Since January, when our book was published, I had traveled almost every month–sometimes more than twice a month–and often to other countries. I needed a break from traveling. At home we looked forward to No Travel November.

And from that place, that pitiful canyon of a grave of sorrow, that dark place of deep and debilitating depression…we emerge, because He, Himself, experienced that place of death before us; and He emerged from the grave triumphant, complete, and in glory!

So, how does one address difficult and bewildering problems in life? One option is to live life “in day-tight compartments,” and, in that day, to do three things: work, pray, and relax

Instead of worrying that our happiness requires following a linear path to a specific outcome, how can we learn to be content in whatever circumstance we are in?

Workplaces that eliminate email notifications, discourage out-of-hours communication and reduce email volume, save money and improve efficiency. When individual workers process their inbox less often, rather than continuously, they experience less stress without losing responsiveness.

Being a parent and an entrepreneur can feel like two separate jobs, but you might be surprised how your role as a parent parallels your role as a founder.

If we keep it as simple as possible, I believe that the heart of the Sabbath is found in the imperative used, the verb that gives the action we are to follow: “remember”.

With a clear God-centered, Biblically-based vision, we see that life compartments like public and private, career or family, and secular or spiritual are misguiding. All life contexts are important, and all have to work. God’s calling is for us to live a unified life with a consistent message in all of life.

Waking at 2 a.m., I (Peter) heard Laurel rush to the restroom. Groggily, I entered the bathroom to rub her back while she bent over the toilet. “Can I get you anything?” I tenderly asked.

How do you create healthier work-life balance in a consulting industry that is notorious for extensive travel and extremely long hours?

Entrepreneurship can be incredibly lonely. Investing for kingdom purposes may confuse peers in the industry and further isolate FDEs and FDIs.

Lilian Radke reduced turnover from 85% to less than 14% all while being a young mom of little kids doing a business she was told was a “mans world” and winning small business of the year in Massachusetts for 2018 and woman owned enterprise of the year for new England in 2018.

Being married can be challenging enough at times but throw in the aspect of running a business and it gets even more complicated. Divorce lawyers estimate that divorce among entrepreneurial couples are 5-10% higher than the average.

Focus takes intentional effort and can feel difficult at times, especially in the midst of massive uncertainty. But by following these tips, it is possible to be present most of the time when you’re working or in your personal time.

I had formally stepped down as Director of Operations and Service Pastor of a church I loved. I had come with dreams and hopes of making a difference in the church and the city of Los Angeles, something our church had done for over 30 years, and with international impact and influence.

Much of leadership content these days is about hustling, doing more with less, increasing productivity in general, and on and on and on. There is even discussion about “side hustles,” “plus time,” or “google time.”

I realized what I did no longer mattered. Instead, why I did my job was going to be my driver. Whether I worked at this company or another, my why was going to be about impacting others.

We spend a lot of time looking for people to go and build into, but if we’re not careful, we can completely overlook our own kids! Intentional investments into our kids will have a greater impact than anything else we do. Kids want our time more than anything. Our presence over our provision.

The motto in our house is: “Don’t give others the best, and we get the rest.” Give your family more because they deserve it and because it sets them up for greater success in life.

Andre Mann shares some lessons he learned in running a business (and family) that was under lockdown in Afghanistan a decade ago. The situation was different from the coronavirus, yet there’s so much that makes him flash-back to those days. Read Andre’s tips on working from home and staying healthy under lockdown during this pandemic.

In the Midwest, Christian entrepreneurs are searching for relief from the corrosive grind of company-building—while some faith leaders preach the gospel of crushing it. There’s a hunger among entrepreneurs to redefine what it means to be successful in tech: the enduring message is that in an industry that seems by nature to demand imbalance in the lives of those who work in it, they hope to find a different way.

We all have a lot on our plates, and perhaps you strive to become a world-class time manager. Jeff Holler shows us why superior time management can be all wrong when we are masterfully managing our time around the wrong priorities! Intentional time allocation around our highest and most important lifetime priorities trumps superior time management around our calendar. This article was one of CEF’s 2019 White Papers.

In this video, we take a look at why Prime Trailer gives its employees an entire paid day off to go out and serve the needs they see in their community! CEO Wes Gardner encourages other business owners to let their people be themselves—to do what they’re excited about in their jobs and in their community.

The Atlantic’s article, ‘Find Your Passion’ Is Awful Advice, discusses how we could end up finding more meaning in our work by not finding and following our passions. Since our passions are developed over time, and not fixed from birth, Luke Roush suggests we intentionally nurture passions rather than find them.

Bill Peel of Letourneau’s Center for Faith & Work shares that “It surprises some to discover that retirement is not a biblical concept.” However, it could be the most influential season of your life! Do you see retirement as a vacation or a vocation?

Originally published by Harvard Business Review — Rick Woolworth, a good friend of FDE/FDI, has been a Wall Street executive and mentor for 35 years. He argues “aspiring leaders need more and better mentoring than they’re getting today.”

In today’s short video, from the WorkMatters FUSE Forum, Shelley Simpson suggests leaders try integrating their work, family, and faith in order to live and work more authentically throughout her career at J.B. Hunt.

Originally published by Fast Company— When entrepreneur Chris Chuang moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a job, he expected to be there for two or three years at the most. Instead, he wound up staying and built a successful tech company.

If an entrepreneur truly wants to help his pastor, he must first win trust with him. Pastors can be an untrusting lot; it takes time to gain collaborative access. At the outset, this puts many entrepreneurs off because they tend not to have much time and want things to move quickly.

I have become convinced that humility is God’s secret weapon to thwart the ultimate enemy of pride and bring pockets of heaven to earth. If I can focus on how Jesus must increase and I must decrease, then God will, without fail, use me for his purposes. Easier said than done.

We tend to operate with either the idea that there is no craftsman or that somehow we’re to be our own craftsman. If there is no craftsman, then we should do the best we can, pray and hope for the best.

A Lean organization maximizes customer value by continuously eliminating waste in its process with the goal of creating more value using fewer resources.

God cares no less about what I do now than He did when I was advising the President. In God’s economy, the Oval Office and the back office are equally important.

Andy Crouch, Partner at Praxis, explains what happens at the intersection of strength and openness in a time of crisis.

Anthony Tan, CEO of Grab, shares the story that led to 9 million drivers in 352 cities.

Starting a business means sleepless nights, unpredictability, capital burn, and the threat of competition. Why then would the leaders of a new venture rusk moving to a country with an unproven tech work force?

In this 80-second video, Donnie Smith, president and CEO, Tyson Foods, unveils an unorthodox and powerful new leadership model for you to consider.

Upon recognizing the problem, Jesus responded with compassion. It is the quality of a leader’s response to the need that sets a great leader apart from ordinary leaders.

Do I have a teachable spirit? Do I pursue wisdom and thirst after understanding each day? Tough questions that bring me to another one, do I really expect God to teach me something each day?

Words are powerful. Words impact us. Words can brighten our days, encourage our hearts, and save our lives. Words can also tear us down, close us off, and even endanger our lives.

In a business world that prioritizes productivity, speed, and profits, Christians may feel like Monday through Friday belongs to the world while Sunday belongs to God. But Scripture beckons Christians toward a more holistic lifestyle. “Whatever you do,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “do it all to the glory of God.”

In the midst of uncertain times, Luke Roush and Jake Thomsen of Sovereign’s Capital provides a framework for how Christian business leaders can think about the unusual power and leverage the present circumstances have afforded them…

She never became a high school choir director, but at Popeyes, Cheryl Bachelder has become a conductor of people. Her personal commitment to Jesus’ model of servant leadership has transformed the culture of a corporation. The impact of her faith can be felt throughout the company—from the executive offices to the restaurant’s front counter in the words “How may I serve you?” That’s music to Cheryl’s ears.

In this video, we take a look at why Prime Trailer gives its employees an entire paid day off to go out and serve the needs they see in their community! CEO Wes Gardner encourages other business owners to let their people be themselves—to do what they’re excited about in their jobs and in their community.

She might not be the person you would expect to see seated at the top of a company in a male-dominated industry. But Dina Dwyer-Owens, Executive Chairwoman of the Dwyer Group, is very comfortable at the helm of a company operating across the fifty United States and seven other countries around the world. She earned the position and re-earns it, every day in every way.

Leader development is not a test they need to pass, it’s an investment we need to make. From that standpoint, you can’t fail to lead well and stop there. You can only fail to learn and move forward.

This article is from our friends at Radical Mentoring — an intentional small group mentoring process to help you engage your men, build your core group of leaders, and transform your church. This post ponders Matthew 9:13 and the meaning of mentoring.

A White Paper from The Christian Economic Forum — Dr. Emmanuel V. Dalavai argues entrepreneurial intentions and their motivation(s) are essential to understand better how Christians operationalize business formations by reviewing relevant theoretical backgrounds in support of an intentions-based model to explain entrepreneurship behavior.

A White Paper from The Christian Economic Forum —

Matt Lesser shares a personal letter he received from his father to encourage him as an entrepreneur —“We have the opportunity and the responsibility to influence generations for God’s Kingdom through the marketplace. It will take concentration of effort and unified commitment to creating financial, cultural, and Kingdom returns…for such a time as this. As you embark on this journey, keep these principles at the forefront of your thinking: Vision, Impact, People, Balance, and Returns.”

All entrepreneurs wonder how to keep business going for the long term. In this post, Philip Clemens shares how his family has managed to stay in business for over 123 years! There is some great insight, strategy, and suggestions to implement in any company in order to stay in business for the long haul.

From our current vantage point in world history, it appears that the opportunity for Christ-centered small businesses to advance the coming of the Kingdom is substantial….

God rarely calls leaders to accomplish His work in isolation

At Halftime, we’ve had great results for over 25 years. But now, we are setting out to intentionally address our own “smoldering discontent.”

Just as Hoyt Buck was unwilling to etch the Buck name into a knife until it had reached his exacting standards of excellence, God doesn’t ask us to etch His name on our shoddy craftsmanship

Nothing is more repulsive than the fake polish of a story that hides the truth. Nothing is more attractive than the soothing grace of the gospel piecing together our brokenness.

In today’s society, God’s Word is truth for some, but for many others, it is just another opinion.

Our approach may be limited in its effectiveness to change the nation but is very effective for the few we reach by our limited efforts.

Ministry in word is a foundational mark of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur. Here’s some inspiration for starting a workplace faith community.

A Lean organization maximizes customer value by continuously eliminating waste in its process with the goal of creating more value using fewer resources.

We do the work we are called to do, but more important than simply doing the job is how we do it. JD Greear explained that we have a call to excellence, for the sake of honoring the Lord, not simply getting the job done.

How taking a small business and embracing a God-inspired, God-honoring BHAG exercise led to this little technology company getting marquis business with top brands in the world.

As Christians, we can’t say we are seeking to love our neighbor as ourselves and then do our work with mediocrity. Think of the extreme example of a Christian doctor.

GloryBee sits squarely in an interesting cultural nexus: Christian-owned, organic food, Oregon, and committed to environmental sustainability.

God builds godly character in us by guiding and enabling us to choose righteousness throughout the years of our lives. The internal effect of godly character is that it reforms our mindset and our will.

There are always challenges to developing productivity teams. Individual egos, agendas, capabilities all combined with unclear roles or changing priorities, will impact on how well a team works together. But, today teamwork faces a threat that is as negatively impactful as it is subtle.

In a business world that prioritizes productivity, speed, and profits, Christians may feel like Monday through Friday belongs to the world while Sunday belongs to God. But Scripture beckons Christians toward a more holistic lifestyle. “Whatever you do,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “do it all to the glory of God.”

In the midst of uncertain times, Luke Roush and Jake Thomsen of Sovereign’s Capital provides a framework for how Christian business leaders can think about the unusual power and leverage the present circumstances have afforded them…

This is what we do. We create. We can’t help ourselves. We’re hardwired, hand-built, wonderfully created to create. It’s because we’re fashioned in the image of the Creator. The One who breathes new life into dust, speaks cosmos into existence, and never ceases in making all things new.

He created. He creates. We’re created. We create.

In this video you will hear from best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, as he presents a powerful framework and simple advice for hiring and developing ideal team players in any kind of organization.

“One of our four corporate objectives in our $300 million enterprise was ‘To pursue Excellence’. I like that better than ‘Achieve Perfection’, don’t you? It takes the pressure off, but doesn’t let us off the hook. It’s important that we get excellence right, under a biblical banner, so we can execute God’s way.” 

A true entrepreneur, once s/he lands on an idea that they believe will make a difference, or solve a real problem, will give everything they have to pursue and realize their dream. In Matt 13:44, the man who discovers the fortune in the field gives up all that he has to buy the field.  What are we willing to give up to receive the treasures of God’s Kingdom?

Elbow grease and a hard work ethic are found within the heart of every entrepreneur, but Tom Strickland of Suncoast Team Services possesses something stronger: the fervent desire to see God honored in every build. Tom realizes that the successful entrepreneur is the man or woman that relinquishes control to God, and that the success or failure of a project is in the Master Builder’s capable hands.

Karsten Solheim, Founder of PING Golf, passed away in 2000, but left behind a legacy of excellence and philanthropic devotion that his son John continues today. “I learned from my dad the importance of excellence and giving back and how that honors God,” John explains. This is his dad’s story.

The Dallas Business Journal had its first “Most Admired CEO Awards” last year, which highlighted 29 North Texas leaders who have earned the respect of their peers, employees and the community. These CEOs were selected from hundreds of nominees. Scott Miller of Interstate Batteries was one of the winning CEOs (and also this week’s podcast guest on FDE)!

The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics is a Christian research organization committed to advancing biblical and economic principles that help individuals find fulfillment in their work and contribute to a free and flourishing society. In this article, they discuss the importance of slow, faithful, daily acts of obedience while depending on God’s grace.

An article from Scott Rodin from “The Steward’s Journey” — Imagine for a moment that you had the opportunity to spend one day in the workshop with Jesus. What would that day be like?