The Business as Mission Podcast with Mike Baer

Mike Baer

Regular dialogue about BAM or Business as Mission with people just like you serving God in business around the world. Your host is Mike Baer, long time BAM leader and founder of Third Path Initiative, LLC. https://thirdpathinitiative.com https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mike-baer

  1. 3d ago

    The 60-Year Faith Legacy of Zor Engineering (Business as Mission Pioneer)

    Discover how Dan and Ruth Bavington pioneered Business as Mission in the 1960s by launching Zor Engineering, the oldest known successful BAM company in Pakistan. Learn how they built a legacy of uncompromising biblical integrity that has survived over six decades and multiple generations.In this special episode, you will hear a powerful firsthand account of what it takes to plant and grow a kingdom business in a highly challenging environment. The founders share the incredible trials, divine interventions, and everyday steps of faith required to manage hundreds of workers and navigate systemic corruption. If you are looking for a real-world blueprint on how a company can remain deeply profitable and faithful to God for decades, this interview provides the ultimate map.Key Takeaways• The Blueprint of Faith Over Capital: How Zor Engineering was registered as a local entity with a broad engineering scope, relying on divine opportunities rather than upfront wealth.• The Cost of Uncompromising Integrity: Real stories of massive contracts lost due to refusing to pay bribes, balanced by a miraculous divine connection that saved the company from bankruptcy.• A Strategic Multi-Faith Workplace: How creating a platform for Christian and Muslim laborers to work alongside each other became a powerful, non-preachy lifestyle witness.• Filling the Business Marketplace Gap: Why local Christian communities shouldn't limit their professions strictly to medicine or education, but embrace commercial trade as a holy calling.Topics Covered in this EpisodeThis interview explores the foundational history of Zor Engineering and the early evolution of the global Business as Mission movement. We look at how Christian entrepreneurs operate in South Asia, the complexities of managing cross-cultural teams, handling systemic bribery in the international marketplace, and leaving a generational kingdom legacy through a strictly local corporate structure. Connect with Us:Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialbampodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbampodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbampodcast/#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    The 60-Year Faith Legacy of Zor Engineering (Business as Mission Pioneer)

  2. Jul 7

    Don't Cling to the Position: Building a Culture of Continuity

    How do you navigate a leadership transition in ministry or a faith-driven business without dropping the baton? In this episode, we dive into the painful yet crucial reality of succession planning for ministries and faith-based organizations to ensure your kingdom impact multiplies even after you step away. Every founder, pastor, and faith-driven business owner will eventually face a leadership transition, but few are truly prepared for the change. Whether you are navigating a pastoral change proactively or picking up the pieces after an unexpected exit, succession planning is fundamentally a discipleship plan . True kingdom business continuity isn't just about protecting your position—it's about learning how to handle the personal identity shifts, painful wrenchings, and surprising gifts that come with finding your next God-given assignment.Key Takeaways:• Succession is Discipleship: Why a healthily structured succession plan is actually a vital spiritual practice for mentoring the next generation of leaders.• The Identity Trap: How to separate your eternal identity in Christ from your temporary professional assignment or title.• Building Continuity: Why leadership teams should start discussing their last day on the job from their very first day.• Navigating the Pain of Change: Practical steps to transition staff members gracefully, avoiding toxic exits that damage your ministry's witness. Connect with Us:Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialbampodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbampodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbampodcast/#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    Don't Cling to the Position: Building a Culture of Continuity

  3. Jun 30

    Spiritual Warfare in Business: The 13-Year Lie That Cost Me Everything

    Discover how to recognize subtle spiritual warfare in business and protect your organization from deceptive leadership traps. Learn the critical warning signs of manipulation so you can stand firm against the enemy's attacks on your calling.In this powerful episode, Redemption Press founder Athena Dean Holtz shares her raw journey of losing a $3.5 million company to a deceptive, cult-like ministry group. You will discover how unprocessed trauma and church hurt can leave Christian business owners highly vulnerable to spiritual abuse and gaslighting. By understanding how guerrilla warfare tactics operate in the spiritual realm, you will gain the insight needed to guard your heart, forgive your attackers, and experience true redemption in your life and work.Key Takeaways• The Danger of Masking Trauma with Success: How using work and business achievements as a "medication" leaves you wide open to spiritual deception.• Spotting the Red Flags of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing how manipulators misquote scripture out of context to advance their own financial agendas.• Guerrilla Warfare in the Spiritual Realm: Why you absolutely cannot resist an enemy tactic that you do not first recognize.• The Hidden Idolatry of Wounds: A deep dive into the Hebrew meaning of Psalm 147, revealing how holding onto past pain allows it to control you instead of God.Topics Covered in this VideoSpiritual warfare in business, Christian business coaching, recovering from church hurt, recognizing spiritual abuse, faith-based business leadership, Business as Mission (BAM), overcoming deception in ministry, marketplace ministry challenges, spiritual discernment for entrepreneurs, healing emotional trauma, Christian publishing industry secrets, biblical conflict resolution. #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianBusiness #BusinessAsMission Connect with Us:Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialbampodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbampodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbampodcast/#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    Spiritual Warfare in Business: The 13-Year Lie That Cost Me Everything

  4. Jun 16

    Stop Stifling Creativity: Teaching Kids Business as Mission

    Can we teach child entrepreneurs to challenge the status quo and build sustainable businesses? In this episode, we dive into how intentional entrepreneurial training for kids is sparking a cultural shift that empowers the next generation to lead right now. Most traditional systems inadvertently stifle the innate creativity of young minds before they ever get a chance to launch a venture. By introducing strategic business concepts and economic responsibility during the prime development window, we can foster a global generation of problem-solvers. Discover how a simple question from a four-year-old blossomed into a nationwide movement that is rewriting local legislation and equipping families to cultivate real-world leadership skills at home. Key Takeaways• The Golden Window: Why the ages of 8 to 12 represent the absolute best, most creative developmental stage for introducing young people to business ownership.• Legislation for Innovation: Understanding "Lemonade Stand Laws" and how current grassroots efforts are working to remove restrictive legal barriers for experimental childhood ventures.• Beyond Financial Literacy: How early entrepreneurial training actively builds lifelong resilience, confidence, community connection, and active citizenship.• Co-ops and Community: Practical strategies for testing and scaling youth business curriculums within local homeschool pods, parks departments, and community groups.Topics covered in this video:Society of Child Entrepreneurs, business as mission, youth entrepreneurship curriculum, teaching kids business, lemonade stand laws, SOCE, early childhood business training, faith and business, BAM global movement, homeschool business co-op, empowering young leaders, creative problem solving for kids. #BusinessAsMission #ChildEntrepreneurs #YouthEntrepreneurship Connect with Us:Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialbampodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbampodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbampodcast/#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    Stop Stifling Creativity: Teaching Kids Business as Mission

  5. Jun 2

    Lone Rangers in BAM: Signs of Overwhelming Stress with Curt Spigelmyre

    Discover how to identify and conquer BAM practitioners burnout before it cuts your calling short. Licensed family therapist Curt Spigelmyre shares critical insights into maintaining missionary mental health while navigating the unique pressures of the marketplace.Operating a business in a foreign culture brings intense pressure, often forcing faith-based entrepreneurs into isolation. In this episode, we unpack the primary Business as Mission challenges that lead to emotional exhaustion and family strain. You will learn how your physical body signals dangerous stress levels, why independent professionals wait too long to seek support, and how to safely unpack your burdens with confidential care.Key Takeaways:• The Body Keeps the Score: How chronic headaches, respiratory issues, and stomach problems are often physical manifestations of unaddressed emotional trauma and field stress.• The "Lone Ranger" Trap: Why Business as Mission professionals face a higher risk of isolation due to security platform constraints and a lack of traditional agency member care.• The Attrition Crisis: An honest look at why highly trained practitioners are leaving the field faster than ever and how marital or family baggage follows you across borders.• Safe Confidentiality: The vital importance of finding a support network or therapist outside your immediate organization to share struggles without fear of judgment or being sent home.• Practical Soul Rest: Shifting from trying to "tough it out" alone to leaning into community and healthy spiritual rhythms.Topics covered in this video:Member care for BAM professionals, mental health for expats, signs of missionary burnout, Business as Mission entrepreneur stress, overseas business challenges, Christian counseling for missionaries, emotional health in ministry, family therapy on the mission field, preventing ministry attrition, Global Counseling Network, Paraclete Mission Group, managing stress in isolation. #BusinessAsMission #MissionaryMental Health #BAMBurnout

    Lone Rangers in BAM: Signs of Overwhelming Stress with Curt Spigelmyre

  6. May 18

    From Corporate Servitude to Kingdom Freedom: The Wink Movement

    Discover how to practice Business as Mission by keeping God in the middle of your corporate career. Adri Dornbrack shares her journey of moving from "slavery" in Egypt to a life of freedom through faith and work integration.In this episode, HR professional Adri Dornbrack reveals how she navigated the secular corporate world without leaving her faith at the door. You will learn how to measure the "heartbeat" of an organization using a biblical corporate culture assessment and how to find peace even when you are told you "no longer fit the strategy". This conversation is a practical guide for any leader wanting to transform their workplace into a mission field through simple, consistent, and spiritual stewardship.Key Takeaways• The "God in the Middle" Philosophy: Understanding why the simplest definition of Business as Mission—no separation between work and faith—is the most powerful.• Measuring Organizational Heartbeat: Using a scorecard to monitor culture through leadership, human, process, client, and social capital.• Navigating "Locust Seasons": Finding divine restoration and peace when a business faces trials or financial loss.•The Exodus Shift: Moving from "Egypt" (self-dependence in work) to "Jerusalem" (total dependence on God).• The "God-Wink" Method: Learning to recognize divine guidance through scripture, timing, and "winks" from God in your professional life.This video explores Business as Mission (BAM) strategies for HR professionals and executives. We discuss biblical principles for business, creating a Christian corporate culture, and the Wink Movement for spiritual growth. Other topics include Christian stewardship, faith-based leadership, and overcoming career transitions with a biblical worldview.#BusinessAsMission #FaithAndWork #ChristianLeadershipSubscribe and hit the bell icon to stay updated with our latest content!Connect with Us:Website: https://thirdpathinitiative.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebaerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdpathinitiativeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdpathinitiativeAbout Third Path InitiativeThird Path Initiative exists to equip believers to build sustainable, missional businesses that bring the gospel to the least reached. Through training, storytelling, and practical tools, we mobilize and support Business as Mission practitioners around the world. Thank you for being part of the mission!Don't forget to pick up a copy of Mike Baer's books! Check the link below! ➡️ https://books.by/mike-baer#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    From Corporate Servitude to Kingdom Freedom: The Wink Movement

  7. May 4

    From Family Ranch to Feeding the Nations: A Kingdom Vision for Agriculture

    Discover how agribusiness as mission can transform a traditional family farm into a global force for good. Third-generation rancher Luis Camillo Moron shares how shifting from a survival mindset to a kingdom-focused generational business legacy can feed the world. In this episode, we dive into the powerful story of a cattle rancher who moved from Bogota back to his family’s land to fulfill a calling he didn't initially understand . You will learn how to differentiate between basic agriculture and a sophisticated agribusiness as mission strategy that scales impact. Luis explains how the "process" of farming mirrors the spiritual process of growth and how your business can become a vehicle for feeding the nations . Key Takeaways: • The Shift to Agribusiness: Understanding the critical difference between subsistence farming and running a professional agricultural company. • Overcoming Dangerous Seasons: How the previous generation maintained the business through times of violence and kidnapping by relying on divine protection . • A Vision for the Nations: Moving the business goal from just supporting a family to providing nourishment for the world's population . • Adapting to Technology: Why current business leaders must embrace technological tools and "Revolution 4.0" to fulfill ancient promise. #BusinessAsMission #Agribusiness #KingdomBusiness Subscribe and hit the bell icon to stay updated with our latest content! Connect with Us:Website: https://thirdpathinitiative.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebaerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdpathinitiativeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdpathinitiative About Third Path InitiativeThird Path Initiative exists to equip believers to build sustainable, missional businesses that bring the gospel to the least reached. Through training, storytelling, and practical tools, we mobilize and support Business as Mission practitioners around the world. Thank you for being part of the mission! Don't forget to pick up a copy of Mike Baer's books! Check the link below! ➡️ https://books.by/mike-baer#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

    From Family Ranch to Feeding the Nations: A Kingdom Vision for Agriculture

  8. Apr 20

    Why Most Founders Burn Out (And How the Pivot Process Fixes It)

    Discover how to transform pressure into purpose using a proven 5-move strategy for Business as Mission leaders. Stop drowning in the grind and learn to lead your company with a renewed sense of spiritual calling. Most business owners eventually feel trapped by the very companies they built. In this episode, Mike Baer and psychologist Wayne Wilson discuss how to navigate professional burnout by realigning your daily operations with your "Why". You will learn the specific internal shifts necessary to treat your marketplace leadership as a high-impact ministry without losing your sanity or your soul. Key Takeaways The Marketplace Pastorate: Why your business is legally a company but spiritually a congregation that needs edification. The Idolatry of the Balance Sheet: Identifying the moment your mission shifts from serving people to serving greed or ego. The Internal Sport of Growth: Why you cannot solve a business crisis with the same stressed state of mind that created it. Legacy Wealth vs. Legacy Stress: How to build a business that your children actually want to inherit rather than escape. The 5-Move Pivot: A practical framework to pause, internalize, and create a new vision for your professional life. Connect with Us: Website: https://thirdpathinitiative.com Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebaer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdpathinitiativeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdpathinitiative About Third Path Initiative: Third Path Initiative exists to equip believers to build sustainable, missional businesses that bring the gospel to the least reached. Through training, storytelling, and practical tools, we mobilize and support Business as Mission practitioners around the world. Thank you for being part of the mission! Don't forget to pick up a copy of Mike Baer's books! Check the link below! ➡️ https://books.by/mike-baer #BusinessAsMission #KingdomBusiness #RedemptiveBusiness

    Why Most Founders Burn Out (And How the Pivot Process Fixes It)
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Regular dialogue about BAM or Business as Mission with people just like you serving God in business around the world. Your host is Mike Baer, long time BAM leader and founder of Third Path Initiative, LLC. https://thirdpathinitiative.com https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mike-baer

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