Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.

(Proverbs 24:6)

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Dear Brothers and Sisters, Shalom.

Welcome to tune in to the program by GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Angelie. This program is based on the workplace training course of GLOBAL JIREH entitled "Christ-centered Entrepreneurship”. This course was compiled by Pastor Tony TAY Mingxian to help brothers and sisters live out Christ in the workplace.

In today's talk, we are going to talk about the relationship between wisdom and brand. We will discuss four principles. The first principle is wisdom, and the second to fourth principles are related to brands, but they are all related to each other. The English acronym for these four principles is "WITH".

First of all, "W" is "Wise Counsel"-a suggestion of wisdom. An excellent heavenly enterprise needs to listen to wise advice. Workplace are like battlefields, and businessmen are like warriors who fight every day, requiring smart strategies to fight a good battle. We must be clear that no one has all the wisdom from God. Therefore, we should resolutely stop the bad culture of "One man making decisions". It is a pity that a board of directors with one person in charge cannot make the counsellors play a role in it. Another situation is even worse, that is, directors are people who love flattery. Neither kind of board of directors can integrate the opinions of all parties to discern God's will.

Numbers 22:18 records such an incident. Balaam answered Balak’s servants and said: “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.” Our board of directors need people like Balaam, who don’t look at people’s background and bravely speak God’s will, so that people can gain wisdom and discern God’s will.

With people who dare to speak the truth, the board of directors needs to integrate the following three opinions: the first is the persuasion of experienced people, which can prevent us from repeating the same mistakes and use the past experience as a lesson for us; the second is to have the guidance from the truth in bible. This can help us minimize the risk of going the wrong way; the third is to have different people providing different perspectives. Only by integrating the opinions of these three aspects can we get a comprehensive and wise strategy.

Next, we will be able to build a corporate brand. The brand must comply with the following three principles:

The first is "In Christ" starting with "I"--In Christ. We have wisdom and knowledge in Christ and act in His presence. Colossians 2:3 tells us that  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge refers to ideas and opinions; wisdom refers to the ability to identify the authenticity of knowledge. We must be in Christ so that we can have true wisdom and true knowledge. With wisdom and knowledge, we have to act. This process is full of challenges. We need to assess risks with the wisdom gained from the Lord, and then integrate confidence and risk in parallel to move forward. Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us: " I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." If we don't have confidence, we will eventually miss the opportunity. On the way forward, we are bound to face many attacks because what we do is hated by the evil ones. At this time, Psalm 3:3 is our comfort: "But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high." We ask the Lord to make us not to be timid in Christ, because the Lord gives us is power, love and self-disciplined heart (2 Timothy 1:7).

The second principle of brand building is "Trustworthy" starting with T- Trustworthy. Before doing things, you must first learn to be an honest person. Only those with integrity can hold the brand's positioning and ensure its good reputation. A well-known brand is an intangible asset of an enterprise. Therefore, kingdom entrepreneurs need to value brand building and act with integrity. Money is only a tool used to complete the Lord’s work, and it cannot break the bottom line because of money. The kingdom’s entrepreneurs’ reverence for truth cannot be compromised, even if they suffer losses or go bankrupt. No matter what environment you are in, you must always act with justice and speak the truth firmly. We do this out of a God-fearing heart, and will never allow sin to destroy our relationship with the Lord. In addition, we are willing to humble and obey God, which will enable us to have a heart to be taught, to discover our blind spots, and to have more character in our lives. In the end, the pure and God-fearing heart will attract others to trust us.

The third principle of excellent brand is "Home Service" starting with H-a family-like service. We are used to giving our family the best, and we also want to make customers feel at home. Don't think of money as more important than service to others, because a good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1). We treat each other like family, and if the other person is willing to treat us the way we treat them, we will be favored. In the process of serving guests, we must never take it lightly, because as dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor (Ecclesiastes 10:1). Family-like service is not an impulsive act, but a performance of continuous vigilance. We must always be vigilant, or our good work will be ruined.

When we firmly adhere to the above principles, even if we are slandered by others, our righteous deeds will be our best protection. We may be emotionally sad, but we must remember that God is our righteousness; God is our hope of righteousness and justice.

Summarizing the above content, excellent kingdom companies must listen to Wise Counsel, and the brand built on this basis should conform to the three aspects of In Christ, Trustworthy and Home Service Principles.

At the end of the program, let us invite Ps. Tony TAY Meng Hiang, the founder of GLOBAL JIREH to pray for us.

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Discussion

1. Observe the board of directors of your company. What is its composition? What role does each person play?

2. From the perspective of the business operator/owner, what is the biggest feature of your corporate brand?

3. From the perspective of consumers, what is the biggest feature of your corporate brand?