“Diversity = Range of Perspectives = Effectiveness = Probability of WOW!”
For more on maximizing the opportunity of diversity, check out this previous post which includes links to other articles and resources on creating a diverse community.
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My New Book...
"Peppermint Filled Pinatas:
Breaking Through Tolerance
and Embracing Love"
Now Available!
"Peppermint Filled Pinatas is Saving Private Ryan meets Nacho Libre! Eric calls us to a heroic mission and at the same time exposes our flawed humanity. He tackles one of the most critical and complex issues of our time and brings it down to earth and keeps us grounded in reality. It's quite a gift to force us to face such uncomfortable and serious issues and at the same time keep us laughing. Somebody needed to write this book; I am grateful Eric did. We will all be better for it.Thank you Eric for awakening in us a love that knows no boundaries."
-Erwin McManus
Diversity Equals…
July 24th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Diversity, General No Comments »
Not all white people look the same….
July 21st, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Diversity, Fun Stuff, General 1 Comment »
At our kids swimming lessons the other day, one of the moms mentioned to me and Debbie how cute we looked together. She kept going on and on about how much alike we look and even told us we look like we could be siblings.
Hmmm.
I don’t see it at all. She is much, much better looking!
Summer Speaking Schedule
July 21st, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Connecting Others, Diversity, General, Mosaic, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas No Comments »
If you are anywhere near SoCal, NorCal, AZ, or Hawaii, I would enjoy seeing you at these upcoming speaking engagements:
JULY 27: MOSAIC AT THE MAYAN: 6pm
Los Angeles, CA (new date, time, and location!)
AUGUST 10: VINTAGE FAITH CHURCH: 11am and 7pm
Santa Cruz, CA
AUGUST 23: 2008 ACE CONFERENCE: 8am to 4pm
Phoenix, AZ
AUGUST 31: Cornerstone Christian Fellowship: 10:15am
Kona, Hawaii (Big Island)
“Catalyzing Community” Audio Is Up!
July 16th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Connecting Others, Diversity, General, Leadership, Mosaic, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas, Relationships No Comments »
The teleseminar from Tuesday was a great time! Thanks to all who joined us from Germany, the U.K., Australia, El Salvador, and across the U.S.!
Here were some of the key points for Catalyzing Community:
Principle #1: Cause creates community.
Our cause = moving people to become the person God created them to be.
Principle #2: Meet the needs of those around us.
We need to seek to meet the physical, emotional, economic, and spiritual needs of those around us. We should be pursue helping change the environment and change the individual who is looking for change.
Principle #3:Reach out to Xenos
Hospitality means loving strangers. A similar word, “hospice,” means “a safe place.” Our homes, our businesses, and our churches should become safe places for strangers to experience kindness and love.
Principle #4: Develop authentic friendships with those you know.
OIKOS is the Greek word for household (family, neighbors, co-workers and friends)
Principle #5: Allow people to belong before they believe.
We should never allow our convictions to become a litmus test for friendship. In fact, we should actively pursue friendships with people – even people with whom we may disagree. Go to www.mosaic.org/faq for more on the staff process at Mosaic.
Principle #6: Raise up a team of leaders to replace you
MPAC = Ministry through a pastor, assimilator, and catalyst
We need to make decisions based on who is not yet here rather than who has been here the longest.
Principle #7: Start Over
Listen to the conference call at my site’s audio messages at Catalyzing Community Audio
As always, special thanks to Daniel Decker for putting this together!
Send an email to teleseminar@ericbryant.org if you would like to join us for the next one:
“Moving People from Brokenness to Wholeness” on Sept. 10th at 10am (P.S.T.)- based on Uprising (a.k.a. The Character Matrix)
Want to talk next week?
July 8th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Character, Connecting Others, Creativity, Diversity, General, Leadership, Mosaic, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas No Comments »
I would love to connect with you personally next Tuesday, July 15th at 10am (Pacific Standard Time) in our next Teleseminar.
The topic: Catalyzing Community (starting a small group, a ministry, a non-profit, or even a church). We’ll also interact and I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.
To Register, email your name and location to: teleseminar@ericbryant.org
A reply will be sent to you via email with call details and dial in instructions.
A recording of the call will be made available 48 hours after the live call is complete.
If you have specific questions you would like to ask Eric during the call, please email those to eric@ericbryant.org.
Be sure to click the “Share This” icon below and invite a friend to join in on this call as well.
Hope to talk with you then!
Diversity Equals Opportunity
June 30th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Diversity, General No Comments »
“Diversity creates one and only one thing: opportunity.” - Tom Peters
For more on maximizing the opportunity of diversity, check out this previous post which includes links to other articles and resources on creating diversity.
Share Your “PFP Moment”
June 25th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Connecting Others, Creativity, Diversity, General, Life, Mosaic, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas, Relationships 1 Comment »
It’s been great to receive so many positive emails and blog posts from people who have read Peppermint-Filled Pinatas. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share.
If you’ve done something in your neighborhood or with your church that may be inspiring to others, let me know! I will post it on my blog. The author of the post at the end of July which has received the most comments will receive a free copy of Erwin McManus’ new book “Wide Awake” or the new Wide Awake DVD.
Post your “PFP moment” (as Dana Evans one of the leaders at one of the Mosaics in New Zealand has called them) on your blog or you can email me at eric@ericbryant.org with a brief one to two paragraph description of your “PFP moment.”
World Refugee Day
June 20th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Character, Diversity, Future, General, Life, Politics 2 Comments »
The irony isn’t lost on me that the day after posting “Avoiding Being Super-Sized,” I am posting a reminder that today is World Refugee Day. As we struggle to stop eating more than we should, many struggle to even eat at all. I always think of the passage from Genesis 12:1-3 in which God blesses Abram to be a blessing to the nations and the phrase from the New Testament: “To much is given, much is required.”
Another important statistic: The world population will grow to 7 billion by 2012.
Next Teleseminar on July 15th!
June 13th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Character, Connecting Others, Creativity, Diversity, General, Leadership, Mosaic, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas, Relationships No Comments »
Join us for a free teleseminar on Tuesday, July 15th!
I need your help, post or email me (eric@ericbryant.org) the topics you want to discuss/questions you want to ask and your preferred time of day.
Hope to talk with you then!
An Historic Campaign
June 6th, 2008 Eric Bryant Posted in Diversity, Future, General, History, Politics 1 Comment »
No matter which side of the aisle you are on, this has been and will continue to be an historic presidential campaign.
Barack Obama is the first African-American presidential nominee.
An article by Frank Sesno points out: “It has been 145 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, but in the span of a single lifetime much has changed. The military has been integrated. The schools have been desegregated. There was the King march and his assassination. There have been riots in the streets and breakthroughs in the ranks.”
Ironically, his nomination came exactly 40 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Both were known voices for civil rights. (By the way, Obama would also be considered our 14th Scot/Irish President).
Hillary Clinton was the first woman to get this close to becoming a presidential nominee.
John McCain is the oldest person to be nominated for president.
Now some have made fun of him for being older than Alaska, Snow White, and Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, but we live in a time when people are retiring later and living longer than ever.
Finally, the choice of a Vice Presidential candidate could be historic as well. McCain has been rumored to consider Bobby Jindal, the Indian-American governor of Louisiana and before that Condoleeza Rice, and Obama may choose Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas.
For a lighter side to this historic campaign, check out this clip from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” which includes Abraham Lincoln’s response to Obama’s nomination. 