“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 48 My father-in-law likes to joke that fifty percent of all doctors graduated in the lower half of their class at med school. And if there were a school that all businessmen and retail merchants had to graduate from, then …
Thinking Outside the Cliche
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 47 Those who are interested in improving their performance in business will find no shortage of books offering to help along the way. The American market is glutted with “guru management” books of all kinds. Those who are interested in …
A Godly Customer
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 46 One of the best ways for a merchant, tradesman, or businessman to determine if he is thinking biblically about his enterprise when he is managing it is through reflecting on how he behaves when he is a customer. We …
Airy Fairy Stuff
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 45 The most persistent heresy that the Church has had to deal with, over the course of our centuries, is the heresy of Gnosticism. In countless ways, Christians drift into the dangerous assumption that spiritual means immaterial and that unspiritual …
Rewards
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 44 Heavenly things drive earthly things. What we assume about ultimate reality is going to dictate how we behave in day-to-day matters. If we assume that the whole idea of “rewards” is somehow less than spiritual, then we have to …
Altruism and Self-Interest
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 43 A businessman cannot function without a prudent sense of self-interest, and one of the reasons many Christians struggle in their oversight of business is that they do not understand this virtue properly. And the reason they do not understand …
More on Self Interest
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 42 Self-interest is built into us. We do not have to create it, and it is not possible to annihilate it. It is fixed; it is a given. This means that when I have a toothache, I know instinctively that …
Selfishness and Self-Interest
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16 11) Growing Dominion, Part 41 No one needs to teach us the arts of selfishness, and the related arts of rationalization. No one has to have special classes for the toddlers in the nursery in order to teach them how to grab for toys, …
Giving Away the Store
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 40 God blesses open-handedness, and yet there is such a thing as giving away the store. What is the difference between the two? The law of God requires open-handedness, and a generous spirit. The gleaning laws of the Old Testament, …
God Gave the Increase
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 39 No one controls his own life. No businessman controls the variables that govern the success of his business. At the same time, there is a correlation between our behavior and whether we prosper or not. When we see this …