Agape International Spiritual Center, led by Rev. Michael Beckwith, will stream its Sunday services via an online video for free. For more information on how you can watch, you can click here.

The Agape service generally includes readings from spiritual texts, singing from the Agape International Choir and a talk by Rev. Michael Beckwith.

I don’t know what it will be like watching an Agape service online, but I have been to Agape’s service live before and it was truly an awe-inspiring experience.

Have you ever been fired, failed or told you weren’t good enough? Most people who have achieved enormous success have been, but went on to accomplish great things because they refused to listen to their critics or let their “failures” inhibit them from carrying out their life purpose. Below is a list of some of history’s most dynamic leaders who went on to prove the so called “experts” wrong….

Lucille Ball was dismissed from drama school because she was told she was too shy.

The Beatles were turned down by a recording company and told their guitar music is on the way out.

Ulysseses S. Grant was a failed soldier, farmer and real estate agent and at 38 years old he went to work for his father as a handy man.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

A teacher told Thomas Edison he was too stupid to learn anything and he should go into a field where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality.

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas.

Abraham Lincoln failed in business twice, had a nervous breakdown and was defeated in 8 elections.

Jim Carrey introduced Eckhart Tolle at the 2009 Inaugural GATE Event (Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment). In his introduction, he talked about the emergence of transformational media and how the majority of the news and entertainment is not representative of what people want or what the world is like. Instead, he offered a hopeful and positive outlook on the future of the world, media and entertainment and used Eckhart Tolle TV as an example of a different type of medium that provides transformational entertainment.

Nik Halik spent the first 10 years of his life medically confined to his bedroom with nothing but the Encyclopedia to read. Since then, he has gone on to live an amazing life full of adventure, extreme travel and fabulous wealth – from having lunch on the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, climbing the world’s highest mountains, rocketing around the earth as a Civilian Astronaut and financially retiring in his late 20’s.

I had a chance to chat with Nik. In our conversation, Nik shared with me some interesting details about the places he’s been to and told me about an exciting new travel adventure on his agenda. He also gave me some words of wisdom when he said,

“Matt…In life there are two most important days. The first most important is the day you were born. The second most important day is the day you discover why you were born.”

Nik is trying to help other people discover why they were born and live life to the fullest by creating www.TheThrillionaires.com, the first online community focused only on helping you achieve your dreams.

If you want to hear more about Nik’s adventures, then you can listen to our 11 minute conversation by clicking the play button below.

Sara Lopez might have the coolest job in the world. As the New Media Spokesperson for 8th Continent’s Soy Milk, Sara gets to travel around the country to exciting events and interesting places and then write about her experiences on 8th Continent’s Blog, Facebook page and Twitter site.

Her career wasn’t always this fun though.  After college, she started working in a traditional consulting company that was not a good fit for her outgoing personality, noticeable tattoos and faux hawk haircut. Consequently, she was let go and unemployed for a while. However, Sara remained optimistic and committed to finding a job that would allow her to use her talents and be her self.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Sara about her career path. In our conversation, Sara told me how she stayed so positive and focused throughout the tough times in her career.  She also shared with me an eye-opening story that helped me to see the big picture.

If you are trying to figure out a way to turn your passion into your career or find a job that allows you to express your most authentic self, then I would recommend listening to our conversation by clicking on the link below.

If you would like to see Sara’s work or connect with her, then you can visit her Facebook Fan page at www.facebook.com/8clopez, Twitter Site at http://twitter.com/8thLopez or Blog at www.8cpassport.com.

One of Gandhi’s most famous speeches begins with the line,

“There is an undefinable mysterious power that pervades everything, I feel it though I do not see it.”

You can listen to the entire six minute speech on You Tube if you click here.

Thank you Robin Rice for posting the link on your Facebook page this morning.

The top inspirational news story of 2009 was the “Miracle on the Hudson.” On Jan. 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 hit a flock of geese soon after taking off from LaGuardia, causing it to fall into the Hudson River. The pilot told the passengers as it was going down, “This is the captain speaking. Brace for impact.”

Fortunately, he maneuvered the 80-ton aircraft away from a catastrophic crash and landed the airplane on the river with it still intact. The passengers, then made their way onto the wings of the plane to avoid falling into the 20-degree water. Shortly thereafter, an improvised fleet of tour boats, ferries and tugboats came over to the scene. They tossed out life vests and began taking people in.

The pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, twice walked the length of the sinking plane to make sure he was the last to depart. All of the 155 passengers were rescued by level-headed New York waterway operations. One of the persons rescued, Molly Schugel remarked, “The most amazing part was, I saw no pushing, no shoving. I saw nothing but help and compassion.”

New York Gov. David Patterson said, “We had a miracle on 34th Street. I believe now we have a miracle on the Hudson.”

Eckhart Tolle TV is an online service that features teachings, commentary and discussion with Eckhart Tolle.  This month Eckhart talks about how nature can help us return to the fullness of presence and peace…

No matter how stressful our lives might be, just paying attention to nature – whether it is a pond, forrest or an open field – can remind us of a stillness and calmness that exists and help us to get refocused.

For more information on Eckhart Tolle TV or to watch video clips from past episodes, you can visit Eckhart Tolle’s page on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/EckhartTeachings

The Dark Night of the Soul has appeared in traditional spiritual texts, famous stories and popular movies throughout our history. I believe it has been written about so much because it is a common experience that everyone who is committed to reaching his or her inner and outer potential must go through. It is a period of time where we learn our most difficult lessons because any flaw, inauthenticity or shadow that is holding us back must come to light so that it can be consciously released. Normally, this takes place right before we are about to have a major breakthrough or shift in our life.

A good description of this phenomenon is in the classic novel, The Alchemist, when Paulo Coelho writes,

“What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon…

‘Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.’

The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.”

So if you are facing any sort of personal or spiritual obstacle right now, just hang in there and don’t give up. This is a challenging time for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If we can remain steadfast, then whatever difficulty we are facing now will eventually be seen as our greatest friend because it gave us the necessary strength to carry out our life purpose.

“The challenges in our lives are there to STRENGTHEN our convictions. They are NOT there to run us over.”

- Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic was born with no arms or legs and given no medical reason for his condition. Still, he says, “Faced with countless challenges and obstacles, God has given me the strength to surmount what others might call impossible.”

There is a great video of a talk he gave posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY