“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2 – 4

I am writing this blog on the flight from Charlotte to Atlanta where I change planes for Sarasota, Florida. As I was reflecting on this most unusual day, the Scripture above came to mind that we are to count the trials and temptations we face as sheer joy. To say that runs counterintuitive to everything in me today would be a big understatement!

You see, today was the day I got to reveal to the world my new book, Rainforest Strategy. It is the culmination of 3 ½ years of study, prayer and application. I allowed extra time for the book release because I wanted everything to be just right. And instead, everything that could go wrong did. For some strange reason, it went out in a red text instead of the normal black text. If you tried to actually order the physical book, you were taken to the e-book inside the store. It gets worse, but I will spare you.

That’s when I read James 1 again and decided to count all this as joy. After all, it is working patience in me and if I let if have its perfect work, it will mature me wholly and leave me lacking in no good thing. Sounds like a plan to me! A very good plan. So as I head home for the weekend, I am counting the trials of the day as sheer joy. It beats the alternative!

If you were one of the numerous host of folks who ordered the book on Friday and helped us set a new record for orders in a single day I thank you from the bottom of my heart! And I ask you for grace. (o-:  Nearly every order was processed as an e-book order when we know most of you wanted the physical book. Somehow our links got messed up despite all the test orders we processed successfully before sending out the email offer.

I rarely say this, but I really believe there were other forces at work today that got in and got some wires crossed. I believe those spiritual forces would do anything to hinder this incredible revelation of practical business truth gleaned from God’s creation from getting out and helping folks gain financial freedom. Your kindness, mercy and understanding in what is no doubt a frustrating experience for you would be greatly appreciated. Maybe you too could count it all joy with me… (o-:

Please read any email from Cheryl@SellingAmongWolves as she will be updating all of you who placed an order on Friday and getting things straightened out. If you were planning on ordering but haven’t yet, please DO NOT use the link on Friday’s email. Simply go to www.RainforestStrategy.com/about-the-book or order from our follow up email when we resend the offer with all the links working correctly.

I am joyful because of Christ and I am grateful because of you! May God bless and watch over you this week. Be extra prayerful and watchful the next few days. We live in unprecedented times and your adversary, the devil is seeking whom he may devour.

The Way Our Country Got Into This $700 Billion Dollar Mess Is Not The Way We’ll Get Out Of It!
The Rules Have Changed!
How Will Your Business Survive?

What’s happening on Wall Street is not isolated…

It’s a reflection of the way we as Americans have run our businesses and our lives. The jig’s up. Sure, most of us have not stooped to the levels of corruption and deception now being investigated by the FBI in companies like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and Lehman Brothers. But too many of us are over extended, weighted down by debt and a slave to a system that is crumbling around us. We are in financial debt, time debt, email debt, relationship debt and the list goes on and on.

But what if God had a business model that could change all that?

Rainforest Strategy is a revolutionary way of approaching life and business that will put you on the fast track to regaining control of your time, your money and your life. Listen. The rainforest is a system… the most productive, diverse and fruitful ecosystem on the planet – despite having limited capital (topsoil) to work with. How it produces so much abundance from relative scarcity – all at the speed of peace – is what every business person needs to know!

According to Zig Ziglar, “business leaders at all levels can benefit from Rainforest Strategy”. Following the strategies contained in this book will allow you to function in a zone where you are no longer the slave, but the master. Where you can acquire products or services of high value without cash and without bartering.

Inside this book you will also discover:
•    The single most important thing that powers the rainforest and helped Wes Cantrell, a Christian service tech go from the shop floor to the top floor to become CEO of Lanier Worldwide, growing it to a $1.5 billion company!
•    The secret every leaf in the rainforest is governed by that will allow you to produce wealth quietly and consistently while maintaining a state of peace.  Without that secret you will always wonder why your growth is limited, why you keep hitting an invisible barrier and why you never reach your goals.
•    The unseen predator that can destroy you and your business when you are most vulnerable and how you can protect yourself from that predator whenever it comes.

Paul tells us in Romans that the hidden things of God are revealed in the created order, that His wisdom and character are embedded in the things He made. Even Solomon understood this and maintained a zoo and spectacular gardens to learn how God does things. Find out why Solomon said, “ it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” and check out this incredible new book from Michael Q. Pink

Rainforest Strategy is on sale now for only $14.95 as an E-Book or $21.95 as a hardback book. Includes a FREE BONUS gift valued at $47! Click here for details.

I feel like I have a network of friends and prayer warriors in you, who value the work I do on your behalf and for this I am most grateful. It may seem strange to you, but I often check the blog comments just to see if some of you I’ve gotten to know by reading your posts have commented. You add richness and substance and value to the discussion and help give my efforts meaning.

You see, I give up a lot of time to pray and research and write, all the while trying to deliver something substantive to lift you and to inspire dialog which lifts us all. I have never charged for my emails and don’t intend to. I do plan on introducing a coaching plan in late October which will be fee based but provide far more value than whatever you may invest in it. It will have different levels of participation so just about anyone who wants to can benefit. It will be unlike anything you’ve participated in.

Before I share those details with you, I would ask you to watch your inbox tomorrow for an email I will be sending out to everyone in our group inviting you to purchase my new book, Rainforest Strategy. Yes, I will actually get to make a few bucks on it but not much because I have to buy them from my publisher, but it would be very nice if all of you who read this blog and get value from it, would consider purchasing that book from me.

If I can be vulnerable here… Have you ever labored hard to create something or write something and then showed it to your friends or family or customers? Do you remember how that felt? Now imagine investing 3 ½ years of your life and a lot of money doing the research… And now you are about to share what you have labored and sweated and prayed over to bring to birth with the world… That’s how I feel today.

Tomorrow I find out your reaction. I would appreciate you checking it out and if it meets your expectations, I would appreciate your support. Yes, tomorrow is for you… How you respond is for me. With deep appreciation, I remain…

Your brother in arms.

Listen. Government as we want to believe it exists, died a long time ago or at least became terribly anemic and somewhat parasitic. We only have the façade of being “for the people”. Not that there aren’t good people in government. It’s just that they can all fit into a single school bus! OK. So I am overstating the obvious but government is less controlled by the people it governs than by the corporate, sometimes international corporate interests it really serves. As bad as that is, there is a piece of good news you’ve got to read again. A monarch actually wrote these words…

“Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.  He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.  Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and distress them in His great displeasure.  Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion.” Psalm 2:1-6 (Grant it Lord!)

So while the world turns and changes and transforms in front of our very eyes and while there is a hidden agenda that does not have our best interests in mind (to say the least), this also creates an opportunity for us. Crisis always creates opportunity. If the economy caves and your 401K evaporates are you prepared mentally and spiritually to weather that storm and chart a new course that not only preserves and protects your family but also provides an ark of sorts to help those who are still partying like it’s 1999?

Don’t wait for disaster or difficult times to prepare. Jesus refers to that strategy as the “foolish virgin strategy”. Prepare now. How can you do that you ask? That’s a huge question, but first and foremost you better get used to hearing and obeying the leading of the Lord. If you are too busy to quiet the distractions and hear God’s voice, you are way too busy.

Did you know that in the rainforest, trees grow the most just prior to daybreak, before the sun peaks its head above the horizon, while it’s still dark and quiet, before the work of the day begins? It’s when scientists tell us that water is most available to the trees at the root level. As you will learn in Rainforest Strategy, water is information. Before you get caught up in the affairs of the day, be sure to drink of that transformational information that will facilitate growth so you can fulfill your purpose and carry the load of the day. For me, that is the Scripture or perhaps some great worship music. What is it for you?

On Friday, be sure to check your inbox because my new book, Rainforest Strategy will be offered via email with a special FREE bonus to all of you who receive this email. Make this the beginning of something great in your life!

In the context of our current financial crisis, how would you finish the title of this blog? What concerns me most about the crisis is what we are not being told! If in fact, we the taxpayer are footing the bill, shouldn’t we be allowed to see the agreement that we are being committed to pay? We get sound bytes from reporters who are fed only what the insiders want us to know.

Something is terribly wrong with this picture. It’s like me negotiating a purchase on your behalf that will cost your household $20,000 - $60,000 and all you know so far is that the “paper” I’m buying is a bunch of bad debt that no company can afford to own and remain in business. Would you agree to that? And if you were that foolish, wouldn’t you at least want to know ALL the details? I raise that question simply because not only do we not know the frightening details behind the scenes, but we will never be told. Only held responsible for fulfilling them!

I say all this because I feel compelled to help you see that change is coming to the financial sector, the economy, the system we find ourselves living in. That is not the end of the world, but it is something that we as children of the light need to be aware of, and have a Godly solution for. Crisis always creates opportunity. Are you going to be a victim or a victor? And if you choose to be a victor, what is your plan for accomplishing that?

First and foremost, we must draw near to God and He will draw near to us. We must pursue Him and be like the sons of Issachar in the Old Testament who discerned the times and knew what to do. Most of you reading this are in the business arena and I want to tell you this tumultuous time can open up for you great opportunity. In the rainforest, where there is destruction, there is immediate and abundant opportunity for early adapters to fill in the void created by the destruction. For those early adapters, also called innovators, it is the beginning of the best of days for their future. How the rainforest turns crisis to provision is what every business needs to know.

On Friday, be sure to check your inbox because my new book, Rainforest Strategy will be offered via email with a special FREE bonus to all of you who receive this email. You can make this the beginning of something great in your life!

A new reality is upon us. The economic world as we know it has shifted in a big way and there’s more to come. Soon. But life will continue. So will business, but it will require different skills or at the very least, additional or new skills. Are you prepared?

Soon, the means and methods you exercised to provide for you and your family will feel the squeeze, if not already. For many of you, a slight constriction in your cash flow is the difference between keeping your home or losing it. For over a year, I have told any of my friends and all of my clients that I was very concerned for the fourth quarter of 2008. We as a nation are proceeding through a gate in 2008 and what is on the other side includes a different way of surviving.  We must be prepared.

I have been seeking the Lord for a new model for doing business for the last 3 ½ years and some of you have heard me speak about the rainforest (something God made) as a business model. That is primarily because it is a system (an ecosystem) that flourishes and thrives despite having limited capital (topsoil) to work with. How it produces abundance from scarcity is what you and I need to know more than ever.

On Friday, my new book, Rainforest Strategy is being released. We will be offering a bonus one hour audio download called Rainforest Roundtable for all of you who receive my emails. I will tell you more about the book this week, but for now, it is sufficient to tell you that it is all about creating abundance from scarcity, accomplishing much in less time and all of that without the stress that usually comes from higher productivity. I am urging you now to watch for the email on Friday and order your copy with the free download. We will ship it out right away.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:28

Just when you thought you had an easy to use, sure fire business plan from the first half of Genesis 1:28, then came the “AND”. AND have dominion over the fish of the sea (your lower nature), the fowl of the air (your thought life) and lastly upon every living thing that moves upon the earth.

If you haven’t been following the blogs for the last two weeks, this won’t make as much sense to you, but you can get caught up easy enough by checking them out. I want to submit to you a powerful application of what it means to take dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth. The fish are below, the fowls are above but everything else intersects with you on the plane you live on.

This speaks of everything that vies for your time and attention. Every distraction. Every good cause. Every friend. Every foe. Everything that you potentially interact with on a daily basis. And our job is to take dominion over their interaction with our life. If your schedule is too full, don’t blame them… look in the mirror. Take responsibility for your schedule, for your interaction with everything that comes your way. You cannot totally control what comes to you, but you do control how you react and interact with them.

Don’t be at their mercy. Don’t be at the mercy of their timetable, their schedule, their preference. Notice how Jesus didn’t run over to heal Lazarus when he was sick. It was urgent, but he delayed his departure by two days and showed up four days too late. Or so it seemed. Jesus worked only where He saw His Father working and only when He saw Him working. He took dominion over the activities of His day, despite what came at Him. We would do well to learn from Him.

Important Note: I spent 3 ½ years researching the rainforest as a business model. All of my latest findings are now captured in my newest book to be released next week called Rainforest Strategy. I am offering everyone on this list a FREE BONUS gift when they purchase either the book or the E-Book next week. Be watching your inbox for details. It ties in very much to this $700 billion Wall Street fiasco. You won’t want to miss it.

Note to those in Southwest Florida: David Johnson is hosting an intimate gathering of marketplace warriors who want to successfully market their business. It will be this Saturday, September 27th. I assure you, it will be well worth your time to attend. Click here for details…

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:28

For this to make sense to you, you really need to read the previous blog. We’ve already discussed the basic 4 step business plan in the first half of this verse. We could write a book about taking dominion over our lower nature as pictured by the fish of the sea. Now I want to show you a second critical factor for succeeding at the 4 step plan…

You must take dominion over the fowl of the air. Can you guess what that might represent? I submit to you, it very well represents your thought life, specifically taking dominion over the unsolicited thoughts that come to set up nest in your mind. Some of those thoughts feed your lower nature. Others just keep you down or depressed. If you don’t take dominion over what you think, you will be at the mercy of the fowls of the air and they will pluck your eyes out (steal your vision), given half a chance.

We have a responsibility to cast down every vain thought and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are duty bound to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) We need to direct our thoughts into things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praise worthy.

Your thought life more than anything I know can make or break you. If you don’t take dominion here, don’t think you will succeed in the 4 step business plan. It will break down when troubles come. Rest assured, they will come.

Note to those in Southwest Florida: David Johnson is hosting an intimate gathering of marketplace warriors who want to successfully market their business. It will be this Saturday, September 27th. I assure you, it will be well worth your time to attend. Click here for details…

Note to those in the Charlotte, NC area: Join me as I attend a training conference to improve my ability to provide coaching to many of you beginning later in October. Click here for details…

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:28

OK. The basic business model is laid out in four parts…

1. Be fruitful: Create a self-replicable product or service of high quality and value.
2. Multiply: Create the systems necessary to efficiently and effectively recreate that model in multiple markets.
3. Fill the earth: Develop effective and reliable methods of distributorship. This should involve symbiotic and mutualistic relationships.
4. Subdue it: Dominate your market. Control the sphere in which you do business. Lead. Set your vision to be the head and not the tail in the markets you are in.

Now, here’s the bonus lesson. It’s actually in three parts. After God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, He adds the idea of having dominion over three other areas. I do believe we are to take that text literally. However, I am also looking for an application to help me succeed in the first four steps.

Consider this… Have dominion over the fish. I believe fish which are in the deep places can be a picture of our deeper, lower nature which we are to have dominion over. This would include appetites of all kinds which are very real and must always be held in subjugation lest we throw our lives away or become ineffective due to poor health.

Consider well the words of Jacob on his death bed when he called his sons together to speak a blessing over them. When he came to Reuben, he said, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it: he went up to my couch.” Jacob had great hopes for his firstborn, but because of Reuben’s lack of control over his lower nature (Gen 35:22) he would never amount to anything. Selah.

Note to those in Southwest Florida: David G. Johnson is hosting an intimate gathering of marketplace warriors who want to successfully market their business. It will be this Saturday, September 27^th. I assure you, it will be well worth your time to attend. Click here for details…

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it:” Gen 1:28

You’ve just read the best summary of a business model I’ve ever read. I know some of you got hung up on literalism as if I were somehow suggesting otherwise. Let me be clear, I take the Scripture literally where intended to be literal and allegorical where we are told the text is allegorical as in many of the parables Jesus told.

What I am doing here is encouraging you all to look at a passage of Scripture that is meant to be taken literally and then ask what other applications can be taken from it. For example, what is leaven in the Scripture? Is it something good or bad? It’s both. Jesus used leaven to describe the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and to describe the growth of the kingdom of God.

So while I understand that being fruitful in the above text is a directive to procreate, it can also be applied to creating anything. In business, that could be a product or service. If so, make sure it’s good. Then multiply and distribute it (fill the earth). But how far should you go? May I suggest you subdue your market? That’s the fourth phase. Bring it into subjection. Dominate your sphere. Your sphere doesn’t have to be large, but whatever sphere you are operating in, make it your goal to have dominion in that sphere.