"Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint." Proverbs 29:18
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12
Like many I was heartbroken when I heard about the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. This tragedy highlights a spiritual epidemic that seems to be going unchecked in our communities - hopelessness. Watch the video below as I share my thoughts on how to stop the devastating cycle of hopelessness that is literally robbing people of their lives…
As you pray for the victims of this shooting, please remember to also pray for the youth of this generation.
An architect of what has been dubbed the "Boston Miracle," Rev. Jeffrey Brown started out as a bewildered young pastor watching his Boston neighborhood fall apart around him, as drugs and gang violence took hold of the kids on the streets. It's a powerful talk about listening to make change.
Help Us Create an "Atlanta Miracle"
One of the key things he says in the video is how the clergy in the church stepped out of their comfort zones and into a world they didn't know anything about, but one that was easy to judge (inaccurately) from a distance. As Rev. Brown mentioned, and we believe also, we need to empower young people to be the solution in their own neighborhoods to reduce crime and create opportunities. That's why it's so critically important that programs like Inc. My Dream Young Boss Camp are well funded so that we can reach these youth and equip them with spiritual, business, and life skills to leverage their potential and launch their future. The benefit is not just for them, but for everyone in the communities they live in.
Learn more about Inc. My Dream Young Boss Camp and how you can get your child involved or become one of our sponsors at www.mykinsman.org/youth.
In the lifespan of every business, the CEO must periodically ask four hard questions that at times may provide some unpleasant or surprising answers. Those questions include:
Continually asking yourself these questions - and then being willing to answer them honestly - will keep your organization from becoming stagnant and left behind in the marketplace. So it is that I have come to a crossroads in my business/ministry. I have had to ask myself these hard questions and some of the answers that came back were not what I expected. Further, through the process of prayer and being willing to listen to God's answers to these questions for me, it has helped me get very clear about the next season of my life and what I'm going to commit my time to. He has been turning my heart in another direction for some time and I'm finally ready to fully respond. In a very short amount of time I will be revamping this web site in order to connect with and serve a different audience than the one I've been creating resources for over the past several years. Of course one thing that's not going to change is my passionate focus on equipping people to maximize their potential in business. This includes our youth, which I'm very excited about our upcoming Inc. My Dream Youth Social Entrepreneurship Camp in July. I'm also excited about the partnership I have with Greater Works Vocational Discipleship Program where we are helping at-risk youth and ex-offenders gain employment through a pre-employment job training process. Change is a good thing and I'm very much looking forward to this next season. Just remember the wisdom of this quote when it's time for you to change something significant: "Change is inevitable, but growth is optional."
A common theme throughout the Bible is that God often used young people to accomplish extraordinary things. A few examples include David, Samuel, Joseph, Solomon, and Esther. If God could use them as He did, why should we look at their potential any differently?
We need to stop looking at young people as problems in our communities and start looking at them as solutions. Teaching them about business and social enterprise is an excellent way to engage their minds, leverage their talents, and utilize their creativity to change their own communities. Inc. My Dream Young Boss Camp for middle and high school students is happening July 13-24 in Atlanta, GA. For more information and sponsorship opportunities please visit www.mykinsman.org/youth How you ever thought about the economic impact your church is having or the potential it could have in your local community? A study that was conducted a few years ago by Ram Cnaan, a researcher from University of Pennsylvania, attempted to quantify the effect that churches had on the local economy in Philadelphia. Extracting data based on the property value, congregant giving, outreach programs, and other church activities, he was able to draw some interesting conclusions in terms of the financial benefit churches brought to that community, which was in the millions of dollars.
After reading the article, I asked myself a question. What if churches became more intentional about becoming economic evangelists by being more concerned with the spiritual and financial well-being of the residents in the communities where they attend service and hopefully are already serving? In Acts 2:42-47 and 6:1-7, we see a church that was able to ensure no one in their community had any lack, spiritually and naturally. I wonder what would happen if churches focused on not giving money away, but truly empowering people through intentional training and discipleship directly connected to their financial sustainability. Whether it be through financial literacy, job skills, or entrepreneurship, churches are in a unique position not to just offer financial training but to include the needed spiritual principles to go along with it. Click here to earn more about the principles of Economic Evangelism. Read the whole article here. What are your thoughts? Using Youth to Solve Community Challenges Do you know a middle or high school student who wants to solve problems in their own community and use creative strategies to do it? If so we have the perfect opportunity for him/her through Kinsman Community Ministries... Inc. My Dream Young Boss Camp! Youth see the problems in their communities from a grass roots level. This gives them an advantageous perspective to become change agents at an early age when they are not as encumbered by limited thinking and "what can’t be done." We’re going to harness their creativity and entrepreneurial energy to help them see that their voice is powerful and their ideas are valid to bring beneficial changes to make their communities better places to live. And we’re excited about tapping into their creative energy! Partnering to Promote Positive Youth DevelopmentIf you are a business or an individual who has a heart for our youth we have two major ways that you can support this effort...
God bless you and thanks in advance for helping us ignite the changes the need to happen in our communities!
Evangel Ministries in Detroit comes from a very different perspective as it relates to transforming lives in their community. They focus on using entrepreneurship to teach work skills and financial literacy, teach congregants on the details of permitting, and even in some cases provide investment capital for particular businesses. Watch this video to learn more about how they engage their community.
This is an excellent example of Economic Evangelism in action. Hopefully more churches will take their lead in the creative strategies they use to empower people. Click here to read the whole story...
If we look across the country at the major issues facing most urban communities - and in particular the minority populations - three common themes emerge... the lack of Jesus, jobs, and justice. In the video below I share my thoughts on this and how Greater Works Vocational Discipleship Program is addressing these three issues in South Atlanta.
OUR SOLUTION TO A RED HOT INNER CITY SUMMER
Over the past few months many urban cities across the U.S., including Baltimore and Ferguson, have seen a sharp rise in tensions as a result of police shootings and subsequent protests and rioting. At the core of this unrest for many inner city men is a deep sense of hopelessness that stems from the lack of opportunities and in particular jobs.
Baltimore has shown us that our young men need training and institutions where they can learn to function as real men. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Instead of rioting, our inner city men could be learning life skills with promised employment in the Greater Works Vocational Discipleship Program. This is a GAME CHANGER!
We Need Your Financial Assistance to Help These Men
We believe joblessness and homelessness leads to hopelessness and idle time which always leads to violence. Your financial support of Greater Works will enable us to provide training and job opportunities to men and women in South Atlanta / Lakewood who are genuinely interested in improving themselves and their community. Please donate today to the Greater Works initiative.
God bless you and thanks in advance for helping us ignite the changes the need to happen in our communities!
7 Powerful Ways Economic Evangelism Strategies Can Be Used to Create Sustainable Community Impact4/22/2015
Of the three components of the Triple Bottom Line, social impact can sometimes be the hardest to quantify and evaluate. However, some basic principles apply that will give you some guidance as to how to incorporate this area in the overall assessment of your company’s health. The first thing to consider is similar to the maxim taught in school to all healthcare students and is a fundamental principle throughout the world, which states, “First, do no harm.” Your business should do no harm to people or the planet (environmental). As a good steward of what God has entrust you with, it definitely would not be good for your relationship with Him if you are using your business to harm people. That is why I would not consider you a Kingdom entrepreneur if you were engaged in any kind of business that is opposed to principles taught in God’s Word. If your business could somehow drive people away from Jesus rather than closer to him, you need to pray and ask God if you need to go do something different or change how you do business. In terms of the environmental side of this, we are not just stewards of people; we are also stewards of our planet. I am not a staunch environmentalist, but I do believe we have a responsibility to do our best to take care of what God has provided to us. You should be able to determine fairly easily whether your business is violating God’s principles of taking care of the earth, especially if they have a negative impact on people’s health. I would consider “do no harm” as a passive approach to social impact management. However, I believe Kingdom entrepreneurs can be more intentional with their businesses and resources. That’s what Business as Ministry is all about. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus clearly laid out our job description as marketplace kings and priests: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” I use the term “economic evangelism” to represent initiatives where you take the opportunity to invest your time, thoughts, talents, and treasures in bringing spiritual, economic, and social impact to struggling people and areas. Here are a few practical ways you can activate these initiatives as a Kingdom CEO:
Social impact initiatives may often take a long time to reveal the results of the activities in which you choose to engage. Nevertheless, our job is to obey God and He is responsible for the results (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). If you genuinely give your best in one or more of these areas you can be confident that He will bless your efforts. Although you may not see all the results of your investments, you will be able to experience the promise of Isaiah 58. It is far time for us tear down the kingdom of darkness and raise up the Kingdom of Light within impoverished communities. As a Kingdom CEO you are in a prime position to do so. Learn more about Economic Evangelism at www.economicevangelism.org. . Leave your comments below... |
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