Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.
– Colossians 3:23
When God gives you a vision, pursue it!
BBT began with a calling in August 2008––one that couldn’t be done … alone, that is. I was called, in prayer, to start a Bible study at work. It really was something that I didn’t feel prepared to do. But I knew when God calls someone to something, He can make anything happen. And so He did.
Along with a fellow co-worker, Greg Schuster (whose heart, God had already prepared), we started a Bible study with other colleagues, in September of 2008. Throughout the course of the next six months Christ used the group to grow the concept of BBT.
Pursuing God’s Word
Our small group was hungry to study the Word, in the context of our work. We needed something that could help us apply Biblical truths and principles to the workplace challenges we faced every day––and there really wasn’t anything out there that fit our needs.
Then, the Lord led me down a very short path to a book I already owned and had read, authored by a friend and mentor that I had known for years! Doing Business by the Good Book, by David L. Steward, was an excellent resource. With Dave’s permission, I started pulling together a study guide, and found that people were responsive. For the people in our small group, our work began to transform and take on new meaning. Not only was our Bible study affecting our daily decisions, we began to feel a new sense of meaning and purpose.
Transformation
God used this transformation to spark the vision for a global marketplace ministry––and BBT was born. God had given us a scalable, sustainable approach to studying His Word in the context of work. So, we kept going. We began planting BBT groups, and God began growing new groups.
The ministry held its first board meeting in December 2009 and by the next year, it was apparent that, to fulfill God’s plans, BBT would need full-time leadership. After much deliberation and prayer, I left my executive position and 15-plus-year career in corporate America to accept the full-time calling to BBT. Once again I found myself doing something that I didn’t feel prepared to do. I am humbled and in awe that God has given us this gift. BBT is here for His glory and purpose, and I am thankful to be part of it.
BBT is more than a Bible study
The God-given mission and vision of Faith for Work — Leadership for Life! makes BBT more than a Bible study. BBT exists to help small-group leaders grow in their relationship with Christ, so that they can pour into others’ lives, creating a Leadership Flywheel™ which naturally grows leaders for the Lord. The Leadership Flywheel™ is expressed as the equation:
L1=Learning, L2=Living, L3=Leading, L4=Legacy
The formula came to me in a vision while on vacation with my wife. In collaboration with Dennis Muilenburg, BBT Chairman and Chairman, President & CEO of The Boeing Company, we defined the equation as Learning plus Living raised to the power of Christ-centered Leadership, results in a Legacy of Leadership for the Lord. Exponential growth of Christ-centered, spiritual leaders has been the core of BBT since the beginning, through today, and into the future.
Has God given you a vision? Are you pursuing it?