At the end of every podcast, we like to ask our guests to share what God has been teaching them in this season of life. This week’s guest is

Tom is the president of Made To Flourish, a pastors’ network for the common good. He also serves on the boards of The Gospel Coalition and Trinity International University.

Genesis 17:1

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.”

So here's where I sit. I have a split role, so I serve a wonderful congregation that’s 30 years old. It continues to be entrepreneurial and grows in Kansas City and I also serve as the president Made to Flourish. So I have two roles, but at Made to Flourish we’re almost four years old. You know, entrepreneurship, three to four years. There's a lot on the line. 

You know, we're really encouraged, but there's a lot going on. I would just say a text that’s really important to me today. I mean, it's always been important to me to know that people are praying for me and the work we're doing. In any business, there's lots of intensity. There are challenges. It's very taxing.

But the bottom line is Genesis 17 you see Abraham is 99 years old and God comes to him and says, I'm the Lord God Almighty. Walk before me. And the whole analysis from that, I will bless you. I will give you a name. Ultimately, God reveals himself to Abraham and gives him this entrepreneurial endeavor. He knows Abraham has faith. But he says two things. 

First, walk before me. The Hebrew text “walk before me” literally means to walk in my face. It's a picture of intimacy that was lost in the garden that is found in the cross and in Jesus. That's right. So in my heart today I have challenges and I am called to work hard. But I’m to be intimate with Jesus first. 

And then right on the heels of that is just a brilliant Hebrew word, which means be whole, be integral. So I pray that in the midst of what I'm doing and all the listeners who are doing the work God has called them to do. First and foremost, we cultivate intimacy with him. And then out of that we'd have an interior life and out of that we'd have influence.