Faith Based Investing

I just finished Doing Business God’s Way- What every Christian called to the marketplace should understand about God’s Laws of Prosperity by Dennis Peacocke.

When we view business in a different light – that of the Lord, we begin to see that He owns everything.  Not only that but He is also in control of everything.   This is a tough concept for me to wrestle with, especially in a “me” society.  I know there have been many times where I have failed to include God in “my plans”.

How about this?  What if we saw God as the CEO of our business. What if we looked at His Word as our business plan.  What if we focused on truly serving others rather than just making a profit?  Now I know many of you will say, “should we really mix faith and money?”   To quote Peacocke, “God is a businessman and He’s building a business.”  I love how he lays out a business plan based on biblical principles:

1. Change must work from the inside out – both personally and in your business
2. Change must happen from the bottom up (local to national to international)
3. Change must be comprehensive and not only look at today’s impact but the impact on eternity
4. Change must be affected by godly stewardship of servant-leaders

Here are a few other great takeaways from Doing Business God’s Way:

• We grow by caring for people and things
• Problems grow our character and generate profits. In other words, it is during our trying times that God does His best work and prunes us for future growth (personally and businesswise)
• All lasting wealth comes through the family unit and is built generationally – If we can pass wealth and wisdom, we can impact many generations to come!
• Work is a holy, everlasting calling.  Retirement may be worldly but we should never retire from God’s work. We can retire from a job or career but there is still much to do to serve Him!
• Service is the foundation of all lasting growth.  Look to truly serve others and improve their lives.
• I love this one: God pays for what He orders.  Many believe more money is the answer.  Yet God always funds what is important to Him.  Are you operating under His will or your own?
• Many of us are so afraid to fail so we sit in the same place – paralyzed! Yet, the possibility of a failure is essential for human growth.
• Ideas and actions have economic consequences.
• Here’s a controversial one: Men are not equal and economic redistribution cannot change this fact.  Think about it.  Can you jump as high as Lebron James?  Can you do business like Donald Trump?  Our gifts and abilities to create wealth are not equal…
• Get back to the roots of business and build from there!

Overall, this is a great book to inspire you to take a more disciplined, biblical approach to business.

What are your thoughts?  What other key business principles have helped you carry out God’s plan for your life?

Going in reverse?

Sometimes we get stuck!  We are going no where or worse we start heading in the wrong direction!  Whether it’s in our jobs, careers, spiritually, physically, maybe financially.  I talk to a ton of people who look at where they are today and are no further ahead than they were 5, 10, 15 or  even 20 years ago.  It reminds of the U2 song “Stuck in the Moment”:

“You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And now you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better
Now you’re stuck in a moment

And you can’t get out of it”  - From U2 “Stuck in a Moment“

Too many were burned by advisor or lost money in the stock market or took a chance and got their heart broken.  Whatever setback that came, what did you learn?   Yes, there was pain.  Yes, it was real.  But growth happens through pain and certainly when we face setbacks.   But too many people let failure prevent them from moving forward.  They get “stuck in the moment”. Click here to read more »

Your Stories

The past two weeks I have been busy collecting your stories.  We received hundreds of them!  The question was: how was 2009 for you financially?

Here are some of your responses:

“I don’t know how we are even still standing.  The only thing that i have is my faith in God and Jesus as my savior.” – N.A.

“Jay, Thank you for educating me on faith-based investing.  I have been following your picks and made a ton of money in a poor economy.  Thanks again, looking forward to 2010!”  – E.M.

“2009 was the worst year of my life!” – R.S.

“Are we there yet?  I couldn’t wait for 2010 to start so I could never again look back at 2009.  What a disappointment!”  – D.L.

“Despite a rocky start in 2009, the Lord blessed me in so many ways, maybe not so much financially as spiritually.  I am truly content.”  – L.B.

“God is good!  2009 was a decent year financially.  Thanks to you and your newsletter I finally took some action!” R.G.

Thanks everyone!  I will share more stories next week.  May God bless each and every one of you this year! 

I wanted to share a few good posts from this week

From Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson:
“Why aren’t you dead, yet?

From my blog:
“Who’s protecting your blindside?  Do you have financial accountability?”

From Bob at ChristianPF.com:
“John Rockefeller on Tithing”

Donald Miller:
“Living a good story, an alternative to New Year’s resolutions”

Your vision is extremely important for success. In order to properly manage wealth, you need to identify your core values and priorities.

This vision will direct and affect all areas of your life, including your finances. What motivates you becomes your burning passion. This burning passion drives your success. If your passion is lukewarm, so, too, will be your results. Click here to read more »

Win or Perish?

There is a Viking legend backed up by actual historical data, that long ago, a great warrior faced a situation where surrendering in battle was not an option. Yet he and his armies faced a very powerful foe. They were significantly outnumbered and “had no chance”. After sailing to the enemy’s country, the warrior chief unloaded his soldiers and equipment, and then had every one of their ships burned to ashes. Addressing his men before the battle, he is reported to have said, “Do you see our boats going up in smoke? There is no retreat. We win – or we perish!” Legend has it that each soldier fought harder than he ever had before in his life, and they won against great odds. Click here to read more »

Here’s why it can be a good idea to prepare.
With all of the reckless government spending, many are becoming concerned about the potential devastating effects of inflation.  Significant inflation is not only feasible, it is very likely. I wanted to take a few moments to update you on what is going on in the economy, how inflation can be dangerous, and provide several investment ideas that will help us fight inflation in the upcoming days.

Why is inflation inevitable?
With Democrats and Republicans alike agreeing deficits are necessary to fight our current economic crisis, Obama and his party have no constraints on how much they are willing to spend! “Sky’s the limit!  Heck, they have already committed to spend over trillion-plus dollars over the next two years alone.

So how will we pay for it?
We really only have two ways to pay for the spending:
(1) Printing more money, which causes inflation, and/or
(2) Hiking taxes, which kills investment, businesses and jobs.

Why is inflation dangerous?
Inflation simply means rising prices. But in addition to retail price inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index, you also have monetary inflation – the growth of the money supply, or the total amount of money in the economy. (Our money supply includes dollars, checking and savings accounts, CDs and money market funds, and short-term transfers of securities in exchange for cash.)

Here is the great balancing act of the Federal Reserve. If it eases the money supply (think lower interest rates), borrowing costs decrease, and investment generally increases. But with easy money, price inflation and currency devaluation follow. The Fed can fight inflation by raising rates to effectively tighten the money supply, but with possible byproducts of reduced consumer spending, lower corporate earnings, and less investment.

Is the government helping or harming the economy?
My opinion is the government is doing much more harm than good with its current spending.  We must realize that government intervention is magnifying, not solving the problems that caused the crisis!  It’s only when the patience of the public with Obama’s remedies run out that we can get the train back on the tracks.  However, this probably won’t happen until at least mid-term election time (late 2010), maybe re-election time (2012) or even thereafter.

What do you do in the meantime?
There are many ways to protect you and your family from the potentially dangerous effects of inflation. Hard times for America do not necessarily mean hard times have to come for you.  No matter what the economy is doing, no matter what the state of financial markets are there is always a strategy available that can make you money. The key is to recognize opportunities wherever they may be and, more importantly, detach from old investment strategies that are no longer working.

Here is a list of inflation protection securities.  Please note these are a list of suggestions.  These are not recommendations.  Please do your own research before purchasing. Here are six ETFs with the potential to do well if inflation takes off:

Holding (Symbol)

IShares USTIP Securities (TIP)
IShares COMEX Gold (IAU)
IShares Silver (SLV)
Proshare Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT)
Proshares Ultrashort 7-10 yr Treasury (PST)
SPDR Gold (GLD)

Let’s be realistic: the next several years may be the toughest ones for Americans in their lifetime. However, they do not need to be tough years for you if you prepare, trust in God, and find and follow sound investment advice.

Like
a Hamster Stuck on a Wheel

Have you ever seen a hamster
running on a wheel inside a cage? Hamster wheels allow rodents to run even when
their space is confined. They keep running and running and make no progress.
Yes, they get exercise, but they do not travel any distance. For many, their
finances are like the hamster on the wheel. They keep chugging along, spinning their
wheels, and making little to no progress. Why is this?

Many are programmed to live
life by the rules of the world. Often I see people base their spending rules on
how much income they make. The more they make, the more they spend. The true
reality of wealth creation is that how much you earn has very little to do with
your ability to build wealth. How much you spend is far more critical.

Many falsely believe that the
key to getting out of their financial holes is to add more income. Why, then,
do people who add more income still live paycheck to paycheck? Why do most
lottery winners end up dead broke even after winning millions? If income was
the solution, why couldn’t everyone just find better jobs to make more money?
The reality is that unless there is a change in spending habits, these people will
remain trapped on the same financial wheel–spinning but going nowhere. You must
change your rules.

Change
the Rules

If you do not like the results,
change the rules. Following the same rules that got you in trouble in the first
place will only produce the same end result. Without a change, you are doomed
to repeat past mistakes. Look at things in a new way. Follow these rules and
you may find financial freedom is closer than you think. (Please note that the
following allocations would apply to those who have already paid down
substantial debt; otherwise, the percentage allocated to recreation could be
dramatically reduced and the remainder used to pay down debt.)

The rules are:

• Pay God first: 10 percent
  toward giving
• Pay yourself second: 10
  percent into long-term savings
• Pay for necessities: 60
  percent into a checking type account
• Pay for recreation: 10
  percent into your fun account
• Pay for freedom 10 percent
  into a financial freedom account

Though learning to live on 60
percent of your salary is a tough feat for anyone, it should be your ultimate
goal. If you control what you spend, you will find a way to live within your
means. Reduced spending may also allow you to give more than 10% and save more
for the future. If you have a burning passion to change, you will. Otherwise,
you will be afraid. Don’t let fear get the best of you. Fear may be present,
but work to overcome your fears. If you are willing to do only what is easy,
life will be hard. But if you’re willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy.
Training your own mind is the most important skill you could ever own in terms of
both happiness and success. You should recondition your mind with the knowledge
that spending keeps you trapped in a world of limited financial progress. It
impacts your ability to give and save more.

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