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This week’s podcast has us listening in on a talk Tim Keller gave to Sovereign’s Capital last September where he meticulously unpacks the hidden truth of identity formation, its habits and rituals, in both the Western and greater world. We are fed these belief systems from the moment we breathe and too often we are defined by the greater world without our consent. He steps us through examples of how our thinking is specifically impacted by these external forces that define us outside of the context of Christ. Tim shares with us the cultural problems of both traditional (your community defines you) and modern (you define you) identity formation and shows why the gospel is the only solution to living an authentic, impactful life.

 We thought this would be one of the best ways to start 2019 – to really spend some time evaluating who we think we are and how that measures with who God says we are. We apologize in advance for the cognitive dissonance this episode may bring. We bless you with the Spirit of God Who imparts all truth and invite you to share the things God is revealing to you via this episode. Feel free to drop us a line in the comment section below.

Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash

Happy Monday! Please enjoy this great video from our friends at RightNow Media to encourage you as we begin 2019 …

RightNow Media @ Work is the world’s largest and most trusted library of on-demand biblical video content, created to help business leaders put their faith in action by caring for their team members at work and at home. With more than 20,000 videos on topics like leadership, personal finance, marriage, and parenting, RightNow Media @ Work has something for everyone. And it’s available on all major devices, whenever and wherever it is needed most. Let your faith influence how you lead and improve your business at the same time. Help your team flourish in every area of life with RightNow Media @ Work.

— 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 Christian family who is on the generosity path and ask them what God has taught them about giving.

This week, meet Juerg and Benzli Opprecht from Switzerland!

THREE LESSONS ON GIVING FROM THE OPPRECHT FAMILY

In the 1950s, Juerg’s father invented a revolutionary way to improve the safety, cost and efficiency of cans. As the business was growing, Juerg learned entrepreneurship and generosity as he saw his father personally meet their employees’ needs.

1. Despite What Others Say, Fulfill Your Commitment to the Lord.
After selling his family’s company, the Opprechts decided to give one third of the proceeds to the work of the Lord. Juerg says, “My tax advisor told me, ‘Of course, you can do that, but you should do it slowly so that you can optimize tax advantages.’” Eleven years later, Juerg was diagnosed with cancer. “Laying in my bed in the hospital, I realized I had not yet completely fulfilled my commitment. I didn’t know how much longer I would have to live, so I asked my family to join me and said, ‘I want to do everything I can to fulfill this commitment as quickly as possible.’”

2. Give the Best to the Lord.
“We own quite a bit of real estate,” says Benzli, “and we decided to give from that real estate.” Juerg adds, “I was reminded of the verse that says we should give from our first fruit, we should give the very best to the Lord. Real giving provides a lot of joy. So I decided to give my best pieces of real estate to the foundation.” It wasn’t easy. “I had to breathe deeply when I took that position, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I don’t just want to fulfill that commitment, but to give with love and generosity.” Benzli adds, “Giving is such a joy and it’s such a blessing to be generous.”

3. Exercise Wisdom in Giving to Your Local Church.
Large givers often struggle with how to give to their local church. The Opprechts offer this counsel. “If we gave our tithe to the church, it would be too dominating,” explains Benzli. “So we met with our pastor and agreed together,” says Juerg “and we all feared there would be a kind of dependence, and the pastor agreed. So we give some to the church on a monthly basis, and also to those who start ministries from our church.” Benzli adds, “and we give the rest of our tithes and offerings to the foundation, where we give to Christians and Christian organizations.

The Opprechts love to give to…

In 1997, Juerg Opprecht was invited to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) to lead a workshop on How to start your own business. This was five years after the fall of the Soviet Union. With the political change, the economy also experienced a downturn.

“Can you help us so that we can help ourselves?” That was the urgent need they expressed again and again. Juerg Opprecht knew that he had the resources to help and so it became a responsibility. This gave birth to the Business Professionals Network.

The BPN Foundation supports competent entrepreneurs with coaching, teaching and funding to help them turn their plans and ideas into healthy small and mid-sized businesses. BPN operates in hard places, like Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Rwanda and the nation of Georgia. “This creates businesses that can support the church and the community by providing jobs,” says Juerg.

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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

You’ll recall, of course, that I (HK) am inclined to sprinkle some all time classic sermons out to you all from time to time. These are all-time classic sermons that have nothing, at face value, to do with entrepreneurship, and then upon reflection….everything to do with the life of a Christ following entrepreneur. This is one of those. Kimberley, my wife, is not a big John Piper fan…you might not be too. He has his own style. He talks with a passion and emotion that is unlike any we’ll come across in mainstream evangelical or orthodox preaching. He seemingly talks about Heaven and Hell maybe 2x all others combined, and yet when you listen to him you come to understand why. He is most interested in what really matters. At his essence he wants, more than any others I know, to make sure that we don’t miss the centrality of the Good News….that we don’t miss the fact that there is an active Deceiver and that that aren’t very real consequences when the Bad Guy wins. Try to stick around for the whole thing. The last 15 minutes are, I think, a thing of beauty. You’ll note that the following link has not only a cue to the audio file, but the video file as well (it was recorded at the 2016 Passion Conference) and even has a transcript.

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-beast-the-book-and-the-beauty-of-the-lamb

— Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff is one of the co-hosts of Faith Driven Entrepreneur’s weekly podcast. This post was originally published on Rusty’s blog, Purposed WorKING.

…

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

I get the great opportunity to work with many entrepreneurs as they conceptualize and start their business ventures.  I have come to believe that trying to start a business on one’s own is not a wise thing to do.  A founder needs a co-founder who can be their partner in going through all of the challenges they face.  The degree of difficulty is just too high to be alone.  There are organizational psychology studies to back up that the numbers we have in organizations matter.  Dunbar’s number of 150 people being the number that an organization takes on a higher need for levels of supervision can be experienced almost to the number.  There are also studies that show that different communication tactics are needed when two people go to three, then four and beyond.  Have you ever noticed even in a casual conversation or dinner that four people can go through a whole dinner and the conversation was only with the two pairs, only occasionally that all four interacted together.  So, one is not enough, four might be too many.  So, two or three to start, might be the sweet spots.  It’s worth thinking about next time a team or project is created.

We are taught that where two are more are gathered in the Lord’s name that He will join us there, because He is there with us.  We are even taught that three are even better for us to stand strong together.  We should consider this as we attempt to be strong and courageous with our faith in our workplaces.  Are there others who a bond of faith can be created?  There will be times when that standing back-to-back with another believer will make the difference in being able to move forward.  And there will be other times when being triple-braided may be the only thing that keeps it all together for us.  So, today, can we find that other person or two with whom we can walk towards God together?

Reference: Ecclesiastes 4:12 (New Living Translation)

The post day 2543: Two Or More appeared first on purposed worKING.

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If you liked this piece from Rusty, we encourage you to check out his other FDE blogs like:

• “How a Corporate Roadmap Creates Unity for a Company”

• “Purposed worKING: Short Sellers”

• “Systemic Surprises”

More found on his Bio page!

[Special thanks to Tim Boote on Unsplash for the cover image.]