Senior Pastor | Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Dr. Tony Evans is one of the country’s most respected leaders in evangelical circles. He is a pastor, best-selling author and frequent speaker at Bible conferences and seminars throughout the nation.

Dr. Evans has served as the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship for over 40 years, witnessing its growth from ten people in 1976 to now over 10,000 congregants with 100 plus ministries.

Dr. Evans is founder and president of The Urban Alternative, a Christian bible teaching and resource ministry. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University.

Dr. Evans has authored over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies including Kingdom Man, Oneness Embraced, The Kingdom Agenda, Kingdom Disciples, and Victory in Spiritual Warfare. He holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American.

Dr. Evans had served as chaplain for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, a ministry he has done for over 30 years. He is also the former chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys.

Through his local church and national ministry, Dr. Evans has set in motion a Kingdom Agenda philosophy of ministry that teaches God’s comprehensive rule over every area of life as demonstrated through the individual, family, church and society.

Dr. Evans was married to Lois, his wife and ministry partner for nearly 50 years. They have four children, 13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

LINKS

• Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

DEVOTIONALS FOR THE FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

— by Dr. Gregory Jantz

How The Tentacles Of Anxiety Affect Your Life

Millions of people live day in and day out with the negative—and sometimes severe—consequences of uncontrolled anxiety without ever recognizing it as such. For many, anxiety has been a part of daily life for so long—often developing in early childhood—that it is accepted as “normal”.  That’s bad enough for each individual, but we must multiply that number by all the others who are also negatively affected: parents, spouses, children, employers, co-workers, friends, neighbors, and even strangers they interact with at the coffee shop or grocery store.

Untreated anxiety can negatively influence every aspect of life, including areas you may not consider:

Physical and Mental Well-being

Anxiety can take a toll on our mental and physical health—and that’s before you consider how anxiety can disrupt healthy eating and sleep habits and inhibit proper exercise. Furthermore, anxiety has been linked to other disorders, including heart disease, migraine headaches, insomnia, chronic respiratory disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders. Untreated anxiety often makes dealing with associated physical conditions much more difficult.

Social Freedom and Enjoyment

People with severe symptoms of anxiety report being terrified to ride in an elevator with strangers. They fear ordering food at a restaurant, answering an unexpected phone call, being caught in casual conversation with a coworker at the office copy machine—or any of a thousand other daily contacts with people that are bound to occur.

What are the chances, then, that they would choose to spend a day at an amusement park with friends, or attend a crowded concert, or say yes when invited to a going-away party for a coworker at a popular nightclub? Anxiety has a way of shrinking a person’s world down to a handful of places, activities, and experiences that feel “safe.” 

Professional Opportunity and Success

Imagine a company employee who takes the stairs to avoid elevator small talk, rarely enters the break room, never accepts a lunch invitation from coworkers or supervisors, and speaks mostly in monosyllables on those occasions when avoidance fails. This person probably is the first to arrive and the last to leave every day, but their work may be only so-so because they never ask for help or feedback for fear of being thought incompetent.

How would you rate this person’s chances for career advancement? Or of being among the first to be laid off when the need arises? It is impossible to overstate the cost of untreated anxiety in the workplace—measured first in misery for those who live like this but also in lost potential, lower wages, and job insecurity. Beyond that, businesses themselves lose the full, productive services of otherwise qualified and competent employees.

Civic Engagement

Imagine how a person who is afraid of crowds and who avoids confining spaces at all costs would feel about going to vote on election day. How would the prospect of attending a public meeting on an important issue feel to someone reluctant to speak up even when ordering fast-food at a drive-thru window? In a very real sense, untreated anxiety has the potential to rob people of their voice in society—and, conversely, to rob society of their unique and valuable perspective.

Spiritual Resilience

People of faith often find it difficult to acknowledge that prayer and other spiritual healing practices must be accompanied by the help and expertise of medical professionals. It is sadly common for those people to conclude that their inability to get the upper hand on their disorder by appealing to God alone is a sign of failure—theirs or God’s. As a result, they can lose faith at exactly the moment when they need it most.

Faith and medicine do not stand in either-or opposition to each other. Instead, they work hand in glove, because committing to and successfully sticking with treatment very often requires inner strength and resolve that only trust in God can deliver. Left untreated, anxiety can ultimately cut you off from both sources of help.

Your Personal Reset Plan

One effect of living with untreated anxiety for years is that you lose sight of what life could be like without it. You adjust to a distorted view of normal. Use these exercises to break that pattern and reclaim your hope in a better future.

1. Engage with others who experience anxiety. Self-isolation is often one of the first things people in mental and emotional distress do to protect themselves. It is also one of the most detrimental. Left alone, it’s easy for you to conclude that your condition is simply who you are, with nothing more to be done. Listening to the struggles of others and seeing the similarities between your story and theirs can break that spell. Furthermore, others may have found solutions that will work for you as well, or you’ll have something to offer them. Community is always a step in the right direction. 

Answer these questions: Who do I know who has experienced anxiety that I can talk to? What online, national, or local groups or communities support people who experience anxiety? (A Google search might help you answer this question) 

2. Make a wish list of things you would do, if not for anxiety in your life. Be bold, and be specific. Think back to dreams you had when you were younger—to learn to sail, take an art-history tour through Italy, write a screenplay, or start a business. Considering these things will help you see more clearly what anxiety has cost you—freedom, enjoyment, opportunity, and achievement. The purpose is not to remind you of pain but to fuel your motivation to do what is necessary to reclaim all that you’ve lost. Give yourself permission to dream big. You are worth it!

3. In your journal, explore your reasons for wanting to heal from anxiety. Write this sentence and then complete it for each reason you can think of: “I yearn to be free of anxiety because . . .” Some examples might include, “I want to feel more healthy,” or “I want to build better relationships,” or “I want to explore the world, not hide from it.” In this exercise you are reclaiming two powerful words that you may have lost along the way: “I want.”

4. Pick one thing from your wish list above and start planning for it to come true. Your mind may still tell you it’s impossible, but that doesn’t matter. Make a plan anyway, in detail. Courage (and healing) is found when we act in spite of fear, not wait for it to disappear.

5. Create a storyboard or collage of imagery that describes what you want from your life. Yes, this will make you feel that you are back in school—the magazines, the scissors for clipping out images, the smell of Elmer’s glue. Let the art embody your desire. Place it somewhere you’ll see it every day.

So there’s good news: YOU get to decide which path you will take—and I have faith that you will take the path toward healing.

# # # 

Taken from The Anxiety Reset by Gregory L. Jantz Ph.D. Copyright © 2021. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

Dr. Gregory Jantz, founder of The Center • A Place of HOPE in Edmonds, Washington, is an expert on depression, anxiety, eating disorders, technology addiction and abuse. His new book is The Anxiety Reset: A Life-Changing Approach to Overcoming Fear, Stress, Worry, Panic Attacks, OCD and More

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[ Photo by Hedgehog Digital on Unsplash ]

President | Europartners

Wouter is president of Europartners and author of the book ‘The Jerusalem entrepreneur, becoming a source of well-being. Wouter Droppers has come alongside leaders in the business world for more than thirty-five years. He has served as the president of several companies in the automotive sector and currently is the director of Europartners, an international movement for Christian Business leaders, where he advises, supports, and encourages Christian entrepreneurs throughout Europe. People seek Wouter for his wealth of business experience, his wisdom for life, and his very practical and down to earth approach. Wouter is married and has two children.

LINKS

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

— by Thane Ringler

The history of hipsters is fascinating.

With roots extending back to the beginning of the 19th century, the word “hipster” contains many layers of cultural formation. It is a term that has been shaped by an array of people and places, from the Jazz reformers in the 40’s, to hippies in the 70’s, to the modern-day version seen today in cafe’s and local goods stores across America. While this is a captivating subject and one that could take much of our time here, that’s not the point of this post. So feel free to read all about it here, here, or here.

The point is this: the culture of “hipsters” is pervasive. It has been around for a long time (probably much longer in form/function than the 19th century). Hipsters are characterized by non-conformity to mainstream culture, progressive views, and a dogged individuality. At the heart of being a hipster is the desire to go against the commonly accepted way of life, bucking the traditional norms and expectations of society. At its core, this is the desire to: stand out.

WHAT STANDING OUT OFTEN MEANS

Standing out is individually desired but corporately scorned. This is equally true within the “hipster” subculture. Even those who want to be known as first-adopters, economically-savvy, and ahead of the trends – they still don’t enjoy being labeled as a “hipster”.

(I promise this isn’t a post solely about hipsters.)

Standing out often means you possess something that makes you different than the majority of everyone else. Transfer this mindset to the social media world and it’s easy to spot the pervasiveness of this desire. People will go to extreme lengths in order to be “seen”, to stand out among the sea of images and profiles that fill the vast expanse that is now social media. But the root of what “standing out” stands for isn’t tied to modern society, it’s tied to the human condition.

Whether it involves social media, socioeconomic status, or simply personal intellect / ability, we all want to elevate above the crowd, to rise above the common existence of humanity. We want to stand out. But what standing out often means is only an appearance. Standing out is based on the external state of a person and not the internal reality. It is evaluating a person outside-in instead of inside-out. It is putting the emphasis on what is seen by others, not by what is experienced within you and through you.

TALL POPPY SYNDROME

If you have never heard of the Tall Poppy Syndrome, it is another interesting ideology within social psychology. It is a phrase common in Australia and New Zealand that describes a culture where people of high-status or class are resented and attacked. The tall poppies – the successful and talented outliers – are “cut-down”.

This cultural phenomenon can be seen as the opposite side of the hipster-coin. It is the societal stance against standing out. In its worst form, this is the culture of envy: where anything that isn’t shared by the whole of society is opposed and removed. In it’s best form, it is a view that sees each human being as just that: a human like the rest of us.

The good within the Tall Poppy Syndrome is the understanding that no human is ultimately “taller” than the rest, and when certain humans start believing or acting like they are taller than the rest, the society will help remind them that they aren’t. The bad within the Tall Poppy Syndrome is that achievement, progress, and the pursuit of excellence are devalued and discouraged, at the very least passively if not actively.

I bring up the Tall Poppy Syndrome to highlight the tension within this desire to “stand out”. There are opposing views on each side, and there is merit to be found on both sides. Yet, I believe that both sides are only telling half the story… and it’s the other half of the story that really matters.

THE OTHER HALF OF THE STORY

Most of what has been said thus far has addressed the external reality of standing out. The other half of the story is the internal reality, and this is the half that matters most. Instead of thinking about standing out from the outside-in perspective, we should be viewing it from the inside-out.

Integrity is often defined as: who you are / what you do when no-one is around – and more specifically, doing the right thing when nobody is watching. Integrity is concerned with the internal, not the external. It is concerned with someone’s character from the inside-out point-of-view.

This is the most-telling point-of-view, because the external will never tell the full story. What stands out to people, the thing that truly stands out, is less in what you do and more in who you are. Your actions flow out of your true identity – who you are at your core – who you are when no one is looking.

WHY STANDING OUT MATTERS

Standing out matters because it’s hard. Truly standing out, from the inside-out, takes more than just a new habit, lifestyle, or mindset. It takes a transformation of the heart, a supernatural act of God. Because if we are honest with ourselves, who we are at our core isn’t often the person we wish would be. The evil that pervades this world is found within our hearts – it is a heart-issue. It could be categorized as: natural.

“Wrong is easy; gravity does the job. Right is difficult and long, but it frees our mind to move from shadow to light.” – Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is saying that entropy is the norm. Left to ourselves with our natural bent, we will decay and self-destruct. Degradation simply happens, we don’t have to do anything to help it out – gravity does the job. But to flourish, to create that which is beautiful, to make things new and good – that is “difficult and long”. We see this with the things we build constantly needing repair and maintenance, and we see this within our own bodies that will slowly and surely lose functional ability without exercise and training to build it up and make it stronger.

Yet, this reality does not just apply to the external world, but also to our internal selves, our inward being. The natural state of our being as humans is toward that which is harmful for us, and if you make no efforts to strive against it, we will live in bondage to the desires of our flesh, what our heart truly wants… and most of the time it isn’t something we wish to expose for all to see. Pursuing that which is good, that which is honorable, noble, worthy, and true – pursuing the intent and instruction of God’s original design – that is the thing that “frees our mind to move from shadow to light”.

Wendell brings up another powerful point in the last part of that quote – the power of light…

THE POWER OF STANDING OUT

The night before I wrote this post, I decided to go to the local park to do some reading at dusk. After situating myself on a vacant bench, I settled in to enjoy the fading colors of the evening, the cooling of the temperature, and the bliss of learning from the book in front of me.

As I immersed myself in the text, I subconsciously increased my proximity to the words, closer and closer as the light continued to wane. What started as a leisurely reading, quickly turned into a squinting interpretation as darkness settled in. But suddenly, lo and behold, I found I had been blessed with foreknowledge! To my surprise, I had chosen to sit on the bench that was 20ft. away from a nearby streetlight. And through the trees and foliage, the rays of light were able to reach the page in front of me, and continue to illuminate the words I longed to consume.

This is the power of standing out – the power of light over darkness.

Darkness can be understood simply as “the absence of light”. Light is the thing that darkness has no power over – zero, zilch, none. The smallest ray of light can overcome the darkest black of the night. It pierces through with incredible strength and power in a way that can shock the mind when we pause to think about it. Even through limbs and leaves and a sizable expanse of darkness, the light from the lamp shown upon the page of the book in my hands, and darkness couldn’t do anything about it.

Standing out, from the inside-out, is the pursuit of being a light in this world of darkness.

The fact that we live in a dark world is hard to deny. The news testifies to this fact daily. The harder thing to admit is that we all possess this capacity in our hearts. Take away the light and we all have the capacity to morph into monsters. This is illustrated even more by the fact that the majority of crime takes place at night, in the darkness. There is something about the absence of light that takes away the accountability for doing what is right.

To me, what truly “stands out” is: a person who, from the inside-out, is striving to be a light in this world – striving to share the love of God through the person of Christ and the transformation of the heart that He brings.

Why does this stand out? Because it’s so rare.

Andy Crouch makes this point in his book “Culture Making” with the stark comparison of Princess Diana (the celebrity) with Mother Theresa (the saint). He says:

“For nearly all of us, becoming a celebrity is completely, categorically impossible. For all of us, becoming a saint is completely, categorically possible… So why are so many trying to become a celebrity and so few trying to become a saint?”

… outside-in vs. inside-out.

THE LIGHT-GIVER

Jesus, the Son of God, who lived and walked on this very earth just over 2000 years ago, had this to say about being a light: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14, ESV)

The way our light “shines before others” is only done from the inside-out, because those are the works that truly stand-out. There is a clear and apparent difference. Yet the only way to accomplish this in a lasting capacity is through the one who is the ultimate Light of the world – Jesus Himself.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV)

Jesus is the light-giver, the one who unlocks our individual ability to shed light in the world of darkness. This is the power of light. This is the power of truly standing out. This is the reason why the world needs us to stand out, to be forces of light that a world of darkness desperately needs.

PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE AND DEATH

I want to give one last illustration to close on.

A few months ago I was running through the hills behind my former residence. It was a beautiful evening and nature’s beauty was on full display.

As I ran through the trees and prairie grass, through the valleys and up on the hills, I was struck by an image that caught my eye. In the midst of a field of live (albeit dormant) grass, there stood one tree that was completely dead. This was a stark contrast that stood out to me – to see something that was dead in the midst of all this life.

Yet this contrast sparked another thought in me. If this dead tree could stand out so abruptly in the middle of a field full of life, how much more-so would a live tree stand out in the midst of a field of death? The first scenario makes sense, the second would prompt awe and wonder. Death always occurs – it is a natural part of life. But for something to be alive while being surrounded by death on all sides – THAT is a powerful perspective.

My plea to stand out is based on Jesus’ plea for us to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light set on a hill”. My belief is that this can only be accomplished through faith in Jesus alone, the faith that transforms our heart of stone into a heart of flesh, the faith that unleashes our ability to pierce this world of darkness with unquenchable light.

Now it’s our duty to go forth and shine.

…

That’s my take on it, what’s yours?

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[ Photo by João Jesus from Pexels ]

— by Dr. Paul Swamidass

Wise decisions by leaders could be a blessing as evidenced by the decisions of King Solomon. One of  his famous decisions as well as the process he used to arrive at that decision are offered in the Bible as an example of Solomon’s wisdom. That example has stood the test of time as a sound example of wisdom for thousands of years.

The bizarre episode that set the stage for Solomon’s famous, wise decision concerned two quarrelling mothers appearing before King Solomon for a resolution of their dispute; each claimed a single disputed baby as her own child. According to the Bible, this is how the episode reached a just and wise conclusion:

And so they [the women] argued before the king. The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother” (1 King 3: 23-27; NIV).

Wisdom is Multi-faceted

In this episode, as a leader, Solomon was faced with a tough decision. If he made an error, a child would end up with the wrong mother, and the real mother would be deprived of her child for life, consequently, grieve as long as she lived, and hate the king. What can leaders learn from Solomon’s wise decision?

A dozen facets of this episode exemplify Solomon’s wisdom:

1. Wisdom is, wanting to do the right thing

2. Wisdom is, making the effort to find the truth

3. Wisdom is, treating with fairness both parties to the quarrel before the conflict is resolved

4. Wisdom is, diligently looking for truth hiding behind lies; liars can be as convincing as truth-tellers

5. Wisdom is, knowing how people would react to an unexpected surprise

6. Wisdom is, knowing how to surprise people to expose a lie

7. Wisdom is, knowing a real mother would save her baby’s life, even if it means losing custody of her baby (the loving mother of Moses is evidence; Exodus 2: 1-10)

8. Wisdom is, knowing greed, selfishness and raw envy may cause a person to take the life of another mother’s innocent baby

9. Wisdom is, knowing a fake mother’s love for a baby cannot match a real mother’s love for her baby

10. Wisdom is, not favoring one side or the other in a conflict before successfully finding the underlying truth

11. Wisdom is, not using unsubstantiated shortcuts such as, “This mother looks more truthful to me, so, I will decide in her favor,” because looks can be deceptive

12. Wisdom is, the ability to look beyond tears, as well as real or faked emotions of the parties to a conflict.

Wise Reminders

To make wise decisions, learn to incorporate appropriate facets of wisdom from the above list. For example, if Item 12 was the reason for one of your unwise decisions, ensure that you do not fall once again for real or fake emotions of parties to a conflict. If “unsubstantiated shortcut” (Item 11) was the reason for one of your unwise decisions, remind yourself, “looks can be deceptive,” and therefore seek substantiating evidence before making a decision.

Above all, wisdom is, wanting to do the right thing (Item 1). If this is not the driving force in a leader’s decisions, wisdom will depart from the leader. Just as King Solomon faced a difficult decision, Aaron too faced a difficult decision, when some men approached him, in the absence of Moses, asking for a golden calf to worship (Exodus 32: 1-6). If he wanted to do the right thing, Aaron could have refused the request. But it appears, Aaron did not even attempt to do the right thing, when he promptly enabled the making and worshipping of a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai, when Moses was away.

Aaron’s unwise decision to enable the worship of a golden calf made God angry, and the consequences were severe: “And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made” (Exodus 32: 35; NIV). An unwise decision emerged, when Aaron did not attempt to do the right thing (Item 1).

Remember, King Solomon asked God,

“Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people,” and we know, he received it generously (2 Chr. 1:10-12; NIV).

“Blessed are those who find wisdom…” says the Bible (Prov. 3: 13; NIV).

This article was originally posted here by Christian Leadership Alliance

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We’re so excited to introduce you to today’s guest. Joan Maxwell founded Regulator Marine with her husband, Owen, in 1988. Owen oversees design of their sportfishing boats; everything and everyone else reports to Joan. 

As the first female chairperson of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, Joan shared with us what it feels like to be in uncharted waters. She was the first person in her family to finish college, and she’s often the only woman in the room when it comes to her professional life. 

But, as you’ll hear Joan share today, these things have only pushed her forward…

Episode Transcript

*Some listeners have found it helpful to have a transcription of the podcast. Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it. The FDE movement is a volunteer-led movement, and if you’d like to contribute by editing future transcripts, please email us.

Joan Maxwell: It sort of was an evolution, I don’t know that we sat out with this great plan of, you know, hey, we want to build X number of boats, basically, we want to just pay for things. You know, we want to make sure that we were able to hire people to be able to build a quality product. Our mission here is to build the best center console, sport fishing boats with people, processes and resources to honor God.

So at the heart and soul of what we’ve done is really being to focus on quality. And so from the very beginning, it wasn’t about running lots of numbers. It was about running the best company and building the best product.

Henry Kaestner: Welcome back to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, I’m here with Rusty and William, my incredible co-host, and we’re doing a transcontinental version of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast with Rusty in Rhode Island. Rusty we miss you out here.

Rusty Rueff: I’ll be back soon. It is the year of covid, you know, so we’re just hanging out here in Rhode Island until, you know, we head back to the Bay Area.

Henry Kaestner: So, William, we need to get out there and we need to do an episode on the beach in Narragansett.

William Norvell: Are you still going for the invite? You and me both. Love to. Sounds amazing. Every time Rusty talks about it, it does.

Henry Kaestner: Well, I guess I want to share with you something before we get started that’s been kind of on my heart a little bit before we welcome our guest. Joan, I’ve really enjoyed going through the Right Now Media Faith Driven Entrepreneur Partnership video series talking about a Faith Driven Entrepreneur. And we’ve been doing this kind of virtual zoom group because of the covid time around. But it’s been really neat in that we’ve had entrepreneurs from all over the world, from Indonesia, from South Africa in and we’re just processing some of the different markets that we’ve got up on the Faith Driven Entrepreneur website, together with some really good teaching by JD Grear. And you can access that video series for free on our website. And one of the things that came up yesterday, I wanted to share with you guys and then also with our broader audience, of course, is this concept of Ebenezer’s. And when I was growing up, I thought Ebeneezer was like Ebenezer Scrooge is kind of a funny name. You’d go by a church and was Ebenezer Baptist Church. And I always thought that was a curious name for a church. And we were talking yesterday in the segment that we have on willfulness versus faithfulness about Sabbath and how important that is. And as a part of that, we started talking about the time where we reflect on what God is doing in our lives, something that Entrepreneurs don’t get a chance to do very much. Actually, we get tons of chances. We just don’t take those chances. And the conversation comes up a little bit in the willfull versus Faithful episode, as David and I reflect back on the time that Bandwidth and it’s a concept that I think that all entrepreneurs need to look at. I’m actually going ask Joan about this here in a second. Just about what does it look like for somebody who’s been in business for as long as Joan and Owen Maxwell from regulator Maureen have been? What’s it look like for us to take a Sabbath moment and just reflect on God’s faithfulness in what we’re doing? Too oftentimes entrepreneurs are just so focused on the next thing in our To-Do list that it’s hard for us to really look back and reflect and do a lot more of that. You’ll see some of that in our series, Willfull versus Faithful. And yes, this did sound like a shameless plug for the video series, and maybe it is. But Sabbath and rest are one of the most difficult things for the Faith Driven Entrepreneur to lean into. And it’s not just a function of resting and typical Sabbath, but my hope is that we can all as a community, just really reflect on God’s faithfulness to us. The Israelites put up the first seven days after they crossed the Jordan to remember what God had done. And I hope we get a chance to do that in our businesses. So today we’ve got a really neat guest on Joan Maxwell, as in from regulator Maureen. And there’s something really neat about ship making, boat making. And I don’t know if it’s like the quintessential American entrepreneurial thing. There have been boat makers in America since the sixteen hundreds. I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and there’s just something soulful. You think about missioners books on Chesapeake. And I just finished reading a book with my son called The Emerald Mile, which chronicles the record breaking run through the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon on wooden doors. And there’s just something about boat shaping, boat making that is really part of America. It’s, again, one of the most quintessential, I think, American entrepreneurial opportunities there has been. And we’ve got a tremendous story about that with the folks from regulator Marine. And we’ve got Joan Maxwell with us in the virtual studio, so to speak. Joan, welcome to the program.

Joan Maxwell: Thanks, Henry. It’s great to be here.

Henry Kaestner: So we sent you out a script and an outline of some things we might talk about tonight. In the introduction, I told you we might abandon that a little bit. I have a question for you, as you and Owen have been in business since 1988, and I want to hear that story here in a second. But this concept of an Ebeneezer are just a moment of reflection. Do you ever do that?

Joan Maxwell: We don’t do it enough. Henry, I think in your introduction, you mentioned that we get so busy that we really don’t stop. We don’t take that time to rest and reflect on all that God has done. Recently, I was walking through the plant. We have a videographer on staff and we were doing some things and we were walking through the plant and he said, Do you ever just look around and say, wow? And I was like, no, I really don’t. I walk through and I see this needs to be done or this needs to be fixed or this needs to be improved. That’s. How my brain works when I walk through here and here, I was recently reminded that God doesn’t really like a lot of grumbling and complaining. He does really like a lot of thankfulness and a lot of honor for all that he’s done. So, no, I don’t do that very well.

Henry Kaestner: Hmm. Yeah. And I haven’t either. And I think I’ve been missing something. And that came about during this group call that we had yesterday. OK, Joan, who are you? Where do you come from? And before we actually started recording, I mentioned the fact that the town that you are from, which is Edenton, North Carolina, is one of the most idyllic towns in America. And I’d venture to say that the majority of our audience has never been there but should go there. Why am I saying that? What’s so special about Edenton?

Joan Maxwell: Edenton is an incredibly beautiful little town. It is the colonial capital of the Carolinas. I have a degree in history from the University of North Carolina. So go ahead. I sort of go off on you on that. But Edenton was the capital before Newburn was the capital, before Raleigh was the capital of North Carolina. And so we had a sign or the Declaration of Independence, signer of the Constitution and one of the first justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, all from this little tiny town here. So we have a lot of very rich heritage here. And a lot of those colonial homes are still being occupied by wonderful citizens of this town. And we’re right on the water. So it’s I mean, what more could you ask for now?

Henry Kaestner: And you’ve got great seafood and it’s is really is a beautiful, beautiful place is worth the extra drive going east from Raleigh. It’s just it’s a beautiful spot.

Joan, 32 years in business. Tell us about the beginnings of regulator Marine, please.

Joan Maxwell: We started in old a grocery store and it had been abandoned and had been used for a snack food company. So the first, when we turn the heat on, it smelled like Cheetos in the building. Oh, that’s actually not a bad thing for me. I didn’t think so. Oh, and my husband had a desire to build a boat and it was more a boat than a boat company was more a boat. So we started in the old AP with a naval architect having done all the wonderful lines and drawings of the boat.

And for the first hull, the 26, which regulator made its name on. Oh, and did most of that work himself? I did a little sanding on the plug for about maybe three weeks and I said, you know, there’s something else I can do for this company. This is not it. So then we just ended up dividing our duties, built a plant and have been going at it since then.

Henry Kaestner: So you start off with an idea of coming up with that first boat. Tell us about the process. You know, so it comes off the line, you finish it, you take it for a spin, presumably. I guess you don’t call it a spin when it’s a boat, but you take it out in the water. Yes. And how did you say, oh, my goodness, this is great, we can’t stop it?

Joan Maxwell: Just one, you know, when everybody measures success differently. And I will tell you, when we ran that boat for the very, very first time, we said regulator was a success at that point because the boat had performed far better than we ever dreamed that it would. So as far as deciding then what happens next is like, OK, what are we going to build? Are we going to build a company? Are we going to build more boats? It sort of was an evolution. I don’t know that we sat out with this great plan of, you know, hey, we want to build X number of boats. Basically, we want to just pay for things. You know, we want to make sure that we were able to hire people to be able to build a quality product. Our mission here is to build the best center console, sport fishing boats with people, processes and resources to honor God.

So at the heart and soul of what we’ve done is really being to focus on quality. And so from the very beginning, it wasn’t about running lots of numbers, it was about running the best company and building the best product.

Henry Kaestner: So you had a boat that disappeared and went off on its own for three and a half years and then just ended up in Spain.

Joan Maxwell: It really did, yes. Yes.

Henry Kaestner: It wasn’t even like I just saw pictures of it. It looks like it’s like I mean, you could probably power wash it and probably that would probably be good. But other than that look great.

Joan Maxwell: It actually was amazing. That boat was off on Nantucket and the guys were on it and fishing and they didn’t have the lanyard on. So it’s supposed to stop the engine if you should fall overboard or whatever. And they got hit by a rogue wave and they. Went overboard in the boat, just kept going in for three and a half years, it must have just gotten, you know, in a current and ended up being a crazy thing. You know, we met the owners and they were incredibly nice people, the owner and his brother in law. And then we got an email recently about another boat. Apparently, when somebody steals engines off of the boat, they just set it adrift. This boat was set adrift and also ended up in Spain. So there’s something about these currents that we don’t understand. So it ended up in Spain and we’ve gotten pictures where they have pressure washed it. They have cleaned. It’s amazing. I mean, it’s like.

Henry Kaestner: Hello. Do you need it now, like put something in the engine room, like if found call and you had to put the instructions in Spanish or. Yeah, exactly. OK, Christopher.

Rusty Rueff: Now, Christopher Columbus makes all the sense in the world that like that like. Yeah. Crazy physical stuff.

So Joan, in this crazy time that we’re in now, in the covid time, boating has got to be like, you know, one of the things that people are gravitating to, as Henry was saying, I’m here in Rhode Island and went out a couple of weeks ago into the Long Island Sound with a friend. I have no appreciation of boats. I grew up close to the Ohio River, but the houseboat was a symbol for me of, wow, if I can ever get a houseboat, that would be an amazing thing. So it was a bit of one of those things, you know, like, wow, if someday I could have a houseboat. But I went out a couple of weeks ago on a Hinkley. Now, I have no idea, like, you know, I think a boat. A boat until you get on a boat. It’s not. And what an amazing boat that was. And so just getting out outside on the water during this time was so refreshing. I got to think that the boat sales have gone up, right?

Joan Maxwell: Rusty, they’re unbelievable. We have almost record lows of inventory in the fields. We are working our production plan now through the end of June.

People are social distancing. People are going to do things. You know, we’re only going to sit home for a certain amount of time and we want to do things with the people that we love. And so boating has provided a lot of people this summer with an opportunity to do that.

And when we look at all the numbers coming into us from our dealers from Wells Fargo, who is the largest lender in this marine space, and when we look at all their numbers, is that we are looking at probably 20, 20 to model year before we ever begin to get this inventory back at a reasonable level in the field, which is great. I mean, sure, but it comes with some challenges. And right now the challenge is coming with her that a lot of our suppliers are having issues supplying us with vendor products.

And so that creates chaos that manufacturing doesn’t like. Right.

Rusty Rueff: But for the economic chain, it’s got to be great. Right, because for everybody who buys a boat, somebody has got to service a boat and somebody is going to take care, store the boat in the winter. If you’re in a place like I am and I watch them shrink wrap them. You know it as you mentioned, you know, Ocean House Marina to me earlier. It’s an amazing industry. And, you know, one of the things that I love about your story is you’re a pioneer, right? When I look at your background and I see that, you know, you’re the first in your family to go to college, the first female chairperson of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, you’re a barrier breaker. So I’m curious, is that something that was in your upbringing or your personality or is it just something you’ve learned through practice and experience along the way?

Joan Maxwell: Well, I think as a middle child, you’re always trying to find your place, so I’m the middle of a three girls and my brother was a baby. So I think you’re always trying to find your place in the middle.

I guess, really? Well, I don’t think of myself that way. Rusty, I guess, is really hard for me to really think about that. We have a job to do. We come to work and we do the best we can. And, you know, when God gives us ideas of things, sometimes it just is fun to get to do them. And the people that he puts in our path that we get to meet and to learn from. I have a great friend who really to me is that pioneer, and she’s a president of Great White Boats over in Greenville, North Carolina. And she was the very first woman to ever sit on the National Marine Manufacturers Board. I was privileged enough to be able to be the first woman chair, but it was because of Chris saying, come on this board, you know, bringing and incorporating other women like me in there. So I guess maybe when I think of a pioneer, I think they’re laying dead with the arrows in their back. And so I don’t think that’s quite me yet.

Rusty Rueff: OK, OK. Well, you know, there’s somewhere in here is a pun about, you know, there’s the glass ceiling and then there’s the glass bottom boat. There’s somewhere in there was a punch, but I don’t have time to work on it. But you have broken barriers. And you know, we have an audience of women entrepreneurs who are looking for role models and looking for examples and looking for advice and guidance. What words of wisdom can you give our women entrepreneurs? And I know that it’s applicable to male and women, but in particular, you know, to our women entrepreneurs from your experience.

Joan Maxwell: I would say probably the best thing that I would say is don’t be offended. I mean, we are sometimes offended by slights that people give to us, male or female. But particularly I could speak as obviously a female. But we’re offended by things. And the reality is that we don’t need to be. What we need to be is just focused on doing the best job, finding the best solutions to the problems that are placed before us. And once we can do that, we add value wherever we are, if it’s, you know, running a company or if it’s working for somebody or with someone. So I don’t know if I really answered your question very well for you, Rusty, but I would say, you know, the main thing is really just to be focused on doing the best every single day and to brush off those offenses. I mean, if we let those offenses fester inside of us, it comes out. I mean, it’s going to come out. It’s going to come out in a snide remark back to somebody or it’s going to come out in a way that we may treat them in the workplace. So we just got to let it roll. I mean, that’s a hard thing.

Rusty Rueff: Right, and now there’s one other angle here, too, is you and your husband are in business together. Yes. And so tell us about balancing that.

Joan Maxwell: Well, I’m married to the most wonderful man in the world, sorry guys. He is incredible. He is he is my biggest fan. And because he is my biggest fan, when we are in an environment where people say, well, tell me about this, they’ll automatically look to me. And I mean, I can be standing with somebody that works in the plant and people will have that same reaction. And so with working with everyone, we have had to decide what our lines were. Where are you focusing? Where am I focusing? And when we made those decisions of where we were focusing, you know, it’s not to say we don’t cross lines because we do. But when we do, we just like, wait a minute. And we have conversations about that. We have to be careful about what goes home and what stays here. Oftentimes, too much goes home. So I have to be very careful about that. But the big thing is really the roles. So the focus for Owen is on design and development and he likes that a lot. So for me, it’s the processes, it’s the other parts of the business, the sales, the manufacturing, the accounting side of all of that, which is fun to me. I like that. And he likes sales, so it works well.

William Norvell: That’s great. William here, thank you for talking through some of that. As a husband to a working mother, I just really appreciate it. I just really appreciate learning and hearing. And it’s a world that obviously I can’t experience myself as much. And so I learned so much. When I hear people like you and other women entrepreneurs talk about how that dynamic works for them and how it doesn’t work. Right. And it just so thankful for you able to share that story both for our female listeners who are listening, but also many of our male listeners who probably can’t understand women. If we could, we’d be a lot better at marriage and jobs kinds of things, but it’s just such a gift. So thank you for taking time to walk through that. And I’m going to switch gears a little bit and talk about the faith driven community. It seems to be maybe it’s because something that’s inside the soul of Christian people, but there seem to be a lot of Christian boat people that we run into. We’re familiar with some other companies that are led by believers. But I’m interested in your journey. Do you collaborate with other faith driven leaders in the space? Do you have, you know, people that come around you in that way? No, that’s not normal for the world.

But I’m wondering how it works in your industry specifically.

Joan Maxwell: It’s very interesting. I don’t know that we would say that we kind of come around and have any type of meetings. But what we do is there are little ways in which people support us. I was recently on a committee with another boat builder and it was so nice to get an email from him that said, you know, I said this prayer for you today. So knowing those people are praying for us, knowing when, you know you’ve got a family member that’s sick, you can say, can you please lift this up? And they do. So I think to answer that question is really not organized, but it’s the group of believers that are out in the marketplace reaching in their own individual businesses. And we find that sometimes our businesses overlap in the faith community, if that makes any sense.

William Norvell: It does. It does. And another group I know you’re part of C12, we got Mike Sharrow on the podcast before we love Mike and then we’ve got other C12 leaders on as well. But I know that’s been a community you’ve been a part of, and I know a lot of our entrepreneurs. I mean, a big reason we started this podcast was we think entrepreneurs spend a lot of time alone and they don’t have community and they can’t find people to walk with them, to dig in with them on this journey that they feel they’ve been called to. And there’s some type of even I don’t even know if I can share those fears with with the people closest to me because I have to put on this right of that. I’m out here and it’s all working, right. It’s all working for everyone. Could you talk a little bit about your C12 experience and how that community has been involved in your life and your business?

Joan Maxwell: I absolutely love my C12 group. And I will tell you, my first encounter with C12 was at a little welcome luncheon. And I went and I was like driving back home. And I had been quite arrogant about, to be honest, that, you know, I really didn’t need that.

I was fine. And what did they know? So I was driving back home and the Holy Spirit really convicted me of that. I did need C12. And so I came back, sent a quick email out of apology to the person who had invited me and said, you know, I really do want to find out more about this thing called C12. And I have been so blessed by the people in my group, different organizations. One’s a car manufacturer was a restaurant guide, one was a lawyer. I mean, we had just different people. One was a big food manufacturing processor. So everybody deals with the same issues of people and how do we transact business in a way that is honorable and actually honors God in the gift that he’s given us to run this business? So when we sit around our C12 table, we sit around our table with the same common goal of how do we use these businesses to honor God? So I love my God. I’m the only woman in my group. But when I walk in there, it’s not a woman in the group where a group of Christians around this table to go to work. And the material is so challenging to us both from a walk with the Lord and also how to operate the business better. So I love it.

Henry Kaestner: Joan, tell us, what are some things and I know this is kind of like a big fluffy question, but tell us something. Tell us some of the things that you really feel that God has told you about himself through running Regulator Marine. And what are some things that he’s taught you about yourself? So things he’s taught you about himself and things that you’ve learned about yourself through running the business in trying to get close to God, whether it’s through C12, or however. But how do you know God more differently than you did in 1988?

Joan Maxwell: God’s really shown me. I think that the little things matter and that he is concerned about them, he’s concerned about the things that concerned us and when we’re struggling and just can’t quite figure it out that he is in the midst of it. So he’s really shown me that. If I will just trust. He has this I don’t need to carry that burden as much as I try to, and so I’ve really learned his faithfulness. I’ve learned his faithfulness in supplying the Bible says that we should have many counselors, you know, to look for the wisdom of many counselors.

And I will tell you, as we walk through the Great Recession of 2009, he provided people they weren’t all Christians, but they were people who had the answers to walk us through a very, very hard time. Rusty you ask about the boat business earlier? It was definitely not like it is today when we were walking there. So that’s what he showed me. He showed me his faithfulness. He’s shown me that he’s concerned about the little things. And what he’s been recently showing me is that everybody in the body has a gift. And when I don’t exercise my gift, I am not very happy and I probably am making those around me not very happy. I, by nature am an encourager. And when I don’t do that, I have angst inside of me when I’m not doing that. And I’m negative toward people and I’m frustrated toward people. But when I step back and I acknowledge those things, which they do, and praise them for that and encourage them. The Lord encourages me, if that makes any sense.

William Norvell: Amen, amen. That makes sense to me. That rings true to me. I’m an encourager, too, and I feel that sense sometimes, especially during the covid area where we’re distributed team. And I don’t get to do that and exercise that. And the way you just articulated it was great. It ends up like reversing into frustration with people, and I think that’s applicable to all kinds of gifts. And wow, that’s such a fascinating point. Thank you for sharing that. One of the things I want to hit on on that is I know you have a chaplain, a regular Marine, and we’re just big fans. If you ever listen to the show, we talk about it a little bit, but we don’t always get someone who has that level of experience. And we’d love for you to just maybe share the experience of your chaplain and how that’s worked out at the company and what impact you’ve been able to make.

Joan Maxwell: Thank you for asking about the chaplain. We’ve had a corporate chaplain since August of 2012 and it’s been wonderful. People are not going to talk to us. You know, they’re not going to just say, hey, let me tell you what. This issue that I have, they want somebody to walk alongside with them that can talk to them. And so our chaplain has been able to do that and to help people make decisions for Christ, which is if nothing else happens as a result of regulatory, that is an incredible gift when we think that we’ve had some small part in someone coming to know the Lord Jesus. And so our chaplain has been a part of what we’ve done from a ministry standpoint. We are in the process now of beginning to bring that chaplaincy in-house. So we will in January of 2021, we hope to be able to have the chaplain because our chaplain serves a number of businesses in the area. We have not have the chaplain. And just for protection of our team here, you know, people we talk about being lonely and we talk about being as a community of faith being left out. Our folks are also not able to experience that right now.

Rusty Rueff: You know, Joan, one of the things we always talk about chaplaincy is the chaplaincy for the employees. But what about for the CEO and the founder? How does that fit for you? And, you know, as Henry asked earlier, how God sort of reveals himself to you. I mean, I think having someone on staff, a chaplain who’s there, that trusted advisor, if you will, who is also part of your spiritual formation, can really be revealing as well. So can you give us a little insight about how you might use a chaplain for yourself and for Owen?

Joan Maxwell: Yeah, so some of the things that we’re struggling with, you know, can you help pray with us through these issues? So we’ve had two different chaplains as a part of our relationship with corporate chaplains of America, and we’ve been able to pray with one of them, particularly over issues that we were facing. So just all relationships generally are built over time. And so as we interact with the chaplain and begin to say, hey, that’s a pretty good guy, or, you know, the things that we say are not going to get out in the community. I mean, we live in a very small town. As you mentioned, Henry is a tiny little town, you know, so the things that you struggle with are not something you want on, you know, walking down Broad Street and somebody asking you about. So, you know, the chaplain has helped in some occasions in the past.

William Norvell: All right, well, as we come to a close, Joan, with our time, I have to say a couple of things. One, we are not sponsored by the Edenton Chamber of Commerce. Just want to throw that out there in case anyone. We wouldn’t mind that we would we wouldn’t mind if anybody’s listening.

We work very cheaply and sponsorships are not that expensive right now. So Bill and Waterman’s gift certificates. Really? There you go. There you go.

Henry Kaestner: I don’t know what that is, but I think it’s the restaurants. The best to you. You weren’t paying attention, William. The best seafood restaurant neednt and we need to go there.

William Norvell: I’m in. I’m in. It sounds like the invite I need from Rusty and Joan, you know. That’s right. You got it. Saying look at that. See we just met Rusty that the invite already thrown it out there first first meeting. But that’s ok. Well as we close we love to do one thing and I’m going to make it two things today. I’m going to go a little off script and see if this works.

And if it doesn’t work, then you’ll be the first and last person to be asked this question. But the first thing we love to do is say we want to know where God has you today in his word, something maybe you’ve been meditating on, something he’s been bringing you through. Could be, could be the season, could be this morning. Something that his word and his scripture came alive. And then second, if you could end with prayer requests for you or your company, I would love to know. Let our audience be praying for you during the season.

Joan Maxwell: Oh, William, you just might make me cry on these. So the first thing is that the Lord has been reminding me all these gifts and you know what we are all about. And so I didn’t know my sister was using the same devotional that Owen and I use in this morning. I got something from her talking about some ways in which her gifts were being used. And it’s this reminder of, you know, God created us to do different things. And when I try to turn to the left or turn to the right and compare myself to someone else, he’s reminding me that I am uniquely made and I made to serve him in this capacity. And so I lose sight of that. So for his his encouragement right now, I am grateful to be an encourager as well. The prayer request. William, thank you. We often ask other people, can we pray for them? And then when somebody says, can I pray for you? It’s very humbling. It’s like dumping our burdens on them. And we’re we kind of sometimes feel we’re supposed to carry those because of the chairs that we sit in. Right. The seats of leadership that we sit in. So I would ask and be incredibly grateful for prayers for our leadership team. For us to be wise as we’re making decisions for not just building boats, I mean, it’s great we built a boat and it’s incredible that God senses these customers. But for the people who work in this plant and how to honor them in a way that honors God, so for our leadership team, for me personally, as I look at what is this company supposed to be doing? You know, am I making sure that what God is wanting to be done, I am doing and not what Joan wants to do? And so making sure that I am truly understanding and discerning the voice of the Lord for this company, those would be my two request.

Henry Kaestner: Maybe we’ll do something here to build off of that, which is, as you are listening to this podcast and presumably at some point in time in the future, maybe just say just a quick prayer and maybe it’s possible that God will continue to bless Regulator Marines as the prayers of all of us are lifted up for each other.

And I think that we started off this podcast talking a little bit about some of the different spiritual disciplines that a business channel rarely goes through, whether it’s Sabbath or just really reflecting and having that type of Ebeneezer type of moment or prayer. But let’s be in prayer for each other and let’s start off by lifting up John, wherever you are. And I’m going to say, Heavenly Father, we lift up Joan and we lift up Owen and we lift up regulator Marine.

And dear Lord, we lift up the different listeners of this podcast right now, you and your amazing sovereignty know who each of them are. Dear Lord, I ask for blessings and protection and favor on each of them, of them to be able to lean into their identity as being your beloved children and then in return, may they participate in the work you’ve laid out in advance for them to do and participate in the building of your kingdom under your power, for your glory at Regulator Marine and every other marine shop, every other business that’s owned by a Faith Driven Entrepreneur. And we pray for all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.