlatformLaunchers.com and DesireJesus.com
• Show Notes/Blog Post for this Episode: https://www.morethanapastor.com/blog/how-pastors-can-create-passive-income-through-online-platforms-with-john-stange
• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/D6H6nk0dkcE
• Join our Members Community: Become a Founding Member
• My Last Post: How One Pastor Launched a Health Coaching Business

About John Stange
 
John is an author, podcaster, and pastor. He has written over 30 books. He hosts four podcasts with have been downloaded over 10 million times, including:

• The Chapter-A-Day Audio Bible
• Daily Devotions with Pastor John
• Dwell on These Things
• Platform Launchers

John has been serving in church leadership for the past 25 years, and is the lead pastor of Core Creek Community Church in Langhorne, PA.

He also leads a membership community called Platform Launchers which helps members build, grow, and monetize message-based online platforms. 

More than that, I’ve grown to love John and the other members I’ve gotten to know in the community, and the support and encouragement we give each other, which has inspired me to finally launch my More Than a Pastor online members community as well.

Pastors have many skills developed in the church which could be transferred into the marketplace. And being able to coach others is definitely one of those skills!

Have you ever wondered how you could leverage your ministry skills into a thriving coaching business? And how coaching around health and wellness could enrich your life and the lives of others?

Today we’ll share how one pastor discovered a renewed calling and passion to lead others toward health and wellness and launched his own profitable coaching program, and how you can too!

Links for Today's Show

• Milan Bittenbender's True Wellth Coaching 
• Watch the YouTube Video for this Episode
• Leave Me a Review on Apple Podcasts
• Last Post: Jennifer Harshman is Making it Easy to Write a Book

Buy Me a Coffee & Support the Show!

Like my show and want to join our mission to help pastors, missionaries, and other ministry leaders create sustainable income outside the church?  Now you can show your support by buying me a coffee...or two...or three on a crowdfunding site for creators called Buy Me a Coffee.  Thanks for your support!

Introducing Milan Bittenbender of True Wellth Coaching

I’m so glad to have Milan Bittenbender with me on the show today. I’ve known Milan a bit over the years, as we’ve both served as pastors in the Wesleyan Church in the West Michigan area.

In 2022 Milan transitioned from vocational pastoral ministry, and during a 3-month sabbatical, he decided to focus on his physical health and wellness. He lost 35 pounds in 67 days. Check out his Before (L) and After (R) pictures in the show notes/blog post for this episode!

Through that experience, the Lord has given him a renewed calling and passion to lead others toward health and wellness - body, soul and spirit, which he does through his business, True Wellth Coaching. 

I’m so excited to have Milan on the show today to share his experience, and how he’s been able to create true wealth for himself and his clients. And now let’s get to our conversation with Milan Bittenbender!

Have you wanted to write a book, or wondered if you could, but the process of writing just seemed too complicated and confusing, so you never got started, or you started but never finished?

Maybe you're a pastor wondering if you could turn a sermon series into a book? Or perhaps you have a message or passion that you feel called to share, but you’re just not sure the best way to get started, or if it’ll be worth the effort?

Well what if writing a book could be as simple as following a recipe to bake a cake? Jennifer Harshman of Your Book Bakery says that it is! And she's here to show us how in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show!

Links for Today's Show

• Your Book Bakery: http://www.yourbookbakery.com
• Harshman Services: https://www.harshmanservices.com/
• Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nCDTa6OQn74
• Leave Me a Review: More Than a Pastor on Apple Podcasts
• Read my Last Post: Tom Bump on How a Blindside Clarified His Mission to Help Other Pastors

Why Pastors and Other Ministry Leaders Should Write a Book

If you've been a pastor, missionary, or ministry leader for any length of time, you've already written a book...you just might not realize it yet!

Think of all the sermons and devotionals you've written over the years. Did you know you could easily turn each sermon series into a book, which you could make available to your congregation, or sell on Amazon or even your local bookstore? This is a great example of passive income: You create something one time and it can make money for you over and over and over again.

And beyond the church ministry realm, if you’re looking to launch your own message-based online platform, or even a service-based or brick and mortar business, a book can really open doors for you and help you grow your audience and build your authority, which in turn will help you grow your income.

Introducing Jennifer Harshman of Your Book Bakery

Jen is the author of Your Book Bakery: Making it Easy to Write a Book. And She believes that if you can follow a recipe to bake a cake, you can write a helpful non-fiction book.

I met Jennifer through John Stange’s Platform Launchers community. But then I realized later that she and I are also members of Dan Miller’s 48 Days Eagles community for entrepreneurs.

And I’ve been amazed at how many people just in those communities that Jennifer has worked with, let alone hundreds of other clients Jen has helped to write, edit, or publish their books, since 1992.

In addition to her new book, Jen offers a 12-week book writing boot camp, one-on-one coaching, and even ghostwriting, to help you get your book out of your head and into the world. You’ll find her online at www.yourbookbakery.com.

And now let’s get to our conversation with Jennifer Harshman!

Can God turn a blindside into a blessing? And turn our pain into a renewed sense of purpose? Yes he can! And we’ll explain how this played out in one pastor’s life in this episode of the More Than a Pastor Show. Let’s get started!

 Links for Today's Show

• Tom Bump & KMC Coaching: www.tombump.com
• Restoring Leaders: www.restoringleaders.org
• Show Notes for this Episode: Tom Bump on How a Blindside Clarified His Mission to Help Pastors Through the Hard Seasons
• Watch this Episode on YouTube: 
• Leave Me a Review: More Than a Pastor on Apple Podcasts
• Free 30-Min Coaching Session: www.morethanapastor.com/coaching
  
  

Tom Bump on How a Blindside Clarified His Mission to Help Other Pastors Through the Hard Seasons

Have you noticed in your own life, or maybe someone else’s, how it often takes something bad happening to us, like losing our job, to finally launch us into pursuing a vision we’ve had for some time, but we didn’t have the courage to pursue it.

Maybe we kept thinking the time wasn’t right, or we didn’t have enough money, or we wanted to wait for other conditions to be just right…before we pursued that thing we knew God was calling us to do.

And then all of a sudden, something major happens, and the things that were holding us back suddenly fade away, or they’re no longer as important.

I know that’s happened in my own life. And that’s exactly what happened to our guest today, Tom Bump. And I’m excited to have him share his story on how a blindside in his church launched him on a mission to help pastors through the hard seasons of life and ministry.