The Finish Line Podcast

By The Finish Line TeamBusiness Religion & Spirituality Christianity

The Finish Line Podcast episodes

October 05Courtney Weaver, Founder of Accounting Beyond Borders, on Using Your Profession to Advance the Kingdom (Ep. 198)
You may have professional skills that serve you well at work, yet wonder whether those same abilities could play a meaningful role in God’s Kingdom.
What might change if you stopped looking for a different gift to offer and began asking how God could use the one He has already given you?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Courtney Weaver, CPA and founder of Accounting Beyond Borders, helps Christian mission organizations around the world strengthen their accounting, financial stewardship, and administrative systems so ministry leaders can focus more fully on their calling. What began with a mission trip to Panama and a simple request for accounting help eventually grew into a nonprofit serving 25 organizations across roughly 18 countries.
Courtney shares how God gradually brought together her faith, accounting expertise, and love of relational service. She explores what it means to surrender control, trust God’s provision, and use professional gifts without assuming Kingdom service must look more traditionally “ministry-minded.” She also explains how clear budgets, financial transparency, and healthy accountability can strengthen ministries, build donor confidence, and unlock generosity.
By the end, you may see your own work and abilities differently, with greater freedom to recognize that faithful stewardship can begin by offering God exactly what He has already placed in your hands.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
How to recognize the Kingdom value in your professional skills
Why faithful stewardship requires both transparency and strong financial systems
How surrender can free you from striving to control outcomes
Why relationships and presence matter alongside excellent professional service
How financial clarity can strengthen ministries and unlock greater generosity
How to give with greater confidence, intentionality, and relational care
HIGHLIGHTS:
“I thought I was going to work here, try to impact people here, earn money to be able to pour into the ministry work. And I didn’t realize it was one and the same, that God was calling me to use my gifts right there in the mission field alongside these ministries.”
“We want to come alongside Christian mission organizations, empower the ministry leaders, and free them up to do what they’ve been called to do while we do their accounting and what we’ve been called to do.”
“He’s given me plenty of opportunities to learn that all of this is His. It is not mine. I am not in control, and I don’t want to be. It is much better in His hands than it is in mine.”
“When I am thinking, ‘We can only accomplish this if I strive and work hard enough,’ I’m putting a box to what He can even do because it’s within my own might, my own strength.”
“I’m so passionate about helping our ministries have great transparency because I think that unlocks generosity for others.”
“Right where you are, wherever you’re planted, is where God wants you to serve with exactly the gifts He’s given you.”
“I think we overcomplicate it and forget that His design is perfect. He created each of us perfectly, and we don’t have to drum up something flashier to be used by Him. He will use us exactly as He created us.”
“You are giving people an opportunity to use what God has given them and to have purpose and be a part of something bigger than themselves. And you’re not going to convince anyone. God is.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
Accounting Beyond Borders
Rio Missions Panama
Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry
Adonai International Ministries
Messiah University
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51 min
September 21Brett Johnson, Founder of the Institute for Innovation, Integration & Impact, on Erasing the Spiritual-Secular Divide in Work (Ep. 197)
You may already see your work, business, investments, and generosity as resources God has entrusted to you, but have you considered whether the work itself could be part of your calling?
What might it look like to move beyond simply giving from what you earn and begin stewarding your skills, influence, capital, and everyday work as part of God’s mission in the world?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Brett Johnson, founder of the Institute for Innovation, Integration, and Impact, has spent decades helping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations integrate faith, work, capital, and calling. Drawing from his experience in business, church leadership, missions, Silicon Valley, and international development, Brett challenges the assumption that ministry happens primarily through churches and nonprofits while ordinary marketplace work plays a supporting role.
Brett explores what changes when Christians begin with the assumption that they are called to work right where God has placed them. He shares how business skills can strengthen missions, how companies can be repurposed around biblical principles, and why generosity can include intellectual, relational, spiritual, and financial capital. He also describes a broader vision for Kingdom business and impact investing that addresses systemic challenges in cities and nations through sustainable businesses, nonprofits, and collaborative investment.
By the end, you may see your current work less as something competing with your calling and more as something God can use within it.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
Integrating faith, work, calling, and mission
Rejecting the sacred-secular divide in everyday work
Recognizing your current work as God-given calling
Designing disciple-making into core business processes
Giving everyday skills and careers a Kingdom purpose
Stewarding capital beyond traditional charitable giving
HIGHLIGHTS:
“Don’t try to balance things. I think when Jesus says in John 5:19, ‘I only do what I see the Father doing,’ we have to develop a core competence to try to understand what God is saying, to hear what God’s voice is in our particular situation.”
“Just assume that you’re called to work. If you’re a medical doctor, if you’re a school teacher, if you’re an engineer, why don’t you just start with the assumption that you’re called to be an engineer or you’re called to be a school teacher?”
“Assume that the place where you are working now is where you’re called to be, and figure out how you can extend the Kingdom of God, make God known, and demonstrate His goodness and His characteristics right where you are.”
“You have to get on, actively work where you are with what God has entrusted to you, and assume that that’s a good starting place, not waiting for instructions. We’re not in the reserves. We’re in active duty, all of us.”
“The goal wasn’t to get God into the business, but to get their business into God’s business.”
“We don’t want to just make businesses more profitable, more godly, more righteous, more generous. We actually want to make sure that they are involved in completing the job that Jesus gave us to do.”
“This is the way the Kingdom of God operates. It’s not Boise or Bangladesh. It’s both/and.”
“God is an expansionist. And if God’s in your business, He wants to expand it. So you’ve got to figure out how.”
“We should be people who are looking, praying for the peace of the city that we’re in, looking out for the good of the city.”
“Some of them need financial capital, but some need intellectual capital, access to markets. Some of them need spiritual capital. They just need encouragement to be part of a network of people who are going to help them.”
“My default is not, ‘People aren’t getting proper nutrition, so we’ll do a soup kitchen.’ No, let’s figure out a feeding business that actually does that.”
“You have to measure in the long term.”
“The premise is that God is good. Everybody has capital. Work is good. Everybody should work.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
Brett Johnson’s Website
Brett’s Books and Resources
Global Giants Foundation
Christian Business Men’s Connection
YWAM
BIBLE REFERENCES:
Luke 2:52 | Jesus Grew in Every Dimension
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
John 5:19 | Doing What the Father Does
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’”
Luke 10:8 | Eat What Is Offered
“Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.”
Matthew 28:19–20 | Make Disciples of Nations
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Acts 1:8 | Witness to the Ends
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Mark 16:15 | Gospel to the Whole World
“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’”
2 Corinthians 5:18–19 | Ministry of Reconciliation
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
Ezra 7:6–10 | Ezra Returns to Jerusalem
Nehemiah 2:11–18 | Rebuilding Jerusalem Together
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1 hr 22 min
September 07Pete Smith, Pastor, on Loving Your Forgotten Neighbors (Ep. 196)
A desire to help people in poverty can collide with an equally good desire to give wisely, protect your family, and avoid causing more harm.
How can you respond with real mercy and generosity without ignoring wisdom, dignity, or the risk of getting it wrong?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Dr. Pete Smith is a pastor and author of *Remember the Poor: Cultivating a Heart of Generosity*. Shaped by decades of pastoral ministry, church planting in Southern Maryland, work with homeless shelters and incarcerated people, and a Doctor of Ministry from Reformed Theological Seminary, Pete has spent years wrestling with how Christians and churches can care for people in poverty with both mercy and wisdom.
Pete argues that poverty is often deeper than a lack of money. Broken relationships, isolation, lost social capital, trauma, and limited opportunity can leave people needing time, community, dignity, and trustworthy relationships as much as financial help. Drawing from hard-earned mistakes and acts of hospitality, he encourages Christians to listen before assuming they know what someone needs, to act prudently without letting fear become paralysis, and to lean toward mercy when the right response is unclear.
By the end, you may see generosity less as solving someone else’s problem and more as faithfully remembering your neighbor through relationship, hospitality, opportunity, and thoughtful action.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
How to help people in poverty without letting fear paralyze you
Why poverty often requires relationship, not just financial assistance
How listening preserves dignity and reveals what someone actually needs
Why mercy and prudence can work together in generous decisions
How increased wealth can quietly distance you from people in need
Practical ways to intentionally remember the poor in everyday life
HIGHLIGHTS:
“I would much rather err on the side of mercy and helping, even if it’s ham-handed and doesn’t maybe work out the way we would like.”
“When in doubt, give.”
“Default to mercy. Don’t withhold good from the person to whom it is due when it’s with you and you can do it.”
“Remembering in Scripture is always connected to activity. It’s never simply just recalling.”
“The number one thing I would argue is that poverty is really poverty of relationship. It’s spiritual poverty.”
“What people need are time with others, connections, community.”
“The person needs your time. They need relationship, and they need you to listen.”
“If you listen long enough, you’ll actually start to hear, ‘I start to now see how I might help.'”
“Treat them with dignity and respect, no different from how we would like to be treated.”
“The Scripture says, ‘Love the stranger.'”
“If you’re not going to live among the poor, you do have to intentionally remember them.”
“Money in a savings account doesn’t do anybody any good. It might give you some peace of mind, but that’s not why this money is there. This money is to meet need.”
“If you ask God to give you eyes to see, you’ll begin to see.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
Remember the Poor: Cultivating a Heart of Generosity by Peter Smith
Navigators
A Candle in the Window Hospitality Network
BIBLE REFERENCES:
Luke 9:23 | Take Up Your Cross
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”
Psalm 41 | Blessed Is He Who Considers the Poor
Psalm 112 | The Generous Righteous
Proverbs 11:24 | Generosity Grows
“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
Proverbs 14:21 | Blessed Are the Generous
“Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.”
Proverbs 14:31 | Honoring the Creator
“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.”
Psalm 72 | The Righteous King Defends the Poor
Amos 5:24 | Justice Like Waters
“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Micah 6:8 | Justice, Mercy, Humility
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Luke 10:25-37 | The Good Samaritan
Matthew 25:31-46 | The Sheep and the Goats
Luke 14:12-14 | Invite Those Who Cannot Repay
“He said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’”
Proverbs 19:17 | Lending to the Lord
“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
Galatians 2:10 | Remember the Poor
“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”
Ephesians 4:28 | Work in Order to Give
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
KEEP EXPLORING
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1 hr 13 min
August 24Kurt Cornfield, Professor of Financial Planning, on Pioneering the Next Gen of Christian Financial Advisors (Ep. 195)
You may have spent years building a career, growing your resources, and becoming more effective, while still wondering how those successes might serve a larger Kingdom purpose.
What changes when you begin to see not only your money, but also your career, experience, time, and influence as resources God has entrusted to you?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Kurt Cornfield spent more than three decades as a financial advisor before God redirected his calling from serving clients to equipping the next generation. As a professor of financial planning at Liberty University and Director of Student and Emerging Advisors for Kingdom Advisors, Kurt has helped build one of the leading programs preparing Christian financial advisors to combine technical excellence with biblical wisdom. His own journey, from discovering Kingdom Advisors later in his career to leaving a successful practice for the classroom, reveals how understanding God’s ownership and defining “enough” can reshape both a career and a life.
In this conversation, Kurt shares how Christian financial advisors can help families pursue faithful stewardship, why generosity grows from contentment, and how investing in future advisors creates lasting Kingdom impact. He also offers practical insights on faith-based investing, mentoring young professionals, and using both time and resources with open hands. Through stories of God’s provision and decades of experience, Kurt provides a compelling vision for financial advice as a ministry rooted in service, wisdom, and joyful generosity.
Listen to discover how equipping faithful advisors today can multiply God’s Kingdom impact for generations to come.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
Viewing financial advising as Kingdom ministry
Living from God’s ownership of everything
Defining enough to unlock generosity
Equipping the next generation of Christian advisors
Integrating biblical wisdom with financial planning
Practicing joyful generosity through everyday stewardship
Using faith-based investing to reflect biblical values
Multiplying Kingdom impact through mentoring
Preparing advisors to serve with excellence and humility
HIGHLIGHTS:
“I don’t want to just crank out kids that want to go into this industry because they want to make a lot of money. I want them to go into the business for the Kingdom purpose.”
“God owns it all.”
“Once we’ve provided for our families, it’s the abundance from that point on. We can be generous with it.”
“It all belongs to God in the first place. It just allows us to be so much more generous and free, free to be generous.”
“Our major budget item is giving.”
“We need more Christians giving financial advice to Christians, but also to non-Christians because biblical wisdom works in all circumstances.”
“The more that we can talk to young people about it, they get excited about it.”
“We can get them started the right way. The Kingdom impact of that, the multiplication effect, is crazy.”
“I don’t want the legacy to be about Kurt Cornfield. I want the legacy to be about the Kingdom.”
“The ripple effect on the Kingdom is something we’ll never know this side of Heaven for sure.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
Kingdom Advisors (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
Ronald Blue Trust, now Blue Trust (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
Harvest App
KEEP EXPLORING
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58 min
August 10Clare DeGraaf, Businessman, on Decisions that can Change Your Life (Ep. 194)
You may believe everything you have belongs to God, yet still wonder what that actually means for the way you spend, give, and make decisions about your wealth.
When financial success gives you more options than you need, how do you discern what is enough and live as a faithful steward rather than simply taking your cues from those around you?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Clare DeGraaf is a business leader, author, Bible teacher, and mentor whose pursuit of financial security led him to build and sell a successful manufacturing company. After experiencing a crisis of faith, he and his wife, Susan, began asking a deeper question about what it truly meant to follow Jesus with everything. That journey reshaped their view of money, success, and stewardship, leading them to set a financial finish line, launch a strategic family foundation, and pursue a life centered on God’s Kingdom.
In this conversation, Clare shares the lessons that transformed his approach to wealth, ambition, and obedience. He explains how generous living is less about financial formulas and more about surrendering ownership to God, cultivating eternal perspective, and faithfully investing resources in people and ministries that advance the gospel. His wisdom offers practical encouragement for anyone wrestling with how much is enough, the tension between success and contentment, or the desire to steward God’s blessings with greater purpose.
Listen to discover how asking one honest question about “enough” can reshape your view of money, calling, and faithful stewardship.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
Defining what “enough” really means
Surrendering ownership of wealth to God
Aligning business success with Kingdom purpose
Practicing intentional lifestyle limits
Cultivating contentment over financial security
Investing generously for eternal impact
Discerning wise and effective giving opportunities
Growing through faithful stewardship and obedience
Mentoring others toward biblical generosity
HIGHLIGHTS:
“How much of what we own belongs to us, and how much belongs to God?”
“If everything you own belongs to you, then you can spend it the way you want. But if you actually claim it belongs to God, then you have to ask Him, ‘How much will You pay me to be Your steward?’”
“I wrote the book because, for me, it was a way to begin breaking the cycle of disobedience dozens of times a week in little things that kept me from really maturing in my faith.”
“Jesus would not accept the fact that nobody’s perfect. You can be better than you are. Start by training yourself to be obedient in little things.”
“People say to me all the time, ‘How do you know for certain that God’s actually telling you to do that thing?’ And I say, ‘Well, I don’t. Certainty is the enemy of obedience.’”
“We can explain the gospel and live the gospel, but it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convince people it’s true.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
The 10-Second Rule: Following Jesus Made Simple by Clare DeGraaf
Ronald Blue and Co., CPA (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
The Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender
KEEP EXPLORING
Discover more conversations, ideas, and resources to help you think intentionally about generosity, stewardship, and living with an eternal perspective.
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1 hr 10 min
July 27Mark Wambolt, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Eventide, on Investing that Leads to Flourishing (Ep. 193)
As Christians, we may think carefully about how much we give while giving far less thought to how the rest of our money is invested.
What would it look like for our faith to shape not only what we give away, but everything we’ve been entrusted to steward?
MEET YOUR GUIDE:
Mark Wambolt serves as Head of Strategic Partnerships at Eventide, but his journey into faith driven investing began long before his career in finance. Growing up outside Boston, Mark learned the value of hard work alongside his father, a carpenter, while also developing an early fascination with business and investing. As he advanced quickly through the financial industry, achieving levels of success many aspire to, he began wrestling with a deeper question: if following Jesus shapes every part of life, should it also shape the way we invest and steward capital?
In this conversation, Mark shares how God used key relationships and pivotal experiences to reshape his understanding of investing as an act of stewardship. He explains how Eventide seeks to help investors move beyond simply avoiding harmful industries toward actively supporting businesses that create genuine human flourishing. Through stories of innovation, entrepreneurship, and long-term Kingdom impact, Mark offers a compelling vision for how capital can be deployed to serve people, strengthen communities, and reflect God’s heart for creation. He also challenges common assumptions about success, profit, and control, inviting a more integrated approach to faith and finance.
Listen to explore how your investments may become a powerful tool for shaping future generations with intentionality and hope.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
Integrating faith and investing decisions
Viewing capital as Kingdom stewardship
Redefining success beyond financial gain
Avoiding ill-gotten gain in portfolios
Investing for human flourishing
Embracing businesses that serve people
Engaging companies through shareholder influence
Balancing giving, impact investing, and returns
Supporting community renewal through entrepreneurship
Thinking generationally about wealth and influence
HIGHLIGHTS:
“I thought, you know, there’s this business investing world, that’s my job. And then there’s my faith, that’s the other side. I kind of had this feeling that never the two shall meet. At that moment, they just collided in the best possible way.”
“Yes, we care about what we avoid. But almost more importantly, the avoidance is a step on the journey toward what do we want to own?”
“The opportunity that we have as investors is to not just steward capital, but to direct it intentionally.”
“There’s a reason that what a business creates is called goods and services, because they should be good and they should serve.”
“God is a creator. And then he makes man in his image. I believe that reflection is that we too should be creators who make good things.”
“When mammon has become the god, it’s no longer about goods and services. It’s about what can I do operationally to generate the highest return?”
“We love business. We just want to make sure it’s aimed at goods that are truly good and services that truly serve.”
“You can just go through example after example for all of history, even up to the present day, that investors have for hundreds of years shaped the culture that we live in.”
“I think that people are waking up to the idea of stewardship.”
“Making intentional investment decisions is becoming core to how I serve my clients well.”
“What are the investments I can make today that maybe won’t pay any dividend for me, but for the next generation and the generation after that, I will be so glad to have made the sacrifice in my life?”
“I think there’s an incredible opportunity for Christians to pause, think multi-generationally.”
PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS:
Eventide Investments
Kingdom Advisors (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
Why Business Matters to God by Jeff Van Duzer
Parker Clay
BIBLE REFERENCES:
Genesis 1:1 | God the Creator
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:27 | Made in God’s Image
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

This communication is provided for informational purposes only and expresses views of Eventide Asset Management, LLC (“Eventide”), an investment adviser, and Mark Wambot, Head of Strategic Partnerships. This does not constitute investment advice nor is it a recommendation or offer to purchase or sell or a solicitation to deal in any security or financial product. Eventide does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. Eventide’s values-based approach to investing may not produce desired results and could result in underperformance compared with other investments. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns, or avoid losses.
1 hr 5 min
July 13Rachel McDonough, Financial Advisor, on Stewarding Wealth with Head and Heart (Ep. 192)
Rachel McDonough grew up in Kenya as the daughter of missionaries, where she saw both deep poverty and the faith of parents who trusted God enough to follow His call across the world. Those early experiences planted a lasting conviction that every resource we hold belongs to God and can be used to bring life, freedom, and hope to others. After nearly two decades in wealth management, Rachel began asking a deeper question: what story is our capital telling?
In this conversation, Rachel shares how God led her to build Wealth Squared, a firm that helps families align their investments, giving, and financial plans with biblical values. She explains how impact investing can direct capital toward businesses that promote human flourishing, and discusses themes from her new book, The River and the Garden, which uses story to explore stewardship, family unity, and Kingdom impact. This episode offers a hopeful vision for using wealth as a tool to cultivate lasting fruit for God’s Kingdom, and invites you to consider where He may be calling your resources to grow.
Major Topics Include:
Hearing and following God’s call
Stewarding wealth as entrusted capital
Investing as a moral and spiritual act
Aligning portfolios with biblical values
Distinguishing provision from impact assets
Discovering your unique Kingdom DNA
Using impact investing for human flourishing
Building family unity around stewardship
Integrating head, heart, and Spirit
Finishing faithfully with resources God provides
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
“Capital tells a story.”
“Even though I’m a small human with finite resources and a limited lifespan and limited dollars in the bank account, God can take something small, and if it’s surrendered to Him, He can do something way bigger than any of us could ever ask or imagine.”
“There is both an opportunity and a responsibility of being a Christ follower who is holding on to the resources that God owns and has entrusted.”
“Some businesses create goods and services that help human flourishing, and others create bads and disservices.”
“Fruitfulness comes from obeying what God shows you to do, not from having the right strategy.”
“There are some biblical principles that are universally true, but there are also unique pieces of Kingdom DNA wired into the heart of each person.”
“Once I know how much is enough for provision, I get freedom to ask what the purpose of the remaining assets should be.”
“The faithful finisher asks, ‘Lord, what else? I’m not dead yet.’”
“We need to let our heads and hearts work together more in harmony and be led by the Spirit.”
“Real unity is hard work, but it is deep and worthy work.”
“I want to be Jonathan’s armor bearer for my clients. What’s in your heart to do? Let’s go take that hill.”
“Faith-driven investing and impact investing right now is the revival that God has released on the earth.”
“Find a financial advisor who wants to help you hear and follow God’s voice.”
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
Rachel McDonough and Wes Lyons on How Investors Are Taking Down Human Trafficking (see our past interview here)
The River and the Garden by Rachel McDonough
Wealth Squared
Kingdom Advisors (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
Eagle Freedom Fund (see out interview with cofounder Wes Lyons)
Talanton
Caleb Breakey, Founder of Renown Publishing (see our past interview here)
BIBLE REFERENCES FROM THE SHOW
John 15:5 | Abiding Bears Fruit
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
2 Corinthians 9:10 | Seed for Sowing
“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Matthew 4:19 | Fishers of Men
“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”
Proverbs 20:5 | Deep Waters of the Heart
“The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”
John 6:1-15 | Five Loaves and Two Fish
2 Corinthians 10:5 | Taking Thoughts Captive
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
TAKE A STEP DEEPER
On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.

But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.
1 hr 2 min
June 29John Mark Eager, Executive Director of The Mailbox Club, on the Acceleration of Global Child Discipleship (Ep. 191)
John Mark Eager serves as Executive Director of The Mailbox Club, a ministry founded by his father to help children grow in their understanding of the gospel through long-term discipleship. Although John Mark trusted Christ as a child, a season of spiritual renewal during his school years deepened his walk with the Lord and gave him a lasting burden for missions. Over the past several decades, God has used that calling to expand The Mailbox Club far beyond its original model, opening doors to partner with churches and local Believers around the world.
In this conversation, John Mark shares how God has grown the ministry from reaching millions of children to discipling more than 17 million annually across 110 countries, while keeping the focus on evangelism, discipleship, and stewardship. He discusses the importance of empowering indigenous leaders, investing in young people who are discipling the next generation, and refusing to limit what God can do through ordinary Believers. Along the way, he offers practical wisdom on leadership, generosity, and trusting God to provide for opportunities that seem far beyond human capacity.
Listen to discover how God is using children, youth, and local churches to advance the gospel in some of the world’s most strategic and least reached places.
Major Topics Include:
Embracing a child-focused Great Commission
Pairing evangelism with long-term discipleship
Empowering indigenous leaders for Kingdom growth
Releasing authority and trusting capable teams
Refusing to limit what God can do
Balancing data-driven stewardship with Spirit-led dependence
Developing youth leaders through active ministry
Building scalable systems without losing mission focus
Prioritizing unreached children and frontier regions
Involving families and children in ministry exposure
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
“The most unreached people group is children.”
“We celebrate what God’s done in the past, but we’re forward thinking and we push ourselves and each other.”
“Children make great missionaries. Children are the most responsive to the gospel.”
“We really can’t have a conversation about world evangelization without talking about children.”
“I think we can track numbers and pursue excellence in stewardship and be led by the Holy Spirit. I don’t think those are competing ideas.”
“The Mailbox Club is just a vehicle for the gospel.”
“I think we’re supposed to reach kids. I think we’re supposed to reach kids anywhere and everywhere for Christ.”
“I’m ultimately serving Christ. And that’s the highest honor we can have, to be a bondservant of Jesus Christ.”
“God delights in impossibilities.”
“I do believe in simple faith that God isn’t bringing these opportunities just to frustrate us.”
“My job is just to advocate on behalf of kids.”
“We’re stewards of everything we have to reach the world for Christ.”
“If He can use me, He can use anybody.”
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
John Mark Eager, Executive Director of The Mailbox Club (see our past interview here)
Child Evangelism Fellowship
Operation Christmas Child, the shoebox ministry of The Samaritan’s Purse
ROI Ministry (see our interview with founder, Tim Barker)
MacLellan Foundation (see our interview with Director of Generosity, John Cortines)
BIBLE REFERENCES FROM THE SHOW
Psalm 71:15-16 | God’s Boundless Salvation
“My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.”
Matthew 28: 16-20 | The Great Commission
Matthew 9:36-38 | The Laborers Are Few
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”
Matthew 19:14 | Jesus Loves the Little Children
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’”
John 14:12-14 | Greater Works
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me[a]anything in my name, I will do it.
Acts 2:41 | Three Thousand Added
“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
1 Corinthians 9:22 | All Things to All People
“I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”
1 Corinthians 15:31 | I Die Every Day
“I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!”
TAKE A STEP DEEPER
On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.

But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.
1 hr 7 min
June 15Patrick Farrell, Cofounder of Keystone Investing, on Surrender in Faith-Driven Investing (Ep. 190)
Patrick Farrell, co-founder of Keystone Investing, shares how God reshaped his understanding of success, stewardship, and surrender through entrepreneurship, investing, and community. After growing up in a generous household and later chasing performance and achievement, Patrick encountered Jesus in high school and eventually rediscovered a deeper, more relational faith while working at a cybersecurity startup. That season of spiritual renewal planted the seeds for Keystone Investing, a faith-driven investing community helping investors align their capital with Kingdom values.
In this conversation, Patrick explains how Keystone creates spaces where investors and founders can pursue both financial excellence and meaningful impact without sacrificing relationships or spiritual formation. He reflects on the dangers of performance-driven stewardship, the importance of wise and thoughtful risk-taking, and why generosity and investing both require surrender to God’s lead. Along the way, he offers practical wisdom for discerning where God may be leading your resources and how community can help shape faithful decision-making.
Listen to discover how surrendering control of your finances can open the door to deeper joy, discernment, and Kingdom impact.
Major Topics Include:
Surrendering control of financial stewardship
Investing through relationships, not transactions
Breaking performance-driven identity patterns
Aligning capital with Kingdom convictions
Building community around faith-driven investing
Pursuing profit alongside Kingdom impact
Discerning risk through intimacy with God
Practicing generosity from abundance, not fear
Integrating faith into business leadership
Cultivating wise stewardship through spiritual formation
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
“The first step on the stewardship journey is recognizing that all of your capital is God’s. It all belongs to Him.”
“If you start there in that position of surrender, I’m so confident that God will do the rest.”
“This entire process of faith-driven investing is all about growing in intimacy with the Lord.”
“You can make a ton of money, you can have a ton of impact, but if you’re not transformed and the people around you aren’t transformed, then that falls short of what I think God’s goal was.”
“We want to find excellent values-aligned founders building intentional mission-driven businesses that are heading toward sustainability and profitability and growth and scale.”
“Faith-driven investing can be excellent. It can be excellent for people, excellent for impact, and excellent financially.”
“You don’t necessarily have to sacrifice returns in order to see Kingdom impact.”
“God is using investing to work on investors.”
“God cares about relationships more than really anything else.”
“Anything that we set up from a business perspective that deprioritizes relationship tends to fall victim to our sinful nature.”
“There are few people within a founder’s life that have more access to them than their investors.”
“Most of the time, in my experience, God’s going to push us into more and greater risk to help us rely on Him.”
“The steward buried his talent because he was worried about retribution. And the Master is upset that the steward thought of Him that way.”
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
Keystone Investing
Mark Batterson, Pastor and Author (see our past interview here)
Praxis (see our interview with Cofounder Josh Kwan)
Bill and Dana Wichterman, Givers and Impact Investors (see our past interview here)
Faith Driven Entrepreneur
Faith Driven Investor
Eventide
Sovereigns Capital
BIBLE REFERENCES FROM THE SHOW
Deuteronomy 6:12 | Only by the Grace of God
then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Matthew 25:14–30 | Parable of the Talents
James 2:17 | Faith Without Works
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
TAKE A STEP DEEPER
On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.

But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.
1 hr 2 min
June 01Joanna Hogan, Founder and CEO of Inspire Generosity, on Reframing the Giver-Ministry Partnership (Ep. 189)
Joanna Hogan, founder and CEO of Inspire Generosity, helps ministry leaders and givers move beyond transactional support into meaningful, trust-filled partnerships. Her vision was shaped through seasons of striving and personal hardship in the nonprofit development space, where God deepened her dependence on Him and reshaped her understanding of generosity. What began as a performance-driven mindset was slowly transformed into a belief that when ministries and givers truly care for each other, there is much greater fruit.
Through Inspire Generosity, Joanna equips nonprofits to build healthier cultures of giving that honor both the mission and the giver. She emphasizes clarity, trust, and shared vision so generosity becomes an act of discipleship rather than obligation. Her work addresses common barriers like pressure, misalignment, and fear, offering practical wisdom for leaders and givers seeking greater joy and impact. This conversation offers a grounded perspective on stewarding relationships and resources for Kingdom purposes.
Consider how a more relational approach to generosity could reshape your giving and deepen your trust in God’s provision.
Major Topics Include:
Shifting from transactional to relational generosity
Helping others experience joyful, meaningful giving
Listening first to understand giver motivations
Reframing fundraising as partnership, not pressure
Identifying aligned partners over expanding lists
Addressing myths that block generosity flow
Leading with curiosity to reduce performance anxiety
Investing in leaders, not just programs
Creating sustainable, trust-based giving relationships
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
“It happens time and time again where I’ve stretched or made a faith gift and then something happens that just makes it totally okay.”
“God will never let us down.”
“This is about looking for someone who wants to participate with their money, along with your time and expertise, to create change in the world.”
“Let’s stop asking and instead invite giving partners.”
“If someone has a meaningful giving experience, they’re going to say, ‘what else can I do?’”
“It’s a relationship. When you’ve done all the pre-work, the invitation is just the next natural step.”
“You don’t need more people. You need the right people.”
“Your job is to help someone have a great giving experience.”
“When you’re really curious, you can’t be focused on your own performance at the same time.”
“This is not about making you do more. It’s about giving you permission to do less but better.”
“Fundraising tactics actually block the flow of generosity.”
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
Inspire Generosity
Women Doing Well (see our interview with president Julie Wilson)
Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
TAKE A STEP DEEPER
On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.

But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.
53 min

About The Finish Line Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Kealan, a surgeon, and Cody, a financial advisor, discuss the intersection of faith, generosity, and personal finance. They’re joined by a variety of guests, including pastors, financial advisors,…