Any Christians here?

[Vigilante]

The older I get, the more I come to realize for the most part that people are just doing the best they can do to be the best people they can be, regardless of where they find themselves on the political or religious spectrum. Sometimes, it takes an entrepreneurial education, like the Millionaire Fast Lane, to set people free. Some times people find freedom within their beliefs. Sometimes it's a blend of both, and there are many people here that you can't put into one bucket or another. Belief is not mutually exclusive from success.

You guys have all done an excellent job of keeping this thread on topic. That's the reason it is still open. Also, appreciation to those who may not be of any faith for having enough respect for the forum to keep the conversation interesting and absent of drama.

Spirituality and politics are part of life. The forum is devoid of spiritual and political debate, which is unique to the internet. However, we as individuals are not devoid of political or spiritual interests. This was a fair question to ask, but I just want to thank the participants for not taking a partisan or anti position.

People are just trying to do the best they can do, regardless of where they find themselves on the political or spiritual scale.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

And with that said, I think we can close the thread. I think the question has been adequately answered.... YES, there are Christians here, and probably more than you think. And YES, there are Jewish folks, Muslims, and atheists as well. The thread is starting to go beyond the question.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I also want to add that I don't want the purpose of the thread to get buried... if you're looking to network along faith/religious lines, try posting a meetup in the meetup forum.

 

[Bananas]

christianentreprenuer.com is available on GoDaddy for $13 bucks.

 

[smarty]

Whatever you feel limits you, get rid of it.
It doesn't matter if that is religion, close friends and family or a boss.
You can't stay productive for long in a self limiting box.

 

[smarty]

christianentreprenuer.com is available on GoDaddy for $13 bucks.

Someone nabbed it quick. If it's someone in this forum, hope ya'll do something cool with it! Good luck!

This is a miss-spelling christianentreprenuer.com - and it's still available at godaddy.

Meanwhile christianentrepreneur.com is registered since 1998. So I'm not sure what you're talking about.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Wow. That's actually a great name and a steal. Surprised it was still out there. Anyone here?

It actually wasn't still out there, as that's not how you spell entrepreneur. christianentrepreneur.com has been registered and owned by the same guy since October 1998.

The one bananas posted is still available (because it's spelled wrong).

 

[Visionquest]

I am christian and it is my belief in god that has allowed me to pursue all that I can be in life with my knowing that this is all temporary and I should do what I want while I'm here. Great quote I have heard many times. "I have been poor and I have been rich. I like being rich a whole lot more." The fact of the matter is if you are rich it opens up a whole world of exploring philanthropy and giving that you cannot access when your poor. You can help more people you can help the church. You stand on your feet and give. You produce. you are a leader and people respect your stand and follow your path which includes christianity. If you want to help the most people possible be rich and christian. If people say wanting to be rich is selfish or not christian I say. Wanting to stay poor and in need of resources from others is less christian. Why do you need to have wealth redistributed to you to live. I say make wealth and distribute as you see fit to everyone you want if you choose. Just my thoughts

 

[MVProduct]

Please note that this isn't a religious discussion. I'm just wondering if there are others here in the same boat.

I'm taking a shot in the dark here. Are there any Christian entrepreneurs here? If so- I'm wondering if any of you can resonate with the situation I'm currently in.

Most of my Christian peers are not ambitious nor Fastlane-minded. They're all focused on building their relationships with God and doing good, "Christian" things. The thought of building a business doesn't even strike them or get them excited- their goals are typically religious-oriented; they want to serve in ministry, they want to go on missions, etc.

Yes, I understand that they're my Christian "brothers" and "sisters" and I should be growing closer to God together with them- but frankly, a lot of them are so involved in building their faith and knowledge about the Word that I can't help but seem to think they're doing almost nothing to achieve what they might label "worldly" goals in life. It's a real struggle. And so, that's where my disconnect from them comes from.

In addition, I came across a quote from Ryan Allis (founder of iContact), which reads below:

Who you surround yourself is who you become. Surround yourself only with smart, competent & positive people. Life is too short not to. Your friends determine who you become. You should only spend time with friends who inspire you. If your friends don't inspire you then find friends who do. Don't let "chance" determine who's in your life. Random friends (ordinary life) vs. Chosen friends (high impact life). To avoid being mediocre you must seek out people who are not mediocre- and hang out with them.

Turns out, the people in my life who are ambitious, goal-driven, solution-oriented, and share mutual interests with me- are, conversely, NOT Christian.

My 'random' friends are Christians that happen to be in the same fellowship, or go to the same church. But they're certainly not people who are like-minded. Religiously, yes. Entrepreneurially, not at all.

It puts me in quite a difficult situation. Spending time with Christian brothers/sisters means I'm not surrounding myself with like-minded & entrepreneurial people. On the contrary, spending time with like-minded & entrepreneurial people means I'm not surrounding myself with Christian brothers/sisters.

Can anybody relate?

 

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[jon.a]

Sounds like opportunity to me. There must be more Christian entrepreneurs than just you. Round them up.

 

[vinylawesome]

Please note that this isn't a religious discussion. I'm just wondering if there are others here in the same boat.

I'm taking a shot in the dark here. Are there any Christian entrepreneurs here? If so- I'm wondering if any of you can resonate with the situation I'm currently in.

Most of my Christian peers are not ambitious nor Fastlane-minded. They're all focused on building their relationships with God and doing good, "Christian" things. The thought of building a business doesn't even strike them or get them excited- their goals are typically religious-oriented; they want to serve in ministry, they want to go on missions, etc.

Yes, I understand that they're my Christian "brothers" and "sisters" and I should be growing closer to God together with them- but frankly, a lot of them are so involved in building their faith and knowledge about the Word that I can't help but seem to think they're doing almost nothing to achieve what they might label "worldly" goals in life. It's a real struggle. And so, that's where my disconnect from them comes from.

In addition, I came across a quote from Ryan Allis (founder of iContact), which reads below:

Who you surround yourself is who you become. Surround yourself only with smart, competent & positive people. Life is too short not to. Your friends determine who you become. You should only spend time with friends who inspire you. If your friends don't inspire you then find friends who do. Don't let "chance" determine who's in your life. Random friends (ordinary life) vs. Chosen friends (high impact life). To avoid being mediocre you must seek out people who are not mediocre- and hang out with them.

Turns out, the people in my life who are ambitious, goal-driven, solution-oriented, and share mutual interests with me- are, conversely, NOT Christian.

My 'random' friends are Christians that happen to be in the same fellowship, or go to the same church. But they're certainly not people who are like-minded. Religiously, yes. Entrepreneurially, not at all.

It puts me in quite a difficult situation. Spending time with Christian brothers/sisters means I'm not surrounding myself with like-minded & entrepreneurial people. On the contrary, spending time with like-minded & entrepreneurial people means I'm not surrounding myself with Christian brothers/sisters.

Can anybody relate?

“For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever
does not have, even what they have will be taken from them” (Matthew 25:29).

I think that people who idealize the Fastlane mindset are few and far between in the entirety of society. With that being said I know of a few people in my personal life who have the fastlane mindset and they are Christian's. Perhaps you need to seek these people out in your local area. You already have something in common, "Being Christian and interested in Business/Entrepreneurship," Thus, your faith would be some what of an ice breaker.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

OMG, spellcheck fail.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Funny that as soon as I mention that it's nice not to see a debate, someone comes in and tries to spark a debate, a position, and a theory.

The question is "Are Christians here?" -- NOT, can you put X,Y, or Z before God? Is Fastlane apart of GOD? God? Jesus? Mohammed? Nope, not apart of the question.

And this is why we can't have nice things.

 

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[CPisHere]

Christian here.

I know A LOT of Christian business owners, including ones that do millions of dollars a year in revenue. However, I don't personally know any truly Fastlane Christian Entrepreneurs, but then again I don't personally know any fastlane entrepreneurs at all.

I see some potential issues with being a Christian fastlane entrepreneur, but I have not had any problems reconciling these. It's all about priorities, and I absolutely believe that we can glorify God in our financial success. However, your mentality as a Christian shouldn't be the same as *these heathens* like MJ (I kid, I kid).

If you want a fastlane business in order to own a Lambo & get laid, that's probably not in line with your Christian values.
If you want a fastlane business to spend more time with your family, and financially bless those around you in need - what a wonderful vehicle a fastlane business is for that!

It's true that who you surround yourself with is who you become, so I make sure I surround myself with ambition people, and Christians, and family that loves me regardless of those factors, and physically fit people, etc etc. Not every person around you has to be exactly who you want to be. You take what you can from each of them.

 

[sle3pyguii]

I could write a whole thing on this as I know where you're coming from (I was raised in the church, graduated from a Christian college, and so 90% of my friends are Christian.).

However, to keep it short:

There aren't many people in the world with the fastlane mindset. There are even fewer with the mindset who are Christian. You can keep looking if you'd like, but why not just keep the friends you have (on both sides)? Having both sets of friends has definitely helped me grow in both contexts a lot more than if I just ended up choosing one group over the other.

 

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[Mike Kavanagh]

Whatever you feel limits you, get rid of it.
It doesn't matter if that is religion, close friends and family or a boss.
You can't stay productive for long in a self limiting box.

THIS.


You can learn from anyone.
Try to remember the story of the kid who told another person they did want to learn from some who got divorced even though the guy was mega-successful.

Getting a divorce, being a certain religion or any other thing you can say, doesn't invalidate what someone has to say.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that nobody is taking sides (well except one guy on the first page, but he was mostly ignored lol). The same kind of discussion could be had under a question of 'Is it possible to be a successful entrepreneur in a country with xyz style of government/social programs', etc without actually devolving into madness.

Usually with these kinds of threads, there's an attack against another group in the thread starter and then everyone goes nuts.

It also speaks to the character of the people here.

Also good job to OP for doing it right.

 

[Vigilante]

Really labels divide people and limit us from growing and developing and accomplishing things. I believe there is a time and place for everything, but some how I don't think a business forum, unless it's directly a Christian Entrepreneur forum is really relevant. Just like when I went to college I had an atheist teacher teaching me social psychology, statistics, and other stuff who was best friends with my professor that was a Christian Minister.

They listened to each other's point of view, joked about each other in classes, and we just learned the subjects. Some people put an emphasis on the label atheist or christian. Their personal beliefs was irrelevant to how they taught Social classes or psychology classes. Totally different subject. Those that needed the labels quit the class, where the rest of us wanted to get the class done and graduate. Whatever your focused on limits your progress and delays learning. We just paid attention to what we were learning to graduate.

Something I learned from Stephen Key this week is reps. You have to get the reps in in order to hit home runs. Very few people step up to the plate and hit home runs.

This resonated with your point about learning what you need to graduate. You can gain a graduate level education here on the forum. I think one of the reasons people stay so long here is for the free education, and for the most part it is drama free. And... the reason it is drama free is because in part of the lack of drama regarding politics and religion. Almost everyone here has an opinion on those divisive issues one way or another. But what sets us apart is here... those differences... matter zero. In fact, they matter so little that if you wear them on your sleeve, you don't fit. Here. Because that is not why this place exists.

Plenty of places on the internet (hello, Facebook?) to get into debates over religion. Only one place I know of where a free MBA in business can be obtained, and that's here on the forum. And as long as MJ is around, it's not going to be degraded by becoming like every other forum on the internet.

This thread has been an interesting experiment, and for the most part, the regulars have held fast to the forum rules. This thread has been very... Fast Lane.

 

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[seamles]

Thanks for the great discussion and kind respect to everyone. The forum is truly great.

Would those who posted here like to start a skype or online meetup so we can continue to talk?
Let me know and I can get it organized. I found another FLF skype group I'm in has been helpful.

 

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[Yasai]

Spending time with Christian brothers/sisters

Wow, the exclusivity of it all.
Are human beings only your "brothers and sisters" if they happen to believe in the same stuff? ;-P
Why not treat every human (or even every living) being as your spiritual sibling?
We're all in this together.

That being said:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven." -Matthew 19:23
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." -Matthew 19:24

If I remember correctly, Jesus even tells you to give away ALL of your worldly possessions to the poor.
So it's probably not your "brothers and sisters" that are wrong in this regard.

(Sidenote: I don't believe in christianity or any of the other religions)

To answer your question:
I see no real reason why religious views (or lack thereof) should interfere/mix with business/entrepreneurial mindsets. Seems like 2 different entities to me.
Probably going to cause some cognitive dissonance in any case though ;-P

But I'm sure you can find Entrepreneurs who have the same hobbies, preferences, religious views etc. if you look for them.

 

[Vigilante]

Someone nabbed it quick. If it's someone in this forum, hope ya'll do something cool with it! Good luck!

I was going to grab it. Missed it.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Are there any Christian entrepreneurs here?

I think you would be surprised.

Someone nabbed it quick.

Wow. That's actually a great name and a steal. Surprised it was still out there. Anyone here?

 

[Texan]

I don't want to get into any religious discussion, but I can relate to what's you're saying. I happen to be the lone entrepreneur in the group of Christians we fellowship with. And I tend to be really annoyed at some "Christian" views of money (as evil, etc.). But to answer your question, I know Christian business owners where I live, but nobody trying to fastlane it.

Peace!

 

[jpmartin]

Most of my Christian peers are not ambitious nor Fastlane-minded.

I think you're making a generalization here, without any facts. There are plenty of Christians out there who understand that business is a holy venture! I'd suggest start reading "The Legend of The Monk & The Merchant" and check out Dave Ramsey, who talks about Entreleadership, based on Christian principles. Once you touch that circle, you'll find plenty of people...

You're probably just looking in the wrong places...

(Also, read the book Thou Shall Prosper... Jewish Rabbi, but so is Jesus right!)

 

[Mattie]

Hmm...I'm surprised this even got this far. Usually the threads are stopped when religion comes into play.
I will tell you in my experience it does affect your success mindset. My foundation was based on those principles and views, and my perceptions of money were very warped. And I'm seeing that now. I come from a conservative Christian community. A wealthy community.

I will say it conflicts because being an entrepreneur or just being a healthy person in general clashes with me meditating, and succeeding because serving others is holding on to pain and suffering and sacrificing to help others. I've already gone up against one of my friends that is a minister didn't see eye to eye and fortunately when you need to survive in life and need money to survive, shelter, clothing, food, the church and christian's aren't going to save you, or pay your bills. The problem is this can cause a lot of damage in someone's growth and understanding as a Christian.

And I see plenty of people in poverty struggling, and playing victim because they believe they're being loyal, faithful, etc. I see how the big picture of homeless shelters with that the basis of them getting help. How in some cases it doesn't help others, because they need coping skills, survival skills, and inner development. Christianity and Psychology clash and you will see them debating with the sects that use psychology and scripture together, and calling them false prophets. Than you read a book like Outwitting the devil by Napoleon Hill and see it clearly.

If you want to be a Christian Entrepreneur you will have to battle the same questions I do, and while I would have made a great Christian Preacher, I seen to many things I could not lie to people about, and that is telling them that meditation and mindfulness would lead them to success. I don't know what other's believe. In my journey I just know I've had to pave my own way, and break away from the dogma and man made religion. Which is what my novel is about is my Christian journey and how I ran into a lot of problems of success. I understand it's all about learning the truth, and it's not always the way the world presents itself. There are lies, illusions, and deceptions. So that would be my advice to find your own truth and seek out the answers.

It's not a discussion I really like to get into it, because I can point out all the problems is causes for a person trying to fit in a fixed mindset of it's supposed to be a certain way, and should be this way. It was a major roadblock at one point battling with my friend and we're no longer friends. You have to understand the world is in disagreement between inner development, money, religion, spirituality, and success. It gives mixed messages, and causes chaos and confusion. No one knows what to believe, or what to do. They're taught it's wrong, and than hold on to pain and suffering, and sacrifice happiness and money to stay safe with family and stay in dysfunction. As an entrepreneur you have to break out of the dysfunction and do inner development and walk out of victim hood, and not wait for some one to come save you from circumstances.

Which is probably why M.J. doesn't allow these discussions, because when you talk about politics and religion people are passionate about it, and gets ugly sometimes, and terrible in forums.

In my case I had depression. If I listened to them it would have been playing victim, take some pills, and hang on to the pain and suffering. Instead I chose to mindfulness, meditation, and inner development, and become an entrepreneur. It just depends on the reality you want to believe and fall in. I don't regret my choice. I still read the bible, as much as mindfulness, and meditation, but I can tell you I'm outcast back home for choosing entrepreneurship and not following the crowd.

 

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[healthstatus]

There are plenty of Christian Entrepreneurs, but with their priorities, they may not talk about it as much or be as flashy about it, so you have to dig a little, or a lot to make those connections. As mentioned before, not a lot of people want to start businesses, and now you have limited that group to a smaller subset.

 

[sle3pyguii]

christianentreprenuer.com is available on GoDaddy for $13 bucks.

Someone nabbed it quick. If it's someone in this forum, hope ya'll do something cool with it! Good luck!

 

[sle3pyguii]

I do not know any fastlaners personally though, but I wish I did and plan to attend some various meetups soon to hopefully meet like minded people.

It puts me in quite a difficult situation. Spending time with Christian brothers/sisters means I'm not surrounding myself with like-minded & entrepreneurial people. On the contrary, spending time with like-minded & entrepreneurial people means I'm not surrounding myself with Christian brothers/sisters.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a thread where someone was literally given a brand name/website domain to buy + the product/service it could become + some sort of market validation.

I expect great things, whoever you are that bought the domain.

 

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[ericj]

entrepreneurs4god is available...entrepreneursthatpray is too..could lead to something.