Advertise on podcast: The Landscaping Faith Podcast

Coming to you from Louisville, Kentucky, it's a special Equip Expo edition of The Landscaping Faith Podcast! As another incredible Equip Expo comes to a close, we're reflecting on more than just equipment, education, and industry connections. We're talking about the friendships, fellowship, and shared faith that bring us together as professionals in the green industry and, more importantly, as brothers and sisters in Christ. One of this week's highlights was the 7th Annual Trades for Christ Prayer Breakfast, featuring powerful prayer, biblical teaching, inspiring testimony, and a special presentation from Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and Duck Commander. In this short episode, we reflect on the incredible Christian community growing within the landscaping industry and the importance of encouraging one another, building lasting relationships, and boldly sharing the Gospel. As everyone heads home from Louisville, we close in prayer for safe travels and offer a simple challenge: Stay connected, find fellowship, encourage your fellow landscapers, and never miss an opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ. Because at the end of the day, we're building more than businesses. We're building relationships, strengthening our faith, and working together for something far greater than ourselves. God bless, travel safely, and keep the faith! 🌱 The Landscaping Faith Podcast — Where Faith Meets the Green Industry.

This week, John catches up on life in the green industry and the encouragement of connecting with fellow Christians at Equip Expo and the LCR Summit. He shares the story of Ron Yount, a landscaper whose Bible study friends helped turn his desire to serve into a mowing ministry for neighbors in need. John also reflects on receiving a cancer diagnosis after returning from last year’s Expo—and returning this year cancer-free. Through Ron’s story and Scripture, we’re reminded to encourage one another, serve our neighbors, and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever God has placed us. Sources:Amanda Cheatwood, “An Old Man and His Mower,” Revival | Here + There, July 1, 2025: https://www.revivalhereplusthere.com/news/an-old-man--and-his-mower Scripture (NKJV): 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Galatians 6:2; Matthew 11:28.

What can a landscaper really do for the Kingdom of God? In this episode of The Landscaping Faith Podcast, John shares the story of Russell Simpler of Smith Lawn & Tree, a Texas green-industry professional who heard a sermon challenging him to make an impact in his community and found himself asking, “I’m just a landscaper. What can I do?” That question eventually connected him with the nonprofit 6 Stones, where Smith Lawn & Tree began using its professional skills, crews, and equipment to help homeowners in need with landscaping, tree work, drainage, walkways, and property restoration. Russell’s story is a reminder that serving Christ doesn’t always require starting a ministry, standing behind a pulpit, or traveling across the world. Sometimes God can use the skills, equipment, experience, and opportunities already sitting right in front of us. We’ll connect that story to 1 Peter 4:10 and Colossians 3:23, looking at what Scripture teaches about stewardship, serving others, and doing our everyday work as unto the Lord. The challenge this week is simple: Stop asking whether what you do is important enough for God to use. Start asking how God might use what He has already placed in your hands. Russell Simpler currently serves as president and CEO of Smith Lawn & Tree and has a professional background in horticultural business, turf, plants, and landscape management. Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10 Colossians 3:23 John 1:1-14 Sources: 6 Stones — Russell: There’s A Need For You Smith Lawn & Tree — Our Team: Russell Simpler

This episode is a little different. Recorded while traveling, this is an informal, unscripted edition of The Landscaping Safety Podcast. The audio may not have the usual studio quality, but the conversation is real. We talk through a few thoughts on landscaping safety, the green industry, life on the road, and even spend a little time in John 1—reflecting on Christ, the Word, and keeping our priorities in perspective. No case study. No polished script. Just a twenty-minute conversation from the road. Stay safe. Work smart. Look out for your crew—and never forget there’s more to this life than the next job.

What can God do with a lawn mower and a willingness to stop? In this episode of The Landscaping Faith Podcast, we share the story of Rodney Smith Jr. In 2015, Rodney noticed an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He stopped to help—and that one decision eventually grew into Raising Men and Women Lawn Care Service.[1][2] Through the organization’s 50 Yard Challenge, young people mow 50 lawns free of charge for elderly neighbors, veterans, single parents, people with disabilities, and others who need assistance. Along the way, they learn responsibility, compassion, leadership, perseverance, and the value of serving their communities.[1][3] We also open John 1:1–10 and examine what Scripture teaches about Jesus Christ as the eternal Word, the Creator, the source of life, and the true Light. Like John the Baptist, we are not the Light—but our lives, work, and service can point people toward Him.[4] Before beginning, we pause to remember Robert Duncan, a 67-year-old landscaping worker who died after his mower overturned into the Augusta Canal on September 12, 2026.[5] You do not need a large platform, expensive equipment, or a perfect ministry plan to make a difference. Sometimes ministry begins by noticing one person, stopping to help, and faithfully serving—one lawn at a time. Sources [1] Raising

What was the first job God gave mankind? Before the Fall, before thorns and thistles, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden “to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15 NKJV). In this episode of The Landscaping Faith Podcast, we go back to Genesis and explore the biblical foundation of work, stewardship, and caring for God’s creation—and ask whether there may be a reason so many of us feel deeply connected to working with the land. Then we head to South Carolina for the remarkable true story of Derek and Heather Gracely of Capstone Landscape Management. Their desire to use their landscaping company for something greater than themselves led to weekly workplace devotions, Gospel conversations, and ultimately 21 reported professions of faith in Jesus Christ. Nine new believers were baptized right behind the landscape company’s shop. From tending the garden to tending the mission field, this episode asks a simple question: What are we doing with the work God has already placed in our hands? Scripture: Genesis 2:5, 2:8, 2:15; Genesis 3:17–19; Psalm 24:1; 1 Corinthians 3:6–9. Sources: Scott Vaughan, Baptist Courier, “Upstate pastor, business owner see weekly workplace devotion lead to baptisms and discipleship,” April 13, 2017. Scott Vaughan, Baptist Press, “Workplace devotion leads to baptisms, discipleship,” May 24, 2017. Kristen Hampshire, Lawn & Landscape, “An anti-complacency culture,” April 17, 2014. Capstone’s green-industry profile documents the company’s 2007 startup and growth beyond $1 million in annual sales.

What happens when your profession becomes part of your ministry? In the first episode of The Landscaping Faith Podcast, we travel to Orange, Virginia, and meet Bill van Hoven—a third-generation horticulturist, greenhouse operator, pastor, and missionary whose story brings the green industry and Christian faith together in a remarkable way. Bill grew up working in his family’s greenhouse businesses and later carried that knowledge into a life of ministry. Eventually, his commercial greenhouse became more than a place to grow plants—it became the Sunday meeting place for his church, allowing money previously spent on rent to be redirected toward mission work. It’s an incredible picture of what can happen when we stop viewing our work and our faith as two completely separate parts of life. For landscapers, lawn care professionals, arborists, horticulturists, groundskeepers, business owners, and anyone else working with their hands, this story asks an important question: How can we use the skills, resources, relationships, and opportunities God has already placed in our hands to serve Him and serve others? Whether you’ve followed Jesus Christ for years, you’re new to the faith, or you’re simply searching, you’re welcome here. Join us for Episode 1 of The Landscaping Faith Podcast—where faith, work, Scripture, and the green industry come together. Sometimes ministry happens in a church. Sometimes it happens in a greenhouse. Sources:Calvary Chapel Magazine — Trinity Mirabella, “Yielding a Harvest: Faith & Horticulture Meet in Virginia Calvary Chapel.”Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services — 2026 Virginia nursery registrant records.