This content was originally published here out of Seattle Pacific University’s Initiative called Faith & Co. This is the second video of many that we plan to share as their business documentaries are world class! Beyond videos, they also offer an open online course and a group study guide. Check it all out here.

Answering a call to purposeful reconciliation, Dayspring Technologies relocated from downtown to Bayview, an underserved community where tourists (and tech firms) rarely venture. Since the move, Dayspring Technologies — a San Francisco-based technology firm specializing in web and app development, mobile design, and salesforce consulting — has worked to build thick relationships and has started and/or supported numerous grassroots efforts to serve its neighbors.

Enjoy the short documentary below!

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[Special thanks to Jur Wiersema on Unsplash for the cover photo.]

We continue to count down the Top 100 Books for Faith Driven Entrepreneurs with…

Spirituality Inc

by Lake Lambert

For many Americans spirituality and business seem to be polar opposites: one is concerned with lofty questions of ultimate significance, the other with mundane matters of the daily grind. Yet over the last two decades the two have become increasingly linked, and as the barriers between them are broken down, many see this as a revolutionary shift in American business culture.

Lake Lambert III provides a comprehensive examination of the workplace spirituality movement, and explores how it is both shaping and being shaped by American business culture. Situating the phenomenon in an historical context, Lambert surveys the role of spirituality in business from medieval guilds to industrial “company towns” right up to current trends in the ever-changing contemporary business environment. Using case studies from specific businesses, such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby, he analyzes the enhanced benefits and support that workplace spirituality offers to employees, while exposing the conflicts it engenders, including diversity, religious freedom, and discrimination issues.

The American workplace today is experiencing dramatic upheaval and change. Spirituality, Inc. offers important insights into the role of religion in this transformation. With employees seeking new ways to strike a proper life-work balance and find meaning in their everyday lives, spirituality in the workplace is a trend that will become increasingly important in the American business landscape. Spirituality, Inc. provides a critical overview of this phenomenon that does not ignore the movement’s many positive contributions to the workplace, yet does not overlook the potential for abuse.

Click on the book cover to check out the Reviews and Purchase at Amazon

Click here to listen to our podcast episode with Lake!

— Generosity Path

We are excited to share with you some of the great Entrepreneur Profiles from around the world, compiled by our friends at Generosity Path. Below, we meet a leading entrepreneur in Africa who is on the generosity path and ask them what God has taught him about giving.

This week, meet Jonathan Onigbinde from Nigeria!

THREE LESSONS ON GIVING FROM JONATHAN ONIGBINDE

NABFL is a food processing company, manufacturing ice cream, fruit drinks, biscuits, and other food items. Jonathan’s company is part of the ONIGBINDE Group of companies in Nigeria, of which Jonathan also is a senior director. Jonathan is a National Vice President of MAN (Manufacturers Association of Nigeria). He has been happily married to Charity for 38 years. They have four successful adult children and 2 adorable grands.

1. Ask Why He Has Given Us So Much.

“My family started a business a number of years ago,” Jonathan explains. “My father brought us into the business right from an early age and I learned from father about generosity. He has gone to be with the Lord, but he taught us about tithing and offering and then as we saw the needs around us, we moved beyond day-to-day tithes and offerings into asking, ‘Lord, why have you given me so much and what should I do with it?’ If God owns everything, then I can’t just buy a bigger house, a bigger car. We must understand contentment and then we give considerable amounts from residual income after our needs are met.”

2. Don’t Name Someone Else’s Percentage.

“A man asked me last week, ‘What percentage should I give?’” Jonathan tried to explain that the man needed to determine that for himself. But the man insisted: “‘I know I can trust you. What percentage should I give?’” Jonathan explains, “People want that certainty. But we encourage people to understand obedience, that it’s not a question of the quantum of moneys, so much as obedience. Then it’s not so much how much we give, but how much we keep. The Lord is generous with us and he encourages us to be like him. If it belongs to the Lord, what does the Lord want?”

3. Give to Ministries Committed to Transparency.

“A lot of giving is done by faith and trust in the church and the leadership and seeing their track record,” says Jonathan. “There are still checks and balances that we try to introduce. We’re starting the African Council for Accountability and Accreditation (AfCAA) and we have a lot to learn from the American ECFA [Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability], so we’re working closely with them. We encourage interdependence between the giver and the ministry, and we encourage regular reporting so that there is mutual trust and understanding.”

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If you liked this piece from Generosity Path, we encourage you to check out their other FDE blogs as well.

• Generosity Path’s Entrepreneur Profile: Surya Gunadi

• Generosity Path’s Entrepreneur Profile: The Opprecht Family

Faith Driven Entrepreneur Gathering in Atlanta February 26th

There’s nothing like the power of gathering together, to learn from each other and share about the things God is teaching us on this journey. We’re very much looking forward to being in Atlanta on February 26 for a one night event to encourage Faith Driven Entrepreneurs. 

Hosted locally by Chad Merrill, President of FCCI, and Charlie Paparelli of the High Tech Prayer Breakfast. Henry will share some of the faith stories of the 40+ companies in the Sovereign’s Capital portfolio as well as lessons that God taught us at Bandwidth. Hope you’ll join if you’re in ATL or forward to folks that are!

A full menu and bar are available for purchase during the networking event. The event itself is free to attend. Please click here to register in advance. 

— by Evan Kubicek

Ownership is a dangerous word. Legally many reading this article are obligated to take responsibility for the profitability, financial return, and liability of the actions of an organization at some level. Surprisingly enough that isn’t as big of deal as emotional ownership. When the outcome and consequences are fully emotionally yours, there are consequences. Success can lead to an overestimation of your worth / ability and failure brings a crushing weight to your identity. The reality is that you should not, cannot truly own your business. The size, growth, and impact of your organization can only grow to measure of your own capacity and vision. Do you have the framework to comprehend everything that God can and would do through your operations? Do you have the faith to pursue it? There is a lot to unpack here but that will have to come at another time.

Speaking of faith, there is something that I found returning time and time again in conversations like this. Anything you do consistently most likely doesn’t require any faith. Do me a favor and go back and reread it. I’m assuming that most readers at Faith Driven Entrepreneur are seeking to be lead by a faith in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. That being the case there is a reality that one of the greatest measures of success in this point in time is faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. The implications of assessing what you do by faith and what you do by habit are vast. This is not to say that you cannot and should not learn from the past and put it into action. This is essential. I am saying that God is expecting a continual expansion of your modus operandi. What pushed your faith buttons in the past are not the challenges that push it today. Are you consistently tackling problems that come your way with a response that starts and ends with steps of faith?

You may be saying. Do you have any idea how much I have given up to get here?! No one knows the sacrifices I’ve made for my business. No one knows the pain my family has endured to make it possible. Yes you have sacrificed a lot to be here. WE all do. How much of that sacrifice was by faithful obedience and how much was it driven by this ever present burden to “get stuff done”? Another one of those pillars of success that Jesus is looking for in your life as Faith Driven Entrepreneur is obedience. I can’t imagine the level of gut check it had to be for a disciple of Jesus to look him in the eye as he said, “If you truly love me you will obey my commands”. Let’s bring it full circle for a moment. You are not the owner of your operations/business. Jesus is. Are you fully obeying what he has asked you to do with it? Are you even asking him or are you too busy getting stuff done and making sacrifices?  What does he truly desire from you? It is very difficult, borderline impossible when your identity and way to hear the answers to some of these questions is unclear.

Who do you think you are! If you are claiming allegiance to Jesus as the King of all Kings and not just a savior that bails you out from stupid mistakes than I’ll tell you who you are. You’re not a CEO, that is a role. You’re not a majority shareholder, that is a temporary status. First and foremost your are an adopted and beloved son and daughter of the King that has been called as an Ambassador for the Kingdom of Heaven. All of the resources of heaven are backing you up. This is not about your prosperity and success. It is about your priorities and how handle the problems and opportunities that come to you. Success and failure are not inconsequential or unimportant. They are just above your paygrade. Your job is representing the realities of heaven in your industry, your company and to everyone and everything it touches. The resources and the stress that comes with delivering on that promise is not yours to carry. It is yours to steward.

My King came to seek and save THAT which was lost.  Save everything that was lost, not just people. We all play a part in bringing the culture and benefits of heaven to the earth, to our companies, communities, etc. Your business never has a neutral effect on the people and places that interact with it. Assuming that your intentions and faith will account for how you operate is not acceptable. Assuming that you can’t know the impact of your operations is also not true. It is measurable and you can, you should involve others into the picture. I’ll wrap up with some practical tips on how to make a measurable difference for all your stakeholders. Identify the beliefs that are preventing progress. Help restore the relationships that have been broken in your stakeholders’ lives. Don’t be quick to offer resources but uncover what is already available. It’s your problem to join but not yours to own. Give yourself lots of grace and time. Nothing worth doing happens fast. Enjoy the ride.

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[Special thanks to Joseph Gruenthal on Unsplash for the cover photo.]

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This week, the team chats with Ed Silvoso, author of several books including Anointed for Business, Transformation and Ekklesia. He’s the founder of Transform Our World, an international network of marketplace ministers whose goal is the elimination of systemic poverty through actively advancing the kingdom of God via a unified Church. Here’s a few of our favorite moments from this week:

“There is a tipping point and that is when that leader understands, usually that leader is a governmental leader or a business owner, that he is chosen by God to transform society, not just to have a kingdom company but to have a King’s company.”

“We don’t go to Church, we are the Church. The church doesn’t belong to a pastor, it belongs to Jesus… the word ministry is not associated with the Pastor, the Evangelist, the Teacher, the Prophet or the Apostle. It’s associated with the saint. So the work of the Pastor is not to do the work of the ministry, the work of the Pastor is to equip the people, for the people to do the work of the ministry. ”

We hope you are inspired by this weeks episode to begin considering more fully what God has given you with the gift of entrepreneurship. If you’ve ideas on how you can use your organization to transform culture, systems and and other aspects of the society around you, please share with us in the comment section below.

Ed Silvoso’s Books:

Anointed for Business

Transformation

Ekklesia

Organization:

Transform Our World