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Kingdom Success: Christian | Jesus | Success | Prosperity | Faith | Business | Entrepreneur | Sales | Money | Health
KS 404 - FAITH AND BUSINESS: A JOURNEY FROM PULPIT TO MARKETPLACE
After years of picturing myself in the pulpit, I discovered my true calling wasn't confined to a church, but rather in the bustling world of business. What happens when faith meets the marketplace? This episode of "The Success Edge" reveals how embracing your God-given talents without apology can lead to a life of purpose and professional growth. Inspired by Proverbs 22:29, I share how integrating spirituality with work has transformed my journey from aspiring preacher to a marketplace leader, even amidst the challenges of election day anxiety.
The road to understanding one's purpose is rarely straightforward. My college years were marked by unexpected challenges, like a fractured arm that abruptly changed my athletic path. These setbacks guided me toward a newfound passion in business, sparked by a marketing class and the influence of a dedicated coach. From decathlon athlete to hammer thrower, my evolution wasn't just physical. It was in these moments of transformation and a mission trip to Europe that I met my future wife, Amy J Ellis, underscoring the serendipitous beauty of life's journey.
Mentorship played a vital role during times of personal struggle, offering guidance when I needed it most. Navigating relationships and maintaining purity were significant challenges, but a chance encounter at church led to transformative growth. With gratitude, I reflect on the profound impact my mentor had on shaping my path. Join me as I recount these pivotal experiences and affirm the belief that we are indeed blessed, highly favored, and empowered to prosper in our endeavors.
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Proverbs 22,. Verse 29 says Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men. Fellow Marketplace Christians, stop apologizing and start winning. Welcome to the Success Edge, the show that helps you take your walk as a Marketplace Christian to the next level. Here's your host Christian entrepreneur Tyler McHart.
Speaker 2:What's going on? Team Successful. This is Tyler McHart coming at you, episode 404. Woo, I'm on a walk. I've been kind of walking, kind of brisk here, so I had to be able to do this episode. I feel like I'm finally going to get this episode out. And man, what a day, what a day. Actually, today is election day. So, in light of all the events going on, which I know that the world is turning their eyes, the entire world is probably turning their eyes and saying what's going to happen in America today. So let's pray, let's pause.
Speaker 2:Father, jesus, holy Spirit, we acknowledge you today. We acknowledge you today. We acknowledge you today. We worship you, lord, we worship you, we worship you, lord, we honor you, lord. Thank you, father, thank you Lord. Thank you father. Thank you, lord, thank you, lord.
Speaker 2:We roll all of our cares, all of our anxieties, all of uh, the things that would be pulling at our attention, pulling at our minds right now. We roll all that onto you. We roll it all onto you, lord. Thank you jesus. Thank you jesus, thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you that we can cast our cares on you, and thank you for you caring for us. You care for us. Yes, lord. Yes, I'll say that, father. Thank you, lord. We are worth. Thank you, lord. We are worth the death of your son. Thank you for thinking of us, lord. Thank you for loving us. We are worth the death of your son. Lord, we release right now all the major outcomes in our lives, and even beyond our lives, from this election. We release all the outcomes. We release it to you In Jesus' name.
Speaker 2:Amen, all right, well, so I'm on a walk, guys, so there might be a little bit of birds chirping in the air and I might breathe a little heavy sometimes or I might pass by somebody. But it's kind of like how I like to do this podcast. It's just either we're in the car riding along or we're sitting across from each other for a cup of coffee, we're on a walk together and you're just able just to listen. Maybe one day I might actually do a video podcast, still put the audio on here, but actually put it on YouTube as well. I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I appreciate you guys being on here. I really do, I really do. Good morning, sir.
Speaker 2:So let's jump back into the story called the Journey to Financial Freedom. So, if you remember, tyler had just figured out. That was me Tyler had just figured out, golly, what is a pastor. Because growing up from the age of nine, all the way until really that moment, still I've been told or I've been spoken over. I mean, I didn't think it was having a prophetic word over me, but I had thought, I had kind of thought in my head that I was going to be a preacher and my mom and dad thought that my grandparents thought that, but the Lord had a different, and my mom and dad thought that my grandparents thought that, but the Lord had a different way of thinking with me, that a preacher in the marketplace is really what I need to be, not someone who stands behind a pulpit in a church, someone that's actually in the marketplace, doing business, doing things and then able to still kind of peel back and share with an audience what the Lord is doing. So let's dive back into that story real quick.
Speaker 2:Where I was at so that's my freshman year. I think that was the first semester of my freshman year. So I declared myself as a management major and well, business, but the emphasis in management, morning, sir. And it was a good start. It was a great beginning. I wound up that second semester in track and field, actually fracturing my right arm doing the hurdles at Wake Forest. I was at the Cath Lawn and I tripped over the hurdles and man, that was not a fun experience right there. So here I was, just okay, that season had went nowhere and I was stuck, stuck without a Sorry guys, if there's a little bit of wind. Anyway, I had quickly realized that my season was over and wasn't going to get a medical redshirt at all and it was just, it was done. Well, that summer I came back home to Georgia and was working, decided to go work for my cousin who did landscaping installations.
Speaker 2:So, basically, you know, if a brand new home or brand new building or somebody wanted to revamp their whole entire yard, he would come in and put new sod down, plant new shrubbery, bushes, trees, flowers, just do a whole new landscape of the yard. That's what I was doing. Well, one key event, two key events happened over that summer that led to some major decisions down the road, and this is why this is why, guys, it's so important. You know, even at that young age, I was just trying to do my best to follow the Holy Spirit, to listen to Him, be in His Word.
Speaker 2:I wasn't probably as consistent as I am now, but I was trying. I was having good people around me still, and it was just a good thing. So right around the middle of summer I think it was right around the July 4th weekend we had a huge event at the church I was attending back home, the church I was attending back home, so it was First Baptist Church, and I remember they had an altar call to pray for the nation. And I went down and as I was praying, I sensed the Holy Spirit say take the money that you have right now and set it aside for a mission trip that I want you to go on next summer.
Speaker 2:I was like oh okay, wasn't really anticipating this, but the Lord knows best, so that's for sure. So I decided to sock away, or just put away, all that money that I was making. And, granted, I was living at home, I was not having to pay for my own meals, I didn't have to pay for a you know the gas bill or the to pay for a you know the gas bill or the electric bill or the water bill. Man, just I was making money. Man, socking it away, I mean, that's the one thing that I know. That for me, I feel like that, as I look back on my life so far I'm 46 right now look back, as I look back on my life so far I'm 46 right now Look back. Money's always come easy. Maybe that's just a belief that I've had, but it's just always come easy. There's not been a time where I haven't said you know, man, there's no way in the world I'm going to be able to make any kind of income. There's been times where I don't have a lot of income, but for the most part I've always been able to say you know, I can go and create income anytime. Well, so that kind of marked me.
Speaker 2:And then, moving forward as I got into this whole entire, you know, working in landscaping. There was a job that we were doing. It was kind of towards the end of the summer and I remember I had to plant about I don't know. It seemed like a lot. It was 30 or 40 monkey grass that I had to plant in this island bed that we were creating as home. Well, it was hot, it was blazing in the state of Georgia. It was hot, it was blazing in the state of Georgia. And I remember I had my post hole diggers just planting away. And I remember the thought going through my mind, just like it was yesterday, the thought going through my mind saying I don't want to do this kind of work for the rest of my life. I never thought that before. Up to that point, the way I'd traditionally made money or created money was, you know, I would wash cars, cut grass, go do something with my hands, and that's pretty much how I learned to make money.
Speaker 2:Well, that decision really kind of marked me, because in the next semester, when I got back into school, my sophomore year, I quickly I had to take a marketing class. It's called relationship marketing. And that class right there, guys, it forever changed me. It opened my eyes up to this world of marketing and sales that I had never seen before, that I never knew, and I was hook line sinker. I mean I got so excited about business, so excited about what I was learning in that class. I mean, quite honestly, the professor, I remember him. He was kind of dry, but the material, the stuff that he was covering, I was totally into it. No one had ever told me about marketing, no one told me anything about business, and I grew up in a business home.
Speaker 2:So here I am, sophomore year, and then just kind of the other kind of piece of all this is track and field is really kind of kicking up and something had changed with track, where that I actually had a throwing coach, which was new. I never had a throwing coach, which was new. I never had a throwing coach, I had a couple. I mean, during my career I had throwing coaches, but you know, I would either have to seek them out during high school and they would either be coaching for another team but they would be willing to kind of help me out. But I never had a coach that said, hey, tyler, I'm your throwing coach. Never had had that before. It was that specialized. Well, he was a what they call a lay coach or a community coach. He didn't actually work for the school at Coastal. But he had another young lady, her name was Liz, and she was a hammer thrower for Great Britain. She had thrown in the Commonwealth Games and was like third or fourth on the rankings in Great Britain.
Speaker 2:Well, I was still doing the decathlon and the process of me still doing the decathlon, I knew I needed to throw, I needed some training. So after I got done with all my running workouts, what I would do and any kind of jumping that I needed to do, I'd go over to where the throwers were at and get some training. Well, I'd throw the shot put, I'd throw the discus, but they would always have me throw the hammer and the way they did it was they said, hey, it'll be good cross training for you, tyler, help you have a good, strong core, help you with the footwork, but it'll just be good cross training. That's how they hooked me and I was like, okay, it'll just be good cross training. That's how they hooked me and I was like, okay. So I started throwing the hammer in that August, september time frame.
Speaker 2:Well, by the November time frame, I was throwing the hammer. I think we went to a little kind of meet. It wasn't even a meet, it was just like we went and just kind of met up with another squad at Francis Merriam University and we just had a little competition, a little throw-off, and one of the things was throwing the hammer and, man, I was jacked. It was exciting. I threw at that time I threw 45 meters. Okay, I mean that's like 150 feet, and I'd only been doing this thing for like the last, you know, three months or less.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know. Flash forward some more. I quickly have to make a decision because track and field season is getting ready to start and I'm just excelling. I mean I am doing, I'm throwing further in this event called the hammer and I'm getting stronger because I'm working out with the throwers and I'm just I'm becoming this, this muscle, like. I mean I was like 190 pounds and I was still running a 400 at like 51 seconds, but I was lifting a lot of weight. Well, again, me and Holy Spirit started having a conversation because people were, you know, some throne coach was saying hey, tyler, you know you should really think about focusing on the hammer. I think you've really got a knack for it. So I began to bathe all this in prayer and a week before the season started I went to my sprint coach my head coach had a conversation with them.
Speaker 2:They were all in favor of it and I jumped ship from the decathlon. Now, back in Georgia, my decathlon coach was not happy with that, even though he hadn't been coaching me for a little while about two years. But here I was, you know, doing my thing, but again being led of the Holy Spirit. Guys, this is part of freedom, when your decisions are not your own. I mean, this is a side tangent, like right now I'm working. I'm talking with Tyler Jr about a decision he's going to have to make Good morning About football and whether or not he should, you know, finish the season out playing games. Or he should finish the season out playing games or he should not. So I've just been coaching Tyler Jr on. There's a lot of people telling him or decisions he needs to make. As far as being able to come back and play, possibly or not. Possibly because they're in the playoffs. He hasn't been playing for the last four weeks due to an ankle injury. He's kind of been cleared, but not 100%. There's a little bit of confusion with all that I've just said. Tyler, you need to talk to the Lord about it and seek him. So he told me this morning that he asked the Lord to give him direction. And it's that simple. That is how this works, just asking for direction.
Speaker 2:So anyway, back in the story. So I start off. I, I, I drop that decathlon, I get start throwing full-time. My body like literally changes because I stop running and I think I put on like 15 pounds of muscle. Man, I go from like 190 to 205 in that time period. I mean, it's just like I went. Well, I get to throw at the uh, big South Championships, wound up doing well, well enough to be a conference champion and I, as a conference champion, will also become a conference champion. In the shot put, I think I might have placed fourth in the discus. Anyway, it was a, it was a good, good time. And all these decisions I mean also just decisions that I had made before that of that I was going to keep myself pure, I wasn't going to have sex before marriage and I wasn't going to drink, go to a party, do drugs, anything like that. So all these decisions that I've been making for the Lord and for what he was doing, you know I was seeing the fruit of all that and seeing the goodness of God with it.
Speaker 2:Well, I got to my summer between my sophomore and junior year and if you remember that thing I said the Holy Spirit led me to do was to go on a mission trip Well over the year I can't even remember when it was, it was probably right around December timeframe but I'd felt led. Or I was going by this bulletin board filled with all these posters and all these flyers on there and I saw this one flyer for this group called Christian Outreach International, where they go and do sports, namely track and field, over in Europe, and I was like, dude, this is money and I could also do drama and speak. I was like, sign me up for this. And I got hooked in with Christian Outreach International COI. That summer Went to France, had an amazing experience in France, went to France, had an amazing experience in France and then went to England. When we went to England we met up with another team in England. Good morning, good morning, and that England meetup with that other group that had just flown in from the States.
Speaker 2:Little did I know I was going to meet Amy J Ellis, who would later become my wife. How about that? With God, him ordering my steps, because Amy lived all the way in Indiana went to this really small Mennonite college. She wasn't Mennonite but she just went to the school because it was near her home, like 10 minutes away from her home, and here she was doing her thing, coming over there. Well, god knew what he was doing, god knew what needed to happen. So I meet her.
Speaker 2:But at that time in my life I was still focused on track and it was like I kind of, you know, because I liked Amy, I liked Amy, I was like that's just a summer thing, you know, fling, that's all it is. It's nothing serious, nothing they need to focus in on. So I kind of like, hey, peace out after the summer. Well, we stayed in contact. I continued doing my stuff, coastal.
Speaker 2:And I do remember my junior year and I remember that one semester, first semester, I remember I think I had a management class or a. It was probably a management class that I had and it was actually with my advisor, and I remember we had just transitioned into like getting the business school accredited and it was a big deal and we had some questions for our professor because he was involved with it all. I remember asking this question to him. I said Professor Wathen, you know, do you feel like college is preparing us to be employees or employers? And I remember the whole entire class got real quiet. I'll never forget how Professor Waltham kind of looked down at the ground, kind of rubbed his face.
Speaker 2:He had this big mustache and these glasses on and I'll never forget his answer, this big mustache and these glasses on, and I don't forget his answer. He said well, tyler, I feel like it's really a choice of which path you decide to go through, of either becoming an entrepreneur or someone that's self-employed or someone that's an employee. And again, that marked me. I remember to this day that at that time I felt like, okay, from here on out I want to own my own business, I want to be my own boss.
Speaker 2:Well, flash forward to second semester of my junior year. My track season wasn't going as well as what I had hoped. I wasn't seeing the gains and the distances that I had wanted to see. I think I only PR'd, but maybe 15 feet, which was not what I was anticipating. I didn't get to go to the pin relays. Actually, I did go to the pin relays. Actually, I did go to the pin relays that junior year, but wound up doing horrible at it. It just was not the ideal situation.
Speaker 2:And then, on top of that, you know, I'd always just kind of, as something that I, you know so much, struggle with, I struggle with females. Now, granted, I already said I was pure. I've not had sex before I got married, praise God. But you know, I still wasn't making good decisions with girls and I don't feel like I need to get into all the details about that, but where I might have been too physical with a girl and or maybe let a girl on it, just I made some really poor decisions during that semester, and so poor that I remember this one young lady coming up to me at church and really kind of just calling me out I mean I was, I remember standing in the church lobby, her chewing me out and me just standing there taking it Because I knew I was wrong, I knew what I had done.
Speaker 2:I, you know, led a girl the wrong way. I mean, I said, oh yeah, I'm this Christian guy and you know. But you know, it's just, it's just stupid and I felt so bad about it. It's kind of the first time I'd ever done this In my little Christian walk. At the time I hopped up. I hopped up in the middle of the church service and I went home and I remember I might have cried my eyes out at the superstition I'd made, but I really messed up From a shame and just feeling bad about what I'd done and where I was at. Well, short story before I transition because now God was still involved, god was still working, god was still operating in my life, and right before the summer hit, a gentleman came into my life and he became a mentor that I had for at least a whole entire year year and a half.
Speaker 2:It led to some great things. So that mentor of mine came to my life and whenever I was at the lowest point of my life and I'm forever grateful for that. Forever grateful Because that changed everything and I'll start the next episode right there. So I'll start the episode right there, because that mentor changed everything for me, totally changed everything, and I'll start with that story right there. And what the power of a mentor did in my life. So, kingdom success, know that you're blessed, you're highly favored, you're empowered to prosper, you walk in divine health. The spirit of breakthrough is on you, guys and gang, we'll catch you on the other side.