“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2 – 4

I am writing this blog on the flight from Charlotte to Atlanta where I change planes for Sarasota, Florida. As I was reflecting on this most unusual day, the Scripture above came to mind that we are to count the trials and temptations we face as sheer joy. To say that runs counterintuitive to everything in me today would be a big understatement!

You see, today was the day I got to reveal to the world my new book, Rainforest Strategy. It is the culmination of 3 ½ years of study, prayer and application. I allowed extra time for the book release because I wanted everything to be just right. And instead, everything that could go wrong did. For some strange reason, it went out in a red text instead of the normal black text. If you tried to actually order the physical book, you were taken to the e-book inside the store. It gets worse, but I will spare you.

That’s when I read James 1 again and decided to count all this as joy. After all, it is working patience in me and if I let if have its perfect work, it will mature me wholly and leave me lacking in no good thing. Sounds like a plan to me! A very good plan. So as I head home for the weekend, I am counting the trials of the day as sheer joy. It beats the alternative!

If you were one of the numerous host of folks who ordered the book on Friday and helped us set a new record for orders in a single day I thank you from the bottom of my heart! And I ask you for grace. (o-:  Nearly every order was processed as an e-book order when we know most of you wanted the physical book. Somehow our links got messed up despite all the test orders we processed successfully before sending out the email offer.

I rarely say this, but I really believe there were other forces at work today that got in and got some wires crossed. I believe those spiritual forces would do anything to hinder this incredible revelation of practical business truth gleaned from God’s creation from getting out and helping folks gain financial freedom. Your kindness, mercy and understanding in what is no doubt a frustrating experience for you would be greatly appreciated. Maybe you too could count it all joy with me… (o-:

Please read any email from Cheryl@SellingAmongWolves as she will be updating all of you who placed an order on Friday and getting things straightened out. If you were planning on ordering but haven’t yet, please DO NOT use the link on Friday’s email. Simply go to www.RainforestStrategy.com/about-the-book or order from our follow up email when we resend the offer with all the links working correctly.

I am joyful because of Christ and I am grateful because of you! May God bless and watch over you this week. Be extra prayerful and watchful the next few days. We live in unprecedented times and your adversary, the devil is seeking whom he may devour.

Today’s message is a guest entry from David G. Johnson, founder of Nourish The Dream.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV)

In our previous message, we talked about the inner struggle that some of us face — particularly those who have been around Christianity for awhile — where business and financial success are concerned. It isn’t too difficult to guess that one of the major contributors to this struggle is an abundance of erroneous teaching about the Bible and what it really says.

For example, here’s a direct quote from a recent Newsweek article:

“For one thing, Scripture is full of exhortations against accumulating wealth. The New Testament, especially, repeatedly reminds followers of Christ that earthly wealth means nothing in heaven. ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,’ says Jesus.”

These few sentences are so full of misunderstanding about Scripture that it’s almost infuriating. (Where does Newsweek get off interpreting Scripture anyway?!) But the tragedy is that many churches have actually taught — arguably with good intentions — fallacies like this.

Another great example is the, “root of all evil,” Scripture referred to in the title of today’s message. Not only is it frequently misquoted as, “money is the root of all evil,” but the entire passage that it comes from is (in my experience) usually preached from a fundamental place of misunderstanding.

If you’re hearing from those you look up to (spiritually speaking) that it’s wrong to accumulate wealth, doesn’t that directly work against you?  Isn’t business challenging enough without wondering if God is upset with us for doing well in it?  Is God so cruel as to require that we work to provide for our families and even call us into the business world only to tell us that we are only pleasing to Him when we fail?

It’s time that we take a hard look at some of these teachings and find out what the Scripture really says.