BiVo Podcast: Encouragement for BiVocational Pastors and Cell church Ministers

My guest on the BiVo Podcast this month Tobi Omotayo is another Project Manager. When I first met him in Kingston Ontario, as a Masters Student at the Queens University, I was impressed by his love for God and for the things of God. Since then he has gotten married to his beautiful wife Egy … Continue reading BiVo Or Marketplace Ministry Discussion with Tobi Omotayo

My guest on the BiVo Podcast this month Cynthia Egbunonu is a busy Project Manager at her place of work. She shares how God has helped her work full-time at work, pastor with her husband, be a mom to three children and a wife to her husband. Listen and discover her secret.

My guest today on the BiVo Podcast is a good friend. I have known him since 2010. Over the past 10 years he has completed his PhD and started his own company. His testimony would bless you.

Have you ever felt like a failure in ministry even when you are doing well at your workplace? On this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share my thoughts and experience with this.

What does it really cost to follow Jesus and serve as a pastor? On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share some personal experiences of the cost and benefits of being a pastor!!!

I picked this book from the public library in Cornwall, Ontario. I thought I would take a look at it and read it sometime later. As soon as I started reading it, I knew that I would have to suspend the other books I was reading to finish this one. It has been a very good and profitable read. I encourage you to pick up a copy. On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I do a mini review of the book. This book is filled with good stuff. However, if you are going to read just one chapter, read

When I first learned about the importance of having a God-inspired vision, I thought I had discovered something quite powerful. And yes it has really made a big impact on my life. What I did not learn at that time is that it is even more important to learn how to communicate my God-inspired vision with the right people. And again very important to communicate it often. In this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share what I have learned about communicating my God-inspired vision with the right people: How to communicate your Vision When to Communicate your vision With

When I wake up in the morning and begin to run around doing what I have to do, I am often reminded that I need to be running the vision that is inspired by God not the one inspired by my ambition. I am amazed at the amount of impact (positive or negative) that an individual can make these days. How a young man or woman can create a youtube channel and make videos that would have millions of subscribers and billions of views. With this, they could make millions of dollars in a year. There are so many “shiny”

I came to Canada in December 2000 to get a Masters of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering. How did I end up as a pastor? How did I decided to leave all that training to pursue Ministry? How then did I decide to continue to earn money on the side as a BiVo Minister? In this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I answer the question of how to capture your God-given vision by sharing my own story. But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings,

Vision is your conviction of what the future looks like! It is a glimpse of what your future or that of your team looks like. Here are a few thoughts about vision for a BiVo Minister We don’t create our vision, we receive it from God. – We find in scriptures that God has a good plan for His people, that God has a good and perfect will that we can know and that we are co-laborers with Christ – These scriptures show that we can safely seek and discover what our Lord Jesus has planned for us. It is

One of the chapters in the book “Developing the Leader Within you 2.0” by John Maxwell is titled “The Indispensable Quality of Leadership: Vision”. In today’s episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share a few of the lessons I learnt from this chapter. I’ll start by defining Vision – Vision is your conviction of what the future looks like! I believe it is a glimpse of what your future or that of your team looks like. Make sure the vision is clear – If vision isn’t clear, then the mist in your mind will eventually become a fog in your

Pastoring is leadership! In pastoring, your goal is to encourage people to be all that God created them to be. You are called to encourage them, inspire them and influence them to accept the gift of salvation and become salt and light of the earth. As BiVo Pastors, we must learn to increase our level of influence with the people we serve. In this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share a few tips on how to do just that. The entire discussion is based on John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership that I introduced in episode 31 of the

The BiVo Pastor or Minister must be a very good leader because ministry is “influence”. Dr Maxwell defines leadership primarily as “influence” in his book titled “Developing the Leader within you 2.0”. In todays episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share my thoughts on the concept of the 5 Levels of Leadership. Here are the 5 levels. Position Permission Production People Development Pinnacle It’s neat that they all begin with the letter “P” so that we can easily remember them. If you would like to know more about the 5 levels of Leadership or read the book, here is the

In this episode I share more advantages of the BiVo Pastor. I also share some of what I took away from reading the book “Developing the Leader Within you 2.0” by John Maxwell.

In this episode, I draw your attention to the fact that as BiVo Pastors we are paid to share the gospel 40hrs a week. I also share some tips on how to do this more effectively. 1) Pray for a move of God in your ministry everydays as you pray for a worldwide move of God on his church. 2) Pray for the individuals that you interact with as often as you can. 3) Ask the Holy spirit to give you an opportunity to share your story with them 4) Look out for opportunities to serve and show love to

In this episode, I share about the prelude to the 1857-1859 Prayer Revival. What did Jeremiah Lanphire a businessman do to make his noon time prayer meeting spread all over America in such a short time? How can a BiVo minister have a move of God in his or her ministry. God is always ready to move among his children! Here is a scripture that reminds me of this truth! It’s so comforting that I can initiate the process of the move of God. What I can’t determine is the scope, but I can be assured of a move of

In this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share some of the advantages of being BiVo Ministers. One of which is a greater dependence on the move of God. I also shared the laymen’s prayer revival of 1857. Read more about this revival from the book. Revial Fire by Wesley Duewel

Sermon Preparation Tips Study scriptures regularly to have a clear understanding of the bigger picture Preach Jesus always even when teaching from the Old Testament Keep to your own personal style – Chuck Smith Preach or teach whole books if possible Use Bible commentaries to give you the different views concerning difficult scriptures Depend mostly on the Holy Spirit Always remember to place the redemption story as a foundation for your message! Nothing else can change lives like the Love of God revealed in Jesus! Teach a lot about the riches of our inheritance in Christ Jesus! – Colin Urquart

Sermon Preparation is a major part of our duties as pastors. On this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share a few tips on how I prepare a sermon even when I don’t have a lot of time all at once. Resources Blue Letter Bible

Sermon Preparation is a major part of our duties as pastors. On this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share a few tips about sermon preparation in general. What is the foundational thought behind a very good sermon?

I have read a good number of books since I started reading around the age of 6. The lessons I learned from these books have contributed greatly to the person I am today. I am a product of many lessons, distilled from great disciples of Christ who have gone ahead of me. On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share some of the top lessons that come to mind. Please take the time to share some of your best lessons learned in the comment section below. Thanks.  

On this episode of the BiVo podcast, I share some of the lessons I have learned from resources made available by older spiritual leaders. I have learned a lot more than these over the years, but these are the top 5 that came to mind as I prepared for this episode of the podcast. I will share a few more next week. I got the idea for this series from John Maxwell Podcast. He shared some of the best pieces of advice he received over the years. From Kenneth E Hagin  Pray a lot in the spirit Focus on practicing and

I have been pastoring now for over 13yrs. Last year I began to realize that I was not as effective as I should be. I have read leadership books from time to time but never really done a consistent study on Leadership. On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share how I came to this decision. I am sure you will learn a few things from my mistakes. Enjoy.

If I were to start over as a pastor, I will focus more on two things! 1) Fellowship with the Holy Spirit and 2) Leadership training! There are 3 other things that I will do in addition to these. I recommend that you give much attention to these 5 things I discuss in today’s podcast episode, if you are a BiVo Minister. Prayer Bible Study Fellowship With the Holy Spirit (Practice of God’s Presence) Outreach Leadership Training. Resources The Practice of the presence of God John Maxwell 

We do not make disciple to follow us. We make disciples who follow Jesus! We call others, show them who Jesus is to us and help them along as they follow our Lord Jesus Christ. We expect that they, in turn, will share the good news and help others as well. Then we become fellow disciples and encourage one another. No matter how far along you are on the journey, you are a follower of Jesus! You are not Jesus! A true disciple of Jesus will follow his or her pastor ONLY as long as the pastor is following Jesus!

On the 14th of August 14 years ago (2004) I got married to this beautiful daughter of God – Olu Sobanjo. Lots of good things have happened as you can imagine in 14 years. I am happy to announce that I am grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful wife. I do not take the credit for choosing her. God helped me! Now that I have the benefit of hindsight I choose her again today and every day.  On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share just 6 lessons out of many that I have learnt over the

If you fail to plan you are planning to fail – Benjamin Franklin What does it mean to succeed as a bi-vocational Pastor? How do you know that you are doing well as a BiVo Minister?  When you have a sense that God is pleased with you When you observe consistent spiritual growth in your biological family  When people are being added to the kingdom and to the local church regularly When there is regular water baptism and filling with the Holy Spirit in the ministry When you see an increase in the number of ministers from within your ministry who believe

My guest today is a very good friend. I have known him since 1989 when we were in secondary school. He is a medical doctor and the founding pastor of Grace Community Outreach Center and Church in Manchester UK. This interview will bless you. Listen to it today! Resources Here are some of the resources we talked about! An enemy called average Logos Bible Study Software – FREE John Maxwell Leadership Program Audible – Audio Books If you were blessed by this interview, please leave a comment. Let me know one thing that you got from this. Have a blessed

Whenever I give myself the excuse that I do not have enough time to pray! I also remind myself that any assignment I am engaged in that makes it impossible to report to God who commissioned the assignment in the first place is a waste of time. If we are aware of the power of prayer and the joy of communion with the creator we will never be too busy to pray. Our Lord Jesus Christ, paid the price to reconcile us back to our heavenly Father. How on earth can I  even think that I am too busy to

On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, Sidney Ladi Sanni shares his BiVo Story! I was blessed by the interview. You will see how God uses our willingness, to open new doors for ministry. Bro Sidney is a Publisher, a Teacher in the marketplace and a Teacher of the Word of God wherever God opens the doors. The man really loves the Word of God. If you are a BiVo minister, this testimony will bless you too. Bro Sidney can be reached at www.sanscribd.co.uk and at richpublisher@gmail.com.  

Counselling is good and necessary. However, how many hours should a pastor spend doing this every week? The difficult thing about counseling is that many times, those that are being counseled do not eventually act on the advice they have received. If you spend more time counselling than you spend in prayer and personal Bible Study, it may be a sign that you are doing something wrong. On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, I share some thoughts on how to plan your ministry so that you don’t have to spend countless hours counselling members. Your counselling sessions can also

How many members do you have in your church? What is your average Sunday attendance? These questions are great and we are always aware of their answers. However, are we equally aware of answers to questions like..? How many members of your church family are fishers of men? How many people in your church are excellent ambassadors for Jesus? Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for the perfect people. I am asking for those who are willing to give up their comfort, money, and resources to share the gospel with someone who may not even make it till

Even when you don’t see many people attending your meetings at the beginning of your ministry, check other metrics! God has a way of showing to His ministers the He is with them. On this episode of the BiVo Podcast, Pastor Ben Awoseyila, shares his BiVo Story and his journey so far as a BiVo Pastor. I guarantee that you will be encouraged and challenged to put the call of the Ministry first in your life always. Pastor Ben and his wife Jummy are the founding pastors of Healing Springs Church in Basingstoke, UK.  Follow this link to order Pastor Ben’s

As a minister, you will need to pray for people often. There are some prayer points in the letters of the apostle paul that has transformed the lives of many people. I call these prayers the Ephesians Prayers and the Colossians Prayers. It takes the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to show to a person that he or she is lost without Christ Jesus. It also takes the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring a believer to the place where they confess that without the power of the Holy Spirit, they can’t do anything of value for the Kingdom

It’s not how loud we shout or how long we pray that make our prayers effective. It is how much faith we have in God to whom we are praying that makes the difference. There are long prayers that get little results and there are short prayers that get big results. Short prayers that get big results ride on longer prayers that draw us closer to God and humbles us before God. In this episode, I share some tips on how to maximize our prayer times as BiVocational Ministers. Don’t get me wrong! I am not saying you should not spend time in

It’s so easy to get too busy to pray or study scripture! It’s easier to stir up emotions than to guide the spirit of people to God! Before we can move people towards God, we must first be moved towards God ourselves. Getting great reviews from people is not the goal of the Bivocational Minister. Our goal is to reveal Jesus to the blind heart. It takes a miracle to get a person to truly yield to God! You can easily encourage people to follow some steps to have a better life! However, it takes the power of the Holy

Have you discovered that as a saint – Deep within you, every other source of fulfillment pales in comparison to the “Well Done” of the Holy Spirit? Have you noticed how joyful you feel when you are privileged to lead someone to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? What about the joy of just helping a believer stay on track? As children of God, we have the very life of Christ. Our life goal (yes every single one of us) is to glorify God by lifting up the name of Jesus. In this episode, I talk about our many vocations and

It is very easy to get distracted when you are not sure of what your goal is. For a person who has no clear goal, everything is a distraction! On today’s episode of the BiVo podcast, I share three things that have helped me minimize distractions in my life as a minister! Listen and be blessed. What divides the BiVo Ministers attention? Work – Progress, intensity, Family – Expectations from extended family Finances – The need to meet basic needs and measure up to societal expectations Security – The need to build a kingdom and to be safe Ego –

Every believer is a minister and a branch of Jesus the true vine. We have the same spiritual DNA as Jesus. On this podcast, I encourage BiVo misters to allow this potential become a reality! I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 Key Points You are branches of Jesus – so you have access to all that Jesus has. We are potentially like Jesus. We can and should be as fruitful as Jesus. Every progress we make in

What is the dilemma of the BiVo minister? You wonder whether to pursue a career in the marketplace or in the ministry. There is always this tension about what to give the most of your energy and time to. This dilemma is not unique to the BiVo minister! However, for the BiVo minister, you sense a leading not to choose just one. When we all come to the point of making this decision, we must all choose to give our best time to the Kingdom business! Our King will then teach you how to spend your allotted time! It could be

Every skill, experience or training you have can be used by God when truly surrendered to Him. God is using so many BiVocational Ministers today to do great exploits. This is a summary of how God has been providing for me and my family as we yield to His leading daily. Resources BiVO: A Modern-Day Guide for BiVocational Saints buy Hugh Halter. George Muller

Who is a BiVocational Minister? You sense a call to ministry or you are already in ministry and you need to work in the marketplace to supplement your income. you do not want to burden the people you are ministering to at the initial stages of the work. you have a call to the marketplace as well. And you use the marketplace to do effective ministry. Resources! 200 Churches Podcast Hardcore Church Planting Church Planters Podcast

Show Transcript Hello and welcome to the Bivo Podcast – A podcast for pastors, church planters, ministers, anyone who is doing the work of ministry and working at the same time. This is your time of encouragement and I’m your host, Ade Sobanjo. Welcome! A stroke will change your life. It has changed the lives of millions of people all over the world and it has ended the lives of many as well. I suffered a stroke on April 7th, 2017 and it has changed my life. Without going into details, let me state that stroke is the leading cause

Transcript The 2nd chapter of the book and that is “Before the Stroke, What was my Story?” So once again, my name is Ade Sobanjo – that’s pronounced So-ban-jo. Yeah! That’s not how it was pronounced when I was born but I have since changed that. My wife and I, we decided to change our names because the way it was pronounced, it refers to some deity that my ancestors were worshipping. So now as a family, we call ourselves the “Sobanjo Family”… You remember the instrument of the Banjo? Yeah! We are the happy people – Sobanjos. Yeah, Sobanjo.

Transcript   The day of the stroke – the stroke itself. What happened? How did it happen? So, in the last chapter I was talking about my life before the stroke so you kind of have an idea of what kind of life I had before the stroke and now, this is the story of the stroke itself and the recovery, how it happened and what really happened. So, on Friday, I got to the office and I went to the baptismal tank that we were building and I noticed that my step was not really good. So I went