Follower of One : Missions For The Rest Of Us

Faith, Fitness, and the Marketplace: How Cole Permenter Lives on Mission Every Day | Follower Of One

Cole Permenter spent six years in MMA cages, 11 years pastoring a small-town Louisiana church, and built a fitness brand to keep ministers physically ready for the gospel. In this episode, Cole joins Addison Williams to talk about what it looks like to live on mission in a secular world, whether you work in a fab shop, run an HVAC business, or lead a congregation. Episode Highlights: What is Base 1520? Cole founded Base 1520 to help ministers, missionaries, and marketplace Christians become better stewards of their bodies. The name comes from Romans 15:20, where Paul describes his ambition to take the gospel to those who have never heard it. Cole asks a direct question: if a hundred-mile trek over a mountain range is what it takes to reach people, are we physically ready to go? Your workplace is your mission field. Cole shares two stories from his congregation. One man works in HVAC and has more gospel conversations each week than most pastors ever will. Another works in a fab shop and now leads a Sunday morning small group that functions as a full worship service. Cole's point is clear: God knows your address. Be faithful where you are. Know what you believe, and know why. Cole argues that theology drives behavior. If your view of God is wrong, your life will reflect it. He encourages anyone wrestling with faith to start with one question: did Christ resurrect? He tried to disprove Christianity in his twenties and could not. No one in 2,000 years has. The discipline of prayer. Cole draws a direct comparison between physical training and spiritual disciplines. Prayer is not about asking God for things. It is an expression of dependence. He recommends reading Scripture systematically and points listeners to the story of George Mueller, who ran an orphanage for 60 years by prayer alone, never once making a public financial appeal. Pushing past comfort. Cole trains for HYROX races, takes ice baths with his seven-year-old, and competed in MMA to build relationships with people who would never enter a church. His framework is simple: stress produces growth. That applies to your body, your faith, and your willingness to have hard conversations at work. Cole Permenter leaves marketplace believers with one practical question to carry into the week: how can I leverage my life, my job, my family, and my resources to make God known? The answer does not require a mission trip or a seminary degree. It starts with where you already are. Learn more about Base 1520 at https://www.base1520.com/  Connect with Cole Permenter here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-permenter-45a6962b7/ *Connect With Follower Of One* Join us over in our Online Community(http://community.followerofone.org) *Get social with us* https://www.facebook.com/followerofone  https://instagram.com/followerofone1 https://twitter.com/followerofone1  https://www.linkedin.com/company/follower-of-one  https://plinkhq.com/i/1482955686  ====

Let the Lord Lead Your Business. Rick Johnson Did and Everything Changed | Follower Of One

Rick Johnson started RC Fasteners and Components right after 9/11 with no money, no customers, and a word from God: "I won't let you fail." Twenty-four years later, his company sells aerospace and industrial fasteners, but Rick calls it "a ministry working undercover as a fastener company."  In this episode, Rick shares how losing three family members in 11 months broke him down, led him to surrender everything to God, and transformed his business from the inside out. Episode Highlights Rick felt called to start a fastener company months after 9/11, when no planes were flying, and aerospace demand had collapsed. He and his wife had almost no money. That first year brought constant failure, but Rick held onto the promise he received in prayer. For the first 11 years, Rick ran the business his way. He worked 14 to 16-hour days, seven days a week, and put God on the shelf. Then in 2007, he lost his father, mother, and sister within 11 months. He went through three and a half years of severe mental health struggles before surrendering everything, the company, his family, his finances, back to God. After that surrender, everything shifted. Rick moved into a bigger building right after losing his second largest account. The building owner remodeled the entire space for free. Within four years, God paid off the building. Rick and his team began documenting answered prayers on six-foot rolls of craft paper and posting them on the warehouse walls. Eight or nine years later, they fill three aisles. Customers, vendors, and employees all see the evidence. RC Fasteners holds Bible studies on company time. Employees who initially opted out started showing up after hearing the joy and energy coming from those gatherings. Rick watched people transform, take that change home to their families, and restore broken relationships. Rick walked away from a half-million-dollar account because it was damaging his team's well-being and culture. When a separate client mistreated his staff, he pulled RC out of that contract too. One of those clients called them back to the table and committed to doing things differently. Rick hires based on who God leads him to, not always the most qualified candidate. One hire was a former pastor whose church had fallen apart. Over five years at RC, the man was restored, his children returned to faith, and he eventually went back into ministry. Rick has completed 25 Follower of One virtual mission trips. He credits the organization with helping him take workplace intentionality to another level and encourages anyone, not only business owners, to get involved. Rick Johnson's closing challenge to listeners: spend time with God daily. That is the most important appointment on your calendar. When you seek Him first and go after the root, loving God and loving people, He takes care of the fruit. Rick's team started with a Monday prayer meeting. Today, something is happening at RC Fasteners every single day. Connect with Rick Johnson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-johnson-04b99040/ Website: www.rcfastener.com *Connect With Follower Of One* Join us over in our Online Community(http://community.followerofone.org) *Get social with us* https://www.facebook.com/followerofone  https://instagram.com/followerofone1 https://twitter.com/followerofone1  https://www.linkedin.com/company/follower-of-one  https://plinkhq.com/i/1482955686  ====

Larry Tribble on Sharing Faith at Work Without Pushing People Away

Larry Tribble spent years feeling alone in his faith at work. In grad school and in corporate leadership, he struggled to find the right way to talk about what he believed without alienating the people around him. Then he found Follower of One and a different model for living out faith in the marketplace. In this episode, Larry sits down with host Addison Williams to talk about what changed, how he brought his entire church on board with a marketplace mission trip, and why loving people well is the most effective form of evangelism. Episode Highlights Larry shares how he picked up the electric bass at age 50 after asking his worship leader how he could serve more at church. He describes the isolation he felt in grad school and corporate environments where faith conversations felt unwelcome or risky. Larry explains why fear holds more people back than actual opposition. He points out that telling your own story is something no one can argue with. The conversation covers why traditional evangelism models felt uncomfortable for Larry and how the Follower of One approach gave him a practical alternative. Larry talks about organizing a marketplace mission trip through his church, helping members realize God placed them in their workplaces on purpose. He highlights a key insight from the Follower of One community: loving people means being willing to be inconvenienced on their behalf. Larry breaks down why building relationships first creates the trust needed for deeper conversations about faith. The episode closes with Larry's encouragement to start each workday with a simple prayer of availability, surrendering the day to God's direction before walking through the door. If you feel alone in your faith at work, Larry's message is simple: join a community of people trying to do the same thing. Follower of One exists for this purpose. Visit the Follower of One website to connect with the community, join a marketplace mission trip, or find Larry on LinkedIn. His book, Thinking For a Living: The New Model of Knowledge, Work and Success, is available on Amazon. Connect with Larry Tribble LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrytribble Website: https://dobusyright.com/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Living-Knowledge-Success-100-Page/dp/B0GD6GJH5R ==== *Connect With Follower Of One* Join us over in our Online Community(http://community.followerofone.org) *Get social with us* https://www.facebook.com/followerofone  https://instagram.com/followerofone1 https://twitter.com/followerofone1  https://www.linkedin.com/company/follower-of-one  https://plinkhq.com/i/1482955686  ====

How Lynne Farrell Turned Her Hardest Stories Into Ministry | Follower Of One

Most Christians in the marketplace carry pain they have never talked about out loud. That silence shapes how they show up at work, in relationships, and in their faith. This episode asks what becomes possible when you stop managing your story and start letting it serve others. Lynne Farrell joins Addison Williams to share how her faith journey moved from a small homeschool classroom to a video Bible study now reaching thousands of women in prisons, anti-trafficking restoration programs, and pro-life centers. Lynne Farrell is the author and keynote speaker of the women's video Bible study, "SEEN: Discovering the Freedom to be Authentically You," which is featured on RightNow Media. Her study is also reaching thousands of women in prison, in anti-trafficking restoration groups, and pro-life centers. Lynne also speaks at women's retreats and events and has authored the children's book, "Bennie's Forever Gift." She's been married to her husband, Paul, for 35 years, and has two adult children. Key Discussion Points Lynne wrote her Bible study ""Seen"" during COVID and discovered her hardest personal stories were the parts that most impacted other women. Her study is now available on tablets for incarcerated women through a prison ministry partnership, with no prior prison ministry experience on her part. She shares openly about healing from abortion at 17 and how telling that story from a place of healing removes shame's power in the room. The Follower of One Marketplace Mission Trip helped her slow down and create actual margin in her daily schedule to be available to the people around her. She explains why forgiving others and refusing to keep pain hidden are the practical starting points for people who want freedom but do not know where to begin. Connect with Lynne Farrell Here: Website: https://www.seenandbeloved.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seenandbeloved/" ==== *Connect With Follower Of One* Join us over in our Online Community(http://community.followerofone.org) *Get social with us* https://www.facebook.com/followerofone  https://instagram.com/followerofone1 https://twitter.com/followerofone1  https://www.linkedin.com/company/follower-of-one  https://plinkhq.com/i/1482955686  ====

How Prayer Changed My Business: Rob Stein on Faith in the Marketplace | Follower Of One

Rob Stein grew up in a culturally Jewish home where God was rarely discussed. He built multiple businesses, competed as a professional bodybuilder, and leaned heavily on his own abilities. Then his wife started going to church, and everything shifted. In this episode, Rob shares how he went from mocking Easter services to getting baptized, selling a business on God's terms, and building a real estate training platform used by over 13,000 agents, all through prayer and relationships. Rob is one of North America's leading authorities in real estate education, mindset coach, former professional bodybuilder, husband, father, follower of Jesus Christ, and creator of Earth to Orbit. Leveraging his Masters in Education, he's spent the last 20 years working tirelessly to help others create successful businesses and lives for themselves. His expertise as an educator sets him apart from other coaches and mentors because he's able to explain the many complex aspects of building an incredible real estate business in a way that's easy to understand…and even fun. Rob's passion for bodybuilding and the lifestyle that goes with it has also been a major contributing factor in developing his teaching method. As a result, Rob has developed a turnkey online coaching system that has enabled agents nationwide to generate consistent, six-figure income. After deciding to create financial prosperity for himself, Rob transitioned from an underpaid, overworked middle school teacher to a top-producing agent and team leader, and became one of the Top 5% of agents nationwide. Over the course of his career, Rob has worked with over 400 organizations and spoken to over 25,000 people on mindset and improving performance. Today, he combines his passion for teaching with his mastery in real estate to help aspiring and experienced real estate agents achieve the financial and time freedom they deserve. Key Discussion Points Rob ended his business meetings with prayer and blessing for the first time, expecting to lose clients. His business grew instead, and new clients told him his faith was the reason they signed up. After spending $150,000 and six months failing to sell his real estate training course, Rob prayed and heard God say "relationships." The next day, a phone call led to the corporate partnership that became his entire business model. Rob grew up culturally Jewish with no relationship to God. His wife started attending church in Texas, and the visible change in her opened a door he never expected to walk through. A pastor told a room of business owners: "Ministry does not have to be your ministry." Rob learned that how you treat employees, how you forgive, and the ethics you hold in your workplace all communicate the gospel. Rob connects the delayed gratification of competitive natural bodybuilding to the daily discipline of obedience. Both require doing hard things now for results you won't see for a long time. Rob Stein's journey is a reminder that God works in the marketplace, not only in the church building. Whether you run a company or sit in a cubicle, prayer and obedience open doors that no marketing budget or business plan ever will. Learn more about Rob and connect with him through the links below. Connect with Rob Stein Here; https://www.youtube.com/@rob_stein https://www.facebook.com/robstein84/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-stein-558827146/ https://www.instagram.com/robstein_impossibletofail/ https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/fu6fJ0I/impossible2fail   *Connect With Follower Of One* Join us over in our Online Community(http://community.followerofone.org) *Get social with us* https://www.facebook.com/followerofone  https://instagram.com/followerofone1 https://twitter.com/followerofone1  https://www.linkedin.com/company/follower-of-one  https://plinkhq.com/i/1482955686