Dollars and Sense

Less talk . . . More action

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ryan Mack (Host), Yvonne Lewis (Host)

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Series Code: DAS

Program Code: DAS000001A


00:24 Hello, and welcome to Dollars & Sense.
00:27 My name is Yvonne Lewis, and I'll be the
00:29 co-host for this program.
00:31 Our primary host is Ryan Mack, Financial Literacy expert.
00:36 Ryan has been a frequent commentator on CNN, and CNBC.
00:40 He's an author, speaker, and trainer.
00:43 Ryan has been written up in several magazines such as
00:46 Forbes, and Black Enterprise, and received Tom Joiner's
00:50 hardest working financial adviser award.
00:53 To me the most impressive thing about Ryan is the fact
00:57 that he's a Christian man of principle and integrity,
01:01 who's committed to helping people to realize
01:04 their financial goals.
01:05 On Dollars and Sense Ryan's going to teach all of us about
01:09 the relevance of Scripture to our financial picture.
01:12 Ryan, it's so good to be hosting this program with you.
01:15 Thank you so much!
01:17 I'm so blessed to be here.
01:18 I'm blessed as well.
01:19 Do you have a Scripture for us?
01:21 And then we're going to talk about how financial literacy has
01:25 empowered you to help others.
01:26 Well, I wanted to start off with one of my
01:28 favorites: 1 John 3:18.
01:30 It essentially says:
01:38 And NIV it says: Our love must not be a thing of
01:41 words and fine talk.
01:42 It must be a thing of action and sincerity.
01:45 Um! Don't just talk about it, do something, right?
01:48 I mean it's about that time.
01:49 I mean we are at a very critical time in our lives economically.
01:54 We see a lot of things on the news, and people might have
01:57 despair, and people are always saying what's wrong.
02:01 But it's about that time when we're to follow the life of
02:03 Christ, we can figure out what to do right.
02:05 And the purpose of Dollars and Sense is really just to let
02:09 people know that this is more than just something you
02:12 read one day a week. Right.
02:14 This is a tool, this is a strategy, this is a roadmap,
02:19 this is something that God has given to all of us that we can
02:22 empower ourselves on an every day life.
02:24 I mean there's nothing, not a single part of your life that
02:28 cannot be impacted by the word of God,
02:31 that cannot be empowered by the word of God.
02:33 And so, and especially when it comes to your money.
02:35 So we have to have a Christlike way of managing
02:38 the money effectively.
02:39 See that's awesome, because so many people think, you know,
02:41 let's keep the Bible over here. Yeah.
02:43 So when you go to church on Sabbath that's when you read.
02:46 But, you know, you don't have to...
02:48 But God is not going to be that involved with your finances.
02:52 You have to worry about that.
02:53 No! He wants to be involved in every part of your life,
02:56 and has left a manual, through the Bible, as to how to do it.
02:59 And that's one of the things I love about what you do is you
03:03 teach people how to apply Scriptural principles to
03:07 their financial picture.
03:08 Right. And this... it's a beautiful thing.
03:10 I mean there are many authors out there that I've actually
03:12 been following who also apply a Biblical perspective
03:16 of financial literacy.
03:17 And I had first learned, my first author was one
03:21 gentleman named Lee Jenkins.
03:23 I'd never seen someone who had actually taught financial
03:27 literacy using the Bible before.
03:29 And it just opened up my eyes.
03:30 And from that I found Crowned out of Oregon.
03:33 And I found many different authors, Round Blue.
03:35 And I started to write based on Biblical principles.
03:38 And it had literally, it is the most practical tool,
03:41 and financial handbook on the planet.
03:43 We always talk about, you know, various financial experts,
03:47 and various things.
03:48 But this is an entity that stands the test of time. Yes!
03:52 So no matter what happens in the world, no matter what ups and
03:56 downs that happen, the Bible has tools and strategies that will
04:00 allow us to essentially be able to navigate anything,
04:03 and any financial hardship that you could ever imagine
04:06 that you could face.
04:08 And I've counseled many individuals.
04:09 I've had many individuals that I work with, many clients,
04:12 and when we go, just go back to the word,
04:15 there's something in the Scripture that resonates with
04:18 an individual that can help them navigate an dictate what
04:21 principles they can use, what products and services they
04:24 should be using, how to use the various counselors.
04:27 I mean, all those things can be talked about from the Bible.
04:30 I remember the first time when I started to really operate
04:34 and work with those who are formally incarcerated,
04:36 and work with those whom are gang members.
04:38 And it was really the Bible, and this Scripture, 1 John 3:18,
04:42 that really said, You know what?
04:44 If you're seeing crime in your community, if you're seeing
04:47 something in your community where you want something fixed,
04:51 and I remember walking home.
04:52 And it's a sad story; where I saw a young lady who was shot.
04:56 And this young lady was shot, and she was a little girl,
04:59 and they were pulling the sheet over the top of her head.
05:03 And what they'd found out was that this was a
05:05 gang related incident.
05:07 And there were Bloods who were in my community,
05:10 living in Brooklyn at the time.
05:11 And it really hit home.
05:13 I said, What can we do?
05:15 Because I know, and I didn't know the person who actually
05:17 pulled the trigger, but I knew the root cause of it was crime.
05:21 And I knew the root cause of it was they didn't feel that
05:23 there's any other way but to do these evil things.
05:27 And there has to be something that's out there that can,
05:32 that we can do to reach out to them.
05:34 But this Scripture spoke to me.
05:35 It's not just about talking about it.
05:37 It's not just about judging them, because the Scripture
05:39 also talks about judgment as well.
05:41 It's about putting some action behind it.
05:43 So reading the Scripture made us, and we had a
05:46 group of individuals.
05:48 We pulled the gang members together, and we had the time
05:51 to sit down with them.
05:52 And I pulled the leader of the Blood's the next day,
05:55 and we took them out to breakfast.
05:57 And I helped him form his own business.
05:59 And ten months later he had ten employees
06:01 and two project managers.
06:03 Ten months later?
06:04 Yeah. Ten months later he, at the time when we met he only had
06:07 $300 in his pocket, and he'd just got home
06:09 from Rikers Island.
06:11 And he said, Ryan, I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
06:13 I'm lost. I don't know where I'm supposed to go.
06:16 I said, You know what?
06:17 You've got a renewed mind.
06:19 And it also talks about that in Romans.
06:20 You've transformed your mind.
06:21 So all these things are Biblical principles that he was
06:24 exemplifying to me that he was ready to take
06:27 it to the next level.
06:28 Helped him form his business, and most of those ten
06:30 employees were other Bloods.
06:32 And now at the root cause of it was financial literacy.
06:36 And if you think about this...
06:37 Wait, Ryan, I've got to stop you for a second. Yes.
06:40 Because that is so deep to me that here this young man was
06:46 on this dark path, one of the Bloods.
06:50 And the thing about the gangs is, you know,
06:52 all of this retaliation. Yeah.
06:53 You do this to me, I do this back to you.
06:55 And they're killing each other in droves.
06:59 And here you have this young man who didn't know that there was
07:05 something else he could do. Right.
07:06 He felt like there must be something else.
07:08 What else can I do?
07:10 Not only did this help him, but ten others like him.
07:16 Imagine now if we had centers like this
07:20 in various urban communities.
07:22 Imagine what that could do. Right.
07:25 It could get these kids off the streets, give them something
07:29 positive to do, and they'd change their whole self-image.
07:33 And it would change crime, you know, recidivism.
07:37 There's a positive correlation between poverty and crime.
07:40 Absolutely. And when you look around at our communities,
07:43 and you see individuals, and many of them that were very
07:47 candid; we've had many conversations with
07:48 many gang members, which is why this show is so crucial.
07:51 Many of them have said that, Ryan, when I see someone with a
07:56 fur coat on, I look at that as a way to feed my child.
08:00 Because they just don't know another way. Uh huh.
08:03 But we know through Christ He gives us knowledge.
08:06 That's right. We know through Christ He gives us inspiration
08:08 to find that knowledge. That's right.
08:09 You know through Christ He gives us inspiration to find
08:11 the people who can give that knowledge.
08:13 Come on! You're preaching brother.
08:15 So this is what we are all about.
08:16 And so me sitting down with him, and saying that was good.
08:22 Well, I would not have been able to sit down with him if my own
08:25 finances were not together. Uh huh.
08:27 If I was worried about my bills, if I was worried about if I
08:30 hadn't started my business myself, if I was worried about,
08:33 you know, all these things, bill collectors, and being foreclosed
08:36 on or whatever, financial issues that plague all of our
08:39 communities across the country.
08:41 If I was worried about those things, I would not have had
08:43 time to sit down with him.
08:45 So it was fiscal responsibility, living life through Christ
08:48 that allowed me to put my money together, which becomes the best
08:52 blessing to help him put his money together. Yes.
08:56 And so this transcends, it transcends politics.
09:00 It transcends economic status.
09:01 Christ transcends the world. That's right.
09:04 If we embrace Him, use the principles to just say,
09:07 You know what? Let me just get back to the basis of what
09:10 Christ is talking about, and I can use Him to empower them.
09:14 And that's what this show is really all about.
09:16 I love it. I absolutely love it, because again,
09:18 we can't compartmentalize.
09:21 We can't put Jesus over here and say, We want You involved in
09:25 this part of our lives, but not in this part. Right.
09:28 He needs to be involved in every part.
09:30 He's left us a way to do it.
09:32 And from the word you have extrapolated some principles
09:38 and steps to financial freedoms.
09:41 Absolutely. Let's talk about it.
09:43 Well, we have what I call the seven steps
09:45 of financial freedom.
09:46 And I urge those watching to please take some time
09:49 to write these down.
09:50 And to please, if they want to engage with us afterward to ask
09:54 questions about how to implement them, and the best ways to
09:57 go about doing them, we urge individuals to do so.
10:00 In fact we have an email address we're going to put on the screen
10:03 so that people can email, ask questions and all that. It's:
10:17 Absolutely, and we encourage everyone to engage with the
10:20 Dare to Dream Network Face book page.
10:22 I will be there answering your financial questions.
10:25 If they need any additional advice, or guidance, or a place
10:28 with resources they can go within their local community.
10:31 I mean we want this to be as interactive and
10:34 engaging as is possible.
10:35 Absolutely, absolutely.
10:37 So these seven steps are, again, something that I created,
10:40 because people needed to have a road map to success,
10:42 a financial road map.
10:44 And many individuals when they tried to tackle financial
10:47 literacy, and their own financial problems, didn't
10:50 necessarily know where to start, or where to begin.
10:52 Absolutely. Most people don't.
10:54 Okay, so I want to fix some; I want to like know more about
10:59 how to work my finances.
11:02 What do I do? Where do I go? What do I do?
11:04 Well, these 7 steps, and I urge everyone to write them down:
11:07 Step O: that's before we even begin.
11:10 We have to have faith.
11:11 We have to have the right mindset.
11:13 The word says, As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
11:16 If you think you are poor, you will be poor.
11:18 But if you think you are brilliant, if you think you are
11:21 successful, if you think you are God's child of success
11:24 then you will be just that.
11:25 And God will be fruitful to you, because you have
11:28 that right mindset.
11:30 So we have to have faith.
11:31 But faith that hath not works is dead.
11:32 We'll be talking a lot about that.
11:34 So we have to put things in to work.
11:36 So I have the right mindset.
11:37 One of the things that I learned growing up, when again,
11:40 we didn't have a lot of resources,
11:42 was that about contentment.
11:44 And the right mindset is being content.
11:47 It does not mean I'm happy with my state,
11:49 it means I'm happy in my state.
11:51 And there's a huge difference.
11:53 Oh, that's a good point. Right.
11:55 Unpack that just a little bit for us.
11:56 Well, the bottom line is that when you're living in a
11:59 situation we have to be able to discern the difference between
12:03 the facts and the truth. Right?
12:05 And many times we will pay so much attention to the facts,
12:10 we'll forget to look at the truth.
12:11 And I remember a dear friend of mine who was sick.
12:17 She had terminal throat cancer.
12:19 And the facts were she had terminal throat cancer.
12:22 The facts were that most people who have this type of cancer
12:26 are given a short sentence of life.
12:28 And she was given a short sentence of life.
12:31 That is a fact. But she chose to believe the truth,
12:35 which said, By His stripes I am healed. Okay.
12:38 So that truth, because she believed it so much,
12:42 began to shape and change her facts.
12:45 And what happens, now she goes around the country talking about
12:49 how she defeated terminal throat cancer.
12:52 And this same principle can be applied to our finances.
12:55 Many times we look at the facts.
12:57 Within our bank account we have zero,
13:00 or maybe a negative balance.
13:01 That is a fact. We do not have any money in your bank account.
13:05 But the truth is by your faith you can work hard enough to
13:09 create a different situation for you.
13:12 By your faith you can change your current situation to do
13:16 anything, and everything you want.
13:17 So contentment means don't pay attention to the facts,
13:21 pay attention to the truth; that you are God's child,
13:24 that you have a destiny of greatness and success in your
13:28 life if you follow His word and His will.
13:31 And so your current situation does not dictate your destiny?
13:34 Absolutely not. No, we have to look beyond.
13:38 And then if you're only looking at your current situation,
13:40 God says to look inside you, not outside of you.
13:43 Because if you look outside you then you are allowing
13:46 the world to dictate what people think of you.
13:49 But God says, I put something inside of you that is
13:52 greater than the world.
13:53 So that's something that is a financial principle.
13:56 Because that means that we should not be discouraged
13:59 as we move through our financial lives, and put together our
14:02 own financial plans.
14:04 So, and the seven steps really just exemplifies that.
14:07 So that's Step 0. We have to get that straight.
14:10 I can't teach a course, I can't do a counseling session unless
14:13 people truly believe that, because otherwise it's useless
14:17 if they don't believe that.
14:18 So Step 1 is getting your house in order.
14:21 And when you get your house in order there are five essential
14:24 components to getting your house in order.
14:26 Of course, Part 1-A is tithing.
14:29 You have to have first fruits.
14:30 When we're giving our first fruits back we have to make sure
14:33 that we give back, and show a commitment, and show our thanks.
14:38 We don't give because we want something, we give because God
14:41 says He has given us do much.
14:43 We just want to say, Thank You!
14:44 And we're being obedient, and we're being a servant,
14:47 and we're supporting our ministry.
14:50 But again, we don't give to get, because giving at our church is
14:54 not a slot machine.
14:56 This is not Atlantic City where you think you're going to put
14:57 a dollar in and you're going to get a hundred out.
15:00 No, that's not it. You're giving because of all the things that
15:03 God has already done for you, and what He's going to do for
15:06 you, and because you just are so thankful for that as a seed
15:10 of greatness that you want to sow.
15:12 You know, Ryan, that is so important because sometimes
15:14 I hear people say, Well, ah, like, you know, like they might
15:19 say to me, Well, I'm really struggling right now.
15:21 And my first question is, Well, are you paying your
15:23 tithe and offering? Yes.
15:24 And they'll be like, Well, sometimes, but I really can't
15:28 afford it because I can't even pay my rent.
15:31 My thing is that you can't afford not to.
15:34 You can't afford not to.
15:36 Because the Lord says, Prove Me now, herewith sayeth the Lord
15:39 of hosts, if I will not pour you out a blessing,
15:42 and so rich you won't be able to receive it.
15:44 So we can't afford not to.
15:46 That's a double negative.
15:49 My dad wouldn't be happy with that.
15:52 But we have to give God back.
15:55 We're returning to God ten percent. And it's all His!
15:59 The thing is, as a finance guy, I look at things logically.
16:02 There's nothing more logical than God, right?
16:04 And, well, I guess people could disagree with that,
16:07 a group of non-believers.
16:09 But it's just so logical to me.
16:10 When you say you're paying ten percent, what does that mean?
16:14 That means that you are calculating what ten percent is.
16:18 That means that you have a budget.
16:19 That means that you have sat down and write down all your
16:22 expenses, and your strategy.
16:23 That means you now have a full grasp of your finances.
16:27 So now you know that you can afford to pay this ten percent.
16:30 And then you can, by that rationale,
16:33 you're also navigating every other area of your life.
16:36 Because you have to know first what ten percent even is.
16:39 So tithing helps us budget.
16:42 Tithing helps us prioritize.
16:44 Tithing helps us put things in proper perspective of what's
16:49 truly important, and how can we support those things that
16:52 have given us not just life, but salvation. Uh huh!
16:55 And so this... We can't start a financial strategy without
16:59 putting, again, 1-A is tithing.
17:01 The other four components are step one.
17:04 Step 1-B is we have to have a budget.
17:06 We have to, it talks about in Luke about who builds a tower
17:10 without first counting the cost to complete it.
17:12 If you don't, you don't start something unless you figure out
17:15 how much it's going to cost to complete it.
17:16 Well, it says that in the Bible, that you figure it out.
17:18 That's called budgeting.
17:20 We have to have a thing called insurance, making sure that we
17:22 have adequate insurance coverage for our families.
17:25 We have to put things in there like the estate plan,
17:27 which is another step.
17:28 Make sure we have a proper estate plan.
17:30 And a wise man leaves an inheritance for his
17:32 children's children.
17:34 It talks about that in the Bible.
17:35 People would say estate? I don't have, I mean I live in
17:37 the urban projects. Right.
17:40 Why have an estate?
17:41 Well, I mean, we'll have segments on wills and what not,
17:44 that educate individuals to go fully into it.
17:47 But to have an estate, I have a good friend of mine who her
17:51 sister passed away early.
17:52 And she had not a lot of assets at all,
17:55 but she did have a baby fat purse.
17:57 And this baby fat purse, her aunt and her mother wanted
18:07 that baby fat purse.
18:08 And at the end of the day they didn't talk to one another,
18:12 because the aunt came to the house and got
18:14 that baby fat purse.
18:16 And a year later they still were not talking, because it was just
18:20 not left in a proper will.
18:21 So if you have clothes on your back you have an estate.
18:25 That's right. That's really all it is. That's right.
18:27 So we have to make sure that we have proper planning
18:29 around those things.
18:31 And then we have to have lastly the 5th Step of Step 1,
18:34 is making sure that we have proper credit, and making sure
18:37 our credit scores are improved.
18:39 So that's all Step 1; getting your house in order.
18:42 And then we move through the rest of the 7.
18:44 Step 2 is eliminate all high risk debt.
18:47 Step 3 is making sure we have a company retirement plan
18:52 that we're putting into, whether it's a 401K or 43B,
18:55 that we're investing into to prepare for our retirement.
18:59 What's high risk debt?
19:00 High risk debt is essentially credit cards, cash advances,
19:05 those things that have a variable interest rate attached
19:09 to them, that if you do not pay them you're subject to having
19:12 extremely high interest rate, usually not
19:14 attached to an asset, but monies owed to the IRS.
19:18 That's high risk debt.
19:20 And so that's Step 3, and Step 3 is company retirement plans,
19:24 Step 4 is your individual retirement... Oh no, I'm sorry!
19:27 Step, excuse me, step 4 is your emergency fund, where you need
19:32 to have, I say, 9 to 12 months of living expenses saved
19:36 together right now.
19:37 Some people will say, Ryan, 9 to 12 months, that's just too,
19:41 that's too much for me to think about.
19:43 Well, let's just say your emergency fund was $12,000.00,
19:48 and that's enough to get you by for that twelve months
19:51 of living expenses.
19:52 Well, you might not be able to save $12,000.00 one-time,
19:55 but can you save $6,000.00 twice?
19:58 Well, that's still a little bit pricey.
20:00 Well, what about $3,000.00 four times?
20:02 A little bit pricey.
20:03 What about $1,500.00 eight times?
20:06 And you keep breaking it down.
20:07 Or, you know, 750 times; $750.0016 times?
20:13 You know, $375.00 and what not, 32 times.
20:17 And you keep breaking it down until you get to a denomination
20:20 that you feel comfortable with saving.
20:22 And then just focus on that.
20:24 And, again, we'll be having a lot of discussions around these.
20:27 But the problem that we've had is that we get so impatient
20:31 with waiting on what God wants us to have.
20:34 And we have to start asking ourselves, if we buy this home,
20:37 or car of the flesh, or did we allow God to make this
20:40 decision in our lives? Uh hum.
20:42 And the budget helps to dictate that.
20:44 The emergency fund, in terms of making sure you have enough
20:46 savings for that rainy day, talks a lot in Proverbs about
20:49 retirement and rainy day fund, and what to do to between the
20:52 summer and storing up.
20:54 All these things are in the Bible.
20:56 That emergency fund is a Biblical principle.
20:59 And so we have to have an emergency fund.
21:01 And if you want to break it down even further, 6 months of cash,
21:04 and maybe 3 to 6 months of a credit card debt that you can
21:07 have, in case your car breaks down,
21:09 or something of that nature.
21:10 Then we have Step 6.
21:12 Eliminate all low risk debt, and making sure that we,
21:15 that's not student loans, auto loans, mortgages.
21:19 All those things usually attached to an asset.
21:22 You want to start paying those down as fast as possible, okay?
21:25 Again, it says in Romans, Let no debt remain unpaid except
21:28 for the debt to love one another.
21:29 So we have to pay all of our debts.
21:31 These are Biblical principles.
21:32 We're going to have a discussion about in Deuteronomy they really
21:36 outline our credit laws today.
21:38 And so our credit laws are based directly, almost verbatim,
21:43 word for word, from the Bible. Wow!
21:45 So as we pay our debts, our debtors back, we have to
21:48 understand that it's more important to be a
21:50 lender than a borrower.
21:51 That's also a Biblical principle as well.
21:53 And then we have Step 7, which is a Diversified Investment
21:57 strategy in the market, so we have to have stocks, bonds,
22:00 business, real estate, all those types of things.
22:03 Again it talks about in Ecclesiastes about diversifying
22:07 your assets and making sure that you don't invest in one,
22:10 but put, divide your portions into 7 and into 8, right?
22:13 So these are all things the Bible has laid out for us.
22:17 So we don't have to; we might not go to Susie Orman,
22:21 or Teddy Savage, or Dave Ramsey, you go to the word. Come on!
22:25 And the word will give you everything you need, and more.
22:29 And so I just, I'm so thankful for this program,
22:32 and being able to have these candid discussions.
22:34 And I just urge everyone to please go to the Dare to Dream
22:37 Network Face book page and engage with us so we can have
22:40 continued interaction with all of you, and getting our
22:43 finances in order.
22:44 That's great, that's great.
22:46 What would you say are some of the challenges that people have
22:50 as they move toward financial literacy?
22:53 I think the biggest challenge is ourselves.
22:55 And the biggest challenge, again we tend to feel that our
23:01 external environment can control our internal success.
23:04 And we sometimes don't believe that no weapon formed against me
23:10 shall prosper. Uh huh.
23:12 And it shows that we don't believe it through our actions.
23:14 So I'm asking you, Do you believe that?
23:17 If you truly believe every word in the Bible, then you know
23:19 that no matter what situation you're faced with,
23:22 you can overcome that situation.
23:23 Well that... we have a lot... I'm not trying to say it's easy.
23:27 I'm not trying to say it's not going to be challenging.
23:29 I'm not trying to say that there's not going to be no
23:31 obstacle that's going to give you pause, and make sure you
23:34 have to do some digging.
23:35 But I believe that there are some real diamonds that can be
23:39 formed through the hardships of what we're going to come through
23:41 in our economy today.
23:43 So once we get out of our own way, then it's about making sure
23:47 that we can find the right information.
23:50 Because there's a lot of information, bad information,
23:52 being put around there.
23:54 This is a 360 billion dollar industry, and I look forward to
23:56 having a longer conversation about this,
23:59 about the financial predator industry.
24:01 And they are preying on our ignorance. Uh hum.
24:05 There's nothing wrong with being ignorant, but there is something
24:07 wrong with staying ignorant.
24:08 So they essentially want to exploit us for all of the
24:14 things that we don't know.
24:15 For everything we don't know about how to open up a bank
24:18 account, there's a check cashing place.
24:20 For everything we don't know about saving, there's a payday
24:22 loan in the pawn shop.
24:23 For everything we don't know about the dangers and the ails
24:27 of drugs there's a weed refinery, and the liquor store.
24:30 For everything that we don't know about all of these things
24:34 they put in a very convenient location, right in the heart
24:38 of our neighborhoods.
24:39 So we have a lot of work to do to getting this information
24:42 out there to make sure that before you walk in that liquor
24:45 store, that weed refinery, that payday loan, check cashing
24:49 place, and all those things that have to, that mean to make money
24:52 off of doing you harm, let's look for the word first to get
24:55 some true sense of enlightenment.
24:57 Uh huh. Because the word will let you know.
24:59 Don't go into those places.
25:01 Exactly, exactly, exactly.
25:03 Because the principles are there.
25:04 It might not say weed or alcohol.
25:06 Well, it does talk about alcohol.
25:08 But it will let you know those principles are there in the
25:12 word for us to follow. Exactly.
25:14 What would you say is the greatest danger when people
25:21 procrastinate, and just say, you know what?
25:24 I'm thinking about it, but, you know, but I'm not that sure.
25:28 Probably, well the reason why I'm against prepaid debit cards
25:32 is for that exact reason.
25:34 Many people procrastinate on getting their finances in order,
25:38 improving their credit.
25:39 I've been a long time antagonist of prepaid debit cards.
25:42 And if you... The answer to a cavity is not to just eat on the
25:48 left side if the cavity is on your right side.
25:50 Because as you procrastinate that cavity gets larger,
25:53 and larger, and larger, and the problem looms.
25:56 The prepaid debit card essentially does just that,
25:58 and it doesn't allow us to fix our problems.
26:01 And it keeps this not being able to build our credit.
26:04 It grows and grows, and now when you really want to buy
26:07 a home, or start a business, it perpetuates an underclass
26:10 of society that does not allow us to be successful.
26:13 So we have to take it head on.
26:15 The word talks about taking things, don't deal,
26:19 don't procrastinate.
26:20 The word talks about making sure that we are deliberate
26:23 in our empowerment.
26:25 This program has been amazing.
26:27 I can't believe our time is up.
26:29 And we've got to give you time to give to Takeaway.
26:32 It sounds good. Yeah!
26:39 We are living in challenging times.
26:41 If you would only look at the news for your source of
26:44 enlightenment it is very likely that you would believe there's
26:46 little hope and much distress.
26:48 Thank God we have an Almighty God who doesn't want
26:51 us to fear tomorrow.
26:52 We all must take advantage of the blessings
26:54 He has in store for us.
26:55 Jesus Christ believes in all of us despite what the naysayers
26:59 try to tell us about our economic fate.
27:01 God believes we all have a vital role to play in our
27:04 economic advancement.
27:05 What community resources have you found today,
27:07 and in recent days that can be used to better yourself,
27:11 and can be shared with others?
27:12 On each day have you marched closer towards your God given
27:16 purpose, making the life of others better?
27:18 The greatest blessing you will receive is to be a blessing
27:21 towards someone else.
27:22 But we must do what is mandated of us to put ourselves in a
27:25 better position to be the best blessing possible.
27:28 We at Dollars and Sense are committed to playing our role.
27:31 And the advice and guidance you receive here is useless unless
27:35 you put some action behind it.
27:36 In these challenging economic times we need to
27:39 follow the Scripture.
27:40 We need less talk and more action.
27:42 And remember, be the change you want to see in the world,
27:45 and the purpose of life is a life full of purpose.
27:48 This is Yvonne Lewis and Ryan Mack, Dollars and Sense.


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Revised 2017-07-26