This article was originally published here by C12 Group

by Mike Sharrow

Every company goes through seasons of health and hardship. Sometimes are businesses are thriving and we’re walking confidently as leaders. But in times of uncertainty, leading requires more fortitude and courage than usual. Now is one of those times.

Article originally posted here by Eventide funds

by Shaun Morgan

Each of our daily lives have changed drastically since the middle of February. There is an immediate health risk to many of our neighbors, businesses have been ordered to stop operating, and the financial market has seen some of its most volatile days in its history. “Normal” is not a word that any of us would use to describe our current season.

Understandably, times like these prompt us to reexamine the relevance and importance of the principles that guided us before this pandemic.

Some of these principles seem irrelevant, incomplete, misguided or even untrue when conditions change. With this in mind, what should we make of the guiding principle of Eventide’s mission:

Investing that makes the world rejoice®?

Is it still relevant? Complete? Properly centered? True?

Or, is it completely out of touch and simply a vain statement that sounds nice when times are good?

At Eventide, our mission and investment philosophy is rooted in the foundational principle that investing is ownership. That is, when you invest in a company, you become a part-owner of that company. The inevitable question that then arises from this truth is “What kind of companies do I want to own?”

Let’s rewind to February 19th. Imagine someone sitting down with you on that day and saying the following:

• “This new coronavirus is a big deal; it’s going to drastically change our lives and the entire economic ecosystem for an unforeseeable period of time.”

• “The government is going to recommend and, in some cases, order people to stay home.”

• “People will be prohibited from gathering together in groups of 10 or more. Restaurants and gyms will be closed. Churches will live stream their Sunday services online.”

• “All non-essential businesses will be ordered to allow their employees to work from home.”

It would have been hard to fathom. But this is the world in which we currently live.

Given that we live in this world, how would you answer the question “What kind of companies do I want to own today?”

You might look at the immediate human needs that have resulted from the rapid spread of the virus:

• meal preparation/delivery;

• video conferencing;

• vaccines; and

• cleaning supplies.

And you might then consider companies that provide these products or services. Are they financially and operationally stable enough to perform successfully? How do they treat their stakeholders?

It makes sense that you would want to own these kinds of companies. Companies that are positioned to meet societal needs. Companies whose success is tied to their ability to help society flourish.

Now, lastly, think of this concept of investing in companies linked with human flourishing outside of the context of our immediate circumstance. Which companies are well-positioned to meet the needs of our society over the next 5, 10, 20 years?

This is investing that makes the world rejoice®.

As this devastating pandemic radically impacts every part of our lives, we are reminded of the important role that every microcosm of society has in sustaining our wellbeing—churches, neighbors, families, communities, healthcare providers, large and small organizations, governments, and, yes, businesses.  Each contributes in a unique way to promote and sustain human flourishing. Investing is no different. It is our belief that investing, too, is a powerful tool that should be used to this end.

So, does investing that makes the world rejoice® still matter? Yes, more than ever.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COVID-19, PLEASE SEE OUR PAGE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE BEST RESOURCES OUT THERE FOR FAITH DRIVEN INVESTORS & ENTREPRENEURS IN THIS SEASON.

Article originally posted here by The Wall Street Journal

by Robert Nicholson

Could a plague of biblical proportions be America’s best hope for religious revival? As the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, there is reason to think so.

Three-quarters of a century has dimmed the memory of that gruesome conflict and its terrible consequences: tens of millions killed, great cities bombed to rubble, Europe and Asia stricken by hunger and poverty. Those who survived the war had to grapple with the kinds of profound questions that only arise in the aftermath of calamity. Gazing at the ruins…

Click here to read the full article!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COVID-19, PLEASE SEE OUR PAGE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE BEST RESOURCES OUT THERE FOR FAITH DRIVEN INVESTORS & ENTREPRENEURS IN THIS SEASON.

by Stephen Kump with Charityvest

Both the most generous and the most covetous people I’ve ever met have been people on the low end of the economic ladder. The generosity I received a few years ago in Uganda among the poorest of the global poor, at times, brought me to tears. In contrast, just this past weekend a man in evident need attempted to scam me when I responded to his plea for grocery help. Perhaps you can relate to these extremes.

Conversely, the wealthy often have a greater capacity to operate with some independence on others, and as a result, they can proceed through much of life with indifference toward being generous or being covetous. Most of the extremely generous wealthy people I know have gone through life seasons of loss or deeply constrained living, or they have walked in close proximity to many people who have.

There’s a heart-clarifying edge that comes with the challenges of resources being more scarce.

When times get lean, people of all economic stations either grow in their capacity to find security outside of themselves (i.e., their resources and efforts), or they become increasingly captured by fear and dread. Something about scarcity clarifies the trajectory of our hearts.

We’re seeing people have heart-clarifying moments here in the era of COVID-19.

Heart clarification was Jesus’ exercise for the man we know as the “rich young ruler” in Matthew 19. He was to give up his wealth and place his trust and security fully in Jesus. Instead of giving away his wealth, we’re told he walked away from Jesus distraught. Jesus’ invitation was clarifying at the heart level. The ruler was not ready to trust Jesus more than the security he found in his own stuff. We’re also likewise warned by Jesus right after the story that it is hard for rich men to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In Jesus’ mind there is a direct link between our heart-health and our relationship with our money. 

The second part of Jesus’ invitation to the rich young ruler was to give. He did not advocate for the man to burn his money. Burning his money would have been impersonal. Instead, Jesus invites him into an activity of connection—generosity. To give, he would have had to look for problems and opportunities outside of himself. He would have had to come in close contact with the poor or those who served them directly. His life would have become less about activities of comfort and more about activities of compassion and connection.

In our lives, as was true for the rich young ruler, the most clarifying heart moments around our resources tend to come in the moments when we consider or experience significant changes in our wealth. This can also happen inside of us when we observe a wealth change in someone proximal to us, too. Consider the disciples, who observed the exchange with the young ruler. Jesus’ conversation with him was just as much for the disciples as it was the young ruler himself. There was a clarifying heart moment for all of them.

With all of the present uncertainty in regards to resources around us—perhaps reductions already felt or observed—I suspect there’s an invitation to a clarifying heart moment for you and those who are watching you.

Even with all the calamity caused by this virus and its economic effect, the far more subtle, yet more widespread and material threat to you and your employees is a response of fear and self-centeredness to all that’s going on. How many of us, myself included, have had calculating thoughts like, “If only I can get back to …” or “If I can just save this much then…?” But such thoughts lead us back to the place where the agenda of worldly prosperity has its greatest spiritual detriment. Uncle Screwtape in CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters makes plain the spiritual reality we want to prevent, “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he can find his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.”

Perhaps, in a moment such as this, the greatest thing we can do as leaders is to reassess our own relationship to our resources and resist the temptation to neglect generosity even when it might not fit with our financial goals. The temptation is to believe shrewdness with money will lead us to become a more whole person on the other side of this economic downturn. Shrewdness only matters if we are employing shrewdness to enable a good heart’s agenda.

I’ve learned that it is in these very moments when the discipline of giving—intentionally setting aside resources and looking for opportunities to bless someone else — is most critical to spiritual progress. With each day of financial uncertainty, Jesus extends an invitation to trust him more than our money.

And I’d argue that having means to act in response to Jesus’ call is incredibly helpful here. Such means can influence our spiritual habits and the trajectory of our hearts. 

This is one of my personal motivations behind my venture, Charityvest. We are creating means for intentional giving to be accessible to everyone, Christian and not, and for leaders to inspire others to give. We are one tool, and there are certainly others good for various donor or gift circumstances, but everyone needs something.

A commitment to generosity in a time like this is not without its obstacles. I’ve heard it said already, for any business leaders affiliated with an organization that is facing layoffs, giving to charity now is “out of touch”—implying leaders should use any personal or corporate capital to save employees, not encourage giving.

I can certainly see ways that promoting charitable giving in this time could be poorly handled, but leaders face a moment now where people are—to a greater degree—looking to them for leadership on a deeper level. I recently heard GEN (ret) Stanley McChrystal mention in regard to leadership in the COVID-19 era, “The leader’s got a role to, first, give people a sense of direction.”

Laying a foundation of generosity in your own life—whether of large dollars or small dollars or any other resource—is an opportunity for you as a leader in your family, your company, and your friends to “set direction” as to what’s most important in life. You can also influence the spiritual climate in your environments by encouraging the same in others.

While reading Hebrews 13 this past weekend, I took note of the author’s final exhortation as the Church races toward a historical period of intense persecution. “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers,” he writes. And then he swiftly follows with, “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,’I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’” This is the invitation of Jesus, that we hold His presence and faithfulness as our Treasure, especially when all else falls away.

In leaner moments like today, we can respond to this invitation of Jesus and make generosity a way of life—perhaps more than ever. Or we can turn away from Jesus, consumed with fear for our future, and aimed only at pursuing and preserving our worldly prosperity. All the while Jesus extends his own generosity to us: he freely gives himself.

If I can help activate you or your employees in generosity, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly. I’d be delighted to recommend a resource best for you. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COVID-19, PLEASE SEE OUR PAGE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE BEST RESOURCES OUT THERE FOR FAITH DRIVEN INVESTORS & ENTREPRENEURS IN THIS SEASON.

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Today we are talking to Robert Netzly, President & CEO of Inspire Investing. If you’ve been following the Faith Driven Investor website, that name should sound familiar to you as we’ve featured a lot of their content on our blog. But today, we’re talking about the man behind the company—the man who many consider an advocate for Biblically Responsible Investing in places where the conversation hasn’t even begun.

The way that Inspire has an impact as an active shareholder is encouraging and has led to some incredible stories. Well, today, we’re going to hear from that voice, and in addition to hearing his story, he’s going to share just what it looks like to invest with Biblical principles in mind.

As always, thanks for listening.

Useful Links:

Inspire Investing

The Biblically Responsible Investing Movement is Exploding

Inspire Ranked Among Top Ten Fastest Growing RIAs

Would You Write a Check to Planned Parenthood?

This article was originally published here by PitchBook.

by PitchBook

This analyst note assesses what’s in store for PE and VC firms in the wake of recent market volatility and an impending economic slowdown due to the coronavirus. Dissecting historical performance and fundraising data, our analysts highlight how private markets have fared in past downturns and discuss the key differences in the newest bear market. The report also discusses how emerging technologies and various startups will help companies and consumers weather the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent effects.

Click here to download the report from PitchBook!