In the business of branding, there are lots of steps to completing a job.  There are many places the project can go wrong.  There are a lot of areas where the customer can be displeased.  When you’re dealing with someone’s identity, a lot is at stake and you have to make sure the job is done perfectly. I spent a lot of time on my systems and processes.  I wrote out training manuals, and scripts for customer service, and invested in making sure my team knew how to complete jobs. One day, I get a call from a client towards the end of the project and it was to tell me about the horrifying experience she had had with my company.  I was devastated, angry, frustrated, and determined to fix it.  I made some drastic changes including letting go of some people. The point of being an entrepreneur is to be able to build a business the way we would run it, put the right people in place that will duplicate our ways, and hopefully be able to walk away and have a steady profit coming into our bank accounts each month.  When we come in, it should be to check in, put out fires, and contribute more ideas that could help turn a better profit for yourself. But what happens when we come back and the system is bad?  The people we left in place aren’t doing their job and the product or service we thought our customers were receiving is not something we would approve of? Nehemiah experienced the same thing when he returned to Jerusalem after 12 years (I don’t suggest leaving your business for 12 years….or even 12 months….maybe 12 days MAX).  When he returned, the city had fallen back into sin.  The Sabbath wasn’t being honored and systems and processes weren’t being followed according to the law of the book.  Needless to say, Nehemiah was upset and acted harshly to fix things. Nehemiah 13:19-22 reads When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love. Can you see how disobeying God’s laws, even in the simplest ways, will eventually lead to committing a full-blown offense? It’s the same in our businesses.  You’ve spent all of this time creating a God-first business, why wouldn’t your team continue to do ‘business by the book’? The sins of entrepreneurship can easily come back into play:  pride, envy, greed, sloth. My recommendation is have a systematic weekly meeting to check in with your team and make sure systems and processes are being followed make sure that you keep your relationship with God intact, always reading in the mornings and praying for your business, clients, employees, vendors, and contractors make harsh changes when you feel the spirit leading you We Godpreneurs have a blessing to be able to carry out businesses for God.  But like Jerusalem, they can fall if unattended.  And like our own spiritual walk, it can fall if unattended. My prayer is that building a God-first business helps you grow more spiritually than as an entrepreneur. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #BibleStudy #nehimiah #restartyourbusiness

In a previous post, I spoke about the powerful nature of a song I dedicated to my wife, and how listening to a song you’ve dedicated to someone can bring you to tears of either anger or bliss. As an entrepreneur, I need my mind focused on as much of the RIGHT NOW as possible. I don’t want it running too far ahead, and I don’t want it lingering behind. I also want my mind in as much positivity as possible. I have to curb my enthusiasm to watch the news, surround myself with positive people, and….here’s one you probably have never heard….listen to POSITIVE music. What do I mean by positive music? I have songs I turn to when I’m upset, depressed, sick of it all, and wanting to escape my reality. Music I loved in high school, a different relationship in my life, a different season I was far from God. I’ll start listening to music that has nothing to do with where I want to go in life. It’s like a drug. Here’s the trick I’ve learned that I implement every morning while playing making coffee and before I begin blogging. I created a playlist of awesome Christian lyric songs that keep me in a state of THANKSGIVING. If I’m constantly being reminded to give thanks to God, my mind is ready to receive the opportunities He has for me and it keeps my eyes looking straight ahead, keeping the course. We all have tools to take us back to depressing times. It can be music, food, alcohol, drugs, other people, or maybe an old stomping ground. But God wants us to stay in a mode of THANKSGIVING so we can keep moving forward. Nehemiah 12:31 says "I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate." You know the songs that remind you of God, and what he’s done for you - songs that literally bring you to your knees. In that moment of glorious surrender, God meets you, and positivity and thanksgiving enter your body. What if every morning we had 2 or 3 songs we played that lined up our hearts and got us ready for the day? What about playing a couple in the car, on the way to work. Let’s make it a habit to give thanks to God through song. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #ArticulatingMyIdeas #DifferentiatingMyself

As a branding agency owner, once we're ready to show the client the amazing logo and brand we came up with, we put on a show! Our clients come into the office for the big "logo reveal." It's a special day, so we go all out and buy food and dress up extra spiffy. One time, before one of the presentations, my assistant shows up to the office and sees that I hadn’t really given much thought to the presentation of the food. Being a typical guy, I just laid out the food on the ping pong table with no regard to style or class. In an instant, my assistant grabs some sheets, folds some boxes, and transforms the former plain setup into a dazzling display rivaling catered wedding décor. I was so amazed! I had no clue she had that talent! From that day forward, of course, she was the person in charge of preparing the office for client presentations. There are many talents hidden amongst our team members. We can harness those talents for our companies, but we have to be intentional in asking. Our team is hired for specific duties, but if the company is going to excel and pay us all more money, the attitude must be ‘all talents on deck’. After accomplishing the great task of rebuilding the wall at Jerusalem, Nehemiah entered a new season: rebuilding the city inside of the wall. To do this, he asked for an offering of gifts. Nehemiah 7:70-72 says "Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests. Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver and 67 garments for priests." God has put people around you that will help strengthen and prosper what you’ve build.  It may be monetary, it could be furniture for the office, or it can be talents (like my assistant’s interior decorating skills). But you literally have to ask, "Hey guys, we're trying to take our company to another level. What gifts, talents, connections, and resources can you bring to the table to make this happen?" Hopefully you casted a good enough of a God-first business vision to your team that gets them excited to BRING IT FOR GOD. Then, their spirit will motivate them to go above and beyond for the benefit of all. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #ArticulatingMyIdeas #LaunchingMyBusiness

Back in 2008 when I left the nightlife scene to start a relationship with God, I knew I was being watched. I realized my friends and family would be looking at me, questioning, and watching my next moves. Over the years, they saw me transform my personal, business, physical and spiritual life. And, the most part, I believe I’ve been a good testimony of the transforming nature of God: He renewed me and continues to elevate me. During this transformation, I also had to rebuild my branding agency from scratch. This means that former clients, vendors, employees, and partners were also going to witness a transformation. The great news is that I was successfully able to rebuild the agency into a God-first business. I attracted better clients and felt more fulfilled with the work we were doing. My friends, family, and employees were all able to witness the transformation. And you know who else saw the transformation? My enemies. What do I mean by enemies? When I left the nightlife to be a "born again" Christian, some enemies spawned up. We can also call them "haters." Instead of encouragement, these enemies threw shade on the flip flop from nightlife to day life. My enemies knew I split from clients and partners I was no longer aligned with and had to REBUILD from scratch. They had been watching, and when the rebuilding work was finished, they were keeping a closer eye on my every move. WE ALL HAVE ENEMIES We all have enemies looking on our rebuilding process and wishing for our downfall. Enemies can come in many forms, including competitors, former clients, partners from previous businesses, etc. With God as our help, we can succeed and be able to be a testimony to these enemies, and they will know that only God could have helped make the transformation possible. God shows us in Nehemiah 6:15-16 how our enemies will react with the rebuilding is done: "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.  When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." When God is your strength and faith going through a rebuilding process, - especially if it's a radical change like mine - your success will be magnified by the decrease in your enemies to be able to affect you!  But more importantly, your business becomes a testimony - even to your enemies - that God can do the same for their businesses. We entrepreneurs give thanks to our God for not only helping REBUILD our business but for also using us to help other entrepreneurs, even your enemies. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #ShareYourTestimony #GainConfidence

And to seal the deal, I gathered the leadership on a call with this employee and he shared his new commitment Watch how integrity in your company is taken to new levels as you make the ultimate leadership power

In the book of Nehemiah, we witness Nehemiah’s leadership throughout the rebuilding of the wall at Jerusalem

I have a confession: I’m not the best at recognizing when I need to pray. My prayer life is something I work on. I know its not my strength. Usually, I try to solve things on my own. When the sales pipeline dries up, I frantically look for business. When I have a new idea, I implement without seeking counsel.  It’s just my nature. For entrepreneurs, there's nothing wrong with feeling the pressure and acting accordingly. However, sometimes we’re missing one key element in the pressure cooker: going to God in prayer FIRST. If we go to God and ask for strength, THEN we can move to doing what we were going to do. This is efficient because we've got the mindset we need to continue: God is backing me up. In the Bible, Nehemiah was being attacked while rebuilding the wall at Jerusalem. Instead of caving in to the pressure by trying to take on the enemies through his own strength, he asked God for His strength. Nehemiah 6:9 says, "They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” God wants us to come to him for strength as we build our God-first businesses. Are you implementing prayer into business decisions? We can start today! P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #StrengthenIntegrity #BecomeDisciplined

As you read about Nehemiah and his leadership style, are there any comparisons to you?

I felt great joy when I finally paid off my personal and business credit cards. The joy wasn’t the act of paying it off, but instead, came from looking back at all God had done to get me to that point. The joy came after covenants, thanksgiving, commitments, and dedications I had made to the process of restoring my finances. What a feeling! I felt the same joy as I completed the rebuilding of my branding agency. I now have a clear direction, I’m focused, the team is with me, and we’re all on the same page. Also, we’re profitable!! That’s a great feeling! This is the joy we can all have and continue to carry on forever after restarting our businesses, God's way. It's not the end of problems; problems come with the entrepreneurial journey. However, restarting things because God says so is the beginning of joy in your business, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the do-over. If God was able to restart your business once, he can do it again, and we need to remember that! Nehemiah 12:43 says "And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away." God’s restoration of the ruined walls of the city, and God’s restoration of the hearts of his people, brought an indescribable joy. The people showed a renewed interest in the Word of God and his commands, and the desire to follow God’s Word. Their celebratory worship was truly a fellowship between God and man. It began with the prayer of one man, Nehemiah, and ended with the prayers of hundreds of families. When you and your business have been restored to right standing with God and seek fellowship with him, everything changes and joy enters our personal lives and entrepreneurial careers. Such expression of wholeness can permeate through your entire organization and reach far into the future of your business ventures. Attempting to start great businesses for God often starts with a small step of faith and the knowledge that God is with us, Godpreneurs, always. The text says God had given them great joy. Do you feel the joy? You deserve it! P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #GainConfidence #FindingMyPurpose

In 2010, I prayed for God to help me find an office space for my company to move into. I was running the business out of my living room and I felt it was time to take a bold step of faith and move into an official location for my agency. I specifically remember praying for and circling around a certain warehouse district that was close to my house. As you might guess, the Lord heard my prayers and brought me into a new season with a beautiful new office. I was so grateful to God that I decided to dedicate my office to God and his work. I made a covenant with God to use my office for whatever he needed. Since 2010, my office has hosted worship nights, volunteer outreach meetups, Bible studies, counseling sessions, worship band practices, and more! My office has even served as my church's official administrative office because we didn't have a building. All of us Godpreneurs have an opportunity to make a covenant between our businesses and the work God is doing here. We're part of his plan, and committing our resources to his purpose is what he's looking to do along our entrepreneurial journey. Why is this important? When we make a covenant with God, it makes us accountable to him as our CEO.  We essentially surrender our (sometimes sinful) hearts to God. I’m not saying we all need to open up our offices to the church. I'm not saying you need to stop everything you're doing to serve God's people only. For many entrepreneurs, the business doesn't have an exact correlation between what the church is doing and the services we provide. However, if it is not our services, we can make a covenant in other ways.  We can tithe, we can serve, we can volunteer resources. There are a lot of ways to commit our businesses to God. The important part is to make some kind of commitment that makes your heart feel good. The book of Nehemiah shows us how to restart our businesses by showing us what it is to make a covenant with God. Nehemiah 10:39 says "The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. “We will not neglect the house of our God.” After living in exile from Jerusalem, the people of Israel were able to rebuild the walls and move back into their city. Once they resettled in the city, they needed to get back to the basics so that they wouldn't fall back into sin and end up right back in exile. One way was declaring and engaging themselves in the work of God. They made a covenant that they would take care of the house of God and not neglect or forsake it, and instead contribute the necessary provisions to support it. Although the Israelites had paid great taxes to the kings of Persia and had much hardship put upon them, they would not make that an excuse for not paying their tithes; but would render to God the things that were his, as well as to Cesar the things that were his. Making a covenant is a big deal. Making one with God is the biggest deal you’ll make for your business. Pray for where God wants you to make a covenant.  Is it a promise to only hire believers in your business? Is it a commitment to provide your trucks to be used by the church?  Are you going to separate 10% of your company profits to help your church with its new building project? All of us Kingdom-driven business owners must do what we can in works of piety and charity, notwithstanding the taxes we pay to the government; and cheerfully perform our duty to God amidst our business burdens, which will be the surest way to ease and liberty in God’s due time. My covenant is to always make my office a satellite location for my church to do its work. Imagine if Christian entrepreneurs worldwide could find a way to make a covenant with God. Pray for yours. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #ArticulatingMyIdeas #FindingMyPurpose

My branding agency is committed to one thing:  helping companies reveal their true God-given identity and bringing that vision to life. We don't do public relations, advertising, or digital marketing. We only do....branding. However, this clarity in my service offering wasn’t always there. I used to dabble in a bunch of different agency services.  Whatever my clients needed, I would tell them I could do it, and we'd launch a new service offering. The problem with this model is that you're always having to learn a new service offering in a new industry. It takes any momentum and stops it in its tracks in order to shift in a new direction. My lack of commitment to one industry, one service, one plan, one purpose, and one vision ultimately hurt my company and I lost credibility with my employees and my clients. We entrepreneurs have a tendency to switch gears too fast. And when the money isn’t right, we even tend to switch directions too fast. But God’s example to us is one of faithfulness and commitment to one thing:  our God is love. No matter how far we deviate from the plans, he is love. No matter how bad we screw things up, he is love. It’s that commitment to ONE THING that makes God so great in our lives and in our businesses. In the final chapters of Nehemiah, we see people that are being redeemed. Remembering their past is hurtful but it's strengthening their faith because it's reminding them that God is love and is for them and their success. Nehemiah 9:26-27 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies." God is the ultimate example of sticking to one thing and doing it better than anyone.  And this motivated the Israelites into a new season. You can motivate your followers in the same way.  It’s going to take a commitment on your part to be one way, move in one direction, with one purpose. Imagine a marketplace where love ruled entrepreneurs and their commitment to their products and services were focused.  We’d all be experiencing better goods, and we’d all be giving the best, which is what God intended. #ShareYourTestimony #SharpenLeadership

Before I became born again, I discovered a spiritual world that wanted me to WIN, be rich, and have abundance. It was called "The Law of Attraction," and I learned it from a book called The Secret. I was so fascinated with the concept that I bought the DVD, purchased books for my staff, and began sharing the enlightening idea with my friends. I couldn’t contain myself from sharing it with everyone I encountered. It was like I had discovered the secret of life! However, one friend stopped me when I tried to share it with him. He said, ‘Alex, that’s great!  But do you know who is the power behind this law of attraction?’. My friend explained that this "power" is God, and God is the one that wants me to succeed. My friend said that I’m on the right track, but I’m missing one key component: give credit where credit is due. See, I was on the right track in terms of a "power in the universe" that wanted to provide for me, but I didn't recognize God as that source. My friend was helping me realize that I wasn't alone in this world. We entrepreneurs tend to want to do this world on our own.  Even the best Christians can stray away when we forget that God is the power and force behind our business.  We come to God when our companies are struggling. Then, when the business starts doing great, we spend Sundays on the boat that we purchased from the successful business God helped us create.  We forget God. We fail to give credit to where credit is due. Nehemiah and his leaders have a solution for this, and as you can suspect, it’s centered around giving credit to God. Nehemiah 9:5 says "And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. ” “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise." After Nehemia led the charge to rebuild the walls at Jerusalem, the leaders read the word of God. They gathered together for an incredible service of worship. “Stand up and bless God,” and they start praising him. God is the only God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the creator of your business. He is worthy of the praise from you and your entire team. When you give credit to God for the business's successes, it’s powerful because it keeps your mind focused in a positive direction. I’ve been close to over-drafting my business bank account, and the only thing that kept me from depression and suicidal thoughts is praising God for who he is!  And guess what? A check would appear, or a lead will call with payment to get started on a project. Out of NOWHERE, someone will call to buy my product. Coincidence? No.  This is how God works. As long as we Godpreneurs give credit to where credit is due, we are putting our hearts in a place to be used by God in a greater way in our marketplaces. God wants this for us if our minds and hearts are always aligned in giving Him credit. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #EnhanceFocus #FindMyCalling

My wife and I used to get into small spats that would turn into big arguments that would evolve into all out wars. To show my toughness, I’d become the opposite of a loving husband. I'd become a hate-filled war monger. In these times of hatred, I stopped being the husband God called me to be. I'd stop helping around the house I'd put in more hours on the business so I can get home late I'd spend more time at CrossFit I'd go to a friend's house at night I would do all of this so that I could stay away from her. Consequently, my business would suffer for days and weeks in these times where I'd walk away from my marriage. It was a terrible cycle and part of a deep, dark time of depression in my life. I hated it. As an entrepreneur, this is dangerous territory and I’ll tell you why. The problem is that our minds become so consumed with fighting the war that we can’t possibly have all the energy needed for us to lead the disciplinary life required of us in our businesses. Our prayer life goes down. Our morning readings stop. We're filled with so much negativity and hate that it becomes difficult to see the opportunities God is placing before us in the business. Married Godpreneurs…this is how SIN works! For me, sin crept in through my marriage. For you, it could be drugs, alcohol, adultery, pornography, illegal's business activities, or any myriad of sins that break up our relationship with God. We all battle sin. So how do we get back on track? How do we get back in line with God’s plan for our lives? In the book of Nehemiah, after the wall was completed, after the wall was working, after the people had heard and obeyed God’s Word, and after the Holy Spirit was doing a significant work in the lives of people – the people were changing and they started acting differently. Nehemiah 9:1-3 says "On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God." What a scene of dramatic, humble repentance. The the people were hearing God’s word and it was changing them. We see here three things the Israelites did. they confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors they continued reading God’s word they worshiped Because I knew that my marriage had a huge impact on the mental game I needed to succeed in my business, I started to find the ways I could get out of the depressing hole I would get myself into.  It all started with confession - honestly coming to God and saying, I know what I’m doing is wrong, and I don’t want to do it anymore. Repentance gives way to a renewed relationship and the pursuit of holiness. You must confess, repent, and move forward….for the sake of your business, your family, and your relationship with God. This is why we entrepreneurs need to carve out time every morning to spend time with God. We can confess, repent, pray, and worship all in this time so we can align our minds with the new opportunities God has for us today. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #MarriedEntrepreneurs #StrengthenIntegrity

I’ve been dead broke, struggling to find clients, waiting for the mail man to arrive with a check from a client, desperate to deposit it before an employee cashes their check. I’ve been rich, totally out of debt, money in savings, lots of business, and thinking about investing in property. And...both situations above were within the same quarter of the year! With a rollercoaster ride like this, we entrepreneurs could be considered suicidal and depressed in the same month as excited and hopeful! What I’ve learned on my Godpreneurial journey is that JOY is the only feeling I need to be seeking. Joy is present in good times and bad. Joy is hope in God and trusting that he has my best interest at heart. But.... How do you feel joy when the checks are bouncing? How can I be happy when I haven’t paid myself in weeks? God has a remedy:  RETURN TO GOD AND CELEBRATE 🥳 Return to God? What do you mean, Alex? I don't know about you, but my rollercoaster of emotions typically coincided with the amount of time I was spending with God in his word. If I'm meditating every morning doing my blog posts and connecting with my spirit, things around me seemed to be doing fine. If I was straying from my morning Bible reading routine, things around seemed to get a bit choppy. My connection with God didn't change the circumstances in my business life; my connection with God changed the way I processed and reacted to those circumstances. All of us entrepreneurs can wander far from the Lord – we can leave our first love and, fall into foolish sin - we can buy into various false personal development teachings from so-called business gurus, run our businesses in selfish pride and even keep the Lord Jesus standing outside the door of our businesses. When we stray away from God's direction and take matters into our own hands, it's guaranteed that circumstances and situations will have a different perspective to them. No longer will you be as tuned into God's point of view, and instead, we'll be in our own heads trying to figure things out. That's a recipe for the opposite of joy: misery. In the book of Nehemiah, we see that Nehemiah had rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and many Israelites had returned to to their homeland following the nation’s 70-year exile in Babylon. It was the first day of their new year, the feast of trumpets, and the apostate nation of Israel stood in the city square and started to listen to Ezra the priest reading the Word of the Lord - he read from the book of the Law, that had been given by God to Israel. Nehemiah 8:9-10 says "Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.  Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”….. Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." As the people of Israel listened to God’s word being read to them, this errant nation as one man, realized how far they had wandered from their God – how deeply they had fallen into sin. Oh, at first, they started to rejoice, and cried out AMEN, AMEN, – but as Ezra continued to read the Scripture, they started to realise how deeply they had fallen into sin and how far they had wandered away from the truth of God’s word – and both men and women began to mourn and grieve deeply. The people wept as they heard the scriptures being read, for they acknowledged their sin, but Nehemiah, the governor stood up and reminded the people that this first day of the new year was a special feast day of the Lord. He comforted them saying… Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Have you strayed away from your morning time with God? 4 Steps to Returning Back to Your Morning Routine Like Israel, you should Confess your sin and recognize how far you may have wandered from the Lord. You should turn away from your wrong attitudes and actions and look to Jesus, for every day is a day that is holy to the Lord. You should not remain in self-condemnation – but rejoice that there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus You should follow the wise advice of Nehemiah – for the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength. Like Israel, today is a day that is a feast day for us Godpreneurs! Jesus Christ has redeemed us by His blood and we have been released from the bondage of slavery to sin into the freedom of Christ’s saving grace. Like Israel, we should listen to the Word of the Lord, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Godpreneurs, imagine if all of us kept the Word of God fresh in our hearts each day. Let's all recognize our faults and failings and readily confess our sins to our Father in heaven – and, from this day forward, let's recognize that every day in our business is a day of rejoicing! Let's never forget that we are the people of God, who have been purchases with the precious blood of Christ - and that the many precious promises of God towards us, his sons and heirs, are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. Let us in everything by prayer and praise rejoice in the Lord and abide in His love – for the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength, through time and into eternity. My Prayer Father thank You that You are my joy and my strength in my business - thank You that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus and thank You that Your grace is sufficient for Me. Keep me and my daily business operations faithful to You for You and my faithful and generous God – in Christ name I pray, AMEN. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #DifferentiatingMyself #ShareYourTestimony

I started my first business in 2005, I imitated some of my "seemingly" successful clients in their leadership in business, so we're out there at conferences and webinars learning the latest in sales, marketing, leadership