Participants: Ryan Mack (Host), Yvonne Lewis (Host)
Series Code: DAS
Program Code: DAS000001A
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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. |
Revised 2017-07-26