IGNITE 2020: The Dominion Mindset – Pastor Emmanuel Emefienim

INSTRUCTIVE GOD’S NARRATIVE INTENTION TOTALLY EXPANDED (IGNITE) YOUTH SUMMIT 2020 CONFERENCE

THEME: THE DOMINION MINDSET

SPEAKER: PASTOR EMMANUEL EMEFIENIM (PASTOR, RCCG CHAMPIONS CATHEDRAL, WARRI DELTA STATE AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STERLING BANK)

TOPIC: EARNER VERSUS EMPLOYER

DATE: 18TH JULY, 2020

IGNITE YOUTH SUMMIT 2020 CONFERENCE – THE DOMINION MINDSET has been a Program that I know will remain Indelible in the memories of many Young People – Not just in Nigeria but all over the world.

SHORT PROFILE OF THE SPEAKER

He has over 27 Years Banking experience and has contributed immensely to the Growth and success of his bank, Sterling bank.

Apart from being awarded the “Best Performing” Group Head in Charge of Regional Businesses at various times, he remains the only Regional Head in the History of the bank to run the most Profitable Regional Business Bankwide for seven consecutive years from 2011 to 2017.

He was Promoted to the Position of General Manager in 2016, with additional responsibilities to oversee the Bank’s Operations, Commercial Institutional Bank and Franchise in the South South and the South East and the Midwest Regions of Nigeria.

He was appointed to the Board of Sterling bank as the Executive Director of Institutional Banking in 2018.

He is an Alumnus of the Harvard Business School and went and Schooled in Pennsylvania – A Performer of the Highest Quality.

Over time, again and again; he has been someone who has added Value, Provided Excellence in Leadership, in Governance and in Business.

He is an “Ordained Pastor” in The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and His Church in Warri, Delta State – Champions Cathedral is home to over 5,000 Worshipers every Sunday.

He is happily married to his amazing wife – Priscilla – Who is also an “Ordained Minister” in The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and they are blessed with five (5) wonderful children.

I am talking about none other Person than Mr. Emmanuel Efe Emefienim.

Sir, you are very much welcome to the Program.

SPEAKER’S MESSAGE

Let us Pray

OPENING PRAYER

Father in Heaven, we want to Thank You for this opportunity that You have given to us.

We Thank You for IGNITE SUMMIT 2020; we Thank You for making this Possible despite the Pandemic and all the issues around our Nation today.

Thank You for The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Thank You for the Youths.

We bless Your Holy Name for this Privilege and for this Platform.

We commit every aspects of this Engagement into Your Hands and we ask Lord, that You will speak to us in the way that we will understand. That someone out there will hear the Word he needs to hear, to transform his life, and to give him dominion over every areas of life.

We ask Holy Spirit that You have Your Way in this meeting.

And at the end, take all the Glory.

In Jesus Name we have Prayed. Amen.

APPRECIATION MESSAGE

First, I must appreciate our Father and the Lord, the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG); for this wonderful Platform that He has given to us as a Mission and as a Body of Youth.

We are not taking it for granted.

And our Prayer is that: God will continue to uphold him and to strengthened him all the way.

I also want to appreciate the Convener of this Great Summit – The AGO Admin and Personnel, Pastor J.F Odesola, and of course, The AGO in Charge of Youth, Pastor Peter Amenkhienan – For giving us this opportunity to be able to reach out to the Youth and to impact lives the way God has laid it in our hearts.

I also want to appreciate everyone that made today Possible – The entire team. The Lord will bless you all in the Name of Jesus Christ.

All these Speakers especially our brother (Pastor Emmanual Dania) who just spoke now, I was so blessed and impacted with his words.

And I’m sure that all the Youths connected to this Meeting have also been impacted as well.

I also want to appreciate all our Viewers connected to various Platforms on these on this Program and even readers on the Label of DMC.

THE MAIN SPEECH

Right away because our time is limited, I’m going to be speaking on that topic Earner versus Employer.

And I’m sure that there is something about this topic that will ring a bell in the in the hearts of someone today – Amen.

First, we must understand that the Theme for this Year’s Summit is The Dominion Mindsets.

When we talk about Domain; we are talking about:

1. The Mindsets of a Conquerors.
2. The Mindset of someone who finds his Space and dominates it.
3. The Mindsets of someone who is ready to take Ownership.
4. The Mindset of someone who is ready to take Responsibilities irrespective of where he or she finds himself or herself.

… And I’m sure today as we get involved in all of these sessions, we should begin to develop that Mindset and leave here better than you came – Amen.

Now talking about “Earner” versus “The Employer” – I would want to take a Case Study from the Scriptures and then you know, go ahead to speak to the Topic.

Now, I will read from the book of Genesis 30: 27-30.

Now, before I read, I just want to Put this in the right Perspectives.

First, I want to define who an Earner is?

An Earner is an individual who through work, investments, or both derives income.

… Through work, investments, or a combination of both derives some form of income.

That is an Earner!

I can also put an Employee in that same bracket.

And who is an Employee?

An Employee is someone who gets Paid to work for a Person or a Company.

That is an Employee!

And then if you take that further, you will be speaking to: Who an Employer is?

An Employer simply put: Is a Person or business that employs one (1) or more People, especially for wages.

These definitions are key and I like you to Note them as we Proceed.

Now, let us go to Genesis 30: 27-30 – And that is speaking about Laban the Employer Versus Jacob the Employee.

27. And Laban said unto him, I Pray thee if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
28. And he said, Appoint me thy wages and I will give it.
29. And he said into him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a Multitude, and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I Provide for mine own house also?

Laban says, Please listen to me: I have become Wealthy for the Lord has blessed me because of you. Tell me how much I owe you, whatever it is, I will Pay it. Jacob replied, you know how hard I have worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I have done. But now, what about me? When can I start Providing for my own family?

Now there is something Spectacular here – Which is what I need to Point out.

You cam listen to the audio here: Earner vs Employer, Pastor Emmanuel – Ignite 2020

The Mindset of every typical Employees is that the Employer is out to use you.

Jacob analyzed everything that has happened between him and Laban – And he summarize by saying: I have served you well enough. When will it now be the time for me to start doing something for my family?

You could see the suspicion; you could see the feeling of being used by Laban.

And that is one Mindset a lot of Employees have.

It is true that you have some Employers who are funny, but I want to encourage us as Employees not to always go with that Mindset.

Which is why you have a lot of agitations around Employee-Employer Relationships.

You will hear People talk about Labour Unions – Nigerian Labour Congress, Aluta Continua, the Struggle continues.

So, it is this kind of agitation, that shows a lot of them up.

But I’m Praying for someone that is connected to this Meeting or reading now on the Label of DMC – I’m trusting God that this Season, your Struggles will be over in the Name of Jesus Christ – Amen.

Now, having said that – There are some things that we must Note from the behaviour of Jacob:

Despite the fact that he felt cheated, not well treated by Laban the Employer. Jacob did not take for granted that Laban Provided a Platform for him to account a living.

He never took it for granted – He understood that this was a Platform and he did his best.

And at the end of the day, you saw how that Platform came – The Platform with which he established his business.

So, I like us to have this at the back of our minds, a lot of Youths, Christians:

1. When you find yourself in Paid employment, never take it for granted – It is a Platform that God has Pre-Created for you to account a Living.
2. Secondly, every Employee must Patiently go through what I call a “Learning Curve”, a “Learning Process” – You must seek to know.

Jacob took time to understudy Laban – He learnt the ropes very well.

And Let me tell you something about knowledge – What you know, you know; what you don’t know, you don’t know. What you know determines, to a large extent how much you can solve Problems. When you solve Problems; you create Value. When you create Value, you become Relevant. As your Relevance increases, your “Circle of Influence” increases. And when your “Circle of Influence” increases, you exercise Dominion.

… And that speaks to Dominion Mindset!

So, it is important that wherever you find yourself, you must seek knowledge, seek to know.

Jacob became a guru in rearing cattle, to the extent that even after twenty (20) years, his father In-law was not ready to let him go.

You know, I like to quote from a man called Steve Martin,

He said: Be so Good in whatever you do, that no man can ever ignore you.

And I send this Message across to the Youth listening to me this morning or reading now on the Label of DMC – Whatever you do, be so, so Good in it that no one can take you for a ride.

And that is one very important Lesson we must learn from Jacob as an Employee.

3. Now, furthermore, Jacob was so committed to his assignment – He took it so, so seriously.

The Bible says in Proverbs 22:29: *Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he will stand before kings and not before mean men.

Jacob was so committed he took his assignment seriously.

4. And then he went further to take Ownership.

This is where a lot of Youth, a lot of People, a lot of Christians where they fail.

The moment they have issues with their Employer, they no longer take the assignment seriously.

In fact, you see cases where Christians will abandon their Places of work. And they will tell you that they are going for Church Programs, they tell you they are going to attend to one activity in Church or the other.

That does not speak of Ownership.

I mean there is nothing wrong in attending Programs but you must work it out in a way that it does not affect the work that you do.

So, in the book of Luke 16:12 – And I will read from New Living Translation (NLT), it says: If you are not Faithful with other People’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own.

So, it is important you take other People’s work serious even when you are a “Disgruntled Employee”, even when you are not satisfied – For as long as you are there and you have the kind of Mindset that we are talking about today.

5. And then while doing your work, look out for opportunities.

Jacob saw opportunity by Divine Direction – And this is the God Factor.

Don’t take God out!

Our First Speaker (Pastor Emmanuel Dania) spoke so well about it.

You cannot lead when you don’t know what you carry. You cannot lead when you are not carrying God inside of you.

So, by Divine Direction, through so much Commitment, he (Jacob) was so committed to his assignment and God revealed to him what he needed to do that will take him out of the “Employee Status”, to become an “Employer of Labour”.

So, seek out for opportunities by Divine Direction!

And when they come, be sensitive in your Spirit to understand and to see them and then to act on them.

Now, having said that: like all of us knows, it is tough – You know Times are hard.

How can an Employee continue to sustain himself – Receiving Salaries on a regular basis and using that to sustain his family?

Now I’m going to look at this from three (3) Dimensions:

1. Firstly, you can choose to be an Employee:

I. And you do your work Religiously on a day to day basis.

II. And then you don’t bother about making savings or whatever you save you eat it up or you don’t spend it wisely.

We have a lot of People who are committed Employees who work that way.

2. We also have People who may decide not to work for anyone but may now choose to start their own businesses and run things themselves.

… That in itself is Beautiful.

What does it do for you?

I mean: You have your time, you manage your time very well, you are able to do things your own way, you are independent and you determine how much you earn because you are the one running the show.

But Bloomberg recently reported that eight (8) out of every ten (10) Entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first eighteen (18) Months.

So, that should also be a concern for you.

It doesn’t mean that when you fail once, you still cannot succeed.

But is something that gives you Food for Thought.

3. But then a third (3rd) dimension could be that you might choose to remain in Paid Employment.

And while you earn your income from your source of Employment, you deploy that income wisely to “Other Investments” that would generate additional income.

And I call that “Side Hustling” – Hustling by the side, generating for yourself multiple streams of income.

Now, how does this work?

It can work in three (3) different ways:

1. Firstly, if you are hearing me this morning, and you are a married man, or you are a married woman – You have a very Good Job, very Good Means of Livelihood, that you are not ready to let go or you know you still have several years to work.

Now, what can you do?

You can choose on your own to empower your spouse.

How do you do that?

You can help her Set Up a Business that aligns with his or her Passion.

Is it in the Scriptures?

Yes, it is!

If you read 2King 4:8 – It tells us the Story of a very Powerful woman, a very Wealthy woman of Shunem.

She was so, so Powerful, so, so Rich, that after she has served the Man of God and His Servant and the Man of God was thinking of what to do for her. Elijah asked her, do you want me to speak to you to the king about you? Do you want me to talk to the High and Mighty on your behalf?

And she said: Man of God my family takes Good care of me – The husband was so Wealthy but empowered the woman to the level where she could speak directly that I don’t need to engage any other Person. I am comfortable the way I am.

A lot of People takes this for granted – I am speaking from experience.

I lost my Job some years back and it was so Pathetic that at the time it happened my wife was just a Teacher – And everything looks like the whole world was crumbling.

But after that experience, I told myself: This can never happened to me again.

When I got back to work, of course, it was shortlived.

But by time I got back to work, as I’m saving, i Structure the Business that was very, very consistent with her Passion.

She runs it till today and I can tell you as an Executive Director in a Bank, if I retire today I am comfortable because that business can Pay my salary.

I mean, that is one side of it. You can choose to do that.

And so men out there listening to me or reading now on the Label of DMC; who thinks it is abominable or not right to get your wife engaged in Productive Ventures, you are missing it – I will like you to have a rethink.

2. Secondly (2nd), you can choose to invest in a “Thriving Business” of a Partner – A Trusted Partner.

There is nothing wrong with it – If your Partner is established in Business and you feel that you have to invest and make some earnings from it.

Maybe Profit Share or something.

How does that also work?

It is also in the Scriptures – If you read Luke 5:3.

It Presents Peter as the owner of the Fish Business. It was Peter whose boat Jesus used to Minister to the People.

But hear these: By the time Jesus Christ had finished and then he instructed Peter to launch into the dip for a great catch – By the time the catch eventually came out; his Partners who were not there initially showed up.

You know Partners will always show up when “Returns of Investments” are beginning to come.

So, James and john appeared – They had invested in Peter’s Business but Peter was the Anchor.

And when the time for them to share the benefits came, they showed up.

It is not out of Place for you to invest in the Business of a “Trusted Partner”.

3. And then thirdly (3rd), you can also choose to Set Up your business.

Make sure it is not in conflict with your work and then get someone else to run it.

Is it in Scripture?

Yes, it is in Genesis 39: 1-6.

It tells you of a man called Potiphar – Potiphar was the Commander of the Guards of Pharaoh’s Army and then he was so engrossed and entrenched in ensuring that the Guards were always at their duty Post.

So, that automatically does not give him room to see or do any other things.

But he had a Young boy called Joseph in his house.

And the moment he found out that, that Young boy can be trusted; the Bible said that he entrusted everything – His Personal Affairs to Joseph and even his business.

The Bible recorded that his crops and livestock flourished under Joseph.

So, Joseph was the MD/CEO of his Business but the Financier of that Business was Potiphar.

So, Potiphar could go to sleep knowing very well that if Pharaoh sacks him tomorrow, there is a “Fall Back Position”.

So, Youths and everyone listening to me or reading on the Label of DMC – Yes, you can migrates from being an Earner, an Employee to become an Employer of Labour because ultimately Dominion is what you carry.

And Dominion is your Portion – Amen!

By the time you do your “Side Hustling”, up to the Point where you realised that it has grown really, really big and you think the time has come for you to step out from your Paid Employment to begin to face it headlong, then the migration, can be seamless.

And then you get into what you have already started by this side without necessarily compromising your current work or whatever it is that you are doing and then you find yourself moving, migrating seamlessly from the status of an Employee to an Employer.

So, there is a connection between the “Earner Status”, the “Employee Status”, and the “Employer Status”.

But ultimately, when we talk about Dominion, you must learn to find your Space – Whether as an Employee or as an Employer, find your Space and dominate it!

Be the best in whatever you do – And you will get to a Point where it becomes difficult for anybody to ignore you.

You see I tell People: When you are in Business, you can actually eat up competition.

Excellence is a moving Target.

When you get to a level of Excellence, where you begin to do things beyond the ordinary and it becomes difficult when People are trying to catch up with you, you are raising the bar. It gets to a Point whereby they will give up on you and you would have ended up eating up competition.

And So where you find yourself as an Employer for twenty nine (29) Years, and by the Grace of God, God has helped me for every Bank I have had to work – I have worked in seven (7) Banks; I have left behind some things that People still talk about you tomorrow.

And so I like us – Never you think that when the Employer is not treating you well, that then you don’t have to handle your assignments correctly. That could be the Platform you need to take you to your Next Level.

And as you deal with that Platform and deal with it well; what Prepares you to take up challenges that will make you greater in life, in Ministry, and then you Dominate!

CLOSING PRAYER

My Prayer for someone out there is that: You will receive that Mindset.

And wherever you go from today, the Lord will give you that “Domineering Spirit” that will stand you out – Whether as an Employee or as an Employer.

Great is your Future!

God bless – Amen.

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