Do Not Fear!

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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After four members of my family turned 40, we found out how much the kids had picked up on their trepidation. The day before my niece’s ninth birthday, she observed, “Tomorrow I’ll be nine and next year it the big one-oh.”

~ Deborah Shapiro

Fear spreads like a cancer. All too often the fear is, as Zig Ziglar often says, “F – E – A – R” for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” You know that many things in this life scare us. And the reason, we know, is that we are powerless to control the things that bring us apprehension.

Just because you are an Eagle Leader doesn’t mean you are immune to fear. We all know the feelings when someone says, ‘I need to talk to you later’ … in that tone. Who hasn’t experienced the trepidation of being called to the office without any explanation? And there is the less subtle, more overt hair-raising situations … people yelling at you, being lost in unfamiliar territory or the medical report that’s coming on Monday, and it’s only Thursday.

Walking out the mission of Jesus Christ brings a whole new set of evidences that justify a ‘fight or flight’ response in us. Jesus tells us of an incredible source of peace that every Eagle Leader can access in times of fear …

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:27-31 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We remember how valued we are to God – in the midst of an attack!

No one ever said the Christ-life would be easy … after all, they crucified Jesus! Every Eagle Leader knows that attempting to take new terrain for the King of kings almost inevitably means a fight by the lord of darkness. For most of us, fighting = fear.

Yet Jesus calls us to stand our ground, assured of His Father’s love for us. We need not fear for we are watched, protected and sent by the Lord of love. Just because they fight back is no reason to be afraid of them. After all, your Father is able to take on all the opposition!

Do not fear … you are surrounded by His love!

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Transformed Episode #062 – Riches Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

Marlene Dietrich reminds us that “There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.”

The book of Ephesians reminds us that these treasures that are in Jesus are unsearchable! In other words, God possesses “riches – beyond our wildest dreams!” He has resources that we cannot even begin to imagine or locate! But when we need them ~ He can deliver them in an instant!

As Dr. Matthew Lee Smith teaches the congregation at the First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes CA, we are able to grasp how we can possess the seven supernatural benefits God wants to give to His people so they can enjoy His riches!

Let’s listen in now as Pastor Matt teaches us how to enjoy riches – beyond your wildest dreams!

If you’d like to comment on this episode or contact Dr. Smith you can do so in one of three ways:

  • leave a comment on this post,
  • or by emailing us at transformedpodcast@gmail.com
  • or you can call our voicemail line at 206-350-1566. Leave a comment that we can play on a future episode …

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review at iTunes! Feel free to pass this episode on to a friend.

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Endurance and Salvation!

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Declare your mission – and then live it!

~ Tom Welch

This morning I visited our health care provider because Melodee, the joy of my eyes for these past 30 years, was sick. As we went to the lab to get her blood tests done I noticed this sign, “Our Mission: healthy patients.” How simple, how measurable, how clear!

What are we living for? Jesus-followers have a completely different set of values and purposes than a world-follower. We, as Eagle Leaders, step it up one more notch. Our mission, our life purpose, is to fulfill the command of Jesus … ‘As the father has sent me, so I send you.’ In the face of opposition and hostility, the mission remains the same.

God has called us to a simple mission as well: “Make Disciples!” When we choose to move people into a personal, disciplined relationship with Jesus Christ as King of their lives you can be sure there will opposition. Jesus encourages us to keep our eyes on the prize and not be pulled away by our adversaries …

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Matthew 10:16-26 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We endure until the end!

Eagle leaders understand there is a simple mission … make disciples. We pour our lives into this process and, when confronted by those who would object, subject, disagree and detain us from our mission, we simple leave that place, move on and keep focused on the mission.

Such is the persistence of the Eagle Leader … the mission of Jesus! Day in and day out, whether applauded or attacked, the next generation will never advance for Christ without our singleness of mind. Churches are built upon disciples, not attendees. Families are stable and strong because of Godly disciples as parents, not politically correct socialites.

The mission … make disciples! Be an Eagle Leader this week.

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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A Week of Forgiveness

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

Forgiveness is a uniquely Christ-like thing to do! It is the essential quality to living a life of joy and pleasure. When we are forgiving, we are no longer trapped in prisons of pain. We no longer live in the past – at the event of hurt – but are free to move forward into a future of happiness and possibility.

This week is National Forgiveness Week. What an appropriate week to shine the love of Jesus by forgiving those who have wounded us! We can define forgiveness is two ways … One is relinquishing bitterness or vengeance, and the second is adopting a merciful response towards the offender — finding even a small way in which you can genuinely wish good for the offender.

Download this helpful brochure and invest this week in meaningful change! Forgiveness is the gift that releases the heart and opens the soul to the life of God. Download here: a-week-of-forgiveness_pub1

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Prioritize the Mission!

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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The Sort of Men and Women the Institute Aims to Send Out:

“Those having these characteristics: Thorough consecration; Intense love for souls; A good knowledge of God’s Word, and especially how to use it in leading men to Christ; Willingness to endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; The baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

~ Mission Statement of the Moody Institute, March 1, 1892

My Alma Mater recently selected a new president. His name is Dr. Paul Nyquist and he will become the 9th president of the Moody Bible Institute (http://www.moodyministries.net/) since its creation. As long as Moody stays with its mission, God will continue to bless them. The same is true for all Eagle Leaders … as long as we stay with the mission of Jesus Christ, God will continue to bless us! Listen to how Jesus focuses his first Eagle Leadership team as he commissions them …

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease … These twelve [apostles] Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! Matthew 10:1-15 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We prioritize the mission and let God deal with the unreceptive!

Focus is essential to Biblical success. In fact, often we miss the point of the mission, namely, that if we don’t reach more people they will spend a Christless eternity in Hell. How would our Adversary choose to dilute our focus? By having us spend time with “whoever will not receive nor hear your words.”

Eagle leaders understand the foolishness of such a strategy … attempting to convert the resistant. Jesus not only tells us to avoid this strategy, he also gives us a responsibility when confronted by the resistant: “When you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Where are you right now? Are you in the city of acceptance or the city of resistance? Once you know where you are, you will know exactly what you are supposed to do: Prioritize the mission!

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Aching Over the Harvest!

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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“I pray you may have it too. It is a heart that is broken over teenage lostness. You know you have it if something happens in your heat when you see kids wandering a mall, hoping that something or someone will happen to them. Or when you see all those teenagers pouring our of the local school, looking like “sheep without a shepherd.” Maybe you feel it when you read in your local newspaper about teenage pregnancy or a teenage suicide. Or when you see kids hitchhiking or just hanging out. If you have Jesus-eyes, you see lostness … loneliness… pain. You see dying people. And your heart aches. Surely the Jesus who wept over His generation must weep over these kids. He wants to place His heart in yours. That broken heart drives you to keep pursuing more lost young people … keeps you going when everyone else is giving up … makes you leave your comfort zone and take risks to save lives.” ~ Ron Hutchcraft

Do you ache for those who do not yet know Christ in a vibrant and personal way? If so, you understand the heart of Jesus and have to do something about it … just like he did …

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We agonize with compassion for hurting, lost people!

A broken heart is manifested by (1) Going into their world, telling them the Good News, and healing the broken (9.35).That broken heart aches because we see how and remember life is without Jesus in their every day existence: “weary and scattered.” And what breaks our heart more is that there is so much to do and so few doing it.

Eagle leaders go, tell, care and pray! “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Do you need help with the work? Are you praying for help, sent from God?

As you work with a compassionate heart, remember God cares too! He is waiting for a ‘personnel requisition’ from you. How about sending him one right now?

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Transformed Episode #061 – Peace Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

God clearly states that whatever our wildest dreams are AS A CHURCH, He can do … and is willing to do … FAR MORE than we can imagine!

Part of the abundant life Jesus promised is His incredible peace. A peace only God can give. A peace which passes1 all understanding! And once we experience that peace, others around us will notice it and be drawn to it, to us and to Jesus!

As Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes, CA continues our study on Life, Beyond our Wildest Dreams! he opens Ephesians 2. There we will begin to comprehend how we can benefit from the five actions that produce real peace in the people of God!

Let’s join Pastor Matt as he teaches us how to have Peace, Beyond our Wildest Dreams!

If you’d like to comment on this episode or contact Dr. Smith you can do so in one of three ways:

  • leave a comment on this post,

  • or by emailing us at transformedpodcast@gmail.com

  • or you can call our voicemail line at 206-350-1566. Leave a comment that we can play on a future episode …

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review at iTunes! Feel free to pass this episode on to a friend.

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Stop Wasting Time!

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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“The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.”

~ David, Psalm 119:51

I remember going home to speak one Sunday, many years ago. I had come to faith in Christ in high school – actually led to Jesus by a wonderful teacher. God had used me as he brought about the beginnings of a 20-year revival in our little town. I was known to all because my father was the local publisher of the weekly newspaper. Yet, after I spoke that morning, several people asked me where I got my sermon from (Like I had stolen it!) I wish that would have been the end of the derision that morning, but it was not. It was obvious to me that, in my hometown, I would always be ‘Louie’s little boy.’ However, I learned early on that Jesus shows us that insolent people are not to be the target of our lives and ministry …

Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” And they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Mark 6:1-6 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We refuse to waste time on skeptical and critical people!

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” God will use you! There is no question of that fact. What bedevils us is the chiding and superiority of some who would ‘put us in our place.’ Such insolence is to be expected in ministry … however, it is not to be catered to.

Eagle leaders follow their Lord’s example as their guide to ministry methodology. They refuse to waste time with people who scoff and criticize them and their ministry. Eagle leaders simply move on … “And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching” … knowing there are plenty of other people in need of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Today, ask yourself a simple question: Am I following the pattern and method of the Master, or am I spending too much time on the insolent? As you reflect on this, starting today, take the time to make the changes necessary in your ministry!

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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According to Our Faith!

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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“The state of faith allows no mention of the word impossibility.”

~ Tertullian, Theologian (c. 160 – 230 A.D.)

Faith seems to be a vital commodity these days! With the state of the global economy and the first generation since World War 2 to really understand scarcity, truth faith seems to be at a premium. When people go through hard times, those situations often reveal the veracity of their belief system. Jesus confronts this truth in the life of two blind men and teaches us a valuable principle …

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” Matthew 9:27-34 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We encourage people to trust God for their critical needs!

“According to your faith let it be to you.” If you spend any time meditating on this statement, it can be exhilarating or torturous! If we take Jesus at His word, and there are many theologians today who would like to put a host of disclaimers on this sentence (like lawyers on TV commercials do), this really sets the quantity of the results squarely on our shoulders … No, I did not say we are the ones who make it happen. What Jesus says is that we RECEIVE what we BELIEVE we will! Yikes!

As an Eagle leader, let me encourage you to ask yourself to ponder this statement this week! Doesn’t it seem to connect with this power source … “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us …” (Ephesians 3:20) In other words, there is no problem with the power of God. Often, however, the blockage of the blessing is in our delivery system … our unbelief!

Contemplate your ‘reception contraption’ today … is it working up to spec? God wants you to enjoy amazing blessing … is your own disbelief standing in the way of His goodness?

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Interrupted by God!

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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Compassion is … the force that makes a bridge from the island of one individuality to the island of the other. ~ John O’Donohue

‘Life’s interruptions are God’s appointments.’ I remember the first time I heard this and wondered about it. Today’s passage reveals the truth of this old adage. Look at how Jesus responds to interruptions in this lesson from God’s Word …

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land. Matthew 9:18-26 (NKJV)

We become like Jesus when …

o We take the time to meet the needs of those who ask for our time and help.

Whether the person is of means (the ruler) or is just another face in the crowd (the woman), Jesus shows us that compassion comes when called. As a leader, meeting needs is part and parcel of the territory. Taking from our resources and meeting the urgencies of others often happens when we would rather be ‘off the clock.’

Some find people to be annoyances – since they have some ‘real work’ to get done. But for the Eagle leader, the person is always more important than the project or the paper we are working on.

Jesus shows us that every person – no matter their standing in our eyes – is important enough to stop what we are doing and minister to them. Looking at people with compassion means we let ourselves be ‘put out’ so that love can be ‘poured in!’

© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

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