I confess that I’ve had unhealthy ambitions to create a name for myself, and this temptation still plagues me at times. Deep down, I want to build a big brand with my ventures so I can be recognized as a thought leader, innovative entrepreneur, and build wealth so I can be rich. I’ve created out of a desire to make a name for myself, or, to put it in more worldly terms, to accumulate fame and fortune. If I’m honest with myself, I’m essentially trying to save myself. Let me explain. When I came up with my companies, I wasn’t content simply putting my innovations to work to help others. I wanted to leverage my creations to make a name for myself. Why? What is it about the human condition that causes me to use my work as a tool for proving something to the world? Deep down, I know there’s something wrong with me. I know I’m flawed. I know I’m not “right.” Deep down, we know that I “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Each entrepreneurial venture is me trying to cover up these flaws with my accomplishments. I think that if I write a bestselling book, or sell a business for millions of dollars, or have hundreds of employees, or get 100,000 Instagram followers, or build the world’s largest agency, then I’ll be able to mask my sinful human condition. Essentially, I use entrepreneurship as a means of saving myself. I know better! And every day I’m choosing to transform and renew my mind. I know it’s not that I need a bigger company, it’s that I need Christ to be bigger in me. The bible says I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV) As a Christian, I know that the work of salvation is complete! Because Jesus said, “It is finished,” I no longer have to use my companies as a means of saving myself. What incredible freedom I experience when I let that truth really sink into my heart! Because of the gospel, I am free to work and create not as a means of making a name for myself, but as an act of worship to the One who made me, saved me, and called me to Godpreneurship. This truth replaces my improper ambition with proper ambition that flows out of a love for Christ and a desire to make His name famous throughout this earth and the next. Father, help me to remember this every second of the day as I lead my businesses. (PS – I write self-deprecating blog posts for 3 reasons. First, to confess to others. This helps call out the sin. Second, to process my own thoughts and declare new ones to myself. Third, that it might help you too.) #StrengthenIntegrity #EnhanceFocus

Have you ever had an incident in your business that makes you want to throw in the towel, fire everyone, quit everything, and start over from scratch? For me, it happens more often than I’d like. And in the past, I’ve taken all of the above actions and started over. It happened to me when I was doing marketing for nightclubs. I had an incident with a client. I took it as a sign from God that He didn’t want me serving the nightlife industry, so I started my business over. It also happened when a client of mine wasn’t getting the service I thought my employees were providing. I kept trying to correct the issue, and my team kept producing bad results. This time I didn’t fire my employees, the client fired ME! We lost the contract. On the pilgrimage of launching and growing our businesses, God is looking to transform us and make us more like His son, Jesus. And God will cause certain indicates to happen that I call the “turning point.” This is the fork in the road, drawn by God so that we can change the direction of our business towards where He wants us to be going. I gave you only two examples of incidents in my business, but God in His creativity can use an infinite number of incidents and situation that can radically change us, cause an imbalance in our thoughts, and provoke us in such a way that will rock the foundations of our businesses. On our pilgrimage, God wants us to choose Him over our comfort. Jesus says in the bible "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own". (Matthew 6:33‭-‬34 NIV) Sometimes, the incident you’ll go through in your business will be negative, like mine. Sometimes it can be positive, like a great conference you attend with a mind-blowing message that has you come back fired up for a new direction. Negative or positive, on our pilgrimage of creating a God-First business, God will use a turning point situation to call us closer to Him and to increase our dependence on Him… if we choose the right path at the fork in the road. What’s the right choice? Easy. THE HARDER PATH! I always smile when I tell this to clients. You don’t get a great body by eating Sweets and sitting on the couch. That’s easy to do. You only grow by choosing the path you’ve taken less. We all need an incident to happen in our business, so we are forced to make a change. That situation will come on its own, on God’s timing. We don’t choose the incident; the incident chooses us. We can’t force it; it will happen. And it will happen OFTEN! We must begin to expect it to happen, and be like Paul when he says “for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11) Maybe this blog post is finding you at a place where you haven’t given your business fully to God. Like me, maybe you’ve been serving industries that don’t honor God. Or, maybe you’re doing something you weren’t born to do, and your actual calling is in a different business, industry, or service offering. When we’ve decided to put God First in our business, we started a Pilgrimage to draw closer to God and become like Christ. The current business we’re in is comfortable, but we need to be ready to throw off that comfy plan to follow God’s higher calling. This is how our businesses positively advance in the God-First direction! Will it hurt? Maybe. Will it be uncomfortable. Yes. Will we be naked and vulnerable? Temporarily. But this is where God makes the impossible possible in our business, and God will take you to new levels of contentment. God wants to provide all of us Godpreneurs provision for our businesses beyond our wildest dreams if we appreciate the turning point situations and choose to get out of our comfort zones while on our pilgrimage to experience the breakthrough. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindMyCalling #WhatBusinessIShouldStart The Business God Created You To Start Have you ever wondered why you received the talents and gifts you have been given? We, as entrepreneurs, were born to do. 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

In my post-college proclivity, I desired nothing more than to start a great idea, grow it, and cash out so I could retire in my twenties. My first, second, or third ventures didn’t work out and I was now into my thirties…and still no fortune and fame. Around 2008 is when I started going back to church and gaining a new perspective on everything in life. One mindset shift I began to feel was that my ambition began to shift from selfish desires (fame and fortune) to wanting to help others and feel significance in my work. My struggle was that I still wanted fame and fortune, but I also wanted to serve others and be in God’s will for my business life. As Christians, is it possible to be ambitious in our entrepreneurial ventures and still have our self-worth and identity firmly rooted in Jesus Christ? Tons of self-help books and motivational coaches tell us that ambition is essential to accumulating wealth, fame, and glory for ourselves. The general consensus of entrepreneurship today is that it is the primary means by which we make a name for ourselves in this life and prove to the world that we are important, valuable, and worthy. Of course, this is nothing new for entrepreneurs. After Adam and Eve, human beings have been using work to make a name for themselves, rather than to glorify God and serve others. Take the Babylonians as an example. In Genesis 11 we read the account of these ancient entrepreneurs discovering the incredible technical innovation of brick-making. With the invention of the brick-making process, the Babylonians could build better homes, roads, and cities—all wonderful things; but driven by pride, the Babylonians’ ambition wasn’t to glorify God through their work. Genesis 11 reads Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1‭-‬4 NIV Their ambition was to make a name for themselves. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4). And if there was ever a question as to whether or not our motives matter to the Lord, the rest of the passage provides the answer. “The Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city”. Genesis 11:8. Creating a new business is not inherently bad. Our entrepreneurial ventures can and do reveal God’s character and love to serve others. But when we create a business out of a motivation to make a name for ourselves, we are attempting to rob God’s glory that is rightfully His. In Proverbs we read: All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord . Proverbs 16:2 NIV While Scripture makes clear that creating to make a name for yourself constitutes improper ambition, the Bible makes equally clear that ambition can indeed be God-honoring, so long as it flows out of a response to the work Christ did on your behalf on the cross. As Godpreneurs, this mindset could be the very thought that will turn everything around for us if we truly believe it. My prayer for Godpreneurs today is that you would re-align your ambitions to be healthy and in the direction of your born-to-do identity – your calling to do God’s will in the marketplace. #EnhanceFocus #StrengthenIntegrity

In this course, I’ll walk you through my own experience in putting God first in my business and bringing that new brand to life, quickly! COURSE HERE In this course, I’ll walk you through my own experience in putting God first in my business and bringing that new brand to life, quickly! When we put God first, it changes the entire way you look at the marketplace. It won’t be easy. You’ll face an enemy that does not want you to align your business with God’s will. When that happens, stand firm in your identity in Christ. Let your desire to be obedient to God give you strength, and lovingly explain why you’re not willing to compromise your beliefs. Godpreneurs seek to please one boss, one board of director member, the main investor: God. #GodpreneurAcademy #BusinessBibleStudy #LaunchingMyBusiness

In college, I didn’t like my finance and accounting classes. I probably didn’t like them because I wasn’t good at them. I barely scraped by to knock those classes off my list of requirements, knowing I would NEVER become an accountant or be in the financial planning industry. After college, I started my business, and accounting wasn’t my priority. But since I was the “ivy league” graduate of my partners, I took on the accounting myself. I figured since I had just learned it in college, I was the best of the 3 of us. Instead of hiring a bookkeeper or paying for monthly accounting service, I decided I would do it all myself to save money. After all, how hard could this be – it’s not like we were a billion-dollar company. A few years into my company, it came time to files for taxes. I met with a Certified Public Accountant, and he broke the worst news I had ever heard – I owed $15,000 to the IRS in payroll taxes that I had not been paying. I was devastated. The accountant told me that I shouldn’t be trying to do things on my own, especially in an area I’m not good at. That day I sucked up my pride and hired the accountant’s monthly bookkeeping and financial advising services. We all need help in certain parts of our businesses. There are tasks that we need guidance with, but our ego or pride doesn’t let us ask for help. Sure, there are things we can save money on by doing ourselves at the beginning of the business, but the least we could do is ask for guidance, read a book, or follow tutorials. We have to be smart enough to realize this journey wasn’t meant to be walked alone. One problem entrepreneurs can experience is that we think we need to know and do everything on our own since we’re the owners – or else we’d be seen as unqualified to be a business owner. We think that owning a business means we should know it all, so we don’t ask for the help and guidance we need. But doing things on our own is NOT how God designed us. In fact, in the most famous preaching ever given, Jesus tells us that our entire spiritual walk hinges on the concept of humble dependence – our need for God. The bible says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 NIV) When Jesus says, “poor in spirit,” he’s talking about people who have come to understand that without God, they are nothing. In other words, the people that are humble enough to admit that they don’t have it all together and need help are the ones that will be blessed. So how does this apply to your journey as a Godpreneur? It’s a blessing for you and your business when you recognize you are in need of God’s grace, you are spiritually bankrupt, and you’re a sinner that will take the whole business down if left on your own. Your realization of this danger to your life is what turns you to God because you realize you can’t do what you’re born to do without Him. One of Jesus’ steps to achieving greatness in business is to have total dependence on God. When you are in a mindset of dependence, it humbles you, and you see that you’re not as good in certain areas as you might think. We stop pretending to be someone we’re not. We get off our throne and let God take His rightful place in our businesses. I could imagine how hard it must have been for my accountant or my partners to work with me, Mr. Know-it-all. I wasn’t willing to learn, grow, or accept correction because I was trying to maintain the inflated image of myself I created because I graduated from an Ivy League school. When I started my journey with God and realized that there was so much more to learn about business, even after graduating college, that’s when I finally humbled myself and committed to being a student again, depending on my new professor – God. When we realize our dependence on God, that’s when He brings a resource into your business that will help. This can come in the form of a person, a new tool, or a resource. Even Jesus, when he started working as a carpenter, must have needed guidance and instruction. God must have brought resources around him to make that happen. We Godpreneurs need to acknowledge that when God is at work within us, we can put Jesus’ teachings into practice across all the areas of our businesses. In a marketplace full of powerful business people, it may seem like a weakness to be dependent on God. This is a lie the enemy wants us to think. The Godpreneur that’s more likely to be successful will be the instills a culture of dependence on God and each other to break through barriers and achieve greatness. As Jesus eludes to, a humble Godpreneur is the first characteristic mark of companies that achieve sustained greatness. Of course, the marketplace is full of entrepreneurs that are stuck in a state of inflated self-appraisal and self-promotion. Instead of being envious, our hearts have to break for them. This is even more of a reason we need to show our dependence on God – so we can be a light in the marketplace and display Jesus’ characteristics and influence others to turn their dependence on God too. Let’s pray. Lord, be merciful to all of us Godpreneurs – sinners ministering in our marketplaces. We recognize our need for help. Please help us to be more humble and have a true view of ourselves in our businesses. We thank you in advance for the greatness we will achieve as we do Your will through our products and services. Amen! #LaunchingMyBusiness #NewEntrepreneurs #BusinessBibleStudy 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

As Christian, is it possible to have fame and fortune, yet still, be rooted in Christ? Can I be the exception to the rule that “its hard for a rich man to get into heaven?” I struggled with this because I wouldn’t mind being rich and famous, but I don’t want to miss out on heaven! So, what does PROPER AMBITION actually look like? Yes, rich business owners go to heaven all the time. The issue isn’t how much money we have, the test comes to where our heart is at. Yesterday I talked about improper ambition and using my work as a means of making a name for myself. When the Babylonians tried to build their fame and fortune, God “scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city” (Genesis 11:8). To God, the motives behind my ambition obviously matter a great deal. The bible says: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Colossians 3:23 NIV 1 Corinthian also echoes how our ambitions should be set: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV Imagine a marketplace where people aren’t out for themselves and not using their creations to glorify themselves, but instead, they are laying their creations down as an offering of worship to God. Godpreneurs are called to be ambitious, to work hard, and to be good stewards of the talents God has given us. But we are called to own businesses, not for our own glory, but to “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). When our entrepreneurship is motivated by a desire to glorify God, serve others, and create products and services laid down as an offering to God, then we have the proper ambition to create with everything we’ve got. #StrengthenIntegrity #EnhanceFocus

One of my biggest problems in business partnerships is that I want to control everything. For example, if I hire a subcontractor to do a job for me, I want it done a certain way – my way. It always ends up this way because somehow, some way, the company I’ve chosen to partner with drops the ball or something didn’t go right. And because my name is on the line, I immediately move in to control the situation to make sure I save the situation. The problem is that it eventually ruins my relationships and I have to move on to a different vendor, contractor, employee, or partner. All of us entrepreneurs want the control in our businesses. But if we use it in our business partnerships, we could lose everything. Whether it’s controlling the temperature at the office or the cleanliness of our desk, we all want our business life to function in a way that suits us. And what do we do when something doesn’t work the way we like in our businesses? We try to control it. But if we try to employ this same strategy in our business partnerships, we lose connection and brotherly love we had when we first started together. All partnerships start out great. But when we don’t feel validated and appreciated in the business partnership, anything starts to tear the group apart because controlling behavior starts coming into play. It’s our survival instinct kicking in. So we control our business partners actions to ensure we get the relationship we want. Listen, control erodes joint ventures and the unity present at the beginning, which was the very foundational reason we even got into the partnership. The Bible says: "So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up". (Romans 14:19 NLT) Do you want the truth? If you control your business partners, employees, vendors or contractors, you’re in danger of losing the relationship and business altogether. People who feel controlled will try to escape your grip. They’ll avoid you at the office or on the phone. They may distract themselves with other ventures and mentally check out. They may start to spend less time at the office or just away from you. Is this happening to you? Sounds familiar? Here’s the solution for us Godpreneurs: we need to give up the role of “overbearing boss.” We must begin cultivating a relationship of openness and brotherly love. After all, they are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We may need to seek some business counseling for this. I know, sounds like marriage therapy, right? But it’s true because I’ve experienced it myself – when business partners learn healthy ways to deal with conflict, connect regularly, and become complimentary in the way God intended for the business, a strong business bond is just over the horizon. For a daily dose of encouragement and perspective, subscribe to the daily email devotional at www.dailygodpreneur.com/subscribe. #BusinessBibleStudy #BusinessPartnerships Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV) You were born and handcrafted to serve the marketplace, and God’s gifted you with something others don’t have. Your “toolkit” is what you should reflect on today. These gifts and talents point the way to your exact business. For example What are your top talents? What do people come to you for advice for? What comes easy to you, but others struggle with? What could you do blindfolded? What spiritual gift has God put inside of you? There are many tests out in the marketplace that help us discover more about ourselves in this area. There is a StrengthsFinder assessment to identify “Strengths/Talents,” and that’s available at gifts.churchgrowth.org. This one will help find your spiritual gifts. I developed the www.GodpreneurTest.com which will reveal both your strengths and weaknesses. God placed gifts and talents inside of us for our business’s success; He knit us from other mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13). Knowing what our talents are equipped us to launch businesses more in line with our calling and helps us lead purpose-focused brands into the marketplace. It’s not about what we do; it’s about who we are in Christ. There’s a big difference! Godpreneur Rule – Godpreneurs uncover who we are first so we can then know what we were born to do. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindMyCalling #GodpreneurAcademy The Business God Created You To Start Have you ever wondered why you received the talents and gifts you have been given? We, as entrepreneurs, were born to do. 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

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1‭-‬2 NIV) If you want to fulfill your longing to lead a purposes-focused business and feel meaning in your marketplace, you have to be leading a “Born to Do” business, and the only way to truly experience this is by letting go of the past and running towards your destiny. Easier said than done, I know. Here’s the strategy that I found works, and I hope it works for you too. Uncover – ask God to show you anything in your business past that could have hurt you and needs healing. Discover – Let God help you forgive that person or situation so that He can reveal to you how he’s going to use that situation for your good moving forward! Recover – now it’s your turn to reclaim what’s been yours all along. Through the memorization of promise-related Bible verses, God will take your burdens and release you into your calling because scripture will replace your hurt with hope! We can’t move forward if we’re stuck in the past. Period. It’s physically impossible. And it will continue to make us sick with worry. The bible says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12 NIV) The enemy doesn’t want you to move into your calling because it would glorify God too much because we’d become a tree of life in the marketplace! What we were born to do would bring heaven to earth, killing the enemies plans! We Godpreneurs can’t change the past, but the future of our businesses is a blank canvas that God wants to co-create with us. Let go, and let God! #BusinessBibleStudy #FindMyCalling #GodpreneurAcademy The Business God Created You To Start Have you ever wondered why you received the talents and gifts you have been given? We, as entrepreneurs, were born to do. 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