Christian Business Builder

I haven’t said anything about the video series of late, so I thought I would give you an update.

Things a moving along very well. The series entitled, “The Jesus Model” will be a seven part training series that is a video remake of a four part article series I published about a year ago. I have added new material and hope to provide good information that will help God’s people build biblically successful businesses.

We will look at subjects like:

• The mind of Christ in business.
• Faith’s role in business.
• Business in service to the Father.

My hope is that this series will inspire you to look at your business (or your plans to start a business) and view it in light of God’s word. I believe that when God’s people build businesses designed to honor God and bring glory to him, he will honor them with business success.

Keep your eye out for the announcement of the release of these videos. They should be out in the next couple weeks (all things being equal).

God bless, have a great day ….

In Hebrews 11:6 we are told that, “… without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Then, after this verse, the writer of Hebrews presents a long list of those who did diligently seek the Lord by faith. We know their names, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Sara, etc.

The thing that is striking to me is that these folks had less to believe than we do (no Bible, no Commentaries, no Preachers/Churches). Yet, because they heard God speak to them, they believed and lived their lives in the full function of that belief system.

Fast forward to the beginning years of the 21st Century. We have greatly advanced in areas of communication, comfort, and knowledge since the days of those mentioned in Hebrews 11. We have had the word of God in print for several hundred years. We can listen to preaching from all over the world at the drop of a hat. Yet, when it comes to a faith that guides the full function of our lives (including our businesses) we seem to be sorely lacking.

Much of the American dream has been perverted by the powerful and unregenerate of our society. Now, let me make it clear, I am a believer in the American dream. I think all people should have the same opportunity to make their lives what they choose it to be. Success is defined in too many ways for anyone to not strive for something.

That being said, I do see that without a strong and abiding faith controlling our business acumen corruption moves in quickly and a “get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the lid” mentality takes over. God’s word tells us clearly that as believers we are to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”(Matthew 6:33)

God promises that we can succeed in life as it pleases him if we will live our lives in the fullness of our faith. Faith in God opens every door he wants opened and closes every door contrary to our benefit and his glory. Only when we actively pursue our business by faith will we be able to fully live and glorify God on the earth. (Which is our ultimate purpose anyway!)

So … as you head out to the office in the days to come, ask yourself this question: “Is my business the living out of my faith or is it just something to produce wealth?”

Talk more later ….

I am always amazed at how God guides in my life. I have been frustrated for some time now trying to make sure God is at the center of everything that I am doing in my life, including my business ventures. In working to that end, I have prayed like never before, and had to learn to wait on the Lord. (Not something I am very good at doing!)

Now I don’t want anyone to think that I have arrived, but I am beginning to see with some clarity. In this clarity I have found the most important thing for me to do is to “scratch where I itch.” What that means is that I am going to build a new system that God has led me to build and that to invite those to join me who want to please God first in every aspect of life.

I don’t know where this is going to lead or who will join me on the journey, but I do know that it is the way I must go.

So … if you are looking for God’s direction in your life and business, you might want to check things out here over the next three or four weeks. If you like what you see, just let me know and we will go from there!

Talk more later ….

I am working on a new set of videos that will be out shortly. In these videos I will be trying to answer the most common questions Christian entrepreneurs ask about starting a business of their own as well as what they should be asking.

I hope you will find these short videos both enlightening as well as motivating. You see, I don’t think that Christians can be “salt and light” without being engaged in our world. This means that we cannot shrink from our responsibilities in/to society. It also means that we must declare God’s glory in every area of our lives which includes our business/profession.

To be a Christian Business Builder necessarily requires you to be a Christian first and a business owner second. My hope is that this video series will help you understand this idea more fully.

I will keep you up to date on its release.

Talk more later ….

PS - If you have any questions you would like to have an answer to, just leave a comment and I will attempt to answer it in a future video.

OK - so now we have looked at Proverbs 3:5-10, one of the most familiar passages in all the scripture. We have looked at it as it applies to the establishment of a biblically successful business. What I would like to do here is to put all that we have learned into a short and very practical approach to business success.

1. God needs to be in control. When we look to ourselves for anything we, as Christians, limit our abilities to succeed.
2. We need to acknowledge God’s involvement in our business. I once read a book about a Christian man who ran a plastics company in Ohio. He created a one page testimony of his salvation and placed that one page testimony in every box shipped from his plant. He didn’t try to “cram” his religion down the throats of those he sold to, but he did acknowledge God and his place in his life to every customer.
3. We need to remember that when God blesses our business with success we need to consider him a worthwhile partner and honor him with our substance. God’s work needs to be funded at rates far in excess of the tithe. If we give to God first, he will be inclined to make our businesses more successful and more prosperous.

God really does want to bless his people. The book of Proverbs is full of passages that speak to this desire. If we would simply pay attention to them all (not just the one’s that speak to our desires), God will bless and we will be successful!

Talk more later ….

Well, we are finally coming to the end of this series. It has taken me longer to get it out than I anticipated, but life has a way of slowing the process. This is a lesson in the success process as well. (But I digress)

Today I want to turn your attention to the seventh step in the Biblical pattern of success. Note Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

God’s word is pretty clear here. It reminds us that we need to remember that our business is merely an extension of our relationship with the Lord and as such we should share in the rewards with him. God does not need the money, but the use of that which we gain through our business efforts for the greater good of the kingdom reaps eternal benefits that would not otherwise be accomplished.

Remember that throughout the scriptures the tithe belongs to the Lord. In Malachi 3 we are told that those who rob God are those who forgo both the tithe and offerings (those things not required by command). In the New Testament, Paul tells the church at Corinth that their giving testified of the sincerity of their love for God.

Generosity and a willingness to bless others ought to be the hallmark of every Christian business. As I write that I am reminded of the parable of the rich man who tore down is barns to make bigger barns so that he could store, keep, and use for himself the bountiful crop given him by God’s grace. His unwillingness to share his abundance caused God to call him a “fool” and to bring his life to an abrupt end.

On the other hand, God promises in Proverbs 3:10, that if we learn the lesson of generosity, given through our honouring of the Lord, our barns will be full and our press will overflow with new wine. One caveat I would make: Remember that God knows your heart. You may look like you are honouring God to me, but God knows if you are real or are just show.

In my next article, I will try to pull all this together and bring some concluding thoughts. As always your comments are appreciated.

Talk more later ….

In this article I want to talk about the sixth success tip for a successful business. Here in Proverbs 3:7, Solomon tells us that we need to, ” fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” This admonition is to contrast the warning in the first half of the verse to not be wise in your own eyes.

Throughout the scriptures God directs his children to live and act contrary to the “ways of this world.” Whether it is the command to Moses to confront Pharaoh, or the military strategy used to defeat the city of Jericho, or the new commandment Jesus gave to the disciples to love one another as he had loved them. God’s wisdom is always contrary to the wisdom of man.

So, how does this truth relate to this passage and ultimately to our business and its success? There are three things that catch my eye:

A fear of the Lord provides the believer with both knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge given by God is always going to be the best and most useful knowledge. The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)

To depart from evil will keep our business honest before all men. We will become trusted and our customers/clients will know that we can be counted on in every situation. This kind of trust produces a loyalty that will create return business as well as a great referral network.

As we build our businesses under the conditions of this success trait, we will be more comfortable and confident. This level of comfort and confidence alone will cause more people to want to work with us and it will take the pressure of success off our shoulders as we trust in the Lord.

Talk more later ….

As we have been looking to scriptures for the step by step plan to business success for the Christian business builder, we have considered four steps to this point.

First, Proverbs 3:5 teaches us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. No one can better bring success to you and strengthen the value that you bring this world through your business than the Lord. When we who are Christians trust in the Lord, we cannot be stopped.

The second step is to abandon our own understanding. When we focus our business on the things that we can understand, calculate, and decide our tendency is to take our eyes off the Lord and his direction for our life and business.

The third step is to not only trust the Lord but also to acknowledge him in all your ways. In this step we move further down the path of departing from what is traditionally considered as “business sense.” However, if you want real success as a Christian, you have to acknowledge God in all things.

The last article spoke to the fourth step which is to let God direct your paths. He alone knows what’s best for you, so if you want what’s best in your life and business, you need to let God direct your paths.

Tonight the fifth step is found in verse 7, were Solomon warns us to, “Be not wise in thine own eyes, …” What exactly does that mean? Well, the wisdom spoken of here means, “intelligent, skillful, artful.” So, God’s word tells us not to view ourselves as intelligent, skillful, or artful “in thine own eyes.”

In simple words, we need to avoid the prideful view or our skills. We need to see them as a gift of the Lord and honor him in using our skills in the building of our business. We have been trained in the world of business to “brand ourselves” as an expert in our chosen field. We can certainly do that as long as we are quick to acknowledge God’s role in making us and expert. It is when we begin to think that we are “all that and a bag of chips” that God cannot work in our life or business.

Our success in business is always going to be greater when we recognize the source of our intellect, skill, and artfulness. He wants to bless our efforts and will do so when we serve him and our customers in humility rather than prize.

Talk more later ….

“… and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6b)

The fourth step to successful business is to allow God to direct your paths. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Yet, if truth be told this is the most difficult step of all.

Remember a guy named Adam? He had it made! He was the unique creation of Holy God who was the first of the entire human race. He was given a pristine world to keep, a wife to love, a garden to tend, a God who walked with him every day, and only one thing he could not do. Pretty sweet set up don’t you think?

I don’t really know how long it lasted, but even in these truly perfect conditions, Adam found a way to mess things up. The reason? He wanted to direct his own path! Eve had taken of the fruit and now Adam was left with a choice. Follow God and see how he would deal with Eve or follow Eve and turn from God’s direct command on his life. We all know which choice Adam made and what his choice cost him, his family, and his God.

Now, in our modern culture, we are constantly bombarded by the voices of the experts who want to be your guiding light in every phase of life and business. These voices tend to uplift man while quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) diminishing God’s role in your day to day choices. Subtly we hear that God wants us to be happy and that real success is always about money and possessions and that for three easy payments of $39.99 plus shipping and handling they are willing to share with us all that we need to be healthy, happy, and RICH! (And before you swamp me with a whole list of the verses about God wanting us to be rich, I will get to that later in this series.) When all is said and done they are rich, we are wandering in the wilderness, and only Satan is really happy.

All this because we didn’t let God direct our paths!

Why should we surrender our life (including our business) to the direction of God?

1. No one knows better what is best for us than God. He is the very giver of our life and he never gives life without purpose. (Psalm 71:6)
2. No one can empower us to succeed better than God. God’s word says that the one who lives in us (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the one who lives in this world (Satan). (1 John 4:4)
3. No one can guarantee success like God. (Psalm 1)

You see, God never works to our detriment. He always works to give us place to worship him and bring glory to his name. It is the same in life and business. That being said, we need to allow him to direct all of our life’s path!

Talk more later ….

You know I think that being actively Christian in this society is as difficult as I have ever known it to be in my 30+ years as a Christian. The reasons for this are numerous; Christianity has been rejected by the vast majority of the population, schools have taken an almost anti-Christian stance in educating students, and business leaders have embraced a quasi-Christian philosophy that values human effort over the wisdom of God.

With this backdrop it is difficult for we who are dedicated to the truth of God and his word to find place in our chosen professions. There is often lots of “God talk” without much “God seeking.” In this series of articles I am trying to reverse this trend. It is time for we “Christ followers” to look to him and his word for the answers to our business life as well as our personal relationship with God.

We have been examining the passage in Proverbs 3:5-10 to see where we might seek the Lord more directly in the building and operation of our businesses. This article will cover the third thought seen here:

“In all thy ways acknowledge him,”

For more than a century, we have been taught in school and in life that if we are going to be successful in life that we need to “pick ourselves up by our bootstraps” and “never quit.” We have been told that we can achieve anything as long as we stay focused and keep at it. We have been told to find something we love and do that thing. It is all up us and we are the only one who can make or break our success story.

Now, while the scriptures do surly speak to the subject of industry and hard work, they also speak to the subject of God’s direction and leadership in making directional choices in life.

I for one can tell you that listening to the voice of the Lord in making the right choices with regard to direction isn’t as simple as it sounds. There are so many voices in the world today with so much advice and so many options. How is someone supposed to make right choices in the midst of all that is out there in the world?

The answer to this question rests in this simple phrase from Proverbs 3, “In all thy ways acknowledge him …” Only when we acknowledge the Lord throughout the whole of our lives activities will he provide us with the wisdom to make the right choices at the right times in our lives. What is also so amazing about God is that even if we have made wrong choices, he is always willing to help us return to the right path by simply seeking his forgiveness and acknowledging him from this point on!

The little word “way” is the key to understanding this portion of scripture. According to Strong’s Concordance, “Way” means a course of life, mode of action. In other words our acknowledgment of God needs to be throughout our entire course of life and mode of actions, not just those we find easy, but also those we don’t want to release to anyone.

Only as you release more and more of your life and business to God will you have the power to know and understand the level of success God has in store for you. The only caveat that I need to make here is that God’s view of success may be quite different from yours. However, you will never find yourself in a better place as a Christian business owner than the place that God has called you to Think about it!

Talk more later …