"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, 
was blind but now I see." ~ "Amazing Grace" by John Newton
When we allow sin or the cares of this life to dominate our thoughts, we become spiritually blind to the love, blessings, favor, and breakthrough ideas that God has already provided to us. However, when God's LOVE dominates our thoughts, our eyes are opened to the beauty, possibilities, and opportunities that surround us every day. When fear dominates our thinking, it is extremely difficult to receive new revelation and insight from God to take your life or business to the next level. However, when His LOVE completely consumes your mental focus, creative concepts flow freely to you and from you.

If God desires to give you every good thing (Psalm 84:11), has lavished you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), and has given you everything as it relates to life in godliness (2 Peter 1:3), why is it that people still walk around feeling confused, anxious, fearful, and bitter? It's because their thoughts are not dominated by His LOVE. His perfect LOVE casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). When you realize and fully embrace the truth that God loves you passionately and you can't do anything to change that, all thoughts of fear, doubt, hopelessness, and any other forms of unhealthy thinking are separated far from your mind. When your mind is freed from that junk, your blindness is cured and your thoughts become a clean canvas for God to paint some extravagant ideas. 

As your eyes are opened you are now able to see the amazing things God has already given to you that were previously hidden from you by all the things that were clogging your mental pores. I know this to be true, because until recently I struggled with self-condemnation and fear for a long time due to some business and financial failures. But when I finally got the picture that God wasn't punishing me for my failings - so I needed to stop doing that too and forgive myself - I was able to see His vision for Kingdom Business University. Actually, the idea had been sitting in front of me for a long time, but I couldn't see it because I was consumed with those unprofitable thought patterns. 

It wasn't an overnight process. But I can definitely say that once I allowed God to correct my thinking, my eyes were opened and my mind has been blown away with all that He wants to do through this new entrepreneurial Kingdom venture (trust me, our web site doesn't even come close to fully describing all that God has shown me that KBU will become). New ideas are coming every day, people are catching the vision, doors of opportunity are flying open, and resources are coming quickly. I am more excited than I have been in a looooooooong time, because I am able to see again!

Allow God's LOVE to dominate your thinking. The benefits are amazing and the results will be miraculous. You will begin to see life like never before, and fully experience the practical power of His LOVE.

***Reminder: The Open House for Kingdom Business University is this Saturday, March 31st at 10 am in Atlanta. Click here for more info.
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Bishop T.D. Jakes preaches about the power of one thought or one idea away to take your life to the next level. Powerful stuff!
 
 
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"I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions." ~ Proverbs 8:12

As Black History Month comes to a close, I wanted to highlight some historical figures whose inventions and innovations continue to have a significant impact on our lives today. They also reflect how God's inventive and entrepreneurial characteristics are displayed in His children - whether they acknowledge Him or not. Many of these creative geniuses are well known, but there are plenty others who are not household names that have made extraordinary contributions to our society. (This list of black American inventors was sourced from http://bit.ly/yBRt7X.)

ELIJAH McCOY (1843-1929)
A love of machines and tools led to a lifetime career and the awarding of 57 patents to Elijah Mc Coy, son of former slaves who had fled from Kentucky to Canada in search of freedom. Until Mc Coy developed a device, which made possible the automatic oiling of machinery used in manufacturing, companies using such machines had to stop the machines before oiling them. Oiling of machinery reduces the wear and tear of friction. So popular did Mc Coy's invention become that person inspecting new equipment generally asked if it contained the "real Mc Coy," meaning Mc Coy's oiling device. Today, "real Mc Coy" is an expression is in the American language meaning the "real thing.' In all, Mc Coy invented 23 oiling devices as well as many other useful inventions. He finally set up his own manufacturing company to develop and sell his many inventions.

GARRETT A. MORGAN (1875-1963)
Garrett A. Morgan was a prize-winning inventor who developed a safety helmet-breathing device widely used by firemen in many American cities in the early 1900's. His invention became popular after he and his brother used it to rescue over two-dozen men who were trapped under Lake Erie, at Cleveland, Ohio, when an explosion occurred in a tunnel, which was under construction. He was awarded a hold medal by the City of Cleveland for his heroic rescue. He later received a gold medal at the Second International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation, in New York, in 1914. Morgan is best remembered for his invention of the automatic stop sign. This invention, now called the traffic or "stop light" controls the flow of vehicles through street intersections.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER (1864-1943)
Probably the best-known African American scientist and inventor is George Washington Carver, who alone, nearly revolutionized agriculture in the South. At a time when the South's major crop-cotton-was faced with total destruction by the boll weevil beetle, Dr. Carver, through scientific experiments showed the South that peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes (yams), among other crops, should be planted, along with cotton. Thus, if on crop failed, there would be others from which farmers could make money. Known as "The Wizard of Tuskegee," Dr. carver developed hundreds of products from the peanut, the soybean, the pecan nut, the sweet potato, and even the weeds. Today, there are many schools and other institutions named in memory of Dr. Carver.

DANIEL H. WILLIAMS (1858-1931)
Founder of a hospital which still exists in Chicago, medical physician Dr, Daniel H. Williams is credited with having performed the first "open-heart" surgery July 9, 1893, long before this kind of surgery was developed. Dr. Williams saved the life of a knifing victim by "sewing up his heart." Working in a makeshift operating room too small for the six-man operating team which helped him, he opened the patient's chest, exposed the beating heart, and stitched the knife wound a fraction of an inch from the heart without the aid of X-rays, blood transfusions or modern "miracle drugs." On August 2, Dr. Williams operated again to remove some fluid from the chest cavity. On August 30, the patient walked out of the hospital, and was known to be alive and well 20 years later.
 
 
It's that time again! The new February/March issue of Brotha Online Magazine is ready and available for your exploration. My contribution to this edition is entitled, Developing the Entrepreneurial Mind of Christ. I also have a special accompanying video to go with this month's article (click here). Here is a short excerpt:

Albert Einstein was an intellectual phenomenon. Steve Jobs was a creative mastermind. Thomas Edison was a genius as bright as they come (pun intended). However none of these entrepreneurial inventors measures up to the brilliance, inventiveness, resourcefulness, prowess, and many other words I could use to describe our indescribable God.

God is the original and ultimate entrepreneur. In the beginning of Genesis 1, through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2), He created something incredible out of chaos. At the end of Genesis 1, they created man and woman in their divine image and told them to take dominion over the earth, be fruitful, and multiply. In order for us to accomplish these three mandates we have to use divine characteristics of entrepreneurship, including but not limited to faith, intelligence, creative ability, and resourcefulness, all of which God displayed as He manifested the universe.

When most people hear the word entrepreneur they automatically think about business and selling stuff. However, you don’t have to be in business to be entrepreneurial. My simple definition for entrepreneurial is the ability to create value for people using attributes given to us by God. So using this definition, everyone should be entrepreneurial, which also describes how we should be operating in the world with the mind of Christ.

Click this link for the full article: http://brothaonline.com/Editions/FebMar12/Kingdom-Business-Paul-Wilson-Jr.html
 
 
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"Every good and perfect gift [including ideas] is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." James 1:17 (emphasis added)

Every year in early January one of the most creative, ingenious, and inspirational men to ever walk the face of the planet is celebrated for his life's work. And most importantly, he was a man of God. Did you know that January 5th of every year is George Washington Carver Day? Check out the article below to read about this incredible, divinely inspired, entrepreneurial thinker.

Editor's Note: This following piece was originally published on The League of Everyday Doxologists, a blog that highlights encouraging examples of integration of faith and vocation. 

George Washington Carver is one of the most significant inventors and scientists in the history of the United States. As an agricultural chemist and agronomist, he helped transform the agricultural industry in the South. Excelling also in music and art, Dr. Carver has been called a modern day Leonardo da Vinci. God’s grace and redemptive power shone through Dr. Carver’s life as he conquered adversities one by one, from being kidnapped as a slave baby to breaking racial barriers in academia. He was truly aware of his role under his Creator and even called his laboratory at the Tuskegee Institute, “God’s Little Workshop.” He would uncover mysteries of the design behind peanuts, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and pecans and is credited for discovering hundreds of uses for different plants. However, when lauded for his work, he gave full credit to Another.

Dr. Carver grew up as a slave and early on was considered delayed in speech and learning. Because of work and his slave status, he did not finish high school until his late twenties. However, when he did return to his studies, he excelled and eventually earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Iowa State Agricultural College, all the while quickly gaining national recognition for his work in botany. Despite being offered a lucrative job at Iowa State, he turned down the position and worked instead at the Tuskegee Institute for the opportunity to teach others and to give hope to a people torn by poverty.

Southern agriculture industry relied heavily upon cotton; however, this single crop depleted the soil. Dr. Carver discovered that alternative crops such as peanuts and soybeans could restore the fertility in the soil. In addition, to create demand for these crops, he developed over 300 products from peanuts, 118 products from sweet potatoes and over 500 dyes. By the 1940s, peanut had become the second largest crop in the South. In this way, Dr. Carver used his scientific expertise to transform an entire economy to help those in need.

Dr. Carver was a scientist, but it was quite clear to him that science and faith were not opposing forces. In fact, the two are very much intertwined. Science seeks truth, and as per John 8:32, goes hand in hand with Scripture: “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  The belief that God created this world to work a specific way formed the foundation for so many of Dr. Carver’s scientific discoveries, and he looked to and was inspired by the Creator of the nature around him.

For Dr. Carver, there was no division between faith and science, and he approached his work as unto the Lord. He believed that the Lord made all that is in the world, and that He commanded man to have dominion over it. He considered Genesis greater than the words and methods of human scientists: “I know of no one who has ever worked with these roots in this way. I know of no book from which I can get this information, yet I will have no trouble in doing it. If this is not inspiration and information from a source greater than myself, or greater than any one has wrought up to the present time, kindly tell me what it is.”

George Washington Carver also heeded well the Lord’s command to serve others. He impacted generations of farmers by uncovering agricultural pearls that God enabled him to uncover. Doing scientific research for the glory of the Lord resulted in serving others with practical and inventive ways for using creation as it was designed to be used. In addition, he was active in his local church and, despite his prolific scientific career, continued to teach Sunday school for his students in Tuskegee.

Dr. Carver claimed he could not have done what he did without God’s inspiration: “God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His…The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.” And in doing His work, Carver grew closer to the Lord while working for a living: “We get closer to God as we get more intimately and understandingly acquainted with the things he has created.” Carver didn’t need to be in full time ministry to do the Lord’s work. That is because the Lord’s work for Carver was to be in full time scientific research. “I am simply trying as best I can and as fast as God gives me light to do the job I believe He has given me in trust to do.” As such, Dr. Carver was able to praise God using his calling as a scientist, and in this way, is a model example of a scientific doxologist – as part of the League of Ordinary Doxologists.
 
 
Today the world is mourning the loss of a giant in the technology industry, Steve Jobs. The innovations he inspired as the CEO of Apple changed the way people listened to music, watched videos, operated cell phones, and utilized computers. His impact reaches far outside the technology industry. His fans and foes alike have praised him with words such as “genius”, “visionary”, “legend”, and “iMortal”. The fingerprints of his legacy will be visible for decades to come (and maybe longer).

You may never get famous, invent an iconic device, or build a spectacular product. Regardless, you still have the opportunity and ability to have a spectacular impact and change somebody’s life with your love, skills, and ideas. Because the truth is when you die God is going to ask you what you did with the time, talents, money, relationships, and other assets that He entrusted to you. How will you answer Him?

What will you do to change the world?