Life Surge

Inside Life Surge’s Strategies for Innovation and Community-Building — NewsBreak

A mixture of community, faith and business acumen comprise fast-growing Christian business organization Life Surge. Founded by Joe Johnson in 2019, Life Surge is rapidly transforming the portrait of faith-based entrepreneurship.

At the heart of Life Surge are its live events. Described as a movement and not just a Christian concept, Life Surge is popping up in the top 60 markets across the nation and selling out the majority of the in-person, one-day events that feature well-known Christian speakers such as The New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur Priscilla Shirer; Jonathan Roumie, who played Jesus in the television drama ; and former Denver Bronco and New York Jet footballer, Tim Tebow.

Life Surge’s events teach the audience how to expand their resources, why growing resources is important, and how to harness these resources for the greater good of God’s people through what it calls “kingdom impact.”

This focus on community has paid off. “There hasn’t been a movement like this since Promise Keepers,” remarks Rob Collins, Life Surge’s chief marketing officer. “That in-person experience is hard to be replaced.”

Life Surge events feature a mix of inspirational speakers, worship, and practical teaching. Recent headliners included star Kelsey Grammer and ‘s Robert Herjavec.

A large part of Life Surge’s appeal to everyday people of Christian faith is its mission to respect and connect as a community. “If you look at our mission statement, our goal is to inspire, transform, and equip,” Johnson says. “That word equip is very important.

“We believe you’re not going to have true transformation unless you can really equip people with true practical strategies. So everything that we talk about on the Life Surge stage is somewhat inspirational, but it leads to very practical, ‘How do I actually do it and how do I actually multiply resources?’ with the right technology tools that go along with that.

“Most of our industry or our world has gone through shortcuts in the focus of technology and information at the expense of community. We have been exactly the opposite. We believe in live and in-person events, not digital events, not Zoom calls, because people, ever since 2020, lack community in a major way,” Johnson adds.

“And so a lot of what we do and the power of the effectiveness of what we do is because of community, local communities, local like-minded people, building relationships and getting together.”

He brings up the example of Ed Mylett. The entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and podcast host of “The Ed Mylett Show” is known for his emphasis on mindset, fitness, and strategies for personal and professional growth. Mylett has been a solid staple of many recent Life Surge events. He graced the stage at recent events in Tampa, Florida, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

“What Ed talks about is that legacy that the people there, they have the opportunity to change the path of their family and the legacy of their family and where they’re headed. And he talks very openly about his own family and how his father changed that legacy and how he changed part of that legacy.”

Originally published at https://www.newsbreak.com.

God’s Way All the Way: Life Surge’s Uncompromising Commitment to Biblical Principles in Business — NetNewsLedger

With its series of live events selling up to 100,000 tickets annually, Life Surge is America’s fastest-growing Christian business.

“We believe God has called us on a mission to lead a global movement of people who surge their lives God’s way. Life Surge brings together leading voices in faith and finance to inspire, equip, and transform our attendees,” Life Surge CEO Joe Johnson said.

The rapidly growing Christian organization has taken the faith-based business world by storm with its unwavering dedication to biblical principles. Founded just over three years ago, Life Surge has transformed from a fledgling startup to an expanding enterprise.

Based on the elements of worship, wisdom, work, and wealth, Life Surge primarily reaches the masses through its in-person events in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and beyond.

How Life Surge Is Becoming a Spiritual Powerhouse

Life Surge’s mission to inspire, transform, and equip people to surge their lives God’s way is working to fill a void in Christian teaching about wealth creation. Its core values are an acronym for SURGE — Surge-obsessed, Uniquely entrepreneurial, Results-driven, God-centered, and Excellence-focused.

When Johnson and his team need to make a major decision, he says they pray about it. “Last summer, as an example, we were challenged with the concept of how the industry does certain things and how we want to do certain things,” Johnson shares. “We sort of spent some time really praying and seeking God for direction, and we came up with a statement called ‘God’s way all the way,’ meaning we are not going to compromise who we are and do it what we would call the world’s way or the industry way.”

Johnson says he views his Christian beliefs both personally and professionally as a full-time, seven-days-a-week mindset.

“When we look at our organization, we look at how can we do it God’s way all the way without compromise? So that’s been a personal philosophy,” Johnson adds.

Life Surge’s Biblical Blueprint

Johnson says Life Surge is growing its organization with biblical verses in mind.

“There’s the biblical commandment to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth, but we use that in a business setting that we want to be fruitful as individuals and we’re always multiplying,” Johnson describes.

“Our organization has grown so fast that if you’re not multiplying yourself, if you’re not basically creating a new disciple, and you’re not grooming and training somebody else to take over your current role, you’re probably not doing the right thing because we need people that are going to be fruitful, productive, and then they’re going to duplicate, multiply themselves, and move on to the next thing.”

This philosophy manifests in various ways, from their approach to marketing to their selection of speakers at events. Life Surge has become a magnet for high-profile Christian figures, with recent and upcoming speakers including musicians like Crowder, actors like Kelsey Grammer, and business personalities like Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank.

Another Life Surge speaker, Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton, added that she hopes people gain a better sense of resiliency in their lives through faith, which could, in turn, help them overcome life and business struggles.

“One true thing that brings me resiliency and hope is my faith in God and knowing that God’s grace is sufficient for me,” Hamilton said during a Life Surge event that was shared on TikTok. “I feel like God’s my life jacket for that five-wave set.

“So I hope that today is an encouragement for you. That you can overcome those gnarly five-wave sets — those challenges that come your way. Sometimes life can beat you down so much that you feel like you can’t overcome it. But God’s grace is sufficient for us and he’s always there for us.”

Life Surge is in the midst of expanding its offerings to include more educational products in areas like business development. The organization is also exploring ways to extend its reach to smaller markets through virtual means, always with an emphasis on maintaining the sense of community that has been crucial to their success.

“Our reach extends far beyond the stage,” Johnson said

Originally published at https://www.netnewsledger.com on August 6, 2024.

How Life Surge’s In-Person Events Spark Life-Changing Decisions — INSCMagazine

Life Surge, which bills itself as the “largest touring Christian brand in the nation,” is igniting audiences across America with its worship events imbued with business strategies. Founded by Joe Johnson, Life Surge aims to “inspire, transform, and equip” its followers to surge their lives God’s way.

More than 100,000 tickets are sold annually for its high-energy, in-person events.

“We had 1,257 people stand up and give their lives to Christ,” Johnson recounts from a recent event in Seattle that sold 8,000 tickets. “They did it because they were part of a community. They weren’t alone.”

Who Is Speaking at Life Surge?

So, who is speaking at , you ask? In short, plenty of boldface names . Life Surge events are full-throttle faith-fueling experiences with speakers such as Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, whose compelling life story inspired millions on the big screen through the film Soul Surfer . Their motivational words are combined with moving performances by top-selling Christian recording artists such as Chris Tomlin, Chandler Moore, Taya, and Jeremy Camp to bring people together for a day of self-growth, wisdom, and more.

This sense of unity and collective purpose also sets Life Surge apart during a time when many organizations have shifted to virtual formats. Rob Collins, Life Surge’s chief marketing officer, emphasized the unique impact of these large-scale gatherings: “Many of the attendees have not been in a large venue like that with other believers. There’s power and encouragement, especially if you come from a smaller church.”

Johnson attributes the success of these events to their focus on authenticity and real-world application. “Most companies tend to over-inspire,” he explains. “We believe you’re not going to have true transformation unless you can really equip people with true practical strategies.”

This approach resonates with attendees seeking both spiritual growth and practical skills for success in business and finance. Life Surge offers educational programs in areas such as trading, real estate, and entrepreneurship , all infused with a faith-based perspective. Johnson revealed that the organization has grown 46,000% over the past three years.

He emphasized that Life Surge’s goal is to teach responsible resource management and multiplication for “kingdom impact” rather than promoting materialism. This approach aims to fill what Johnson sees as a void in Christian teaching on wealth creation and stewardship.

Looking ahead, Life Surge plans to expand its offerings while maintaining its core focus on in-person events and community-building . Jeremy Nosek, Life Surge’s chief strategy officer, shared plans for new products in business education, as well as potential virtual options to reach smaller markets.

“We are looking at how do we extend some of what we’re doing physically and to doing virtual versions of the Life Surge event,” Nosek shared. “Community is really important to us, we don’t want to have people just going to a Zoom call and watching a TV show, but still really feel like they’re getting the community aspect.

“They’re building friendships and partnerships and joining a community and all of that. We’re working on a lot of that, how we can really bring community in a big way to some of the digital products that we’ll look at developing.”

For those considering attending a Life Surge event for the first time, Johnson offered simple advice: “Come with an open mind and just enjoy each step of the way. Don’t try to get ahead of it. Just be part of the experience.”

Johnson practices what he preaches. “We don’t really think too much about what is Life Surge’s legacy. We are too preoccupied thinking about what is the legacy of our attendees.”

Those who have experienced Life Surge’s in-person events have plenty of praise to share about it.

“Went to This event, was touched by the Holy Spirit while worshipping,” Pearl Lucas posted in a review on lifesurge.com. “I am so glad I went. It was very inspiring, uplifting and powerful. I left with a totally different, positive attitude. God is good and has truly blessed all the speakers.”

Jamie T. St. Louis said, “I came to hear the word from some of my favorite people but actually received so much more.”

Lisa Shaw found value in attending Life Surge’s in-person event. “As a Christian business owner, and a leader in ministry, I have always attended events, seminars, workshops, and conferences that were either for ministry or for business,” Shaw shared. “What I love about Life Surge is it’s a combination — Worship, the Word, Business and Marketplace.”

Originally published at https://theinscribermag.com on August 6, 2024.

Life Surge Is Igniting a Movement To Unleash Christians’ Economic Power — Wooothy

Life Surge is igniting a movement to empower Christians economically to create a lasting influence on expanding and fortifying the Christian community. Founded by Joe Johnson, the Christian business aims to equip believers with financial wisdom and practical tools to build wealth and use it for God’s purposes.

Johnson’s journey to launching Life Surge began in his youth. As a teen growing up in Ohio, he developed an early entrepreneurial drive, and started a lawn care business at the tender age of 13. “I had employees prior to having a driver’s license to the point that I had to hire a driver to take us around to mow our lawns,” Johnson recalls.

However, Johnson initially struggled to reconcile his business pursuits with his faith. “When I was 18 years old, I gave my life to Christ, and that was very important to me. But what I thought that meant was I had to kind of work in church in a full-time ministry role,” he explains.

Despite his ambitions and hard work, Johnson, still in his teens, went bankrupt, owing $330,000 in debt. “I came to the conclusion the primary reason for my bankruptcy as a young businessman was because of my sacred-secular dichotomy that I really did not see my business as the thing that God called me in terms of my ministry,” he says.

“Instead, I looked at it for church work and that’s where I spent most of my time. So because of that journey and because of that sort of trauma, it really shifted my focus and my thinking for the marketplace. And I really just developed a passion for people that were involved in business and that their business was a ministry.”

Life Surge emerged from Johnson’s desire to help other Christians avoid this pitfall. He wanted to pay it and pray it forward and developed what Life Surge calls the “4 W’s of kingdom impact: worship, wisdom, work, and wealth,” for believers to learn the path to surging their own lives.

Life Surge hosts large-scale live events featuring prominent Christian speakers and performers, from NFL footballer Tim Tebow to Soul Surfer author and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, and musician David Crowder, whose debut solo album, Neon Steeple, hit №8 on the Billboard 200 and garnered two Grammy nominations.

These gatherings aim to inspire, transform, and equip attendees to “serve your life God’s way,” particularly in business and finance. Johnson emphasizes, “We focus more on the stewardship practices, the practical implications.”

Life Surge events create a powerful atmosphere of community. “Especially if you come from a smaller church, you’ve never been with more maybe than a couple hundred people, and all of a sudden you’re surrounded with thousands of people, and you’re worshipping together, and you’re learning together, and you’re being challenged together,” says Rob Collins, Life Surge’s chief marketing officer. “That’s really powerful.”

Jeremy Nosek, chief strategy officer, explains its approach. “We’re very big on really understanding who our customers are and making sure that while we’re teaching strategies that may be applied to all of them, that they’ve got specific tools that help craft it for their specific situation,” Nosek shares.

Life Surge has experienced explosive growth, with Johnson reporting a more than 46,000% revenue increase over the past three years.

This success comes despite launching during the COVID-19 pandemic when many predicted the end of live events. Johnson saw an opportunity to reach even more people. “What used to be a red ocean full of competition is now a blue ocean with no competition because everybody overnight left it.”

Life Surge’s rapid expansion has brought challenges. “Our growth in terms of size and scale, our revenue growth, the number of events, the number of people that we’re reaching has been astronomical. And so being able to scale with that growth in an effective manner has been our number one challenge,” Johnson admits.

Johnson emphasized that Life Surge’s ultimate goal extends beyond the organization itself: “It’s really about the people who are attending Life Surge and having the opportunity to really change the direction that their family is headed and really be the one for their family that their legacy is built upon.”

As Life Surge continues to expand its reach and influence, it seeks to fill what Johnson sees as a crucial gap in Christian teaching. “Because a lot of church leaders have been silent on the subject of wealth creation, it creates a vacuum and a void,” he explains. Life Surge aims to provide biblically-based financial education and empower Christians to build wealth for kingdom purposes.

With its blend of inspirational teaching, practical tools, and community-building, Life Surge is positioning itself as a game changer for economic empowerment within the Christian community. Its growth and impact suggest it may indeed be sparking a movement with far-reaching implications for how believers approach work, wealth, and faith.

“We see a trend for Christians wanting to get on board with the Life Surge message just to reverse the direction that our culture is going,” Johnson adds.

Originally published at https://wooothy.com on August 6, 2024.

Before Launching Life Surge, Joe Johnson Mowed Lawns. Inside His Remarkable Journey — Los Angeles Post-Examiner

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Joe Johnson literally comes from the grassroots. As a young teen, he launched his first business, mowing lawns. He quickly learned to delegate, paying friends to mow lawns while he focused on acquiring new customers, leading to him employing a team before he even had a driver’s license.

This early venture set the stage for a career that would eventually lead him to create Life Surge, an organization focused on helping Christians align their faith with business and wealth creation.

Who Is the Founder of Life Surge?

Joe Johnson is the founder of Life Surge, billed as America’s fastest-growing Christian business, and draws about 100,000 attendees to its live events annually. Johnson’s life today is far from his humble childhood in Brazil. Growing up in a family of missionaries, Johnson recalls recognizing early on in his life he was “just wired differently” than the rest of his family.

“I thought more about money because I didn’t have any,” Johnson says of his humble beginnings. “I was a go-getter, and I enjoyed it.”

However, Johnson’s entrepreneurial journey wasn’t challenge-free. When he was still in high school in Ohio, a drought hit, impacting his lawn care business. He decided to advertise his landscaping services despite having no experience in the field.

This led to another life lesson when Johnson and his team were hired to install a lawn after a pool installation. Lacking knowledge, they observed professional landscapers at construction sites and took notes. They meticulously followed every step they observed — except for one crucial detail.

“We forgot to put seed down,” Johnson admits. “So we had fertilizer, we raked the rocks, it looked beautiful, but when we were copying what to do, we forgot to write down that we needed to seed the lawn to make it grow.”

While his client was initially upset with the mishap, Johnson was able to grow from the experience and it led him to plant the dream foundation for Life Surge to sprout.

At 18, Johnson’s life took a dynamic turn again when he dedicated his life to Christ. For the next three years, he devoted most of his time to church work, neglecting his business.

During this period, Johnson discovered what he refers to as a “sacred-secular dichotomy,” in which church work was viewed as holy and nonchurch work as less so. This perspective, he believes, was prevalent in the Christian community at the time.

The consequences of this mindset became apparent when Johnson, at 21, found his business bankrupt. He owed $330,000 in debt, largely due to his focus on church activities at the expense of his entrepreneurial operations. This experience marked a turning point in Johnson’s approach to faith and business.

“I came to the conclusion the primary reason for my bankruptcy as a young businessman was because of my sacred-secular dichotomy,” Johnson explains. “I really did not see my business as the thing that God called me in terms of my ministry. Instead, I looked at it for church work and that’s where I spent most of my time.”

This spiritual commitment initially led him to believe he could spearhead a Christian-based business mission unlike any other.

Living, Learning, and Earning

Johnson admits he’s always found value in using life’s most difficult moments to come back better and stronger.

“My lesson I’ve learned is to get back up. You’re going to fail, you know, and if you’re not failing it to some degree, you’re probably not pushing the envelope,” Johnson said.

“I think the №1 problem with entrepreneurs is the inability or the lack of courage to get back up. Just getting back up, you’re 80% of the way there because now you have learned all those lessons. Why waste that education?”

This realization shifted Johnson’s focus and view of the marketplace, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become Life Surge.

Life Surge inspires, transforms, and equips each person to “surge your life God’s way,” particularly through business and finance. The organization focuses on helping Christians understand how their faith can integrate with business practices and wealth creation.

Life Surge hosts live events featuring some of the most well-known Christian speakers, from Heisman Trophy winner turned philanthropist Tim Tebow to Duck Dynasty ‘s Willie Robertson. These events combine worship, wisdom, and strategies for wealth creation. Johnson emphasizes that they’re designed to create a transformative atmosphere through in-person community experiences and amp up the audience to get excited about faith and finance and how the two are more simpatico than many people realize.

“Billy Graham Jr. once said, ‘I believe one of the next great moves of God is going to be through the believers in the workplace,’” Johnson revealed. “It wasn’t just a vision; it was a call to action. At Life Surge, we’re actively participating in the ‘next great move of God.’”

Originally published at https://lapostexaminer.com on July 18, 2024.

Is the stock market bullish or bearish? Should you get in on that hot new artificial intelligence chip stock? What about that mutual fund? Or are you still scratching your head about cryptocurrency or foreign exchange markets? For all these answers and more, SurgeU has entered the chat.

SurgeU is a new educational platform, and one of its products is designed to equip aspiring traders as well as more seasoned investors with tools created to help them turn their visions of diversified and stable portfolios into a reality. What sets SurgeU apart is that it ingrains biblical principles of finances and wealth management into its courses.

“We’re big believers that learning skills like trading in the market is a skill to be mastered, not a subject to be studied,” says Jeremy Nosek, chief strategy officer for SurgeU. “So just like if you were learning to play basketball or golf or acquiring any other skill, watching YouTube videos and reading books is not going to get the job done. With SurgeU, students benefit from live education, practice labs, and tools. We really pride ourselves in over-the-shoulder instruction to really teach the skill of trading — not just knowledge acquisition, which is usually what happens when you’re reading a book or watching a YouTube video. And in our experience, knowledge without skill does not lead to mastering in the markets.”

These investing skills will come in handy now more than ever.

The IRS reports that as many as 78 million working Americans — which accounts for close to half the workforce — don’t have a retirement savings plan at work. The harsh reality is that many people who have 20 years to go before retiring barely have five figures saved for their golden years. With the rising challenge of inflation and Americans living longer, learning to invest with skill and confidence has never been more valuable than it is right now. It’s one of many reasons SurgeU is becoming a popular pathway for those wanting to learn strategies to better manage and grow their investments.

What Is SurgeU?

SurgeU is taking a pragmatic approach to teaching market trading skills. It presents practical, real-world instructors and trading platforms in the format of live classes and on-demand video courses to accommodate the busy lives of students. Students not only learn wealth multiplication strategies together, but they work on skill development, gain biblically principled wisdom for stewarding financial resources, and worship together.

“The strong community that develops when a group of like-minded Christian investors comes together to learn and grow and support each other is so powerful,” explains Nosek.

SurgeU students get the tools to make an impact because, as SurgeU chief marketing officer Rob Collins shares, they’ve got companions on their path to learning how to manage wealth.

“Whether they enroll in a 12- or 24-month program or longer, we’re with them every step of the way, walking with them, helping them along the journey,” says Collins. “We’re in the business of equipping Christian investors with important life skills, not simply delivering education.”

This interdisciplinary approach SurgeU offers ensures that students gain a well-rounded understanding of the financial landscape, encompassing everything from the stock market to cryptocurrencies and forex.

Nosek adds that SurgeU wants to make its curriculum relatable and approachable, which is brought to life through gifted instructors with real-world experience who love teaching others the skills they’ve learned.

“We want to make sure that we have instructors, especially for advanced classes, that actually practice what they preach and they are not book-smart academics without real-world experience,” Nosek explains.

At SurgeU, it all goes back to the saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The Tools Behind SurgeU SurgeU incorporates proprietary tools and world-class technology into its lessons. “We’re building tools, licensing and partnering with best-in-class cutting-edge platforms, trading platforms, to offer what we believe is the best technology for people to find, do their technical analysis, and execute trades to put in their supply and demand zones and so forth,” Nosek says.

What’s in Store for SurgeU Students

“The first thing students are often surprised to discover is that the financial products and strategies that Wall Street banks and institutions use for their own money is often very different than what is sold to Main Street investors like us,” explains Nosek. “There is a whole world of new asset classes, investment vehicles, and trading strategies that students are opened up to that can create an ‘aha’ moment that forever changes how they look at opportunities in the financial markets.”

At SurgeU, students can also learn how to build wealth through investing in real estate.

Intrigued? You’re not alone. Visit surgeu.com for more information.

TIME BUSINESS NEWS

Originally published at https://timebusinessnews.com on July 18, 2024.

What’s Inside SurgeU? A New Trading Platform With a Trained Eye on Wealth Building — News Anyway

Rising interest rates and credit card debt. Wage stagnation. Sky-high home prices and insurance rates. Inflation and lingering supply chain issues. It’s no wonder American investors are warily eyeing their nest eggs: Wealth building has never seemed so out of reach. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Brand-new and red-hot financial education platform SurgeU has been created explicitly to help average Joes and Janes conquer the markets, trading with knowledge and finesse and securing their financial futures.

SurgeU aims to educate the next generation of investors — from the novice up to seasoned pros — with custom market education tailored to a variety of skill levels to inform its students about stocks, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange markets and stock options. And it’s doing so with a custom-built platform.

“Fundamentally at the core of all things, SurgeU is this concept of skill-building knowledge acquisition,” SurgeU affiliate Jeremy Nosek says. “Our vision for the future is that all financial and business products that we fulfill, we do so ourselves. We build our own products under the SurgeU brand.”

Launched in May 2024, SurgeU offers in-person and online classes, with a blend of technology-enhanced learning, and faith-based principles. Biweekly, students are invited to a worship session called Kingdom Surge.

“It’s the place that the folks have to go to kind of call ‘have church’ inside of the SurgeU environment where they’ll get to worship a bit, pray together [and] get a little bit of an inspiring message,” Nosek says. “That’s something that’s kicked off with huge fanfare.”

With American household debt soaring to $184 billion in Q1 2024, a little prayer for big stock market results doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

No Experience, No Problem

Although many a trader will covet — and mimic — his portfolio, no one wakes up in the morning and trades like the Oracle from Omaha, Warren Buffett. But you have to start somewhere, and SurgeU is teaching everyday people how to find a slice of their own market success.

“We’re taught things like, ‘You’re not smart enough to do this, so go give your money to a money manager if you start losing money,’” Nosek explains. “And what I would say to somebody that would find themselves in that situation is take a chance, come out and check out an Impact Class. And what they’ll see is you don’t need to be an Ivy League MBA that goes to work for Goldman Sachs to really understand how to trade in and invest your own money in the market.”

SurgeU’s Tools of the Trade

It all starts with people — the students and especially the SurgeU instructors. According to Nosek, you won’t find any self-important “gurus” teaching there.

“We really pride ourselves in finding teachers with real-world experience.”

Additionally, SurgeU has built its own trading tool called Trade Analyzer to help students dip their toe in the market before they dive in — with real money.

“We want to be on that journey, with them holding their hand,” Nosek says. “And we want to be accountable to identifying when people get off track and get them reengaged, reinspired, let them know that they’re not alone. This is the normal part of the process as they go through the struggles that we all go through as we’re learning a new skill. I think it is really that commitment to seeing them through on the journey that ultimately is a big differentiator for us.

“We’re big on community and making sure that students are interacting with each other,” Nosek says. “ What really gets us excited is when you start getting people that start getting it and then start taking the new and fledgling folks under their wing and helping them out. That’s a big part of encouraging that community and the student interaction with each other.”

Prospective students can learn more at surgeu.com

Originally published at https://www.newsanyway.com on July 10, 2024.

Americans spend 42.5 years of their lives at work, and most people spend just one day a week talking about their faith, according to the Christian empowerment movement Life Surge. Life Surge founder Joe Johnson is working to change that, one soul at a time.

Johnson believes in living and leading by example — and that involves not “putting a divide between Sunday and Monday.” Faith is a full-time way of life for Johnson and his Life Surge family .

While he now stands at the helm of America’s fastest-growing Christian business, his path to success was far from linear. He grew up in a missionary family in Brazil, but at the tender age of 21, he found himself drowning in a staggering $330,000 debt after his landscaping venture crumbled. This pivotal moment, however, became the catalyst for his life’s true calling.

“Because of that and because of that sort of trauma, it really shifted my focus and my thinking for the marketplace,” Johnson recalls.

For nearly three decades, Johnson yearned to help others bridge the gap between faith and commerce. “Going back 27 years now, I [had] a desire to really help people serve your life God’s way, specifically in the area of business and making a faith and business connection,” he explains.

Changing Lives With Faith and Ambition

Johnson’s humble upbringing instilled in him a unique perspective. “I kind of was poor. And when I moved to the States, I just had a missionary immigrant mentality, and I kind of became an entrepreneur probably because of it,” he reflects. This mindset laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial spirit, ultimately paving the way for Life Surge.

The idea for Life Surge took root about 12 years ago as Johnson sought to address the disconnect he observed between faith and business. “We had people in full-time ministry and people that were outside of the church or had to have regular jobs,” he explains. This realization fueled his desire to create a space where individuals could seamlessly integrate their faith into their professional pursuits.

Today, Life Surge stands as a Christian conduit for those seeking to live their lives in accordance with their faith while achieving financial success. The company’s events and other offerings are designed to inspire, equip, and empower attendees to maximize their resources and leverage them for greater impact.

One of the key pillars of Life Surge’s approach is fostering a sense of community. Johnson firmly believes true transformation occurs when people feel supported and connected to like-minded individuals. “We believe in live and in-person events, not digital events, not Zoom calls, because people, ever since 2020, lack community in a major way,” he asserts.

Life Surge’s Thriving Journey Continues at a Rapid Rate

Johnson’s commitment to creating a tangible sense of belonging has resonated deeply with Life Surge’s audience. In just three years, the company has experienced an impressive 46,000% growth, which speaks to the need for a faith-based approach to business and personal development.

Johnson’s journey from bankruptcy to building a movement has been marked by numerous challenges, but his unwavering faith and determination have propelled him forward. “We focus on hard things,” he declares. “When everybody was leaving the event world for good reason — they had lots of good reasons — and we did exactly the opposite, and we knew it was going to be hard, we still were willing to do it.”

As Life Surge continues to expand its reach, Johnson’s vision remains steadfast: to empower individuals to change the trajectory of their families’ legacies. “It’s not about Life Surge, it’s really about the people who are attending Life Surge and having the opportunity to really change the direction that their family’s headed and really be the one for their family that their legacy is built upon,” he affirms.

“Another guiding philosophy I would say is we talk about this as an organization, but as individuals, that there’s the biblical commandment to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth, but we use that in a business setting that we want to be fruitful as individuals — and we’re always multiplying,” Johnson adds.

Originally published at https://thestartupmag.com on July 8, 2024.

How Life Surge CEO Joe Johnson’s Humble Beginnings Led to Him Leading America’s Fastest-Growing Christian Business

Joe Johnson’s path to becoming CEO of Life Surge began with a lawn mower and an entrepreneurial spirit. As a missionary kid growing up with humble beginnings in Brazil, Johnson developed what he calls an “immigrant mentality” that set him apart from his family of pastors and missionaries.

“When I was 12 to 15 years old, I was just wired differently than my family,” Johnson recalls. “I thought more about money because I didn’t have any.”

At 13, Johnson started his first business mowing lawns in Ohio. Wise beyond his years, he soon realized he could employ friends to do the mowing while he focused on expanding his business. Before he even had a driver’s license, Johnson was managing a crew and had to hire a driver to transport them between jobs.

“We had no clue how to put a lawn in, so we would go to the construction sites and we would just watch what they were doing and we would write everything down,” Johnson reveals.

This early success planted the seeds for Johnson’s future as a business leader who would eventually fuse faith with finance to spearhead America’s fastest-growing Christian business . However, his journey to founding was not without setbacks. As a young entrepreneur, Johnson faced bankruptcy at age 21 when his landscaping business collapsed. He was $330,000 in debt.

“I came to the conclusion the primary reason for my bankruptcy as a young businessman was because of my sacred-secular dichotomy,” Johnson explains. “I really did not see my business as the thing that God called me in terms of my ministry.”

This experience sparked a passion in Johnson for helping people in business see their work through a lens of faith. It took nearly three decades for that passion to fully crystallize into the vision for Life Surge, but it was a clear indicator that his dream would bear fruit.

The Rise of Life Surge

Founded in 2019, Life Surge has grown from a mustard seed to a giant tree. Life Surge says, since its inception, it has grown 46,000% with events increasing by 1,400% and ticket sales up 1,329%.

Life Surge’s mission is “to inspire, transform, and equip people to surge their lives God’s way.” The organization focuses on teaching Christians how to create wealth and use it for “kingdom impact” through what it calls the “4 W’s: worship, wisdom, work, and wealth.”

Johnson says Life Surge fills a void left by many churches that avoid teaching about wealth creation. “Because a lot of church leaders have been silent on the subject of wealth creation, it creates a vacuum,” he explains. “So the church goes to other people to get practical instructions on how to create more resources.”

Life Surge aims to provide practical instruction from a faith-based perspective. The organization offers education on useful topics such as trading and real estate. But Johnson emphasizes that the goal isn’t simply to make people rich.

“We are really focused on kingdom impact,” he says. “We’re trying to mobilize the Christian community to really not be afraid of this issue of being a faithful resource creator and multiplier and being a good steward with that, but using it for the purposes that God has called him to use it for.”

A Movement Built on Community

At the heart of Life Surge are its large-scale live events , which bring together thousands of like-minded Christians. These conferences feature well-known Christian entrepreneurs and artists and combine elements of worship, wisdom, and encouragement to equip attendees with the tools necessary to win in the workplace. N ine-time Grammy nominee Natalie Grant, who is co-founder of Hope for Justice, a nonprofit organization battling human trafficking, and Jeremy Camp, whose new album, Deeper Waters , dropped in May, are two of the performers to take the stage to the delight of Life Surge attendees. Its revolving list of motivational speakers is extensive and includes football hero turned philanthropist Tim Tebow and Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a 2003 shark attack but used that tragedy to strengthen her faith in God and inspire millions of people with her story on the big screen.

Life Surge events regularly draw crowds of 8,000 or more, with its largest event selling 13,000 tickets. The average event sells 5,000 tickets, and over 80% of events sell out.

These sold-out events don’t happen by coincidence. Johnson believes strongly in the power of these in-person gatherings to create transformation. While the majority of people across the planet lost face-to-face connections during the COVID-19 pandemic, Life Surge saw the need to rebuild community and began achieving that through its one-day, in-person live events in cities throughout America.

“There is sort of that eternal transformative decision. And then there’s what I would call sort of the earthly transformative decision where you know what you’re not satisfied with where you’re at in life and your career hasn’t necessarily given you the answers that you were hoping for,” Johnson explains. “And here’s another option. And you decide to move forward and thousands of people at the same time join you in that same decision.”

Faith, Hope, and the Future

Looking ahead, Johnson and his team are focused on continuing to serve their core audience of Christians seeking to grow in faith and business. They plan to launch new products and services to help customers on their journey.

For Johnson, the rapid growth of Life Surge is exciting, but his focal point remains on the impact on individuals and families. He hopes Life Surge can help people “have the opportunity to change the path of their family and the legacy of their family and where they’re headed.”

From his modest start mowing lawns to leading a nationwide movement, Johnson has come a long way, but he hasn’t forgotten the lessons of his youth or where he comes from. Just as he once taught himself how to landscape by observing construction sites, Johnson continues to look for innovative ways to help Christians bridge the gap between faith and business, fulfilling what he sees as Billy Graham Jr.’s prophecy of “one of the next great moves of God” happening through believers in the workplace.

“I just think the power of community, the power of doing things together, knowing that you’re not alone, you’re not taking that step by yourself is a very transformative thing,” Johnson concludes.

Originally published at https://newswire.net on July 4, 2024.

Life Surge Leadership’s Insights Into Living Your Faith in Modern Business — EconoTimes

The leaders behind the Christian-led movement Life Surge understand that many Americans are facing trying times thanks to escalating inflation and other daily challenges. That’s why its powerful in-person events, which combine well-known Christian speakers, faith-fueled music, and networking, are gaining popularity from Florida to California.

Everyone from Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson to Tim Tebow to supermodel Kathy Ireland to evangelist Priscilla Shirer has spoken at Life Surge’s sold-out events. And the list doesn’t end there. Its impressive lineup of speakers is dozens of names long and growing.

Joe Johnson, Life Surge’s founder, aims to help people unlock the gifts God gave them to share with others and build successful lives and communities, in keeping with the biblical verse, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of light.”

“We, as the leadership of Life Surge, want to be authentic to who we are,” Johnson says.

A big part of Life Surge’s work is helping its movement’s followers develop a stronger growth mindset.

“As Christians, we must remember that we are called to serve him in all that we do; in our home life, our activities, and our careers,” explains the Life Surge e-book Seven Steps to Creating Kingdom Impact. “Purpose goes beyond personal fulfillment.”

Life Surge’s Empowering Events

Through its in-person one-day conferences that empower attendees in cities across America, Life Surge is uniting like-minded Christian professionals from various industries to create a supportive environment to network and exchange ideas on how to live out their faith while in the marketplace. Johnson acknowledges that the concept of expanding finances isn’t typically discussed in faith-based settings and he hopes to change that.

“I’d say one of the practical problems that has come about and sort of the void that we’re filling is because a lot of church leaders have been silent on the subject of wealth creation. It creates a vacuum and a void,” Johnson shares. “So the church goes to other people to get practical instructions on how to create more resources.”

“When there is a void in practical teachings on how to generate more resources, I would say they’re going to the wrong people because the people that they’re learning from are more focused.”

Johnson adds that these individuals might be focusing on acquiring more material wealth such as larger homes and bigger, better cars. “And that’s fine, but we are really focused on kingdom impact,” Johnson emphasizes. “We’re trying to mobilize the Christian community to really not be afraid of this issue of being a faithful resource creator and multiplier and being a good steward with that, but using it for the purposes that God has called them to use it for.”

Life Surge: Merging Faith With Finance

How does Life Surge merge faith with finance? It uses worship, wisdom, work, and wealth to introduce individuals to the resources and strategies they need to make a difference in the world while not compromising their Christian beliefs.

“We believe God has called us on a mission to lead a global movement of people who surge their lives God’s way,” Johnson said. “Life Surge brings together leading voices in faith and finance to inspire, equip, and transform our attendees.”

While there are many secular business and financial gurus peddling financial advice, Johnson and the Life Surge team believe approaching economics from a Christian standpoint can make all the difference.

“There are groups of people out there that are more on the starter side of things,” says Jeremy Nosek, Life Surge’s chief strategy officer. “How to save money, how to get out of debt, how to do that kind of thing. And in the secular world, you’ll have financial advisers like Suze Orman that kind of own that space.

“And in the faith-based world, you have a Dave Ramsey that does something similar and then brings a faith element to it. Then there’s the beyond that when you’re kind of at that stage of life that you’ve done some of those things, and now it’s really about how to invest resources for multiplication, real estate trading, starting businesses, et cetera.”

Nosek stresses that in the Christian realm of the business world, Life Surge is meeting a specialized need.

“In the faith world, there isn’t really anybody that fills that void, and that’s really where Life Surge kind of sits from a strategic positioning perspective,” Nosek explains.

By illuminating a path for Life Surgers to identify their own passions and strengths and take action in the business world by using their God-driven purpose, the Christian organization is urging followers to put faith over fear every step of the way.

“Be who you are, who God created you to be, and don’t be afraid,” Johnson says. “Don’t be afraid of the backlash.”

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Originally published at https://econotimes.com on July 4, 2024.