Good to Great in God's Eyes - Empower Great People, Part 2

Someone has wisely said, success is not what you accomplish in life. Success is making other people successful. When I look back on my life, there's been a small, important group of people who invested in me that changed my entire future.

So here's the question, who are you investing in? Stay with me as we learn how to empower great people. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drouie, and Chip's our Bible teacher for this international discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. Well, in just a minute, Chip will pick up where he left off last time in his popular series, Good to Great in God's Eyes. But before we get started, as a quick reminder, if you miss a portion of this program, let me encourage you to catch up through the Chip Ingram app.

It's a great way to listen to Living on the Edge anytime. Okay, here now is Chip with part two of his message, Empower Great People, from 2 Timothy chapter two. We've got to understand Jesus' fourfold process for empowering great people.

Very, very clear. The first thing he does is he brings them in. The second thing he's going to do is after he brings them in, he's going to build them up and then he's going to train them for, and then he's going to send them out.

I'm going to go through each one of those. But he starts out very, very clearly is he looks, he's going to bring some people in and then he's going to go through a phase where he builds them up. Then he's going to train them for doing something.

And then after he trains them, bang, he sends them out and they actually do it. So let's talk about how you can do that. And by the way, this is how ordinary regular, you don't have to go to seminary. You don't have to go to Bible school. You don't have to be a genius.

You don't have to have an IIQ. Obviously you don't have to because look at the guys he chose. I mean, I mean, you got a couple executives possibly in the group, one religious revolutionary, mostly blue collar guys. But what were they?

They were faithful, weren't they? They believed they were available and they were teachable and he changed the world through them. So let's walk through. How do you do it?

His fourfold process for empowering great people. Number one, bring them in. Well, how do you bring them in? First, you model the message.

Then you invite them into the action and you engage them in authentic relationships and you say, well, where do you get that? Notice what it says in Mark 3 14. This is exactly how Jesus did it. He appointed 12 designating them apostles. The word just means a sent one or a messenger that they might be circle the phrase with him, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. So he gets messengers.

His methodology is very simple. He just wants them around him. And he has a mission.

He does it purposefully knowing he's going to send them out. A bricklayer did this for me. His name's Dave Marshall. And I say this with just in awe at a high school education.

Self-taught now knows the Bible better than I do. Was not cool. I mean, he wasn't hip. He didn't wear the neatest clothes, wore these, you know, kind of moccasins with white socks back when white socks weren't cool. Played the guitar pretty well.

And, but he was not hip at all. And I went to college and I was a brand new Christian of three months. And he asked if I wanted to learn how to study the Bible. And I thought, as a new Christian, I probably ought to. Although when I looked at him, I thought, I don't think I want to do it with you because you don't understand.

I'm chipped and I'm really hip and I'm really cool, you know, and arrogant. But, you know, I was raised by good parents. And so my better judgment said you should respect people like this. And I said, yes, I would like to learn to study the Bible. So every Tuesday he would knock on my door at seven o'clock, six thirty.

And he would open the Bible in the little, you know, cafeteria they have at the end of those halls. And then he taught me how to memorize scripture. And then he would kind of take me some places. Then I found I was sitting around the table with his family. And then I was still, I can still in my mind remember him coming down the stairs of his house.

And I could smell, remember the old days, Brute was the big, you know, and here's a bricklayer. He's not, this is not a cologne wearing guy. And he's coming down. He's got a tie on. I'm thinking, what in the world are you doing?

Because, you know, I'm very cool and very hip and you're not. And Brute's out, man. Did anybody tell you? And I said, Dave, what are you doing? He goes, I'm going on a date with my wife. I said, Dave, I thought you're married. He said, of course I'm married. But every Thursday night we go on a date.

I said, why? He said, because I love my wife and I want the romance to stay alive. And I ended up being around Dave for about seven years. He modeled the message. That's how he brought me in. And then he didn't engage me in some program. He, he engaged me in the action. And then after a little while, he said, you know, we would go down the hall and he was sharing Christ with a few people.

And, you know, we'd be talking with a guy and, and I was an RA. And so we were talking a little bit and he says, Chip, why don't you tell him how you came to Christ? I said, no, Dave, I like your story better.

He said, no Chip, why don't you go ahead? You know, and I didn't know what he was doing. He was teaching me to share my faith. And little by little, he just brought me in by modeling the message. And then he invited me.

I didn't feel pressure. He invited me into the action. And then he engaged me in a very, very authentic relationship. We had those heart to heart talks that you have. He understood me. He cared. You know, I struggled as a freshman and on the basketball team and I struggled with girls and I struggled with everything. I mean, you're 18 years old. What do you do? You struggle.

But he was kind of like that surrogate dad, older brother that cared, that listened. And he just brought me in. So, you know, the first phase when you want to help people, you know, it's about exposure. Write that word in your notes. It's about exposure. You bring them in through exposure. So often we want to speed up the process and we want to get involved in activity. And here's five booklets you can read.

And here's two books that I read. And by the way, I'm going to this conference. You need to go with me. And people go, whoa. They just need to smell and taste and see the winsome life of Christ in you first. Jesus appointed them that they would do what? They just be with him. You eat with them. You talk with them. You play with them. You share with them. You just open your life and then you invite them in and you engage with them and you let God at work in their heart.

The second thing is after you bring them in, then you build them up. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 4 19. Follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.

So the key to having impact with other people is not necessarily learning all these techniques. Jesus said, I'll tell you what, you, you just, you just follow me. And as they followed him, he built them up. So they became fishers of men.

What did he do? He affirmed their strengths. He inspired their dreams.

And there in this phase, you confront their flaws. I remember Dave affirming my strengths. I mean, I had no Bible training. I did not open a Bible until I was 18. But after a couple of years, I think he saw in Bible study, I had a little insight into the text and, and pretty soon he asked me to lead a Bible study. And then we dug out the basement of his house because we went from about six kids to about 250 in personal Bible study on the secular campus. And we had all these little Bible studies going and he would, you know, be the teacher.

And he would tell you, you know, he's not like charismatic, very steady at times, a little bit boring. I remember listening to tapes and falling asleep. And like three years later, listen to it, Dave, this is awesome. He said, you heard that three years ago, but you slept through most of it, you know? And, but, but when he, when he saw this little light, then pretty soon he let me teach, you know, it was 50 and then 80 and then a hundred and some students. And he let me teach. He affirmed. And then afterwards everyone would leave and, you know, Chip, you want to have a hot cup of tea?

And, you know, we'd sit at the little, you know, linoleum floor. And he would, he would just list, boy, you did this really well. That was a great insight about that. I think they really, and he would probably tell me five or six or seven things that were really good about how I taught.

And then he would slip in maybe one or two, you know, I think you could even make this better if you, and you know, I mean, I can't wait till the next time, but he affirmed my strengths. And then you need people, then you inspire their dreams. I was a young pastor, I'll never forget. And I had these thoughts coming into my head and I started in a little church, about 35 people, and it began to grow. And then we transplanted it into this metropolitan huge area of 4,000 people with no stoplights.

That was this big town in Texas. And little by little, I had this picture in my mind that, Lord, I'd like to be the pastor of a large church. And, you know, I didn't even say that out loud because that sounded so arrogant. You know, gosh, the only people who'd want to be the pastor of a large church must be just ego-centered. And I thought, I have this desire in me. And there was a pastor named Don Geiger who was at a church called Reinhardt Bible Church. And he became a mentor during my time in seminary. And I taught the little college group. And I'll never forget, we built a relationship, and as I was in this church, and, you know, we saw that little church go from about 35 people to about 500 in about seven or eight years. And grow and impact and team up with other churches.

But there was this gnawing. And finally, I got honest. I said, Don, you know, there's a town of 4,000 people. And, you know, there's 16 or 18 churches within two miles. If people want to hear the gospel here, they can. I came to seminary to be a missionary. And I'm not a missionary.

I'm in rural Texas. And I love these people, but they think things are going so great. They want me to retire here. And I'm feeling like I'm not scratching the surface.

I want to be in a cutting-edge place. And I want to pastor a large church. Is that wrong? And I remember him just looking at me and going, Chip, you know, pastors of large churches aren't any better than pastors of small churches. He said, it's a gift issue.

In large churches, you just need to have a combination of communication, leadership, gift, and God just gives it to you. And you know what? It's really hard.

He has lots of ways to keep you humble. He said, it's not a bad thing. He said, people call me all the time. There's vacancies all over America.

It's really hard to find that gift mix. And so he said, if God's put that on your heart, of course pray about your motives, but you ought to be open to that within a year. You know, I kind of said, okay, Lord, a Santa Cruz Bible call. See in this stage, I needed someone to tell me it was okay to dream a dream. That's what someone needs from you. Someone needs to hear it's okay to think outside the box. You want to affirm their strengths.

You want to inspire their dreams and then you want to confront their flaws. I wish I could give you the number, but I think of Dave and I think of Don and I think of a guy named Jerry and in the circles that I was in early in my Christian life. And I look back now because I thought it was normal because it's all I knew. But I'm realizing many Christians never get this. The code word in our little ministry was, hey, do you think we could have a breakfast at McDonald's tomorrow? That meant we need to talk about something pretty heavy. And so I would meet with Dave or Jerry or someone in the ministry.

And, you know, I'm about halfway through my little egg McMuffin. And when they open their Bible to Proverbs 27, you know, it's going to be one of those meetings. And in Proverbs 27 about verses five or six, it says, you know, they would read it out loud is how we're all taught to do it. So we did it, you know, more blessed or better are the wounds of a friend than the kisses of an enemy.

In other words, I love you so much. And I mean, how many people sat across the table from you and looked you in the eye and said, you are arrogant. You know what? Your mouth gets you in trouble. There's all kind of do you understand that what comes out of your mouth is that which fills your heart, Chip.

And by the way, you know what? You are self-focused. And do you realize that in situations like this, that you always, always are finding yourself, putting yourself in the center of attention? Chip, you know, I was driving with you the other day.

And do you think that you're the most important person on the highway and that these laws are just for other people? And I mean, bam, bam, bam. And was my, you know, my first reaction was, oh, thank you, brother, man. You really love me.

My first reaction was, you're not cool, I'm cool. You know, right? You know, and I look back and they shared what few people, I cherish those people more than all the other people combined in my journey.

Because guess what? I still struggle with, but I was arrogant. And I did have a big mouth.

And what comes out of your mouth is what fills your heart. And I was, I mean, everything they said, you know, do you realize how you want to please people all the time? Don't you understand that God can never use you? Don't you see what Jesus said that, you know, how can you glorify God? How can you believe if you're seeking to please people? And they went to the jugular. I mean, they went to the heart of the heart of the issues of my character. And they loved me enough to tell me.

And you know what that's produced? I've been doing it in my marriage. I've been doing it with my kids. In fact, my kids, the joke in our family, you know, when they get older and they tell you all the funny stuff that, you know, it's funny now, but it wasn't then, you know, all my boys, especially, because, you know, they, we had a pretty rowdy, good, good group of guys and they all love God and walk with him now.

And, and, you know, they, they, when you hear them joke with each other, they'll go, Oh yeah, dad wants to talk. And the big line was guys, this is a spiritual issue. You know, my one son will say, how does cleaning your room in school end up a spiritual issue? Well, it's a character issue. It's about discipline and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I can hear dad. And you know what's neat? I pass that on to them because it got passed to me.

Jesus fourfold process begins. You bring them in. It's about exposure. You build them up, write the word nurture. It's about nurture. Then you need to train them for, and that's about structure. You want to train them for the task. Notice Luke 6 40, a student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. You see, you see when you fully train them, whether you like it or not, it's your kids or the people. They're going to be a lot like you. And so in the structure time, you need to instruct their mind, their head.

You need to develop their heart and you need to equip their hands. And this was the phase of my life where a guy named Howard Hendricks. And many of you may have heard of him came into my life and Howard Hendricks in three or four years in seminary.

And then after that, I traveled with him. And then the next 25 years by phone and tape and book, and he has been mentoring my head and my heart and my hands. And I mean, he instructed my every course, Prof Hendricks taught I've taken almost anything he's ever spoken on. I've listened to for what God gave me a chemistry with this guy that he has shaped how to think biblically about relationships, about money, about discipleship, about preaching, about life, about confrontation. He's just been imprinted as a mentor, but it was in the training phase.

But he also went beyond that to develop the heart. And I remember being in a hotel with Prof. He was teaching a big pastors conference and I saved all my money up so I could travel with him and I asked him questions on the plane and it was back in the days of those overhead projectors. And he would be speaking and I would be putting the little slides on in the back room and he'd have all the people and I'd be walking behind him, you know. And then he was staying with his wife and his wife had to go somewhere so I roomed with him for a couple nights.

And you know those times like you do, I think everyone's had this, where it's at camp or with a guy you're close to or girls do this even more, where you lay in bed and start talking and lights are out and then you realize it's like 2.30 in the morning. I had one of those times with Prof. I shared stuff with Prof I'd never shared with anyone. I shared some struggles with Prof I'd never shared with anyone. And Prof said, you know what, one he helped me know I'm normal and number two he gave me some wise counsel and number three then he pointed me in some directions.

Why? Because he was safe. But he understood he was training, he was investing in me. He trained my head, he developed my heart and finally you have to equip people's hands.

There's certain skills. You begin to say they need to learn how to study the Bible. They need to learn to manage their finances wisely. They need to learn to articulate their faith.

There's certain skills in the Christian life that you need to train people if they're going to go on. And Prof did that for me. And then a fellow named Bill Lawrence, I'll never forget.

I was in a deal called LEAD, Leadership, Evaluation and Development and they had these modules and they looked at your preaching and they looked at your family and they looked at your ministry and they interviewed all these people and so you sit with your wife and he'd watch two videos of my preaching and this was like in 1988, 89. And he starts it off. Now I knew him so he cared about me so there was some relationship. And he turned to me and then he turned to Theresa and he goes, Chip, I just can't figure out what the real issue is here. And I'm thinking, oh, what? I can't figure out whether you're just plain lazy or you don't believe in preaching. And I'm thinking, my wife's in the room here. Real men don't do this to real men.

Bill, give me a break. And I'm growing this little church and I got a discipleship mindset and I studied the text and once I studied the text and obviously I can get up in front of people and kind of go with it. I wasn't doing that last 15, writing out the transitions, illustrations, what the real life change happens in small groups. I'm running all these small groups, spending as minimal time as I can in preaching, working 70 or 80 hours, and he calls me lazy and I'm hot. He says laziness isn't being inactive.

Laziness is not doing the right thing at the right time to fulfill the right assignment. He said, you're lazy. He said, you know, you got gifts, man. And he said, I'll tell you this is that God's not going to ask you.

Here's the thing, your problem is you got enough gift. All those people in that little town, they think you're pretty good, don't they? I said, yeah. And you think you're pretty good too.

Yeah, pretty good. He said, well, I got news for you. You're not near as good as you think. And he said the difference is that the difference between your preaching is the difference between a flashlight and a laser beam. And a flashlight spreads light and everybody gets a little touch and it doesn't do a whole lot and a laser beam can cut through a door. And he said it's about focus. And the last 15% of a good message is hard work and you're not doing it and God's giving you significant gift and you're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ's chip and you better figure that out and you better give yourself to preaching. And he opened the Bible and read, God has chosen to change the world through the foolishness of preaching and he's given you gift. And I thought, ooh boy. And then my wife piped up in love and goes, well, I don't know if he's lazy or not because he does work a lot but he doesn't believe in preaching. And you know, I'll never forget because I went from that point and I blocked off the first two hours of every day and all of Wednesday to noon and did nothing but, after I spent time with God, work on messages. And I began to work on the last 15% of what changes a message from a shotgun to a Teflon bullet. Why?

How many people love you enough to climb in the car of your life and look you eye to eye and tackle something that everyone really kind of sees but no one has the love or the guts to tell you? And my question would be, if you want to be a good Christian, don't have those conversations and don't receive them. If you want to be a great Christian that leaves a legacy, now, do I think less of Bill Lawrence?

Are you kidding? I just got a video from him and watched it and thought, that guy changed my life. You want to be that guy, you want to be that gal 20 years from now. If the Lord doesn't come back and they'll say, you know what? It was at this restaurant or in this room or at this time and you were the bearer of truth and love at a level that changed their life. Jesus said, if you want to leave a legacy, you bring them in, exposure. You build them up, nurture. And then you train them for with structure.

And then finally you send them out. What did he say? What did he do? Therefore, he says to his disciples, go into all the world.

Right? And do what? Make disciples. It's the only verb. Make disciples.

The word disciples is a follower. How? Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And do what? Teach them all the things that I've taught you. Teach them what?

To hear? Teach them to obey. And then what's Jesus' promise? I'll keep on mentoring you.

I won't be here physically and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. And so he sends them out. And when you send them out, you have to clarify the mission. This is what I want you to do. You confirm their calling. You know, I'm for you. This is what you can do. This is where you're gifted. You help people understand how God made them.

Because when people move out, they're going to get a lot of opposition. And then finally you continue to mentor them. You just continue along the way where it's their ministry. And what you want, you want them to grow. You want them. And I'm glad I don't understand it. And I appreciate I have a set of gifts.

You have a set of gifts. I have a personal conviction that there are no superstars in the kingdom of God. That we're a body that are interdependent. Some are more visible and they get some hassles that most people don't know. And some are less visible. But it is in honoring and walking with God and us working together that makes the difference. But everyone has an opportunity to leave a legacy. And I praise God for some messages going out on the radio or going out on a DVD. But in my heart of hearts, when I look back on my life and say, Where's the joy? I mean, that's encouraging.

But it's like flashlight stuff. It's great. I'm glad it's a little help to someone here and there. My joy is my three boys and my daughter and how they walk with God. I mean, you know what, that's the legacy. My joy is the five guys that we developed the teaching team in California. And four of the five guys are now senior pastors. And they are growing churches. I just visited and got to preach at one. And I came to it and there was about 400 when he got there. And there's a 1600 to 2000 and the worship service and the quality.

And I literally no false humility here. I walked into that area and I watched what Steve was doing. And then I got to visit Fred, another senior pastor, another guy.

And I just thought, man, they are doing this better than I could do it. These guys are amazing pastors. If I lived in San Jose, I'd go to his church. And I wouldn't preach.

It's awesome. And I think for 18 years, I got to be a part of being a little bit of a Paul. And he was a Timothy. And guess what he's doing? Every Monday morning, he has key men of the church.

Eight or ten of them every year. And he takes them through a full year. And he says, you know, of all the things I've done, Chip, I've got to tell you, the real difference in this church isn't the preaching, the music, the this or that. He says, I think I've got about 80 guys now that I've taken through that systematic time. And you know what he's doing?

Amazing. He's bringing them in. And he builds them up. Then he trains them for. And then he sends them out. And they're leading and running the ministries.

Let me close with a prof Hendrix. And he gives us three reasons why most people do not leave a legacy. Why do so few Christians leave a legacy? I just want you to look at the potentiality of what will keep you from doing and being what you want to do and I want to do. Number one, lack of discipline. This quote, we cannot impart what we do not possess.

And when you look at first Corinthians four, 16 and 17, what's Paul say? Imitate me. You can't you're going to get exactly who you are. It's like with your kids. I tell parents, you know what? You need to be what you want them to become. And that's challenging. I mean, to sit in mentally, I kind of sit on my couch and say to my kids or people that I'm trying to help spiritually drive your car, how you see me drive my car, spend your money, how you see me spend my money, spend time with God, the way you see me spend time with God, love your wife the way I love my wife, you know? And when you start saying that, you go, Oh boy, do you really want him to do that? And if not, then change, discipline yourself to godliness. Be the man, be the woman you want them to become.

What's it require? Probably turning off the TV, getting up a half hour earlier, deciding this really matters. It's amazing how disciplined people can be in our world when the issue is money. This is leaving a legacy. The second thing prof teaches us is lack of vision.

Our failure to see beyond our own lifespan is a real hindrance. I love that. You know, prof, you know, I made a list of this is, this is probably half. Here's the guys prof Menard, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, Joe Stoll, Tony Evans, Dennis Rainey, Andy Stanley, Michael Easley, Bruce Wilkerson, John Trent.

And that's, that's the only ones I can think off the top of my head. Every one of us go back to, it was prof. Prof's not on the radio. Prof hadn't written a bunch of books. Prof just developed and created all the guys on the radio, writing all the books, blessing. But we all go back to who?

Why? He understood, he saw beyond his own lifespan. His legacy is mammoth. And the last is because the last reason is focus, lack of focus. As prof would often say, a life of impact is about this one thing I do, not these 20 things I dabble at. And of course, in Philippians three, we get Paul saying this one thing I do, pressing ahead, reaching forward. And I would just say to you, discipline, vision, focus. To do what? Very simply, you want to bring them in, you want to build them up, you want to train them for, and then you want to send them out.

And you do that by modeling it, right? Discipline. By vision, seeing what really matters, and then by focus. You can impact and touch a lot of people.

You can only train a few. Start with those under your roof, then find faithful, available, teachable people. Because good Christians live the life. Great Christians leave a legacy. I don't know about you, I want to leave a legacy. Chip will be right back with his application for this message, Empower Great People, from his series, Good to Great in God's Eyes. Now you may be thinking, isn't wanting to be great a bad thing? In this 10-part series, Chip assures us that our ambition to be the best Christian we can be isn't a prideful thing at all. In fact, it comes from God himself. Stay with us as we better understand the specific practices that will help mature our faith and delight the heart of God.

Now if you missed any part of this series, the Chip Engra map is a great way to catch up any time. I'm joined now by our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram. And Chip, in this series, you've been talking about moving our faith from good to great. Now, is there really such a thing as a great Christian?

I mean, what does that even look like? Well, I think there is a difference between a good Christian and a great Christian. And, you know, I say that because sometimes people feel like, wow, that's arrogant to be a great Christian. But I ask him, so, would you want to be a good dad or a great dad? You know, a good mom or a great mom?

Would you like to be a good employee or a great employee? I think sometimes we don't realize that we need to have positive ambition. You know, Paul said he did everything he wanted to be pleasing to the Lord.

You know, he passionately says, I beat my body. I put it into submission in order that I might present to you, Lord, my life and my work. And so I think there's this passion that we should have to want to be great, not in the world's eyes, but in God's eyes. And as I was in a very significant season of my life, I began to think about what are the practices, not the theology, but what are the practices that great Christians have in common? And as I went through Old and New Testament and church history and, I mean, people that really impacted my life, there were about 10 things that came together that they do. I mean, great Christians, there's 10 things they do.

They actually practice them. And so I jotted those down and then I went from the what to the how to. And so actually this is one of my favorite books. As one man told me, he said, Chip, if anyone is ever willing to hang around you very long, they ought to read this book because it is your DNA. It's the very things that God taught you over the years that imperfectly, but you're practicing these things. So I want to encourage people to get the book, walk through it slowly, and put the practices in your life. And this is one of those books that you get a person or two to do it with you, and I think God will really speak to you.

Thanks, Chip. Well, to order your copy of Good to Great in God's Eyes, go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. This is the perfect tool to jumpstart your faith and help you live a more authentic, purpose-filled life. Now during this series, Chip's book, Good to Great in God's Eyes, is discounted. So let me encourage you to order yours today. Simply go to livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 888-333-6003.

App listeners, tap special offers. Chip, you closed today with some really interesting thoughts as to why Christians don't leave a godly legacy. And what can all of us do to get past our lack of vision and focus and be more intentional when it comes to investing in others? Well, first what I would say is I think those are hard to overcome.

I think the inertia of life, of busyness, boy, it's easy to get unfocused. And this is a real discipline to say, I'm going to choose to spend some time with people that won't pay off now, that will really pay off later. I don't want to have the regret that my kids say, wow, boy, I wish you would have invested in me. Or I look up after 25 years and say, wow, man, we drifted completely apart in our marriage.

Or here I was, a Christian, and the Bible says, go make disciples. And I can't name three or four people that I specifically invested my life in to help them grow spiritually. Because as you get older, what happens is you realize real greatness is saying, I'm going to make time for that. And I just want to tell you, one, you don't want the regrets.

And two, the reward is awesome. I look back and I'm glad I invested the time. And I needed a group of people to keep me on course.

How about you? Who's your group that keeps you thinking about the long haul? That's a great challenge, Chip, thanks. As we wrap up, I want to thank those of you who make this program possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs, purchase airtime, and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians. Now, if you've been blessed by the Ministry of Living on the Edge, would you consider sending a gift today? Go to livingontheedge.org or text the word donate to 7-4141. That's the word donate to 7-4141. Or visit livingontheedge.org. App listeners, tap donate. Until next time, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.