{"id":40325,"date":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/founder-of-amazon-planned-decades-ahead\/"},"modified":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","slug":"founder-of-amazon-planned-decades-ahead","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/founder-of-amazon-planned-decades-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder of Amazon Planned Decades Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you own stock in Amazon, you get a letter from founder Jeff Bezos each year, reminding you of Amazon&#39;s commitment to think long-term. In his 2015 letter to shareowners, Bezos opens: &#39;&#39;A dreamy business offering has at least four characteristics. Customers love it, it can grow to very large size, it has strong returns on capital and it&#39;s durable in time&mdash;<em>with the potential to endure for decades<\/em>&quot; [emphasis added].<\/p>\n\n<p>Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, and his commitment to long-term thinking got him to thirty-fifth on the global Fortune 500 list in just 20 years. Each year, he prints his first letter to shareholders at the beginning of the annual report. It&#39;s a simple, symbolic act to highlight his value for the long view. The original 1997 letter outlines nine ways Amazon will demonstrate their long-term approach, including the statement: &quot;We will continue to make investment decisions in light of long-term market leadership considerations rather than short-term profitability considerations or short-term Wall Street reactions.&#39;&#39;<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Possible Preaching Angles: <strong>Eternity; Heaven<\/strong>&mdash;Christians could say, &quot;Good for Amazon and Jeff Bezos, but why not think even further ahead&mdash;like into eternity?&quot;<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3374,3408,3546,3726,3771,3782,3847,3882,3883,3886,3887,3888,3997,4027,4066,4134,4167,4350,4369,4435,4441,4442,4633,4652,4696,4708,4748,4840,4916,4970,5084,5102,5136,5226,5247,5279,5293],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-40325","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-achievement","tax_ctp_tags-ambition","tax_ctp_tags-career","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-determination","tax_ctp_tags-diligence","tax_ctp_tags-effort","tax_ctp_tags-eternal","tax_ctp_tags-eternal-temporary","tax_ctp_tags-eternal-life","tax_ctp_tags-eternal-perspective","tax_ctp_tags-eternity","tax_ctp_tags-focus","tax_ctp_tags-fulfillment","tax_ctp_tags-goals","tax_ctp_tags-heaven","tax_ctp_tags-hope","tax_ctp_tags-leader","tax_ctp_tags-life","tax_ctp_tags-materialism","tax_ctp_tags-meaning","tax_ctp_tags-meaning-of-life","tax_ctp_tags-perspective","tax_ctp_tags-planning","tax_ctp_tags-preparation","tax_ctp_tags-priorities","tax_ctp_tags-purpose","tax_ctp_tags-reward","tax_ctp_tags-self-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-short-life","tax_ctp_tags-strategy","tax_ctp_tags-success","tax_ctp_tags-tenacity","tax_ctp_tags-values","tax_ctp_tags-vocation","tax_ctp_tags-wisdom","tax_ctp_tags-work"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - 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