Be Still

"Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a very patient person. Let’s face it…we live in an instant world. The rapid growth of technology has made us accustomed to getting everything in an instant. When I started in business (circa 1985) you typed letters on a typewriter and mailed them at the post office. If you were a field sales manager like I was in the late 80’s, it took you all day to physically complete the mailing of materials to your sales team. Snail mail definitely wasn’t fast enough, so we got email. This was great, but if you weren’t in the office with access to your PC you couldn’t always get your email messages in a timely manner. That led to the invention of the laptop computer and ultimately the Blackberry and PDA. Today, it still blows me away to know that I can run my business from the palm of my hand from anywhere in the world. I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring!

The downside of having all of this technology at our fingertips is that it conditions us to expect instant replies to our messages and immediate results. In the process we can become very task oriented and develop what has been called “can’t see the forest for the trees” syndrome. The Christmas season is a wonderful time to force you to slow down. Everyone takes vacation and you probably find it is difficult to get anything done. So, turn off your Blackberry and take time to think and pray about your businesses.

Through the psalmist God tells us to “Be still and know that I am God”. Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day, lived among us, died on the cross and was resurrected for the forgiveness of our human sin and through His sacrifice gave us the opportunity to accept the gift of salvation and have a relationship with the living God. God is in control. Take the time over the Christmas holiday to be still, pray about your business and listen to what God has to say to you.

I wish all of you and your families a blessed Merry CHRISTmas!!

Iron Sharpens Iron

“As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

Proverbs 27:17

It was a beautiful fall afternoon. Traffic was bad, but it didn’t matter, I was enjoying listening to the radio and preparing mentally for what was to come that day. As I approached my destination, I felt the cold stares of those around me. I parked the car, grabbed my things and began the long walk. People started to realize what I stood for and entire groups began to point and jeer at me. Soon the glares turned into verbal assaults. My pulse quickened and I began to walk faster hoping to arrive safely. An angry mob began to yell & scream, questioning my intelligence for the allegiance that I was showing.

Even with all of this persecution…I was still proud to be a Washington Redskins fan walking into Carolina Panther Stadium.

Some Christians might believe that this is the reaction they will receive if they were to allow those at work to see their spiritual side. They’re afraid that their faith puts them in the minority and they’re afraid that others will talk negatively about them. The truth is that being a Christian in the American workplace is like being a fan of the home, not visiting team.

According to a survey of over 50,000 American adults, 76% identified themselves as Christians.[1] Over three quarters of the adults that you come into contact with have the same faith in Jesus Christ as you do. The problem is that many believers enter the workplace not wearing the home team colors and unwilling to make their faith known to co-workers. When you think about it, it is pretty ridiculous that we’ll “high-five” someone that we don’t even know at the stadium when our team scores but refuse to speak openly about our Christian faith at work with others who most likely share the same beliefs.

Proverbs 27:17 instructs us on the value of fellow Christian believers sharing, supporting and helping one another. Through this interaction our faith is strengthened. Since we’re human, without this interaction our Christian faith is weakened. I challenge you to openly share your faith this week at work and help strengthen fellow fans of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[1] American Religious Identification Survey 2008, Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar

An Unapologetic Christian

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

Arguably one of the greatest college football players of all time played his last home game on Saturday. Tim Tebow is the record setting senior quarterback for the #1 ranked University of Florida Gators. He has amassed 84 passing and 56 rushing touchdowns in his storied four year career. He won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s best player in 2007 and led the Gators to the national championship in 2008. He is on track to possibly accomplish both of these feats again in 2009. Tim Tebow also just won his unprecedented second straight Academic All-American of the Year Award (2008 & 2009) and has a 3.66 GPA.

Tim Tebow has accomplished all of his gridiron success with modesty and class not often seen in big time college football. “I’ve never seen anything like it” Coach Urban Meyer said “He’s made unselfish kind of a cool thing.” Rather than bolt early to the NFL for the big bucks he has instead stayed all four years at UF and as a result has made a tremendous impact on the college football community.

Tim Tebow is a committed Christian who lives out his faith everyday on and off the football field. Pat Forde of ESPN.com calls him “the most impactful player in college football history” and states that “Some roll their eyes at his unapologetically public Christianity - worn on his sleeve and under his eyes - despite the authenticity that underlies it in word and deed.” Last season Tim started putting a bible verse on the black stickers that he wears under his eyes during the game because as you might guess he receives a lot of TV coverage. These stickers have become his trademark. To celebrate his final home game fans, coaches and announcers all wore “eye black” stickers. Tim chose to highlight Hebrews 12:1-2 on the stickers for Saturday’s game. Amazingly CBS announcers referenced this scripture verse numerous times during the telecast and thus presented the Gospel to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

I am looking forward to watching next year as Tim Tebow brings Jesus Christ with him to his new job in the NFL. Imagine the impact that we all could make in the business community if our Christian faith was as “unapologetically” linked to us as Tim’s is to him. I challenge you to allow your belief in Jesus Christ to be more completely revealed to your fellow workers this week. While eye black stickers might not be a part of your dress code on the job, there are numerous other ways for you to express your faith at work. Go ahead…spread the good news!!

Sources: gatorzone.com, espn.com

Raising the Bar

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:2

On Thursday, I had the privilege of participating in a guest lecture series at the Gardner-Webb University School of Business on the topic of “Business Ethics”. One of the other presenters made what I thought was a very insightful point. “Business Ethics” is an unnecessary phrase in the English language because it insinuates that there are different levels of ethics based upon the situation that you are in. Should our business ethics be any different than our personal ethics? Of course not! As Christian business leaders living out our faith on a daily basis in the workplace we have a great opportunity to raise the moral and ethical bar back up where it belongs.

I believe that there are three principals that should be followed to help create a highly ethical work environment:

1. Define what you stand for before the marketplace does it for you – The time to decide whether a particular decision is ethical or not, is not when you are face-to-face with the decision. At the Bellota Group (www.bellotagroup.com/values.php) we established our Statement of Purpose and Core Ideology at the start of our company and use them as our ethical compass for making all decisions. They are posted in our office lobby, on our website and are a part of the presentations we make to potential investors. In this way, we hopefully do not allow the circumstances of a particular situation to cause us to rationalize a decision that doesn’t align with our fundamental morals and ethics.
2. Renew your mind…but make sure you trust the sources – In Romans 12:2 Paul instructs us not to conform to secular definitions of right and wrong but be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the sound counsel found in the Word of God. The Bible is as relevant on Monday as it is on Sunday and should be our primary source when faced with an ethical dilemma. Additionally, there are outstanding books available for Christian business people looking to achieve marketplace success without selling their soul (Loving Monday by Beckett, Life @ Work by Maxwell, etc.).
3. Utilize a trusted group of advisors to hold you accountable – It is a great idea to have Christian advisors outside of your work place that can give you insight, hold you accountable and cheer you on. I am a member of the C12 Group (www.c12group.com), a national organization of Christian CEO’s and business owners looking to build Great Businesses for a Greater Purpose. Once a month I have the opportunity to meet with other Christian business leaders who are facing similar issues in a variety of different industries. I draw a tremendous amount of strength from my Christian board of advisors and it is through these interactions that I am continually challenged to raise the bar at the Bellota Group.

There are plenty of stories on the front pages of our newspapers of ethics failures by business leaders that have systematically caused the fall of major corporations. “A call to lead involves great responsibilities.” John Beckett states in his book Loving Monday “Good intentions must be backed up with unrelenting vigilance. Leaders must walk the talk, and must take care that others they seek to lead do so as well.” As Christian business men and women we must walk the talk and as we do we have the opportunity to help raise the ethical bar in our workplace back up where it belongs.

Hump Day

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

John 15:5-6

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday comes from the Middle English word “Wednes dei” and is named for the Norse god Odin; also known as Woden. Quaker’s refer to today as “Fourth Day” refusing to acknowledge the pagan roots of the name Wednesday. But for many of us, today is just affectionately known as “Hump Day”.

Whether you are talking about the Christian seven day week that starts on Sunday or the western civilization five day work week, Wednesday is right smack dab in the middle. Many people believe that once you make it through today you’re over the proverbial “hump” and it is all downhill to the weekend. But if you are a Christian in the business world, Wednesday might be the day that you start to feel disconnected from the vine.

In John 15:1 Jesus tells us that “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jesus Christ is our source of strength and spiritual nourishment. It is very important that as Christian business people that we find ways to stay connected to the vine (Jesus) during the work week. Many churches offer Wednesday night activities just for this reason. Personally, I find it helpful to have a short quiet time in the morning before I turn on my computer to read scripture and pray for my day. Many noted pastors have daily devotionals that you can have sent to your email every morning. I also find contemporary Christian music helps me to keep my focus on HIM during the week and I have a couple of stations preset on my radio for this purpose.

How are you staying connected to the vine this week?

Superman on Sunday…Why Clark Kent on Monday? (Part 3)

In his book The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer states “One of the greatest hindrances to the Christian’s internal peace is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas – the sacred and the secular. But this state of affairs is wholly unnecessary. The sacred – secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament.” Larry Peabody also addresses this issue in his book Secular Work is Full-Time Service. He explains that “In the New Testament God does not depict the Christian life as divided into sacred and secular parts. Rather, he shows it as a unified life, one of wholeness, in which we may single-mindedly serve him, even in our everyday work. The glorious, liberating truth is that in Christ, God has performed the impossible. In Christ, that which was once secular has become sacred. The wall between them has been removed.” After I tore down this wall in my own life, I found the peace that can only come from an authentic, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is your personal savior and His death on the cross has paid the price for your sins. All you have to do is accept this wonderful gift in order to enjoy a personal relationship with God. If you have made this decision, then you have much more than an “S” on your chest, you have Jesus in your heart. If you go through your work week hiding this fact, then you are just like the bumbling, stumbling Clark Kent character in “The Adventures of Superman”. You have an awesome power that can transform a sinful world and save many lost souls. Throw away those Clark Kent glasses and embrace the world with your Eternal Perspective. You do not have to compromise your Christian values in order to be successful in the business world. Don’t spend one more single day living a double life!

Superman on Sunday…Why Clark Kent on Monday? (Part 2)

If you want to make a bigger impact on the business world for Jesus Christ, start by examining your perspective. The word perspective comes from the Latin word perspectus which means to “look through”. The idea is that we perceive things based upon the lens that we are looking through at a particular time. Our perspective is shaped by many factors including how we were raised, the environment that we’re in at the time and what our motivations are, all help determine our perspective. On Sunday we look at the world through our spiritual lens. On Monday morning, unfortunately, many Christians pull out their Clark Kent glasses and head off to work.

In his book Business as a Calling, Michael Novak quotes a Christian businessman, who at the time was Chairman & CEO of a very large U.S. corporation “I was, and am, a strong believer that one of the most satisfying things in life is to create a highly moral and ethical environment in which every individual is allowed and encouraged to realize their God-given potential”.

Wow! How cool is that? You might be thinking that it would be refreshing to work in such a Godly business environment. Well, you will probably be surprised to know that the business man that was just quoted is Kenneth Lay the ex-Chairman and CEO of Enron. Enron was once the 7th largest company on the Fortune 500. In less than one year, Enron’s stock price went from $80 a share to $0, wiping out $60 billion dollars of market capitalization and causing thousands of families to lose their life savings. Kenneth Lay was convicted on six counts of fraud & conspiracy for his role in this business disaster. The allegations claim that Lay continually made false statements about the financial state of Enron at a time when losses were being disguised in one of the biggest accounting scandals ever. I use this as an example to illustrate that there is a major breakdown in corporate America between people’s stated beliefs and their actions in the workplace. At some point, greed probably caught Ken Lay wearing his Clark Kent glasses.

I am so glad that God doesn’t give up on us and our human condition. While I was always aware of God’s presence in my life, early in my business career I conveniently tried to pigeon-hole Him into only one day of the week. On Sundays, I was the righteous believer. But the rest of the week, I became the person I thought I needed to be to reach the corner office. I came to realize that I had been approaching life during the work week with my Clark Kent glasses on. I began to live my life for Christ every day of the week instead of just one. As I was faithful, I experienced first hand the blessings that God has for us if we allow Him to be a part of every facet of our lives.

Superman on Sunday…Why Clark Kent on Monday? (Part 1)

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
James 1:22-24

In less than three days, many of us will be heading off to our local church. The sanctuary will be beautiful, we will be surrounded by fellow Christians, and sitting with friends and family. The choir will bring us joy and help prepare our hearts for worship. Our Pastor will take the pulpit and deliver a challenging message. But at end, he will remind us of the good news; Jesus Christ died to atone for our sins and God loves us very much. It is at this time that we feel so close to our Lord and Savior. If you are like most Christians, this is the point in your week when you recommit yourself to live a life that better emulates Jesus Christ.

But, then the alarm clock rings on Monday morning and for many Christians something changes. On Sunday we feel like the spiritual equivalent of Superman. We are ready to climb tall buildings with a single bound for Jesus. We are prepared to stand toe to toe with the secular Jokers of this world. We feel close to God and we are aware of the impact that His grace and love have on our lives. We are men and women of steel for Jesus!

So why then do many of us wake up on Monday morning and choose to be Clark Kent? You remember Clark Kent don’t you? He was the bumbling, stumbling undercover Superman, going through his work week in disguise in order to hide who he really was. When I was a kid, I used to love watching the old “Adventures of Superman” reruns on TV. Every time Lois Lane would ask Clark “why can’t you be more like Superman?” I wanted him to rip off that business suit and show her the big “S” on his chest. Show her who he really was. But he never did. Instead he chose to keep his power a secret from those that he worked with at the newspaper.

When we head off to work on Monday morning with a different perspective than the one we had in church on Sunday, we are more pitiful than Clark Kent ever was. All of us have access to a power much greater than Superman. We have the love of the almighty God, forgiveness purchased through the blood of Jesus Christ and the Truth of the Bible to guide our everyday lives. So why will so many people sitting in pews across America on Sunday wake up Monday morning and put on their Clark Kent disguise, hiding who they really are and what they truly believe? We all must make sure that we keep our Sunday perspective Monday through Saturday as well.