Welcome back to the Christianity and Business Podcast, an initiative of the R.G. W. Dunham College of Business at Houston Baptist University. I'm your host, Darren Shear, and this is the show that helps Christian business leaders to integrate biblical values into business. On this episode, we're joined by Steve and Charlene Rose. Steve and Charlene are co-authors of the new book, The Peanut Butter Promise: Spreading Hope to Fulfill Your Purpose. Steve is a seven-time author who was a radio personality before pinning one of a one-of-a-kind feel-good book called Leap of Faith, which is a reference to the Lambo Leap here in uh in Packer Land. Um, the subtitle, God Must Be a Packer Fan. Here we are going into the conference championships here. And uh the Packers are still keeping the dream alive, at least um at the time of this this recording, anything could change um here after after Sunday. We'll see. Um, but that book sold 50,000 copies uh in less than a year. This is back during the days of uh Brett Favre and and Reggie White. In fact, um our listeners can't see this, but uh there's a Brett Favre rookie card on my wall behind me, along with some other ones. Um, but this uh this book is historic in that it is the only book to ever combine a professional sports team and faith. And the book was birthed while doing a faith-based radio show he co-hosted with former Packers player Ken uh Rudigers. Am I pronouncing that correctly? Yes, Ken Rutgers.
SPEAKER_02That's okay, buddy.
SPEAKER_03Rut Rutgers, this guy was his seventh pick in the draft. I should know uh his name. Um for over 25 years, Steve has addressed thousands of people doing hundreds of keynotes and seminars and um speaking to companies like Kimberly Clark, McDonald's, a lot of other uh big ones. Charlene, um, one of her greatest passions is doing their peanut butter promise events virtually and publicly, probably a lot more virtually nowadays in the middle of this pandemic.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, right now.
SPEAKER_03And along with Steve, she produced the highly rated documentary called Only 16, Tragedy of Two Billy's in uh 2017. And together they host the podcast, Peanut Butter Promise Power Encouragement, and with radio veteran Dayton Kane. And you can check out that at peanutbutterpromise.com along with the book. So, Steve and Charlene, thanks for joining us. Welcome. Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks for having us, Darren. Yeah, I want to hear about this um this book, Leap of Faith, God Must Be a Packer fan. You said that it's historic and that it's the only book to ever combine a professional sports team and faith. What was I as a kid? I remember hearing about Reggie White and and you know that they had this minister of defense, and this just incredible uh team that had been put together, but something really special God was doing. What was happening there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and Reggie was the leader. He was uh more than the leader of the the pack, he was the leader of the Bible study there. And there were people like Robert Brooks, Don Bebe, Adam Timmerman, who went on to win Super Bowls with uh with Kurt Warner, another wonderful believer who actually snuck into Green Bay for a Bible study and a in a uh training camp in 1994. There was Guy McIntyre, there was a guy by the name of um Galbreth, Harry Galbreth, Sean Jones was here. Um, and also did I mention Robert Brooks, the leaper of the pack, he was here, and it was just a real cool time because here were guys, Darren, that were wonderful athletes, they were great players, but they were also um sharing with the community about their faith, their love for the Lord. And that made them, of course, uh unique. I remember talking to the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys at that time who had gotten a copy of the book. He said, Wow, he said, you got like 15 believers on a team of 53 people. He said, Do you understand how astounding and rare that is? I said, Why is that? He said, Because if you get one or two solid believers on a team, it's a lot. And I never took that, you know, for granted again. And I knew there was something special happening. And on December 22nd, 1995, God called me to write this book. I said, God, I slept in study hall at Campbell Sport High School. I can't do this. And I said, he said, well, okay, then I'll have to, you know, go to the next person. And I said, Well, hang on here. Um, and then I asked for three signs. I got them. I said, What do we do? He said, Maybe you need to get uh a big little floppy disk and start. We did. And um a couple months later we had Leap of Faith, God must be a Packer fan. It came out and it blessed a lot of people to know that there were some athletes that were um, you know, given given the Lord the glory for their for their um talents and their ministries.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so 50 out of 53 people were believers. I mean, this wasn't necessarily um a happenstance, right? There was a certain culture that was being cultivated, and when you have a certain culture, it's gonna attract a certain type of person, right? What was going on there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Well, a guy by the name of Bob Harlan, his son Kevin has endorsed our book, and he's a he's a wonderful guy too. But it was Bob we got to know. And, you know, it actually goes back a lot further than that. Vince Lombardi, who people remind remember, you know, he was going to mass every morning and he was a guy who loved the Lord. And so I guess there's always been a thread going back there. And if we really think about it, but uh during this time in the early 90s, a guy by the name of Bob Harlan was the the president, he was a man of deep faith and uh drafted for character, uh, drafted uh people who number one could be uh depended on. And they just happened, many of them just happened to be people of character. And so the organization was very much faith-based. And I'm not saying they've, you know, gone away from that in any way, shape, or form right now because I'm not tied into there, but it was a very, very special time. I mean, how many stadiums do you see 70,000 people standing up and singing amazing grace to the jumbotron? I mean, that's pretty rare, but that is what was happening during the game back then. Yeah, yeah. You know, down in Madison, they got this jump around thing. Well, this is the thing they must have did after the third quarter or something. They played Amazing Grace and people sang. Yeah, stuff that would drive a lot of the a lot of business today. Well, Reggie, you know, when when Reggie said, you know, jump, you said how high. I mean, Reggie was the guy who he was the neck that bobbled the spiritual head here in Green Bay. And it was just a fun thing to be a part of. And I guess, you know, leap of faith really was just me kind of reporting what was going on. The papers weren't going to talk about it. Um, and so we just pretty much said, hey, this is really, really cool. And people appreciated that, especially the church. But there were, you know, people beyond who appreciated the message that look, where you give God his place in your business, um, it will prosper. And that looks different, you know. But I mean, you you will have success, you know. Uh lean not to your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge the Lord, and he will direct your path.
SPEAKER_03And uh, that's what was happening. Wow. And it's it's it's uh a unique ownership structure there. And I I wonder if that that kind of thing would be it would be difficult in a lot of ways um to to take hold in uh in an organization where it couldn't happen so organically. Um what is what's going on there? What's the difference between the Packers ownership and and kind of the rest of the NFL teams and how that might have um provided uh uh impetus for something like this to happen?
SPEAKER_02I I think I think it does. Whereas, you know, around the league, you know, in Dallas you have Jerry Jones and what are there, the Louries and Philadelphia, whatever. Well, when this organization came about in 1919 or whatever, somehow the packing organization, thus the Green Bay Packers, you know, became the owners of it. And somehow through their articles, they just remained an organization owned by the community. Something changed in 1957, but uh from that time on they they uh have been community owned. And you know, when they needed to raise some money for the remodeling in 2004 or something, I don't know, they sold like 75 million worthless stock, you know, people 250 bucks for a piece of piece of paper worth nothing, you know, which was a couple of years after them selling dirt from Lambeau Field for $25 for a jar. So I mean, these are some special people up here who are all in on the program to help uh uh an organization, a company that they saw was uh that was honoring God and for the people. And uh this is a wonderful, wonderful uh community here. So yes, Darren, I think that that did have an awful lot to do with the fact that the faith message was able to come in a little more through a door a little wider than than than most. Charlene, would you say?
SPEAKER_01They were sewing, they were sewing the um the the fact that you know they were for the fans. And so the fans in the team um and the leadership of the team knew that they knew there was a special bond. And so even today you can see that. Um the the Pagger fans, in my opinion, I'll leave it that way, in a lot of other people's opinion from Wisconsin, are the greatest fans in the world. And they the reason is is that they work with them. You know, they when when something goes down, you know, at Lambeau, they talk to the people. They talk to the people and they allow the people to have input and and they they have the drive.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, a lot of people think that, well, it I think we could only have a Christian culture if the owner would do something about it, uh, if the owner would would facilitate this. And yet in the Packers organization, it it is so decentralized. And as you said, it was one of the players that really initiated so much of what was happening. And and Reggie White just said, here I am, Lord, use me. And and that's exactly what what God did. I remember as as a kid growing up in Columbia, South Carolina. I mean, this this his his example, I used to have a Reggie White t-shirt, you know, and I'm just a little scrawny, scrawny kid. Um, and and but it was so I think people that let's not use that excuse that let's wait on our on the owner of the company to do this, yeah, do it right there where you are. And and so to do this, and I want to segue and really talk about your book and this concept of the peanut butter promise. But I'm sure you would say that guys like Reggie White really lived out, maybe didn't call it that exactly, um, but but they really lived out this um this this philosophy of life. What is the the peanut butter promise and the biblical basis for it?
SPEAKER_02The peanut butter promise uh is a hope and encouragement-filled, priorities-based, integrity-centered, life enhancement philosophy that says we're each born with every talent, ability, and gift, and the necessary desire to fulfill a God-given purpose. Just as peanut butter was destined to meet jelly to make a great sandwich, there are people either in our life or destined to come into it to help us fulfill our dream goals and our purpose. The dreams and desires of our heart, there, and those that are meant to come true, that uh uh are in agreement with our purpose will come true at just the right time. So the peanut butter promise biblically says we all have a purpose. God has a plan for our life. So early on in our life, let's find out what our purpose is, let's hone in on that, let's do the research, let's read the books, let's get into the right circles so that we're not wasting our time, so that we're getting on with fulfilling our purpose that God has for our life. Those are the biblical applications.
SPEAKER_01Right. And in Jeremiah 29, it says, Um, for I know the plans I have for you, saith the Lord, plans to for good and not evil, to prosper you, to give you hope in a future. And we believe that with all our hearts. And you know, a lot of people have gone through life and and especially believers who who have not really known what it is they're supposed to be doing. And and God has a plan and a purpose. And to find that plan, uh find out what that plan is, you have to have that connection relationship with the Lord. And the best, the best uh thing that God has given us is that we've fallen down, but we got back up. And I and I think I think the power the power of the peanut butter promise that we we really want to hone in on for people is it doesn't matter where you are, who you are, where you came from, um God has a plan and a purpose for your life. And if you hang on to that hope that he plans to give you, um, and you you look for it and you seek it out, you will find that he will place people in your life that will help you fulfill that plan and that purpose that he has solely for you.
SPEAKER_02Those are peanut butter promise partners.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And so, like going back to the the the Packers example, um, I think this is a good case study. Who how how how did this play out in that organization?
SPEAKER_02Well, first of all, as we you know pointed out, it came from the top down. But you bring up just an outstanding point. It was one of the employees that lit the fire, but it was important that the owner uh are the the owners, uh the community and the management allowed that to happen. There was not any pushback and blowback, and we know that in companies and other teams or whatever, that is not necessarily the case. Now, the Packers didn't necessarily win the Super Bowl because all these people were in Bible study and love the Lord, they had to be talented as very well. That said, I do believe and I will always believe, and we tried to document it that God honored with that uh that management, that team, and uh bless the community because of the obedience there. So, you know, the the bottom line is if you have a company and employees that are able to express their faith in a in an appropriate manner, God will bless the organization, your employees, your management, and your company.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I love that. What are some of the what's a story you like to share that illustrates the impact of the peanut butter promise in the lives of entrepreneurs professionals?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um, well, uh a story of about priorities. You know, we talk uh about the seven powers of the peanut butter promise, which is purpose, passion, plan and action, perseverance, positive attitude, personal development, and priorities. And we tell the story of uh a couple who were friends of my parents who received a call in March of 1976. And on the other end was a very, very uh distinguished gentleman who was saying, you know, my boss wants to come to your place, come to your farm, watch you milk, have some breakfast, and take some pictures with you. And Clarence Boyk said, No, I'm sorry, we're busy on April 3rd, 1976, and there was this huge pause. He said, Look, you don't understand who we are and why we're calling these eyes, totally understand that, but my son Gary is getting married on April 3rd, 1976. We thank you for your opportunity, and he hung up. Well, on the other end of that phone, Darren, was a representative for Gerald Ford, who was the president of the United States at that time. And who turns down the president of the United States? Well, the Boykes had their uh priorities in order, and I think that is so very, very, very important, Darren, that we need to have our priorities in order. So for those of us who are believers, those of us that are uh attempting to run Christian family uh and faith-based companies, that means we need to have our priorities in order. And for Charlene and I here at the Winner's Success Network, it is faith, family, friends, financial, career, health, and professional. And we talk about those in the Peanut Butter Promise. So I think that's a story that illustrates priorities that are in the right order. Uh, because that's what we have found. The Peanut Butter Promise has found that when you have your priorities in order, things are going to go a whole lot better if you don't. That said, God's grace is uh helps us get through many, many things. Look, the Peanut Butter Promise is not a perfection, it is a progress, not perfection program. Charlene and I are works in progress. We may never arrive, but we have left. We're working at this game of life with everyone else. But for those of us who have the opportunity to have faith-based businesses, it's exciting and it's an honor and a privilege. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you know, I think, I think too that with all of this, um, I I wrote uh chapter, a chapter in this book, Seven Seeds of Service. And the reason I wrote that is to kind of give you an idea of how these how these things are all planted together in our hearts and lives when God is the head of it. And the first priority is to have your relationship right with Him. Okay. You need to have a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ to get that. Okay, then the next thing is you need to find out who you are and what you're about, why you're here. And and then you need to focus on that. And so throughout throughout the seven seeds of service, I talk about my grandmother who taught me so much about life and about things, but the one priority she had was to look and see how she could meet the needs of other people. And I think when somebody owns a business or a company, I ran a I ran a store for a long time and and I ran a health store. And the thing that I realized is that I wasn't just there for me, I was there for the customers, but I was also there for my employees. And when I trained my employees, I would always watch how they met people, how they treated them, and even if they pick up a piece of paper off the floor, you know, if they if they would straighten up something that was crooked. The reason I the reason I say that is there's excellence that comes with that. You want to you want to expect that from people, but you want to be that too. And the only reason I say that is I started where they started. So when they made me the boss, I remembered where they were coming from and I made sure that I developed them to get to where I was going, to get to where I was, and and helped them to become more than what they thought they could be. And at the end of all of that, um, I share in the book about an employee that I had passed my job to when I was uh ready to leave, and he had no idea that he was so prepared until he had to do the job. And it only took him a week and he knew he knew exactly what to do. But all the time that I was uh working with these employees, I was developing in their character the ability to do more than what they thought they were doing. And when they got done, they were able to achieve and accomplish and go even further than I did in that business. And, you know, so I the thing about um working with people is that's what God does in us. Look for the gifts, look for the things that people have and allow them to share those things and help them to develop it. I think, you know, when we get our eyes off of ourselves, we can make more of a difference in the world because we are focused on other people and and helping them to achieve as much. And that continues to spread.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So the concept of the the peanut butter is is that. That the peanut butter is complete with the jelly. Is that is that that's the concept? Amen. We're not supposed to just yeah, once you oh just so if any of our listeners are a little bit unclear on how the peanut butter relates. Sure.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And it basically says, I am peanut butter and you are jelly, Darren. I have a happen to have a wonderful Christian-based book coming out, but I can't get the message out alone. Thus, thus you come in. We are now peanut butter promise partners. The premise basically just says that we all have gifts, we all have things we're supposed to accomplish, but we can't do it alone. And at the right time, the right people come into our lives, just as peanut butter came to find jelly to make a great peanut butter sandwich. Uh we we need to to to have people allow people to help us fulfill our purpose, thus the peanut butter and jelly.
SPEAKER_01And we also need to do the same for them. You know, we we we come together that way and we make a better sandwich. You know, I can have two pieces of bread and I can have peanut butter and jam. But if I don't put the peanut butter on the bread and I don't put the jam on the bread and make a sandwich, it's just going to be two pieces of bread, peanut butter and jam. But when I take those two pieces of bread and I take one side and put peanut butter on it, and the other side and put jelly on it, and then I fold it together, I now have a good sandwich, you know, and it's edible.
SPEAKER_02You know what just came to me, Darren, and the this verse was never a part of the writing of this book or whatever, but the three-braided cord, right? From Ecclesiastes, and the three-braided cord is Charlene, myself, Darren, and the Holy Spirit, right? Now we have a cord that cannot be broken. But basically, uh, again, the the real premise, the first thing that came to me is I have some wonderful ideas, but I need help from people. We all need help to fulfill uh our purpose. Yeah. And God does that through other people. So thanks for calling us, brother.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes, excellent. Well, uh, wrapping it up here, what's the best place for people? I know people can go to peanutbutterpromise.com. Um, anything else you want to say about what you want what action you want people to take going forward?
SPEAKER_02No, just you know, go uh forward, look, look forward, learn from the past, but move forward. You know, it doesn't matter where you've been, what matters is where you are going. And if you've made mistakes like Charlene and I have, take comfort in knowing that before the foundation of the world, the good Lord knew the mistakes you were going to make. And take comfort in knowing that God may delay the fulfillment of some of the things in your life, but they will not be denied. He did not put these visions, these things that you feel in your heart that he wants to do, if you could not accomplish them on this side. So take courage and know that God has a plan regardless of what your your past.
SPEAKER_01And in the in the book, the it's or in the movie, it's a wonderful life. At the end of the movie, you know, Clarence leaves a book for George.
SPEAKER_02And in it it says Yeah, it says, you know, he there there is no man who is a failure who has friends.
SPEAKER_01And I agree with that. And I also know that there's no no man who is a failure, he can get up again. And that's the thing I share at the Peanut Butter Promise um seminars that we shared before. I have what's called the Bozo the Clown. Do you remember that guy, the blow-up clown?
SPEAKER_03Sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I I use him as my example of how God has changed my life. You know, many times I've gotten knocked down, but it's how I come back up. And every time I hit that bozo the clown, he comes back up smiling. And the thing is, is that until we don't have pulse, we can still come back smiling and we can still get up and we can still move forward. And people need to have that encouragement. They need to know that no matter what I do, good, you know, good in this world, whatever I can do, I should do. And whatever I can't do, I can learn from it and I can grow with it. And uh, you know, I was telling Steve today, I said when I learned how to ride a bike, I I got on that bike and I fell right off of it. Why? Because I didn't know that I needed balance. Once I started to realize that if I stood up on the bike and tried to ride it just standing, it gave me balance. But as soon as I sat down, I had to learn that balance to be a little bit more balanced and and it kept me on the seat. The first time I sat down on the seat, I fell off the bike. But when I got back on the bike, I learned that I had to put a little more balance into my step when I was when I was pedaling and when I was on that bike. And I'll tell you what, I ride a bike now, I'm still riding it.
SPEAKER_03Amen. And people can subscribe to the podcast, uh, Peanut Butter Promise Power Encouragement at the website and also get a hold of this wonderful book. Um, yes, yeah. Any anything else you want to say about your products or what people can subscribe to?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so like you said, they yep, you're right, Darren. They can go to peanutbutterpromise.com if they want an autographed copy of the book. Charlene and I will uh take care of that. So peanutbutterpromise.com has some limited edition hardcovers that will not be available in the store. But you can go to Amazon.com, you can go to um Simon and Schuster, you can go to Post Hill Press. There are places that you can uh order the book. But yeah, we love to do webinars, we love to uh speak to people, churches, campuses, wherever. We love to share the message of the peanut butter promise. And Darren, we just want to thank you for your wonderful testimony of serving the Lord. Uh you are a wonderful, wonderful example, and you have a great testimony that has uh and will continue to bless very uh many people. And we just thank you for making Charlene feel so comfortable here during this podcast.
SPEAKER_03Oh, thank you. That means a lot. Thank you for sharing that. All right, everybody, go eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and um cheer for the Packers. Um, well, I think I'm a bigger Packers fan after after this interview. We'll see. Um we'll see if God's really a Packers fan here come come Sunday, right? Oh, he is. Amen. Well, by the by the time people hear this, we will have won the Super Bowl then. Yes, speak, speak it, name it and claim it. All right, Steve and Charlie, thank you so much for for sharing your time and your wisdom with our listeners today. We appreciate it. It's been fun.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. We hope you've enjoyed this episode, and if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you would leave us a quick rating and review for the Christianity and business podcast on iTunes. You can get more information about HBU Center for Christianity and Business at Christianityandbusiness.com. Thanks for listening, and remember to keep integrating biblical values into your business.