The Visionary Missionary Blog for The World Race Gabe Sanchez Meet my great friend Gabe Sanchez! I have the privilege to know Gabe as a brother in Christ, a friend, and a supporter of his mission field work. God has given him the spiritual gift of Vision, and his vision is HUGE! ENTREPRENEURS:  God has given you the ability to profit so you can be a blessing to the world.  It’s our duty, obligation and responsibility to have the best businesses possible so that we can continue to support the great commission.  If you need a pump up message on this concept, watch Peter J. Daniels. Gabe, I look forward to God using my tribe of entrepreneurs to support your vision! #SharpenLeadership

Is your vision to do good? When your customer gives a testimonial, will they satisfy your vision’s hunger? My vision is for my clients to discover what they were born to do, bring it to life, and tell the whole world! When they testify that I’ve helped clarify their calling in business, the vision is satisfied and my appetite is full. But if my vision is set on making money, possessing more territory or gaining more clients, we’ll always just want more and we won’t be satisfied. Money and territory goals are great, but they are goals and should not be mixed with the vision. Ask yourself: How can I make this world a better place? What will my product or service do for the GOOD of my clients. Start there when setting your entrepreneurial vision. An appetite for good brings much satisfaction! #BusinessBibleStudy #EnhanceFocus

One thing I’ve learned in the years of being an entrepreneur: I’m a horrible boss. No, really! I’m a great leader, I can instill Vision and confidence and trust like no other. I’m amazing with brainstorming, problem solving, branding and marketing. But when it comes to managing people, I stink. BUT WAIT…that’s just fine! For years I always thought that being an entrepreneur meant being the boss, and nothing could be further from the truth. Technically, the role of an entrepreneur can be ANYTHING. Here’s what the role of the entrepreneur is, and the same applies to everyone in your organization: everyone should be doing what that are COMPETENT at. If you love to bake, and you start a bakery, you will quickly realize that baking takes a back seat when you have to pay the bills, hire the employees and market your services and products. All of the sudden, the whole reason you started a business (to bake delicious delicacies) is now 4th on the list of priorities, and you find yourself stressed and about to give up. So here’s the solution: 1) make a list of what you love to do, and what you hate to do 2) as fast as possible, partner with or hire someone to do the things you hate doing As a baker, you should be coming up with new recipes, training other bakers, doing quality control, and always be in the kitchen while occasionally coming out to greet the customers only to take a quick survey of how they like the pastries you made. You’re the superstar!! We all need to stop living in levels of incompetence and start living lives of meaning. #SharpenLeadership

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

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 received a nasty phone call from a client that wasn’t too happy about the progress my team was making on a project we were doing. There was yelling, screaming, name-calling, and blaming, followed by a barrage of insults and unsolicited advice on how my company should operate. Years ago, I would have fired right back and laid it on this client even harder than what was done to me. I’ve been chewed up and spit out before, so I know where this could have led. I’ve fired this client on the spot in similar spats and not thought twice about it – poof, be gone from my life. But I’m different now. I’ve learned the art of diffusing a situation and winning the client’s heart right back to me so we can course-correct and finish the project out with grace. We’ve all experienced terrible tirades from callous clients. Whether it was our fault or theirs, when expectations aren’t met, or some outside factors come into play, people stop being kind, and the relationship is threatened. At this point, we have a choice of mirroring the client’s feelings and engaging in the negativity or taking the higher road and diffusing the situation to come to a peaceable resolution. We know God would want us to take the higher road, but easier said than done. How can we change our ways when we’ve always been used to arguing back, flaring our temper, and defending ourselves to the point of destroying client relationships? The answer is in the most famous preaching ever given on the planet. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount lays out the eight beatitudes, which are qualities of the people that enjoy special favor from God. The third beatitude is Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5 NIV) Many people think meek means weak. Yes, they rhyme, but that are opposites. Meekness means power under control. Jesus even described himself as “meek and lowly,” but Jesus was the most influential and powerful man to walk the earth. If you’re looking to achieve greatness in your business, learning meekness will be critical for your success. When you are a meek entrepreneur, you have come to serve, not to be served. Therefore, you hold back asserting yourself for your benefit, but instead, display self-control that benefits everyone involved. The next time a client or situation makes your blood boil, and you feel the anger or frustration rising in you, remember the meekness captured by Psalm 37:1-11, which starts our with, “Do not fret because of the wicked,” and concludes with “the meek shall inherit the land.” In business, you have relationships with partners, employees, vendors, contractors, shareholders, clients, prospects, and competitors. At every point in our day, someone can threaten our ‘good mood,’ and from one second to the next, we could turn the world on fire. However, Jesus is guiding you to do as He did and curb your urge to use power to avenge the wrongs done against you or to build your image and instead use whatever power you have to serve and build others up. What does this look like in our businesses? For me, it has saved many business relationships, and even made them stronger! What could have ended up with a burned bridge built our relationship and landed me an even bigger contract and more referrals from the client I described at the beginning. See, because I kept my composure through all the insults, the client ended up telling me that he had a very long day, frustrated with so many other things in other areas of his business, that I was the one he took out his anger on. He apologized for his words and thanked me for keeping my cool. He commended me for keeping my composure and told me ‘that Christianity stuff is working for you.’ That’s what it’s all about! We Godpreneurs are God’s witness here on earth of what a relationship Christ can do for our personal development. Meekness is evangelism in business. Sure, it can be extremely challenging to give up our power to God’s agenda, especially in business. In a cut-throat environment where financial profit is god, it seems to be the self-promoting aggressive entrepreneurs who get ahead more often than not. However, anyone who looks out only for their interest loses out in the end. People who are thirsty for power are often lonely people, lacking in meaningful relationships. These people may have accumulated materialistic things and achieved monetary success; they will eventually find out that the world controls them. On the other hand, Jesus promises that the meek Godpreneur “will inherit the earth.” Jesus came to bring Heaven to earth, and when we display meekness, we’re doing our part to create this new heaven and a new earth in our respective marketplaces. Imagine if we all submitted our business power to God. Imagine heaven all around you – in every meeting, every relationship, every transaction. When we become meek, Godpreneurs, we receive God’s grace and all the good things we desire that otherwise might elude us. How are you going to use meekness today? I pray you’ll submit your power to God and let Him lead you to exercise control as Jesus did – for the sake of others. #BusinessBibleStudy #SharpenLeadership Jesus’s 8 Steps For Achieving Greatness in Business Achieving greatness starts when we learn about humble dependence on God and trust that He will always bring new resources into our business. 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

Take a look at my calendar and you’ll see a busy guy.  You might be impressed at how I’ve left not white space in my Google calendar.  Everything is in there – eating schedule, workout schedule, meditation time, reading time, private events and business meetings. But what’s it all for? To make money?  To be a better human?  To squeeze everything I can out of life before my time is up?  Maybe all of the above? Anyone can seem busy.  Anyone can give themselves something to do just to feel like they are working.  But if we’re honest with each other, the day ends and sometimes we still feel empty, unfulfilled, and think back and say ‘what the heck did I do today’?  We literally can’t tell our spouses anything because we have no clue. Psalms 39:6 says “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be." If a business has no purpose, the organization will be like zombies walking around just trying to collect their next paycheck.  Money is really the only purpose. If we entrepreneurs fill our schedules up with the purpose of making money, then we’re the same. Being a busy entrepreneur isn’t wrong, but busyness requires intention and purpose. This is a big reason why I had to make God my CEO, hold my calendar accountable to his purpose for me and my business, and fill it up according to moving forward on the visions he has given me. #EnhanceFocus

I have to admit that I let my business be guided by market trends, what my competitors are doing and, sadly, chasing after profits. I let outside factors determine the direction of my company sometimes. Other times, I’m guided by an internal compass and a desire to please God. It’s a constant battle. Whenever we entrepreneurs talk about our business plans and activities, we use terms like “my aims, my ambitions, my goals, my desires.” Some of us do things purely for ourselves, but most of us, unconsciously, perform with an eye of approval of some audience or other; Our parents, our staff, our competitors, our clients. The question is not whether or not we have an audience, but which audience we have. Only one audience matters:  God. An entrepreneurial career lived listening to the decisive call of God is a life lived before one audience that trumps all others – the Audience of One. Imagine running your business to only please one person.  Imagine doing everything with such perfection because you work for God, for His purpose and calling in your life. Imagine a world where every entrepreneur lived to please God.  I’m not saying everyone drops what they are doing to become a pastor.  No.  Right where you are, in your current industry, what if you worked to only please God. That’s my mission in life… showing entrepreneurs what it’s like to run a business for an Audience of One. I’m trying daily. #SharpenLeadership

I don’t like conflict. I avoid it. I do everything in my power to block it from my mind. Sometimes I’ll stay in a hurtful business relationship simply because I don’t want to have the conversation.  It happens with partners, employees, contractors, vendors and clients. I guess I just want the problem to disappear on its own. I want the relationship to fizzle out and make itself disappear. The problem with this strategy is that it takes time and leaves too many lose ends untied. Worst case is that the relationship doesn’t fizzle and next thing I know it’s 1 year later and I’m still involved. I believe relationships are a temporary assignment by God to help two people achieve a purpose in a season of both people’s lives.  How temporary?  It could be seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, even decades.  It’s not up to us.  We just need to recognize that it’s temporary. (PS I’m not talking about your marriage, that’s something God brought together and you need to work through it until death do you part.  Some of you readers were getting really excited where I was going with this, I could tell.) We want relationships to work, and I think we all have a tendency to avoid conflict and stay together because it’s our instinct (survival by numbers) and it’s God’s intention for us to be in community and communication with others so we can grow. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas got into a dispute about where to go next with the gospel, their mission in growing the church.  There’s no detail on how the dispute went down, but in the end, they went separate ways to accomplish whatever their spirit was insisting they do. "They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." Acts 15:39‭-‬41 NIV God had them both together for a season. They needed each other. But now God was ready for them to go their separate ways…to accomplish more separately than they could together. Maybe you’re in a relationship that it’s time to recognize that the season was great together, but now it’s time to go and accomplish your hearts missions on your own. This is an easy conversation to have when you speak from a perspective of “what does God want us to do?” It’s a matter of two people reflecting on their goals, visions, and missions that God has for them and recognizing that the two might not align anymore and it’s time to move on. Imagine the strife we could all avoid if everyone was focused on the mission God has set out for each of us individually. We would recognize seasons endings much faster so we could all accomplish God’s purposes sooner. Godpreneur Rule #84: Godpreneurs recognize that relationships are seasonal and gracefully communicate that when wanting to part ways. #EnhanceFocus #BusinessPartnerships

I used to think it was my lack of leadership skills.

In July of 2014, I installed an ‘INTRANET’ at my company. An intranet is a private network within my company. Only employees and contractors are allowed in. In this intranet, I talked about the mission, vision, and goals of the company.  We displayed growth stats, had courses my team could take, and dialog amongst each other.  It was also a mini social network of our own. Why would I build an intranet for my company? The primary reason was that I wanted us all to be on the same page moving into the future. I realized that the visions God gave me, he didn't give to the team. I’m supposed to interpret them and relay the message at the right time, in the right way. The second reason I built the intranet was to arm and equip my team with the knowledge, training, and resources to move into the future. This future would include battles…battles of distraction, competition, letdowns, employee turnover, and all other sorts of bumps that entrepreneurs experience. We, as business owners, are in charge of our team. It’s not about YOU anymore.  This is about your team. We will find ourselves in times of attack by the enemy, and thus our employees will too. Our first line of defense is prayer, of course. And when we're done praying, it's time we equip our team to defend and succeed! In the book of Nehemiah, we read that he's on a mission to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. We see a leader that knows how to equip his team, knows the importance of what this does mentally to His team and doesn’t just rely on his initial prayers. In Nehemiah 4:16-18, God’s word says: "From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me". God wants you to succeed. He is for your business! He’s looking for leaders that will equip their teams. If you’ll focus on covering your team in prayer, training them for success, and equipping them for battle, your business will be impenetrable to the forces that don’t want it to exist. Imagine a world where every company was led by a Godpreneur - an entrepreneur under the full authority and direction of God. I pray we all can become the Godpreneurs God has created us to be. #GainConfidence #WorkLifeBalance #AgencyOwners All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com 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.

From elementary school, I can always remember being in some kind of leadership position. Oftentimes, I think this can lead to leadership fatigue, pride, and a slow-down in our true potential We can find rest from our own feelings of leadership responsibility if we can understand that Jesus came (Acts 2:32‭-‬33 NIV) When Jesus ascended into heaven, it started his leadership role as king over every

The business partnerships I’ve been in are hard. Looking back now, I can see that a lot of the problems stemmed me coming into the venture full of pride of ownership and pride of the gifting and/or financial contribution I was bringing to the table. So when things didn’t go right, my pride would puff up and I would begin to criticize, point fingers, play the blame game, and deflect the conflict back at my partners. Oh, and forget about me ever saying “I’m sorry.” (laughing out loud). Now I’m different. I’m a Godpreneur in various business Partnerships with other Christians and non-Christians. I’ve learned that apology is the cure for pride. Apologizing to our business partners is hard work. Saying I’m sorry and changing our business behaviors is even harder, and what makes it so hard for us is pride. Being in a partnership always to some degree involves each person fighting for control. It’s like being in the longest game of tug of war where the only way to stop struggling is for someone to fall. When our behaviors in the business partnership are driven by pride, we want to win every argument about money, always be right about a client. If we see difficulties in the operations is our partner’s fault, we bring up our partner’s admitted shortcomings of the past, and explain away or deny our own sins and weaknesses that we brought into the partnership. We need to change our mindset entirely on this partnership dilemma. Partnerships can be the very thing that God’s put into our lives to continue to mold and shape us into the likeness of Christ, thus becoming the best Godpreneurs possible. We need other people’s input and critique to know how we sound, how we look, how our actions affect other people in the business. In humility, we need to realize that we aren’t quite as brilliant and tough as we think we are. The Bible says: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Romans 12:3). When your business partner has an issue with something you did or didn’t do, develop the habit of stopping for a moment and asking yourself “How did I contribute to this issue?” The golden nuggets you’ll discover will propel you and your business to heights you could have never imagined. Then, just say “I’m sorry, you’re right, I could have done XYZ different, and I’m taking responsibility for that.” Easier said than done, but imagine if we all operated from this mindset of self-reflection and personal responsibility? Wow! Godpreneur Rule: Godpreneurs say I’m sorry and take responsibility to grow in our partnerships. #BusinessBibleStudy #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnerships Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership Instead of reading the blog posts, take the video course!  I personally teach you the method.  You get: Workbook 3-Video Teachings Access to dozens of courses in the Godpreneur Academy! 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

I was very selfish in the first 5 years of my partnership. It was truly all about me and how I could benefit from the company. I used my Ivy League status, my interpersonal skills, and my sales ability to bully my way through decisions in the company. I cared about my partners, but to the extent in which it helped me. I loved my bros, but I loved myself more. I remember one of my partners reminding me constantly of my selfishness, but I didn’t see it. I thought I was the nicest guy ever…that’s what my mom told me! Although our partnership is over now, I wonder if things would be different had I known the things I know today. You see, what I’ve learned is that we are naturally selfish. We’re born selfish. It’s our instinct of survival to think of ourselves first. We all enter partnerships with a ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality. If we’re honest with each other, we all suffer from this selfish condition (if you don’t anymore, kudos!).  So how do we identify and remove this selfishness? What I’ve learned now that I wish I knew before is that there are 8 keys to removing selfishness and we can find them in the bible in Philippians 2:1-8. "If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human !  Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion." The keys are this: Agree with each other Love each other Be deep-spirited friends Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. This isn’t a call for you to lay down your visions, not lead, let yourself be abused, or not defend what you feel strongly about. The irony is that if you can follow the steps above, you’ll actually become even more powerful and influential in your partnership. You’ll be able to win your partners over to your vision much easier.  They will know your heart and trust you more. If all of us can be Christ in our partnerships, we’re truly living out the gospel in our businesses. #BusinessPartnerships #SharpenLeadership #GainConfidence

In 2008, just 3 years after starting my partnership, I began my spiritual revolution.  I grew up Catholic, and after confirmation I really didn’t have much interest in church. Like most boys growing up in Miami, the girls and nightclubs are more tantalizing to our souls. But in 2008 a friend of mine invited me to a Christian non-denominational church and I was hooked! I started growing in my relationship with God. My heart was changing, my thoughts were changing, and the way I viewed people and my business were changing. I’d like to tell you that my partners were happy for me and everything was peaches and cream, but nothing could be further from the truth. Because I was walking in one direction and the other was walking opposite, making business decisions became challenging. I was serving a new CEO above me that wanted things to be different. To please my partners, I sacrificed my new thoughts in hopes of keeping the peace and moving forward. I convinced myself that when its business, God is out, but for my personal life, I was going to grow with God. Essentially, I was living a double life. Sometimes in partnerships we’re put into situations where one person is a believer and the other isn’t.  Or maybe it’s two Christians, but one isn’t walking as close to God as the other. We begin to experience moral and ethical problems.  Business is like a marriage, and being married to someone that’s reading a different book can be challenging! So where do we go from here? Certainly we don’t just bow out and give up the business, right? We can’t just sacrifice all we’ve done to create the business, correct? God’s ways are different, contrariant in nature. The opposite is true. In fact, God wants you to get deeper into the business partnership, but He wants it done out of sacrifice to Him. Romans 12:2 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." This verse is TOP 5 verses of the Bible that I hold on to and live by every day.  Wherever we are at in our lives, God wants us to think like him and sacrifice the old ways in which we thought. The relational problems that arise from my business partnerships used to deeply trouble me until I wrapped my head around the concept of sacrificing everything I used to think in order to think like Jesus would. This helped me to see my partners not as ‘opposite’ of me, but as brothers that I love. You can choose to focus on your partners and the problems, or you can choose to focus on sacrificing your thoughts and replacing them with God’s thoughts. Let love shine through from God to your business, your partnership, your clients, your services, and your employees. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, genuine love is all about giving of oneself. However, the pattern of capitalism in the business world is selfish. If we’re conformed to it, we might try “sacrificing” to gain something, be it happiness, acclaim, self-worth, or in my case keeping peace with my partners. But true sacrifice involves giving up selfish desire for selfless love. Sacrifice in business requires balancing our hopes of success and wealth with the understanding that those hopes are not the focus. True sacrifice involves a greater goal than we gain personally or relationally. As Jesus’ life demonstrates, sacrificing must be about living to serve God, even as we seek to serve our business partners and others for him. #WorkLifeBalance #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnership