by Jewel Burks Solomon

Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at Collab Capital, shares about the power of community in supporting entrepreneurs both mentally/emotionally and in tangible ways in business. She explains the value of sharing experiences with younger entrepreneurs as a model of discipleship and makes a case for the challenge of resource acquisition not as a pipeline problem, but one of connection.

Article originally posted here by Bill High

by Rachel McDonough

[Have you ever thought about whether your 401(k) or your investment portfolio aligns with your values? And should it? Perhaps you’ve suspected that if you invested in true alignment with your values that you’d achieve a lesser return? Here’s a great post from my friend Rachel McDonough that will perhaps raise some new thinking for you—on investing to match your values. – Bill]

When Frank came into my office, he had already heard of Faith-Based or Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI) but he was pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea. As a retired sales executive with a high net worth and a deeply held faith, he included generous charitable giving in his financial plan. However, in his mind, choosing an investment strategy was a business decision.

When asked about his potential interest in aligning his investments with his values for positive impact and financial return, he said, “The way I see it, giving is giving. And investing is investing. I’m not sure I feel comfortable blurring the lines there.”

What Frank did not yet know was that, of the investment options at our disposal, several of the better performing strategies were indeed those that considered non-financial criteria related to ethics, responsibility, sustainability, and other values.

Frank is not alone in assuming there will be less upside potential in investments that apply a values filter. After all, such strategies often involve slightly higher fees than their conventional invest-anywhere counterparts.

“What will it cost me (in the form of a lower rate of return and/or higher fees) to align my investments with my values?” is the number one concern or question I hear when sitting down with a prospective investor who is learning about this concept for the first time.

Many investors assume that if they eliminate companies and industries that do harm (like pornography, gambling, tobacco, etc.) and intentionally seek companies that are creating valuable, positive goods and services that promote human flourishing, there simply won’t be many financially attractive investments left!

BRI Investments Can Hold Their Own

To address the performance impact of so-called “exclusionary screening” (taking out the bad stuff) on performance, I think the 2019 study from the Biblically Responsible Investing Institute does a great job of presenting data in an unbiased manner (which is difficult to find in a world where nearly every academic study is tied to the agenda of the publisher). It also uses a rather rigorous interpretation of Christian values, meaning more companies would have been removed from this sample than many other faith-based investment companies would remove with their less restrictive approaches. So, this may give us a worst-case scenario of sorts, where we are excluding a larger number of potentially profitable companies, purely for ethical reasons.

In the study, which examined performance from 1/1/2000 to 12/31/2019, a 20-year time period, both the “BRI Screened Portfolio” and the S&P 500 benchmark have an identical 6.19% annualized return. While there were shorter time periods where one or the other outperformed, by the end of the sample 20-year period, they were literally neck and neck.

Note: This study does not account for the potential positive impact on performance that could arise from trying to identify positive impact companies, which we might logically conclude should be more inclined to experience greater success in business by way of customer loyalty, positive reviews, referrals, etc.

Ethical Investing Is Sound Strategy

As a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and a Certified Kingdom Advisor™, I have a duty to act in a fiduciary capacity with my clients and to put their interests ahead of my own. And, while I cannot make specific investment recommendations for readers, in my professional opinion, I believe this style of investing has merit as a savvy investment strategy. I’ve seen real clients successfully navigate both the accumulation and the distribution phases of wealth management using this approach.

I get it. These are real dollars and real needs, such as being able to afford healthcare in retirement. None of us want to lose money or run out of money before we die. I’ve accumulated hundreds of hours of professional education and I invest a lot of time and energy in doing analysis of various funds, talking with fund managers, and monitoring risk and returns. But the reality is that there is no way of guaranteeing that we have chosen the investment strategy that will be the top performer. In fact, the strategies that performed best last year probably won’t be the best next year since they tend to go in and out of favor. That’s why using our faith values as a foundation for investing is so refreshing and appealing.

Confidence & Contentment

When we put biblical wisdom into action by choosing an investment approach that aligns with God’s heart, with companies that benefit humanity, we find an approach that we can believe in and understand. This is indeed savvy because it makes it so much easier for us to stay the course in turbulent times. The strong urge to sell investments when the portfolio is down is one of the top reasons why most retail investors underperform.

In addition to the business savvy that comes from staying the course, we can experience greater contentment, joy, and a sense of wholeness. When we are not willing to profit from someone else’s addiction (like gambling) or oppression (like human trafficking), we are demonstrating that we trust God to be our Provider.

Listen to our latest Podcast Episode featuring Rachel McDonough here!

by Jake Thomsen

Philippians 4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

One idea that I’m thinking about these days is just this concept of anxiety. We’re with some entrepreneurs and they’re doing fundraisers and they’re sleepless nights and just more times. And I was reading Philippians about two weeks ago now and it really struck me. Of course, I got  to Philippians four, which is like the go-to for anxiety of “Hey, be anxious about nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication lift it up to the Lord. And the peace that surpasses understanding will come to you.”

And in one sense I think that’s such an encouragement and the other sense it can be kind of discouraging or even anxiety-inducing, because like us, especially now, we were going through a fundraise. Are you feeling that lack of anxiety? And if not, it’s kind of like you think you got something going wrong.

But what really jumped out at me, this is the point I’m getting to is reading Philippians all in one sitting. I got Chapter two where Paul essentially has this riff, where he has his missionary friend and Aphroditus, who got really sick. The Philippians didn’t know he was sick. They thought he might die. And so part of the letter, Paul wants to let them know, hey, he is OK, I’m going to send him to you. And it kind of talks about we’re all very anxious about this. Aphroditus is anxious. I’m anxious about it. And the only way I’m going to solve it is by sending him to you so that my anxiety can be reduced somewhat.

And it seems as though it would be saying we do experience anxiety because of the brokenness of the world. And sometimes Paul at least was looking at the circumstance. And even when he was trying to address the circumstance, I didn’t quite get him told to that peace that surpasses understanding. And yet he gets to Chapter four and says, this is what we strive for.

And so I don’t have a clear takeaway from all that. But that’s what I’m wrestling with, kind of looking at from different angles with God. And I think I’m landing just on the side of the “Already – Not yet” right. God has already accomplished the victory and it is not yet fully here. And so how do we live into that kingdom that is still coming? It’s still on its way, and yet we know what that faithful living is like. And maybe some layer of anxiety sometimes doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re doing something wrong, which is that we’re in this kind of following world in a tough spot and I don’t know where to go from there. But that’s what I’m thinking about.

Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s 2019 Global Event.

by Joel Morris

Introduction

Unashamedly, I straddle the business, grant-making, and ministry space. I came into running a charity (and inherited a failing seminary) from a background in aerospace and nuclear engineering. Sure, I was an obvious choice! I’m the Executive Director of Union Foundation, strategically working to serve church growth across Europe. We work through training, publishing, research, and church planting. Through various friendships and partnerships, we have come together to create a missional ecosystem where the church can sustainably grow and bear fruit. This is a ‘grand project’ developed over several years with likeminded businesspeople, donor networks, churches, seminaries, publishers, and networks—all working together to see God’s kingdom grow in Europe. We can only do this together because of the scale of the challenge.

Missional friendships

As we survey the history of the church, every unique movement of God was birthed through fellowship. History seems to highlight only single heroes of the faith, but rarely does anyone achieve anything for the kingdom of Christ alone. The German Reformer, Martin Luther, welcomed many friends around his table for mutual instruction, advice, planning, and humor. Among Luther’s friends were fellow reformers Philip Melancthon, Caspar Cruciger, Justus Jonas, Vitus Dietrich, John Bugenhagen, John Forster, and others. A merry band of brothers united around one vision and were mightily used by God.

In Geneva, John Calvin also gathered a company of men to train pastors to plant churches in France, Hungary, Scotland, and even Brazil. Calvin desired deep friendships—a band of brothers committed to the same vision, loving each other, and serving shoulder to shoulder for the growth of Christ’s church. Europe was profoundly impacted due to this deep mutual affection that existed in Geneva and eventually spread throughout the world.

During the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century in North America and the United Kingdom, a fellowship was formed among key leaders around preaching, church planting, mission, and publishing. In 1748, when gospel patron Lady Huntingdon visited Trefeca, Wales, she met Howel Harris, Daniel Rowland, Griffith Jones, and Howel Davis. She began funding the building of a seminary to train future gospel preachers. This group of friends commenced a preaching tour around the country, which eventually included William Williams and George Whitefield, who had crossed the Atlantic to the American colonies, joining Jonathan Edwards in a ministry partnership.

Such vivid examples have served as the impetus for our work, which fosters friendship around a mutual gospel vision. This vision is rooted in the common desire to see the church of Christ grow in Europe. We aim to see the church built up, purified, fruitful, growing, and pre-eminently glorifying to God. We hope to provide support and fellowship for all who stand for this vision through collaboration.

Genuine biblical fellowship doesn’t create solitary oak trees standing alone but fosters a forest of friends standing together for the gospel. Ecclesiastes 4:2 illustrates such togetherness in the image of a three-fold cord so tightly woven that it becomes virtually indestructible. This is our hope for our grand project—friendships and fellowship that are indestructible in mission and ministry because they are anchored in Christ.

Unity around the mission

When we think about multiplying churches across a whole region or continent, it helps to think in a big-picture, joined-up way: Not short-term, small, pragmatic, although it helps to be practical; but longer-term, sustainable, and generational growth. Our grand project began with a dying residential seminary in South Wales, UK—nothing grand in the capital city but something quite insalubrious and unremarkable in a field in South Wales. Can anything good come out of Nazareth?[1] As unlikely as something significant starting in South Wales, a friendship sprung up between what was known as the ‘Bryntirion’ College and SaRang Community Church in Seoul, South Korea. It came about through one of its members, businesswoman Sung Joo Kim, visiting Wales for a Christian conference, and when struck by the dire need, she wanted to do something to help Wales. The CEO of German fashion brand MCM was able to bring together a Korean mega church and a struggling Welsh seminary through a historical missionary connection long forgotten in Wales.

Providentially, Mrs. Kim met a student from Bryntirion, which was the last evangelical seminary left in Wales, and connected the college with her Senior Pastor in Korea. The Pastor felt a sense of spiritual debt to the church in Wales because of Welsh missionary Robert Jermain Thomas who had been martyred in Pyongyang in 1866.[2] A truly remarkable story, Thomas had briefly stood on North Korean soil before he was beheaded, killed along with the crew of the American merchant ship, the General Sherman. His executioner took the Bibles Thomas was handing out and papered the inside of his house with the scriptures. As his family and guests read the wallpaper, they were saved by the Word of God. This house became the first church building in Korea. The Korean protestant church can trace their 150-year church history back to a long forgotten Welsh missionary.

In 2011, SaRang Church committed a million dollars into restarting the ministry with the purpose of blessing Wales, the UK, and Europe. Then, the church also began to fund church planting projects of students through the seminary. The response to what the Lord was doing through the seminary was to reform the charity into a foundation that ran a seminary as well as to facilitate grant making to churches. Bryntirion became Union School of Theology which pioneered blended and decentralised training through local church learning communities, and many in turn have become church planting hubs. This has become the ‘Union model.’ There are currently 30 learning community partnerships with local churches and other training providers from Helsinki to Rome and Edinburgh to London. Union Mission became the grant making arm of the charity to connect graduates and partners with financial resources. We settled on the name ‘Union’ because it’s inclusive and stands for friendship and collaboration. It says: We’re going after this together in union.

In 2019, a donor collaboration called the European Great Commission Collaboration, set up by businessman Adam Walach, joined our initiative to fund church plants from Union as well as other church planting networks, such as M4 based in Estonia. The EGCC is made of donor networks from several European countries funding indigenous ministries across Europe. In partnership, together with SaRang Church in Seoul, they have been funding European projects together. Since 2015, Union Foundation has awarded grants totalling 1 million pounds to over 130 projects across Europe. Union has been serving donor partners as fiscal sponsor, carrying out due diligence on each project and reporting progress.

It’s wonderful to see the impact that collaboration has been having in countries like Greece, through our learning community in partnership with the Greek Bible College where leaders are being recruited, raised up with the local church, deployed, and financially supported to plant or rejuvenate churches. As an entrepreneur and engineer, it has been satisfying to see friends come together and work effectively toward a shared vision. God is moving and bringing churches, organisations, and people together for His great mission.

Then, we added the ability to publish our own books and digital resources to the missional ecosystem. Union was able to create its own publishing house in collaboration with Canadian publisher H&E Publishing. We want to give opportunities for future leaders to develop as authors and to write the books for their generations. Gnowbe[3] (USA) has enabled us to provide micro courses for learners online through their mobile first platform. Micro-Learning Courses (MLCs) are self-paced digital courses. The production of accessible, theological resources works to help people delight in God, grow in Christ, and engage with their callings—some of whom then go on to join our School of Theology or another seminary. Union Publishing helps fuel the School, and everything drives through to mission.

Union’s Research arm began in March 2021 as another important part of the model, as we develop pastor-theologians, thinkers, and writers who can help grow the church—fortifying the church’s mission through theological excellence and building long-term sustainable growth in church movements and networks. So, we set up Newton House based in Oxford, England, in partnership with scholars and institutions from around the world as well as Tyndale House, Cambridge.

This ‘grand project’ continues with friends and partners, planters and pastors, churches, foundations, business leaders, publishers, and students, working to see a God-inspired solution for Europe to be reignited for the gospel once again; to see a new generation of leaders raised up; and to see churches growing and multiplying. Walking where others have gone before, friends working collaboratively and strategically to advance God’s kingdom. We can look back to the past to see how God worked in the past and also to see what God is doing now. He has perfect strategic foresight; He has plans to prosper His church.[4] We need to be in step with Him as we plan ahead. Such movements of God involve all parts of His church, from gospel patrons to gifted preachers, pastor theologians, writers, scholars, and more to further the cause of the gospel. Instead of being tribal, partisan, or just about furthering an institution, if we are about actually serving the church and blessing the world, then together, we can see past our own agendas to national and international gospel transformation.

 ——

[1] John 1:46

[2] Stella Price, Chosen for Choson (Emmaus Road Ministries: Essex, MA, USA), 91-96.

[3] https://www.gnowbe.com

[4] Jeremiah 29:10

by Rachel McDonough

God Has a Job for You 

Having an eternal perspective shapes our earthly approach to all aspects of financial management, or stewardship. A steward, as you may know, is a trustee or a manager—one tasked with managing resources belonging to someone else. In our case, the Bible tells us that God is the owner of all wealth (Haggai 2:8). King David stated it in another manner in Psalm 24:1a, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” 

That means that every asset on every balance sheet legally and irrevocably belongs to him, regardless of the account title. This is a spiritual reality that supersedes the laws of man. 

Despite our lack of ultimate ownership of (His) financial resources, God, in His grace, gives us a meaningful job and purpose, lovingly incorporating us into His grand design as stewards on his behalf.

He allots resources to each of us to manage on His behalf, as His stewards. The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 implies that God gives an amount to each of us according to our ability. (The good news is that all of us can grow our ability!)

Apprenticing in the Family Business

God, of course, doesn’t really need our help at all. He knows no lack that He should be dependent on us to first multiply His wealth so that He might achieve His goals. (In fact, I would presume that God doesn’t even have financial goals.)

But rather, as a parent tenderly invites a young child to “help” with tasks around the home or shop, He invites us into the task of managing His resources for our benefit, not His. He uses stewardship tasks and financial circumstances to train, equip, and edify us, as well as to invite us to trust more completely and connect with Him more deeply.

Through stewardship He grows our skills and understanding of his principles. But even more precious, if we will seek him with our hearts, He also uses stewardship to increase our capacity to think as He thinks and feel as He feels. Our Father uses our stewardship journey as an apprenticeship program to teach us the family business of bringing heaven into the earth. (If this sounds crazy to you, check out the Lord’s Prayer, especially Matthew 6:10).

The Owner is a Giver

I like to imagine that His heart and intentions in giving these gifts to us are like those of a parent who gives a set of paints or tools to a child, joyfully anticipating what the child will create. He is, after all, our Father and the Giver of every good gift.

He entrusts us with a measure of His financial resources, as well as with other resources: opportunities, time, relationships, energy, abilities, and more. Then He watches and waits with great expectancy to see what we will choose to create with all that He has given to us. 

The best way to honor the Giver and the gift, is to use the resources to create something that the Giver would absolutely love. This leads us to ask ourselves some important questions to ensure our financial strategy is headed in the right direction.

Questions Every Steward Must Answer

• What potential uses of the money do we think would delight God’s heart?

• What will we do with all the resources He has entrusted to us? 

• How much should be given away, stored up as treasure in heaven? Where should it be given?

• How much of it should be invested and in what types of products? (Does God care how we invest?)

• How much is okay to spend on our lifestyle and enjoyment?

Interestingly, these questions are the very foundation of Christian financial planning, a process that can be not only extremely practical, but also one that can have eternal significance for those who long to hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

If we’re honest with ourselves, we could all be more intentional with God’s money. It’s easy to stay in familiar patterns, avoid accountability, and resist spending money on professional advice that could help us objectively and wisely answer these important questions and make focused financial decisions. 

It’s also easy for us to feel that our finances are somehow disconnected from our spiritual lives. But as author, Ron Blue, has insightfully stated, every financial decision is a spiritual decision or has it’s root in a spiritual value. I’ve seen this principle displayed in my own life and in the lives of my clients. But here’s the best part.

He gives us His heavenly wisdom and guidance when we ask for it, but He doesn’t control us or micromanage our assignment. He is not afraid of the mistakes we will surely make as we learn how to manage His money. In fact, I’ve seen him allow his children to make some very expensive mistakes…and I’m guessing He didn’t lose any sleep over it. While there are Biblical principles we can apply (or reject), I believe He cares most about what’s happening in our hearts. 

If you’re ready to take a more focused and intentional look at your stewardship, I would encourage you to consider taking one or more of the following steps:

1. Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor™ that you can connect with, either locally or virtually. In light of the pandemic, many advisors have become proficient at communicating with clients through user-friendly technology (video calls, encrypted emails, and screen-sharing to walk through a meeting agenda or share visual aids). I think it’s more important to connect with the right advisor for you than to connect with one whose office is nearby. Certified Kingdom Advisors, specifically, have been vetted for minimum standards of professional training or competence in financial planning, plus have taken a lengthy educational program to ensure they rightly understand all areas of personal finances through a Biblical lens. They are uniquely qualified to serve Christian clients. If you’re serious about investing God’s money according to His values, be sure to request faith-based investment strategies as many of them are not well-versed in this particular sub-set of Christian financial principles.

2. Develop a personal practice of listening for God’s voice and seeking his guidance. Whether or not you choose to seek professional advice, this is the most important step you can take. Christian teachings that focus on finances, such as the books and videos by Randy Alcorn, Ron Blue, and others can be a great resources to get started. But don’t forget to pray about your financial decisions, and then listen for his still, small voice, recognizing that He often speaks to us through our own conscience and the peace we experience as we do our best to follow him.

God loves to meet us on the path of our stewardship journey. Just as the Father welcomes back the prodigal son, God longs to embrace us and help us despite any past mistakes we might have made with his money. There is no condemnation in his eyes. He is for us. He is highly relational. He wants to mentor us and co-labor with us in this job that He created just for us.