by Justin Forman

Last week we announced the Faith Driven Investor event coming to Dallas on Sept 23-24th.

Many of you are familiar with our other ministry initiative, the Faith Driven Entrepreneur, a close cousin to the Faith Driven Investor. For those of you who might not have heard, we’re excited to announce that we will also be hosting the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Conference in Dallas on Sept 24-25th, immediately following the investor event!

This is a gathering specifically designed to encourage the entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators of culture. It will bring together thought leaders across different organizations and will be packed with real-life stories of those on the front lines.

We believe that God uses entrepreneurs to bring about His Kingdom here on earth. Our mission is to help those who are hard at work on the trail, who are often tired, exhausted, under-resourced, and confused. They need rest, support, guidance, and provisions, as they get ready to head back out on the trail to fight dragons. 

We’re very early on in the planning stages for this event. So, stay tuned for many more speaker announcements. The Faith Driven Entrepreneur is a ministry initiative subsidized by the generosity of a few foundations that make this possible. Seating is limited to 700 attendees and there are discounts for the first 100, so register today to secure your spot!

We’re excited to see you there!

by Andy Muhich

Hello faith driven investor community. I’m honored to contribute my voice to this growing movement. About a year ago, I stepped away from being a Missions Pastor to become a business leader and capital steward. At times, I am humbled by the daunting yet joy-filled role of being a capital steward under Jesus. As I’ve tried to depend on God for wisdom in this calling, I continue to be both struck and comforted by all that God’s word has to say. As faith-driven investors, I believe we must become saturated in the full counsel of God’s word, allowing this grand, unified story to captivate our hearts and minds so that we apply its wisdom to all aspects of capital stewardship. Too often we take snippets of God’s word to justify what we want, rather than submitting to all of God’s story. He wants to deeply form us to embody Jesus’ kingdom in our portfolios for the sake of His world.

We especially ignore the first half of the story (the Old Testament), and it provides a treasury of God’s wisdom relating to capital ownership and economics. I recently came across a podcast from The Bible Project. Their team excellently employs Biblical scholarship and imaginative storytelling to ponder the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25. As I listened, I heard God’s word for myself and other capital stewards within the economic systems of our times. I invite you to reflect on Leviticus 25. Pause and read it before you continue reading this. Use the Bible Project podcast as a guide to deeper imagination. Below, I provide my summary and reflections as I see it relating to our community of faith-driven investors.

Leviticus 25: The Practice of Jubilee for Israel’s Capital Stewards

Did you know that God designed Israel’s laws with capital ownership economics in mind? As Israel looked forward to entering the land Yahweh was giving them, He instructed them in the Jubilee, a radical economic practice designed to continually reorient Israel’s hearts and economic system to worship their Redeemer. It was so radical, in fact, that most scholars agree it never actually occurred within the history of ancient Israel (this serves as a warning to us). It was so disruptive that the prophets used it as a motif for the inauguration of God’s coming kingdom (see Isaiah 61:2). Jesus initiated His own mission (showing and telling the kingdom of God in himself) by announcing the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:19).

What was it? God designed the Year of Jubilee (literally “the Year of Release”) as a once-in-a-generation event (occurring every 50 years) to reapportion the land of Israel to the original allotments He gave each tribe/family, regardless of what land had been sold to whom since the last Jubilee. “The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land” (Lev. 25:23, HCSB, emphasis mine). The original family “owners” were tenant-stewards on God-given land. And in God’s eyes, anyone who “bought” this land was just subletting it from the family to whom Yahweh had given it until the next Jubilee. God fixed land prices to the number of harvests on the land till the next Jubilee (see Lev. 25:14-17). The theological premise behind this economic practice is that Yahweh owns the land, He can give it to whomever He wants, and he chooses to (re)give it equitably amongst the families of Israel every 50 years. Yahweh continually reminds Israel throughout the Law that they were slaves in Egypt, He saved them, and He gave them everything, so they have no individual right to anything.  

To a society like ours which emphasizes individual rights and merit, we may have a gut reaction against this kind of practice. But aren’t we in the same position as Israel? “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9, HCSB). The Bible never separates the material from the spiritual, economics from faith-practice. God created and owns it all.

Who was this command designed to benefit? “The jubilee would have effectively prevented cycles of intergenerational poverty and create a social and economic parity that would make Israel unique among all nations… Since it occurred usually only once a lifetime, an impoverished Israelite would spend most of his life anticipating this event of restoration” (The Bible Project). Land was the most important and fundamental form of productive capital in the ancient world. God is concerned with “capitally vulnerable” groups within Israel, their inability to freely own and produce for themselves, and ultimately the reputation this gives Israel’s God in the eyes of the nations on the world stage (God’s “missional intent” behind Israel’s laws). So he “frees” the land every 50 years.

If we contextualize this text within the full counsel of God’s word, we also see that this command was designed for those with excess capital, those of us who are faith-driven investors.

Reflections on Jubilee for Faith Driven Investors Today

Scripture upholds many tensions. They cause us to rely upon God in daily life and work (instead of resolving them into a religious formula). One of those tensions for capital stewards is this: God affirms material wealth creation as good on the one hand, and on the other, God warns what wealth accumulation does to hearts and economic systems. God’s word challenges the god of money (Mammon) more than any other idol. This is because the god of mammon grants the illusion of independence from God and thus empowers worship of all other gods. 

So, God also designed the Jubilee to guard our richest blessing of all – worshipping Him alone. By keeping Israelite families from accumulating more and more land permanently, he makes it harder for Mammon to grip their hearts. Families could grow wealth, but they could only ever “own” land-capital in the original allotment He gave. This guards and promotes the worship of the vulnerable, the wealthy, and the watching nations. The wisdom of Jubilee – a profound spiritual-economic law for God’s people.

Before I apply this to my own capital stewardship, I find I must pause, reflect, and pray. This is a matter of submitting our hearts and spiritual warfare. We are God’s people in God’s story as it challenges the powerful god Mammon in our own time. Like Israel, God has given us both the counsel of His word and His capital to produce an abundance for His kingdom. But unlike Israel, we must not fail to practice Jubilee. Unlike Israel, we have the advantage of transformed hearts in Jesus and His Spirit (c.f. Jer. 31:33, Ez. 36:26). As we allow our imaginations and hearts to be captivated by our Redeemer’s word, how can we then practice it, with the love of Jesus and the help of His Spirit, in our own time?

As I’ve reflected on Jubilee myself and for faith-driven investors, I’ve seen some of these contemporary topics/issues emerge. God’s word has much more to say about each. 1) The real spiritual danger of hoarding (see Deut. 17:17; Mt. 6:19-21); 2) a Biblical framework for value creation in holistic terms: material, social, spiritual, and environmental value; 3) the dignity and provision that capital ownership gives to human persons under God; 4) the increasing inequity of capital ownership within the world and in the global church; 5) the global dependence upon western benevolence; 6) limited capital accessibility and underrepresented entrepreneurship for marginalized groups (domestically and globally); 7) how wealth holders view the rest of God’s people: either wrongly as beggars or (worse) anglers, or rightly as trusted co-stewards of God-given wealth; 8) all the wisdom in God’s word that could be crafted into private practices and public policies encouraging win-win not win-lose capitalistic economies; 9) what healthy and trusting capital partnerships look like between investors and entrepreneurs; 10) the holding and transfer of generational wealth; and 11) “integrative generosity” vs. “philanthropic compartmentalization” – the role generosity and sacrifice have in all of life and work, not just in our convenient “philanthropic” or “service” compartments. There are many others. For which issues has God given you the eyes to see and a heart to serve? 

Finally, this whole interaction with the Bible Project’s work helped me realize something else vital to God’s people today. In ancient Israel, God appointed prophets, priests, and kings as leaders of His kingdom. I’m thankful for the Bible Project being faithful and imaginative scholar-priests. We faith-driven investors are like those kings: we have wealth, power, and responsibility before God to build His Kingdom. We must listen to God’s instructions specifically to us. The Deuteronomic law (especially Dt. 17:16-20), the kings of the Old Testament, and Israel’s idolatrous failures serve as (mostly) a warning to us.

The Old Testament especially shows us that kings need prophets and priests. Priests study and form people in God’s ways, and prophets call us back when we stray. Unlike priests and prophets, our wealth and power allow us to co-opt their roles, ignore them, or even oppress them (the OT kings did all of these). As wealth holders, are we in healthy, close relationships with church leaders and community? Do we protect their role to speak truth to our power? Are we too comfortable with a divided, sacred-secular way of practicing business? So then, how can we integrate prophets and priests into our work as kings? What does it look like for business owners, family offices, foundations, and managers to intentionally invite and empower the roles of ministry leaders and Biblical scholars in their most inner circle? (After all, we invite and even pay for all kinds of other advisors).

A wise mentor taught me that whatever captivates the soul of an owner, whatever god is at the center of the story in which they live, this is mirrored in the souls of the enterprises they own. God offers the full story of his word, specifically the jarring model of Jubilee, to re-center our idol-tempted imaginations so that the profound economic potentials of Jesus’ Kingdom will captivate our hearts and portfolio companies. Jesus invites us to let His Kingdom burst into our time by stewarding capital for the flourishing of God’s world, a world whose abundance has been hoarded by idolatrous kings.

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them”

John 14:23

This article was originally published here by GenerosityNY.

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by GenerosityNY

David Allman, owner of Regent Partners, shares his story about how he went from the end of his successful high school career feeling empty and unfulfilled, to becoming a follower of Jesus as a young adult, to getting involved in the poverty space, in real estate, and in impact investing.

Watch his story below!

And check out more from GenerosityNY, a community of Christian philanthropists spurring on one another to experience radical generosity that is joyful and wise.

This article was originally published here.

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by Steve Graves

What’s worth saying yes to? Every foundation and every venture capital firm have to answer this question on a perpetual basis. So do many people this time of the year facing requests for year-end giving show up in the mailbox or the inbox.

I’ve been asking and answering this question for years. But in the last 3-4 years, I have become clearer than ever where I want to say yes, particularly when it comes to investing.

Over the years, I’ve co-owned several different companies. They all started with me saying yes to some proposition from someone. Figuring out which company to take a chance on isn’t always easy. But having a filter or grid has made the task easier for me. It keeps the yes decision away from impulsive, emotional tugs, or friend pressure.

Unless you are Oprah or Ellen and have a bank of marketing dollars fueling your yes (“You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!”), we need some filter guiding our investment decisions.

I’ve settled on a fourfold filter to guide my personal investment opportunities. I would not dare presume these will fit you, but wanted to share them after a number of you have asked. Here they are:

1. Is it profitable?

2. Is it scalable?

3. Is it redemptive?

4. Is it healthy?

Now let me be clear. I either need a yes to each question or a clear line of sight on how we are getting to yes for that question. Perhaps my involvement can help get it there – I get that. In other words, your motivation to invest in a company might be so you can make it profitable or healthy. That’s fair. But make sure you have a line of sight on it.

Is It Profitable?

There are times to give money away, no strings attached, but if I’m investing, I’m not trying to give money away. My investment is a means to increase some income eventually.

I’m not alone in this as investors increasingly realize that, contrary to popular wisdom, profitability is more important than growth to last for the long haul.

So I ask hard questions of the companies I am considering investing in. I ask for profit goals, and then dig in to determine whether those profit goals are reasonable or “assuming everything breaks right” goals. I ask about the framework that they have to drive profits and measure results. I’ve run into tons of businesses that can’t miss ideas. Still, they don’t have the back end production plan or distribution plan or employee accountability plan to measure progress and deliver in the long term.

Is It Scalable?

One of the businesses I co-owned faced a crossroads. We had a dynamic leader, but he couldn’t be in all places at once, so we were limited in our growth. He felt the tension, too, and after a long season of considering the options, we made some strategic moves to scale nationally, which meant shifting roles and taking on some additional risk. It hasn’t come without sacrifice, but I will say it’s got a pretty exciting trajectory.

Why is this one of my filters? I understand that not every company is supposed to be scaling right now. But at my age, I don’t have 35 years for a couple of founders to do a bunch of pivots and figure things out. I love the growth that extends our reach, stretches our organizational muscles, and gives us a chance for a timely exit event. So, I need to see the pathway to scale and see it sooner rather than later.

Is It Redemptive?

This question may be a bit unique to me because of the role my faith plays in my life and work.  I want the companies I invest in to have some redemptive edges.

That’s not to say that I expect it always to look the same, but I make sure that company leaders are intentionally asking the question of what makes their enterprise redemptive.

Is it the faith of leadership? Is it the kind of product or service they offer? Is it what they intend to do with their profits? Is it how they treat their employees or customers? Is it the company’s mission and vision? Is it the overt or covert culture of faith?

Do not misunderstand this filter. No two companies look entirely the same regarding this question. There are half a dozen variables that create your unique faith impression. But the companies I invest in must be wrestling with finding their redemptive edges.

Is It Healthy?

When young children are sick, you can tell pretty quickly (whether they voice it or not), and young organizations are no different. For that matter, any age organization can be sick versus healthy. When I consider investing in a company, I’m looking at whether it has a healthy culture and work pace. I’m looking at relationships within the company and specifically between key leaders. I’m looking at whether it is a place of high performance. All of those factors are indicators of health to me.

Patrick Lencioni, in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything in Business, puts it this way: “An organization has integrity—is healthy—when it is whole, consistent and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense.”

Conclusion

Again, I don’t expect that a company has figured out everything connected to the four filters. In some ways, if they had, I probably would be coming in too late. But I need to know where they are with these four filters and how they are thinking about them. Your questions may be different than mine, but every investor needs a grid to put opportunities through.

Mine’s just four questions: Is it profitable, is it scalable, is it redemptive, and is it healthy?

This article was originally published here.
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by Mary Tomlinson

There are so many needs in the world and so many requests that tug at my heart. On the surface, they all seem to be the “right” thing to do. But they can also be overwhelming, bringing on what feels like a lose–lose scenario: If I give, I feel pressured and off purpose, but if I don’t give, I feel badly. How much will really make a difference? Will my husband Bill and I be on the same page? How can I say no without feeling terrible?

The ongoing dread and uncertainty when giving requests came my way indicated my “joyful heart in giving” was waning.

We are not alone in this struggle. During the time I worked at Disney, the company was constantly bombarded by giving requests. As a result, they initiated a process to determine how much they were giving collectively and to whom. Then they developed a strategy for what types of organizations they should give to in order to make a significant difference. Ultimately and not surprisingly, they determined that children’s charities were their number one priority. Suddenly it was easier to say no when necessary and to give more to a fewer group of organizations to make a bigger impact.

Read more about how Mary and Bill used this model to prioritize which needs and causes they would give to.

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“How can I deepen my relationships with existing clients while also differentiating my offering to appeal to prospects?”

“How do I help my clients practice good stewardship by maximizing financial performance while also seeking to make a positive difference with their investments?” 

“I’m a Christian financial advisor, but I’m not sure what the Bible has to say about investing.”

Financial advisors struggle to keep up with the latest trends, grow their network of clients, and integrate their faith with their work. Balancing clients goals, a competitive return, and Christian principles of investing often feels like a juggling act.

We understand the weight of wanting to make a positive impact for your clients and the uncertainty of knowing where to start.

“Faith-Based Investing: A Guide for Financial Advisors” is a free e-book from Denver Institute for Faith & Work. Through practical guidance and a philosophical approach to investing, advisors can learn the best practices to achieve their client’s goals and the common good.

“Faith-Based Investing: A Guide for Financial Advisors” is created in partnership with Christian Investment Forum. Complete the form at the bottom of this page to receive your free copy!