Episode 1599: Interview with Jason Heinritz Founder of Wake Up Jesus People Movement

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on episode 1,599 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Jason Heinritz: I'm Jason Heinritz. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to recognize if you are truly fulfilled and have the courage to change if you aren't is key.

And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

So when they start their day with prayer, exercise, journaling, just the transformation in their mind and their happiness the rest of the day. Yeah, there's outward appearance too. They're happier and they're healthier and all that, but just that. That confidence and that strut knowing I got [00:01:00] the important things done for the day that I needed to or wanted to.

Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself.

Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's podcast episode, I interview Jason Heitz. I asked Jason about why he founded the Wake Up Jesus People movement. I also asked Jason about why we need to redefine our spiritual rhythms, and Jason also shares with you how important it is to develop a meaningful rhythm of spiritual discipline. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired [00:02:00] Living.

Assemble the puzzle of your calling by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world.

Welcome to the show, Jason. Yeah, thanks for having me, Scott. Absolutely. It's great talking to you. You know I shared a lot in the intro of some of the work you've done and the books you've got out, and things that you've been doing to help people. Discover ministry as entrepreneurs lean into their faith and of course you've worked yourself in business and doing things through direct sales and all of that.

A lot of different things that you've done over the years, and yet I always think intros are kinda like the Instagram photos [00:03:00] of Yeah. Our life. They just show part of the frame. We make sure that we frame it the right way. So take people back and share a little bit more about your journey and what has brought you to the point where these are the messages that you're leaning into that you feel called to share.

Sure.

Jason Heinritz: Yeah, it's been a long journey. God's been working on me a lot. I take it way back. I was raised in a really great Christian home. It was really more of my parents' faith, I'd say throughout throughout growing up. And then once I went to college, I tried to keep it strong, but definitely felt the temptations and was one foot in the world, one foot out, partying a lot, having a lot of fun, chasing my own.

Accolades and titles and got into two direct sales with Cutco cutlery and has been doing that for about 21 years now. And it's a very shiny object. It's very tempting to make that my God and make that my idol. So that's what I did for about two decades. So throughout my twenties is build my own kingdom.

It was focused on [00:04:00] wealth and accolades and trophies and all of that. And. I ended up getting engaged to a non Jesus woman, and our relationship was all founded on pleasures and sex and partying and fun. And the devil just like slowly chipped away like one, one degree at a time, 1% at a time to where I asked her to marry me.

I got to be about two months before realizing, holy cow, this is not gonna work out. We're both pretending to be people that we're not, and. I called it off. Two months before and I, what I told her was, Hey, I'd much rather delay a wedding than call off a marriage. So that was a big wake up call.

I'm so thankful that God woke me up. It was so easy to go down that path, Scott. And so I just saw the devil take me a little bit further in, and then he woke me up and then I spent a year, that was the fall of 2012. I spent that year growing myself, diving [00:05:00] back into the church, starting morning routines, getting serious about my faith in myself, but.

I still was trying to build Jason's kingdom instead of God's kingdom. So I spent the next decade doing that, making God more of a priority. Not just being like a Sunday Christian, but a daily Christian, and doing those morning practices and things we can get into, but. Man, it was a lot of cleansing.

It was a lot of growth. We got married, had two kids and COVID hit. And really from there, Scott was another awakening was, Hey I've been making work my idol. I've been pursuing my accolades, my success, and building Jason's kingdom instead of God's kingdom. So two years ago I got rebaptized, I dove in even more.

My wife and I lead a young adults ministry at church and we're just very blessed. And so I just feel it's been two decades of God working on me and me learning [00:06:00] the very hard and long way to, to wake up and to really live this amazing, abundant life that God has for us to serve others serve him, serve others, love him, and love people.

So that's where just over the last few years, God's been working on me and through leading discipleship groups and practices I really felt like I needed to come out with a book and a movement and let God just use me and see what he does with it.

Scott Maderer: So just curious. I gotta go back, so you called off things h how did she take it?

Jason Heinritz: Oh, not well in her true colors. I knew it, Scott. I knew it. And what's actually funny is I not funny, but throughout I thought she was gonna change. I thought things were gonna be different. And my parents and my, our premarital counselors both said the same thing.

So I was struggling and wrestling with some things and they were like, if she doesn't change. She says exactly the same, would you marry her? And I said, hell no. I said, no way. [00:07:00] And so that was a big wake up call like, man, we're, I'm just. I'm pretending I'm, this is not gonna be great. So thankfully God woke me up and then when I called it off, unfortunately her true color showed.

I'm like, yeah, holy cow. God, you saved me, because that would've been a train wreck. Yeah.

Scott Maderer: Yeah it's interesting 'cause I think a lot of times we get into relationships. With the idea of we're gonna change the other person or they're gonna turn into this idealized version that we have in our head.

And yeah. It's not that people can't change, certainly people can. We've both seen people redeemed and changed sometimes almost like a light switch even can change, but it is something that has to happen. It's not something we can make happen that's between them and God and their heart, and their mind, their soul, their spirit.

It's not our job to do it but boy, it's tempting. Do you think that was part too of the idea of making your [00:08:00] kingdom? Do you think that was some pride coming out on your part? I think I was more,

Jason Heinritz: yeah it, she was it looked like a great thing. It looked like a great relationship.

It looked like a power couple on the outside. When you got deep, it was, there was nothing there. It was all just surface level built on pleasures, and there wasn't really a lot of depth to it. So I think it was. Partially of me thinking, okay, this is the next step to the kingdoms. I gotta I need a queen, right?

And I need someone to enjoy this awesome life with why am I building this only for myself? And so I think that was part of it. I don't think it was the main part, but definitely a, I'd say, got a little part. When you think about your faith journey, and you talked about that before and after moment of.

Scott Maderer: We're beginning to turn back to faith. Talk us through how has your faith journey affected what you do, how you do it, and what's that feedback loop between the changes in your faith and the changes in your life [00:09:00] journey? Yeah.

Jason Heinritz: I would say it's been completely different.

It's been completely. Impactful in my life, especially the last two years, I'd say in my twenties I was saying I was a Christian and my faith was there, so it stopped me from doing too crazy of things and I still had that, that, that weekly check-in on Sundays as a Sunday Christian and it was, all right, God, I do love you and you're great.

I'm glad I'm a Christian. And then kinda. I'll forget about you throughout the week and focus on my kingdom. And so having that faith going through the ups and downs of life, and especially then in my thirties and through COVID and kids marriage, right? It's not easy. And so to be able to rely on him, Scott, throughout all of that.

And really dive more in to Bible reading and prayer and just peace, worship, music, everything with him, it just makes life so much easier. But really, I haven't truly felt his love and peace and joy until the [00:10:00] last few years. First when we had our kids, I couldn't believe how much I loved my my, my kids and thinking, wow.

God loves us this much was a big wake up call and working on, I struggle with empathy and emotions. But he, that was a big help in my development to being a better husband and father working on my emotions and my empathy. But then just in the last couple years of letting it all out just saying God is number one.

Actually making him number one of my priorities instead of saying he was. But really work was my number one priority. It's been a complete shift, Scott, in my peace and my joy and just the pressure is off. The stress is off now. It's still there at times, right? As an entrepreneur and a leader, you're always gonna have that.

I think when it gets really tough now, I just think that's just leadership. It's it's just part of what God has called us to do as leaders. But yeah, I'd say it's been completely transformative the last couple [00:11:00] years in our marriage in in business. It's funny how when I stopped chasing idols and stopped chasing accolades and promotions and actually got a demotion kind, I asked for it.

I told my boss. Three years ago, hey, it was probably my last year in my position. Dunno if it's in the company, but definitely in my position. He's like, all right, we'll see about it. And then at the end of the year he's yeah it seems like you'd be happier if you're demoted. I'm like, all right, sounds good.

And it's funny how we had our best year ever last year, and this year we're having our best year ever again. And how, when I just released it to him, how much happier I am, and then how much better we're doing in business. Yeah. God, my faith has had a huge impact in my life.

Scott Maderer: So what brought you to writing the book?

Wake Up, Jesus People. First off, I love the title, but talk a little bit about where that came from what brought that to your mind as a message, a movement that you wanted. To, or you were called to, to [00:12:00] move towards? Yeah,

Jason Heinritz: a few things happened. First of all, when I was in a desperate time and I called off the called off the wedding before in 2012, I really dove in back into.

My starting my day with Jesus morning routines, diving back into the church and just having more of a I'm a business guy. I'm a SOP kind of guy. What do I need to do? What do I, what are the standard operating procedures of being a great Jesus guy? And so I thought. As I figured out, we've been practicing this for years now, that man, I'm just so much happier and better starting my day with Jesus, having these routines with exercise and prayer and journaling and reading the Bible, and why aren't more Jesus people doing this?

And, so I saw that, worked on that, and then a mentor at church probably four years ago challenged me to start a discipleship group and I started an eight week discipleship group called Wake Up Jesus guys. It was mainly [00:13:00] for 4, 4, 4 guys. And I went through an eight week course with them and guided them through these practices, these routines.

It was a combo of. Morning routines and just being a kick butt leader in life. A great husband and father, but really just these disciplines and mentalities to be your best Jesus self. And then after doing that for a couple years, I had it in my heart to write the book and thought. I can impact these 10 to 20 guys a time in this discipleship group.

And it's awesome grapefruit, just awesome to see people level up and be reawakened. And then I thought how can I impact more? And I'd written a book earlier. Like five, six years ago called Conquer, the Post-College passion slump. It wasn't that great, but I wrote it. I thought, okay, if I can write a book, why don't I write one for his kingdom and see what happens.

So a lot of fruit from that. It's been really cool to see that impact. So [00:14:00] that's how I got the, I guess the kind of oomph to actually go out and do it. But. The reason why Scott, why I wrote the book is I feel as Jesus people, there's two ways to wake up. I see a lot of amazing people, amazing Jesus people, but they're Sunday Christians and they're just gonna church.

They're checking it off, but he's not actually part of their life. We're zombies walking through life, not participating in loving people and loving him. And we're just visiting. This earth for a hundred years and then it's eternity with him. How are we? Are we really are we on mission here? Or are we just trying to get more get more accolades, go on more trips invest more, get a bigger house, or what?

Like what are we really doing here? So I feel like as Jesus people, if we all woke up, doesn't matter what denomination you're in, doesn't matter what any of that, can we disagree on loving Jesus and loving people. Let's unite, let's wake up and take dominion [00:15:00] over this earth. And then secondly, how can we be our best selves for Jesus?

In the morning with what I call a sacred start, actually waking up early, actually getting up, starting your day with exercise, bible reading, devotional prayers affirmations, believing that God's got you. All of that is gonna set the tone for your whole day as a leader. As a parent as a spouse.

So yeah, that's where it came from.

Scott Maderer: So talk a little bit more about routines. I'm a big believer in morning routines, evening routines and other routines as well. Oftentimes I get pushback on those it's hard for people to make 'em stick or maybe there's something going on in their life like.

Yeah. Your your life right now. You got young kids at home, you know that there's all these reasons why getting up early or starting a morning routine doesn't seem to stay around for people. [00:16:00] They know, they think it's a great concept in theory, but how do we practically do it?

What are some of the things that you've stumbled on or worked on or discovered as you've been working on this?

Jason Heinritz: Sure. A few things. One, I'd say to the listeners, it's just a choice to I'm a coach in what I do in work to be direct and up in your grill. It's all, do you want a better life or not?

It's all, it's either you can find excuses or you can find reasons. Either way, you're going to come up with a choice. And so if you make the decision it's proof. You look at everyone around who has the morning routines, they're happier, they're healthier. They're better.

And so the morning routine for me, it starts around 5:00 AM I call it the sacred start. So sacred. It's wholly, it is set apart. It is you getting yourself right for the day. Getting with Jesus. For me it's a couple hours every morning. Some people may freak out at that. It's, it could be 30 minutes for you, but it's getting the body moving.

It's [00:17:00] exercising, it is going to the gym, it's going for a walk. It's just God made you this abundant body that he created. Let's use it. Let's make it healthy. Let's make it last a long time. And then it's getting the Bible every day. It's praying every morning it's worship music. It's visualizing these dreams and these hopes that God has put on my heart of things that are exciting, things that, that get you up and get you excited to go for the day and for the week.

And then also just affirmations, I'd say too from scripture of just. Hey, when you read the Bible, there's reminders in there all over that we can do this. And he has designed us. We are we're made in his image. And in the morning having some type of get up, get to it routine to start your day.

And that way the, so the start your day is like the rudd over boat, right? So it's it's whatever direction it's going and it's faced, the boat's gonna start turning slowly, but it's gonna turn that way. [00:18:00] That it sets the tone and the direction for the rest of your day. So based on where the rudder is positioned, is gonna determine your happiness, your joy, your peace, your direction for that day.

So another thing I like to say is to give everyone else that best of you and not the rest of you. So you're. A lot of people run on fumes. They're hitting snooze the last minute. They're stressed, they're anxious, they're rushing to work. They wake up because they have to, not because they want to. And so to get up 'cause you want to, and then fill yourself up, and then the overflow of abundance, happiness, joy, Jesus is coming out in overflow into everyone else.

As opposed to you like running on fumes and giving everyone the rest of you instead of the best of you. So that's the morning routine. What I also would say is that the evening alarm is more important than your morning alarm. If you're up till 2:00 AM playing video games, if you're [00:19:00] up till midnight watching TV or scrolling, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Doesn't matter what time the morning alarm is set, and you get four hours of sleep. That's not healthy. So what time do you need to get to bed and do you have an evening alarm? Mine's at nine 20. So every day, every night, nine 20 it goes off. So it reminds me even in the middle of a really good episode of Netflix that, Hey, this is my last episode.

I gotta stop so I can get to bed by 10. So I can wake up at five, get my seven-ish hours of sleep and be ready to go. So having an evening routine as well, and being intentional is really important. If you look in the Bible, looked at what, what the Jewish people did, and even in the Bible with God with creation talking about, there was evening and there was morning the second day, and they start their day at sundown the night before.

So if you think of your evening and your sleep as, Hey, this is going to be a start to the next day. It's not the end of this day to rest [00:20:00] and to be like, oh my gosh, this day was so tough. It's, Hey, I'm starting my day with rest so I can wake up, ready to go and be an awesome Jesus person or leader in your life.

So the evening routines really help too. No, I would agree. I actually tell people all the time, if you're struggling with your morning routine, we usually need to look at your evening. Even though that sounds counterintuitive to a lot of people, it's no, actually your morning starts the night before.

Scott Maderer: It's it doesn't start when you get up. It starts the night before. Which is why I think again, people will struggle sometimes and not realize why they're struggling, is. Because it doesn't have to do with what's happening in the morning. It has to do with what's happening the night before.

What are some of the other key you, key parts of starting your day like this with some sort of solid beginning? What have you seen as some of the fruits that come from that for people?

Jason Heinritz: Sure. I've seen people actually fall in love with God again. I've [00:21:00] seen people get healthy and lose 50 pounds.

I've seen people who re got reawakened to their faith and they don't get what they're missing. As people have gone through my discipleship group if they've gone through my 40 forge challenge as well, it's just they're realizing, I didn't realize this was missing. I didn't realize something was missing.

So when they start their day with prayer, exercise, journaling, just the. The transformation in their mind and their happiness the rest of the day. Yeah, there's outward appearance too. They're happier and they're healthier and all that. But just that confidence and that strut, knowing I got the important things done for the day that I needed to or wanted to, because throughout the day, let's get real.

If you try to do it, at the end of the day, if you, that's you and you do it great. However I know myself, I get tired, I get lazy. I don't wanna do it. So when I start my day with that, you've already started to do your day with integrity. So it allows you to follow through. Most people, they don't, 'cause they hit [00:22:00] snooze in their alarm.

They said they're gonna wake up at a time and they don't. So they ruin their integrity. Therefore, they don't follow through on other things like fo following up with their mom or following up with that contact or going to work out, or whatever it may be. They've given themselves permission the rest of the day to not be.

A follow through type person. So starting a day like that, it, there's more follow through the rest of the day, they're better in their jobs, they're better in their families, they feel clean and healthier. So they're shedding some of those maybe temptations or chains that are holding them back. So I've seen so much fruit and it carries into others of life.

Something I've heard before is how you do. How you do some things is how you do most things. So if you're a follow, if you're a person of integrity follows through, that carries over into other areas of your life and vice versa. So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I ask you about that, is there anything else about the book Wake Up Jesus [00:23:00] People or the work you do?

Scott Maderer: The 44 challenge? Or any of that you'd like to share with the listener?

Jason Heinritz: Sure. I'd say if you're looking to be more fulfilled in life and you're looking to just be, just awakened as a Jesus person, if you feel a little down, a little feel stressed and worried, I'd encourage you to to really get the book.

There's a lot of disciplines and mentalities and things that are just. Great. That just how to be a great Jesus person. I'm not perfect myself. I'm not claiming this is the, the perfect book, but there's a lot of great things that have helped me and that have helped others.

I definitely challenge you to find something that inspires you, something that helps you get up with fire and something that really get, gets you going, whether it's a 40 forge challenge. Like a 40 day kind of shock to the system to get you going to start you on this identity shift and in these habit, this habit train.

Or maybe [00:24:00] dive back into to church as well. But yeah, of the book and the journal and the 40 forge challenge that you should check out.

Scott Maderer: So my brand is inspired stewardship, and I run things through that lens of stewardship. And yet I've discovered over the years that's one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

So for you, what does the word stewardship mean to you?

Jason Heinritz: Yeah, I think it's doing what you have with what you got in a way that honors God. So if you're in a company and you're a leader and you're a CEO or a leader like God's put you there for a reason. So do it great. And give him all the glory. So the tough balance, Scott, I feel, is like in stewardship it's very easy to make I said in leadership too, which is very easy to put yourself in a platform make you the center of attention.

But when you can be given these fruits or this income or this [00:25:00] position and do great, do your best at it. Give him the glory that's that best combo. You're not doing it to earning money is not bad, right? But if you earn a lot of money, you can tithe a lot more. You can give a lot more, right?

If the Good Samaritan was not a wealthy well off to do guy, he wouldn't have had time to take time to put him up in the hotel and then pay for it. But he had time 'cause he had people working for him and he had extra income, right? So if you're in a position steward that, that, that income you have have a budget, right?

The time you have have a time budget. And I think it's really important that we are aware of what we've been given. And then just like the story of the talents in the Bible, as you prove yourself and he can trust you, that you're gonna do well with that. He's gonna give you more to steward.

And I think the most important [00:26:00] thing I'm stewarding is my family and the best I can be. I'm not doing it for applause. I'm not doing it for accolades or income. It's all for the legacy of my family that my family is the ripple effect from. Me doing my best as a Jesus person, living righteously is gonna carry generations from where I'm at, from leading them, coaching them, teaching them may, maybe leading a legacy piece with the book that they can read.

And that it just that the ripple throughout, throughout generations is is impactful.

Scott Maderer: Which brings me to my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. Imagine for a moment that I could invent this magic machine and with this machine I was able to take you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years.

And through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life. And see all of the ripples, all of the connections, all of the [00:27:00] impacts you've left. What impact do you hope you've had in the world? Yeah,

Jason Heinritz: I hope there's more people in heaven because of me. I hope there's souls that, and that's how you can be in heaven, I feel and that's like storing up treasures, like storing them up in heaven.

I'm not, I don't know what it's gonna look like. I don't know. The crowns on the ju the ju Jules on the crown the mansions, the some of the imagery we hear in the Bible. I don't know how that all looks. What I do know is it's gonna be so cool to see people. Generations down because of the impact I had on my kids or my people, and they're in heaven because of that seed plant or that book or that podcast.

And they're just an army of people who are there because of my influence and everything else is gonna fade. Everything else is gonna be gone. But man, if I can have so many more people following Jesus, loving Jesus and making an impact, that's that's a win. So what's on the roadmap? What's [00:28:00] coming next as you continue on your journey?

Yeah, a lot actually. Yeah. Besides two kids and married and a business leader. We are moving to Seattle in two weeks. We're driving out there to help plant a church. We're very excited for it, very hopeful and nervous, and we can't believe we're doing this. So we're going out there. We're just open-handed, surrendered, like, all right, God, what's next?

Excited for that to live in the Pacific Northwest and just see what happens. I have no idea how long we're gonna be there. I have no idea. We're very hopeful and very excited. The other thing is that I can continue to build his kingdom and stay humble. Being a recovering workaholic and being a person who finds all of his worth and value in other people's applause and recognition being able to let the, let the book and the movement and the 40 fours challenge explode while staying [00:29:00] humble and staying true to, to keeping God number one, and that is just impactful.

And then I continue to do my best to lead my family really. So that's what I'm really excited about moving forward. And yeah, we'll see what happens.

Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Jason Heinrich over at Wake Up Jesus people.com. Of course. I'll have a link to that in the show notes as well, so you can find it over there.

Jason, anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

Jason Heinritz: Yeah, I'd like to finish with just. If you feel like something's missing, if you feel down, if you feel depressed, if you feel like you're just, you're struggling. That's not. That's not what God wants for you. And so find a local church. Find something that's gonna boost you up.

Find a community of Jesus loving people, and start your day with him and see what happens. See what happens to your peace and your joy and your fulfillment. [00:30:00] Because this world that we live in can be very stressful. It can, the devil has us caught up in all our distractions, all of our holdbacks.

And so stay strong. Level up in God's kingdom and let's take on. Let's take dominion over this world.

Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

Rate all one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the [00:31:00] podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.