Kingdom Builders is a faith based educational resource created by Sam Frowine, with all copyrights owned by the Institute for Business Owners.
Kingdom Builder Team Leader, Lisa Spivey.
Layout and Design, Sarah Grace Lipe. Edits, Angie Moses.
Scripture quotations are taken from New International Version, except otherwise noted.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means–electronic, mechanical, photo copied, recorded– without the written permission of Sam Frowine.
www.Kingdom-Builder.org
To the Academy Student,
Have you fully embraced your unique calling in the marketplace? Do you long to have a more impactful career? The starting point, I believe, is God’s Scripture.
In the pages ahead you will find wisdom to strengthen you for the trenches of commerce and the rapid-fire decisions constantly demanded of you.
The pages ahead are drawn from the many decades of my own faith journey and my experience as a business owner and active investor in over a dozen companies. These verses and insights have kept me alive.
Join me on this journey to integrate God’s wisdom into the workplace, aligning resources and priorities for the purpose of advancing God’s Kingdom.
Come grow in purpose and joy as a Kingdom Builder.
To our Academy Student,
As you embark on your journey with the BlessBack Business Academy, you are joining a community dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and leaders like you through biblical principles and practical business education. Our Academy is built on the foundational belief that it is more blessed to give than to receive; we strive to instill this philosophy in every aspect of our program.
I am excited to share with you an inspiring new partnership that will further enrich your journey with us. We have collaborated with the Institute for Business Owners and their Kingdom Builder team for a 16week devotional that beautifully complements our 16-week program.
The devotional is designed to encourage you each week to grow in purpose and joy as a Kingdom Builder, integrating God’s wisdom into your workplace while advancing His Kingdom.
It is our hope that these weekly devotions inspire you on your leadership journey, reveal God’s insights through our teachings, and ultimately, elevate your role as a Kingdom Builder in your communities.
May it be a source of encouragement and wisdom as you grow as entrepreneurs and leaders rooted in faith.
WHO IS A KINGDOM BUILDER?
Lead a life worthy of your calling, For you have been called by God. (Colossians 3:23)
A Kingdom Builder is any person seeking to integrate Biblical wisdom into their marketplace decisions. It is any business leader willing to organize resources and align priorities to intentionally affect the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom Builders are more than just producers of products and services, more than providers of profit. We are called to take on the leadership of people and resources in a way that honors God. We are called to integrity.
The world is hungry for trustworthy, courageous leaders. When we don’t step up, less worthy leaders fill the void.
Embracing our sacred responsibilities might sounds like a burden, but Kingdom Builders find hope and direction in the promises and precepts of God. They find relevance and purpose in their lives.
YOU, INC.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men. (Matthew 7:7)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders define the value of their work by its alignment to God’s mission for their life. They ask: Am I pursuing God’s best for my life?
INSIGHT: We all want a predictable marketplace, financial stability, and constant control. But as I learned during the economic meltdown of 2008 and the global pandemic of 2020, some variables you can’t control.
A lot of us get boxed into ideas about what we’re entitled to and where our next dollar is coming from. But during times of economic uncertainty, we can’t count on these givens.
What you can control is you. You are a corporation of one, and the corporation is called You Inc. You’re the CEO, the CFO and the lowest player on the org chart.
You, Inc. is the New Wealth paradigm. It depends less on others, takes greater responsibility for deploying our own resources, and operates with more agility to redefine the parameters of what we do. At You, Inc. the most valuable asset is you.
This new paradigm is risky, of course, but it’s also liberating to our creativity.
REFLECTION: What are your greatest assets at You, Inc.? Have you optimized your God-given talents, your unique brilliance?
2
Asking Questions
Week 2
ASKING QUESTIONS
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders are curious, teachable and eager to discover the simple truths and the majestic of God’s universe.
INSIGHT: When part of my business isn’t working and I’m in a stir, experience has taught me to ask questions.
Asking questions can be the very best way to gain clarity. Instead of obsessing over the problem, questions can be just what I need to liberate my mind. Obsessing and complaining can contract my brain, but questions can open up my imagination.
Questions prepare us to adapt and innovate.
Socrates knew that questions disarm the mind and make it less resistant. Jesus knew to answer the Pharisee’s accusatory questions with more questions, to get at the deeper issues.
In times of uncertainty the next best step for us all is to say, “What are my next questions?”
REFLECTION: What is an obstacle you’re facing in your work right now? One question you can always ask: Where is there opportunity within this obstacle?
Fear Management 3
Week 3
FEAR MANAGEMENT
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether wellfed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders know we all face a war of thoughts. Fear is a sign we are on the spiritual battlefield where Satan roams.
INSIGHT: Business owners are often driven by a state of mind called “entrepreneurial terror.” It’s a fact. Google it.
What are we so afraid of? If you’re like me, we fear failure and rejection. We fear not being bright enough, clever enough or something enough, especially when we face times of uncertainty.
I’d love to give you a happily-ever-after antidote to entrepreneurial terror, but maybe we never fully master it.
What I do know is we must not allow fear to control us. We must use the energy of fear to drive us through the process of change, instead of resisting the unknown.
And we must stay focused on our purpose. Our purpose must be bigger than our fear. One reason to face your fears is: you are needed.
REFLECTION: What are you most afraid of? How do your fears limit your success?
Big Ideas
Week 4
BIG IDEAS
That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ (2 Chronicles 1:7)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders have worldview that starts with an assumption: God created the whole world and all that is in it. He is a big God with a capacity for large-scale vision.
INSIGHT: I encourage clients to anchor their business journey to a big idea that serves a larger purpose.
Big ideas can come out of any and every part of your life. They can be related to family or social causes or things you love but never have time for when business is booming.
Here are some thoughts about how to get those big ideas popping:
- Create a Big Idea file. Fill it up with all kinds of ideas. Date every idea. Eventually the big idea will surface.
- Focus on what’s possible, not the obstacles in the way.
- Share your ideas with friends, confidants and fellow seekers who aren’t afraid of big ideas.
Big ideas give us energy and enthusiasm, which can keep our entrepreneurial spirits high. Let’s pop some big ideas.
REFLECTION: When you think about ideas or innovations, are you thinking broadly enough to encompass all areas of your life and not
Think Execute Account 5
Week 5
THINK EXECUTE ACCOUNT
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3:14)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders know the truth behind the Law of Harvest–we reap what we sow. So, they deliberately, constantly and generously sow seeds that yield good fruit and not bad.
INSIGHT: Are you ready to make some changes? Then it’s time for TEA—Think, Execute, and Account. The 90-day TEA process has helped many of my companies improve performance.
Think: Don’t just lunge at the problem. Imagine. Deliberate. Reflect. Examine. Apply logic. Strategize. Plan. Set goals. Then...
Execute: Perform. Accomplish. Make it happen. Achieve. Carry out. Follow through. Then...
Account: Evaluate. Analyze. Assess. Examine. Question. Review. And do it all 90 days at a time.
The TEA system sounds simple, but I’ve found that most of us do only one or two of the steps well. Some love to ideate but lack follow-through. Some jump into action without thinking. Some focus only on quick, short-term results. It’s putting all three to work, in a timely, coordinated way, that allows us to re-wire our company and accomplish whatever we can imagine.
REFLECTION: What discipline do you need to hone—think, execute or account? How can you apply that discipline to a current situation?
Golden Nuggets 6
Week 6
GOLDEN NUGGETS
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavely lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders recognize God’s blessings in their life, count them regularly and steward them faithfully.
INSIGHT: In working with companies that are adapting to change, I’ve found it important to count up blessings. If you prefer, call it searching out the golden nuggets.
The practice is not some simple-minded optimism. Counting up blessings is a good business practice.
Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, spend some time focusing on what you do have. Then ask yourself how you can better leverage the assets right under your nose. Most of us have been given far more than we realize and far more than we put to good use.
Before we go in search of new veins of gold, we should mine the golden nuggets we already have.
REFLECTION: What assets do you have that are under-recognized and therefore under-leveraged? Make a list of your golden nuggests.
Joyful Mysteries
Week 7
JOYFUL MYSTERIES
God will yet fill your mouth with laughter ad your lips with shouts of joy.
(Job 8:21)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders learn that a joyful, optimistic outlook comes from a greatful relationship with the Lord.
INSIGHT: People come along at the perfect time. Doors open. Connections are made. We hear the same message time after time from completely different sources.
Some call it synchronicity. Some call it coincidence. I call it joyful mysteries.
Physicist Albert Einstein said, “There are two ways to live: You can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”
I think these mysteries happen when we commit to a purpose greater than ourselves, release our dreams and do our part to make them happen.
Take joy when you’ve been given a provision you didn’t even ask for. Recognize the gift. Let the unexplainable fill your soul and remind you are not alone in this journey.
REFLECTION: When have you seen events conspire to help you achieve your goals? Did you respond with humility, awe, joy, or arrogance?
Choices
CHOICES
Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders desire to grow in their faith and mature in their choices, to become more like Christ.
INSIGHT: A lot of variables are out of our control—the stock market, cultural trends, global crises. But there is one thing we can always control: our choices.
We can make healthy choices by holding ourselves accountable in the key areas of our lives—physical, professional, spiritual, relational, and mental. Our purposeful choices give us the highest level of control over our lives. But we must accept the highest level of responsibility for our choices and the consequences that follow.
Alternatively, we can make unhealthy choices. We can look at life’s challenges and think we are helpless. We can defeat ourselves by playing the victim, blaming others, and giving ourselves permission to behave unwisely. We can self-medicate with alcohol or drugs; overindulge in food, shopping, or entertainment; seek inappropriate relationships.
The choice is ours.
REFLECTION: If you were making the best possible choices, what would you choose to do more of? What would you choose to do less of?
Rest and Renewal
Week 9
REST AND RENEWAL
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders understand God has nonnegotiable laws of conduct found in the Old Testament and the New.
INSIGHT: Imagine that there is hidden wisdom in the creation of the earth, a common-sense principle we can use to make our lives more fruitful, to make the asset of You, Inc. more valuable.
Here’s the secret: After God labored for six days creating the earth, he rested on the seventh day.
If it’s okay for God to rest and relax, it’s okay for us, too. In fact, it’s not only okay, it’s a necessary part of protecting a sustainable and renewable asset. It’s a natural law of performance: to perform better, we need to rest better.
God saw the wisdom in a day of rest and renewal. Who am I to think I can get by without one?
REFLECTION: What do you find liberating about the notion of rest and renewal?
10
Purple Leadership
Week 10
PURPLE LEADERSHIP
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them...,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 42:16)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders model themselves after the character and behavior of Jesus who followed only God’s ways and never idolized any particular human viewpoint.
INSIGHT: My pastor once had a blog he called Purple Pastor. He said the idea was about being a “both/and” thinker — a bit red and blue, a bit conservative and liberal, a bit ancient and future.
Purple Leadership takes the best from all sides and creates something new for these times.
In the old economy, leaders were rational and results-oriented. They were about short-term gains and dividends to make stockholders happy. They were growth-oriented and bottom-line focused.
In today’s economy, the most successful leaders must blend the resultsand-profits orientation with the qualities of creatives and artists. They must think expansively, collaborate, and appreciate beauty. They must combine the old-style leader’s hard-headed realism with the optimism of a dreamer.
Above all, Purple Leaders must be comfortable in the ambiguity of being both rational and creative.
REFLECTION: Who is the most purple person you know? What leadership traits do you admire in this person?
11
Purple Leadership
Week 11
SYMBOLS
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. (Genesis 9:16)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders know that there is a spiritual realm that rests below the surface of everyday reality of the ‘every day’ of this world. God gives us symbols.
INSIGHT: Somewhere in your house or office or pocket you keep an object that is deeply meaningful to you. What is it?
The object is more than an object, of course. It is a symbol.
At my house, everyone knows that when the red plate appears in front of someone’s place at the dinner table, that person has experienced something momentous. The red plate signals a celebration.
Symbols mark something momentous in our lives—passages, commitments, times of profound change. They give us something to hold onto that has meaning beyond the moment. Symbols inspire us, as long as we don’t worship them.
Could you use a symbol right now, for the hope it might offer?
REFLECTION: Find a symbol for your professional journey, something that will remind you of where you’ve been and how far you’ve come.
Don’t Quit
Week 12
DON’T QUIT
Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4-5)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders never give up- but stay in life’s challenges, trusting God to use all curcumstances for His good.
INSIGHT: No company’s journey is an easy straight line. There will always be set-backs.
For many of us, the most important metric in business success is simply staying in the game. Just survive, stay liquid, be standing on your feet when things begin improving.
For more than 15 years, I’ve exercised at the YMCA in my community, seeing the same faces, bonding through our grunts and moans. In that time, we’ve developed our own code language for those days when the best we can do is show up.
One of us says: How you doing?
The other replies: I’m here.
Simply don’t quit.
REFLECTION: When did you face a challenge but persevered? What reward did you get?
13
Seasons
Week
13
SEASONS
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders search for hope and opportunity in every trial and struggle because they know there is a reason for each season.
INSIGHT: When I’m in a really hard place, I remember what my Mom always said: “Sammy, these things will pass.”
And they always do. We have to remember that our lives come in seasons. Winter won’t linger forever. It will eventually give way to Spring.
The rhythm of the seasons applies to everything, including our businesses, our careers, and even the economy. There is a season for preparing and planting, a season for nurturing and growth, a season for harvest and plenty, and a season for dying to the old to make way for the new.
When a certain season is hanging around longer than I’d like, I need the patience to remember that my timing doesn’t always coincide with God’s timing.
Thanks, Mom.
REFLECTION: How would you describe the business season in which you find yourself: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter?
Becoming
Week 14
BECOMING
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders know that the character qualities of Christ—compassion, kindness, honesty, loyalty, faithfulness, diligence—are the qualities of the best leaders in the marketplace.
INSIGHT: Finding success in business is not a final destination. It’s a life-long journey of growth and adaptation. Healthy businesses, like healthy people, are always becoming.
In our fast-paced world, we can develop a system that flourishes one minute and becomes obsolete the next. Print goes digital. Meetings turn virtual. Everyone starts working from home. As leaders, we must commit to the process of transformation and stay open to new ways of thinking. We must be willing to cultivate new ideas, new relationships, new ambitions.
Whatever successes and failures we’ve experienced so far, we must acknowledge that our journey isn’t over. What we’ve done in the past has simply prepared us for the next leg of our journey, for the next stage of becoming.
REFLECTION: What helps you to keep moving forward on the journey?
Your Leadership Story
Week 15
YOUR LEADERSHIP STORY
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.” (Genesis 12:1-2)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders recognize how God uses tension, vulnerability, and brokenness to show us new ways of thinking and solving problems.
INSIGHT: Like our personal stories, our leadership stories are chock full of victories, setbacks, amazing people, difficult people, big decision points and defining moments.
Each leadership story is unique and can serve as a powerful tool.
In my company, we strengthen our bond by telling and re-telling the stories of our struggles, our fateful moments and our client successes.
Knowing and sharing your business story allows you to gain perspective on this chapter in time, which helps you endure the pain of the day and gives you hope for tomorrow.
Our stories will become part of our legacy to our children, colleagues, employees and friends.
REFLECTION: In your business story so far, where do you see God’s fingerprints and his favor?
Celebrate
Week 16
CELEBRATE
Worhsip the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:2-3)
WORLDVIEW: Kingdom Builders know that God’s deepest desire is a loving relationship with every person he created. He likes us to bring our joys to him.
INSIGHT: Regardless of economic challenges and an uncertain future, make sure to celebrate the good stuff.
There is transformational value to celebration. It’s not a waste of budget. It’s a way to affirm God’s faithfulness in the past and believe in his faithfulness in the future. It’s a way to pause and be grateful.
Even if our business is at a low point, we can celebrate the things no one can take away — relationships, talents, accomplishments, dreams. We can celebrate small victories. We can even celebrate the wounds that make us stronger and the growth we’ve experienced on the journey.
And at its best, celebration occurs in community, where we connect and bond by sharing our gratitude and experiencing the spirit of unity.
It is our nature to celebrate, whether with ceremony or festivity or singing or shouting. The greatest gift in celebration is that it lifts us out of fear or worry and brings us together in gratitude.
REFLECTION: What are you grateful for today? Make a list. How could you celebrate each item on your list?
Insights and Inspirations for your Kingdom Builder Journey
Big Ideas for Kingdom Builders is written especially for sojourners of BlessBack Academy. It aims to inspire owners and leaders to be bold and courageous while integrating God’s wisdom into their thoughts and decisions. The sustaining truths in this book offer invaluable perspective, wisdom, and even moments of celebration for business leaders and entrepreneurs pursuing God’s best in the marketplace.
With a rich history of ownership and active investment in more than a dozen enterprises over the last 40 years, Sam Frowine brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this work. Currently, Sam serves as the chairman of SEF Companies, which includes The Performance Group, Performance Capital Group, and the Institute for Business Owners. His God-given passion is exhorting business owners who are transitioning from being entrepreneurs to becoming Great enterprise builders for the Kingdom.
