In business, there are many opportunities to lie or cut corners to try and make more money. Sales people sell features that don’t really exist, or production people shortchange quality in pursuit of profits. In Acts 5, Ananias sold some property to provide funds for the community treasury. But, he decided to lie about how much he received so that ...
Faith and Action Years ago, I launched a consulting practice and determined to build it without debt. I believed that God could provide all the necessary business funds if I trusted Him. Eventually, we experienced a lean season. During a weak moment, I established a home equity line of credit “just in case.” That line of credit became a huge ...
In 1 Kings the prophet Elijah had just had a mountain top experience. God had performed a miracle for Elijah, resulting in the embarrassment and deaths of 850 false prophets. Instead of celebrating, however, Elijah received a message from Queen Jezebel that she planned on killing him by the next day. Out of fear, Elijah fled to the wilderness to ...
Putting his life at risk, the prophet Elijah meets with his arch enemy, King Ahab, and demands that the King gather the false prophets and meet him on Mount Carmel. Standing before Ahab and 850 false prophets, Elijah challenges them and their gods to a test. After considerable time mocking their gods, Elijah, finally calls on his God. In 1 ...
The Lord gave Elijah many assignments that would frighten the strongest of leaders. Imagine being directed to go to the most powerful, wicked king of the land to rebuke and curse him for his evil! It would have been easy to overlook that directive from God as a very bad idea. Instead in 1 Kings 17:1 we read, “Now Elijah the ...
In the late 1990s, due to many corporate scandals, there became a push towards company boards being led primarily by independent directors. A recent study, however, referenced in Forbes magazine, discovered that the focus on independent boards has been overdone. The Wall Street Journal reports that of the 1,500 Standard & Poor’s company boards, the numbers have grown to 50% ...
Sustainability is a hot topic with many nonprofits. Some ministries are 100% dependent upon donations while others have their revenue coming predominantly from fee income. God may want some to cling to Him, making them donation dependent, while others, like my friends at Kingdom Advisors, who also rely on God, depend on fee income. Kingdom Advisors once tried a donation-only ...
Sustainability is a hot topic in many nonprofit board rooms. A donation-only model doesn’t seem sustainable to many business leaders who serve on nonprofit boards. It’s their nature to look for ways to help increase profits in the nonprofit world. But is that always God’s preference? In Luke 10, Jesus commissioned 36 new “nonprofits” when he sent his 72 disciples ...
Kathy and I watched “The Founder,” which detailed how Ray Kroc cheated and deceived the McDonald brothers multiple times. Eventually, Kroc pressured the McDonald brothers to sell all of McDonald’s rights for over $2 million plus 1% of future royalties. At the closing, however, the royalties had been written out of the contract. In a gutsy move Ray Kroc sticks ...
George Washington left his American legacy with a great reputation. Even though the famous story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree, and not lying about it, may not be true, this story speaks to people’s belief about his character. George Washington once said, “Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
