"So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city" (Genesis 23: 17-18).
We all know that the earth is the Lord's and everything therein the world and they that dwell therein - Psalm 24:1. We are therefore mere stewards of God's resources and God is the true owner. As stewards, however, we must understand the value of legal ownership and its biblical implication. Legal ownership is not a new concept; it existed since the time of the patriarch Abraham.
In Genesis chapter 23 we find Abraham needing a burial place for his wife Sarah. Since he had not yet taken possession of the Land of Canaan and did not want to go back to the place the Lord instructed him to leave, he negotiates with the current occupiers of the territory, the sons of Heth (the Hittites), to purchase the land as a burial place for his wife and family. What is interesting about this interaction is that the people of the land wanted to give it to Abraham at no charge; "What is money among friends?" they said. However, Abraham insisted that he would purchase the land. They sold him the land for four hundred shekels of silver and the property was deeded to him.
Here is Abraham, a steward, holding the title to a piece of property that made him the official owner of that property. Does this mean that God was less the owner since the property was deeded to Abraham? Why did Abraham need to buy the property? How does ownership impact our stewardship? By purchasing the land Abraham ensured that the land remained under the control of his heir even beyond his lifetime. Had they given the land to Abraham it would have remained theirs and he could not transfer it to his heirs. Many believers have made the mistake of not ensuring proper legal ownership of things and lost the right to exercise authority over it.
The fact of the matter is that we cannot be proper stewards of something that we do not have legal ownership of or control over. The law of ownership gives the legal owner the authority to exercise control over the thing they own. And because we are Kingdom business stewards with legal ownership over our businesses we are, in fact, Biblical Owners. Biblical Ownership is taking legal hold of an idea, concept or thing and utilizing it for the benefit of God's kingdom. Biblical Ownership gives us the legal right to become stewards of the things of God.
If I were to visit your home and began to use your television to watch inappropriate movies, and you stood up and reminded me that the house was the house of the Lord consecrated for Holy purposes and asked me to stop the movie since it did not honor the Lord, and I refused and insisted on watching the movie, you would call the police. What do you suppose they would do once they arrived? Of course they would ask me to leave the house because you were the legal owner of the home with the legal right to determine what can and cannot be done in the house. However, if you visited my home and I was watching an inappropriate movie and you insisted that I stopped and called the police they would ask you to leave because you have no legal right in my home. Biblical Ownership does not just give us legal control of a property but it gives us the legal right to allow the will of God to done on the property.
God valued ownership so much that He protected the sanctity of property by prohibiting theft in the eighth commandment; Exodus 20:15.
What has God called you to own for His glory? Have you completely consecrated everything you own to Him? Remember the only value for legal ownership for believers is that it gives us the legal right to be stewards of God's resources on His behalf.
Copyright © 2009 Patrice Tsague ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Another reason we need the Africa Initiative
(by Skye at RCE)
The folks at Wild Hope are doing amazing work. Every so often I get over to one of their blogs, especially Let's Put the Kettle On. (I guess I want to be like Lisa when I grow up.) :)
But this post, Watching Africa Blow Away, really made my heart hurt for the people suffering, for so many different reasons. Hopefully our business development centers can make a difference for individuals, families, communities, and eventually, the nations, starting with Burundi and Rwanda.
Here's a taste of her post:
We drive across the East African plains and wonder at the moonscape they have become. Along the roadside, the trees stand brittle and covered in a heavy coat of dust. The faces of the little shacks along the way are the same. Fine, powdery dust has lifted easily in the dry wind and painted everything a lifeless brown. The monotony of color is strange and disturbing...
Africa, it seems, is blowing away.
Even the elephants are skinny...
Now, everyone knows that East Africa experiences cyclical droughts, but this is different. A combination of man-made and natural factors have collided to set up the perfect non-storm. No rain of significance over the last couple of years and 2 harvests in a row have failed now.
"And, what will happen?" I wonder to myself. Will East Africans stop felling the trees that draw their rains? Will the farmers finally learn to protect their topsoil by ploughing with the contour of the land instead of up and down the hillside? Will the pastoralists who have lost so much grazing land reduce their herds and stop stripping the fragile environment right down to bare earth?
And will the world notice?
(Keep reading...)
The folks at Wild Hope are doing amazing work. Every so often I get over to one of their blogs, especially Let's Put the Kettle On. (I guess I want to be like Lisa when I grow up.) :)
But this post, Watching Africa Blow Away, really made my heart hurt for the people suffering, for so many different reasons. Hopefully our business development centers can make a difference for individuals, families, communities, and eventually, the nations, starting with Burundi and Rwanda.
Here's a taste of her post:
We drive across the East African plains and wonder at the moonscape they have become. Along the roadside, the trees stand brittle and covered in a heavy coat of dust. The faces of the little shacks along the way are the same. Fine, powdery dust has lifted easily in the dry wind and painted everything a lifeless brown. The monotony of color is strange and disturbing...
Africa, it seems, is blowing away.
Even the elephants are skinny...
Now, everyone knows that East Africa experiences cyclical droughts, but this is different. A combination of man-made and natural factors have collided to set up the perfect non-storm. No rain of significance over the last couple of years and 2 harvests in a row have failed now.
"And, what will happen?" I wonder to myself. Will East Africans stop felling the trees that draw their rains? Will the farmers finally learn to protect their topsoil by ploughing with the contour of the land instead of up and down the hillside? Will the pastoralists who have lost so much grazing land reduce their herds and stop stripping the fragile environment right down to bare earth?
And will the world notice?
(Keep reading...)
Blogger
I see blogger has a new text editor...
Just thought I'd try it out. But where's the cute little icon for a hyperlink? Now there's just the word 'link'...
Well, I guess it will probably still work just fine...
RCE homepage
Hmm, interesting...
Here's a picture of Tom Stansbury, who received an award last month from NPIM for his teaching of Biblical Entrepreneurship in Ukraine. Congratulations again, Tom!
Just thought I'd try it out. But where's the cute little icon for a hyperlink? Now there's just the word 'link'...
Well, I guess it will probably still work just fine...
RCE homepage
Hmm, interesting...
Here's a picture of Tom Stansbury, who received an award last month from NPIM for his teaching of Biblical Entrepreneurship in Ukraine. Congratulations again, Tom!Destined By Design
Another treasure!Doug Chandler presents an insightful seminar on destiny, purpose and meaning. What is your purpose here in this world? Can you find meaning in the midst of trials, challenges, or even the daily grind?
Take a look!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Unconditional Obedience
"But Simon answered and said to Him Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down my net" (Luke 5:5)
Would you like to know the secrets to overwhelming blessing and favor beyond your wildest expectations? Of course we all would. The reality, however, is that this "secret" is not really a secret at all but a well-known principle that we know but struggle with its application. This principle is called unconditional obedience. We have all heard of obedience, which is defined as listening with a desire to act. True obedience is about submission; it is the act of completely yielding oneself to the person giving the instruction. It is about rejecting our will and embracing His will. Unconditional obedience takes it a step further; it is not just completely submitting our will to the will of God but it is doing so without reservations. Unconditional obedience is listening with the desire to act without reservations.
This principle is demonstrated in the first encounter between Peter and Jesus. After Peter allowed Jesus to use his boat to preach the Gospel, Jesus, in his desire to bless Peter, instructed him to "launch out his net in the deep". Peter, a professional fisherman, had been fishing all night without success but his response to Jesus was that at His Word he would let down his net.
Though Peter was not certain of the outcome of his action, he unconditionally obeyed the Master and as a result he was extremely blessed beyond measure. He caught so many fish that day that he needed help to pull the net out of the water and the net even broke. This demonstrates that Peter had never caught that many fish in his professional career and had not planned on it, because if he had, he would have had a stronger net to handle such a harvest.
How long have you been toiling without real success? Fortunately we are at a time when the fate of our economy has been removed and we are all facing the real consequences of our actions. Our disobedience and inefficiencies can no longer be hidden in the abundance of the economy because it has been exposed by the current crises.
Like Peter you have recognized Jesus as Savior of your life. However, it is time to recognize him as Lord. You trusted Him with a part of your assets but it is time to trust him with all of your assets, including your profit centers. It was easy for Peter to let Jesus use his boat since this act did not impact his profit center. Taking operational advice from Jesus would impact his profit center; it was recognizing Jesus' Lordship over everything he had. What does a rabbi know about fishing? What does the Bible really have to say about business?
Peter obeyed Jesus unconditionally even though he did not know what the outcome would be. Will you turn everything to him? Will you obey Him unconditionally? Will you allow your business, your life and everything you do to be guided by the Bible? Of course your outcome may not be like that of Peter where he experienced immediate blessings. It may be like Daniel's, where His unconditional obedience led him into the lion's den or like Joseph, where his unconditional obedience led him to prison. Whatever challenges you may face as a result of your unconditional obedience will be nothing compared to the surpassing weight of Glory that awaits you. So go ahead and obey Him unconditionally and watch Him perform a miracle in your life and in your business.
Copyright © 2009 Patrice Tsague ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Would you like to know the secrets to overwhelming blessing and favor beyond your wildest expectations? Of course we all would. The reality, however, is that this "secret" is not really a secret at all but a well-known principle that we know but struggle with its application. This principle is called unconditional obedience. We have all heard of obedience, which is defined as listening with a desire to act. True obedience is about submission; it is the act of completely yielding oneself to the person giving the instruction. It is about rejecting our will and embracing His will. Unconditional obedience takes it a step further; it is not just completely submitting our will to the will of God but it is doing so without reservations. Unconditional obedience is listening with the desire to act without reservations.
This principle is demonstrated in the first encounter between Peter and Jesus. After Peter allowed Jesus to use his boat to preach the Gospel, Jesus, in his desire to bless Peter, instructed him to "launch out his net in the deep". Peter, a professional fisherman, had been fishing all night without success but his response to Jesus was that at His Word he would let down his net.
Though Peter was not certain of the outcome of his action, he unconditionally obeyed the Master and as a result he was extremely blessed beyond measure. He caught so many fish that day that he needed help to pull the net out of the water and the net even broke. This demonstrates that Peter had never caught that many fish in his professional career and had not planned on it, because if he had, he would have had a stronger net to handle such a harvest.
How long have you been toiling without real success? Fortunately we are at a time when the fate of our economy has been removed and we are all facing the real consequences of our actions. Our disobedience and inefficiencies can no longer be hidden in the abundance of the economy because it has been exposed by the current crises.
Like Peter you have recognized Jesus as Savior of your life. However, it is time to recognize him as Lord. You trusted Him with a part of your assets but it is time to trust him with all of your assets, including your profit centers. It was easy for Peter to let Jesus use his boat since this act did not impact his profit center. Taking operational advice from Jesus would impact his profit center; it was recognizing Jesus' Lordship over everything he had. What does a rabbi know about fishing? What does the Bible really have to say about business?
Peter obeyed Jesus unconditionally even though he did not know what the outcome would be. Will you turn everything to him? Will you obey Him unconditionally? Will you allow your business, your life and everything you do to be guided by the Bible? Of course your outcome may not be like that of Peter where he experienced immediate blessings. It may be like Daniel's, where His unconditional obedience led him into the lion's den or like Joseph, where his unconditional obedience led him to prison. Whatever challenges you may face as a result of your unconditional obedience will be nothing compared to the surpassing weight of Glory that awaits you. So go ahead and obey Him unconditionally and watch Him perform a miracle in your life and in your business.
Copyright © 2009 Patrice Tsague ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Life Balance, Overload and Renewal
Found a treasure!
Regent's Media Services just sent me some updated links from some recordings made a couple of years ago. This one, entitled Life Balance, Overload, and Renewal, drew my attention right away: who doesn't struggle with stress and balance in life, at least sometimes?
Here's the link from Fall 2006, I believe: http://www.regent.edu/admin/media/fms/butterfly/butterflyURL.cfm?address=5000052
Doug Chandler, who taught this course, is a good friend and was very much appreciated by students while he was teaching at Regent Universtiy.
Regent's Media Services just sent me some updated links from some recordings made a couple of years ago. This one, entitled Life Balance, Overload, and Renewal, drew my attention right away: who doesn't struggle with stress and balance in life, at least sometimes?
Here's the link from Fall 2006, I believe: http://www.regent.edu/admin/media/fms/butterfly/butterflyURL.cfm?address=5000052
Doug Chandler, who taught this course, is a good friend and was very much appreciated by students while he was teaching at Regent Universtiy.
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