 Something that people ask me often times is one, who have been some of the people that have influenced me in my life? And then two, who are some people, some teachers, some scholars that I would even recommend for others to listen to? My own earthly father was not a Christian until a few months prior to him dying. And so while he is the most influential person ever in my life as a man, being a godly man, I didn't get that from him. He taught me a lot of things that I've learned from and used, but in terms of a godly person, there's three people. When I first became a Christian, the first church I belonged to was a Pentecostal Charismatic Church, and it was led by Bishop William H. Watson, who was a pastor of Church of God and Christ. He was a bishop, and he had several churches that he was under, and being able to work with him closely, him mentoring me, bringing me into the fold and so forth, taught me a lot. One, he was an honorable man. He's a man who could have taken advantage of his position because he's got all of these different churches underneath him, and they would send money and so forth. He could have taken advantage of it to kind of enrich himself, to increase his brand, even though in the 90s there was no such thing as a brand. But he also showed me how to be a loving man in terms of his flock, but also firm. He would say what need to be said, he would do what need to be do, but he would look after the flock he cared about them. He wasn't like many people in that position who would take advantage of it or assume that he's bigger than the people that he's leading. That was not him. He showed me what it was like to be a true man of God, a strong man of God. And so the late Bishop William H. Watson was clearly one of the first men who showed me what it was like to be a godly man. The second person, after I left Lubbock, Texas, me and my wife and I moved to Dallas, she was taking classes and her professor, and I wanna say this is New Testament studies or Bible, I can't remember what it was, but was the late Dr. Willie Bolden. He had impressed my wife so much with his understanding of the word and she would tell him and so she would also tell me. And so he got in contact with me and what he did was he instilled in me an appreciation for the word of God. And I would fight and push back and he eventually showed me, actually it took very long for me to realize that his understanding of the word and my understanding of the word were just two different things. Even with my pride, I just knew it yet. This guy's different. And he would challenge me. I would say certain things, even things that I knew were true and he knew it was true. He would still ask me, are you sure? Just to make sure that I knew where to go to prove it and how to prove it, how to speak to people. Because it's one thing to know the word. It's quite another thing to know it and to be able to convey it, to communicate to people who also need to know it. And so that's what he was trying to do. Because he was a seminary professor, he also instilled in me the value of just learning guys' work growing in that. To see him handle the text and so forth. When I say he was top notch, he was top notch. Were there some things about him that maybe I would disagree with? Well, the same thing with Bishop Watson. I didn't agree with Bishop Watson doctrinally, but in terms of how he was as a man, I take that in terms of Dr. Bolden, in terms of the way he was with his doctrine, the way he handled the scriptures. You would all be impressed with him the way he was. And so because of that, these two men formed a good portion of really who I am as a believer, as a man in Christ. Then lastly, I didn't spend as much time with him, was only at his church for about a year or so, was Dr. Tony Evans. The relationship with him and the church was nothing like it was at the previous two churches, the previous pastors, with them it was intimate. They knew me first name, base and so forth. Not the same here, but to see him handle his church. Oakley's Bible Fellowship, Tony Evans has a large following, his brand, so to speak, is large, and he could take advantage of it. He's a man who's very much in demand, but he doesn't abuse that. He's not trying to have four or five different church campuses where we've got the main campus and that campus, that campus. No, what he has done is he will teach and train men for them to go and plant other churches. He is a humble man. He's not trying to be the most profitable person and he could be, he really could be. He is down to earth and he wants to give you the word. Are there some things we might disagree on? Sure, but to see how he handles his flock. The fact that he's there every Sunday except for one month out of the year where he's taking his vacation. To see how he handles the word, to see how he handles his flock, how he has care and concern, not just for them, but also the immediate surrounding community. And so those are the three men who I look at and says they have characteristics, they have traits about them that I would always like to emulate. Now that being stated, when I ask, is there anyone that I would recommend any scholar, any teacher that I would say, you need to go and follow this person? I would say none. Why? Because just like all three of those men, there's something about each one of them that I like. There's also some things that I might not disagree with. And so because of that, you don't wanna have yourself following after a certain person. As Paul says, if one says, I'm a Paul, I'm a Paul, I'm a Cephas, then are you not carnal? And that can happen sometimes because you entrust yourself to following a person and that person might, might fail you. Ultimately, they will fail you. Paul says, so follow me as I follow Christ or be imitators of me as I imitate Christ. At some point in time, the person is not going to imitate Christ. And if you didn't invest too much into that person, you might disappoint yourself. Well, what you ought to do is remember that he is a man, he's fallible, who's teaching an infallible word. And so sometimes there might be some errors, some mistakes, and because we're too invested, it might hurt us or damage us emotionally. But if we keep them in the proper context, that these are men of God who are doing the best they can with the scriptures, which is why Paul was admiring the Bereans how he, Paul, comes to them and they didn't just take what he said, they took the word that he says and compared it with the scriptures. And he calls them to be people of noble faith. Why? Because they don't just take his word, they do what we're supposed to do. Go check the scriptures. Now, are there some people that you can look to and get some guidance, some opinions and so forth? There's folks that I do trust in that regard that I would listen what they have to say. Dr. Wallace or Bill Mounds in terms of Greek, they are at the top when it comes to understanding Greek, but now will I follow them on everything they say? No. But would I be mistaken to not listen what they have to say in terms of the text? Well, that would be a mistake because there are two of the best out there. There are other people out there that I wouldn't say their names because I don't want someone to say, hey, Corey, you mentioned this person, you recommended this person and then that person turned around and said something and then I seemingly give my vote of confidence. I give my vote of confidence in no one but Christ. Remember, there are two words, there are two people whose words you can hold me accountable to. One, mine, two, more importantly, God's. I'm accountable to what he says and I'm accountable to what I say, but I'm not accountable to this person or that person. And so just like these other three men who, especially two of them who have poured literally into my life, I can get something from, there's nobody out there that's worthy of you to give them their allegiance, but there's people out there that you could say, hey, Corey, what do you think about this person? And I might say, hey, that guy is solid. I would listen to that guy, have no problem listening to the words that are coming out of his mouth or watching his practice, his lifestyle. There are a lot of men out there that are like that. And so because of that, because I don't wanna give my vote of confidence and then someone say, hey, he said this, he said that, well, because I don't approve everything that everybody says except for Christ. And I don't approve everything that I say. So for that reason, I would say, be cautious of who you listen to, but as long as the person is coming from the word and then you can go and check their word with the word and these are people who don't have a problem with you checking with the word first with an amen. That's a person that's worth listening to. But in terms of giving allegiance and following completely, no. Amen.