Jordan Raynor

serial entrepreneur

Jordan Raynor is a serial entrepreneur and national best-selling author who leads a growing community of Christians following God’s call to create culture.

Through this work, Jordan authored Called to Create: A Biblical Invitation to Create, Innovate, and Risk, which became an instant national bestseller upon release in November 2017. In addition to his work as an author, Jordan is the CEO of the venture-backed tech startup, Threshold 360, which is on a mission to allow anyone to virtually step inside of any location on earth.

Live in beautiful Tampa, Florida where his family has been for six (going on seven) generations. He's married to the love of his life, Kara, and is the proud “dada”of Ellison and Kate. His family are members of Church at Odessa.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

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2 Ways Jesus is the Solution to Being Swamped

For the Christian, the key to being wildly productive is realizing that you don’t need to be productive.

Ministry of Excellence

As Christians, we can’t say we are seeking to love our neighbor as ourselves and then do our work with mediocrity. Think of the extreme example of a Christian doctor.

Mister Rogers and the Call to Create

The movie honoring Mister Rogers’ life, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, premieres in one week on November 22! Read Jordan Raynor’s thoughts here as he highlights Mister Rogers as an influence for Christ :)

Top 10 Books for Faith Driven Entrepreneurs

We love to share our top picks with you and here’s a list of 10 books for a faith driven entrepreneur like yourself! Harry Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” We think the same is true of entrepreneurs. If you want to be good at what you do, it helps to take a cue from the best.

Discerning Your Calling

There is an unbiblical theme permeating the Church today which elevates the callings of pastors and “full-time missionaries” above “secular” vocations. If you’re an entrepreneur, photographer, artist, salesperson, doctor, musician, lawyer, or janitor, you have likely sensed this often unspoken hierarchy of callings.

But… The highest calling on your life isn’t necessarily being a pastor or missionary; it’s glorifying God and serving others in whatever work God has called you to do. “Calling” is one of the most confusing ideas in the Christian life. How can your work feel like a vocation—a true calling on your life? What does the Bible have to say about the work God has uniquely equipped you to do? What are the best questions to ask when discerning your calling? Read more to find out…

C.S. Lewis and the Call to Create

As Genesis 1 shows us, the first thing God revealed about Himself in Scripture is not that He is loving, holy, omnipotent, gracious, or just. No, the first thing God showed us is that He is creative! For the first six days, God revealed His creative spirit by speaking stars, animals, and oceans into existence. Then, on the sixth day, He created man “in His own image” and called Adam to create, thus reflecting God’s image to the world.

To call a human being “creative” is redundant. We are all made in the image of the Creator God. But as Romans 12 makes clear, each of us has “different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Some of us have clearly been granted more creative talents than others. Perhaps no Christian in the 20th Century provides a better example of this than C.S. Lewis, the acclaimed scholar, theologian, and author of masterpieces such as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and of course, The Chronicles of Narnia.

Growing up in Ireland, Lewis appeared to be most comfortable when buried in a novel. But not only did Lewis consume literature; at a very early age, Lewis had begun writing and illustrating his own stories. Lewis obviously had a passion for writing, and it didn’t take long for others to validate his giftedness at the craft.

Gospel Driven Ambition

As Christians, is it possible to be ambitious in our work and still have our self-worth and identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ?

The world tells us that ambition is essential to accumulating wealth, fame, and glory for ourselves. The meta-narrative of work today is that it is the primary means by which we make a name for ourselves in this life and prove to the world that we are important, valuable, and worthy.

Of course, this is nothing new. Since the Fall, human beings have been using work to make a name for themselves, rather than to glorify God and serve others.

While Scripture makes clear that creating to make a name for ourselves constitutes improper ambition, the Bible makes equally clear that ambition can indeed be God-honoring, so long as it flows out of a response to the work Christ did on our behalf on the cross. That is the subject we will turn to in tomorrow’s devotional.

God, The First Entrepreneur

The first thing God reveals about Himself in Scripture is not that He is loving, holy, omnipotent, gracious, or just. No, the first thing God shows us is that He is creative. In Genesis, He brings something out of nothing. He brings order out of chaos. He creates for the good of others. In short, God is the first entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneur” is a title thrown around so much today that it has become very difficult to define. I would submit that an entrepreneur is anyone who takes a risk to create something new for the good of others.

Every Christian is a Full-Time Missionary

Jordan Raynor explains why calling a Christian a full-time missionary is redundant.

Sabbath as a Sermon for the Ambitious

This is the craziest time in my life. I recently wrote and released a book, born out of leading more than 250,000 Christian entrepreneurs and creatives in the Called to Create ministry. I also lead a venture-backed tech startup called Threshold 360 where we’re on a mission to map the inside of every public location on earth in 360°. And then there is the joyful work I do at home laboring alongside my wonderful wife to raise our two young daughters.

Faith Driven TeamJuly 1, 2020Blog Contributor

Jordan Raynor

serial entrepreneur

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR