Street Faith

Over the past year on our Marketplace Kingdom podcast, we’ve talked a lot about the need for real intimacy with God as our starting point for hearing His voice and being an influence for His Kingdom right where we are. We’ve even released two special session on seeing and hearing from Him today. Now we bring you a third installment in that series, and something of a prequel. This is a pre-release recording of a full seminar session featuring DJ Swanger teaching on “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit”. This recording will be released and promoted later, but is being posted briefly in its current form to facilitate early review. It will only be available here on Street Faith in its current long form for a limited time, so if you want this full version, download it now.

This is a special FIRST ANNIVERSARY edition of MARKETPLACE KINGDOM! In this unique episode, we're bringing you something of a retrospective. We decided to review some of the recurring themes that have come up again and again in our podcast conversations over the past year...and the ways they tie together to point us toward a bigger picture. It seemed appropriate, after a year, to spend some time looking back in order to move forward. We're delighted to include you in this conversation.

This is session two of THE INTENSIVE, a new series of tactical teaching sessions for members and friends of the emerging Seven Mountain Alliance and any others of you who want to go deeper as you seek to discern these times and advance God’s Kingdom…right where you are. Drawn from actual live seminars and coaching sessions, these focused and detailed presentations are designed to help you maximize your Kingdom impact in your sphere of influence. Brought to you by One Rock Strategix and the Empowerment Institute, these are excerpts from live sessions, and some focus may be uniquely directed toward the particular gathering. But the framework and concepts covered are readily applicable to any individual or group seeking to sharpen their understanding and impact where faith intersects with areas of influence in the arenas that mold and shape hearts and minds and cultures.

This is session one of THE INTENSIVE, a new series of tactical teaching sessions for members and friends of the emerging Seven Mountain Alliance and any others of you who want to go deeper as you seek to discern these times and advance God’s Kingdom…right where you are. Drawn from actual live seminars and coaching sessions, these focused and detailed presentations are designed to help you maximize your Kingdom impact in your sphere of influence. Brought to you by One Rock Strategix and the Empowerment Institute, these are excerpts from live sessions, and some focus may be uniquely directed toward the particular gathering. But the framework and concepts covered are readily applicable to any individual or group seeking to sharpen their understanding and impact where faith intersects with areas of influence in the arenas that mold and shape hearts and minds and cultures.

Sometimes our greatest opportunities are the ones closest to us, and the "divine appointments" we've been praying for are actually staring us in the face. In this conversation, we talk about some of the ways that believers in various locales are recognizing and acting upon opportunities that are right in front of them. Opportunities to be Christ’s love and light in their own communities in real practical hands-on life-to-life ways. This episode is about prayer and action and listening to the call of the Spirit in this moment…living with eyes and hearts wide open.

Our guest on this episode is our friend Jamie Muller, talking with us about an essential ministry that’s not always visible or recognized by the broader church. One on one, life on life, praying for and encouraging those in our immediate circles of influence as an integral part of our daily interactions can be a “hidden ministry”, to use his words. But it can also be one of the most potent and vital. And it’s the way in which the Lord will most likely use all of us…if we’re willing…right where we are.

For our final episode of 2016, we wanted to invite you to eavesdrop on a recent conversation between co-hosts Dave Huizenga and DJ Swanger as they recap the last ten months of Marketplace Kingdom and the emerging Seven Mountain Alliance. They share what the Lord has been doing with the podcast and with them, where they sense Him leading for 2017, and how YOU can get more intimately involved.

Everyone, in every sphere of life, goes through wilderness times at one point or another. Times when the path ahead seems to disappear and no direction seems right or wrong. It may be a health issue, family crisis, a financial setback or a career upset. Whatever the cause, it can be difficult to really experience God in wilderness places, yet sometimes those are the very places where He can be found most profoundly. Burning bushes and hope in the desert. This episode’s guest, Carol A. Brown, is a writer, story-teller, intercessor, educator, counsellor, and lover of broken people. Her latest book is “Through the Wilderness: Finding God’s Presence When All Seems Lost.” Listen in as she shares honest compassionate insight and biblical wisdom drawn from her own story of being “sidelined”…by the onset of multiple sclerosis…and her journey back into the Presence of God in the midst of a life turned upside down. Note: We experienced some challenges with the quality of this recording in some brief sections. Ne

We all want to be effective representatives of God’s heart and God’s Kingdom as we go about life in the world. Especially now! We want to recognize the needs of those around us and speak and live the truth in loving and practical ways. We want to be like King David’s wise advisors, understanding the times and knowing what to do…right where we are. We acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, and believe that He wants to extend his lordship in practical ways into all the various areas of our lives and activities, yet we sometimes still wonder what that looks like in the details of 2020 and Covid 19. How do we listen for His voice and direction as it pertains to our particular situations? Our passions. Our vocations. Our finances. Our relationships and conversations with friends, family members, and even casual aquaintances. The stranger on the street. The cashier at the gas station. The teller at the bank. How do we recognize His voice and receive His word for our day to day lives? With these questions in

We have an incredible opportunity in this moment. An opportunity to be the hands and feet and heart and voice of our Lord to the people around us. To pray and listen to the Spirit. To love courageously and fall on our faces before God in intercession for our families, our friends, our nation and our world. And to speak the truth of the Kingdom of God breaking into human life one heart at a time. “HOPE AND A FUTURE: Awakening and Healing the Soul of the Nation” is a moving time of conversation and prayer about prayer...for the revival of Christians and the awakening of our country. Our guest and friend Randy Hekman of Grand Awakening shares his heart for bringing real healing and transformation to lives and communities by crying out together in united prayer and creating a landing strip for God’s presence and power right where we are. You’ll definitely want to listen to this episode again and again. And pass it on to your friends.

Leadership and Change are hot topics. In the news. In the church. In the coffeeshops and on social media. And everybody has an opinion, backed by their own cadre of experts. But what if real leadership looks more like one to one influence, and real change starts at the bottom instead of the board room? By common standards, Ron Jimmerson was the last person the world would expect to be changing the shape of a city and its neighborhoods. An ex-offender with a prison earned GED stepping into a field dominated by so-called experts with masters’ and doctoral degrees, he had passion and a vision for transforming lives in ways that ran directly counter to the most established approaches. Ron’s game plan was disturbingly simple. Listen to God and listen to the people at the bottom. Really listen! Then do what works. Ron is our guest on this episode of Marketplace Kingdom. Our conversation on “Leading Change from the Ground Up” is serious, funny, challenging, and full of street level biblical insight that

"URGENT...The US presidential election is just fifteen days away. Still, many people in our country remain undecided as to how…or if…they plan to vote. At no time in recent history have we as a people been so deeply and hotly divided. Many with whom we have spoken continue to be seriously conflicted about both major candidates. Yet this election, perhaps more than any in the last four decades, is about much more than candidates. It is about the nature and direction of our nation for the next generation. For Christians, it is about understanding the times and knowing what we should do! That’s why we’ve decided to release this Special Edition of Marketplace Kingdom. This episode was produced quickly. We believe the issues at stake are important enough that we want to make it available sooner rather than later! PLEASE…Send the link to your friends. Email it. Share it on Facebook and Twitter. Download the mp3 and send it out directly. Yes, we believe it’s that important."

According to our friend Fulton Sheen, the key pivot point for a Christian understanding of business and finance comes when believers realize that they’re not owners, but rather stewards of the resources with which God has entrusted them. That shift in understanding brings with it a critical shift in focus and in the principles to which we are responsible. In the Book of Ruth, when Boaz was allowing Ruth to glean, he didn’t leave her with just enough to eat. He very specifically left MORE, so that she could go out and sell the extra grain…to make some money as well as eat. He was allowing her to go way beyond mere subsistence. He was allowing her to flourish. So what does a Kingdom oriented business and economic culture really look like? The over-riding character of the world’s approach is the law of the jungle…survival of the fittest. When setting up a deal, a contract, a business relationship or any other financial transaction, the world thinks “How can I win and come out on top?” A Kingdom approach

Is there really such a thing as “biblical economics”? Does the bible provide principles and strategies for how we should conduct ourselves in our personal financial affairs? In business? As a community? As a nation? If we as Kingdom minded people truly desire to understand the times and know what to do, we need to be looking at these questions. What sort of practical grid does a biblical worldview provide for understanding and critiquing the current conversations about “the economy” in the public square? What unique Kingdom answers can be found to the economic issues facing us today? According to Christian analyst and international speaker Fulton Sheen, “The world’s Babylonian economic structures and its excesses are on a collision course with the reality of Kingdom economics based on Biblical absolutes. It’s happened before, it will happen again. We are truly a world economy and what happens in one nation has an effect on another; nations are no longer islands unto themselves…We must be aware and have unde

This episode is a continuation of last week's "Cities of Refuge: Preparing for the Coming Economic Crisis" and features the Question and Answer segment of that call.

Yes. We live in a volatile world. Every day, a host of conflicting and contradictory voices and agendas are vying for our attention and loyalty. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged. What should we do? Who should we believe? How should we pray? But in the midst of the strident demands and vitriolic attitudes that seem to have become the new normal, something else is emerging. Something new and ancient. Something that flies in the face of all the competing agendas and talking points of the world and its would-be rulers in every sector of society. The Lord is awakening and igniting movements of people around the world that will shake lives and bring real revival, transforming individuals and nations. We are experiencing one of those moments in history that is pregnant with God's capacity to do tremendous things as He sets souls ablaze with an intensely practical heart cry for something fresh and powerful and radically other to break in on the scene of our day to day lives! “Thy Kingdom

Episode 12 is an in depth discussion of “The Emerging Seven Mountain Alliance”, a movement that crosses denominational barriers to bring the power of the Gospel into the streets, the marketplace, and the various structures and venues that shape individual lives and entire cultures. How can we as individuals make a real difference right where we are? Look around. We are all influencers.

Episode 11 features our guest Tim Cosby, founder and trainer with the Empowerment Coaching Network. Our conversation with Tim centers on “Full Spectrum Leadership”, an approach that recognizes and builds on the gifts, passions, talents and callings of each person. In Tim’s words, a coaching approach isn’t just another tool in the box. It brings an entirely different operating system to the task of leadership. It values, nurtures and releases people into their own place in God’s plan.

"If we read the New Testament carefully, we quickly discover that 'the church' is not the model for the Church. Jesus is the model for the Church!" With these words, our friend Tim Vink brings a precise focus to our discussion of what we should look like as we engage in our day to day lives in the world. This episode revolves around four key questions: 1. What does "church" beyond the walls of the church look like? 2. What does a 7 Mountain/7 Sphere idea say for understanding how the church should be equipping and supporting people in the redemptive character of their perspective and Kingdom oriented engagement in their spheres of influence? 3. What do we need to do to incorporate this kind of Kingdom understanding and practice into our teaching and discipleship activities? Our prayer cover? Our life-as-mission? 4. What might it look like to plant and develop new churches with a Presence based, Spirit led, prayer saturated 7 Mountain orientation built into their DNA from the ground up? Tim Vink i

Norman Christopher is our guest on this important episode. Norman is currently the Executive Director of Sustainability at Grand Valley State University, and an influential advisor to businesses, educators, innovators, and governmental leaders on the local, regional, state and national levels. He is a gifted network builder and an accomplished servant leader. Anyone who meets him quickly discovers that he has a contagious passion for what he does. He is also a person whose deep Christian faith and practical biblical wisdom form and inform everything about him. He doesn’t hide his faith from those in his spheres of influence, but he doesn’t insist that they understand “Christianeze” either. Norman speaks practical truth in their language and leads with action. And value. And results. Join us for our conversation on “Leading With Wisdom and Servant Influence”.