“and the children of Israel went out with defiance.” Ex 14:8

Not that their defiance lasted very long. In a matter of hours when Pharaoh’s army came after them they were greatly afraid, cried out to God and blamed Moses. Their tough defiant talk — when challenged — turned to fear and tears. Israel had a lot to learn, but this was just the beginning.

It seems their defiance and determination lasted only as long as things were going their way. Their oppressors were freeing them and loading them down with silver and gold and precious stones. They probably felt a sense of entitlement that the Egyptians owed them this and in one sense they did. But when Pharaoh’s army approached, they lost their nerve. They doubted their decision. They regretted their choice. They looked for someone to blame.

How many times have you taken a stand, made a decision to get out of debt, start a new business, save up some money, lose weight etc., only to retreat from that position when challenged? If you are going to attempt something worthwhile, expect to be challenged. That comes with the territory. Quit doubting. Don’t look for someone or something (like a tough economy) to blame.

You have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwelling in you! You can do this! There is a new breed of Christian arising and you can be numbered among them. They are intent on taking their Promised Land. They are ready to face down the giants and step into their destiny. Care to join them?

“And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were greatly afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? why have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.” Ex 14:10-12

They had spent their entire life living under an oppressive regime, one that had ordered their midwives to kill all newborn males. For the next forty years, they complained and yearned for the good old days back in Egypt when they ate fish and leeks and other vegetables. They seemed to forget the fact that they were also slaves and were brutally treated.

It seems so strange to us that this oppressed people would prefer to go back to Egypt instead of seizing their new opportunities in the Promised Land. As a result of their unbelief, everyone over the age of twenty perished in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb. Only the young could go in to the new thing.

When I visited some former Soviet bloc countries a few years back, I marveled at the fact that just like the Israelites of old, so many of the older folks yearned for the good old days when communism was in force and everyone had a job working for the government (slavery) but they had enough food to live on. Now that they were transitioning to a free market economy they had to become productive to enjoy the benefits of freedom and they were unwilling to do so. Not true with the young people - while the older ones who yearn for communism wither and die in the land, the young people are rising up and entering their promised land.

Nowhere is this is more evident to me than in Ukraine with Pastor Sunday’s church. Young people are rising up to seize the new and are quickly prospering. 200 new millionaires in the last 18 months in that church alone! I met some of them and they have a heart for their nation and for impacting the world! Money is only a tool to that end. It is not the only tool, but it is a very helpful tool. If you haven’t heard Friday’s podcast on this topic, I urge you to check it out now and consider subscribing to it too. We will be sharing details on that program to help you do similar things.

Have a great week!

I am bursting with things to share with you over the next few weeks as I get more clarity on specifics but I want you to know that my meeting with Pastor Sunday Adelaja from the Ukraine went very well. This man is bent on transforming the culture and that is exactly what is happening. We can do the same thing here! One of the ways they are doing that is through their business club which is producing millionaires faster than Harvard, at a fraction of the investment! And these young millionaires are using their new wealth and influence to head up outreach ministries to the youth culture reaching tens, even hundreds of thousands of young people.

The other day we made available for free the hour-plus interview we did with Pastor Adelaja. There were no strings attached. It cost us thousands of dollars of resources to make that possible but we wanted to help a lot of folks. We heard from Europe to the Philippines and of course here in the USA how powerful this teleseminar was. Now we are offering it where you can choose the purchase price - even free if necessary. Click here for details.

I also want to give you a quick, last minute heads up to tune in via the internet to a live radio program I am doing in the Southwest Florida area. If you want to listen live, you can click here for live streaming. It requires Windows Media Player I believe. This is a secular radio station reaching a diverse audience. The topic will be the 7 Wealth Secrets of the Rainforest - How to Transform Scarcity into Abundance! My segment begins at 4:05 pm Eastern Time today, April 24^th (check that time in your time zone here).

Greetings my dear friends…

Today I want to make a special request of you. A man who many of us have been enriched by for decades, Zig Ziglar is going in for a procedure to remove water from his head that has been affecting balance and short term memory since his fall down a flight of stairs nearly a year ago.

His son Tom and I have been in communication about Zig’s procedure and I told him we would ask our subscribers to be praying for him today. You can read the details of what is going with Zig today and again on Friday here. My request is that you would join me in praying for him throughout the day.

Also, Pastor Sunday Adelaja will meeting with several members of the US Senate in Washington before he flies to Dallas for the Synergize conference, where we will be meeting with him. Please pray for him that God will put His words on Pastor Sunday’s lips and that the senators have ears to hear the sound God intends for them.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s teleseminar with Pastor Sunday. It will be life changing for many of you. We are offering one time only for free but I would ask that you kindly post your feedback on the blog so others will hear your perspective on the message.

Blessings,

Michael

Today’s message is a guest entry from David G. Johnson of Epiphany Marketing, LLC.

Folks, today I participated in one of the most amazing conversations of my entire life.

Michael asked me if I would jot you a quick note to tell you about it and also to invite you to hear the recording at no charge.

First of all, you’ll recall from Michael’s recent messages that Pastor Sunday Adelaja has established something called Club 1000 in Ukraine. Its stated purpose is to produce — from his congregation — 1000 millionaires within 10 years. They thought it would take from 2-5 years on average to turn someone into a millionaire.

Well… things didn’t go according to plan.

Pastor Sunday told us the story of a 21-year-old girl who, in just over a year, has gone from making a few hundred dollars per month to millionaire status! She’s now making over $50,000 per month, and what’s interesting is that she still only actually lives on $300 per month! In fact, she just bought her first car last week!

Friends, what Pastor Sunday is doing is pouring into these people in Club 1000. But he has also put some things in place that are mechanisms that actually produce accelerated results in the people that are participating. You need to hear what Pastor Sunday shared with us about what they are doing and what he and others are teaching his people.

Michael and I were so blown away by this conversation that we decided to make it available to you right away. You can hear the conversation on a teleseminar next Tuesday, April 22nd at 1PM US Eastern time. It is being presented by ChristianBusinessDaily.com and would normally only be available to members, but we’ve arranged for you to get a free pass to attend this event.

Sign up right away using this link to get your free pass.

You’ll want to try to make it to this event. There will not be anything for sale. Pastor Sunday isn’t promoting a product. (I can assure you that you’re going to want to read his book, Church Shift, but that won’t even be available for purchase. You might out to grab it from your local Christian bookstore or from Amazon.com as soon as you can).

However, this 1-hour event will afterward only be available to ChristianBusinessDaily.com Gold & Platinum Insider Members or by purchasing the recording. So… this is your one chance to hear it absolutely free if you’re not a member of that website.

Click here to get your free pass.

This is quite frankly a paradigm-shattering conversation that Michael and I both believe is very important for those in the Body of Christ who are interested in advancing the Kingdom of God. Please don’t miss it.

Blessings,

David G. Johnson

“For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17

I was greatly heartened by the overwhelming response from Tuesday’s blog. You all gave me great hope that perhaps there is a body of people who do want to impact the culture through the strategic takeover of cultural mind molders that shape the destiny of a generation. We have a growing community of brothers and sisters from Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, Central & South America, etc who are using this site as a way of connecting, supporting and even challenging each other. The posts many of you contribute not only help each other but give life back to me and I am grateful that you take the time to stay in touch and share your perspective!

I spoke Tuesday night to a group of business-minded entrepreneurs in Greensboro, NC and it was terrific! What a great bunch of people! Special thanks to those who drove up from neighboring states to join us. It was wonderful to meet you!

Like many of you, there were several who were struggling to figure out how they could get out of the difficult financial straits they are in. The main emphasis of my talk Tuesday night was on perspective — how you see and interpret the circumstances you find yourself in and how you see yourself. If you see yourself as a grasshopper or a pauper, that is what you will be. That is, at least, how you will live.

We first have to get a firm grip on who we are and what we are which helps us discern a little more on “why” we are. We are children of the King, but that doesn’t mean we are supposed to be spoiled rich kids. Rather we are to be trained to rule and reign with Him. Do you have any concept of what that means? Our King owns everything and I believe He wants us to learn how to manage (steward) some of those things. It’s not that He needs help. It’s that we do! We need to grow up and mature.

Acquiring and managing resources involves risk and training and reward. In the process we grow up. And even better, we grow in our relationship with Him as He trains us to manage the planet and rule and reign in life. Business is a context for relationship. What a shame for those God prepared and gifted for sharing in the joy and privilege of managing the planet, who shun that responsibility because they want to do something they consider to be “spiritual.” Let me tell you, it takes a great deal of spiritual maturity to acquire and manage wealth without being mastered by it. Jesus said it would be difficult (Mat 19:23) I look forward to growing together with you all.

Hello friends,

In honor of April 15th, I thought I’d pass along the message I just got from Jeremy over at ChristianBusinessDaily.com.  In light of today’s topic of conversation on the blog, you may particularly enjoy it.  The video is one of me on a similar rant from a few years back…

Blessings,

Michael

Dear Michael,

Happy Tax Day!

I’ll make this quick, because I still need to go wait in line at the post office.

If you’re a small business owner like me, I’m sure this is one of your least favorite days of the year.

By the time I leave the post office today, I will have mailed a 2007 income tax payment, a monthly payroll tax payment, and my 2008 first quarter estimates.  Tax day is now a monthly event for business leaders like you and I, but we all get hit especially hard on April 15.

While I wait in line, I’ll try not to think about how much more productive my small business could be with that money than the government.  In fact, given the way tax dollars are wasted, I think my tax payments would bring a more valuable return if the checks were cashed, shredded, and used as bedding for an animal…

Sorry.  Let me end my tax day rant right here.

Despite the fortunes that we deliver to the IRS each year, only to watch them get wasted… we are NOT helpless victims.

I don’t need to tell you that, because you are a small business leader.  You’ve already taken leadership into your own hands - starting your business with a vision of doing something different. Something great. Something that makes a difference on your industry, and the people you serve.

As Christian business leaders, our calling is especially important — and unique.

If you are a Christian business leader, you have been called to expand the Kingdom of God through the marketplace - whether you know it or not.

We can no longer separate the secular from the sacred.  Our business practices must shine the light of Christ in a very dark place.

We need to leverage our influence in our local communities to begin to take back the gates of commerce, and make an impact for Christ that cannot be ignored.

Friends, the battle to impact the culture with the Kingdom of God is heating up fast.  The stakes have never been higher!

Today… Tax Day 2008… We’ve set up a free video to encourage you in your work, and to help expand your vision of what God can do through Christian business people.

Click here to watch a free video from a remarkable event that you missed in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  Then read the article to find out how we can make a lasting impact on our small towns, our cities, our states and our nations - through the potential influence we have in business.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Harrison
ChristianBusinessDaily.com

P.S. This free video will only be available through the end of the week.  Click here to view it now.

Yes, I did select this title to get folks to read the article. This blog is longer but important. It will take you all of 3 - 4 minutes to read it but it’s worth it. Here goes…

“For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11)

The other night I turned on the television and to my shock and amazement witnessed something I thought I would never see. It was “results” night for American Idol and there were all the contestants singing “Shout to the Lord”, originally a Hillsongs worship song. Tears welled up in me as I heard them sing so powerfully this song that opens with “My Jesus, My Savior…” Now I read that the night before they substituted the name of Jesus with the word, “Shepherd” but apparently folks got upset at that and they had them do it over again on Thursday night. No matter. Regardless of their beliefs, the contestants glorified God with their song and with their talents and millions were touched!

Now as some of you know, we got some questions about my blog from last week where I told about Pastor Sunday Adelaja from Ukraine who has a Club 1000 raising up millionaires in a relatively poor country. (Over 200 new millionaires in the first year) As usual, I was misunderstood by some who should know my intent better. It seems every time I bring up the subject of wealth and influence there are those who react quite negatively, grouping me with those who preach some form of a prosperity gospel of personal consumption and materialism.

The reason I will keep posting what I post is not so you can acquire untold wealth and live a lavish lifestyle. Your lifestyle is not my concern! I am concerned about the culture and the pitiful influence that we as Christians have on it. Wealth is not about getting people to envy you so you can share the gospel, although that may happen. Wealth is not about being a fat cat. The purpose of wealth is to establish the covenant. Even with Christ in us, working through us, in the last 50 years we as Christians have established very little. Sure we have established churches but most of them have taken the vow of silence on culturally relevant things like government and politics, having chosen to come under the sovereignty of the state with their 501(c)(3) status.  (There is a place for non-profits, but the church isn’t the place!)   I will rant on that another time!

Christians are so marginalized today and we deserve it. We are afraid to make money but quite willing to beg for it! What is wrong with this picture!?!?!  We shun wealth leaving the levers of influence that money buys, in the hands of the wicked. Shame on us! I for one will not apologize for wealth because I want to use it to in some meaningful way to establish the covenant and shape the culture, even though my brothers and sisters in Christ may naïvely accuse me of being caught up in a prosperity, get rich, selfish gospel.

Did you know that General Electric wants to spin off NBC? Wouldn’t it be something if Christians with a profoundly Biblical worldview could and would buy it?! But no, having money is evil according to too many Christians. Grow up! Be strong in Christ! Give your talents over to God. He just might raise you up to be the next owner of CNN. And no, I don’t mean to suggest that if Christians owned CNN or NBC, etc that it would be turned into a religious broadcasting network. We don’t need anymore of those. What we need is Christians with a brain and filled with the Spirit, walking in wisdom! That would be dangerous!

Why do you think Fox ran that “Shout to the Lord” song the first night without the name of Jesus?  Do you think they forgot the words? Do you think they were trying to improve upon the song? YOU KNOW THE ANSWER and so do I. There is incredible power in the media and that’s just one reason I want to see Christians with wealth so they can control those levers for good!  Wouldn’t it be great if the evening news was not stacked in favor of political candidates who do not share our values? Wouldn’t it be something if evil was exposed for what it was and good was celebrated? I could go on and on!

But too many of us, decry the evils of wealth and tell us instead to simply be more Christlike. As if being wealthy and Christlike were mutually exclusive! And by the way, if Christlikeness is really the goal, do you think He is sitting on a throne made of popsicle sticks? Do you think the gold on the streets is just gold colored paint? Get real! Want to be like Christ? Then be like Him in every way you can. Fully confident. Fully in union with the Father. Walking in love. Helping others. Never in lack.

I am in Greensboro tonight (April 15^th) speaking at Evangel Fellowship in Greensboro, NC with Pastor Otis Lockett and this message is burning in me. Care to join me? Pastor Lockett is doing a phenomenal work in that city and raising up business leaders to influence the culture. Join us if you can. See you there!

Well, it’s Rainforest Friday and I wanted to share with you the seven stages of growth every seed goes through to become a productive tree. If God can refer to us as trees of righteousness (Isa 61:3) then I certainly feel comfortable doing so. The rainforest makes an excellent business model for anyone so here are the seven stages you should know about that every tree (business) goes through.

1. Germination: The idea is acted on. Investment is made. Resources are committed.
2. Roots down: The new plant looks for security, sending roots down to get more water (information) and nutrients (capital) gaining stabilization before going to market.
3. Stems up: The stems support the leaves. Think of the stems as the leadership team going ahead and opening up the new location or venture which will ultimately support a team of productive workers (leaves). Leaders must lead. They need to go first.
4. Seek the light: Keep your eye on the vision. Be vigilant about continuously aligning your strategy with the vision. Position yourself to best pass on the vision to the rest of the team.
5. Grow leaves: Build your support staff and get productive. Leaves turn light energy (vision) into chemical energy (action) to produce food (product or service).
6. Flowers bloom: Flowers use shape, color, design and scent to attract pollinators such as birds and bees. Think of the flowers as marketing and the pollinators as early adopters. The pollinators are first to respond to the marketing message and they carry that message wherever they go. They spread the word on behalf of the marketer. That ultimately brings the next phase.
7. Grow fruit: Think of it as critical mass. According to Wikipedia, “Critical mass is a sociodynamic term to describe the existence of sufficient momentum in a social system such that the momentum becomes self-sustaining and fuels further growth.”

In the rainforest, once fruit is produced, every manner of customer flocks, climbs and crawls to enjoy its bounty. In the process the seeds within the fruit are freely distributed on the forest floor ensuring a self sustaining condition with continuous future growth. Hope you found this helpful. Details at 11:00 (o-:

Until next time, be fruitful, then multiply.

There is a sentiment I am picking up from the Body of Christ that there is a reprieve of sorts – a window of opportunity that has opened – where before the shift comes in a big way, there is opportunity both to get your financial house in order and to prepare to seize the opportunities that lay ahead of us. Both ideas are interrelated as you cannot seize on the new opportunities if you are strapped and burdened by the past.

I heard from an intercessor in Nigeria (Yemi Issachar) who is a watcher of the global economy. This is what God has been showing him… “The recession today I believe is God’s making, to pave great ways and open serious opportunities for His children to follow a narrow path everybody ignores to become the new leaders in the new USA that God is building. This is the year of open doors and God is the one at the centre of all these shakings to propel His own to a new beginning.”

Friends, we need to take some bold steps this year to eradicate debt and position ourselves not only financially but in a host of other ways to step up into the positions of authority God has for us in the marketplace. He will not give it to us if we are unprepared, ill-equipped and unbelieving. We must rise up on the inside to accept the challenge of the Holy Spirit before us, to get trained, get positioned and take territory. Want to catch that train?