Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Mark Vroegop, President of The Gospel Coalition, for a timely conversation about the growing but often disconnected faith and work movement. Mark brings a rare dual perspective—thirty years of pastoral ministry combined with deep understanding of entrepreneurial leadership—to address why two of society's most driven groups struggle to connect.

This episode tackles the practical barriers keeping pastors and entrepreneurs apart, explores how lament and waiting can transform both business loss and leadership pressure, and offers concrete steps for churches ready to empower their entrepreneurial members beyond "parking vests and coffee." Mark vulnerably shares from his own journey through grief and gaps, providing a biblical framework for navigating the uncertainty that defines both pastoral and entrepreneurial life.

This episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Podcast was filmed at the Main Street Summit, the perfect gathering for ambitious Christian entrepreneurs, executives, and business leaders seeking to deepen the integration of their faith and work. 

Learn more and sign up to be notified for Main Street Summit 2026: www.mainstreetsummit.com

Key Topics:

• Why pastors and entrepreneurs miss each other despite obvious synergies
• The demanding reality of pastoral ministry most business leaders never see
• How business leaders can provide invaluable insight churches desperately need
• Lament as a language for processing business failure, betrayal, and loss
• Waiting on the Lord: Learning to lead through gaps and uncertainty
• Building strategic plans that include space for divine intervention
• Practical pathways for pastors and entrepreneurs to bridge the divide

Notable Quotes:

"How can we help business leaders know how to be good churchmen, if you will? And from my seat as a person who's in pastoral ministry for thirty years, how can pastors do a better job of serving business leaders, especially entrepreneurs?" - Mark Vroegop

"Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust." - Mark Vroegop

"Waiting on the Lord is learning to live on what I know to be true about God when I don't know what's true about my life." - Mark Vroegop

Solving Big Problems Together: Uganda's Four-Pillar Model for Community Transformation

Join host Justin Forman in conversation with Andrew DeVaney, founder of As One Africa, for an inspiring discussion about what it takes to solve interconnected problems in rural Uganda. From his friendship with a rural educator to building a four-pronged model serving 50,000 patients, 4,000 students, and 5,000 farmers annually, Andrew shares how empowering Ugandans to solve Ugandan problems creates sustainable transformation.

This episode explores the power of earned revenue models over aid dependency, the importance of treating beneficiaries as customers, and why time in the game matters more than quick wins. Discover how collaboration, storytelling, and Kingdom partnership can address some of the world's most pressing challenges.

Key Topics:

• Uganda's demographic advantage: 80% under 30, 50% under 18
• The four-pillar model: schools, health centers, farms, and businesses working together
• Why "catching a thief requires sending a thief" - the power of local problem-solvers
• Earned revenue vs. aid dependency: treating beneficiaries as customers with voice
• How competition and feedback loops drive innovation and dignity
• The interconnectivity of rural poverty: education, healthcare, agriculture, and employment
• Building sustainable models that don't depend on foreign funding
• Praxis lessons: balancing venture building with soul care for long-term impact

Notable Quotes:

"The young people that are coming up, they're now being educated, they're going to school, they desire a different opportunity within the country that they live in, and expect better from their leaders." - Andrew DeVaney

"Ugandans empowering Ugandans. This is something that there's this self perpetuating feedback loop that pushes Ugandans to want to do more." - Andrew DeVaney

"Time in the game is going to be such a big deal. For entrepreneurs, for investors, for problem solvers." - Andrew DeVaney

Join host Justin Forman for a milestone conversation with Bill Yeargin, CEO of Correct Craft, as they celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. From refusing bribes that led to bankruptcy, to refusing to work Sundays during WWII, to growing from a $39 million company facing the Great Recession to surpassing $1 billion—this is a masterclass in values-driven leadership that stands the test of time.

Bill shares the dramatic "God moments" that convinced him to become the fifth CEO in five years at a broken company, and how a controversial service trip to Mexico became the turning point that saved the culture. Discover why Correct Craft sends employees around the world on company-funded mission trips, how they navigate tough stewardship decisions while maintaining strong faith values, and what it takes to build for the next hundred years.

Key Topics:

• The WWII story: Building 420 boats in 23 days without working Sundays
• Spending 20 years of profits to repay legally discharged bankruptcy debts
• Two unmistakable "God signs" that led Bill to Orlando: a house sale and a tutor's call
• Why the Mexico service trip (that everyone opposed) saved the company
• Growing from $39M to over $1 billion through culture and strategic planning
• The Culture Pyramid: Building Boats to the Glory of God, Making Life Better
• Balancing stewardship excellence with faith values in difficult decisions
• Global expansion to 70 countries—including surprising markets like Namibia
• Vertical and horizontal acquisition strategy without outside capital
• Making decisions for the next 25 years, not just short-term wins

Notable Quotes:

"I believe we're alive today as a company because of that first trip." - Bill Yeargin

"We're not just trying to help the people that we're going to serve, we're trying to help our own team too. We've seen so many lives change on our own team over the years." - Bill Yeargin

"You don't make it a hundred years by being over on God's side. You gotta do the things we're supposed to do. Trust God, honor him. Let him bless us." - Bill Yeargin

Join host Justin Forman in Nairobi, Kenya, as he sits down with Jean-Paul Nageri, co-founder of KaFresh, for an extraordinary conversation about finding divine solutions hidden in plain sight. When Jean-Paul watched his father's banana harvest spoil while waiting for traders, he didn't just see a problem—he saw a calling. What followed was a journey of "God Engineering" that led to a breakthrough preserving produce 10x longer using only natural plant oils.

This episode explores how entrepreneurs can look to creation itself for answers to massive problems, why cold storage isn't always the answer for Africa, and how one biotech solution is transforming food security for millions. From Genesis 1:29 inspiration to cutting-edge agricultural innovation, this conversation reveals how faith, science, and entrepreneurship combine to solve real-world challenges.

Key Topics:

• How watching his father lose 50% of harvests to spoilage launched an entrepreneurial journey
• The "God Engineering" discovery: unlocking preservation secrets from orange peels
• Why expensive Western solutions (cold storage) don't work for African farmers
• KaFresh breakthrough: Extending tomato shelf life from 1 week to 3+ months at room temperature
• The $1 trillion problem: Sub-Saharan Africa loses 37% of food production to post-harvest spoilage
• From synthetic chemicals to natural plant oils: reversing the globalization of food preservation
• How monks in 1800s monasteries pioneered natural food coating techniques
• Building an agricultural biotech platform: From preservation to accelerated seed germination
• Making insects "invisible" to produce instead of killing them with pesticides
• Uganda's 2 million smallholder farmers and the mindset shift that changes everything

Notable Quotes:

"I like to use the term God Engineering. He literally leaves clues, but you have to have that discernment to be able to see the clues." - Jean-Paul Nageri

"Why me, why me, why not some other big company? But that's God's plan. He normally takes the underdogs." - Jean-Paul Nageri

"Anything that is good for you should be easy to pronounce." - Jean-Paul Nageri

Beyond the Bumper Sticker: What It Really Means When God Owns Your Business

Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Bertie Lourens, founder of a waste management company that has transformed the lives of 2,300 people across South Africa. Bertie shares his extraordinary journey from near bankruptcy to transferring majority ownership of his company to God—not as a symbolic gesture, but as a legally binding decision that fundamentally changed how he runs his business.

This episode moves beyond the bumper sticker phrase "God owns my business" to explore what actually happens when you transfer 51% of shares to a non-profit entity representing God as your majority shareholder. Bertie vulnerably shares how pride nearly destroyed everything, how two miracles gave his business a second chance, and why the most freeing decision he ever made was giving up control.

Key Topics:

• From pride to bankruptcy: How success became Bertie's greatest spiritual danger
• The radical obedience of legally transferring majority ownership to God
• Setting up Neko Capital: Making God a legal shareholder through proper structure
• How boardroom questions change when asking "What does our Shareholder want?"
• The Elon Musk thought experiment: Understanding the value proposition of divine partnership
• Why stewardship "with Him" is fundamentally different than "for Him"
• Raising children without entitlement when God owns the family business
• Breaking free from the founder's burden: The unexpected freedom of surrender

Notable Quotes:

"Whatever I do for Jesus is wrong. Whatever I do with him is right. That just changed my world." - Bertie Lourens

"I have never in my life been more free than after the moment when I transferred those shares." - Bertie Lourens

"The comfort of the security—the financial security that I have, that I can see in my future because of this—is what entraps us." - Bertie Lourens

Join host Justin Forman in Boulder, Colorado, for a powerful conversation with Tim Tebow and Wes Lyons at the Clapham gathering—where 150 entrepreneurs are uniting to disrupt one of the world's darkest evils: human trafficking. This episode explores how for-profit ventures, nonprofit organizations, and churches can collaborate to create an unprecedented counter-trafficking industry worth billions.

Tim shares the heartbreaking story that launched his anti-trafficking work: his father's decision to purchase the freedom of four girls at an underground pastor's conference. Wes reveals how entrepreneurs are building sustainable businesses that fight trafficking—from training frontline healthcare workers to creating digital safety for children—proving that mission and profit can powerfully align.

Discover why "looking again" at those society overlooks is essential to stopping traffickers, how apathy is the real enemy, and why living an extreme life for Christ matters more than living a balanced one.

Key Topics:

• The origin story: How Tim Tebow's father rescued four girls and launched a movement
• Understanding trafficking vs. sexual exploitation: Different motives, different solutions
• Building the counter-trafficking industry: How for-profit businesses are seeding a $5B market by 2030
• The Clapham model: Learning from William Wilberforce's dense network approach
• Healthcare's hidden opportunity: 90% of trafficking victims interact with medical professionals 15-18 times before identification
• Why being made in God's image means "image being," not "image bearer"
• The case against living a balanced life—and for living an extreme one
• Eagle Venture Fund's strategy: Treating counter-trafficking like counter-cybersecurity

Notable Quotes:

"My dad is one of my biggest heroes and role models because he's not someone that can look the other way and do nothing." - Tim Tebow

"You can be for profit and for purpose and for people. Like that can happen." - Tim Tebow

"People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy. We have to be passionate believers, passionate about the cause of Christ, passionate about hurting people, not apathetic people that someone else is going to do it." - Tim Tebow

"Traffickers target the people that the church gave up seeing." - Justin Forman

At the Gutenberg Moment: How AI is Reshaping Faith, Technology, and Kingdom Impact

Join host Justin Forman for a pivotal conversation with Pat Gelsinger in Boulder, Colorado, exploring how faith-driven leaders can steward the most transformative technology cycle of the modern era. From his 45 uninterrupted years in tech to his transition into investing and leading Gloo, Pat shares profound insights on navigating seasons of life, building the faith technology platform, and positioning the church to ride—not watch—the AI wave.

This episode tackles critical questions about fragmentation in the faith ecosystem, the power of unified action, and why showing up "bigger" matters for Kingdom influence. Pat unpacks Gloo's mission to make AI suitable and trustworthy for the faith community, the surprising results of flourishing AI benchmarks, and his audacious vision: educating every child on the planet within the next 10-15 years.

Key Topics:

• The painful yet purposeful transition from 45 years at Intel to a new season of investing and impact
• Why next-generation entrepreneurs are "spiritual but not religious" and what that means for business
• Gloo's mission: Building the faith technology platform at a Gutenberg moment
• How AI can accelerate mission—from conquering 7,000 languages to custom education for every child
• The flourishing AI benchmarks: Measuring models against human flourishing (and why DeepSeek leads)
• Why the church is the "largest fragmented industry on planet Earth" and how to show up bigger
• Transforming the Bay with Christ (TBC): 900 churches united in one of America's least churched regions
• The critical shift from "for Christ" to "with Christ" in transformation work

Notable Quotes:

"We're at a Gutenberg moment. Will we the church be captivated, accelerated, mission empowered by AI? Or will we sit on the outside watching?" - Pat Gelsinger

"Next-generation entrepreneurs—they're not religious, but they're spiritual. There's a deeper spiritual expectation and they really care about the soul implications of business success." - Pat Gelsinger

"If we educate the 300 million children living in poverty today, I think I will have done more to eliminate poverty than any other single thing you could do—and I believe we can do that in the next decade." - Pat Gelsinger

From Dallas Uber Rides to Uganda Motorcycles: How One Partnership Is Transforming African Mobility

Join host Henry Kaestner as he sits down with Jared Fulks, co-founder of PureFlow, for an inspiring conversation about building Kingdom businesses in emerging markets. From four consecutive Uber drivers from different African countries in Dallas to empowering thousands of motorcycle taxi drivers in Uganda, this episode reveals how God orchestrates divine appointments in everyday moments and business ventures alike.

Discover how PureFlow started with just six motorcycles and $6,000 in a small Ugandan town and has grown into a hospitality-focused finance company serving thousands. Jared shares powerful lessons about the value of partnership born from prayer, the unexpected advantages of tier-two and tier-three cities, and why sometimes the best place to test a business idea isn't Silicon Valley—it's Africa.

Key Topics:

• Divine appointments: Four African Uber drivers in 24 hours and what they reveal about staying spiritually present
• Starting with six bikes: How Colin emptied his savings and received 250 applications in 24 hours
• Partnership as a "God idea": Why prayer preceded partnership and the power of detailed operating agreements
• Tier-two and tier-three city advantages: Building trust and community away from capital cities
• Hospitality over finance: Reframing PureFlow as a hospitality business that creates places people want to return to
• Low-cost probes in Africa: Testing 100 ideas with a fraction of what it costs in the U.S.
• Living remotely while building locally: Managing a Uganda-based business from Atlanta through intentional engagement
• The football club strategy: Winning tournaments as customer acquisition and brand building
• Pressing the gas: Why not to subsidize yourself with philanthropy too soon

Notable Quotes:

"Partnership is not a good idea. It's a God idea. It is woven into the fabric of how we were created. Nobody would argue that we're created for people. And so why would we assume any different?" - Jared Fulks

"If the business collapsed tomorrow, and it all just failed, which I hope it doesn't, I don't think it will. But if it did, the thing that I would take away most would be not the amazing people we've been able to hire, the thousands and thousands of people we serve, but it truly is the friendship and the brotherhood that I have with him." - Jared Fulks

"Start with where you are, with what you have... He lost $6,000. Like to most people listening to this podcast, it's not gonna kill you to lose $6,000." - Jared Fulks

Beyond Harps and Clouds: Rethinking Heaven, Work, and Eternity

Join host Justin Forman and author Jordan Raynor in Dallas for a paradigm-shifting conversation about what heaven actually looks like—and why it matters for your business today. Jordan unpacks how cultural half-truths about eternity rob entrepreneurs of purpose in the present and hope for the future, revealing a biblical vision of the new earth that changes everything.

Discover why most Christians spend more time planning vacations than thinking about eternity, how redemptive Excel spreadsheets can be more heavenly than harps, and why understanding our eternal work with Christ unlocks joy and freedom in business right now.

Key Topics:

• Half-truths about heaven that rob entrepreneurs of purpose and hope
• Why "matter doesn't matter" is terrible theology (and worse business philosophy)
• The new earth: God's promise to make earth our perfect and permanent home
• How work in eternity transforms how we work today
• Finding freedom from hurry by understanding eternity is "now in session"
• The "someday maybe / new earth" folder: Making peace with unfinished symphonies
• Why Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21-22 should excite every entrepreneur

Notable Quotes:

"Most Christian entrepreneurs I know are not excited about ideas of harps and clouds, which frankly scares the crap out of most people, Christians included." - Jordan Raynor

"If our ultimate reality is working with King Jesus on earth, guess what? Eternity is now in session." - Jordan Raynor

"Most Christians I know have spent more time thinking about a single week-long vacation than they have thought about the nature of eternity." - Jordan Raynor

Flipping the Script: How Entrepreneurs Can Rewire Their Mental Soundtrack

Join host Justin Forman for an intimate conversation with bestselling author and entrepreneur Jon Acuff in his Nashville home office. Surrounded by international editions of his books and personal reminders of his journey, Jon shares hard-won wisdom about the mental battles every entrepreneur faces—and how to win them.

This episode dives deep into the soundtrack constantly playing in every entrepreneur's mind, exploring practical strategies to retire broken thought patterns and replace them with empowering ones. From his early days with "Stuff Christians Like" to building an 11-book writing career while scaling his business, Jon reveals the mindset shifts that separate successful entrepreneurs from those stuck in cycles of self-doubt.

Key Topics:

• Why entrepreneurs need new levels of fear at new levels of growth
• The "CEO of your actions, not outcomes" mindset that changes everything
• How to retire broken soundtracks and build empowering thought patterns
• The difference between burnout and boredom in entrepreneurial life
• Building sustainable rhythms when transitioning from solopreneur to team leader
• Creating practical tools for meaningful family conversations about entrepreneurship
• Why resilience is just giving yourself permission to start again

Notable Quotes:

"You should always have new levels of fear at new levels of growth. If you tell yourself, 'I've beaten fear forever,' guess what you feel like when you find new levels of fear? You feel like a failure." - Jon Acuff

"I'm the CEO of my actions, not the CEO of my outcomes." - Jon Acuff

"Great thoughts turn into great actions. Great actions turn into great results." - Jon Acuff

Building Faith-Driven Culture: The Four Human Needs Every Team Member Has

Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Stephen Phelan, Chief Spiritual Integration Officer for Faith Driven Entrepreneur, in the iconic red-walled Movement Mortgage offices. Stephen shares practical, proven strategies for creating workplace cultures that truly love and value people—addressing the crisis where 98% of Gen Z feels burned out at work.

Drawing from over a decade of experience at Movement Mortgage, Stephen reveals the four fundamental human needs every employee has and how meeting them transforms both culture and business outcomes. From launching "Love Works" benevolence programs to implementing mentoring systems that make disciples, this episode provides actionable steps any business can take, regardless of size.

Key Topics:

• The four fundamental human needs every employee has when they come to work
• How to implement "Love Works" programs that create authentic community (from 5-person teams to 57,000 employees like Hobby Lobby)
• Why mentoring isn't another burden for entrepreneurs—and who should actually lead it
• Building small groups in business that mirror successful church models
• Creating cultures where 91% of stressed Gen Z workers find life and purpose
• From "sneaky Jesus" conversions to baptizing employees: real transformation stories
• Practical systems for loving teammates, customers, and communities

Notable Quotes:

"People that are walking through your doors, they have four fundamental human needs. Here's the first one - when they come in, they want to have friends at work." - Stephen Phelan

"We all want these relationships at work. And as a follower of Jesus, you want to be able to say yes to Jesus." - Stephen Phelan

"Jesus snuck up on me at movement, people just started loving me, and they started living out the things that they believed." - Stephen Phelan (sharing employee testimony)