Firestarter School 101 E-Course

Helping you to create a LIFESTYLE of partnering with God in your business.

Welcome to the Firestarter School 101 Mini Course!

I’m your Chief Fire Igniter Shae Bynes, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be your mentor throughout this e-course. I pray that it is a blessing to you and your business. I recommend doing no more than one or two lessons each week so you can do the practical application exercises as well. Each audio lesson is between 6-10 minutes long.

1: The Heart of a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur
2: The Ultimate CEO
3: Ministers in the Marketplace
4: Your #1 Promoter
5: Business Success Formula

Lesson #1: The Heart of a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur

SUMMARY:

Because this community and movement is called Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, I think it’s important to lay a foundation of what a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur is.

Let’s break the phrase down:

Kingdom: Meaning God’s reign, the realm of Heaven, God’s rule, and His way of doing things….also known as the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven

Driven: Meaning propelled or motivated by

Entrepreneur: One who organizes and operates a business or businesses, identifying a need or desire and filling it in the marketplace

When we talk about being a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, this means that your entrepreneurship is motivated by the Kingdom. It’s primarily motivated by seeing an increase of the Kingdom of God on Earth, and it’s propelled forward by seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have other goals for your business as a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur. Most entrepreneurs seek to generate profits and use business as a vehicle for serving the needs of their families as well as others. You may also be interested in creating jobs and opportunities for others through employment. These are all good things, but when you’re a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur your primary driver is the Kingdom. That’s your heart.

It’s worth noting that you can be a Christian entrepreneur, or Christian in business, but not be Kingdom Driven. You can be a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, operate your business based on Biblical principles, but still not be primarily DRIVEN (motivated and propelled forward) by the Kingdom of God.

Additionally, when we talk about Kingdom it doesn’t solely mean leading people to salvation, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That’s the biggest miracle and clearly we want to see more people saved, however when we talk about seeing an increase of the Kingdom of God on Earth it also means seeing God’s rule and reign (His way of doing things) on Earth, impacting industries, culture, and communities. It’s about seeing the realities of Heaven manifested on Earth which will certainly yield the fruit of many coming into personal relationship with Christ.

When you’re a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, it is certainly not business as usual. Your business is fully yielded to God (CEO & business partner) and led by the Holy Spirit (Chief Operating Officer). You will leverage your spiritual (supernatural) gifts along with your natural gifts. You will align with God’s dream for your enterprise and seek God’s heart for the people you serve and cross paths with in the marketplace. You will understand that Heaven rewards risk. You simply won’t be able to imagine doing business without partnering with the presence of an awesome and limitless God.

Actions

Get a notebook or journal that you can specifically use for your Kingdom Driven entrepreneurial journey
Meditate on Matthew 6:31-33 and journal about what that scripture means to your own business life.
Listen to the God story of how Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur was started in November 2012 (KDE Podcast #1)

Lesson #2: The Ultimate CEO

SUMMARY:

In Module 1, we spoke about how as a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur we yield our businesses to God, making Him CEO and the best business partner in the universe. Yielding is a surrender; it’s presenting your business to Him and giving Him access to your business affairs. Often when people hear the word “yield”, they think about what they are losing, but when we yield to God we have so much more to gain!

We can trust God completely with our business because of His character and who He is.

You may think “Of course I can trust God with my business!” but yet at the same time struggle internally with the question “But does God really CARE about being involved in my business?”

The answer is a resounding YES! God cares about everything that concerns you:

He promises to be with you WHEREVER you go…yes, even in the marketplace (Joshua 1:9)
He asks you to give Him ALL of your cares because He cares for you…yes, even the anxieties you may be having as a business owner (1 Peter 5:7)
He gives you the power to create wealth…yes, even through your business (Deuteronomy 8:18)
He says He will go BEFORE you and He will never fail you or abandon you….yes, even as you’re doing work in the marketplace (Deuteronomy 31:8)
He promises to give you wisdom generously when you ask without finding fault in you for asking….yes, even wisdom concerning your business (James 1:5)

I could go on and on with scriptures to support your Father’s interest in your business affairs. Why? Because He is interested in YOU and desires greater intimacy and relationship with YOU. He can and should be trusted with everything.

Actions:

Study and meditate on the scriptures discussed in this lesson. Write down what the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart concerning you and your business through these scriptures.

Lesson #3: Ministers in the Marketplace

SUMMARY:

When you’re a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, business IS ministry and your ministry IS business!

This can be a source of confusion for entrepreneurs because the word ministry evokes images of “not for profit” and “free”, but it simply means that when you’re Kingdom Driven the opportunities to minister to others through your marketplace assignment will present themselves frequently.

The word “ministry” comes from the Greek word diakoneo, (dee-ak-on-eh’-o) meaning “to serve” or to “attend to the needs and interests of others.” What’s interesting is that even many of the businesses in the world get this! There are businesses that are thriving because they place service as their key objective. They focus on having stellar customer experiences and going above and beyond their competitors and they realize that by serving better they are sowing seeds and receiving a harvest of greater profits.

That’s the world! You’re in the KINGDOM! Ministry has a much deeper meaning and impact. For us, ministry is service to God and service to others in His name.

This is the model that Jesus gave us — to serve others. He didn’t only minister to spiritual needs either, but also physical, emotional, financial, mental, and even vocational needs. As a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, business is service both unto God and unto others.

You will serve through your products and serve through your commitment to a standard of excellence PLUS you will serve by releasing what God has placed on the inside of you (bringing the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven with you wherever you are). As an entrepreneur spending the majority of time in the marketplace and outside of the four walls of a church building, you are uniquely positioned and anointed for Kingdom impact right where you are and your work is an act of worship.

Embrace the assignment — you are a minister in the marketplace. Let this be your prayer:

Father make me and this business a habitation. Let your eternal purposes be made known and manifested through how I serve in the marketplace. You be glorified, Lord and may Your heart reflected in my interactions with others.

Actions:

Listen to the following episode of The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur Podcast:

Reflect on how you are serving God and serving others through your business. Consider whether there are adjustments that should be made with how you currently serve. If you haven’t already embraced your business as ministry, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any barriers you may have in your mind or heart so that they can be addressed.

Lesson #4: Your #1 Promoter

SUMMARY:

Most entrepreneurs understand that it takes diligence and consistency in the areas of marketing and promotion to generate profits. However, when it comes to the actual promotion and elevation and increase in “status” for you and your business, that promotion should come from the Lord and in His timing! Is it possible to force things by hustling hard and working your tail off? YES! Can that lead to promotion, elevation, and increase? YES!

However, this is sub-standard for a Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur. This is not God’s best and the truth is that what you force, you will have to maintain yourself. This easily leads to stress, pride, and destruction across multiple areas of your life. God gets no glory from that and you delay (or even worse forfeit) His best which exceeds all you can ever ask, think, or even imagine!

On the other hand, where God promotes you He will sustain you. Not only that, you won’t have to say a word because God will shine the light and compel others to get involved in your prosperity.

Your job is to work in excellence and diligence as unto the Lord. Those are seeds sown and they will reap a harvest. He will promote you and He will also increase your income. What we know from the scriptures is:

To exalt means to elevate or lift up
God is the Judge and is the one who exalts us (Psalm 75:6-7)
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12)
God has a proper time and season, a “due time” when He exalts the humble (1 Peter 5:5-7)

When it comes to your business, rest in confidence that God Himself will be your #1 Promoter in His perfect timing which will always be better than your timing!

When you’re feeling the urge to force things rather than flow with the timing of God, remember that we’ve been given the solution of how to deal with it. Humble yourself under the mighty power of God so that he may lift you up in due time.

Actions:

Read the stories of Joshua and Solomon — they provide an example of the treasure found in waiting for God’s due time
Reflect on whether there are areas in your business where you are forcing things rather than flowing in God’s timing. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas to you. If so, embrace the process and ask Holy Spirit to help you do business in the pace of God’s timing so that you don’t get far behind or far ahead.
Listen to the amazing testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness in business in the following 2 episodes of The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur Podcast:

Lesson #5: Business Success Formula

SUMMARY:

In our very first book The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur: Doing Business God’s Way we introduced a success formula and it was FAITH + OBEDIENCE = SUCCESS. In other words, submitting to God’s will for you and your business and having the FAITH to walk it out is key success for Kingdom Driven Entrepreneurs.

Later on in our book The Firestarter Effect: Making Jesus Christ Known in the Marketplace we updated to success formula for those who truly have a heart to be demonstrators of God’s presence, power, passion, and purity in the marketplace. That formula is RADICAL faith + RADICAL obedience = Fire Ignition (success).

Radical Faith:

When we say that your faith should be radical, we are not referring to being foolish. We are not referring to casting everything aside for the sake of the Gospel without any wisdom or instruction from the Holy Spirit. In fact, Proverbs 1:7 says that it’s a fool who despises wisdom and instruction. Jesus was never foolish. He wasn’t a reckless lone ranger. He only did what He saw the Father doing. He ignored natural circumstances and did what the Father showed him to do. The Bible is full of stories of individuals who were able to receive the promises of God through Jesus Christ based on their bold faith. They chose to believe rather than to doubt. When we say it’s time for your faith to be radical we mean a new and increased level of faith from where you are right now.

Radical Obedience:

Obedience says “Yes Lord, I’ll do that,” “Yes Lord, I’m willing,” “Yes Lord, I’ll go.” However, your lifestyle of Yes must be radical. Your “Yes Lord” cannot be based on what makes natural sense to you. It cannot be based on what you’ve done before or what you’re comfortable with — none of that matters. It doesn’t say “Yes Lord, but not right now” when He is clearly telling you to move. Your lifestyle of radical obedience says:

“Lord, that sounds absolutely ludicrous, but Yes Lord I’ll do that.”

“Lord, I have no idea how I’m going to do that, but Yes Lord, I trust You and I will take the first/next step.”

“Lord, the timing for that seems a little odd, but ok…You say now? Let’s do it. Yes.”

“Lord, are you for real?!? I mean, seriously?!? Ok, whatever You will have me to do. Yes Lord.”

“Lord, it’s only moments before the event starts and You haven’t told me what to say to all these people yet, but Yes Lord, I’ll go out there anyway.” (We know this one intimately)

Yes. Yes. Yes. Whatever He asks of You, the answer should be “Yes.”

Actions:

Reflect and answer the following questions:

How am I currently demonstrating my faith (through action) in God in my business?
What instructions have I received from the Holy Spirit that I haven’t carried out?
What will I do this week as a demonstration of increased faith and/or obedience?