Is Faith Spelled RISK? Hear From God & Follow the Fruit with Shawn Bolz

Hey Friend!

In this conversation with Shawn Bolz, you are in for a treat as we talk about repentance and how to actually hear God’s voice and know that you are in alignment with His will over your life. We talk about the concept of faith actually being spelled R I S K, as in RISK, and how to take risks when we are in fear, as Shawn has done.

There are so many nuggets in this conversation that I know will bless you big today!

Are You Hearing God’s Voice but Feel Scared to Obey?

One of the ways that Shawn and I both grow our authority and our influence in the online space is through podcasting.  Before we dig into the meat of our conversation, I wanted to give you the opportunity to learn a bit more about how that works if you don’t yet have a show.

Maybe you’ve never considered starting a show, are on the fence, or want to but have no idea how to get started. Perhaps you are hearing God’s voice but are scared to answer it because you just don’t know where to start.  

If this sounds like you, I would love to invite you to go to podcastforgrowth.com and watch my free 40 minute live class. This training is a complete step by step visual presentation with me walking you through how podcasting can work for you.

We look at how it can be the vessel and the vehicle to making a big impact, growing your audience and ultimately making that income that you know you’re called to make for the kingdom of God and for your family.

Introducing Shawn Bolz – Serial Entrepreneur and Christian Minister

Shawn Bolz is just such a gift! He is a TV host, news commentator, media producer and Christian minister. He is an epic serial entrepreneur. But he also wears his preacher hat. Shawn has been driving a positive narrative in news stories, the entertainment industry, social justice, and especially issues that affect us as Christians.

So whether you’re listening to him interviewing a business leader on his show, to his podcast or watching his live news commentary, you’re bound to come away with a different vision, a different way of seeing things that you haven’t thought of before as a Christian who lives in a fallen world. Shawn has been interviewed on many popular platforms including Fox News, CBN News, 700 Club, Centrepoint, and The Joni Show. He has been everywhere and you are going to absolutely love him!

Shawn’s Journey in Response to God’s Voice

Stef: Shawn, I’m so excited to have you on the show today. Welcome.

Shawn: I’m so glad to be here. I love what you’re doing. And I think it’s really empowering for people on this journey to actually feel like they can do this.

Stef: Thank you so much. That means a lot coming from you. You have paved the way in so many areas for people of faith to really grow in their true relationship with God. Tell us a little bit about who you are and these different avenues that you’re a part of.

Shawn: I was in traditional ministry for 27 years doing everything from pastoring to itinerating. This was an incredible experience of helping to move the body forward when it comes to the issue of hearing God’s voice and mainstream Christianity. We then moved to LA to plant a church and to really help people on their journey. I did that for 10 years and then gave it over to my best friends.

I noticed that the main place that Christians see the impact of God is in their career and in the marketplace for their families and their community. My question was how do we train people to focus on connecting to God in those places? To grow our ability to hear God’s voice and know Him in a real way not just at church or in your home group. We want people to feel empowered as a parent, as a business person, in their career.

So we started a podcast about that! And then I really felt we were supposed to switch over to media. I wanted to learn production. It’s always been a passion of mine.

Christian Media and Podcasting to Help People Hear God’s Voice

Shawn: So I moved over to production and found myself doing Christian media which is something I never thought I would do. I have now produced four Christian shows and we produce our own show and podcast as well as featuring on various other podcasts.

Our podcast has featured in the top 0.01% of all podcasts worldwide. Christians are starting to see that God is speaking to them in the marketplace.

Stef: Gosh, so you have got a lot going on! And you are an author. One day I am going to write a book! What is your number one tip, Shawn, for writing a book?

Shawn: Don’t write for yourself. Write for an audience. Fall in love with a group of people and give what you have to them. It’s the same for podcasting, especially. I think we do a lot of what we do and we see our calling for ourselves but its really for our audience.

For example, if you understand what’s happening in a church, and you plant a group for that church, you’re going to plant a very different group than what you would have out of your own instinct. If you don’t know who that audience or church is, it’s going to be really hard to do the why of your group or book or podcast.

If You Want a God Result, You Have to Take a Risk

Stef: There are two things I want to dive into with you. The first is that you are not afraid to take action. I know that so many of my listeners are terrified. The fear can be crippling. It sounds like you have been able to conquer that fear again and again to do the things you have never done before. Can you talk a little about that?

And the second thing I want to touch on today is how do you hear from God to know about taking that risk? And can we know this is what God wants versus this is what I want?

Shawn: I grew up with parents who were first generation Christians. One of the things that they learnt at church, which I cut my teeth on growing up, was that faith is spelt R I S K, risk. That was the motto and it is in my DNA. If you want a God result, you have to take a risk. You have got to do something you wouldn’t do in your own strength and capacity with your own finances and socio-economic background and education. 

So with this, I am already predisposed to say that what I feel like God wants me to do in my lifetime, I can’t do without Him. I am not just doing it for Him. I am doing it with Him. He is a better leader than I am.

My wife and I are both risk takers but we are also feasibility people. We look at what we feel we hear from God but then take it through a feasibility and confirmation process. Even if this doesn’t work right now in life, what risks are we taking? We’re really educated with the risk and if it is really worth it.

Be Satisfied with Small Beginnings

I think that when people feel like they’ve heard God’s voice about something or when they want to take a big risk about something, they haven’t yet conquered the lion or the bear. They go after the Goliath first and end up with something that is too big that they can’t manage. And then they have a measure of failure or they just have a measure of extended suffering before it gets good.

People do that in all aspects as Christians because we exaggerate what God tells us. So if someone’s going to start a podcast, we start to think that thousands of people are going to listen every week. We’re not satisfied with our 75 people. But if you have 75 people, picture if you had a Home Group and 75 people came to your house. That’s 75 people who are listening to you who actually care about what you’re saying. And about 10 of them are probably really loyal and want to do life with you.

I think when people don’t take risks, they get stuck. But when they take the wrong kind of risks, because they’re not satisfied, then they don’t enjoy where they’re at, even in the days of small beginnings. Then you just live a miserable life.

Be Dependent on God and Build Together

Personally, we are trying to stay in step with God. Right now, there’s a lot that we’re doing. And in the midst of doing what we’re doing, we’re super dependent on God’s leadership. I think if you don’t feel dependent on God’s leadership, are you even a Christian? It is hard because when someone else is leading you, you’re following and you don’t make all the decisions.

But if God’s building your reputation, your brand, your identity, your ministry, whatever it is, then He’ll maintain it. If you’re building it in your own strength, you’ve got to get all the tools, the keys, the finances, everything else and you have to maintain it. There has to be a learning process to be able to let God build.

Listen for God’s Voice So You Can Depend on His Leadership

Stef: So you say be dependent on God’s leadership in order to hear God’s voice and then take the risk. What do you mean, Shawn? How do you actually depend on God’s leadership? What do you actively do?

Shawn: I think that for instance, if you are listening and you think ‘I like candles and I really want to make candles’, the first thing is to turn to God and ask Him ‘What is your dream over this?’ Ask some questions and do some listening prayer.

And then be prepared to wait. Do some thinking about who is going to buy the candles. This is probably going to be women who buy them for gifts or because they like the smell or for relaxation. Then think how you partner with God over these people who are going to buy this product.

God’s Voice Speaks Into What He Is Most Interested In

Shawn: You hear God’s voice most when you are asking about what he is interested in. And he’s most interested in people. So you are not only going to be excited about the product. You are going to be passionate about the people who are engaging with the product. The more you build community with them and connection to them, the more you are honouring love.  This is the highway or on ramp for the favour of God.

When I wake up in the morning, I think of our audience of incredible people in careers. They are doctors, lawyers, venture capitalists, farmers, moms who are starting a side hustle or dads who are trying to get to the next level financially. I think ‘How do we serve them through this conversation?’ I am making a podcast for people to go on a journey that resonates.

With pray.com, for instance, 65% of the audience are Democrats and I am a Christian Conservative. I have to think about the Democrat who doesn’t really have the same values as I do but loves Jesus just as much as I do. So I ask God ‘This is a different audience than I know how to serve when it comes to pray.com. So how do I come to them in the right way without compromising any of my values?’

Look at who your ‘who’ is and how you are going to love them and serve them. When you get that, God speaks into it. I think you then get instinct, your gut intuition, your gut check, you get a feeling.

The First Way to Hear God’s Voice Is Through Repentance

Shawn: Coming to your second question, the first way all Christians learn how to hear from God is repentance.

There might be listeners today who don’t believe you hear from God. But think about a time you were going to send a text and you thought ‘That’s not right.’ People are not that emotionally smart. That was the Holy Spirit talking to you. That’s the Holy Spirit saying ‘That’s you. Don’t do it your way. Do it my way. That’s you. Hold your tongue’.

I do not lead myself to repentance. God leads to me repentance. I make myself available to change. Most of the ways that we process how God speaks to us are internal. It says in First Corinthians vs 2 ‘The Holy Spirit searches the deepest, most innermost thoughts of God, and He relates them to our spirit’. So like a podcast, God speaks to us by a download. He downloads something inside of you that is above your emotional intelligence and the normal choice you want to make.

Recognise the ‘Push’ That Is God’s Voice

And when you track the fruit, you realise that God is leading you. It’s not direct speech but it’s a push inside of you, compelling you to do something. Jesus spoke in stories and parables to create receptive insight in his disciples so that they could understand who he was and why he did what he did. And as you obey, he will bring fruit.

This happened for us. I got invited to do a podcast which I wasn’t thinking of doing! But I said yes. I got a cheesy microphone and did interviews with friends. I asked how hearing God’s voice was changing their lives and the world around them. And we had a million downloads in two months.

I had been asking God at that time how I could stop travelling around the world and speaking to one person at a time. I wanted to be in their car and in their gyms. And then the podcast happened and I could be! On top of that, it brought in marketing that we could never have paid for.

Hear God’s Voice When It Comes to Money

The second way we hear God’s voice is usually around money.  Nobody wants to give money. There is a grief in giving money away unless you see the cause. If all of a sudden, you are moved by compassion, that compassion did not come from you. There is natural compassion or empathy that allows us to give a little. But to give a substantial amount of your income away, that came from God speaking to your spirit.

Stef: I have two pages of notes on all this great stuff, Shawn!

Two things stand out. One is that faith is spelt R I S K.

And then be dependent on God’s leadership through all your projects. Ask what God is most interested in which is people. Look deep into people. And then you said that repentance leads to starting to hear God’s voice. 

Use Repentance as the Training Ground to Hear God’s Voice

Stef: I wanted to ask you about repentance. What does it mean to repent and how do you find the things you need to repent for?

Shawn: It’s one of the best training grounds for hearing God’s voice. It’s when you make an exchange with God and say ‘I’m giving you this area of compromise or an area of ego or an area that’s just all of me for an area that’s all of you.’ We sometimes limit repentance to be obvious sinful behaviour. But it’s really a character exchange. It’s ‘This is who I am and my base nature without you.’

I’ve had to learn in about 50 areas or 5000 areas how to let God disciple my nature. Character formation starts with allowing people to tell me there’s an area of my life that isn’t good. And then I start to recognise it myself. Then I start to recognise when it’s about to happen and I stop it. And the final form that a lot of people don’t get to is that it’s gone.

Let God Lead You Towards Being Better

Shawn: I think when you hear God’s voice, it gives you the courage to say ‘Oh, there’s more of you that’s going to make me a better person. This might be painful for a minute because I have to actually acknowledge that this isn’t an area you ever designed for me to be this way. And this is part of the fall and that’s really hard to acknowledge. But if I say yes to you here and I started to walk this out, just like working out with your body or eating healthy, I’ll have more energy. I’ll have more sustainable life during the day.’

We learned in Baptist church that every night before you go to bed, you ask God if there is anything He would like you to have changed or have been different in conversations or your behaviour. We did a repentance check every day. I love it because to me, it navigates you through the ways to become better. It’s not a guilt trip although sometimes you feel grief over what you did. But He takes the grief out of it and helps us through it.

Stef: Yes! I had an experience like that with my children the other night. And in those moments, you feel the Holy Spirit and if you allow Him to highlight your weaknesses, it grows your reliance on Him.

Track the Fruit to Know if It Really Was God’s Voice

Stef: Last question! I was curious when you say track the fruit. That’s so good. Can you walk us through what that means and how to do it?

Shawn: Again, if you’re letting God lead you, you’re going to do some things that are trial and error that you’re going to learn from. I think there is a scale inside us of ‘I know this is God’ versus ‘I think this is God’. My wife and I make the majority of our big decisions together.  We ask each other, on our God scale, if we feel a 1 or a 10 on big decisions. 10 is that it is absolutely God whereas a one is not clear. It is important to track it though because there are times you may feel like a one but it has a 10 result. And there are times a 10 has a one result! Lean into both and learn from them.

Stef: There has been so much wisdom in this conversation. Shawn, thank you so much for coming and pouring out and giving us so many tactical things to put in place. Where can everybody come and hang out with you and find out more about all the amazing things that you have on offer?

Shawn: Our website is bolzministries.com or we have a free Bolz Ministries app you can get where we do training on how to hear God’s voice and other fun subjects. We do subjects at our school like deliverance, inner healing, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

I’m on YouTube so come and let’s process what’s going on in the world together!

Stef: Shawn, thank again!

A Call to Listen for God’s Voice

I hope that you have enjoyed this conversation that I had with Shawn Bolz about listening for God’s voice and taking risks in order to reap the fruits. If you would love to start a podcast but are scared to risk it, I have lots of free resources that you can watch including the 40 minute training at podcastforgrowth.com. I would love to walk alongside you as you take the risk to serve those that God has put on your heart.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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