Hey friends! In this episode of Equipped for Purpose, Vincent takes us on a journey from control to Christ-centered empowerment. If you’ve ever felt stuck as the bottleneck in your leadership, this one’s for you. We’re unpacking three pillars, identity, language, and practices, that turn potential into purpose. With biblical wisdom from the Parable of the Talents and Paul’s mentorship of Timothy, plus real-world examples, Vincent offers a roadmap to nurture powerful people who carry the Kingdom forward.

Vincent explores how to shift from controlling every detail to empowering your team with confidence rooted in Christ. He breaks it down into three key areas: anchoring your identity in God’s love, swapping victim language for ownership speech, and building systems that release people to thrive. Expect practical steps, warm encouragement, and a fresh perspective on multiplying your influence.

• Identity: Root your leadership in your God-given power, not your insecurities, because secure leaders multiply, not hoard.
• Language: Trade “I have to” for “I get to” and watch your team’s culture shift from powerless to possibility.
• Practices & Outcomes: Create clarity, trust, and grace-filled systems that let your people innovate and grow.
• Your Next Step: Pick one person to empower this week; give them real authority and see what God does!

Listen now and let’s start building a culture of empowerment together!

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or PayPal—every contribution helps to keep the content coming and make an even greater impact.

Buy Me a Coffee ➔ https://buymeacoffee.com/vincent_ream

Partner Financially ➔ https://paypal.me/vincentream

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/night-thunder

License code: TAT19YLX8QY2ZBCY

In this episode, I strip away the common misconceptions about prayer. Many of us have viewed prayer as a transactional tool, a "supernatural credit card" or a "magic word" to get what we want. This episode challenges that notion, re-framing prayer with an intended purpose: a deep, intimate, and personal communion with God.

I explore the profound question, "If God already knows what we need, why should we pray?". The answer lies not in informing God but in building a relationship with him, affirming his presence, and cooperating with his will. The discussion draws on insights from theologians like Austin Farrer and C.S. Lewis to understand prayer as a "confrontation with the will of God" that transforms us from the inside out.

Furthermore, the episode unpacks the vital role of prayer in two key areas: discipleship and leadership. For disciples, prayer is the primary vehicle for spiritual growth, humility, and intimacy with the Creator. For leaders, it is the cornerstone of impactful action, inviting God's power and discernment into every decision. Finally, we tackle the difficult question of why prayer is so challenging, acknowledging that it is hard work that requires perseverance, but promises a deeper relationship with God as its reward.

Key Takeaways:

• Rethink Prayer: Prayer is not a means to manipulate God or a spiritual checklist, but a personal and intimate conversation with a loving Heavenly Father.
• It’s About Relationship: God desires us to come to him willingly. Prayer is about relationship and allows God to be actively involved in our lives; when we don't pray, he "feels left out".
• The Foundation of Discipleship: Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. It humbles us and forces us to acknowledge our complete dependence on him for everything.
• The Cornerstone of Leadership: Prayer is essential for effective leadership. It allows leaders to surrender their fears, gain God's vision, and invite his power into their situations.
• Embrace the Challenge: Prayer can be hard work because it confronts our self-will and exposes our internal distractions. Perseverance is key to growth.
• The Model for Prayer: The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is not a rigid script but a model that teaches us to combine worship, submission to God's will, daily requests, confession, and a plea for protection.
• An Open Invitation: God is available 24/7 and is eager to listen to every word, including our fears, anger, and sadness.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or PayPal—every contribution helps to keep the content coming and make an even greater impact.

Have you ever considered the future of your business or your personal legacy as a leader? This isn't just about long-term strategy; for leaders of faith, it's about stewarding the people and influence God has entrusted to us with an eternal perspective. In this episode, we kick off a brand-new, multi-week series by introducing "Mining Merit," a foundational pillar of the leadership program. This pillar is designed to help you equip, develop, and empower your team from the ground up by integrating deep discipleship with impactful leadership.

This episode provides a comprehensive overview of the four crucial sub-pillars of Mining Merit that we will explore: Creating Powerful People, The Future Leader, Serving Your Team, and The Practice of Feedback. Discover why investing in your people is the only way to prevent your leadership from plateauing and how to build a pipeline of future leaders to secure your organization's future and your growth.

Key Takeaways

• What is Mining Merit? At its core, Mining Merit is the intentional process of developing the next generation of leaders. It rejects a "one-size-fits-all" approach, emphasizing that true growth requires focused, individualized development because every person interacts with the world differently.
• The Problem of Stagnation: If you fail to invest in developing your people, you will never be able to progress yourself, and your business or team may eventually plateau. Spiritually, this is a matter of stewardship; we are called to multiply the potential within our people, not let it stagnate.
• Sub-Pillar 1: Creating Powerful People: This starts with you being a powerful person, secure in your identity in Christ. A key focus is creating a culture that celebrates failure as a learning opportunity, or "failing forward," which is essential for innovation and growth.
• Sub-Pillar 2: The Future Leader: To grow, you must have someone who can replace you. This pillar focuses on intentional evaluation and clarifies the critical difference between responsibility (which remains with the leader) and accountability (which is assigned to the team member for a delegated task).
• Sub-Pillar 3: Serving Your Team: Servant leadership isn't about being a pushover; it’s about influencing your team by providing clear direction, purpose, and motivation. This includes protecting the team from undue pressure and celebrating their work.
• Sub-Pillar 4: The Practice of Feedback: Growth is nearly impossible without feedback. This must be a two-way street where leaders actively invite input and model how to receive it well. The goal is to end the "annual ambush" and foster a culture of regular, actionable feedback.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or

In this episode, I challenge the conventional view that business and faith should be separate. Drawing inspiration from Jacob Marley's powerful declaration in A Christmas Carol, "Mankind was my business", we explore what it truly means to be about "God's business" in the modern marketplace. We argue that for disciples of Jesus, this is not just a poetic sentiment but a biblical mandate. This episode provides a comprehensive framework for integrating your spiritual life with your daily work, transforming your leadership, ethics, and strategic decisions into acts of worship.

I unpack the idea that "God's business" is, at its core, about people. This involves caring for those we encounter daily, actively seeking out opportunities to do good, and sharing the hope of the Gospel. I then translate this into a practical business context, outlining three levels of faith integration: operating by biblical values, adopting a "Business as Mission" model, and running a Gospel-focused enterprise.

Ultimately, this episode looks at leadership as a deeply relational and service-oriented calling, built on a foundation of stewardship and unwavering integrity. I discuss how to cultivate relational humility, view success from a biblical perspective, and understand our role as managers of God's resources, accountable to Him. I think this is a must-listen for any person of faith who desires their work to be more than just a job, but a vital part of God's kingdom.

Key Takeaways:

• Your Business is People: The core of "God's business" is humanity. As believers, we are called to actively engage with and care for the people God places in our lives, whether they are colleagues we "bump into" or those we intentionally seek to help.
• Three Levels of Faith Integration: You can integrate your faith into your work in various ways. These range from operating with biblical values like honesty and integrity, to adopting a "Business as Mission" model that directly addresses societal needs, or even running a business focused on evangelism and discipleship.
• Leadership is Relational Service: From God's perspective, the primary purpose of a business is to serve its employees and customers. This is accomplished by providing valuable goods and services to the community and creating opportunities for meaningful work where employees can use their God-given talents.
• Success Redefined by Humility: True success is defined biblically and involves pleasing God and doing good for others. Recognizing that every good thing is a gift from God cancels out pride and cultivates a deep, relational humility that leads to thankfulness and generosity.
• You Are a Steward: Everything you have, your talents, resources, and business, ultimately belongs to God. We are managers accountable to Him, and the Holy Spirit is our guide in making choices that honor this stewardship.
• Your Work is Not Second-Class: The belief that full-time ministry is a "higher" calling is false. Your work in the marketplace is a sacred and vital part of God's mission, and your business practices are a powerful testimony to a watching world.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

In Episode 97 of Equipped for Purpose, host Vincent Ream discusses a transformative truth: leadership is fundamentally a relationship. Inspired by Michael Irwin and Willis Duvall’s book Leadership is a Relationship, Vincent explores how modern leaders can prioritize human connection in a digital age filled with distractions. Blending biblical wisdom with practical strategies, this episode reveals why relationships are the heartbeat of effective leadership and how you can lead with purpose by putting people first.

Key Takeaways

• Accountability with Care: Hold others accountable through supportive relationships, not punishment.
• Forgiveness Fuels Bravery: Foster a culture where mistakes are growth opportunities, encouraging bold risks.
• Resilience in Community: Build collective strength by creating supportive teams or groups.
• Trust Through Vulnerability: Share personal stories or failures to build trust and humanize leadership.
• Coalition Building: Unite diverse perspectives through shared experiences and common ground.
• Loyalty for Growth: Show loyalty by prioritizing others’ potential and advocating for their success.
• Stability in Relationships: Ground your team in chaos with strong, stabilizing connections.
• Presence Over Distraction: Set device-free times to fight digital noise and deepen relationships.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or PayPal—every contribution helps to keep the content coming and make an even greater impact.

Buy Me a Coffee ➔ https://buymeacoffee.com/vincent_ream

Partner Financially ➔ https://paypal.me/vincentream

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/night-thunder

License code: TAT19YLX8QY2ZBCY

In this episode, I explore the subtle yet profound danger of light thoughts of sin. Drawing from Charles Spurgeon’s timeless wisdom, we uncover how these seemingly minor thoughts can lead to compromise, impacting our personal holiness and leadership effectiveness. Discover actionable steps to guard your heart and deepen your walk with Christ.

Key Takeaways:

• Sinful thoughts are the "eggs of sin," capable of hatching into destructive actions.
• Compromise unfolds in four stages: tolerance, affirmation, acceptance, and adoption.
• A tender conscience can fade into callousness through the "little sin" deception.
• Practical steps include self-examination, cultivating godly thoughts, and embracing accountability.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or PayPal—every contribution helps to keep the content coming and make an even greater impact.

Buy Me a Coffee ➔ https://buymeacoffee.com/vincent_ream

Partner Financially ➔ https://paypal.me/vincentream

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/night-thunder

License code: TAT19YLX8QY2ZBCY

Have you ever felt like leadership was just a set of tasks to manage? Or wondered how your unique personality truly fits into your role as a leader in God's kingdom? What if the most impactful leadership begins not with what you do, but profoundly with who you are?

In this foundational episode, we pull back the curtain on the first pillar of the Equipped for Purpose leadership development program: Discovering Distinctiveness. This pillar is the essential groundwork for integrating deep discipleship with impactful leadership. Vincent provides a comprehensive overview of the four key areas that make up this pillar—Leader Identity, Mindset, Communication, and Conflict Resolution—and equip you with a clearer picture of the unique leader God has called you to be.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

• Your Leadership Foundation: The entire leadership program is broken into two parts: tactical "boots-on-the-ground" leadership and strategic, vision-based leadership. "Discovering Distinctiveness" is the first and most crucial pillar of Part 1.
• Embracing Imperfection: A major hurdle for leaders is self-criticism and the fear of not being perfect. We discuss the vital concept of "failing forward"—taking imperfect action to learn valuable lessons and make progress.
• Leader Identity as Your Compass: Your identity, comprised of your Character, Integrity, Vision, and Mission, serves as the foundation for every decision you make and builds trust with those you lead. It's crucial to distinguish your core identity from the temporary roles you fill.
• The Power of Mindset: Your mindset is the lens through which you view the world, and it drives your actions and shapes your team's culture. This episode provides actionable steps to overcome negative mindsets like imposter syndrome and cultivate positive ones like the growth, belonging, and abundance mindsets.
• Leadership IS Communication: Leadership can be defined as the purposeful exchange of meaning through everything you say and do. We explore five essential skills: Clarity and Confidence, Empathy, Active Listening, Adapting Your Style, and Welcoming Feedback.
• Resolving Conflict, Preserving Relationships: Conflict is inevitable, and it is the leader's responsibility to bring swift and healthy resolution. The overriding goal must always be to preserve the relationship, reflecting the biblical call to be peacemakers.

To take the next step on your leadership journey, prayerfully consider the actionable steps at the end of the episode and feel free to reach out with your thoughts.

Previous Episodes:

• Discovering Distinctiveness Introduction
• Leader Identity Part 1
• Leader Identity Part 2
• Mindset
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

We hear the word 'discipleship' often, but what does it actually look like to be a disciple of Jesus in our everyday lives? This episode moves beyond the theoretical to explore the practical, daily actions that define a follower of Christ.

True discipleship isn't a spiritual add-on; it's the very foundation for living a life of purpose and leading well in every area of life. Join Vincent as he breaks down the essential practices that flow from a life committed to following Jesus, actions that are foundational for anyone who desires to be an impactful leader at home, at work, or in their community.

Key Takeaways:

• Defining a Disciple: A disciple is one who places faith in Jesus, takes intentional daily action toward Christ-like transformation, and purposefully shares the gospel.
• Relationship with God: Foundational actions for any disciple include building a relationship with God through daily prayer and deep study of Scripture. Prayer demonstrates our dependence on God, and studying His word is essential to learn how to live a Spirit-filled life.
• Engaging in Community: Disciples are meant to live in relationship with other believers. Fellowship is intentional, with the goal of helping one another become more like Christ through accountability, empathy, and encouragement.
• Sharing the Gospel: A core part of discipleship is seeking the "replication of disciples." This involves being prepared to share the reason for your hope and actively participating in God's mission.
• Transformation and Character: Discipleship is a lifelong journey of becoming more like Christ. This requires intentional effort to develop godly character, such as humility, integrity, and love, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
• Leadership Foundation: You cannot lead others effectively in their faith if you are not first committed to being a disciple yourself. These discipleship practices are essential for being equipped to lead well.

Website ➔ vincentream.com

X ➔ https://x.com/vincent_ream

Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/vincent.a.ream/

Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/vincent.a.ream/

Email ➔ vincent.ream@gmail.com

Messenger ➔ m.me/106458781002852

If the show is bringing value to your life and you'd like to support its mission, I’d be honored to have you partner with me! You can do so through Buy Me a Coffee or PayPal—every contribution helps to keep the content coming and make an even greater impact.

Buy Me a Coffee ➔ https://buymeacoffee.com/vincent_ream

Partner Financially ➔ https://paypal.me/vincentream

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):