The Magazine for Christian Business Leaders

Kingdom Business

Leadership in service of the King

Kingdom Business - where ministry ,mission and markets converge...

April 2009

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The Kingdom Point Companies, Inc.

Create Change:Crushing Resistance ...

by Considering Your Followers

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Illuminating the Work Place:One Candle Power

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The MoreAbundant Life:008

To Twitter or Not to Twitter:014

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Editor-in-Chief | D. Shawn Hussey

Contributors |

Paul Hoffman, Daryl Green, Gary

Roberts, Patrice Tsague, Curt Jones

D. Shawn Hussey

THE KINGDOM POINT COMPANIES, INC

CEO | Curt Jones

COO | D. Shawn Hussey

Kingdom Business

Create Change:Crushing Resistance ...

by Considering Your Followers

004

C O N T E N T

Illuminating the Work Place:One Candle Power

008

The MoreAbundant Life:010

Welcome:What is ‘Kingdom Business’?

003

Is a CFO Good Enough?013

To Twitter or Not to Twitter?014

T Kingdom Point Media Group and the editorial staff at Kingdom Business magazine welcome you to the first edi-tion of Kingdom Business, Leadership in the Service of the King. We are hon-ored by your interest in God’s kingdom and delighted you have subscribed to our magazine. We pray that we may be of service to you and play some part in helping you fulfill God’s plan for your life through business.

What is Success? Success in business is often de-fined as consistently achieving a certain rate of return, or meeting certain rev-enue targets. These measurements are important, but when defining kingdom business success, we must go beyond rates of return or the revenue targets. True success in a “kingdom business” takes into account seven key elements that differentiate an authentic kingdom business from one that is merely Chris-tian-owned.

What is a Kingdom Business? A kingdom business is a profit-able enterprise operated by a born-again believer under the lordship of Jesus Christ. A kingdom business honors the Lord Jesus Christ through its products and services and is managed solely on biblical principles. It serves as light in the marketplace and invests its profits to advance and establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Simply put, a king-dom business is God’s business, man-aged God’s way, by God’s steward, for God’s purposes in the world. In much the same way that pas-tors and missionaries are called to a particular people or location, the own-ers of kingdom businesses are called to faithfully steward the resources God has placed under their care in the ser-vice of employees, customers, vendors, peers and the body of Christ at large. Kingdom business owners must stew-ard God’s resources so as to generate an increase. The increased levels of greater spiritual and natural influence within their industries and communities must also be managed well. We ask seven key questions in order to identify a kingdom business.*

1. Is the business a tool to fulfill God’s plan for the steward (Colossians 3:23). Is your business helping you fulfill God’s plan for your life? A kingdom business

is not just something you do so that you can have resources to support the kingdom, but it is the way you carry out your mis-sion mandate. The business is the mis-sion. Every born-again believer has been called of God to answer a specific call. Those who have a passion for business must seek the Lord to determine how their particular business can be a tool to fulfill that calling. This gives meaning, purpose and significance to the business and brings fulfillment to the work.

2. Do the products and services of the business honor the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 19:24). As kingdom business stew-ards, we are not to sell certain products and services just because they are prof-itable, but rather we must ask ourselves if these products and services glorify Jesus Christ. Would Jesus sell these products and services? Do they meet serve people and meet clear, legitimate needs? Will they harm others? You can-not have a successful kingdom business that is promoting ungodly products and services.

3. Does the management team pro-actively glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 10:42-45). Kingdom businesses must model the same management style that Jesus modeled – the servant leader-ship model. The way you treat your em-ployees, handle your finances, deal with the government, and market your prod-ucts and services must bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Does your business make God look good?

4. Does the business provide for the nat-ural needs of the Biblical Entrepreneur and his/her family (1 Timothy 5:8). The Bible is clear that business and the work it requires is intended to provide for our natural needs. It says that if a man does not take care of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. No matter how zealous you are about Jesus, you must be balanced and ensure that your business provides for your needs and that of your family.

5. Does the business generate biblical profit: a double bottom line (Proverbs 16:8). Kingdom businesses must be

profitable. Jesus makes it clear in the story of the talents in Mathew 25:14-30 that He is displeased with unprofit-able servants. Sustained profits are the only way to build wealth, and accord-ing to Deuteronomy 8:18 wealth is the evidence that confirms and establishes God’s covenant. At the same time, the Bible makes it clear that that we ought not to labor just to be rich. According to Proverbs 16:8, it is better to have little with righteousness than to have a whole lot with injustice. In other words, we must not seek profit at all costs. The biblical approach to profit is a balanced approach. A double bottom line is what is required: profit that is gained justly and honorably without compromising biblical principles.

6. Is the business a platform for mar-ketplace evangelism and discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20). All born-again believers, regardless of profession, have a mandate to fulfill the Great Com-mission, which is partly evangelism and partly discipleship. As kingdom business stewards, our businesses are a platform for marketplace evangelism and discipleship to those we influence. This includes customers, employees, vendors, business associates, competi-tors, and the community in which we do business.

Cont’dP 005

Theory2PracticeCreate Change:Crushing Resistance...

by Considering Your FollowersBy || D. Shawn Hussey

Famed mathematician and phi-losopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “The art of progress is to preserve or-der amid change and to preserve change amid order.1” This statement accurately portrays the job of a leader within any organization. That is, a leader must con-stantly create and maintain a culture of change while the organization is grow-ing. To change is to grow. Growth can-not happen without change. To a leader engaging change, change re-sistance is a notable and formidable op-ponent. Quite simply put, resistance to change is the opposing force that creates equilibrium within an organization and maintains the status quo. It follows then, that leaders must learn how to overcome this ever-present resistance to change. A quick examination of Kurt

Lewin’s Change Model in conjunction with the five Action Tips presented be-low, will serve to crush resistance. In es-sence, Lewin’s change model is a primer to modern day change management the-ory. We will draw from Lewin’s work to define change resistance, offer methods for reducing its affect on an organiza-tion and conclude with thoughts on how to apply this information in a meaning-ful and useful manner. By following the simple steps presented below, leaders can lower organizational resistance to change and increase the rate of change within their organization. This will ulti-mately lead to improved performance.

Lewin’s Change Model Kurt Lewin was an early 19th cen-

tury social psychologist and one of the founders of the organizational dynamic movement. His change model and ‘force field analysis’ have been become pillars of modern day organizational change and a key to understanding how social

1 www.wisdomquotes.com

organizations work. Lewin outlined a simple model

to explain how organizations change: the ‘unfreeze – change – freeze’ model2. Lewin’s three-phase model outlines the order of approach in any change scenario – with the first step being the ‘unfreez-ing’ of the current. Arguably the most important as-

pect of the change model, ‘unfreezing’ combats the forces that resist change. It is the first roadblock that must be over-come in order to initiate change. In order to address change, one

must first understand what change re-sistance is and how and why it presents itself. Resistance comes from a myriad of places. It can come from the macro organization in the areas like culture, politics, industry, region, etc. Resistance can also come from the micro organi-zation, which involves people and their ambitions, fears, hopes, and dreams3. All of these (and more) contribute to the many forces opposing change. In reality, these opposing forces

are actually good for organizations. They inhibit rampant change from tak-ing total control of an organization. These resisting factors act as sort of a change regulator for the organization. Without this resistance, any and every idea from any person would be quickly and easily adopted, with obvious and adverse implications. The organization would literally be in a state of constant change and chaos, able to accomplish nothing. The idea behind successfully

overcoming change resistance then is to control and moderate the change cycle. As leader, your objective is to ensure that the changes that you want to im-plement meet the minimum amount of

2 Clayton, M. 2008. Super Models. Training Journal, Feb 2008, p. 66. Retrieved on October 15, 2008 from ABI/Inform database.3 Robbins, S. 2000. Essentials of Organi-zational Behavior, 6th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

resistance and so as to be quickly and easily adopted. This is why focusing on resistance in the ‘unfreezing’ process becomes so important.

Focus on Resistance In order to ease resistance to

change, a leader has to understand ex-actly what the resistance looks like. As mentioned earlier, resistance is derived from many places within the organiza-tion. A leader should be able speculate intelligently as to the originating source of the resistance. He or she must then be comfortable communicating with fol-lowers and gathering data in order to test the hypothesis.

Action Tip #1 Think ahead of your change – which

points are going to be difficult for peo-ple to deal with? Make a list of these points to use for the next step.

Gather Data Once the theory has been created

the work of data gathering is at hand. The leader needs to engage his or her followers by asking questions about the change to discover what the follower’s concerns may be. It is critical that this is done in an open manner without punish-ing followers for constructive feedback. If a follower believes that an ‘unfavor-able’ response will lead to punishment, then he or she will often hide the truth4.

Cont’dP 007

4 Silberman, M., and Hansburg, F. 2000. PeopleSmart: Developing Your Interpersonal Intelligence. San Francisco: Berrett Koe-hler.

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Create Change:By || D. Shawn Hussey

Famed mathematician and phi-losopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “The art of progress is to preserve or-der amid change and to preserve change amid order.1” This statement accurately portrays the job of a leader within any organization. That is, a leader must con-stantly create and maintain a culture of change while the organization is grow-ing. To change is to grow. Growth can-not happen without change. To a leader engaging change, change re-sistance is a notable and formidable op-ponent. Quite simply put, resistance to change is the opposing force that creates equilibrium within an organization and maintains the status quo. It follows then, that leaders must learn how to overcome this ever-present resistance to change. A quick examination of Kurt

Lewin’s Change Model in conjunction with the five Action Tips presented be-low, will serve to crush resistance. In es-sence, Lewin’s change model is a primer to modern day change management the-ory. We will draw from Lewin’s work to define change resistance, offer methods for reducing its affect on an organiza-tion and conclude with thoughts on how to apply this information in a meaning-ful and useful manner. By following the simple steps presented below, leaders can lower organizational resistance to change and increase the rate of change within their organization. This will ulti-mately lead to improved performance.

Lewin’s Change Model Kurt Lewin was an early 19th cen-

tury social psychologist and one of the founders of the organizational dynamic movement. His change model and ‘force field analysis’ have been become pillars of modern day organizational change and a key to understanding how social

1 www.wisdomquotes.com

organizations work. Lewin outlined a simple model

to explain how organizations change: the ‘unfreeze – change – freeze’ model2. Lewin’s three-phase model outlines the order of approach in any change scenario – with the first step being the ‘unfreez-ing’ of the current. Arguably the most important as-

pect of the change model, ‘unfreezing’ combats the forces that resist change. It is the first roadblock that must be over-come in order to initiate change. In order to address change, one

must first understand what change re-sistance is and how and why it presents itself. Resistance comes from a myriad of places. It can come from the macro organization in the areas like culture, politics, industry, region, etc. Resistance can also come from the micro organi-zation, which involves people and their ambitions, fears, hopes, and dreams3. All of these (and more) contribute to the many forces opposing change. In reality, these opposing forces

are actually good for organizations. They inhibit rampant change from tak-ing total control of an organization. These resisting factors act as sort of a change regulator for the organization. Without this resistance, any and every idea from any person would be quickly and easily adopted, with obvious and adverse implications. The organization would literally be in a state of constant change and chaos, able to accomplish nothing. The idea behind successfully

overcoming change resistance then is to control and moderate the change cycle. As leader, your objective is to ensure that the changes that you want to im-plement meet the minimum amount of

2 Clayton, M. 2008. Super Models. Training Journal, Feb 2008, p. 66. Retrieved on October 15, 2008 from ABI/Inform database.3 Robbins, S. 2000. Essentials of Organi-zational Behavior, 6th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

resistance and so as to be quickly and easily adopted. This is why focusing on resistance in the ‘unfreezing’ process becomes so important.

Focus on Resistance In order to ease resistance to

change, a leader has to understand ex-actly what the resistance looks like. As mentioned earlier, resistance is derived from many places within the organiza-tion. A leader should be able speculate intelligently as to the originating source of the resistance. He or she must then be comfortable communicating with fol-lowers and gathering data in order to test the hypothesis.

Action Tip #1 Think ahead of your change – which

points are going to be difficult for peo-ple to deal with? Make a list of these points to use for the next step.

Gather Data Once the theory has been created

the work of data gathering is at hand. The leader needs to engage his or her followers by asking questions about the change to discover what the follower’s concerns may be. It is critical that this is done in an open manner without punish-ing followers for constructive feedback. If a follower believes that an ‘unfavor-able’ response will lead to punishment, then he or she will often hide the truth4.

Cont’dP 007

4 Silberman, M., and Hansburg, F. 2000. PeopleSmart: Developing Your Interpersonal Intelligence. San Francisco: Berrett Koe-hler.

Cont’d From P 003

7. Is the businesses an instrument for giving (1Timothy 6:17-19). Kingdom businesses must be committed to giving to the work of the kingdom and to those in need. We give through tithing from our business profits and giving generously as the Lord leads. However, giving is not the only measurement of a successful kingdom business. It is but one of several measurements of success. As stated above, we do not start kingdom businesses to give to mis-sions. Rather, the kingdom busi-ness is the mission. If giving was the only thing that made a kingdom business a kingdom business, then Bill Gates’ and Oprah Winfrey’s businesses would be considered kingdom businesses. Kingdom businesses must reflect all seven characteristics listed here.

Is your business a kingdom business? Are you operating or managing a kingdom business? How successful, from a kingdom standpoint, is your business? There is no greater time than now to set ourselves apart from the world. Difficult economic times create greater demand for businesses that reflect God’s will and are salt and light in the marketplace for Jesus. This gives us a unique competitive advantage and allows us to be a resource for the world in a time of lack just like Joseph was to the people he served in Egypt.

Help us help you. Kingdom Point Media Group publishes Kingdom Business magazine as part of its mission to be the best kingdom resource in business and the best business resource in the kingdom. King-dom Business magazine is a tool designed to build and promote kingdom businesses. Our advertisers believe that kingdom busi-ness owners are the kind of customers they want to serve.

Help us help you as we fol-low hard after God and build our kingdom businesses togeth-er. Sound off. Let us know what you like, what you want and where we can improve. Post a response to articles that engage you or enrage you. Share your experiences when you have something to add. Help us help you as we discover together what it means to own and/or operate a successful kingdom business.

Welcome to Kingdom Business magazine. May God give us the grace to honor Him through our businesses.

Curt Jones Shawn Hussey

President and CEO Editor-in-Chief and COO

Kingdom Point Media Group*Many thanks to Patrice Tsague for the thoughts and outline*

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Cont’d From P 004 Leaders can employ many tools to

identify this resistance. These tools range from open discussions with individuals or groups to surveys, suggestions, and a myriad of other devices. The bigger the change and the more time available, the more tools should be utilized. The goal is to accurately identify in advance as many points of potential resistance as possible to be addressed in the next steps of the process. Once gathered, the leader will need

to analyze the data and look for patterns. What are the major points of contention? What do people feel the most uncomfort-able with? Is this a select few people or the entire organization? Once the information has been assimilated and the issues iden-tified, the leader is ready to communicate the planned change in light of these fac-tors.

Action Tip #2 Using your list from Action Tip #1, de-

velop a list of questions. Make the ques-tions open-ended (not ‘yes/no’ ques-tions) in order to gather a wide variety of feedback. Then utilize one of the formats listed earlier (group discussions, inter-views, surveys, etc) to obtain feedback.

Communicating the Change Communicating the impending

change is critical to the ‘unfreezing’ pro-cess. How and what you communicate as a leader will have a direct impact on how much resistance is mustered by your fol-lowersv. Building an effective communi-cation plan based on the results from the data gathering phase will help you effec-tively address areas of concern and allow the ideas and concepts behind the pro-posed change to be understood and per-haps even embraced by your followers5. It is critical to keep the communi-

cation process active during this phase. Specifically, you will need to be open to listening and to hearing the issues that your followers have. This may come in the form of group discussions or be fa-cilitated by individuals who are known to provide good feedback and advice. A good leader should always be comfortable seeking advice and feedback from his or her followers.

Remember that communication is 5 Silberman, M., and Hansburg, F. 2000. PeopleSmart: Developing Your Interpersonal Intel-ligence. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler.

a two way street. As the amusing but true saying goes, God made us with two ears and one mouth for a reason. Accordingly, try to listen twice as much as you speak during this phase of the process. This will help to build trust with your followers and show them that you are truly interested in their concerns. Active listening will in and of itself help alleviate resistance to some degree. Whenever practical take what your followers have to say into consideration.

Action Tip #3 Utilize the feedback that you received

from Action Tip #2 to address potential trouble areas in the plan. Be frank and open when you discuss these trouble ar-eas with your followers.

Modify When Possible Your followers will many times

be ‘subject matter experts’ in the areas in which you are creating change. Many times they will have significant insight on how to improve upon the planned change to make it better. Be open to their sugges-tions and, whenever possible, incorporate their ideas. This is another great way to im-

prove the change process and simultane-ously lower resistance. In fact, you may even garner a few ‘champions’ for your idea once you have incorporated their ideas. After all, very few people want to see their ideas fail6. Consider the greatest person to

ever exhibit this type of leadership, Je-sus. He successfully transferred the base of His ideas to His core group of follow-ers. They, in turn, added pieces of their unique insight into Jesus’ teachings as they transferred them to subsequent gen-erations. This is what we now know as the Synoptic Gospel. While the core of Jesus’ teaching, vision, and model for change are intact, each Gospel is flavored in a slightly unique form. In short, work to make your ideas

their ideas and visa versa. This is a great way to create a ‘win-win’ scenario. Fi-nally, you are ready to ease into the final phase of the change process.

Action Tip #4 Challenge yourself to compromise on

the change. Create a modified plan that is based on a formula that is 1/3 your ideas and 2/3 of your follower’s ideas. This will help them to ‘own’ the change.

6 Robbins, S. 2000. Essentials of Organiza-tional Behavior, 6th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

It will reduce resistance. Additionally, you are likely to end up with a better and more complete change having consid-ered various perspectives.

Ease the Change If you were able to follow all of the

steps so far, odds are high you have had time to implement a thoughtful change management approach. One of the last hurdles in lowering resistance is in the timing. Too much change too fast can be overwhelming and breed resistance. J.P. Kotter in his book, Leading

Change, speaks of creating ‘short-term wins’7. This idea is complementary to Lewin’s work and illustrates the point that people need to see evidence of a suc-cessful change plan. Even if you have ob-tained buy in to this point, rushing into the implementation phase too quickly or too often can stop change in its tracks. Instead of rushing headlong into

the change, consider implementing the change in phases, where ever practical and whenever possible. Allow your followers to become acclimate and get accustomed to each piece of the overall plan. Give them a chance to ‘test drive’ the results. By easing them into the change phase, you will again lower resistance by making the baby steps of the change small enough to eliminate disruptions to the status quo.

Action Tip #5 Create four phases to your change.

Take ½ of the time allotted for the change to implement the first quarter (25%) of the change plan. This will al-low people to become accustomed to the idea of change and the process. Then, utilize the remaining ½ of the allotted time to proceed through the remaining three phases. Individual organizations may need to allocate this time differently based on the severity of the change and the organizational culture.

Conclusion Lewin’s change model highlights three

of the most important aspects of change management within any organization - ‘unfreeze – change – freeze’. If leaders take the time to focus on the ‘unfreezing’ process and manage resistance they can enhance their impact and improve their success. Implementing the action tips we provide can help ensure that you crush resistance by considering your follower’s needs, fears, and concerns.

7 Kotter, J.P. 1996. Leading Change. Bos-ton, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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Illuminating the Workplace:By || Paul Hoffman, DSL

Late at night, driving past a complex of office suites, one sees darkness, the offices are closed. Yes-terday’s work completed and tomorrow’s work not yet begun, the dark offices stand empty, devoid of life. Have you ever entered an office during working hours and felt the same sense of emptiness and lifelessness? Although the lights are on and there is a hum of activ-ity, people are not interacting, they appear animated but mechanical. You sense a darkness even in the lighted spaces. Illuminating workers at work is not the respon-sibility of the power company or the electrician who wired the building. Illuminating workers is the re-sponsibility of managers and leaders of the organiza-tion. There are a plethora of possibilities to use when defining what a leader is and what a leader does to illuminate workers. Consider this series of questions applying them to yourself and to those whose lead you follow.1. Does your organization hold that a leader must be blameless, not irritable, not arrogant, hospitable, self-controlled, holding to the values, vision, and mission of the organization, and able to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents?2. Does your organization look for a leader who knows how to think soberly?3. Do you want your leader to be visionary, future seeking?4. Is your leader a mentor, teacher, and coach?5. Does your leader act as a minister to the needs of others and the organization as a servant or steward?6. Is the leader you identify a contributor to the over-all good of the organization, diligent and merciful, cheerful and courageous? Every organization seeks leaders who can fill the qualities presented above, and the textbook in which you can find these skills is available in any bookstore across the country, translated into virtually every language of the modern era, yet it remains one of the least used textbooks for contemporary leaders and leadership. The interviewer, who asks questions 1 and 2, has read Paul’s letter to Titus. The interviewer who asks the remaining questions has read Romans chapter 12. The leadership text referred to is the Bi-ble. Beyond the Bible, secular texts write of orga-nizational spirituality of leaders and followers. Craig Johnson writes in Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow the importance of leader having traits of humility, honesty, and serv-ing the organization with selflessness, casting light over an organization rather than casting shadows on it. He connects spirituality to leadership and organi-

zational success using this definition of workplace spirituality attributed to Plowman and Duchon, “[As the] recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community.” People of organizations are, therefore, citizens of their work community. They are also citizens of greater community where they live. Their organiza-tion is part of the greater whole as well. The com-munity expects an organization to provide for and enhance the common good. Citizens working for the common good need a moral compass pointing to ethi-cal behavior that betters organizations, citizens, and communities. In the present economic climate, the talk is of recovery. While economic recovery is necessary, so is creating examples of ethical and moral behavior to facilitate recovery. Leaders can set their organiza-tional compass with spiritual values from which to grow ethical and moral behavior. From this can come a sense of belonging and a collective desire to achieve a vision of hope that drives leaders and followers to-ward faith in the future. Leaders who practice spiri-tual values behaving morally and ethically have illu-minated their organization in ways power companies and electricians could never perceive. Recall the Christian song lyric, “If everyone lit just one little candle what a bright world this would be.” Some leaders have large spheres of influence, some smaller spheres. Yet all can light a candle to il-luminate their sphere. Let your candle burn, in time it may light the world.

Biography Paul Hoffman is an adjunct professor at Bel-levue University in Bellevue, Nebraska and at Met-ropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska. Paul spent almost 22 years on active military duty, ten years in retail management, and, most recent-ly, eight and a half years in education administra-tion and teaching. Paul holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University. Paul’s interest is mentoring the future of organizations recognizing that leaders’ tenure is transient. Leaving a legacy of leadership means handing off to leaders of leaders.

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( (If everyone lit just one little candle what a bright world this would be.

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Illuminating the Workplace:By || Paul Hoffman, DSL

Late at night, driving past a complex of office suites, one sees darkness, the offices are closed. Yes-terday’s work completed and tomorrow’s work not yet begun, the dark offices stand empty, devoid of life. Have you ever entered an office during working hours and felt the same sense of emptiness and lifelessness? Although the lights are on and there is a hum of activ-ity, people are not interacting, they appear animated but mechanical. You sense a darkness even in the lighted spaces. Illuminating workers at work is not the respon-sibility of the power company or the electrician who wired the building. Illuminating workers is the re-sponsibility of managers and leaders of the organiza-tion. There are a plethora of possibilities to use when defining what a leader is and what a leader does to illuminate workers. Consider this series of questions applying them to yourself and to those whose lead you follow.1. Does your organization hold that a leader must be blameless, not irritable, not arrogant, hospitable, self-controlled, holding to the values, vision, and mission of the organization, and able to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents?2. Does your organization look for a leader who knows how to think soberly?3. Do you want your leader to be visionary, future seeking?4. Is your leader a mentor, teacher, and coach?5. Does your leader act as a minister to the needs of others and the organization as a servant or steward?6. Is the leader you identify a contributor to the over-all good of the organization, diligent and merciful, cheerful and courageous? Every organization seeks leaders who can fill the qualities presented above, and the textbook in which you can find these skills is available in any bookstore across the country, translated into virtually every language of the modern era, yet it remains one of the least used textbooks for contemporary leaders and leadership. The interviewer, who asks questions 1 and 2, has read Paul’s letter to Titus. The interviewer who asks the remaining questions has read Romans chapter 12. The leadership text referred to is the Bi-ble. Beyond the Bible, secular texts write of orga-nizational spirituality of leaders and followers. Craig Johnson writes in Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow the importance of leader having traits of humility, honesty, and serv-ing the organization with selflessness, casting light over an organization rather than casting shadows on it. He connects spirituality to leadership and organi-

zational success using this definition of workplace spirituality attributed to Plowman and Duchon, “[As the] recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community.” People of organizations are, therefore, citizens of their work community. They are also citizens of greater community where they live. Their organiza-tion is part of the greater whole as well. The com-munity expects an organization to provide for and enhance the common good. Citizens working for the common good need a moral compass pointing to ethi-cal behavior that betters organizations, citizens, and communities. In the present economic climate, the talk is of recovery. While economic recovery is necessary, so is creating examples of ethical and moral behavior to facilitate recovery. Leaders can set their organiza-tional compass with spiritual values from which to grow ethical and moral behavior. From this can come a sense of belonging and a collective desire to achieve a vision of hope that drives leaders and followers to-ward faith in the future. Leaders who practice spiri-tual values behaving morally and ethically have illu-minated their organization in ways power companies and electricians could never perceive. Recall the Christian song lyric, “If everyone lit just one little candle what a bright world this would be.” Some leaders have large spheres of influence, some smaller spheres. Yet all can light a candle to il-luminate their sphere. Let your candle burn, in time it may light the world.

Biography Paul Hoffman is an adjunct professor at Bel-levue University in Bellevue, Nebraska and at Met-ropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska. Paul spent almost 22 years on active military duty, ten years in retail management, and, most recent-ly, eight and a half years in education administra-tion and teaching. Paul holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University. Paul’s interest is mentoring the future of organizations recognizing that leaders’ tenure is transient. Leaving a legacy of leadership means handing off to leaders of leaders.

(Finally...

an ebook that asks the right questions...

$9.95

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10

The More Abundant Life

By || Patrice Tsague

( (The more abundant life is an existence in Christ that is overflowing with righteous-ness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Real Devotion

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The thief does not come except to steal, kill and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 Each year for the last seven years, as a part of our strategic action plan for the year, we develop a theme that serves as a spiritual compass for us. That theme directs us and keeps us aligned in the Lord’s direction for the year. Identify-ing a theme keeps me personally focused and spiritually alert to make decisions throughout the year, to address challeng-es, and to embrace the opportunities of the year. Last year our theme was contentment. This theme enabled us to have a deeper appreciation for what the Lord had done for us, what we had, and who we were in Him. This year, our theme is the more abundant life. For the next sev-eral months, the devotional topics will amplify this theme. I pray you will be blessed as we journey to-gether into how to walk in the more abundant life that Jesus promised all those who will believe in him. I also encourage you, if it is not a part of your practice already, to begin de-veloping your own theme, based, of course, on your own plan for the year. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs, including kingdom entrepreneurs, do not make planning a part of their business culture, which limits their ability to achieve God’s best for their business. Whatever you have accom-plished without proactive, consistent planning will yield at least fifty percent more with proactive planning. I will be honest, when the Lord first gave me this theme last year, my first impression was that it had to do with bringing us as an organization into abun-dant prosperity. But with further study and prayer, I concluded that even though the more abundant life does not preclude material prosperity, it is deeper than that. Material prosperity is merely one of the benefits of the more abundant life, but not the goal. You can have a materially prosperous life without an abundant life, but you cannot have an abundant life without being materially prosperous. Material prosperity is not defined by a

certain lifestyle or a certain income, but rather it is defined by the quality of your lifestyle and income. Jesus was material-ly prosperous but had no income. Many of us today would not want to have the lifestyle he had since he did not live in a castle, did not drive a luxurious car, and did not wear fancy clothes and jewelry. But he lacked nothing and was the most prosperous man who ever lived. Of course, there is nothing wrong with all those things I listed above. The prob-lem is when you begin to use them as a measurement of your spiritual well-be-ing or worth. So what is an abundant life for the kingdom business steward and

why is it so critical in today’s uncertain business environment? Notice that Jesus began His state-ment in John 10:10 by first contrasting with the work of the enemy. He stated that the thief, meaning the devil, comes for three reasons only: to steal, kill, and destroy. So where there is theft, killing, and destruction, it is either the direct work of Satan or the result of sin which is caused by cooperating with the work of Satan. Yes, I realize that the economy is bad and we continue to hear nothing but bad news. But you do not have to buy into the lie that suggests you have to be a victim of the recession. If you do so, you

are cooperating with the works of dark-ness that are seeking to bring an end to the plans of God in your life by destroy-ing you and your business. As someone stated, you can choose not to participate in this recession and the devil cannot force you. Of course, not all bad things we go through are caused by the enemy; some of them are caused by our own bad choices and sin in the world, but what-ever the cause, God does give us a way of escape. The more abundant life is an existence in Christ that is overflowing with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not say you will have life which is mere existence and he did not say you will have an abundant life which is an existence that is above the norm; rather, he said you will have a more abundant life, a life that overflows with more than you need. Do you have an overflowing ex-perience right now? Do you want an overflowing experience? Join me next month as we discuss how to obtain that experience. This experience will not only bless your business but your per-sonal and family life as well. It will cause you to have a bountiful year in midst of a drought, a harvest in the midst of a famine, and hope in the midst of despair. But you have to want it and seek it.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

BiographyPatrice Tsague, a dynamic teacher of God’s Word, is anointed with a unique ability to blend entrepreneurship prin-ciples with biblical truth. Along with his wife Gina, he created the Biblical Entre-preneurship Certificate Training Pro-gram to teach start-up and established businesses how to fulfill God’s plan for their lives through business. Patrice serves as Chief Servant Officer of the Ne-hemiah Project International Ministries and PG and Associate, and he publishes a weekly e-devotional about Biblical En-trepreneurship.

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By || D. Shawn Hussey

In the world of business, a CFO is the person to whom many financial responsibilities fall. He or she is the vanguard of the checkbook and the keeper of all that is ‘holy’ in the realm of finance. The question that needs to be asked is, what about everything else? There is no doubt that financial matters are of great importance to any business, but does this myopic focus on finances alone detract from the larger mission that we have as as kingdom-minded believers in the marketplace? I think it does.

In Genesis 2:15, God charges Adam with the stewardship and caretaking of the garden. At no point did He indicate a preference for one aspect of caretaking over another. So, why then do we do this in our businesses? Every aspect of your business is important to God and so too is the manner in which you steward. Every person, every piece of equip-ment, and every penny has been entrusted to you and your organization for a specific purpose. So, is a CFO sufficient in a Kingdom business? Perhaps we should be thinking in broader terms. Something along the lines of Chief Steward-ship Officer might align us more closely with God’s plan for our enterprise.

Is a CFO Good Enough For Kingdom Business?

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to twitter...or not to twitter...

Twitter. Enamored (Twitter Glitter)? Worrying about wasting time (Twit-ter Fritter Jitters)? Not interested in an e-mailbox full of Twitter Litter or being mocked by peers as a Twitter Critter?

Love it, hate it or don’t really care, no one can deny that Twitter is big and getting bigger. Twitter was founded in March of 2006 by Jack Dors-ey and according to Compete.com, grew 1200% in the 12 months end-ing March 1, 2009. By January 2009, Twitter boasted 6 million unique visitors. Two months later, they had more than doubled in size, passing the 14 million member mark by March 1.

But what, if anything, does this mean for business, specifically kingdom business? I wanted to find out. I wanted to know if Twitter could posi-tively impact a kingdom business. So on February 27, 2009, my partner and I started tweeting (Does being in the first 14 million members qual-ify us as early adopters?).

Kingdom business, like all business, pays attention to the bottom line, so here it is.

*Investing 30-45 minutes a day, I attracted 5,000 followers in 40 days and am currently over 5,500. Amazing.

*Using specific targeting strategies, we identified and attracted a fol-lowing that matches our target market profile with approximately 75% accuracy (based on response rates and random profile reviews).

*The three “R’s of personal branding (relationship, rapport, reputation) have all fared much better than expected. Many followers seem to rec-ognize who I am, what I do, how I can serve them, what I believe and who I stand for.

*Last week we initiated and invited conversations about marketing rela-tionships for the first time. In less than a week, we are talking with a half dozen possible/probable marketing affiliates that, if and when engaged, would connect us with more than 100,000 people. Unbelievable!

We tweeted our followers to ask about their reasons for using Twitter. Next month look for an article called, “Top 10 Reasons Kingdom Busi-nesses Twitter”.

T this point, we’re enamored (Where’s my Twitter Glitter?).

By || Curt Jones

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-- C. S. Lewis

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without

milestones, without signposts