“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward… Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 10:35,38 & 12:1)

I write to you today from Costa Rica where I am wrapping up a three year study of the rainforest as a business model. What I have learned about how God gets abundance from scarcity is absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to share it with everyone when the book comes out in October. The publisher is calling it The Planet’s Most Successful Business Model. I am putting the final touches on the book on this trip.

I am writing from here today because I am burdened for you. I am concerned that you, like me, are experiencing what for us is an unprecedented battle against our souls. It’s a battle to weary us, to take us out of the game and to make us irrelevant. I feel it and I am pretty sure you feel it. Some of the battle is blatant and out in the open and much of it is disguised like the Fed takeover going on this week.

There is a shift coming of monumental proportion and what I am striving for and what I am pleading with you for is that we as a body of believers, press into God like never before. The greater the battle, the harder we press in, not growing weary in well doing, but praying without ceasing and walking in love. I have more to share in this regard, but will save that for future blogs.

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

“AND THERE was a famine in the land… and Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.’” (Genesis 26:1-3)

We’re hearing so much this year about the economy, the housing market, the falling dollar and business conditions in general. Hopefully, your business and family are not being affected by it personally, but whether you are or not, hearing about it frequently can have a mental, emotional and even spiritual impact.

With a variety of industries suffering in the local community here, I’ve had this passage from Genesis 26 on my heart quite a bit lately. Isaac found himself and his household surrounded by difficult conditions, and it’s hard to imagine how that may have weighed on his mind. As casual readers, we sometimes forget that his household was most likely substantial, with a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of people looking to him for answers. Today, he might be the owner of a small company — perhaps with 50 employees or more.

What to do?

What’s interesting to me is that when Isaac heard from God, the instructions he received were very counter-intuitive. Egypt would’ve been a safe haven for a nomadic family like his to go and find trading partners. But God instructed him to essentially start a business in a failing industry in an economy that was suffering, and in physical conditions that would not support his new venture. When there’s a famine, it’s generally not the best time to go into agriculture!

But when you have instructions from God, you have hope that others do not have! We’ll pick this subject up again in the next message, but in the meantime, consider this question: Are you getting instructions from God in this season, or are you allowing the conditions around you to shape your thinking?

“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” 1 Cor 15:4

Are you tempted to give up? Think you have it bad? Maybe you do. Life can be tough, but don’t get stuck where you are. Stir up the gift of God, which is in you. What is that gift? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Sure there are other gifts, talents and blessings He has bestowed upon you, but none compare with the gift of Christ in you.

I know how it feels. You struggle and struggle for so long, making some progress but never experiencing the breakthrough you are working towards and you just want to take a break from it. Give it a rest. But the problem is that life is like a river. Our destination is the crystal lake at the headwaters of this river. When we stop struggling to reach the headwaters, we start drifting towards the sea. We must choose between reproducing life in the crystal lake or drifting out to the salty sea of humanity, just another one of many who gave up the struggle before completing the mission. Before fulfilling our destiny.

I don’t know about you, but I intend to spend the rest of my life heading upstream. Who knows, maybe my going in that direction will help others? Who is watching you? Have you considered the possibility that others are looking at you for hope? Maybe, just maybe they need to see someone they know pressing on, upstream, bent on fulfilling their destiny. All along the river, there are those who have lost their way who desperately need someone who hasn’t given up. This morning, I received this news clip of someone who is still swimming upstream at age 92 and changing the direction of an armed robber.

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Hello Friend,

You may have noticed in recent months an increasing emphasis in my messages toward the subject of prayer. Even this week’s messages on love stem from a heightened focus in my own life on prayer and on listening to God.

I believe that now more than ever we must return to this posture if we are going to fulfill our God-given purpose and take territory for the Kingdom of God - particularly in the marketplace.

This has put a burden in my heart to share with you one of the books that God has used to impact me heavily on this subject. My staff has been working to produce an electronic edition of a classic that I believe will change your life. I urge you to check it out right away.

In addition, they dug through our archives and located a teaching series that has previously only been shared with a handful of people that participated in one of my private coaching groups some years ago.

In honor of our celebration of the resurrection of our Savior this weekend, I instructed my team to put together a special price on these two items for you. It’s been a long time since we’ve ever offered anything at this low price point (below $20), but it’s important enough to me that you get these materials in your hands that I wanted this to be accessible to everyone.

Please take a look. You’ll be glad you did.

Blessings,

Michael

Recently I was doing some corporate training at a hotel in Atlanta. It was probably the best, most experienced group of professionals I’ve had the privilege to train. Somewhere around day three of the training, I decided to open the meeting with a video clip of a worship song that I found particularly moving. One of the participants arrived early and introduced me to another clip of a short skit.

I thought it might be hokey so I watched it before everyone came and was quite affected by it. It was a powerful skit about the love of God. Now we were there for sales training and I was going to show them a clip about the love of God. I felt the confirmation of the Holy Spirit and let it rip. When this short clip was over, there was mascara everywhere and not a dry eye in the room. It really changed the tone of the rest of the week.

That’s when I saw just how relevant the love of God is to everyone in every situation whether they are looking for that or not. After being touched by his love through this video the spiritual climate intensified, teamwork flourished and the entire team was connected in a way that no one expected. I recommend you take five minutes and soak this up right now.

One of our most responded to blog entries was when I recently mentioned (Feb 12^th) the need for soft skills. I am proud to say I began with a discussion on humility. (o-; Today I want to introduce a soft skill Paul calls the greatest of all. It’s an awkward one to bring up in a business environment but it has the most transformational power.

I am talking of course about “love.” Talking about it is far less important than actually demonstrating it and there are countless ways we can do that. For example, love lays down its life for another. That’s what service is… laying down your life for the benefit of another. If you do this particularly well in business, you will generate high customer satisfaction and an incredible reputation.

As an example, my friend Wes Cantrell, the former CEO of Harris 3M and Lanier Worldwide told me when he became the CEO of Harris 3M he was in the position of actually chartering the purpose and vision for that company. That’s when they decided to build their purpose and business around the Scripture that says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than riches….” They focused on customer satisfaction and as a byproduct of that quality decision had tremendous growth and tremendous profits. He assumed the reins of a $93 million company and retired leaving behind a $1.5 billion company built on loving your customers.

P.S. By the way, if you’d like to hear more from Wes Cantrell, ChristianBusinessDaily.com is holding a teleseminar featuring him this week called “Insider Information - A Retrospective.” It gets underway on Thursday at 1PM Eastern, and is a fascinating look into the world of a major CEO who integrated his faith into the world of publicly-traded companies. Learn more about this event here.

Have you ever noticed how we automatically and subconsciously put up our walls when a person comes across in a prideful or arrogant way? Just the opposite seems to be true when a powerful force comes across in a humble package.

I am beginning to think that this thing about being created in the image of God may also include carrying some of His preferences. I know we are fallen people, redeemed by Christ. I know we have a sinful nature, but I also think that we still have built in us, at least the potential to appreciate and value and be drawn to the virtues God values. Even if we don’t know the Lord. There is something in most, if not all of us, that wants the character of God. There’s a hunger for His authenticity. The video link I sent you last week of Paul Potts was a great picture of that truth as the audience was enthralled with an authenticity that lacked glitz but carried power.

As if you needed further evidence of the pure touching even the heart of the most calloused, take a look at this 6 year old hitting the national stage in Britain.

To me it speaks of how much people at some level want something pure, something good, something wholesome. It’s another picture of what happens when you combine talent with humility. Something wonderful happens. Let’s humble ourselves while mastering our gifts and watch where God takes us!

Important Note: This is the last day for you to get in on the Spring Training with David Johnson for marketing and growing your business. If you missed the teleseminar, you can listen online or download it here. Call 877-254-3047 or email appointment@sellingamongwolves.com with any questions.

A while back I wrote a blog on soft skills, chief among them humility. I well remember the time I went to hear a lineup of speakers at the 1993 Super Stars of Selling in Nashville, TN. The one speaker that stood out the most and the only one to receive a standing ovation was a man who, it seemed, was speaking before a large crowd for the first time. He was rather monotone, not at all flamboyant, cocky or arrogant and yet he held the audience in rapt attention. Sure, he had earned $3,000,000 in commissions and that was why he was invited, and sure, he had a good message about what he calls the five “F’s” of faith, family, friends, finance and fitness. But what carried the day was his profound humility. He was not boastful, arrogant or proud. His talk was the least exciting and lacked humor but it dripped humility. And the crowd was mesmerized.

There’s just something about humility that God seems to like and quite frankly, so do most people which is why when you combine humility with great talent, you get an overwhelming response. Consider Paul Potts, the cell phone salesman in England. He is not the picture of confidence, but as you will see if you watch this 4 minute video clip, he is immensely talented and genuinely humble. It’s his talent that got him on the program, but his humility that got the crowd to their feet.

What’s the lesson? Develop your gift. Follow your dream. Excel at it. And always, carry that gift with humility. Your gift will get you in the door. Humility will seal the deal. God resists the proud but exalts the humble. Don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get, so I will choose humility while striving to always do my best and improve my gift.

Important Note: Our conference call for marketing and growing your business in the 21^st century was one of our all time best attended. (If you missed it, you can listen online or download it here.) In that call we offered a 90-day mentoring program which begins this week. It has received our best response ever for this type of program. The door closes on that offer this week, so if you have a business that is in need of more business or a website that needs a lot more traffic, be sure to check it out. A lot of folks had some specific questions about the suitability of this program for their business and David Johnson agreed to extend his availability to discuss your unique situation through Wednesday of this week. You can either call Toll Free (877) 254-3047 or email him at appointment@sellingamongwolves.com to get your specific questions answered.

Dear Friends:”Who cares?”

That was my first thought when I heard that Michael Pink was doing research in the rainforests of Panama.

Candidly, I thought it was a bit of a stretch to learn biblical business principles from a rainforest. Sounded even a little “New Age” to me.

At best, I expected to see a few clever metaphors about how a rainforest is similar to a business.

But after seeing the results, it seems I seriously underestimated the significance of the research.

I started to get fired up after I heard Michael share the information a couple of times… but I’m not interested in just getting excited about something…

Frankly, I wasn’t completely sold until I saw the impact the findings made on Michael’s company. You see, I work closely with Michael as a marketing consultant. When he finished his research, he started applying these principles to his business. I watched first hand, as these principles — from the research that I initial questioned — literally TRANSFORMED Michael’s organization… tripling his staff, and increasing his revenue a lot more than that, all in less than 90 days.

As a Selling Among Wolves reader, you’ve undoubtedly heard about Michael’s rainforest research. But if you’re wired like me, you might be inclined to investigate further too.

But my friend, I’m here to tell you that you need to take a look at this! It’s transformed Michael’s company, and many other Christian organizations who have put it to work for them.

There are seven principles in all - each with a number of ideas within it. For example, principle #6 “The Brazil Nut Effect” talks about interdependence - and harnesses 3 relationships models that will help your business soar to new heights, while describing a fourth type of relationship that you should avoid at all costs.

And today is a great time to take a look, because Michael is letting people access the downloads for $20 off and there are also some free bonus gifts!!

Click here to learn more

I wasn’t convinced right way that it would help me, but I can tell you that this is something you need to check out! Click here to read more about the rainforest principles. This is now something that I recommend (require, if I can get away with it) for all my clients.

Blessings,

David Johnson
Epiphany Marketing, LLC

“As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)

When I read this verse afresh just yesterday, I laughed and smiled. Here’s David, a former shepherd boy, now the King and very prosperous. He has risen from poverty to royalty and yet he says he will only be satisfied when he awakes and sees himself in the likeness of God. In other words, until he sees himself conformed to the likeness of God, not just in some sort of physical resemblance, but truly resembling the image, character and qualities of God, he will not be satisfied. What a goal!

What does that look like and how do we get there? We have a greater volume of Scripture to learn from plus the revelation and teachings of Jesus Christ. We know about the fruit of the Spirit. We can read the Beatitudes. We can study and emulate the life of Christ. We know His image far better.

For me however, it is less about perfecting a check list of known “God qualities” and more about spending time with the Father. Remember Moses? He spent time with God and his very visage was transformed so much he had to wear a veil! Reading David’s words gave me a new goal, one I know I won’t live long enough on earth to achieve. I won’t be satisfied until I awake with His likeness. And everyday between now and then, it will be my supreme pleasure and high honor to pursue God and revel in His presence, all the while being changed in subtle ways I may not notice until one day… that day… when I awake and truly possess His likeness through and through. Care to join me?