“Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”…“I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” John 15:2, 5

I am writing this blog looking at out at a hedge that has a few branches shooting out above the rest of the hedge. It is mostly in shape, just a few overly exuberant branches growing out of sync with the rest. What it needs is a light trim. Sometimes we are like that. Doing mostly fine with just a thing or two out of balance that God wants to trim.

But if I leave the hedge alone until Spring, it will get way out of control and it will be time for a major pruning. Sometimes when we avoid the minor pruning the Holy Spirit does through the Word when we choose not to be trimmed back by its instruction, He sends in something a little harder to ignore. Tough circumstances. That feels a lot more brutal but usually has the effect of making us more receptive to the still small voice of the Lord and the guidance of Scripture.

There are bushes however that are perfectly fine, doing just what they are supposed to do and are only pruned way back for one purpose. That purpose is not to punish or correct, but simply to create more fruitfulness. Perhaps that’s you. Knowing the purpose of the pruning doesn’t make it less painful, but at least we can take some comfort in what we know is to follow.

Yesterday I was interviewed on a radio station and was asked “What about all the folks who are now losing their homes due to current economic conditions?” Well first of all, it is sad and it is painful but I also believe it is a pruning of sorts. When the pruning is done, healing begins and a season of fruitfulness opens up better than before and that is something to look forward to. Fruitfulness always follows pruning. Boom follows bust. It’s just the way things cycle. Better to understand the cycles and cooperate with them than to whine and complain and fight against them. Read my chapter called Strangler Fig Phenomenon in Rainforest Strategy to learn how to cooperate with and profit from cycles.

Speaking of pruning, it seems the US markets dodged the bullet on Friday, but this week is quite another thing and possibly another one for the record books. Collapsing hedge funds look like the trigger this time. I am planning on attending a teleseminar this week that speaks to causes and remedies for the madness going on in our economy. Check it out here for details.

Hello friend,

Yesterday we reminded you of our special free teleseminar with Os Hillman, a significant leader in the marketplace movement. He has created a special program that I believe you will want to hear about called, The 9 to 5 Window. It’s a profoundly important wake up call for reaching the marketplace for Christ.

I’ll be interviewing Os on this subject today, and it promises to be powerful — much like the recent events with Rich Marshall, Dr. Lance Wallnau and Dr. Myles Munroe have been.  There’s not much time left, so I encourage you to register right away. If you know you can’t make it, go ahead and register so we can send you the replay information as soon as it becomes available.

Sure hope you can make it!

Blessings,

Michael

P.S.  As always, space is limited. Register right away!

A car manufacturer where labor and management are in continual strife over a prolonged period of time will eventually begin producing automobiles of an inferior quality to those made in an environment of goodwill and cooperation. That was certainly true in America during the seventies and the Japanese ate our lunch when it came to producing reliable automobiles. We lost market share, foreign imports soared and we’ve been fighting back ever since. By the way — we’ve been gaining ground. Of course, the confrontational environment between labor and management has also lightened up considerably.

The point is that every job is indeed a self-portrait of the person who did it… And if that person is in a continuous state of being disgruntled, the product they will likely produce will reflect that disgruntledness. In the case of American car manufacturers in the seventies, entire assembly lines of workers were disgruntled. It came out in their product and in time, the customers who purchased that product became disgruntled.

Whether we know it or not, we always autograph our work. Some autograph their work with excellence, others with negativity or a poor attitude. In the end, those who rely on your work will read your signature. Will it be autographed with excellence? It’s your choice.

Important Announcement: I am very pleased to be able to announce that on Wednesday, September 3^rd, 2008 Os Hillman will be giving us a summary of his widely acclaimed 9 To 5 Window teaching. That’s tomorrow! Watch your inbox for details!

I just got off the teleseminar with Dr. Myles Munroe and it was one of the most significant and amazing calls we have ever had the privilege of doing. I have already heard from some of you expressing the same sentiments and wanting to hear it again.

If you missed it and if you value any of my advice, I am urging you to set aside an hour in the next day or so and listen to Dr. Munroe share one nugget after another. It was like walking along a forest trail and every few steps picking up a solid gold nugget.

There’s no cost to listen so invest the time. You and your dreams are worth it! (We will leave this site up for a few days so you can get to it.)

Blessings,

Michael

Tomorrow I will be conducting a one-on-one teleseminar with Dr. Myles Munroe. We will be discussing kingdom principles for succeeding in business. I wanted to introduce you to him this week and have asked him to guest host on our blog for a few days. The teleseminar will start at 1PM US Eastern time on Thursday, August 28th. You’ll have the choice of participating by telephone OR via web-based streaming simulcast. However, we have a limited number of spots, so I urge you to reserve yours now!

Dr. Munroe was born in the Bahamas to a family of eleven children, and overcame unbelievable odds to emerge as a global leader, sharing the platform with Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs, Governors, Corporate Leaders, Religious Leaders, Members of Congress, Senators, Law Enforcements Agencies, Judicial Leaders, Hollywood Stars and professional Athletes. He is respected internationally as a motivational speaker, business consultant, and a best-selling author of over 40 books. Now, here’s Dr. Munroe…

Missing Keys
Have you ever found some old keys lying around your house and couldn’t remember what they unlocked? Possessing a key you cannot identify or match to a particular lock is as bad as not having a key at all. What good are keys you can’t use? They are as useless as locks you can’t open.
This is exactly the problem with many believers today. We have a big bunch of “keys” called “Scriptures” that most of us don’t know how to use. We have the keys, but we don’t know which key unlocks which lock. It’s like having all of this information but not knowing how to use it, having all of this power available to us but not knowing how to apply it.
Knowledge of the Word of God is important, but insufficient by itself for effective living as a believer. This is because most believers lack a proper Kingdom mindset.
Life in the Kingdom is really about returning to the governing authority of God in the earth and learning how to live and function in that authority. Part of understanding the Kingdom is learning how to use the keys of the Kingdom.
Ask the Holy Spirit today to unlock whatever may be keeping you from stepping into His full destiny for your life.

Click here to register for tomorrow’s event

This Thursday I will be conducting a one-on-one teleseminar with Dr. Myles Munroe. We will be discussing kingdom principles for succeeding in business. I wanted to introduce you to him this week and have asked him to guest host on our blog for a few days. The teleseminar will start at 1PM US Eastern time on Thursday, August 28th. You’ll have the choice of participating by telephone OR via web-based streaming simulcast. However, we have a limited number of spots, so I urge you to reserve yours now!

Dr. Munroe was born in the Bahamas to a family of eleven children, and overcame unbelievable odds to emerge as a global leader, sharing the platform with Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs, Governors, Corporate Leaders, Religious Leaders, Members of Congress, Senators, Law Enforcements Agencies, Judicial Leaders, Hollywood Stars and professional Athletes. He is respected internationally as a motivational speaker, business consultant, and a best-selling author of over 40 books. Now, here’s Dr. Munroe…

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a secret society, but its keys do have to be learned. A secret is anything you don’t know, especially if somebody else does. Miracles fall into this category. A miracle is something that humans cannot explain, an event or occurrence that seems to defy the laws of nature. Many had seen Jesus walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead, shrivel a tree by speaking to it, calm a storm, multiply bread, and many other “miraculous” things that were beyond the ken of human experience.

But to Jesus, none of these were miracles. He said, “These are no miracles; I’m just using keys. I know how to put them in the locks, and they are unlocking prosperity, unlocking healing, unlocking peace, unlocking authority. Watch Me and you will see the Kingdom at work, and also how it should work for you. My Father has given you the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom. I will teach you how to use the keys.”

Jesus left no doubt that the Kingdom was supposed to work for His followers (just as it worked for Him, for on the night before His death He told them:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it (John 14:12-14).

Click here to register for this Thursdays event!

This Thursday at 1:00 pm I will be conducting a one-on-one teleseminar with Dr. Myles Munroe. We will be discussing kingdom principles for succeeding in business. I wanted to introduce you to him this week and have asked him to guest host on our blog for a few days. Watch your inbox for call in numbers and to register.

Dr. Munroe was born in the Bahamas to a family of eleven children, and overcame unbelievable odds to emerge as a global leader, sharing the platform with Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs, Governors, Corporate Leaders, Religious Leaders, Members of Congress, Senators, Law Enforcements Agencies, Judicial Leaders, Hollywood Stars and professional Athletes. He is respected internationally as a motivational speaker, business consultant, and a best-selling author of over 40 books. Now, here’s Dr. Munroe…

Kingdom citizens are supposed to be operating on a level that blows other people’s minds. We should have access to a power that mystifies those who are not yet in the Kingdom. We are supposed to be living life at a certain level where we are tapping into resources that others cannot explain.
The ecclesia is a secret group entrusted with secret information critical for the operation of the Kingdom. This group will be so powerful that even the “gates of hades will not overcome it.” Another way to translate that phrase is, “the gates of hades will not prove stronger than it.” Even hell itself will not be as strong as the ecclesia that Jesus is establishing.
What is this “secret information” that Jesus gives His cabinet? He says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (See Matthew 16:19.) He gives them—gives us—the keys of the Kingdom, not the keys to the Kingdom.
As Kingdom citizens, we are already in the Kingdom; we don’t need the keys to it. What we need—and what Jesus has given us—are the keys of the Kingdom—the keys that will unlock the power of the Kingdom and make it work in our lives.

Yesterday we aired a terrific free teleseminar featuring my friend, Dr. Lance Wallnau of the Lance Learning Group. Many of you wrote to tell us you couldn’t make the appointment but wanted the chance to listen to Lance talk about “Doing Business Supernaturally.” I also heard from many of you saying how phenomenal and refreshing this free seminar was.

Here’s what we’re going to do…

We do our best to secure a back up copy for any eventuality and we are now making it available to not only those of you who registered but also to the thousands of you that didn’t register because the time schedule didn’t work for you. We appreciate all of you and want to support you as best we can. There is no charge for this event and we are not going to pass the hat, but it would be nice if you would forward this link to friends on your list to give them an idea of the kinds of programs available to help folks in the marketplace.

Fair enough? Here’s the link to the replay

Lance talked about how to identify your sandbox and be the dominant player as well as the power of force multiplication. I hope you can listen to this. Click here to listen now.

Also, many people have inquired about the Doing Business Supernaturally teaching series by Lance which he made available on the call for a remarkably modest investment. It was a special offer for about what you might spend on a nice dinner out with your spouse but will last you much, much longer and give you a great ROI! Here’s where to learn more or to sign up for this special offer.

I look forward to hearing your feedback about the call.

Blessings,

Michael

“My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments within you. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them upon your fingers, write them upon the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:1-3) “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” (Psalm 45:1)

Our heart records the feelings we had the first time we heard Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes. It records the lyric, the setting, the moment. It records love and loss and so much of life. It’s like the record button is always “on” and later, perhaps late at night in bed, we replay whatever was recorded.

With our heart being like a tablet, we should be deliberate about what we record. We can’t help much of what is recorded, but we can choose to record good things that will help us in life. Certainly, Scripture is one thing we can record, but also we can record many positive things about life and our future. The question is “how”?

I believe David tells us when he says our tongue is the pen of a ready writer. We actually use our words to create an impression upon our heart. What we speak, gets recorded in our heart. What we speak repeatedly gets remembered in our mind as well. What a privilege to be able to choose what is
written on our heart. Sure, we can’t choose it all, but we can certainly choose to record good things.

What does your heart desperately need to hear today? That’s what you should declare. Are you afraid? Say aloud, that God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. Say aloud what Jesus promised, that He would never, never, no never leave you nor forsake you. Give your heart what it needs… words of hope, words of life, words of faith. It just might save your life!

Yesterday I mentioned one of the most riveting voices in the marketplace today, Dr. Lance Wallnau. I will be sharing the platform with him in Austin Sept 4 – 6 but for those who can’t attend, I have arranged a special one-hour teleseminar this Thursday at 1:00 pm with Lance to talk about Doing
Business Supernaturally. You won’t want to miss it. Click here for details.

I knew this would happen… Once people found out that we were having Lance Wallnau on a teleseminar they would want to sign up. People who aren’t even our subscribers are accessing us from Google and want to know more details. So here they are…

Lance will spend an hour with us talking about “Doing Business Supernaturally.” It may well be one of the most important hours you set aside this week. How to identify your sandbox and be the dominant player as well as the power of force multiplication will be some of the issues we will be discussing. Lance and I will be speaking at the Kingdom Economic Summit September 4 - 6 in Austin but for those who can’t make it, this is a great opportunity to hear Lance share the great revelation and understanding he has with our group.

So here’s the deal: The call will start at 1PM US Eastern time on Thursday, August 21st.  You’ll have the choice of participating by telephone OR via web-based streaming simulcast.  However, we have a limited number of spots, so I urge you to reserve yours now!

Click here to register for this important event.

By the way, if you have a scheduling conflict, please register for the event anyway.  Once a replay becomes available, we’ll notify you immediately - day or night.

Until then, have a great week!

Blessings,

Michael

P.S.  Don’t delay, register right away!