Giving + Blessing = Enterprising

In 2006 God was moving me from the world’s way of business thinking into His ways. At first, I didn’t understand some of these issues on the face of things. For example, I thought I knew what mammon and greed was, but looking back I had oversimplified (and even dignified) what trusting in money and greed actually was in God’s sight. You know, my old way of thinking was: #1 greed is when some one like the character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street is asked “how many yachts can you waterski behind?”

Or maybe greedy is a person who prostitutes themselves or someone else for money. Or someone who robs banks. But certainly not me! I trust in God, I’m a tither, and a generous giver…

And when it came to investing, I was a student of the free-markets, capital formation, buying and selling, price discovery, discounted cash flows, price-earnings ratios, fundamental analysis and technical analysis from a child watching “Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser” with my dad. My dream job was first Investment Banking, then Sales and Trading. I got to do both at a high level. Later, it was “alternatives” investing such as venture capital, private equity and hedge funds. I figured, hey, if smart people can figure out ways of making enormous sums of money, I could too as a child of God – and do good with the money I could make! I often thought of the analogy of George Soros making billions in global macro hedged trading and put it to work in donating to organizations like Planned Parenthood, I could be the “white knight” and fund Christian missionary efforts around the world. So we started a hedge fund in the same location of several of the largest hedge funds in the world – Westport, Connecticut.

However, God had better plans in store than what I had imagined and envisaged in terms billions of dollars for the Kingdom. 2006 was a pivotal year and He was showing me things – giving me revelation and a new perspective on how He looks at investing and multiplying for eternal good. Things I had not yet contemplated or considered.

It was late spring in early June and everything in the north east had come back to life and was lush and green. It was even starting to get hot. I had time in the truck driving several hours to Watkins Glen International in upstate New York on my way to my first wheel-to-wheel race.

I had worked out an arrangement to rent a factory Porsche Cup car through my friend Spenser Cox who ran the race shop Speedsport Tuning. Spenser was a dear friend and someone I helped disciple in Christ who had raced Porches his whole life. We were blessed to have him as chief instructor of the Connecticut chapter of the Porsche Club. We used to joke with each other: “You teach me how to drive and I teach you how to let go.” Another good banter was when he used to say about my investment company: “You work for God.” Yep. In fact, my race number is #31, short for the God head 3-in-1 – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I was excited for the adventure as I had been driving with the Club on various track days for the past couple of years, going to various tracks around the region making new friends.

As I drove into Montour Falls, home of the popular with the racers Falls Motel 15 minutes from the Glen, I was listening to a teaching by Englishman Graham Cook entitled “A Spirit of Revelation and Wisdom” (based on Ephesians 1:17). The whole teaching focused on God speaking to his people today through the Holy Spirit. Giving revelation and wisdom to those who seek Him. As I prayed to receive such revelation at some point during the trip I got two phrases that I felt were spoken by the Holy Spirit:

The first phrase was an equation: “Giving + Blessing = Enterprising”

The second phrase was “God will not take stock in something on the earth without taking stock in someone with it.”

This is word for word from my journal back at the time.