This video was originally published here.
Check out Ronald Blue Trust for other quality content!

The purpose of the study was to better understand what widows experience and thus build a service model that engages, educates, and equips them to make wise financial decisions for their lives.

In October 2013, Ronald Blue & Co. asked selected widowed clients who are served out of their Atlanta office to participate in a small, intimate focus group. With this study, Ronald Blue & Co. sought a deeper understanding of their needs, concerns, and desires. Ronald Blue & Co. wanted to hear their unique stories and understand how they wanted to be served, from how often they felt it was necessary to be contacted by their Ronald Blue & Co. advisor, to how much detail and information they needed to make informed decisions, to priorities relating to their wealth and families.

It was Ronald Blue & Co.’s hope that this research would be read and used broadly within their company by everyone who interacts with their clients and that it would provide new and better service insights, paving the way for an enhanced model specifically addressing the needs of widows.

Ronald Blue & Co. was thankful to their Atlanta office for expressing the need to improve and validate how widows are served and for overseeing this project. Ronald Blue & Co. was also thankful to Women Doing Well for facilitating the focus group and conversations, for gathering their findings, and developing a comprehensive and instructional white paper. Ronald Blue Trust supports the Women Doing Well mission of inspiring a movement of women living and giving generously.

CONTINUE READING THE FULL STUDY HERE

subscribe to the podcast here

Today’s episode finds us all the way down under—in Australia with our guest Tim Macready. Tim is Chief Investment Officer at Christian Super. He has been responsible for the development of the Fund’s Responsible Investment Approach, which is applied across the entire portfolio and now incorporates Negative Screening and Impact Investing. 

 What we think you’ll love most about this episode is hearing Tim talk about how he set out to create the “perfect, faith-driven fund”. But then he realized…We’re all sinners. He’s a sinner, every company is led by sinners, and every customer is a sinner.

 He talks openly about how that shifted his perspective, some of the tough decisions it led him to, and how he stewards that calling today. As always, thanks for listening.

Useful Links:

How Our Faith Affects the Way We Invest

Where Are the Christian Investors?

Why I Invest in Sinners

This article was originally published here.

Check out Inspire Investing for other quality content!

by Robert Netzly

Intel Corporation [ticker: INTC] is the largest semiconductor chip manufacturer in the United States (second largest in the world behind #1 Samsung) and ranks number 46th in the 2018 Fortune 500 ranking of largest companies in the United States by revenue.

Intel also holds another dubious claim to fame: they make more large donations to Planned Parenthood than any other company in the S&P 500.

Intel’s Planned Parenthood Donations

According to data sourced by Inspire Insight, Intel has made 72 large donations of $1,000 or more to Planned Parenthood in recent years. These donations were made to regional Planned Parenthood affiliates all over the nation, as well as directly to the “parent” organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And for the record, Intel also made one large donation to Population Connection, a population control advocacy group founded in 1968 as “Zero Population Growth“.

This begs the question. Why?

I reached out to Intel to find out exactly why they decided to financially support an organization that has been the subject of a congressional investigation for the illegal sale of aborted baby parts, been routinely in hot water for questionable medical and business practices, and whose massive abortion cartel business is a flaming touch-point of controversy across the nation and around the world.

Intel’s investor relations department response was… no comment.

Investor Responsibility

There is a growing movement of faith-based investors who are taking their ownership responsibility seriously when they consider whether it is ethically and morally responsible to invest in a company like Intel, who is using their corporate clout to support the abortion industry through donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood. This biblically responsible investing (BRI) movement has gone global and is growing at an exponential rate.

Investors are owners, and owners are responsible for the actions of their companies. Even if those owners are not actively involved in the day-to-day operations of their company, they are still responsible for what it does, how it makes money and how it spends that money. There is a direct ethical and moral connection between an owner and their company that cannot be ignored.

Biblically responsible investors have woken up to this truth and are taking advantage of modern investment tools, products and biblically responsible financial advisors that allow them to precision align their investments to support their values—like protecting the unborn—while working toward their financial goals at the same time.

Do You Own Intel Stock?

Some readers might feel relieved after reading this article to look at their investment account statement and see that Intel’s ticker symbol, INTC, is nowhere to be found. However, what these investors may not realize is that if they own any number of the most widely held mutual funds or ETFs in the country (such as those from Vanguard, American Funds and Fidelity), there is a good chance that they do, in fact, own shares of Intel and are partnering with their aggressive funding of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.

Government regulations require mutual funds to disclose their holdings on a regular basis, and a quick review of the top ten funds that own Intel stock reveals the following list:

1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ($5.9B owned)

2. Vanguard 500 Index Fund ($4.2B owned)

3. American Funds Washington Mutual Fund ($3.4B owned)

4. SPDR S&P 500 ETF ($2.4B owned)

5. American Funds Fundamental Investor Fund ($2.1B owned)

6. Vanguard Institutional Index Fund ($2.02B owned)

7. Invesco QQQ Trust ETF ($1.94B owned)

8. American Funds American Balanced Fund ($1.78B owned)

9. Fidelity 500 Index Fund ($1.69B owned)

10. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF ($1.54B owned)

(Data as of 6/30/2019. Source: morningstar.com)

Invest Pro-Life

While it can be disheartening to realize that through your IRA, 401(k), mutual funds or other investments, you might actually be partnering with Intel and other large corporations as they enthusiastically support the abortion industry, the good news is that you do not have to be a cog in the wheel of the abortion cartel. You can change the way you invest.

Thanks to new technology that empowers investors with complete transparency in the moral and ethical issues present in their investments, and a growing number of financial professionals specialized in providing biblically responsible investing services, pro-life investors have many options when it comes to aligning their investments in support of the pro-life movement and the protection of pre-born children everywhere.

It all starts with learning about what you own, then making a concerted decision to make a change — both in your portfolio and the world at large.

Will you join us?

Learn more at inspireinvesting.com/impact

By Mike Sharrow

In 2001 a 79-year-old man starting a financial services business asked me if I’d join him as an associate in starting a new business.  I’ll never forget his response when I asked what in the world a 79-year-old was doing starting a business, “Mike, retirement is deadly.  It’ll kill you!  We’re made to work. I’ve retired from companies a few times but want to start a business doing what I’m good at with people I like.  Will you come help me?” I dove into the world of defined pension plans, wealth management, investment portfolios and apprenticing with this WW2 veteran and bastion of practical business wisdom. He lived in Lake Forest, Illinois and also exposed me to an echelon of affluence, giving, spending, investing, and thinking I had not known before as a young guy just transitioning from teen years on Medicaid, housing assistance and limited financial resources.

In 2008 I exited an 8 year run with a F50 company to join the staff of my local church. A local philanthropist was intrigued by my career move and reached out to get to know each other better. That resulted in me joining him on his giving endeavors, going around the world to various project sites where he had been quietly and generously investing in helping people for decades.  He introduced me to the idea of clandestine giving, where you don’t let your generosity corrupt your relationships or identity in a community as well as humbled me with rethinking Christian “charity” by making me read great books like Toxic Charity, When Helping Hurts, African Friends & Money Matters and more.  He mentored me in ways I didn’t fully appreciate the gravity of until after he had died.  

In 2011 I exited both a business I had created and my local church staff to become a “Chair” with C12.  Within a year I was facilitating groups and serving a couple dozen CEOs and business owners around this idea of building great businesses for a greater purpose. I walked with leaders from across the spectrum – from struggling to make payroll, those ones giving millions away.  In the years that followed I came to know, intersect, enter into relationship with some of the most fascinating, generous and creative people and regularly said “I’m wildly wealthy in relationships!” 

In 2016, as then CEO for the C12 Group, I was seeing too many business owners in C12 struggling with selling to parties who feigned appreciation for their culture or taking on capital partners who post-transaction shut down any Gospel-expressing elements. I set out on a quest to solve that dilemma. Originally, in my clear marketing brilliance (my marketing team is shaking their head) we forged a “Consortium of Like-Minded Capital Partners,” which then evolved into a more formal and better branded 3Ten Coalition.  In the process of developing that I toured the country meeting with Private Equity, Venture Capital, Incubator, Investment Banker, and Private Investor firms who shared our concern for the Gospel in the marketplace.  

Along this journey, I’ve become increasingly aware of some seductive lies I believe are absolutely toxic for entrepreneurs and investors alike.  They are seductive because they sound so good and they flirt with being Biblical but they can be a hallucinogen to the zealous.  In our wealth creation, investment and distribution let us be mindful of these traps: 

(1) God needs the money (I’m pretty sure He’s loaded!)

(2) I’m “bringing money into the Kingdom” (what is not already His?)

(3) God loves the way I leverage people and businesses to extract money for His work “out there”

(4) My generous plan to “give” God 10-20% of wealth from that liquidity event really motivates Him to sprinkle blessings on my venture

(5) I’m part of God’s Kingdom Bank, so I’m pretty essential, important…the Kingdom Enterprise might really get tripped up if I don’t keep it cash-flowed

These are seductive.  They can lure us to justify “for God” neglect of our souls, of our family, of people, of the ministry of the present, of the Gospel, of God.  Even for Kingdom Investors, Faith-Driven Investors we must heed the warning of Jesus, “What does it prosper a [investor] if he gains the whole world but loses his soul in the pursuit?”

Personal dashboards of Gospel vitality are essential.  Gospel-driven calculus for what makes a good investment, return and venture narrative must be rigorously worked out to protect us from these common drifts.  

A mentor of mine rocked my world when at a seminar at a fancy dining club one day he said, “You know…whatever your price, the Devil will pay it. For many Christians the greatest way to get you off courses is not a direct assault of discouragement or evil pursuits – it’s burying you with success. The kind of success that warrants just a little more, postponing obedience just a little longer because of all the “good” you’ll do with it.If success is what it takes to get you to suppress the call of life in Christ – the Devil is happy to pay it. Stand guard!”

This article was originally presented at The Christian Economic Forum 2019.
Check out CEF for other quality content!

The Christian Economic Forum hosts a world-class Global Event each year to connect the top industry leaders and experts from around the world with other individuals who are compelled to act upon the principles of God’s economy. The following paper was presented at CEF 2019.

— by Mats Tunehag

She was amazed and perplexed at the same time. She was treated with respect and dignity. She was a woman challenged with disabilities. But her life had changed. With no or little prospect of ever getting a job, she was now working in a manufacturing company. She was creative, she had made friends, and she made money.

 Women in this country and in this religious context were treated as second-class citizens. If they had mental or physical handicaps they were often further down.

 But the company she worked for employed and offered jobs with dignity to women with disabilities. It was unheard of, and it made a huge difference not only for her, but also for the other women who worked there. It even had a transformational impact on families and the community.

 This woman asked herself, Why is this workplace so different? It changes lives on many levels. She knew that the founder and CEO was a follower of Jesus. So she told herself, If that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus, I will also follow Him. It was a huge and risky step for a handicapped woman in a conservative Muslim environment.

 What brought her to Christ? A gospel tract? A Jesus film? A Bible study? No, it was human resource management informed by biblical values, underpinned with prayer. Ultimately, it was, of course, God’s doing. 

This true story from the Middle East highlights some important issues as we serve God and people in and through business. There is a need for an integrated outlook on work and worship. We also need to understand timing, our call, and God’s role. We need to understand avodah, chronos and kairos.

Sunday Talk to Monday Walk

In the global Business as Mission (BAM) movement we talk about taking our Sunday talk into a Monday walk. This means that whatever we believe and profess in church on Sunday should be permeating our lives and business practices the rest of the week.[1]

 We must strive towards a seamless integration of Sunday and Monday, of work and worship. There is a risk of seeing Sunday and Monday as two separate compartments.[2]

There are pros and cons with compartmentalization. It has been a key to scientific development. But the danger is often that one may fail to see the greater whole, how bits and pieces overlap, interact, and connect.

Water and God

For example, H2O is hydrogen and oxygen. It can be compartmentalized and analyzed; it can manifest itself as water, ice, and steam. If you’re thirsty you don’t want a chemical formula; you want water, the integrated whole.

The church teaches that God is triune; we can observe the three in one, and one in three throughout history. We can compartmentalize God: focusing on the Son, for example. But we mustn’t fail to see how the three divine persons overlap, interact, and connect. It is a mystery, indeed, but nevertheless a truth to embrace.

Avodah

When we deal with Sunday and Monday, with serving God and people, with work and worship, we should learn from the use of the Hebrew word avodah found in the Holy Scriptures. It is used interchangeably for work, worship, and service. Here are a few references:

•       The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work (avodah) it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)

•       Six days you shall work (avodah). (Exodus 34:21)

•       This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me. (Exodus 8:1)

•       But as for me and my household, we will serve (avodah) the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Worship in a building is different from manual labor in the field. But that doesn’t mean they are disconnected from who we are—created in God’s image with a purpose both to work and to worship. Work can be worship.[3]

Avodah is a picture of an integrated faith. It is a life where work and worship come from the same root. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

 This is also a challenge in BAM as we talk about the quadruple bottom line: financial, social, environmental, and spiritual. BAM is not doing business with a touch of “churchianity.” BAM is not Christians just doing social enterprise. BAM recognizes God as a stakeholder who has a vested interested in the multiple bottom lines and multiple stakeholders.

We can and should set goals in each of these four areas individually, as we plan, operate, and evaluate. We also need to recognize, however, that these areas of impact overlap, interact, and connect; the result is greater than the sum of its parts, as we learn from the story from the Middle East.

We must avoid polarizing. It is not hydrogen versus oxygen, God the Father versus the Son, work versus worship, or financial bottom-line versus a spiritual impact. They are not the same, but they belong together.

Entrepreneurship as Calling

Thus our daily work is intimately related to serving God and people. Our businesses are not a distraction from “doing ministry.”[4]

“Entrepreneurs, managers and all who work in business, should be encouraged to recognise their work as a true vocation and to respond to God’s call in the spirit of true disciples. In doing so, they engage in the noble task of serving their brothers and sisters and of building up the Kingdom of God.”[5]

To work is deeply divine and deeply human. The same applies also to creativity in business. It is a reflection of who we are, created in God’s image. But our work is also a part of God’s redemptive mission throughout history. Thus, our work is part of a greater story—His story. To do BAM for God and people is about making history.

 As Pope John XXIII said, “In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth. It is a work, therefore, which should be thought of as a vocation, a God-given mission, an answer to God’s call to actuate His providential, saving plan in history. It should be thought of, finally, as a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization.”[6]

Timing is Important

BAM must be underpinned by a biblical worldview, informing our planning, operations, and evaluations. One very important aspect of worldview is time. This has implications on what we can do and what God does.

 Time affects how we plan, operate, and evaluate a BAM business, aiming at a positive impact on multiple bottom-lines for multiple stakeholders. As we do this, there are extremes to be avoided: quantifying and monetizing everything or nothing.

Chronos and Kairos

We need to ask, “How is God a stakeholder in our business? How can we aim at a Kingdom of God impact in and through business?” This is where chronos and kairos come in. These are two Greek words for time.

 Chronos is quantitative and sequential; it is the basis of the English word chronological. We operate in the chronos—it is where we plan and evaluate our businesses. It’s where we live our day-to-day lives.

 Kairos is qualitative, the supreme moment, the right time. This is used for God’s intervention, in the fullness of time. We cannot control this, but we can set the stage for it to some extent.

Civil Service as Mission

We can learn from Daniel and his three friends who were involved in Civil Service as Mission. In the first six chapters of the Book of Daniel we observe that Daniel and his friends served God and the nation with professionalism, excellence, and integrity. They served faithfully in the chronos.

 God used this stage set in the chronos to occasionally intervene (kairos moments), to bring glory to Himself, and to transform people and nations.

 However, most days for Daniel and company were just another day, week, year, or decade in the office. It was their faithful and good work (in the chronos) that set the stage for miracles and changed lives; in the right moment and in His own time, God intervened (kairos).

Another Day in the Office

This is essential as we do business. How can we serve our customers, staff, and suppliers with professionalism, excellence, and integrity? We can and should carefully plan, execute, and evaluate accordingly.

We also need to understand that we cannot convert anyone by pushing through or forcing a spiritual impact. So what steps can we take in the chronos to set the stage for the kairos? Or in the words of the apostle Paul, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow.”

Like Daniel and his friends, we must be prepared for another day, week, year, and decade in the business. No matter how mundane the day-to-day may seem, we must remind ourselves that we are constantly and intentionally shaping the business for God and people, for various stakeholders and multiple bottom-lines.

The CEO of the manufacturing company in the Middle East served faithfully in the chronos—with excellence, professionalism, and integrity. God used that to draw a woman to Himself—there was a kairos moment. 

Chronos and kairos can help us to plan and set reasonable expectations, as well as to help us to see the role we can play alongside what God does. Having this view of time can hopefully encourage us to relax and trust God. We plant and water, but God will bring life and growth.

Avodah, chronos, and kairos are key to understanding our calling in the marketplace. This gives us more BAM for the buck.

[1] See https://www.matstunehag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Business-as-Mission-is-bigger-than-you-think.pdf for 12 examples of key Christian values and biblical themes and how they translate into business.

[2] Dorothy Sayers notes in her essay, “Why Work”: In nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. She has allowed work and religion to become separate departments, and is astonished to find that, as a result, the secular work of the world is turning to purely selfish and destructive ends, and that the greater part of the world’s intelligent workers have become irreligious, or at least, uninterested in religion. But is it astonishing? How can any one remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life? The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. 

[3] Tomas Aquinas’ definition of beauty also has three parts: Integritas (integrity), Consonantia (proportion), and Claritas (clarity). Again, three in one. They can be analyzed one at a time or two in contrast, but it is the combined three that constitutes beauty.

[4] See the video, Business like Bach, https://vimeo.com/152713982 or at https://matstunehag.com/videos/. This very short video makes the cogent point that just as Bach put years of hard work and practice into developing the extraordinary musical gifts given to him by God, some of us are given the gift of business as a way to bring glory to God. We should not see business as a distraction but rather as an instrument worthy of our time, energy, and for “the greater glory of God.”

[5] Vocation of the Business Leader, published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

[6] Mater et magistra. Encyclical of Pope John XXII on Christianity And Social Progress, May 15, 1961.