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THE NEW-OLD BUSINESS MODEL

 

© Morris E. Ruddick

 

 

Two thirds of the world has little or not middle class. Developing entrepreneurial communities is foundational to God's blessings and has as its initial prototypes, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In reality, the free enterprise system, in its purist sense, was hijacked from the Bible. The book of Deuteronomy alone outlines the principles to operate an entrepreneurial community . The elements of private ownership, profit, customer relations, community responsibility, generosity, employee relations, making your assets work for you and the like are clearly outlined from the Torah, Psalms, Proverbs, the Prophets to the parables of Jesus.

 

The restoration of the biblical economic model and the foundational principles underlying free enterprise will usher in changes dramatically impacting the priorities, perspectives and approaches to conducting business.

 

Western civilization is being challenged. The scope of both the risk and the opportunity are demanding change. The shaking and resistance underway have been spurring many to reexamine the mold. Those embracing the new-old biblical entrepreneurial-community business model will find the results tied to community- and nation-building. The application of biblical Kingdom truths will set in motion the potential for timely and strategic-level consequences, as the paradigm shifts.

 

The accelerated pace of unfolding world events and the ease and speed with which business operates globally today is demanding new economic models. Opportunity seized with the advances of the mass media in the fifties has now been combined with inroads available through the Internet to extend liberty and freedom to economically stagnant and distressed regions of the world. The result has been a quantum leap impacting the means by which a new generation of entrepreneurs serves their customers and communities.

 

We have entered an era in which numerous conditions are being aligned. When they mature and converge, they will become significant catalysts to the release of opportunity and resources into the hands of those strategically advancing the precepts reflected by the God-centered entrepreneurial community model. These dimensions include the reemergence of the biblical economic model; a new paradigm with business initiatives being aligned with community responsibility; strategic partnerships merging spiritual, community and economic functions, and the maturing of Israel's destiny.

 

Reemergence of the Biblical Economic Model . Because of the nature of the times, the restoration of the biblical economic model will be as a light shining in the deepening darkness coming upon the earth. These are times pointed to in scripture as being wrought with evil and discontinuities. They are described as days of famines and earthquakes, with wars and rumors of wars. The biblical principles that govern entrepreneurial communities work in the face of adversity. The awakening and calling of entrepreneurs operating according to biblical principles will globally penetrate bastions of poverty and oppression with hope.

 

A New Paradigm with Business Initiatives Being Aligned with Community Responsibility . The application of biblical business models in these times parallel the context outlined in Genesis 26, when God told Isaac to sow in a land of famine. Isaac heard, he obeyed and he prospered. The biblical economic model operates against all odds. The variants of this model will always, in some significant way, be tied to community. Entrepreneurial men and women of God in this day will not fit the superstar mold often seen in high profile corporate settings, but rather a servant-leader model. Joseph the Patriarch was a servant-leader whose strategies bypassed the destruction of the famine in Egypt and accomplished God's purposes for his people in the process.

Strategic Partnerships Merging Spiritual, Community and Economic Functions. As we enter a time when the clash of civilizations is intensifying and power struggles begin reaching vicious levels, we will also see a convergence of the spiritual, community and economic, as spiritually-minded entrepreneurs assume their roles. With this convergence will arise partnerships that will flow in the scriptural principle of " God giving us the power to get wealth that He might establish His covenant ." These partnerships will build communities and bring positive impact to nations. In the process, there will be a monumental power shifts, that will result in incredible releases of resources into timely, strategic and effective initiatives: initiatives that merge the functions served by spiritually-minded entrepreneurs.

Maturing of Israel's Destiny. Restoration and redemption has always included the apple of God's eye, Israel. The perspective to God giving us the power to get wealth that He might establish His covenant relates strongly to Isaiah 60. It speaks of the restoration of Israel. It points to the truth of what is now unfolding in God's plan, is that the pivot point is Israel and the Jewish people assuming their destiny-in-God.

"For the wealth of the seas will be brought to you and the riches of the nations will come. Your gates will stand open continually, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations. You are the Lord. You will do this swiftly and they will be called ministers of our God and they will feed on the wealth of nations." (Isaiah 60:5,11)

 

The restoration of Israel, both the land and the people Israel is already in process. The nation of Israel has become the number-two center globally for venture capital projects. For its size, Israel's Technology Incubator program produces an amazingly high ratio of new business enterprises entering the global marketplace.

 

Despite 60 years of war and the impact of recurring intifadas, Israel's desert blooms and against all odds, it thrives. Yet, despite the pressures against Israel continuing to mount, the initiatives that merge the spiritual, community and economic and the efforts of entrepreneurial men and women of God will extend to the nations and bring balance and change to the inequities in freedom and opportunity in the two-thirds of the world with little or no middle class.

 

The Power Shift . Despite the burgeoning clash of civilizations, a massive alignment is in process. It is an alignment that will release the greatest move of liberation and restoration the world has ever seen: restoration and deliverance tied to a significant power shift. It is the power shift of all ages with God's sovereignty over His creation being restored, His covenant being confirmed and His covenant people entering their long foretold destiny. It is a shift that will incorporate new venues of resources and wealth that will be rightly administered by prepared and chosen modern-day vessels, like Joseph the Patriarch, who understand the times and whose actions and perspectives will bring hope and freedom to this strategic hour.

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This article is adapted from and reprinted with permission from "God's Economy, Israel and the Nations," authored by Morris Ruddick. His books are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets. Mr. Ruddick is a Christian Zionist who has been a board member of two Israeli humanitarian NGOs (amutot). He works with the Jewish community in putting on business startup workshops from Israel to anti-Semitic regions in the Former Soviet Union and with the Christian community with economic community-building ventures across five continents.

 

2005 Copyright Morris Ruddick - mer@strategic-initiatives.org


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