1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,460 I know the book is intentional living and giving. 2 00:00:03,700 --> 00:00:08,360 And I want to dive deeper into that because I know you just also mentioned that 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,340 you were considering you're actually marketing on that. 4 00:00:11,580 --> 00:00:15,740 And I'm sure that's a lot of a lot of time consuming. 5 00:00:15,740 --> 00:00:17,620 Marketing is just not easy in general. 6 00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:19,340 You've just got to stay with it. 7 00:00:19,340 --> 00:00:21,920 You know, nothing happens by itself. 8 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,120 So that's just, you know, I do that. 9 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:30,400 I have a web, you know, I'm upgrading the web pages with my guy. 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,720 I mean, there's just stuff going on all the time. 11 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:39,120 Yeah, we had a church in our city burned down to a week and a half ago. 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,680 And now we're trying to get that congregation to use our facility while 13 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:45,460 they're trying to decide what to do. 14 00:00:45,460 --> 00:00:47,840 So I got to write up a covenant of understanding. 15 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,520 Well, that's one more thing I didn't know I was going to do at noon yesterday, 16 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:57,000 but we need to have it in writing so that, you know, it's if it's not in writing, 17 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,200 it does not exist. 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,360 It's been my model for years. 19 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:05,040 So I'm I've said, OK, I'll sit down and write up a memorandum or a covenant of 20 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,280 understanding with the the pastor that's going to use the church. 21 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,320 He's got a congregation of maybe 50 to 60 people. 22 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,420 But the entire building burned to the ground. 23 00:01:16,420 --> 00:01:17,960 It's an old historic building. 24 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:24,440 And they were it they didn't own it, but they were using it under the auspices 25 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,080 of another Christian organization. 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,080 But, you know, that kind of stuff, I never I'm thinking, OK, I wasn't planning on 27 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,640 doing that today. And I love it. 28 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:39,920 And, you know, the more that you do outside of the book, the more it seems like 29 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,200 now you have to, like you said, update the website, go back into the marketing piece. 30 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:50,600 And so just for the audience who sees this, I'm Jovanka McGee, co-host of 31 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,280 Vision Pros Live. And I'm with Larry O'Nan. 32 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:59,440 Please tell me the name of your book and where you're located again. 33 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,360 Well, I'm from Southern California right now. 34 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,320 I've been lived out here long enough. 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,280 There my kids call California home. 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,640 I was originally born and raised in western Colorado. 37 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:12,080 So I'm a Colorado Rockies kid. 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,520 I mean, University of Colorado graduate, go Buffalo's, you know, all that kind of stuff. 39 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:22,240 But that was way back in the dark ages in the late 60s and then into the early 70s. 40 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,920 I lived in the eastern part of the United States in the Philadelphia area. 41 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,000 But I've been in California since 1970. 42 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,680 So when all my grandkids and my kids are born out here, I might as well call it home. 43 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:41,560 I know. And, you know, a part of my well, my childhood and some of my adulthood 44 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,440 was in Colorado, born and raised in Denver, Colorado. 45 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,560 And I have two children that were born there and then two children that were born here 46 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,280 in San Antonio, Texas. But Colorado will always be home for me. 47 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,120 There's a beauty about that place is you can't get out of your system. 48 00:02:58,200 --> 00:02:59,640 You can not. 49 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:02,160 You can. Yeah, it's really great. 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,880 No, it was years ago. 51 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:10,720 I went to the University of Colorado, was majoring in theater arts, and I knew I was 52 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,720 going to become a famous guy on Broadway or New York. 53 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,480 I didn't know which. But I'd never been to New York. 54 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,880 I'd gone as far east as Denver, Colorado. 55 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,040 So you could tell I really had a huge expanse of the United States, 56 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,560 Western Colorado, Western United States. 57 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:32,320 I knew quite a bit about. But my journey took me into Philadelphia of all places. 58 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,360 When I told them told I was going to be working in Philadelphia, I didn't know if it was a city 59 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,200 or a state. I just felt place east. Yeah. 60 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,280 And I learned a lot. I mean, that's the you know, the city of brotherly love. 61 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,160 And I lived in right downtown Philadelphia and worked at the University of Pennsylvania 62 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,480 for a while. That is awesome. 63 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,200 Way back. But, you know, I got, you know, I don't get back there too often anymore, 64 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,480 but I have a few interesting experiences from that part of the country. 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,200 Larry, I don't know why coming on here. 66 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,480 I feel like I'm just speaking to a friend I haven't seen in a while. 67 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,360 And then I was sitting here like, am I? 68 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,320 Yeah, like Larry Onan is a friend. 69 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,880 Hey, I mean, it just feels so comfortable speaking with you. 70 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,920 You have a wealth of knowledge and just your your lifespan and all the stories 71 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,280 that you've shared with me is so intriguing that I get caught up in it. 72 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,280 But let's go ahead to your book. 73 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:32,520 Your book Intentional Living and Giving was published recently when it was aimed 74 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,120 at the younger generation. 75 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,920 What inspired you to focus on this demographic? 76 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:44,200 Well, I initially came up with the concepts of that book over 45 years ago. 77 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:51,320 And I was assigned actually to figure out what lifestyle stewardship was 78 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,720 by a group of people that were leaders of the organization I was with. 79 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,520 I was in a meeting and they were hearing a presentation of how they were going to 80 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,720 raise significant new capital funding. 81 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:10,200 And the consultants at that time were very insistent that if they did as the 82 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:16,400 organization I was with did not begin to teach lifestyle stewardship, we were going 83 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,680 to create animosity and competition with other Christian nonprofit organizations. 84 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,520 And the organization didn't want to do that, but they sure didn't want to start 85 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:27,520 another ministry. 86 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:32,840 And the consultants were pretty firm if you can raise significant resources. 87 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,480 They were aiming for a billion dollars in income over a period of time. 88 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,400 And they said the problem is not the amount of money, but the problem is you 89 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,560 want to do it in a collaborative way where other people are blessed. 90 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:49,120 And if you're just out raising money, they're going to see you as taking their 91 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:49,520 money. 92 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,680 But they said if you start teaching a stewardship that's much broader than what 93 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,840 is historically been taught, it could help everybody. 94 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,120 And I was in the meeting. 95 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,120 I've been quite successful in the last few years of what I was doing, but I was 96 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:07,200 a nobody in the room. 97 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,720 I was just there for I was riding along. 98 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,280 I was a young kid at 32 years of age. 99 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,160 And the discussion was going on and the consultants were pretty firm. 100 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,600 And so somebody said, well, let's assign that off to Larry and let him look into 101 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:23,280 that matter. 102 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:25,880 Now, that was really a ploy to get off a topic. 103 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:26,400 Yes. 104 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,000 But I put it down as a serious responsibility. 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,640 I have a high responsibility factor in my life. 106 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,800 So I wrote down, figure out what lifestyle stewardship really is. 107 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,160 And then at the bottom of that page on blank sheet of paper, I wrote down, you've 108 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,920 got the freedom to fail because I had no idea what I was going to be doing with 109 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:46,280 this. 110 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:49,240 I didn't know what the responsibility would imply. 111 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,720 And the meeting went on, they got into other topics, but my assignment was to 112 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:54,960 take on this topic. 113 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,520 And about two or three weeks later, I got a team of guys together and I said, we 114 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,200 need to get serious and figure this out. 115 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,040 I don't even know what word stewardship really means. 116 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,960 You know, I'd been raised in a preacher's family all my life. 117 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,960 I'd always heard about stewardship and tithing and that kind of stuff. 118 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,360 So the terms didn't mean we're not terribly clear. 119 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,720 It was language that we used, but nobody knew what was meant by it. 120 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,160 So when you hear the word stewardship, almost everybody thinks about money. 121 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:26,480 Okay. 122 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,200 This is the money pitched from the church is going to come on stewardship Sunday. 123 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,960 And the pastor is going to speak three or four times a year on it because he's 124 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,760 got to talk about money once in a while. 125 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:38,680 There is nothing more than the truth. 126 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,840 Then stewardship has really very little to do about money. 127 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,160 The word steward means the one that's not going to be used. 128 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,800 It means the one that's managing the affairs of somebody else. 129 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:51,200 That's all that it means. 130 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:52,840 It's a stewardship. 131 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,920 So if you're in an airplane and you have these delightful ladies and men walking 132 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,200 up and down the aisle, they're stewards or stewardesses. 133 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,880 What they're doing is they're managing on behalf of a Delta or United or American 134 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,360 or whatever the brand is, they're managing the security of that airplane 135 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:12,400 while it's in the air. 136 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:16,520 They know how to spot bad people and good people and smile at you at the same time 137 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:17,520 they give you a coke. 138 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,720 So, but that is a steward. 139 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:24,680 They are there not just to be nice to you, but they're there on behalf of somebody 140 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:29,760 else to secure the intentions of that objective of flying an airplane. 141 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:36,080 And if you go back even into a couple of hundred years ago, the steward back in 142 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,480 the, we call the dark ages was the one that was managed in the affairs of the estate 143 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:42,480 manager. 144 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:44,080 They did the finances. 145 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,200 They oversaw all the, uh, the personnel. 146 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,160 They took care of the property. 147 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:54,200 So any landlord had stewards working for him to take care of this stuff. 148 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,560 And that's the same idea that you find in scripture, but I didn't know that. 149 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:00,160 I just thought stewardship men. 150 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:00,800 Okay. 151 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:01,960 They're going to ask me for money. 152 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,360 Better hold on to my wallet, you know, type of thing. 153 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:10,600 But I got into that and I really, the book itself, intentional living and giving is 154 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,960 outlining the principles that we learned way back then. 155 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,720 And I have taught for many years globally as I've done consulting with many 156 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:25,560 nonprofit organizations, but I wrote the book so that the alpha generation, the Z 157 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:31,880 generation, the younger crowd who probably is as ignorant of what stewardship means 158 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:37,840 as I was can reconnect and jumpstart themselves into living a life that's 159 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,760 thriving rather than a life of defeat and frustration. 160 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,640 Because if you think everything is yours, then everything has fallen apart. 161 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:46,560 It's your fault. 162 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:48,280 It's somebody else's fault. 163 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:53,440 We live in a pretty compressed and deep depressed environment. 164 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,200 And I was in Ireland a while back, about three years ago. 165 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,000 And I heard a group of from your team of people I was working with. 166 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:06,200 And they were saying, we just don't find any information that's in writing that 167 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,520 helps people really understand what we're learning. 168 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,200 And I came back and I said, I better dust off the notes. 169 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,080 I better dust off my book in the eighties and I need to get this back out for a new 170 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:18,560 generation to understand. 171 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:24,680 So living and giving is just really about the words on the front of that cover. 172 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,040 Number one, it's got to be intentional. 173 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:32,920 You don't fly through life on the seat of your pants and life is living and giving. 174 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,440 And then we unpack what that all means and you get into the book. 175 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:44,560 And with that being said, yes, I know that in this day and age, in our political 176 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:50,400 environment, in our economic environment, we have been trained to think that life is 177 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,280 about us and life is not about us. 178 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,080 We are stewards of the king. 179 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:01,680 When you look into scripture, and this has got a scriptural basis to it, you go back 180 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:06,760 into Genesis, the second chapter, and you find that God placed Adam and Eve in a 181 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,480 garden of Eden to take care of his stuff. 182 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,480 Yes, we came on the scene with a job description. 183 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,760 Now, Adam and Eve both blew it because they were preoccupied by selfishness. 184 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:28,000 But, and so when you look at the story of the fall of man, as we call it, you see man 185 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,160 drifting from what God intended man to do. 186 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,760 And if I am a steward, then I'm a steward for everything. 187 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:37,080 Absolutely. 188 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,280 My time, my talent, my treasure. 189 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:40,320 I don't own a house. 190 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:41,280 I don't own a car. 191 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:42,360 I don't own clothes. 192 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:45,520 Everything I've got, I'm stewarding for somebody else. 193 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,960 Now, the state of California thinks they tax me and they charge me money and that 194 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:50,720 kind of stuff. 195 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,680 Yes, there is an assignment from a duality of government that says, you know, 196 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,760 you are responsible for this and we're going to tax you for it. 197 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,480 But in reality, I don't own anything. 198 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,520 And when I started to realize everything I have, even when it comes to the green 199 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:12,800 New Deal, as we all hear about up there, you know, the whole area of taking care of 200 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,160 God's creation. 201 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,680 And naturally, if you're really going to take care of it, you're going to pick up 202 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:18,600 after yourself. 203 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:20,440 You're not going to throw stuff out the car window. 204 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,400 You're not going to leave trash laying around. 205 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,640 You're going to be sensitive to how many times you drive through the car. 206 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,560 Many times you drive across town because it does use up fuel. 207 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,320 Yeah, but it's not the extreme side. 208 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,640 It's just being a good steward. 209 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:35,200 Yeah, yeah. 210 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:40,880 And then you know, and so with the book, what new insights or lessons have you 211 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,280 learned since publishing the book that you'd like to share with anyone? 212 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,640 I know it was in June, but hey, we're already in September and it's almost the 213 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:50,520 end of the year. 214 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:55,200 You know, as I started the book, I had books available back in March of this 215 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:55,640 year. 216 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:56,320 Okay. 217 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,400 And when the book started coming out, it was interesting. 218 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,240 I didn't know who was going to be the one that was interested. 219 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:05,800 And I went to a men's breakfast. 220 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,800 I was speaker there that morning and there was probably six or eight guys that 221 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,040 bought books at the end of my speaking. 222 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,360 And I was amazed how they started telling me where they were in the book. 223 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:21,040 Now, I normally you think about this book, it's women and men, but in this 224 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:26,160 particular case, it was three different guys independent of each other kept 225 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,760 coming to me and say, I'm in chapter so-and-so. 226 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,400 I read this illustration. 227 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,320 I'm learning this. 228 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,840 I'm taking my time to do the little exercises at the end of the chapter. 229 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:41,160 And I thought, you know, this could be a very valuable tool for men that are 230 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:42,000 confused. 231 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:47,200 Women typically pick up on books and they like to read and they are wanting 232 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,040 to be inspired. 233 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:53,400 I don't find too many guys that like to read and be inspired, but in this 234 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,960 particular case, it's been very interesting to hear people say, I really 235 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,240 learned something I never thought about before over here when you gave this 236 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:01,480 story and you did this. 237 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:06,040 The book is full of stories, but the book is also full of principles. 238 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,880 And what I did, Jabonka, I read the book and I was like, I'm going to 239 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:15,800 read it, Jabonka, I wrote the book in a design where the first nine chapters 240 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:20,760 are dealing with the meat of what I would call the theology of stewardship. 241 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:27,160 Theology, I'm not trying to be religious per se on it, but it's the core values 242 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:28,760 of what makes up the principles. 243 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:35,880 The latter half of the book is how do you apply these to everyday living from 244 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,760 life to life to life to life? 245 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,520 Because I think we sometimes get concepts in our brain, but we don't know 246 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,280 how to make them work in our life. 247 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:50,000 And I've found people in the last few months of saying what was really helpful 248 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:55,400 because I see even my life differently today because not of the principle, but 249 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:56,560 just how to apply it. 250 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,240 That's what we're talking about here. 251 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,520 So intentional living and giving is like a guidebook to help you live a 252 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,520 victorious, thriving life. 253 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,360 And it's not full of great secrets. 254 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:15,800 I think it is bringing five key principles together that independently you may think 255 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:18,200 they don't tie together. 256 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,040 But when you see all five of them working, it's like, okay, my hand is five fingers. 257 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,080 My hand is not just my thumb. 258 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,320 And we sometimes think of life as, okay, I got that principle down, but we don't 259 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:31,400 function with a thumb. 260 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,240 We function because the whole hand works together. 261 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,920 And God's principle of stewardship is around five core principles. 262 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:40,760 And that's what's outlined. 263 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,280 And then how do you make those principles work in your life? 264 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:44,640 Absolutely. 265 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,040 So what are one or two key principles from that book that you'd like to share? 266 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:50,240 Okay. 267 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,160 I'll just take a couple of them here. 268 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,480 I think the first one is what every person that's ever been in a faith 269 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,200 community has heard about. 270 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,760 God owns it all. And we think, well, God does that, but he's sure not involved very 271 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:04,280 much. 272 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,280 I mean, the tendency is to be religious and not be really personal in it. 273 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:13,400 But when you look at scripture, you find that there's not a thing that he's ever 274 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:14,400 given anybody. 275 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,800 He talks about giving in the sense of he's transferred responsibility, but he's 276 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,040 not saying this is yours and this no longer mine. 277 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:31,160 I know when King David was raising the money for the temple in the Old Testament, 278 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,840 he was never going to build the temple, but he raised the funding so his son 279 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:36,840 could build it. 280 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,000 And he has a prayer in there that says, yours, O Lord, is everything. 281 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,600 You own everything and heaven and earth is yours. 282 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,800 We are just here to serve you. 283 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:52,640 I think many times people don't realize we forget that we're not the only ones 284 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:54,240 who own everything. 285 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,840 We forget that he owns it all and we don't have anything. 286 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:03,960 But the second principle is that God is a giver because he gave his creation. 287 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:05,240 He gave Adam and Eve. 288 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,440 Everything about him is giving. 289 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:13,840 It's a thread throughout the entire scripture that he's a giver. 290 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,640 And God wants us to be givers as well. 291 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,240 One little famous verse I learned when I was a kid. 292 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:28,440 It was a simple little verse for Sunday school days, way back in the dark ages. 293 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,040 But I never knew what the word cheerful meant. 294 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,440 Yeah, I thought it meant laughs and joy and ho ho ho. 295 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:37,640 This is really fun. 296 00:17:38,140 --> 00:17:42,140 But that's not the word that's in the scripture. 297 00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:44,740 The word is a Greek word that's hilarious. 298 00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:51,340 And hilarious is the basis of the word that means to cause to shine like the sun. 299 00:17:51,340 --> 00:17:52,340 Yes. 300 00:17:52,340 --> 00:17:57,140 Now how in the world is going to cause to shine like the sun have anything to do with 301 00:17:57,140 --> 00:17:58,140 being cheerful? 302 00:17:58,140 --> 00:18:03,140 Well, it was an English translation way back in the King James Version that came up with 303 00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:04,140 cheerfulness. 304 00:18:04,140 --> 00:18:08,140 But to cause to shine like the sun says the sun's got one purpose. 305 00:18:08,140 --> 00:18:10,340 Give off heat, give off light. 306 00:18:10,340 --> 00:18:11,340 It's a ball of gas. 307 00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:13,340 It's not a planet like we have. 308 00:18:13,340 --> 00:18:14,340 Yes. 309 00:18:14,340 --> 00:18:20,540 And just as the sun is designed to give off heat and give off light, we are designed to 310 00:18:20,540 --> 00:18:24,540 be givers from the one that provided for us in the first place. 311 00:18:24,540 --> 00:18:25,540 Yeah. 312 00:18:25,540 --> 00:18:28,540 So God loves a hilarious giver. 313 00:18:28,540 --> 00:18:29,540 Yes. 314 00:18:29,540 --> 00:18:35,540 Really hilariously because they're doing the very thing that God created them to do. 315 00:18:35,540 --> 00:18:39,540 And I think many people are trying to take rather than give. 316 00:18:39,540 --> 00:18:46,540 And every time you're trying to take anything and become possessive on that dictator outcome, 317 00:18:46,540 --> 00:18:48,540 it's just going to create problems. 318 00:18:48,540 --> 00:18:51,540 God loves a cheerful giver. 319 00:18:51,540 --> 00:18:54,540 He wants us to learn to give like he gave. 320 00:18:54,540 --> 00:18:55,540 Yeah. 321 00:18:55,540 --> 00:18:56,540 Yeah. 322 00:18:56,540 --> 00:19:03,540 And what I like hearing about that, Larry, is the fact that people here give and money 323 00:19:03,540 --> 00:19:04,540 monetary, right? 324 00:19:04,540 --> 00:19:11,540 It's always it's never giving your time or it's rarely won't say never, but it's rarely 325 00:19:11,540 --> 00:19:16,540 about things that you really have control over and you make a conscious decision to 326 00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:18,540 be intentional about doing that. 327 00:19:18,540 --> 00:19:24,540 And like you said, to be cheerful is shining like the sun and giving off, you know, a brightness 328 00:19:24,540 --> 00:19:32,540 and yes, simply just saying hello or simply loving unconditionally without finding out 329 00:19:32,540 --> 00:19:33,540 the story. 330 00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:34,540 Right. 331 00:19:34,540 --> 00:19:35,540 Because that's what God has done for us. 332 00:19:35,540 --> 00:19:41,180 And so I think that those are two great points that I enjoy hearing about because giving 333 00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:43,540 is so much more than just monetary. 334 00:19:43,540 --> 00:19:48,620 There was years ago, I taught a class and I asked him, I want to do some these were young 335 00:19:48,620 --> 00:19:50,660 adults, couples. 336 00:19:50,660 --> 00:19:52,860 And I said, I need your help. 337 00:19:52,860 --> 00:19:57,740 I want to figure out how many things we can give in the next 25 minutes. 338 00:19:57,740 --> 00:20:00,100 And so I put it in groups and I put them to work. 339 00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:07,340 And I said, can we come up with 100 different things to give without ever mentioning money? 340 00:20:07,340 --> 00:20:09,220 Because it's a given money can be given. 341 00:20:09,220 --> 00:20:15,380 In fact, the Old Testament, when when God was declaring through to the children of Israel, 342 00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:21,300 the principles of giving, he was calling it the tithe at the time. 343 00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:24,100 And the tithe is 10 percent of income. 344 00:20:24,100 --> 00:20:25,900 And there's a whole story to get into. 345 00:20:25,900 --> 00:20:30,700 And God said, I'm not giving you this principle because I need money. 346 00:20:30,700 --> 00:20:31,700 Yeah. 347 00:20:31,700 --> 00:20:36,980 I'm giving this principle to you because you need to keep me first in all things. 348 00:20:36,980 --> 00:20:42,020 And when you transfer, that's this money part, because it's a very tangible thing. 349 00:20:42,020 --> 00:20:46,480 We can see money go, we can count it, we can do things with it. 350 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:52,220 But there's at least 100 things that anybody in this world can be giving every single day. 351 00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:56,700 And sometimes it's the next door listening to the next door neighbor when you don't have 352 00:20:56,700 --> 00:20:57,700 time. 353 00:20:57,700 --> 00:20:58,700 Absolutely. 354 00:20:58,700 --> 00:21:01,140 It's sometimes mowing somebody's lawn. 355 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:03,700 It's sometimes taking person across town. 356 00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:07,060 It's going to take you time and some gasoline to do that. 357 00:21:07,060 --> 00:21:12,500 You know, we need to be looking at how many things can we give and what do we have to 358 00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:13,500 give? 359 00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:15,020 People say, I don't have anything to give. 360 00:21:15,020 --> 00:21:17,780 What they're really saying to me is I don't have any money right now. 361 00:21:17,780 --> 00:21:18,780 Yes, yes. 362 00:21:18,780 --> 00:21:23,060 Well, that is, oh, yeah, you have plenty to give and I don't want your money. 363 00:21:23,060 --> 00:21:24,820 Yes, yes, yes. 364 00:21:24,820 --> 00:21:30,420 So can I help you become a giver the way God's a giver? 365 00:21:30,420 --> 00:21:32,900 And then yes, money is going to come along the picture. 366 00:21:32,900 --> 00:21:38,820 I dedicated one whole chapter out of 17 chapters about money, because everybody is going to 367 00:21:38,820 --> 00:21:43,780 think a book that's got the word stewardship in it someplace must be about money. 368 00:21:43,780 --> 00:21:44,780 Okay. 369 00:21:44,780 --> 00:21:45,780 Yes. 370 00:21:45,780 --> 00:21:50,980 So the principles of using money in scripture, but that was never the intention of the book. 371 00:21:50,980 --> 00:21:56,700 Ironically, if I go into a Christian bookstore or a bookstore, you name whatever Barnes and 372 00:21:56,700 --> 00:22:01,100 Noble or anyplace else, they're going to probably put this book over into the money section 373 00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:05,700 section because they don't know what it means themselves. 374 00:22:05,700 --> 00:22:07,980 They're just parking it. 375 00:22:07,980 --> 00:22:11,540 They do not think about it being lifestyle of anything. 376 00:22:11,540 --> 00:22:14,140 And that's really what this is all about. 377 00:22:14,140 --> 00:22:20,740 So I'm all I just want people that I feel like in this day and age, we have people that 378 00:22:20,740 --> 00:22:21,740 are confused. 379 00:22:21,740 --> 00:22:24,900 They don't know what they're here for. 380 00:22:24,900 --> 00:22:27,260 Suicide is up because we don't know our value. 381 00:22:27,260 --> 00:22:28,940 We don't know our purpose. 382 00:22:28,940 --> 00:22:34,380 And we think it's better to get out of the way than do that to live a life. 383 00:22:34,380 --> 00:22:36,180 It's a really sad plight. 384 00:22:36,180 --> 00:22:40,140 Confusion, defeat, fear are all over the place. 385 00:22:40,140 --> 00:22:45,900 We're being told that if we don't vote a certain way, hell's going to break loose and XYZ 386 00:22:45,900 --> 00:22:49,620 is going to happen on both sides. 387 00:22:49,620 --> 00:22:51,780 There's consequences to our decisions. 388 00:22:51,780 --> 00:22:53,460 I understand that. 389 00:22:53,460 --> 00:22:58,420 But that doesn't mean that we should be living in depression over those. 390 00:22:58,420 --> 00:23:01,700 We should say, God's sovereignty gave me what I've got. 391 00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:02,940 What do I do with it? 392 00:23:02,940 --> 00:23:08,860 So it could be today, one of my responsibilities in the next eight weeks is listen and vote 393 00:23:08,860 --> 00:23:13,940 correctly because I'm a steward and I've got some responsibility here. 394 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:14,940 Absolutely. 395 00:23:14,940 --> 00:23:16,900 But that has nothing to do with politics. 396 00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:22,260 It has to do with I've been given a privilege to voice my opinion. 397 00:23:22,260 --> 00:23:23,380 God wants to hear me talk. 398 00:23:23,380 --> 00:23:24,380 God wants me to ask. 399 00:23:24,380 --> 00:23:25,380 Yes, yes. 400 00:23:25,380 --> 00:23:28,700 So one of my principles is God wants me to ask. 401 00:23:28,700 --> 00:23:32,820 He really wants me to ask others and he wants me to ask him. 402 00:23:32,820 --> 00:23:36,340 We think of asking and then we think, oh, that must be the holy thing of prayer. 403 00:23:36,340 --> 00:23:39,020 Well, that is a key part. 404 00:23:39,020 --> 00:23:44,460 But sometimes I know this morning I needed something from a secretary in the town here 405 00:23:44,460 --> 00:23:47,100 and I wrote her a text message. 406 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:53,660 Now, she would never have sent me the information unless I'd asked her for it because she didn't 407 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:54,660 really needed it. 408 00:23:54,660 --> 00:23:55,660 Yes. 409 00:23:55,660 --> 00:24:00,020 I sent the text message and I know by the time we're finished talking today, I'll have 410 00:24:00,020 --> 00:24:02,660 a text back that answers the question I asked. 411 00:24:02,660 --> 00:24:07,740 Why am I frustrated with her if I'm not going to be asking her for what I need? 412 00:24:07,740 --> 00:24:08,740 Absolutely. 413 00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:10,660 It's people to people. 414 00:24:10,660 --> 00:24:11,660 It comes from God. 415 00:24:11,660 --> 00:24:14,660 I believe it gets God to people and people to people. 416 00:24:14,660 --> 00:24:17,980 And that's the way we design our system to work. 417 00:24:17,980 --> 00:24:25,900 And just to be enjoying the process, thriving rather than living in defeat, whatever your 418 00:24:25,900 --> 00:24:26,900 position is. 419 00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:27,900 I love it, Larry. 420 00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:34,420 You may have millions of dollars or you may have two cents as the widow did it. 421 00:24:34,420 --> 00:24:37,300 The widow's my story. 422 00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:39,900 The amount of what you have is not relevant. 423 00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:44,780 It is are you getting what God's already entrusted to you right now? 424 00:24:44,780 --> 00:24:46,380 And that's the intentional part. 425 00:24:46,380 --> 00:24:52,420 What can I do today to give myself to help the lives of other people or to help advance 426 00:24:52,420 --> 00:24:56,580 the causes I believe in or whatever it is? 427 00:24:56,580 --> 00:25:02,700 So I'm just a really I know that people will be freed up if they get into the book because 428 00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:06,020 it's really a handbook to know, OK, how do I live today? 429 00:25:06,020 --> 00:25:07,260 Thank you for being here today. 430 00:25:07,260 --> 00:25:09,740 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 431 00:25:09,740 --> 00:25:14,540 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 432 00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:16,220 It's going to get more and more fun. 433 00:25:16,220 --> 00:25:18,300 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 434 00:25:18,300 --> 00:25:20,540 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 435 00:25:20,540 --> 00:25:22,820 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 436 00:25:22,820 --> 00:25:26,820 Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.