Welcome to the Excel Stillmore podcast. I'm your host, Chris Emerson, and I'm thrilled to introduce once again a great sponsor for the program, Tyler Kane, a close friend and fellow believer. He serves as the senior loan officer at statewide mortgage, based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Statewide mortgage is a company founded by a brother in Christ.

Tyler brings 20 years of expertise to the table, making him a trusted advisor for numerous families navigating the complexities of the mortgage industry.

Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, considering refinancing,

or dreaming about future homeownership goals, Tyler and his team stand ready to assist you

every step of the way. For more information, you can find a link to their website in our show

notes or feel free to reach out directly to Tyler at 813-380-8487. And on his behalf and mine, thanks for listening.

Hey, welcome today. So check it out. I'm holding in my right hand my favorite book, I'm pretty sure,

of all time ever written outside of Scripture.

It was originally published in 1936 by a man named Dale Carnegie.

It became an international bestseller and still sells thousands of copies all over the world.

The title of this book is How to Win Friends and Influence People.

I think this is my fourth time through the book over the last 15 years, and every single

time through I see something new, or I'm reminded of something I need to be doing better.

This book has a special place in my heart, 15 years ago, Bill Murph, who was an elder at the church where I was preaching and one of the most charitable and wonderful men, sat down with me one day at lunch and said, Chris, you need this book. And I remember the first time through going, oh, that's why Bill Murph approaches people that way. He had gotten a lot from it, and so have I.

So what I would love to do with you is share some of the primary content of this book over a series,

maybe three or four episodes long. They may not be in consecutive order, but I'll keep it pretty

tight. To help remember and catalog for later, I'm titling this Friends and People Part One,

and we'll move forward that way. And of course, those two words come from the title, but I love

this title. There are two categories of people in your life. There are those who are your friends,

who draw close to you, who become a support to you. How do you win more people into that category? And then

they're just people. Maybe they're not in that inner circle of friends. Maybe they're strangers

...