Participants: Cordell Thomas
Series Code: TITTB
Program Code: TITTB000022
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00:01 On Take it to the Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt. 00:09 Solve your credit card problems, 00:14 how to make and stick with the budget, 00:19 simple ways to save, 00:24 buying or selling a home, 00:27 and many more financial matters 00:29 on Take it to the Bank. 00:32 Hi, my name is Cordell Thomas 00:33 and welcome to another program of Take it to the Bank. 00:36 We have a really important topic to talk about today 00:39 and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to approach it, 00:42 but I think the spirit will lead. 00:43 What I'd like to do 00:45 is give you a couple of specific statistics. 00:50 Did you know that via the Canadian study, 00:54 recent study, they're saying that 00:55 38% of all marriages will end up in divorce 00:59 before the 30th year of marriage? 01:02 That's a stark statistic. 01:04 We have some numbers for you 01:05 and we'll show that to you a little later on, 01:07 but let me give you some other information. 01:10 Keep in mind that wiring money is like sending cash. 01:14 The sender has no protection against loss. 01:17 How about this one? 01:19 Don't respond to messages 01:20 asking for your personal financial information 01:23 whether the message comes from an email 01:25 or phone call or a text message. 01:28 Read your bills on a monthly basis. 01:30 Look at their statements on a regular basis 01:33 because scammers are out there 01:35 to get information and take your money. 01:38 Remember there is no such thing as a sure thing 01:41 and in wake of certain disasters... 01:46 Make sure that you check on the charities 01:49 you actually give your moneys to. 01:51 Now this is things to look at for fraud. 01:54 But these are some of the same warnings 01:57 that they provide you when you're dealing 02:00 with marital breakdown. 02:02 It's kind of interesting. 02:04 So what we're trying to do today 02:07 is I'm not going to be the expert on marriage. 02:09 I tell you that it's not the best thing to go to a baker 02:15 if you need someone to build the house. 02:16 I am not the person to go to 02:18 for psychological advice on marriage 02:20 and that type of thing. 02:22 But what I am talking to you about is the top reasons 02:25 for financial concerns and crisis. 02:28 What we do know is stress is caused by finance, 02:32 a top reason, 02:34 and even the top three reasons for stress 02:37 is having to do with finances, 02:39 it have the work place environment, 02:41 personal relationships in a family. 02:44 If fraud happens 02:45 or someone steals your identity, 02:47 they typically think 02:48 it's someone that is close to you. 02:50 And then of course, the top reasons 02:51 for financial crises or top reason for stress 02:55 has to do with finance, finance. 02:59 I think as we talk through these specific issues, 03:01 we begin to get our perspective 03:02 of how much is within our control 03:05 as we look at the relationships they get involved in 03:08 and how much we can, what we must do 03:10 to put things in a certain parameter of control. 03:14 But what I like to share with you today 03:16 before we move any forward 03:17 is to share with you a Bible verse, 03:19 a chapter actually. 03:20 I was reading this morning from Psalms, Psalms 100. 03:23 "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 03:26 Serve the Lord with gladness: 03:27 come into his presence with singing. 03:29 Know ye that the Lord he is God: 03:33 it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves, 03:35 we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 03:39 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, 03:41 and enter his courts with praise: 03:44 be thankful unto him, 03:46 be thankful unto him and bless his name. 03:49 For the Lord is good, for the Lord is good, 03:53 his mercy is everlasting, 03:54 and his truth endureth to all generations." 03:58 I was listening coming into the studio today 04:01 and I heard the song on the radio, it says, 04:03 Savior you can move the mountains, 04:06 my Lord is mighty to save, 04:08 He is mighty to save. 04:10 And if I can establish anything in this program 04:12 it's to say that, we have a Savior 04:15 that's willing to help us and to motivate us, 04:17 and to get us into a place that He wants us to be 04:21 in reference to our finances. 04:22 And I ask you to pray and to get in touch with Him 04:26 and develop that relationship with Him, 04:28 because it's the key focus that we should have 04:32 knowing that Christ is looking out for a best good, 04:36 and that's where I like to start this today. 04:39 Before we go any further, 04:41 but what I like to do as we get started 04:43 is to introduce you to a Pastor Kelly 04:47 as the resource of mine, 04:48 senior pastor at the Mt. Rubidoux 04:50 Seventh-day Advantest Church. 04:51 Now, we had a chance to have a conversation. 04:54 He has just done a series called, "Life in Debt" 04:57 and I had an opportunity to speak to him 04:59 about this specific issue called debt and relationships. 05:03 Let's go to that video. 05:06 Cordell Thomas with Pastor Kelly. 05:08 You gonna be our expert here 05:09 because you know you did your Life in Debt series. 05:11 Yes. 05:12 And I have a couple of questions for you 05:13 but, you know, what, what's interesting is, 05:15 when most people are talking about debt 05:16 we don't realize what $1 trillion is of debt. 05:19 You know the country is in $1.33 trillion of debt 05:21 and what does that mean? 05:23 So I started asking people some questions on Venice Beach. 05:27 If you spend a dollar a second, 05:29 how long would it take to spend a million dollars? 05:32 You know my guess would, 05:34 you know, I'm thinking may be for some people 05:36 may be a couple of hours. 05:39 A million dollars? 05:41 Yeah, but I have no idea, 05:42 I never thought about something like that. 05:43 People don't conceptualize those kind of things. 05:45 And that's what's key, 05:46 we don't understand what a dollar actually is. 05:48 Right. 05:49 One million dollars takes 12 days to spend. 05:51 Twelve days. Spending a dollar a second. 05:53 A second. A dollar a second. 05:55 How about one billion dollars? 05:58 Okay, so if a million was about 12 days, 06:01 I'd have to say a billion, let's say about 60 days, 06:04 something like that. 06:06 No, we're talking about 1000 million, right, 06:08 so we're upwards of 32 years. 06:10 Gee. 06:12 Thirty two years to spend a dollar a second. 06:14 And a trillion, 06:15 the United States deficit is $1.33 trillion. 06:20 Can we put in into... 06:22 I don't know if I could imagine 06:24 because I mean the million threw me off already. 06:26 I mean what is, what is a trillion? 06:28 Thirty one thousand years. 06:30 Thirty one thousand years, that's a trillion, 06:31 coming to a trillion at dollar a second. 06:33 And it's interesting 06:34 because we're dealing with this issue called debt. 06:37 In the United States a big debt 06:38 and then we see personal lives are being changed 06:42 all the time with this debt issue. 06:44 Can you address life in debt? 06:45 I know you had a series, 06:47 can you tell me some attributes of families 06:48 that may have a debt issue. 06:49 Sure, you know, one of the things 06:51 that God laid on our heart, 06:52 you know, as a church is we're really concerned 06:54 with the way that the finances of God's people are going. 06:59 We don't want to go to the extent 07:00 where people say, 07:02 you know, serve God and you get rich, 07:03 we know that's not biblical this prosperity gospel. 07:06 But as you really look through the scriptures, 07:07 you'll find that Jesus has a lot to say about money. 07:11 And He doesn't just, 07:12 descriptions don't only just talk about money itself 07:14 but in particularly they really talk about debt. 07:17 The Bible really teaches us 07:19 and really leads God's children to say clear of debt. 07:23 A very text throughout the Bible 07:24 and in Proverbs they say, 07:26 the one who is the borrower is slave, 07:29 you know, to the lender. 07:30 And so one of the things that we find is, 07:32 a lot of our people in church are enslaved to debt. 07:37 You know, how we tease in the series, 07:38 we say think about, it's called master card. 07:41 You know, it's your master. 07:43 And the thing that we find is, 07:45 that lot of families are using these credit cards 07:48 that, you know, getting different types of cards 07:50 whether it be for department stores, 07:53 may be just a regular cards to buy things 07:56 that they really can't afford. 07:57 But it's kind of interesting you say that 07:59 because the old way of doing thing was save your money, 08:03 go and buy it, and that's pretty much it. 08:05 Now, we're dealing with an issue of immediacy. 08:08 Absolutely. We got it consumer immediacy. 08:10 Yeah, it's neat thing, 08:11 I talk to some of our young people, 08:12 I say, "Have you heard of layaway?" 08:14 And they're like what is that? 08:16 I think you had only had the idea 08:18 of I have to have it now. 08:19 And I think also, 08:21 especially as you know I pastor in Southern California. 08:24 People like to keep up with technology, 08:27 with what's happening, 08:28 If you know there's a new TV that's coming out, 08:30 it seems almost every other month. 08:31 And I don't want to wait, I have to get it right now. 08:34 And so people in order to get, 08:36 sometimes it's tough to get a certain status 08:38 are getting in debt, 08:39 and what they don't understand is, 08:42 getting in debt when it comes to money and financial issues, 08:44 you don't always see 08:46 the immediate consequences of that. 08:49 I mean, you'll get in debt today 08:50 and you won't get to suffer those consequences for a year, 08:53 two, three years from now. 08:55 So that's really what's happening 08:56 through lot of our people. 08:57 So our series is trying to teach people, 08:59 "Hey, let's use our money, let's spend our money, 09:02 let's manage our money." 09:03 It's what Jesus talks a lot about that, 09:04 managing money the way that God wants us to, 09:07 and being in debt is definitely not one of those things 09:09 that God will like to see. 09:10 Okay, so I have something for you, pastor. 09:11 Okay. 09:13 Let me use this term, prenuptial agreement. 09:14 Okay. 09:15 What is the concept come across to you from whatever? 09:17 I've been using with some of the people 09:18 that have called in about that, 09:20 but I say, you know, we check out 09:21 our partner's past history from the medical standpoint, 09:25 we check out so many different issues. 09:26 But do we check out their financial past 09:28 and what about having a agreement, 09:31 not the typical prenuptial issues, 09:33 but what are your concepts about that? 09:35 Yeah, we know some people tease and say, 09:36 Kobe Bryant probably should have, 09:38 you know, got to catch one of those. 09:40 But I think it's very important. 09:42 In our series we did talk about the idea of checking up 09:46 on not just what somebody's financial past 09:49 and history is about, 09:50 but what's their philosophy on money? 09:52 Do they believe in just running up credit? 09:55 Do they believe that a good financial plan 09:57 is paying the minimum 09:58 on all their credit cards and debt? 10:00 Because that's gonna have an effect on your future 10:03 and not only your future but our children's future. 10:06 And so I think it's very important, 10:08 I wanna see what kind of spender are you, 10:09 what kind of saver are you, 10:11 what kind of philosophy do you have 10:12 when it comes to the way you're gonna manage money 10:15 because one thing that we really derive 10:17 homing that series is the money is not ours. 10:20 We're stewards of it, it belongs to God 10:22 and one day we're gonna be asked to give an account. 10:24 What did you do? 10:26 God is gonna ask us, what did you do with the money 10:28 I entrusted you with? 10:29 Fantastic. 10:30 Pastor Kelly, thank you for your time. 10:32 I really appreciate you being here 10:33 and discussing this with us. 10:34 And as we discuss even this next few weeks 10:37 about credit, about saving, 10:40 about doing a variety of things that can benefit you. 10:42 I ask you just to Take it to the Bank, 10:45 save, spend some time with us 10:47 and I think you'll learn something interesting. 10:48 Pastor Kelly, thanks so much. 10:49 Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. 10:52 It was an interesting conversation 10:54 because as we talk about over the next view programs, 10:58 this thing called debt, 10:59 this thing called financial problems, 11:00 we are actually focusing on the top financial problems 11:03 that people have in their lives. 11:06 And it's pretty much generic 11:08 because it applies to all of our lives 11:09 to some extent. 11:11 We can talk about some of the stories 11:13 that are out there in the media right now. 11:14 There is one interesting story about happy people. 11:17 Happy people aren't worried about their money, 11:19 happy people are focused on their lives 11:22 and how they can make life better for others. 11:25 And that's a Christian experience, 11:26 that is what God 11:27 or how He wants us to focus on is being settled in who we are, 11:32 being comfortable in our relationship with Christ 11:34 and using the resources 11:36 that He gives us to benefit other people. 11:38 And that's where we should focus our attention 11:41 to become happy in Christ. 11:44 So those people that have called and said, 11:45 "Cordell, you look like 11:47 you're having too much fun on the show." 11:48 I'm having a great deal of fun. 11:50 Not with some of the topics, 11:52 but the fact that I'm sharing 11:54 and I'm telling you that there are ways 11:56 to get in tune with God's leading in your life 11:59 and utilizing the resources He's given you 12:02 as Pastor Kelly even said, 12:04 using those resources 12:05 because we'll be held accountable in the end. 12:08 What are the top reasons for financial problems? 12:11 There are six of them, I'm gonna lay out. 12:13 The causes for financial problems 12:14 include personal planning, or lack of personal planning. 12:19 The fact that we don' have a budget is a big, big concern. 12:22 Many of us haven't started by assessing where we are, 12:26 looking at how much money goes out, 12:28 what our debt ratio is to income, 12:31 and then we take a look at what type of budget 12:35 we should have in accordance to that to figure out 12:38 how much is coming in, how much is going out, 12:41 therefore if I have more coming in 12:42 than that's going out, 12:44 I know I have a buffer, 12:45 I have money that I can put into savings. 12:47 I have money I can invest into retirement. 12:50 I have money I can use to acquire assets 12:53 or websites or domain names 12:56 or things that it can help me build a business 12:59 that that can help me drive revenue back to my bottom-line. 13:04 There is unemployment, 13:07 loss of income is another major cause for financial stress. 13:10 When you lose a job, 13:11 if you haven't plan with the budget 13:14 and put away money for an emergency, 13:17 you are put in a very stressful situation, 13:19 I was listening on the radio last night, 13:21 driving back from dinner 13:23 was the context of this family that said, 13:26 admitted on the Christian radio station 13:29 that we didn't have any emergency funds put away 13:32 and we lost the job. 13:33 The husband lost his job first 13:35 and then the wife three months later lost her job, 13:38 and then they were dealing with this issue, 13:40 a very stressful issue of no income, 13:42 and of course, the lack of savings, 13:44 personal emergency savings. 13:46 And they prayed about it and God led in their lives 13:49 and led them back to jobs that they needed 13:53 in reference to keeping their lives going, 13:55 but it was interesting that they said 13:57 the same things that we're talking about here. 13:59 Number three is expensive emergencies, 14:02 could be medical emergencies, 14:03 could be a variety of other things, 14:05 the need of a hot water heater in the house. 14:08 Those kinds of things arise on ongoing basis. 14:12 When you consider the fourth reason for financial crisis, 14:18 it is bad financial advice, bad financial advice. 14:22 Who do you go to for advice? 14:25 I mean, do you go to a baker to find out how to make bricks? 14:29 Well, actually brick makers bake 14:33 so that was a bad analogy. 14:34 So how about if you went to a baker 14:37 to have them give you legal advice, 14:39 they don't have training. 14:41 So the context is, 14:42 go to someone that has expertise, 14:44 get the right type of financial advice. 14:47 You can see in some of our interviews 14:49 that we had that many people are going to themselves 14:54 when they're having financial crisis, 14:55 or going to their parents, 14:56 or going to people that may not have the training 14:59 or the background to give you quality advice 15:02 when you need it. 15:04 So bad financial advice is key 15:06 to some people's financial crisis. 15:09 Risky investments not being prepared, 15:11 it goes all the way back to that budget, 15:14 assessing your debt, knowing where you're at, 15:16 putting your money away in savings 15:18 and having an emergency fund. 15:20 And then of course, 15:21 if you have additional moneys that you can put away, 15:24 you can put it into investments. 15:26 The market is not ensured. 15:28 When you invest in the market system, 15:30 you have to be able to whether the long term, 15:33 take the loses as well as the gains 15:35 and understanding that is the key. 15:37 You can't do that and you shouldn't do that 15:40 if you don't know where you're at, 15:41 you don't know how much you're spending 15:43 and you don't have an emergency fund set aside. 15:46 And number six is inadequate planning for retirement. 15:50 Those are the six reasons for financial crisis. 15:55 But what we are focused on today 15:57 is marital breakdown, 16:00 marital breakdown is one of the things 16:02 that result from a crisis, the crisis in finance. 16:06 And we don't realize how much of an impact 16:10 that finances have with marital discord. 16:14 I'd like to put up on screen that talks to divorce 16:20 in the United States within Christian groups. 16:23 And if you take a moment to look at it with me. 16:25 There are the top seven, I would like to talk about 16:27 is the groups that we have in Christianity 16:29 and their divorce rate. 16:31 Number one is Evangelical Christians 26% divorce rate. 16:37 Non-Evangelical born again Christians are at 33%. 16:43 Notional Christians are at 33%. 16:47 Associated with Non Christian faith, 16:49 those who are associated with non Christian faith 16:51 are at 38%. 16:54 And of course, we have atheists or agnostics are at 30%, 16:57 that's interesting to see 16:59 because they are lower than the Christians actually. 17:02 All born again Christians are 32% 17:04 and then of course all non born again Christians 17:07 are approximately 33%. 17:08 When you take a look at breaking it down 17:11 between ethnicity, 17:13 you see whites or Caucasians at 32%, 17:16 African-American communities have a problem with this 17:19 where they are at 36%, 17:21 and then of course the Hispanics at 31% 17:24 and Asians at 20%. 17:27 If you have a conservative view point, you are 28%. 17:29 If you have a more liberal perspective 17:31 you're at 37%. 17:33 They have these breakdowns from a Borne It Out, Oregon, 17:36 and you can go and research it online if you like to, 17:39 but when you take a look at the statistics 17:41 that Canadian researchers tell us 17:43 that 38% of marriages will end in divorce 17:48 before the 30th anniversary is key to understanding 17:51 that this issue of understanding 17:55 how we relate with each other and finance is key. 17:58 Now, I pretty much let the cat out of the bag, 17:59 because our next step is to look at the top. 18:03 I think it's 11 reasons for divorce 18:06 and they are quite stark when you take a look at, 18:09 the number 11 is kind of interesting 18:12 where the wife is richer than the husband. 18:14 That's one of the 11th most prevalent reason for divorce 18:17 and of course, they're more influential 18:19 on their position, 18:20 and the man of the house wants to think 18:23 that he is in control when he really isn't. 18:26 I'm the man of the house and I know I'm not in control. 18:27 Hey, Cordell, what you're gonna wear today? 18:31 I don't know honey, what do you want me to wear? 18:33 There is the key, ask the question back 18:35 and they'll tell you 18:37 because realistically 18:38 you can be humorous from that standpoint, 18:39 but I don't care what she wants me to wear, 18:41 I'm not there to impress anybody else, 18:43 I'm there to impress her. 18:45 So I'll wear whatever tie, 18:46 and fortunately she dresses me the way 18:48 I kind of like to be dressed now 18:50 so I figure everything is okay. 18:51 But the key is this, 18:53 if you get into that type of power struggle 18:56 or you have one wealthy than the other, 18:58 it is typically a situation that will lead 19:01 to some type of discord. 19:03 And if not managed well, it will lead to divorce. 19:05 Number ten, abuse in the relationship. 19:08 I leave that alone. 19:10 It's a difficult situation 19:11 and I ask you, 19:12 if there is an abusive relationship, 19:14 get out of it as quickly as you possibly can. 19:16 Unemployment is number nine. 19:18 Unemployment is key, and what is Unemployment? 19:21 It means no money is coming in. 19:23 It means there is a financial crisis. 19:25 If no money is coming in 19:26 and you haven't prepared for the crisis, 19:28 and if you haven't saved money, 19:30 and if you haven't put aside in emergency fund, 19:33 it goes all the way back to assessing your debt. 19:36 Where are you? 19:37 What are you doing right now to plan develop the road map, 19:42 create the budget, save money 19:44 and go after paying off the debt. 19:46 Those are major issues that need to be addressed 19:48 and unemployment 19:50 then would definitely be coming in the top ten 19:53 for reasons why people end their relationships. 19:57 Number eight goes to lust. 20:00 Lust, extra marital affairs when there is that distrust. 20:05 Distrust can crop up in so many different ways, 20:08 can cause people to stop talking to each other, 20:11 that lack of communication leads to other issues, 20:14 and then of course will lead to, 20:17 lead to a break-up. 20:18 And that's why I say it in this way, 20:21 I dress for her if she likes the way I look 20:23 that's all that matters, really. 20:25 Okay, let's go to number seven, 20:27 religious and cultural differences 20:29 which ties into number five which is incompatibility. 20:32 But let's talk about those cultural differences 20:34 between Europeans and Africans for example. 20:36 There has been a study in recent years 20:38 has come across those marriages 20:40 between those different cultures 20:42 and we've found that some people later realize 20:44 that these differences clash 20:48 and people choose to opt out by going their separate ways. 20:52 Number six is moral history. 20:54 He or she may have 20:56 a criminal history or background 20:57 that they can't get away from, 20:59 things that have impacted their lives, 21:02 and that is one major concern of break ups 21:06 when on party is incarcerated, 21:07 is constantly dealing with the law 21:10 that has a major impact on relationships. 21:12 Five, incompatibility, we talked about that. 21:15 Number four has to do with the family background 21:19 which is key. 21:20 A person evaluation 21:23 and what it says here is how a family lives 21:27 and what their perspectives are has a great deal to do 21:30 with the impact on the people that you marry. 21:34 If the parents of a person are divorced, 21:37 if their background is divorced, 21:40 the children will probably follow 21:42 and probably opt out for the same thing 21:44 because its path leads to resistant. 21:45 So if one generation does it, 21:48 the other generation will actually do it 21:50 which is very interesting. 21:51 We see the same type of thing happening. 21:54 When we work with a lot of foster care young people, 21:56 when you look at their history, 21:57 you find out they're doing some of the same things 22:00 that their parents had done 22:02 and it's not in all situations 22:05 but the apple doesn't necessarily fall 22:07 too far from the tree. 22:09 In fact, they have statistics where young women 22:12 that emancipated out of the foster care network 22:15 are typically going to find themselves 22:19 expectant with child within 18 to 24 months 22:22 after they leave the program. 22:23 And it's typical to find out that child will end up 22:27 like the mom did going into the foster care system, 22:30 it repeats itself. 22:32 So it's key to keep that in mind. 22:33 Family background 22:35 and how things have been in the past. 22:36 This key to understanding 22:37 what could possibly happen in the future. 22:39 What is another key statistic that comes out 22:42 that says that poverty is a generational issue, 22:46 it will span generations. 22:48 If we're not able to address the issue about finance now 22:52 and stop it in this generation, 22:53 it will recycle itself in the future. 22:56 Family background is key. 22:58 And if you want to stop it, it says stop, 23:01 I too ask you is to stop the madness now 23:05 and let's try to figure out 23:06 simply by writing down what your debts are? 23:10 Assess it, deal with it, 23:13 and create a budget by just saying, 23:16 here is where my money is coming from, 23:18 here is where my expenses are, 23:20 here are the places that my expenses I can cut 23:22 and shave and take something out, 23:24 so I can increase my savings 23:26 and then put money away for emergency situations. 23:28 That is key, and I can't keep repeating it 23:31 over and over and over again. 23:34 Number three is expectations. 23:36 Individuals come in 23:37 with these expectations of a wonderful life. 23:39 And I'm gonna stop for a second and talk about this. 23:43 When you start a relationship, 23:45 I remember in my relationship with my spouse. 23:48 And I understand the context 23:49 of what she is talking about when, 23:51 you know, it was all these hormones 23:53 and yes, this is the right person 23:55 and you get caught up. 23:56 And you forget there're simple things 23:58 that you need to talk about in relationship issues. 24:02 It's key that you begin the process of dialoguing 24:05 and focusing on the real key issue of money. 24:12 Talk about it, think about it, 24:16 discuss with your spouse, 24:17 discuss with the all elements of what your expectations are 24:20 because you're coming 24:21 with two completely different perspectives 24:24 into a relationship that supposed to be as one. 24:26 And then of course, we have the top two. 24:29 You have the lack of communication 24:33 which I'm talking about right now. 24:35 Discussing issues, 24:37 discussing concerns before you get married. 24:39 And then the number one reason for divorce is finance. 24:46 They say the love of money is the route of all evil. 24:48 It's key in this case where you realize that 24:51 unless you are able to address these specific concerns, 24:55 you can find 24:57 that, that can create the problems in the future. 24:59 So what do you do about it? 25:01 What can you do in these situations 25:04 in dealing with marital discordant. 25:06 I don't want to even talk about the issue of the divorce issue 25:09 because if we begin to address 25:11 the key issues of understanding where you are at 25:13 and opening up those chains of communication, 25:16 you can better understand what you can do 25:19 and how you can better address these issues 25:22 and preempt that concern over here 25:25 called the break up in relationships. 25:28 What I like to do is go to some of the interviews 25:30 we did on Venice Beach 25:32 and find their answers to the questions 25:35 that we ask in reference to who do you go to for advice? 25:41 So my parents do. 25:43 So they help me out. 25:47 When you consider a stressful situation or crisis, 25:50 who do you go to for advice? 25:53 Myself actually, myself. 25:56 Commonsense, experience. 26:00 When you consider a stressful situation, 26:02 who do you go to for advice? 26:04 One of the main people I go to is my mother. 26:06 She always helps me out. 26:08 Whenever I'm in trouble, 26:09 she's always there when I needed. 26:11 It was interesting 26:12 as we listen to each one of these individuals. 26:15 We talk to many more on the street 26:17 and we got the same consistency in the answer. 26:20 The answer is, 26:22 if I need professional advice, 26:24 I am going to seek it from individuals 26:27 that not necessarily have the expertise 26:28 in giving me that advice, 26:31 and that I think is key for us to understand 26:33 regardless of where you're at in your personal life. 26:36 If you're single, if you're dating, 26:38 if you're married, 26:40 there are things that you can do. 26:41 If you're dating, the greatest thing you can do 26:44 is open up a dialogue with that significant other. 26:48 It is important that you start talking through the issues 26:52 about of marriage. 26:53 Get through the hormonal issues 26:56 and the excitement of the relationship 26:58 and get to the serious issues. 27:00 Long term, 27:01 it's good to talk about where you wanna be, 27:04 develop some type of agreement and understanding 27:06 of what you wanna do as a spender 27:09 and you as a saver in that relationship. 27:12 If you're married, 27:14 there are many things that you can do. 27:16 It isn't the end of all things because of finances. 27:22 We need to begin the process of understanding number one, 27:25 who you can contact, where the experts are? 27:27 I would suggest you 27:29 go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 27:30 that would be a wonderful ideal place to start. 27:32 A local pastor will probably be of assistance to you, 27:35 would be a wonderful resource 27:37 and can lead you to someone that can assist 27:39 in this area that's very touchy 27:42 and can cause a lot of heartbreak and pain. 27:45 But we can solve the problems 27:47 God has answers in His word, the Bible. 27:50 Financial issues are a major, major concern. 27:54 Let's take a focus on those things in our lives, 27:57 and God bless you taking it to the bank. |
Revised 2017-05-22