Godpreneurs constantly ask me, “How do I know if my business idea is from the Lord, or if it’s just what I want?” I can’t say 100% for certain if a vision of mine is from God. I haven’t seen God in a dream and I haven’t heard him from the heavens audibly telling me my purpose. I’m sure some people have experienced that, I haven’t had the privilege yet. Here’s what I do know and have learned and experienced: My purpose will be bigger than I can think I can handle My purpose will never contradict the bible My purpose will scare the heck out of me. I will have fear and doubt What does this mean? It means that my purpose is NOT the opposite of this. In other words, If I can handle it on my own, I need to keep digging deeper If it goes against anything biblical, I’ll walk away If it makes me comfortable and complacent, I need to move I get tons of visions. So many sometimes that I’m overwhelmed. I think to myself “how am I going to get this all done”. That’s how I realized I had a huge calling over my life. It scares me. It drives me. It motivates me. At times I get fearful and back off, but God brings me right back into the battlefield. The Bible says in Genesis Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” Genesis 15:1 NLT When I have a vision for my business that is from God, I tend to experience an initial fear or intimidation at what is required of me, because a real vision requires faith. At the same time, the visions and dreams that God have given me for my entrepreneurial career build my faith, as I choose to obey, take risks and see Him make good on His promises. God gave Abraham a big vision. He told him, at 75 years of age, that He would give him a son, and that through him all nations would be blessed. Abraham would have been afraid. In fact, we know there were times his trust in God was weak. Yet God came through, and his wife bore a son when Abraham was 100 years old! If we want to know if a vision is from God, we must ask ourselves, “Does this require me to step out in faith?” God’s vision for our businesses will often challenge us to step out into territory that we may be unfamiliar with. Pray and seek discernment from Scripture, and look for God’s guidance at every step. Godpreneurs pray for supernatural guidance when it comes to His leading in our businesses. #FindingMyPurpose #BusinessBibleStudy VIDEO COURSE AVAILABLE! Instead of reading the blog posts, take the video course!  I personally teach you the method.  You get: Workbook 5-Video Teachings Access to dozens of courses in the Godpreneur Academy! TAKE COURSE TODAY

My purpose is to be God’s hands and feet when it comes to an Entrepreneur recognizing his or her need to come close to their creator if they want to discover their business’s higher purpose, thus resulting in the best possible brand that is presented to the world. It really doesn’t matter to me if someone doesn’t agree with my purpose in life. My purpose is God-given and Spirit-led. This means I’m doing this all for an audience of one. That doesn’t mean I don’t run things by my wife, my mentors, and my tribe of followers. I can get ‘confirmation’ and ‘refinement’ from other Godpreneur’s. But ultimately, only God will let me know when I’m successfully following my purpose. Successfully identifying my entrepreneurial purpose now makes it easier to accomplish goals and succeed in other areas of my life. I have the drive, motivation, and backing of my God. That’s all I need. The Bible says What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31 NLT The only One whose favor we desperately need in our businesses is God. It doesn’t matter what any attorney, doctor, employer, employee, friend, or family member thinks about us if God is not for us. That’s because, without His favor, we have no chance for real success! God is the ultimate measure of what’s real and what’s good for our entrepreneurial purpose. Yet so many business owners I meet with try to find contentment without Him even in the picture. I remember leading my business before Christ in my life. The only purpose was to make money and build an agency so I could look cool. There was no heart behind it. But those plans ultimately failed as I realized there is no true satisfaction in business without a relationship with God. We Godpreneurs find our contentment in God, not in how others regard us. All the accolades in the world could never make up for hearing those words at the end of your life, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Godpreneurs find our contentment in God as the ultimate measure of success in our business! #BusinessBibleStudy #FindingMyPurpose VIDEO COURSE AVAILABLE! Instead of reading the blog posts, take the video course!  I personally teach you the method.  You get: Workbook 5-Video Teachings Access to dozens of courses in the Godpreneur Academy! TAKE COURSE TODAY

I get incredibly nervous when I have to speak in front of crowds. I can hear my voice crackle, feel my breath get shorter, and see my palms get sweaty. Then I think that everyone else can see my nervousness, which exaggerates all my symptoms. But one time, someone asked me to give a presentation on branding. I chose to speak on the subject of "Discovering Your Calling as an Entrepreneur." Since it was the subject of my book on Amazon, I wasn't nervous. Instead, I was confident and bold. I actually walked out of that meeting with 3 new clients! Why didn't I feel so nervous this time? I believe it's because, by this time in my entrepreneurial walk, I realized that the knowledge I carried was a gift from God, and I was sharing that insight with others. Most of us entrepreneurs aren't born with a natural ability to speak in live audience situations. It doesn't matter if it's a TV segment, radio show, live speaking engagement, or a Zoom interview; we all experience stage fright. It's human nature to fear that we're going to mess up, so we protect ourselves from the potential pain, and we shy away from live presentations. However, the key to overcoming our fears of failure in front of a live audience, is to understand that these platforms should make us feel honored to present the audience with the calling God has gifted us with. The Bible says: For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:6‭-‬7 NIV) In this verse, Paul is encouraging Timothy to expand on the spiritual gifts he has been given so that he continues to serve others. One must fully implement power by fanning a flame, making it stronger, brighter, and hotter. God bestowed gifts that, through the spirit, replace any fears with love and service to humanity on behalf of God. The fear of speaking is gone when it's replaced with true, authentic service to others. Public speaking and Facebook Lives are not channels for you or others to receive adoration and affirmation from, but instead, teach others what God has shown you. Teaching through live events or streams is God's calling within you, being expressed to MANY at once! As a Christian with the gift of helping others find THEIR purpose and calling, you participate in live events to live and serve the audience. Period. Your knowledge expresses through your voice, and your emotion makes up your unique, supernatural creative gift to vulnerably serve entrepreneurs by offering them guidance, empathy, perspective, truth, joy, and hope for the success of their business. We Kingdom-minded branding agents have the gift to transform all entrepreneurs' hearts and lives that hear our message. Live interviews and events are about the audience - brothers and sisters that we've been called to serve. Remember: there's an enemy that doesn't want you sharing your calling with others because it would fan the flame, expand gifting, and draw others closer to God. The enemy wants us to fear speaking, so we cower away from opportunities to serve a bigger audience. However, God-first entrepreneurship was never about you as the guide, but instead the audience as the hero in need of a plan….a plan we've been allowed to share with them. The power that God's gift gave us to help others find their identity, makes the audience our focus. We're not doing all these live events to find our identity in the applause, comments, or even the sales resulting from it. When we make this distinction clear, the stage becomes a place of love instead of fear. There is no more risk of failure when we're sharing our calling with others. When we're focused on serving others, the fear of failure is gone. Reflection Questions Any tips you can share on how you overcome fear when participating in live events? Think about a time in business where you have seen the power of prayer supernaturally bring peace into a difficult or new situation. How will you incorporate prayer before live events to receive that same power to cast your fear? To read more articles about sales, click here. #FindingMyPurpose

The other day a client call me to say that according to other vendors he’s spoken to, I sold him an inferior product that wasn’t going to yield him the results he wanted. Luckily I had already been confronted with the same concern by another client, so I knew how to handle the situation already. In both cases, I came to discover that the information my clients were being fed was coming from the same vendor type. This vendor wanted to sell them his product, but in order to do that, he needed to switch them from the platform I had them on. Instead of hurling insults at another vendor, I simply defended my choice and backed it up with stats to prove my product was able to perform at the same level. When we are facing situations like this, it’s easy to gossip, hurl insults, become angry, and even resent the client themselves for being misled by others. Can you control your tongue in situations like this? Few have mastered this small part of human anatomy. In my previous life (before Christ) I would have become extremely defensive and combative. Instead, I controlled my tongue. The bible says Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult. (Proverbs 12:16 NIV) I work everyday to master my tongue. I realize the power of the words coming out of my mouth. Everything I say has an impact just by virtue of my personality and position. And because I am in charge, there is often no one who will point out my faults. I must have the self discipline to constantly remind myself  the power of my words. That client will remember my response to his inquiry. The conversation started out combative on his end, who knows how long it had been eating at him that I sold him an inferior product. By the end of the conversation, without insulting anyone, I had him back at bay and confident in the platform I had him on. When you have something to say about an insult or gossip, what do you do? Write a comment below. Godpreneur Rule: Godpreneurs learn to harness the power of our tongue and use it to do the greatest possible good in our business. #SharpenLeadership

As an entrepreneur since 2005, I’ve been in and out of many client relationships. Many of them have been great, but some became confrontational and toxic. But the toxic relationships didn’t start out like that. At the beginning we were really excited to work together. We tend to think that all client problems stem from money or big personality differences. Sometimes they do, but many client problems can be caused by something completely different. The Hunt and Kill Model Very often, the lack of love isn’t because of a one-time mistake but a subtle ongoing pattern of behavior, leading to what I call “the hunt and kill”. I know that probably sounds pretty random, so allow me to elaborate. I’m always more excited at the beginning of a client relationship than towards the end. There’s something exciting about the beginning. Maybe it’s the ‘chase’ of the sale? The pursuit to ‘take down’ a new contract makes me feel like a lion that’s caught it’s prey. Then I eat. I’m satisfied. Then I walk away to sleep and let the vultures have the scraps. Sadly, at the beginning I treat my customers with amazing care and attentiveness when I’m first trying to seal the deal, but once I’ve got them, customer service takes a nose dive. The branding and marketing industry (and probably others) seems focused on a model of treating people really well at first but then taking them for granted in the long run. Do you operate this way too? In the beginning, you’re trying to win the client’s attention, you’re rolling out the red carpet! You give the very best of yourself, but it doesn’t last long. Once the day-to-day project sets in, you stop doing all those things you did in the beginning. You take your client for granted, and it isn’t long before both you and your client start longing for something new where you’ll have your desires satisfied again. It doesn’t have to be this way! Client relationships should grow stronger with time. Both, should continue pursuing, encouraging, and loving each other through all the seasons of business relationship. The bible says Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:9‭-‬18 NIV If, like me, you find yourself in a hunt and kill mindset right now, don’t lose hope! Don’t throw away your client relationships just to start a new one with other client and repeat the same cycle. Make a commitment to transform your business and mindset. Stop taking your clients for granted. Your best days together can still be ahead of you and not behind you. Wherever you are in your business model and client relationships, I believe you can grow stronger with time. Any lack of forethought to the client relationship could end up disastrous, but any relationship given thought and consistent investments of time and focus will flourish until the end. When a business chooses to serve their clients like Jesus served, the relationship instantly improves. When you and your clients reach the end of your time together, what will matter most will be the moments you served each other and the moments you served alongside each other. When we remove selfishness from our business relationships, love will be all that remains. That’s the kind of love that can change you as a Godpreneur and change the world through your business. #AgencyOwners #StrengtheningMyBusinessPartnership

One time I pretended an event was sold out when it really wasn’t.  I had even sent an email out saying that there were no more spots left and there was now a waiting list. I thought that maybe people would see the sense of urgency and react and sign up.  Instead, I got nothing. Oddly, I wasn’t sad or defeated that the event didn’t sell out.  Instead, I was embarrassed because I had to lie to the staff that helps me with the event.  They replied to that email congratulating me and I had to let them know one-by-one that the email was a lie. Deep down, I know I had a pride issue at the time.  I want my events always to sell out.  I want to be seem successful to everyone around me. After all, I’m an entrepreneur and I should be crushing it. Underneath all the glamour and facade, entrepreneurs are all the same—just clay fashioned into housing for a living soul. Everyone is searching for meaning and purpose in business and shares the same basic human needs. Showmanship is one thing, but we shouldn’t be fooled by our own act. At the heart of it all we are the same as everyone else—no better and no worse. And we need to recognize that fact. So how do we kick this bad habit of showmanship, pride, and fake facades? What if our entire business model revolves around a fake authority we’ve built, and there’s no turning back? The bible says One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.  A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.  The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.  Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 13:7‭-‬10 NIV Here are 3 ways I’ve learned how to kick the habit of showing off and pretending to be someone I’m not. 1. Brag About Others: I’ve switched from trying to sell my services to selling my clients services.  I do branding, so I create the logos and websites for people.  When I’m done, I simply tell the world what they do, not what I did.  This helps me focus on others, and myself. Attend to the Basics 2. Your body, soul, and mind need working out constantly: We need to be in the bible daily to take on a Christ-like humility.  Here is God on Earth, can do anything he wants, yet shows us that those who are last will be first.  I read the Bible to keep me from becoming more of the old me. 3. You’re Doing Better than You Think You Are: Cultivate pleasures and have a realistic appraisal of yourself. God doesn’t read your press clippings. And if He did, He would not be very impressed. We’re all hard on ourselves.  If we really take a step back and look, we’re actually doing amazing things.  The problem is that we’re not where our visions have shown us yet, and that can lead to frustration and lies to make yourself act like you’re there already. Godpreneur Rule: Drawing attention to yourself may be good for business, but the simple life is good for your soul. #SharpenLeadership #StrengthenIntegrity

As business owner, I do a lot of lunch meetings. Sometimes these business lunch meetings are with women. It would be about business. But over the last couple of years I’ve changed my mind on having lunch alone with female counterparts. I’m married. It’s been a blessing to be married and be an entrepreneur. I’m also a man…and I know my sinful ways. As much as I read my Bible and go to church, I’m aware of an enemy that wants nothing more than the destruction of my marriage. A destroyed marriage will destroy a business. It will destroy an entrepreneur. I’m not taking any risks. Not anymore. A hundred years ago men and women rarely mingled in the workplace. Nowadays I do business side by side on a daily basis. If I want my marriage to survive and thrive in contemporary society I’m going to have to find ways to deal with these inescapable realities. So, what should the entrepreneur do? The bible says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will". Romans 12:2 NIV In Romans 1 Paul exhorts Christians to resist becoming “conformed” to the patterns of this world. Sadly, many believers nowadays seem content to accept the status quo and go along with what’s “common and expected” without question or pause. If we’re going to live God’s way, there are times when we have to be willing to push back against the culture. Godpreneurs who take this challenge seriously won’t necessarily shrug their shoulders and say, “That’s just the way things go in modern business.” We may not be able to re-engineer the culture or change the structures of the business world, but if we really care about preserving the integrity of our marriage relationship we can and should take the time to talk seriously about this and to figure out ways of establishing meaningful boundaries and maintaining appropriate “hedges” around the relationship. Here are strategies I use: Wherever possible I make an effort to include someone else in offsite business lunches. Matters that must be kept strictly private could be discussed at the office, behind closed doors if necessary, but in close proximity to other co-workers. I don’t even offer to have private lunches, breakfasts, happy hours or dinners. It’s not even an option. The bottom line here is that we’re building a wall around the most important relationship under God that I have. The process of building healthy boundaries and protective hedges in marriage begin with setting rules for yourself like this in business, and the key to success is the Godpreneur’s willingness obey God in this area. That’s when the blessings with 10X in our business and marriage. #MarriedEntrepreneurs #EnhanceFocus

I don’t seem to learn very much when everything is going great. It is usually in my failures that God gets my attention. The other day I didn’t deliver on time a project I had promised. The client was upset. I had failed to deliver on what I had promised. I look at it like this: if something went wrong in a project, client, vendor, deal, or employee, it’s a check engine light that something needs fixing. I had to flat-out confess to the client that I was sorry and I had no other choice but to make it right. Sometimes God humbles us to test our reaction before He lifts us up. The bible says "Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined; whoever hates correction will die. Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord . How much more does he know the human heart! Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise". Proverbs 15:10‭-‬12 NLT Have you ever been embarrassed or ashamed with a client situation only to discover later that your experience was supremely valuable? Maybe your failure turned your life in a way that nothing else could have accomplished. I have found that down is the way up in business. Anyone can handle success. How you handle failure as a Godpreneur is a sign of greatness. All entrepreneurs will suffer setbacks and discouragement; it come with the territory if you are trying to do what you were born to do. The one who is always playing it safe will never find out what kind of stuff they are made of. The failures and disappointments we experience in our businesses are not always what they appear to be. Maybe they are really just momentary set-backs as we focus on God’s will for our businesses. Godpreneur Rule: Humble yourself before God and He will lift your business up. #SharpenLeadership #GainConfidence

I’ve been married since 2011. Before that I was a nightclub promoter for 10 years. Needless to say, getting married was going to be a big battle for me since I’d been living an entire decade around a culture where having tons of girls that are friends was the name of the game. The other day I had a co-worker come into the office to knock out important work. She’s amazing, a really hard worker and extremely smart. Lunch time came around and neither of us brought lunch. We had to go grab somewhere. I immidiately remember that I had committed to “set boundaries” around lunches with women. What if my wife or friends would see me out? They don’t know she’s my co-worker. So I grabbed my partner and the 3 of us went to lunch. We don’t all have the same past I had, but we all have the same enemy around us that wants to destroy our relationships. We might not think it can happen to us, so we’re reluctant to set the same boundaries for our self. Now, that does not necessarily mean that by not setting boundaries our intention is to cross a line with the opposite sex. Usually it means that we have a false sense of our own capability to handle any situation at any time the way it needs to be handled. My experience as an entrepreneur says you are playing with fire. Any time we think that we are not vulnerable, we are fooling ourselves. All of us are vulnerable and I am including myself in this. The bible says "Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who always does good and who never sins." ECCLESIASTES 7:20 AMP For me, acknowledging my vulnerability is a smart move. Now I can set the boundaries in place that not only will keep me from crossing the line but will keep me far away from that line in the first place. Being an entrepreneur comes with this “whatever it takes” mentality that says that boundaries with the opposite sex are not really necessary. Having lunch or dinner with a potential prospect (especially a big one with lots of money) is okay. Traveling out of town with someone is okay, especially to close that major deal. After all, it is a business trip to grow the company! These things that culture says are okay can often be the first step to an affair. Every affair begins with some type of encounter. Limiting or eliminating those encounters is essential. My co-worker and I had a great lunch, and my partner tagged along and it was especially helpful because he provided some valuble insight on a project we were on. My point is this: Good, solid, well thought out boundaries for entrepreneurs in relationships are essential. Yes, there may be consequences as you follow them but in the big picture what’s really most important? Godpreneurs, take time this week to reassess your boundaries or create them if you have never had any. Think of five boundaries in your business that you can put in place to protect your relationship. Share in the Comments What boundaries do you currently have in place to protect your relationships when it comes to business dealings with the opposite sex? Make time this week to sit down with the person you’re in relationship with and discuss boundaries. Get on the same page about boundaries. Hear each other’s concerns, and respect the boundaries that will make your significant other feel secure in your relationship. It’s important that boundaries aren’t just physical boundaries but that they also protect you against emotional affairs. What boundaries can you put in place to make sure you are not seeking emotional needs from others that you should be getting from your significant other? Pray over the boundaries you have set and ask God to help protect your relationships. #SharpenLeadership #StrengthenIntegrity #MarriedEntrepreneurs

There are a few times in my life where a single sentence has changed me forever. For example, in marriage, I read “Marriage isn’t meant to make you happy, it’s meant to make you holy.” Wow! This rocked my universe. I was looking at marriage the wrong way for 5 years. It’s no wonder we struggled! Paralleling this with business, I now realize that business isn’t meant to make us happy, it’s meant to make us holy! You see, it’s through the fighting of the battle that we grow closest to God to be at the center of everything, even my business. It’s through the storm that we recognize our need to stay under God’s shelter our entire lives. I look at it this way: I have a huge calling over my life to help God in his mission to redeem the identity of entrepreneurs back to himself. I thought that since I was doing God’s work, this would be easy. NO WAY! Since I have so much baggage and sin of my own, God continues to uses my business to refine me so I become a better soldier for his calling over my life. Furthermore, the enemy wants you to NOT be in your calling. He doesn’t want you to succeed and will do everything to stop you at your tracks – in your business failings. The key here is perspective. In marriage, I could see my problems and complain, or I can see my problems and change. So I can see my problems as God working to concentrate me (perfect me, cleanse me), or I can see my problems as an excuse to quit. The enemy wants me to take the latter bait. No way, not today, not ever! So how do I fight through the pain? When I find myself struggling, wanting to quit, and at the end of the last dollar, I remember my purpose in business and that I always have the opportunity to overcome by resisting the enemy and continue pushing forward. The bible says "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up". Galatians 6:9 NLT We must paralyze resistance in our business with persistence of our calling. The leadership of the great entrepreneurs I admire always inspires me because they knew how to overcome great obstacles through steady persistence. I love stories of entrepreneurs overcoming bankruptcy and lost fortunes. I like them because they inspire me to be persistent in the face of adversity. They never gave up! I’ve almost given up on the branding world many times. Money was tight and I was lacking direction. Why should I try so hard when a job seems so much easier. I’ve thought about a corporate job more times than I’d like to admit. I could easily be paid so much more in relation to the stresses of entrepreneurship. But God spoke to my heart each time, and I became convinced that if I overcame, He would give me the big break I needed. I thought my success might come in building a big traditional agency but it didn’t. And as I battled two consecutive failures at attempting to build a large-scale agency, I finally gave up on that dream and began to despair. Has that ever happened to you? Proverbs says "The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again". Proverbs 24:16 NLT Slowly God began to build me back up after I lost my hope. He reminded me that my life was never really about building a big agency —that was just an avenue to build my character—He had bigger plans for me. So with His help, I started over and regained my confidence to move ahead by faith. At the time that I’m writing this, I’ve created Launch in 2 Days, a methodology for branding what you were Born to do. I’m teaching this methodology to other branding guys like me, and they love it! Owning a big agency was not my long-term place of service, but my attempts were an important schoolroom for me. The lessons I learned have served me well. God may change your direction but He will not abandon you. If you persist, you will discover the entrepreneurial purpose He has designed for your life and that will bring you more satisfaction than you can possibly imagine. Never give up! Godpreneurs never give up, no matter how dark the clouds over our business. God has a plan for me that will bring unsurpassed joy to my life. #FindingMyPurpose #SharpenLeadership

I have some friends my age that are growing successful businesses. They’ve got employees, their cash flow is great, and they are secure in their personal finances. I have been annoyed by these same friends before. I see how far along they’ve come, and it makes me realize how much further I have to go to get there. Being around successful entrepreneurs a lot, my patience is often tested toward God and His sovereignty to will and work in my business according to His perfect timing. We entrepreneurs don’t like waiting. We’ve been waiting for years for it to be ‘our turn.’ We don’t want to wait anymore. Oh, and add insult to injury for the fact that we go through attacks WHILE we’re waiting. At one point or another, all of us Godpreneurs have questioned God’s faithfulness, angry, stressed and losing hope that He cares for us. We ask questions like Does God really love and care me as much as He loves those entrepreneurs around me who are not waiting on Him in their businesses? Maybe He is not going to do what He promised in my business? How long do I have to pray for with no answer? This waiting causes us to wonder if God is still guiding the vision of the business, skeptical of whether He is ever going to give us the big break we need. The Bible has many examples of people that have questioned God like this. Many have found themselves waiting for God to act in their lives. There’s no guarantee that God would respond to them, their waiting and what they desire. Like us, they wait in uncertainty and sometimes even in disgrace; ridiculed and tormented. Think Noah building his Ark. He had to wait a long time to see God’s promise fulfilled. During all the years Noah built and finished the ark, he had to endure tons of physical and emotional pain. Through all of this, Noah did the only thing he could do: Keep believing. The Bible says "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance". 2 Peter 3:9 ESV Seeing God answer a prayer or a promise in our business is pretty easy. Waiting on God to do so can be very hard. Especially when God doesn’t come through for a while. However, we see him refrain from going ballistic and faltering in his faith. Instead, Noah chooses to wait well. In the depth of his distress, Noah does what you and I should learn to do. Noah holds on to God. Are you in that space in your business? The space between the entrepreneurial promise and the fulfillment of the promise? In the times you want to give up, don’t. Remember, Noah worked for years before God delivered him. Keep believing and keep moving. God’s timing is perfect. Noah was also insulted during his waiting. This is even more of a reason to hold on to Christ in the waiting period. He is fighting for you. Though allegations fly in your business and the enemy assaults your mindset, though competitors and even employees try to cut you down and drag your name through the mud in the marketplace, though scrupulous vendors launch schemes and temptations for you to cheat roar, though you seek revenge as your flesh fails—your hope is in the One who fights for you. You and your business are safe in God’s love and in the power of His mighty name. When we are asked to wait for the fulfillment of God’s vision for our business, instead of losing our patience or abandoning our reliance on God, we should cling to Him. Keep believing. Cling on to God even more now than ever. As entrepreneurs, we don’t like to wait. It’s not that we need that thing we’re waiting for, it’s that we need more of God in our lives. That’s the secret to waiting – hold on to God even more in the waiting! Godpreneur Rule – Godpreneurs hold on to God even more during waiting seasons. Ask this Question: Do you think it is hard to wait? PRAYER Father, in the middle of the storm in my business I am setting my hope on You. You fight for me and You are greater than all my enemies. Nothing I face in my business today is more powerful than You. You are the solid ground beneath the foundation of my business. Give me peace while I wait. Envelope me with grace in the presence of my enemies, knowing that You see me and defend me and my business in Your love. Amen. #BusinessBibleStudy #GainConfidence

I have a gift from God to analyze and rationalize my business ideas. I can put business plans together quickly. I can launch a company in 2 days! But this strong rational mind can also get me into trouble because I take control, act on my behalf, and sometimes trick myself into doing or NOT doing something. In the years since I started personally developing myself and my relationship with God, I realized that everything is controlled in the MIND. The reasons I launch or fail to launch will all come from my mind, therefore working on my mindset becomes one of the most important parts of my walk with God. We Godpreneurs have a gift from God to use our minds in amazing ways. It can be a strength because it helps us come up with the idea. It can also be our weakness because we have strongholds that bring in fear, doubt, and resistance. If we’re going to launch a new endeavor, we need to learn how to use the gift of the mind in a new way… God’s way. How do we learn how to properly apply our minds to our entrepreneurial ventures so that we can succeed? The bible says: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.(Romans 8:5‭-‬8 NIV) Your mind is your biggest partner in launching and growing your business. But the Bible warns several times that there’s spiritual warfare going on between your ears that needs careful attention. Notices in this Bible verse from the book of Romans the emphasis on the mind being governed. Your mind is either governed by yourself, or by God. This truth will make all the difference in overcoming things that are preventing you from expanding your mind into new territories in business. How do we renew our minds? The frustrating part is that you can’t READ your way to a better understanding of God. Head knowledge won’t change anything. What we need to do is continue to develop a very personal relationship with God. The more real God becomes in our hearts produces more love we gain for God, which develops our faith, which makes it easier to launch into the unknown. Now that we know our minds play the biggest part in overcoming barriers to launching our business ideas, we have to take on the mindset that there’s a spiritual battle going on for control of our minds and we need to suit up for war. If we partner with the spirit, we can heal our minds of anything holding us back. The spirit gives our minds power, love, and self-disciple (2 Timothy 1:7). A mind turned over to God will be the weapon that will give us the mental discipline to let God lead us into entrepreneurial expansion. We need to surrender our minds to God. It’s hard for us Godpreneurs who crave knowledge and need to understand everything we’re doing, but we need to surrender our minds to God like we surrendered our lives to Jesus. We need to submit and be responsive to guidance. Imagine if all of us Godpreneurs laid down our minds at God’s feet for His service in the marketplaces we’ve been called to?! Our minds may have gotten us far in life, and now God wants to take it to places it could have never gone alone. #BusinessBibleStudy #LaunchingMyBusiness #GodpreneurAcademy Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea Join Us on a 12-Days Business Bible Plan to learn Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

My first business was a dream. It was three best friends coming together to “stick it to the man,” leave corporate America and start an agency on our own. We grew to 8 full-time employees, an amazing office on South Beach with views of the ocean, and investors who paid us handsomely for a percentage of our company. My partners and I were in our 20s and living the dream! Then my accountant calls me into his office one day because he had some important information he needed to share with me. It turns out that I wasn’t paying employment taxes to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an entire year and I had accumulated a bill for $20,000 that needed to be paid…immediately. I was shocked. I didn’t have the cash, and I didn’t know where I was going to get it from. I got on a repayment plan with the IRS. My parents gave me a loan so I could be on my way to recovering from this mess I had created. I made some cuts at the office and eliminated people I had brought on board. I had to start over. I was humiliated and depressed. I felt like a failure. I’ve carried this “guilt” with me my entire entrepreneurial career. This traumatizing experience is why I didn’t make any more big attempts to hire a lot of employees again. I’ve purposely kept myself a “boutique” firm, so I don’t have to relive that embarrassment. That feeling of guilt is a big reason why I’m constantly reluctant to launch businesses that require many employees. This IRS experience was so painful for me that I wanted to bury it deep in my mind and pretend it didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t affect me and the businesses I would continue to launch. When we entrepreneurs do that, it’s like putting a toxic wastebasket in our brains, showing what we don’t want to deal with in our businesses into it and putting the lid on tight. And the next time we want to launch a venture, if we don’t invite Jesus to come and deal with what we’ve put in there, it will affect our mindset and decision making – stopping us from launching the business God intends us to be in. However, the bible says In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26‭-‬28 NIV) This means that even in the worst of your business circumstances, God is at work to heal you and save you. Nothing you’ve done in your past businesses is beyond His power. Launching your business can be a story of God’s redemptive love and healing power if you allow Jesus into the place where you’re storing the hurts of your business past. The only way forward to launching your business is to stop hiding, face what we’d rather keep buried, and let God deal with it. It will be a gradual process, but God will heal. First, we have to truly feel “forgiven” for anything in the past, regardless if we were guilty or not. We can’t launch a business freely, until we are free of guilt, no matter what we’ve done or how much shame we feel. Second, we must share this guilt with someone and ask them to pray for us. The bible says, “If we admit our sins – make a clean breast of them – he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.” (1 John 1:8) Those of us Godpreneurs that struggle with guilt need to embrace that we don’t need to shove guilt into the back of our minds – we must release it completely. This is the beginning of the freedom that will allow us to launch the business God intends for us. But… Holding on to that guilt for many years means that there’s still a ways to go to be healed from it entirely. In my case, the type of guilt that I lived with for so many years is the feeling of responsibility for the crime of not paying my employee taxes and the embarrassment of having to let them go. The enemy loves to keep entrepreneurs trapped in a place of feeling guilty because when we are stuck there, we won’t be able to launch, grow, and develop business God’s way. Imagine if we all didn’t hide our feelings of guilt, and instead, faced what we’d rather keep buried, and let God deal with it. Guilt is a major obstacle we will overcome when launching our businesses if we can give it over to God. If you need prayer for this, drop a comment, and our team will pray for you. #BusinessBibleStudy #LaunchingMyBusiness #GodpreneurAcademy Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea Join Us on a 12-Days Business Bible Plan to learn Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

Involving more employees in my business was never easy. After my past runs at growing my business, then subsequently having to let people go when things didn’t go right, hiring people brought up painful and panicky emotions. I’ve never shared this because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it anyway. I wasn’t sure that I was truly important enough to deal with, so I just hid in my office, on my own, and made sure I only hired contractors and virtual assistants. I kept telling myself (and the world) that I wasn’t prepared to be a boss, and that I’m supposed to fly solo in business (you can read it in my past blog posts for yourself). But these false beliefs are an effect of guilt and shame. Entrepreneurs living as prisoners of guilt have many effects on us and our businesses: some spiritual, some emotional, some mental, and some physical. The circumstances won’t be the same for everyone, but there will be similarities. Because of these symptoms, though, we Godpreneurs fail to do the one thing that God always asks of us in our businesses. We fail to obey in launching that new business, product, service, or event when He calls us to. We fail to write the book when the spirit nudges us. We’d rather hide than accept responsibility of launching into the unknown – back into the area where we could get hurt again. And that’s a big problem for those of us struggling to launch our next big idea. But the bible says: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord ; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. (Psalms 37:3‭-‬6 NIV) The anxiety caused by not launching the thing God’s calling you to will set your body on edge, and it will react in ways that are not healthy: headaches, over or underweight, acid in the stomach, and tension in the muscles leading to neck pain, and in my case, lower back pain. The only cure I’ve found to help is meditating on scripture that repeatedly reminds me not to worry, that God has my back, and that He keeps in perfect peace those of us who trust in Him. The enemy doesn’t want us to launch the vision God has for us, and he’ll show himself physically and mentally within our body unless we battle him with the truths from God – His word and promises. If we Godpreneurs are in a complete place of trust and security in God within our businesses, we won’t be experiencing anxiety, worry, and stress, and our body will be at peace with itself. God has had to teach me that he does not hold me personally accountable for all the ups and downs in my business that has led to employees coming and going, and quite frankly it’s arrogant of me to think I’m the one that calls the shots on people coming and going in the first place! God will only hold me accountable for the things he has asked me to do in business. He does not expect me to fix everything or fix myself. He’s taking care of that. #GodpreneurAcademy #BusinessBibleStudy Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea Join Us on a 12-Days Business Bible Plan to learn Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

Sometimes I can’t launch a new marketing campaign or business growth opportunity because I’m still suffering from the defeat of a past one that didn’t go so well. I get these feelings unforgiveness that I harbor against the people that rejected me. I’ve even developed a bitterness towards God for not allowing it to work, which leads me to shame and self-pity. I’ve come to accept that suffering is part of the journey of entrepreneurship. Not everything will be perfect. But I’ll admit that sometimes I get stuck in a specific moment of suffering for a little too long, preventing me from taking action on what God wants me to do next. I’m sure we can all agree that we don’t WANT to be suffering. We’d do everything we can to avoid it because it’s not healthy to be there for too long. But easier said than done, right. We Godpreneurs all carry around beliefs of the things that have happened to us in business. These beliefs form the spiritual battles we wage in our minds day in, and day out. When we’re wounded in our emotions, we must be careful not to stay stuck there, let it take root and begin to infect other parts of our business. If the suffering lasts too long, we develop even more bitterness and resentment, and launching anything new becomes less and less likely. But God designed suffering to be a place we pass through, not set up camp. We Godpreneurs must all suffer because it produces the perseverance, but we must also keep moving along the pilgrimage of entrepreneurship to the place we were created to be at in business. The bible says And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain! God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view! (Psalms 84:5‭-‬7 MSG) Godpreneur, in your suffering, God has traveled and is currently traveling the road with you. You are on a journey in your business, and your destination is the business God created you to start. Once you’re there, it’s all the eternity with Him! You’ll experience lonesome valleys along the way. These are the times in our business, where God seems distant. But, through the beauty of being able to get up and launch again, God provides springs for us to drink from! You see, the opportunity to launch again is where God wants to provide us energy and perseverance to keep on going along your pilgrimage to Him. But sometimes we get stuck. We wallow in self-pity, and we can’t even see the spring of water God has set up for us to drink from. Let us not get stuck in the valley of suffering. Staying there makes it harder to leave because we lose hope in carrying on. We need to have faith that God has a plan for the suffering and a better place for our business. We need to expel all fear. We need to remain joyful, confident, and expect good things from our next launch. There’s no place for anxiety and negativity in Godpreneurship. If we’re experiencing this, it’s probably a sign that we’re not doing the thing God created us to do. Take my course in the Godpreneur Academy to get back on track! Imagine if we all praised God in this place of suffering, thanked him for the pain of the past, and continued to the blessings that lie ahead by launching the next idea. #GodpreneurAcademy #BusinessBibleStudy Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea Join Us on a 12-Days Business Bible Plan to learn Overcoming Obstacles to Launching Your Idea. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account