Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Leadership Style That Works . . . Guaranteed! │ Msg 212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

A Leadership Style That Works . . . Guaranteed! │ Msg 212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The sign over the building reads Owl's Place, the best
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: burgers in town. Now, in your mind flashes an image
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of a juicy beef patty on a thick bun, garnished
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: with crisp lettuce and a hearty slice of tomato, maybe
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a little onion as well. Licking your lips, you walk
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: right in. However, no host or hostess greets you, not
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: even a sign inviting you to take a seat, And
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: after a few minutes you've seated yourself at the counter
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and you continue to wait. Eventually, a waitress emerges slowly
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: from the kitchen, mashing the remainder of her break time
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: cigarette on the floor. She fishes through the pocket in
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: her apron for a stained order pad. Well what'll you have,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: she yawns, pulling a pencil from her hair. Well, may
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I see a menu? We don't have any menu, she says, Oh, well,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: I'll just have a hamburger. Without a word, she leaves
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: for the kitchen. You're considering about now, heading for the
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: front door. But the sign did say the best the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: best burgers, so still hopeful you wait. After twenty minutes
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: or so, she walks back in al says he forgot
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to order meat. This week, but we got a little
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: tuna left over? Can I slap some on the bun
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: for you? I'll do that if you want. It doesn't
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: take long to spot a poorly managed restaurant, does it.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: From the food to the surface. A restaurant reflects one thing.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: It's leadership or lack of it.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: The same is true for businesses, sports, teams, churches, and
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: even families. Good leadership is never optional, it's essential. In
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: our message today, we'll be examining effective leadership traits as
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: modeled by the apostle Paul. In preparation for our studying
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Paul's example, let's turn in our Bibles to First Thessalonians
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: chapter two. I'll be reading for you the first twelve
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: verses of First Thessalonians two. For you yourselves, no, brethren,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: that our coming to you was not in vain, but
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: As you know, we had the boldness in our God
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: or by way of deceit, but just as we have
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: been approved by God, to be entrusted with the Gospel.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: So we speak pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: For we never came with flattering speech, as you know,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. Nor
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: did we seek glory from men, either from you or
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: have asserted our authority, but we proved to be gentle
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: own children. Having so fond and a fiction for you,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: we were well pleased to impart to you not only
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: our labor and hardship, how working night and day, so
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: as not to be a burden to any of you,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: and so is God. How devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: we behaved toward you, believers, just as you know how
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: you as a father would his own children, so that
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: you would walk in a manner worthy of the God.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. If
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: there is one ingredient that is essential to the success
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: of an organization, it is leadership. Peter Drucker, the famed
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: authority on the subject of management, puts it another way.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: If an enterprise fails to perform, we rightly hire not
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: different workers, but a new president. Whether it's business or religion,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: or industry or athletics, whether it's the military or the home,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the secret of success, the secret of progress rests with
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: those in charge. It rests with the leaders. During the
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: prosperous nineteen sixties, done in Bradstreet shocked us with a
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: report that an average of thirteen thousand private businesses failed
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: every year. According to their analysis, the lion's share of
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: these casualties was due to managerial deficiencies, some ninety two percent,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: according to their records. Who hasn't gone into a restaurant
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: that had been for years noted as the place to
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: eat delectable, delicious food, served very well by efficient waitresses
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and waiters, excellent, excellent place to bring a friend or
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: a big business associate, only to come back in a
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: few years and find how far downhill the place had come.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: You knew when you left, if in fact you stayed
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that the problem was not with some poor waiter, or
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the personality of the person on the cash register, or
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: necessarily a bad cook. The problem was with the management.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Those of us who follow ball teams have seen some
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: topple from the top to the bottom. It's not a
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: need for that team to have another split in to
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: catch a pass or another guard to bring the ball
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: down the court. The need is for someone else to
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: coach the team, or someone else to be a leader
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: within the team itself. When Christler Corporation decided no longer
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: to be one of the bottom end of the scale
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: of the auto industry, but to move toward the top,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: they didn't simply change their body style. They didn't simply
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: put a new coat of paint on the front of
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: all their dealerships across the country. They went right to
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the top. And that man's leadership is now notorious as
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: it makes double pages spreads in the average periodical across
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: our country today. Now, let me define leadership. It's hard
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: to do. It's easier to give a job description, isn't it.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: We all know what leaders do or should do, but
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: we don't understand what leaders are there is something elusive
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: about it. As someone said, it's kind of like nailing
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: a poached egg to a tree. You can't get a
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: handle on it, and when you do, it runs away
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: from you. It's something about defining it that helps. So
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: allow me to address in one word what leadership is,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: it's influence. If you gave me two words, I would
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: add inspiring influence. There's something remarkable about a person who
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: can inspire a group of people to follow even when
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: they didn't think they wanted to. There's something inspiring about
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: a military officer who can in a few weeks time,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: turn a retreating group into a devastating force. There is
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: an inspiration about that influence of the individual that you
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: can't deny. Companies turn the corner because of the appointment
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: of the right leader at the top. But let me
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: clarify it lest we all have in mind that leaders
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: are identical. If you've been under leaders long enough, you
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: know that nothing could be further from the truth. Some
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: people lead with a dynamic force and they are the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: prima donna aloof kind of leaders. And that's one style,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: and then there is another style where the leader gets
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: dirty with the troops and rolls up his or her
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: sleeves and says we're in this together, and has a
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: hands on style of leadership. And that's another style. Some
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: never raise their voice above a conversational tone. Others are
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: like the head cheerleader the ballgame, and they are shouting
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: and motivating with the great finesse. Some are excellent communicators,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: and others on the contrary, or rather mild and people
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: a few words. So the clarification I want to make
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: is that leaders come in all different temperaments. You will
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: find them with all different styles of approach, and yet
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: if they are those right kind of leaders, they get
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: the job done. So there is an ingredient that's true
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: of all of them. They're able to get along with people.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: I've never met a successful leader who didn't like to
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: get along with people. I've never seen a leader that
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: got the job done that all of those who followed hated.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: There's something about the leader that is when with those
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: with whom he or she is working. John D. Rockefeller,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the great entrepreneur, once said, quote, I will pay more
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: for the ability to deal with people than any other
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: ability under the sign end of quote. According to a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: report by the American Management association. An overwhelming majority of
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the two hundred managers who participated in this survey stated
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: that the single most valuable ingredient, the skill that was
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: paramount among leaders was the ability to get along with people.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: They rated this above intelligence, decisiveness, knowledge of the job,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: or technical skills. The ability to get along with people.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: I want to take a little bit of your time
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: and mind to find from this second chapter of Thessalonians
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: some excellent guidelines for all leader types. I don't care
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: what your personality is. I don't really even care if
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: you don't think you're a leader. It doesn't bother me
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: if your IQ isn't as high as the average IQ,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: or if you're still in the mix of finding your
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: way to where you want to be in life. There
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: are some things in these first twelve verses of First
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Thessalonians two that you'll find help from. Trust me, you'll
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: benefit from the time we spend in these few verses.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Let me give a little background to start with. He
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: begins the chapter by referring back to something that has happened.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: The writer, as you know, is a man named Paul.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: The people who got the letter were individuals with whom
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: he had spent not more than five or six weeks,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: rather remarkable, not even two months time. And yet when
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: he leaves, they go right on successfully carrying out their mission.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: He refers to something they will remember. Notice how often
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: he does that Verse one. You yourselves know Verse two.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: After we had suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: you know, verse five. We never came with flattering speech,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: as you know. Verse nine, for you recall, brethren, Verse ten,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: you are witnesses verse eleven, just as you know. See
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: all the way through these verses, he's looking back over
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: his shoulder into yesterday, and he's saying, do you remember,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: can you recall when? What is it that he wants
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: them to remember? Among other things, he wants them to
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: remember where he was coming from. Verse one. You remember,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: you know, brethren, are coming was not in vain. By
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: the way, that's not a term that means fruitless or unproductive.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: It's a word that means hollow empty. You remember Thessalonians
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: back a year or so ago, when I was with you.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: It wasn't a hollow empty experience. It had purpose and meaning.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: There was substance to it. Verse two goes further. You
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: remember that we suffered and had been mistreated in Philippi,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: as you know, and you Christians who hear these words today,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: you know that too. That's where he was with Silas flogged.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: That means he was stripped to his buttocks and the
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: skin was stripped off his back with a scourge, and
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: he was outrageously mistreated and dumped into prison. You remember
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: that when I got to you, I had the scars
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: of a prison experience. You recall how I had been mistreated.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: It's a word for outrageous mistreatment translated here suffered. And
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: we had the boldness in our God while we were
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: there in Philippi to speak to you the same gospel
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: that we spoke there amid much opposition. Now I camp
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: on these two verses because it is our great temptation
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: to think leaders somehow pop out of heaven, unscarred, sort
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: of given to mankind, almost angelic. That's not true. The
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: best leaders come from a scarred past. They understand suffering,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: they understand mistreatment. They've earned the right to be respected
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: because they have labored against much opposition. I have a
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: phrase that I frequently tell myself, disabilities need not disqualify.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: So you come from a background of a crippling disease.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: That disability need not disqualify. So you are a victim
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: of incest. As tragic and as shocking and as scandalous
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: and horrible as that may be, you can still be
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: a leader. So you are from a broken home, So
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: you have a prison experience in your past. So you
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: have not always been a person of integrity. So so
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: you qualify. You have been mistreated, you have suffered, you
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: have come amid much opposition to where you are today.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: You understand what hope is all about. And if I
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: understand leadership and the statement I read this past week,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: you qualify. Someone said a prime function of the leader
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: is to keep hope alive. You understand the value of
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: that because there was a time in your life when
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: you didn't have any hope, and you've come back for
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: whatever reason you've come back. You may not even know it,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: but God was in it. He was in there. He
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: was in the brokenness, he was in the misery. He
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: was in the disease, he was in the disaster, he
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: was in the calamity, he was in the bankruptcy, he
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: was in the failures of your Philippi. He was there.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: He's never left you, and he's used that to prepare you.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: As Alexander Soulshanisan said after coming to Christ on that
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: rotting prison straw, praise you prison for having been in
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: my life. This man can say with all boldness, I
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: spoke to you because I had been seasoned by disability.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Now there are some things that you don't want to
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: have as a leader. In verses three through six, you
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: will find those negatives, and there are four of them
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I find here. And then verses seven through eleven, you'll
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: find four positives that you do want to have. And
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: if you like the idea of leadership, and if this
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: kind of thing rings your bell, take note of these
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: four things you don't want and the four things you
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: should desire to have. First deception, Verse three our exhortation.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: It's a word for appeal. We would use the general
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: word leadership. Our leadership, our style of exhorting, our approach,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: our ministry. Does not come from error or impurity. It
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: has reference to a faulty motive or by way of deceit.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Before you run on to the next verse, spend a
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: moment or two with this one. This is a picture
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: of being absolutely sincere, not double tongued, no hidden agenda.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: This is not a manipulative individual. On the contrary, this
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: is a simple heart, This is a pure mind. This
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: is a person who who was what he appeared to be.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: You didn't leave his presence thinking I really wonder what
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Paul is really like. I wonder what his real motive is.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Paul says I didn't have any deception. As he says
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: in the Second Corinthian Letter, Verse Chapter four, verses one
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: through seven, he says, we didn't come adulterating the word
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: of God. We didn't have craftiness or deceit or any
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: such thing. We came just simple minded people. We came
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: as we were. The late President Dwight Eisenhower has said,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: in order to be a leader, one must have followers,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: and to have followers, one must have their confidence. Hence,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionable integrity. Without it,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: no real success is possible, no matter whether it's a
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: section gang, a football field, in an army, or in
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: an office. If one's associates find him or her guilty
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: of phoniness, if they find that the individual lacks forthright integrity,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity. Frank Goebel,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: in a superb book called Excellence in Leadership rights Year
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: after year businessmen study college records, screen applicants, and offer
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: special inducement to proven people. What are they really looking for?
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: What are they after? Brains? Energy? Know how well these
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: things are desirable, sure, but they will carry a man
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: so far. If he is to move to the top,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: if he is to be entrusted and with command decisions,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: there must be a plus factor, something that takes mere
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: ability and doubles or trebles its effectiveness. To describe this
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: magic character heuristic, there's only one word, integrity, and that's
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: what Paul states in verse three states it in the negative.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: We didn't come lacking integrity. We didn't come with deception.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Verse four is the second negative characteristic. It's flattery, or,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: as he puts it, being a people pleaser. Let me
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: read it for you. But just as we have been
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: we speak now the negative, not as pleasing. Men. Before
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I go further, take a moment and stare at those words,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: especially if you tend to be a people pleaser. It
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: is a quality of insecurity. You know that. I know that.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: It's a known fact among all of us. Insecure people
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: struggle to be people pleasers. They want to sit on
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the fence and they want to be liked by both sides,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: and they try to maintain this balance as they hesitate
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: to put their feet down on one side or the other.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: And so it is a forever, marry go ride. How
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: is it possible to get off the fence and take
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: a stand? Keep reading? It's right here. We have been
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: approved by God, entrusted with the Gospel, and so we
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: speak not as pleasing men, but God, who examines our hearts.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: So good. When you come to the place where the
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: word of God, the goals of God, the principles of God,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: are the single most important ingredient of your mission, you
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: begin to stop pleasing people. And that's tough because most
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: leaders I know like to be liked. After all, it's
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: that liking quality that causes people to follow. However, no
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: one respects a people pleaser, not even the pleaser himself.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: There's a great verse in Galatians one to ten that
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: you should take the time to read talks. Well, let's
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: do that. What am I saying, take the time to read.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: That's why we're here. Great Scott, look at Galatians Chapter one,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: verse ten. I found this verse at a particular junction
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and juncture in my life that really it was my salvation,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: and I have thought of it often since then. Just
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: shared it with my older daughter this past week, the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: whole encounter she knew nothing of as a little girl,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: where we at that time as a family. And I
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: said to her, you can't believe the peace I got
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: from Galatians one to ten. Am I now seeking the
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: favor of men or of God? Or am I striving
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to please men? If I were still trying to please men,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I would not be a bond servant of Christ. I mean,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: is that a great verse? Now? If you're abrasive, that'll
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: be your favorite verse in life, and you will use
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: it to justify all kinds of things said against certain people,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and you're going to be independent if nothing else. And
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: that's not that kind of verse. It is a verse
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: that will get you off the fence. However, you can't
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: be a slave of people and a slave of Christ
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: at the same time. Doesn't mean you have to be abrasive,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: but it does mean your ultimate goal is to please
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the living God. Not the most powerful and influential person
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: on the board, not the most significant person in your congregation,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: not the person with the most money and the outfit,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: not the biggest account, but God God. Clyde cook Over
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: at Biola sent me a statement some time ago. Was
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: a great quotation. It said, I don't know the secret
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: of success, but I do know the secret of failure.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Try to please everybody. If you're struggling with pleasing everybody,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: no wonder you're struggling with success, but under you're failing.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: God help you to see in verse four of chapter two,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: in verse Thessalonians that you really are to please God,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: and that means at any cost. Number three is greed
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: verse five. We never came with flattering speech, as you know,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: nor with a pretext for greed. Now they couldn't know
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: that that is deeply Only God could know that. That's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: why he adds, God is the witness of that. Greed
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: is the desire to have more. It is the desire
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to possess more than you need, and when taken to
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the extreme, it is the desire to possess what belongs
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: to someone else. We often apply it to money, and
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: perhaps we should. But it isn't limited to money. There
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: can be greed of glory, and as a leader, you'll
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: wrestle with that. There can be greed of results. There
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: can be greed of numbers. There can be greed of facilities,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: bigger buildings, greater impact. There can be greed of popularity,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: greed of even truth. We have more of the truth
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: than anyone else I read this past week. Greed has
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: three facets, love of things, love of fame, love of pleasure.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: And these can be attacked directly with frugality, anonymity, and moderation.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Isn't that a good quote? These things can be attacked
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: with frugality, anonymity, and moderation. Put the brakes on. As
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: a strong leader, control yourself. Get a hold of this
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: greed that drives you to be the top, the best,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the most, the fastest, the most successful, the one with
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: the most money, the most sales. Take a look at
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: your greed and ask, is that really what's driving me?
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: See how this directly addresses those things that people can't see.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: That's why God must be the witness. Number four would
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: be authoritarianism. That's verse six. We didn't seek glory from
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: men either from you or from others. Now I like
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the next phrase. You will too. Even though as apostles
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: of Christ we might have asserted our authority, isn't that great?
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: There was something believable about Paul. Here was a man
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: who could have flown into the city with pomp and
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: demanded the top treatment and gotten it. Spiritual leaders get
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: away with murder because they do it all in the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: name of God. And who is going to pull rank
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: on God? I love the story J. Kessler told me
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: some time ago, said when he took over youth for Christ,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: said he had a lot of great vision. He says.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: He called the board together and he said, now God's
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: talked to me, and God's led me to make certain decisions,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: and God's leading us to do this and that. And
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: the board members sat there. They broke up for lunch,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: and crusty old board member named Fred Smith out of Dallas,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: whom some of you know, pull Jay aside, said I, Jay,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: if you want me to be on the board and
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: be a part of your board, I'm glad to do it,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: but please don't bring me from Dallas to vote against God.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Jay said, I learned a very important lesson. Be careful
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: about quoting God as your single source of authority. Be
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: careful about that. The point is clear, and there are
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: some who hear me right now, who are superb spiritual leaders.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Your followers will let you get away with all kinds
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: of things. Part of the reason is they're afraid of you.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Part of the reason is just your position is intimidating.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Part of the reason is that's what you do with
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: spiritual leaders. You put them on a pedestal and you
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: hold them aloof and you protect them. You do it
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: out of respect, to be sure, but you do it.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: And the spiritual leader can assert an enormous amount of
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: ath already and get away with it. It's got to
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: be human has to live with himself or herself. Take
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: a look at the rights you're taking advantage of, if
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: in fact you are and only you know. The best
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: kind of leader is the servant leader. I don't mean
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: a guy that sticks his hand in his pocket and
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: says all shucks all day. That's not servant hood. Not
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: a person that says no, I can't, no, I'm not qualified,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: No I'm not the one, No I'm the worst in
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: the group. That's a worse kind of pride, But one
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: who knows himself or herself well enough to tell himself
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: the truth, and will put brakes on were necessary. The
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: Carl Sandberg addressed an assemble diplomatic Corps and a joint
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: session of Congress. The date was February twelve, nineteen fifty nine.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Lincoln students will remember it. His address was called Lincoln,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Man of Steel and Velvet. Among other things, he said,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: not often in the story of mankind does one arrive
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: on Earth, who is both steel and velvet, who is
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: as hard as rock and as soft as drifting fog,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: terrible storm and peace unspeakable. While the war winds howled,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: he insists, did the Mississippi was one river, meant to
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: belong to one country, that railroad connections from coast to
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: coast must be pushed through. While the war wavered and
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: broke and came again as generals failed and campaigns were lost,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: he held enough forces of the North together to raise
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: new armies and support and supply them until new generals
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: were found. Who made war as victorious. War has always
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: been made with terror, frightfulness, destruction, valor, and sacrifice, passed
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: words of man to tell in the mixed shame and
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: blame of the immense wrongs of two crashing civilizations. Often
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: with nothing to say, he said nothing. He slept not
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: at all, and on occasion he was seen to weep
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: in a way that made weeping appropriate, decent, and majestic.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: A little anecdote that Sandberg adds. A man from Indiana
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: at the White House overheard the President say, worries. Don't
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: it seem strange to you that I, who could never
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: so much as cut off the head of a chicken,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: should be elected into the midst of all this blood.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: There's a humanness about that. He isn't affected by his position.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: He's a leader you could sit down with and talk.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Be like that. Now, there are some positives. First is
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: sensitivity to needs verse seven. We prove to be gentle
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: among you as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: own children. I think it's significant that Paul picks up
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: on a feministic trait of tenderness and he applies it
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: to himself. How much we need it. There's a tenderness.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: I think he was at times close to tears, and
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: maybe in them giving them as Lincoln a decency and
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: majesty that fits tears. He wasn't a glory hog. Mothers
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: aren't that He tenderly cared for them as a mother
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: would for her own children. There's nothing of selfishness in
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: the mother role. There is this constant giving. There is
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: this deep commitment. There is this absolute resistance against running.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: There is this staying with the family if it means
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: living on the street, because that's the way it is
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: with mothers. There is this caring for deep needs, and
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: so it is among good leaders. As a nursing mother,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: there is a sensitivity to needs. Second is affection for people,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: having thus a fond affection for you. People weren't used
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: by the apostle. They didn't find themselves at the end
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: of the tether as he swung them from one objective
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: to another. That wasn't Paul's style. He loved them too
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: much for that. The popular idea is that the tough
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: minded executive is a professional with a cool air of sophistication,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: who carries himself at a distance from the people. You
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: don't find that in scripture. You certainly don't see that
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: in the life of the Savior. That's why he made
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: such an impact. He wasn't like most of the religious leaders.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: You could touch him. He made sense. He had an
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: affection for people. Uh, just a moment. When was the
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: last time you said to some other adult outside your family,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: I love you. You have no idea what that would
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: mean speaking to a man I greatly admire. Just two
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, just as we were ending the conversation, he said,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: oh and Chuck, Yeah, hey, I love you. I could
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: hardly say goodbye, even though I have sensed down inside
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: there was a love relationship, he told me. And not
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: just love you. Songs say that love you, love you,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: but I put a pronoun on it. Say you put
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: a name on it, call the name I dare you.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: It's remarkable what that will do. I love you. Paul
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: said that that was fond affection. And look at this.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: There was transparency and authenticity of life. We were pleased
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: to impart to you, not only the Gospel, but our
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: own lives. Isn't that wonderful? Why because you became dear
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: to us. Don't miss this third one and authenticity of life.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: We imparted life. Are you a teacher of the scriptures.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: You are imparting life. You are imparting secrets. You are
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: imparting struggles. You are imparting scars. You are imparting reality.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Impart that paint the real picture. Add the browns and
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the blacks and the grays. Leave room, leave room for
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: the humanity. You're imparting life. I think at times some
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: young Christians must listen to our story and just kind
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: of ah, I'll never make it because we don't impart life.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: I imparted not only the Gospel, but our own lives.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Why because you were dear you See, having someone dear
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: to you means you let down the barriers, you open
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: up you recall see sing it again verse nine. Remember
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: how we worked among you. We labored night and day
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: so as not to be a burden to any of you.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: We proclaimed to you the Gospel, so we didn't hedge
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: on that, but your witnesses, and so is God. How devoutly,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: uprightly and blamelessly we behaved. I've circled those two phrases
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: we proclaimed, line we behaved. See there was the triangles
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: were congruent. I remember being under the ministry of a
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: certain Bible teacher, and I listened to what he said,
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: but I couldn't square it with His life confused me.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: For the longest time. It confused me, and I kept
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: explaining it away, thinking well, I'm not really seeing what
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing. But I was To get out of that
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: tailspin took me the better part of ten twelve years.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Because he didn't impart life. He imparted truth, and it
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: was true, good truth. I still rely on some of it.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: But his life was a lie. There is nothing like
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: incarnating the truth, so that what you say mixes with
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: what you live, and it is an undeniable, invincible message.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: All hell can break loose and you stand fast. See
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: there's authenticity of life. Fourth, there is enthusiastic affirmation verse eleven.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: You know we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: one of you as a father would his children. Isn't
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: that good? Dads will understand if you have ever sat
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: in front of the father of the quarterback of the team,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: you'll understand. I love sitting in front of fathers of quarterbacks.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: I mean they have got a connection. Now that son
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: can't hear that dad, but that dad is continually giving
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: messages to that son, and he's sacked and he's a
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: you know, twelve to fifteen yard lost. That's okay, let's go.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Let's take him down the field. Take him down the field.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Now I can barely hear the father. It's under you know,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: it's under his breath. But that son, he takes him
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: down the field. Now, go for it. Shoot that pass
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: out to the right, and guy's got to take it
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: to the right. Now, you got to go over to
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: the right. And it's amazing. The guy goes over the
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: right and he shoots the pass and they go right
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: on down the field. Because this father is imploring and
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: encouraging his son, there is continued affirmation. I have never
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: heard a good father of a quarterback say, why don't
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: you give up, coach? Put somebody else in. No, father
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: is forever affirming, enthusiastically affirming his boy. I've seen him
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: stand drenched in rain on the bench, go for it,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: go for its kids out there knocking himself dead, mud
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: up to his thighs, you know, trying to just survive.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: And his father never thinks of quitting. People need affirmation,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, Christian people need affirmation. We have been beaten,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: black and blue. We have been stripped to the bone.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: We have been told we are sinners. Until we can
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: spell the word backwards. We need to know that we
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: are in Christ and therefore as righteous as Christ himself.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: That there is hope for sinners, that there is a
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: future for failures, that there is forgiveness for the saint.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: We can't let our wounded die. We've got to stop
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: shooting him somehow. They have to know if they come back,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: there'll be affirmation, Like a father who waits for a
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: son that lived in a pig pen, imploring, encouraging, and exhorting.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Who knows how many would come back if they really
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: believe they would be affirmed, unforgiven the ultimate objective to
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: get the biggest church, to have the greatest reputation, to
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: have the largest practice. You know better than that, so
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: that you may walk in a manner worthy of the
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: Now that good thing about it is it's for your benefit.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Those you are leading are to discover. If you do
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: as I lead, you'll benefit. It'll be good for you Christian,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: It'll be good for you. You lead your class, your
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: followers will walk better that exciting. It'll be good for them,
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: not good for you. Leader works himself out of a job.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: The followers become the new leaders. They emerge if you
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: give them breathing room, they take charge. They begin to
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: carry the torch, catch the switch. It isn't simply your
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: objective to get something done. It's for their good love.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: That whole idea so that you may walk in a
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: manner worthy of the God who calls you to His
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: kingdom and glory. If we ever caught that, what a
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: remarkable change would occur in the Church of Christ. Three essentials.
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: Number One, there must be intersecurity. To operate like this,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: there must be intersecurity. Second, there must be a commitment
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: to excellence. You can't fudge on that commitment to excellence.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: And third, there must be deliberate faith the living God
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: that's in between the lines and inner security that'll keep
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: you from pleasing people, that'll keep you from flattery, and
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: it'll keep you from manipulating an inner security. Second, there'll
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: be a commitment to excellence. No matter how tough it is,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: you're gonna make it. You're gonna get there, and you're
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: gonna do the very best you could do, and you're
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: committed to that. If no one else in the organization
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: is you're committed to excellence. And third is a deliberate
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: faith in God. I've chosen those words carefully deliberate. You
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: don't stumble into faith because everything else fails. You deliberately
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: decide that you will leave room for the living God
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: in your life, that Jesus Christ will indeed be supreme,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: There's the name Howard Rutledge ring a bell. Howard Rutledge,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: pilot in the Air Force Vietnam. Good leader, fine pilot,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: shot down. He had been a busy man, working his
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: way up in rank in the Air Force. He found
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: himself now with time that he hadn't had before, as
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: he became a part of that horrible ordeal in Vietnam
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: as a prisoner of war, he writes in his book
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: In the Presence of Mine Enemies. During those longer periods
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: of enforced reflection, it became so much easier to separate
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: the important from the trivial, the worthwhile from the waist.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: I was too busy, too preoccupied, to spend one or
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: two short hours a week thinking about really important things. Now,
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: the sights and sounds and smells of death were all
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: around me. My hunger for spiritual food soon outdid my
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: hunger for a steak. Now, I wanted to know about
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: that part of me that will never die. Now, I
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: wanted to know about God and Christ and his Church.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: But in heartbreak, the name of the prison camp solitary confinement.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: There was no pastor, no Sunday school teacher, no Bible,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: no hymn book, no community of believers to guide and
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: sustain me. I had completely neglected the spiritual dimension of
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: my life. It took prison to show me how empty
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: life is without God. What's it going to take to
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: convince you that life is empty without God? You're surrounded
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: by people who've learned that lesson good people, strong leaders,
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: capable people, some of them affluent because of the blessing
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: of God that's fallen upon him. Apart from any manipulation,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: they have deliberately chosen to follow Jesus Christ. Now, why
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: haven't you good leaders follow the right people. There's none
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: better than the Savior that's about together. Please come to
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: know the Savior. Now, please acknowledge that you're not the
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: leader of your life, the captain of your soul, the
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: master of your fate. How stupid, that's not even smart.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: You will die, and whatever power is greater than you
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: will take over after death. You know that. Trust Jesus Christ,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: who came, lived, led, and died for your sins and
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: built the bridge to heaven. Believe in him. Now deliberately
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: make room for the living God. Today, Come, Thou, Almighty King,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: Help us thy name to sing, Help us to praise
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, our Leader,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: our Lord, to you, we submit our lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, A Leadership Style that Works Guaranteed, was
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in nineteen eighty four, nineteen eighty five, nineteen ninety three,
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: two thousand and three, and twenty twenty four, and the
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by Charles R.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: Swindall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited