Transcription
I want to speak this morning on the subject of seven business secrets. Seven business secrets of Jesus that guarantees the success of your business. Seven business secrets of Jesus that guarantee the success of your business.
Most people feel that ministers know nothing about business. Business is simply solving a problem for an agreed reward. Business is solving a problem for an agreed reward, whether it's money, whether it's an exchange. Business is an exchange of property. I give you money, you give me the car I want. Business continuously occurs every hour of your life. Business even occurs between a husband and his wife. Every marriage is a business transaction. You may not call it that. You may not even like referencing it that. And you that are joining us by internet, thank you.
The entire day is going to be spent on the life and teachings of Jesus. This is a Jesus day. We speaking at the 10:00 service, also at 3:00 this afternoon. Everything is about the secrets of Jesus, the life of Jesus. The gospel is sort of divided between the person of Jesus and his principles. One's the life of God, one's the law of God, one's the king, one's the kingdom. What an experience of Jesus will not produce in your life, his expertise will produce. It is possible to experience Jesus, the person, receive his peace, and not know his principles. Today, different products. His principles create prosperity. His person creates your peace.
Evil Knievel, the motorcycle expert who was so famous for his jumps throughout the world, was baptized yesterday on TV by Dr. Robert Schuller. His testimony was profound, precious, simple to many, profound to us who knew where he came from. One of the most famous entertainers and one of the most courageous men who defied death continuously. He related yesterday how he had five Rolls-Royces and five Ferraris and two jets. He bought a second one so he could fly along the second one and see his name on his plane. He related the experience of being with 880,000 people in England shouting and screaming at his name, but he said there was nothing compared in his lifetime to the receiving of Jesus Christ as his personal savior. His salvation is a profound thing to us who watch the entertainment world. But the person of Jesus creates a different product, a different feeling than his principles. That's why he taught experiencing him births change. Fulfilling his assignment in your life will require his expertise.
Proverbs 4:7 says, "Wisdom is the principle thing." What is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to discern difference, the ability to solve a problem. My older sister, Barbara, sat in the back seat one day as I was driving, and both of my brother and I, David, uh, or John, my older brother, has been pretty successful in business. And I had asked him, I said, "Let us fly in to help Barbara. Let's assess her business, analyze it, find where she's losing money, where she's making money, identify her customers, identify her problems, and help her. And I'll fly in a day, and you fly in a day, and let's, she's our sister." And so I mentioned that to Barbara, who was sitting in my back seat, who continuously, uh, had problems in business. She was a phenomenal giver, but she didn't know the difference between business and giving. You don't always give money. Sometimes you give motivation. Sometimes you give direction. There's a lot of ways to give besides money. She was giving away all of her profits. When she would advertise a sale, "You get free lipstick if you come in to my Merle Norman shop." When the customers got there, she would tell them how much it cost her to give them that free gift, and the burden it was for her to do all that free giving. And of course, they became a little discouraged to come back. Good woman, first real giver I ever knew. Barbara was a, a good person. And I said, "Sis, we're going to fly in to help you, John and I, to help you in your business." And I'll never forget her retort, very, very volatile, and never hesitate to give her opinion whether it was thought out or not. She said, "You don't know a thing about business." Though I had published books and sold records around the world and traveled around the world, and millions had passed through my hands, I knew nothing about business.
Seven kinds of people you can't help. You can't help anybody who doesn't discern their an. Is inside you. Proverbs 22:29 says, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean or common men." Means those of excellence will pursue you. Those who require your difference will reach for you, your gift, your difference.
Read Luke 2:49. And I want you to mark these scriptures because I'm very interested in your business. Very interested. Probably, to my knowledge, the preacher on earth most interested in your business. Everybody's interested in getting to heaven, but it may be a few years for you to get there. Meanwhile, chapter 2 of Luke, verse 41. "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem: and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, they thought it was with friends around them, went a day's journey; and they sought him him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. When they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him. It came to pass that after three days they lost Jesus." For three days, he was twelve. They did not find him playing with the other children. They did not find him looking at shops. This is what they found him doing. They found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both both hearing them and asking them questions. Now, there's your rarity. You'll have people who can ask, but they don't listen. People who listen, but they won't ask. "And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not did ye not know that I must be about my father's business?" He knew his future before they did. Verse 50: "And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." Verse 52: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man."
Turn to Romans, chapter 12 and verse 11. He begins in verse 9: "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour in honour preferring one another: not slothful in business." 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 11: "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you." Then he gives the two reasons why you should have your own business: "that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without." Without a job, without opportunity. "And that ye may have lack of nothing."
It is this scripture that's in, that's kept me hiring people. It's the only scripture perhaps that has dominated my mind because hiring people is a painful process. It's a process because you can empty yourself. It takes about six months to a year for any employee to earn what you pay them. Actually, they say a year to two years. I say, with proper training, they should earn their selves within six months. Nobody is worth what you pay them the first six months. Nobody. The exhaustion of time and energy, the leaving of your own priorities. Nobody, I don't care if it's $10 an hour, they're not worth it because of the time it takes away from a leader of everything he's about. My decisions last are more significant than answering the telephone.
And many times I've looked back and I explain how to my staff the ministry got to this place. I was a church evangelist. I would fly to church and speak, and if the people were helped, they gave in the offering. That offering was my salary. The time came when they gave me more money than I needed, that I needed for the house, that I needed for a car. I had excess money. So with the excess money, I didn't buy a bigger house. I bought a little machine that taped my teaching. Then I bought another machine that duplicated it. Then I bought my own PA system so I could record it high quality. And I remember, as clear as looking at you, at HC Noah's Church in Oak Cliff Assembly of God Church in Dallas, turning around before I spoke, turning on my tape recorder to that huge auditorium and say, "Turn in your Bible to Matthew." And when I finished teaching, teaching had the altar call, I cut it off, handed it to a volunteer, rushed back at the back, put it in the cassette duplicator, and duplicated the tapes and sold them. I didn't have books. So I found a preacher who would sell me his books at a good price. I had a little book table and sold his books and got the profit. Never spent a penny, but had a separate account for that as a business. And as I got more and more and more money, I reinvested in equipment. And eventually, I invested in someone in Lake Charles, "Would you pick up my mail while I'm gone?" And I will stay in meetings. I would preach. I preach as much as 56 consecutive nights without a night off. I'd go be gone away from home as much as six months, but I had far more money than what I cared to spend for myself because my message to me was so vital and so important. I would invest everything I had to get my message out. The same thing as occurs now. I bought this building with private offerings given to me for my speaking from corporations as well as churches. I feel like I'm qualified to talk about business. You're sitting in a $10 million building that's paid for cash, and it wasn't paid for by this church. I mean, understand that. I want you to know your tithe and offerings did not pay for this building, just to emphasize that. So in case you get mad at me, you can't cut off part of the building, say, "I'm taking back my tithe." Neither do you pay me a salary from the tithe and offerings of this church. So I want to emphasize that to show credibility for me speaking about the seven business secrets of Jesus.
I first discovered the secrets and was so startled that I sat in a corner chair in my house and spoke for 17 consecutive hours to a business person across the room and taped the 17 hours. Then I started speaking on it on Thursday nights from 7:00 to to 12 and 1, and the people would stay there with me while I spoke. I had two nights of 17 hours. I had a total of 90 hours dictation on the business secrets of Jesus. I want to give you seven that I think are important. Your business, of course, is important because it's the key to your financial success. Success is the ability to obtain a worthy goal. If your goal is building a house, if your goal is building anything in your life, you need to become good at business. It's a learned skill.
The first secret of Jesus is he attracted attention. He attracted attention. He did it through his questions at the age of 12. He did it through his questions to the woman at the well. He attracted attention riding in Jerusalem on a donkey. He attracted attention solving problems. You have no business future unless people know you're there. It is not true that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. They may not know about your mousetrap. Advertisement is a huge percentage of every business budget. If you hand me a business card, I'm going to look at that business card and determine the level of your excellence. If you hand me a brochure that looks poorly put together, mimeographed, cheap, I'm going to assume that your business is not at a high level of excellence. If you hand me something that attracts attention in a good way, I may say, "This person must do a good job." Banks do not use mobile homes to present an impression of credibility. That's right. How will you attract attention in your business? Will it be through billboard signs? Will it be through Yellow Pages? Will it be through friends and satisfied customers? But Jesus attracted attention. Thousands followed him. Thousands knew about him before there was a TV or radio or newspapers. He did it through his difference.
Number two, Jesus knew the needs of his customers. Jesus knew the needs of his customers. Who are your clients? Who are potential customers? Everybody doesn't need what you have. You may have a life jacket that you have created that's profound. It will hold a 400 lb man up in the water, but the 150 lb man doesn't need need you. Those who live on the Sahara Desert do not need you. Those who do not go near water do not need you. Have you determined who needs your difference? Who needs your product? Where are they? Jesus knew the needs of his customers or clients through various ways. He knew it intuitively by the Holy Spirit. He knew what was in man. He knew the heart of man. He knew what they were thinking. And he knew it through questioning. Surveys matter. Questionnaires matter. The greatest stores in the world provide surveys. "If we, if we did you good, tell others. If we'd made a mistake, tell us." They want to define the needs of their customers. They want a repeat customer. A contractor this week came over my house. He said, "You're not just another customer." I said, "I'm aware of that. I'm glad you are." "Because I'm more than a one $2,000 job." Jesus knew the difference in his customers. There are places I go, they drop everything to attend to my need. I know why. It's not because my nose is cute. Jesus asked his disciples, "What I have, have you any meat?" He's probing them, asking them where their sorrow is, where their vacuum is, where their need is. When I go to buy something, I'm at a place now where excellence matters more than price. So I don't really want to know, "Well, this, you'll save money if you, this is the best, this is the best economical one." That's not what my interest in. I met a place now where excellence matters more than price because quality is remembered longer than a good deal. He looked at the woman at the well and he saw emptiness. "I'll give you water, you'll never thirst again." He knew the Rich Young Ruler had a self-pride, and he made a very clear statement: "Go and sell what you have, give it to the poor, and come and follow me." He looked at the woman who had a, had a committed adultery and said, "Where are your accusers?" He knew the needs of people.
Third, Jesus stayed in the center of his expertise. Jesus stayed in the center of his expertise. What do you do best? What is your highest gift? A good salesman is rarely a great business owner. A business owner may not be a great salesman. I encourage you to take a personality profile test to discover your weaknesses and strengths. DISC. It's a, it's a personality profile. It's not a test to show your value. It's a test to reveal your difference. D is for dominant, driving. It's a high-motivated person, self-motivated. I is influencing. I for influencing means you want to sell others on something. You want to influence others. S can be called steadiness or supportive, stable. It's not that the others are unstable, but a supportive person is one that can do the same thing over and over without outside motivation. They're consistent, they're steady. They're your best employee as far as employees. C is compliant. It means attention to to details. Dot every I, cross every T. Your bookkeeper would be a compliant person. You won't find a bookkeeper who's a high I wanting to sell everybody on something. They want to make sure accuracy. Attentiveness to accuracy matters. DISC. Really invest the time. You can do it for less than $15, $25. We'll help you here at the church if you'd like. We do it to all prospective employees. If someone comes in and say, "Oh, I just love people. I love talking to people." Well, I realize where not to put them. If you put them in an office by themselves where they have no human contact, they become miserable. They call their relatives, they call their grandchildren, their nieces and nephews. Nothing will be done. If you take a person whose high I, they're friendly, they're warm, they're outgoing, they usually miss details. I noticed the detail was lost this week by an influencing person. I had asked for the sign to show The Uncommon Women's Conference. So when I drove up this morning, I realized the, the difference. I'm continuously seeing instructions not followed for various reasons. I never tire of the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference, right and wrong, evil in righteousness, difference in people, difference in a countenance, difference in a moment, like the blind man crying out to Jesus. The dominant purpose for wisdom. And don't you love the wisdom of God? So thankful you're listening today and watching and being a part of the internet, telling others about it. And I hope you're getting, by the way, I hope you're getting my daily podcast every single day on your iPod or your MP3, every single day, two minutes of wisdom. Be a blessing. Sometimes I go a little over because I get excited. I want you to be a part of this ministry. I believe that when you get involved with God, he gets involved with you. I am one of the ministers of the gospel who believe the words of Jesus. I believe every word he said when he told Peter that there would be a hundredfold return on any investment in the gospel in Mark 10:28 through 30. I believed him when the word of God says in Malachi 3 that if I bring the tithe, which is 10% of my income, and the the offering back to him, that he would open the windows of heaven and pour me out a blessing I don't have room enough to receive. I believe him. Why would I believe God about heaven and hell and not believe him about the blessing of the Lord?
I want to pray over the seeds that you have been planting in this ministry. And by the way, I have an incredible gift. You're going to love. In fact, it's probably one of the great gifts I've ever offered. We're asking of the Holy Spirit for 300 partners this week who will set aside a seed of $300 for our outreaches. I need your help. I want you to help me not just to feed a thousand children a day, which we do, or a thousand families, or underwrite the wisdom of Asia Bible College, or to underwrite the tent factory in South Africa, or the Home of Hope, but that we can go into 100 countries with the gospel. I'm holding in my hand the Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. The Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. I have never in my life found a Bible easier to read. As you know, for many years, I've read the Bible through 40 chapters a day, every single month of my life. There is no easier book to read than this Quick Scan Bible. When I found out that I could offer it to you inside of some of the teaching that I've been doing, and I'll do today, I want you to have it. Call me right now. Plant your seed of $300 and watch God move.
Reasons: Jesus knew the center of his expertise. He knew what he did best. He didn't go get involved in filling out tax forms to save $50. What do you do well? What do you not do well? What do you enjoy? Now, there's probably going to always be about 10 to 20% of your life unenjoyable. You said, "I hate that." Well, I'm sure God does too, and he's God, and a lot of his life is unenjoyable. So it seems to be the product of choice, and you have to risk that there's going to be a portion of your business that's not fun. Taking inventory is not fun. Dealing with complaints and dissatisfied customers is not a joy. Training your staff is incredibly burdensome. There will always be a portion of your business that's the seed of discomfort that creates the reward of change. And try to understand that, but you want to keep most of your energy in the center of what you do best. Have you identified your dominant difference? Your dominant skill?
Four, Jesus clearly defined to others the problems he could solve for them. Jesus clearly defined to others the problems he could solve for them. He didn't look at someone and say, "Oh, I could, I could sell you a good tie. You like the robes I have back at the house." He knew his difference and he defined the problem he was called to solve. "I come to seek and save that which was lost." You have to know your difference. You have to know your difference and convey it adequately, sufficiently, continuously to others. You have to define clearly the difference in your business, the problem that your business solves. When 24-hour Martinizing came out many, many years ago when I was a teenage boy, one hour, I think they could do something in one hour. And then they got what? First they did in one day, and then they went to one hour. "We can do it in one hour." I hadn't seen any one hours since I was a teenage boy. For whatever reason, people I use take several days to do a shirt, and when it comes back, they always tear the buttons off. If you know any cleaners that doesn't tear buttons off, please tell me. What is the difference? Jesus knew his difference. He said to the woman with the well, "I'll give you water and you'll never thirst again." He was continuously showing, "This is what I'm about." And he would teach it, teach for days at a time, and hours. This afternoon, at the 3:00 session, I want to talk about the teaching secrets of Jesus because every one of you men anointed to succeed will have to master the art of teaching. You're going to have to learn to teach an employee or teach your family. This is what was so disturbing to Aristotle Onassis, the billionaire Greek tycoon, who was training his son Alexander to take over his businesses, yachts, airplanes, and he had poured so much time into training his son, thinking of many people. But you must learn the teach the art of teaching. But you must teach a customer. You must teach your clients what's different about your business. What you offer that others cannot offer. It may be the uniqueness of your product. It may be the servicing afterwards. If you're a local business instead of a national, you have the advantage of telling them, "I'm always here." "If you've been in business for 20 years, we've been here for 20 years, and we're interested in a long-term relationship. We have credibility." If it's the price, and you work out of your house, you can tell someone, "I work out of my home, so I do not have the expense of overhead." And a lot of business people, if you do things in large quantities, you can say, "Because I buy in a large quantity, I get a better price." And there's so many ways, but you are are responsible for showing your customers the difference of your business. They may not discern it. They may not even care. But it's important for you to know your difference.
Five, Jesus mentored his salesmen. He mentored his salesmen. He spent three and a half years training meticulously the people who would represent him on the earth. He showed them what they were doing wrong. He was open with his feelings when they missed it. He didn't hesitate to show his anger. And he became an example of what he hated when he drove the money changers out out of the temple. And the money chambers in the temple were not selling cassettes of his teachings that day, a whole different area of thought. And I'll give that sometime. Occasion we get letters of people angry 'cause I sell books at church. The ignorant reveal themselves quickly. It's amazing. The wise don't, but the the ignorant do. I'm very sensitive about who represents me on my staff. I have 77 directly on payroll. We have other companies that handle other things, which, I guess, if we brought everything in-house, we'd probably have maybe 140, 150 employees, but in-house kind of thing. But I know when somebody walks up to a company and says, "I'm with the Wisdom Center. I work for Dr. Mike Murdoch." They immediately represent me. So if they wear holes in their clothes, and their breath is bad, and their hair is pointed every way, they represent me. If they are mean and difficult in a store, and they walk in and cause a commotion and create a disturbance, if they create a disturbance and have they, and the manager has to call the police, they have stained my name and the Wisdom Center's name. That's right. That's right. They have stained me. If one of my people talks in a wrong way to a person in this church, not only do I hear about it, but that person will leave. In fact, I have received emails and phone calls from people who left the Wisdom Center and said, "I love you, but you have two people there who have continuously made my coming to that church difficult." They represent me. So I train my people, and they all have to be trained. I don't have anybody on staff, not one, who doesn't require training. I've required training. Who is going to train the people who represent your business? Do not assume they will know how. Do not assume that what you say once will be remembered. How do you train them? One, by example. Two, by a handbook of job description and a policy and protocol. Three, by what you permit. I will deal with some things this next week that happened this last week. I will deal with it tomorrow here at the Wisdom Center to my staff because the training didn't take. Sometimes a vaccine doesn't take. You know, the pain in the needle doesn't mean it worked. Jesus spent three and a half years training his disciples to represent him on the earth. He trained them through hours of conversation. I have made about 80 DVDs that comprise maybe 20 hours or so of teaching. We play them at least, at least four or five times a year, and I, I would probably say less than 20% of it is remembered and used. Less than 20% of it, because you got to keep hearing it and keep hearing it and keep hearing it and keep hearing it and keep hearing it and keep hearing it. What do you train them? You train them in what represents you. I don't care what somebody's email looks like to their friend, but if you've got Wisdom Center under your name on the email, it will have a presentation. It will be typed in the way that I required, or you won't be here. Period. If anything connected to the Wisdom Center is on that email, it will be topic and thought, and the topic will be bold, and it will be in blue, and the content will be in black. You say, "You decide how the email is going to look." Yes, sir. Yes, sir. This isn't 7-Eleven. We're not running Walmart here. M. Folks, I'm talking about your business. You will have to spell out in detail, and you, as the head of your business, will have the highest level of excellence. I'm 61. I don't have a human on my staff with a higher level of excellence than me. Not one. That's why you're the boss. That's why you're the boss. That's right. Now, when someone on your staff begins to get this in their spirit and begin to want to please you and pleasure you, that's who you promote. Years of service doesn't decide promotion. Passion to please decides promotion. Someone asked me some time ago why I had to get a raise. I said, "I didn't take away the money you lost me last year. I should have lowered your salary 20% because of the money you cost me, people you messed up, mistakes you made." And I took nothing out of your salary. I think that's phenomenal. I'm a little bit unlike Jesus in that way. Bible said God regards rewards every man according to his work. You're going to have to train them. Train them separate. Talk to them separate.
Six, Jesus mastered the art of listening. Jesus mastered the art. The sixth business secret of Jesus is his ability to listen. We talked about him asking questions, which is part. He mastered conversation. Conversation involves asking and listening. Jesus was a fascinating conversationalist. God is so intrigued by words because everything he created in the universe was through his words. I consider words very important. I consider words so important that I put my words on coffee mugs, t-shirts, and books. I consider words so important that I didn't trust anybody else to write any word of description about what I said. Every word in this catalog was written by me. That explains all the books and the tapes. A 200-page catalog. You must develop the ability to converse effectively, talking to others about what's on their mind and listening to their response. I have people in my life who talk extremely well, but they can't listen well. I have others who have mastered listening, but hadn't mastered talking. Jesus mastered the art of conversation, which is asking and listening. He listened to his enemies so he could use them for examples to his proteges. He listened to the hungry and the thirsty and the lost and those who made mistakes. He listened for the sound of sorrow. He listened for emptiness. He listened for needs. Cultivate an obsession to converse effectively. Is this the time? Is this the place? One of my ladies came to me sometime ago, say, "I know this is not the time to ask this." I said, "Then shut up." I stopped her where she was and said, "If you know this is not the time, why are you saying this?" "Because I won't let you." Now, I would have let you if you didn't know the time and place. I'd have gone ahead and let you and talk to you later. But since you just told me, I know this is not the time. Now you're entering into rebellion. I can handle some ignorance, but I will eliminate rebellion. I will squish it in its place. I mean, you know, that's part of it. Are you here? Men, learn to dialogue. Dialogue with your wife. You married your wife 'cause you thought she was the best thing you would ever be able to have. Now she deteriorated after you entered her life, that's another thing. If you discovered you got sold, that's another thing. Wives qualify for dialogue. I wouldn't marry a woman whose advice I wouldn't want to follow. You marry somebody 'cause they have something you don't have. If you have it all, why would you add another bill to your life? 'Cause they are expensive. Amen. A wife is a costly experience, entry and exit. You marry her for your counsel. You marry her for advice. You marry her because she can see what you don't see. You marry because she knows something you don't know. She'll see a weakness you don't see. My experience has been most of the time a wife discerns the character of others quicker than a man. Now, that's my experience. You may have married a a loser who can't discern, but that's my experience. Is that a wife is an asset? Yes. Amen. Have you developed the art of conversation? How do you converse with customers? Are they reflective? Tony Robbins, the number one success motivator in the world today, and I consider Zig Ziglar to be up there with him, but Tony Robbins talks about the art of mirroring. A mirror is where you see yourself and you see what's there. That when you talk to a customer, you mirror that customer. If you have a customer who's reflective and serious and contemplative, then you position to work with that person. If you have a customer that's outgoing, "Hi, how are you doing today?" then you allow your warmth and congeniality to overflow. Paul wrote it this way: "I become all things to different people so that by some way I can win some." It's called adaptation. Adaptation. Adapting to the need of another. And that's what Jesus did. He mastered that art.
Seven, Jesus always stayed truthful about his product. Jesus always stayed truthful about his product. The persuaded are persuasive. The persuaded are persuasive. I can't sell just anything. That's why I left some business opportunities when I lost confidence in the product. If I lose confidence in something I'm presenting, I can't discuss it. There are things I don't preach 'cause I don't have that persuasion. There are things I don't say a whole lot about 'cause I don't have that persuasion. If I have any doubts about anything, I don't teach it. I, I don't know when Jesus is going to return. The signs are that it's close. The national ID number system will be implemented. The terrorist threat is going to introduce incredible government control. I do believe the days of privacy are almost over. I can pull up anybody's house in America in the privacy of my computer and see their property and see the buildings they've been. I can do that. But I don't preach a lot about the coming of Christ because I don't know the day nor the hour. I just know we need to be ready and occupy till he does come. I remember thinking, "Who would be the Antichrist?" I studied F.B.I. Dake, Finis J. Dake, someone called him Clarence L. Johnson, Hal Lindsey, a close personal friend, brilliant. Hilton Sutton, a longtime friend. John Hagee's father, Barry Hagee. I preached the first two weeks of every February for probably five to eight years of my ministry, stayed in their home. John is incredibly brilliant in Christianity, at articulating his stance on Israel. He's smart. He's always been smart. But if I'm not persuaded about something, I stay away from it. What I'm persuaded of, I stay in the center. Jesus was real honest about it. He said, "The birds of the air have nests, the foxes have a hole, but the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay his head." He said, "Come follow me, talk, follow me, but you'll have to pick up a cross." He said, "Those that hate me are going to hate you. You will be hated. You will be persecuted." Jesus was so honest about his product. He talked about the the pleasure of it and the pain of it, the blessing of it and the burden of it. I buy from people whose credibility I feel. I have one man who comes in as a vendor and works our ministry. He's incredibly high-priced, but he comes in, he does it fast, he does it quick. If he makes a mistake, he corrects it. He is so good. 20 years ago, Bob Hope's public relations man, and I had a conversation. He was wanting me to meet Bob Hope because he was like a partner in our ministry. And he spent a good bit of time talking to me about the longevity of the fame comedian Bob Hope. And he said, "Bob Hope has credibility that will go anywhere in the world." And he said, "There's two things that create credibility: trustworthiness and expertise." Trustworthiness and expertise. You hire people who are good at what they do, or they can be trusted at what you share with them. They can be trusted. If you combine those two, your credibility is immense. Build the credibility of your business. Build it. Build it through trustworthiness. Make things right at any cost. Make things right at any cost. I had a lady give an offering to our ministry, $1,000, and decided a year later she wanted it back. And her husband had left her, she was destitute. She said, "I planted seed and I didn't get a harvest." And my lawyer said, "You do not have to do that. You've already spent that $1,000, besides that, it's to a nonprofit organization, etc., etc." I says, "No, she gets her thousand back." She trusted what I taught. She believed in this ministry. If she decides she doesn't, she can have it back. I don't question that. I want them to be happy. I want people to feel right. I want them to feel credible when they walk in this building of the Wisdom Center, when they into this ministry. They have already fought enough doubts in the world. They've already had enough scars in the world. They've already had too many people do them dirty. The last thing they need is to walk on these grounds and have fear. You're going to live cautiously and guardedly throughout your life. That's part of wisdom. But you do need a nest where you don't have to be guarded. That's right. When the end of the day comes, you need somebody you can say, "They're telling me the truth. They're telling me the truth." Throughout your journey in life, you'll have a lot of liars. I wish you wouldn't. I wish I could tell you wouldn't. I wish I could tell you just have a few. But I'd be lying. There's a lot of liars. There's a lot of false food on the earth. There's a lot of falsehood. Fox's Book of Martyrs is proof that the righteous are not protected. The righteous are vulnerable. But somewhere you need a nest without thorns. Make that your business that when your customers and your clients come to you, they will trust you to do things right. Don't hide marks. I had a man helping me one time sell something. He said, "Let's do this, and we'll hide this, and we'll hide that." I said, "Oh, no. I want to tell the person buying it." He said, "You're crazy. He said, 'They buy it as is.'" I said, "Oh, no, no, oh no, no, no. If anything goes wrong with this, I'll make it right." I've lost money on deals. I've lost money, but not my conscience. There will be customers that you lose money on. You'll spend more time and more energy keeping them happy than the little money you made off of them. But word gets around, and if you're trustworthy, if people can trust you to be truthful, if people can trust you to be accurate, it will go well with you all the days of your life. Don't you love the secrets of Jesus? He taught us. He showed us how to live our business.
Stretch forth your hand toward me, would you? In the name of Jesus, I sanctify our business today as holy, as righteous before God. I sanctify our business as an opportunity to reveal Jesus, solve problems, create an income, build credibility. Lord, I pray that every one of us would begin to become so successful at what we do that the people we're even working for, the employer, the boss that we're working for, will never have to doubt our words. We'll never have to doubt our words. We'll never have to doubt our words. We'll never have to doubt our words again. Thank you, Lord. If we owe anybody anything, Lord, cause it to become possible to pay them back. If we have wronged any person in any way, if we have wronged them, let us make it right in the name of Jesus. Lord, I ask you that the second part of this year would be twice what the first part is. I ask you to increase our skills, our conversation abilities, our trustworthiness. Thank you for these success secrets about our business that will guarantee success in our business. In Jesus name, amen.