Welcome to the Christian Business Growth Podcast where faith meets entrepreneurship. Each episode, we uncover the strategies, stories, and spirit-led insights that help Christian business owners align their goals with God’s call. From practical tips to real-life testimonies, we explore what it takes to build a business that honours Christ, serves others, and impacts the Kingdom.

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Business Is Ministry: Why There Is No Sacred vs Secular Divide

Many Christian entrepreneurs wrestle with a false separation between business and ministry. In this episode, Nathan Bailey shares how God guided him through carpentry, church leadership, real estate, and the launch of Business Church. You’ll learn how boundaries, team development, documented processes, and Kingdom thinking transform ordinary work into holy calling.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your business truly honors God, this conversation will bring clarity.

Nathan Bailey

• “There really is no distinction between the secular and the sacred when everything we do is for the Lord.”
• “My strengths and my weaknesses are equally valuable, just in different ways.”
• “If we dedicate our work to God, we make what is mundane holy.”
• “Faith is the currency of heaven. It provides security, opens doors, and creates options.”

Rev. Lyle

• “Your business is your ministry.”
• “Light isn’t for self. Light is for others.”
• “When we miss the point of who we serve, we miss why we’re called into business.”

Bridging Faith and Business: A Journey of Purpose and Growth

In the latest episode of the Christian Business Growth Podcast, Nathan Bailey shares his inspiring journey from a carpenter to a successful entrepreneur, intertwining his faith with his business endeavors. This insightful conversation reveals how aligning one's career with God’s calling can lead to both personal and professional fulfillment.

The Journey Begins:

Nathan’s path to entrepreneurship started unexpectedly while he was thriving as a carpenter. With a promising future in construction, he felt a divine nudge to transition into ministry. However, after a year and a half in church work, he received a clear message from God to return to the business world. This paradox of moving from business to ministry and back again illustrates the complexities of discerning God’s will in our careers.

Establishing Boundaries:

One of the critical aspects of Nathan’s journey was the boundaries set by God, which shaped his business decisions. He realized the importance of maintaining a balance between his family life, ministry, and business. Nathan emphasized that these boundaries were not constraints but rather guiding principles that helped him find a fulfilling path. For instance, he chose to engage in residential rental properties, which allowed him to leverage his construction background while remaining close to his community and family.

Facing Challenges with Insight:

As Nathan ventured into the rental property business, he encountered common fears shared by many in the industry. Concerns regarding tenant reliability, property upkeep, and neighborly conduct were prevalent. Instead of shying away from these challenges, Nathan integrated them into the foundation of his business. By establishing clear lease agreements that outlined expectations for tenants, he built a responsible rental community focused on accountability and respect.

The Birth of Business Church:

Nathan’s entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop at property management. He founded Business Church, a platform for local business leaders to connect and share their faith in the workplace. This initiative stemmed from a growing need for community among Christian entrepreneurs. By creating a space for quarterly gatherings, Nathan successfully encouraged collaboration and support among like-minded individuals.

Expanding the Vision:

The success of Business Church led to the launch of Business Church Online, catering to a broader audience. This digital platform allows members to engage in discussions about business principles from a faith-based perspective. Nathan’s commitment to helping others grow in their personal and professional lives through faith reflects his understanding of the importance of community and mentorship.

Key Takeaways:

Nathan Bailey’s story serves as a reminder that faith and business are not mutually exclusive. By recognizing the sacred in our work and establishing boundaries that align with our values, we can create businesses that honor God while serving our communities. His journey illustrates the power of perseverance, community, and divine guidance in achieving success.

Warpping Up: As Nathan continues to balance his roles in the church and his business ventures, his story encourages entrepreneurs to seek God’s purpose in their work. The integration of faith into business can lead to meaningful relationships and a lasting impact on others. By fostering a mindset of service and accountability, we can illuminate the path for those around us, ultimately fulfilling our calling.

Tags: Christian entrepreneurship, faith in business, business growth, community building, property management, Business Church, Christian Business Growth Podcast.

Rev. Lyle:
Hello and welcome to the Christian Business Growth Podcast. I'm Lyle and I'm here with Nathan Bailey. Hey Nathan, how did God get you started in business?

Nathan:
Thanks for having me. This is an unusual story, I think.

Years ago, probably about 30 years ago, I was working as a carpenter. I was doing well. I was the foreman of my crew, and my boss had even started talking to me about potentially taking over the business someday. This would have been before the year 2000.

While we were having those conversations, a job opening came up at my church. I applied for it and was offered the position. I went to my boss and told him I needed to go because I felt called to do this thing. That was right around the year 2000 when I started working for the church.

We parted ways on good terms. It was sad, but it felt like the right move.

About a year and a half later, the Lord spoke to me very clearly and said, “I want you to be in business.”

To me, that felt ironic because I had just come out of business and gone into ministry at what I believed was the Lord’s prompting.

So I wrestled with God about that. I kept asking, “What does this look like? What do you want from me? How do we do this?”

I continued working for my church until 2010, and during that time I kept asking God what this would look like and what the boundaries would be. Over time, there were a few things that became very clear.

First, whatever He wanted me to do in business could not take me away from ministry.
Second, it could not take me away from my family.
Third, it needed to be something within my current skill set.
Fourth, it needed to be something close to home.

These were the parameters God put around me as I prayed about this over the next eight to ten years.

What I finally landed on was doing residential rental properties. I had a background in construction and I enjoy working with people, so it seemed like the perfect combination.

But as I started exploring this and asking questions, everyone told me the same thing: “You don’t want to do this.”

As I listened to their objections, it really came down to three main problems. They said tenants don’t pay their bills, they don’t stick around, and they don’t take care of the property.

So we took those three things and built them right into the fabric of our company, Personal Home Development.

In our lease we clearly outline three expectations.

You’re going to pay your bills on time.
You’re going to take care of the place.
You’re going to stay a good neighbor.

Then we enforce the lease really well, and we do a very good job vetting people on the front end.

I had been doing this alongside my church job for quite a while. Then in 2024 I started having these thoughts that I now recognize as prayers of my heart, even though I didn’t consciously frame them as prayers.

I would think things like, “It would be really nice to have a job where you could encourage somebody, sit down with them, build them up, help them excel, and share a good cup of coffee.”

Then I would think, “It’s too bad something like that doesn’t really exist.”

Around that time I attended a webinar for Christian real estate professionals.

After the webinar, they wanted to close the sale with me. I told them I wasn’t sure if I could do it financially at that moment and asked if I could speak to someone about it. They connected me with a young man who explained more about what they were offering.

I told him, “This sounds really good, but I don’t have the money right now. Could you send me more information so I can keep it on file?”

He said absolutely.

Later that afternoon I received an email from him. But when I opened it, the email didn’t have anything to do with real estate.

So I called him. He had given me his personal number earlier, so I reached out.

I said, “I don’t understand what you sent me.”

He apologized and explained that he had been hired to do sales for that company, but he also had his own business. He had accidentally sent me information from his personal company instead.

I asked him to explain what that business was.

He said, “I get together with people, I encourage them, I build them up, I help them excel, and we like to share a cup of coffee.”

And I said, “Where do I sign up?”

That’s how I met Justin Janowski.

We’ve been great friends ever since. I joined his program, Faith to Influence, to learn how to do sales in a way that is built on integrity and love.

I learned so much from that experience, and it opened the door for me to realize that I could build a business around these same principles. Coming alongside people, discovering their gifts, encouraging them, and helping them excel in life.

While I was working with Justin, I had also started something in my local community called Business Church.

Business Church was simply a gathering of business leaders who loved the Lord. We would meet about once a quarter for lunch at a restaurant. We would talk, share ideas, and encourage each other.

That was it.

Over time something interesting happened. In April of 2025 we had significantly more people show up than usual.

Normally we had about ten people attend, but that day we had around twenty.

I thought that was unusual, so we started asking people questions.

“Why are you here?”
“What drew you here?”
“What do you need?”

The number one response we received was, “We need more of this.”

So we met again in July and asked the same questions. As we talked and worked together, it became clear that an online version of Business Church might be the solution to meet that need.

It also seemed like an answer to those quiet prayers I had been having about encouraging people and helping them grow.

So in October we launched Business Church online at MyBusinessChurch.com.

Members can join us weekly for an online meeting where we talk about business principles from a faith perspective and ask questions about how to apply what we read in the Bible to our business lives, our personal lives, and our faith.

Right now I’m still working full time for my church. I’m still running the property management company.

But Business Church has been the latest venture that has really captured my attention.

Rev. Lyle:
That’s great. You mentioned boundaries earlier, and I want to unpack that because a lot of people skip that step. They just go full force without putting those boundaries in place. Could you explain more about those boundaries?

Nathan:
I knew I needed something that was going to work for me.

One of the things that I think is very important in our relationship with the Lord is getting to know Him as much as we can. Being in the Word, communicating with other believers, letting others sharpen us.

The Bible says we sharpen one another. That’s a good illustration. We remove the rough edges from each other and help each other become more productive.

When we have that kind of accountability, we become a better version of ourselves.

So we need to know the Lord well and we need to know ourselves well.

When I asked God what He wanted from me, it wasn’t a single conversation. It took years of prayer, discernment, and questions that didn’t always have clear answers.

Sometimes a bad answer or no answer was still significant because it helped guide me.

The boundaries mattered because I knew things about my life.

I didn’t want to leave the area where I live. I have a close-knit family. I have strong friendships. I’m part of a church community that I love.

I didn’t want to do something that would remove me from those influences.

I also didn’t want to pursue something that required learning an entirely new skill set. At that point in my life I had four young daughters and I didn’t have time to learn a completely new vocation.

I also wanted to continue ministering.

One thing I’ve learned through all of this is that there really isn’t a distinction between the secular and the sacred when everything we do is for the Lord.

If the nature of our vocation isn’t sinful, and we dedicate our work to Him, what the world calls secular becomes sacred.

When we do our work with all our might for Him, we make what is mundane holy.

Rev. Lyle:
Exactly. A lot of people separate business from ministry, but your business really is your ministry.

God calls us to be light. Light isn’t for itself. Light is for others.

We’re not the source of the light. We reflect His light.

When we move our focus off ourselves and onto serving others, that’s when we truly begin to serve.

Nathan:
The things I’ve done in business really come from learning from other people.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is understanding my own strengths and weaknesses.

The Lord has done a lot of healing in my life, and part of that healing has helped me see that my strengths and my weaknesses are both valuable. They’re just valuable in different ways.

One thing I do well is bringing people together. I enjoy listening to people, encouraging them, and releasing them to do what they do best.

So whenever I’m given a task, whether at church or in business, my first question is always, “Who is my team?”

Who are the people God has brought into my life who can fill the gaps where I’m not strong?

If we understand who we are, we can ask the right questions of people whose strengths complement our weaknesses.

We tend to gravitate toward people who think like we do, but that doesn’t always move the business forward.

For example, I’m very visionary. If I surround myself with other visionaries, we’ll spend all day talking about ideas and nothing will actually get done.

But if I bring in someone who is detail-oriented, they can execute the vision.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the power of processes.

Every organization needs a clear way of doing things.

Once we discover a better way to solve a problem or reach a goal, it’s important to document that process.

My team is phenomenal at documenting processes. They’re so organized that we could bring in someone new and walk them through the process step by step.

They could perform the job because everything is clearly documented.

Growth requires delegation.

Some of the things I do today need to be handed off to someone else so I can move on to the next thing.

Documentation makes that possible.

The second major factor is communication.

We need to clearly communicate who we are and what we do.

I love connecting with people. I want to hear what God is doing in their lives and what vision He has given them.

The Olympic rings are a good picture of this.

Each ring is different, but they overlap.

When the circle of my life intersects with the circle of your life, I ask the question, “God, what could you do here?”

Where can we collaborate? Where can we help each other move forward?

Rev. Lyle:
That’s great. What you’re describing is building a team, empowering them, and developing processes so the next generation of that team can succeed.

That sounds a lot like discipleship.

Nathan:
Yes, it does.

Rev. Lyle:
Shepherding and discipleship are important parts of leadership in business too. Our role is to guide people and help them serve in the way they’re best equipped to serve.

Nathan:
If you’re a Christian business leader, you actually have unique insights into the Kingdom of God.

Many spiritual concepts also show up in financial language.

For example, forgiveness is similar to debt forgiveness.

Grace is like a grace period.

Cash is the currency of earth. It provides security, opens doors, and creates options.

Faith is the currency of heaven. It provides security, opens doors, and creates options.

When business leaders understand how financial systems work, they already have a framework to understand how faith works in our relationship with God.

Once that connection is made, it becomes much easier to share faith in practical ways.

Rev. Lyle:
That’s great insight. How can people get in touch with you, and what final wisdom would you leave with our audience?

Nathan:
The best way to reach me is by email at [Nathan@MyBusinessChurch.com](mailto:Nathan@MyBusinessChurch.com).

You can also visit MyBusinessChurch.com. It’s still a new venture, but if you’d like to check it out you can go to MyBusinessChurch.com/guest and join us for a couple of weeks for free.

If I could leave one takeaway, it would be this.

Spend as much time as you can getting to know your Father in heaven.

The more you know Him, the more everything else begins to make sense.

There is nothing greater you can do on this earth than to know Him.

Everything flows out of that.

A healthy family life.
A healthy faith life.
A healthy business life.
Discernment.
Discipline.
Meeting goals.

Everything flows out of knowing the love of God for us.

Start there.

Rev. Lyle:
Very powerful. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for being with us today.

Nathan:
Thanks for having me.