:: eric michael bryant ::

To find out more about the Urban Poets trip to the Olympics and how you can help them get there, go here.

URBAN POETS IN ACTION

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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)

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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)

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I haven’t had a chance to read through the entire book, but I have enjoyed The One Minute Entrepreneur so far!

Here are some insights:

In the US, 1 million businesses started each year. 40% fail within one year. 80% fail by the fifth year. 96% have failed by year 10.

Primary reason for failure: “they are started by technicians - people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing…. They make the fatal mistake of continuing to do the work they’re skilled at while ignoring other vital parts of the business.” - Michael Gerber

“We are becoming the average of the five people with whom we are most closely associated…. [We should] associate with people we admire and can learn from.”

“You can get what you want in life if you help other people get what they want.”

“Success occurs when opportunity and preparation meet.”

“Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.”

“The best management includes day-to-day coaching that catches people doing things right and redirects their efforts when they are off base.”

“The wrong leaders can send you off in directions you don’t want to go. The right leader at the right time can help steer things in the right direction.”

“You can’t predict the good that can come from helping or forgiving someone.”

To determine your aptitude as an entrepreneur, take a free assessment at www.estrengths.com (the site mentions a cost, but it still appears to be free)

For books about entrepreneurial leadership, check out Erwin’s books An Unstoppable Force and Chasing Daylight as well as Mark Batterson’s book In a Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day.

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My kids always love to choose the music on the iPod while we are driving. If Trevi gets to choose on the way to wherever we are going, Caleb gets to choose on the way back (and vice versa). Of course, I only download the clean versions of these artists.

Here are there top picks:

TREVI

Hillsong Kids

Hillsong United

Gwen Stefani (especially “Wind It Up”)

anything with Joby Harris (Mosaic (sold out) or Crash Rickshaw)

CALEB

Dropkick Murphys (”I’m Shipping Up to Boston”)

Kanye West (especially “Jesus Walks”)

DC Talk

anything with Joby

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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!

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These past two days have been really fun as we are meeting with our paid staff at Mosaic for dreaming, investment, refreshment, and recalibrating.  Here are some highlights (mostly from Erwin):

The “conqueror” is the more common strategy for leadership.  The “explorer” excavates the talent of those already there.  We need to become explorers.

If you keep looking for a new place to speak, you will never become a better communicator.  We need to look for ways to have something important to say whenever and wherever we have the opportunity to speak (one-on-one conversations, team trainings, youth ministry, and so on).

If we don’t translate building community with us, then we won’t be able to do this in our teams.  We need to move fast but never at the cost of creating community!

We think we have to tone down the Gospel to attract people to Jesus, but we actually need to elevate the understanding of the Gospel (to where Jesus intended) to offer life-transformation to those out there who are looking for meaning. 

We need to initiate relationships and conversations with the people others see as invisible.

Not everything has to grow large, but we need to be honest about what we have and are doing and always be a place for outsider.

The more people feel you are speaking to a person, the larger the church can become.  The more people feel you are speaking to a crowd then fewer people will want to come.

We need to ask the question:  “How do I help the people around me become the people God wants them to be?”  We are spiritual leaders, not just leaders.

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I discovered a sad fact: the porn industry has had an increase in revenue as a result of the government’s stimulus checks.

Pornography is a rampant and destructive problem with all sorts of hoffiric implications such as breaking up relationships, destroying trustworthiness, fostering abuse towards women, and even contributing towards human trafficking among other things.

Through some of our support groups and small groups at Mosaic, we have seen some remarkable transformations for guys struggling with addiction. This past week, Kim McManus shared a powerful message (listen here) on the subject and brought up a couple who shared their story.

A powerful spiritual truth Jesus shared which has been a guiding force in my life has been: “The pure in heart will see God.”

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By Erwin McManus

“Somewhere in our past, many of us gave up on our dreams and lost touch with this essential part of our being. Sometimes our capacity to dream of a different us, of a different life, is beaten up and left broken by people and pain and disappointment. Sometimes what should be a dream inspiring us is actually a fantasy distracting us. Say, for instance, if you’re waiting to be abducted by aliens from outer space and have been giving your whole life to this dream, it’s probably safe to say this is not a life well spent.

Have you ever met someone who was pursuing the wrong dream? You know, it’s the American Idol syndrome. You are so sure of your talent and are waiting to be discovered, but even your friends don’t like to hear you sing. You might want to ask yourself, Is this a dream or just a fantasy?

For centuries now, Jesus has been a focus of every kind of research, from theology to history to philosophy. His approach to ethics left an undeniable mark on humanity. What has been significantly underappreciated is how Jesus changed the way his followers actually engaged life. He launched a movement that unleashed previously untapped potential in those who believed in him. He created an environment where his disciples began to believe the impossible and soon found they were turning dreams into reality. His became a movement of dreamers and visionaries. They were called and compelled to dream of a better world. He called them to touch the whole of humanity with his message of life and love. Theirs was a life of faith and a call to accomplish great things by serving humanity. Here, by the way, is one of the dramatic differences between Jesus and Buddha. Buddha once wrote “do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

While I agree we must not dwell in the past, and I wrote an entire book on how to live and seize the power of every moment, I have to say Buddha missed it when it comes to the future – not to mention the power of dreams. Our dreams are where the future is fueled and created. This is one of the things I love about Jesus and the Scriptures – they call us to dream and to dream with our eyes open. To live wide awake you have to begin to dream. You have to dare to dream great dreams and find the courage to live them.”

(This excerpt is taken from the book Wide Awake by Erwin Raphael McManus, soon to be released in July 2008, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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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.”

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