How to Build a Legacy That Outlasts You

Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. - Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. - Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And here's your prayers, and he knows your name, and he's right here for you today as you call out to him. - Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you and we're praying for you. - God wants to exceed your expectations this year. What are you expecting God to do this year in your life? Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish. - We are a church for the one who has lost that they will be found and they will find that their purpose in Jesus, the one who gave it all, so that we could experience life and life to the full. - God is more in store than you have in mind, and I believe so much more than it's gonna blow your mind. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Welcome home church. Hey, my name is Steven. We're so glad that you guys got into this place, and if you're joining us online, come on, let's get ready to sing. I love the promise. We're here gathered, united in faith. He promises to me with us. Come on, let's celebrate. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. This it is. Your way is the only way for me. It's a narrow one that leads to life but I wanna be on it. It's a narrow one that the mercy is why 'cause you could be on it. Oh, look at that. I'll take you like your word.

If you say I believe it, I'll see how good it works. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it,

I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, I'll take you like your word. If you say I believe it, ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget ♪ ♪ Come on, baby, good news, now that's good news ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe ♪ ♪ Now that's good news ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe ♪ ♪ You said I'm safe ♪ ♪ You called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future's full of God ♪ ♪ You never failed ♪ ♪ So I know that you'll never fail me ♪ ♪ You said you're safe ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget up for me ♪ ♪ Oh, sir, you said I'm safe ♪ ♪ You called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future's full of God ♪ ♪ You never failed ♪ ♪ So I know that you'll never fail me ♪ ♪ I'll take you out, Lord ♪

♪ Let the church sing ♪ ♪ If you said it, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I'll sing how good it is ♪ ♪ They were ♪ ♪ If you started your country ♪ ♪ I'll take you out, Lord ♪ ♪ If you said it, I'll believe it ♪ ♪ I'll sing how good it was ♪ ♪ If you started your country ♪ ♪ I'll take you out, Lord ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Come on, let's thank you for his worth today ♪ ♪ For you ♪ ♪ All your promise never fades ♪ ♪ All your mercy never fails ♪ ♪ Oh, no it won't ♪ ♪ I'm always singing to him today ♪ ♪ Yes I could sing ♪ ♪ Your name for all my life ♪ ♪ And since I'm old to love each time ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name of all my life ♪ ♪ Oh, it's sweeter ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I come along ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry for thee ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪

♪ Jesus don't worry ♪ ♪ You have been the friend you've never been ♪ ♪ I won't forget your name for me ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name of all my life ♪ ♪ Oh, it's sweeter every time that I come along ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry for thee ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus don't worry ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry for thee ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus don't worry ♪ ♪ Oh, your word ♪ ♪ Wonderful counselor ♪ ♪ Mighty God ♪ This is our God, Jesus holy, worthy. Even before we open the doors, or before you could even get online to join us in this time of worship, our team, people who have been in this room praying over the seats, praying that you would have an encounter with the living God, praying that you would draw close to his will and his heart, and it is in this atmosphere, this spirit where we claim heaven here on earth.

I want to invite our prayer teams forward. Today, if you have any need, we are praying in the mighty name of Jesus to see miracles here in this place that he would have his way in and through us. So if that's you today, maybe you're joining us online, you can write it in the chat. But if you're here, I pray that God would give you courage to come forward even right now under the sound of my voice that you would come and partner with someone's faith here today, willing to pray with you and for you for whatever circumstance and any season that you might find yourself in today, knowing that God is faithful and Jesus is for you today. He's done the work and his spirit is here today. So God, we pray right now that as we step out in faith, God, that you are faithful to answer your people as we cry out and declare miracles here in this place today, God, you are faithful to meet us today as we continue to sing his name. So Jesus, your name is like the morning light, the one that darkness can't deny, the resurrection in the light, Jesus, Jesus, your name can save your name, can heal, your name can make a strong mistake, you never fail, you never will, Jesus, Jesus the bread of light broken for us, the one in the one, the first and last and soon to come, Jesus, Jesus the king, the one in the one, the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the one in the Praise it, Lord, oh, you deserve, only you deserve all my ways. Lord, only you deserve your blessings. They are new every morning, new every morning. Yes, I know one far from finished, but your grace is still sufficient. And that's what makes us different. So I owe you my ways.

Now I'm standing here, forgive me. Knowing life is worth saving. You are the God of new beginning. So I owe you my ways. Praise it, come on Church, lift up praises. Oh, Lord, you deserve all my praises. Oh, Lord, you deserve only you deserve all my praises. Oh, Lord, you deserve all my praises. Oh, Lord, you deserve only you deserve all your life's ways. Because grace is your faithfulness. Christ, it's your faithfulness. I am with a testimony, you are so detectable. 'Cause when I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've won't need to. And when I think about your life, I can never say no, thank you. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. I can never say no, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've done, oh God. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to.

When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to.

When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to.

When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. When I think of all you've won't need to. (dramatic music) Man, I love it. It's so good to have you joining with us online or here at Gardens today. Can you help me welcome the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who are worshiping with us today?

We love you so much. Hey, why don't you turn to one or two people around to give them a high five, shake their hands and you can grab your seats today. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Hey, would you help me welcome all the campuses joining with us right now? Want to welcome you today? Glad you're with us today and everybody's joining us online. Big shout out to everybody up at Orlando Watch Party and help me welcome the men and women of the United States Armed Forces to join with us every week. We love you, we're praying for you. We are in a series entitled This is the Life. And we have been asking the question, what does it look like to live the life that Jesus came to give us? This abundant, over the top, nothing missing, kind of life that he's got for us to live. And today I want to talk about one component of this life that none of us would disagree about. We would all say that this is a part of the life I want to live because down deep, we have a God-given desire to make our lives matter. We have a God-given desire to make a difference with our lives.

Like God put that on the inside of you. Nobody wants to live 70, 80, 90 years and die and just they're all like, well, they're done. No, no, we want to ask the question, man, did my life matter? Did I make a difference with my time on this earth? Are people better? Is the world better? Did I use what God gave me for eternal impact? And what you're really asking when you ask those questions is, am I leaving a legacy? Am I leaving something that's going to outlive and outlast me? And today I want to talk about a guy in the Bible. We can talk about a lot of different people in the Bible that have done that. But I want to talk about one guy in the Bible that is often overlooked. His name is Caleb. Now, a lot of times we talk about Joshua, right? Joshua took over for Moses. Joshua led the people into the Promised Land. Joshua, there's even a book in the Bible written about Joshua. But do you know the standard right next to Joshua was this dude named Caleb? Now, Caleb and Joshua were two of the 12 spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land to scout out the land to see what was there. And all the 12 spies, they saw the same land,

they saw the same fortified city, they saw the same giants, they saw the same opportunities. But 10 spies came back just talking about how big the giants were, but Caleb and Joshua came back talking about how big God was. And so come on, let's take this land. In fact, look what God says about Caleb, the guy we're talking about in Numbers chapter 14 verse 24. This is the word of the Lord. God's saying, my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly. Side note, guys at Diesel, which is coming up in just a couple of weeks, September 24, 25th, God has been laying a scripture, a whole lesson for our guys out of that passage of scripture because as men of God, we're called to live differently, we're called to be differently, we're actually built differently. So make sure you get there for Diesel, grab a ticket, grab a friend, get the Diesel, it's gonna be good, I'm not gonna preach that today, you're gonna have to come back to Diesel for this. But today I wanna look at, even though the Israelites didn't listen to Joshua and Caleb, which forced them to wander through the wilderness for another 40 years, when they eventually crossed over into the promised land. Caleb was now 85 years old, and this is what Caleb says in Joshua chapter 14. Caleb says at 85, I am still as strong today

as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vigorous to go into battle now as I was then. Give me the hill country that the Lord promised me that day. I don't know about you, but I love this guy, right? 'Cause guess who was living in the hill country? The giants, the giants were living, and so here's Caleb at 85, not kicking back. Caleb not asking for a condo, He's saying, "No, come on, let's go. Give me the hill country." I still got some fight left in me at 85. He's still dreaming at 85. He's still believing at 85. He's still fighting, trusting God. Still wanting to make a difference with his life. But here's what I want you to see. This legacy that Caleb led. His legacy didn't start when he was 85. It started decades earlier. When everybody else doubted, Caleb believed. When everybody else complained, Caleb trusted God. When everybody else followed the crowd, Caleb decided I'm gonna follow God. The legacy that everybody sees at 85 was actually built through decisions over decades. And that's how a legacy, a life that matters and leaves a difference. That's how it's built. One day at a time, one decision at a time, one act of obedience at a time.

So even if you're in your 20s and you're thinking, "Legacy," that's like for old people. No, no, no, it's for you people. All of us at every stage, see, legacy isn't built someday. It's built by the decisions you make every day. Which is why I'm excited about today. Because today we're gonna have a conversation with somebody who's been building a legacy for decades. And here's this living legend among us has actually impacted all of us. We've all been impacted and learned so much from him. And I believe there's some more that we still need to learn today. So at all of our campuses, would you help me welcome our founding pastor, Coach Mullins, to the platform. Come on up, Dad. (audience applauding) This is gonna be fun. - Hey, my honor to be with you. - We're gonna have a conversation and you all are gonna get in on it. How's that, all right? We're gonna just talk about what it looks like to build a life that matters. A life that lasts, a life that outlives you when your time here is dead and gone, how it will continue to impact people and generations to come.

And Dad, you are a living legend. You're in your 80s, you're 80 year old, and you are still going strong. You're like, Caleb, man, you're gonna give me the ill country. Like, I got some fight left here. He just got back from Africa, y'all. Last week he got back from Africa. He was over there preaching in churches. You did a pastor's conference with about 2,000, 2,500 pastors. - 2,000 pastors, right? - So I wanna ask you a question. Where does that come from? Like, you're drive and you are as excited today about the things of God and what God is doing as you were when you were 40. And by the way, you're no longer 40. I know you think you are, but you're not. - I know, I know. The hardest part for me is to realize that I now have a son that's a grandfather. - Yeah, I know. - I mean, that's the one reality that it's been, but what? My son's a grandfather, and I'm only like 50. Hello. (congregation laughing) You know, Todd, I think as I look at life every day, it, to me, is an adventure. And I have this sense of anticipation. You know, Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song years ago.

He says, "Settle up your horses. "We've got some trails to blaze." And I kind of feel like every day's a new trail to blaze. And new opportunities to honor God, live for God, add value into somebody's life. And I had that model for me in my grandfather. And I think I caught some of that passion from him about life. And when we realized that we all are on mission, you know, really, I mean, Christ called us to be on mission. And you know, Rick Warren wrote a book years ago that I love, is still one of the greatest books written outside of the Bible. The purpose driven life, he wrote. But I like it, the mission driven life. I feel mission driven every day. So that gives me my, oh, my anticipation for what the adventure is God has that day. I've heard you say many times, Dad, that you're like as excited or more excited today for what God's doing. Oh, my goodness. In the church then, when you were the senior pastor, which there was a whole lot of great stuff going on, most people would be like, well, it was better back in the old, you know, back in the good old days or whatever, but you just like. - Good old days weren't that good. I mean, so, I mean, we have a Tennessee as we age. Let's face it, as we age, we have a Tennessee

to look back a lot. And, but my Tennessee is, yes, I appreciate all God's done in the past, but I'm excited about what he's going to be doing today and tomorrow. And there is, the God is at move right now. And God's moving in our church in such powerful ways. I've never been more excited. And I believe that now in my 80s, So I'm looking forward to that. (audience applauding) - You're always learning, you're always growing. It's one of the things I admire about you and it challenges me. Like in your 70s, you went back to get your PhD. Like, you're like, I'm gonna get a PhD. I'm gonna go work and build that thing and make it happen and we've got data lead coming up here in a couple of weeks, October 8th. And you'll be on the front row right there, taking notes. Why is that, what's-- - Well, I think that we need to always be learning and growing and I remember when I went to pursue my PhD, the academic committee asked me, they said, "Hey, coach, why do you already have one doctorate degree? "Why are you doing this at your age?" He actually asked me that. And I said, "Well, two reasons. "One is I want to keep growing and challenging myself "to grow and be better equipped to help young leaders

"navigate the challenges they're facing "and growing their churches today." And then the second reason is I believe you lead by example. If I want other young leaders to be growing, I need a model that I'm still trying to grow. So I think as long as we have breath, we should be growing. You know, God didn't put us here just to kind of coast through life. God put us here to be intentional about growing ourselves and better equipping ourselves for the mission to help people discover the love of Christ in their life and the purpose they have in Christ in their life. - Okay, some of you may not know, but Dad never planned on being a pastor, didn't want to be a pastor. In fact, most of your life, Dad, you were a football coach, both here on the Palm Beach Gardens High School and then on the college level up at Georgetown College. As you coach football, I think they got a picture. Do you have a picture of a pool there? Hey, oh, I had hair back then, praise God. A lot of you wonder how I got dollar to marry me. Look at that picture. (congregation laughing) That's how it happened. - Okay, so here's the question. What are some of the lessons you learned in sports and football that actually apply to our spiritual walk with God? First of all, let's take a moment of prayer

and thanksgiving that football season has begun. (congregation applauding) Hallelujah. Anyways, I think the biggest takeaway time for me was that life is a team sport and the key in coaching, the key in playing a team sport like football, as you realize, you can't win the game alone. And I think that that transfers over into our spiritual lives. We were never meant to be lone rangers in the kingdom. We were meant to team up and we're better together. I remember a quote by Mother Teresa, where she said, "You can do things I cannot do, "and I can do things you cannot do, "but together we can do great things." And I think that's what God has wired us, and that's why the church is so essential. And I was always raised that, hey, our playbook is the Bible, our team is the church, and let's team up and let's make a difference for God and in our world. - That's great. Another thing that people may not know, if they're newer to Christ Fellowship, is that Christ Fellowship hasn't always been this big multi-site church, but it actually started in your and mom's living room back in the '80s, and then moved to this schoolhouse, where we were in a schoolhouse with 70 people for seven years.

- I could have written a book back then, "How Not to Grow Your Church in Seven Years." You know, it's like, hello. So my question is, what were some of the things that God was teaching you back in that season of just being with 70 people? And it wasn't, you had big dreams. You had big vision for your life, same vision you have today. But in that season, God had you in a quieter place. What did God do? - Right, it's easy to read things looking back, but when you're going through tough challenges, I've been blessed in athletics to have pretty much instant success in coaching. And here we are as a church. I don't have a clue what we're doing really, and except I just wanted to lift up Jesus, love people. But it was a challenging time, and it was a time I look back on now, realize God was, it was really testing me. Am I gonna be trustworthy with a little? - Yeah, yeah. - You know, so one thing I learned, never treat a small assignment with a small effort. Never treat a small assignment with a small effort. So I think that being trustworthy there was a testing time for us, and I remember Todd, and it hit me one day.

If we can be faithful to this assignment in this schoolhouse with this little group of people, and we can touch one person that will touch the world for Christ, then it'll be worth everything. That changed my whole tone, where I started to embrace the assignment I had, and we're gonna do the very best we can do, bring the very best out of the people that God has called us to, and we're gonna impact our community. So we started all of our outreach activities in the schoolhouse. We started going to Belgrade, and taking Christmas to Belgrade. We started going down to the nursing homes and holding services. We started looking for ways to serve people in our community, and then suddenly God began to open doors and opportunities, and it's like we had that breakthrough. But I think that being trustworthy and faithful with what you have in your hand at the time is what God was looking for. And I think that's where we built the trust of the team and people during that time, because those who started with us in the schoolhouse are still with us, and that's an amazing thing. - I think what I heard you say right there too is don't wait until you have more to do more. - Right.

- A lot of times we think how way to like get more, have more before I'm gonna do more. The other thing that I heard you say is why would God trust us with 700 if we weren't faithful with 70, right? So God's not gonna trust you with more. - Right. - Take that thought for a minute and apply it to the people that are congregation. Many of you are not in ministry, you're all in ministry, but you know, you might be in your career or with your family about being faithful with what God's put in your hand. - I realize, I think sometimes we minimize what we have in our hand. You know, like when God called Moses, we all know that dramatic story. And it's like, "Mostly, I can't do this." And God said, "Well, what do you have in your hand?" Well, you had a dead stick, okay, you had a staff. But when he surrendered it to the Lord, look what the Lord did with that thing. I mean, parted red seas with that thing. I mean, it's amazing. So I think don't ever minimize what you have, but look and say, God, what is it that you've given me that I can add value to somebody else's life? - My grandfather, as I talk about a lot, Todd, had the gift of affirmation. And he would always look for ways to affirm people.

I remember John Maxwell, when we were celebrating 40 years of Christ Fellowship's life about three or four years ago, he asked me a very pointed question, which was a difficult question to answer. He called me up and he said, "Tom." He said, "In one short sentence, what do you want the legacy of your life to say?" I'm going, I mean, think about that, I this, but he hit me with that and I'm sort of thinking, "Well, what was my grandfather's legacy?" That's what I want my life to say. And my grandfather's legacy, if I had to narrow it down to one short sentence, he was a man of honor who called the champion out in others. A man of honor who called the champion, and I thought, "I want to strive to be that." Well, so I need to strive to do that every day. So every day, I feel like I'm on assignment to look for the champion and others and call it out in them. Sometimes it could be with a smile, it could be with a word of affirmation. I'm going through airports. I'm going through TSA agents are patting me down. I mean, I'm just, you know, but I'm trying to find something positive to say, a smile to say, and a word of encouragement to say. I love when I have Donna, your mother with us, because any time I'm traveling with her, I just walk up the total strangers and tell them, "Hey, you know, we've been married 61 years."

Look at this, you know, and they look, and they go, "Hey, look at her," and go, "Wow, that's the worst thing." Anyways, but then they always ask the question, "Well, what's the secret?" That opens the door for me to tell them what the secret was. It was Jesus. You know, we've had Jesus with us, and we've tried to honor each other and love each other, but Jesus, anyways, it's just, I think having that philosophy every day of looking for opportunities to encourage a firm, we live in such a negative critical world today, everywhere you look on social media, people are finding fault and criticizing. I think we as believers stand out in a dark world as light when we are looking for the best in people, believing the best and calling the best out in them and speaking that best over them. And I think, I don't know if that is your question, I got kind of off in this trail, but I think it's kind of like a philosophy for life. How do we approach life that way? I was trying to challenge them up, condition them up, equip them and tell them they were champions before they ever experienced a championship life. That's great. Good advice, good word. When I look at your life, everything you do, you do all in. Like full court press, you're there.

Like whether it's building a football team, building a church, building a house, everything you do, right? And so you're going to manage the tension between building a career and building your family. So I want to go to that for a minute. Look back and talk to us about the tension with that because I thought you did a great job. From my seat, I think I got a picture of when I was a little kid, you were my coach in every sport. You may be playing, that was when I first learned how to play Teal over on plant drive, right? That's on play. That's good form there with that bat. And then, yeah, I'll be like, you've been, you've been, but what would you look back on and go? I wish I could have changed that. Oh my goodness, Todd. One of the things that is so hard, it was balancing the pressure and demand to succeed is your career and when I was coaching, especially on a college level, there was no restrictions on recruiting. So we recruited all year long. So I found myself out there recruiting all the time and I remember that horrible winter of '77 when we were up in Kentucky and I'm in Cincinnati trying to recruit a football player and my family is down in Georgetown about 70 miles south on I-75 and it's no storm hits. They lose power. The water pipes burst and here I'm calling my wife on a landline. We didn't have self respect to him, bless your heart. And she said, we have no heat, we have no water, the kids are cold, snow's blowing in under the garage door and into the kitchen and I'm 70 miles away trying to recruit a football player.

That's when it hit me that I was out of balance. And it took me, listen to this, it took me 10 hours to drive home, 70 miles, sorry every seven miles an hour to get home. Walk in, borrow a chainsaw, cut a tree down, build a fire, I crawl it under the house, I've got duct tape, trying to repair a broken water pipe and I'm laying there crying in the mud and ice under my house. I'm saying, what am I doing here? My life is not in balance. There's something crazy here and I knew then I had to get my life back into balance. But there is one thing that I did do right. Every Sunday it was a priority and we were in the house of God. So no matter what was going on, my world, my world could be crazy for six days. I could be on the road recruiting but I was home on Sunday because we were going to be in the house of God together. We were going to serve together and I think that's what kept balance there and of course your godly mother who's praying over you kids and praying with you every day. I'm out trying to recruit football players and she's praying over you guys. But that's what made me actually shift gears and go from being a college head football coach to a college athletic director where I knew I had regular hours and didn't have to be on the road. I made that career decision for my family and that was the best thing I ever did and it was that of that decision that God called us in the ministry. Thank you for that as a son. Yeah, I never thought as a kid, like I never thought, "Oh, Dad's gone all the time." But I do remember when you came back from that trip and things began to change and you were home more at night and present even more and really significant in my life. Yeah. Thanks, Dad. You have written, sorry, you've written a bunch of books, six or seven, six, seven books. Should I do that?

I think this is the best one, coaches play book. Best one yet. You're still working on a couple more and in it you've got game changing lessons for leaders and all of us are leaders. You're leading yourself. You're leading your family. You might be leading it work. Once you take a minute, Dad, and by the way, we've got these available at all campuses today. On Amazon right now, these are like $27.99. We've got them today for $10. But Deb, unpack one lesson that could influence your legacy. One lesson. Well, there's the first one. And when you just ask that question, it jumped in my mind, was the principle that my grandfather taught me. And he called me Tommy. And he said, Tommy, just live a life that strives to honor God. And you will never live with regrets. And what a powerful principle he gave me. Now, hey, I'm not perfect in all these things. But I do believe we can have a perfect desire of heart to pursue God. So I write a chapter in here on the importance of integrity. Guard what nobody else sees. Guard what nobody else sees. And if you guard your private life, you will never have to be worried about your public life if you guard that. So here's the statement I make in the book,

in this one of my little call outs, guards your integrity, and it will guard you. There's nothing worse than when we compromise a character issue in our lives because it has such a negative impact. Not only upon you, but those behind you, they're coming behind you. I remember years ago, I happened to be teaching that weekend, and I left the platform after one of the services getting ready for the next service and my cell phone rings in my office. And it was a pastor from Dallas, Texas, calling me between services. I said, well, that's strange. He has multiple services. I do too. And he was calling me, and he was weeping on the phone. And I said, what's wrong? And it just discovered a moral failure in one of his key staff members. And it was devastating to him. He just had to talk to somebody about it. And I remember it brought me to tears because I knew this man. And I said, oh my gosh, what's happened in his life? And it just struck me, oh, we have to so guard ourselves. We're all vulnerable. We have to guard ourselves. If David looked over the wall, anybody can look over the wall. So we have to protect ourselves, keep the right balance of key people around us,

accountability, transparency. And because as a leader, one thing I've learned, trust is your currency. Character is your currency. And so we have to be found trustworthy. And I spent a whole chapter on that. How to honor God by living a mission-driven life, how to honor his word, by living according to principle, not the pressures of this world, and how to honor God by the way we love others. And share his love. And the word says this in 1 Samuel. The Lord says these words. Those who honor me, I will honor. Those who dishonor me, I will disdain. I don't like that part. So I like the honor part. So you know what? And the one thing I found, Todd, when we strive to do our very best before the Lord, walk before the Lord with open and honest hearts, we encounter the favor of God and the blessing of God upon our lives. And there's no price tag you can put on that. - So today we're talking about leaving this legacy. And I want you just to hit on one or two principles that all of us can live by today, that when we get to be your age, we can look back and go, my life made a difference. My life is out living me.

- You know, but the first thing I would say is this. Now, let's get ahold of this. It's never too late to establish a legacy. But some of us could look back on our lives and go, man, I've wasted my whole life. And by the way, it's never too early to start a legacy. It's never too late, it's never too early. David Green, the founder of Hobby Lobby, Todd, he has one of his recent books out. He defined legacy this way. He's, David Green said, it's what you set in motion. Think about this, what you set in motion. "as long as we're breathing to set "something positive in motion, you know, "with our lives." But I think it goes back to what do you have in your hand and what will you release to invest into the lives of others? Because we all have life, we have wisdom, we have experiences. Some of us think, "Well, I don't have a lot of resource, "so how can I leave a legacy?" No, it's so much about who you are as a person and the values you're transferring into others. I keep talking about my grandfather because he has such a powerful impact. He taught me how to love your mother. He taught me how to love you and your sister. He taught me how to love the people of God. His legacy is living on through us.

Years ago, I was walking onto a stage in Africa to speak and they did a little video introduction about 4,000 people out there in the auditorium. I was getting ready to speak to 4,000 African leaders. And I suddenly started realizing, "How in the world did I get here?" Well, I tell you how I got there. My grandfather opened a door for me that I walked through because of his life and his legacy and his integrity and his passion for God. He opened the door and I'm stepping up on the stage. Now, he never traveled to Africa. He basically traveled and spoke in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio. That's pretty much it. And we've together taught, we've been about 90 nations of the world, teaching and training and sharing because grandpa opened the door for us. And it hit me and I started crying. I started sobbing. My nose started running and I had to walk up on a platform and ask somebody for something to blow my nose. Can you imagine? That's a huge first introduction to 4,000 people. Does anybody have anything I can blow my nose with here? You know, kind of thing, you know. But it hit me the reality of this. I think if we just realize every day being intentional, I'm going to invest in somebody's life today.

I'm going to add value today. So ask yourself the question. What am I transferring? With my tone, my attitude, my spirit of my life. What am I transferring? What is my legacy going to be in that? We had a precious man in our church by name of Dick Smith. He's one of our founding elders of our church. I happen to be at his bedside when he stepped into heaven. I'm holding his hand. His sons came in. This is what I've never seen before. They brought a towel and a basin and they voiced their father's feet as he's about to step into heaven. And they prayed, "May the spirit of our father be on us." I want to get up here and voice his feet. But I realize that was Dick's legacy. He was leading to his sons. A spirit that he had of love, of generosity, of service, of care. That was the man he was. And who we are in Christ is our greatest legacy that we can pass on to others. Okay, I have so many more questions that I wanted to get to. But we actually have a podcast that's going to continue this conversation that drops tomorrow. So if you don't listen to your pastor's podcast, why don't you listen to your pastor's podcast, right? You can tap the disc on the seat back in front of you. You get a link to the podcast because sometimes podcasts are hard to find or you can scan that QR code because there's some things we're going to talk about tomorrow that even take this whole conversation a little bit deeper. But Dad, just one last thought before we pray.

And then we have some things planned special at each of the campus. But one last thought. One last thought you'd leave us with as it pertains to leaving a legacy and making a difference with our lives. I think the greatest legacy any of us can leave is our love for our Savior, our love for Jesus. It's not in the material things I leave for you, Todd. And for your sister and for your precious wife and for your son and your daughter-in-law and now your granddaughter. It's really our passion and our love for Jesus. That is the greatest gift we can leave. And I believe the Word of God says this. It says, in Psalm 112, when we love the Lord and we love His commands, there will be a blessing come upon us and for generations to come. - Yeah. - Just love God with all your heart. Do your best to follow in His Word. And every day, look for how I can share His love with others and you will leave a legacy that will outlive you for generations. - Okay, so Dad, I want you to pray for all of us that we live a legacy and live everything that you've been preaching and teaching today. And then when he's done praying, don't get up and go because we actually have something planned special at your campus location. - Father, we love you and we praise you today. And Lord, we all want our lives to matter.

And we know that the greatest gift we can give to others is when we share you and your love and your purpose and your destiny for their lives. So Father, I pray that we will take every day as a gift from you and every day we will be intentional to invest into the lives of others. The values and the love that you have poured into us through Jesus Christ. And may we lead by example, may we be that light, may we live a life so attractive that people are drawn to us so we can leave them to you because that will be the lasting legacy of our lives. And I pray that over all of us, in Jesus' name, amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)