{"id":302740,"date":"2013-05-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/the-c-12-story\/"},"modified":"2013-05-17T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-17T15:00:00","slug":"the-c-12-story","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-c-12-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The C-12 Story"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Success doesn\u2019t always deliver what it promises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2013-05-17.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"25.11M","filesize_raw":"26330468","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2821],"tags":[4299,4002],"podcast_series":[],"cwp_profile":[9299,9300],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302740","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reaching-out","tag-faith","tag-reaching-out","cwp_profile-buck-jacobs","cwp_profile-don-barefoot","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302740\/the-c-12-story","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302740\/the-c-12-story","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"BQtOjyYCLS\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-c-12-story\/\">The C-12 Story<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-c-12-story\/embed\/#?secret=BQtOjyYCLS\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;The C-12 Story&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"BQtOjyYCLS\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Success doesn\u2019t always deliver what it promises.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2013-05-17.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Don Barefoot remembers hearing a story about a business owner who was kind of a Christian business owner.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don<\/strong>:\u00a0 He was living about three different lives\u2014one at home, one at church, one at work. The one at work was all about money; and it was dog-eat-dog, cutthroat. He had lots of turnover. He was successful. He believed that Christ was Lord, but he had had that tightly compartmentalized, over here. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA fellow came knocking, and he was interviewing him. He said, \u201cSo, who owns your business?\u201d The guy said, \u201cWell, I do,\u201d quite proudly. He said, \u201cReally?\u201d It took a little while; but within ten minutes, he saw the brokenness of his business, and the people, and the carnage that they had had, relationally, through that business. He started weeping.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Friday, May 17<sup>th<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. What happens when God gets hold of a man\u2019s life, so much so, that he gets that man\u2019s business? We\u2019re going to talk about that today. Stay tuned. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. I want to see if you agree with this. I think you probably will. It has been my observation that success in business can be hazardous to a person\u2019s spiritual health.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, no doubt.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Why do you think that is?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I think success can be like cancer. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of human cells. They grow so fast they kill you. I think some businesses can grow so fast that they kill the man or the woman that starts the business\u2014and takes his life, takes his marriage, his family, and his legacy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Jesus said that it\u2019s easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for a successful businessman to enter the kingdom. He said a rich man, but I\u2019m just interpreting here that it\u2019s a successful businessman.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He had to get his money somehow. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He didn\u2019t get it by clipping coupons, I don\u2019t think. Well, we have a couple of successful businessmen with us today. Don Barefoot and Buck Jacobs join us on <em>FamilyLife Today. <\/em>Don [and] Buck\u2014welcome to the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you, Dennis. It\u2019s a pleasure to be here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Don is the President and CEO of the C12 Group<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. He has a storied career with almost a half dozen global businesses\u2014has been a leader and executive with them. Buck Jacobs is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of C12, after also a storied career in business. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe way I decided to introduce both of you is\u2014you\u2019re ambassadors. You are ambassadors. You are ambassadors for Christ\u2014what Paul talked about over in Second Corinthians, Chapter 5. You are really training others to be ambassadors. Buck, I happen to know that you didn\u2019t start out as an ambassador.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, not at all. I started out as anything but an ambassadorial role for Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes. What was your life like before you met Jesus Christ?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I was raised in an agnostic home. My dad was in World War II. When he came home, what he had seen and experienced in three years in the South Pacific had led him to question whether or not there was a God. So, God was just not a part of our life. We didn\u2019t go to church; we didn\u2019t own a Bible. Sunday morning was skeet shooting and doing other things.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI grew up in that kind of an environment. The environment was very much success-oriented\u2014first in athletics. My dad had been an athlete, and he wanted his son to be an athlete. In fact, my birth announcement said, \u201cThe greatest news in the history of athletics has arrived.\u201d [Laughter] Not a burden to carry, at all.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, not at all\u2014to live up to that!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes. Also, my family is an entrepreneurial family. My grandfather and his brothers owned a business. My father owned an advertising agency. So, I was raised in an environment where success and performance were measured in yards gained, points scored, dollars earned, and so forth. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had a very successful business career\u2014a very <em>unsuccessful<\/em> personal life\u2014because of living that philosophy. I was divorced twice. I was a qualified alcoholic\u2014about 40 pounds heavier than, what nobody can see but you can, today. At age 30, I was living in Rome, Italy, in a $600,000 villa with my Maserati parked in the driveway, and every financial dream I\u2019d ever had more than fulfilled. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI sat behind my desk one night and I said, \u201cYou know, if life is just 35 or 40 more years of this, I\u2019m not sure I care.\u201d I found no peace, no happiness, and no contentment in the lifestyle of <em>always more<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The culture had been modeling for you that this is what you should be pursuing. So, all you\u2019d done is you\u2019d said, \u201cOkay, if that\u2019s success, I\u2019ll go after it;\u201d right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sure. In the absence of God, what\u2019s left? You go for the world. What the world advocates and holds up as its level of success is what I sought after.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So that night, behind your desk, when you said, \u201cIs this all there is?\u201d\u2014was that when the light started to come on for you, spiritually?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s when it started to come on. It wasn\u2019t anywhere near fully-developed at that point, but I turned away from the path that I had been on. I said, \u201cThere\u2019s got to be something more than this.\u201d My first decision was: \u201cWell, I\u2019m in the wrong business. I\u2019m going to go back to the States and start another business that I can run in a way that I feel is more appropriate.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was involved in another corporation when I was in Italy; I did not own the business. I was an employee, and I felt I needed to own the business. But because of the revelation of the futility of it, when I came back to the States and started a business, I wasn\u2019t committed to it. So, I just threw money at it until I had no money left to throw at problems that came up. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tActually, it would take way too long to tell you all the circumstances that actually happened; but what developed was I was living in Los Angeles. I got up on a Sunday morning to watch a football game at ten o\u2019clock, and I had never watched a church program on TV\u2014wouldn\u2019t have if I had known it was going to be there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Did you know who Jesus Christ was?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, I didn\u2019t. I had heard that He came at Christmas. We celebrated Christmas, of course. I had heard that Jesus was the Savior of the world\u2014came to take the sins of the world\u2014but I looked around and there was still a lot of sin left in the world. I thought either He must have failed or\u2014I just didn\u2019t get it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had taken instructions in the Catholic Church to get married the first time. Back then, the mass was still in Latin. I didn\u2019t understand it. They talked about Jesus, but I didn\u2019t understand that He died for <em>me<\/em>. I thought He must have died for something else.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Were you on your third wife by now?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I sure was.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Was she a believer? Was she\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 No. She wasn\u2019t a believer either. She was out of town when this TV program came on. He said, \u201cLife is a series of problems;\u201d and I had nothing but problems. I was out of money. I was entering into a third marriage that probably didn\u2019t have a much better chance of success than the first two. I had enough money to get through the end of the month, and that was about it. Anyway, so that got my attention.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe said: \u201cYou can\u2019t avoid problems in life. There\u2019s no life that can be trouble-free.\u201d It was just as personal as us sitting here, Dennis, and talking together. He said, \u201cIf you\u2019ll give your life to Christ, from that point on, every problem that you have will be an opportunity to see God\u2019s love expressed in and through your life.\u201d Then, he explained the Gospel\u2014how Jesus had died for me\u2014and for some reason, I got it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI knew that I was a sinner; I didn\u2019t have to be convinced about that. I just didn\u2019t know what to do about it. In fact, I was certain that if I\u2019d died, I would go to hell. There was no question in my mind that that would be the case. So, he said, \u201cIf you will accept Christ, you can do it right where you are.\u201d And I did. I knelt down in that apartment, all by myself; and I just said: \u201cJesus, if this is real and You want my life, You can have it. I give it to You. I\u2019ll do with whatever You want with the rest of it.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI started to cry\u2014didn\u2019t know why\u2014but I had a feeling of relief. I had a feeling of change. I cried for a few minutes. The program ended. I sat back on the couch; and I wondered, \u201cWhat in the world just happened?\u201d I didn\u2019t know. I didn\u2019t have a Bible background to even know the language to describe what had happened; but in the process of being prepared for that, I thought about my best friend who was the only Christian that I knew in the world. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe had tried to witness to me about four years earlier, and I\u2019d just blown him off. I said: \u201cI\u2019m happy for you. Glad you found something, but I\u2019m not ready for that, at this point.\u201d His name was Bob, but I didn\u2019t have the guts to call him. So, the next day, after Bonnie, my wife, came back from work\u2014we were having dinner, and I started to try to describe to her what I had experienced the day before. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI said, \u201cI have this friend--his name is Bob\u2014and I\u2019d really like to talk to him because he\u2019s a Christian. I think I might be a Christian, now. As I was explaining it to Bonnie, the phone rang. It was Bob, calling me from Chicago.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You hadn\u2019t talked to him in\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t talked to him in years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 When I heard his voice on the phone, I knew that the deal that God had made with me the day before was real. I would never doubt it again, and I would do whatever Jesus wanted with the rest of my life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 What did Bob say when you said, \u201cIt\u2019s funny you should call.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, this is really amazing. He said, \u201cWhen are you coming to Chicago again?\u201d Typically I would have said: \u201cI\u2019m too busy. I can\u2019t come to Chicago.\u201d But I couldn\u2019t say that. I said: \u201cWell, Bob, I can\u2019t come to Chicago. I\u2019m broke.\u201d He said, \u201cOh, don\u2019t worry about that, Buck.\u201d He said, \u201cYou know, about a year-and-a-half ago, I committed my business to Jesus Christ.\u201d He said: \u201cI want my business to model that a man can be successful in business and as a Christian at the same time. I\u2019ve been praying, and I think God wants me to talk to you about coming to work for me and being in charge of our sales.\u201d I started to cry again. He heard the catch in my voice; and he said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI said, \u201cBob, I just gave my life to Jesus yesterday.\u201d Then, he started to cry. Then, I started to laugh; and I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you?\u201d He said, \u201cHolly and I have prayed for you every night for four years.\u201d Within three weeks, Bonnie and I moved back to Chicago\u2014went to work for him in his business\u2014a specialty chemical business in the Chicago area. We worked together in that business for ten years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now, wait a second. I\u2019ve got to back up. What happened to Bonnie in this spiritual jet sled that you just got on, here?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, she came back to Chicago with me. Bob\u2019s wife, Holly, took her to a Bible study. Two weeks later, she received the Lord. So, we really have come into a life of faith pretty much together and have grown together for, now, 39 years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Those seeds of what happened in Los Angeles, and as you moved to Chicago and started this business with your friend\u2014with the purpose of having a business that would model both successful business practices but also a Christian faith\u2014that was formative for what God had in store for you and what became C12; right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Absolutely. In fact, God grew the business in all the normal business measures. We grew ten-fold in revenues and so forth. God showed us His power and His sovereignty in the way He supplied all the things that we needed to grow. But the most important things were what we learned spiritually, during those years, about the integration of God\u2019s Word in everyday life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Don, you\u2019ve heard Buck share that story how many times; do you think?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, I don\u2019t know. Maybe eight or ten\u2014last week. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And I\u2019m guessing that every time you hear it, it is still\u2014you just marvel; don\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, yes. Seeing God\u2019s hand in all of history\u2014let alone, Buck\u2019s history, is something I love!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 The thing about both of you guys that I so appreciate is because both of you have a passion for seeing businessmen and women use their businesses as an outreach for Jesus Christ\u2014to minister to the marriages, the families, the people who work there\u2014and not just do business to earn a living\u2014but be about the King\u2019s business through their business.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tExplain what C12 is all about and how this is operating around the country.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And I\u2019m presuming C12 is not some super-explosive like C4 times 3; right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It is. It is, spiritually. Spiritually, it is explosive.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, it\u2019s more of a controlled explosion, hopefully; but we sure want it to be multiplicative across the entire marketplace. We just believe as Bible-believing Christians, that God owns it all. It\u2019s all from His hand\u2014He owns it all. As those, who are disciples of Christ, we\u2019re stewards of what He\u2019s entrusted to us. If you\u2019re at the helm of a business, that\u2019s really not by accident. You have accountability and responsibility. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, we\u2019re to do things with excellence. We\u2019re to be ambassadors for the Lord in the process. It\u2019s this counter-cultural notion that happens to be perfectly biblical\u2014that it\u2019s one life under the lordship of Christ\u2014and that extends to what you do every day and the impact you have on all those that the Lord brings into your path. In a business, that\u2019s thousands of folks every year. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So Buck, what does C12 stand for and how does it play itself out? What is it that you\u2019re calling businessmen to do?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, the original brainstorming time that we had about this whole concept\u2014we were trying to think what the name of the business should be. We decided it would be called the Christian 12 Group. One of the directors that was there said: \u201cThat\u2019s too long. Let\u2019s just call it C12.\u201d That was 20 years ago, and that stuck.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The name stuck.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 But what we\u2019ve done is adopted a model that\u2019s been well-used in other formats, which is the gathering together of like-minded folk to work on common problems and to help one another. It\u2019s really a microcosm of the design of the Church, biblically\u2014where God has made everybody different, and we work together, and one\u2019s weakness is counterbalanced by the other\u2019s strength. We didn\u2019t develop the model. We just put it into the context of being Christ-centered\u2014and focusing on the part of the market that is Christian business owners and CEOs\u2014who have the authority to make unilateral decisions to affect the culture of the business. That\u2019s our target. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe do it by bringing them together into a small group of 12 to 15 members that meet for a full day, once a month, and work through a prescribed format that we provide to them\u2014studying different materials that are really designed to be organizational development, from a biblical perspective, and also to emphasize and encourage the perspective that the business itself is a ministry\u2014that the business touches employees, customers, vendors and others that they know just because they\u2019re in business. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf they recognize the opportunity and choose to do so, they can pursue those relationships in a way that earns the right to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We help them see that, recognize it, and then enable them to do it by giving them technology\u2014\u201cHere\u2019s how you can do it.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 So a business leader, whether small or large, can really impact a lot of people if he just takes a step back and then becomes intentional about using his influence for Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And you guys help them think through strategies that they can use\u2014like having a chaplain for your business who can minister to employees, or having evangelistic events for employees or for customers. I think a lot of business owners feel like: \u201cI couldn\u2019t do that. First of all, the IRS might get involved; or if I did something like that, some of my employees would be offended.\u201d You\u2019ve heard all the concerns\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 What do you tell a business owner?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we basically encourage them to approach this in truth, but with grace\u2014in that they need to submit to the laws of the land. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has something called Title Seven, which basically says we need to be Equal Opportunity Employers. All that means is you can\u2019t discriminate based on race, or sex, or religious belief\u2014on hiring, compensation, promotion, these kinds of things. It\u2019s an easy bar for them to comply with. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat doesn\u2019t mean they park who they are at the curb when they come to work every day. Their closely-held beliefs and the core values that drive how they lead the enterprise really need not to be hidden. They need to be clearly enunciated so that people can affiliate themselves with an organization they trust, and want to be a part of, and actually enjoy their vocation\u2014enjoy their work\u2014whether they are Christians or not. We find that true Christian servant leadership is much more trustworthy for all people; and so these people stay long-term employees, even if they\u2019re not believers.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Give us an illustration of a business leader who truly got it and said, \u201cI want to use my business as an opportunity to share Christ.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 A year ago, we had a conference in Orlando. One of our newer members\u2014been with us just about three years, at that point\u2014he gave his testimony. He was all about money. He was living about three different lives\u2014one at home, one at church, one at work. The one at work was all about money. It was dog-eat-dog, cut throat. He had lots of turnover. He was successful, but it was a miserable place to work.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA fellow who would later become his C12 Chair came knocking. He was interviewing him. He said, \u201cSo, who owns your business?\u201d The guy said, \u201cWell, I do,\u201d quite proudly. He said: \u201cReally. Where does all this come from?\u201d It took a little while\u2014but within ten minutes, he believed that Christ was Lord\u2014but he had that tightly-compartmentalized, over here\u2014he started weeping. Within an hour, they were hugging. This guy became a C12 member. He started to change how he\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe saw the brokenness of his business, and the people, and the carnage that they had had, relationally, through that business. Long story short\u2014within the next couple of years\u2014that became a zero-turnover, rapidly-growing, expanding place. It\u2019s now a national company. The ministry is just flowing out of that place. The employees couldn\u2019t be more loyal and excited about being there. It\u2019s just outstanding. They have retooled their business core values and their vision for what\u2019s possible\u2014consistent with what the Lord shares with us in His Word\u2014and it\u2019s just amazing. They\u2019re knocking it out of the park, from a business perspective; but primarily, because they have people excited to be there\u2014doing something that\u2019s worth more than a paycheck.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have to tell you\u2014I have observed, over the 20 years that Dennis and I have worked together\u2014I have observed the things that get him excited. When a businessman gets a Kingdom-focus, that\u2019s one of those things that causes you just to bust out in a grin and get pretty pumped up.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Or a couple. When a couple get it and they go, \u201cYou know, I\u2019m here for a purpose. One of the purposes is back to Christ\u2019s\u2014well, among His last words He spoke on the planet\u2014Matthew, Chapter 28:19 and 20: \u201cAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.\u201d So, He\u2019s got the authority. Now, listen up. \u201cGo therefore,\u201d He said, \u201cand make disciples of all nations.\u201d He called us to go. He didn\u2019t say, \u201cSit you, therefore.\u201d He said, \u201cGo you, therefore.\u201d A part of why you guys are kindred spirits is because I believe the listener, who is listening to this broadcast, is every bit as important and has every bit of a spiritual and a divine assignment as each of all four of us, here in this studio.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 God has a plan for him\u2014for her\u2014for that couple\u2014and wants to use that couple, that businessman, that businesswoman for His purposes\u2014to make an impact on those under his or her influence. I just applaud what you are doing through C12. I hope that this broadcast stirs some folks, around the country, to go, \u201cHow can I get one of those started in my community?\u201d because that\u2019s the kind of outreach that will encourage other leaders to use their companies to reach out for Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think we need to recognize when Jesus said \u201cGo,\u201d that doesn\u2019t mean over the ocean. It might, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily. It may mean: \u201cJust go out in the shop,\u201d \u201cJust go out in the hallway,\u201d \u201cJust go to the office next to you.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Seriously. That\u2019s what these guys are talking about!. Walk out in your company and talk to the real people who are living real lives\u2014 who need the real hope of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. I just appreciate you guys\u2014Don, Buck\u2014for being on the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Don:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s a privilege, Dennis.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Buck:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you very much.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And thanks, as well, on behalf of our listeners\u2014thanks for the offer that we\u2019re making today. Buck has written a book called <em>A Light Shines Bright in Babylon<\/em>: A<em> Handbook for Christian Owners <\/em>and CEOs<em>.<\/em> It\u2019s a guidebook for anyone who owns a business and wants to employ biblical principles in the operation of that business. Again, the title of the book is <em>A Light Shines Bright in Babylon.<\/em> \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThese guys have provided us with a limited supply of this book. If you go to FamilyLifeToday.com and request a copy, we\u2019ll send it to you. If you\u2019re a business owner and you\u2019d like a copy of Buck Jacob\u2019s book, <em>A Light Shines Bright in Babylon<\/em>, go to FamilyLifeToday.com and request it. We\u2019ll send it out to you. It\u2019s courtesy of the folks at C12 and all of us, here at <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. We\u2019re happy to get a copy of this book into your hands\u2014all you have to do is request it. Again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com; or you can call to request the book: 1-800-FL-TODAY. You can order a copy over the phone. Again, it\u2019s free to anybody who is a business owner\u2014while our supply lasts. So, get in touch with us. We\u2019re happy to send a copy out to you, and hope you find it helpful\u2014useful in the operation of your business.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, before we wrap up, a quick word about our matching-gift fund. You may have heard me talk about this during the month of May. Some friends of the ministry came along and said, \u201cWe want to help you guys get ready for summer.\u201d They know that summer is a time of year when ministries, like ours, often experience a dip in donations. Folks get busy, and our expenses stay the same\u2014\u2014but we\u2019re hearing from fewer people over the summer. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, our friends came and said: \u201cLet us see if we can get you ready for that. We\u2019ll make a donation, but there\u2019s a string attached to that donation. Your listeners are going to have to match it in order for you to receive it.\u201d The total matching fund amount is $603,000. We\u2019re excited about that; but we\u2019re also getting down to the wire\u2014where we need to hear from listeners if we\u2019re going to take full advantage of that matching gift.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWould you consider going to FamilyLifeToday.com, click the button that says \u201cI CARE\u201d, and you can make an online donation? When you do, that donation is going to be matched, dollar for dollar, so your donation is essentially doubled when you give this month. Or call 1-800-FL-TODAY. You can make a donation over the phone. Again, we want to say, \u201cThanks,\u201d in advance, for whatever you are able to do. We hope you\u2019ll pray for us this month\u2014that we will, indeed, be able to take full advantage of the matching-gift opportunity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWith that, we hope you have a great weekend. Hope you and your family are able to worship together this weekend. I hope you can join us back on Monday when we\u2019re going to talk about the great adventure of adolescence\u2014and what you can do, as a parent, together with your preteen\u2014to get them ready for the teen years. We have some thoughts for you. We\u2019ll share those Monday. Hope you can join us.<br>\u00a0\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back [next time] for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2013 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302740"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302740"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302740"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}