Article originally posted here by Gospel Patrons

by John Rinehart

Jesus publically breathed his last for all to see. His side was pierced. His chest stopped moving. His head hung down. But for one man this was not a time for retreat or reflection. This was a moment for action.

It had been a brutal sight. Three men crucified outside of Jerusalem. Naked. Bleeding. Hanging. Screaming in pain and gasping for breath.

Everyone from servant girls to politician’s wives knew about it. The crowds that had previously laid their cloaks on the road did not foresee this. The disciples themselves were stunned and scattered.

This day had been unlike any other. Darkness blanketed the sky from noon to three. Then, a rock-splitting earthquake shook everyone. Finally, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Most of all, Jesus of Nazareth was dead.

He publically breathed his last for all to see. His side was pierced. His chest stopped moving. His head hung down. The Light of the World had gone out. The Lamb of God had been slain.

But for one man this was not a time for retreat or reflection. This was a moment for action.

1.

He was rich and respectable, a member of the council and known in the community. He was the kind of man who could ask for a face-to-face meeting with the Roman Governor and not have to wait a day or even a week to be fit into the calendar. He came from the unknown town of Arimathea and his name was Joseph.

We don’t know when or how Joseph became one of Jesus’ disciples. All four gospel writers simply have him appear at this critical hour.

In Matthew’s gospel, we’re told Joseph was a rich man, “who also was a disciple of Jesus.” (Matthew 27:57) This is rare. Jesus said camels fit through eyes of needles easier than rich men enter God’s kingdom, but here was a one in a million man.

In Mark, Joseph is described as “looking for the kingdom of God.” (Mark 15:43) He was more than a casual Christian, more than a church attender. Joseph’s faith was active.

Luke recounts Joseph as “a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action” to condemn Jesus. (Luke 23:50-51) Joseph witnessed Jesus’ trial, but did not agree with the verdict. He did not yell, “Crucify” along with the crowd.

John highlights him as a man of action, who “asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.” (John 19:38) Joseph was not following the crowd, but was bold and risk-taking to keep God’s Old Testament law that stated if a man is put to death by being hung on a tree, “you shall bury him the same day.” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

Unlike Peter, James, and John who left their professions, Joseph stayed in his position of influence. But it was not easy. Many he knew hated Jesus and were actively looking for ways to kill him. For a while, Joseph kept his faith private. Scripture says he “was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.” (John 19:38) The fear of man stole his courage, but seeing Jesus die woke something up in him. The cross changed him. He was now ready to use his prominent position as a platform for playing his unique part in the most important week of history.

2.

It was a dangerous play. What if his loyalty to Jesus was exposed to his peers who had just put Jesus to death? Would he be implicated for treason as well? These fears held Joseph back previously, but not anymore. Joseph seized the moment and sought a meeting with the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, where he made the biggest ask of his life. I like to imagine their conversation went something like this:

Joseph: Hello, Pilate. I understand you’ve had a lot going on lately and I hear your wife hasn’t been sleeping all that well.

Pilate: Yes, that’s true. But are you here for small talk, Joseph? Hurry up, the sun is going down and I’m tired.

Joseph: Well, I’m here to ask you for the body of Jesus of Nazareth.

Pilate: What?! He’s dead already? Guards, get me a centurion.

Joseph: [awkwardly waiting in silence while Pilate confirms Jesus’ death]

Pilate: Joseph, it’s true. The King of the Jews is dead. You may have his body. At least then I’ll be done with this Nazarene.

Joseph left Pilate and “bought a linen shroud.” (Mark 15:46) He then returned to the cross of Christ. By now the crowds must have left. Where it was once loud with mockings and groanings was now strangely quiet. There, Joseph stood, looking at his Lord’s lifeless body. He removed the nails that pinned Jesus to the cross and felt the weight of Jesus’ crumpled body come down.

Nicodemus showed up to help, “bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.” (John 19:39) This was no ordinary burial, but one fit for a king. The two of them washed Jesus’ body, observing every wound: the holes in his hands and feet, his pierced side, his thorn-pressed skull, and his mangled back. It was a messy job. Blood was everywhere. Perhaps, they picked splinters out of Jesus’ back and thorns out of his head before wrapping Jesus’ body in white linen and fragrant spices. Jesus was being prepared for burial.

3.

Nearby, Joseph owned a tomb, “which he had cut in the rock.” (Matthew 27:60) It was “a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” (John 19:41) The two men carried Jesus’ body into it, laid it down, and then left, rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb to guard it.

Joseph then disappears off the pages of history, never to be heard from again. His name is not mentioned in the book of Acts. We don’t read of him going on missionary journeys with Paul. I wonder if he even knew he was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus’ burial.

“And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death…” (Isaiah 53:9)

I also wonder what Joseph thought on Easter morning when his tomb was empty? I’ll ask him one day, but for now Joseph’s legacy is that he gave to Jesus, even in death, and set the stage for Easter Sunday. Joseph of Arimathea became the man God used between the crucifixion and resurrection. May we follow his example of righteousness, courage, and faith-filled generosity to be the men and women God will use between the resurrection and Jesus’ return!

by Blake Brewer

When you think of your father’s voice, what are the first words that come to your mind?

Do you think of words like “encouraging“, “comforting”, and “trusting”?    Or do you think of words like “angry” or “shaming”?

The way you live every single day is determined in large part by the words you hear from your father that are deeply embedded into your heart.   

Your confidence and ability to take risks might come from your dad’s confidence in you.  

Your perceived confidence might just be a deep rooted insecurity that comes from a need to prove yourself to your dad who never affirmed you. 

What about your children?  If I were to go to your children and ask, “what words describe your dad?  When you think of your father’s voice, what do you hear?”  

I believe the most powerful voice on the planet in your children’s lives is yours.  There are words you could say to your children today that would absolutely crush them.  It would wreck their life. I could say those exact same words to your children and it might sting a little, but they would be able to brush them off. 

At the same time, your words also have the ability to bring confidence, bring hope, and help your children find purpose and meaning in life.  

So the question is…Which words of yours do your children hear? Which words from you are in their heart?

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve said the “right” words to your children or what you hope they hear… it only matters what they actually hear and what actually gets embedded deep in their heart. 

My father made an investment with his words when I was 19 that paid off big time.  With this investment, he made sure his words cut through all of the noise of this world and connected with my heart in a way that only he could. 

My dad had always been a good dad. He was my hero.  To me, he was larger than life…metaphorically and in reality. 

He was drafted to play tight end by the Atlanta Falcons but his main claim to fame was being Terry Bradshaw’s tight end at Louisiana Tech.  They were best friends and roommates. 

Being a humble man, he hardly told anyone about playing with Bradshaw…but I told everyone growing up!   It was my claim to fame!

When I was 19, we took a family vacation to Hawaii.  On the first morning we headed to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. With the rest of my family laying on the beach, I found myself out in the water with my dad.  It was Heaven on Earth.  There was nowhere else I wanted to be than right there next to him.

As we went further out, the water got deeper, the current got stronger, and the waves got bigger. 

There was a moment where I realized I didn’t see my dad anymore. In between the massive waves I scanned the water, looking for him.  Panic set in.

Then I saw him.  

And I knew he was in trouble.  As he treaded water, he looked right at me, and with his normally deep booming voice, he whimpered, “I need help.” 

I swam to my dad as quickly as I could. 

By the time I reached him, he was unconscious underneath the water.  I dove down, wrapped my arms around him, and pulled him to the surface.  

It was a long way to shore and I’m grateful that a nearby snorkeler showed up to help, followed by the life guards. 

As they performed CPR on my dad, I was on my hands and knees next to him crying out to God,

“Please save my dad’s life!” 

Even as I write these words I am taken back to that exact moment almost 20 years ago.  I feel the same feelings today as I did on that day.  Helpless.  Surreal.  This can’t be happening.

Even in my despair, I really thought he would wake up at any moment. 

But he never did.   My dad drowned. 

I was in shock.  I couldn’t comprehend it.  

“What just happened? He was just right there with me and now he’s gone!”

Fast forward a few hours.   

Back in the condo, I was in the back bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to process what happened and how my life as I knew it had completely changed.   

“How were we going to make it without my dad?” 

“Where was God? Why did he allow this to happen?”

“Was this my fault?”

Then my mom appeared in the doorway.  She said,

“I found something in your dad’s briefcase that he was going to give you on this trip.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.  

She walked across the room and handed me some sheets of paper…

It was a letter from my dad.

I read it as quickly as I could, hanging on to every word. 

Apparently he had been working on this letter for several months having no idea that he was going to die and that his letter would be his final words to me and my siblings. 

It was everything I needed at that moment.  Among the many things he wrote, he shared how he felt about us and how we could have a successful life. 

I felt closer to my dad than I ever had in my life. 

I felt so loved.   In the midst of my dad’s busy work schedule as a hospital CEO, umpiring football games (his hobby), and being very involved in our church, my dad made time to write me a letter.  

Don’t tell me my dad didn’t love me. 

My dad’s words provided hope and confidence that I was going to make it.  His words also protected me.  Anytime I started the “what if” questions, it was as if my dad was right there saying…”This is not your fault.  There is nothing different you could have done.”  He protected me from the shame and guilt I could have easily experienced.

My life purpose completely changed.  I now wanted to serve God and live for his eternal purposes. 

As the years passed, I graduated with my accounting degree, started my career, got married and started having kids.  Through the ups and downs of life, my dad and his words keep guiding me, influencing me, and giving me confidence to keep pushing forward. 

I can’t imagine my life without that letter.

A few years ago, when my children were younger, I knew it was time to write them a letter.  If anyone knows the value of a letter from their dad, it’s me. 

As I’m staring at a blank sheet of paper, I realized how difficult it was going to be.  

“What the heck do I write?  How do I get my thoughts and feelings organized? And what was blocking me from getting started… spiritually and emotionally?”

I knew this letter was too important to leave unfinished. 

I went into research mode to answer those questions.  I read books, articles, listened to podcasts, and of course looked at my dad’s letter as a guide.   If I was going to write this letter, I wanted it to have all the best things in it… all the things that everyone needs to hear from their dad. 

I finished the letter… and it felt amazing! The letter was for my children, but initially I was the one benefitted the most.  I became a better man and dad as I found myself living out the words of my letter.

Around that time, God brought a man into my life who told me a story of receiving a life changing letter from his biological father when he was 25.   That’s amazing, I have a letter from my dad too!   

A month later, another man tells me a story about receiving a life changing letter from his dad.

Ok God, I get it!  We’ve got to help more people get a letter from their dad!  

That’s when our mission began: to help 1 million dads write at least 1 well written, meaningful, lasting Legacy Letter.   

Not just any letter, but a Legacy Letter.  It’s so much more than writing a letter.  

Writing a Legacy Letter is an experience. This experience brings out all the right words, written in a way that cuts through the noise, and embeds them deep into their child’s heart.   

For the last two and a half years, our business has been helping executives, business owners, professional athletes, members of the military, guys who work with their hands, corporate teams (like Walmart), etc. write their Legacy Letter.   

They all have the same response… “That was life changing.”   

Within the next few weeks, a popular morning show will be featuring us – our first national exposure.

My dad could have never known the impact his letter was going to have on my life or on so many others’ lives.  It was such a simple act… writing a letter.   But as we know, simple doesn’t mean easy. 

His simple act took an investment of his time and his emotional energy. He also took a risk.  There was no guarantee that it would have the impact he hoped for.

When I think back on all my dad’s accomplishments in sports and in his work, his letter to me was the greatest investment he ever made.  It changed my life.

For More Information About the Legacy Letter Masterclass for You or Your Business go to LegacyLetterChallenge.com

by Andrew Firman

The Growing Impact Space

The Impact Investing space has grown substantially over the past decade. The idea that our capital and businesses can be used for good has deeply resonated with retail investors all the way to family offices and institutions. Christians have sought to tailor their investment approach within this nascent space, with a focus on adding a “Kingdom” element to the traditional environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors that the world uses to define impact. 

Below is a non-exhaustive list that shows the breakdown of these two impact categories and how they differ.

The recent embrace of Kingdom Impact has been an exciting focus for the Christian business world. Stories of how God has used business to bring men and women around the world to saving faith are encouraging testimonies of His sovereignty and providence in every aspect of our lives. There has (rightfully) been little debate or disagreement within the Christian world of the necessity of Kingdom Impact, so it is helpful to instead transition our focus to the ESG factors that the world has focused on.

We must ask an important question: as Christians, do we have anything to offer to the non-Kingdom impact space? I believe the theologically-minded Christian should give a hearty “Yes!” to this question. While looking historically, in addition to theologically, Christians should not only add to this type of impact, but lead the world’s thinking in regards to ESG as a whole.

The Church as the Leader

Stepping back, it is helpful to look at how movements within Christianity have become part of the mainstream. Historically, the global Church has been a leader in some of the most impactful aspects of society, including education and healthcare. Truth that the Church has known for millennia may take time for the world’s knowledge to catch on to. Over the past decade, the emerging growth of impact investing has followed this same trend. In short, the world did not decide that business with an ESG focus was good. Christians have known this since God commanded Adam to work in the Garden!

Simple affirmations of how Christians theologically and biblically should view vocation aid in giving clarity to our view of ESG.

1. Work is intrinsically good, as evidenced by its creation before the fall. (Gen 1:29-31)

2. Christians are called to work. (Gen 2:15)

3. Jesus came to fix all that was broken, and does this by the outworking of the church through its members. (Rev 21:5, Eph 3:10)

The implications of these three statements are immense. Christians affirm the goodness of work. The fruit of this inherently good creation must have intrinsic good. In other words, there will be impact from any believer’s non-sinful occupation. (Going a theological level deeper, it would be more accurate to say that work is good but broken, therefore its output will also be partially broken.)  

In order to correctly understand the Christian lens through which we view investing, it is imperative for a believer to have a solid grasp of the teleological way in which God has made his wisdom apparent in ordering the world. In other words, the means through which God has chosen to typically work will rightfully influence our view of the value and impact of work and investing. Practically, a thorough understanding of common grace, providence, and sovereignty should make a believer well-equipped to navigate this space.

Practical Considerations

How then do we see this practically worked out in investing? We can conclude that the world’s view of impact and ESG is not wrong, but it is too narrow. As the church, we should work to expand our own scope of what should fall into the traditional impact space.  We affirm the goodness of renewable energy, clean water in third-world countries, and businesses that improve upon education and healthcare. Yet we also can see God’s providence, sovereignty, and common grace in the complexity that He has designed our modern day economy to operate in. In his book God at Work, Gene Veith explains that “we ask God to give us this day our daily bread. And He does give us our daily bread. He does it by means of a farmer who planted and harvested the grain, the baker who made the flour into bread, the person who prepared our meal” (1).

In short, Christians affirming ESG-type impact are actually just speaking what we know to be true from Scripture: God works in even the smallest areas of our lives for His own purposes. The world may see a doctor giving a vaccination in a third-world country. Our Christian eyes see the glory, providence, and common grace behind this. We see a pharmaceutical company that developed the vaccine. We see capital markets that provided the funding for it to operate. We see auditors ensuring proper accounting and governance to keep the business running.

This speaks to what we know to be true in 1 Corinthians 12, with God using many pieces that are no less important to what we see to be the end goal. As Tim Keller says in his book Every Good Endeavor, “Our gospel-trained eyes can see the world ablaze with the glory of God’s work through the people He has created and called – in everything from the simplest actions, such as milking a cow, to the most brilliant artistic or historic achievements” (64).

Even in jobs that we may not think love our neighbor or benefit society, through His design, they do! In doing so, we rightfully affirm the goodness of vocation in general to our brothers and sisters in our churches. Their work matters, because He is at work in it! 

These theological ideas that run through the Old and New Testament can greatly influence how Christians invest on a very practical level. Understanding how God uses our vocations as His means to impact our world and our neighbors gives us immense clarity into where we should best allocate our capital. As these topics are discussed further, a more Biblically-based view of ESG can be coupled with Kingdom impact to see the Gospel continue to redeem all areas of life.

This is one of the 2020 CEF Whitepapers. For more information on the Christian Economic Forum, please visit their website here.

by Brandt Brereton

Role of BaaMs in the United States

Approximately 2,000 private businesses in the United States are currently owned by committed Christians who provide varying levels of support for domestic and international ministry and missions within and outside the company. Because most of these business owners believe that God is the actual owner and that they are merely stewards, the title of Businesses as a Ministry (BaaM) has been adopted to characterize them. The profits of these companies fuel giving to the Kingdom both directly and through owner tithing to local churches and mission budgets. BaaM owners are stewards that view the operation, culture, and rich ministry within and through the business as something to be preserved.

The owners of BaaMs face unique financial difficulties as they manage their business because of the importance of maintaining owner control in order to continue ministry support both during and after their involvement in the business. The provision of shareholder liquidity and funding the retirement of owners is complicated by the difficulty in obtaining capital from traditional sources because of a portion of profits being diverted to ministry support both inside and outside of the company. BaaMs require access to a type of capital that does not require them to give up control of their business.  

Private Equity Acquisition Trend

Of the approximately 100,000 companies in America that employ at least 100 employees, it is estimated that an average of 4,000 of these companies have been acquired each year by private equity firms since the early 1990s. It is reasonable to infer from these numbers that 30% to 40% of private companies with at least 100 employees are now owned by secular private equity firms focused exclusively on profit. This trend will continue for demographic reasons as Baby Boomer private business owners reach retirement age.

Owners of private businesses who want to liquidate all or a part-interest in their company typically sell to a private equity firm. This prevalent practice is a consequence of one of two unfortunate situations. The first is that the typical owner and management team are not aware of any alternative means of obtaining significant liquidity while maintaining control of the company. The second is that most of the outside financial and legal advisors providing guidance to management are typically not familiar with any alternative to a business sale to a third-party private equity firm or strategic industry buyer.

Liquidity Options for Business Owners

When a business that allocates a portion of profits to ministry support (BaaM) is acquired by a private equity firm or industry buyer, the diversion of a portion of profit to ministry support will be immediately terminated as will any ministry occurring for employees within the organization.  

There is an urgent need for private business owners to be made aware of an alternative to the prevalent practice of selling a business to private equity firms or industry buyers in order to obtain the liquidity necessary to fund the retirement of owners. This alternative liquidity option would provide the following advantages:

• Fund the retirement / major liquidity distributions for owners

• Enable continuation / succession of owner control of the company

• Permit the diversion of significant profit for charitable purposes

• Facilitate beneficial employee stock ownership without cost to employee   

• Enable permanent reduction or elimination of corporate level taxes

In addition to the above benefits, significant personal tax advantages would be available to cover costs of implementing and taking advantage of such an alternative.

 

Inception of the Employment Stock Ownership Plan

The employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), also alternatively known as the employee share ownership trust (ESOT), was conceived in 1956 by Louis Kelso, a San Francisco attorney and investment banker. A book written by Louis Kelso and the author and philosopher Mortimer Adler, and published in 1958, The Capitalist Manifesto, explained the macro-economic theory upon which the ESOP initiative was based.   

The thesis of the book is that democracy is the only method of government worthy for human beings and that capitalism is the only system that can sustain democracy, because only in the possession of the means of production can a person be truly free. The authors also wrote (over 60 years ago!) that we faced a real and present danger from the progressive socialization of our economy. They recommended that tax policy should be implemented to encourage beneficial ownership of stock by employees to supplement their income and preserve our capitalist system.

As a consequence of the work by Louis Kelso for nearly two decades, his proposals were finally incorporated into a major reform of retirement law known as ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974). Among the beneficial provisions are the following:

• ESOP-owned companies receive tax deductions for payments to employees

• Employees receive beneficial stock ownership at no cost

• ESOP trusts could borrow money to buy company stock

• Loans can be repaid out of tax-deductible corporate contributions

• Deferral or elimination of capital gains for certain sellers of stock to ESOP

National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)

The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) – a private non-profit membership-based information and research organization – was founded in 1981 by Corey Rosen, who had worked as a professional staffer in the U.S. Senate where he helped draft ESOP legislation. The purpose of the organization is to educate business owners on employee stock ownership and managers of ESOP-owned companies on measurement and improvement of their ownership cultures. NCEO also produces publications and ESOP sample documents for the benefit of their membership. 

The ESOP Playbook

In 2017, my partner, Jared Hanley, and I wrote and published the ESOP Playbook. Jared and I are the two principals of Brereton Hanley, a boutique investment bank in Silicon Valley. Our objective in writing was to utilize our extensive experience in advising companies for more than two decades regarding ESOPs to accomplish two purposes. The first was to explain what an ESOP is and how a typical sale to an ESOP is conducted. The second was to provide an introduction to the many tools and alternatives that an ESOP can provide to a business. Because business owners can sell even 100% of their shares and still retain control of the company indefinitely, our hope is that this expertise can be taught and focused on the attrition of BaaMs problem.

A unique and very helpful feature of the book is the comparative analysis of the three most common corporate finance transactions: (1) the M&A (industry buyer) sale, (2) the Private Equity sale, and (3) the ESOP sale. For each type of transaction, the process is described, the parties and their agendas are discussed, and the pros and cons of the respective finance transaction types are enumerated. The parties covered for each transaction type are sellers, buyers, attorneys, CPAs, investment bankers, and employees.    

Emergence of Perpetuate Capital  

My partner and I recently joined a team of Christian entrepreneurs forming an investment fund organization (Perpetuate Capital) to provide a market-based source of capital to Christian-owned businesses without detrimentally impacting their culture, independent control, legacy, and ministry. Investor returns are targeted at or above historical secular market averages, which can be achieved by the right professionals.

Among the uses of the capital could be the purchase of shares held by a departing owner in a private company by using an ESOP, funding traditional management-led buyouts without the use of an ESOP, aiding in the divesting and acquiring of subsidiaries, and providing growth capital to profitable businesses. Perpetuate Capital exists to perpetuate the Kingdom impacts of BaaMs, while solving for shareholder liquidity at market-based costs/returns with fully aligned investors.

The key component of the initiative is the establishment of a structured equity fund that will accept investments of any denomination only from Christian individuals and entities and only provide that capital to BaaMs. The objective of the fund is to provide a return in the ballpark of 12%, which is the average return for secular structured equity funds over the last 25 years. Additional information about Perpetuate Capital and our partners can be found on our website at www.perpetuatecapital.com.  

My partners in this venture and I feel privileged to dedicate our God-given experience sets and what remains of our earthly sojourns to focusing on this achievable solution to a very tragic but avoidable problem. We are optimistic that the Kingdom-giving of existing BaaMs can not only be preserved but increased. We are also hopeful that additional Christian-owned businesses can be transitioned to BaaMs with this new knowledge and capital provision.

by James W. Murphy

This is an excerpt from the author’s book Faithful Investing: The Power of Decisive Action and Incremental Change. Published by Church Publishing Inc. and edited by James W. Murphy, the book was released in January 2020.