The Marketplace Is Your Ministry | Dewey Greene
Business leaders are some of the most underutilized ministry assets in any congregation. Mike Glenn talks with C12 Chairman Dewey Greene about his journey from corporate success to spiritual calling -- and how pastors can help marketplace leaders discover that their work isn't separate from ministry. It is ministry.Related Links
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C12 Chair, Dewey Greene
Mike Glenn: [00:00:00] Dewey, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for, uh, joining us this morning. Uh, Dewey Green is the director.
Dewey Greene: I'm a C
Mike Glenn: 12 chairman, C 12 chairman. Mm-hmm. Chairman C 12? Correct. Now, tell me what C 12 is for our
Dewey Greene: friends. C 12 was founded, uh, 30, 32, 33 years ago.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: By a man named Buck Jacobs, who had finished his journey in business, relocated to the Tampa, Florida area, but he believed.
That the workplace was meant for businesses ministry. And he had this dream, Mike, and he began meeting with 10 or 12 guys at a, at a country club in Tampa.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And he was promoting businesses ministry, and that was the birth of it.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Now you have said a phrase there that would confuse a [00:01:00] lot of our listeners.
Mm-hmm. In their mind there's business. And ministry.
Dewey Greene: Yes.
Mike Glenn: And if I'm in ministry, I have to leave business.
Dewey Greene: Correct.
Mike Glenn: And if I'm, if I'm in ministry and I wanna do business, I have to leave ministry to do the business. You've put the two together
Dewey Greene: and such a dangerous, such a dangerous thing to separate them.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. '
Dewey Greene: cause what we believe the C 12 table is the people in that room. Or shepherds of a business that God has entrusted to them. Nobody in that C 12 room owns their business, really owns their business. They might on paper, but the people in that room might believe they've been assigned by God to shepherd a business and to honor him in the work.
Mike Glenn: As a steward.
Dewey Greene: As a steward,
Mike Glenn: as a steward. This is, this is something that God owns, that he's invested to you. Entrusted to you, uh, to lead and develop not only for profit, but for the betterment of your employees [00:02:00]
Dewey Greene: and, and Mike, you know these numbers.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Statistically, 70% of all employees are not churched.
We'll never step into church. Mm-hmm. So the greatest opportunity that the majority of the people have to hear about the love of Jesus is in the marketplace.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Right Now, you didn't start in C 12.
Dewey Greene: Oh no. I've got a,
Mike Glenn: uh, uh, you, you know, first when I first met you, longer than you, and I want to admit here on camera,
Dewey Greene: much longer
Mike Glenn: than we wanna
Dewey Greene: admit.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Uh, uh, you, uh, you were in the healthcare industry.
Dewey Greene: I spent, um, 12 years as a hospital, CEO, around the southeast. And then I spent 25 years in corporate America.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: And in, in what is the corporate healthcare scenario of the world. Mm-hmm. Nashville.
Mike Glenn: Now, uh, you know, you and I have known each other a long time, uh, but when [00:03:00] I first met you, you were, um, you were a big dog.
You were very successful in. I thought I was. Well, no, no. I
Dewey Greene: believed I
Mike Glenn: was. Well, and, and, okay. Yes. I, I, I hear that. 'cause I know the rest of your story. I don't want to, I I don't wanna minimize this part. You were where anybody who is starting the career, what you were, where we would want to go and corporate and in corporate success, you had that.
Uh, and, uh, and you were, you were at the table, you were making decisions, you were in positions of influence. Everybody knew who Dewey Green was, and for a lot of those reasons, a lot of people wanted to be your friend
Dewey Greene: Yes.
Mike Glenn: And have contact with you because of, of the transactional relationships mm-hmm.
That, that are so prominent around us in our culture now. Uh, so how did you go from. Being [00:04:00] very successful on that end to now being in C 12.
Dewey Greene: This is the critical moment. Mike, the man that you described in the last two minutes, the man that I greatly dislike, believed he did not. Deep God.
I truly believe
Mike Glenn: that's pretty, that's pretty strong.
Dewey Greene: Really.
Mike Glenn: No, Mike, I mean, I,
Dewey Greene: Mike, that's where most people are. They just don't know it.
Mike Glenn: Mm.
Dewey Greene: Life circumstances, a tremendous gift from God brought me to the end of myself and what it, what I was awakened to was you don't really know who God is. Until he is all you have.
I walked out the back door of our house in the darkness of the night. It was, it was cool outside. It was early, so it was, the time had [00:05:00] changed. Mm-hmm. I walked outside and after 25 adult years in church. I was in my early forties. Mm-hmm. I walked outside in Brentwood, Tennessee into the darkness alone, and I said, God, if you are really there, I need help.
I was sitting under your leadership at Brentwood Baptist.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I walked outside and I said, God, if you were really there. I need help. 'cause I had God, listen, I had God on the table close by.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Just in case I needed him for something. But I had never really been desperate for the living God. And I didn't really understand who God really was.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. What's that passage? When you seek me with all your heart?
Dewey Greene: Yes.
Mike Glenn: You'll find me.
Dewey Greene: Yes. But, but the, the fascinating thing is [00:06:00] if you had come to me. When I was 40 years old and said, tell me about your walk with the Lord. I would've given you the most positive things.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Sadly, most of those things would've been my affiliation with the church.
Not with a father, but Mike, I believed it.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: I didn't know
Mike Glenn: that.
Dewey Greene: I
Mike Glenn: didn't the, a church where you attend a church where, where you engage at a certain level, but, but all of that's the veneer
Dewey Greene: that my relationship spiritually was defined by my specific activity with the church. Mm-hmm. And, and, and frankly, I had never experienced a deep walk with the spirit of the living God.
And I did not experience it until I said, God, if you're really there, I need help.[00:07:00]
Mike Glenn: So how do you go from that moment to leadership in C 12?
Dewey Greene: Well, there there's a fascinating. Window of time that you've just asked me a question that nobody asked me. Um, a woman that both you and I have the tremendous amount of respect for, played a pivotal role in my life, and that is Gail Haywood.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: You and I both have the deepest respect for Gail.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. Gail served on the staff at Brentwood.
Dewey Greene: Yes. Yes.
Mike Glenn: And in a variety of roles.
Dewey Greene: Yeah. Yes. And was very pivotal in my life.
Mike Glenn: How so?
Dewey Greene: Um. All right. I'm gonna reveal a secret. Gail had suggested I read the book Secrets of the Vine
Mike Glenn: mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: By Bruce Wilkinson.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And, um, she gave me a copy of it and I saw under your leadership at Brentwood Baptist on one of those Sunday nights when we were [00:08:00] still on Franklin Road
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: Uh, in one of their trailers. There was gonna be an eight week series on Secrets of the Vine.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I saw Gail one Sunday morning and I said, Gail, I'm so thrilled I'm gonna attend that.
And Gail said, I've been looking for you, I want you to facilitate. And I said, Gail,
I would love the notoriety. Mm-hmm. 'cause I like notoriety. I would love a notoriety of a Phil of, of leading that, but I'm not in a place to do that. And Gail Haywood, God speaking through Gail Haywood. Gail Haywood looked at me and she said, I believe you, but the Holy Spirit has guided me to ask you. And I said, I can't compete with the Holy Spirit.
Mm-hmm. [00:09:00] But, but the moment in that eight week series, Mike, there's a chapter on AB Bating.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I asked everybody to read the chapters in advance, and I came in that night with that group of eight or 10 people and I said, Bruce Wilkinson has done a survey and he's determined that only 5%. Of professing active Christians actually abide with Christ.
And I quoted that and I said, not only am I not part of the 5%, I don't even know what that means. I don't even know what it means to abide with Christ. Mm-hmm. And that journey in that class sent me on a private walk with the Lord, where I was in God's presence deeply in God's presence every day of my life.
Spending time alone with him and Mike, [00:10:00] the years passed and I thought, God, surely you didn't send me down this road. Just to be alone with you.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And Mike, it was 10 plus years. Every morning, every day of my life, I didn't just read the Bible. I rested in his presence. As I read his word.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And the word of God came to life.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Explain to me, uh, because we use a lot of these church words a lot, like, like abide, like rest in him, those kind of phrases. What did that mean for Dee Green?
Dewey Greene: I was awakened to something that I had never imagined. I grew up in a conservative middle of the road, Southern Baptist Church, where I heard men mm-hmm.
Pray, God how thankful we are to be in your house today. I grew up [00:11:00] implanted in the depth of my soul was that the physical church was God's house.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And Mike, I believed that.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I'm gonna tell you what it did for me. It. It gave me a sense of I reverence and awe.
Mike Glenn: Oh, yeah. When I was growing up, you didn't chew gum in church.
Dewey Greene: Right. But when I was outside the church, it gave me a sense of independence and freedom.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And there is unbelievable danger there.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: So, so it, it, it did a total flip for me, Mike, in that, in that window of time, I love to be in God's house. I love to worship with God's people. But the spiritual depth of my life was no longer grounded physically inside the church.
The physical depth of my life was grounded in my time alone face to face. Mm-hmm. Heart to heart with the spirit of the living God. Mm-hmm. [00:12:00] That, that, that tin window altered my life. And then I just got introduced to C 12, um, walked in as a guest to a board meeting and saw men and women who wove business and their spirituality.
Their marriages and their family into one.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I had never seen that before. After the meeting, I was a guest. I was a potential chairman. After the meeting, the founder of C 12 here in Nashville, Troy Blackmon, after the meeting, Troy said, what do you think? And I said, I have to do this. Mm-hmm. I must.
I have to do this. I've never seen this in my life.
Mike Glenn: When did you understand that that, um, that in this process God was redeeming all of your previous business experience and all your [00:13:00] previous life to now prepare you to lead others who were on that same journey?
Dewey Greene: Wow. Um. There's nothing as powerful as being an eyewitness.
Mike Glenn: Hmm.
Dewey Greene: Um, and.
I didn't understand, Mike. I didn't understand that this, this man that you described 15 minutes ago in business, I didn't understand the flaws of separating that person from the spirit of God,
Mike Glenn: right?
Dewey Greene: Obviously I learned the hard way, but but awakened to that truth, Mike, if you had. Talk to me. And if you had said to me, Dewey, it's really important.
It's really important for those to be one and the same.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: I wouldn't have
Mike Glenn: for there to be a congruency to your life,
Dewey Greene: I would've been polite and nodded to you. Mm-hmm. But here's the [00:14:00] difference. I saw God raise the dead in my life.
Mike Glenn: Hmm.
Dewey Greene: The disciples saw God raise the dead. And they believed. Mm-hmm.
'cause they saw it and God gave me the painful gift. And our family, the painful gift of getting to see him raise the dead. And when you've seen God raise the dead, you can never be the same again.
Mike Glenn: All right. That's a strong statement, boss.
Dewey Greene: It's true.
Mike Glenn: I, well, I'm, I'm not deny you, but just break it down for me.
Dewey Greene: Um.
The Bible. The Bible is perceived by, by many to be a fascinating history book.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And Jesus is a fascinating character that people convey with their mouth, that they believe that, but not with their heart.
Mike Glenn: Mm.
Dewey Greene: Not with their heart. [00:15:00] Lazarus has raised the dead, and we can all discount that. We can all discount that as being 2000 plus years ago.
Mm-hmm. When you've witnessed, when you've been at the table, when you've been at the Red Sea, when it got parted and God walked you across on dry ground. You know that God is present, God is as present with you and me as you know. Mm-hmm. God is as present with you and me in this very moment as he was when he created the earth.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I didn't understand that, Mike.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: But when God, when God raises the dead right in front of you. You can never be the same again.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And, and, and you speak of it. I love being here with you. It's not 'cause I want to be, it's 'cause I must.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: God has placed this in my heart and how could I not speak of it?
Mm-hmm. [00:16:00]
Mike Glenn: Yeah. So why C 12? You have, you have a lot of experiences, you have a lot of gifts, you had a lot of connections. Uh, you could have, uh, channeled this energy and this experience in a variety of ways, uh, and a lot of people would've loved to have had, uh, a, a person of your influence, power. Uh, ability to be part of their board or whatever.
YC 12
Dewey Greene: Tru, truly the hand of God. Nothing more. It's nothing of my doing. I was in my last little healthcare gig and we brought up Trust Point Hospital in Murfreesboro. Mm-hmm. That name would be familiar to those who live in the Middle Tennessee area, particularly Murfreesboro. And I was. On site, bringing that hospital outta the ground and someone, a gentleman asked me if I would come to a men's group [00:17:00] and share my story.
And of course I, of course I said yes. Mm-hmm. Because I get to discuss God raising the dead. And so I'm in this room with, I don't know, 8, 10, 12 guys. I don't remember. Small board, small board room. And when I shared my story, discussed what, what I talked about. At the end of that meeting, a man walked up to me and he said, do you know Troy Blackman?
And I said, I, I've never heard Troy Blackman's name.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And he had on a golf shirt with a C 12 logo on it, and he looked at me and he said, you are a C 12 chairman. That's the first time I ever heard of C 12 That led to the meeting that I mentioned earlier,
Mike Glenn: right
Dewey Greene: When I sat in a room for seven hours one day.
And I saw it alive. Mm-hmm. I [00:18:00] saw men and women who cared, who were fierce. Mike fierce about business, but equally committed to living in their faith out in the workplace.
Mike Glenn: The two aren't mutually exclusive. Okay. The, the typical guy in the street says, if you're gonna, if you're gonna be a good Christian, you can't be successful in business.
Dewey Greene: That that's correct.
Mike Glenn: I mean, I mean that, that to me, we understand that. But that would be the common,
Dewey Greene: and Mike 12, I've done this for 12 years and I prepare, I speak to every guest who's going to come for the first time. Mm-hmm. And I say to them, this is gonna be a sobering, somewhat shocking experience to you.
And it's never enough. I never prepare anybody for it really well. They can't believe that they're sitting in the room. Focusing on business fear, fears about business.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: But equally committed. They, I've never seen it anywhere [00:19:00] else, this alive, but, but, but the guidance I give to those that I support and serve in C 12 is this, I want you to live and love and lead like Jesus.
Mm-hmm. I want, I want the people that work for you in the marketplace to say. I want what you have. I, I've sit at the table. Mm-hmm. That the, that what, what really defines our influence spiritually is one thing, and that is do people want what we have?
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Not what we say, but what we have.
Mike Glenn: Okay. So if I show up as a business leader to a C 12 meeting, what can I expect?
Dewey Greene: Um.
A-A-A-A-A curriculum in the morning, but, but most importantly, a day that [00:20:00] people are vulnerable, incredibly vulnerable, incredibly authentic in sharing the things that they're facing. Life. But also the, the thing that it's often mistaken for is people think, oh, okay, C 12 is spiritual. C 12 is a prayer meeting.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: It's the furthest thing from it. It's the furthest thing from it. There is a fierce focus on business. Fierce.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Gimme an idea of a topic.
Dewey Greene: Um. I'll give you the, I'll give you the topic of the last, of, of, of the last two or three. Okay. The last two or three months, the, the month that we're in right now, um, it's building culture, making sure your teams have strong culture to, so that you create strong teams.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. Which would be the headline of the Harvard Business Review,
Dewey Greene: which would be the [00:21:00] headline of the Harvard Business Review. Right. The ministry segment this month that we're in the middle of right now mm-hmm. Is identifying risk factors and everybody, the, the, the source of evil. Satan himself would love to derail every one of us.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And the, the curriculum identifies three areas, appetite. Approval and, um, appetite approval and affirmation.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: What is it? What is it that I want?
Mike Glenn: Sounds like what Jesus dealt with in the wilderness.
Dewey Greene: That's the scripture. That's, that's the scriptural passage. That's the lead into that.
Yeah.
Dewey Greene: And it unpacks what Jesus dealt with.
Mm-hmm. And the curriculum says that reality that Jesus has faced is just as true today. Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: As it was then. And the beauty of that curriculum is it says, stop and identify where is your risk? [00:22:00] Where is your risk and how close is it to you?
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: So we, we unpack it all. We unpack in the morning curriculum, we unpack the business segment and the ministry segment every time.
We're together once a month and then in the afternoon. One of the members at the table does his or her core business presentation, and they present there, there's a, there's a standard format.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: They present what's transpired during their business, and they give one or two questions to the board that they're seeking guidance on.
Mike Glenn: So HR issues, growth in sales issues, any, any of
Dewey Greene: those things. Any, any of the above. And the fascinating thing is sometimes. It's not the core business focus that you would expect.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Sometime I've got this tremendous business opportunity, but I fear that it would be disruptive to my marriage.
Mike Glenn: Ah.
Dewey Greene: Which is a question that you [00:23:00] would never ask Right.
In a, in a pure business environment, because I will tell you this, you know who I worked for, I'm, I'm not gonna go there, but I will tell you, Mike. When in those early days, people in my work environment cared about one thing.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: They cared about earnings, they cared about quarterly earnings. Nobody was concerned about my family, nobody.
And the beauty of the C 12 table, and, and let me stop and say this, C 12 is not a religion. C 12 is a platform.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: It's really important. C 12 is a platform, just a platform where God gets to breathe.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Alright, let's, let's, uh, let, let's, let's grab hold of that, uh, platform concept. [00:24:00] We firmly believe at the Engaged Church Network that the first Reformation gave the Bible back to the people.
The second reformation that we're in now is giving ministry back to the people. Okay, back to your idea, church is where I go to watch a professional, a professional musician, professional presenter, and then I leave and, maybe think once or twice about what the presenter said. maybe it's a kind of a helpful thing to make, me happier for the day, but I don't, I don't see myself as leaving the worship as a missionary.
To my particular context, the role of, uh, you know, in, in, in my early ministry, my success was, was determined by what we call budgets, buildings, and butts. Mm-hmm. You know, are you building a building? Correct. The budget growing, or do you have butts in the seat?
Dewey Greene: Yes. [00:25:00]
Mike Glenn: The new success is going to be developing leaders who go back to their cultures and to their places of business and then make disciples there.
Okay. So that's where the new reality is. Uh, and, and this, this is gonna be a huge transition as we go away from, uh, from from church as being something we do or somewhere we go to something we are.
Dewey Greene: So I wanted to give you what I believe is the challenge on both ends.
Mike Glenn: Okay.
Dewey Greene: And I think there's a massive challenge on both sides.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: On the church leadership side, I am releasing instead of me owning this, right, I'm releasing this for people to go.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And I think that's a, a realistic, understandable challenge. But there's a big challenge on the business leader side as well. And I'm going to [00:26:00] say something that I think is funny, but it is unbelievably true.
Most people would love to meet Jesus at the casket and be in good standing.
Mike Glenn: True.
Dewey Greene: But what I'd really like to do is make sure that, that, that God, I'm in good standing with you. Mm-hmm. But I'd like to just sort of be left alone and I'll meet you at the cast.
Mike Glenn: Correct.
Dewey Greene: We, we are sinful by nature. Paul. Paul said it.
Best in Romans seven. I know what I should do, but I don't want to do that. Mm-hmm. And what he says, at least in the NIV NIV version, is I am waging war. Mm-hmm. So what you just suggested, and I am 100% with you, what you just suggested, is it's the responsibility of those of us who are walking with [00:27:00] God to walk with him in church on Sunday and then be a spiritual vessel Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
And the real challenge is for many of us. We don't want that.
Mike Glenn: Hmm.
Dewey Greene: We don't want that responsibility. Um, it's, it's real Mike. It's real.
Mike Glenn: Um, idolatry, adultery is when we place anybody or anything in the, uh, role of the spouse. Uh, typically men have done that with careers.
Dewey Greene: Abs, unequivocally.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Uh,
Dewey Greene: yes.
Mike Glenn: Idolatry is when you place anything or anyone in the place, rightfully reserved for God. Most of us now try to And, and, and the, and the idol is the place that we go to for blessing,
Dewey Greene: for recognition. Yes.
Mike Glenn: Who is it? Who is it that tells me who I am? [00:28:00] Yes. Who is it?
Dewey Greene: Yes.
Mike Glenn: That, that validates me. Yes. Who is it that rewards me?
Dewey Greene: Yes.
Mike Glenn: Uh, and so that, that idolatry then leads to burnout. 'cause you're going to something looking for life that can't give life back to you. Uh, so, so as you're working with, um, uh, uh, someone who's just come into C 12, how do you help them understand that
Dewey Greene: it's pace? It's very common. Uh, as, as I said earlier, it's a really sobering, almost shocking experience for most people.
The first time they're at the table. Because what they're seeing happen is so foreign to them. It's not uncommon at all. Dr. Wade, who journeyed with Jeanie and me and our family mm-hmm. Dr. Wade got rest his soul. He's going to be with Jesus last year,
Mike Glenn: uh, very well known pastoral counselor in the [00:29:00] area.
Dewey Greene: Unbelievable. Mm.
God spoke through Dr. Wade in many ways to rescue save my life. Dr. Wade said several things that I carry with me to this day. The most significant one is this Mike. Dr. Wade said that there is no value in speaking. If you cannot be heard is profound. It is profound in marriage. Mm-hmm. It's profound in parenting.
It's profound in business. So I carry that with me and while, while God, while I have seen God raise the dead, everyone's not prepared to hear that. So as I journey with people in C 12, I seek to understand where they are. I seek to meet them where they are and introduce lead, [00:30:00] encourage them as they can go with me.
Mm-hmm. And it's really important if you walk into a C 12 table and say, this is the template. Get on board. It never works.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: Some people come to the table, Mike and you, you saw it as a pastor.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Some people's journey with you, and they are right there. Others are at a distance. It's foreign to them.
Mm-hmm. It doesn't make sense. So what I seek to do is what Dr. Wade said to me, make sure you're speaking in a language. And at a time that it can be heard. It's not uncommon at all for somebody to be in C 12, 2, 3, 4 years until they fully see it and grasp it and began to live it. Very common.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Uh, I remind people often that there's a reason that Jesus talks so much about agriculture.[00:31:00]
Dewey Greene: Hmm.
Mike Glenn: That you work the dirt and you wait, you plant seeds, and you wait.
Dewey Greene: Well, speaking of the agricultural comment, I'm helping, uh, God has in in a unique way. It's not part of my job, but God's given me unique opportunity to help give birth to C 12 in Kenya. Totally bizarre.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Right now I'm doing the same thing in, in Canada, and I'm telling that new chairman, you're in charge of planting, watering, fertilizing, weeding out, but God's in charge of the apples.
Mike Glenn: That's exactly right.
Dewey Greene: God's in charge of the're, not charge of the outcome. You are not in charge of the outcome. You're in charge of doing the work.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: That God prepared for you.
Mike Glenn: Okay. What would you say to the guy who was like the dewy green? We knew who [00:32:00] was so successful in one area of his life, so unhappy and broken in other areas of your life, but sitting in church every Sunday.
Dewey Greene: Um, the first and greatest risk is that he or she will not hear it. Mm-hmm. 'cause they don't have the capacity to hear it. Um, there's nothing as powerful as your story. You,
in a very careful fashion, almost always one-on-one. I tell my story multiple times a month.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And the impact it has, Mike, is remarkable because I'm telling somebody what I'm I witness to, and I, and I'm gonna share this where I'm gonna be really careful here. [00:33:00] I wanna be really cautious. If I tell somebody about Lazarus being raised from the dead, that's 2000 plus years ago, and they may or may not believe that.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: But when I tell them my story mm-hmm. And I saw God raise the dead, the impact is massive. So there's nothing as power, but, but we don't wanna do that 'cause we wanna protect ourselves. Right. But there's nothing as powerful. Nothing is powerful. It's when you share that you're an eyewitness to the power and the presence of the living God.
Mm-hmm. So that's what I do. Mm-hmm. Above all else, I go there, I share my story, and it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the miraculous nature mm-hmm. Of the God that we serve. Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: So. We spend, uh, a [00:34:00] a lot of time I do talking to, um, uh, people who are good church
speaker: people. Mm,
Mike Glenn: good church people.
speaker: Mm.
Mike Glenn: Uh, and good and good, good people, but have no idea that God has purpose and, um, uh, uh, a, a call for them and, and. Uh, where they spend five or six days a week.
speaker: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: And that there are relationships in that, that the, that the spirit has cultivated to be part of, uh, uh, reaching Christ. Because as you said earlier, uh, most people won't come to church anymore.
Dewey Greene: No.
Mike Glenn: Uh, they'll come to a small group, they'll come to your house. Sometimes they'll come to have coffee, but they won't go to church
Dewey Greene: unless it's financial, unless it's beneficial to them in business.
Mike Glenn: Ah, yeah.
Dewey Greene: Unless there's the purpose to come.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. [00:35:00] Besides God. Besides
Dewey Greene: God. Besides God.
Mike Glenn: We're, we're, we're going to do that.
So, so what happens to your life? Uh, because I have, I have a, a thing with the, uh, that the disciples life is, is made up of worship, discipleship, which is study, but there's no ministry for most of us.
Dewey Greene: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: Okay. Discipleship is where you go learn a lot of trivia about Jesus. Mm-hmm. And if you're ever on jeopardy, well said.
Yes. If you're ever on jeopardy, you kill the Bible. Yes. Okay. Yes. But if you cut off the ministry part. Then you end up with legalism. It becomes how well, and you say the right words and the right wisdom. Okay? If you are in your, um, uh, relationship with God long enough, you are going to understand that God is still on a redemptive mission [00:36:00] and you're part of that mission in ministry.
So my, my thing is that we, we've cut off this ministry part. We don't expect you to do disciples, do. We Don't just say we do. That, that, that doing then informs not only my discipleship, 'cause I've got a, because what it happens you every week, something happens in C 12, I've gotta go study this. Mm-hmm. I didn't know that.
I didn't understand. Mm-hmm. Oh, I had a different light on that. So it drives you to study, it also drives you to worship.
Dewey Greene: Absolutely.
Mike Glenn: In that I show up going, I've gotta tell y'all what I saw Thursday. Mm-hmm. You know, you're not gonna believe this. Yes. But because most of our people don't have that, they show up waiting for someone to bring them worship, do worship and I'll, I'll judge you on if I get anything out of it.
Uh, but I don't do So what would you tell, uh. [00:37:00] Uh, again, the average church member who has no idea that there's more for them in their life, uh, than this
Dewey Greene: attract everything you've said.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: There's, I'm gonna, I'm gonna circle back to the word abiding.
Mike Glenn: Okay.
Dewey Greene: There is nothing as important as abiding with Christ.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: You and I have wives that share the same name. Mm-hmm. We're both married to Jeanie. Um, what God revealed to me was this, my primary purpose for being on the face of the Earth is not being Jeanie's husband nor is yours. Mm-hmm. Being Jeanie's husband. My, my primary purpose for being on this earth is not being a father.
My primary purpose on the earth is not being a healthcare executive, is not being a C 12 chairman. God placed me here and I now see it clearly [00:38:00] to be a spiritual vessel. Mm-hmm. Through whom he breathes, period. And my capacity to do that well is dependent upon the depth of my relationship.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Or with
Dewey Greene: him.
This
Mike Glenn: is fire hydrant story
Dewey Greene: you tell. That's, that's it. Is Mike and, um. I'm not prophetic. I don't, I don't have visions of the night, but I'm a very, I'm a really strong visual person. Mm-hmm. I draw napkins and people have copies of things that, from time to time I've experienced with them. And I don't know, Mike, four or five years ago, I don't recall how it transpired, but I had a clear picture and it is one of the most powerful things that I've ever shared.
Fire hydrants are everywhere. Mm-hmm. We think of them as really valuable. [00:39:00] The reality of there is they're just conduits. Mm-hmm. They're just pipes. They're just sitting appropriately placed and they're several fascinating things about them. I'm gonna be really brief. I'm gonna discuss two or three things for a fire hydrant To be effective, that has to have two things.
It has to be connected to the main and it has to be pressurized. The second thing that's fascinating is fire hydrants never move. Fire hydrants don't chase fires.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: But the firemen know where they are. There's a fire hydrant right across the street from Regina and I live, if there's a fire in my house today, they're gonna come there in the truck.
Mm-hmm. And they're gonna pull the hose to the fire hydrant. God wants you and me to be spiritual fire hydrants. And here's what God has. I, I hate to use the word revealed, but I [00:40:00] feel like God has revealed to me, God wants me to be connected to the mean Him.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And he wants me to be pressurized. He wants his spirit alive and in me.
And here is what I've seen. God will walk people into my life because he knows that I will let him speak through me.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: I, I, God has been where, where I, you started this saying, I was a big shot.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And not only, not only was I perceived that way, I believed that I was, I now realize that I'm nobody.
I now realize that fully I am fully surrendered
Mike Glenn: mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: To the spirit of the living God, and that allows me to be a servant and [00:41:00] I get to speak his word. Mm-hmm. I open my mouth and I worked so diligently to open my mouth and let God speak through me. Mm-hmm. I just try and get out of the way.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. That's a hard moment.
And we both had 'em of, of thinking that, that I'm at the top of this mountain and realizing it. It is nothing. Uh,
Dewey Greene: but,
Mike Glenn: but you have, you have worked real hard to believe a lie. It's just,
Dewey Greene: but that's how we're brought up.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Dewey Greene: You know, that's the world here. We sit in Brentwood, Tennessee. Right. And nowhere is that more visible than it is mm-hmm.
In places like Brentwood, Tennessee and Williamson County. Um, that's the beauty, that's the beauty of the end of yourself.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: The top of the mountain looks fantastic. Mm-hmm. Until God brings you to the end of yourself. And it is, it is the moment. [00:42:00] It is a horrific, tragic, joyful moment.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Dewey Greene: That all exist.
It's
Mike Glenn: all Yeah.
Dewey Greene: It's, yeah, it is.
Mike Glenn: It is. Yeah. And it is, is it in, is in that moment of death that that new life happens.
Dewey Greene: That that's the, that's what, that's what God's word tells us.
Mike Glenn: Alright. I'll give you the part in shot. What's one thing you wanna be sure we hear today?
Dewey Greene: Honestly upset it. Uh, honestly, I've said it.
Um, I wanna be brief, I'm gonna be repetitive. Um, God has placed us here to be a vessel through whom we speak. Mm-hmm. And as much as C 12 is our topic today, uh, because it aligns so beautifully with what you're doing, um, it's a platform.
speaker: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And God has given Mike Glenn, God has given Dewey Green and God has given everybody a sphere of influence.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. There we go.
Dewey Greene: Everybody has a unique [00:43:00] sphere of influence, and we are accountable. We are accountable, and we will be accountable in the end to how effectively we allowed him to speak through us in our individual spheres of, in spheres of influence.
Mike Glenn: I, I think one of, uh, uh. Uh, one of, one of the projects I'm working on now is called The Whole Enchilada.
Mm
Dewey Greene: mm
Mike Glenn: And that you and I are, are called to be stewards of the moments and people that he's entrusted to us. A
Dewey Greene: hundred percent.
Mike Glenn: See, I was, uh, uh, Jeannie and I have been married 45 years. Um, I started a prayer time. Several years ago, it was pure invitation, come, I want you to come deeper. My answer to Jesus was, no, because I've made a thousand promises to you kept none of them.
That's so embarrassing. It's embarrassing to me. It's gotta be embarrassing to you. So let's just understand I'm doing the best I can.
Dewey Greene: Right?
Mike Glenn: And let's just, [00:44:00] but finally I got this note. Uh, this, what I now know is, was, was, was an invitation from the spirit. It's going do it 30 days.
Dewey Greene: Hmm.
Mike Glenn: You can do it 30 days.
I ain't stand on my head for 30 days, but Correct. But, but no big commitment. 30 days.
Dewey Greene: Correct.
Mike Glenn: Okay. I have made that 30 day commitment now for almost 20 years.
Dewey Greene: Exactly.
Mike Glenn: So I'm, I'm coming at the end of, at the end of March. I'll re-up April 1st. Right. But one of the interesting things Ha, that happened to that is, is I started praying for Jeanie.
Dewey Greene: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: And, um.
In that moment, God told me that Jeanie was one of his favorite people.
Dewey Greene: Mm.
Mike Glenn: And that I had been entrusted with her to maximize who she is in Christ.
Dewey Greene: So, may I speak?
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Dewey Greene: So. There's a [00:45:00] beau, there's beau, there's real beauty in what you just said.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Your relationship that you dedicated yourself to and, and, and stay with me.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: I'm gonna, I'm gonna pull this together. Your focus 20, 30 years ago was not on, primarily on Jeanie.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Your focus was on your walk with God.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And as you grew into a spirit of oneness
Mike Glenn: right.
Dewey Greene: With him
Mike Glenn: mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: God let you see Jeanie through his eyes. Mm-hmm. And he taught you to love
Mike Glenn: her.
Exactly. Exactly
Dewey Greene: right. As he loves her. Mm-hmm. That's what God wants of us.
Mike Glenn: Exactly. Yeah.
Dewey Greene: God wants us to be one with him.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. And, and the, and the cool thing is, is that, you know, 1980, she was given to me, her father actually did that someday. God, I hope that's a long time. We'll give her back.
Dewey Greene: That's correct.
Mike Glenn: And on that day, I want to be able to say like, the guys with the talents, this is who you gave me.
Dewey Greene: Correct. [00:46:00]
Mike Glenn: Now look at her.
Dewey Greene: Correct.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. And that's the same with my, our, our children.
Dewey Greene: Absolutely.
Mike Glenn: It's the same with our businesses.
Absolutely.
Mike Glenn: It's the same. We are, we are stewards and therefore accountable, uh, to the one who, uh, who owns everything.
Dewey Greene: You're not gonna remember this. I'm sure you did it often. I stood the first wedding in the new building.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Dewey Greene: Brentwood Baptist was Dustin.
Mike Glenn: That's right. Was Dustin
Dewey Greene: and Amy.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Dewey Greene: I was standing on the platform very close to you, um, as the best man.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And you turned to me and shocked me. And you said Dewey.
When Dustin faces things in life that he has never faced before and he doesn't know what to do,
Mike Glenn: Uhhuh,
Dewey Greene: he will do
Mike Glenn: what he saw you
Dewey Greene: do, what he saw you do. I [00:47:00] don't know that I heard anything else. The next five minutes, I thought, Mike, why didn't you say that to me earlier so I could absorb that?
Mike Glenn: Yeah,
Dewey Greene: but your point is so well taken.
We are living images and people are looking to see what we do. Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: And we have an option.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: We have a choice. We can reflect our own hearts, our own selfish hearts, or we can walk closely with the spirit of God and live and love like he does. Mm-hmm. And that moment on stage paralyzed me, um, because I thought, wow.
Dustin has not seen a father who walks closely with the Lord.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: Um, it's a powerful moment.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: You grew to see Jeanie through God's eyes. Mm-hmm. And you loved her as he loves
Mike Glenn: him. Yeah. Yeah. Strong, [00:48:00] strong moment. Strong moment. And we're hoping that, that everybody begins to understand every aspect of their life.
As, as steward and, and love every aspect in the, in the, in the way that God does. So if I want to get, if I wanna find out more about C 12, if I wanna get into C 12, how do I do that?
Dewey Greene: Well, there is, uh, a website, c 12 forums.com mm-hmm. Is the national website. There's a very small corporate office in San Antonio.
Uh, but if you go to c 12 forums.com, you can access any part of the country. And C 12 is now in multiple, uh, is now international. Okay? Uh, it was never intended to be, but someone in Brazil came to Mike Sherrow, the CEO of C 12 and said, I want C 12 in Brazil. And that opened the floodgates and, and it all happened.
So let me say this, as glorious and wonderful as C 12 is. [00:49:00] And I'm thankful for my 11 plus years and I'm praying God will give me five more. As wonderful as it is, it's just a platform.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Dewey Greene: The real beauty is walking every day with a spirit of the living God.
Mike Glenn: That's a great way to leave it. Do we agree?
Thanks for being with us.
Dewey Greene: Thanks, Mike.
Mike Glenn: Great to see you. Take care.
