Love your Neighbor on Vacation – a VLOG

by Henry Kaestner

My best friend and business partner at Bandwidth, David Morken, was an editor for the ORU Student Newspaper.  He’s a great writer, and an even better editor….and an even better friend, who can tell me like it is.  He thinks I’m a lousy writer.  He thinks that I write like I speak.  He’s right.  I think :).  So here’s my first attempt at doing what he has suggested.  Let me know what you think and if he’s right 🙂

Does your Company Have its Own Prayer?

by Henry Kaestner and William Norvell

I went to an all boys Jesuit prep school in Baltimore and have said a fair amount  of “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” in both English and Latin to be suspect of scripted prayers.  But when William came to the team and suggested that we have a “Sovereign’s Capital Prayer,” I was open to it, and then when I read and prayed it, I was hooked. 

He’ll tell you that it’s not his own creation, nor a direct download from God, but bits of that along with a very liberal helping from John Eldredge.  John, whose book “Wild at Heart” (among others) has championed Scripted Prayers for years.  I hope that some aspect of this is encouraging and that you might think about adopting a prayer for your own company as well.

My dear Lord Jesus, we come to you now to be restored in you, renewed in you, to receive your life and your love and all the grace and mercy we so desperately need this day. We honor you as our Lord, and we surrender every aspect and dimension of our work to you. We give you our spirit, soul, and body, our heart, mind, and will. We ask your Holy Spirit to lead this time of prayer. In all that we pray now, we stand in total agreement with your Spirit and with all those praying for us by the Spirit of God and by the Spirit of God alone.

We pray for each member of the Sovereign’s Capital team, that we would work with all our hearts as if we are working for you and not for worldly approval. We acknowledge that our identity is in you, as a beloved child of God, not in any worldly success we may be blessed with. Thank you for giving us the talents that make each of us a unique member of the team. We pray that as we use these talents, we would be faithful in our pursuits, coming alongside the work you are already doing in the marketplace, and that we would set aside our willful pride. We pray that we will be faithful stewards of your money, that we would use all of our abilities to make investments that will multiply for your Kingdom. We know that you exist outside of time and can accomplish all things without us, and therefore our work should never take precedence to time sitting by your side, learning your ways and listening for your counsel. We fully understand that you are in ultimate control of the destiny of our investments. We ask that each working hour be dedicated to your glory and the bringing forth of heaven on earth.

We pray for our portfolio companies. We specifically entrust the hearts, minds and actions of the leaders, that they would approach the day ready and willing to serve your will, not theirs. We pray that they would see each employee, customer and supplier as a relationship to steward wisely, not one for personal gain. We also pray for the communities in which our companies have a presence. We pray that they would be better for our companies existence and that they would feel the loving presence of a Christ-driven company in their community. We pray for all the companies we have met but not invested in, that they would also be working towards your glory, and that you would use us as a vessel for encouragement.

We seek your wisdom and favor as we search for co-laborers on this journey. We pray that your discernment would guide each and every investment decision that we face in the future. Please guide us to investments that can make a return on earth and in heaven. We pray for your grace in providing strong advisory relationships and future teammates. We pray for these future co-laborers now, that their hearts would be alive to a collaboration with us for your Glory.

Let us remember that our work is all about you, and not about us. You are the Hero of the Sovereign’s Capital story. We ask your forgiveness for our every sin along this journey [name specific ones you are conscious of]. Search us, know us, and reveal to us where you are working in our lives, and grant to us the grace of your healing and deliverance and a deep and true repentance.

We now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the full work of Christ over our work today. We bring the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the full work of Christ against every evil power coming against us, every foul spirit, every foul power and device. We cut them off in the name of the Lord; we bind and banish them from us in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. We also bring the full work of Christ between us and every person we encounter, and allow only the love of God and only the Spirit of God between us.

We put on the full armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, helmet of salvation; we take up the shield of faith and sword of the Spirit, and we choose to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of your might, to pray at all times in the Spirit. We ask you to send forth your Spirit to raise up prayer and intercession for us as we so desperately need your guidance and wisdom for our daily work. In Jesus’ name, amen.

[Thanks to Patrick Fore and Unsplash for the Cover Photo]

Do Entrepreneurship and Christianity Conflict?

by Brian Hamilton

Editor’s Note:  We are grateful for the opportunity to share this space with other Christ following entrepreneurs that share the thoughts and reflections, and even struggles of their entrepreneurial journey.  Today’s installment comes from Brian Hamilton, a successful entrepreneur from the Fintech industry.  As you read through his blog, we’d ask that you ask yourself whether you also see conflicts in motive in your own career, how you process being able to share “the reason for the Hope you have.” 

For those of you not yet familiar with our podcast, we aim to tackle some of these issues (sharing our faith in the workplace, wrestling with motives, etc.).  Another point: if you have something that you believe that God has put on your heart to share with you, please send it in to us.  We can’t publish all of the blogs we receive, but we’re grateful for the opportunity to publish many. We’re thankful for Brian, we’re thankful for you, most importantly we’re thankful to a God who allows us to discover Him, and honor and serve Him in our businesses and the marketplace.

By Brian Hamilton

Founder of Sageworks and Inmates to Entrepreneurs

I wanted to give some thought to the topic of entrepreneurship and Christianity since I don’t think some of the issues are straightforward. The first thing I would express is something about my personal journey, which I hope will be helpful.

Not very long ago, I did not make public pronouncements about my faith even though I recognize that the Bible is clear in some parts on our obligation as Christians to profess our Christianity to others. On this point, however, I believe there is also a Biblical stipulation that we should offer our faith largely when questioned about it. 1 Peter 3:15-16 shares, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…”

Regarding this scriptural reference, I sometimes worry that we as Christians are overbearing in our approach with other people, in that many of us drive people away from Christ rather towards Him. The people who have helped me most in my growth have led by quiet example. 

I suppose the other reason for my reticence on this issue is shame in knowing how far short I fall. Of course, I also recognize that we all fall short, which is exactly why Christ came to save us. So, hopefully, this will provide context for some of the content that follows. 

I have often wondered whether there is an inherent conflict between entrepreneurship and Christianity. I believe there is such conflict, and that we must be vigilant in recognizing this. To ignore it or not be aware of it would make us susceptible to mistakes and greater sins.

The reason I say this is because, while I believe that many entrepreneurs who are successful start out with a greater goal than to make money, we know that the pursuit of making a profit is definitely embedded in entrepreneurship. I don’t have to tell anyone who has run a business and who is a Christian how often we are faced with making difficult decisions that could potentially conflict with our faith. More dangerous and insidious, however, is what we pay attention to and focus on each day.

Many of the hyper successful entrepreneurs I know are extremely focused people, and they are, to use the cliché, almost monomaniacal in building their businesses. For this reason, if I were to give any advice at all, I would recommend to people that they attend church regularly or read the New Testament. This helps keep us grounded to what is important in life. I realize this is trivial and obvious, but I do think it is important. For myself, if I am not going to church or reading the Bible, I drift quickly towards defining my life around things like my professional goals.  

Like many things in the world, however, all of this is not able to be reduced simply and clearly. For example, while there is a built-in conflict between business goals (earthly goals) and faith (spiritual goals), I have found that following my faith can make me a better business person as well.

I know of no better business book than the Bible because the Bible, among other things, is an instruction manual for how to treat people. I have found that if you treat people like customers and employees well, the greatest paradox is that this will typically accrue back to you in business. Of course, our goal cannot be to do things as Christians in order to be more successful in business, but the reality is that things seem to work out better when you are living your business life in concert with God’s plan. Our goal is to act as Christ-like as possible. 

Podcast Episode 15 – Are We Setting the Right Example? 50-70 Hour Work Weeks

Subscribe on ITunes

by Johnny Shiu

In this week’s episode …

Faith Driven Entrepreneur – Episode 15

… we discuss how we should view the “40-hour work week” in relation to our faith, family, and overall balance of life?  When we unwrap this topic, it touches on issues of prioritization, and leadership.

As entrepreneurs, we are wired to work, and work a lot.  It’s almost romantic to admit that we work 50-70 hours per week (or much much more :).  But at what cost? We must recall that there are at least two groups of people whom we affect with how much we work: family/spouse, and employees/teammates.

From the employee’s perspective, they see what we do.  We are modeling to them all the time. If they see us working long, ridiculous hours they will feel compelled to do same.  If we send emails at 2am, they will think they need to be ready to respond at 2:01am.  Remember, the shadow of a leader is large.

The second group of people that we impact with how much we work is of course our loved ones.  Rusty shares with us a personal experience during his early career. In 1998, he and his wife moved to California so Rusty could join Electronic Arts.  After a year or so, his wife suggested that she should move back to New York because Rusty didn’t spend much time with her anyway – he might not even notice she left. Bam – that was a wake up call.

As a litmus test, William chimes in with a story he heard recently about seeking the “fellowship of the unimpressed.”  No matter how big of a deal you are at work, your kids, your spouse or your best friends will just never be that impressed with you.  No matter if you are William Norvell or Warren Buffet.  If you find yourself in a situation where everyone at work can’t stop talking about how wonderful you are while simultaneously your friends and family are giving you criticism, it might be time to pause and reflect.

In short, it pays to remind ourselves of our motives.  As faith driven entrepreneurs, we should promote the motive to know God,  As opposed to looking at “work-life balance,” we should adopt the “work-life priorities” model. As the late Dr. Stephen Covey said, “we should never put ahead what matters most with what matters least. “

Entrepreneurship Meets Education

by Henry Kaestner

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for a video to get you motivated and fired up for the week….and in this case to encourage you to think about how your gifts as an entrepreneur might benefit the nations.

I got to know Chris Crane, Edify’s founder, when we both served on the Board of Hope International together.  We share a passion for our faith, microfinance and ice cream.  Like Hope International’s Jeff Rutt (who we profiled last week…a housebuilder and founder of an international MFI), Chris was a successful entrepreneur who felt a calling to take his entrepreneurial skills in to international development.  Chris’ first stop was as CEO of Opportunity International, where he capably led a diverse group of partner organizations.  He found though, with time, that he was most excited about blending microfinance with Christ centered education.

Edify was born. This 5 minute video will tell you about Eddy.  It’ll also show the impact of one entrepreneur and a dream on a thousands of faith driven schools across the world.

thanks to Avel Chuklanov and Unsplash for the cover photo