The Christian Broadcasting Network

GOD'S ECONOMY

The Prosperity Plan That Works

By Ken Hulme
The 700 Club




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CBN.com - In the world of ice skating, there’s a relatively new discipline called “syncro-skating” which could make its Olympic debut as soon as 2018. 
 
At the local level, John Harmata is helping to make that happens at this rink in Downers Grove, Illinois where he runs a small shop called Gippetto’s.  When John first started in business, he and his family prospered.  
 
“We were able to buy a house in a nice suburb.  We were able to pay for that within a year.  We had no debt, no credit card debt, no business debt,” John told CBN.    

But then John learned a tough lesson about business growth—and failure. 
       
“Back then I was a little greedy,” he said with a sheepish smile.   “I wanted to be the biggest kid on the block.    I measured success by how many store locations can you have.”

John soon learned that running multiple stores was more difficult than he thought. 

“The first mistake I made was leaving the business unattended.  Before I knew it I was 80-thousand dollars in debt due to employee theft.”  

With the new stores failing, John was forced to shut them down and regroup.  When the dust settled, he was more than $200,000 in debt and not able to pay his bills. 

“The low point for me was when I had inventory bills coming due in Sept and Oct and there was nothing to pay them with.  I was tapped out at securing any kind of loan with a second mortgage.  The business, the line of credit had already been maxed out for the business, so there literally was nowhere else to turn,” said John.  
 
At that point, he read a book by Pat Robertson called The Secret Kingdom.

“In it something that really stood out in my mind was the Law of Reciprocity, how Pat describes in there about giving and receiving;  the more you give the more you’ll receive.” 

Soon after reading the book, he was challenged by something he heard The 700 Club

“I heard Gordon say one time ‘have faith and challenge God, because this is the only time in the Bible that God says to ‘challenge me’ is with your finances.’” 

“So I’m thinking ok, ‘how do I do this?’  ‘Join The 700 Club, be a partner, and you’ll watch see what happens,’” John remembers saying to himself.  “So I thought ‘Ok, perfect, what have I got to lose?’”

So John joined The 700 Club for $20 a month.   

“No sooner had I written out that first pledge when business started to increase.   Out of nowhere I had somebody come in with a huge jersey order which was worth $5000.”
 
As business grew, so did John’s giving.  He increased to the Thousand Club, and eventually to CBN’s Chairman’s Circle.

“Sure enough, business again started to increase.  It was mind blowing at the time.  I couldn’t believe it how this works, it just works!” said John.   

“Just recently I had an idea to increase my giving to CBN.  No sooner was I writing the check when already business started to go through the roof, I mean to the point where I could hardly handle it!”    
 
“There is no better decision that anyone can make than to invest in God and CBN and then watch what happens in their life,” he concluded. 

Being obedient to God's truth made an incredible difference for Cynthia. It can make a difference in your life too! Join her in partnering with CBN. You will make a difference in lives around the world, through medical missions, food and clothing programs, humanitarian outreaches and so much—all in the name of Jesus. Please join today.



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