Founder Con: slides and transcript

Welcome

You guys are so awesome. You look beautiful, by the way. I actually can't see half of you, I'm just believing in faith that you got up and got together this morning.

My name is Jesse Wood, and this morning I'd like to welcome you to The Jesse Wood Show. I do have a podcast where I like to give voice to the real process of walking into God's designed purpose.

Before I get into that, very first, I would like to thank Tamra, the family, FounderCon, for inviting me and giving me a microphone. They know I'm full of nonsense most of the time, so, disclaimer: it's not their fault what comes out of my mouth over the next 30 minutes. If you're blessed by anything this morning, it's from the Lord, and I have prepared something I think will bless you.

I'd also like to thank my beautiful bride Davina in the back, my co-partner, my builder, the Eve to my Adam. You know, God looked at Adam in the garden and goes, it's not good for that guy to be alone. That guy can get in trouble. So He created Eve, the crowning jewel of creation, and that is definitely my life. I love you, babe. You're so beautiful back there.

We live in a day and a time and age where with technology you can literally build anything just by using your voice. It's so easy to just take an idea and run with it. If you're ADD like me, it means you've got like 27 projects going all at one time. Can anybody relate? Just me? Okay, a couple of crazies in here.

And God, I know for a fact, has called each one of us to build in the Kingdom, to walk in purpose and have incredible influence. And I think I'm talking to the right room of these kinds of people. But if you're not careful, if you're not aware, you can be full of love for God, and even full of faith, and still miss out on walking in your full purpose. So this morning I'm going to help us become aware and walk into those things. What I want to talk about is how to go from just being a founder to Founder Con, to fulfill your purpose.

Founder, Con and Founder Con

Let's look at some terms. First, founder: a person who starts or creates a new business, organization, school or institution.

By the way, I am a preacher and a minister, so I've got like 300 slides and 12 closings, and at some point we'll take up an offering, so get ready. We'll feel it, you know? The Lord will move.

Founder, the verb, actually means to sink. It's nautical. It comes from the Latin word fundus, meaning bottom or base. Look at your neighbor. Oh ship. If you get offended, send an email to No One Cares at FounderCon. Start typing right now.

Now, con. It's short for the Latin word contra, against, used to describe a negative argument or side of a debate, as in pros and cons.

I'm going to hit you with Scripture, because Jesse Wood can come up with some good ideas, but the Bible is the truth. So I like to go to the truth and go from there. Let's check out James 1.

What I like about James, quick side quest for those who like to scroll around: James was the half brother of Jesus, and he did not believe in Jesus' divinity until He died and was resurrected. There might be people in your life, family, people closest to you, who are not going to believe in the purpose God has for you until you die to some things and get resurrected. So when you're going through that, I understand where you are. Jesus also understood that feeling, the lack of belief from His family, and He kept going.

So here's James, on the other side of Jesus leaving, trying to figure out this whole disciples spreading the Kingdom of God movement. He says:

James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

James 1:1

Imagine your family coming to work for you and being that excited about God. Does anybody know why the tribes were dispersed? Because of persecution. So James, the half brother of Jesus, is writing to some people who are going through some stuff. Anybody been through some stuff while you're trying to build? Alright, so this might speak to you.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

So if we listen to James, the half brother of Jesus, and he kind of knows what he's talking about, then if great conditions are the pro and bad conditions are the... "cN." That's supposed to say con. Praise the Lord for my typos. Then the con is actually the most beneficial scenario for purpose-driven builders.

So what is Founder Con? Let's put this together in a nice action verb. To Founder Con means to surrender to God, becoming completely submerged in purpose and letting Him transform you into the Kingdom builder you were born to be. That's from the Founder-Conster Dictionary. You can't find it in any other book, by the way.

So, an example. When trials happen, to founder means to sink, because everything is going bad. To Founder Con, we surrender and align in excitement with God, because He is working everything for your good. Romans 8:28.

Look at your other neighbor, the one you didn't yell at before, and tell them this: Shift happens.

And like I mentioned, I am a preacher. The more you talk back to me, the faster this thing goes. So if you're hungry, shout back at me the whole time and we'll be done in eight minutes. I also give you permission: if I say something good, just look at me and say real loud, "Oh shift." We've got one person who came to church today.

Shift #1: Our Conditions

So I talked about how, if you're not aware, if you're not careful, you can be full of faith and full of love and still miss everything God has for you. So let's take the first shift from founder to Founder Con. That first shift needs to happen with your conditions. Because even consummate professionals lose their ship. Somebody's giggling.

There's a really great story in the Bible that displays this. Let me pause and set the stage. When Jesus was figuring out what crazy crew was going to run with Him, a ragtag bunch, He ended up recruiting a bunch of fishermen. So these guys are very familiar with boats and ships and storms. This was their everyday life before they started learning theology. So now, not only are they on a boat in a familiar place, doing a job they used to do, or at least adjacent to it, they're also accompanied by the Lord Jesus Himself.

So the storm comes up, and my man Jesus is just out. I wish I had that power. When me and my wife are traveling, she's out. I don't have that. Jesus, He's just out.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?" When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:38-39

I actually wrote my own version of the Bible. Don't call me a heretic yet. Just hang in there. This is what I call the Founder Con Translation:

Jesus was relaxed in faith while me and Him were moving strategically in purpose, until scary conditions arose. So I started shouting, "Jesus, don't you care that my business or ministry is dying?" Jesus responded. He rebuked fear and said to the storm in my heart, "Silence! Be still and know that I am God!" And suddenly the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me with comfort.

Mark 4:38-39, Founder Con Translation

Purpose-driven builders Founder Con the conditions of their heart. How?

Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

Psalm 46:10-11

I am a professional musician and producer, so I really love the Psalms. And I'm going to give you a little bit of a Hebrew word study. I'm a little bit of a nerd when it comes to these things, because I don't want to just take an idea and run with it. I want to make sure I really know what's going on here. So that's how we approach Scripture.

There's a couple of words here. The first one is cease, which means to sink, to relax, to sink down. Are we seeing some parallels in how we're Founder Conning things? And then know. It's actually the same word used when Adam had relations with Eve and she conceived. Not just, oh, I know that person. That would be awkward if that's what we meant every time we said we know something. And then Selah is actually a musical term meaning to pause or interrupt.

Reading the Word vs. Being Intimate With the Word

I'm going to say something that might hurt you a little bit, but it's only to help you, and I learned this myself: reading the Word does not equal being intimate with the Word. Because Jesus is just the Word with skin on. So there's the Bible, and then there's the person of the Word.

Let me give you the marketing funnel of the Gospel. Jesus said all the Scriptures point to Me, and no one comes to the Father except through Me. So top of funnel, the Bible. Mid-funnel squeeze, the sales page: I love you so much, Jesus. And then it drops you out into your final product of being with God. Is that okay? Are we getting it? Pretty smart marketer, the Lord is. Where do you think we got it from?

When I had this revelation, a punch in the gut from the Lord, I was 30 years old: divorced, broke, car repossessed, evicted. And I had been very expertly taught how to study the Bible. I went through Bible college. I was trained by a major preacher. I don't have an "I did crack and came back" kind of story. I had given my life to the Lord to do everything I could for Him. And here I was at 30, worse off than if I'd just hit reset. I'm like, God, what is going on here? I had never been taught how to just be in His presence.

So I did something, because I'm very visual. My roommate had already served the eviction notice. He said, hey, I need you to move out. There's another guy who wants to move in, and he's actually going to pay rent. I was like, that's fine, but I don't see it as a move out day, I see it as a move up day. I don't have time for that whole story, but I took his extra dining chair, put it in the corner of my room, sat on the floor, and just imagined the Lord opening my door and sitting in that chair. And I realized for the first time [inaudible].

The ACTS Prayer Model

In that season, though, I did find several mentors, both close and far, and I learned a prayer model. Take a picture of this really fast, because I can't stay on it. It's ACTS.

A is Adoration, absolute awe. And you're going to go in this order. It's really hard not to jump to your issues and other stuff. So set a goal: when you go into prayer, spend the first one or two minutes, put a timer on it, because it's going to feel like 18 years the first time you try this. Put a timer on it, two minutes, and go, I'm just going to love on God. You'll get to the other stuff after that.

C is Confessions, declarations for mind renewal. T is Thanksgiving: what are you actually thankful for? Then S, Supplication: what do you want to ask for?

And I'll give you a trick. By the time you do A, C and T, you're so fired up in who you are, your identity in Christ, you know God is in you, with you and for you, that when you get to supplication you can push the walls of Jericho down. That's exactly what happened, isn't it? That's why it's fun to have it at the end.

And a free tool for you, on all streaming platforms: I have an EP called The New Mind 90. I don't have time to go into neuroplasticity, but the Holy Spirit helped me design this. It's a three day routine of daily declarations. You do the adoration and press play on track one, the next day track two, the next day track three, and you repeat. The reason why: if you do the same thing every day, your brain is designed to conserve energy, and it won't actually be changing the neurons in your brain. Romans 12:2: be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is the practical part, where the rubber meets the road.

Step 1: Become Aware

[inaudible] He runs an event called Determine Your Destiny, and I met a publisher there, and he and my wife were fired up for me to start writing a book. It had been prophesied to me about seven years before. But I don't know if you're like me: you never feel like you've lived enough or have enough authority. Like, who am I to write a book? So it took them telling me it's time, and then my powerful procrastinator self took 11 months to do nothing and then pushed it out in two months.

But it was the Lord also helping me look back. When I received the prophetic word about writing a book, God said, you have not yet lived what you're going to write about. And it was in that season I was just describing, being broke as a joke and all that, having a whole shift. Is this okay so far? We're going to say "Oh shift" on three. One, two, three!

So in my book, there are seven steps God brings every builder through. The first one is Become Aware. This was my Become Aware moment, and I like to call these mirror moments. You saw it on my little trailer slide.

I had this mirror moment when I first started building a financial firm. This month marks three years of that, and it'll also be my four year anniversary with my upgraded partner back there that the Lord gave me. Praise Him.

God said this to me as I was in that intimate place with Him, with the Word:

You haven't been building the Kingdom of God on the Rock of Me. You've been building your own kingdom on sand. It's just harder sand than others because of your relentless striving.

When I asked, God, why hasn't that been working for me? He said, well, you just keep building on sand and it keeps collapsing. You get frustrated because it's like a three to five year cycle. You're building, building, it looks good, everybody's like, man, you're crushing it, all the way to the top of the ladder, and then boom, it collapses. And I'm frustrated.

I kept following the American dream, which God calls the American delusion. It says you can build anything you want. Do it all yourself. Or we can go into the Kingdom dream, which invites you to build alongside God, in the corner of the garden He has called you to walk in dominion of.

So that was my mirror moment. Choice "me": keep building my own kingdom while sacrificing for God and praying for Him to bless it. Or choice "G": ask God what role in His Kingdom He created me to walk in, and trust Him to lead me into it. So my commitment right there:

God, if You'll get me on the path to truly and fully walk into my purpose, then I promise to do whatever You ask me to do, no matter how crazy it sounds.

Now it's your turn for a moment:

If God is a good Father, my provider and the creator of my purpose, where am I letting the conditions convince me that He doesn't care or isn't helping me?

Step 2: Unplug

There's another beauty in this kind of moment I just walked you into: you're actually in step two of the blueprint, which is Unplug. And this is a prayer you can pray as you're trying to find that answer, something like this:

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, reveal to me areas in my life where I might know what the Word says about it, but I haven't truly become intimate with You and Your goodness for me in it.

Now look at the person across the table from you and tell them: Shut the storm up! You guys are so great.

Shift #2: Our Methods

The second place we need to shift from founder to Founder Con is in our methods. Because even Jesus lovers can fail to trust Him. Let me take you to another story that involves a boat and disciples and Jesus.

Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, "It's a ghost!" But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!" Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water." "Yes, come," Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"

Matthew 14:24-31

Hebrew word study: that word come means to come into being, to arise, to find influence. Anybody saying, God, can you help me arise into the influence You told me to walk in? Anybody saying, Jesus, can You please lead me into it? Can You take me there? This is Peter: can I come? And Jesus going, yes, My son. Yes, My daughter. Let's do this thing.

But sometimes that path gets a little crazy. And when Jesus said "little faith," open your mind for a second, because I want you to catch something you may not have caught before. It's not simply quantity, like I ran out of faith, like I only have a little bit. It's wavering. Which means there are moments where we can have big faith, and then little faith. Big faith, little faith, big faith.

Like the signal on your cell phone. What's my 5G, my 4G, my 3G? What level of signal is your faith on in this moment? We can have 5G in one area, and then be on SOS in another area. And Peter went from 5G to SOS in that moment because of the conditions. And to be honest, the method didn't really make sense, right?

Going back to James, where we left off with him:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

James 1:5-8

So what you'll figure out, like I've figured out, is if you're not receiving, if you're not seeing it, if something's not quite working, it's not that God isn't trying to get it to you. It's that you're trying to catch with your hands wide open, going, oh, this way or that way. And He's saying, can you just chill for a second so you can get what I'm trying to do?

And what's crazy is how faith ties in. I propose an idea to you: we talk about fear as the opposite of faith, but all fear is, is putting faith in the enemy's plan and desire and word, where actual faith is putting it in the Word of the Lord. So you're just shifting whose word you're putting your faith in. Peter's in that moment, the devil's going, this is impossible, you can't do it, and he goes, I believe that word.

Purpose-driven builders Founder Con the "impossible" methods that God uses. Let me give it to you a little simpler, maybe crazier, but more clear: purpose-driven builders commit that Plan A is Plan All. You have to really realize in this moment that the second a Plan B idea flips in your mind, you went from 5G to SOS, and God's going, hold on, I'm trying to get stuff to you. Now your signal's interrupted.

You're Not Stuck. You're on a Step.

Now, if you're using a method contrary to God's plan, then sitting here this morning you may feel stuck. And it may not take more prayer. It may just take: God, what are You asking me to truly have faith for? And then take that step. Like when I was stretched to write the book. You know when you're trying to pretend you've got money and you don't? I had to move some money around. [inaudible] I didn't have it, not like I was ready to throw that much into the next step when I wasn't even believing for it yet. And that's why it's great to have a partner who says, let's do it. Let's do it.

You're not stuck. You're just simply on a step. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said:

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

And then this person said:

There's nothing that makes sense about walking on water, but sometimes that's God's plan.

That's from (not a Dr.) Jesse Franklin Wood.

So my mirror moment here: I felt like I was stuck, like I was hitting a wall. And God goes, you're not hitting a wall, you're actually hitting the front side of a giant staircase, and I just need you to look up and see.

Fun fact: the word repent. Think of the penthouse in a hotel, the high place. So, re-pent. We repent from sin, returning from our sinful state into our brand new creation state, but you can actually repent in every single area of your mind and belief. Paul says let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works. He's talking about repenting in our mind and our belief. And if we're going to be the builders God has called us to be and walk in all of our purpose, we've got to keep repenting every single day. God, what belief got me here? And where's the upgrade that's going to get me to the next place?

Example: Moses hits the rock, and water comes out. The next time, God says, I want you to try speaking to it this time. He didn't have the faith to go to that next step. He smacks it, it doesn't work, smacks it again, and then it finally works. And that was the moment God said, you will not make it into the promised land. Let's not be those people.

Step 3: Identity First

So you realize now you're in step three, which is Identity First.

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:33-34

I give you those three verses to prove this to you: God's job is the plans and the provision. Our job is the daily disciplines as sons. And some of you are going to feel the weight of it all when you figure this out.

This was when I had no job, I was broke, and I was tired of building. I knew Jesse Wood couldn't make the right choices. And I said, God, how does this work, getting paid while doing stuff for You? He said:

You have to treat being in My presence like it's your job, and if you expect to get paid and make a living from Me, then you need to fully respect Me as you would any other boss.

Now, God is a good, loving Father, but thank the Lord He knows how to meet us right where we are and help our little brains take baby steps. Now I'm a fully loved son, and He trusts me, but in that moment He had to take me from punching a clock in my kingdom to punching the clock in His, so I could start to figure this out. I'm like, that makes sense. I was calming the storm in my boat before He was asking me to get out of the boat and walk on water.

And here's a moment for you:

If God never fails, and He's got the plans made and the provision covered, where have I been lacking trust in Him by doing His job, and what daily disciplines have I been avoiding or not doing?

Steps 4 to 7: Don't Build for a Season

This is where you step into the next few steps of the framework. Step four is Lay Framework. Step five is Do Work, and I like to point out that dominion starts with "do." Step six is Expand Capacity, and step seven is Rise and Build.

But the Bible calls us not to just build for a season. I want you to look into this for yourself, there are some great lessons for us in it. Here's where it is in Scripture:

Jesus went on to tell a parable... and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So He said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.'"

Luke 19:11-13

They thought what they were praying and hoping for was just going to, boom, happen, not realizing God was trying to set them up to actually be the builders of it.

We have the answer for the resources and the time God gives us. We don't know how much time it is, but we do know we have infinite resources. The only limit is ever going to be your faith, which grows the more intimate you are with someone. It's hard to trust strangers, is it not? It's really easy to trust my wife.

Your Mirror Moment

So I want to invite you into having your own mirror moment. There are some free things I'm giving away for you guys, and you can also find this QR code at my table. It's an exercise you can work through, and you get your answers back for yourself.

The reason I created this is because you can have a great moment today and keep it all in your head. But without putting it out there and saying, hey, I'm doing this, hey brother, hey sister, can we do this together? Until you do some public display of accountability, some PDA, oftentimes we still won't take that next step. So there's a free community. You can post your mirror moment in there, and we can all work together to hold each other accountable.

What I do want to tell you is that the thing that changed my life, and helped me become a 40 Under 40 and Financial Strategist of the Year, go from just starting out in business to being the top associate in our firm the very next year, then the year after that going back to the conference as a senior broker, breaking some records, doing some things, [inaudible] ...tomorrow doesn't scare Him, and He's just going, hey, will you come?

So can you guys come with me as we Founder Con together? I love you.