1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,840 It's a great privilege being it's. 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:10,760 Yeah. What can I say? 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,480 Thank you for coming this evening. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,240 This morning after my talk, Anita said, you know what? 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,360 People know nothing about us. Why don't you just tell them a 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,840 little bit? And you know, behind every 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:28,240 successful man is an amazed mother-in-law. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:34,080 So. So I had no choice but say 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,200 that's, that's OK, that's I'll do it. 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,720 But very few people know it. At the age of 17, I went to 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,600 university. I studied pharmacy and Anita's 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,480 also a pharmacist. And I stayed in the garage and 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,240 patches through him with one of those up flip doors. 14 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,440 And it was the coldest I've ever been in my life. 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,080 And I was poor, right? 15 Rand a month. 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,320 And even those days it was nothing, $0.50 a day and a 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,840 coffee and a toasted cheese cost $0.35. 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,720 So I only had 1. And in all the years that I was 19 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,160 at university, of course, until I met Anita and then she was 20 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,560 already a pharmacist and I was in the pound seats. 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:25,080 But that taught me and gave me a heart for people that that are 22 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:33,360 cold, that are hungry. They don't have the privileges 23 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,760 most of us have, and I thank God for those days. 24 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,440 My father was an alcoholic. And in my final year at 25 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:50,320 university, I got a phone call from a policeman that said your 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:55,800 father has shot your mother and she was killed and he tried to 27 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,640 commit suicide. And the bullet went through to 28 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:04,160 loaves of his brain. And it took me 20 years to 29 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,520 forgive him. And I thought, why 20 years? 30 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:13,320 I was in my own cage, locked in this cage for 20 years with 31 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,840 unforgiveness. And every time I saw him, I had 32 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,880 this brick in my stomach until I could forgive him and even say 33 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,720 to him, Dad, I love you. And I was free. 34 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,040 And I wonder over the years, people are walking around with 35 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,240 so much hurt and they just can't forgive. 36 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,760 And if I can forgive my father, then I'm sure people can forgive 37 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:41,040 their their fathers and their mothers and their wives or 38 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,520 partners of whoever that hurt you. 39 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,360 But let it go and you'll be free. 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,560 We started in 1975 after we bought a pharmacy just quickly, 41 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:01,240 I was rather disappointed in pharmacy selling pots, pans and 42 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,760 panteos and then decided that maybe I should do a a course in 43 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,640 Johannesburg in hearing aid acoustics. 44 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,640 And that changed my life. That was 1975. 45 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:14,040 Ten years later. Remember, there's always the 10 46 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,680 year, 10,000 hour learning curve. 10 years later I got the 47 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,480 opportunity of distributing phonic hearing aids in Southern 48 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,160 Africa. It was only me, I had nobody 49 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,960 else. In the mornings I did the ear 50 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,440 molds, in the afternoon I saw my patients. 51 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:36,080 In the evenings I did the repairs and God built our 52 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:41,360 business that today we have 28 year institutes. 53 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,640 We have the Eduplex with 840 children, with 70 deaf, two or 54 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,200 three deaf children. In every class we teach them 55 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,000 normal spoken language. One of our children was the 56 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 first deaf person ever to be allowed to do medicine in the 57 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:06,920 history of South Africa and, and we have more than 500 staff and 58 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,560 people ask me how did you build this business? 59 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:17,839 I said on my knees. The hours of pray, the days, the 60 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,720 months, the years of pray that went in between me and Anita and 61 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,520 our family. And I want to honour my family 62 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,760 for their support and Anita that stood next to me all these years 63 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,440 through thick and thin. Was it easy? 64 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,360 No, it was very difficult on our knees. 65 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,680 We built the company, heck of a hard work, a lot of prey, a lot 66 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,440 of tears. But at the end, if we look back 67 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,680 in the thousands of people we help every year with with good 68 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:52,400 hearing, it was all worth it. Now I want to build my talk this 69 00:04:52,400 --> 00:05:01,560 evening on three verses. The first one is from Isaiah 43, 70 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,600 Isaiah 29 verse 13 that says you afflicted people. 71 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,720 You come to me with your mouths and with your lips, but your 72 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,480 hearts are far from me. The Lord knows when we rush in 73 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,000 and rush out, but our hearts are far from me. 74 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,240 The second verse that I like is one book further Jeremiah 29 75 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,960 verse 13. We all know verse 11. 76 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,120 I know the plans. I have few plans for good and 77 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,120 not for evil to give you a future and hope. 78 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,880 But the key to verse 11 is verse 13. 79 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,560 If you seek me, you will find me. 80 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,480 If you seek me with all your heart, the one is your mouth and 81 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:47,200 your lips. The other one is seek me with 82 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:48,760 your heart, then you will find me. 83 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,400 And then the last verse that I want to build my talk on is 84 00:05:52,400 --> 00:06:00,800 James 1/5 that says, if you need wisdom, ask me and I will gladly 85 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:07,080 give it to you without reproach. But when you ask, you have to do 86 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,320 it in faith, because if you don't, if you doubt, you will be 87 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,840 like a wave tossed by the wind, and such a man will be unstable 88 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:20,720 in all his ways. So as I said this morning, 89 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,480 friends, this is not a game. This is very serious. 90 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,480 We're talking here of the creator of the universe and if 91 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,920 you've and and and Jesus that died on the cross for us. 92 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:41,480 So it was a couple of years ago that I went to Greece. 93 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,560 I have a friend, he's 88 years old, a Swiss friend that went to 94 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:51,160 immigrated to Switzerland at 88. At 90, he had a party for a week 95 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,160 long and I was invited, all expenses paid. 96 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,080 Well, something you can't refuse. 97 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,960 And just remember at 90 you don't have that many friends 98 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:07,000 left. But but he, he invited 90 people 99 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,680 and at 90, he also changed his girlfriend, but that's a 100 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,560 different story. And while I was at this 101 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,600 function, at the, at the various functions, I once walked down 102 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,080 to, to the coffee shop and I walked past a fisherman's boat 103 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,480 and a father and son was working on this boat, scraping the pain 104 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,680 down. And the most beautiful wood was 105 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,200 displayed. And I looked at this and I 106 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,160 thought, wow, that's fantastic. After my coffee, I came back and 107 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,520 they had a torch, gas torch in their hand and they burnt the 108 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,200 wood black and I was rather shocked because I thought 109 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,480 they're going to varnish, this boat's going to look beautiful. 110 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,840 I walked in and said, Sir, do you speak English? 111 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,280 And he spoke fluent English. He said my son. 112 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,920 I said well my son and I and my daughter and we all in business, 113 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,280 my son-in-law, my wife of course. 114 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,400 And I said but why are you doing this? 115 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,480 He said, no, no, no. Every 7 to 8 years we've got to 116 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,560 scrape down the paint and you have to burn the wood to get the 117 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,400 impurities out. And then we repaint it and it's 118 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:12,280 good for seven or eight years. I said, oh, that's very 119 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,080 interesting, but tell me what's the most important part of this 120 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,840 of, of, of your boat? I mean, is it the radar? 121 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,560 Is it the depth Finder? Is it the fish Finder? 122 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,000 Is it the engine? Is it the tiller? 123 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,160 What is it? He said no, no, no. 124 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,000 Is that what you can't see? I said, oh, what's that? 125 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,560 He said is the ballast of the boat. 126 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,320 It's that the weights that they put in the bottom of the boat to 127 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,840 keep it upright in a storm. I thought that's very 128 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,280 interesting that simple fishermen have know that they 129 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,760 have to prepare for a storm in their life when they fish. 130 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,960 And yet when we become Christians, we think this is a 131 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,800 smooth sea for the rest of our lives. 132 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,960 And that's exactly what it's not because our characters are not 133 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,280 built at a carnival, but in the desert. 134 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,160 And it's only in the desert where we hear the the Lord's 135 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,720 word. And I have had the opportunity 136 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:17,520 of, of go to our farm on my own without any electronic devices. 137 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,440 And that was where I heard the the clearest, the Lord's voice 138 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,560 in my life. So we need to put time aside 139 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,680 with the Lord. I can't say that I love Anita 140 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,680 and I don't spend time with them. 141 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,240 Can't say I love Jesus and I don't spend time with him. 142 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,920 Do I do it to my salvation? No, I've already been saved. 143 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:46,520 But I do it out of love for him. So what is then important? 144 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,600 What? What must we learn from this 145 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,360 whole episode? With a, with a boat that we as 146 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,240 Christians need to build below the waterline. 147 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,240 And you know, there's a line on every ship that it shouldn't go 148 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,960 below that if they load it, because otherwise it's it's too 149 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,760 dangerous. And below that is the ballast of 150 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:10,360 the ship in the ship we need to build below the waterline. 151 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,640 That means we need to invest in our quiet time with a Lord. 152 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,320 And if we don't, it's the best investment you can make. 153 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,600 It's the best investment, but there is you. 154 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,200 There is a little bit of a of a program that I'd like to share 155 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:34,040 with you. I'd like to share some examples 156 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:39,120 on the effect of prayer when you pray and when you read what 157 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,200 happens. Let me just share a few 158 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:42,800 practical examples for you with you. 159 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:50,360 I worked for eight years from 8:00 in the morning till 11:00 160 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:55,080 at night, seven days a week, 365 days a year. 161 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,520 I guess I had now and again. We had one week that we could 162 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,360 take leave. We were so poor that we had 163 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,960 sheets in front of our windows and Anita looked after the 164 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,800 children. I worked and whenever we needed 165 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,640 meat, she would go and do a locum for two or three days so 166 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,320 that we can afford the meat and the day. 167 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:22,560 I got to know the Lord one morning in my quiet time and I 168 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,960 started already those days. That's 44 years ago, having my 169 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,320 quiet time. I read from Psalm 127 verse 2 170 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:35,120 that it's senseless for you to get up early in the morning and 171 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,080 work till late at night because for those that love the Lord, 172 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,280 you will give even when they sleep. 173 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:47,640 I resigned my second job right there and I said, Lord, I'm not 174 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:52,560 trusting you to provide. And for years, every morning 175 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,080 that I walked into the company, passed our fax machine and saw 176 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,960 the orders that came through during the night, I was reminded 177 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:05,000 of Psalm 127. God will provide for us if we 178 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,360 love him, if we seek Him with all our heart, even while we 179 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,360 sleep. I remember one day we have 12 180 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:19,480 deaf people working in our Emerald lab and I remember one 181 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,400 day that they came to see me and said we'd like a salary 182 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,400 increases. And I explained to them in 183 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,600 detail that you can only make so many Emols with your hands and 184 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,080 we're getting this income and it's impossible to give you an 185 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:37,680 increase. 2:00 That morning the Lord woke me, went to my study 186 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,320 and I said, Lord, you know, I'm a little bit uneasy here, but 187 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,080 but these guys, you know, we can't afford to pay them more 188 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,760 money. What must we? 189 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,240 What do you expect of me? The Lord took me to Isaiah 58. 190 00:12:54,360 --> 00:13:00,240 The first few verses it says new people, you fast and you pray 191 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,680 and you wonder why your prayers are not answered. 192 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:10,280 And he says, because I hear the cries of the workers in the 193 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,720 fields. Yeah, I was devastated. 194 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:20,400 I said, Lord, this is this is I mean, this is me. 195 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,760 I hear the cries of the workers in the fields and whenever they 196 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,720 pick us up to go to the airport and I ask the driver from a 197 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,920 multi billion Rand company, the drivers, and I say, how much do 198 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:35,760 you earn a month? I say, how old are you? 199 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:37,600 I'm 54. How many children do you have? 200 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,560 30. Does your wife work? 201 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,080 No, she can't get any work. So what do you earn a month? 202 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,280 6000 Rand a month. And I said, what a disgrace, 203 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,880 what a disgrace because I hear the cries of the workers in the 204 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,160 fields. I called the my staff together 205 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,000 the next morning and I said to him, well, I still stand with 206 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,800 what I said I've got to save face here and that, but I want 207 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,160 to say that it's not me. I'm not the head of the company. 208 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,560 This is what Christ said. He said he hears the more cries 209 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:08,480 of the workers and you'll get your increases. 210 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,760 The dividends were hundredfold, hundredfold. 211 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:24,120 But then I read about the poor as you carry on with Isaiah 58, 212 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,600 the importance of looking after the poor. 213 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,320 And I'm always amazed when people say, you know, these guys 214 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,720 standing next to the traffic lights, you know, they get 200 215 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:37,880 Rand a day or 300 Rand a day, 300 Rand a day times 20. 216 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,280 That gives you 6000. Can't live on 6000 Woolworths 217 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,920 cost us sometimes 3000 on a Saturday morning. 218 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:54,920 OK it's more or less so we have to have an open hand to the poor 219 00:14:55,080 --> 00:15:02,680 and then first 7 says do not turn your back on your family 220 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,360 that needs your help. My friends. 221 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,560 So many people turn their back on their families. 222 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,320 Why? If you can afford it, support 223 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,680 them, help them, and then it's the most amazing thing verse 9 224 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:22,160 says. Then you will call and the Lord 225 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,000 will answer, If you look after your staff, if you look after 226 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,720 the poor, if you look after your family, then you will call and 227 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,720 the Lord will answer. You will cry for help and he 228 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:41,280 will say, here I am. Wow, isn't that amazing, but if 229 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,920 we just if we just do what the Lord expects from us and it it's 230 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,080 sometimes it's so simple. It's not not talking millions. 231 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,760 We're talking just what you have share it. 232 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,040 But we also have to expect the unexpected when we pray. 233 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:03,280 I mentioned this morning about the edge Plex and and and the 234 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:08,760 and the school and our the Lord when I prayed, he knew I I knew 235 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,520 absolutely nothing about education and he gave me this 236 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,920 vision in 1992 to make a difference in deaf education. 10 237 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,680 years later, Mr. Mandela opened the preschool and but he first 238 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:26,120 sent me somebody 75 year old retired principal for the school 239 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,480 for the deaf in England. Did I expect that? 240 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,600 No. Who did I expect? 241 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,120 I haven't got a clue. I just knew I knew nothing about 242 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:41,080 education and he sent this lady Fast forward to our sports 243 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,720 grounds and our second campus that we had to develop when I 244 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,400 had 27,000 ran in the bank and God said, I want you to develop 245 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:55,520 a second campus and we needed to get the sports fields and, and 246 00:16:55,520 --> 00:17:00,360 our minister of electricity, Mr. Amahopa, he was then the the 247 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,640 councillor, the, the mayor of Pretoria and he came and he said 248 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,920 to me, you know, what you're doing here is really 249 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,920 commendable. We showed him our children and 250 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:14,640 so on. But I actually wanted to ask him 251 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:19,400 for the sports fields 9.4 hectares in Queensland and he 252 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,680 said let's drive around. But I could see something 253 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,440 upsetting because we had the deaf parents there to speak to 254 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,880 him and the and, or the parents of the deaf children. 255 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,520 And of course 70 of the 40 of the 70 children are, are 256 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,480 sponsored and got those parents to speak and say what the 257 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,080 Edguplex meant to them. And he then went to the sports 258 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,440 grounds and and we drove there and I had a tent and I had all 259 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,520 the plans out and it was grass this long. 260 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,040 And I had a guy cleaning his shoes when he goes back to the 261 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,760 office. And I could see that he lost 262 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,880 interest in what I was about to say. 263 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,360 And eventually he said to me, are you finished? 264 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:00,880 And I said, yes. I said, can I see you? 265 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,560 And he walked around the corner next to the tent with two 266 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,760 portable toilets. And he burst out crying. 267 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,200 He cried so much that he pushed himself between the toilets. 268 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,640 And five times he turned around and he said, it's because of 269 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,320 people like you and start continue to cry. 270 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,200 Eventually he came out, I hugged him. 271 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,000 I cried with him, didn't know what I was crying about, but it 272 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,480 was a good one. And he said, let me tell you my 273 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,600 story. My mother was illiterate and 274 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:35,040 people like you brought us food and brought us clothes and 275 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,200 brought sent us to school and sent us to university. 276 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,240 And we have 8 postgraduate degrees between eight children. 277 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,480 And my one sister is the vice president of the Citibank in New 278 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,200 York. Because of people like you. 279 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:55,240 And in that moment. And then he said today is 280 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,400 payback time. I will come in one month and 281 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,000 bring my whole executive to come and have a look at this ground 282 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:08,040 and I will see what we can do to have this donated ANC City 283 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,760 Council. But everybody said it's 284 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,160 impossible. They will not donate the ground. 285 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,880 They donated the ground. And I. 286 00:19:24,550 --> 00:19:30,560 And I just realized, folks, I spoke about the poor I one kind 287 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,760 act can change the world. The wings of a butterfly, the 288 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,600 flap of a butterfly can cause a hurricane on the other side of 289 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,160 the earth. And I saw that with my own eyes. 290 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:50,920 When I saw the man's heart, I knew that this is what we should 291 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:52,440 do. Be kind. 292 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:58,200 Be kind to your people. I also said expect the 293 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,200 unexpected. And then we had to develop the 294 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,480 sports grounds. And the day that we got the 295 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,040 letter from the City Council said they donated it. 296 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,480 A little girl, she was nine years old, asked me to come to 297 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:15,040 the school and she said, Nico, the Holy Spirit said she's 9. 298 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,280 I need to give my birthday party money to you. 299 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,760 As for the development of the sports fields, I thought, how 300 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,400 much does she get on her birthday? 301 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,000 She took out the 100 grand. I took the 100 grand, put it in 302 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,640 my pocket, and I said, oh, thank you very much. 303 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:35,760 Nice. And my thoughts. 304 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,320 I said, Lord, I don't need 100 grand, I need 100 million. 305 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:44,720 A year later I go to Switzerland and I have dinner and and 306 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,960 somebody walks past. One of my donor friends walks by 307 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,520 and they saw me sit there and he came and greeted me and he said 308 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:53,720 no, I walked past saw you sitting here. 309 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:54,920 I just wanted to come and say hi. 310 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,760 He said no, come and sit and have a glass of wine. 311 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:01,800 And as his bum hit the seat, he said, what about the sports 312 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,240 grounds? I said, well, we just got a 313 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,680 letter that we can actually start with the ground works and 314 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,080 we can start with a with a fencing in. 315 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,960 He said, I want to help you. I want to send somebody to you, 316 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,920 a Swiss company that would develop the pump track. 317 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,520 I thought the pump track, I don't want to Google it under 318 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:18,920 the table. It's very impolite. 319 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:24,000 Didn't have a clue what it was. And a mountain bike track and 320 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,480 you have a book to build a pool too. 321 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,080 And I said, yeah, I know Andy, but it costs says no, I'll give 322 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:36,120 you $1,000,000. Proverbs 21 One, the heart of 323 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,880 the king is in the hand of the Lord. 324 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,360 He sends the thoughts like water in a furrow. 325 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,040 I did not see that once. I saw that many times. 326 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,560 But we had to soak what we were doing in prayer. 327 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,720 We had to ask the Lord. I never asked for money. 328 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,360 I only share the vision. Sometimes it's very difficult. 329 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:07,000 I sat next to a billionaire for four hours on a flight and the 330 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,080 pressure to ask this man for money was so intense that I 331 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,920 started crying. And he said, what's wrong? 332 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:20,400 I said, I'm so happy. And eventually I then just 333 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,360 shared the whole vision of the of the school with him. 334 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,680 We have to. And then when I got back from 335 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:32,080 Switzerland, my son Nico said, dad, do you remember on a bets 336 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:37,720 100 Rand And in that moment I saw the little boy with the five 337 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:44,040 loaves and the two fishes go to Jesus and he fed 5100 Rand given 338 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:51,200 in faith was multiplied 140,000 times to 14,000,000 Rand. 339 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,560 And that gave us the seed money to start with the development of 340 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,440 the sports grounds. We spent 35,000,000 Rand on the 341 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,440 grounds and the ground was not yet on our name. 342 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:04,720 And people said that's highly irresponsible. 343 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,600 What about Mr. Malema that comes and he might take the ground, 344 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,680 said well, the promise that the Lord gave me on the 5th of April 345 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:18,240 2010 was that he will open the door, he will break down, he 346 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,280 will flatten the mountain. Because I said the money in 347 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,720 front of me to develop the second campus is like a 348 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:26,360 mountain. I will flatten the mountain and 349 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,160 I will break down the city gates. 350 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,960 And I knew that was the sports grounds so that you may know 351 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,600 that I'm your God. And I said to people when they 352 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,600 said this is irresponsible, I said the Lord said he's going to 353 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,680 break down the city gates. I have to step out in faith, 354 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:44,840 folks. Is it easy? 355 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,680 No, it's very difficult. I have to step out in faith and 356 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,680 put my money where my mouth was. This is what we do, Lord, but we 357 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,360 trust you for the future. It took six years for them to 358 00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,160 transfer the money to transfer the ground to the school's name. 359 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,680 And often I I when we go on on leave in December, I have time 360 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:12,120 then to spend lie under the umbrella and, and and just have 361 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:16,640 a bit of quiet time and one year I asked Lord, now please give me 362 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:22,320 the verse for the year aid and he gave me Hebrews 13 verse 5. 363 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:30,320 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content 364 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:36,760 with what you have. And I said, OK, this is for the 365 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:41,160 year Yeshua Lord, yes OK keep your life free from the love of 366 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,000 money and be content with what you have. 367 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,880 Never will I leave you never will I forsake you. 368 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,400 And I started thinking about this and think, but how do how 369 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,640 do greed is such a part of our being? 370 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,280 And and how do I get rid of the love of money? 371 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,880 There's only one way. You have to give it away. 372 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,840 That's the only way to get to it. 373 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,720 But but I don't have the money. I'll get to that in a moment. 374 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,280 Then I said, but be content. What does it mean to be content? 375 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:19,080 It means to be happy with what we have, to stop striving. 376 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,240 Did you know that the average South African in, according to 377 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:25,840 The Sunday Times article of a couple of years ago, changed its 378 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,360 houses 7.2 times in their lifetime? 379 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:33,400 7.2 times. And we tend to always upgrade, 380 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:34,960 go bigger and bigger. And what do we do? 381 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,640 We go to the bank and we ask how much can I get from the bank on 382 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,080 my salary? And they give you a 20 or a 30 383 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:45,920 year loan and you're forever enslaved to the bank repaying 384 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,040 your bond plus your car plus plus plus. 385 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,440 And I realized that there's a time that we have to say, but I 386 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,800 have to cap my lifestyle. I have to close my circle. 387 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,520 I have to say enough is enough. Whether I have a lot or little, 388 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:06,720 this is enough. And I have to have a plan how to 389 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,640 get debt free. If you have no plan, forget it. 390 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,080 You're not going to get there and how do you do that? 391 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,280 How do you get to close your circle? 392 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,160 How do you get to, of course, sometimes you can throw a little 393 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,640 something in. I mean, that's a that's also 394 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,160 allowed. But you have to certainly cap 395 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,320 your lifestyle. And for me, there's a few 396 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:27,880 things. There's five points that I'd 397 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,440 like to mention, especially for the young people. 398 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,000 First of all, you have to pray about it. 399 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,560 And if you're married, you have to take pray with your spouse 400 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,200 and say, how can we get debt free? 401 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,600 And if we have a plan, then we're going to work this plan. 402 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,640 We stayed, we staying next year will be 50 years in the same 403 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,960 house in De Vilhurst that we paid 40,000 Rand for in 1975. 404 00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:02,480 And my, and I remember my oldest brother, he was, he's seven 405 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,880 years older than me. He walked in and he said as he 406 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,880 walked through the house, my dear brother, in my lifetime, 407 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,440 you will never, ever, ever get your money back. 408 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:20,680 So that was proven a bit wrong, but you kept your lifestyle and 409 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,320 let's let's look at to become debt free. 410 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,880 There's five points. You have to pray about it, Then 411 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,360 you have to plan, then you have to implement your plan. 412 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,160 No use planning this and you're not implementing it. 413 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,560 And, and I know people that's got a barometer on their fridge 414 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,000 of the debt and how they, they, they eliminating their debt 415 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,240 because they have a plan and they're working their plan. 416 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:50,040 And then you have to save. Forget the toys, friends, forget 417 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,360 the toys. And I'm not, I'm not saying that 418 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,280 we've got to be poor, but why, why do we do this? 419 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,000 Why do we want to become debt free? 420 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:03,440 So that we can become generous. Generous towards the church, 421 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,920 generous towards the poor, generous to your family, 422 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,320 starting with your own kids. Maybe we can send them to a 423 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,600 better school, may I say the edge duplex. 424 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,360 Send them to a better school, send them to a good university 425 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:24,200 and try and get them debt free. Our whole family is debt free 426 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:31,240 because we have a plan. And then after we saved and 427 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,480 we've been generous, there's a lot of things that you can then 428 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,920 enjoy that you would not have been able to enjoy. 429 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,560 Maybe you can fly on holiday instead of driving down. 430 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,040 Maybe you can help your parents in a better way. 431 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:53,440 Maybe you can help your family. Maybe the poor as the Lord leads 432 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,960 you. And I would like to. 433 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,960 My second point that I have is to talk to you about the future. 434 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:12,160 Let me say that when God gives you a promise, you can cast it 435 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,440 in concrete. I write it on brass blocks. 436 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:21,000 Why? Because I tend to forget and if 437 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,040 the Lord of our first building that the Lord gave me from 2 438 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,760 King 6 and I said, where in the Bible does it say I can build 439 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,080 buy office block? And he took me to two King 6 and 440 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,000 the seminary students said to Elijah, so our dormitory is too 441 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:34,720 small. Can we build a bigger one down 442 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:36,920 by the Jordan River? And he said, yes, you can go. 443 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,040 And I said, let me put this in a brass block and I put it on the 444 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,440 wall. And my secretary at that time, 445 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,520 Pat Patty, where are you hands up there. 446 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,520 Well, Pat and Pat said, no, people can't see it. 447 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,000 They said this is not for the people. 448 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,040 This is for me because when I go through difficult times, I need 449 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,880 to come and see what the Lord has said to me because that is 450 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,560 the truth, not the circumstances, not what I feel, 451 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,600 not what I experience. And two years later she stopped 452 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,040 in front of the office and she saw me standing in front and I 453 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,440 said, what's wrong now? I said I have now so many 454 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,080 problems that I'm beginning to doubt that the Lord said we 455 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:24,840 could buy this property. So just before the election in 456 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:30,680 1990, four, 1993, talking about the future, I asked the Lord, 457 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:32,920 what about the future for our company? 458 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,760 We want to expand. We thought of expanding into the 459 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:42,520 rest of Africa and he took me to Isaiah 54 verse two to four that 460 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,960 says enlarge the place of your tent, spread out your tent pens, 461 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,440 strengthen your stakes. Do not hold back. 462 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,720 Soon you are going to burst by the seams. 463 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,600 And then verse four said do not fear, you will not stand 464 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:03,560 ashamed. And to a certain extent I 465 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:08,480 immediately thought back about my past, said the Lord will be 466 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,640 with me and I need not to be ashamed. 467 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,280 Remember you can cast it in concrete. 468 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:22,320 It has no expiry date. A few years ago, after the 469 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,280 Americana massacre, they've invited me to speak in 470 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:30,280 Rustenburg and thousands of people standing next to the 471 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:31,760 roads. The mines are closed. 472 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:37,520 It was a dismal situation and I said, Lord, what must I go and 473 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:38,920 tell him? He said go and give them a 474 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,640 message of hope. I said I don't want to give them 475 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,360 false hope. That's worse than no hope. 476 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,880 Give them a message of hope. Tell them to forget the former 477 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,680 things. See, I am doing something new. 478 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,720 Don't you see it? It's already begun. 479 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,440 I'm making a pathway in the wilderness and rivers in the 480 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,640 desert. Isaiah 43 verse 18 and 19. 481 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:08,080 And I went and I spoke to them and I said, friends, fear blinds 482 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,400 us from the opportunities that God sends over our path. 483 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:18,360 Ask the Lord to open your eyes to see what he the opportunities 484 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,960 He sends you. And a year later a guy walks 485 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,040 into my office. He made an appointment from 486 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,800 Rustenburg. He stopped in a Bucky and he was 487 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,640 he was really quite large. He sat the whole front seat of 488 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,560 the Bucky full. He walked down the the passage. 489 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:39,320 My staff thought that I was going to be donut. 490 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:45,560 Sorry, can I use that name? And he said to my office, he 491 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,960 said a year ago you said that we should ask Lord to open our eyes 492 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,160 for the opportunities. He said, and I did that and I 493 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,400 got a 14,000,000 Rand contract to close a mine and a year later 494 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,480 another 14,000,000 to actually open the mine again. 495 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:01,560 He said, I just want to say thank you very much. 496 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,960 And he walked down the aisle. I wanted to say, but he's not 497 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:10,960 the small Commission for me. So these things happen and and I 498 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:18,920 want to say if the Lord gives me that, that word, then surely 499 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:24,280 that's applicable for all of us. And I want to be where the Lord 500 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,720 is working. He said I am doing a new thing. 501 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:30,000 This is where I want to be, not in a nanny state somewhere else. 502 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,120 And this friend of mine, Rolf, which had the 9th when he was 90 503 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,840 year old, the party we went and I worked for him in a, in a 504 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,800 project in, in Zimbabwe. Now, if you know those of you 505 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:49,160 that's been to Zurich airport, it's got black marble floors and 506 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,440 it's a fantastic building, but there's not a sound. 507 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,760 It is like the grave. It's dead quiet. 508 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,680 And when we arrived at O or Tembo and we were going up the 509 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:06,480 stairs, their music was blaring, and there were little dogs going 510 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,760 on the floor, and there were planes flying in the air and 511 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,840 people laughing. And I turned around to say to 512 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,120 him, Rolf, I'm so sorry with this racket. 513 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:22,520 And he looked up to me and he said, yeah, there is life, my 514 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,560 friends. Yeah, there is life. 515 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,120 This is where I want to be, not somewhere else. 516 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,880 I'd like to end by just sharing with you how I keep my quiet 517 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,080 time. I think the first thing that we 518 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,679 have to say is let's take our example. 519 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:45,960 When do we have it? Let's take our example from 520 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:50,520 Jesus, from Mark 135 that said he went, he got up early in the 521 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,560 morning and went to have his to meet his father. 522 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,560 It takes discipline to get up early in the morning. 523 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,200 I used to get up at 4. It's now 430. 524 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,560 It takes discipline. It means that I have to put off 525 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,720 the TV at night. I have to put close my book. 526 00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:12,680 I have to go to bed a little bit earlier than normal. 527 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,440 Why I have a very important meeting in the mornings because 528 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:22,120 I need wisdom, I need insight, I need understanding for the day 529 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,240 ahead. That's why I have to ask him and 530 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:28,320 I have to spend time with him. Can't just rush in and rush out 531 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,280 with my mouth and my lips. I have to go in with my heart. 532 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,760 So I pray and I'm honest with the Lord. 533 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,880 You can be honest. He knows we have feet of clay. 534 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,800 He knows that we're not strong, even if we sometimes think we're 535 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,880 strong. He knows that I pray and then I 536 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:50,920 read. And this is the important part, 537 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,720 that when I read, of course, the Word is the basis. 538 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,760 I also have daily devotionals and I have 3 or 4 of them or 539 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,600 five of them that I read through every day. 540 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,240 I cannot read yesterday's piece today or tomorrow's piece today. 541 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,520 It's a one day at a time and it keeps me regular. 542 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,120 Invest in a good daily devotional book. 543 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,760 It's worth it. It keeps you regular. 544 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:20,800 You can't miss it because God works one day at a time and then 545 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,800 I have to be obedient. I can't hear this because the 546 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:29,840 word says and may I remind you of what the word says from James 547 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:34,680 One verse 22 Do not merely listen to the word and so 548 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:38,800 deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 549 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,520 Look after your family, look after your staff, look after the 550 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,320 poor. Give your tithe to the church. 551 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:54,320 But then I also keep a record because and this is where my 552 00:36:54,320 --> 00:37:01,080 books was created from because you have to keep a record and I 553 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,800 keep doesn't help you. You write it in journals, my 554 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:05,920 friend. I have a friend that's got 63 555 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:10,680 journals on his on his shelf. And I said, do you ever read 556 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:12,160 back in these journals? No, no, no. 557 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,240 But I keep a regular record. That's sure. 558 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:17,520 Nothing I have. And I I bought out the journal. 559 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,840 But you have a journal in your book And and I have the book and 560 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,040 I make these little notes instead of your Bible that you 561 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:24,880 don't keep it on the daily devotion. 562 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,480 Every day of the year you make these notes and you see. 563 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,520 Wow. It encourages your faith. 564 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:32,560 Yeah. We battled with this and the 565 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,200 Lord provided. Yeah, I had this and this 566 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,480 happens again. How many times have I contacted 567 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,840 Rory and said, you know what, three years ago we had a meal 568 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,680 together and we're having now a meal again today without it 569 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,920 being planned. It encourages your faith. 570 00:37:50,440 --> 00:38:00,000 And I want to close and say, may the best investment again is to 571 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:06,360 have your quiet time, to develop a solid quiet time and seek the 572 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,800 Lord with all your heart. And I can guarantee you tonight, 573 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,080 your life will never be the same. 574 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:17,960 It might not be easy, but it would be fantastic.