Tim Barker Author Boom ROI Ministry Atlanta Demolition Finish Line Podcast
Finish Line Podcast Episode 153

Tim Barker, Founder of ROI Ministry, on Embracing Trials in the Generous Life

You want to steward God’s resources faithfully. But questions about generosity, calling, and impact are rarely simple.

In this conversation, you’ll hear from someone who has walked through these kinds of questions and learned along the way. Listen for the next step God may be inviting you to take.


Apple Podcasts →

Spotify →

All Episodes →

Apple

Spotify

Episodes

Meet your guide

Tim Barker is the founder of ROI Ministry and author of BOOM: What To Do When Life Blows Up Around You. His journey into generosity began after rising from humble beginnings to great success—only to lose everything during a season of deep trial. In the middle of that valley, God answered a “dangerous” prayer Tim had prayed years earlier: that the Lord would do whatever it took to multiply his family’s kingdom impact. Out of that refining season came ROI Ministry, an organization that has since helped direct millions of dollars to high-impact ministries around the world. In time, God restored what Tim had lost and entrusted him with a voice of influence in the global generosity movement.    

Through ROI Ministry, Tim and his team identify the Top 10 ministries producing the greatest measurable kingdom impact per dollar, helping givers steward their resources with confidence and purpose. In his book, BOOM, Tim shares his own story as a living testimony that God can bring blessings out of brokenness and truly work all things together for His glory and our good.   

Tim was one of the very first guests on The Finish Line Podcast nearly four years ago, and much has changed since then—for ROI Ministry, for Tim, and for us here at Finish Line. In this conversation, Tim digs deeper into the heart of high-impact giving and reflects on what it looks like to trust God through both abundance and loss, offering wisdom for all who long to walk faithfully in the life of generosity.

What you’ll gain

  • Making a difference from where you are now
  • The need to be honest with God in tough times
  • Moving from failure to fruitfulness
  • Blessing others by letting them help you
  • Hearing the Spirit’s leading in the midst of trials
  • Seeking God in times of silence
  • Giving from your mind as well as your heart
  • Embracing both Spirit-led giving and cost-effective generosity
  • A call to invest more in the local church 
  • What to look for in a high-impact organization 
  • Thinking through measurable Kingdom impact per dollar

Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

Start the Game
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot

Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

Start the Series

Quotes to Remember

  • “God, what do you want me to do?”
  • “My story is really about not giving up, because you don’t know what God is doing through times of refining and where He’s going to take you.”
  • “It’s ok to want to give up as long as you’ve decided in advance that you’re not going to.”
  • “Be honest with God.”
  • “Ninety-seven percent of all Christian giving is going to nations that have already been evangelized, and less than one-third of one percent is actually making it to the billion lost, poorest people in the world who are 3,000 times more receptive to the gospel.”
  • “I believe in testing God with the tithe.”
  • “You will find joy, hope, and purpose in helping others in ways that make the greatest impact.”
  • “If you have an opportunity to impact thousands of people rather than just a few, then impact the thousands.”
  • “Eternity is going to be a long, long time, and the more people we impact here, the more we’ll meet over there. And not that we get the credit—God gets the glory. He just gives us the opportunity to be in the game.”
  • “When you’ve been faithful, you know that you’re doing what God’s called you to do, and you’re doing it for the right reason, eventually you will see a harvest.”
  • “As stewards of God’s wealth, are we encouraging others to do the same thing?”

Links from the Show

Bible References from the Show

Proverbs 3:5-6 | Trust in the Lord  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  

Luke 21:1-4 | The Widow’s Offering  

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  

Matthew 22:37 | Love God with All You Are  

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  

​​1 Timothy 5:8 | Care for Your Family  

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.  

Malachi 3:10 | Put Me to the Test  

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  

Matthew 25: 14-30 | The Parable of the Talents

Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.

Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.

Generosity Profile Image

Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
Generosity Profile Image
Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
Generosity Profile Image

See Other Episodes