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Ô Do you see a man diligent in his business? e
shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before
mean (lowly) men.µ Proverbs 22:29

Ô uick, skilful, ready.µ

Ô when a customer comes in, a good business is
uick to respond to them
Ô ready with the items they want,
Ô skilful in conveying information
 ...DL 
Ô ustomers like this kind of service. hey like to
be attended to immediately, or to receive the best
attention, and the best information as soon as
they reuest it.
Ô f course such service is not always possible.
here may be insufficient staff, or staff may be
occupied, so how can a business overcome these
problems. hink of ways to distract, or entertain,
or divert your customers while they are waiting.
or example, some shops have a  for people to
watch while they wait.
 ...DL 
= f a business is diligent, it will grow, and the idea
is intimated that with the growth will come
wealth, since the owner of that business will
stand with kings...
 () L L  ; (
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D.µ
O !2:!!

ë ne of the best ways to serve the Lord is through

your business

ë he word ferventµ comes from a reek word which is

related to something boiling. magine a business
bubbling and boiling with energy. People in general
love to be in a bustling, busy shop, where the
manager or staff are alive and excited. O booming
business can be like a self-fulfilling prophecy ² you
become what you pretend to be.
 ...DL 
á
  
  



 





  
  






 





  


   


 
 ...DL 
Ô our business may be very simple, in which case
you will not need to put much supervision in, but
more complicated businesses need more effort.
heck the stock, the sales, the overheads, the
staff, wages, insurance and so on.
eep a tally of
everything week by week. Do some counting and
jot down totals. ee if changes can improve
performance. ry new things and note the
results.
...DL 
= O manager says that even
the slightest change in the
entry point window, on the
screen, had uite a large
effect on the number of
people who stayed to look
further. o check your
front window, literally.
ow does your shop look
from the road? s it grey
and boring, or bright and
exciting? Does your
window display attract or
repel people?
...DL 

= onsider
the farmer
...
...DL 
= cclesiastes says
or a dream
comes through
much activity.µ
When we apply
ourselves to an
enterprise, and
work hard and
diligently, we
tend to attract
success.
Ô ible promise is that if one is diligent to do these
things, one will have: goats· milk enough for
your food, for the food of your household, and for
the maintenance for your maidens.µ Which
means there will be money and food for your
family and servants. our business will meet all
your material needs. ut this provision is
conditional, and it hinges on whether you do your
part properly.
2.
 PLO

Ô running a business is not a matter of opening a

shop, putting some things into it, and hoping
people come and buy. t is an intelligent activity,
which involves a lot of planning. t takes
foresight, wise decisions and consideration of
many factors.

 PLO
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W

 
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D, OD 
   OLL 
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ë thinking of starting a business?
ë Osk W 
ë Osk W

ë ... hen 


 
O L ... 
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=3. 

if we have filled our
head with wise
information, good,
clear thinking, the
best facts, and not
allowed negative, or
foolish thinking in, we
will tend to prosper.
 
 - D  D O 
OL ...
= imagine raising a
child totally on comics
and stupid cartoons
on  or DD?
magine how useless
that child would be
when it grew up.
What we put in is
what we get out.
oolish material in
produces foolish
thoughts.
 
 - D  D O 
OL ...

= n the other hand, wise input produces wise

output. f we feed our mind on wisdom, and good
information, when it comes to running a
business, we will have one of our greatest assets
with us all the time ² our clear, positive
thoughts. t is the thinking of managers that
either makes or breaks a business. hey can
either think their way to prosperity, or to lack.
2. 
OL 
Ô O business cannot run indefinitely if it is based
on corrupt practise.

Ô od has built moral laws into our world. hese

moral laws are just as real and powerful as any
of the natural laws, such as gravity, and the
freezing of water into ice, and energy in sunlight.
Onyone who operates a business  have a
good moral framework, or what is known as
ethicsµ to support every part of that business.

OL 
= saiah 55:7 Let the wicked (person) forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and
let him return unto the L
D, and he will have
mercy upon him; and to our od, for he will
abundantly pardon.µ

= otice it is the waysµ, and also the thoughtsµ that od

addresses here.

OL 
= in the business context, all morally corrupt plans
must be abandoned in order to best ensure
success.

= We are, in some sense, our thoughts, because we

cannot purposefully do anything without first
thinking about it.
 O 
O  O


= Deuteronomy 25:!3-!
od commands that
all weights and
measures be
euitable.
= Ony business that
does not charge fair
price for accurate
measures is courting
disaster.
7 P D 
 : P D 
= od ranks financial and material blessing as
something to be pleased with. t is not a sin, as
some saints have suggested, being rich. n the
ible wealth is freuently held up as evidence of
od·s blessing, and a thing to be comfortable
with. he only downside of wealth is the
possibility that complacency can lead to pride,
and the sin of forgetting od.

= od·s W
D is D· D ...

P D ...

=
- ake a tip from olomon: put od
first, obey od·s Law, and expect to see
things take off.
9  
= s it possible for an atheist to do well in business?

= Just as any amateur can steer a car along a road

without understanding how it works, any normal
person can operate a business, if they know what
basic things they need to do. nderstanding the
rules is not essential or even necessary.
  
` Just sticking the word ualityµ on something means
very little. ustomers want to know what they are
buying, and many appreciate it when the faults are
also pointed out.
eep it open, keep it honest and
od will smile on your business.
!
 
= O fundamental uestion we should ask if we are
thinking of starting a business is Why am 
doing this?µ
= o obtain wealth (to get rich)
= o provide for family
= o beat the neighbours (status)
= o pay the bills
= o continue with an inheritance
!!
D 

= Psalm !
tells us about the second kingdom.  he
wicked boasts of his heart·s desire; he blesses the
greedy, and renounces the Lord.µ ompare this to
the first kingdom, as represented in Psalm !!2:
O good man deals graciously and lends, he will
guide his affairs with discretion.µ
` our business must serve od ...

D 
 ...
= When it comes to running a business, we have
the same two choices. We can either run things
on kingdom principles, or the very opposite. We
can be generous and gracious or greedy and rude.
We can dodge tax, and take money ¶under the
table· or declare everything, and pay our dues,
even though in hurts.

D 
 ...
= running a business does not give us an absolute
guarantee of success, because there are many
factors in life which we cannot always anticipate,
such as war, fire, flood, tornado, earthuake,
national collapse, and so on.
=  he harder  work, the luckier  getµ
!2 LO

L

=  he sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats
little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer
him to sleep.µ cclesiastes 5:!2
O business is a great responsibility. t reuires a lot of
time, and thought. t reuires maintenance, planning and
overseeing. very aspect has to be monitored and
adjustments need to be made regularly. et the ible says
a labouring man sleeps well. his is because the labouring
manµ is an employee. Oll he has to worry about is one small
part of the job. t·s the boss who has to do all the worrying
o the ible may be suggesting that it is better to be an
employee than an employer, simply because an employee
has less to worry about.
 
/ WOL
= When goods increase, they increase that eat them«µ
o the more we have, the more we spend.
= in Proverbs 3!, although this person is called a virtuous wifeµ
and may be more of an ideal, rather than any particular
woman.
Look at what this virtuous wifeµ does. he seems to be almost
superhuman he works with her hands to make clothes, she
provides (grows) food, she buys and sells land, she spins, she
weaves, she gives to the poor, she makes tapestries, she sells
clothes as well, and she stays up all night working as well as
all day. ne almost feels exhausted reading about her, but the
principle is clear. he is industrious, diligent, and savvy. he
controls her business and her aim in life is not to amass
wealth, but to provide for her family.

LO  !.
= he was motivated by greed, and she amassed
great wealth, through dishonest and immoral
practises. he lived luxuriouslyµ and loved
money and pride and prestige more than she
loved righteousness. Os a result od brings her
down.
he she glorified herselfµ and lived in a sensual,
materialistic way.
L 
OL
 ! " ! ! |#$
=  have a number of businesses. We·ve had a bakery in aiwan for 2
years, Liu·s akery in aichung. ·ve
also operated an import business to the .., and for the past nine years ·ve operated utricom
orporation, a health food company.
= orty-four years ago,  got very sick with tuberculosis. n aiwan at that time it was just like cancer, and
the doctor said  had one or two months to live.  was a major in the army, and  thought  should just kill
myself.
= he doctor sent me to the hospital with no hope. here,  read in the ible about a lady who had had a blood
disease for !2 years. he spent all her money on doctors, but she only got worse. When Jesus came, the lady
simply touched the hem of is garment. Jesus told her, our faith makes you well. o in peace.µ Ond she
was healed.
=  was very interested in this power  never heard anything about it before.  thought  was a good man, that
·d never sinned. ut as  read the ible,  saw od had very high standards. f you hit someone, it·s just
like murder. Well,  smoked ²  started at age !3 ² and  gambled so much that  couldn·t stop.
= ut the ible said, f you confess your sin, the Lord is gracious to forgive your sins, and you·ll become a new
man.µ  changed my mind right away and said, ·m a sinner.µ  confessed my sins, and the Lord forgave me.
 decided not to kill myself, but instead dedicated myself to the Lord.
= When  left the hospital,  went back to the army as a hristian, with a new life, as a new man. n !959, 
retired from the army, and had to find something to do to support my family. O friend gave me the idea of
starting a bread delivery company. We bought bread from downtown bakeries and delivered it to Omericans
living in aiwan. hen someone said,  ow about if we start our own bakery?µ
=  thought it was impossible because we didn·t know how to bake bread ut what is impossible with man is
possible with od. We started with a very small bakery, but it grew uickly to !
employees.
= n !97
 got sick again, and the doctor told me to eat wheat germ. Within four or five months,  was healthy
again. he germ is the good part of the wheat, which people normally throw away when they make flour.
ut we make it into a powder, and it·s healed many people. y company, utricom, is in rlando, and the
factory is in aiwan. We distribute it in the .., in aiwan, and three years ago we started distributing it
in mainland hina.
 ! ! |#$
= ost businesses only want to make
money.  never think how to make money.
We just think how to serve people and
od. od is love. When we serve the
people, we show them od·s love. When
we do this, od supports all our needs. f
someone doesn·t have enough money to
buy a product, for example, we just give it
to them.
= ow much money you make depends on
how much you serve. We do our business
for love and for Jesus.

OD
= en arson
=
obert
iyosaki

= apoleon ill

= David yedepo ...

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= etwork arketing
= orporation

= ranchise
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