Kitabı oku: «The High-Powered Christian Entrepreneur»

The High-Powered

Christian Entrepreneur

ROTIMI OGUNJOBI

Copyright © 2020 Rotimi Ogunjobi

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to everyone in search of a new meaning to their

lives.

CONTENTS

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

DEDICATION

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE TO THIS EDITION

INTRODUCTION

SUMMARY

1 LIBERATE YOURSELF

2 DETOXIFY YOURSELF

3 INVIGORATE YOURSELF

4 RE-PROGRAM YOUR MIND

5 PURSUE YOUR GOAL

6 BREAK DOWN THOSE BARRIERS

7 FLY HIGH, VERY HIGH

8 GET YOURSELF AN ATTITUDE

9 SOW THE RIGHT SEEDS

10 GET YOURSELF A VISION

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT CONFIDENCE

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT COURAGE

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT OVERCOMING CONFUSION

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT OVERCOMING

DISCOURAGEMENT

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT OVERCOMING FEAR

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT YOUR FINANCES

THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT MONEY

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PERSEVERANCE

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT SUCCESS AND PROSPERITY

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT WEALTH

WORKSHEETS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

All Bible quotes taken from the King James Version .

i

PREFACE TO THIS EDITION

At a point in my life, I was a very zealous young Christian,

constantly seeking knowledge that no pastor appeared willing or

able to sufficiently give to me. My eagerness led me to Bible

College, after which I was eventually by my church, put in charge

of a fledgling community church. But this was not my life vision.

Even though I loved to advise and encourage people, I was not cut

out to be a church pastor, at least not yet. I was certain God

required more of me; especially as no other part of my life was

going on impressively. I resolved thereafter to focus more on the

task of unraveling the purpose of human life and especially of my

life, which was certainly not going enviably at all.

I have in my life passed through scary medical situations

and even more frightening financial situations from which

anyone’s survival should defy rational human explanation. But I

remember the amusing quip of a very scared pastor which says:

“without passing through a mess, you cannot have a message “. I

have passed through sufficient mess to preach thousands of

messages and nearly completely convinced the purpose of my life

may be an encourager. I have indeed seen nearly everything.

1

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

I wrote the first version of this book, I believe purely from

divine interference. The version was compiled from personal notes

and observations made from various challenges life had led me

through. The book was published under a pseudonym; because I

wasn’t sure I wanted anymore to be associated with religious

writing. That done, I set the book aside, refused even to promote it

and happily carried on with my other interests, the divine call

being done with.

I have formal qualifications in civil engineering, software

technology and also journalism. The engineering degree I acquired

at the age of twenty and set aside about fifteen years later because I

thought it was no more sufficiently challenging. I needed

something which interfaced more with the world around me rather

than with a specialist niche. I needed an enjoyable occupation

being convinced nobody was ever created to live an unhappy life. I

believe every human being has a unique skill, something that

nobody else can do in the same way as you can, and if you can find

it, you have found the purpose of your existence and life will

consequently become easier to live. My most enjoyable skill is

creative-writing and I made certain it would be an important part

of whatever I committed myself to, a decision I believe divinely

placed after a circuitous life journey.

After reading this book, I am sure you will want to ask if I

eventually achieved the financial goal, I projected. No, I did not.

This is because I started with a goal and ended with a vision that

set the goal aside, for a while. The perks were equally rewarding –

2

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

I could more easily fund my several community-oriented projects,

which include ongoing support to a local orphanage. I was also

able to write more than thirty books over a space of only nine

years, some of them for big-name foreign publishers. An abridged

record of my adventure into writing books, I urge you to read in

my literary autobiography titled Gathering the Words. I must

mention that more than ninety percent of my books were written

after I turned fifty, an age at which most people think their

productive years are already behind them. I still write at least one

book every year, living the most liberating and liberated life I

could ever have imagined.

Undoubtedly, creative writing will not be your liberating

skill, primarily because you need to be an extraordinary writer to

earn any money at all from writing books. Yours could be sports,

or catering, music, pastoring, dressmaking, teaching, care giving

…or whatever your conversation with God eventually places in

your heart. How would you know you have found this liberating

skill? If it is not something that excites you beyond the expected

monetary rewards, you still need to keep searching.

The title of this book may need a bit of explaining. My

definition of a high-powered life is one that is constantly receiving

guidance from God. My definition of a Christian is one who is

constantly guided by the Bible and consequently of God. When

you decided to read this book, what were your expectations? Did

you imagine it may turn you into a high flying business owner

jetting around the world in your private plane? Yes, the little

3

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

knowledge I have given here could enable you to do that, but it

will take a great deal of work on your part to arrive at that goal.

Becoming an entrepreneur is not always about wheeling and

dealing and making a lot of money and I love this definition given

by an organization known as Enterprising Oxford:

“It is not just about starting a business or spinning out a

company from research. It’s all a mindset or a way of thinking.

Entrepreneurs just think and do things differently… Being an

entrepreneur can mean knowing your industry inside out and being

able to exploit that knowledge to create new opportunities. Being

entrepreneurial can mean sharing ideas freely and celebrating so-

called failures as learning and growing experiences. Being

entrepreneurial can mean simply thinking outside the box and

expecting the unexpected.”

What were my reasons to again revisit a book I abandoned

for more than eight years? I thought initially to reply that I don’t

know the reason, but that would be quite untrue. I do, and it is

again purely divine intervention. I offer this book as a testimony

that all the principles I have mentioned in the book work.

Rotimi Ogunjobi

January 2020

4

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

INTRODUCTION

These are difficult times indeed. Entire fortunes are being daily

wiped out economies go deeper into turmoil. Unemployment is rife

and many people are looking to the future with distress. But this is

the world economy, not God’s economy – because The Maker has

equipped each of us with the means to succeed and prosper in spite

of whatever is the situation in the world.

There are a few things though that we ought to get out of

the way before you dive deeper into this book. They should help

you determine what you may hope to expect and whether the book

is worth reading at all.

This is a book.

Yes, that is correct. It is not a miracle machine; and you

will not instantly become a successful entrepreneur, just by reading

it. This book contains knowledge and very little else and until you

put the knowledge to work it will remain just a book.

This is a book about how to use proven goal-setting

principles in tandem with sound Christian teachings to achieve life

and financial goals. It contains material from my personal

experience, success stories of other individuals around the world

and also Biblical notes. Regardless, my life encounters are

specifically mine and what has worked for me may not work for

5

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

you. It is my wish that you eventually look up and not to my

experience. That is the reason for this book: guiding you to create a

secular occupation that is powered from up above. I offer this book

merely as a guide to assist you to navigate your way through some

of the rough channels of life especially those concerned with the

basic task of finding your purpose and place in the economy of

God.

I have been there.

Maybe you are at this moment thinking you have seen so

much hardship in your life and you are thinking - it is okay for him

to write books; he doesn’t know what I am going through. ; think

again. I can tell you right now how wrong you are. I have passed

through it before. This book is therefore also my testimony

This book is about rising to reclaim your place and purpose

in life. It is a small book, not quite so filled with pages of action

points and motivational jargon such as you have probably read in a

dozen places and you are fed up with them. Read it quickly at first

just to enjoy it; then come back read it all over again, much slower

this time – to apply it.

What you do is what you get.

This book will have no more impact on you than you

permit it. What this means is that if you are happy enough with

your life, this book may be of no use to you. However, if you are in

earnest search for measurable goals, progress and achievements in

6

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

your life and you are willing to commit yourself to that search,

then, read on.

7

SUMMARY

This is a small book. You have probably read similar, most of

which at the last page makes you too weary even to put the

instructions into action. That is why I have made it small. I will

further make it smaller by summarizing the content into a couple

of pages so that you can easily determine what sections you want

to go back to re-read, to get yourself going.

Chapter 1

How do you know whether your life is on course or

not? It is often quite easy to find out if you know

the tell-tale signs. Give your life an audit.

Chapter 2

If you are convinced that you are going wrong in

life, it is necessary to do rid yourself of the pains.

Examine all your bad decisions, influences, and

quantifiable failures. Decide to forgive yourself.

Chapter 3

Many of those things and persons that you had

previously relied on are nothing but unnecessary

props. Resolve to get rid of them.

Chapter 4

Begin to build up your spirit by speaking good

things to and about yourself. Set a purposeful goal

and make plans on how to actualize it.

Chapter 5

Take inventory of your skills. Decide which ones

you will need to actualize your goal and what new

skill you will need to learn.

1

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

Chapter 6

A reaction is always a natural result of an action.

Examine those obstacles which could hinder and

completely halt your progress, and deal with them.

Chapter 7

It is now time to start implementing your plan, but

how positive are you about success and how well

prepared are you for failure? Pursuing a goal is a lot

like war, and you need to make contingency battle

plans.

Chapter 8

Success requires an uncommon attitude or several

of those attitudes. Get yourself a brand new routine

and earnestly forge ahead with your goal constantly

in sight.

Chapter 9

It is a natural law is that you cannot sow oranges

and harvest apples. Similarly, to reap money you

must needlessly sow money.

Chapter 10

Always having a goal is important, but having a

vision is more life-fulfilling. How would you like to

be remembered? Learn how to create a vision to

crown your life.

.

2

1 LIBERATE YOURSELF

“Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and

anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into

the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to

his own house; and when he required, they set bread before

him, and he did eat.

21Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that

thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child,

while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst

rise and eat bread.

22And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and

wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be

gracious to me, that the child may live?

23But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring

him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to

me.”

2 Samuel 12: 20-23

Now if you are not familiar with the Bible, you may not

1

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

quite understand the foregoing passage, but never mind, we will

sort that out together. The story is about a certain important king

called David, who fell into a situation which led him into many

days of sorrowing and asking God for mercy. Until, one day, after

the worst had come and passed, he stood, forgave himself of his

mistakes, and resolved to get on with life once again.

This chapter is not for everybody. It is for people who have

become lost in life and need to find themselves again. If your life is

going exactly the way you want it, skip this chapter and hop on to

the next, because you’ll probably get nothing from this one. This

chapter is for people who are fed up with being in a present rut. It

is for those who have fasted, moaned and grieved long enough and

need to stand up and say ‘enough is enough’. I will not cry for the

rest of my life. I intend to shake off this misery that life has

afflicted me with and press on forward.

How do people become lost?

Now, many of the suggestions that you will find in this

book may be so obvious that you will be asking yourself why they

hadn’t occurred to you earlier. Yes, how do people become lost?

The easy answer is that you become lost by going in the wrong

direction and consequently end up where they never intended to

go. There are several ways you can this can happen but I will

mention the three most common:

1. You may become lost by looking at the wrong road map.

2. You may become lost by blindly following after some

2

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

other people without

asking them where they are headed.

3. You may become lost by wandering in the hope that by

chance you will end up

somewhere nice.

It does not take a genius to tell you that if you are

navigating by looking at the wrong map, especially one which does

not even have your intended destination on it, you are unlikely to

get where you want to go. There is the possibility that you may get

to some other destination with a similar sounding name or with a

similar climate; but will that be the same as the destination you

intended? No.

The second mistake is similar to the first. Some of us just

follow after our friends and neighbors because they have some

things we desire. We make them our role models; we want all the

good things they have. We want the same kind of work they do, we

want their lifestyles, we want the same kind of food they eat.

Unfortunately for us, they also have troubles in their lives, which

they have of course kept carefully hidden from us. Would we also

want those if we knew about them? Young people are more easily

susceptible to such peer envy, but all it may promise is a journey

toward the destination of those that we envy, certainly not to yours;

and if you also are lucky to arrive at their destination, it may

require a great deal of prayer to survive for long.

I stress the last bit because I believe that in this life every

person is specifically equipped for his or her trip and destination

and not someone else’s.

3

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He

asked an elderly man,

"Where does this road take me?" The

elderly person asked, "Where do you want to

go?" The man

replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, “Then takes any

road. What difference does it make?"

Now the third situation is even more common and

disastrous. I say so because there are far more persons in this world

wandering lost, not quite sure where they want to go in life. They

are the sorts, who jump aimlessly from one sort of job to another

completely unrelated job, just because they need the money, or

they need the excitement or some other reasons that defy

explanation.

The truth of life is that if you are heading nowhere in

particular, you are quite certain to get nowhere eventually; and

you will get there weary, tired and fed up with life. An aimless

wanderer is also a disaster, a crime, a distasteful statistic just

looking for somewhere to occur.

What are the symptoms that you may be lost?

I know of a lady who had this annoying habit of greeting all

her friends “Happy Moan-day” , every Monday morning. I believe

this quite summarizes her mood and hopes for the rest of the week.

You know you have lost your purpose in life when life

becomes so uninteresting to you. For example, you are in a wrong

job when Mondays are never days that you look forward to with

any kind of happiness and Sunday evenings fill you with dread for

4

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

the next day. You know you have lost your life purpose when joy

has almost completely disappeared from your life.

You know you have lost your life purpose if your health

constantly suffers without any visible cause. You know you have

lost your life purpose if you are losing sleep and you can not figure

out why. You know you have lost your life purpose when your

precious relationships have degenerated and there seems to be

nothing you can do about this. You know you have lost your life

purpose if you find your life generally going contrary to your

expectation and things only promise to remain that way

The situation may manifest in several other dozens of

symptoms, none of which is ever pleasant either to the body or the

spirit. Sadly in the same way, as we often try to cure serious

illnesses by ourselves without talking to the doctor, the most

common response always has been to address the symptoms rather

than the root cause.

Your first step to getting back on track

A Christian lady once made the following entry in her

Internet diary:

Dear God, Please show me the right paths you would have

me follow. Sometimes,

I'm not sure of the direction I should

go. I stumble and run into roadblocks. I don't

understand

why things are not going the way I think they should. Help me to

see

how these roadblocks and detours are being used to

redirect my life. Thank you for

your promise that "all things

5

THE HIGH-POWERED CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEUR

work together for good to those who love the Lord."

Amen.

When I felt so inspired to find someone who could publicly

confess that she was getting nowhere and had, therefore, stopped to

ask direction from the only one who knows and can direct right. At

the time I read this confession, I wondered whether she eventually

got the direction she desired or condescended to follow the given

direction. Years later, I again had the opportunity to read how this