I’ve had some bad clients do horrible things to me.  I’ve been stiffed for a $2500 invoice….still unpaid to today. I’ve been insulted, bad mouthed, degraded, lied to, betrayed, and mocked. The worst thing to ever happen to me was my biggest client going behind my back to offer my partner more money to go work directly for them. That was brutal. For weeks I plotted my revenge.  I schemed up ways to get back at the client. When someone has wronged us or our businesses, we are often tempted to seek revenge. We may gossip, give them the “silent treatment,” or even retaliate. We have a choice: 1) live our lives in the spirit 2) live our lives in the flesh In 1 Samuel 24:15 we read “May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.” David refused to fight in the flesh, and left Saul’s judgment to the Spirit of God. You’ll be tempted to seek revenge. Your blood will boil. The hurt will drive your mind to fantasize about 100 ways to retaliate. But remember, you serve an amazing boss that is waiting to see just how much love and compassion (or restraint) you’re going to show. Let it go. I ended up doing nothing to retaliate.  In fact it ended up being a huge blessing…the end of one season and the beginning of another in my entrepreneurial career. A couple of months after this client went behind my back to take my partner was out of a job.  Don’t know what he’s up to today, but praying for him. Imagine if we all just moved on and didn’t seek revenge and let God do His thing. Godpreneur Rule #22: Live in the Spirit and allow God to be the judge. #DifferentiatingMyself #StrengthenIntegrity

One of the most frustrating concepts in my business is “waiting on God’s timing.” I’m always hearing ‘strike while it’s hot’ and ‘there’s never going to be a time like now’ and ‘do it before someone else’s does’. I recognize some of this as hyped up sales talk, but it could also be God speaking through someone else to me, right? It’s a mystery to me…the concept that there’s a time to grow and a time to act. I’ve seen it play out over and over in my business.  Sometimes I feel like I made the right decision, sometimes I bombed the timing and failed miserably. I’ve started businesses that I shouldn’t have just because one day I woke up and had a vision. The same has happened to me with marketing campaigns and releasing new products. I’ve let visions of the future deter my current daily duties, taking me off track. But even amidst the mystery of God’s timing, I do know that one concept is fact: action before preparation usually spells disaster. We entrepreneurs want to shoot first and ask questions later. We want to live the dream that if you build it, they will come. We don’t like writing business plans. We want to throw up the vision on our team and hope they got it and have it done by next week. But this isn’t how God wants us to react as Godpreneurs. In the case of what we were born to do, God wants to prepare us for what he knows lies ahead. We may urgently feel the need to act on a business idea or a new email blast that seems foolish to wait on, but God has bigger plans we don’t understand. The Bible says, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose". Philippians 2:13 NIV God’s timing is perfect, and our visions are simply a small part of His bigger vision. This is why God wants to work INSIDE of us, to prepare us to act on what we were born to do.  And when we’re ready, that’s when He’s ready for us to act…it will be on His timetable. God’s timing can be hard to hear for you, right? I know, that’s the struggle. This is the biggest thing I hear about from entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. You think that once the vision is clear, we must be ready, otherwise, why would we have the vision? All I have to say is don’t be impatient. We shouldn’t move before God leads. We accept his training and his timing. Meanwhile, what we were born to do, though it may burn inside of us, will enable us to endure the wait, because we know it’s worth it to get it right. We know that having a vision will come BEFORE the preparation. LeBron James had the vision of being the best in the world BEFORE his preparation.  It was the vision that gave him the strength to endure the preparation: all the practicing and hard work. Visions will always be bigger than us.  That’s the point!  Within that tension is where we always want to live because then we know God is always working on us. Godpreneur Rule #29: Our visions are meant to prepare us, they aren’t to be acted on. The preparation will lead to the vision coming to life. #WorkLifeBalance #DifferentiatingMyself

Am I the only one that finds it extremely difficult to not work on Sundays? Like Chick-fil-A, I’d love to be 100% closed on Sunday, but I can’t shut my mind off from thinking about my business. Some Sundays I’m able to keep my laptop shut, but I still can’t resist opening my phone to check an email or write an idea down. One Sunday, I woke up with all the intentions to NOT do a lick of work. I went to church, then lunch with the family. But when I got home, nothing was going on, and it was hard for me to sit there, so I decided to catch up on some work. The way I see it, there’s so much responsibility on my shoulders that taking a day off seems counter-intuitive to catching up on everything that’s still on my to-do list. But I know that God wants me to take a day of Sabbath, where I completely disconnect from my business to rest and worship Him. I understand that I’m supposed to do this once a week. Still, as an entrepreneur, it’s been a challenging habit to implement into my business life. We’re all busy entrepreneurs. There are marketing plans to finalize, new employees, to train, and client work to make progress on. But with the hurry and rush of everyone’s demands, what time is there to take a break and literally do nothing to rest in the Lord? How can we honor the Sabbath as a weekly personal development tool and a way of business life? The bible says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 NIV) Jesus is appealing to all the burned out, exhausted, and fatigued, and simply says, “Come, find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” However, the imagery of a ‘yoke’ seems like MORE WORK! On the one hand, Jesus is offering rest, but at the same time, throwing on 200 pounds of wood to carry. But Jesus, in his incredible wisdom, people are all carrying a load on their backs already, he’s just offering a lighter load than the one the world offers. Running a business is already a 500-pound load, and Jesus wants to cut down the weight significantly. As a follower of Christ running a business, you’re invited to a business life of rest, not just physically, but on a more profound “soul” level. You’re going to have the same burdens as everyone, Christian or not. Business ownership comes with heavy responsibility, and Jesus wants to offer a lighter, more pleasant experience to carrying it. Business ownership is like signing up for burden after burden. There’s no way around the weight of responsibility of entrepreneurship. We can’t escape the pressure, but we can trade it in for a more comfortable, more joyful experience. Godpreneurship is a way to carry the weight of business life with a straight back and smile on our faces. How do we trade in a heavy yoke for a light yoke? You guessed it – by practicing the Sabbath more. We need to decide that for 24-hours, one day week, we’re going to practice restful worship so we can fill up on a spirit of restfulness to use throughout the next week. There’s also a daily practice we can implement. For me, I have an alarm on my phone at noon to stop everything I’m doing to “rest” in God. It’s a way to shut my mind down for 30 seconds, 2 minutes, or however long I need to recognize God, thank Him, and rest to take on the next half of my day. Whether we take a moment to rest at noon, 2pm, or 5pm, there are Sabbath moments all through each business day we can take to help prepare us for the 24-hour sabbath marathon needed on one of the weekend days. Imagine if we Godpreneurs all took the opportunity to slow down, and rest under Jesus’ easy yoke. How much better of a leader would we be if we could un-rush to our business life’s demands to experience the life that’s waiting for all of us in Christ. Let’s look for little Sabbath moments when we wake up, on our drive to the office, before a big client meeting, etc. And when the weekend comes, let’s resist the urge to reach for our phones. Instead, let’s reach for God and settle into his rest. How is the tiredness of entrepreneurship affecting your experience of Jesus’ kingdom? How can you move toward Sabbath as both a weekly practice at your office and a way of weekend life? #ShareYourTestimony #WorkLifeBalance

Oh how many sleepless, tireless nights I’ve had as an entrepreneur. Sure, sometimes its GO TIME and you have to pull these all nighters, but not every night. As I continue to build my business around God’s entrepreneurial purpose for me, I’m starting to realize that business didn’t have to be so hard and confusing always. Psalms 127:1-2 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.” I love sleep. Don’t you? I believe sleep is a metaphor for peace. He grants peace in your business life when we let God build our businesses with us. #WorkLifeBalance

There are two areas in my entrepreneurial walk that still trip me up sometimes and I’m constantly having to work on: worry and envy. The envy creeps in when I check out social media and start to see others doing cooler things than me or advancing their businesses further than mine. The worry shows up sometimes as a result of the envy, but mostly when I’m overloaded with ideas, responsibilities and tasks to take care of. We all worry and envy sometimes, especially in business and entrepreneurship. God wants us to walk in His peace having faith that He is in control. When we do not surrender our business desires to God, worry and jealousy creep in. This threatens to damage our relationship with God because we’re removing Him from the equation. You go from being a Godpreneur back to Me-preneur. In owning a business, God allows us to experience various situations that provoke both worry (such as worrying about where the next client will come from) and envy (when we are jealous of the accomplishment of other people in our field). But, entrepreneurship also provides many exciting opportunities to submit ourselves (and employees if you have) to God and to grow in our relationship with Christ. When we do that, we are freed from the burdens of worry and jealousy! Here is a very practical way to get rid of worry, and it comes from the bible. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Every morning the first thoughts in my mind are to name 3 things I’m thankful for. It has to be the first thoughts. You’ll be half asleep but do it. And every day I try to remember to pray that I would submit my business to God and walk in His peace. #WheretoStartFirst #WorkLifeBalance

I like updating my own website. I enjoy composing my weekly emails that go out from Creative Complex and sending them out. I love project managing. I’m also good at following up on my sales calls, collecting credit cards and booking appointments. Can you believe that even though I had an assistant, a project manager, a web developer, and an account executive, I still performed all of their jobs?!?! What a mistake on so many levels.  But the biggest mistake in doing this was that I was robbing others from growing…from flying from their nest and soaring with me. We can do that sometimes as entrepreneurs. We think that we’re the only ones that can do it the best.  We get impatient. We step in to help at the first sign of something not going they way we would do it. Deuteronomy 32:11 says, "Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions." Godpreneurs realize that there are times you step into problems, but its momentary.  In the end, the goal is to let that person learn how to soar like you so you can let God take you to places you’ve never imagined. As for me…I USED to like doing all of those tasks I mentioned at the beginning.  But…I don’t do them anymore. Even though I’m great at these things, I have people on my team that are flying because I let them go. Godpreneur Rule #42: Let go of the tasks so your team can face and solve problems on their own and learn to soar with you. #WorkLifeBalance #SharpenLeadership

A few years ago I received a letter in the mail from a law firm. The firm was representing Getty Images, a website that sells stock photography asking us to prove that we purchased a certain image that was on our website. But we couldn’t provide the proof because, as the law firm suspected, we had used the image without purchasing it. We had to pay a hefty fine. From that day forward, we became extremely cautious with the imagery we use on our website and our clients as well. Now we follow the rules and pay for our stock photography. The fear of having to pay another fine keeps me on the straight path, even though there have been plenty of other opportunities to save money and just grab a free image I find on Google. We all have opportunities in our businesses to lie, cheat and steal.  We have ways to twist the truth, while covering it by making others think we are angelic. How can we CHANGE our ways? For me, a letter in the mail threatening a lawsuit if I didn’t pay fines helped me to change. But do we need a lawsuit, bankruptcy or a breakup to reach us a lesson? Well, actually, God will use whatever He can to get your attention and change your ways. In the book of Acts, we come across an event that makes my point. A husband and wife sold their land and donated the proceeds to the early church.  They told everyone that they gave ALL of the proceeds, but they lied, and only gave a portion. "Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” (Acts 5:4 NIV) That same day, they both died. The amazing part of this incident is that everyone else who heard about this stopped cheating. They saw that God doesn’t play. You can be told that downloading pirated movies is illigal. You can be warned by your accountant that using your company credit card for personal expenses is cheating on your taxes. You can cut corners on delivering the service or product that your customers purchased. But you can’t stop God from knowing your ways, and doing something to correct it. Knowing God is there to love us so much to want us to be better, we have two choices: 1) we can know that God expects more from us, and stop our ways, or 2) we can accept the consequences when the lawyer sends the letter and let it be a lesson for the future. We should be so lucky that God loves us so much to send us a lawsuit so that we can grow to be the best representative of Him in this world. Godpreneur Rules #74: Godpreneurs have a healthy fear of God that helps us grow. #StrengthenIntegrity #WorkLifeBalance

I’m in the business of consulting.  I make anywhere from $199 – $499 an hour for my time. Proverbs 11:25 says A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Although I volunteer at church and go on medical mission trips, which are both refreshing others, I also feel compelled at times to refresh others by offering my consulting for free. As Godpreneurs we serve a boss that will send us paying clients, but will also send us non-paying clients…or can’t pay as much as I charge (discount clients). Be sensitive to the spirit.  I’m not saying to just give away your services to anyone and everyone from the church.  The spirit will lead you.  It will ‘feel’ right to do this. We must have faith that God will refresh us…because His word says it. #SharpenLeadership

I love starting my Mondays off with Joel Osteen. He’s an amazing motivator. I highly recommend making a calendar appointment once a week to listen to his messages of hope and inspiration. The title of his message is something I’ll build my week around.  I’ll try to remember its application and implication throughout the days of business and personal interactions. I’ll play it on the way to work or during a morning run. You can find his podcast in the iTunes store or any podcast app. I used Pocket Casts: http://pca.st/hr7VF0 You’ll see me do some blogging about the messages sometimes because they almost always have a Godpreneur message in them. #ChristianBloggers #FindMyCalling

When I started my business I had two awesome business partners. Through various circumstances those partners ended up leaving me. And although at the moment it seemed detrimental to my business, God was removing them to help me soar to new heights. As business owners, there are times when people of great use come into our lives to help us achieve great things. We come to rely on them and their amazing gifts and talents so much. But then, as if you were being stabbed in the back, something happens that seems so wrong and negative that takes them away. What happens when this key employee or partners leaves you alone all of the sudden? What do you do when you feel like its over and there’s no possible way to move forward without this person. Can I encourage you to listen to a message I heard Joel Osteen give called ‘Pushed Into Your Purpose’? God brings people in for seasons and then moves them (and you) into new areas of growth and expansion. I hope this helps you understand why that person is leaving as much as it did for me. http://pca.st/ThYz #AgencyOwners #FindingMyPurpose

That’s how wisdom works. Its time-tested and proven ways of living. Its as good today as it was half a century ago. We have at our fingertips the ability to continue learning amazing wisdom every day. Maybe you didn’t have a dad to pour into you. It could be that your single mom had to raise you and didn’t have a lot of time to instruct you in wise ways.  Maybe you didn’t grow up in a Christian home and the things you learned are getting you nowhere. God provided the book of Proverbs so that you wouldn’t have this problem anymore.  Everything your mom and dad taught you or should have taught you is in there. Godpreneurs, it would be very wise to read a chapter of proverbs everyday. But don’t take my word for it: Proverbs 1:8-9 "My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:   for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck." I’m constantly doing devotionals on proverbs because of the wisdom. I have to keep reading proverbs daily because as an entrepreneur I’m constantly sliding back into old habits that don’t suit me anymore. Proverbs 1:32-33 "For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.   But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm.” #GainConfidence #IncreaseEnergy

When we’re worried we do the weirdest things. We bite our nails, twist our fingers like doubled jointed contortionists, shake our legs uncontrollably, and have total mental blocks and breakdowns. We’re overcome with doubt. Our peace has been robbed from us. We face many challenges in entrepreneurship and are sometimes overcome with fear and doubt. In these times, we have a choice to indulge those fears or to meditate on the promises of God. The enemy will use worry and fear and doubt to rob you of your God given peace. At times I couldn’t pay the rent on my office space. Fear would overcome and I considered closing up shop and working from home. But then I remembered God’s promise to me: ‘I will use your space to bring people to know me.’ So here is the key: you have to have some promises of God under your belt ready to bust out when fear and worry come…because they will come, especially as business owners. It is an act of obedience to reject the lies of fear and worry and to concentrate on God’s love and sovereignty and his desires for your business to succeed and grow. We do not know the plans God has for our lives or the lives of our employees. Our finite minds may have trouble understanding His eternal purposes for our businesses. Our peace, however, comes in knowing that He is a God who is loving, wise, and in control.  He’s your boss, and this verse calls us to concentrate on the attributes of God: Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things." So you don’t know how to meditate? Did you know that worry is meditation. Its meditation, but in the wrong direction. Shift your thoughts to things of Philippians 4:8 and you’ll be meditating in the right direction. Godpreneur Rule #48: Godpreneurs don’t focus on their fears, they choose to meditate on the goodness of God. #StrengthenIntegrity #FindMyCalling

As entrepreneurs, we all do it. We seek the pleasure of unstable things such as approval of employees, big money accounts, power over competitors, beautiful branding, or fame in your market. But what happens when the money is low, your biggest client leaves you or biggest your competitor just came out with a cooler widget than you, threatening to take a chunk of your market share. When we chase after the broken promises of unstable things, we put ourselves on the worlds fastest rollercoaster that’s stop button doesn’t work.  You’re stuck on that ride forever. The solution is simple.  Godpreneurs work for an audience of one: God.  He’s your boss, He’s the only one that will be at the table at your 90 day evaluation, He cuts your check, He validates and loves the work you’re doing. That’s why I wake up every morning to read the bible, even if its just 5 minutes of Proverbs.  I chase after the wisdom and knowledge of God.  Its like a fresh glass of water.  If I chase God, everything that’s supposed to come to me will follow. Godpreneur Rule #36:  Chase after God, place your trust in Him and His Word, and He will refresh you with living water. #MakingMoreSales #SharpenLeadership

My wife and I fight about money all the time. But not the fighting over paying bills and wondering how we’ll make rent. Our fighting is over the MINDSET of money. See, my wife grew up under the teachings of “money is the root of all evil”.  So wealth doesn’t have a positive affirmation behind it, therefore any talk about wealth, success or abundance turns her off. I’m the opposite. I’ve come to know abundance as a positive gift from God that He wants to bless me with….if I work diligently towards it. Yes, the bible says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  But notice how this time I threw in the word LOVE.  See the difference? If we think about it, money is simply an exchange of your gifts and talents for a piece of currency that is good to buy other gifts and talents from other people. God approves of your making money, and he would like you to build wealth for your family’s needs, for community investment, and for generosity in spreading the gospel. Making money means you’re not on your butt doing nothing.  If money is the exchange of gifts and talents, then making money (and lots of it) is the exchange of a lot of gifts and talents. Don’t want to make money?  Do what a lot of people do.  Be lazy. But just know that, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth” (Proverbs 10:4). My wife isn’t a Godpreneur, but she’s married to one whether she likes it or not. #MarriedEntrepreneurs #FindMyCalling #WheretoStartFirst

I love telling stories of how God came through for me miraculously at the last minute in my business. He brought the perfect circumstances for my company to be in the warehouse we’re occupying today, at a rent that only God could have negotiated. In the area of finances, He always provided just enough for my company to stay in business for years because He has great plans for it, and He has patiently waited for me to do some ‘growing up’ in order to bring that to pass. You know why I love these stories of faith? Because I get to tell them to employees, vendors, contractors and my friends.  Believers or nonbelievers, stories of faith are encouraging and give hope. Most importantly, stories of faith in your business keep God front and center at the helm of the ship guiding the path and always in a position of thanksgiving.  Because of God, I’m in this warehouse and still in business, so moving forward any employee or persons working with me are a faithful result of God’s working. What are your stories of faith in business that you’ll pass along?  Comment below to share with others. #FindingMyPurpose #ShareYourTestimony