This is the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast. We’ve been talking about the role of the marketplace in fulfilling the Great Commission, and while that can seem like an “over there” conversation, there are undoubtedly unreached people groups in your local community. The “diaspora,” a term used to describe people groups who leave their homeland and scatter abroad among other nations, has brought those in need of the Gospel quite literally into our own backyard. This is an incredible Great Commission opportunity.

We wrap up the podcast with a real-life example of how business fosters relationships that further the Kingdom. It’s a powerful story with a shocking update that happened literally as we were recording this episode. You won’t want to miss it!

Our final missional moment features an interview with a young entrepreneur leveraging his business skills to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Because of the sensitive areas in which he works, we had to hide his face and alter his voice. But his insights into the marketplace and global missions are the perfect way to end Season 1. Let his story inspire and challenge you!

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:
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https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:
www.erikcooper.me
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

This week, we continue our conversation about Business as Missions (BAM) by drilling down into some of the ways the marketplace is being leveraged cross-culturally for global missions purposes. BAM has certainly been abused by some as a less than honest way to deceive local authorities into providing visas. We call those people “job fakers,” and they’ve given BAM a bad name in som circles. But that is not the BAM story we want to champion or explore.

Episode 11 unpacks the Kingdom potential of “job takers” and “job makers” in advancing missions efforts around the world. We also look at the power of the “gig economy” to raise up cross-cultural missionaries. Marketplace skills are missionary skills.

This week’s missional moment features Part 2 of our fascinating conversation with Dick Brogden, the global leader of LiveDead and missionary to Saudi Arabia. Few people have influenced our missiology more than Dick Brogden. His insights about BAM and our Great Commission responsibility as believers will encourage and discomfort you in all the right ways.

You can learn more about the incredible work LiveDead is doing in the hardest to reach places around the world by visiting https://livedead.org. You can also find Dick’s newest book, Missionary God, Missionary Bible (a must read) by clicking here.

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:
https://TheStoneTable.org
https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable
https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:
www.erikcooper.me
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

When we stop thinking of everyday work as a "secular" endeavor, when we refuse to equate the marketplace with greed and materialism, when we embrace acts of commerce as an opportunity to honor God and love our neighbor, business truly becomes a Great Commission opportunity.

In episode 10, we pivot into a two week discussion on Business as Mission (or BAM). All over the world, missionaries are embracing the marketplace as an opportunity to embody and proclaim the Gospel in some of the hardest to reach places. We unpack the strategy and why we think it has so much Kingdom potential.

We also talk to our dear friend Dick Brogden, the global leader of LiveDead and missionary to Saudi Arabia for this week’s missional moment. Dick and his wife Jenn are on the front lines of the Great Commission in more ways than one. You do not want to miss Dick’s challenge to take up this Great Commission calling. It will encourage and discomfort you in all the right ways.

You can learn more about the incredible work LiveDead is doing in the hardest to reach places around the world by visiting https://livedead.org.

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:
https://TheStoneTable.org
https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable
https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

A recent Barna survey revealed that half of all church-going Christians cannot identify the Great Commission. So before we dive deeply into the role of the marketplace in God’s mission in the world, this episode goes back to the basics and unpacks the reality of Jesus’ final instructions to us: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19)

Over 3 billion people are considered unreached with the Good News of the Gospel today. That’s 42% of the global population and rising. A huge portion of these people are what we call “inconveniently lost.” There are no Christians, no churches, no Bibles, no way for them to know about Jesus unless we make extreme sacrifices to go and tell them. This is the greatest injustice in the world today and one we are passionate about engaging as marketplace believers.

For this week’s missional moment, we talk to Greg Mundis, the Executive Director of Assemblies of God World Missions. Greg has served on both the frontlines and in executive leadership of this global missions movement for decades. Everything about Greg just emanates with a passion to see the Great Commission fulfilled, and his belief that business and entrepreneurship are powerful global missions tools is inspiring. Every conversation I have with Greg Mundis is a joy. I think you’ll understand why.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Assemblies of God World Missions, you can visit their website at https://www.agwm.org

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:

https://TheStoneTable.org

https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable

https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:

https://www.erikcooper.me

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

What was God’s original design for work and rest? Are these two concepts opposites? Are they enemies? This week on the podcast we talk about the “dance” of work and rest, and how embracing both as part of God’s design for our lives is part of living in Gospel fullness.

We also dive deeply into the topic of biblical retirement. This may be difficult for some of us to hear, but the modern Western definition of retirement is not in the Bible. Does this mean we’re meant to work a grinding 8-5 job until our dying breath? Not at all. But reimagining retirement through the lens of the Gospel is an important exercise for every believer.

Our friend Chuck Rapp shares his personal story in this week’s missional moment. After a 40+ year corporate career, Chuck is finding new ways to work, worship, and serve in his late 60s. No matter your season of life, Chuck’s story will encourage and inspire you to think differently about the future.

You can learn more about Chuck’s work at One Mission Society by visiting https://onemissionsociety.org

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:

https://TheStoneTable.org

https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable

https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:

https://www.erikcooper.me

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

Honoring God in our hiring practices seems way easier than honoring God in our firing practices. If the Gospel redeems all things, how can we both hire and fire people to the glory of God? It begins with seeing people the way God sees them.

On this week’s podcast, we talk about hiring and firing employees. People are more than cogs in a wheel or economic transactions to boost our bottom line. All human beings carry God’s Image (Imago Dei), and yet sometimes working relationships have to end. There will never be a warm and fuzzy way to terminate someone’s employment, but when we truly see people and not just transactions, we can love them well even when we have to say goodbye.

This week’s missional moment features Konica Miles, one of our favorite leaders at our sister company, CRF Affordable Housing. Konica has long-managed our housing portfolio’s largest property, overseeing 424 units of multifamily apartments on Indy’s west side. She is both tenacious and loving, bringing her desire to honor God and love her neighbor with her to work each day. You will absolutely love hearing what Konica has to share. I believe it will inspire you in your place of work, too.

You can learn more about CRF Affordable Housing here: https://crf.net

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:

https://TheStoneTable.org

https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable

https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:

https://www.erikcooper.me

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

The movie and TV industry have continually categorized the businessman as the villain. From Mr. Krabs to Gordon Gecko, the marketplace and money have become synonymous with power and greed. Why did this happen, and how does this impact the idea of our work being the fulfillment of the Great Commandment? There are plenty of examples of businesspeople genuinely being the bad guy, but these are the sin-broken counterfeit and not the real thing.

On this week’s podcast we discuss the real issue behind business and greed (hint: it’s not the money). When we elevate anything above God, it hijacks God’s original design for this life. Biblical business is about adding value, problem solving, and meeting needs of your fellow man – to love your neighbor as yourself. Keep God in the forefront and business won't be your idol, it will become your avenue to serve.

For this week’s missional moment, we talk to our friend Matthew Rohrs, Executive Director of Sinapis. Sinapis fosters entrepreneurial development in some of the poorest places around the globe. They believe entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation go together, and Matthew is leading the charge to equip and release thousands of global entrepreneurs to the glory of God.

You can find out all about the incredible work of Sinapis here: https://www.sinapis.org

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:

https://TheStoneTable.org

https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable

https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:

https://www.erikcooper.me

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/

Even though our everyday work was created through the glorious energy of Genesis chapters 1 and 2, we experience our everyday work through the “thorns and thistles” of Genesis chapter 3. Most of us feel the exhaustion of a work life that is so far less than what God intended it to be. So how can we reframe that 8-5 (or whatever hours you work each day) through the lens of the Gospel? Redeemed by Jesus, our work actually becomes a daily opportunity to fulfill the Great Commandment – to worship God and love our neighbors as ourselves.

On this week’s podcast, we take a wilderness journey with the Israelites to see what old-school idol worship can teach us about our day-jobs. And we learn a new Greek word often used in ancient business transactions that quite literally changes everything.

This week’s missional moment features my dear friend Darren Messick. After spending 25 years at what some would consider the pinnacle of full-time ministry, Darren found himself back in the marketplace loading airplanes for a global shipping company. This vocational move had nothing to do with burnout or scandal. To the contrary, he truly believes God led him there. Darren’s story is inspiring and his attitude is contagious. You don’t want to miss it!

Please share, follow, and rate this show (we prefer all the stars if you don’t mind) on your podcast platform of choice. It goes a long way to help establish us as a new podcast. You can also find more information about Missional Marketplace and The Stone Table here:

The Stone Table:

https://TheStoneTable.org

https://www.facebook.com/thestonetable

https://www.instagram.com/thestonetable_org/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13673066/admin/

Missional Marketplace Book:

https://www.erikcooper.me

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733022732/