Dream For Dominion
- By Joseph Mattera
- Published 12/10/2008
Joseph Mattera
Joseph Mattera has been in full-time ministry since 1980 and is currently the overseeing Bishop of Resurrection Church in New York.
Known as “a leader’s leader,” Joseph is also a virtuoso on the guitar. He has received formal education in Kingsborough Community College, Elohim Bible Institute, received ministerial training from The International Christian Center, and has received an honorary diploma from Zion Bible Institute. Joseph earned a Doctor of Divinity from the Christian Leadership Seminary, participated in BILD (Biblical Institute for Leadership Development), successfully completed a one-year certificate program with the Wilberforce Forum, and has earned a Doctor of Ministry from Bakke Graduate University, with a concentration in Biblical Worldview and Urban Ministry.
Joseph and his wife Joyce founded Resurrection Church in 1984. A multi ethnic congregation of 40 nationalities, Resurrection Church has developed and sent out high-impact leadership and numerous non-profit corporations that have greatly impacted nations and the New York region, such as Children of the City (COC regularly ministers to more than 2,000 at-risk children with counseling, after school programs, tutoring, mentoring, and other holistic ministries) and The Ekklesia Leadership Institute (which held intensive monthly seminars and week-long summits with a focus of raising up the next generation of leadership with a Christian world and life view).Joseph also has hosted his own radio show “Light Your City” and a weekly cable television programs “The Ekklesia.” He is a regular contributor to Christian newspapers, and through the years has given numerous radio and television interviews and press conferences, including guest appearances on TBN. His first published book Ruling in the Gates was released in April 2003 and has already had international acclaim.In recognition of his years of faithful service and significant influence, numerous local and national bishops and apostolic leaders consecrated Joseph to the Office of Bishop on April 29, 2006.
Joseph, his wife, Joyce and their five children live in Brooklyn, New York.
Text: Genesis 1:26-28
God has called all of us to bear fruit, multiply, subdue the earth and have dominion.
The following are some key principles so we can dream for dominion:
1. Understand that God’s love is unconditional but His blessings are conditional (Deuteronomy 28:1-2; Isaiah 1:19)
a. Miracles don’t just happen; they occur when certain principles are applied.
b. God enables us to participate in the progress of our lives; He gives us the option to succeed.
2. Understanding and harnessing desire
a. Men rarely reach for what they need; they usually reach for what they desire.
b. The proof of desire is pursuit. It doesn’t matter what you say, only what you pursue.
i. Do you hate sickness, poverty, injustice, etc.?
c. Feed good desires by visualizing them.
3. Hang with the right crowd
a. Proverbs 13:20: “He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
b. Don’t expose your 16 x 20 visions to a 5 x 7 person.
c. Have an uncommon mentor to disciple you and send you forth for greatness.
d. The power of unity: Genesis 11; Matthew 18:19.
e. The best way to get rid of the wrong people is to be obsessed with doing the right things.
4. Be focused
a. Stay focused on your future, not your past failures.
b. Don’t be scattered like a shotgun blast; be focused like a laser beam.
c. Creative people have a tendency to stop something before they are finished.
d. Throw off all distractions to your assignment (Mark 8:33; Hebrews 12:2).
5. What you respect will come to you
a. Health
b. Faith
c. God
d. Money
6. Learn to use your imagination
a. Great achievers replay past triumphs and preplay future success.
b. The role of memory and imagination.
c. David and Goliath.
d. Abraham: Genesis 13:16; 26:4.
e. Even wicked people can use it for their advantage (Genesis 6 and 11).
f. Jesus’s mind was on the resurrection, not on the cross (Hebrews 12:1-2).
g. Your imagination is not a referee; it grows the seeds you decide to water and nurture.
h. There are disaster seeds and dream seeds.
7. Learn to set goals
a. You must have a destination before you change your location.
b. God honored the planning of Noah, Moses, Solomon, and Nehemiah.
c. Jesus taught us to plan (Luke 14:28).
d. “Go to the ant” (Proverbs 6:6-8).
e. Invest time and money into yourself.
i. People can’t spend $180 on a Men’s Encounter, but they will spend all that at a Yankees game for 3 hours!
f. Whatever you are, you create; whatever I am, I reproduce around me. It’s time to obey God and reproduce blessing and obedience to God around you.
g. Exercising faith is believing that something exists that you have not yet experienced.
8. Understand the use of time
a. God didn’t give us money, friends, businesses, clothes, and hairstyles; He gave us time.
b. Time is the currency on the earth.
c. I have never met a poor person who understood the importance of time; I have never met a self-made rich person who didn’t understand the importance of time.
d. John 7:6: Every problem is an opportunity to make money. Every time your boss is disappointed with something, you have the opportunity to demonstrate your significance.
9. Understand your potential
a. You are a warehouse of seeds.
b. Every seed is a pathway from your present to your future.
c. You can see something no one else can see.
d. You know something others do not know; see something others do not see; see problems others do not see. For example:
i. Lawyers solve legal problems.
ii. Mechanics solve car problems.
iii. Dentists solve tooth problems.
iv. Mothers solve emotional problems.
v. Accountants solve tax problems.
e. In other words, someone needs you; you are a walking solution to someone.
f. Discover the seeds God has given you and your future will be anything you desire.
