A Call To Leadership

EP279: Arm Yourself with God with JR Spear

• Dr. Nate Salah

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True identity is revealed when comfort is stripped away. In this episode, JR Spear shares how surviving a terrorist attack led him to redefine purpose, leadership, and success. His journey from the battlefield to the business world is packed with clarity, courage, and conviction. Listen in and discover the habits and mindset that can help you lead with deeper impact.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

  • Why identity should be rooted in more than your profession
  • The military habits that now drive JR’s business success
  • How a near-death experience shaped his leadership style
  • What true servant leadership looks like in business
  • The 4 core pillars JR uses to guide entrepreneurs toward impact


About JR Spear
JR is a U.S. military veteran, faith-driven entrepreneur, and founder of CREED Consulting. With a background forged in discipline and service, JR now equips leaders and business owners with the tools to operate with clarity, resilience, and spiritual integrity. He is passionate about helping others sharpen their mindset, embrace their purpose, and build businesses rooted in values that last. Through practical coaching and biblical principles, JR empowers others to stay prepared and focused in both business and life.


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[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
If you've ever thought life was like a battlefield, it is. We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of challenges we face, whether they're in our spiritual walk, or our families, or our communities or our businesses, and we need to be prepared for it. And I could think of no better person to help us think about preparation for the battle than retired service member Mr. JR Spear, dear friend, Cole Laborer and our G3 Movement and we're gonna unpack it. This is powerful friend, and I can't wait for you to listen in. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership. Brother JR, Hey. Hey, how are you? Doing well. Glad to have you, man. No, it's always a pleasure having back, I should say, since last time we met, you know, you've been an integral part of our development of this, this movement, really, to have a faith-infused life that is beyond just the hustle. And you and I have hustled a lot of years and built businesses and, and all those things. And here we are. on what we call, you know, the Jesus Express, right in, in terms of of business. And when I say business, it's God's business in, in our, all of our areas of life. When it comes to spiritual walk, when it comes to family life, community life, and of course pouring into healthy businesses, man, let's start our conversation around why that is important to you. 

[00:01:37] JR Spear
Bring in faith into our business. Mm-hmm. You know, first off, it's, it's everything we were supposed to give God our first fruits, you know, first labors of everything like that. And I don't know who, who said this, if it's something that you pour into me all the time, but it's like we can always, you know, God's gonna let us do things on our own. He's never gonna say, Hey, you can't do this. He's gonna let us go do it, and he's gonna watch us, let us, you know, fail or succeed. And, but if we knew that we can have an easier way. Allow him to actually be the center and be part of the journey with us. Why not? It could be easier, but the, but so much inside of our lives and our business, we, we, we forget to bring him in to our lives, our calendar, our, our business, our family, our friends, our relationships, conversations, and you know, when we, when we forget to give him the first and we forget to bring him and keep him involved with it, then where's you gonna find those roadblocks along the way?

[00:02:27]
 And, I, you know, you, you know my story, you know, a lot of what I've gone through and what I've been through, and it's been a very difficult journey along the way. You know, the, the enemy wants to do everything he can to steal, kill and destroy your family, your business, your relationships, your friends, and, and, and it, it comes like. Like a thief in the night, and it, and it starts with like small little trickles here and there that it starts coming and, and you don't even notice that it's there. And then eventually it just starts getting bigger and then all of a sudden it turns to an avalanche that comes to you. But when you are in tune, when understanding the Holy Spirit and hearing his voice and keeping that voice right there, and not even just the voice, but how to react to it, then you are able to fight the interview of what he's trying to come against you. I mean the enemy doesn't focus on those people that aren't going after something big because he already, he already won them. He's focusing on those that God wants to use and make a bigger impact. And so when you, when you're following and chasing the dream and the vision that God has called you to go after, that's when the enemy wants to attack you.

[00:03:31]
 And so when it comes to your faith inside of your business. Like I, I don't know about, I don't know anyone that's saying, Hey, you know what? I want to go into a battle without a weapon. Mm. Like I, I spent some time in combat in, in, in Iraq, and I didn't get out of bed unless my NM 16 was strapped to my side or over my chest, my nine mil against my side. Everywhere I went, walking down the streets, going to bed, that weapon was right there. In life and in business, whether you're family, no matter what you're going through, I'd rather know that I have someone right there fighting with me and I have that weapon right there. And that is through your faith and that is through the word of God, because he does say put on the full armor of God. And when you have that, then we need to utilize it as a tool to help lead us and guide us in everything that we do. And it's not just the things that we want to, that I, you know, I put on a ton of events within my, my business with Business Leaders network. And been doing events ever since I was a kid, you know, through the martial arts industry and the fitness and, e even today, I, I can tell a big difference when I step out on that stage and I'm leading our community, by my own or when I allowed him to be fully present.

[00:04:39]
 And there's a big shift in the room when it comes to how people are being impacted, but also how conversations are being made, how people are interacting with each other, and just the whole flow of the experience because more than anything, we wanna make impact, and that's why we start doing what we're doing. I mean, we can make it transactional, but reality is we get into what we wanna do and start something that we wanna do because we wanna make a big impact to be able to help other people. And you can't make an impact if you're trying to do it alone. Yeah. I mean you can people, 'cause people are gonna see straight through the lies. They're gonna see through like, okay, how is he just trying to get, get another sale? Or is he actually trying to help people, want to know that you were fighting for them? I had a conversation with, uh. A mutual friend, you know, Rachel Mateo. So I had a, a conversation with her the other day. She just got done with the retreat and and one thing that I left her with is like, you have to remember how you made people feel in the end, because the way that you make people feel ultimately is gonna dictate whether they buy or not.

[00:05:38]
 And that's where the invite comes. So you could be pushy and salesy and you can convince anyone to buy anything, but how long do you wanna keep that person with you? The people that you had that salt invite where you, where people know that you were fighting for them. Are the ones that are gonna stay with you and they're gonna move forward.

[00:05:54] Dr. Nate Salah
So strong, bro. Strong, strong opening. I know you would, I know you would come with with the heat and I love the. A couple things I wanna touch on that you talked about. One is the analogy of of of combat soldier. First of all, thank you for your service. Yeah. You've sacrificed so much for our nation, and you know, how I feel about our veterans, especially becoming, be being, coming from immigrant parents who came here because they wanted, to to have peace and to have security and to have a life that your sacrifice and so many others have given their precious blood for. So thank you for that. Do it again. You bet. I love it. Yeah, it's a great word. Picture. JR because like, think about that. You would never imagine leaving the barracks without your weapon. Like, does that ever happen, like in the, in the history of all the time that you were in the military? Was, did anyone's like, oh, I forgot my weapon. 

[00:06:56] JR Spear
No one does that, it would be, would that be unthinkable? Yeah, but he, let's take that another step further. You don't just leave that weapon behind. When you're in combat, you make sure that it is cleaned, that you have the ammo, that you have all the, all the tools that it needs to actually make it work. 'cause if not, you might have the ammo, but if it's not cleaned, then you're gonna have a jammed weapon. If you're not taking care of the weapon that you have, and if you're not utilizing it and know how to use it and being prepared for it, this is what I call being prepared for the ambush. The day that you get ambushed, are you ready and prepared for it? So you have to be trained. So you gotta know how to use the weapon that you got because, you know, if I don't know how to use a weapon and I just throw it down range, then I might hurt, hurt myself, or maybe my, my, my friend that's standing to my left or right. You gotta know how to use that weapon itself. You gotta make sure that that weapon is clean and polished so that way it doesn't jam up in the time that you actually need it. And then you gotta make sure that you're ready to fight for when, when you're going. And the same thing with the word. It's like when we, when we think of the word of God and our faith, and our walk and our journey with the Lord, we have to make sure that we're always trained.

[00:07:54]
How do you, how do you train with it? Well, you gotta know the scripture. You gotta know the word. More importantly, you gotta know Jesus. You gotta know his voice because we can read the scripture, the, the enemy. The devil knows the scripture better than all of us. The devil knows the stories that happened well before than we even can even think about probably details that aren't even written. We need to know that just as strong and just as better. Mm-hmm. And so we gotta polish and know our weapon by training and getting to know the scripture and the word of God. We have to know the voice of God so that way we can hear to know when to move and when to act when it actually happens. And we gotta make sure that we're prepared and ready for that fight. So the only way that you're pre-prepared and ready for that fight is if you're prepared and ready from the training that you did. And if you're not training and you don't know the word of God and you're not practicing, you know the word of the Holy Spirit of the Jesus' voice and God's voice saying, Hey, move. Well, then you're not gonna be able to move. 

[00:08:40] JR Spear
That's right. And, and then you're gonna find yourself in, in a, in a, a pickle, it's like, Hey, you know what? Hey God, I'm in an accident, or I'm going through a battle, or I'm going through a rough time. I'm having financial troubles, or I'm having, you know, marital issues, or I'm struggling in business and my best employee or my best client, which was 50, 60% of my income from my cl my business. Now I need your help. But where were you throughout the entire process? Now, I'm not saying God wouldn't wanna help you on that, but he wants to be with you through the journey and the process and everything. And if you're waiting just for those times when fire is coming down at you, you're gonna fail every single time. Mm-hmm. Because now you're in panic, but you gotta stay in tune and get that rhythm when we're training for combat and we're, we're going to war. We had a whole process and workup. Everything from the day you step foot on those yellow footprints at bootcamp is preconditioning you on knowing how to take orders, knowing how to move, knowing how to react, knowing how the culture of the Marine Corps or the Navy or the whatever branch that you're in, you have to know how to take orders.

[00:09:34]
 How to respond the language, how to use the weapon systems, how to be physically fit, mentally fit, spiritually fit in every single area. And in business, it's no different. You know, when you are stepping into the workforce as an entrepreneur, you are stepping into a spiritual battle. Not everyone's gonna make it. There's a level of commitment, level of resilience, level of the fight that you gotta have when it comes into being an entrepreneur. And most people give up.

[00:10:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Bro, stop right there. Oh my goodness. On fire. It's, uh. The description you just pre presented is like so compelling because when I think about like the walk, okay, you're carrying your Bible. All right. Do you know how to use it? Yeah. Right. Have you studied it? Have you practiced it? Because what does James say? Faith without works is dead. Right? So this is what you're talking about. This is like, okay, I can have faith, but that's not enough. Because works is actually the preparation piece. It's the preparation for the battle, and we know we don't fight against. Flesh and blood. But what against powers and principalities the air, you know, the spiritual realm, right? Yeah. So this is all part of the journey that you and I are on, and everyone who commits to this walk and says, okay, how am I daily preparing myself for this battle? Because the ambushes coming. Yeah. Like you said. And you are not only speaking from the perspective of someone in the military, you are ambushed. Yeah. And here you are today. The preparedness of that I'm sure is like still ringing in your ears even to this day when you face that ambush. Share a little bit about that and your commitment to God through that struggle.

[00:11:16] JR Spear
Yeah. You know, as you were talking, there was an image that just came into my head and it was, it was ammo and it's like when you're stepping out into a fight. You don't have enough ammo or ammo with you, you, you get this sense of panic and it's like, oh crap, what? Something happens. Am I gonna be able to do what I'm trained to do and what, what, what's gonna happen? And, and so you, you make sure that, that it's ready. It's like you don't leave without just your weapon, but you don't leave without the ammo that's there too. So that way you can load it up. Are your magazine's good? Are your magazine's clean? 'cause when you're in the, Iraqi desert, that's like, it's not sand like you go to the beach in the us. The powder that you get from, from the desert of Iraq is like baby powder. It gets in everything and it doesn't leave. So you're constantly having to clean and, and take care of it. And so when I'm, when you were speaking, I just kept thinking about like the bullets, the ammo that goes inside the M 16. And I wouldn't leave without that ammo. And then there was, so as you were talking, I felt like the Holy Spirit was just telling me, it's like, you know, how many times do I get this notification on my phone? From the Bible app saying, here's the scripture of the day. And I tell myself, oh, you need, you know, I'll just check it later type thing. Or I'll go read that later and I'll, I'll meditate on it.

[00:12:31]
 And I find myself more and more that I keep diving into his word, that I get that same panic where I was like, no, I need to, I need to go learn, read that scripture. I need to go know what, what is it saying? 'cause maybe that's God's trying to tell me something, the Holy Spirit saying, Hey, go learn the scripture and go read it. And then once I do it, it's like, oh, okay, now, now that's a good word. Or it was something that I needed at that time. But I say that because. If you, one thing that we say in the military all the time is complacency kills. And when you get too comfortable in a condition where it's easy just to let something go, that's the day that you die. And it may not be from a physical standpoint like you're physically gonna die, but it could be that's the day that your, your business starts dying or relationships start dying or whatever it may be. And so when, when we get too comfortable on not feeding our soul with spiritual word and guidance. That's a scary place to be. And that's kind of like where I'm at in my life. It's like, you know when, when I'm not reading that scripture and feeding it, it's like I feel spiritually drained. Like at the end of the day, I'm like, man, I am tired. Did I take that time for worship? Did I take this time to, to pray?

[00:13:33]
 And, recently I was in Punta Kana with our, our community. And you know, going into the second day, I just felt off and I did a, a long social media post about this. I couldn't. I couldn't nail it. Like, what, what is it? I was like, okay, everything seems to be going well. Clients are being fed, interaction's going good, you know, activities that people are, are learning, they're growing. And I, I, I didn't know what it was, so I was like, okay, I'm gonna go for a run. So I got up early and I just went for a run and did, did like four miles and came back and I felt good. And I was like, yeah, I just don't feel filled. I don't feel. Like, I still have like this pit in my stomach. I still felt like something was uncomfortable, uneasy. And I was like, okay, maybe I'm just homesick. Maybe I'm just missing my, my wife and my kids or, or what? And it wasn't until I, you know, this is early in the morning. It's like 6:00 AM out on the beach. I. And, sunrise is coming up, and, and it was a beautiful setting. I just turned on my phone. I was like, all right, God, you know, I don't know what, what it is I need to hear or what it is, but one thing that always gets me in the right mood is worship music.

[00:14:35]
 You know, I, I, I love worship, I love singing. I love music, like playing guitar and stuff like that. So I was like, okay, I don't want my guitar. Lemme see what, what's on iTunes. So I put on iTunes and just some, some worship setting. It was like the exact music and words that you hear. And then on iTunes, it's really cool because if, when you play the song, it can scroll the words as it's singing. And so I'm like, set it up here on this, this, you know, bench or, or counter bar area. And I'm looking out into the ocean and I'm reading these words and it just brought me to tears. And I was like, man, I'm able to stand out here and worship and just freely, there's no one out there. So I'm like, arms out wide singing the top of my lungs and just worshiping. And I ended up doing it for like an hour or two just by myself and, and then at the end I was like, man, that's exactly what I needed. I was so spiritually drained. I. That my, my soul and my spirit just needed to be filled and fed. And then from the scripture or from the music, it, it forced me to be like, oh, I wonder what that actually means, and it's taking me to scripture.

[00:15:31]
 And then it kept feeding. It was funny because the, the words in the music was complimenting the scripture that was in the scripture of the day, the Bible lab, which led me to more scripture. And I was like. Whoa, this is crazy. Like hearing all these different stories of the words I need to hear and just affirmation that's going on of what he's trying to tell me. It was just a beautiful thing. And so when we're thinking about combat and complacency in life, when we do, we have to always remember that complacency kills. And so if you are in a place where it's easy for you to step out into combat, meaning stepping out to business, stepping out into the world, stepping out to lead your family, your friends, your community, your clients, whoever it may be, and you don't have a sense of urgency to be able to keep your spirit fed. Then there's a problem. And that's when you know that you need to step out and start feeding yourself a lot more until it gets uncomfortable 'cause that uncomfortableness is the enemy trying to distract you and keep you from going what God's called you. 'cause that vision that you see, that vision that you want to go to in the next 3, 5, 10, 20 years from now, is there for a reason.

[00:16:33]
 That's spirit led. That's a vision that God put on your heart and the enemy does not want you to do it. No. And when it's that strong. You have nothing more. You have nothing better to do than to making sure that you are in tune, listening to God, the Holy Spirit, to be able to say, Hey, lead me and guide me by your spirit in everything that we do, and show me the path that I need to take. And when you do, he will. 

[00:16:54] Dr. Nate Salah
Amen. Amen. The fact that you recognize that is so important and shared it so vividly, I think about this, this experience that you had, and how we spend so much time trying to focus on the strength of our ability in business. And so you, in another situation, without this spiritual focus, you might've just said, I'm just gonna power it out. I'm gonna make it happen. And you would've still been off, and you realize that, you know, I am not plugged into the source right now. You think we, we like, we, we plug into resources all the time with whether it's, you know, a friend, a family member, et cetera, et cetera. And there and some, and many resources are good resources, but best strength, the best power we can get is directly from the source. And that's God. I mean, plugging into God is the way that we are completely filled. Yeah, and that's what Jesus said when you had quoted earlier about the enemy says, what I have come to steal, kill, and destroyed. And then the next thing, what does Jesus say? I have come that you should have life and have it to the full. You should have it abundantly. How do you do that? Plug into me. Why? Because it says it. He said it very clearly seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. The problem is we focus so much on business, and so then what happens?

[00:18:16]
 We have spiritual bankruptcy, we have torn families, we have isolated communities, and we know it because we've experienced it. I've experienced that. And so what you're saying is, look, I'm gonna get spiritually nourished first, right? And this is really part of our. Our four pillars, right? Spiritual health, number one, and mental health.

[00:18:36] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, then physical health, then financial health and people are, many people, including myself in the past would've said, no, no, we need financial health first because I need to make sure we have make a provision and feed the family. And I get that and you get that and there's a nobility to that. However, if I have spiritual health. And I have mental health and I have physical health, guess what happens that naturally pours into financial health? Hmm. Right. We have stronger businesses that are thriving and perhaps in some ways we may lose some clients. 'cause there could be like a fear there. Right. And you know, and I've known it too. Right. We can talk about that. But that's not the point. The point isn't who I've gained or lost. The point is who I'm obedient to and who I truly serve. Mm. 

[00:19:17] JR Spear
I wanna comment on something you just said because, uh. It's a scary prayer and a scary thing to ask when you say when, when the fear of losing clients because I, you know, some clients may be 30, 40% of your income. I mean, gosh, one, my, my brother-in-law just got laid off from his job recently, and he didn't know, or I don't think any of the other clients knew that a bigger percentage of the revenue coming into that company that he worked for for several years was coming from the government. Well, what happened in our government right now is, you know, a lot of people are being left let go. Yeah. They're changing where, where things are going, you know, for good, bad, or different, it doesn't really matter, but it's, it's one of those things that we have to really recognize that, that different stuff. But, sorry, I'm losing my train of thought on what I was gonna say. Clients? Yeah. Losing clients. Losing clients. Yes. So, so losing clients and making sure that we're ready for that. But as, as you're speaking, you know. We talk about being prepared for the ambush. And the thing with the Christian walk is a lot of people are told to be ready. They're told you gotta hear from God, but they're never taught on how to do it.

[00:20:28]
 And there's some very key scriptures that changed everything for me, and I've known them my entire life, but they didn't come alive until the past several years. If I can give anyone listening to this to really just knowing how to fight from the, you know, fight the enemy, fight the thoughts that are going through your head and the doubt and all these different things, is to really understand one, that God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and sound mind. And that's in second Timothy one, seven. I think it's second Timothy. So your first Timothy, second two. It was Timothy one seven. And if, when you understand that God doesn't give us the spirit of fear, then that fear, that doubt, that anxiety, that depression, everything that you got that's going on and where you're tired and you're worried and all this stuff, that's not him, that's not God. The God is not giving you those emotions. Those emotions is only coming from the enemy, okay? So you have to first recognize it. So any problem that you have going on, you have to emotional intelligence, be self-aware. Like how do, how are you aware of what's going on in the situation? Is like, okay, I'm feeling this way.

[00:21:28]
 Where's that coming from? So, okay, so you identify, where's it coming from? Now you have to learn how to regulate it. So how do you regulate it? Well, God tells us a couple different things. One, if you recognize Jude one, nine, it says you need to rebuke the enemy in the name of Jesus. So you have to rebuke the enemy and not just say it in your head because there's power in your tongue. The enemy can't really hear what's going on here, but he can hear the words coming from you, and when you rebuke the enemy, he will flee in the name of Jesus. So you gotta learn to rebuke it, but then you also gotta understand and, and put it on the full armor of God in Ephesians six. It's like, okay, am I arming myself with the right tools, the weapons that God tells me I need to arm with? So you do that and then you gotta remember Psalm 91 where it says like he, you know, he dwells in the secret place of the most high, shall not abide in the shadow of the Maori, and then it goes on. A thousand may fall up my side and 10,000 in my right hand, but it shall not come near me. When you understand that that should give you a level of confidence that you are protected.

[00:22:18]
 So when you are going through all these different anxiety, stress, overwhelmed, like the world is gonna end, which I have many moments where I'm calling you, Nate, my life is, I don't know what I'm gonna do and you're taking me on this ledge, and I'm like, you're right. I need to go back to here. And then it's really just regulating and understanding and hearing the word of God and feeding with the word of God. Because the enemy wants to keep you in that state. He wants to keep you in that state of mind of saying, Hey, you know what? You're not good enough. You're a failure. You should just give up right now. Go take your own life. You're not gonna be able to provide for your own family. You're not gonna do all this different stuff that's going in your head, but we are better than that. And then the other thing that we have to remember is that we are all children of God and we're created in his image. I'm a father of four kids, and I think about like what I would do for my kids, and it literally would be death. I would die for my kids no matter what, to making sure that they are cared for, that they're fed, that they're well nourished, that they're being fed with the spirit of God and, and understanding his truth, everything that they need to do.

[00:23:20]
 And when I think about that. I look at our Heavenly Father and like what he cares about me. And so there's so many different truths and things that we need to do to understand and stay excited about. And when people get that revelation and really know and feel it and, and react to the promptness that they're getting, I don't understand why people can't believe.

[00:23:40] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. You mentioned your kids, and that's always a soft spot for us as, as parents, fathers. Their need for us, to, to protect them, to model. And one of the reasons why I believe we're both motivated to this commitment, right? This movement. I wonder sometimes if we focus on the right things all the time, the answer is probably no. Right? Yeah. That's why we can, that's why we hit, that's why we have to be self-aware. And hit reset because I think that our kids are watching, they're watching everything we're doing, and of course, they see the mistakes, and we admit those mistakes. And we always wanna not only course correct, but share about God's love that it's infinite. And you and I both have a desire, we're, I should say it like this, you know, we're both in sales, right? We're, you know, we were born to sell. If you. Through our walk, we've realized that, you know, maybe I need to not put my sales hat on. I should put my shepherd hat on and, and what does it mean to shepherd, whether it's a family member, whether it's a pot, a client, whether it's whoever it is, and shepherding has a lot of elements involved in one of those elements. Is we are helping them to a better future state. We're shepherding them to something that's better. And really we believe that the Walk of God is, is a better future state. How has the word shepherd affected your life? 

[00:25:28] JR Spear
You know, it wasn't until recently where I really thought about that word in a powerful way. I've always thought about, I was like, oh yeah, we, we, we should be shepherd, but. At, one of the, the last retreat that we did with G3, you know, you challenged me saying, Hey, regardless of the room that you're in, you don't miss the opportunity to shepherd the people you're speaking to. And that really transformed the way that I show up in a big way. But when we were thinking about our kids and, and shepherding, we, we, we needed to take a step back and really think about like, what is a shepherd? Why shepherds are needed. Well, if we think about sheep, sheep will literally die if they didn't have a shepherd or someone guiding and leading them. And same thing with us, like we are predators. Shepherds a number of different, all kinds of ambushes. Yeah, ambushes. And then I, you know, I, I have a, a proud moment. I don't know if I shared it with you, but I have a proud moment with my oldest son recently. And I was just, I was, I took, took him to, to soccer practice and I picked up one of his teammates and 'cause mom had surgery or whatnot and she needed some help.

[00:26:27]
 And while we were walking back to the car after practice, I'm, I'm in front and, Jamison, my oldest son was behind me with his friend. I. And his friend, you know, he's, he's a gamer and like, I don't, I don't know that world. And my Jameson, he is like, I don't know what that is, but I'll listen to you. And he's so good at just listening to people. And his friend was like, oh, you know, when I get home I hope I can help my dad, beat the next level in Minecraft or whatever like that. I'm like, I don't even know what, like I know if you played Minecraft, I wouldn't even know what it is. And Jameson. Just out of full boldness just says something so strongly. And I, I was holding back tears hard. He goes, why don't you just ask God for help? And I was like, my 9-year-old son just said, why don't you just ask God for help to another, you know, peer his age. Now I know that this individual, their family doesn't go to church. He doesn't know about any, have a relationship with Jesus, so he doesn't really know. And and his friend was like, what does that mean? He says, well, when you need help with something, you just ask God and then he hears you and he wants to help you. And I was like, wow. We hear in scripture saying, we need to have a childlike faith and just really understand what that looks like and. I'm listening to him and I'm like not even saying a word.

[00:27:44]
 And he, and this is right before Easter actually. He goes, are you gonna church on Easter? He says, no, we get together, and I can't wait to get my big Easter egg. It's always a big surprise. And James says like, well, why don't you come to church with us? And you know, you end up not going, but it just, I. The invite for that. I was like, man, he's selling 'em without even knowing what sales is and, and talking about the problem and and just, but it was the boldness, and we talk about our kids and our fe and Jameson was shepherding. Yeah, he was shepherding them, but not just that Jamison was imitating what he hears from me and it validated. He was like. Maybe I am doing something good and because I, I personally try to take every moment when I'm coaching with clients, like they hear me on calls all day and they're like, daddy, you, you sound like you were yelling at the person and you know, on, on the screen. I said, I wasn't yelling. We were actually having a good time. I was like, I was just very passionate about and teaching 'em. And, and Leman was like, oh, okay. They hear the words that I'm saying. They hear me praying with clients every day. They hear me talking about faith and leading it in there, and I'm like, they're listening. So even though they're not directly in that room, they're observing how I'm treating and leading and shepherding clients, teams, my wife, their siblings, whatever it may be.

[00:28:54]
 And that's why we can't miss an opportunity to shepherd the room. And it's, when I say the, the reason I'm saying the room, because there may be no one standing or seeing in the room that you see, but there are ears listening. And so we gotta make sure that everything that we do that we're accountable for the words that we speak, the actions that we say, the things that we scroll and look at everything because there are people watching and listening. And then the, one of the pastors at our church, he mentioned recently. Went through a whole, parenting series and he said something that was really powerful. Like he, he said like, so how many times as a parent are you sitting on the couch and you're scrolling through your phone and then your kids come over and look at you and wanna see what you're looking at? And you say, what are you doing? You know, that's, that's private, that's mine. You don't need to be looking over my shoulder. I'm guilty of that. There's times we're doing it. It's not that I was looking at bad, it's. Try and teach something, like being private. Like to me, I was like, you know, it's privacy. They don't need to be knowing that I'm just doing whatever.

[00:29:55]
 But he said, you're building a culture of your kids to be private and to keep things to themself. And I was like, oh, wow. Like indirectly we're shepherding our kids in a good way or a bad way. And ever since then, it is like, hey, if my kids wanna be over my shoulder and looking, and they'll sit, I'll be on the couch and they'll be like laying across the couch just watching 'em on my shoulder. And it's a level of accountability, but it's also teaching them that hey, we can be open and vulnerable with what we're doing, but there's a sense of accountability of what we're looking at, what we're talking about, and what and what we're doing. And so they can view my phone, they can watch what I'm looking at because I shouldn't be looking at anything bad, which not saying that I do or not. But I don't want them to feel like they have to be private. And I want them to know that they can be open with me and talk to me when they're going through good and bad. And if I am teaching them that there's certain things that you could talk about and not talk about, what is that teaching and shepherding them to do, they're learning what? That they can keep things to themself and hide things from us. Mm. And we don't want that culture.

[00:30:59] Dr. Nate Salah
That's so strong. Brother. You're such a blessing. Before we close, I want to, uh. Just asking their question around, all things with G3. You've been with me in the trenches for years now and, a central part of what we're doing in the community. For someone listening who's not a part of this community but knows, wow, you know, you're, what you, what you guys are talking about, what you're, what you're, what you're saying. it really resonates with me. For you, what is G3? What does it, what does it mean to you what we're doing? 

[00:31:35] JR Spear
You know, G3 is about family and, and I, and I say that wholeheartedly. I mean, me and you, we have a history in past that goes on more than 15 years. Yeah. And, I can't say enough how much my personal life has transformed by you having in there. Like when I was going through my most difficult times, you were probably the only person that stood by my side. And when you should have left and you should have been like, Hey, you know what? I don't, I don't be, you know, I don't associate with people of this character integrity, you know? 'cause we all make mistakes of what we go through. And just knowing that even people in my church have, you know, looked down on me for certain things and yet you are still there to accept me for who I am and what I've been through and mistakes that I made. But you shepherd me through it and you taught me how to be better and, and not just that. The, the level of education like you, when we, we are a product of our environment, but 100% and the level of education that I've been able to learn that changed my vocabulary, that changed, the way that I speak, the way that I act, the level of professionalism.

[00:32:44]
 I show it with my clients and I'm talking about the same things that I learned from you, and I'm like. Where did I learn it from? I didn't learn anything about, you know, anywhere else except from coming from the community and from from you. It is just, and our whole mission within our business leaders network came because of what we exemplified and learned through G3. You know, being emotionally intelligent servant leaders, that's what we stand for. And so a lot of the level of education, whether we're learning from, you know, Walt Disney, you know, Milton Hershey, or even Steve Jobs, or. Business 1 0 1 or spiritual growth. Like I've gained more. I gained stronger, grew stronger in my own faith, and knowing how to navigate my faith in the mission field as an entrepreneur and in my family, first and foremost than anywhere else. And I've been part of many masterminds. What I found in most masterminds is everything is sales-driven. And I can re relate to that because in order people react off of emotion. As entrepreneurs, the one thing that we want more than anything is more revenue growth. And so we see the success of the Mastermind based off the success of what's in our bank account.

[00:33:53]
 And I've been part of masterminds where it's like they just drive, okay, how much sales did you get? How much sales do you get? Because they wanna use that as a sales tactic. They want testimonials, Hey, helping this person reach X amount of dollars to do, to reach this certain level. And that's great, but when is there enough? Like, okay, you hit that $50,000 month, that a hundred thousand dollars month or even beyond. Then are you ever gonna feel satisfied and fulfilled? I'm not saying that I didn't get financial growth from being in G3. I've gained a ton of financial growth, more opportunities than I can ever imagine, and it just feels like more opportunities keep coming every day. And now I have to be at the point it's like, okay, do I even have the bandwidth to even do this? It's like, you know, for, because you know, there's a skillset, there's now being seen. And here's the other cool thing I, I'll, I'll go back. I'm jumping ahead, but I wanna say something else, before I say the next thing. You know, being part of. This or this community with, with G3 and when, when we're talking about the four different pillars, it's not just financial growth, it's, you know, I've learned how to grow as a leader with my wife and my kids. To me, that's more satisfying than anything. And you told me something a very long time ago that stuck with me for so long and he says, I will never sacrifice my character or my integrity.

[00:35:07]
 And if I had to burn the boats down today and start all over, I would. And to me, that was a level of like, man, none of this matters. And then I always go back to the grave. It's like when we go to the grave, what are we taking with us? The only thing we need to hear is well done. My good and faithful servant, and is our heavenly father gonna look down on me and saying, Hey, well done. My good and faithful servant. And so everything we strive for, God's not gonna look at you by the bank, the money you have in your bank account, he's gonna look at the impact that you're making and, and using the tools that he gave you for his glory. And so, you know, I, I was on a run, I, I'm training for a marathon right now, and I went for like a 10-mile run on Monday. And when I was on the run, I felt him so strongly telling me he is like, you need to take, you need to be a good steward. What I've already given you before I give you more. And so it made me think about like, where am I not being a good steward? Like what can I get better at? And listening to that voice is like, okay, where am I slacking? Where do I need to get better at? What do I need to be a better steward of? Where do I need to shepherd better? And all these different things. I. For there and this, and if it wasn't for you in my life and other, other people in this community and, and what we stand for and just the accountability and just the, the environment to just feeding me on a regular basis.

[00:36:24]
 I mean, even just the Monday morning calls, there's times I'm like, oh gosh, I, I, okay, I don't wanna get on a call, but I wanted to get on there even if I'm just. Listening in. Yeah, because it's, it's being fed and keeping things top of mind. It's like, oh yeah, I forgot about that. Let me think about that this week. And so it's just constantly having people push you and, and making sure you're being accountable and just making sure you're, you're walking the path that God's calls you. And not just that your vision. Yeah, I gave you that vision. Are you doing what he's called you to do? We can all go out there and make money and there's a lot of opportunities that can come, but are we doing what God actually called us to do? And if we're not focused on the vision that God placed under your heart, then you're not doing what he's what you're supposed to be doing. And if you're not doing what God's called you to do, you're never gonna feel fully satisfied or aligned. And what do you like to say? It's not work-life balance. It's work-life harmony.

[00:37:14] Dr. Nate Salah
That's right. Come on, brother. 

[00:37:15] JR Spear
Woo. 

[00:37:18] Dr. Nate Salah
Thank you. I love it. What you said is, is not only touching, but it's revelatory because what it does is it reveals. A deeper sense of a purpose in life, right? And that's really what we want. And you think about these, you talked about, the pillars and, and, and really the, the goal, right? What's the vision for life? And whether it's today, a thousand years ago, 2000 years ago, a thousand years from now, we talk about G3 and our grow-to-give-go model to be. Self-sustaining until what we would say, you know, for those of us who believe Jesus is coming back until he comes back, comes back tomorrow, comes back in 10,000 years. How is this, how, how is this message and, this community, and this movement relevant, how it's sustaining? And it's by that one phrase you taught, you said there's only one thing. There's one thing we want to hear more than anything else when we go to meet God in heaven. And it's that it's well done, good and faithful servant. That's it. And for us, we believe we can work toward and achieve that through really these, these three Gs grow purpose fully to grow full of purpose, not just to grow with purpose, to grow full of purpose, because that's what Jesus said I've, that you have life and what have it to the give generously.

[00:38:39]
 It's not enough to just grow, because once we've, as we're growing, then the next step is what? To then give what we've received. Mm-hmm. Turn around and pour it generously, because really it's, this is all alone. Our time, talent, and treasures. Like you said, you were calling, you just said it, right? We're stewards, we're shepherds, right? We're all loan. And then the third G to go. Love radically. Not just any love but the kind of love that Jesus exemplified because his love was truly radical. What does radical love mean? Radical love means the kind of love that challenges the conventional understanding, and fundamentally changes the understanding of love because that's what Jesus did. Everything he did and said was like, look, this is how you see love. But I'm gonna show you a way that's completely different than that. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you do too good to those who seek to harm you. If somebody wants you to walk a mile walk too, somebody wants to, that wants your outer tunic, whatever, you know, your, your jacket, give them your shirt too. Some of these are metaphorically, however, some of these, the way he's describing it, he's like, look, no matter how much you think. You've done good in the world, there's more room for that. There's more grace, there's more love. I'm gonna pour it out to you. You accept it, and then you turn around and give it away.

[00:39:59] 
And that to me, like what better life is that? Like you said, when you wake up in the morning, whatever time you wake up to wake up and to start with that. And I love how you brought up our Monday calls because. Originally, you know, our, for those listening, if within the community we have a Monday morning call, which we call our weekly word. It's a word to, to set the week, right? Initially, we thought, well, what day should we do it? Should we do it Wednesday? Should we do it Friday? It's like, no. What does the scripture say? Always go back to what the scripture, what Jesus says. 

[00:40:28] JR Spear
It was the first, right?

[00:40:29] Dr. Nate Salah
Right. First, what does that mean? Monday morning at nine o'clock, I dunno about you, but most entrepreneurs, they're answering emails, they're planning the week out, they're doing all this work stuff, and Monday is usually the most hectic day of the week for most business people. You know, you come out the weekend, all this other stuff. So what are we telling God? You're first. You're first. You come first and it's, it's not always easy. But you're, you're first. And what do we do? We set the week right together as a community with a challenge. Every week we have a new challenge. Of course, we've been working through the Be Holy challenge and different aspects of it. How, how are we holy? And it doesn't mean that we're pious in terms of, you know, walking on air flawless. No. It means what? It means. It means to be set apart for divine purpose, beyond ourselves, to be consecrated, to be, to walk in godly integrity and virtue. All we do. Okay, great. Hey, you know what? I can get behind that. I want to be set apart. You wanna be set apart, not just for our own glory. Absolutely not for our own glory, but so that we can shepherd all who come into our midst, every room we walk into, like you said, and honor that. So that one day we do receive that. Well done, good and faithful. 

[00:41:48] Dr. Nate Salah
Beautiful man. Thanks for being on the journey. Thank you for sharing. I know somebody listening right now has not only been blessed, but they've been moved to, to not settle for mediocre and not settle for being lost in the ambush, being ready and preparing themselves, and don't do it alone, friend. If you're listening, don't do it alone, whether it's with our community where, with any community that, that, that helps to, to prepare. You get plugged in somewhere that helps you to find a tribe, a group, because the Bible's very clear where two or three are gathered in my name there, I'm also a court of three strands is not easily broken. So many scriptures that exemplify the need for us to be in community. And I'm so thankful for you for all these many years that we've been in community together and all these years ahead. That God has planned for us. 

[00:42:41] JR Spear
Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. And we, you know, and I just wanna remind people that the vision that God had you have, you, has you on, regardless of how scary it is, we need to react and respond to it. And I like when you, or you told me something a long time ago that, I don't know if you remember the phone call, but it was probably like three years ago, we're, we're sitting on the call, and I said, you know, I'm, I think I'm gonna be comfortable with just like this position in of business. And you just said why? And you said you need to think bigger. You, it's like instead of being a million, you need to be $10 million and, you know, and beyond. And it really, I was, I was getting in a place of comfort and complacency and what, and stopped dreaming. I stopped looking at the vision that guy gave me because, and going after it, because I didn't want the hard.

[00:43:30]
I didn't want the hard work. I was like, you know, I just wanna assume, be comfortable, but when you are walking the path that God has you on. You have to understand that you are getting, he is preparing you for battle. He is gonna prune the people out of your lives that don't belong. So that's a we we mentioned before when we started be, be prepared when you ask him to remove people because it may be your best client or maybe an employee, it may be someone else, but he's gonna prune those away. But when you're faithful, he is gonna replace that with something so much greater and bigger fruit. Amen. And but when, when you are sitting in complacency and not striving for greatness, all you're gonna do is settle. And God doesn't call his people to settle. He calls his people for greatness. 

[00:44:10] Dr. Nate Salah
Amen.

[00:44:11] JR Spear
Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. 

[00:44:14] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, my friend, thank you for joining me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. If you've been listening, you've probably heard me talk about our accounting and advisory business, and this show is actually born out of that business. Those relationships, I found that entrepreneurs and professionals were missing aspects of their leadership that fed into their bottom line and helped. Their businesses be successful. So, I'm so thankful that I've had all those years in that area to feed into this. And the truth is that so many people still need accounting and advisory help, and they don't know where to go. If you're in that place where you feel, oh my goodness, my tax person or my accountant, I can't find them, or maybe the service wasn't up to my expectations, do not despair. I'll leave how you can find us in the show notes, and one of my team members can. Do some discovery and help you along your journey. You're not alone, my friend. You always have help. I'm Dr. Nate Salah. Can't wait to see you on the next show of A Call to Leadership.

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