Listen as Mike Powers interviews Dr. Matthew Lee Smith about the upcoming podcast series which starts April 26!
While the world struggles with global recession and terrorism, there is a people group who are Experiencing incredible benefits in all aspects of their lives! You are invited to come and discover the keys to ‘abundant living’ that are driving the lives of these people.
Once you apply these life-changing guides to your life, you, too, will experience Life! Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!
From Friday, March 20 – Friday, March 27 the EIL staff met in San Pedro, CA to do strategic planning and work on ministry events. In this audio wrap-up, Mike and Matt discuss the highlights of that week.
Among the highlights, spending time with Jentezen Franklin (FreeChapelOC.org) became a key event. Jentezen brought us a strong word of hope and encouragement from Zechariah 4, encouraging us to move forward in incredible ways, believing God for the completion of ministry projects in the planning stages!
Times of prayer were key to the week as Matt and Mike took advantage of God’s incredible and majestic vistas as their backdrop.
Some studio time afforded us the opportunity to work on some projects that are about to launch!
We are very excited about the 15 part series entitled Life! Beyond Your Wildest Dreams! Only a few weeks away! As you listen to this recap, we know you will be excited as well for all God is about to do in your life as you allow us to partner with you!
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“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
~ Karen Clark
When you and I desire to develop Eagle Leaders, we discover that we must separate the sincere from the insincere. That is a challenge on the best of days. We have chosen to go to the Master leader-developer, Jesus, and watch him work through this process.
Listen to Jesus now, as He lays out the trap to catch the sincere …
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29 (NKJV)
We become like Jesus when …
o We watch for the natural process of spiritual growth to occur so we can determine those who are eligible for leadership development.
Before we can develop a leader, we need to weed the field of people before us to determine who is spiritually alive and growing deeply with Christ. Although this is a Spirit-based work, we can see the evidence of God’s hand at work in the life of anyone who claims His name. Our task is to determine who we will invest our time with for the Kingdom of God and His glory. Jesus tells us that he looks for the evidences of spiritual growth first.
Are the men and women you are seeking to develop showing the evidence of spiritual growth in their lives? Is this growth consistent – for one evidence of eternal life is that it grows, corporately and individually (see Ephesians 4.16)!
Looking before we leap is a great way to prevent wasted time and produce Eagle Leaders. Jesus, the Master leader-developer, has modeled for us a way to take the initiative and separate the sincere from the insincere.
© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
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“Don’t be afraid to take advice. There’s always something new to learn.”
~ Babe Ruth
We are asking Jesus to answer an important question: “How do we, as Eagle Leaders, separate the sincere from the insincere?” Last time Jesus demonstrated that we must call people to pay attention to what we are saying … even when we are being purposefully oblique.
We now watch how the curious rise to the top of the crowd. It is at this point that Jesus is able to show us the ‘why’ of His strategy …
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17 (NKJV)
We become like Jesus when …
o We teach the curious whom we have drawn away from the crowds all around us!
Jesus tells us that His methodology is meant to reward the Eagle Leader’s curiosity. In fact He shows us that, for those who are content with the indirect, there is nothing more – and perhaps even less – in life.
Jesus then shows that His methodology is purposeful – to sift the leaders from the lazy! Wow! This is clearly a plan you and I can use. He wraps us this lesson by showing us the rewards of curiosity to the Eagle lLeader. The point: Eagles Leaders need to ‘go and do likewise.’ I am ‘all-in’ … how about you?
© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
Eric Michael Bryant serves as an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at Mosaic in Los Angeles. Starting as a volunteer in the parking lot at Mosaic, Eric later worked with students and then helped catalyze new venues across Los Angeles. He also teaches at the Southern California campus of Golden Gate Seminary and is working on his Doctorate of Ministry with Bethel 
Seminary. A sought-after speaker, Eric is one of the co-authors of The Uprising Experience, a workbook developed for Promise Keepers based on Erwin McManus’ book Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, and has written several articles for Group and Relevant Leader magazines. His book, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, was published with Zondervan in June 2007. Eric lives with his wife, Debbie, and two children, Caleb and Trevi in the middle of Los Angeles County.
You can check out more about Eric at these great sites …
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“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
~ Jesus
Family is the cradle of our hopes and dreams, the support for our hurts and failures. With age, our parents depart and we feel alone without them. Just their presence provided comfort and security. When we are the oldest of our family, we come to realize the importance of being surrounded by an even greater family – our local community of faith!
Jesus welcomes us into His family through obedience! Listen to Him as he explains how we enter into this extended family of His …
Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35 (NKJV)
We become like Jesus when …
o We enter the family of God through responsible obedience!
All around us are men and women who are hurting and without hope. They are at the end of their rope because they don’t have the support they so desperately need to make it through difficult times. You may be one of them! Jesus wants each and every one to know that there are people who can help!
Comfort, love and care are as near as our faith family! What do we have to do to experience such love? We have to choose to join in … get close and build care-filled relationships with Jesus’ brothers and sisters. Find a small group of God’s people and become a part! Be transparent and open. Develop intimate relationships with them. Be there when they have a need. Share when you have one.
Alone in misery or surrounded by support – the choice is ours each and every day!
© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
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Hope Enabler is the real-life story of one Christian parent’s struggle with a runaway child and the hope that God enabled her to have during the darkest moments of that struggle.
