Interview with Eric Bryant

When Eric Bryant stumbled across BookDisciple.com, he was kind enough to leave a comment about a review I did on Peppermint-filled Piñatas.

I jumped at the chance to interview him for the website, and he agreed. Thank you Eric! Here goes…

Dries: Most of us don't really know Eric Michael Bryant (a.k.a. 'Stealth' of Mosaic). Tell us a bit about yourself, your dreams and where you are heading.

Eric Bryant: I have a wonderful family (wife Debbie, son Caleb, daughter Trevi, and puppy Emma) and have the opportunity to serve as a Navigator along with Erwin McManus at Mosaic, a church in Los Angeles. I enjoy spending time with my friends from Mosaic and my friends from my neighborhood whether we are watching television, movies, sharing a meal, or playing softball or basketball. My passion continues to be catalyzing community by helping people experience a genuine and healthy relationship with God and the people around them.

Dries: How did you end up where you are, serving God and bearing fruit for Him?

Eric Bryant: I began volunteering in the parking lot and going to a small group at Mosaic in 1998. After awhile, I was invited to serve as the High School Pastor and join the Leadership Team. Since then I have been involved in student ministry, working with small groups, starting new gatherings, experimenting with new initiatives, serving as a liaison for churches within our Mosaic Alliance, and now overseeing our Leadership Team.

Dries: I understand that you are a father of two. Please tell us a bit about your family.

Eric Bryant: Debbie and I are blessed with a sensitive, caring, and athletic little 8-year-old boy named Caleb and a precocious, passionate, and artistic little 5-year-old girl named Trevi. Caleb wants to grow up to play professional basketball, although he may have a better shot at becoming a jockey or gymnast since our family doesn’t grow very tall! She wants to grow up to be a rock star or President of the United States so that her picture would be on the dollar bill. :-)

Dries: Eric, I guess if you are to be a successful pastor and an author you have to love learning and reading. Is this true for you?

Eric Bryant: In pursuit of becoming an effective and faithful pastor and author, I am absolutely seeking to grow and learn!

Dries: Who is your favorite author?

Eric Bryant: I know you may think I am biased, but Erwin (McManus) is my favorite author. He challenges us to risk, love, and live passionately, and I am so encouraged, inspired, and challenged to live with the same spirit of generosity, passion, and wisdom that he does. I am so grateful others now have the chance to learn from him through his writing.

Dries: And your top five books?

Eric Bryant: An Unstoppable Force and Uprising by Erwin McManus

Built to Last and Good to Great by Jim Collins

Team of Rivals and No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Dries: How would you separate just-another-book from an excellent, life-changing book?

Eric Bryant: The best books are the ones that shift our trajectory down a better path than we were heading before. The best books don’t just change our thinking; they lead us to action.

Dries: What are you currently reading?

Eric Bryant: I am reading through MicroTrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes by Mark Penn and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb.

Dries: At the time of this interview, your only published book is Peppermint-filled Pinatas. Are there any upcoming book projects you are allowed to tell us about? When do we expect your next book?

Eric Bryant: I helped write another book called The Uprising Experience with Erwin McManus and Rick Yamamoto before Peppermint-Filled Pinatas. It was written and used by a men’s ministry here in the U.S. called Promise Keepers. I am currently working on my dissertation for a Doctorate of Ministry with Bethel Seminary. My next book may be the result of my work on this dissertation, which is about organizing innovation.

Dries: What does it take to write a book that God can use to change hearts?

Eric Bryant: The books that have changed my heart were the ones that seemed to echo what God had been speaking to me through the Scriptures, experiences, and conversations I had been having. In my prayer that God would use my book to change hearts, I just tried to share my story honestly so that people can learn from my mistakes as well as the good things we have been able to see and experience. I pray that my book will help those of us who follow Christ to truly love those we have too often overlooked or even disliked. For me, slowing down long enough to reflect on how God has been working in and through my life was a life-changing experience, so at least one person was changed by my book! :-)

Dries: You surely completed the Clifton StrengthsFinder. Tell us about your five top talents...

Eric Bryant: One of the men in our church helped Donald Clifton move his StrengthsFinder interview process to become an online assessment. Chip Anderson passed away a couple of years ago, but he mentored so many of us at Mosaic through our strengths starting in 1999. The StrengthsFinder is a powerful tool I highly recommend!

My strengths are Futuristic, Woo, Belief, Communication, and Positivity

Dries: I know this is not the kind of thinking that the StrengthsFinder encourages, but if there is one thing that you need to improve on, what would it be?

Eric Bryant: Every strength has a backside weakness, especially as our character flaws come into play. I am really hoping to grow to become more faithful in creating space and time for reflecting and dreaming. I also want to grow in wisdom and boldness when it comes to having deeper conversations about character, leadership, and spiritual issues with those around me.

Dries: You seem to be quite active online in communities like facebook, while also actively blogging and surfing. What advice do you have for disciples of Jesus to be the church online?

Eric Bryant: The goal of these online tools is communicating and developing relationships. Healthy relationship principles should apply online just as they do in the real world.

Dries: What is the one thing that you need to do before you die?

Eric Bryant: I would love to able to live to see my children grow up serving God and loving others.

Dries: What is the first thing you will ask God upon your arrival in heaven?

Eric Bryant: Why did the hair on my head stop growing at about the same time hair began growing on my back?! It’s a superficial question, but it was the first that came to mind!

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