I wrote a blog back in June entitled, "The Unemployed Need New (Entrepreneurial) Alternatives". The focus of that article was my passionate belief that we need more national and local leaders investing more time focusing on creating entrepreneurial opportunities and options as a necessary means to recover from this unemployment crisis. One thing I wrote was, "More money, time, and energy needs to be invested into helping people build small and micro-businesses through entrepreneurship training." Unfortunately I haven't heard a lot of national or local leaders talking about entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment. Well, maybe that is finally changing.

Recently in Businessweek an article entitled "Wanted: More Black Entrepreneurs", focused on the necessity of entrepreneurship as a key strategy to stop the erosion of the black middle class. Several black business leaders are finally coming forth and saying that we need to address the problems of economic disparity differently now than we may have in the past. The article highlighted the significance of the unemployment problem:

"Job cuts in the debt-strapped public sector, where one in five black workers is employed, have had an outsize impact on the African American community. Labor Dept. data show some 280,000 public employee positions were cut last year, even as the overall economy added 1.64 million jobs. Black unemployment increased to 15.8 percent in December, more than twice the level for whites. So black business leaders are shifting focus to addressing issues in the small business sector, where most new jobs are created and African Americans haven’t fared well."

I believe the faith community has to be more invested into generating energy and ideas that will resolve this problem for families and communities. One reason is because entrepreneurism is a trait endowed to us by our Creator. He is an entrepreneur. We should be entrepreneurial in all we do. Our acceptance of this knowledge has major spiritual, practical, and financial ramifications.

Business leaders like are coming out an saying more entrepreneurs are needed now more than ever. Now we need more pastors speaking on it, so that we can add some entrepreneurial works to our faith.

Read the full Businessweek article here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/wanted-more-black-entrepreneurs-01192012.html

"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.

Having the entrepreneurial mind of Christ means that we are creating value and providing solutions that bring glory to God in every area of our lives, including our relationships. As we hear statistics that the Christian divorce rate is at the same level or above non-Christians, one has to wonder what's going wrong.

One thing we can infer that's probably happening is that Christians are approaching their singlehood and dating relationships with the wrong perspective, which then causes them to get into marriage with the wrong perspective. Last month on Passion in Action I had the opportunity to interview a good friend, Kenny Pugh, who has dedicated his life and ministry to helping Christian singles develop better decision-making in their dating relationships. His book, Can You Do It Standing Up?: A Different Position on Relationships, is already a big hit.

Click this link to check out my Passion in Action interview with Kenny...      http://apps.attainresponse.com/MediaF5/liveRecording.htm?id=312989

We are now about 3 weeks into the new year. How many of you are still going strong with your 2012 business resolutions? *smile* That's what I thought...

It is a fallacy for people to think that a few resolutions right at the beginning of a new year is going to help their business magically get better. It doesn't quite work like that. It takes discipline. And it takes work, hard work, and then some more hard work. I know that may not sound very motivational, but it's the truth. 

If you are struggling to maintain your new goals for the year all is not lost. Just get up from where you are and start over or keep going. We still have a long ways to go for you to have a super successful year.

I wrote an article for Rod Kirby's Success Center that he published last month. Here's a short excerpt that will help to spark you no matter how well (or not) you're doing so far...

"Here are 12 B.I.G. ideas to propel you to have a significant championship season personally and professionally in 2012:

1. Write a life championship speech – your eulogy – as if you were going to die 50 years from now. Then write what would you need to start doing in 2012 to eventually live up to your future legacy.
2. Choose a daily reading plan to read through the entire Bible. This is your spiritual playbook. If you have already done this previously, choose a different version of the Bible than you normally read.
   
3. Pray constantly for your customers, competitors, strategic partners, and employees. The Holy Spirit is your competitive advantage, so ask God for the specific wisdom for how to most effectively deal with each of these groups. Also ask Him for divine alliances.
   

Click here to get all 12 B.I.G. ideas...

Business is where people spend the majority of their time, so it the concept of people leaving their problems at the front door of their jobs doesn't really make sense. Often times people need a direct connection with someone who cares about their spiritual and personal well-being, which impacts their ability to function effectively at work. Chaplains in the workplace are an excellent way to see Christ's light shining through men and women who bring spiritual principles to real world business environments and situations. Check out the videos below...

To learn more about the organization Marketplace Chaplains, go to www.mchapusa.com

Your Profession is Your Pulpit, my most recent Kingdom Business article written for Brotha Online Magazine is now ready for your reading pleasure. I focus on helping Christians understand the incredible opportunity they have in their current business or career to advance the Kingdom of God. You don't need a church pulpit to make a great impact! Here's a short excerpt:

Did you know that every Christian is in full-time ministry? Whether you realize it or not, if you are a Christian you a full-time minister in the Kingdom of God. You may not work for a church or have an official title of pastor, bishop, apostle, or evangelist, but you are indeed a minister of the Gospel. As an entrepreneur running your own business or an employee working for an organization, you have been given the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility of taking your personal ministry to the marketplace. The Apostle Paul who earned a living as a tent maker in addition to being a traveling evangelist, says it like this: "... And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting their sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Click this link for the full article: http://brothaonline.com/Editions/DecJan12/KingdomBusiness.html

Kingdom Business University is a virtual learning experience to equip pastors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to maximize your purpose, passion, and profits from a biblical perspective. We train you on how to develop and implement practical systems in the areas of entrepreneurship, social media, branding (marketing), leadership development, personal development, and other related content.

Week 1: Social Media (Part 1)

Week 2: Social Media (Part 2)

Week 3: Developing Your Brand

Week 4: How to Create Multiple Streams of Income

Week 5: Multimedia Strategies

Week 6: Marketing & Advertising

Week 7: Building Your Virtual Back Office

Week 8: The Spiritual Entrepreneur

Click here for *FREE* registration and call-in information...

I am so excited to launch my new web site and blog. I am taking my business and my brand back to where I started a few years ago after I wrote my book Dream B.I.G. in 3D. Just like Michael J. Fox in the 80s classic movie Back to the Future, I am sort of going backwards to move forward. At the time I was really focusing on helping people discover their purpose through the dream God placed in their heart. Since then I had broadened my message and services to include other things, but I realize that I need to go back to what I know God originally gave me to do. And that is as I am helping people discover their purpose, I am supposed to also help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset for Christ (I talk about this more in-depth in the video). As such, you will begin to see more of my multi-media offerings, products, and services geared toward these two areas.

You will notice there are blog posts dated prior to this one. I decided to manually incorporate some of my recent posts from my other blog, Passion in Action. I may eventually bring more posts over in the future, but for now I wanted to provide some recent relevant content for this new site.

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions for making this site more helpful to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. I look forward to engaging with you to help you develop an entrepreneurial mind for Christ.

Marriages are under major attack. Fortunately, God has given certain people an entrepreneurial passion to help build healthy marriages and families. Yesterday on Passion in Action, I had the chance to interview Leslie Wright, the Chief Restoring Officer of Sacred Enterprises, whose mission is to restore the divine purpose of marriages and families the impact the world. 
Click this link to watch this inspiring Christian entrepreneur...