business

Wealth Creation Manifesto

Dr. Mike Ministry, Think About That... , , , , ,
Isaiah 48:17 (NASB)
Thus, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

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BAM is a global Christian ministry focused on bringing people, communities, and nations out of poverty through business. BAM stands for Business as Mission. Recently they outlined their manifesto. They did in my opinion such an outstanding job summarizing God’s purpose for wealth that I just copied word by word to share for the benefit of others. The link to their paper is below.

Affirmations:

1. Wealth creation is rooted in God the Creator, who created a world that flourishes with abundance and diversity.

 2. We are created in God’s image, to co-create with Him and for Him, to create products and services for the common good.

 3. Wealth creation is a holy calling, and a God-given gift, which is commended in the Bible.

 4. Wealth creators should be affirmed by the Church, and equipped and deployed to serve in the marketplace among all peoples and nations.

 5. Wealth hoarding is wrong, and wealth sharing should be encouraged, but there is no wealth to be shared unless it has been created.

 6. There is a universal call to generosity, and contentment is a virtue, but material simplicity is a personal choice, and involuntary poverty should be alleviated.

 7. The purpose of wealth creation through business goes beyond giving generously, although that is to be commended; good business has intrinsic value as a means of material provision and can be an agent of positive transformation in society.

 8. Business has a special capacity to create financial wealth, but also has the potential to create different kinds of wealth for many stakeholders, including social, intellectual, physical and spiritual wealth.

 9. Wealth creation through business has proven power to lift people and nations out of poverty.

 10. Wealth creation must always be pursued with justice and a concern for the poor, and should be sensitive to each unique cultural context.

 11. Creation care is not optional. Stewardship of creation and business solutions to environmental challenges should be an integral part of wealth creation through business.

http://matstunehag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Wealth-Creation-Manifesto-v-4.0-23-April-17.pdf

Wealth is the byproduct of providing services or products for the satisfaction of others. As stewards of God’s Kingdom on earth, our responsibility includes investing to help others flourish. As the old saying goes, “Give a man a fish today to eat, and you have to do it again tomorrow. Invest and teach a man to gather his own fish, he will eat today and tomorrow. Multiply the process with others and the entire community will do the same.

Go and Do Likewise…

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

*  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
*  Great Business Emulates a Good God
*  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
*  Simply The Messenger
*  Unequally Married

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What Do You Gain From Your Work?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions, Business & Faith ,
“What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” Eccl: 1:3 ESV.

work 12

Solomon was the King of Israel after David died. Blessed by God with great wisdom and knowledge, he pursued every selfish desire that money could buy. We are told in the first several chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes, that he built large buildings, vast gardens, and fruit farms. He acquired a large estate of herds and flocks, silver and gold, and male and female slaves. He was the richest man of his time.

Yet he didn’t stop there. He acquired more knowledge. He wrote books. He pursued every desire known by man seeking to discover the meaning to life. In short, he wanted to know how to best use his time on earth. But his path and experiments led him to despair, sorrow, and even hating life. The reason: everything in this physical life is temporary.

So what was his conclusion from his life’s work? What is there to gain from all one’s effort? Simply this: The appreciation of the joy God shares with you through His creation. He repeats it three times first starting in Ecc. 2:24-26. In summary, enjoy the work of your hands being appreciative for what God has given you. Ecc 3:13 states that it is God’s gift to you. In Ecc. 3:22 he writes that one should rejoice in your work. Again in Ecc. 5:18-20 Solomon writes that to enjoy food and drink and the work of your hands. In addition, he writes that if one has been given wealth and the power to enjoy one’s wealth, to rejoice because it is a gift from God. Remember, when God occupies a person’s heart with joy, the time and life goes by fast.

In Ecc. 7:14 Solomon adds that in times of prosperity be joyful, and when times are tough consider that God made both days so our lives will be less predictable. And because of the unpredictability of life, we don’t know for sure what will prosper, so work like all avenues may succeed or fail (Ecc. 11:6).

What about making money to pay the bills? Here are a few scriptures that the Bible reminds us.

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Proverbs 13:11.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17.

Bottom-line: enjoy the work of your hands, learn to live on what you make, save a little each day, and be thankful for everything God gives you.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!

Earn, Give, Save, Invest, Spend

Dr. Mike Business & Faith ,
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 ESV

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If you are starting out in your career, now is the time to implement a financial formula that works. For most of us who never learned the art and science of financial management, balanced with life’s other more important values, can learn from the success and mistakes of others.

Warren Buffet, the third wealthiest man in the world, began his career by living on 50% of his earnings for over twenty years while investing the difference. John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in his time, used a similar approach to life. My mom and dad, hard workers with only an eighth grade education, exercised a similar formula which allowed them to send two children to a private school, pay off their house in five years, and enjoy retirement debt free.
That formula is simply to live on less than you make while investing the difference. A simple strategy that few in today’s culture are able to discipline themselves to practice. Yet those who practice it, appreciate the results.

The ideal is too find something you either enjoy doing or are good at to earn a livelihood. As the income comes in, the lust is to start spending on everything you desire. Don’t. Instead start by allocating the money from that first paycheck for the important and not desirous needs of your life.

First start by asking God where he wants you to share his income with. Whatever he instructs you, follow through. It most likely will be your local church; yet he may also suggest a para-church ministry or a nonprofit that is doing good work in serving humanity from God’s perspective. Wherever it is, God enjoys a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Start off by giving a percentage that you can do so cheerfully. Some in the church preach the discipline of giving a tithe or ten percent as a starting point. If you can do so cheerfully, do it. If you can give more, do it. If you can only give less, do it. Whatever the amount, I assure you as God transforms your heart, you will become more generous in your giving over time. It is all his anyway. We are only learning to behave as his stewards.

Next, start saving. Whatever % amount you give away for a cause greater than yourself, save the same % amount until you reach 6 months of your annual income. It may take a few years, but when you arrive, you will have reached a point of economic freedom. If anything happens to your job, you have a reserve to fall back on. If an emergency arises, you have assets to fall back on. You don’t have to live by paycheck-to-paycheck in fear any longer because you have an emergency reserve.

After reaching your six month savings plan, start investing. Study and become a student of investment. If you are not adept at investment, than hire a personal planner without an agenda. Let him/her direct you into the instrument that will take your money and let it grow. There is no better way to earn a living than making money from money. That is how the rich live.
But you say by following the above, I will have to deny myself immediate pleasure and desires. Yes. But the fruit will taste better in the long run. Ask Warren Buffet. Ask my parents. Ask those people now in the late season of life who first spent their money without saving if they would do anything different.

The Bible states that the borrower is a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7); that there is profit in all labor (Proverbs 14:23); and God knows how money is best invested (Ecclesiastes 2:24-6) These principles are true today as they were 3,000 years ago when first written. Yes, it takes faith to deny the self now for the potential of a better future. So are you ready to make the faith journey with your economic life? It all starts when you earn, give, save, invest, and then spend.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married