Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Listen to Part Two of this exploration of leadership lessons from the Scriptures. We will again review the insightful book titled The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible by Steve Moore and glean wisdom from those who have gone before us in order that we might lead well. In this episode we will discuss the critical need of having a genuine burden for others as well as embracing the risks associated with all ministry ventures.
Episode Transcript
Note: The Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast is created for listening, not reading. We provide these transcripts for reference. Transcripts are produced by transcription software and edited lightly. Typographical errors may occur.
Intro:
Welcome to another episode of the Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast. This is the place to enhance your insight as a CFO in order to expand your influence and optimize your ministries impact. Content on this show is to inform, instruct and encourage your strategic development. It is not to render specific financial or legal advice for your organization. Now here’s your host, David Beroth.
David Beroth:
Hello, my friends, and welcome to the November episode of the Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast. Thanks for taking your time today to join me for this episode. What we are looking at in this episode, as well as in last month’s episode, is reviewing a book that is titled The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible by an author named Steve Moore. The book is really just a fantastic book as Steve really mines incredible truths in Scripture around leadership. I would highly recommend that book to you. Last month’s episode, we looked at two of the lessons from that book. And in this month’s episode, we’re going to look at another two lessons that we can apply ourselves as financial leaders, as we endeavor to pursue true God, honoring biblical leadership in our roles.
I do want to point out to you that we are now posting a transcript of this podcast on the website, which is ChristianNonprofitCFO.com. So if you’d like to read over some of this material, as well as listening to it, you can now check out that website and read over the transcript that will be posted there. I do want to note that I’m actually recording this episode prior to the November election. And it’s interesting to see, before the selection occurs, how there are certain candidates that have been embracing more biblical roles of leadership and others that are not, and that applies to a variety of roles or a variety of offices in the government. But it’s good as we endeavor to be leaders ourselves to say, Lord, How can I pursue and how can I grow my own leadership abilities that in the sphere you’ve given to me, I truly can be a financial leader that serves with excellence, with the responsibility you’ve given to me.
In the October episode, we talked about two specific lessons that are really essential if we want to serve well in our financial leadership roles. The first lesson which Steve pointed out in his book, which we discussed, was the leadership lesson of favor. And this is what Steve said about that lesson. He said, “Giftedness and training are not enough to be effective as leaders. We need the favor of God.” What we talked about in the October episode then was that if we truly want to serve as financial leaders excellence, it’s not enough to be well-trained as important as it is. We need to experience God’s hand of blessing and favor in our lives if we want to serve well.
Then the second leadership lesson which we talked about is that of perspective. And we discussed how a differentiator between leaders and followers is their perspective. Leaders will see further and they will see different things that only followers would not see. And, and if we want to serve well as financial leaders, we need to ask God for the perspective He would have for us, that we can serve well as financial leaders.
So let’s now turn to the next two lessons that we’re going to be discussing here in this episode. The next lesson that we will cover here is that of burden. And I’m going to pursue the same format as I did for the October episode. We are first going to read over the executive summary that Steve had in his book. I then will summarize the key elements of the point. Third, I will pose a question for your consideration. And fourth and final, for each of these lessons, we will try to apply to financial leadership to give you some specific practical ideas of how you can serve well in your financial leadership role.
So let’s talk about burden and the executive summary, which Steve had in his book. This is what he said. “Spiritual leaders understand God is the source of both capacity and responsibility for leadership. From that sense of responsibility to God for leadership, we develop a burden for others. Without a sense of responsibility to God for leadership, the others-focused burden often morphs into personal ambition. This is the tragic story of Jeroboam, the first king of the divided kingdom of Israel. The primary evidence of a burden in the heart of a leader is the ministry of intercession for followers. If God has called you to lead a ministry, He has also called you to pray for that ministry.” So as we think about it, what is this lesson in leadership that God has for us in the Scripture? If we want to serve well, we need to be consumed with what God wants for us. And we need to be consumed with the needs of those who are following and who are under the scope of our leadership, much, much more than to be burdened for our own interest and be burdened for ourselves.
I like what Steve, how he defines leadership. He says this, leadership is “someone with God-given capacity and responsibility who is influencing others toward God’s purposes for the group.” Do you and I have a burden, not for our own interests? Do we come to our work each day saying, what is in it for me, or do we truly, and genuinely have the perspective of Lord? What is in this role and what is in this responsibility that I can serve others and see others needs being met and others needs being handled in my responsibility. That is a true biblical perspective of leadership, because without a sense responsibility to God for leadership, we will truly have that, which morphs into personal ambition.
And let’s talk for a few minutes about Jeroboam. I think that’s a great example as I was looking at Jeroboam, as an example. Here is Jeroboam. He works under Solomon’s leadership. Solomon of course was the third king of Israel. And Jeroboam had been given responsibility. He was this young man who was serving under Solomon’s rule and he was serving as one of 550 chief officials under King Solomon. He became distinguished as a young leader and he had been put in charge of some building projects. He really was diligent. He was very fast. Well, in his role as a young leader, as one of these officials under King Solomon, the Scripture actually describes Jeroboam as “a man of standing.” So here’s a young man who is working hard. He’s rising through the ranks. He’s climbing that corporate ladder, if you will, under Solomon’s leadership. He has truly been given the favor of God under Solomon’s reign. And the Scripture actually says in 1st Kings chapter 11, verse 28, it says, “Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.” Jeroboam had a tremendous amount of blessing that was being placed upon his life. He had a lot of potential. He had the ability to go places because he had the capacity he’d been given the opportunity. He was stepping into that and he was able to become a great leader to accomplish great things in Israel.
And what was interesting then when God started to bring judgment, because Solomon’s heart was starting to part from what God had for him. The prophet came to Jeroboam— the prophet whose name was Ahijah came to Jeroboam and actually told Jeroboam that God is going to give 10 tribes of leadership and responsibility to Jeroboam. So for Jeroboam to lead those 10 tribes. Well, so you can imagine here’s a young man who’s been seeing the glory and the splendor of Solomon’s jurisdiction, of Solomon’s rule and reign, and to think, Wow, I’ve seen God at work in my life. I’ve seen this favor granted to me by Solomon. And now I have this prophet telling me that I can also be a great leader. Wouldn’t that settle in into your heart to say, Oh, Lord, help me to be a leader that serves well the people that I have the privilege to lead. Well, Jeroboam did become that leader. You might recall the story that Rehoboam was given jurisdiction over the one tribe of Israel, the tribe of Judah, and Jeroboam then was given responsibility over the northern 10 tribes.
So what did Jeroboam do with that? Did he truly set out to seek the Lord? Did he set out to resolve the problems and the struggles that were facing? You might recall that when Rehoboam became the king, the people came and said, Oh, Solomon had made our work so difficult. Can you please help us resolve this problem? And Rehoboam was foolish. And he said, Oh no, you think it was tough? What my father Solomon did, the kind of work he gave for you to do, my work is even going to be that much more difficult. And the people revolted against Rehoboam. So Jeroboam comes on the scene and he knows what it’s like for the labor task force. He knows the responsibilities and the burdens they’ve had to bear. So did he position himself as one who could come alongside and helped meet the burdens and the needs of the people?
Well, unfortunately, no. I like what Steve Moore says. He says, Jeroboam, his kingdom could be known for the “could have been kingdom.” Jeroboam unfortunately focused on his own ambition. He focused on what is in it for me rather than what is in it for the people. Think about that. If Jeroboam would’ve come along and said, boy, I know that you’ve had to work so hard under Solomon’s reign. I want to come up with a solution that we can still meet the needs of the kingdom, but you will not have to work as hard in my kingdom as you did for Solomon’s kingdom. But, you know, Jeroboam, he just didn’t have a heart for the people like David did. And initially like Solomon did. No, Jeroboam had an interest, What is in it for me? And God’s hand of blessing was not upon him.
And unfortunately he then began to become idolatrous and led in that spirit of idolatry rather than serving the one true living God. Let me read for you what Steve Moore said about this… That’s two paragraphs here. Steve said, “Leaders without a burden for their followers fixate on what they don’t have. They compare their situation with others and project worst case scenario responses on followers. Rehoboam had one tribe. Jeroboam had ten. But Rehoboam held the territory of Judah, including the capital city, Jerusalem, where his father Solomon built the temple. Jeroboam worried that when the people of Israel went to the temple to worship, their allegiance would return turn to Rehoboam. Jeroboam became obsessed by fear of losing what he already had instead of living by faith and what God had promised to give. David had more faith to believe God, for the promise of his future kingship while hiding from Saul than Jeroboam had after already coming to power. The previous chapter explored how failure can lead to a loss of confidence and produce insecurity. Jeroboam shows us how fixating on the fear of failure without actually experiencing it can bring about the same results. His insecurity resulted in a scarcity mindset that made them vulnerable to bad advice and poor decisions.” Isn’t that sad? How unfortunate that Jeroboam was fixated on what was taking place in the kingdom under Rehoboam. And he became obsessed with the other kingdom that he did not have leadership over versus the 10 tribes and the responsibility and the opportunities that God had given to him. And he failed as a leader over those 10 tribes.
Steve went on to write later, “A God-given burden for others is like a safety rope, protecting leaders from falling into the sinkhole of a prideful preoccupation with success. Leaders gripped by the mission and burden for their followers will focus on God’s purposes for the group.” And what a testimony. So how about you and how about me? What’s the question before us, are you more burdened to enhance your opportunities? Or are you more burdened to advanced those whom you serve? We can learn this lesson from Jeroboam and others throughout the Scripture. Do we go to work each day thinking what is in it for others? Or do we go to work thinking what is in it for us?
So what’s this mean for financial leaders? I think we need to be intentional about seeking ways to minister, to the needs of your ministries constituents, and for your staff in your organization, for them to thrive. Position yourself to think how can I have them prosper, not for myself to prosper. And as we look for ways to be a greater blessing to those who are around us, I do believe the Lord will ultimately care for and have His hand of blessing upon you, but we must have a burden for others versus ourselves.
This can be demonstrated in different ways, but I think about for instance, a practical way, are we more concerned about listening to the needs of those around us, or do we tend to find ourselves doing most of the talking and consuming all the attention and all the ideas as the financial leader? Do we truly embrace when people come to us with their thoughts and their perspectives on things? Or do we just say no, we’re the financial leader and we’ll give leadership on any particular need pertain to our realm.
Here’s just a couple of thoughts, a couple of practical ideas. One thing that I try to do at least two or three times a week—my assistant calls it church visitation—but where I work, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, we have devotions each morning, and I try to do this a couple of times a week, as I’ll go around and just connect with each of the finance team members. I’ll stop in where they work, ask how they’re doing. You’ll get to know their families a bit, ask how things are going with their children or their parents or their grandchildren. You ask, you know, just how life is going for them. And it’s amazing because you start to connect with them in very meaningful and appropriate ways just to hear what’s going on in their worlds. And that can both help with a financial situation, but it can also just allow you to enter their worlds and show interest in them as a person, not just in what they’re doing for the finance team.
Another thing that I’ve tried to do in the past—haven’t done as much recently, but I like this idea as I have the time to do this—is on Friday, try to write one note of appreciation. And one note that you are just thinking about someone within your organization and you’re praying for them that day. And it’s amazing whether it’s a brief handwritten note or even just an email to say, Hey, the Lord has placed you on my heart today. I just want you to know that I’m really grateful for you and I’m praying for you today. What a blessing that would be that a financial leader is leaving their financial space as a person. And as a leader of the organization, to say, I’m interested in others throughout this ministry and what’s going on in their lives. Even, you know, periodically taking a Friday early afternoon and walk around the ministry for a half hour and just connect with different parts of the ministry and see how others are doing in the organization as well. I think you’ll be amazed that people are surprised and very pleased that a leader, and a financial leader, is willing to leave their financial space and to come and to enter their worlds and to show that you’re not burdened for yourself, you’re burdened for them and how they’re doing.
And of course, this goes for the constituents that your ministry serves as well. I remember a situation when we were working over in Africa with my first ministry, where I served as a financial leader. We would take these short-term trips over there. And one thing that the leader of the organization would do is he would encourage these foot washing services. Generally one of the first evenings, we would bring in some of these, we called national preachers or missionaries from the area and we would have a service together. And then we would generally end that service with a foot washing service, just as a testimony of mutual desire to serve each other and to serve the Lord. And it was so impactful when you would kneel down and you would begin to wash the feet of this gentleman from Zambia or Malawi or Mozambique, and to express your desire as a brother in the Lord to serve in the great work that God had mutually called you altogether to do, and you were there to serve them. What an impact that was, and what a way to solidify hearts and minds together to accomplish the great work that God had called us to do.
So, burden. I would challenge you ask God, cry out to the Lord, Lord, do I have a burden? And let me demonstrate my burden for those that I have the privilege to serve in my ministry.
Lesson number four, risk. Now, once again, there are 10 leadership conversations that Steve Moore talks about 10 lessons. We are only talking about four of them between last month’s episode and this month’s episode. I tried to select four that I felt were relevant for financial leaders. So the fourth and final one we’re going to talk about is risk.
And let me read for you what Steve said about this element for risk, which I would imagine you, like me, have struggled with in how we handle this area as financial leaders. This is what he said, “A leader’s greatest opportunity for impact will almost always require the biggest sacrifice and greatest risk. There is no spiritual merit associated with increasing risk by failing to plan. Nothing about planning is incompatible with prayer. Unbiblical teaching on the character of God, suffering, and risk has swept the North American church. Queen Esther story is most often referenced for the importance of timing and opportunity with the words of Mordecai, ‘for such a time as this.’ We can only make sense of these five words by remembering the five words of Esther, ‘If I perish, I perish.'” What Steve sets out to do in this chapter is to look at Scripture and to say that when there are the greatest ministry opportunities, there will be a commensurate amount of risk, that there is an unknown of what will happen for those ministry opportunities. And you see that throughout the pages of Scripture, you think of all the ministry of Christ when Christ would send his disciples out great ministry opportunities, but there was the unknown.
What was the risk associated with the ministry potential that was out there? When you think about the apostle Paul, how many difficult times did he have to go through? Because there was ministry to be had, but he had to face and to overcome great obstacles of risk in order to see God’s hand at work. So there’s this correlation that if we want to see a large, significant impact, there will be significant risk. And you think about that just from a financial perspective. We know in the world of investments, the greatest amount of investment return will coincide with the greatest amount of risk. Now, of course, if you just want those very minimal fixed income rates of return for years on end, you can get that 10 basis points of return for very little risk. But do you really want to have a total financial portfolio or gain 10 basis points? Or do you want to say, well, let’s go ahead and assume some risks because we want to have greater rates of return. Well, there’s the, the same element in the spiritual sphere.
If we want to see great things done for the Lord through our ministry and through our lives, we need to say, God, what’s the risk that you would have and how can we embrace that to accomplish what you have before us. Risk. How do we handle that as financial leaders? Let me read a couple of quotes that Steve had from A. W. Tozer, as well as a quote that he had from John Piper. They’re longer quotes, but I think they’re just really, really meaningful, impactful quotes. I want to share them with you.
This is what A. W. Tozer said along the lines of risk. Tozer said this, “The God of the moderate evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution, never breaks over our bylaws. He’s a very well-behaved God and very denominational and very much one of us. And we ask Him to help us when we’re in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we’re asleep. The God of the moderate evangelical, isn’t a God I could have much respect for. But when the Holy Spirit shows us God as He is, we admire him to the point of wonder and delight.” Steve says at the core of this teaching is the idea that God loves us so much, He never wants us to do anything that’s difficult or dangerous. But that’s just not the God of the Bible. Because we see in the Scripture that God does call us to risk. He does call us to lay down our lives. He calls us to exit our comfort zone in order to accomplish what He has for us, for His glory and for His honor. And I think that Tozer touches upon that, that we need to say, God, what can we do to enter into Your world of astonishment? Because You are showing up in ways where we are completely dependent and fully trusting upon You.
John Piper describes the teaching of Jesus on risk in this way. Piper says, “By removing eternal risk Christ calls His people to continual temporal risk. With staggering promises of everlasting joy, Jesus unleashed a movement of radical, loving risk-takers. He said, ‘You will be delivered up even by parents. And some of you, they will put to death.'” Piper says, “Only some, which means it might be you and it might not. That’s what risk means. It’s not risky to shoot yourself in the head. The outcome is certain. It is risky to serve Christ in a war zone. You might get shot. You might not.” Piper says, “Christ calls us to take risks for kingdom purposes. Almost every message of American consumerism says the opposite. Maximize comfort and security. Now, not in heaven. Christ does not join that chorus. To every timid saint wavering on the edge of some dangerous gospel venture, Christ says, ‘Fear not. You can only be killed.’ Yes, by all means, maximize your joy. How? For the sake of love, risk being reviled and persecuted and lied about, as Jesus said in Matthew 5, ‘for your reward is great in heaven.'” What a powerful statement by Piper.
You think about— okay, if you shoot yourself in the head, there’s no risk of that because you know, you’re going to know you’re going to kill yourself. The outcome is certain. But what’s risky is when you seek to serve Christ in that difficult part of the world, because you don’t know what the outcome is going to be, but you know that you are trusting in Christ that He has given to you. The everlasting reward through our faith and trust in Him and what He has for us for all eternity. Therefore we can enter into His world of temporal risk because we are following His plan and His purposes. Therein is that combination of impact coinciding with risk.
Steve Moore then talks about in the Scripture, Esther… here’s Esther, she’s been given this opportunity to be the queen. That’s kind of came out of nowhere. How difficult must this be? What would it be like? Should I—I can imagine her thinking—should I just enjoy my duties as a queen, my privileges as a queen? And yet when it’s brought to her attention that the lives of the Jewish people are at risk and Mordecai comes and says, Esther, this is your time. God has brought you to this place in this season, for you to take that risk for the sake of the people. Esther says, Okay, I’m willing. I’m willing to take that risk upon myself. I’m willing to perish in order to potentially accomplish a magnificent mission for the Lord. And we know the story, how God did care for her, protect her, and accomplished incredible things because Esther was willing to step out and enter into that risk.
Opportunity and risk. They go together. The greater the opportunity, the bigger the risk. Of course, the challenge in leadership is how do you blend wisdom, God-honoring risk, and zeal with the wisdom that the Lord would have for us? We should see God at work. And how do we say, Let’s push the limits of mission opportunity with the risk that is associated with that and to cry out to the Lord for wisdom in that.
So the question for you and for me, do we, as financial leaders look at opportunities from a spirit of fear, or do we look at them from a spirit of faith? You know, we don’t want to be foolish, but we want to be sensitive. God, what are you doing? What do you have for us as an organization? How can I come along as a financial leader to assist in these risk-filled opportunities for the sake of the call of the mission. Thinking about, back to my time at Seed Company, I remember as a financial leader, trying to sort through when our CEO at the time was talking about having to jump the S curve and what would be our second line of business to see the ministry continue to thrive in the years to come. And as a financial leader, you’re trying to wrestle with, well, what exactly does that mean? And what’s the financial impact and what are the… what’s the future gonna hold?
Well, that’s the essence of leadership. You don’t know. You’re entering into this risk-filled missional opportunity and saying, God, lead us and guide us and direct us. And we’re willing to assume the risk in order to see Your work be accomplished. I remember just a couple months ago, I was attending some training for international travel. And the instructor in that training made a couple of interesting points that I thought were relevant here. He was talking about Caleb and Joshua, and he made this point— he said, “Risk and obedience are indelibly linked. When you enter into the areas of darkness which need the light of Christ, there will always be that inherent risk.” And I think about it from a safety and security perspective. The greater the darkness, the greater the opportunity for the light of Christ to shine.
Is there a risk? Absolutely. But do we run from the risk or do we say God, show me where I can run into those areas of risk that the hope of Christ can be clearly seen by those who desperately need it. As Jesus said, we need to be wise as serpents, gentle as doves, but to pursue those missional opportunities. So what does this mean for financial leaders? You will find if you have served for any length of time as a financial leader, that most CEOs are visionaries. They’re visionaries… All the monumental things that they believe the Lord could do through your organization. The CEOs are courageous. They have lots of ideas and things that they believe God would have for the ministry. As CFOs—that’s you and me—we should have wisdom and financial insight, but we need to come along to say, How can we assist with this risk-filled vision?
How can we position ourselves and our financial teams from that of a posture of support, and not merely being the naysayers, not having the negativity of saying, well, there’s too much risk in that… no, we need to avoid any opportunities where there’s risk… no, that should not be our position. We should not be those naysayers. We don’t want to be that CF-NO-type leader of every great opportunity. The CEO and others will realize that the CFO is going to come with all the negative potential. Along with that risk filled opportunity, we need to cry out to the Lord and say, God help me to provide that good wisdom, the good insight, that I can assist the CEO and I can assist the board. I can assist others of how we can pursue what God has for us with financial insight and financial assistance.
I think of one example. Once again, the first ministry I was with, a friend of mine, his name was Dean Kerschner. He had just had lots of wonderful ideas. Wasn’t the leader of the ministry, but he was given some opportunities to thrive in different parts of the organization. Well, he decided that he wanted to start a venture in Malawi that could raise agricultural crops as well as different livestock, in order to be more of a self-supporting type part of the ministry. And there’s an aspect of, man, there’s all sorts of risk involved with that. He was able to purchase about a thousand acres of property with frontage on Lake Malawi, which is the fifth largest lake in Africa. He was able to work with a builder friend of his, basically to build a self-sustaining house there with windmill and solar power. And they truly were kind of off the grid able to survive. What’s the risk associated with that? I mean, there’s all sorts of risks: risk of cultural difficulties, risk of political difficulties, risk of spiritual difficulties, risk of financial difficulties. But is it my position just to give to him all the risk, or is it my position to come alongside and say, Dean, what an incredible idea, let’s think through, What are the different elements financially, speaking of how we could see this part of the ministry thrive? And, you know, Dean just ran with it, and God’s hand of blessing has been upon that for so many years now where they truly— it is just a magnificent work there, and they’re ministering. They’re raising the crops. They’re able to feed many people in that part of Malawi. They’ve raised funds to purchase Bibles and many other ministry— drug ministry and training materials. And now their ministry to orphans and widows. Along the way God’s hand of blessing has been upon that because Dean sought the Lord, believed this is what God had for him in this season of his ministry life. And it’s been just a wonderful work because, great risk, great ministry opportunity.
God was at work there. Steve Moore points out the quote from CT Studd who said, “Some wish to live within the sound of chapel bell. But I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” And so in this area of risk, I would encourage you to think, how can I come along and provide input and insight? To not run away from risk, but to be well-informed when we pursue those ministry opportunities within that sphere of risk.
So let me close with one final thought that Steve mentioned his book, which I just thought was so relevant as well. As Steve was researching the Scriptures. He said, you know, the reality is, we have enough information to study about 100 leaders really well in the Scriptures. Of course, there are more leaders than that, but those that have a significant amount of leadership responsibility and enough written in the Scripture that we can study them. Steve’s observation was that, only one leader in three finished well. So about 33% of the leaders finished well. I mean, it’s so sad when you see leaders that do well for a while. But then they struggle and they fall away. I just recently even got some information. There was a financial leader that has served the Lord for many years, and something came up, and that leader is no longer part of the organization that he had been serving at for quite a few years. And that just grieves your heart, because, you want to see leaders do well and you want to see them finish well. Steve said, “One of the keys to finishing well is to view our present leadership with a lifetime perspective.” And I pray that you and I would both say, God, help me to serve You and to lead well long-term for a lifetime, not just for a couple years, not even just, you know, for a decade or two decades. I want to serve You as long, Lord, as You give me breath. I want to be a faithful leader and accomplish what You have for me, as long as You allow me to lead and give me the opportunity to lead.
So friends, I know we’ve talked about quite a few things, but I would encourage you to truly seek the Lord and ask God, Lord, I want to position myself. Number one, that I can have your favor in order to lead well. Number two, Lord, give me perspective— give me Your perspective that I can lead well in my organization. Three, Lord, give me a burden, not for myself, not for my own opportunities, but how I want to be burdened for the people that I have the privilege to serve. And then fourth, Lord, help me to look at the risk, help me to not run away from risk, even though it’s difficult and it’s scary at time, but help me to help our organization to run well into the risky areas that You would have for us in order to see the ministry thrive.
So my friends, thank you again once more for joining me for this episode of the Christian Nonprofit CFO Podcast, where we have considered together, between the October episode and the November episode, top leadership lessons from the Bible. I look forward to connecting with you again in the months ahead to explore how to best enhance our insight in order to expand our impact. I will now close in the words of Jude. “Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy to God, our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”