Full transcript
0:00Money doesn't build. Wisdom builds. It's
0:02not about how much money you have, but
0:05how clear
0:07your understanding is. The things we
0:10build.
0:11When people see it, they see our wisdom
0:16or the lack of it. Wisdom is skill. It's
0:19also capacity to think. That's
0:21understanding. A musician is not a great
0:23musician because they have a great voice
0:25or can play an instrument. that is
0:28thinking. The creativity is the capacity
0:32to think. The great ministries we see,
0:35you know what the preachers like to say?
0:37It's the anointing and it's the grace. I
0:41beg to differ. It's the thinking. It is
0:44the way they process their thoughts.
0:47Because if it's anointing, please, we
0:49all have anointing. You pray pray pray,
0:52you'll get something. But whether what
0:54you get can accomplish something great
0:56has nothing to do with what you got. It
0:59is the capacity
1:01to think. Years ago, I went to Bishop
1:04Oapos's office. I was with him. We're
1:06chatting and uh I don't know whether
1:09that's the same office he's using, but
1:11up at the on top of his office there is
1:15another floor. And uh I said, "So what
1:18do you do up here?" He said, "That's my
1:20thinking room.
1:23Now most preachers will say that's my
1:25prayer room.
1:29He said that's my thinking room.
1:34If you think prayer would do it, I'm
1:36telling you, you pray pray pray go to
1:38the mountain pray cave pray and still
1:41can't do it.
1:43Everybody say capacity to think.
1:45Capacity to think.
1:52It's not about how big your muscles are.
1:54Is the capacity to think. Muhammad Ali
1:57was a great boxer because of capacity to
1:59think. Floyd Mayweather
2:02is beating everybody up because of
2:05strategy, capacity to think. Great
2:07footballers are not skillful because
2:10their feet are constructed differently.
2:13Is because they think through the
2:15solutions differently from others.
2:20When you see a footballer dribbling
2:22somebody, he's processing movements very
2:26quickly in his mind,
2:29he sees you and in a twinkling of an
2:31eye, he can think about a hundred
2:32movements to outweight you. It's
2:34capacity to think.
2:38Capacity to think. That's that's wisdom.
2:42Wis wisdom is knowledge.
2:45knowledge. Knowledge
2:47in the the Hebrew is dat. It means to
2:50master something, to be a master.
2:54So God says,
2:57I have raised up this guy Moses. If you
3:00want to fulfill your vision, if you want
3:03what I showed you to become a reality,
3:06I have this guy.
3:09You may not know him in Israel, but I'm
3:11I'm telling you this particular guy who
3:13is one of your citizens, he has wisdom,
3:17he has understanding, and he has
3:19knowledge. Go get him. And if you get
3:23him, you'll get the exponential growth
3:25you're looking for.
3:29Isn't it amazing that Moses was with God
3:32but didn't have all these three?
3:40He stayed with God face to face. You
3:43think when you meet God face to face,
3:45you'll be smart and you can solve all
3:46your problems? Well, Moses was with God
3:48face to face.
3:51And yet, it was this guy who made it
3:53possible for him. If this person was not
3:55in Moses's life, he'd be a dreamer
4:00who never got anything
4:04done.
4:10Now sometimes you may be the one who has
4:12the wisdom, the understanding and the
4:15knowledge and sometimes you may not be.
4:20Somebody else has it.
4:23And if God can be with Moses for 40
4:27days, 40 nights,
4:30talk to God, fellowship, and come only
4:32with an idea and not how not how to
4:35accomplish it. It means that sometimes
4:37all you can have is an idea.
4:41But you need to locate somebody with
4:44wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
4:51Having an exponential growth
4:55in ministry, in business, therefore
4:58is based on combination of skills
5:03and the kind of skills you can attract
5:05to work with.
5:18I think one of the challenges we have as
5:21Africans
5:24is um
5:29trust is a is a difficult thing
5:35for us.
5:38Trust very very difficult for the
5:40African.
5:43We are not demonp possessed. It's just
5:45that it's difficult for us to trust
5:46people
5:48because we live in a world where things
5:51have serious meanings.
6:01Even the way a person washes his hands
6:03can have meaning.
6:08So you can be working with somebody and
6:10the way he washes his hands
6:13you can start looking at him and say
6:15what is he doing?
6:18What is he washing?
6:22Um
6:25things have serious meanings in our part
6:28of the word. Dreams have serious
6:30meanings.
6:32You know, if if if
6:35Mark Zookerberg
6:37teams up with his friend and they're
6:39doing business and he dreams in the
6:41night
6:44that his friend had a sword
6:50and he comes the next day and sees the
6:53friend, his business partner. He says,
6:55"Guess what funny dream I had? I saw you
6:59today. In my dream, you were holding a
7:00sword." and they would just laugh over
7:02it and that's the end.
7:06That's the end. I mean after they they
7:08wouldn't talk about it. They're not
7:09going to pray about it. They're not
7:11going to consult anybody for further
7:13intro meaning they are not going to read
7:16deep into it. So he'll continue working
7:18with him.
7:23Now this is the person this is his
7:25person who is helping him with wisdom,
7:26knowledge and understanding. He has a
7:28dream. The guy is holding a sword. He
7:30laughs over it and they continue working
7:33together.
7:35And you and I know that in our part of
7:37the world it will it will not be so.
7:44It will not be so. I'm telling you, no
7:45matter how educated a person is, he can
7:47have a PhD, have be a professor. It will
7:50not be so
7:52because he sees you with a sword. Next
7:54time he comes, he says, "I've seen you.
7:59I seen you. I know.
8:02And I want you to know the devil is a
8:04liar. And I know
8:10sometimes it helps us. Most times it
8:12doesn't.
8:14Most times it doesn't. So
8:18for for you to be able to do the things
8:20at a scale
8:23that is high,
8:25you have to have the capacity to build
8:28networks and widen the networks and
8:30widen the networks and widen the
8:33networks because your achievement will
8:38be dependent on the networks you are
8:40able to build and the networks you are
8:43able to be build to build is based on
8:45the trust trust you have at the root for
8:48people.
8:50So in our part of the world people would
8:52rather die alone
8:56than work with somebody.
8:59And it's you know sometime we see them
9:01and say oh people are not wise they are
9:03foolish they shouldn't how can a person
9:06do you know things that are very deep in
9:09your culture they are very difficult to
9:12overcome
9:14because from childhood you are warned
9:19against certain things and you hear
9:20stories your aunties are telling you
9:22about somebody who was holding a sword
9:24when they dreamt I saw a man holding a
9:27sword and this is what it means be
9:29careful Cool.
9:32So we grow in this world of fear where
9:35interpersonal relationships are very
9:37very thin and business relationships are
9:40very very thin also.
9:46So Moses had to work with
9:50bezel.
9:54I don't know whether he knew him before
9:56but God says if you want to get this
9:58thing done this is the guy you work
10:00with.
10:02Why didn't you give me ability? Well, I
10:04gave you a dream but not the ability to
10:07convert the dream into reality.
10:14That's why I ask how many of you work
10:17have more than 10 people you work for
10:20and just a few people you work with 10
10:23people you work with only a few people
10:28only a few people. So you have to
10:31develop the capacity
10:33to do that. You have to be able to share
10:36your glory, share benefits,
10:41see other people prosper, see other
10:43people do well, cooperate with people,
10:46respect people.
10:49You cannot see people owned always as
10:51small boys and small girls forever.
10:56You have to see people mature because
10:58they may hold the key to your destiny.
11:04and you must respect them.
11:07So,
11:09Bezel had all of that and and the
11:12passage says God gave him all of that
11:15for workmanship,
11:18for design,
11:20and to work.
11:22So, all of these things that he had,
11:26they were not theoretical. or there to
11:28produce concrete results,
11:31concrete results
11:33uh to to
11:36make things happen.
11:40So that's the first person that the
11:43Bible says has wisdom
11:46and uh we there's a lot to learn if you
11:49want to have exponential growth in
11:52ministry.
11:55Um,
11:57if I want to have it,
12:00we have a university in our ministry.
12:04If you want a UN to run a university
12:06that is good academically, you can
12:09determine what you want your university
12:11to be. You want it to be spiritual and a
12:14place for ministry,
12:16if you want it to be an academic
12:18institution, that's also a different
12:20thing. If you want a spiritual place,
12:22then really you have a church already.
12:25Uh why would you have a university? If
12:28you want a university, then it means you
12:30want to grow academically.
12:32And if you want to grow academically, it
12:34means you have to be able to hire people
12:36who are
12:38qualified
12:40and you have to trust them and you have
12:41to work with them. She came to Jerusalem
12:44with a very great retinue with camels
12:46that bought spices, very much gold,
12:49precious stones. She came to Solom
12:51Solomon. So she came with the contract
12:55sum.
12:58I'm going to ask questions. If I get the
13:00answers, this is what I'll pay.
13:06And uh she spoke with him about all that
13:09was in her heart.
13:13Now when the Bible says all that was in
13:15her heart, remember it says heart
13:17questions. So, she's not saying, "How do
13:20you cook
13:22pepper soup?"
13:24No, that's not what she's asking. Should
13:27I ever be hard or should it be soft? How
13:30should I wear my clothes? How do I get a
13:33husband? No, that's not what she's
13:35asking for. If she's a queen, she's
13:37asking about how do I govern my people?
13:39How do I solve this problem? There are
13:41people who want to kill me. How do I
13:44deal with it? There's a coup attempt
13:45against my kingdom. How do I solve it?
13:47There is a kingdom that is under my
13:49control that they are trying to break
13:51away. How do I deal with those are the
13:53kinds of questions she's going to ask
13:56because these are the things that are
13:57bothering her as a queen of a land.
14:03So
14:05Solomon answered all her questions, all
14:08the hard ones. There was nothing so
14:11difficult for the king that he could not
14:13explain it to her.
14:17So
14:21she comes to Solomon
14:24and asks questions.
14:27Questions of state. If I go to somebody
14:31to ask him a question, I'm I'm going to
14:34ask questions relative to where I am.
14:39If I'm sitting with Pastor De and I want
14:41to ask him questions, I'm not going to
14:42say, "Oh, why don't you have a beard?"
14:44Now that
14:46mean
14:48so we want to look at what she saw
14:53when she has seen all the wisdom of
14:54Solomon.
14:56So now the passage is about to describe
14:59the wisdom she saw. And it starts by
15:02saying the house that he had built,
15:06the food on his table,
15:08the seating of his servants, the service
15:12of his waiters, and their apparel, his
15:16cupbearers,
15:17and his entryway by which he went up to
15:20the house of the Lord. There was no more
15:23spirit in her.
15:27And then she praises
15:30Solomon from verse 6. I'm not going to
15:32read it.
15:35So we're going to look at the things
15:38that she saw and how that helps us in
15:40ministry and business uh if we want to
15:43scale up if we want to build big things
15:46because what she saw must be present
15:49in what we are doing. Are you following
15:52me?
15:54Okay. And so let's see Solomon's wisdom.
15:57First thing she saw is structures.
16:00Structures.
16:03Structures. Everybody say structures.
16:06The structures. He says the house he has
16:10built.
16:11The house he has built. The structure in
16:16place. He saw she saw structures.
16:21She saw
16:24the structure in the home he has built.
16:28Now this home that the queen of Sheba
16:31saw is not the temple but his personal
16:34home which was called the forest of
16:36Lebanon which was
16:39immaculately built.
16:44Usually the first thing people used to
16:47assess you is what you have built.
16:51If you've built nothing, stop talking.
16:56I have a problem with people who have
16:57built nothing criticizing those who have
16:59built something.
17:02Because the first point of assessment is
17:05what he has built.
17:09Now, if you've built better than me, you
17:12can now tell me, "Look at my house and
17:13look at my structure and look at my
17:15establishment. It's better than what
17:17you're doing. So listen to me. I have
17:18something to tell you. But if you've
17:20built nothing,
17:25on what basis are you assessing me?
17:32I
17:34employ over a thousand people.
17:40So I can talk to people who employ less
17:42than thousand people.
17:45But I cannot talk to people who employ
17:46100,000 people
17:50on business. I can talk to them about
17:52how to pray
17:56but not on how to build because I don't
18:00have the credentials
18:03to do that.
18:05So when I see people who have no
18:07credentials
18:09criticizing the credentialed
18:14then you're wondering I mean what kind
18:16of wisdom is this is upside down wisdom.
18:21So she saw structure. Everybody say
18:24structure. What you have built
18:28because what you have built and how you
18:31build it is a demonstration of your
18:33wisdom.
18:43You can go to
18:48two nations. And I'm not going to tell
18:50you which nations.
18:53They're using the same budget.
18:56They build an airport.
18:58Same cost.
19:00You go and see the airport
19:03and you look at how the airports are
19:05built.
19:06One, you look at how the airport are
19:08built, where the ticketing is done, how
19:11to get out to the gates, the access to
19:14the gates, the movement, how easy it is,
19:17where the toilets are, and you look at
19:20it, you say, "Oh, wow. These people have
19:22really
19:24thought through what they've built. Then
19:25you go to another place, they use the
19:26same amount. You walk and walk and walk
19:29and walk and walk and walk and walk and
19:30walk." You don't get anywhere. You want
19:31to go to the toilet, you walk and walk
19:33and walk and walk and walk and walk and
19:34walk. Where's the toilet?
19:41I won't tell you why.
19:44It's not Nigeria.
19:46This has nothing to do with Nigeria. But
19:48all I'm saying is money doesn't build.
19:50Wisdom builds.
19:54[Music]
19:58It's not about how much money you have,
20:00but how clear
20:03your understanding is. how technically
20:06skilled you are, the capacity to think,
20:09the ability to execute, capacity to
20:11think.
20:15I was telling this pastor
20:18Deji, isn't it? Pastor Deji today that
20:22you know when I
20:24sleep in an African hotel, Africanbuilt
20:28hotel, I can tell most of the time this
20:30is African built
20:33because you know sometimes you want a
20:34socket just a socket
20:42and you say ah but you know this time
20:44everybody charges their phone everybody
20:46charges things. You have a hotel. You
20:48have an ironing board and iron and
20:50you're looking around the walls. No
20:52socket. No socket. So where where were
20:54you hoping
20:56that I will come and iron from?
21:01But the thing is nice but you can't plug
21:04in the iron.
21:07Somebody was not processing clearly.
21:10It's not about how much money or how
21:13grand extravagant it looks, but how
21:17thoughtful
21:19it is.
21:21And one of the things we Africans should
21:23stop focusing on is size
21:27and drama
21:30to practical solutions.
21:34Build things that h are intelligent.
21:40have anticipated the usage of the people
21:42and how they're going to relate to that
21:45space and build well for heaven's sake
21:48have sockets in the hotels.
21:53I said, "How much does a socket cost?
21:55You have money for marble, not for
21:57socket."
22:00So, here I am with the ironing board and
22:03I don't know where to iron. and you have
22:05been smart enough to put an iron board
22:07in the hotel with an iron and no socket.
22:13So I'm here getting angry with the
22:16architect and I said who designed this
22:18house? Where is the socket?
22:21But that's one of the problems we have.
22:23The things we build
22:26when people see it, they see our wisdom
22:30or the lack of it.
22:34So wisdom builds not money. It builds
22:38the structure of our lives, structure of
22:42our families, structure of our
22:43relationships.
22:47The second thing the queen of Sheba
22:50noticed the food on the table, the
22:53supplies. Everybody say supplies.
22:56Supplies. Supplies. First is structure.
22:59Second is supplies. Why?
23:04Is that important?
23:06Because the Queen of Sheba
23:10noticed the table of Solomon that food
23:15never run short.
23:18There was always food on the table. It
23:21means they kept a constant supply chain.
23:25They don't wait for something to finish
23:28and people to go and complain before
23:31food comes. They make sure that there
23:34was constant supply
23:37of food.
23:40Wisdom
23:41is seen in the ability to keep a
23:45constant supply of resources at all
23:48time.
23:51Whether is supply of money,
23:54supply of equipment,
24:01you know, it's only in our part of the
24:03world that you go to the washroom
24:07of an airport
24:09and there's no toilet roll.
24:14And I said, why did you build the place?
24:18You know what people do there
24:22and no toilet
24:24because the toilet is finished.
24:28They put one there last year is finished
24:32and nobody has bothered
24:34to bring a supply.
24:43Scarcity has become
24:46the norm.
24:50I remember years ago, you know, in our
24:52church, we build really nice toilets in
24:54the church because toilets are very
24:56important to me.
24:58They are the highest standard of your
25:00quality.
25:02If you get it right there, you get it
25:04right everywhere.
25:06You judge people by their toilets.
25:13All right? So, when you go home, don't
25:14look at your sitting room. Don't look at
25:16a flat screen. Go to the toilet.
25:20When people come to your home, they say,
25:22"Can I please use the washroom?" And
25:24say, "Please wait.
25:28You are going on inspection.
25:31Your supply system is bad."
25:35So we built uh our toilet and you know
25:39you know uh um the way our people are
25:43you put in toilet row
25:46I don't know what people do whether they
25:47put it in their shirt or where you know
25:50I said what are you going to do with
25:51toilet roll they just people just load
25:54it loaded load it
26:00and uh you know we We had uh the
26:05urinary, we had uh these um comfort
26:08things uh the bigger ones, you know, I
26:12don't know what the name is. Um but we
26:14had them in the urine house and people
26:16were stealing those things.
26:19I said, you put your hand in that and
26:22still what are you going to do with it?
26:26You know, people just steal for pleasure
26:27sake. You know, they just they don't
26:30know what to do with it. They they
26:31they're just going to pick it and just
26:32go and say, "I have comfort."
26:35What what do you need comfort for? How
26:37much does it cost?
26:40So, you know, the ushers were very
26:42frustrated. They said, "Pastor, you
26:44know, we have to stop this." I said, you
26:45know, we're going to supply them so much
26:48that they will get tired of stealing.
26:56Nobody cares
26:58now. So you go the toilet rolls are
27:01there because we
27:03kept such a supply
27:05that their sense of scarcity
27:08was defeated.
27:14And now they knew the next time I come
27:17there will be something here. No need
27:19for me to take it home. Yes sir. I can
27:23only trust it always. It's called
27:26supply.
27:30Hallelujah.
27:32Supply
27:34because scarcity
27:37can make people behave very very
27:40awkwardly
27:44like the people who go to parties
27:47and put fried fish in fried chicken here
27:52and all kinds of it's scarcity.
27:55scarcity.
27:58That is why people go through the buffet
28:00line
28:02and they heap themselves because they
28:05can't guarantee
28:07that if they come again
28:10there will be something left. So he has
28:12to finish it.
28:16Jesus says work whilst it is day for the
28:20night comes when no one can work. the
28:23most of the people says eat whilst is
28:25available for the night counts when
28:28there will be no food. So so so but
28:31that's not what was on Solomon's system.
28:34So the queen of Sheba saw the supply
28:37system he has put in place constant
28:40supply.
28:42He he makes sure that there is no
28:47scarcity.
28:48If we're going to build exponentially,
28:51we have to build structures and we have
28:53to build strong supply systems.
28:57Whether it's a church or a business or
29:01whatever we're building has to be a
29:04strong supply system
29:10and try it at home yourself.
29:13Build your supply systems well.
29:17When your children know that there is
29:18food, always they would not steal any
29:20food.
29:26When they know there is ice cream, they
29:27would never steal ice cream. It's only
29:29when they feel that the supply is
29:32unpredictable.
29:48So we have to be able to maintain a
29:50steady flow.
29:52A steady flow.
29:55We can't go through abundance and
29:56scarcity. Abundance and scarcity. There
29:58has to be a steady flow. Whether it's
30:01church finances, whatever it is, a
30:03steady flow.
30:06Steady flow. First is structure. Second
30:09is
30:10supplies. The third thing that
30:14Queen of Sheba saw was the seating of
30:19the servants. That is what I call
30:22staging.
30:24Staging.
30:25S T A G I N G. To stage something. Have
30:31you heard the word we're going to stage
30:33a play?
30:35What does it mean to stage a play? It
30:37means you're going to present something.
30:41Staging is the ability to present what
30:45you have taken time to prepare to
30:49rehearse.
30:51The seating of the servants
30:54showed their ranking and order of
30:57superiority.
31:00When you go to a very well organized
31:03function, one of the first things you're
31:06going to use to tell whether the
31:08organization, the function is well
31:10organized or not is a sitting
31:12arrangement.
31:13Is that not so? Yes. Sitting
31:15arrangement.
31:18If the organization is well done,
31:20seating is well arranged. You can know
31:24who is what
31:26at what time.
31:29staging. It's a lot takes place to stage
31:34something.
31:37Solomon's court
31:41was staged for the right effect.
31:46Everything was done with precision and
31:49accuracy.
31:51People follow the shadow. They sat in
31:54their appointed places.
31:57And you knew that so much had gone into
32:02what is being presented.
32:06Staging,
32:09seating. It's not just how people sit.
32:11It's how you have structured the seating
32:14to present yourself. Well,
32:18staging.
32:22Every business
32:25stages itself because
32:31for example
32:34I'm staged
32:36right now.
32:38Why? I'm on the stage
32:41and I'm presenting
32:44staging what I have prepared. Now
32:46everything I'm saying here I didn't make
32:48it up just now.
32:51Just when pastor K called me, oh pastor
32:54Dr. come and preach. And I started
32:56getting all these ideas to tell you.
32:59That's not when I got these ideas. These
33:00ideas have been prepared for a very long
33:03time. All I'm doing now is presenting it
33:07to you.
33:10That's what staging is all about.
33:15When you go to watch
33:18any performance,
33:20whether it's a musical performance,
33:24a dramatical performance,
33:28the length of time of the performance is
33:31always shorter than the length of time
33:34in preparation.
33:40The choir which sings one song, two
33:42songs on Sunday rehearses. I mean they
33:45sing probably about 10 minutes
33:49on Sunday but they rehears probably
33:52about
33:5410
33:5515 hours in the week.
33:59They probably meet on uh Wednesday or
34:02another weekday. They meet on Friday or
34:04Saturday and the choir director keeps
34:06drilling them and annoying them and
34:08annoying them and stressing them out
34:11until they come and stage it and
34:13everybody say hallelujah. Then they
34:15realize
34:17it was good to go through the
34:19preparation
34:21to come and do this
34:24for somebody to run 100 m in less than
34:2710 seconds.
34:30They spend hours and hours and days and
34:33weeks
34:34preparing for a 10-second race.
34:39So, for example, if you're a preacher,
34:41your preparation time cannot be the same
34:43as your presentation time.
34:47And there are preachers whose
34:49preparation time is shorter than their
34:51prep presentation.
34:58They just go through the week doing
34:59nothing, studying nothing.
35:01Then just as they are entering the
35:03chair, they say hallelujah, hallelujah,
35:05hallelujah, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
35:07Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
35:08Thank you, Jesus. And come and say
35:09something.
35:12That's poor staging.
35:16The way you present
35:19what you have
35:22is very critical to your wisdom
35:27staging. So first is structures. Second
35:30is
35:32third.
35:34Number four services.
35:38Services. The service of his waiters.
35:43The Queen of Sheba saw the prompt
35:45responses of the servants.
35:51If a fork falls down, they pick it up,
35:54clean it, get a clean one, get a clean
35:57knife. The services,
36:00the promptness with which they serve and
36:05they minister
36:07shows
36:09who they are.
36:13One of the challenges we have with
36:15businesses in our part of the world is
36:18we never go do well with services.
36:24Services can be very poor in our part of
36:27the world.
36:31We take it for granted.
36:33Somebody wants to deal with you, you
36:35take them on a runar around, run around,
36:37run around. Frustrate them. They want to
36:40give you money, but you're making it
36:41hard for them to give you money.
36:44Services are very poor.
36:48Services in our banks, services in
36:50hotels, services in government offices,
36:52sometimes even services in the church.
36:57Very, very bad.
36:59People don't care. They don't pay
37:00attention to details. So, he saw
37:03services.
37:05Number five, she saw his cupbearers. The
37:10cup bearers there represent security
37:13systems.
37:16Security.
37:22The cupbearers in the days of Solomon
37:25didn't just hold a cup.
37:29They were the highest and the most
37:33efficient security systems that any
37:37important personality would have because
37:40those days the way to get a king out,
37:44they didn't have guns,
37:46they didn't have bombs, is to poison the
37:49king. If you want to kill a king, just
37:53make sure his wine is poisoned, his food
37:55is poison, and let somebody serve him
37:59and that's it. You kill him. So the
38:01queen of Sheba just noticed that Solomon
38:03had an efficient security system. She is
38:06a head of state and she felt safe
38:10because the cup bearsers were on top of
38:12their job.
38:15Probably she even saw a cup bearer
38:18intercepting a poison drink. and said,
38:21"Wow, this guy is on top of his job."
38:25The security system of Solomon
38:30was in his cup bearers. The sixth thing
38:32that he saw, she saw was style.
38:40The pastor says she saw the apparel of
38:42his servants. Style. I will leave pastor
38:46K to teach on style another time.
38:50because he has style.
38:52[Applause]
38:57Style.
39:00Sometimes you go to a place and you
39:01wonder what style it is.
39:04Because many of us decorate our home
39:06with anything somebody gives us.
39:12So what's your style?
39:15One thing I'm going to ask you to take
39:17time to think about. What is my style?
39:21Are you African, traditional, African
39:23contemporary,
39:25African exotic? Are you European? Are
39:29you Renaissance?
39:32Are you classical? Are you
39:33neocclassical?
39:36What's your style?
39:40What's your style?
39:43You can't just be buying Chinese
39:44furniture and not know your style. You
39:46have to really ask yourself, does this
39:48fit what I want to present?
39:53Style,
39:55your color combination, color coding,
39:58materials you use, everything must say
40:01something about you.
40:04Don't just wear clothes because you were
40:06offered.
40:09I know poverty can sometimes make us
40:11just wear to survive.
40:15But it's important that you wear
40:18what you want to wear. Wear the shoes
40:21you want. Style yourself the way you
40:24want. When somebody comes to your home,
40:25they must see your personality,
40:29not the personality of those who have
40:30been giving you gifts, but your own
40:33personality. So ask yourself, what does
40:35this room say about me?
40:40So you have one Indian thing here and
40:42one American thing here, one Chinese
40:44here, one Euroba mask there,
40:49you know, and and you ask yourself, so
40:51what what am I what am I portraying?
40:57What am I saying about myself?
41:00Even if you have a church, what does it
41:02say about you pastors?
41:05You can't style yourself one man
41:09thousand
41:10in Ghana. When we say somebody's one
41:12man, thousand means you try to do
41:13everything.
41:16You can't style yourself that way.
41:19You cannot be Bishop Oo. You can and
41:22Pastor Deo and Benny Hinn and TD Jake
41:25and Joel Ostein and Pastor Bill and
41:28Pastor K at the same time. You will be a
41:30confused mess.
41:36So, what's your style
41:38in your business? What's your style?
41:43What are you
41:45dressing yourself in for you to be
41:48addressed by?
41:51And the final thing she saw
41:57was spirituality.
42:01This was the crowning moment. And if you
42:03read the passage,
42:05the passage says when she saw the ascent
42:08way by which she entered the house of
42:11the Lord, there was no more spirit left
42:15in her.
42:18So the picture I get is the Queen of
42:20Sheba is there. She's watching this
42:23grand party that has been set up for her
42:25and she's taking note of everything in
42:28the house of Solomon. First he sees the
42:30house and says, "Wow, this man
42:32understands structures. Then he sees the
42:34supply system and he sees the services
42:37going on. He sees the staging. He sees
42:39the style. He sees all of these things
42:41going on." And finally she says, "Where
42:45does this man get all of this from?"
42:49And as she's asking that question,
42:51Solomon gets up from table and begins to
42:54walk to the presence of God. and she saw
42:57something about the way this man
42:58approached God and says that's his
43:01secret.
43:03That is his secret. It is that
43:06connection to God that produces all of
43:09this. So what did he see? The Bible says
43:13she saw the ascent by which he entered
43:15the house of the Lord. In other words,
43:17he saw how he approached the presence of
43:20God. He saw how he conducted himself in
43:23the presence of God and understood why
43:26his house was built that way.
43:30My conclusion on that is
43:33the way you conduct
43:35yourself in the house of God and relate
43:38to spiritual things has a direct effect
43:42on the way you conduct every other
43:43aspect of your life. Hallelujah.
43:50The spiritual controls the material.
43:55And that is what she saw and realize
43:58this man is a deeply spiritual man
44:04and the systems he had built.
44:08So
44:10you want to build
44:13and grow exponentially your business. I
44:16have given you the tools.
44:19Bezel,
44:21wisdom, understanding
44:24and knowledge.
44:27And Solomon,
44:30the seven things we have talked about
44:32with Solomon.
44:34You can
44:36do some self-examination
44:40and use these tools to build your
44:43business
44:46or use it to build your church.
44:49I cannot what I have said now does not
44:52change the environment.
44:55But even when the environment is not the
44:58best, if you put in the right systems,
45:02you can achieve far more success than
45:04the average person in the same
45:06environment.
45:09So let's say Nigeria is not well
45:13structured.
45:15But living in a Nigeria that is not well
45:17structured with a clear understanding of
45:19what you're doing will always give you
45:22an advantage over the person who is
45:24living in Nigeria with no understanding
45:27of what to do.
45:30So though the environment may still not
45:33be favorable, you can still win
45:37at this game and you can build
45:41a massive
45:44operation.
45:46A massive operation. When I was growing
45:49up um as a Christian
45:52in the 70s as a young Christian,
45:55[Music]
45:57churches were very small.
46:01I used to attend the Assemblies of God
46:03church 1972,
46:061973,
46:091974, 1975
46:12in the Assembly of God Church. And when
46:15we had a revival in the church and we
46:18said, "Whoa, God has moved." And
46:21thousands days we used to say thousands
46:24have come to church.
46:27I went to the church I used to be in
46:31a few years ago because an elder who was
46:34in the church died and I attended a
46:37funeral and it was held in my old
46:40church. So I went to the church. They've
46:43built a bigger auditorium, but they kept
46:45the small church. So I spoke to the
46:48pastor, the the current pastor of the
46:50church, and I said, "Where is the old
46:52church?" He said, "Oh, that's the old
46:53church." I said, "Where is the old
46:54church?" He said, "That's the old
46:55church." I said, "I mean, the old church
46:57where we used to be here." He says,
46:58"That's the old church." I said, "That
47:01building?" He said, "Yes."
47:04So I went to the old church. And I was
47:07shocked. The building we thought carried
47:09thousands of people is just about
47:13onethird of this place.
47:16So I understand that in Africa thousand
47:18is a figure of speech.
47:28So I said wow is that where we're having
47:30the thousands are having revival say
47:32yeah it was a small place. I think we
47:34took just about 100 or 80 100 120 people
47:37just a small place
47:41but it was thousands for us maybe God
47:44made them thousand for us I don't know
47:48but you know all I'm saying is this was
47:52a big church in those days
47:57the biggest church in Ara
48:00in the 70s is
48:03I went there not it's not this church
48:05I'm talking another church which was
48:07known very well everybody knew the
48:09church
48:11the biggest church I went there
48:15and we used to say there were 5,000
48:17people there
48:19you know so I went to the church I went
48:21to preach there some time ago and I
48:23stood there I said whoa is that the
48:25church it was tiny maybe 300 people 400
48:30500 maximum people
48:34because churches didn't have the
48:36capacity to grow large.
48:41The leaders didn't have big vision to
48:43grow big. They didn't couldn't build
48:45structures. But in the 80s a new kind of
48:50church leaders started emerging
48:53and they broke frontiers.
48:56They reorganized. They had clearer
48:59vision. They had better understanding
49:01they yes they prayed but I don't think
49:03the prayer is what made the difference
49:05is the capacity to think
49:09when you see these big churches it is
49:11the thinking machine behind it is
49:14awesome don't ever underestimate it
49:19is huge thinking huge strategic mindsets
49:22people who have the capacity to build
49:25big systems and still keep them
49:27spiritual
49:28sir Yes. Hallelujah. It's awesome what
49:33has happened.
49:35How many corporations in Nigeria
49:39are operated as effectively as the
49:41churches in this country?
49:48How many? And people criticize the
49:50churches. I said, listen, somebody who
49:52builds a church of 20,000 branches, how
49:55many businesses have 20,000 branches?
49:59You you look at that and demean it from
50:03human organizational terms. That is
50:07unbelievable.
50:12People say, "Well, it's because the
50:13pastors love money and
50:16that or whatever."
50:19[Music]
50:21You know, ignorance,
50:25ignorance can sometimes look very
50:27sophisticated.
50:31I said, you have no clue what you're
50:32talking about. You have no clue what
50:35you're talking about. I run a big church
50:37myself. You have no clue what you're
50:39talking about.
50:42People would say, "Oh, just a church is
50:45very easy. You just go and stand there
50:46with the Bible and people will come."
50:48Try it.
50:52It's a free world. Try it.
51:02People want to diminish the intelligence
51:07of the church leadership
51:09and act as if these are people who are
51:12just praying on the ignorance of people.
51:20But if they will pay attention to it,
51:22they'll realize the most sophisticated
51:25leaders on the African continent are in
51:28the church.
51:34They the most critical thinkers.
51:38I guarantee you that
51:41they on the African continent.
51:45You may not fully take time to
51:49appreciate
51:51what they are doing. But the Queen of
51:52Sheba took time to analyze what she saw
51:55with Solomon. And I think if people take
51:57time to study the church, we can use the
52:00same model to grow big corporations
52:04because these leaders are sophisticated
52:07thinkers.
52:10I think sometimes the leaders themselves
52:12don't give much value to their
52:14sophisticated capacity to think. They
52:17just say this is just the grace of God.
52:19It's just the anointing. I think
52:21sometimes when we do that, people then
52:23diminish
52:25what has been accomplished. But whether
52:27is anointing or grace, everything is
52:30channelneled through thinking.
52:34Through thinking.
52:37and churches have through that build.
52:42How many African businesses
52:45have international offices?
52:50How many?
52:54Even the biggest African business, how
52:56many countries are they in? And yet we
52:58have African churches that are in over
53:01100 countries all over the world.
53:07And people can look at that and say it's
53:09nothing when African businesses find it
53:12so difficult to go outside of their
53:15market
53:18and churches are doing it and people
53:20don't have the humility to go to those
53:22these church leaders and study
53:26the capacity to think the thinking
53:32the structures
53:33the supply systems they create, how they
53:36stage their events.
53:42If you go and look at look at some of
53:43the big Christian events that are held
53:45in your country, do you think your
53:47government can stage those events?
53:52They can't. Government with all its
53:55budget and all its and policemen and
53:58everybody cannot stage those events.
54:02They would do that. It will be totally
54:04chaotic
54:07and yet a church is able to do it.
54:09Please don't underestimate
54:13what is happening in the church and
54:15because we don't use business language
54:18to describe what we are doing people
54:21diminishing it. But my commitment is to
54:25place what is happening in the church
54:26within a proper corporate context. And I
54:30can say that if you judge it by that, it
54:32is one of the most sophisticated
54:35developments that has come out of the
54:38African continent in the last 30 years.
54:43People who started from classrooms and
54:45are building universities. People who
54:48started from the backside and are all
54:50over the world. Who who can look at
54:52something like that and say, "Oh, they
54:54don't know what they are doing."
54:57And somebody who has built nothing, not
54:59even a chicken coupe, can look at all of
55:02that and diminish it. And sometimes we
55:05Christians would even join them to
55:08diminish it.
55:11A greater than Solomon is here.
55:17We have the capacity to think. Look what
55:21God is doing through the churches
55:25and learn to run your business
55:29by the same principles.
55:32Amen. Are you going to grow
55:34exponentially?
55:36You can grow your businesses.
55:39Wouldn't it be great for us to have
55:42businesses
55:44from Africa that are touching the
55:47nations on the peril as redeemed?
55:51Yes sir. You go to Papua in New New
55:54Guinea, you are there. You go to New
55:55Zealand, you are there. You go to
55:56Sriraon, you are Australia, you are
55:59there. You go to America, South America.
56:01You go to Ireland, you are there. Won't
56:03you want a business like that?
56:06May the Lord cause that which has
56:08happened in the spirit to fall upon us
56:13in our businesses, in our enterprises,
56:17in our efforts. May the Lord cause a
56:21trickle down of the grace of the wisdom
56:24of the capacity of the mindset of the
56:27church leadership to be manifested in
56:30the businesses of the members.
56:33And I pray that you will start rising
56:36Under the shadow of these callings and
56:40these giftings and these anointings,
56:42under the shadow of them, may you rise
56:44up. May you touch nations. May you touch
56:48nations. May you go international. May
56:51your mind expand
56:53to break the the bondage of colonialism
56:58of apartheid of slavery of inferiority
57:01complex on the African mind in the name
57:05of Jesus.
57:07God has done it through the churches.
57:10Now he wants to do it through the
57:12businesses of the church members and you
57:15are going to be those ones who will
57:18replicate this in Jesus name.