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The Essential Ingredient for Ministry · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Well, good morning. 62 years ago, I stepped on this
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: campus as a first-year student, fresh out of a tour
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of duty in the Marine Corps. That's what you call
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a major contrast in life. I had really no idea
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: what to expect. I had never seen the inside of
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: a seminary. never attended one class and had really only
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: met a few of the professors of this school. My
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: world had been a world in the military for a
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: number of years and now that that was over, Cynthia
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and I came on this campus just about as green
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  Speaker 1: as we could be. Since that time, Everything in our
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: world has changed. And many things in the church have changed.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: No one gave me a piece of paper that listed
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  Speaker 1: the things that I should anticipate and embrace in the
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  Speaker 1: changes that would come. Those things that were good, healthy,
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  Speaker 1: and wholesome. Nor was there a list of things given
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  Speaker 1: to me of things I should shun. Watch out for.
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  Speaker 1: Under the heading of warning. This is dangerous. This will
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  Speaker 1: affect your life and ministry negatively. Stay away from this.
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  Speaker 1: Those were choices that I would make in the next year.
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  Speaker 1: more than six decades and those choices would be up
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  Speaker 1: to me. Just as you who graduate, some of you sooner,
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  Speaker 1: others of you later from now, you'll need to make
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  Speaker 1: on your own. What I did receive as I look
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  Speaker 1: back were four wonderful years of biblical knowledge taught to
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  Speaker 1: me by a rather small faculty. Our student body was
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  Speaker 1: about 300, 325, as I recall. I also was provided
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  Speaker 1: with a, to use a metaphor that would fit, a
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  Speaker 1: box of tools that I would carry with me so
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  Speaker 1: that I could carry on in ministry without some professor
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  Speaker 1: telling me what to read or some course I was
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  Speaker 1: to take, or some decision that I must make in
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  Speaker 1: order to graduate from something. Those days were over. What
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  Speaker 1: I got was a box of tools that needed to
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  Speaker 1: be kept sharp that I would use on my own.
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  Speaker 1: I also left with a memory of magnificent mentors. A
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  Speaker 1: few of the faculty had put their arms around me
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  Speaker 1: and cared about my wife and me as we were
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  Speaker 1: here those four years. Began our family here. We knew
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  Speaker 1: nothing of rearing children. That began here with our son,
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  Speaker 1: who was born while we were beginning our third year
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  Speaker 1: at the school. And the mentors that helped shape my
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  Speaker 1: life would be with me for the rest of my years.
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  Speaker 1: To this day, I can still recall some of the
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  Speaker 1: things they said. The investment they made in me was
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  Speaker 1: for a lifetime. In the midst of those four years,
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  Speaker 1: the decades that have followed, I've come to realize that
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  Speaker 1: there is one essential ingredient for ministry that was rarely mentioned.
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  Speaker 1: There was no course on it. There never will be.
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  Speaker 1: As I recall, I don't believe many chapel speakers ever
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  Speaker 1: addressed it, if any. But looking back, I regret that
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  Speaker 1: I didn't hear more about it because I realize now,
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  Speaker 1: having lived these years in the church and in Christian ministry,
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  Speaker 1: that it is invaluable. It's what I'm calling the essential
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: ingredient for ministry. And I'm addressing this today in my
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  Speaker 1: message to all of you. It is integrity. Integrity. Listen
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  Speaker 1: to the late Warren Wiersbe's amplified definition of the word.
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  Speaker 1: He writes, the Oxford English Dictionary says that the word
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  Speaker 1: comes from the Latin integritas, which means wholeness, entireness, completeness.
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  Speaker 1: The root word is integer, which means untouched. intact, entire.
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  Speaker 1: Integrity is to personal or corporate character what health is
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  Speaker 1: to the body or 20-20 vision to the eyes. A
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  Speaker 1: person with integrity is not divided, that's duplicity. A person
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  Speaker 1: with integrity is not merely pretending. That's hypocrisy. He or
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  Speaker 1: she is whole. Life is put together for that person.
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  Speaker 1: And things are working together harmoniously within that life. People
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  Speaker 1: with integrity, adds Wiersbe, have nothing to hide and nothing
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  Speaker 1: to fear. Please remember that. You'll need to remember it
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  Speaker 1: in the years to come. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.
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  Speaker 1: Their lives are open books. That definition appears in his work,
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  Speaker 1: The Integrity Crisis, page 21. I've discovered the Bible says
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  Speaker 1: quite a bit about integrity. In the New American Standard Bible,
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  Speaker 1: it is mentioned 27 times. In the NIV, 22 times.
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  Speaker 1: In the King James, 16 times. Interestingly, the term itself
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  Speaker 1: is mentioned in the Old Testament, though the presence of
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  Speaker 1: integrity in various lives is found all the way through
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. Proverbs is especially fond of it. Listen to
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  Speaker 1: a few. He who walks in integrity walks... securely but
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  Speaker 1: he who perverts his ways will be found out 10
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  Speaker 1: 9 another the integrity of the upright will guide them
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  Speaker 1: but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them 11
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  Speaker 1: 3 many a man proclaims his own loyalty but who
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  Speaker 1: can find a trustworthy man A righteous man who walks
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  Speaker 1: in his integrity. How blessed are his children after him. 20,
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  Speaker 1: 6 and 7. And I've always loved Psalm 78, 70
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  Speaker 1: through 72. As that psalm ends, God chose David his
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  Speaker 1: servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from following ewes
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  Speaker 1: with suckling lambs. He brought David to feed his people
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  Speaker 1: and So he led them according to the integrity of
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  Speaker 1: his heart and he guided them with skillful hands. I've
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  Speaker 1: observed in my years in ministry that God is still
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  Speaker 1: searching for men and women of integrity. I hope you
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  Speaker 1: are one of them and if you are not, I
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  Speaker 1: hope you will begin today to pursue it. Deliberately consistently, faithfully.
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to minister or to shepherd a
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  Speaker 1: flock with integrity? Some of the character traits that came
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  Speaker 1: to my mind as a result of going through the scriptures.
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  Speaker 1: It means you're verbally trustworthy. Listen to each one of these.
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  Speaker 1: The list is somewhat long. You're verbally trustworthy. That means
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  Speaker 1: you speak the truth publicly and privately. You don't change
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  Speaker 1: that message if it's in private. or because you were
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  Speaker 1: before the public. You speak the truth consistently. You're financially accountable.
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  Speaker 1: You pay your bills. You spend wisely. You give generously.
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  Speaker 1: You pay. You save prudently. It means you're privately clean.
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  Speaker 1: You hide no secrets. You do not live a double life.
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  Speaker 1: It means you practice intellectual veracity. You're not guilty of plagiarism.
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  Speaker 1: If you're using someone else's words, you give them credit.
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  Speaker 1: You state that these are not your words, these are
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  Speaker 1: someone else's words that you are quoting. Intellectual veracity. You're
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  Speaker 1: careful in doing your research. You don't add to it
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  Speaker 1: to make it sound better. You stay with it as
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  Speaker 1: it appears. It also means you are ethically clean and clear.
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  Speaker 1: As we mentioned earlier, you have nothing to hide and
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  Speaker 1: nothing to fear. It means you're personally responsible. That would
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  Speaker 1: include admitting your own failures. Never blaming another for what
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  Speaker 1: you are responsible for. Never. You give others the credit
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  Speaker 1: they deserve always. You don't take a moment credit For
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  Speaker 1: what you do not have coming to you, you freely
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  Speaker 1: give it and faithfully give it to others. It also
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  Speaker 1: means you're openly vulnerable. To have integrity means you acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: your own lack of knowledge. And if you don't know,
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  Speaker 1: you say, I don't know. You don't fake it. You
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  Speaker 1: don't deny your inadequacies. You make no attempt to impress others.
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  Speaker 1: Please hear that. It goes on in ministry all the time.
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  Speaker 1: People often shape what they do or what they say
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  Speaker 1: depending on what someone else is going to say or think.
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  Speaker 1: That's a lack of integrity. You don't worry about making
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  Speaker 1: a name for yourself. You're never doing what you're doing
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  Speaker 1: to impress. Ever. Ever. It also means you are morally
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  Speaker 1: pure and relationally fair. You refuse to participate in acts
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  Speaker 1: of corruption, deception, or manipulation. I'll tell you, men and women,
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  Speaker 1: the longer the list gets, the tighter the squeeze on
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  Speaker 1: your carnality. You don't use people. You don't take unfair
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  Speaker 1: advantage of them because of your title or your position.
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  Speaker 1: Often graduates from the seminary wind up in places of leadership,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes enviable leadership, and people just automatically, because of their position,
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  Speaker 1: look up to you. How easy it is when that
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  Speaker 1: happens to take advantage of them, to play that role.
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  Speaker 1: Integrity won't let you do that. And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: the more pronounced one's position, the greater the need for self-awareness.
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  Speaker 1: I read somewhere, I forget exactly where, it was in
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  Speaker 1: a magazine on business matters, and it spoke about the
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  Speaker 1: value of the strong natural leader and the one ingredient
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  Speaker 1: most often missing, it stated, was self-awareness. It's amazing as
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  Speaker 1: you grow and become more known and more in demand,
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  Speaker 1: how less aware you are of your own stupidity, of
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  Speaker 1: your own failure in statements, of your own duplicity or hypocrisy.
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  Speaker 1: Self-awareness is essential. So you have to set up checkpoints
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  Speaker 1: for your life. you apply your own restraint because you
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  Speaker 1: know yourself ideally better than anyone else unless it's your
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  Speaker 1: mate in life and you invite your wife or husband
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  Speaker 1: to please help you with that. And believe me, they will.
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  Speaker 1: They'll step into that when they should. When you consider
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  Speaker 1: a life like I've just described You ask, can anybody
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  Speaker 1: ever measure up? I mean, it sounds like it's humanly impossible.
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  Speaker 1: If it were, the Lord would never expect it of us.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't impossible. It just works against the old nature.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't massage our pride. Now, in answering the question,
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  Speaker 1: can anyone ever measure up, I'm pleased to say, that
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  Speaker 1: there is a wonderful example in the Old Testament, Daniel
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6, of the man himself who finds himself in
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  Speaker 1: the Medo-Persian Empire. It was a vast empire and it
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  Speaker 1: needed oversight, accountability, because it would be easy for there
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  Speaker 1: to be financial misdealings, acts of corruption, Where individuals would
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  Speaker 1: be self-serving. And so Darius. The one who led the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Decided he would set over it. 120 sat traps. It's
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  Speaker 1: a word we never use. It's an old Persian word for.
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  Speaker 1: Protector of the kingdom. Or more specifically. Provincial governor. So
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  Speaker 1: he set 120 traps. Governors over the kingdom. And to
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  Speaker 1: oversee them. So that they wouldn't. Take advantage. Of him.
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  Speaker 1: He chose three commissioners. Or as some renderings. Handle it.
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  Speaker 1: Vice regents. Of those three. Daniel was one. Think of that.
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  Speaker 1: In that vast kingdom. Daniel is one of three. Commissioners.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 3 of Daniel 6 states that Daniel's integrity began
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  Speaker 1: to emerge in so many words because the scriptures state
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  Speaker 1: he began distinguishing himself. We would say he stood out
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  Speaker 1: among the groups of delegates of governors and commissioners alike.
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  Speaker 1: Quite likely it included his work ethic, his competence, his
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  Speaker 1: awareness of needs, his honesty, his attention to priorities, and
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  Speaker 1: his loyalty to authority. In all of that, Daniel was
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  Speaker 1: a model. He stood out. Darius noticed it. We're not
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  Speaker 1: left to speculate what he noticed because the word because
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  Speaker 1: appears in the text. Because he possessed an extraordinary spirit
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  Speaker 1: I love that. That would include, I would imagine, a
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  Speaker 1: great attitude, a positive outlook on life, faithfulness to one's calling,
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  Speaker 1: to fulfill one's responsibilities, and we may assume great relational
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  Speaker 1: skills as well. He was a man of diligence, consistency, trustworthiness.
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  Speaker 1: He was a man of integrity. These marks of personal
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  Speaker 1: integrity did not go unnoticed by the king. And so,
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  Speaker 1: as you're familiar from your knowledge of Daniel, the king
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  Speaker 1: decided to appoint him over the entire kingdom, like what
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  Speaker 1: we might call a prime minister, second in command only
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  Speaker 1: to Darius. Imagine that. Daniel's getting up in years. Daniel's
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  Speaker 1: a proven worth. not overlooked by Darius, so he planned
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  Speaker 1: the promotion and the word spread, as you would imagine,
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  Speaker 1: the other two commissioners who weren't chosen and the 120
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  Speaker 1: governors who weren't chosen, none of them, the immediate reaction
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  Speaker 1: was a mixture of envy, resentment, jealousy. It never fails.
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  Speaker 1: Never fails. When you stand out. there will always be
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  Speaker 1: those envious of you. You cannot let that affect you.
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  Speaker 1: You cannot let it go to your head. You cannot
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  Speaker 1: ignore it either. You must be wise, aware, knowing that's
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  Speaker 1: going on. But what Daniel did not know, quite likely,
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  Speaker 1: was the plot they set in motion. Jealousy, envy, turned
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  Speaker 1: this plot into a serious and in-depth investigation for some
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  Speaker 1: secret compromise, some distrustful act. some proof of insubordination, some
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  Speaker 1: private dealing in governmental affairs. They were determined to find
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  Speaker 1: something wrong in Daniel's life. Think about that. Let's pause here.
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  Speaker 1: Let's move it from Daniel to your life as a
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  Speaker 1: minister of the gospel. and a group of enemies, and
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  Speaker 1: you will have them, are determined that they will find
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  Speaker 1: something against you. When you stop to number it, that's
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  Speaker 1: 122 resentful people who made Daniel the target of their
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  Speaker 1: probing activity, fueled by relentless suspicion, prejudice, And determination. It
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  Speaker 1: was like an ancient 60 minutes. Investigation. Think about that
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  Speaker 1: in your ministry. Those guys are like hungry lions. Stalking
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  Speaker 1: their prey. All of them. Set to point out something. Anything. Anything.
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  Speaker 1: they could find against Daniel. Anything that would serve as
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  Speaker 1: tangible proof that they could report to Darius. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: I noticed this, we read nothing of Daniel's panic, knee-jerk reaction,
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  Speaker 1: quick attempt to cover up, some wrongdoing, some secret activity.
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  Speaker 1: The presence of integrity in one's life is like a thick,
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  Speaker 1: warm blanket on a cold day. It gives you deep
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  Speaker 1: inner security. There's nothing to hide. So there's nothing to fear,
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  Speaker 1: just as Weersbe defined the word. It's a good time
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  Speaker 1: for me to pause and remind you of the value
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  Speaker 1: of that in ministry. If you begin to do anything
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  Speaker 1: that you must hide, it is wrong. You will be
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  Speaker 1: found out. It will break the heart of your family.
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  Speaker 1: It will embarrass the church you're serving or the ministry
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  Speaker 1: you're a part of. It will turn those who have
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  Speaker 1: trusted you against you. Because you have lied. You have lied.
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  Speaker 1: with your life. But look at the end of verse 4.
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  Speaker 1: The good news? Unfortunately, we're so familiar with it, it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't surprise us to read it, but it is a
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  Speaker 1: surprising ending to the plot. But they could not find
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  Speaker 1: ground of accusation or evidence of corruption inasmuch as he
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  Speaker 1: was faithful. No negligence or corruption was to be found
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  Speaker 1: in him. Read in that integrity. Nothing was out of line. Amazing.
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  Speaker 1: Eugene Peterson renders this section in this way. The vice
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  Speaker 1: regents and governors got together to find some old scandal
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  Speaker 1: or skeleton in Daniel's life that they could use against
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  Speaker 1: him But they couldn't dig up anything. He was totally
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  Speaker 1: exemplary and trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence
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  Speaker 1: or misconduct. So they finally gave up and said, we're
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  Speaker 1: never going to find anything against this Daniel. There's prejudice
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  Speaker 1: in the way that's written, the way they spoke. We'll
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  Speaker 1: never find anything against him unless we can cook up
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  Speaker 1: something religious. That's exactly what they did. Their failed investigation
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  Speaker 1: was twisted into a conspiracy of deception. And they themselves
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  Speaker 1: lack integrity in the way they went to the king
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  Speaker 1: and said, remember, you're the one that's to be worshipped.
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  Speaker 1: You're the one we're to bow before. Sign this edict,
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  Speaker 1: make it clear to everyone that you and you alone
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  Speaker 1: are worthy of worship. Daniel refused to do that, as
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  Speaker 1: you know so well, and the result was he was
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  Speaker 1: thrown into a den of lions who never sunk a
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  Speaker 1: tooth in him. Since, as Vernon McGee has put it,
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  Speaker 1: he was three-fourths gristle and the rest backbone. There was
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  Speaker 1: nothing to eat. They lost their appetite. God took it away.
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  Speaker 1: So much for Daniel. I'm speaking today to you who
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  Speaker 1: are preparing for a lifetime of ministry, a lifetime of
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  Speaker 1: being watched, a lifetime of being up front a model.
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  Speaker 1: Like it or not, you are the example. Accepting any
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  Speaker 1: position of leadership means you will be observed, quoted, and examined.
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  Speaker 1: It won't always be fair, as in the case of Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: It won't always be from a pure motive. It often
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  Speaker 1: is not. But nevertheless, it will happen. And unless you
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  Speaker 1: determine during your years at this school as part of
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  Speaker 1: your training to figure out what has been missing that
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  Speaker 1: has meant such duplicity and hypocrisy in your life that
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  Speaker 1: it's got to get cleaned up, unless you go there
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  Speaker 1: You're going to carry that with you into ministry. And
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  Speaker 1: you'll just learn to fake it as you get older.
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  Speaker 1: You'll get a little more creative. And you'll get a
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  Speaker 1: little more dangerous. If you're not careful, you will focus
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  Speaker 1: your entire years at this school only on theological subjects.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing wrong with that, except the only part. There's more
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  Speaker 1: to learn here than theology. If you fail to give
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  Speaker 1: attention to this ingredient in your life, you will regret
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  Speaker 1: it again and again. You must make one of your
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  Speaker 1: major goals becoming a woman or man of integrity. That
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  Speaker 1: goal will not be reached easily or automatically. That's why
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  Speaker 1: it's so rare among those in ministry. We care too
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  Speaker 1: much about pleasing other people. That doesn't change when you
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  Speaker 1: get promoted. You only get more suave at that. You
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  Speaker 1: get increasingly more phony. So easy for that to happen.
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  Speaker 1: We forget that we serve an audience of one.
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  Speaker 2: One.
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  Speaker 1: One. He's the one who will honor acts of righteousness,
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  Speaker 1: who will reward deeds. that are done in the power
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  Speaker 1: of the Spirit. But we get so blame-impressed with powerful
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  Speaker 1: people or people with money or individuals who have titles
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  Speaker 1: that are enviable We forget that audience of one principle.
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  Speaker 1: I put it this way in my notes. Hardly a
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  Speaker 1: day goes by that we do not have to choose
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  Speaker 1: between compliance to what is expedient rather than being loyal
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  Speaker 1: to and pleasing only the Lord our God. That applies
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  Speaker 1: to everyone at this school from the president to to
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  Speaker 1: the first year student. So I want to challenge you
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  Speaker 1: today to pursue a life of integrity and to make
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  Speaker 1: that your life goal. Don't be afraid of saying so.
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  Speaker 1: Put yourself on the spot. Spread the word that that's
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  Speaker 1: your main focus. Now, let me wrap all this up
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  Speaker 1: with a story that's true. I started my message today
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  Speaker 1: by taking you back 62 years to my first day
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  Speaker 1: walking onto this campus. I want to end it by
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  Speaker 1: looking ahead to your final day on this planet. You're
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  Speaker 1: on your deathbed. You're surrounded by those who love you
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  Speaker 1: the most. They're running their fingers through your hair. They're
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  Speaker 1: holding your hand. They're singing the songs of the faith.
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  Speaker 1: They're praying over you. They've loved you throughout your life.
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  Speaker 1: They're saying their final goodbyes. You'll be there someday if
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  Speaker 1: Christ doesn't return. You'll live long enough to be at
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  Speaker 1: that place on your last day. All of them will
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  Speaker 1: be left with one thing you leave for them. Memories.
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  Speaker 1: Memories of you. The closer they were to you, the
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  Speaker 1: better they knew you. And there will be an individual
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  Speaker 1: or two who will have the unenviable task of going
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  Speaker 1: through all of your private effects, personal belongings. Which brings
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: me to the story. This happened to a friend of mine.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Named Bob. A number of years ago. His beloved father died.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Large Italian family. Close knit. Dad was just everything to
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: all of them. They loved him. Deeply. Intimately. He was
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: a man who had been. the kind of man a
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: son would long to have as a father, kind, devoted
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: to Bob and Bob's mother. He was humble, joyful, strong
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: in convictions, pure of heart, a man of genuine integrity.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: To Bob and all of his siblings, their father was
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: almost too good to be true. It was that thought
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  Speaker 1: that haunted Bob when the family looked to him and said,
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  Speaker 1: we'd like you to be the one who goes through
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: all of his personal effects. He would be the one
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: chosen to sit at the desk where his father had sat,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: to open drawers that only his father had opened, to
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: read through letters and notes only his father had read,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: quite likely to see photographs he had never shared with others,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: file folders, little boxes not even his wife had opened,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: very private papers that other eyes had never seen. The
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: day began as Bob wondered to himself what he would find.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Loved his dad dearly, as I said, admired him greatly.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Were there secrets he had kept? Was there another life?
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Had there been other women? Meticulously and tediously, Bob spent hours,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: as best I recall, almost an entire day searching, reading,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: sometimes smiling, other times wiping away tears, remembering. What a task.
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  Speaker 1: To his delight, he found nothing untoward. There was nothing scandalous.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: There was nothing even near suspicious or questionable. The man
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: was as clear and clean in his private world as
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: his family and others had believed him to be in
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: his public life. The Bob I'll refer to is Bob Garippa,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: who served here for years. As the dean of students
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: loved Bob dearly, hated to see him retire. The kind
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: of man everybody wanted to be with. Bob was raised
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: right with this kind of dad. He realized that his
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: father was a modern Daniel. No negligence or corruption was
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: found in him, Daniel 6.4. As I recall Bob telling me,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: he wept audibly out of gratitude and joy. The man
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: he had admired and respected throughout his life, his beloved father,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: was everything he had believed him to be. My closing words.
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  Speaker 1: I pray that will be true of me. when I'm gone.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: When I breathe my last and my oldest son Kurt
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: has the task of going through my things, my computer,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: my internet, my private world, my journals that I wrote
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: in when Kurt wasn't even around. I hope this will
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: be true of me. I want that to be true
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: of me. More than I can put into words. And
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: I pray it will be true of you as well.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Here's what it will take living our lives with uncompromising integrity.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: And it is never too late to start doing what
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: is right. I urge every one of you from the
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: president down to the first year student, if any of
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: this has brought conviction that's come from the Holy Spirit,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Pay attention to it. May integrity mark your ministry and mine.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Dear Father, we pause in this heartfelt moment and place
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: ourselves before you We unfold our lives. With you, there
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: is no secret. With you, there's nothing hidden. We are
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: naked and open before the eyes of him with whom
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: we have to do. That's you. And I thank you
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: that that is true. Continue to watch over my life
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: that I not yield in these later years and become
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: an embarrassment to the Swindoll family. May the student body
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: gain the reputation of being men and women of unswerving,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: uncompromising integrity. If it's not going on now, may it
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: start today. I pray in the name of the one
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: who models this every day he was on this earth,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: even Jesus Christ. And everyone said, Amen.
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, The Essential Ingredient for Ministry, was copyrighted
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: in 2021 and 2023, and the sound recording was copyrighted
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: in 2023 by Charles R.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.