The post Erik Laursen, CEO of New Covenant Missions, on the Rapid Spread of the Gospel in Africa appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Kristen Welch is an author, speaker, and the founder of Mercy House Global, but her story is shaped less by achievement and more by surrender. Raised in a generous, Christian home, Kristen followed God’s lead into ministry, writing, and motherhood. Her love for writing led her into the early Christian mom-blogging world where she found community and influence, but it was a 2010 blogging trip to Kenya with Compassion International that unsettled her faith and reordered her calling. That encounter became the catalyst for Mercy House Global and for a lifelong journey of learning what it means to say yes to God with open hands.  

Through Mercy House, Kristen has spent the past fifteen years walking alongside vulnerable women and families through job creation, orphan prevention, and discipleship, both globally and locally. Along the way, she has learned that generosity and ministry busyness without intimacy with God can quietly hollow out the soul. Her story reflects the cost of faithful work, the danger of doing for God without being with Him, and the grace God offers through rest, repentance, and renewed friendship with Him.  

This conversation invites all of us to reflect on how God calls us to slow down, reorient our hearts, and rediscover satisfaction in His presence while living generously.  

Major Topics Include:

• Generosity in hospitality
• Obedience through small, faithful yeses
• Using influence for Kingdom purpose
• Serving without losing intimacy with God
• The danger of doing for God without being with God
• Identity rooted in sonship, not productivity
• Parenting through embodied generosity
• Slowing down to practice God’s presence

Quotes to Remember

• “Just do the next right thing.”
• “We were always looking for ways to use what we had for the gospel of hospitality.”
• “The opportunity to use the writing skill and the blog platform for God’s glory really became a sweet spot for me and it changed my life.”
• “I will spend the rest of my life answering the question, ‘what am I doing to help the vulnerable in our communities and in our world?’”
• “God used the poor to help me find Him in a new way.”
• “God doesn’t need us to do any of this, He invites us to do it.”
• “Being with God is the best use of our time.”
• “It is not a waste of time to spend time with God.”
• “When we live as generous people, our kids will too.”

Links from the Show

• Mercy House Global
• Kristen Welch’s Website
• Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch
• Raising World Changers in a Changing World by Kristen Welch
• Compassion International
• When Helping Hurts (see our interview with coauthor Brian Fikkert)
• Women Doing Well (see our interview with president Julie Wilson)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Revelation 3:20 | Christ’s Invitation to Intimacy  

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  

Hebrews 2:1 | Drifting from Jesus  

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  

1 Thessalonians 5:18 | Gratitude amid Hardship  

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  

Philippians 4:11–13 | Contentment in All Circumstances  

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Kristen Welch, Founder of Mercy House Global, on Intimacy with God Amidst Fruitful Ministry appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Raised on a central Missouri farm, Kristin Hammett grew up in a family that loved Jesus and lived out steady generosity, even amid the financial uncertainties of farming life. Watching her parents faithfully give a tithe planted early seeds, but it was during college that she made a deeper commitment to Christ, a decision that quietly set the trajectory for everything that followed.  

After college, she entered a sales role with a Fortune 50 company, surrounded by benefits and success, yet she began to sense that God might be inviting her into something more than selling consumer goods. After a season as a stay-at-home mom, she discovered a growing desire to see how her professional skills might serve Kingdom purposes. That curiosity led her to become the first part time development director at a local pregnancy center, where God reshaped her understanding of fundraising as ministry, connecting donors to the doers and inviting people to join Him where He is already working. That journey eventually opened the door to joining The Signatry, helping donors steward all God has entrusted to them for Kingdom impact.  

As Vice President of Family Generosity Services at The Signatry, Kristin has spent her career helping families move from reactive giving to intentional stewardship rooted in faith. Drawing from deep experience on both the nonprofit and givers sides, she now guides families towards alignment, trust, and faithfulness in how they move towards intentional generosity together.  

Major Topics Include:

• Generosity as discipline, then joyful invitation
• Stewarding all assets, not just cash
• Fundraising as ministry and relationship
• Connecting donors and doers in God’s work
• Evaluating impact above overhead in giving
• Understanding cause dynamics and realistic impact outcomes
• Trust and partnership between givers and ministries
• Thinking through non-cash gifts
• Alignment over agreement in family generosity

Quotes to Remember

• “God has all the resources that He needs to fund His work. My role is to connect the resources He’s entrusted to people with the work He’s already doing.”
• “Impact needs to come before overhead.”
• “If we’re only asking people to give from cash, we’re really not asking them to steward all that God has entrusted to them.”
• “Let’s begin to change the conversation, not just about cash, but about all of their assets, and help them understand how those are an opportunity for generosity.”
• “When you realize you’re connecting the donors and the doers, that’s a pretty incredible place to be.”
• “You’re not trying to get something from someone. You’re inviting them to join God where He’s already at work.”
• “In a family, alignment is much more important than agreement.”
• “If you want everyone to give to exactly what you want to give to, that’s a top-down approach, and it rarely creates enthusiasm.”
• “If you hold it open-handed and prioritize alignment over agreement, you’ll often find much more joy and engagement.”
• “Donors are operating in a currency of trust. That trusted partnership is absolutely critical.”
• “When there’s a trusted partnership between the giver and the organization, God does something formative in both.”
• “Fundraising is ministry. Anytime you’re engaging someone around their resources, their finances, and their heart, that’s ministry.”
• “We need to dissolve the barrier between where the ministry happens and where the money comes in, and realize it’s all ministry.”
• “God doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts. And that’s really, at the end of the day, the message of generosity.”
• “Generosity is not just for the ultra high net worth or those making a lot of money, it’s for everyone. God is not interested in the zeros. He’s interested in obedience.”
• “We’re stewarding our whole life, not just our financial resources, because He wants our heart.”

Links from the Show

• The Signatry (see our interviews with founder, Bill High, and CEO, Steve French here) 
• Mission Increase
• National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
• The Giver and the Gift by Peter Greer & David Weekley (see our interview with author Peter Greer here)
• Family Generosity Guides  
• Nonprofit blogs: 
  • Major Donor Insight: They are People, Too
  • Engage Donors by Engaging Their Families

• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Malachi 3:10 | Testing God in Giving  

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 6:21 | Treasure and the Heart  

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

Psalm 50:10 | God Owns Everything  

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  

Philippians 4:15–19 | Giving as Partnership

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Kristin Hammett, VP at the Signatry, on Family Alignment Over Agreement in Giving appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

On the Finish Line Podcast, we have always believed in the power of stories. Over hundreds of conversations, we have seen how God patiently draws people into generosity across an entire lifetime, often through unexpected paths.    

Yet for many, these stories also surface an honest question: “What does this mean for me, and where is God calling me next?”    

In this special episode, fellow Finish Line board members David Campaigne from Blue Trust and Matt Mancinelli from Generous Giving help us introduce our most significant development since the launch of the Finish Line Pledge: The Applied Generosity Podcast.    

Each story we’ve shared in the last few years has been shaped by unique calling, personal surrender, and profound steps of faith. Yet over time, patterns have emerged. While no two stories are the same, many givers find themselves crossing the same terrain, wrestling with similar questions, fears, and decisions along the way.    

Applied Generosity was created to help make sense of that shared landscape, exploring seven dimensions of generosity that repeatedly show up across the journeys we have heard.     

It provides a map, helping bring orientation, language, and clarity to where God may already be at work in your own life and where He may be inviting a next step.     

If you’ve been inspired by the stories you’ve heard on Finish Line Podcast, but long for clearer discernment about the next step in your own journey, then Applied Generosity was specifically made for you.

Quotes to Remember

• David: “Generosity is a journey, like life is a journey. You plant a seed, you water it, but ultimately it’s God who makes things grow.”
• Matt: “We’re being invited into being more like Jesus as we give.”
• David: “God doesn’t need our money; what He ultimately wants is our heart.”
• Cody: “Some of the largest obstacles to living generously are fear and greed, and these are both addressed by answering the question, ‘how much is enough?’”
• Matt: “If I see an opportunity to bless somebody in a way that would boost their faith and I can come alongside them, that’s when I’m fired up to give.”
• David: “I want to know that my giving, whether to an individual or an organization, is going to draw people to Jesus.”
• Kealan: “Generosity is one of the strongest means by which God enables me to trust Him.”
• David: “How can we leverage the currency of that which is passing away into the currency of that which will endure forever?”
• Kealan: “Applied generosity is simply naming the shared landscape of the the generous life and providing some definition to it so we can see the whole picture and figure out where that next right step is in our own journey.”

Links from the Show

• Applied Generosity
• David Campaigne, Financial Advisor at Ronald Blue Trust (see our past interview here)
• Heather Tuininga, Founder of 10|10 Strategies (see our past interview here)
• Matt Mancinelli, Managing Director at Generous Giving (see our past interview here) 
• Journey to Generosity (JoG) with Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounder, Todd Harper and CEO, April Chapman)
• Ronald Blue Trust (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
• The Treasure Principle (see our interview with author Randy Alcorn)
• God and Money (see our interviews with co-authors Greg Baumer and John Cortines)
• Museum of the Bible
• Hope International (see our interview with founder, Jeff Rutt or CEO, Peter Greer)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 | God Makes Things Grow   Luke 16:10a | Faithful in Little and Much  

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,  

1 Timothy 6:17-19 | True Riches  

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,  thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.  

Matthew 6:21 | Treasure of the Heart  

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

John 3:16 | God’s Generosity  

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.  

Proverbs 16:9 | God Directs Steps  

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.  

Psalm 90:12 | Number Our Days  

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  

Matthew 25:14–30 | Parable of the Talents  

Matthew 22:37 | Loving God Fully  

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post A Map for the Generous Life, Introducing the Applied Generosity Podcast appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Michael Blue serves as Director of Discipleship and former President of the Ron Blue Institute, and his life reflects a steady journey of learning to trust God with open hands. Raised in a home shaped by biblical financial stewardship, Michael developed strong habits around money early on. Yet it was in his thirties, amid professional success and financial security, that God exposed a deeper restlessness. What appeared stable on the surface revealed an inner hollowness, leading Michael and his family into a season of prayer, surrender, and renewed reflection on what faithful obedience truly means.

In his current role, Michael focuses on forming biblical and practical financial wisdom in the next generation, particularly among high school and college students. He has also helped pioneer the 9:23 Fellowship, a discipleship journey that invites believers to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus in every area of life, including how they steward money, grow in community, and trust God’s provision.

Michael’s calling is to help believers align their finances with wholehearted discipleship, viewing stewardship as worship and generosity as freedom rooted in trust. This episode creates space to rethink money, faith, and obedience in ways that feel both convicting and hopeful.  

Major Topics Include:

• Learning to live openhandedly
• Thinking through savings as a giver
• Relying on God for provision
• Engaging younger generations through the Ron Blue Institute
• Helping the Church recognize and overcome greed and covetousness 
• Four H’s of biblical stewardship for college students
• The difference between “bread” and “seed”
• Flourishing together in community
• Learning to be a good receiver
• Stretching your faith through steps of generosity

Quotes to Remember

• “Giving ought to be joyful and saving ought to be purposeful, but if it’s just rote obedience, you can lose the heart behind it.”
• “God delights in inviting us to participate in His story.”
• “Stewardship is managing our money for the glory of God.”
• “Our capacity to meet people in their time of need all comes down to our margin of time and money.”
• “Whenever we feel like God gives us more, more often than not, it’s seed for sowing.”
• “The most generous people are the least fearful people I know. They’re not wracked with anxiety about providing for them in the future.”
• “We were made to flourish together in community.”
• “We’re all created to be both givers and receivers, so a healthy church is one where I can both give and receive.”
• “The thing that drives us to a life of continued generosity is hungering after who God is, what he’s done in our lives, and how we can grow nearer to HIm.”

Links from the Show

• Ron Blue Institute (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
• The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
• International Justice Mission (IJM)
• Journey to Generosity (JoG) with Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounder, Todd Harper and CEO, April Chapman)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

2 Corinthians 8-9 | The Macedonian Church  

Matthew 6:33 | Seek First the Kingdom  

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  

Luke 9:23 | Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Michael Blue, Director of Discipleship at the Ron Blue Institute, on the Personal Journey of Surrender appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Renée Rinehart, co-founder of Gospel Patrons, understands the grace and surrender that generosity requires from both sides of the equation. Raised in a family shaped by missions, hospitality, and entrepreneurial generosity, Renée learned early on that generous, open-handed obedience often requires risk. As she and her husband, John, built careers in business, God invited them to ask deeper questions about purpose, wealth, and their role in the Kingdom.  

That questioning led to a season of radical trust, including a 132-day journey across 22 countries where they relied on God daily for their bed and bread provision. Through uncertainty, sickness, and unexpected grace, they exercised their faith, and came to know God as their provider on a deeper and more extreme level than they ever thought possible. Along the way, Renée and John were introduced to many inspiring stories of how God has used patrons with the gift of giving throughout history for the advancement of the Gospel, and those stories became John’s first book, Gospel Patrons.  

The Rineharts have now carried the message of Gospel Patrons around the world, inspiring stewards of wealth to know the vitality of their role in the Kingdom, and to experience the beauty and joy of Kingdom impact from patron-proclaimer partnerships.   

If you are seeking a faith-shaped vision of generosity marked by surrender, partnership, and trust, this episode is for you.  

Major topics include:

• A journey of extreme faith
• The necessary partnership of gospel patrons and proclaimers 
• Trusting God to meet your needs so you can be radically generous
• Experiencing both the giving and receiving sides of a patronage partnership
• Generosity is more about relationship than result
• Inspiring patrons all over the world through story
• Empowering women to step into role as gospel patrons
• Stewarding your story of risk and generosity

Quotes to Remember

• “My grandparents as missionaries didn’t think of themselves as poor, but they just thought of God as being abundant and they lived from that place of faith and abundance.”
• “It felt like God was giving back my dream, but so much bigger than I had ever imagined it.”
• “What can we do to discover what God’s doing around the world and how people are in relationship with Him all over?”
• “In country after country, place after place, God opened doors and introduced us to people, and we saw how people worshiped Him throughout 22 different countries.” 
• “I think we so often want to see God move and we want to see miracles, but we don’t want to be in a place of need and discomfort. But those are the two halves of the coin, you have to be in the place where you need a miracle before you’re ready to see one.”
• “I came home with a totally different sense that I am loved by the God of the universe. Seeing that He could take me into my worst fears and bring good out of it and I would be okay, I was ready to surrender everything knowing that He’s good, He’s with us, and everything else was just details.”
• “God always raises up both people with a vision to see the Gospel advance and people who are going to partner deeply financially and in friendship. And it’s when the Body of Christ comes together with different giftings, both patrons and proclaimers, that the Gospel advances.”
• “We were so captivated by this idea that business people were a vital part of the Body of Christ.”
• “We’re making friends for eternity by sort of wildly spreading wealth around and allowing God to plant His seeds of love and goodness all over the place.”
• “There’s risk on both sides, and faith and humility needed on both sides of the equation.”
• “God is raising up a tidal wave of generosity to fuel the Great Commission, and there is so much momentum happening.”
• “When we’re really looking for God’s hand, He gives us the ability to tell our stories differently.”

Links from the Show

• Gospel Patrons by John Rinehart
• Gospel Patrons (see our interview with founder John Rinehart)
• IllumiNations Bible Translation Alliance (see our interview with Todd Peterson or John Chesnut)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

2 Corinthians 5:7 | Walk by Faith  

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Renée Rinehart, CoFounder of Gospel Patrons, on Risky Generosity and Trusting God’s Provision appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Tom Lawrence always knew his calling had to do with money. Growing up in Southeast London, England, Tom convinced his parents to help him get work experience in hedge funds and investment banks at the young age of twelve. But a few years into his teens, Tom had an amazing encounter with Jesus which turned his whole perspective on life upside down. His passion for money remained, but instead of feathering his own nest, Tom began to see money in the light of funding for the Kingdom.  

As an adult, Tom spent about ten years as a wealth manager for private banks and wealth management organizations and his views on Kingdom finances grew and matured with him. Suddenly, Tom found himself without a job, and he soon realized that this was an opportunity to know God as Jehovah Jireh, his Provider. During this time, Tom began an intensive study of what the Bible really says about money. That journey reshaped everything—how he understands ownership, stewardship, and the call the pursue true riches.   

Out of that 200 hours of Bible study, Tom founded the Biblical Financial Masterclass, a 12+ hour course that helps Christians build their financial house using God’s blueprint from Scripture. Now, Tom equips Believers, churches, and organizations to heal their relationships with money and to rethink their financial lives from the heart outward, grounding principles in Scripture and pointing people towards Gospel transformation. Tune in for a fantastic dive into how God’s Word radically reshapes our relationship with money.  

Major Topics Include:

• Three dimensions of money and faith
• Biblical financial insights from 200 hours of study
• Commonly misunderstood money scriptures
• Developing his course
• Equipping to handle what God wants to give you
• Getting your heart right in relationship with money
• The Christian motivation for generosity 
• What is “serving Mammon?”
• Peeling back the layers of Mammon in our lives
• The truth about extravagance in giving
• Challenges in engaging the local church in financial conversation

Quotes to Remember

• “I was just as passionate about money after I got saved and it gave me a reason why I should be rather than just feathering my nest, which was my main ambition at 13 or 14. Between 15 and 17, I began to see it as an opportunity to fund the Kingdom.”
• “One of the greatest things that we can do is handle money that’s not ours, in line with Somebody Else’s will, for Somebody Else’s glory in order that it would be redeemed and bring about salvation in people’s lives.”
• “More than 10% of the entire Bible is given over to talking about money, finances, wealth, and stuff in some form of another. And about 1 in 6 of Jesus’s parables touches on it.”
• “Do not assume you are outside of God’s will just because you’re going through something difficult.”
• “Fundamentally, the entirety of the Bible is a display of generosity. It’s a love letter to humanity from God.”
• “How much money is too much money? It’s any amount that replaces our trust in God.”
• “Cheerful giving comes down to heart preparation.”
• “When we avoid talking about money, we are not sparing our congregations awkwardness, we are leaving a gaping hole in their discipleship.”

Links from the Show

• Biblical Financial Masterclass
• Stewardship (UK Ministry)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Luke 16:1-13 | The Parable of the Dishonest Manager  

Haggai 2: 6-7 | The Coming Glory of the Temple  

For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.   

Deuteronomy 8:18 | God Give the Power to Get Wealth  

You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  

Psalm 24:1 | Everything Belongs to the Lord  

The earth is the Lord‘s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,  

Proverbs 10:22 | Blessings without Sorrow  

The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.  

Luke 6:38 | Give and It Will Be Given  

give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”  

Genesis 22:8a | The Lord Will Provide  

Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”  

Genesis 8:22 | Seedtime and Harvest  

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”  

Romans 12:2 | Be Transformed  

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  

James 1:5 | Generous Wisdom from God  

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  

James 4:8a | Draw Near  

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  

1 Corinthians 10:13 | Overcoming Temptation  

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.  

2 Corinthians 9:1-6 | The Cheerful Giver  

2 Corinthians 8:12 | According to What You Have  

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.  

1 Chronicles 29:14 | All Things Come from You  

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Tom Lawrence, Founder of Biblical Financial Masterclass, on the Ultimate Purpose of Money appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Dave Schwartz had all the signs of worldly success. He was a high-level officer with a Fortune 500 company in the insurance and financial services industry for 25 years before starting a breakaway firm with a friend which grew to a hundred employees in three different states. Life was good. But after some deep, personal valleys—including two open-heart surgeries—God got Dave’s attention in a powerful way and helped him to see that a check-the-box religion wasn’t cutting it and something needed to change. Inspired by his now-wife’s deep contentment and relationship with God, Dave also began to pursue a deeper relationship himself.  

Selling interest in the company he helped start, Dave transitioned to the nonprofit sector where he vetted partners and handled donor funds. He then was invited to lead the missions programs at their church. Little did Dave know that this was laying the foundations for a God-sized vision on the other side of the world.  

Dave and his wife became close with a Liberian family from their church, and in 2021, they had an opportunity to travel to Liberia, the eighth poorest country in the world. Experiencing the extreme poverty at an orphanage there planted a strong desire to do something to uplift the children of Liberia without just giving out hand-me-downs.  

Now, after a few years of divine connections and miraculous generosity, ground will soon be broken for the Agape Empowerment Center, a 15-acre campus designed to raise Christ-centered Liberian leaders through housing, education, and holistic care. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to build a vision from scratch, this episode is for you.  

Major Topics Include:

• Becoming envious of contentment
• How the God-sized vision came together
• Governance, structure, and transparency 
• Giving a hand up without creating a cycle of dependency
• Building a culture one grade at a time
• Involving locals in the mission
• A hopeful view of the next 5 to 10 years
• How this experience has deepened Dave’s faith
• The vision for agricultural and manufacturing enterprise zones
• Building community through collaboration
• Examining the ROI of philanthropic dollars

Quotes to Remember

• “Laying in the hospital in 2012, recovering from my second open-heart surgery, I realized it was time to make a change.”
• “What is a true relationship with our Savior versus a religious ‘check-the-box’?”
• “As I started to change from religion to a relationship with Jesus, contentment started to creep into my life and I had never really experienced that before.”
• “Liberia is the eighth poorest country in the world. Per person income on an annual basis is $530 USD.”
• “I made the very Western throw-away comment of ‘Gosh, Honey, someone’s gotta do something about this.’ Without missing a beat, my wife says, ‘What about us?’ And that’s how the Agape Empowerment Center got started.”
• “If we want them to become the best and to be Christ-centered children, well-educated, then let’s start treating them like the best and stop just giving them our hand-me-downs.”
• “In five or ten years, I see children with joy and hope in their lives.”
• “I have learned that I absolutely have no control. I think I do, but I don’t. And at the end of the day, this is God’s plan or it’s not. I just hope to be able to help implement it.”
• “I’m not going to retire, I’m going to re-fire.”

Links from the Show

• Agape Empowerment Center
• When Helping Hurts (see our interview with coauthor Brian Fikkert)
• Convoy of Hope
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Dave Schwartz, Founder of Agape Empowerment Center, on Finding Calling Over Comfort appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.

What We’ll Cover

Doug Cobb, founder of The Finishing Fund, is passionately convicted that we could see the fulfillment of the Great Commission in our generation. In 1994, Doug’s life was changed when he joined Paul Eshleman and the Jesus Film Project for a trip to Nigeria where he caught the vision to see completely unengaged people groups reached with the Gospel. Utilizing his background in startups and venture capital, Doug eventually founded The Finishing Fund, a venture capital fund for the Great Commission, connecting donors to projects intended to reach the unengaged with the Gospel for the first time. In the last eight years, The Finishing Fund has helped get the Gospel to about 800 people groups who had never heard it before.  

In his most recent book, The Sprint to the Finish, Doug discusses three major finish lines that need to be crossed to fulfill the Great Commission—seeing a first Believer in every known people group, a Bible translated into every language, and a church established in every village on Earth. To date, there are only 20 unengaged people groups left in the world, and by God’s grace, The Finishing Fund and its collaborative partners have a shared goal to see the entire world reached with the Gospel by 2033.  

Doug’s conviction is simple but bold: The mission Jesus gave us can be completed in this generation, and God is already making it happen. If you want a front row seat to what God is doing around the world right now, you won’t want to miss this episode.  

Major Topics Include:

• Three finish lines to completing the Great Commission
• The current state of Gospel work in the world
• Comparing approaches—church planting and disciple making
• Stories of signs, wonders, and miracles drawing people to Jesus
• Fueling the Gospel spark in a community
• The biggest obstacles to fulfilling Great Commission
• What operational collaboration looks like
• The evangelistic power of a new Believer
• The Great Wealth Transfer and the Great Commission
• Looking forward to the return of Jesus

Quotes to Remember

• “The statistics tell us that most Christians sitting in churches can’t even tell you what the great commission is, much less can they tell you anything about what’s happening.”
• “I think we’re within a year or two by God’s grace of seeing the work begun in every people group.”
• “God is preparing people of peace in these places and it’s almost like the Spirit is there tapping His toe and waiting for us to show up to close the deal. He’s already working in the hearts and minds of people to prepare them.”
• “When God’s people are willing to go, Jesus will go with them.”
• “Why would the Spirit not do today what He did way back then to validate the testimony of Paul and the other apostles?”
• “I don’t think it’s coincidental that God has created this wealth in the last days at a time when it’s needed, and that creates an enormous responsibility for our generation.”
• “This generation has more than we need to complete the Great Commission.”

Links from the Show

• The Sprint to the Finish by Doug Cobb
• The Finishing Fund (see our interview with founder Doug Cobb)
• Jesus Film Project (see our interview with Executive Director Josh Newell)
• Finishing the Task (see our interview with FTT Global Church Planting Strategist Dan Hitzhusen)
• IllumiNations Bible Translation Alliance (see our interview with Todd Peterson or John Chesnut)
• ACHIEVE Alliance
• New Covenant Missions
• Coalition of the Willing
• Jim Wise, Financial Advisor with Ronald Blue Trust (see our past interview here)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

Bible References from the Show

Luke 16:10a | Faithfulness  

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,  

Matthew 28:19 | The Great Commission  

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  

Matthew 24:14 | Then the End Will Come  

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  

Revelation 7:9-10 | Every Nation, Tribe, and Tongue  

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  

Acts 1:8 | Power to Witness  

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.”

We Want to Hear from You!

If you have a thought about something you heard, or a story to share, please reach out! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also contact us directly from our contact page. If you want to engage with the Finish Line Community, check out our groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The post Doug Cobb, Founder of the Finishing Fund, on the Last Mile of the Great Commission appeared first on Finish Line Pledge.