Good morning. And it's Eric Weir. Oh, did you? Okay. No problem. No problem. I'm humbled to be here and to have a chance to visit with you guys today. Chad, I really appreciate your time. I'm just trying to figure out what point we're trying to get across. That was outstanding. Thank you. I'm going to talk about a few things today. I'm going to talk about why you homeschool. I'm going to talk about the state of the church, the state of business, of the world. I'm going to give my testimony as to why. I'm even up here talking right now and then I'm going to talk about mentoring and the pursuit of leaving a legacy and a godly legacy of that. But first I'd like to read Malachi 4 chapter 6 and it says and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Now I thought about it, why would God smite the earth with a curse? And curses are brought to us into our lives to cause us to change. They're a punishment and they're also to realign our focus. So what would a curse look like? And I was wondering, would it look like no discernible difference between our home life and the world's home life? Could that be a curse? Could a curse be that we're no longer teaching our children but we've delegated it to everybody else? Could a curse be all of our morals as a country are on fire and our cities are burning and the men are busy pursuing personal fulfillment, entertainment, and we're into video games these days. But our culture is really religion externalized. If you think about it that's what a culture is it's our core beliefs that are externalized. A major church Willow Creek pastor by Bill Hybels have two hundred and fifty thousand members in their church and all their affiliates did a study and it revealed that they've had substantial growth. They couldn't be more pleased but they said the church as a whole has a lack of holiness. And he said in his memo to the other pastors, our method of ministry has failed. We're going to go back to a blank sheet of paper and redefine how we communicate with our church. Well, I submit to you that there are answers in the Bible, as Chad was talking about, and we don't need to try to use our wisdom to figure everything out. Isn't that good news? Because our wisdom, there's a way that seems right into a man. But their end thereof are the ways of death. There's nothing neutral. If you were to look at your life today and to grab the Bible and say, if I were to live out of this, to build my family out of this, my education, my vocation, everything, looking through God's word, how would it change? How would your life change? And I submit to you these are good things to consider as to if your life would change if you applied biblical principles to your life then why hasn't it changed. Why are you where you are today. What are you waiting for. Is the curse not affecting your life substantially enough yet. In fact divorce rates in America in the church are higher than they are in the world. If you go to the church and you're married, you're more likely to be divorced than if you're not in the church. That's shocking. But in the church, we've done what's called syncretism. Syncretism is a merging of two things. To take two things that shouldn't be together, and you put them together. Rock music. Christian words. Let's use syncretism. Okay? Let's use syncretism with goal-setting, rich dad, poor dad. They can grow rich. I want to be a millionaire. And let's put some verses with it. Syncretism. That's what program-driven churches primarily are pushing today. And we're wondering why a major church, the Southern Baptist, did a study. They have 16 million members today. 16 million. If they have two families and each have two children, The current statistic is 80% of the children who upon finishing their freshman year of college will never go to church the rest of their life. Ever. Because the God that they see is not reflected at home. Churches are impotent. Our lives are impotent. And that's because we're not living scripturally. How much leaven does it take to leaven the whole lump? How much compromise does it take before you've sold out? There's no neutrality zone. In 2 Corinthians it says, Paul was speaking, it says, I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be towards some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. According to the same 2002 study by the Southern Baptists, they expect that their church will decline to four million members in one generation. two generations, one million members, and then 250,000 members within 100 years. That great convention will be irrelevant. But it's not just them. It's organized religion in America. Look at England. If you want to get a good deal as a health club, you buy a church. If you're a restaurant, you buy a church. If you're a bar, you buy a church. Walk through England. Go to Italy. Go to France. Go to Greece. Birth rate in America is 1.7. We were the last Western nation to have a birth rate that would replace itself, 2.1. Muslims' birth rate is 6. It's the cover of the Time magazine. It said, only child. Why do you think we don't have as many children? We don't believe they're blessings from God. They're an obligation. They're a financial obligation. They're a time obligation. How can I be focused on myself and have children? A study was done by Telegraph.com, UK, in 2009. They interviewed 1,000 teenagers. 1,000. They found they spend 31 hours a week online, of which two hours are viewing pornography. One and a half hours are viewing sites related to teen pregnancy, one hour on cosmetic surgery, one and a half hours studying diet fads. One third say they regularly speak to a stranger online and see nothing wrong with it. And a great percentage say they have a plan of action if their parents should enter their room as how they can hide what they were doing. The true believer increasingly hates the things that God hates. If that doesn't describe us, we should be worried. Today, there's a lack of love for Scripture. There's an absence of humility. There's doctrinal confusion. What is the Sabbath? one of the commandments. We should probably be aware of what the Sabbath is, the significance of the Sabbath. What is biblically qualified leadership? Are our leaders biblically qualified? Are we double-minded? I know double-minded. I was completely double-minded, and I'll share my testimony in just a moment. But we love to say that sounds like legalism, don't we? It's legalism. I'm being legalistic right now. I submit to you, if you think I'm legalistic, you're awful presumptuous. You're presumptuous to think that God is ambivalent about Scripture. You're presumptuous to think that He's not a holy God. And you're presumptuous to think that you will not give account for how you raise your family, how you govern your life, and how you govern your finances and your time. That, my friend, is presumptuous. Matthew 7, 24 says, He who hears and does the Word of God builds on a rock. We love to think if we just hear the Word of God, we build on a rock. But it's hearing and doing that makes the difference. One of the most unsettling things I ever studied was the tax collector and the Pharisee. You come in and you see the Pharisee looking at the tax collector. The tax collector is crying for God. I'm unworthy. I'm unworthy. Couldn't even raise his head in the synagogue. And the Pharisee, if you read it, was saying, was thanking God that he was not like the tax collector. He was grateful that he wasn't like the tax collector, but he confused his own righteousness with a righteousness that's only through Christ. And that's the critical mistake. It's a critical mistake. He lived a much better life than the tax collector. Oh, let's make sure we don't confuse our own righteousness. I grew up in a Christian home. I could talk. I actually led people in the sinner's prayer in high school, in college. I could talk all about Christ. I even went to a Christian school. I could quote scripture, one Bible piece. I wasn't a Christian. I was double-minded. At the age of five, I was in a car wreck. I lost the ability to speak. So my parents tried to use syncretism to help me grow. They didn't do it on purpose. They were trying to help encourage me. So I went to the therapist. Therapist said, gee, Wes, you can't speak so well. It took me two days to tell the teacher my name in the first grade. I stuttered so badly. I was horribly picked on. I remember crying myself to sleep most nights. So they decided to have me sell lemonade stands. So he put a stand in front of our house, and I'd sell lemonade. And I had a sign that said 50 cents on it. And people would come up, and I would stutter so poorly that they would say, how much is lemonade? And I'd say, 50 cents. You had to point to the sign. And I'd sell lemonade. And sometimes I'd feel bad. They'd give me a big tip. And stuttering works for tips, let me tell you. So I got a big tip. And I kind of liked that. And the idea was I'd get paid while I'm selling stuff. It's to pull me out of my shell. A few days go by, I decide to be entrepreneurial, and I'll put the lemonade stand up. My parents were at work. I sold everything. Lots of lemonade. I didn't realize that I would be met with such chagrin when my parents got home because I sold our glasses along with the lemonade. So my parents got home, it's like, let's get to dinner, let's get our glasses out. Oh, they must be in the dishwasher, okay. No, they're not in the dishwasher. So that was my sales career, that's how I got started. And I became very goal-oriented, materialistic. By age 13, I purchased my first car. By 18, I had my real estate license. I was selling real estate. I learned to black belt in karate, and I owned and operated two karate studios. I started college, finished it early, began lying about my age and buying stocks. Called the stockbroker up and said I wanted to buy some technology stocks. He said, how old are you? I said, 17. He goes, wrong answer. 18, wrong answer. So I had to keep raising my age. I was looking for mentors, but no one had time. Dads work a lot, right? So my parents bought me self-help tapes. They bought over 200 of them. I listened to Rich Dad, Think and Grow Rich, Swim of the Sharks and Not Get Eaten. how to set goals, how to communicate, vocabulary books. I listened to tapes, and I drove to Georgia State at least two hours a day, and I listened to each one at least 10 times. I would schedule my day down to five-minute intervals when I was 18 years old. Everything was laser-focused. When I graduated from college, I joined a Wall Street firm. I started there. I still stutter terribly. Total managers should make 250 to 300 cold calls a day. And I did that and they were betting on me how soon I would fail because I stuttered every time I made a phone call. So I had to double that and became a total workaholic and absorbed in trying to earn affection, earn love and appreciation. I met my wife while I was in that job. I asked her to marry me and we moved to San Francisco 15 years ago. I had to start over. People from Atlanta, Georgia don't want somebody in San Francisco managing their money. So I had to start over. And I began to work all the time. I delegated everything that I could do at home. I was a rubber stamp dad. I felt she wanted a homeschool, I wanted to support it. I thought four kids in private school in San Francisco love homeschooling, right? It was a financial decision. It was all it was. And I thought, well, I'll support her, whatever she wants to do. And we'd talk about it. Oh, my wife's sexy. Everyone thinks you have to have a special credential to be a homeschooling parent, right? Well, I'm not wired the way you guys are. I mean, it's different for you. And then my wife began to really feel the pressure of me not being there, of me not supporting, of me delegating everything. And I couldn't see it. The more we would have friction, the more I would go into fix-it mode. What she really needs is a dinner out. So let's go to some great restaurant and take the kids with us. So we'd go to some, you know, four or five star, we go to a restaurant in San Francisco and the kids are going crazy and there's nothing on the kids' menu and high chairs and they're not kid-friendly there. So it was a yard sale. I mean, she's almost in tears. We're going to have to eat again. You know, and I'm like, oh, well, this would be great. We're going to your favorite restaurant. You know, and I couldn't understand why Our marriage was falling apart. My life was falling apart. Here at work, I was getting accolades. A senior vice president of a national, worldwide investment bank. And nothing in my life was going well. When I did well at work, my manager loved me. I tried to take that home, and guess what happened today? It just didn't carry the same thing with her, you know? She wanted time. She wanted relationship. You know, that's what God wants from us, too. He wants a relationship. He wants our time. That's what our children want. They want a relationship and they want time. I begin to wonder if everything that I had done and pursued so hard with goals, if it was broken beyond repair. I remember thinking, I don't even know if God can put this back together. I'm so incredibly self-absorbed. The Lord brought me to a verse, 1 Kings 18, 21. It says, the Lord be God and follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. And if you read that, Elijah was on Mount Carmel facing over 400 prophets of Baal. And all the people were there. And the next part of the verse is what's so amazing. And the people answered him not a word. Why did they do that? Because they didn't know the answer. They didn't know who God was. They were double-minded. They wanted to hedge their bets a little bit, right? I mean, what if this fire comes down on Bale's side? We're going to look really stupid. So we're not going to say anything. And I found in my experience that corporations were one of the things that fragmented our marriage. I became very double-minded. I was very committed to be available. to work overtime, the job pressures, the more promotions that I felt, that I received, the less time I had. It was a real lie. In my job, they encouraged debt when I first started. They bring in custom clothing manufacturers. When you're 22 years old, they get you custom suits. And they bring a guy in from a big car dealership, gets you a fancy car. And it would just turn your life upside down. You're just in tens and tens of thousands of dollars in debt before you even start your life. But you know, it's not only the world that's worried about appearances. Oftentimes, it's the church. I have a good friend of mine who is pastor of the church. And some other people I know, one guy who I have acquaintance of, has tried to get a loan to build their church. They tried 19 times to get a loan. And all 19 times, they were turned down. You think there's a message there somewhere, like maybe you shouldn't borrow the money for the building program? But they saw those as stumbling blocks from the devil. The devil's trying to stop them from building the church and getting in debt. So they went out the 20th time and they found money. They found money, unfortunately, every year for another 15 years. This particular church is $14 million in debt today. Okay? But if you want to go hear about some prosperity, you go to these type of churches. You want to hear about free mercy, cheap mercy, grace. When's the last time you drove by a law Baptist church? Want to see one person just say this Grace is over there. This is the law. I Wonder I just love to see that. I don't have anyone would go there and it'd be funny to see that wouldn't So here I am Read another verse Luke 16 13. This is no servant can serve two masters Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. I thought, man, that is so outdated. You can totally serve God and money. I've been doing it for years. And unfortunately, that's right. You can't serve both God and money. And actually, it's not the word serve. I thought serve was like a waiter, you know? Like, I can have five tables. I can serve this one for a while. I can go serve here. I can come back and see if their drinks are full, how are your appetizers. And it was more like a waiter job. And you could totally serve. I could probably serve five masters, right? Some of my clients think I'm a master, maybe. I could do that. But servitude is not really about being a waiter. It's about being a slave. It's about ownership. You can't be owned by two masters. If the first thing you think about when you wake up is, I've got a big mortgage. Who owns you? The first thing you think about is, my boss is really going to be mad about this situation. Who owns you? You get one master. Choose today whom you will serve. I went to a homeschool conference much like this one in Denver. I heard everybody talking and whatnot and I was kind of excited to be there. My boys were there. And the speaker really took a dark turn. One of those convicting dark turns. I'm like, wow. He's a head of Colorado homeschooling, Kevin Swanson. And he was talking about mentoring his son. And the first thing I started thinking, I don't like the way this is sounding. And he's talking about what he does is he took, he was talking to his wife one day who's completely freaked out about homeschooling. And she's like, I'm going to quit. I'm done homeschooling, I've got no support, I'm quitting. He goes, well, honey, I'm like head of the Colorado Homeschool Association. You can't quit. She goes, well, I'm going to quit because I can't take it. These kids are making me crazy. And your son, who's 12, is not listening like he needs to. And he's like, well, I'll fix it. I'll fix it. She goes, well, respectfully, he said, you know so much about homeschooling. Why don't you try it sometime? So he goes, OK. OK. I'll take him with me. I'll homeschool him. Right? So he takes him with him. And I'm really applauding. That is so good for you. Great. I'm so glad there's dads like you in the world. You know, make up for guys like me. Even yourself are out. And then, so I'm listening, and then the Holy Spirit's like, oh, that can't be. That's got to be from the devil. No, I can't take my son to work with me. I'm in like money management business. I'm doing like plans and financial things and real estate. No, I'd never work. So I called my wife on the phone and said, you know, I kind of think God's talking to me a little bit. I'm sure you remember this conversation. I'm thinking about taking Harrison with me to work. She goes, I can have a step ready by Monday. It's been a bad. I'm like, no, no. I need to prepare. I need months. Maybe the first year we'll do this. I need months to get this ready. Listen to God. It's the devil. Listen to God. So that's what started it. And I came home, and that Monday, I'm like, suit up. Come here for a second, Harrison. So this is my son, and this is Harrison, and he comes to work with me every day. We go to every meeting, and I'll tell you about some of the funny meetings we've had. Thank you, Harrison. Harrison, I'm going to ask you a few questions in a minute. Good job, Harrison. I'll call him, and let me ask him a question in a minute. But so that that I started it and then our first week was a complete disaster Okay, I come to my office. I bring my son and my assistants are like It's gonna work with me well, how long is it gonna last this is it from here on and I'm mentoring my son and They're like, I know him. I mean, a week, two weeks, maybe. This is definitely not going to last. Yep, next day they see him. And they're thinking like, well, what's he going to do all day? He's going to watch TV, video games? What's going to happen? I'm like, no, no. It was a, I mean, to say it was a disaster, it was a disaster the first week. I got nothing done. He's looking at me. I'm looking at him. I didn't know the first thing about homeschooling. I've got all these things and these books and I'm like turn to page 72 and I'm like this direction and this. Whoa. I'm not ready for this. This is technical. And slowly we patiently worked together and we didn't get anything done the first week. We both failed miserably. But in time we were able to get it down and we helped each other out a ton. Again, Proverbs 22.5, it says, train up a child in the way he should go, and keep him with his gift or bent, in the Amplified Version, and when he's old he won't depart from it. So our very first meeting was one that I've been trying to get forever. It was a wealthy guy, had a big house, and he wanted us to come and meet this golf course designer, and they're putting together a golf course with a famous golfer. And all these folks are in the room. minus the famous golfer. So we get into winning this door. This door is like huge. We knock on it. And this guy, I mean, he's had like multiple marriages and everything like that. And he opens the door and he's like, I don't think he likes his own kids too much, right? He looks out and he's like, Oh, what's going on? This is my son. Oh, yeah. Hey, what's your name? And he goes, Oh, we got video games. My grandkids love them in the back there. You can go see them. No, no, I'm, what's going on? I'm mentoring him. I'm mentoring him. He goes, oh, what's that mean? It's like a day or stay with dad. I said, no, he's going to be with me from here on out. He's with me. I go, OK, I guess I'm pulling the chair in. So I meet this golf course designer. I meet him. We sit down in Harrison's setting there. And it's like a two-hour meeting. And while we're there, he has someone who works in his house that comes by and says, are you thirsty? Would you like something to drink? And I'm like, I'm totally nervous, right? I'm torqued out pretty hard right now. And I'm like, yeah, I'll just make a bottle of water. And he's looking at him, and Harrison, what do you want? I don't know what he's like, you know, because we're kind of new with this whole thing. And he goes, I like a Sprite, not the Sprite. Yep, he likes Sprite. Gave him a Sprite. Comes back later, and he's just, boom. So in fact, oh, would you like another one? And I'm thinking like, no. No, he doesn't want another one. That sugar, that sugar, he's going to go crazy. No, no. They keep bringing Sprite, Sprite, Sprite. You know, so two hours go by and I'm thinking he's going to be spinning around in a chair, you know, like this. And, you know, but he didn't. He kept his composure. And the man left. When we left, he talked to me and he goes, you know, I really have a different view of you now. Before, I thought you were just like a business guy. You know, a guy could come and help me raise money for my project. He goes, no, I look at you differently. I think you've got, you know, family values. I probably trust you. You seem like a real different guy than what I thought you'd be like. So when Harrison and I leave and we're talking on the way out, we say, well, what do you think about that deal? And Harrison says to me, well, aren't we studying about being in partnerships? Yeah. Are those guys Christians? I said, no, we probably shouldn't be in a partnership with them. You know, you're right. That's good. That's good. What do you think about that, Harrison? Borrowing money? Yeah. What do you think about that? Well, I think it says borrowers serving to the lender. That might not be a good idea to borrow money with non-Christian business partners, with people we don't know, doing something that's outside of what we know how to do. And we said, what do you think we should do, Harrison? Talking him through it, you know, helping him. He goes, I don't know. What do you think, Dad? I think we should skip it. So we did. We didn't do that opportunity. That golfer has gotten a lot of press since we passed up that opportunity. So what I want to talk to you guys about is whatever you're doing, you're teaching your children. And we're talking about a Deuteronomy. It's a mandate to teach our children. We had another fun meeting. There was someone running for U.S. Congress. So I took Harrison to the meeting, and we're sitting there. And we're walking in, and the two of us are the youngest people in the entire room. There are like 60 people, and we're like really old. And he was like the star of the show. Everyone wanted to talk to him. And they asked us the question, the most dreaded question of any homeschooling parent. Ask your son, so tell me, what grade are you in? I looked at him. He looked at me, back and forth. And he's like, I'm in the sixth grade. And you're thinking like, yeah, that's good, okay. And he's like, what's the next question? Hey, what sports do you like, son? And I'm like, well, we do some YMCA things. I play golf. We have some sheep. I chase them around a lot. Goats at the farm. And I've got chickens. And we had a pig we slaughtered. And these people are like, wow, you're different. They're interesting. So I talk to them like crazy. This guy came up. He said, you're the Starbucks guys. And I'm like, the Starbucks guys? I'm like, yeah, because I meet people at Starbucks all the time. I just talk to them. He goes, yeah, I see that little ones in a suit every day and you guys wear suits So he talks he says he reminds me of my childhood. He grew up in Oxford in England And he goes reminds of my childhood when I was mentored by my father and it was a nice conversation That's not our only Starbucks store. We're in Starbucks and I came back. I'm there one day with him And I'm I'm at a different table. I'm talking someone's finances and Harrison, you know was doing his homework at that time and I seem like dart away and he went away and he came back. I didn't know. OK. Well I'm just trying to pay attention and watch my son downtown. Right. So everything was fine. We leave and come back and the manager comes up to me and goes is that your son. And I'm thinking oh yeah. Yeah. And he goes, do you know what he said? And I'm thinking, oh no, he can't be, he's the oldest son and he can't be kind of bossy. I'm thinking, I don't know what he said. I'm thinking I'm now really scared. He goes, you know what he said? And I go, no, what'd he say? He told me that he noticed when the line is long, people are really mad because we're washing dishes. They're washing the cups and the plates and stuff like that that people want to eat in the store. And he said, he also noticed when the line is short, we're all talking to each other, and the plates are in the sink. He said, if you wash the plates instead of talk when the line's short, people wouldn't be so mad when the line's long. And I'm like, no. I'm thinking to myself. And he goes, you know, your son's right. We did it, and it worked. And he goes, he holds up the green apron, and he looks at me and goes, you want to be a manager at Starbucks? And he goes, can I, dad, can I? And I said, no. He said, well, they pay better than you. I'm like, I'm sure they pay better than I do. But no, you can't do it. So it's made a difference. But other people mentored. Benjamin Franklin was a mentor. In fact, he started the first colonial fire and police department. He founded two colleges, the first library, first insurance company, the first hospital. He helped to draft the Declaration of Independence, signed the Constitution, invented bifocals, swim fins, lightning rod, and the Franklin stove, obviously. He was a diplomat to France and to England, and he was a mentor to many of his contemporaries. His contemporaries said he had tireless energy and he could spend time with them, helping them, helping other countries even. But you know what his life, he lost his son William. William Franklin was the last royal governor of New Jersey before the revolution. He was educated in France, Switzerland, and England. Who educated him? It was the enemy, right? Ultimately. He spent long periods away from his dad. When war broke out during the revolution, guess what side his son took? He took the other side. They didn't kill him because he was Franklin's son, but he was under house arrest. And after the war was over, they basically stripped him of everything he owned. And Franklin said, nothing has ever hurt me so much, he confessed, as to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son. And not only deserted, but to find him taking up arms against me in a cause wherein my Good fame, my fortune, and my life were all at stake. Think about that. His good fame, his fortune, and his life is what he was thinking about. When Franklin died in 1790, he left very little to his son. And he never reconciled. Franklin never forgave him. Even though 20,000 people, 20,000 people came to his funeral, he died with a broken heart. over the loss of his son. But he made a few mistakes. He made three that I could see right off. He turned over his son's education to somebody else. He turned his attention to the things that were urgent, but not important. And the dull roar of needed attention and guidance was silenced by the demands of the day. The demands of the day were elevated above what's important. We tend to do that. But you know, Jesus models discipleship. Many people have been discipled. Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin. John Stevens Henslow also mentored Charles Darwin. Paul and Barnabas, the journeyman electrician and the Even Donald Trump is getting in the act, right? The apprentice. You're transferring your values in everything that you do. If I were to ask you, what do your parents think about God? What do your parents think about debt? About money? Faith? Freedom? Trust? What do they like to do? What are the core values about home education? What do you think about home education? What do they think about? You name the subject. You could tell me. But I bet you never sat down with your parents and had a conversation where they said, here's our list of beliefs, right? You never did that. But you know what they are. And the biggest thing to think about, it's not your intentions. that matter. You can have the best intentions in the world. It's what you do that matters. Intentions won't make a bit of difference. Do you think Franklin intended to have his son turn against him? I don't think he did. I think he was busy. Only 9% of Christians today have a biblical worldview. First Peter 5.8 says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Do we really have idle time? The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. I submit to you we have a faulty process. A process of transferring values, of transferring education is faulty. It says, judge a tree by the fruit it bears. Very simple. Judge a tree by the fruit it bears. If you look around at the fruit, whether it's the church, whether it's your personal life, whatever it happens to be, is there a process problem? Jesus was the ultimate process engineer. So oftentimes we're stubborn and not follow God's word and we leave hold of pagan traditions that separate family. But Jesus said, follow me to his disciples and took him with him. He went out with him. He also took his disciples into the world. He didn't send them out as missionaries to the public school system. Or any other school system. Why don't you go there and Bring your family values to the school system, son. You're going to change it from the inside. I know you're only eight, but remember scripture and use it as a sword. You'll change the world. They're not ready. Paul was mentored for nine years before he went out. Jesus also constantly taught scripture to his disciples. It was always in the Word. And he prayed. When his disciples asked him, what would they ask him? Teach us how to pray. Because they knew it was such a key role. It's a key component of his life. He woke up early in the morning and prayed every day. How many of us pray until we fall asleep? The prayer of a fervent man avails much. Is there any fervency in your relationship with God? These things will help in discerning how best to educate. If we were to do a poll, most people say you want your children to be well-educated, respectable job, popular, affluent, have lots and lots of friends, and have time for self-gratification. Jesus says he wants you to be a follower of Christ, have deep relationships, and live a life that makes eternal impact. My whole life was superficial conversation. Had no eternal impact. Do you ever get sick of superficial conversation? Do you ever get sick of just feeling that everything's on the surface. There's a root system that needs to be evaluated. That builds a tree, and that gives fruit. You can't take your focus off the root and the tree and just look at the fruit. Even if the fruit may be great, It's there only if it's a good root and a good tree. If you take your eyes off that and look at the fruit and pat yourself on the back for things going your way, it won't be long it'll be a problem. We have a garden at our house and we plant tomatoes and we plant other things. And we don't plant weeds. That's like our bumper crop, you know. We go out there, and I mean, you try to get these tomatoes, and you put these metal things around them, you know, you put stakes in the ground, you do everything you can, and like rabbits, you know, they like come here and just eat your fruit, right? Or you come back, a windstorm, and it's on its side, you know, and then the tomato's yucky on one side. We have weeds that are like this big around. I mean, you like pull them, and it's like amazing how quickly they grow. And it's the same thing. So when you're mentoring your children, we try to ask them questions every day. How do you do that? How do you pull weeds with your kids? So we ask them, is there anything we need to talk about today? Have you told any lies to your brother? Have you taken anything that doesn't belong to you? Can you ask forgiveness? Has anyone asked you to do anything that you didn't want to do? Anybody ask you to do something or not tell your parents about? You may. You start good conversations. But those who pull the weeds when they're small. It doesn't matter if I don't go down and pull weeds in the garden that much. I mean, it matters a little bit, but not a huge amount. But it matters with your family. God has given us our children who will give account for it. And I encourage dads to read Deuteronomy 6. to read Proverbs. Every day, the good thing to do is to read a proverb every morning with your family before you go to work. It's one of the best things we've ever done. Just read a proverb. It doesn't have to be an elaborate Bible study. I remember studying out there saying, I would love to do a Bible study, but I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to get started. And the best thing to do is just get a proverb and read one a day, the day that corresponds to the day of the month. And then read each verse, and don't speed read it. Read the whole thing, and blah, blah, blah, blah. What do you think? It's too much. Read a verse or two, or three, and say, what does that mean to you? And talk about it. And actually, I've learned so much in doing that. I've had some of our children, I feel like, I've never looked at it that way. I'm like, wow, that's fantastic. But it teaches them critical thought. Teach them logic. Teach them God's Word. It does the same for you. You begin to analyze every verse. And what is God trying to say to me through this? What's the key point? What's the context? How is my life different than that? How can we apply this today? And we finish the prophecy. What one principle can we take today and apply? I've taken my son on many appointments. I've told you some that were fun. There have also been some that were quite humbling. And we try to walk about verses in there too. You know, when the real estate boom was going crazy, I had the grand idea that if I could co-sign on things in exchange for some of the upside, I would have no money to deal and just profit. What could go wrong? You put down a certain amount of money, 20, 30, 40 percent. What could go wrong? You co-sign on a development. Not a house, a development. So I remember thinking, going to the bank, and the bank's like, well, hmm, it seems all your partners have gone away. It's just you. So I'm the only one standing. So they come in to me, and apparently, they take all that stuff you sign kind of seriously. So, you go in there and you know there's three or four of them in there. It's a big deal. And they're all from different places. I'm from Seattle. I'm from here. And you're thinking, wow, this is uncomfortable. And I bring Harrison with me. I brought him with me. We're coming in. The guy goes, why would you bring your son to me like this? Because they're calling the loan due. You owe us X. Says here you own a capital management company. Hmm. Have some real properties. Since here, you personally guarantee it. That means we're partners, right? That's what it means, right? They're not partners with me. Well, they're not partners now. When I brought my son to the meeting, everything changed. He said, why did you bring your son? I said, I want him to know that the borrower is servant to the lender. I want him to know to not go on partnerships. And I want him to see his father. Talk to people. as a servant. So he won't make the mistakes that I made. Do you think he's going to borrow money? Do you think he'll go into partnerships? I don't think he will. And when we left, the guy goes, you know what? We're going to work with you. You didn't come in here and try and get out of it. And you brought your son. You're talking to him about values. We're going to work with you. And they did. I've heard lots of excuses as to why not to teach your children. I don't have the gifting you have. I don't have the time you have. I don't own the business. I own whatever. But you know what? You're uniquely qualified to mentor your children. God gave them to you. He gave them to you. They're commanded by God to listen to you. If you allow them not to listen to you, you're setting them up for a life with a lot of heartache. No one else will love them like you do. No one else can know them like you can do. And no one else is commanded like you are. to mentor your children. Psalms 25, 4 through 5. Show me your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation. On you will I wait all day. You know, people come to me, they look for a certified financial plan. That's code word for certified fund plan. OK? Then we'll look at insurance, retirement, second home, travel. Elderly parents, how can I park them in an institution and have them not impede on my life? That's what they want to do, right? Usually, it's a life of self-indulgence, and they want to keep it going. A life of personal pursuits, and they've laid waste to their family. People I work with say, well, I've got kind of a sticky situation. I've got these kids by this marriage, this marriage. I've got this going on here. I've got, it's real complicated. How can I keep all of them away and all these elderly people, right? And how can I play golf every day? That's kind of what people want. And it's really sad. And I started sharing out a scripture with them and it really gets, decidedly turns the table. But your decisions that you make will affect hundreds of thousands of people. You say, that is ridiculous. I don't know more than 25 people, right? But it does. We have four boys. If they have four children, that's the next time that's 16, right? The next generation is the same thing. It's 256. Then it's 1,000, 4,000, 16,000, 65,000, and in eight generations, We'll have two hundred sixty two thousand one hundred forty four descendants. Greenville right or bigger right. Those are our descendants. So. Does what we do really matters. There's a gentleman named Max Jukes. You've heard of Max Jukes. How about Jonathan Edwards? Ever heard of Jonathan Edwards? They were born the same year, coincidentally, in the Northeast. They both mentored their children. One was purposeful. One was not. Max Jukes was an atheist. He believed in lawlessness. Self-indulgence. He kind of liked to drink, too, turns out. He wanted his kids to do whatever they want. No responsibility. They'll make their own way. Jonathan Edwards, however, was a very devout man. Do you know he started preaching the gospel in that time? Sometimes we think, like, 300 years ago, it must have been really puritanical. It was awesome. They ran him out of the church. Did you know that? Look up Jonathan Edwards. The great preacher was run out of the church. Run out of town. And they started preaching to who? Who did he preach to? Anybody know? Native Americans. They embraced the gospel. The people in the town didn't. Jonathan Edwards. Max Jibbs had descendants. They did a study. Princeton did it in 1970. It was done again in 1803 and done again in the late 1800s. Of his descendants they could find, 400 of them wrecked their physical body. 400 of them. 360 were professional vagrants. Seven were convicted murderers. 130 were in prison. 20, the best they could find out were 20 people learned to trade. 20 people, all his descendants. 10 of them learned that trade in prison. The average prison term was 13 years. 190 of his daughters were prostitutes. 100 were alcoholics. In the same state of Jonathan Edwards. His descendants were 300 ministers. 100 college professors, 100 lawyers, 60 were doctors, 86 were senators, one was the Vice President of the United States, and 60 congressmen. It makes a difference. I submit to you their no idle thoughts. No idle actions, no idle deeds, and no idle words. Everything counts. We need to choose not to settle. It's time to bear the weight. Fight the fight. Our mission is not to accept reality. Our mission is to define reality. As we're sitting here today with children, We're in the very process of defining our family reality. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing. Thank you for your time.