THE CREATIVE ADVANTAGE - Morris E. Ruddick (SIGN)

THE CREATIVE ADVANTAGE   (c) Morris E. Ruddick     Throughout the business world, people are seeking the formula for the creative. Smart people are trying to discern the steps and advantages to success. Yet for centuries the greatest creative exploits consistently have been from the Jews.   Jews are a culture that thinks differently. It all began with Abraham, who risked shaping his destiny based on God's guidance. Abraham's son Isaac astounded surrounding societies because he grew a harvest of crops when famine prevailed for everyone else. The advantage came from hearing and obeying God.   Joseph, with no status or position, influenced his host culture by means of his prophetic gift. He accurately interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, anticipated and prepared for a time of crisis and in so doing, averted disaster. Moses then outlined the principles and practices that set the stage and advantage for the future. The books of Moses have defined the culture and determined how a people whose identity is entwined with God, think and then act.   Jesus came and raised the bar. Jesus released the fullness of the advantage entrusted to the descendants of Abraham. It was as if he had turned the mix of an emerging motorbike economy laced with a top-heavy, floundering accelerator system of high-stakes investments into a cultural advantage that would change everything in its path.   The advantage begins with mind-sets. Thinking like Jews begins with their identity being in God. Jews hold to the belief of being a prophetic people of God whose ways reflect the pattern of their forefather Abraham: to be blessed to be a blessing. For the most part, they have resisted assimilation and from age to age they have maintained their unique identity culturally.   Jewish beliefs nurture the dynamic of community as much or more than any other culture; but with the approach of being a trust society. They foster entrepreneurship and creativity from within and build incisively from the bottom-up.   Within this context, community-wise, when adhering to their standards, the Jewish people operate in a self-regulated, self-sufficiency within their communities. They nurture the type of stewardship that serves and reflects excellence.   The Jewish brand of leadership has the distinction of operating best through influence and service. Having frequently been a conquered people, Jews have learned the secrets of being a culture within a culture. Yet, as a people, they uphold the ways to not only survive, but to thrive.   Their influence has established middle classes in societies without a middle class. Jews have shaped the positive aspects governmentally, socially, judicially, economically and morally of what has become known as Western civilization. Yet, they are at their root, an Eastern culture.   Jews are disciplined and are willing to pay the cost to live for this higher standard, to sacrifice for the future of their people. Jews nurture and develop the next generation to hold to the secrets and standards that have been distinctive to them as a people.   Jews are a moral society. Their distinctive identity upholds and passes on high standards of community, entrepreneurship, innovation, excellence and industriousness that are also central to many Asian cultures.   So, each of these unique cultural standards have blended together to form a people who both train their children and operate in community, as a people who think differently. This different way of thinking releases creativity. This different way of thinking, this advantage has resulted over the centuries in Jews being known as "the people of business."   Then Jesus came and released steroids into the Jewish advantage.   The Jewish Mind-Set The Jewish mind-set begins with vision. When God called Abraham, He told him to look up at the stars of the heavens. He then told him that his descendents would be more than he could see in terms of those stars. God was releasing vision in Abraham.   Then there is a factor of looking closely at the steps to be taken. This has special bearing in business dealings and when evaluating opportunity. It is an investigative way of evaluating matters. It involves asking a lot of questions and doing good research. There is a proverb that says that the na've believe anything, but the prudent is cautious and considers well his steps. That means doing your homework. It means giving careful consideration to whatever you're about to get involved in.   Then there comes the imagination. Jesus had a lot to say about the power of our imaginations. He indicated that if we got really angry, to be careful that that anger doesn't entertain murder in our minds. Jesus was pointing to the connection between the seen world and the unseen world.   Jesus was continually showing His followers how to close the gap between the natural and the spiritual. The imagination and faith work hand in hand. One of my favorite stories of how creative thinking and faith should work together involves a company today known as the Williams Companies.   During their early years this firm was producing $10 million annually in revenues. At its helm were two brothers, Joe and John Williams. The Williams brothers decided to grow their company by acquisition. In doing so, they put in a bid to purchase Great Lakes Pipeline, a company that had more than ten times their own annual revenues. Not only did they acquire this company, they made the new operation successful. But at the time they made the acquisition, the Wall Street Journal had a front-page article titled: "The Minnow Swallows the Whale."   A minnow, one of the smallest of all fish, swallowing a whale is a good portrayal of this different way of thinking. It is out-of-the-box. It is faith in operation. It is good Jewish thinking.   These three factors: vision and research combined with using your imagination with faith, then become the foundation for good planning. Planning is mapping out steps for the future. It involves setting goals, but then developing short-term strategies in order to accomplish those goals.   Entrepreneurship and Creativity Steve Jobs created a company with a culture of creativity. Steve Jobs wasn't Jewish, but entrepreneurially, he thought like a Jew. It is the reason Jews are known as a people of business. Jews are entrepreneurial in their way of thinking.   Genuine entrepreneurs have a different way of viewing things than those whose mind-sets are institutional. Jewish business thinking is more bottom-up in its focus. For years, Western university business programs have approached their training from a top-down stance, preparing students for the world of the accelerator programs of the venture capital world and fast growth startups. It has had its focus on large institutions while unfortunately overlooking the entrepreneurial approach to startups, which most of the big companies have grown from. Today, there is a shift within many universities as they discover the creative benefits of entrepreneurial thinking.   The focus of the entrepreneur is on the customer and employee versus the focus of the institutional thinker that tends to be on the organization. Entrepreneurial structure is more flexible compared to the tighter, more controlling ways of the institution. Innovation for the entrepreneur is to apply faith in managing risk versus the institutional thinker's approach of attempting to minimize risk. The ability of the entrepreneur is to embrace change rather than that of the institutional person who is inclined to maintain the status quo.   The output sought by the entrepreneur is market creation. For the institutional thinker it is market share. The entrepreneurial leadership style nurtures and motivates rather than the institutional person's tendency to micro-manage. The real product sought by the entrepreneur is a dream versus simply the products or services offered by the institutional thinker. Finally, the motivation of the one who thinks like an entrepreneur is to make history compared to the motivation of the institutional thinker which is to make money.   Steve Jobs established an entrepreneurial culture. The entrepreneurial culture fosters creativity.   GE had become a lumbering giant and very institutional. Profits were down and their stock prices were way down. The board brought in a new CEO who thought differently. Jack Welch thought like an entrepreneur. He began changing policy and establishing the motivation for an entrepreneurial culture. He removed those whose thinking stymied opportunity. GE was revived with its vitality restored.   The Struggle for the Advantage The destiny of Abraham's descendants of being a blessing to all the peoples of the earth hit a hurdle within a generation following Jesus' time on earth. Jesus taught his followers to apply righteous power in corrupt settings. Jesus groomed his inner-circle with the creative advantage of the Jews. But this incredible Jewish advantage was culturally stymied. Infiltrators in this new sect called Christianity lost the identity factor that came with the advantage and with it they lost the power.   In the centuries that followed, the advantage was perverted and divided. The source of the advantage, the Jews, began being ostracized by those seeking the advantage and the divide widened. Today however, this advantage is being rebuilt as the identity factor is being restored to both Jews and the followers of Jesus. The crescendo will evolve around the restoration and opportunity that will be found in crisis. The fullness of this advantage will manifest as the crisis builds.   Opportunity in Crisis On January 15, 2009 a US Airways flight took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. A flock of geese they encountered stalled the engines. However, because of the cool-headed response of the pilot to this crisis, they successfully made an unprecedented unpowered emergency landing on the Hudson River. The New York newspapers called it "the miracle on the Hudson," as all 155 passengers survived.   The response to a crisis requires immediate reactions based on experienced, decisive creative thinking. Similarly, preparing for a crisis calls for creative, preparatory thinking.   More than two decades ago, an Israeli businesswoman had just sold her business and was looking for the next steps in her journey of life. In a series of unusual encounters she began realizing that Israel had world-class scientists sweeping streets, inventors of technologies who were on unemployment. She designed what has become the world's most respected technology incubator program.   Operating under Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist, her program began providing the offices, the support and funding for two year programs to develop technologies for commercialization. Not only is Israel now at the top of creating new technologies, but the success ratios and the ratios of startups going public from Rina Pridor's response to crisis outdistances any other incubator program of its kind. It is written that God will send rain for the seed you sow and the food in the land will be rich and plentiful.   God's nature is to create and to bring increase. Abiding in His ways provides a path for His people to spot opportunity, to map out solutions circumventing disasters and to bring restoration. It is the spiritual DNA of God's people as one generation has passed on this creative advantage to the next. It is written that the secret things belong to the Lord, but those revealed belong to us and to our children. The simple things confound the wise. The simplicity of obedience is in the ways outlined by Moses.   Jews have a long history of both anticipatory responses to crises and what some have referred to as destructive strategies to restore imbalanced economies. The birth of middle classes in societies without them illustrates. These dynamics have begun and been leveraged when the cultural identity of the Jews, as a people of God is being demonstrated.   So in talking about Jewish business secrets, putting into action the dynamic of this cultural identity in God during a crisis will produce opportunity.   It represents the catalyst to the creativity needed for the response. Creativity maps out a strategy that brings an unexpected and positive result. It is in acting with the heart and priorities of God. This is the catalyst the prophet Isaiah saw to release God's people to serve a critical role in days of crisis as repairers of the breach, a time when the gap is closed.   This portends the advantage, being applied in closing the gap between the seen world and the unseen world. The story of Joseph demonstrates how against a backdrop of incredible adversity, with Joseph's identity in God at the forefront, that God created an unusual alliance between Joseph's culture and the culture of Pharaoh. Through this alliance opportunity was advanced as the impact of the disaster was sidestepped.   The words of Isaiah are pertinent in the swirl of the dislocations, reversals and uncertainty taking place around the world today: He said: Then you will be called the repairers of the breach, restorers of the paths and the dwellings.   As a people whose destiny is being blessed by God to extend that blessing to the other peoples in the earth, Jews are the ones destined with the advantage to repair the breach and fix the brokenness. It is during such times that Jews have performed most remarkably.   The Age-Old Challenge However, there is a caveat. It relates to when these extraordinary people have lost their grip on this identity thing. It represents the other side of the struggle for the advantage that has warred against the Jews over the ages. It is the desire of Jews to be like everyone else. It takes place when the blessings of God are misinterpreted as success from their own making.   God made Saul to be king because the people wanted a king like everyone else. Saul's downfall was because instead of truly leading the people according to their mantle as a people of God, he was more intent on wanting the people's approval. He sought the approval of men rather than God and the people wanted to be like everyone else.   This has marked the dividing line of the advantage against being consumed by the destruction raging in the world. Even today, among Jewish believers there are those whose quest is to pattern their behavior as closely to the gentile believers as they can, rather than being the example.   Serving as a people of God in crisis is both an awesome and humbling task. The destiny to be blessed to be a blessing is not a retreat or a monastic setup. Pharaoh's discernment of Joseph's mantle represents the prophetic crux for the times at hand. As the crises build, so will be opportunity marked by the alliances between the modern-day Pharaohs and Josephs. Then will come the amazing restoration as alliances such as this provide safe-places in a turbulent, chaotic world.   There will be wealth transfers facilitated by these alliances, but not for the goal of wealth, but as a by-product. Success will be defined by the creative advantage, which will be the result of the mind-set and the cultural identity factor. The naive seek for a quick fix with get-rich quick schemes. It is a myopia, a short-sighted approach that gambles on the seduction of wealth. Short-cuts in this pathway will lead people astray.    David very wisely said that what has cost him nothing would have no value before the Lord. There is a cost for this creative advantage. Jesus pointed out that the one who loses his life will find it. He was pointing to the advantage, the identity in God. The creative advantage is in the identity and in the response then generated by the identity. ___________________________________________________   Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the higher dimensions of business leadership since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders to be blessed to be a blessing where God's light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.   He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" "Leadership by Anointing;" and "Mantle of Fire," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooksand www.BarnesandNoble.com.   Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/   Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your group's gathering on the Joseph-Daniel Calling or on anointing the creative in business.   2016 Copyright Morris Ruddick -- sign@strategicintercession.org   Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check:http://www.strategicintercession.org   Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 organization

Global Initiatives Foundation, PO Box 370291, Denver, CO 80237

ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Morris E. Ruddick (SIGN)

Morris Ruddick

ENTREPRENEURSHIP   (c) Morris E. Ruddick   Many mistakenly view entrepreneurs simply as people in business. Entrepreneurs are a great deal more. In taking a closer look at Jewish business secrets, it is important to understand the distinction.   Entrepreneurs are change artists. They create and innovate. They spot opportunity and know what to do about it. They build, establish a new order of things and in so doing they bring increase. They challenge the status quo with better solutions to problems and they know how to do so at a profit.   The Jewish perspective in viewing these prime entrepreneurial characteristics, of creating and bringing increase entails even more. A finely honed stewardship is one of the unique dimensions of Jewish business secrets. A vital element of the stewardship that has endured within Jewish culture that triggers the creative to bring increase is a form of generosity. This dynamic is described best by the Hebrew word tz'dakah.   Higher Dimensions Tz'dakah can be translated either as righteousness or charity. In reality it encompasses something from each of these English words. For centuries for the Jewish people, tz'dakah has been a community dynamic, a targeted generosity that helps those in the community in need, while simultaneously building the community, with a focus on strengthening the emerging generation. For the entrepreneur this involves "giving back," not only when success comes, but all along the way.   I've previously shared from the words of the psalmist that: "All goes well for the generous man, who lends freely and conducts his business fairly." In the same writings it also says that: "Such people give generously to those in need and their righteous deeds will never be forgotten." This perspective, this community generosity, bonds one generation to another with new generations embracing an excellence that exceeds the generation before it.   There is a Jewish proverb that states that: "Righteousness exalts a nation." The Hebrew for righteousness is this word tz'dakah. A more correct translation would be that: "Righteous charity exalts a nation." In other words, the practice of generosity within the community operates as a process, then spills over to benefit the overall community bringing blessings to all. It finds its origins in the mantle of Abraham, to be blessed to be a blessing.   Through the Generations This way of thinking is significant within Jewish mind-sets and the secrets of doing business as the Jews do. It is engrained in Jewish culture. Having been involved in helping several initiatives in Israel, I've observed that even non-practicing Jews operate as walking Torahs, of being living examples of the truths of their faith. Indeed, the principles outlined by Moses that instruct families to teach these things to their children and their children's children have taken root in the culture of the Jewish people. That is why it has been important for us to take a closer look at the foundations and the culture.   We've also mentioned the model. The model established by Abraham of the community being nurtured by being God-centered and entrepreneurial is a core premise in understanding Jewish business secrets. My friend Bill Bolton, entrepreneurial expert, author and former Cambridge professor explains that there are many types of entrepreneurs other than classic and business entrepreneurs.   There are serial entrepreneurs who specialize in starting something new and getting them profitable, then turning them over to someone else to operate, as they move on to the next entrepreneurial challenge. However, what I'd like to share is about a man whose natural gift combines two very potent types of entrepreneurship. It is a story demonstrating my point about how the model, the gifts and the culture are engrained in Jewish mind-sets.   A Living Example This is the story about a friend of mine whose name is Joel. Joel is a non-practicing Jew. He believes in God and similar to the many Christians who also are "non-practicing" in their faith, his time of devotions is generally limited to times of crisis and what in Judaism are known as the High Holy Days or what in Christendom would be the major Christian holidays.   I'm also going to mask some of Joel's story, simply to protect the very wonderful and meaningful role he has come to assume in his adopted Asian nation. It was about a decade and a half ago, when Joel was winding up a Master's degree program in Hong Kong, that he took a long weekend to go visit an Asian country he had always wanted to visit.   He fell in love with the people and the culture and knew he would soon be going back. When he returned, not unlike the experience I had with my sensibilities being assaulted by the level of poverty I saw in Ethiopia, Joel was exposed to the plight of the disabled and disfigured in this fast emerging nation.   Many were shunned by their families who concluded the lame and disfigured had been cursed. Although many were very gifted in many ways, few were able to attend college with far too many not even finishing secondary school. Those who were able to find work were destined to long hours and very low pay in factories with little to no opportunity for advancement. Far too many had become street beggars.   Being gifted as both a social and serial entrepreneur, Joel put together the training needed to operate a number of unique small businesses, which Joel started. Some of these businesses had markets in his adopted country and some he sold by means of shrewdly-designed relationships with major online distributors.   He soon rented an old villa in a more inexpensive part of his city. He provided dormitory type of living spaces for the men and the same type of sleeping room for the women. He provided someone to prepare basic, but ample meals of their culture. With several dedicated work spaces for the different enterprises, most mastered the training quickly and soon became a part of the businesses Joel had started.   Joel's original goal had been to provide these people the training and experience to be able to start their own businesses. Some did, but most who became a part of his efforts found the purpose and the dignity of these arrangements to be far greater than anything they had ever experienced in their previous work settings. So, as the process developed, Joel made arrangements for those who wanted to stay to have a share in the profits that originally had been designed just to pay for the program. What was developing was exceeding expectations.   God clearly was blessing them. Joel's creativity and ability to bring increase while reaching out to disabled and disfigured men and women converged into something a lot more than what he anticipated. It all came together to create opportunity that exceeded expectations. Each of the factors we've been talking about have been operating in this illustration: the model, the gifts and the culture derived from these amazing people of business, the Jews.   Isaiah, one of the Jewish prophets wrote about matters that are very close to the heart of God. He explained that when you help the poor and the needy, the underprivileged, then your light will dawn in the darkness and your darkness will become as noon-day. This prophet went on to write that when this is your focus, then the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones. You'll be like springs of water whose waters do not fail.   God as Senior Partner Yet, there is another dimension. It is entrepreneurship that more fully embraces the spiritual dimension. It means going beyond just the intellectualizing of the faith. There is another proverb that states: "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." It becomes much more personal in the way both individuals and communities of God's people put their faith in action and map out their destinies. It involves making God the Senior Partner of their business. For God to be Senior Partner means that we proactively need to be depending on His guidance in our planning.   For many, breaching that threshold can be downright scary. We're not going to cross that bridge quite yet. Nevertheless, hearing God on specifics has been frightening to the very people whose Patriarchs were known for doing so. When Moses led the Israelites out of captivity from Egypt, the people themselves were terrified when God spoke. Far too many thought they would die at the sound of His voice. So they begged Moses to take his conversations with God elsewhere and then return to them and tell them what God had said.   Even years later, when God appeared to Gideon, His first words to Gideon were: "Peace be with you. Do not fear. You will not die." For both Jews and Christians, this reluctance to bridge the gap in learning to discern the voice of God has paralleled the institutionalizing and intellectualizing of the faith, with the result dampening that dimension of the supernatural power that could be operating through God's people.   We will be taking up the subjects of hearing God's voice, along with planning in conjunction with the Holy Spirit in future sessions.   Entrepreneurship is about opportunity and risk and the response in terms of strategy. We have suggested that at the core of Jewish business secrets is a different way of thinking. Part of this difference in mind-sets is the entrepreneurial way of thinking. Entrepreneurial thinking is just as valid for startups as it is for multinational corporate enterprises. Now, in keeping with embracing new mind-sets, I'd like to describe what can happen when making God your Senior Partner. It affects not only your destiny but the way the spiritual supersedes the natural with the operation of our enterprises. Indeed it incorporates a different way of viewing things. Jewish entrepreneurs have a different way of looking at community, which gets back to the model. We will explore this important dimension of community in more detail in another session.   When God in-fact becomes Senior Partner of an enterprise and more so within a community that adheres to this premise, then the dynamic I describe as God's economy is released. Let me illustrate.   The Example of Isaac After Abraham had led a very meaningful and full life, his son Isaac assumed his mantle and was pursuing the destiny that God had promised to Abraham's descendents. There then came a season of famine that made Isaac want to move and find more fertile land in which to live. However, God spoke to Isaac and told him to stay in the land that God had given to his father. In doing so, all the blessings God had promised to Abraham would manifest for Isaac.   So scripture tells us that Isaac stayed. According to what he heard from God, Isaac then sowed his seed in a place of famine, as God had instructed, a place where nothing had been growing. In the same year of this planting, he reaped a hundred-fold. The story continues by stating that from this point, Isaac began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.   So it was that in a land where nothing had been growing that Isaac heard from God and obeyed. The oppression created by the famine had no power to impede Isaac's efforts. The result not only blessed Isaac, but it captured the attention of the heads of other societies in the area.   It is written that Abimelech went to Isaac with the commander of his army wanting to establish a treaty with Isaac because he had seen that "God was with him." God's economy is released when the practice of making God your Senior Partner, of listening carefully to and heeding His voice with decisions and planning, becomes foundational to the way a business and a community is operated.   God's nature is to create, innovate, build and multiply. These dimensions are the very foundation of what we call entrepreneurship. When God is made Senior Partner with an undivided heart, then the application begins releasing God's economy and the potential for an exponential multiplication.   Asian Rural Example Let me give you an example from some other people we know. In a poor, rural area of Vietnam we conducted one of our entrepreneurial workshops. This workshop was attended by a pastor who had started several home churches in the region. This pastor was very poor. He didn't even have the funds needed to pay the tuition for his children to go to secondary school. After attending our workshop, he was praying and thinking about what I had said about commercializing a gift. Both his wife and his mother were excellent cooks.   He also remembered that there was a breakfast noodle business in a good location in his community that was shutting down. He had a strong perception that God was telling him that he should buy the equipment from the owners and reopen the breakfast noodle business. He borrowed the money from people who trusted him and that's what he did.   People in the community were curious about this pastor. There had been a lot of rumors about what kind of a man he was because he had been arrested for his church activities. So, word got around about he, his wife and mother starting this small, breakfast noodle business. People first came because of their curiosity about this pastor.   Then they found that his wife and mother had excellent recipes and the breakfast noodles they served were especially delicious. They also found that they really liked this affable pastor and the way he was always helping others in the community. In only one month, this new business was making a profit and starting to grow.   Small specialty eating places. serving only one dish, are very popular in Vietnam. While this pastor's wife and mother spent more time than he did with the business, this breakfast eating place was open just a few hours every morning. He spent about three hours each morning while it was open, meeting and talking with members of the community, assisting his wife and mother where needed in serving the tables. Rather than distracting his pastoral responsibilities it augmented them.  More than the additional income, this simple business enabled him to meet with people in the community he might never otherwise have met. Also, not only did the income it created enable them to pay the tuition for their children's education, but after the business grew, they also set up an education fund to help some of the other poor families in his community with scholarships.   Releasing the Creative Entrepreneurship challenges the status quo. It releases the creative and establishes a new order of things. One of the best descriptions of an entrepreneur found any place in scripture is found in the final chapter of Proverbs, a chapter describing the type of woman every man wants for his wife.   In the midst of this description of an "excellent" woman are the qualities incorporated in an effective entrepreneur. This proverb notes that: "She considers a field and she buys it." The woman entrepreneur wisely identifies opportunity and decisively takes advantage of it. The passage goes on to state that: "Out of her  earnings she plants a vineyard." The woman entrepreneur makes her assets work for her.   This proverb continues by stating: "She sets about her work vigorously." Diligence and hard work are cornerstones for successful entrepreneurship and God's economy. The woman in this proverb was a good steward. This proverbs continues: "She sees that her trading is profitable." Increase and profit are a vital part of operating any enterprise. "Her lamp does not go out at night." Dependability requires sacrifice to get the job done with excellence.   What is being described in this approach that merges the spiritual, community and entrepreneurial is not only a different way of thinking. It also releases a creative advantage. We'll be talking more about this creative advantage that results from this new way of thinking in a future session. The creative that reflects the foundations of Jewish business secrets incorporates vision, an investigative approach, imagination, planning, strategy and excellence. When combined with prayer, God as Senior Partner and faith, it brings about results that most usually exceeds expectations.   Let me conclude with the story of a company we were familiar years ago that gives a gripping example of this different way of thinking and how expectations can be exceeded. In the mid-1970s the Williams Companies was a small, respectable pipeline company. There then came a time, when Joe and John Williams, the founders recognized what they felt was unusual opportunity in their market. They decided to make a corporate acquisition as a part of their growth strategy.   It was an unusual step, because in making their bid, they were attempting to acquire a company that was ten times their current revenues. In a remarkable feat, they were successful in their bid for Great Lakes Pipeline. The Wall Street Journal had a front page article about this amazing acquisition that was titled: "The Minnow Swallows the Whale."   In a highly competitive world, we sometimes need to have our vision expanded. I'm not suggesting recklessness or presumption. However, true entrepreneurship and God's economy employs faith in dealing with risk, but faith that has done its homework and is willing to work hard to achieve unusual goals.   There is an old saying among faith-based people: "Pray as if it all depends on God. Work as if it all depends on you!" During our next session I want to talk about the gift of community. ___________________________________________________   Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the higher dimensions of business leadership since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders to be blessed to be a blessing where God's light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.   He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" "Leadership by Anointing;" and "Mantle of Fire," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks and www.BarnesandNoble.com.   Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/   Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your group's gathering on the Joseph-Daniel Calling or on anointing the creative in business.   2016 Copyright Morris Ruddick -- sign@strategicintercession.org   Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check:http://www.strategicintercession.org   Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt organization

Global Initiatives Foundation, PO Box 370291, Denver, CO 80237

THE CULTURE (c) Morris E. Ruddick (SIGN)

Morris & Carol Ruddick

THE CULTURE (c) Morris E. Ruddick Before we start digging into the dynamics of entrepreneurship, I want to cover some background about Jewish culture. This background will provide keen insights into the uniqueness of entrepreneurship from a Jewish perspective. In a world where business is too often equated with large corporate enterprises, it is important to remember that usually these organizations began with much more humble beginnings. Likewise, the world tends to place the qualification for business success on the amount of money produced. Investors want to know how fast startups can reach certain thresholds. From a long-term, big-picture outlook, such mind-sets, or ways of looking at business represent a perception that tends to be skewed, with the priorities out of balance. The foundations of Jewish culture provide a much greater emphasis on the bottom-up way of looking at business. It is more concerned with the role of small businesses in building the community, of being the backbone of a trust society. This by no means negates the benefits than can be derived from sizeable enterprises, but points to the responsibility shared by each member of the community, which is the result of centuries of a Torah-defined culture. Embracing the dynamics comprising Jewish business secrets is going to require a different way of thinking. Understanding the culture will provide important insights into the way Jewish people think. The way of thinking that results from Jewish cultural foundations is a more creative way of thinking. Jewish culture foundationally is Eastern. The Cultural Identity One of the key strategies employed by Jews and reinforced by the teachings of Jesus was that of being a culture within a culture. Jesus described this truth as God's people being a light on a hill that cannot be hidden. This is a context resulting in a different way of thinking. The edge we observe in Jewish business typically draws from this distinctiveness. Yet it bears a compatibility between their cultural and entrepreneurial foundations. One of the most dramatic stories in Jewish writings illustrating this dynamic is the story of Joseph the Patriarch. Joseph was the great-grandson of Abraham. Abraham exhibited the model in which the community was supported, built and maintained by the mix of the spiritual and the entrepreneurial. The Jewish community orientation provides the means of self-sufficiency. Not to be confused with counterfeit theocratic and dictatorial zealots, Abraham operated a God-centered, entrepreneurial community. It is a model based on the type of leadership that serves. This wisdom was passed on to Abraham's son Isaac. So, the story of Joseph is an apt illustration of the strategy of God's people operating as a culture within a culture. The story of Joseph is one of family intrigue. Joseph was the eleventh of twelve brothers. Not only was he the favorite of their father, but his spiritual acumen far outweighed that of his older brothers. Joseph walked with God and was extremely prophetic. When Joseph was but 17 years of age, he and his brothers bore much responsibility for running the family business. Nevertheless, contrary to the foundations exhibited by their forbearer Abraham, Joseph's brothers were consumed with jealousy. The abbreviated story is that his brothers reacted to his paternal favor and spiritual wisdom and deceived Joseph and sold him into slavery and told their father that Joseph had been killed. Yet God, who always knows the end from the beginning had the big picture in mind. He was preparing to use Joseph to avert disaster caused by earlier deceitful behavior of his brothers with another local community. So Joseph's sale into slavery took him to Egypt. In Egypt, Joseph became a servant in the household of a high-level government official by the name of Potiphar. Joseph's stewardship as a slave in this man's house was such that scripture describes it with the words: "The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man and everyone saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to prosper." The Cultural Impact Joseph was bringing the culture established by Abraham into the way he operated as a slave in Potiphar's house: he was being blessed and was extending that blessing to the way he stewarded his responsibilities. Joseph was soon entrusted with the responsibilities over all of Potiphar's household. The distinction of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being with him was evidenced by the way God blessed and prospered his efforts. Joseph stewarded his responsibilities faithfully. The Egyptians, who did not believe in the God of Israel came to see the reality of God through the life and results brought about by Joseph. However, there then came a time when Joseph experienced spiritual backlash. A grasp of the dynamics of the spiritual world is vital to any who follow God. It entails the age-old conflict between good and evil. Within each generation are those who are drawn to God and the good. However, there also are those whose path is lined with compromise and deceit, who in the final analysis hate God. Joseph ran into such a conflict and despite his upright way of doing things for Potiphar, he was unrighteously accused of something he didn't do and was put into prison. Going from bad to worse. Joseph who had lost his family, along with his freedom in being made a slave was now imprisoned. Prisons in those days were pretty rough. Despite the circumstances, Joseph once again was seen as being trustworthy and capable and the keeper of the prison soon put him over all the other prisoners. In all of these hard circumstances Joseph maintained his cultural identity, along with his attitude and behavior unwaveringly honoring the God of his fathers. The result was God blessing him in these difficult circumstances with Joseph extending these blessings to those he served. God was with him and this fact was evident to everyone around him. The Impact of the Gift I've previously mentioned the ancient Jewish writings that say: "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." This is what happened to Joseph. While still in prison, but being in charge of the other prisoners, two men from the king's (Pharaoh's) court were imprisoned. One was the king's baker. The other was the king's wine taster. One night, each of these men had dreams. Together with being incarcerated, their dreams troubled them deeply. They mentioned the dreams to Joseph. Joseph, through his prophetic gift, interpreted both dreams accurately. Pharaoh's wine-taster was soon restored to his position, according to Joseph's interpretation of his dream. Then began a time of Joseph waiting on God's timing. Roughly two years later, Pharaoh also had some troubling dreams. The wine-taster told him about Joseph and Joseph was sent for, to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. During his thirteen years of slavery and prison, Joseph learned to depend on God. The prophetic gift that riled his brothers had been finely honed. So when Joseph was brought from the humble surroundings of his prison dungeon to Pharaoh's palace, he had no illusions other than to begin by telling Pharaoh that only through God was he able to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. So it was that Joseph outlined what the dreams meant together with the strategy of the response Pharaoh should take. Pharaoh was amazed. His response was: "Can we find such a man as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God. Inasmuch as God has shown you these things, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are. You shall be over my house and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. I am setting you over all the land of Egypt." The Impact of Destiny In the next seven years, in accordance with his interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, Joseph diligently amassed and stored huge amounts of grain. Then according to the dreams, severe famine hit.  Joseph's greatest exploits then took place during the time of great crisis, during the famine. His preparation and role as a prophetic steward, simultaneously discerned from God, but honoring both Pharaoh and God, illustrate the importance of a number of significant Jewish business secrets. Joseph heard from God and despite personal hardship, he never wavered in culturally identifying himself as God's ambassador. His identity was not determined by position, status or wealth. Then, when his circumstances got worse, his response was to dig in and move even closer to God. One of the greatest prayers of the psalmist are the words: "Teach me your ways O Lord and I will walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name." Joseph walked in God's truth with an undivided heart. Joseph's anticipatory response to the time of crisis required an alliance with one who combined favor toward Joseph, a spiritual openness, along with the authority and resources needed for the strategy to avert disaster. Only God could have orchestrated all this. When the famine hit full-force, the money failed. The only thing of value was grain, which Joseph had stored in abundance. Operating according to the mantle of his great-grandfather Abraham, to be blessed to be a blessing, Joseph cornered the livestock market, then the real estate market and in the process, the people stayed fed. During the peak of the famine, when the situation had digressed into desperation and lawlessness for those outside the realm, Joseph brought the people into the safe confines of the city and kept them fed. That included the members of his family who had betrayed him. Once the famine subsided, Joseph returned the land to its owners in return for a 20 percent subsidy of their annual harvests. Joseph was a major example of how good overcomes evil. Joseph demonstrated how stewardship and an identity and faith in God can influence and release God's authority to harness the spiritual climate and resources of a society that doesn't have a knowledge of God. Joseph then managed the largest wealth transfer the world had ever seen. In the process, he redeemed his wayward, betraying brothers while also bringing God's blessings to his adopted nation. Foundations of Cultural Destiny These foundations of Jewish culture didn't stop with Abraham and Joseph. Moses outlined the framework for the Abrahamic model to inoculate God's own from the subtle wickedness of the world and become a society of the righteous, living for God. David demonstrated the priority of discerning and acting on God's heart as the path to leading God's people and then shaped a society of diverse factions of God's own into a Kingdom that would prompt awe for God and His people from all those around them. Jesus then raised the bar to the standard of these foundations and opened the gates to the authority that governs the mix of cultures, economies and seats of power. In so doing He established the Kingdom dynamic for applying righteous power in a corrupt world. The Dynamic To better grasp the dynamic behind Jewish business secrets we need to look at each of these very significant factors: the God-centered, entrepreneurial community, overcoming evil with good in establishing the right spiritual climate, operating a society of God's people that prompts awe, then piercing the veil of the spiritual and becoming a steward of the authority that governs the right balance between culture, the economy and power. Accomplishing these things within a community will take something more. It means assuming community responsibility. Most Jewish people understand this and we will talk about community in more detail as this series progresses. Community, according to the standards outlined by Moses, is both a gift of God and a strategy. It is a significant element of what we're discussing with Jewish business secrets. Let me explain with a story that came from a community of believers that we brought our program to in Western Africa. During our visit, we were invited to a traditional African wedding held by a seasoned Pentecostal community. The wedding service itself was about three hours long. During that time, not only did the bride and groom take their vows, but so did the parents. The parents committed themselves to helping the young couple through the stages of being newlyweds and into the time when they began having children. This entailed the parents making public vows and signing a community register noting their commitment. There was more. An older woman, a great grandmother considered wise in the ways of the community was assigned as a mentor to the wife, as was an older man to the son. They would befriend them and visit them regularly during the first year of the marriage. I was told this community had not had one divorce in 30 years. This community had tapped the wisdom of the Jewish secret  of being a culture within a culture. In so doing, they protected themselves against the subtle and not too subtle inroads of witchcraft and ancient evil practices that were known to infiltrate and infect their culture. This example is very Jewish in practice, as it should be. Most Orthodox Jewish communities are set up in this way. During a flight I shared with an Orthodox Jewish woman, I told her about our God's economy program. She affirmed the importance of community by telling me how the Orthodox community her daughter was a part of in Israel had rallied around her daughter when her husband had died. It didn't stop with the initial days of mourning. It was a responsible social system that not only supported the widow emotionally and provided meals through the months of difficult transition, but helped her gain employment at the business of one of the members of the community. The social system she described was designed to care for the needs of their own, to ensure there were never any hungry or homeless, or any left alone. As it was written after the time of Jesus: "Do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of faith." Jewish writings state that there should be no poor among us. These are a part of the foundations. This woman's daughter, as were the newlyweds in the African community of believers were recipients of ancient wisdom, foundations that endure. Bridging the Gap What Jesus set in motion was not a new religion. What he established was built upon the foundations of the Torah and the prophets. The culture was the same, but Jesus raised the bar to all that had been started by Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and then elaborated on by the prophets. He demonstrated closing the breach between the natural and the spiritual. He revealed the secret of creativity in opening the gates into the spiritual realm and releasing the authority from His secret of abiding with God to those who would believe. He showed why the Torah indicates that God's people would be the head and not the tail through his parable of the talents, in explaining how increase is the expected result of good stewardship. Jesus rejected the phoniness and misuse of power of the religious elite and explained things in a way that everyday people could bridge this gap between the natural and spiritual and tap this creativity. He then faced and overcame the greatest obstacle, death, to open the gates to this realm for any who would believe. As has been noted, culturally Jewish foundations are a lot more Eastern than Western. In this journey of unfolding Jewish business secrets, you're going to become more aware of how these foundations not only overcome evil with good, but enhance the illusive dynamic we refer to as economics, as well as how through the wisdom of God's economics, culture and power come into balance. Jewish cultural foundations that were set in motion by Abraham, were brilliantly anointed and written out for future generations in the books of Moses. Very few cultures have the level of a systematic record of their heritage like the Jews. As already mentioned, at the core of their identity is that of being a prophetic people of God. These things align Jews in the way that they think and view the world around them. All this goes back to the illumination I got after observing the rampant poverty in Ethiopia, of how the spiritual and economic can progressively make community not only a safe-place, but a place that nurtures opportunity for its members.  It begins and has a focus of the simple things, of the most basic family-owned enterprises that become the heart of a society that takes care of its own. Larger enterprises within this cultural setting retain the responsibility and community focus. The history of the Rothschild banking empire is one of a network of institutions, which had very simple beginnings. It has been run by a single family that supported one another and had an overriding commitment for the good and safety of the Jewish community. So in summarizing, what clearly exudes from the many facets of Jewish culture is captured in the writings of Moses, that if the conditions of the House of Israel's identity and obedience to God's principles and instructions are met, then the Lord would make them to excel above all the other societies on the earth. That premise explains not only their many amazing historical exploits, but more recent Jewish accomplishments detailed in studies such as "The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement," authored by Steven Pease. In a word, it is disproportionate achievement and the mark of the leadership mantle that has influenced the societies of which Jews have been a part over the millennia. This word influence is a vital part of Jewish leadership. At the core of these exploits are the foundations impacting the way they think. Jews view things with a different perspective than most other peoples of the world. We'll look closer at these things, such as the creative thinking that comes from these foundations, but for now we're setting the stage to be able to better understand God's economy and the form of entrepreneurship that comprises our focus of Jewish business secrets. As it has been written by the psalmist: "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who takes great delight in His instruction. All goes well for the generous man, who lends freely and conducts his business fairly." ___________________________________________________ Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the higher dimensions of business leadership since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders to be blessed to be a blessing where God's light is dim in diverse regions around the globe. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" "Leadership by Anointing;" and "Mantle of Fire," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks and www.BarnesandNoble.com. Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/ Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your group's gathering on the Joseph-Daniel Calling or on anointing the creative in business. 2016 Copyright Morris Ruddick -- sign@strategicintercession.org Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check:http://www.strategicintercession.org Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives is a 501 (c) 3 tax exempt organization

Global Initiatives Foundation, PO Box 370291, Denver, CO 80237

THE GIFTS - Morris E. Ruddick (SIGN)

Morris & Carol Ruddick

THE GIFTS (c) Morris E. Ruddick God gives gifts to men. Ancient Jewish writings elaborate that a person's gift makes room for them and brings them before great people. When vital combinations of these gifts are nurtured within a trust community, it provides ripples of opportunity and a dynamic that strengthens the community. Business is about providing a product or a service to customers. It involves outperforming competition with that product or service. What is required is developing excellence, becoming the best in what your business offers. That is where the gifts, the talents on which the business is based, come into play. Everybody can do something better than a lot of other people. That is what we refer to as a person's natural gift. However, when that gift is unmistakably identified and developed to the level that the person can excel in that gift, more so than most other people, then they have the basis with which to start a business and commercialize the gift, the talent. This premise is at the heart of the entrepreneurial spirit that once was the pride of the American Jewish middle class. Entrepreneurship has at its core creativity. God is the creator and being made in His image, developing our gift will tap the creativity that resides in each of us. Excelling in a natural gift triggers the release of creativity in the gift. A person's gift will be something they have mastery of, something they have a passion doing. God's nature also is to bring increase. That is the Jewish wisdom behind Jesus' parable of the talents. In this parable there were three stewards who were entrusted with some of the assets belonging to their boss. The steward who leveraged the assets to bring the most increase not only made his boss very pleased with him, but he was given promotion and entrusted with more. However the steward who was timid and risk-adverse and only gave his boss back what he had first given him was rebuked and actually deemed worthless, even though he had not lost anything. The point is that each person is endowed with a gift and is expected to develop it. It becomes the basis of being blessed to be a blessing. In addition to the natural gift, those who become believers are given spiritual gifts. These are the gifts reflecting how God has wired us spiritually. They reflect our deepest motivations and become the basis of the passion behind what we excel in. These motivational gifts range from teaching, exhorting, leading, giving, mercy, service and the prophetic. Servers take on tasks wholeheartedly and stick to it until done, even when sacrifice is required. They are doers, self-starters and dependable. The prophetically-gifted operate with a balance between hearing from God and a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They are discerning and see beyond the surface of things. Givers break the mold of the status quo. They are generous and creative, quickly recognizing genuine needs which they will respond to even if it means personal sacrifice. Teachers are analytical and committed to truth and the quest for truth. They tend to be detailed oriented, thinkers who connect the dots and do their research. Exhorters encourage and nurture others. They are purposeful and fruitful in the way they do things and the way to relate to others. Mercy-motivated people are ones who recognize and empathize deeply with unmet needs in others and work toward providing help. They tend to be protective, extending themselves with hope for the helpless. Leaders have a natural ability to influence and direct others. They have big-picture outlooks with long-term perspectives and are people of action. Again, it is important to identify and then develop our spiritual gifts. When our spiritual gifts are developed, they become enhancers to what we can do with our natural gift. They are triggers to that release of creativity. Then when our natural and spiritual gifts are in alignment and we are interacting with the Lord in prayer, ideally making Him our Senior Partner and source of our wisdom, then we enter a threshold not unlike the destiny walked out by Abraham. I've previously mentioned the importance of a trust society, a community of trust. Trust communities are an important factor in the Jewish phenomenon. That trust involves a responsibility, a community responsibility. Community, within the Jewish dynamic, is a safe place where the diversity of the gifts of their participants work together in serving one another, for each person and for the good of the community. It involves a dynamic. which in Hebrew is called tz'dakah, a charitable form of generosity, which is one of the keys defining the Jewish secrets. It functions in a way to engender greater success levels for its participants as the gifts of each bless one another and make room for them. I'll be talking more about this in this series. The Process of Gift Development One of the most dramatic illustrations of how a person's gift can make room for them, when God is made a part of the equation, is the story of a man named George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver was born as a slave in the United States in 1861. When he was four years old, the slaves were given their freedom. When George Washington Carver was only a small boy, everyone commented that "that boy has a gift, he can make anything grow." He was good with plants. He had a passion for growing plants. He read all about plants and really paid attention in school when the subject was about plants. As he got older, a miracle happened. George Washington Carver graduated from high school and got a scholarship to college. He studied about his gift, the science of botany. He graduated from college and got a job in a research center, a job focused on crop growth. He became very good at what he did. George Washington Carver was also a very committed Christian who loved to pray. When he was in his early 30s he was praying one day. He very boldly asked the Lord if God would reveal to him the secrets of the universe! I was told that upon praying this audacious prayer the Lord spoke to George Washington Carver saying: "Little man, the secrets of the universe would destroy you. But, I'll show the secret of the peanut." Over the next ten years George Washington Carver produced roughly 325 inventions involving the peanut. He invented mechanisms for extracting the oil out of peanuts. He invented new ways of preparing peanuts and making "peanut products" that previously had not existed. In the process, he created not only a business, but set in motion a new and growing industry in the US. God as Senior Partner George Washington Carver walked with God and by employing his gift, his life reflected the mantle of Abraham, to be blessed to be a blessing. This humble man, who had been born as a slave, became the best there was with his gift. But then there was an added dimension. George Washington Carver heard from God and the Lord anointed his gift, releasing both incredible creativity which in turn brought forth even more incredible increase. In this journey defining his destiny, George Washington Carver had made the Lord his Senior Partner. This is what brought an exponential multiplication into the process. George Washington Carver's natural gift was as a botanist, one who understood the dynamics of plant growth. His primary spiritual gift was that of a teacher, one whose analytical thought is driven to find answers, to investigate and research. But when he made God his Senior Partner, opportunity began exploding. He began having insights, tied to his gift, that he had never had before. It is written that the secret things belong to the Lord, but those that are revealed are the heritage of those who diligently seek Him. That is what happened. Thousands of jobs were produced because of the peanut industry and his country was blessed. "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." Before he died, George Washington Carver was invited to the White House and was honored by the President of the United States for the contributions he had made to his country. For one to make God their Senior Partner you have to hear from God and then enter the interactive flow of that partnership. Jesus taught to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you." It involves becoming the best that you can with your gift, but in doing so, of keeping God at the forefront as the chief source of your guidance. As we are faithful in the little things, God will entrust us with more as we embark on a journey of discovery of our purpose and destiny tied to the gifts with which we've been given. We'll be taking more about hearing from God and planning together with Him later in this series. The Gifts and Destiny Discovery In my own life, I have a natural gift as a consultant. I'm a problem solver, a planner and writer. Among my spiritual gifts are those of a teacher and the prophetic. I'm also a leader. Together with God's guidance, making Him my Senior Partner, these were the factors that began to converge to map out the pathway of my destiny as the employment of my gifts created the opportunity for my life-purpose. As a young man, I had chosen the military as my career. It was a career with a purpose. It involved a cause and had become my calling. Yet, when I had roughly six years of service in this career, I came to faith and realized there was a higher dimension to my calling, to my destiny. It involved serving the One Who created it all. My priorities became refocused on reaching for this higher dimension of my destiny. A year and half later, I had resigned from the Marines, enrolling at Oral Roberts University to prepare for this new purpose for my life. As I approached the conclusion of my time of preparation in academia for God's plan for my life, I was in prayer and the Lord spoke a very dramatic word to me about my future. The short version was that I was going to become a consultant and would be entering the business world. At the time, I really did not have a realistic grasp of what a consultant was. I had heard of Peter Drucker who was a renowned expert in business, but even though I knew God was leading me, I otherwise frankly was a little naive about what lay before me. I also did not have the training in business to be a consultant. However, I had these gifts that I've mentioned, and I had this calling, which God had told me was going to be as a consultant. So as I approached the end of this time of preparation, I had completed special studies in the Bible, as well as all my coursework for a graduate degree in media management. Nevertheless, despite my military experience in leadership and planning, I had no training or experience in business. Those factors combined to make me realize that I really had better learn how to depend on God in this new arena I was entering. Then upon completion of my graduate program, I encountered a job opportunity that seemed to fit strongly with the investigative-research orientation that had been such a key part of my graduate studies. Although I was in over my head in this new job, I took one day at a time and began learning the trade. It was several months after working in this position that I realized the function of this firm was that of consulting. Almost three years later, having mastered the tools of this profession, the Lord gave me a very strong word about it being time to start my own business. Here again, I didn't have any background on how to start or run a business, but I knew what it meant to depend on the Lord and I knew how to hear His voice. I've always been a man of action and being convinced that God was guiding me, I took steps of faith and started my own business. Despite that, my first year of business was grueling. In leaving my former employer, it was a point of honor that I not take any of his clients with me. So, I began by borrowing money on our home to support ourselves as I began this new venture. I ordered a new phone, along with some professional business cards and stationary and purchased a good electric typewriter. This was before the days of computers and I wrote a lot of introductory letters, one by one, on an IBM Selectric typewriter. I made a lot of phone calls and God gave me a strategy of giving presentations on the state of the industry for the clients and industry I was targeting. I sold one project during all of that first year and although my client was happy, my banker scolded me because he felt I should have priced the work at three times the amount I had charged. At the end of that first year, I had gone through all the money I could borrow and I had a big stack of bills on my desk. Nothing seemed to be moving in terms of getting the contracts needed to pay the bills. It seemed I had done everything I had known to do and my phone was silent. I was beginning to wonder if I had missed something the Lord might have been trying to have me do. The reality was that unless God intervened, I was about to fail. But some things take time and in business timing more often than not is in God's hands. It was at that point, while in prayer one morning, that I had a very dramatic realization that I had come to a time in which my business was about to start growing. With no evidence to support this perception, it simply was something that I knew that I knew that I knew. Some have told me that God gave me a gift of faith to accompany the steps of faith I had been taking. Then in that next week, from the many presentations I had made over the last several months, I received requests to write proposals for six contracts. Three of them were approved and started almost immediately. The challenge from that point was in keeping up with the growth. We grew to have offices in three US cities and 27 full-time employees. Most of our clients were multinational firms, with a number of them being internationally based. Our competitors were some of the most prestigious names in the consulting industry, like Arthur D. Little and Company. In many ways, we were like a young David facing some real industry Goliaths. We worked to give our clients the very best value for their money. We were good at what we did. Our clients came back for more. The business we built revolved around my combined natural and spiritual gifts which I trained and mentored my employees in doing. My spiritual gifts of teaching, the prophetic and leadership, all combined to undergird the authoritative, research-based market planning and forecasting consulting work we did for our clients. There is another phase to my career, that has as its focus the entrepreneurial startup program that I now take around the world. It had a very inauspicious start after serving as a consultant to major corporations for 30 years. Yet, since its start, we've conducted our seminars and advised purposeful community builders in almost two dozen nations on the ways Jews have excelled in business over the centuries. The same natural and spiritual gifts with God at the helm have been in operation with this program. The Context and Foundations So far in this series on Jewish business secrets we've touched on the foundations, the model and the gifts. I've noted that the pertinent ancient foundations included the identity Jews retain as a culture. This identity impacts the uniqueness of community as it has endured and prospered, many times against much adversity, over the millennia. The self-sufficiency operating within Jewish communities embraces high standards and imparts the basis for future generations to advance. In the Jewish community, what we have just taken a brief look at, the importance of nurturing and developing the gifts, is passed on from one generation to another. Along with high moral standards and making God the Senior Partner, these foundations have resulted in creating a society of leaders, although the form of leadership does not conform to the way most within the world view leadership. Leadership involves power, but within the world we live in, there is righteous power and there is corrupt power. The Jewish means of employing power, which was elaborated on by Jesus, has its focus on good overcoming evil. As we consider these factors, we have touched the heart of Jewish culture. I have shared about Ghandi's response of loving the teachings of Jesus, but rejecting Christianity because he never met a Christian that he felt truly practiced these teachings. Ghandi's response was due to the culture of the Christians he had met. Jewish culture foundationally is Eastern, whereas the overriding culture of the Christians Ghandi had met was overridden with negative and Western trappings. One of the key strategies employed by Jews and reinforced by the teachings of Jesus was that of being a culture within a culture. Jesus' central message was about the Kingdom of God. He imparted the wisdom needed for His followers to bridge the natural and the spiritual domains of reality. This is a very Jewish premise and at the heart of Jewish culture. Jesus elaborated on it when He said that we would be in the world, but not of the world. So, to embrace the dynamics comprising Jewish business secrets is going to involve a different way of thinking, a more creative way of thinking that results from Jewish cultural foundations. The edge we observe in Jewish business exploits is a compatibility between their cultural and entrepreneurial foundations. In our next session I want to talk about the culture of the Jews. I've made the point of how important the Jewish approach to community is, but unless you first understand the culture, you're not going to fully grasp the Jewish community dynamic, which itself is very key to the Jewish business phenomenon. ___________________________________________________ Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the higher dimensions of business leadership since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders to be blessed to be a blessing where God's light is dim in diverse regions around the globe. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" "Leadership by Anointing;" and "Mantle of Fire," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks andwww.BarnesandNoble.com. Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/ Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your group's gathering on the Joseph-Daniel Calling or on anointing the creative in business. 2016 Copyright Morris Ruddick -- sign@strategicintercession.org Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check:http://www.strategicintercession.org Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt organization

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