Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm Pastor Steve, and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today, and we pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement to you. Blessings as you listen or watch. talking today about right now about kingdom finances people again i said that people have there's five areas of conflict in marriage people have conflicts one of the number one reasons is over finances people fight over finances and there are problems in the kingdom because of financial crisis. People are in financial crisis. So how do I overcome finances? What does the Bible say about this? 1 Timothy 6, verses 1 to 10. By the way, you're gonna do a lot of writing, and we're gonna go through a lot of material in this session. This is unlike any of the other sessions. We just, because there's so much to cover, and we only have about 45 minutes to cover it. and so we're going to go through it very quickly. So let me read what it says. It says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verses 1 through 10, let as many servants who are under the yoke count their own masters, that is, your own employers worthy of double honor, of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed, that is, don't disrespect the people who pay you. And they that have believing masters, if you've got an employer who is a Christian, let him not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. So don't despise your Christian boss because he's making more than you or because, don't despise him. love him and be thankful that God's using him to pay you a salary. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrines according to godliness, he's proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strife of words, whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men, of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. Supposing the gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. So we're not striving to get, we're striving to represent God and we do that whether we're working for an unsaved employer or a saved employer. And we do what we can to honor Him. don't be just reaching out for more. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and are certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Man, he says so much here, and we're going to look at what he says in this passage of Scripture. So, we're talking about what causes financial crisis. My son Joshua, when he was very young, we found out that he could not have that he could not have milk and sugar. He was highly allergic. He didn't just break out in a rash. He got violently sick and he almost died when he was about 18 months old because we didn't know that and we were young parents and it's just a very, very bad reaction to milk and sugar. So that meant, growing up, he could not have ice cream. He could not have ice cream. Now, people, nice, sweet Sunday school teachers would always say, oh, we're not telling your dad, here's some ice cream, then he'd come home and he'd be sick. So don't be the sweet teacher that's helping out your preacher's kid. He would come home really sick. So he couldn't have ice cream. But that didn't mean we weren't gonna have ice cream in our house. I knew that he was gonna grow up, and there was gonna be people eating ice cream, and he was gonna have to say no to ice cream. So for that reason, number one, we had ice cream in the house. Number two, I like ice cream, and so we have ice cream in the house. So one night I go to bed, I get up in the morning, I'm always the first person up in the morning. I walk downstairs, and I walk into the middle of the kitchen. We had a very small kitchen, and I walk into the middle of the kitchen. In the middle of the kitchen, there's a carton of ice cream that's opened. It's sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. It's been melted for some time. It's melting out the bottom. There's a spoon stuck inside of it, and the cap is sitting on the side. And I look at that, and I thought, oh my goodness, something happened in the middle of the night. And so I yell upstairs to my three oldest kids, Matt, and Josh, and Charity. My kids are named Matthew, Joshua, Charity, Faith, and Hope. For four years, we thought that Faith was the last one. We were hopeless. But then God gave us Hope. And so that day, there was only Matthew, Josh, and Charity. And so I yelled up. I said, Matt, Josh, Charity, come down here. And so they all come down. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I'm standing here. I got the ice cream. carton right in the middle of the floor right where I found it and they're just sort of in a half moon looking at down at it and I said I Want to know who did this? This didn't just happen who did this Matt said it wasn't me. I said, okay. It wasn't you I said charity was it you and She said no wasn't me. I said Joshua and Josh was holding his stomach And he's I said Joshua was it you? Yes I said, Joshua, I said, if you knew, if you did that, you were gonna get sick. Yeah, I know. And I said, you knew that what I'm gonna have to do, what am I gonna have to do? You're gonna have to spank me. That's right. Do I wanna spank you? No. But now I'm gonna have to spank you. Knowing that I was gonna have to spank you, why did you do this? He said, well, I was upstairs and I was laying in my bed. And he said, I started thinking about the ice cream. And then he said, I started thinking about this bacon. And then I started thinking more about the ice cream. And then he said, I thought about this bacon. And then I thought about the ice cream some more. And I thought about this bacon, and I thought, it's worth it. There's a lot of people that have gotten themselves into financial trouble, in a financial crisis, because they thought It's worth it. I want this thing. I gotta have this thing. Why do we find ourselves in financial crisis? Let's go through this very quickly. Number one, we covet more than we can afford. I mean, everybody on TV is telling us what we gotta have. You gotta have this, you gotta have that. You walk into your friend's house and they've got something and you want it. So we come at things we can't afford. Number two, we are offered credit to buy those things which we cannot afford. So easy to get credit, so easy to get credit, so easy to get, oh, we want to give you this money. Then what we do, according to the word of God, is we place ourselves in bondage to our creditors. The Bible says the borrower's servant to the lender. And so we put ourselves in bondage to those things because we wanted something that we couldn't afford. While paying our master for what we wanted, we have conflicts with each other because we do not now have enough money for any longer for our needs. You see, God gave us what we needed and gave us what gives us the money for what we need, but we've wasted it on things that we did not need. So what happens? Conflicts arise when there's a difference of opinion about what is needed and what is wanted. Well, I just needed to get this shotgun. That's why I needed it. It's October. Don't you understand that? I needed to get this thing. And what is wanted, like food. There's a conflict over that between the husband and the wife and the children. Since families have two incomes, money gets mentally divided between yours mine and ours. It's this going back and forth. What happens is that separate bank accounts, separate credit cards are issued and then with no accountability On the husband's part, it'll cause the wife to demand accountability and the right to be in charge of the books. So you see what happens? We can't decide, and so she gets her own credit cards, he gets his own credit cards, she gets her checking account, he gets his credit account, and there's no accountability, and then major conflicts. Fear, responsibility, or the wife, the wife, Ben assumes the position of mother and he becomes even more irresponsible and more conflicts arise. What is needed? is fiscal restraint and personal discipline. I was called up one day in Vegas. A lady called up and said, listen, my friend really needs someone to counsel. Could you come and counsel? They're having major conflicts. And I said, sure. So me and one of our associate pastors drove across town to a place called Henderson, Nevada, and we got out. And we drove up to this home. Now this home was a beautiful home and in the driveway of that home was every big boy toy you could imagine. I mean he had ATVs, he had skidoos, he had boats, he had everything. All the big boy toys that you could imagine were there. We walked into, knocked on the door and this lady answered the door and she said, I'm so glad you came. My husband and I need some counseling. So we went in and began to talk and he said, I don't think there's a problem. She said, he doesn't think there's a problem. She was the head nurse of one of the major hospitals in in Las Vegas. She was making Buku's money, and he was in construction. And when construction was good in Vegas, you're making lots of money, but construction wasn't good right then. And so at that point, he was playing and she was working to pay for his toys, and she was really upset. And she was just talking about the fact that he's totally and completely irresponsible, and it was just the whole thing had turned into her being his mother, and he resented that, and rightfully so, but the reason she became his mother was because of his total irresponsibility and a lack of fiscal restraint. What is needed in marriage is fiscal restraint and personal discipline. Now, how does that happen? What is God's plan? Here is the basic principles of finance in the Word of God. We're going to go through this very quickly because, again, there's a lot to cover, okay? God wants stability in the kingdom, and so he's given us a plan. Now, what I'm going to say is not politically correct. Kamala would not like this plan. But this is what God says all right number one The primary breadwinner in the house is to be the husband that is what God said God gave the man the responsibility to provide for his family in the garden when man messed up by Deliberately disobeying God God said okay. Here's what you're gonna Do you're gonna work by the sweat of your brow to take care of your? your wife, and that's what you're going to do for the rest of your life. That is God's plan. God gave man the responsibility, again, to provide for his family. If man does not provide for his own, the Bible says he denies the faith. This is what God's Word says. And he's worse than an infidel. You say, what's an infidel? That just means simply an unbeliever. even unbelievers provide for their spouses. That's what he's saying, you're worse than an infidel. God's plan is very clearly, God clearly teaches that the brother that does not work walketh disorderly, that he is not fulfilling God's order of things. God's order of things in the home is for the man to provide. Now why does God want man to work? He gives some basic truths, and I've listed several scriptures. We won't take time to read those scriptures, because it would take too long tonight. But here's why God says the man is supposed to work. Number one, to provide for himself. He's supposed to take care of his own needs. He's supposed to take care of himself. Number two, he's to provide for his family. If he doesn't provide for his own or in his own house, he's denied the faith. He's worse than an infidel. He is to be able to take care of the needs of others. So I'm supposed to take care of myself as a man, I'm supposed to take care of my family, and then I'm supposed to take care of the needs of others. The Bible says, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing that is good that he may have to give that him that needeth. So I'm supposed to work so that I can give to other people who have needs. And then he's to work so he'll have an appreciation of the wealth that he attains. If I'm given something, I will waste it. I have a friend whose father is a gambler who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was many years ago. I don't know if his father's even still alive. But he said, he's a missionary, and he came to Las Vegas. He said, I just wanted to stop in. I stopped in to see you because I wanted to see my father. My father invited me here. I said, oh, is your father doing well? He said, yeah, he is, but it'll only be for a few months. I said, what do you mean? He said, Dave, he won this huge jackpot. So he bought himself a house. And he said, I want you to come over. So this was before anybody had large screen TVs. He had large screen TVs all over his house. He had everything that you could have. The house was amazing. It was just fantastic. It was great. He said, Dave, he said, he got this. through one great big win at the casinos, but he won't have it six months from now. Because when you get something that easily, it goes away just that quick. And that's exactly what happened. I said, Jason, talk to him. He said, it doesn't matter what I talk to him about. He's hooked on gambling. This will all be gone. He said, I've seen it happen before. And sure enough, he was absolutely right. He was absolutely right. God wants us to have an appreciation of the wealth that we attain, and we appreciate it when we work for it. And then it establishes the man as the head servant in the home. When I work to provide for my family, it establishes me. Now, what's the woman to do? Well the woman is created according to God to be the helpmate. We will talk more about that in our second session tomorrow. The woman was created to be the helpmate for man. Her primary job according to Titus, the Bible says the aged woman Likewise, that she be in behaviors becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, and to love their children. I love this. This passage says this, that she's supposed to, the older women are supposed to teach or the younger women, how to love their husbands. That word love there is not the word agape, which means unconditional love. That word is the word phileo and it means to like. The idea here is this, that men are so unlikable to women and to wives that older women have to wait till the younger woman gets married, and then the older woman has to teach her, this is how you like him. He's so unlikable. This is how you teach him to like your husbands. And then he goes on to say to love your children, which means like again, it's the same word. So children are unlikable. My mother used to say to me, David, I love you, but I don't like you. But God says older women are to teach younger women how to like their children, and then how to be keepers at home. The word keeper there is not a demeaning term. The word keeper means to guard, to protect. She is the protector of the home. When she does this, the Bible says the word of God will not be blasphemed. When she's working with her husband to protect her husband, she's learning to like her children, like her husband, and to be a guard in the home. The Bible says she'll be honored by God, by her children, and her husband when she's willing to work to help her family, not neglecting her primary purpose. So does the Bible say that a woman can't work outside the home? No. But the Bible tells us that her primary job is to be an encouragement and a strength to her husband while he is providing for the wife. So in marriage, two become one. It's no longer yours. It's no longer mine. It's ours. And we need to understand that. That's not just true about our possessions. It's true about all of our finances. The Bible says, what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. So you don't divide things. God doesn't want us to divide things in marriage. So separate bank accounts, separate checkbooks, and multiple credit cards should not exist. Now, beyond that, we need to understand it's God's will that Christians pay their debts. In Romans chapter 13, the Bible says this, render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Then he says this, he says, give people their due. owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Now think about that. There will always be somebody that you owe. There are some things that you will always owe in your home. You will always owe your wife respect. You will always owe your husband respect. There's things that you will owe. The Bible tells me as a husband in 1 Corinthians 7, He that's married careth for the things of his wife. Continually, I am going to owe her, since she married me, I owe to take care of her. That's my responsibility. I have to pay that on a regular basis. For the government, you're going to always pay taxes, pay tribute to whom tribute is due. So when Paul said, let's go on with the parents. With parents, he says in Ephesians, honor thy father and thy mother. There's not a point at which I can say, okay, I don't have to honor my parents anymore. There's not a point at which I have to say, I'm never gonna have to pay the government anymore until I'm in the grave, and then they figure out a way to make you pay after you're dead. There's never gonna be a day that I don't owe love and respect to my wife. So what Paul is teaching here is not getting out of debt. He's talking, the principle is personal responsibility, not necessarily debt elimination. Now I'm all for debt elimination, and I'll talk about that in just a minute. But the idea is this, owe no man anything means to pay what you owe. Pay what you owe. The Bible says this, Paul is speaking in 1 Corinthians, and he says, let every man abide in the same calling wherein he is called. And he's talking in that passage about being married or being unmarried. But what he's saying is this, wherever you are in life, that's where you are, and that's where you start serving God. Well, if I get saved and I'm in debt, then I need to serve God where I am. I need to do what God wants me to do where I am. I don't flee my situation in order to serve God. I'm where I am and I'm faithful to serve God where I am right now. So what do I do with that? Here's what I do. A Christian should determine to live within their means. where I am right now, I get saved. I owe $100,000 on my house. I get saved. I owe $10,000 on my car. I owe money to this credit card and money to that credit card. That's where I am. So what I need to do is say, I don't need to say, okay, I'm going to forsake all principles in order to go and pay off these debts. No, I need to understand where I am. I need to evaluate where I am and serve God where I am. I need to be content where I am and then live within the means that God is giving me right now. So what do I do? I serve, you serve your master with respect and diligence. That's what he says in 1 Timothy chapter six. Number two, be content with food and clothing. I'm not going to go out and get anything else. I'm not going out. There was a time my wife and I had to say, in the 2008 crisis, there was a time my wife and I had to say, wow, my house is totally and completely upside down. We could have let it go back to the courts. In fact, I could have taken my house and just let it go back and bought the exact same house right across the street for half of what I owed on this house. But I had made a contract. I had said, I had said I was going to buy this and I was going to pay so much for it and so as a Christian I don't want to violate what I said. There was a time we realized we weren't going to be able to go out and do anything any of the fun things we used to do. We couldn't even go to McDonald's. We did do this. We said okay. There's $20 a paycheck for Anna and $20 a paycheck for me to just blow on whatever we wanted to. Man, when you got that little, you say, man, I'm not going to do anything until the last minute that I'm going to get something really good for my 20 bucks. The idea is we had to determine we were going to live within our means. So we just served diligently, that is pay what we did, be content with what, with the food and rain that we have and then don't get so focused on debt retirement and savings that you begin to live for money and that can happen. I've watched good Christian people say, okay, this is wrong being in debt, and we're going to get out of debt, and what happens is you start living for the money to get out of debt. It's a good thing to get out of debt, but you don't want to just focus on that. Remember this, he says in 1 Timothy, what we just read a few minutes ago, that the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people will violate all sorts of principles because they love their family and they want to get out of debt so their family will be out of debt, but they violate scriptural principles in order to do that. The Bible says this, you cannot, Jesus said, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot, absolutely impossible from the words of God in human flesh, you cannot serve God and mammon. so what do you do you serve God in the situation you find yourself and you pray for deliverance deliverance in first Corinthians it says art thou called being a servant are you in bondage to money in this case he's talking about being in bondage in marriage but he says are you called being a servant care not for it don't worry about it but if thou mayest be made free use it rather for he that is called to In the Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man. I can be saying, okay, I'm doing this because I'm honoring God. I'm just going to continually pay off my debt. Likewise, also he that is called being free is Christ's servant. You are bought with a price. Be ye not servants of men, brethren. Let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. Don't be so anxious to get out of debt that you break principles, which is exactly what we say. Don't break priorities or principles to eliminate your debt. So, so important. Be faithful. Give God what belongs to him. I'm so thankful that I had a mother that even though she was a single parent and was very limited in her finances, she was limited in her education. So she made minimum wage and worked herself up for minimum wage, but still not a major job. She faithfully tithed. She taught us to bring our tithes to the Lord on a week-by-week basis. The Bible says this, in Malachi in the Old Testament, he says to the Israelites, if you bring your tithes in the storehouse, I will pour out blessings that you're not able to contain. That's what he says under the law. Imagine how true this is under grace. He says this, that he will rebuke the devourer. Now for the agricultural society that they lived in that meant that he would keep the pestilence from coming and eating their crops so their crops would not be eaten. Everybody else's crops are going to be eaten but he will protect them from the beetle from whatever comes the grasshoppers that come and eat the food. He will rebuke them and say don't go eat their food. I tell people, how does that equate to me today? I think that means my washing machine's gonna last longer than your washing machine. I think that means my car, my, when we first moved to Vegas, the mechanic that fixed our cars, he would say to me, Pastor, do not ever sell your car to anybody that's your friend. When this is finished, just take it to a cliff and push it off a cliff. He'd say, because God holds this car together. It's only God that does that. God did. He allowed us to get vehicles, and they lasted for years and years. He rebukes the devourer. The Bible says this in Luke 6.38, give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give into your bosom. Be generous with your family. Take care of them and then to be generous be generous with your God God Promises us if we give he will give back to us As a husband and a father you should think more of Your children and your family's desires than anything else your desires should be last of all and And then I would encourage you to do this. Pray every day what Jesus told us to pray. Pray every day. I do this. I want you to know this. I'm not telling you something that I haven't practiced and that I don't practice. Today, I prayed, give us this day our daily bread. That's a prayer. Jesus said, say this. When you pray, say this. God, give us every day what we need. to do your will. Give us this day our daily bread. When I pray for our food, I don't just say, Lord, thank you for this food. I always say, Lord, I thank you for this food. I pray you'll bless it, keep us from getting sick by eating this food. I pray you'll always supply our needs according to your riches in glory. I pray that If I miss it and my grandchildren are around they will say Grandpa you didn't pray that God will supply our needs. We need to pray daily for God to meet our needs. You say what if I don't have any needs? Well there will be a time that you will wish you had prayed give us this day our daily bread. Pray that God will take care of your daily needs. So now how do I apply these principles? Because this is tough. These are fighting words that I've given to you. These are things that people fight over. So here's what you do. And then after you do what I tell you, then make a counseling appointment with your pastor and he'll help you through this, okay? Sit down together and discuss your priorities. What is most important to us? Then, and here's real fighting words, make a realistic budget with your present income. Realistically, where are we? This is hard work. It's easy for me to sit here in 45 minutes and tell you these things and you to write them down. But to sit down and do this takes time. And sometimes we don't want to do that because there's a game on. I've been waiting to see this show. There's something else I'd rather do. Make a realistic budget with your present income. Decide what you can live without. Remember you to be content with food and raiment. That is what you eat and what you wear. Be content with that. And then, if you really want to get serious about this, ask, what would we need to do to live realistically on his income? One lady said, we'd have to sell this house, we'd have to get rid of both of our cars, we'd have to start driving beaters, and we'd have to move into some little house down the street. I said, oh, well, you already know the answer then. She said, I'm just being sarcastic. I said, well, that's the answer. You didn't need to ask me because you knew the answer. And that's the truth. We know the answers, but sometimes the answer's just too painful. But you know what they did? That couple had eight children. And they decided, they lived in a beautiful house. I mean, a huge house. And I'm sitting in their house and we're discussing it because they're fighting like cats and dogs. And so they decided they were gonna do this. And they sold their house. I saw the cars that they were driving and they would say things like, don't laugh at our car. You know, it went from brand new cars to just, they downsized and downsized and downsized. They moved to a house, and it's amazing. Their story is absolutely amazing. After they lived in that house for many years and raised their children, half of them to full adulthood, they were approached by a television show that said, we want to rebuild your house for you. And if you'll let us put it on TV, we will do it and we will pay the whole thing. And now they live in this house that is like amazing, totally redone by some We'll Fix Your House show. You know, you've seen those on TV. They just happen to fall into that because God blessed them. sit down, make a realistic budget, ask what we would need to live realistically on his come, and then begin to work towards that goal. Now, when you start working towards that goal and you start living on that budget, you're gonna get angry. So when you get angry because you can't do what you used to do, I can't even go to McDonald's When you get angry because you can't do that, what do you do? You confess your sin. You confess our sin. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You confess, God, I don't have because I've been covetous. And then you confess to God your selfishness in desiring to get whatever you want. Then, after you've confessed that, you ask God to make you content with what you have. This is a daily process, and for some, it's an hourly process. Then, determine to think of yourself as a servant of God, and pray for the needs and the wants of other family members above yourself. Husbands, listen to this. This is so important. Her needs are more important than your needs. Those kids' needs are more important than your needs, above anything else. Everybody else in the family is more important than me. Ask God to give you creative ways to help others, and at the same time, get the needed income for your family. It's amazing what God will do. I've watched families that were, one guy said to me, he said, Pastor, I started applying these things. I started doing what you said to do scripturally. He said, last year, He said, my income was less than my tithe is this year because I started applying this. I'm not saying that's going to happen to you. I'm just saying God will bless you if you start doing what God wants you to do. Ask God to give you creative ways to help others. At the same time, get needed income for your family. Be willing to downsize before breaking principles. I'm not gonna break these principles. I might have to sell my house, I might have to sell our car, might have to get rid of our furniture, but we're gonna do that. I was teaching this in a church in Tennessee And the daughter of this family that I just talked to you came up and said, thank you so much. She's happy. She's with her family. She's got her own family in Tennessee. And she said, this teaching totally and completely changed my life. Live day by day, trusting God to supply your needs. The Bible says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding. You'll think, how is this gonna work out? You just do what God wants you to do and it'll work out. That's walking by faith. And then ask God's, as God permits, begin to set aside money for the future in different types of investments. Pray for the advancement of God's purpose. starts putting money away for the college for the children. Start putting money for vacation or for future ministry. I stand before you to tell you this, when we started our church in Las Vegas, Nevada, my wife and I had $14 in our bank account. We, it's amazing how God has blessed us, but I want you to know every one of my kids went to college, graduated from college, and were debt-free when they graduated. They're married, they have their own homes. I'm just telling you these principles work. if you just do step-by-step what God says to do. And by the way, I want to make this clear. My wife and I didn't do these things perfectly. We made all sorts of mistakes. But God knew we were trying to do what he wanted us to do, and God has always taken care of our needs. And lastly, seek wise counsel in these areas. And the Bible says in the multitude of counselors, there's safety and your purposes will be established. There's a lot of scripture in this, in these notes, but follow them. And then lastly, I tell you this, there's a really good course called Financial Peace University by a guy named Dave Ramsey. The only thing I disagree with on Dave is he would say gazelle intensity and paying off all your debts, that that should be the most important thing in the world. I think that can cause problems for people. Just do what you can do and leave the results to God. Be what God wants you to be. When you start living this way, I'm telling you, when you first start doing this, you say, I thought we were going to solve conflicts. You're going to have conflicts. and you need to sit down with one another and talk about them. There is in your notes, I think at the back of the notes, there's a money matters evaluation. There's a thing for you and your wife, you and your husband to go through together that just talks about what is needful, what's wanted, what is necessary. It's a good thing for you to go together and talk about together. There's some evaluations of your roles and responsibilities. Go through those together, use those. You probably won't have time this weekend, but after this weekend is over, it'll help you in sitting down and doing this. All right? Let's pray. Father, I pray that you'll help us. Father, this is a very, very important, very practical session. I pray, Father, you'll help everyone here to apply it, and I pray you'll help us to use it, and I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.