I am so excited about the special guest I have on the blog this week.  If you missed my introduction yesterday, click here. 

And be sure to leave a comment on both yesterday’s post and today’s post.  Not only will your comments this week give you a chance at winning a book, but you’ll also be entered to win a spot to travel with me and my team on a missions trip to the Dream Center August 4-8, 2011.

Yes, ma’am. 

So, call your mama, your sister, your neighbor, your facebook friends and help spread the word.  Every comment left on the blog this week, will be entered into a drawing that could win you and a friend a spot on this trip.  (Your only cost will be your travel to and from Los Angeles and spending money.) We’ll be spending some time serving the staff, working in inner city missions, and learning more about the incredible vision of Pastor Matthew’s Dream Center.

I can’t wait.

Here’s Pastor Matthew Barnett:

I love these two thoughts from today’s interview with Pastor Matthew:

*  Rock bottom isn’t where you fail, it’s where God recreates you.

*  We must die to the anxiety and stress of trying to figure out our calling.  Instead embrace what’s in your hand right now and use that to serve the cause.

The story of how God is using Pastor Matthew is incredibly inspiring.  His book, “The Cause Within You- finding the one great thing you were created to do in this world,” is a must read.  You can purchase a copy by clicking here.  Proceeds from this book go to support the Dream Center.

In the comments today, tell me one of three things.  Tell me why you’d like to win this book or why you’d like to win a spot to go on this missions trip or one good thing you’ve learned at rock bottom.

Happy Memorial Day. We pause. We remember. We appreciate. We treasure. We say thank you. To the many service men and women who have given and who are giving- your work is appreciated. Freedom is a priceless gift.

If you missed the post, “don’t despise the small,” click here. This is sort of a part two to that post.

While we embrace and treasure the workings of the small, we can’t ignore what might come next. A step, a leap, a decision to embrace the next assignment. The invitation from God to see a need and meet it. The big.

Not big as in flashy and celebrated by the world. Big as in what it will cost to go there. Big as in the faith it will take to press through. Big as in impact it will make. Big as in caring more about pleasing God than perpetuating my comfort. Big as in obeying fully.

It’s easy to obey partially. Obeying just enough to give the right Christian appearance is not the obedience God desires.

God doesn’t just want us to call ourselves people of faith. God wants His people to live lives that actually require faith. There’s a difference. And therein lies whisperings of the big. The calling. The cause within you.

I have a friend I want to introduce you to this week that lives this message. Breaths this message. Proclaims this message with more enthusiasm than words on a flat screen can possibly convey.

Matthew Barnett is the co-founder of the Dream Center in Los Angeles and the senior pastor of the historic Angelus Temple. He’s also the author of the book, “The Cause Within You”.

If you’ve ever wrestled with discovering your calling, this book is for you. If you’ve ever pondered what you’re supposed to do with your life, this book is for you. If you’ve ever felt a stir toward bold, but present realities of life scream stay safe, this book is for you.

If you’ve ever dared peek through the window of a big door, this book is for you.

It might just breathe into you the courage to fling your own “big” wide open. I can’t wait for you to meet Matthew and hear his incredible story. Never have a met someone who more beautifully refuses to despise the small while fearlessly embracing the big.

The really, really big.

You can order his book, “The Cause Within You- finding the one great thing you were created to do in this world,” by clicking here. It is the perfect gift for graduates and for Father’s Day.

Leave me a comment today telling me who you know that would benefit from reading this book and I’ll pick five winners to receive a free copy. And be sure to tune in the rest of this week for my video interviews and a surprise announcement on Thursday.