PowerPoint

Jack Graham: What it means to be true to yourself is not to be self-absorbed, it's not to be preoccupied with self, but rather it is to live by the core values of our convictions, our principles, our faith.

Guest (Male): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about the way to find true success. Now here's Dr. Graham with his message: Choosing Success Over Failure.

Jack Graham: Take your Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 1. At the time of the NCAA basketball championships, I always think about the greatest coach of all time, certainly in basketball and one of the legends in American sports history, and that is Coach John Wooden. UCLA Bruins, championship after championship. The late, great John Wooden. He is considered the greatest mentor and coach and one of the greatest men that we've known in this nation.

Phenomenal success. Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, talking about Coach Wooden, said Coach Wooden didn't just teach basketball; he taught life. And what we are discovering in the book of Proverbs is how to live life. It is as though Solomon, God, is teaching us about life. Regarding Wooden, many studied his strategies and coaching skills.

But what many do not know is that when he graduated from the eighth grade, his father, who was a strong believer in Christ, a strong gentleman, a common man but with uncommon strengths, his name was Joshua Wooden. He gave his young son $2 and a card. And on this card are basic principles for living. They're almost proverbial. They're principles for life. And at the top of the list is what I want to talk to you about today, which at the top of this list given to Coach Wooden by his father is these are these words: be true to yourself.

Be true to yourself. Trustworthiness, faithfulness. What I really want to talk to you about is character because when it's all said and done, when we choose character, we choose success. Be a great person. Attempt and achieve greatness in your life. But beyond greatness, choose goodness. The Bible says the fruit of the spirit is goodness. Peter says in adding to your faith, add virtue and add goodness, which is moral and mental fortitude and faith.

Be a person of faith. Be a person of wisdom, of discipline, of integrity, of honor, of humility and compassion. And all of these lessons that the great Coach Wooden learned from his father Joshua, we can learn in God's word as God coaches us. This is one of the reasons that I read daily the book of Proverbs. I read other passages, but I always read Proverbs because this is the way we learn how to live skillfully.

So in Proverbs 22 and verse 1, verse 1 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. That's success. Wooden's father gave him a tripod really of incentives, very simple things that ended up in the teaching strategy of Coach Wooden himself. Triplets that he shared with his coaches, a pyramid of success that Coach Wooden developed. But his father told him as a young man, "Blaming, cursing, hating doesn't help you; it hurts you."

And then he gave him two sets of threes: never lie, never cheat, never steal. That's three. And don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses. That's wise counsel. And if you're a parent worth your salt, you want to teach and coach your children well. You want your children to grow up with this kind of counsel and advice to live life God's way.

Proverbs is based upon life experiences, and this home-grown, home-spun kind of down-home wisdom that you hear that I've just quoted is so very practical. And that's why we love little simple things that just challenge us to be at our best. I believe this is one reason why we love the Proverbs, because it is straight up and straight on. And we can learn, God's children can learn life and lessons that we will never forget because God's wisdom is never forgotten once you learn it. It is unforgettable. And we should never stop seeking, we should never stop growing, we should never stop praying for the wisdom of God because wisdom is worth so much more than money. And a good name, a great character is greater than anything you earn or can achieve.

Shakespeare's Hamlet put it this way: "To thine own self be true. This above all, to thine own self be true." When you are honest with God, you can be true to yourself. And when you're true to yourself, you can be true and faithful with others, including your family and your friends. Faithfulness with others comes from being ourselves, and being ourselves comes from our faithfulness to God.

What it means to be true to yourself is not to be self-absorbed; it's not to be preoccupied with self, but rather it is to live by the core values of our convictions, our principles, our faith. That we keep our promises. That we live by our word. That you can trust our signature. I'm often asked, "Pastor, how can I pray for you?" And typically I say, "Pray that I will be faithful to God and His gospel and that by the power of His spirit I will live what I preach."

That's character. Be true to your commitment to Christ. Be true to your commitment to your church. Be true to your commitment to your witness, your influence. To be a person of moral and mental strength. To be bold and courageous and convictional, resilient in the hard times, robust in your devotion. Refuse to lose your convictions. Never compromise your principle or betray your beliefs. Always be loyal in life. That is character. That is character.

It includes one of the most important lessons that we discover on our coaching board this morning in Proverbs, and that is we don't do this alone. If you're going to win, if you're going to be successful, while there are great teams that do not win, it's not always the best teams that win; it's always the teams that play the best that win. And I will never forget the little dilapidated sign on the wall of Eastern Hills High School in East Fort Worth when I was playing ball. It's a well-worn sports cliché: TEAM, together everyone accomplishes more.

What's true on the athletic field is especially true in life. If you want to be successful, you're always going to accomplish more together. We are better together. Famed Christian psychologist and counselor Gary Smalley has written, "Life is all about relationships. The rest is just details." God made us to live in relationships, relationship with God, relationship with one another. And therefore He has given us friends, faithful friends, to support us, strengthen us, shape us in life.

Proverbs 17:17, if you're going to be successful, you're going to need these kinds of teammates: "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Underscore in your Bibles that phrase as I have done: at all times. A friend loves, is loyal at all times, supporting, strengthening, encouraging, equipping, even confronting and at times cutting. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

Chapter 27 of Proverbs, verses 5 and 6: "Better is an open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend." If you have a friend that loves you enough to confront you when you're wrong, to care about you when you've messed up and to challenge you to do better, "You're better than this," then thank God for friends like these. Friends endure. They're not fair-weather friends. They are faithful friends. Friends last.

Let me tell you what a friend is. A friend is the first one to walk in and always the last one to leave when you need them the most. That's a friend. I hope you have a friend like that or friends like these. Maybe the question should be are you a friend like this? Are you a friend who is the first one in and the last one to leave? Life can fall apart. Proverbs 18:24: "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." And when life falls apart, we need some friends who will help us put life back together, who will stick like glue to help us hold together.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message Choosing Success Over Failure. July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country. However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land. That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text CRY to 59789. Again, text CRY to 59789.

Remember that your support of PowerPoint Ministries helps bring the truth of Jesus Christ to people around the world. Every day we hear from listeners who are searching for answers, longing for peace and discovering hope through God's word, often for the very first time. Your generosity keeps that message going out and as our thanks for your gift today, we'd like to send you Dr. Jack Graham's book, The Jesus Book, a powerful guide to help you grow deeper in your relationship with Christ. Text MAY to 59789 to give your gift and request your copy. Again, text MAY to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message: Choosing Success Over Failure.

Jack Graham: I have many acquaintances through the years. Wonderful acquaintances, people that I have known through the years. But I have a handful of friends. And it's not because I don't want more friends, but you have to spend a lot of time to have friends like these. Friendship will cost you. You must invest in those kinds of friendships. Friendships typically don't happen on the short term but on the long term. And so you have to take care of your friends. You have to take care of friendship.

And so while there are many wonderful acquaintances, all of us have a few friends I pray that will stick to us and stay with us and stand by us in the most desperate and even the darkest of times. Everybody needs friends. I mean everybody. Even Batman needed a friend. I mean, think about it. The only person in the American Hall of Justice who doesn't have superpowers is Robin. What was his power? Great sidekick. Great friend. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

And we all need friends like like these. This is why God gave us the church, that we are a family of friends. And I guarantee if you look around this room, many of us can name some of our dearest friends in life, some of our dearest friends on earth. Of course, this is a sea of people this morning, many of whom you do not know. But if you will invest in being a friend, you will find a friend. If you will give yourself to others, you will find friendships galore.

Proverbs tells us he who would have friends should show himself friendly. You can walk into a big congregation like this one and sit at the back and shrug your shoulders and walk out the door and say, "That's the most unfriendly church I've ever been in." Or if you show yourself friendly and put a little effort into it, getting acquainted. You say, "Well, that's not my deal. I'm shy. I'm not a forceful person." That's okay. Everybody can smile. Everybody can show themselves friendly. Everybody can have friends.

And if you're looking for friends, even though many churches today are typically under attack sometimes for good reason, but I guarantee you God's people, the friends of Christ, will be there for you when nobody else will, friends that stick closer than a brother. And in one sense, there are some in this room that are closer to you than your own family, your own family because you're connected together in Christ. And it's a wonderful thing.

Long before the business world spoke of words like collaboration and synergy and networking, the Bible talked about our need for the right kinds of associations and affiliations. The same Solomon who gave us these Proverbs gave us the book of Ecclesiastes, which is a testimony really of his life and how he failed until he found a relationship with God. His life was full of money and sex and pleasure and good food and a palace and all the good life. And he ended up saying vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Life is a big zero when you add it up.

He was depressed, he was defeated, he was discouraged, he had failed. Life is a zero until he discovered the goodness of God and the greatness of God in his life. But this same man Solomon in Ecclesiastes, who gave us Proverbs, said this. Look in chapter 4 verses 9 to 12, we'll put it on the screen for you: "Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him."

And then I love this ender: "A threefold cord is not easily broken." When I sit down with young couples planning marriage, I always show them this verse because this is a proverb, this is a principle that is so important. A threefold cord is not easily broken. The threefold cord is you, your mate, and God twined together, tied together, strengthened together. It is this love, it is this life, this threefold cord that keeps life together.

I've often said in a marriage, you not only have to love each other, but you've got to like each other too. And I liked her before I loved her, and I loved her pretty quickly. But the reason I can say I love her more than ever is because I like her more than ever. And I think she still likes me. You've got to be in like before you are in love. That's compatibility, that's not just chemistry.

But it is that threefold cord. This is why we tell young men and women when you're seriously dating for sure, date people who know Christ, who share your faith. How can two walk together except they be agreed, especially in terms of faith? The Bible says don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. That is in your business affiliations, in your relationships, in your marriages. As a believer in Christ, you need to marry a fellow believer and not just someone who says, "Oh, I believe," but someone who believes.

And this is what makes life stick together. This is what makes a successful marriage, a successful business. I could talk long and hard about the whole business association and affiliation. You need to make sure in these relationships that you can count on the trustworthiness and the wisdom of people with whom you work. Friends will deepen your enjoyment and your employment in life, and a true friend will challenge you to be at your best. Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:9: "Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel."

How many of you are here today because of the earnest counsel of a friend? How many of you are in Christ because of the earnest witness of a friend? Are you a friend like that? Are you a friend that sticks closer than a brother? Some of you are here today when you were away from God, a long way from God, but a Christian friend didn't give up on you. Kept praying for you. Kept calling you. Kept encouraging you and believing in you when you didn't even believe in yourself. Restored you to Christ and to the church. You're here today because of the wise counsel of a friend.

Be very careful how you choose your friends. I believe it's true Charles "Tremendous" Jones used to say this: the person you're going to be in the next 10 years typically is going to be made up by the kinds of books you read and the friends you choose. The Bible says many things about not being in the bad company of people that don't know and honor God. Proverbs in particular says a companion of fools will be destroyed.

Warns us, listen to this, the Bible says stay away from rebels, rebellious people. Stay away from drunkards. How's that work for some of the parties that some people who even name Christ attend? Stay away from drunkards. Stay away from the immoral. Stay away from the greedy. All in the scriptures. A companion of fools will be destroyed. Who you are will end up being basically who you hang out with the next few years of your life.

And that's a strong word to you who are teenagers today and college students and young adults. Choose your friends wisely if you want to be successful. Thank God Jesus is a true friend. John chapter 15, Jesus said to his intimate band of believers, his core disciples, he said to them, "I don't call you slaves or servants anymore; I call you my friends." Jesus laid down his life for his friends. Jesus is a friend of sinners. That one's not a compliment; it was an accusation hurled against Jesus by his enemies. He is a friend of sinners. But aren't you glad that Jesus is the friend of sinners? That he has reconciled us unto himself. Jesus said no greater love has any man than this, but that a man would lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus befriended you. How? You were not a friend of God. Not because you were so likable or wonderful. As a matter of fact, we were estranged from God, enemies of God. And Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves, and that is connect us with God. A relationship that is now reconciled. Why we failed to live successfully because we lived sinfully, why we failed to live righteously, he did what we could only dream about doing. We are now therefore his friends, and we live in peace with God. We have peace with God. We have peace with others. And yes, we have peace within.

Listen to the way the scripture puts it in Romans 5:6 to 10: "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life."

Spiritual truth: we are saved by his death; sin is broken. But we are saved by his life. Jesus is Lord. And therefore this is a living relationship. There's nothing deader, drier than religion, and there's nothing more alive than to be alive in Christ.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message Choosing Success Over Failure. We want to thank you for being a part of the mission of PowerPoint Ministries. Every day through the support of friends like you, the message of Jesus Christ is reaching people across television, radio and digital platforms around the world. So many people today are searching for answers, longing for peace and looking for something to still hold on to. And your support helps point them in the one who offers all that and so much more: Jesus.

As our thanks for your gift this month, we'd like to send you Dr. Jack Graham's book, The Jesus Book, a powerful guide to help you move beyond simply knowing about Jesus to truly knowing Him through His word. Text MAY to 59789 to give your gift and get your copy. Again, text MAY to 59789. July 4th, 2026 will be a day of great celebration for the 250th birthday of our great country. However, there has never been a more important time in our 250 years as a nation where we need God to move in power and heal our land.

That's why I'm inviting you to join Dr. Graham in a prayer challenge for our nation. To join, simply text CRY to 59789. Again, text CRY to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: I want to close our time together in just a few moments by talking to you about your character, your integrity. This is real success in life when you are the person that you say you are. That what you are on the inside is what you project on the outside. We all have a public persona; we all have a private world in which we live.

And our private world should connect with our public persona. And I challenge you to go deep with God. Get into the word of God, strengthen your character by strengthening your faith, by loving Christ with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, by being deeply devoted to Christ. Don't just skim through life or skim through your walk with Christ, but rather go as deep as you can with God.

And then when you go deep, make sure you come up for air and in the power of God's spirit share your faith with others. And do that with integrity and character. Let your witness and your words be matched by your life that is consistent and faithful.

Guest (Male): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, The Jesus Book. Just text MAY to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how the Bible will change you when you believe it's really God's word. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.