Good morning. Good morning, Divya. Alright. Divya, let's begin this class. Good morning, Master. Yeah, it's okay. We'll begin. We'll just say a word of prayer and we'll begin the class. Sure. Father, we thank you Lord for this time. We thank you for the word. We thank you Lord for your presence in our lives even as we get together and study from your word.  Thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright. So last week we studied chapter 10, Planning and Execution. And this week we will, chapter 11, it talks about profitability and corporate finance. Now what I thought was we just go to chapter 12, which is like strategic partnership. And towards the end of the semester, if we find time, we'll come back to chapter 11 and just go over that. But I want to look at chapter 12 and chapter 13, which talks about leadership. So we'll try and spend more time on these chapters. So let's move to chapter 12, Strategic Partnerships. Right now, when you hear the word partnerships, when you talk about partnership, it's always, we always think of two parties coming together in alignment, where there's agreement in alignment. Now, when you think of there are partnerships, maybe there's match, or there was misunderstanding on people even before the partnership was made. But if you look at a positive, strategic partnership is a great way to leverage strengths of two different companies or two different organizations. Now, this organization may have a certain kind of an objective, and the other organization may have a different kind of objective. But getting them together can definitely leverage expertise, leverage in strategic partnerships, how to, it could be property, technology, anything that we are seeing right now. But the Bible teaches us and gives us insights on partnership. There are things that we must be aware of. Now, when you look at it in ministry, it's wonderful that we all have one main goal, one main vision that is to bring people to Christ, build God's kingdom here on Earth. But each ministry has, again, a different vision. And so when we as ministry leaders or pastors, when we want to partner with other ministries, it's very important that we think about what we're doing and why we're doing it. Plan, prayerfully decide on how you want to do it. Now, it's not wrong to partner with other ministries. It's good. More can get done. But you don't want to step into something and then later realize, hey, I made a mistake. And so being wise, so this chapter, we'll talk about some of the insights, some of the things that we must understand before you get into a partnership. First one, we talked about this little, a little bit in the previous chapter, an ox and a donkey cannot plow together. Remember the ox and the donkey, the horse and, I forget which is the other one, the horse and the donkey syndrome. But here it's an ox and a donkey which cannot plow together. Now, look at this, Deuteronomy 22 and 10.  Why? Because now they both are different animals. To do different things. Now, an ox is built to do the plowing to, it's a strong animal. It can carry a yoke and it's fast, it's strong. It is agile, it is quick, it knows how to do the work. Now, if you look at the donkey, a donkey is normally used to carry things on it or to travel, I've talked about during those days. It was used to maybe travel to short distances or carrying goods on it. It is not used to, it's not meant to do hard work on the fields. It's not as strong as an ox.  The ox is going to keep saying, hey, come on donkey, let's go. The donkey is saying, hey, I can't, I can't. It's too much. So what's happening? The ox is so much stronger and powerful and it will be able to carry the weight and the donkey is only going to become a liability. Why? Because there's no compatibility between them. They don't match. The ox and the donkey do not match. The donkey is meant to do something and the ox is meant to do something else. If you're trying to plow them in the same field, the only thing that's going to happen is the ox is going to make the donkey angry and the donkey is going to get upset with the ox because there's no compatibility. Now, what is it that we can understand from this? When you and I are getting into partnerships, look at where you stand as an organization or ministry and see whether this is going to be compatible. Are you both in line with what you want to do? Are you able to fulfill the commitments of the employees? Partnerships are never one-sided. I remember a long time back, I think it was 2014. It could be wrong, but I'm guessing it's 2014. We had the Power to Change campaign, which is a global campaign all across. They went to different countries in different months. I think they did the campaign here in our nation for about two months. It was a wonderful campaign. It was a wonderful partnership that we had. I remember we were just working with a team of Power to Change. They were so open to our ideas. They were so open to how we would... We also asked them, as you will make Power to Change those books, we will also put some of our books and we will post it out. They said, yeah, that's a good idea. They gave us addresses of people and we had some addresses. Together we worked it out. It was a strong company. They were able to do a lot. We were also in a place where we were able to post our books and reach out to people. We had ministry teams during that time to call and pray for people who had needs. It was a wonderful partnership, but it was a strategic partnership. A partnership is too... It's not like the person who is getting into the partnership is the main and the other person is not. Both of them put their hands to the plug. Now, especially in ministry, when you are planning to get into a partnership, always think twice, read through, prayerfully do it. The reason I'm saying especially in ministry is because there's lots in stake. More than the money or more than what people may think it is about, is God glorified in this? Is God the goal of the ministry of this partnership to build God's kingdom or to just increase us as a ministry? So all these things must be very well thought of, planned out before taking the step. Secondly, know whom you're dealing with, dig deeper and get all the facts. Proverbs 27 and verse 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Now, when we are entering into a strategic partnership, learn more about the company. Now, in an age that we are in, mostly if you want to know about something, you can just go to Google or probably organizations have their websites. So for example, if there's a ministry and they want to partner with another ministry for maybe six or seven months, dig deep. So this other ministry says, hey, we want to partner with you for six months, join together and maybe six months a year. We can reach out to the youth in our city as two different ministries, join together and reach out to the youth. Now, it's a wonderful idea. It's a call for unity. It's a call for God's people coming together. Wonderful. Now, what we must also do is dig deeper. So what would I do in this case? What I would do is I would just go up on the website one. Firstly, of course, I will talk to the leader and I will say, just plan out everything. Even as they talk, we'll get to know what's the idea, what's the big strategy or what is the main intention of them wanting to partner. Then you feel free to ask questions, ask them how we'll go about these problems. We basically do a whole SWOT analysis and see what are the pros and cons of this partnership. Put it down on paper or maybe you can discuss it. Two is I can also, what I would also do is go to the website, read about their ministry, read about their, what are their beliefs, when did they start, what is their vision. Now, it's not about they should be a thousand people only then I will partner with them. It's not about the strength, but it's about what is their vision? What is their mission? So a church is not about the strength. It's not like we have 5,000 people in a church. The church is wonderful. It's a great church. It's not about that. You can have 500 people and do much more than what 5,000 people can do. So it is about the values, about what is their culture, about the way they treat their employees, the way they, their beliefs. That is very important, especially in ministry beliefs. Now imagine, there's a ministry, they don't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They believe in everything else. Just an example, not against them. But just, you know, what if there's, they don't believe that the gifts are still prevalent. And now what if, you know, there's this other church that's flowing in the gifts of the Spirit. They have all the gifts flowing. There's healings, miracles, prophecies, everything. Now they're partnering together. What is going to happen?  Or sorry, the ox, yeah, the ox and the donkey syndrome. It will be like, God can bring healing. The anointing is there. When the other people say, hey, no, no, let's just look at the word. Let's read the word. And then there's this whole confusion. So it's good to know who you're dealing with. This is just an example, right? So when you take it in the corporate sector, make sure you know who you're dealing with, right? Be prudent. Think, carefully consider. See the level of commitment that they are willing to put in, right? It's not like, okay, we are in partnership and just leave it there. But see the level of commitment.  All these other things that you must be willing to commit to, are they willing to do that? Next one, evaluate work approach before saying I do. Proverbs 1, 10 through 15. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us. Let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like sheol and whole, like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil, casting your Lord among us. Let us all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path. So basically, we're talking about how you go about accomplish something that is important. Now, just because I want to accomplish something, how about accomplishing it? It's not like I can use devious means to accomplish it. It's not enough to be profitable or to be successful in the industry, but how we get there is important. Now, we can use a hundred devious methods, bribing, money laundering. We can do all of that and get to our profits, reach our targets. We can say, hey, I reached my targets. But the truth is, we have reached the target by wrong means. So work approach before getting into a partnership. See, now initially, you may not know all of this. You may not know how they work and how they are, what kind of work they do. But what you can do is test their work approach. You can check with them. So if this has to be done, how will we do it? And when the way they speak, the way they come up with solutions, we will get to know what's the hard attitude. Now, if there are differences that are radical between two ministries or two organizations, refuse such partnerships. The mistake we make in ministry is we say, hey, no, we can do more together. We can achieve more together. And there are a lot of times, you know, ministries have gotten to problems. Why? Two, three ministries got together. They had a big whole evangelistic meeting. I think it's happened the early 2011 or 1011 it happened. There's a couple of ministries here that happened in our nation in India. These couple of ministries came together and they did this whole youth revival kind of concert and they called people from different places. Now, what happened was at the end of this whole, you know, this whole event, probably it was a two or a three day event, but over the end of this whole two, three day event, pastors began to say, hey, contacts, right, pastors want new contacts so they can invite people at churches. But the organizers started delaying that. So no, no, we have to check this. You have to check that. And eventually the other pastors were not given many numbers. They've probably given very few numbers who they had to call and talk to. And the outcome of this whole thing, the pastors, you know, these are, you know, some urban, some rural pastors, the pastors hardly got any people to connect with, hardly got any people to follow up with. And everything just remained the same. And, you know, it was, it was, it was not that people were not blessed, but then they felt that they were cheated. They felt that, you know, hey, as a ministry, they said they will help us. But the problem is it was not on paper. It was all by understanding word of mouth. That's the problem with ministry. We take too many things by word of mouth. Yes, we love each other. We honor each other. But always do things on paper, right? Evaluate your work. By doing it the right way. And nowadays we have, you know, you can record calls. You can email. Email is the easiest way. So some of the things we do at EPC is whenever we have a verbal discussion, we just go back and send an email. Hey, you know, this is what we have discussed. This is what we plan to do. These are the things that we have discussed. These are the things that we need. And thank you so much for just an email. So now we know, okay, it's on email. Do we trust the other person? Yes, we do trust the person. Right now the other person can be forgetful. They may change their mind. One day they are angry. One day they are happy. Things may change. The email will not change. There. Right? So it's always good to evaluate. Next one. Check alignment of culture and values in mergers and acquisitions. Mark 3, 24 and 25. If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Song of Solomon's 215. Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines. For our vines have tender grief. Now it's the same thing. Two mergers of two organizations happen. Now it's like two families living under one roof. And it's making two homes become one. Now these mergers, I'm not talking about partnership. Partnership is different. Working together for a couple, maybe for a year or two years, whatever.  But mergers are when two companies become one. And we see this a lot in the corporate sector. Two companies, another company will buy the shares of the other organization. And then the name is the same. But they both become one. There must be alignment of culture and value. Otherwise it will be a mismatched merger. What will happen? How will the United States stand? I'll just give you an example. It's come to my mind. I was reading this many, many, many years ago. And this is a motor company. And the motor company is an Indian company. They used to make these motorcycles. Which was mainly for middle-class employees of our nation. So they used to make these motorbikes. But over time, I think it was the early 1990s. What happened was, this is an article I read quite some time back. I just remembered it. During the early 1990s, this company Hilo was not making any profits. They wanted to come up with these motorbikes that can help the working-class professionals and the daily wage workers and make it in a way that they can also afford a motorbike for their travel. But they were doing well, but they could not make a profit. They were going under a loss. And the whole management, the directors, the board of directors said, we need to come up with some new ideas. The nation of India is growing and growing. So there will be need of motorbikes. The only thing is we are not able to reach the right target. We are not able to execute and plan well. Or something is missing. So then they approached this Japanese company called Honda. And then somehow there was a merger. It came to be known as Hilo Honda. Now what happened after that was there was a boom because Honda came in and being a Japanese company, they bought in their technology, bought in their ideas and inputs. And it was a merger that the company just exploded. And now it's huge in our nation, which are in other nations as well. Now the alignment, values and cultures were set right. Both countries knew they wanted to be people who can help the regular working class professionals. So the values, the culture was the same. The point of this organization is that I can help working class people to get a motorbike and to ride and everyone can afford it. It shouldn't be very highly priced so that even the middle class people, and that's what the whole, even the Japanese wanted. And so it just came together and it worked out. Not always that works out. But when the culture and value is aligned and a merger is done, it can do great wonders. The flip side, if a merger is done and the culture and value is completely different, a company can go to scramble as well. It can just become ashes. So we need to, again, be wise. Agreement is important. Put everything in writing. Amos 33, can two walk together unless they are agreed. This is so important. Agreement is important. You must have it in writing. They may be the greatest prophet or the greatest apostle ever known to man. And they say, hey, I want to partner with you. You put it in writing. Because the greatest prophet or the greatest apostle ever known to man can change his mind the next day. So always put things in writing. Whatever it is. Especially when there is a strategy, there's a partnership, when you know that two organizations or two ministries are getting together, put it in writing. Now, when we do that, we arrive at a place of understanding. There's mutual understanding. Hey, the partnership was decided to be for one year, March 2023 to March 2024. So it's on writing. Now, if you have spoken to the person, say, hey, March 2024, I'll go ahead and go back and do my own business. So I need my shares. Say, yeah, yeah, yeah, you can take your shares back. March 2024, right, one year. Now imagine this person is maybe their best friend or maybe they're both the best Christians ever.   The other person say, but you said 2024, I can leave. You didn't tell me about any shares and reaching targets and all of that. I did my best for one year. I partnered with you. Now I want to go. So if you leave, that's good. Then, you know, I can take you to the court. What's happening? A simple, good understanding between two friends not put into writing has caused this problem. So if you had it in writing, March 2024, regardless of our, whether we can reach our targets or not, I can be released from this partnership and I can go back to what I was doing. If you have it in writing, that is nothing. Even if the person says, no, you can't. You can say, hey, I have it in writing. So I'll take you to court. You can take me to court because I have everything in writing. Agreement is important. Something that we do and we always, always do at APC years, we have things in writing. Right? Not only internally, but also outside. So sometimes we hire places for our church services. We tell them, it is a church. You will have singing. You will have, after singing for 45 minutes, you will have a preaching of God's word. Two, we are not enticing people. We're not going to tell people you have to come. They're coming out of their own free will. Three, when they come, there will be people who are coming from other faiths. It's not like we are forcing them to come. They are willing to come. Four, we will meet Sunday. This is the timings. This morning, 8 to 10. 30 is our timings. And these are the number of bikes. Approximately, this is the number of bikes. Approximately, this is the number of cars. This may sound not required, but it is required. You take a place and you start church. And after two years, you have some 15 cars coming. Where will you park the cars? Now the owner will say, hey, you didn't tell me there were going to be 15 cars. Oh, I didn't know about it. No, you've got to think. It's all about thinking proactively, thinking ahead. So what if my church becomes 200 people? Then I'll have 60 to 70 cars. Where will I park? Where will I park? So I need to put it on the agreement. I will have about 50 to 70 cars parking with about 30 bike parking. So this is the space that I would need. All that is important. There will be times when lunch will be served. During those times, we would make sure we will clear the place, clean the place. These are simple things, but you're putting everything, every small detail in writing so that later on nobody can, you know, even if people come against and say, hey, this is what we have it all documented, put everything on a contract. Now, everything, we put it on a contract. And then that way, you know that it's well documented, government authorized and everything should be fine. But you know that you're doing things well. Next one, build business partnerships steadily. Proverbs 2517 and when you find a friend, don't outwear your welcome.  Partnerships are like marriages. They take time to build. There are patches, rough patches that are good patches. They come with certain pros and cons. The other company may come with certain pros and cons. There will be unexpected challenges, matters to be dealt with. We need to work steadily, cautiously and patiently. We need to be patient. So if you can, you know, look at it at ministry, the ministry side. If you're joining another, you know, two ministries and partnering for maybe five years. Now, we need to understand, we need to be patient with them. We may be a big church been there for 20 years and the other church partnering with us maybe is five years with just maybe 100 people in their church. Now, they need time to learn, adapt and make changes. We need to understand each other just because we are there for 20 years and we know everything what church has grown and we know that A, B, C, D, these are the things that need to be done during any event or doesn't mean we overpower them. Doesn't mean we say we have all the, we know we've done it before so you just do what we say. No, it's a partnership, right, where you can also make suggestions, ideas and value the partnership. If the partnership is not valid, they may say, hey, you just made us like servants, we have to do everything that you say. Our inputs are not people are there, our thoughts and contributions are not valued in this organization what will happen will eventually break. There should be a sense of mutual understanding, adaptability and that comes over time. So give people a chance. Give them a chance to work together hear from them hear their thoughts, hear their ideas and again together make decisions. This calls for humility especially when it's a big organization and a smaller organization coming together whether the corporate or ministry it calls for humility so that's something that we must again do. Get all on board on board to work the partnership. Can any one of us read this? Genesis 13 1 through 7 Genesis 13 chapter 13 verse 1 through 7 anyone can read. Genesis chapter 13 verse 1 to 7 So Abraham went up from Egypt to the Nagir with his wife and everything he had and Lord went with him. Abraham had become very wealthy in livestock and then gold and silver. From the Nagir he went from place to place until he came to Bethel to the place between Bethel and A where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abraham called on the name of the Lord. Now Lord who was moving about with Abraham also had flocks and herds and tents but the land could not support them while they stayed together it was so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abraham's herdsmen and the herdsmen of wealth. The canonites and the parasites were also living in the land at the time. Look at this. This is a thank you Japhina. So we see here Abraham probably had hundreds of servants, cattle lamb, God had made him rich God had blessed him out of being nothing and he fulfilled his promise and he was materially very rich and now there was lot Lord also was rich materially he had lots he had animals, servants, everything and they all were going together from place to place and the servants of Abraham and the servants of Lord started fighting. Both Abraham and his nephew Lord began on this amazing journey together both were excited both were eager to reach their destination both were very strong, both were successful yet there were problems between their employees the employees the servants couldn't get along right so what does it teach us? You know later on we see that in that chapter they go their separate ways so you see that picture Abraham is nephew Lord God has blessed both of them they have hundreds of servants Abraham has hundreds of servants Lord has hundreds of servants but Abraham and the Lord they fight with each other but their servants are fighting your sheep are always coming this side your servant told this they fight the arguments between them the employees but Abraham and Lord were fighting with each other they don't know they have hundreds of servants so they are doing all the work just spending time in God's presence and they have no problem with each other but the employees were fighting the servants now what does it teach us? it teaches us that who are in the organization who are involved in that partnership the employees are there they must be also get them all involved in the sense imagine you go to this happened a long time back but I will share this and then I will share this example imagine you got an organization you got maybe 40 people in your organization you got a small office space and then you do this partnership and then the other company comes up with 20 employees now you as an organization as an employee you know that you have to be in office at 9 a.m the other company the employees say hey I got 11 a.m but I will work 8 hours so you got here one set of people come at 9 a.m begin their work that time and then you got the other organization and those employees are coming to the same floor or the same office space they are coming at 11 a.m what is going to happen? say hey you are supposed to be here at 9 a.m work starts at 9 a.m I will come at 11 a.m I will stay up late what is going to happen is understanding that how the wise thing to do is get all of them together this is what this organization follows this is what this organization we follow now we need to come up with a solution for this so get the employees involved what do you think is good should we move the timing to 10 a.m so it is not for you 10 a.m everyone here work from 10 a.m so then when the work is when the partnership has begun we have people from two organizations there is an understanding already there put on paper and they know they have to be there this happened many years back there was an organization it was called America online and later on there was another company called Netscape they came in and there was a merger so we had in the same floor we had people from this merger company smaller company called Netscape they would come and they began to work in our office now the problem was in this other company the America online company people were very hard working they would not take breaks they would just make calls and these incoming calls would be so much that they would just spend hours they would work really hard out of 7 hours or 8 hours of work it was 9 hours altogether so 8 hours of work, 1 hour break they would work really hard but the other organization which was merger they would have calls coming to them so they would come and they would sit they would take breaks they would be chatting with each other and here we are taking calls one after the other back to back calls and we are hitting our targets but even they are getting because we are hitting our targets they are also being profitable but they are not doing anything they are not getting any incoming calls hardly anything they would get 10 calls in a day that would be like 5 minutes each call that's like 1 hour work the rest of the time they just with their headset on just doing nothing it became a big problem in the organization I remember the managers of the team they said how can this happen you can't have our staff working 8 hours taken back to back hundreds of calls in a day and you got this it became a problem they had to bring all the employees the employees said no we are not going to work we are not going to log in today and it became a big problem big problem I remember like for 2 days we just came to office but we said we are not taking calls because this is not right it was more like a fight against there should be equality so it was all started off by 2 leaders but the employees there there was misunderstanding so get everyone involved if you have a team get them all involved now if it's a small business small ministry we can do it easily but we need to plan out if it's a big big organization or a big ministry how will you get everyone involved so plan it out well next one let go when you have to Genesis 13, 8 and 9 then Abraham said to the Lord we are relatives your men and my men shouldn't be calling so let's separate choose any part of the land you want you go one way and I will go the other way not all strategic partnerships will succeed that's a fact but when they don't just let go in good terms go your separate ways and it's better to do that than to be together on the ship and the entire ship sinks go your separate ways bless each other pray for each other or just say hey all the best for your organization we tried this it didn't work so maybe we'll try it after a couple of years and see what it is but it is better to let go than to hold on to something and just be on the waters unsure of the future unsure of productivity it's better to let go of partnerships resolve disputes peacefully if possible Proverbs 25, 8 through 10 don't go hastily to code for what will you do in the end when your neighbor has put you to shame debate your case with your neighbor and not disclose the secret to another lest he who hears it expose your shame and your reputation is ruined so basically in partnerships strategic partnerships disputes may occur when disputes occur try to resolve it within the organization even in ministry try to resolve it within each other try to resolve it as much as you can and enclose those the word says don't take them to court let's say later we'll be put to shame later we'll be put to shame so think about it even when you feel that there's something that's going wrong try to sit together and on a table just talk it out try to solve a solution that's the best way to do it but if things don't work out and you feel that it has to go up then you may have to do it but then again be wise on how you do it so that's very important right so we come to a close on this chapter next this coming week on Wednesday what we'll do is we'll talk about a very very important chapter which is chapter 13 on leadership the aspects and attributes and characters and things that we need to have as leaders and how do we as leaders develop this attitude of leadership and then pass it on to the next generation a very important topic so this we'll start with chapter 13 just an important note I've put on the midterm semester so feel free to just start working on it you can just write it on a word document and post the answers up on the classroom itself on the class work tab for the e-learning students I'll put up the midterm assessment sometimes this week so you can also begin to do that alright any questions today's lesson any questions any thoughts alright let's close in prayer maybe one of us can close close Isaac would you like to close in prayer Isaac or go ahead Father God we want to thank you for this moment we want to magnify your name we want to glorify your name for bringing us together to take the lesson and to learn how to live our life in the workplace we want to thank you for our pastor and our colleagues in the school we ask that you continue to grant us wisdom so that we can absorb as much as possible what we are learning and then you give us the light so that we can be a background of hope to others who share the life with others we want to thank you for everything that you have been in our school in our families we ask that you continue to bless and guide us as you go through the course these are all other masses we ask in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Amen Amen thank you Isaac thank you everyone have a great day ahead I will see you on Wednesday God Bless


On a number of occasions, we have covered the unexplainable remnants left by a civilization which once undoubtedly flourished here upon this planet. A true mysterious history. The most notable, and presumably the evidence which will remain upon our Earth for the longest being the unimaginably enormous megalithic structures which rest in many areas of Earth. These structures built using stones so large, we cannot explain how they were moved. The quarry, known as Yangshan, is such an impressive example of this lost knowledge and or technique for moving these stones, we felt it deserved an in-depth discussion. What is special about Yangshan is the fact that it was seemingly abandoned, quite possibly due to cataclysm. In the midst of actually cutting some of the largest stone megaliths ever found on Earth, revealing in all its glory just how these stones were indeed detached from the Earth's bedrock, a question which had also remained unanswered for many years, Yangshan also reveals invaluable clues to how they could have been moved. The star of the show, an enormous steel weighing 16,250 metric tons, disputed to have been cut during the reign of the Yonkel Emperor, the third ruler of the Ming dynasty in China, reigning from 1402 to 1424. However, although academia is seemingly willing to approach such subjects with an air of arrogance, often due to its in-depth, accurate understanding of said era, it inevitably becomes unstuck once one begins to explore their knowledge or indeed explanation of how these enormous stones were intended to be moved. Academia's illogical explanation of the site is as follows. In 1405, the Yonkel Emperor ordered the cutting of a giant statue in this quarry for use in the Ming Xiaoling mausoleum in dedication of his deceased father. Three separate pieces were being cut, the rectangular base, the body, and the head. After most of the stone cutting work had been done, the architects conveniently realized that moving stones from the quarry to Ming Xiaoling and installing them there would not be physically possible. The body weighed 8,799 tons, and the steel's apparent head weighed 6,118 tons. According to, quote, experts, it would have stood 73 meters tall. A supposed legend attached to this possible fallacy has it that workers who failed to produce the daily quota of crushed rock of at least 33 shang would be executed on the spot. But is this the real story of Yangshan quarry? Or could there possibly be a more interesting history attached to this site, and indeed its accompanying stones? Within Baalbeck, one of the countless examples found around the world, there are stones well over a thousand tons in weight, which seem to have been effortlessly placed at top one another using technologies or methods unexplained by these so-called experts. Is it really that unthinkable to believe that they could indeed once shift these enormous stones found in Yangshan? Not only move them, but lift them on top of one another? Fortunately, more and more people are beginning to look at this exact possibility, and with the mounting evidence in support of far greater antiquity surfacing every day, it is only a matter of time before these sites are truly revealed for what they actually once were. Around 150 km west of Port Maputo, South Africa, the remains of a huge metropolis can be found. An ancient site, measuring an astonishing 1500 sq km in size, suspected by some to in fact once have been part of an even larger civilization, estimated by some to have been around 10,000 sq km in size, and constructed 160,000 to 200,000 years ago. The region is somewhat remote, and the stone-circle remnants were only ever encountered by local farmers who assumed they were made by some indigenous people within the past. Amazingly, or rather conveniently, modern archaeology has seemingly forgotten to investigate this amazing place. Fortunately this all changed when researcher and author Michael Tellinger, in association with Johann Heiner, a local fireman and pilot who had actually been looking at these ancient ruins for years, decided to investigate. Heiner had the unique opportunity to see these incredible structures from the air, and knew that their significance was undoubtedly not appreciated. Quote, when Johann first introduced me to the ancient stone ruins of southern Africa, he had no idea of the incredible discoveries we would make in the following years. The photographs, artifacts and evidence we accumulated all point towards a lost civilization that precede all others, not for a few hundred years or a few thousand, but many thousands of years. End quote. According to Tellinger, these discoveries are so incredible that they will require a complete paradigm shift in how we view our human history. Quote, I see myself as someone quite open-minded, but I admit that it took me over a year to figure it out, and I realize that we are actually dealing with the oldest structures ever built by man on Earth. We have been taught that no ancient civilization of significance ever existed within South Africa. Powerful civilizations all emerged in Sumeria and Egypt and other places, Michael Tellinger stated. Regardless of what certain individuals claim regarding the age and indeed size of this site, it is certainly of historical significance, going against all currently upheld understandings of the timelines regarding ancient civilizations within South Africa. As Dan Eden from Viewzone put it, quote, I would suggest that the Sumerian story was given as a base metaphor for actual ancient cataclysms that caused the diminished planetary resonance and a spiritual injury to the psychoacoustic field of human consciousness. He continued, the tablets of Sumer describe the Anunnakai as a race of extraterrestrial beings who enslaved humanity for the purpose of exploiting our goal for protective use in the atmosphere of their home planet. I understand the Sumerian mythology as a metaphor for the cataclysmic changes that occurred in the deep human past, which offset the psychoacoustic balance of human consciousness, end quote. Lake Titicaca, this familiar named lake, is located deep within the Andes, now sliced in two by the borders of Bolivia and Peru. It is not only the largest lake in South America, but it is also undoubtedly the most important historically that can be found anywhere on Earth. Many tales have surfaced over the years involving submerged citadels, mountains of gold relics, and vast ancient ruins scattered across the lake bed. Stories of amateur archaeologists becoming very wealthy from astonishing, yet not publicly disclosed discoveries which lay beneath the waves. We found 2,000 objects and fragments, declared Christoph Dillerere, a Belgian archaeologist at a ceremony in La Paz. According to Christoph, divers from his team found the objects more than 7 meters underwater off the coast of the island of the sun. These included 31 large golden relics. Archaeologists think these discoveries are just the beginning of something far greater and for good reason. As time goes on, claims made a long time ago begin to appear more and more likely. According to Colonel John Blashford Snells, a notorious explorer, his extensive explorations of the lake, their surrounding ancient culture and his resulting research, the ancient city of Tijuana, Morocco, very near the lakeshores, copied their original building knowledge from the scientists of the mysterious and legendary Lost City of Atlantis. Interestingly, ancient Incan legend also corroborates his conclusions, stating that the mythical founders of their amazing empire did indeed once emerge from the lake's waters. The lake was considered the center of the cosmos by the Incan people, and they also somehow knew its shape, something we have only been able to achieve from a very high altitude. Ancient Inca legends tell that after a great flood, the creator god Viracocha emerged from Lake Titicaca. It's stated that, he created, though this more than likely means they believe he restored the sun, moon and stars. Viracocha was fair skinned and long beard. He brought a great culture to the ancient peoples of South America. In the 16th century Spanish chronicler Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa recorded in his Historia de los Incas a tale about Manco Capac, the first Inca. According to Inca mythology, the Inca are the direct descendants of a mythical first Inca named Manco Capac, who emerged from one of the three openings in the mountain, Tambotoco, located 33 kilometers to the south of Cusco, Peru. Manco Capac is said to have created the Incan civilization through Viracocha. Even though his figure is mentioned in several chronicles, his actual existence remains unclear. Could this original and possibly vast ancient culture still be resting upon the bottom of Lake Titicaca? Did something catastrophic occur in our very distant past which filled this lake, once a large fertile valley, filled with what we have all become familiar as the Lost City of Atlantis? It seems only time will tell.


Today, we're in chapter four. Let's begin reading, and I'll only read verse six. We'll start at verse six, I'll read verse six, and we'll get into our study. And I chose to entitle this particular installment of our series through First Corinthians on display. And you'll see that, the reason for that in just a moment. Beginning at verse six and reading all the way to verse six. Now, these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and apostles for your sakes. That you may learn in us, not to think beyond what is written. That none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. Interesting way to begin this, and what we need to do is we need to remember that the apostle Paul has been writing here in First Corinthians concerning ministry. And as we've been looking at this passage, especially in chapter four, he had been speaking concerning how to view a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as he was doing so, he laid a foundation for them. He said, I want you to think of us in this way. Remember verse one, let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. So he described himself as a minister in two basic ways. He referred to himself as a servant of Christ. And so he's saying, listen, if you want to have a way, a biblical way to see us or to view those who are serving, he said, the first thing I want you to do is I want you to see me as an under-rower, basically. I want you to know that I have taken the lowest seat of the low. What I am, he's saying, is I am a galley slave. And secondly, he says, I want you to see us as a steward. A steward was somebody who had a responsibility over the affairs of somebody else. And so a steward didn't own the things that he used, he simply was left in charge of those things. And so he says, if you want to have a biblical view of those who are serving in ministry, look at us as slaves and look at us as individuals who are responsible for somebody else's things. Now, it's of utmost importance, and he said that in verse two, it's of utmost important for that servant and that steward to be found faithful. To be faithful in this context, the word faithful can speak of having faith, but it also can speak of being trustworthy. So in this particular context, that word is speaking of being trustworthy. What he's saying is God has entrusted me with the message. And the message that he's entrusted me with is the most important message that mankind has ever been given.  This is something that a lot of believers don't understand today, the power of the gospel. It is really an important thing that I'm about to try to say, and I hope it makes some sense to you. There are so many books that are being written right now. So many seminars that I'm invited to, that all pastors really are, it's not like they're looking up and get David over here, it doesn't matter, just if he has some money, we'll invite him. But there are so many seminars that pastors are invited to today. I get invited to seminars often, no less than once a month. I'll have invitations to go, not just to one seminar, but sometimes there's two or there are three. Very often the seminars in that month, in various places here in the United States, are seminars that are intended to encourage pastors to find the latest way to reach people. And so what you end up with in overwhelmingly almost every one of these seminars is a methodology of filling the pews, a way to get people to show up, messages to give. Do you know, and I would assume that all of us who have computers would know this, if you're interested, you can discover this, that you can go on a computer, you can Google up sermons, and you can find some of the sermons of some of the best known pastors that are, their notes are there for you. You can just go to their webpage, you can download their notes, and you can give their messages. You don't even have to have anything interrupt your golf game that week. All you need to do is just download their notes. I have been places where the pastor has said to us, if you want this message, it's gonna be on my page, all you need to do is download it. As a matter of fact, I can give you a series, all you need to do is open up my page.  Why, because this is a successful pastor who's gonna teach you how to be successful in ministry. Ministry, it seems so very often, really is not necessarily seeing lives transformed a little bit at a time, which is what real ministry is, but ministry very often is regarded as being having a lot of people show up, having large budgets that produce large amounts of building and getting your name out in front of the public. And I hear this quite often. There are organizations that have contacted us and have asked information concerning our ministry. They like me to send them, they want me to send them the size of our sanctuary, the size of our grounds, how many staff members we have, things of that nature. Then they put those in magazines and they send that information out to other pastors. On my page, on my Facebook page, on the sidebar there, very often it'll say, sermons for pastors, click here. And anybody who spends any time in ministry knows that there are 101 different ways for you to discover how you can fill those pews, get the latest music, get the latest speaker, speak on the latest theme. The problem is, is Jesus is hidden behind all of that and very often you can't even find him at all. And what the real thing is for those kinds of gimmicks is to just build up the numbers of people who show up. And there are a lot of people who think that because they're going into church, they are being taught God's word. When in reality, there are quite a number of well-known places where you don't get a real Bible study at all. All you need to do, and I don't encourage you to do this, I do this on occasion, is watch some of these programs that are on television. And the buildings are filled with people. But if you listen with discernment, there's no substance. Because people prefer entertainment over substance and they most certainly want to laugh more than experience conviction. That's just the way it is. And when you have a message that actually brings conviction, there are quite a number of people who have a real problem with that, because they cannot differentiate between conviction and condemnation. And so they believe that if they feel uncomfortable, they're being condemned. But in reality, it's God speaking to their heart, bringing a word of conviction, saying to them, there's more to being a Christian than what you're experiencing. Yield yourself deeper to me and watch what I'll do in your life. But because we want to be amused rather than edified, we will go from place to place until we find the person who says what my itching ear desires to hear. And I will heap unto myself teachers, because I do have an itching ear and they will turn me aside. But I will be voluntarily turned aside from the truth and I will begin to embrace fables. So Paul is dealing with that mentality all the way back 2,000 years ago in the early history of the church. There are already fan clubs that were established. We are followers of Apollo's. We are followers of Paul. We are followers of Cephas. We don't even need any club. We just follow Jesus. And so Paul is dealing with that. So he's saying, OK, how are you to consider us? Well, I want you to consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. I want you to know that what we are is the lowest of the low. So before you begin to pick us up and look at us as being some outstanding man, what you need to realize that in the kingdom of God, it is an upside down pyramid. In the world, you have the pyramid. And at the very top, you have their CEO. And at the very bottom, you have the lowest rung. In the kingdom of God, it's reversed. And so the servant, the steward, is the individual who gets out of the way so that people might see the one who's the most important. And that's, of course, Jesus Christ. And if we understand that, if we actually build our lives on Jesus Christ, then when our superstar turns out to have clay feet, we aren't going to be stumbled because we weren't worshiping that man. We've always worshiped the one that he represents. Every man or woman who ever takes the gospel in their mouth and proclaims it to somebody else, if they're saying it properly, we'll preach a message that is beyond their lifestyle. Not that they are willingly remaining in sin. Not that they're as bad as they used to be, but simply because the message is greater than the messenger. It always will be. When Isaiah has this moment with God where he sees the Lord and God is high and lifted up, and the train of his robe fills the temple, and he begins to hear those winged creatures, the seraphim, as they're crying out, holy, holy, holy. He sees the smoke, and he hears all the roar, and the sound, and all the unbelievable majesty. And the first thing he does is he realizes, and he says it. He says, I am an unclean man. My lips are unclean. And God takes a coal from the altar, and it's placed on his mouth and purifies him. But what are you saying? I'm an unclean. My speech is unclean. Isaiah, were you the cussing prophet?  There are people today, by the way, some of you may know this, others don't. There are some pastors who use profanity in the pulpit because they want to be real and authentic, you know? So they use cuss words. And the people say, yeah, this is real. Well, the problem is it is real. It's real carnal because what you're trying to do, what you're doing there is identifying with sin and not grace. And so what happens is you're lowering the gospel. Now, was Isaiah saying I'm a man of unclean lips? I'm just a cussing prophet?  And then he realized that those woes that he was given to others first began with him. And that's why in chapter six of Isaiah, he says, woe unto me. Because I've been given a message of woe to the nation. But in reality, as I see the one who was high and lifted up, I realized that I really ought to be pointing my own finger at my own self because I don't have the capacity to speak in the name of God in such a way that God is clearly identified by my speech. God is beyond what I can say. He is greater than any words that I might be able to form. And so that mentality is always, I am lower than the message. I do not live up to the holiness of God and the standards of God. So thank God for his grace, but that doesn't give to me opportunity to sin so that grace may abound. What that gives me is a sense of humility as I present the word. And so that's what Paul is speaking about, guys. That's what we've been looking at. We are servants and we're stewards. And it's required verse two again in stewards that one be found faithful, that one be trustworthy. People were evaluating his ministry. And as they were evaluating his ministry, it just really left something to be desired. That's why he said in verse three with me, it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself for I know nothing against myself yet I am not justified by this. I have a clean conscience in other words, but I'm not justified by my clean conscience because I might be, there might be some sin in my life that I'm just not aware of at the moment. So ultimately I need to entrust myself to the one who judges me. And that one is the Lord. So even though you may not like what I'm saying, Paul says, or the way that I say it, to me it isn't of any great consequence to be judged by you. The one who judges me ultimately is God and God is the one who has all the information and thus he's the one who judges correctly. Now, Paul was not oversensitive. Paul didn't take things personally. When I do pastors classes, I call them wannabe classes. When my men who wanna be pastors come on the Monday nights that I have pretty much yearly, one of the things I'll tell the fellas is this and it's true. If you're thin-skinned, don't go in the ministry. Don't go in the ministry. Sheep may not be dangerous, but they do have teeth. And so don't be, don't go in the ministry if you can't take somebody walking up to you saying, I don't believe that or how could you say that?  Some sheep can be mean and they say some things that are just amazing. I've had sheep, I remember one in particular who walked up and said to me, when are you gonna leave again? You always have great speakers when you're gone.  And I told Marie, I said, honey, come on baby, you know? That is just a mean thing to say. How dare you say that about me? But the bottom line is we need to be aware of the fact that you can't be oversensitive and you can't take things personally. And he's not, he's not taking it personally. He's listening to what's being said and he's simply saying, listen, you can't weigh intense or desires. You don't know the motives of another person's heart. There's only one who does and that's God. In Romans 14, 11, and 12, it says, it is written as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. The Corinthians on the other hand are carnal. And what they've done is they've begun making comparisons. In their mind, Paul's ministry is an equal to other ministries. So he reminds them, God is the final judge of ministries. There are men that are unknown by name with congregations that are numerically very small. The average church in the United States numbers less than 65 people. I don't know if you know that. On any Sunday morning, the average church in the United States has less than 65 people in attendance. There are between five and 600,000 Protestant churches in the United States. And the overwhelming majority has less than a hundred. A large church by any standard is 500. It's rather unusual that there are so many large churches here in Southern California. Because once you get into Northern California and go across the States, you'll discover that it's really an unusual thing to discover a mega church. You just don't find churches of two, three, four, 5,000, you just don't. The average church is a lot smaller. And so people can have a tendency, especially those who are in larger ministries, to even be more finicky and critical than others. And there are pastors in small fellowships, comparatively small, no church is small in the sight of God. But numerically, there are pastors who are a pastor in a small group of people who when they go before the Lord are gonna receive tremendous acclamation from God and tremendous reward because of their faithfulness, because of their love for those sheep, because they faithfully divided the word of God, because they were there in every way that they could be and God sees the faithfulness of their service. And there are others with huge ministries that man has said, oh, I'd love to have a church like that and this and that who may not have the same reward because they didn't have the same heart. And so it's just unfair for somebody to make judgments on other people's ministries. And that's what Paul is saying.  I don't even judge myself. There's only one who really judges, that's God. He sees my heart and though you look at the outer appearance and you make your judgment based on that, I entrust myself to God. So if you wanna make a judgment on me, that's between you and the Lord. But if you wanna make a judgment, judge me as a servant and judge me as a steward. Now, as he's speaking concerning this, because they're making comparisons in verse six, he continues by saying, these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself. These things relating being a servant, these things relating to making judgment. He says, I basically take this upon myself. Apollos and I are only servants. So what I would encourage you to is to follow our example and become a servant also. Use us as examples. If you wanna use us as an example, use us as an example of a true servant because a true servant will have a true ministry. And if you want to have a true ministry, you need to become a true servant of God. So he says that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written. Use scripture to make your judgment. Use your Bibles to make judgments on whether or not a leader is leading in a biblical way. Use scripture to teach you how to view leaders because that'll keep you from arguing amongst yourselves. It is really a sad state of affairs in the church when you have members of the body of Christ arguing with one another about how great their church is and how great their pastor is. Every pastor wants to be loved by the sheep. Every pastor does. But every pastor ought to be ministering not to be loved by the sheep but because they love Jesus Christ. That's the real key. Many years ago, and I'll just change the illustration and make it a different kind of one, but the application is the same. Many years ago, I was teaching here in this church it's been about 20 plus years ago. I still remember making the statement because of the response that it received. I said, my job is not to teach my children to love me. My job is to teach my children to love their children. Does that make sense to you? Did anybody here understand that? Hope y'all did. My job is not to make my children love me. My job as a parent is to teach my children how to love their children. That's what my job is. Well, I had one of the fathers in the church walk up and man who was old enough to be my dad. Pastor, I disagree with you. So I kicked him out. No, he's a pastor. I disagree with you. I believe it's my job to teach my children to love me. And I said, that's where you're wrong. Your children already do. Within them, God has placed this love for daddy. All of you know that. Even if you had a dad who wasn't there, there's still something in your heart that wishes he was. There's still this thing inside of you, even if he was mean and cruel. There's still something inside of you that loves him no matter what. That's just the truth. There may be pain. There may be memories that are hurtful, but there's always been this inside. Very few people, I don't know that I've ever really met one sincerely who just hates just to hate their father. There was still this argument within their hearts about what he was and what he's done, and I wish it was still there because that is there. See, so I don't have to teach my children to love me because they do. What I wanted to do was be an example so that they would take the love that a father has and give it to somebody else. See, in ministry, a pastor does not minister. I can, I'll personalize it. I do not pastor this church to be loved by the church. I don't do that. What I ask God for is love for the church, that I might love the church. If the church, members of this body, love their pastor, that's great. If they don't, that's their choice. It's up to them. If there's something about me that they love, I appreciate that. If they don't, that's between them and the Lord. That's a decision they make, and love takes time to develop. I've told pastors, again, in the class, it'll take you at least five years to develop a relationship with the sheep so that they know you're not going anywhere. It takes at least five years for them to begin to call you pastor and really mean it. I've had, I have people who've come to this church from the beginning, they'll walk up and they'll say to me, what do you want me to call you? They'll actually say that, what do you want me to call you? And I'll smile at them and I say, my name is David.  And my response has always been the same. If I am, yes, if I'm not, my name is David. I don't have a problem with that. Because the day comes when you think I'm your pastor, you'll call me pastor. If you don't see me as pastor ever, my name's still the same, it's David. And so I don't force that on people. I don't walk around saying call me reverend or the very holy right reverend or the excellent reverend, the most reverend you've ever met, reverend. I don't play that, you know? What I am is who I am, like Popeye said, I am what I am and that's all that I am. And so from that perspective, you minister because you love. Pastors do that, Christians do that. That's just general. What is the mark of a Christian guy's love? What did Jesus said set you apart from the world, loving one another? That's what he said. By this shall all men know you are my disciples. If you are committed enough to go to a Sunday night, no. If you tithe, no. If you serve in the children's ministry, also called purgatory, no. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love. That's the mark, love one for another. That is the mark, loving each other. And love develops over time and it is activated by the will. It's not an emotional love at all. It's a mentality of commitment to one another that endures over time. And so Paul was simply saying I am a servant and I am a steward. Your judgment that you've made upon me ultimately doesn't matter because my judge is God. But you need to know what scripture says concerning how you should look at those in authority over you. And then you need to understand in that way how you can treat me. When you understand those things, it keeps you from arguing amongst yourselves. Then he asked this question, verse seven, who makes you differ from another? What do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? What a great question, huh? Who makes you to differ from another and what do you have that you haven't received? Now if you received it, why do you glory as if you hadn't? Who here has everything, your self-made person? Well obviously all of us, well there are some who would think, well I'm pretty much self-made, nobody's ever supported me. No, there was a man and a woman who created you. That's how you got here. And so from that point, from conception to where you are right now, not a single one of us can ever say we did this ourselves. Your eye color, where'd you get that from? The color of your hair, where'd you get that from?    And so that's how it works. Who makes you to differ from another? What do you have that you haven't received? Those are good questions. And so the point is that you don't have anything of your own but God has been good to you and given you all of these things. Now when he says who makes you differ, in other words it's not just the individual but who makes you differ as a group? What makes your group superior? He also asked the question, what do you have that you didn't receive which would include by application even your teachers? And third, he said, why are you boasting? Because he's ultimately saying that if you have, you have nothing that makes you different and you've received everything, then you have no basis of boasting. You see that's really a warning against pride in ministry. When he says, you're claiming that you belong to a group of superior Christians, that still happens to this day. Well I could go into this for a long time, I won't. It happens to this day. One example, I mean there's so many you can give on this, superior groups. Sometimes some of the groups and part of the reason by the way I'm teaching First Corinthians is we're gonna go into chapter 12 eventually, one of these days, and we're gonna start in chapter 12, look at chapter 13, move into chapter 14, and take a look at spiritual gifts. And to me that's a very, very, very important subject, spiritual gifts, and I look forward to arriving there in 2015, we will get there. But many years ago, many years ago, when we rented Ontario High School, it was a Sunday night, and we had worship, we had the word, I gave an invitation, people came forward, it was just a great night of ministry. And I was walking up the aisle to the back of the church when a lady stopped me. She said, Pastor, I'm a first time visitor and I wanna ask you a question. I said yes, and she said, when does the Holy Spirit move here? And I smiled at her, and I said, say again? She goes, when does the Holy Spirit move here? I said, when does the, and I repeat. See, I have a tendency of repeating so that I'm sure I'm hearing what you say, so I'll repeat what you said. It's not because I'm senile, it's because, okay, I'm gonna give you a chance. I'm gonna repeat what you're saying. When does the Holy Spirit move here? Yes, Pastor, when does it move here? This is my first time that I've been here, and I just wanna know when the Holy Spirit moves here. I said, were you here the whole service? She said, yes, I was. I said, did you participate in the worship? She said, yes, I did. I said, the Holy Spirit was moving. Did you stay for the Bible study? She said, yes, I did. I said, then the word of God was taught properly? Yes, the Holy Spirit was moving. I said, did you see the invitation? Yes, I did. Did people come forward today? Yes, they did. The Holy Spirit was moving. I said, I want you to look into the front of the church because we're in the back of the church, the building. I said, I want you to look around. There were groups of people all through the area holding hands and praying. And I said, those people are ministering right now. The Holy Spirit is moving. So your question really is this, when do we speak in tongues? She goes, yeah, that's when the Holy Spirit moves. And see a lot of people have taken God and put him into a box. And they think that if he does certain things, then he's moving. When in reality, God is moving. But sometimes we simply don't see him because we're looking for something else. And when we're looking for something else, then we miss it. Now, if we use certain things as a badge, that makes us different and superior, that's what's happening in Corinth. That's why Paul is asking that question, who makes you to be different from another? What makes you different? What makes you, he's saying, think that you're part of a superior group of people? You see, in church life, it is possible to believe that you belong to a group of super spiritual believers. You can believe that the group you belong to is spiritually superior to other groups. Jesus had to deal with that in his ministry, Luke chapter nine, verses 49 and 50. Master said, John, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he's not one of us.  Why do you do this? No, he said, that's why I'm not Jesus, I promise you. He said, do not stop him for whoever is not against you is for you. Don't stop him, he's not part of your group. So if he's not part of your group, he's really not the real thing, right? This mentality even occurred before the church itself was birthed on Pentecost. There were already people who were pushing people away and that was the apostles, the A team, pushing people away. It started with the apostles. The body of Christ is not a carnal business organization. The body of Christ is just that, God's body. Now, a second thing, what do you have that you did not receive? In other words, any gifts or offices that you hold have been given to you by God. It's the Lord who puts you in positions of ministry and it's the Lord who can lead you out of positions of ministry. Sometimes as a pastor, I have approached somebody or I've seen somebody or been approached by them and they have said, I'd like to do this ministry and I'll think about it, pray about it and I'll think, well, perhaps the Lord is in that ministry and then it's happened in the past where I'll say, you know, I'd like to see you, let's give this a try. Let's see what the Lord wants to do. And they get real excited. Oh, hallelujah, praise God, you know, this man hears from God. He's a man who hears the voice of God, you know, and then it doesn't fly and I approach him and say, you know, we're gonna have to remove him. This guy's a devil. This guy doesn't hear from God at all, you know. See, it's easier to put somebody into ministry than it is to take him out. They're always more ready to go in than they are to come out. And so if there's no fruit there, it's not happening. They don't want other people to say that because they take it so personally. So the real question is what do you have that you didn't receive? If you have gifts and you have offices, those are from the Lord. The Lord gives and the Lord can take away. Some maturity is revealed by both how you act when you're put in a position and how you react when you're removed. And then third, the question, why do you glory as if you had not received it? In other words, why do you act as if you deserved your position? The arrogance that position brings up of people sometimes can be sadly revealing. There are some that I've encountered over the years who had this humble attitude until they were placed into ministry. And once they were given authority, they began to lord it over other people. You need to understand that it's not proper to be that way at all.  Therefore, that's why you have this position. God has a tendency of putting the lowly into places, simply so that he gets all the glory. Never forget that. Never forget that. Because that's how it works in the kingdom of God. He goes on in verse eight. You are already full. You're already rich. You've reigned as kings without us. And indeed, I could wish you did reign that we also might reign with you because of your arrogant boasting in your teachers, you've taken the wrong turn. You consider yourselves beyond other Christians, which is the fruit of trusting in men. So you are already full. In other words, you are super Christians. You have totally arrived. You consider yourselves to be superior. You think of yourself as extremely mature in the Lord. And this attitude actually reveals spiritual maturity and spiritual poverty. We have had experiences in this fellowship where people have entered the campus and have tried to convert members of our congregation. And they've been successful. We found out only after the fact, to come to their church because they would come and nitpick the things of our ministry. You know, from the fact that I don't wear a suit when I teach and everybody knows that when Jesus was walking the shore of Galilee, he wore a suit and penny loafers. Everybody knows that.  And one of the things that they were really pushing and we had to deal with it, we had to deal with it. This was a few years ago now, was that I was a bad teacher, an improper teacher, a false teacher because I was not teaching this church that you can be sinlessly perfect. They believed in perfectionism, sinless perfectionism is the doctrine. And they believe that here on the face of the earth, you can become sinlessly perfect. And because I was not teaching that doctrine because it's error, I was not teaching that doctrine, they began to proselytize. And they spoke, as a matter of fact, I used to have a young man who worked on the grounds. We discovered this after the fact who had these people who were talking to him to the point that he eventually quit his position here, went to their church and began to blog about how bad this church is because we don't teach the truth of how he really is a perfect human being, you know. And we discovered that. And so what we had to end up doing is basically welcoming these people not to come, not to be on the campus. Because it was a time when they would come in and buy Bibles because the Bibles you buy in our bookstore are the best priced Bibles you'll find anywhere. And they were coming here and they were buying their Bibles, distributing it to people and using the Bibles there kind of like we were their Bible warehouse. And we began to realize that they were twisting scripture. And in a way we were funding there, we were actually helping their ministry and several other things that were involved in that.  Because there's this mentality of the superiority that they had and they thought they were super Christians. Paul would differ with that. Scripture obviously differs with that but Paul would have said, I haven't arrived. As a matter of fact, he did say that. Philippians chapter three verses 13 through 15. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. One thing I do, forgetting what is behind, straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. I do not consider myself to have arrived. Paul made that very clear. Now as he's going through this with them, he says in verse nine, I think that God has displayed us. The apostles last as men condemned to death for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake but you are wise in Christ. We are weak but you are strong. You are distinguished but we are dishonored. Even to the present hour we both hunger and thirst. We are poorly clothed, beaten and homeless. We labor working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure it. Being defamed, we entreat. We've been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. God has displayed us the apostles last. Notice this as men condemned to death. Qualifications of a true minister. He outlines what really takes place in the lives of Christian ministers of the gospel. It's interesting in verse nine that he uses terms that describe criminals or even gladiators that died in the arena. He uses the word displayed there. When he uses the word displayed, I think that God has displayed us. The word display simply means he has exhibited us. He has exhibited us the apostles last. That is the finale. We are being displayed exhibited last. We are the final battle in the arena. And he speaks of the spectacle. We've been made a spectacle. That word spectacle speaks of the ones fighting wild beasts to the death. What he's speaking about is God has put us in the place of having an open humiliation, one that is seen by all. Christian leaders are targets of public humiliation, entertainment and scorn. One of the things, and I can say this with deep certainty that has occurred even in the minds of Christians that has come through the failure of certain well-known individuals is that pastors like me and others like me who have served faithfully for many years are looked at and disrespected by even members of the church who are expecting me to fall at any given moment and anticipate that. I will never forget when somebody approached me a few years ago and said that somebody had said to them this. They said, pastor David claims to love his wife Marie, we're just waiting to see him fall because we know he doesn't. There are things that people say that you would never believe. We had a mail carrier who used to drop the mail off at our house and there was somebody who was wanting to destroy me and what he did is he found out where I lived and when he found out where I lived, he mailed a postcard to my house and it was a postcard, it wasn't sealed in any sort. So all you need to do is when you're looking at the address and all to put it in, you can see the words in the top of it. It said, Marie, we're sorry to tell you David is committing adultery with one of his secretaries. It was a flat out lie of course but it was there in the mail. So the mail carrier who went to our church had the opportunity to read this. We have, I could go on, I could tell you story after story after story of things that we have seen over the years that attacks have come in such a way as to try and bring discredit to our ministry in ways that were so absurd and yet the funny thing is, is so many believed them. And one portion in the history of this church many years ago now over the course of one summer because of one person who was lying about me, we saw, I believe it was between three to 500 people leave the church and they did that because they believed the lie. The things that were being said were never true and yet people have a tendency of believing a lie before they believe the truth and the funny thing is out of all the hundreds of people who left, only one person ever spoke to me and the one person who spoke to me just happened upon me, I was doing time, I was in purgatory, I was at the mall and Marie and I were walking together and a lady approached me and she said, I wanna apologize to you. And I said, for what? She said because I left the church and believed a lie about you and I remember saying and the lie and she shared with me what I already knew and I said to her, would you do me a favor and she said yes. I said, would you answer one question and she said yes, I said why did you believe it? Do you honest to goodness believe that I can stand up there every Sunday, every Wednesday and speak the way that I do and I'll along be lying to you. Do you really believe that? She said, well I didn't know you and the one who told me is somebody that I spent a lot of time with. That's how it usually works, isn't it? They get to know somebody else who claims to know you and then that person says things about you that is unverified and the individual receiving it never even comes to you and says I just have to ask you, do you do this or have you done this? There was a rumor going about 16 years ago that I had a three-story mansion that I lived in. I mean, I wouldn't mind that but I don't, you know. And they actually contacted a private investigator to check on my address to see whether those things are true. I can tell you story after story of the absurdity of how people can actually be, you know. And it only takes normally a few people to drive a pastor from one church because they get tired of hearing the nonsense. Apostle Paul is being called into question. He's, you guys are superior.  The spiritual ones, aren't you? He says it's an amazing thing to me because you guys are acting as if you're already full and already raining but me he says I have to let you know. I haven't arrived. Christian leaders can be targets of believers and they can also be targets especially of the unbelievers. Notice how he says, and I'll wrap this up by just touching on a few things. In verse 10, we are fools for Christ's sake. You are wise. We are weak but you are strong. What that is is a rebuke to their pride. You want the world's respect? Bottom line is you need to grasp the basics of true Christianity. You don't understand the cost of discipleship. You see to the world we are fools, we are weak and we are dishonored because the simple truth is it costs to follow Jesus Christ. That's what Jesus said in Luke 9.23, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. So Paul knew through years of personal experience what that means. This was a man who had suffered in the name of Jesus Christ. The suffering that he had done, the things he had gone through should have caused those Corinthians to love him but they didn't. You see the Corinthians, he said, are living like kings but we apostles, we live like slaves. Jesus and Matthew 8.20 said it like this, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests.  In verse 13 he says we are off scouring. That's an interesting term. We are the off scouring. What is the off scouring? Well everybody here who cooks knows exactly what he's talking about. You've cooked something in a pan and you walked away for a while, you came back and uh oh, it's the side of the pan has gotten all this residue on it that's now baked onto it. That's off scouring. So what do you do? You scour it. You have to put it into the water, you soak it for a while, you put some scouring powder on it, you get that heavy whatever that thing is called. I've watched Marie do this many times.  And the stuff that comes off the pan is off scouring. That's what he's saying we are. We are off scouring. We are that which has been baked onto a pan that has been cleaned off. That's what we are. And we are the lowest of the low. That's how the world looks at us. And here's the sad thing. You're taking that kind of view of us too. You don't see us of having any value at all. How did he survive? Notice that we're defamed. We're like the filth of the world. We're the off scouring. How do you survive? How do you, how do you survive? The average pastor spends an average of five years per church. I've told you this. Five years. They spend five years in the church. They look for another opportunity. Then they move to a new church. They are always looking for a bigger church in a better neighborhood. So they may start in one area. They put their time in, but they're looking in the horizon for some better opportunity. The average is five years. After they spent five years in the church, they move to another. Within five years, you've developed a relationship with some of the saints. And others are gonna be happy when you leave. That's kinda how it works. They even expect you to be gone within a few years. Then they'll bring somebody else in because that's the rotation. So you're never really a pastor so much as a hard hand. You're never really the shepherd of the sheep so much as somebody who basically just does their time as you're looking for greater opportunity. That's how it usually works. Now, within the confines of those few years, you can begin to receive so many wounds from people that you begin looking for the opportunity to get out.  If you're part of a denomination, you've been putting some money away.  Maybe teach in a seminary, maybe go on the road and take your message to some churches that you used to pastor. That's what happens. What keeps you faithful for six years, for 10 years, for 15, 20, 30 years? What keeps you faithful? You look past. You always look past the pressures of the moment to the joys of the future.  Sometimes people stay for only a short time. They have to leave for a variety of reasons. But the bottom line is, is you need to know what you're supposed to do, and that's how it worked with Paul. He knew what he was supposed to do, and that's how it works with pastors who remain. You have to remember one thing, and Paul has this, that he's just passing through this world simply temporary and I am gonna be in a better place. It's like Moses in Hebrews 11, 24 through 26 by faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. That's how you do it. You always look ahead. You never keep your eyes on the moment. You always have your eyes ahead. You're always looking down the road. That's how I do it. That's how I as a pastor have continued to minister over the years, 38 years. That's how I do it. I keep my eyes on the future. I keep my eyes on the price and I have this great joy of seeing what God does over time. And sometimes people who may be your greatest critics can turn around to become a great support because the Lord has a way to work in their lives. He has a way of breaking them down and he breaks you down through the things they say. You know, one of the things that every minister needs to learn to do is to listen. Sometimes what people are saying, they may not be saying it right, but there's some truth in it. So rather than putting walls up in barriers saying, oh no, you don't understand, the Lord taught me a long time ago listen to what they have to say because he may be speaking right now. I just might not wanna hear it. But if I listen to what he's saying through them, my life can change and the ministry gets better. Some people say things just to be mean. Some people just don't know how to speak. They're just kind of awkward. They say things that are on their heart and they just, that kind of comes off kind of awkward. And other people have an articulate way of speaking encouragement and then others have a sword for a tongue and they know how to just lance you as, you just can't, this is like Greg Laurie once said, all the good people say, don't believe it. All the bad people say, don't believe it. You're somewhere in between, just dressed in the Lord. You're somewhere in between. You're normally not as bad as everybody thinks, maybe even worse, but you're never really as bad and you're certainly not as good as you think or some others may think. You're somewhere in the middle. And if you keep your eyes on the prize, you can go through anything and you can make it and you can hold fast because we're just passing through. And so if you have that attitude and you have the attitude, I wanna bring people with me like Paul did, I want all people to know Christ and be saved, then you'll just keep going till the Lord takes you home. That's how it works. Ministers really don't retire. Can you imagine some of the guys, Calvary guys in a retirement home together? Wouldn't that be a crazy thing? Oh, I don't even wanna think about it.