Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR210011S
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00:01 Have you ever felt like your bank account
00:02 was on life support? 00:04 Well, stay tuned to learn how you can regain 00:06 some financial stability. 00:08 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:10 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:33 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:36 My guest today is Cordell Thomas, 00:38 Director of Axis Foundation Incorporated, 00:41 and the host of Dare to Dream network's Take it to the Bank. 00:45 Welcome to Urban Report, Cordell. 00:48 It is a pleasure to be here. 00:49 Thank you so much for the invitation, Jason. 00:51 Thank you so much. 00:53 You're very welcome. 00:54 I'm happy to have you here. 00:55 You know, I haven't had the privilege and opportunity 00:57 of sitting down with you and interviewing you. 00:59 So I'm really looking forward to this. 01:04 I want to start with a little bit 01:05 about your background, 01:07 'cause it's been a while since you you've been here. 01:11 Yes. 01:12 It's been a months since I've been there. 01:14 I miss 3ABN, visiting the location, 01:17 but have been very busy over the past six years 01:21 since I've been there. 01:23 And I think that Take it to the Bank 01:24 has taught me a little bit about the basics 01:27 of what the Bible has been teaching 01:29 about finance all along. 01:31 You know, I started on profit back in 2008. 01:34 I've been maintaining the nonprofit, 01:36 but I had a chance to collaborate 01:38 with a great organization. 01:39 They brought me on board for about four years 01:41 United Way of the Inland Valleys 01:43 that have assisted in a variety of things to help us 01:47 gain some sense of understanding 01:50 of why it is that it takes more than just financial knowledge 01:55 to make the sound financial decisions that we need to make. 01:58 Oh, wow. 02:00 Now break, unpack that a little bit? 02:02 Oh my goodness. 02:04 I mean, I'll start with this in John 8 is a story 02:08 about the woman caught in adultery 02:09 and in reading the story, 02:11 it provided a perspective of the thing 02:14 that got us moving in the right direction. 02:16 You know, the woman's caught, 02:17 she's found in front of Christ. 02:19 She has a crisis. 02:20 She is faced with death, stoning, of course. 02:22 And then she falls at the feet of the person 02:26 or the God that has the answers to it all. 02:28 And in that process, these people accused her 02:32 and all that Jesus does He starts writing in the sand. 02:36 And then basically looks up and says, 02:38 "Where are your accusers?" 02:39 She says, "They're not here anymore." 02:41 And He says, I don't, 02:42 "You know, neither do I judge you. 02:43 I don't judge you, go and sin no more." 02:46 And there's something powerful 02:48 in that because we see her condemnation 02:52 and her mischaracterization and her placement 02:55 in a judgment situation. 02:58 In front of all of her peers, 03:00 people she must've known going to church. 03:02 And then in the end, Christ figured a way of capturing 03:05 this person, this individual, 03:08 and putting her back sending her back as she's justified. 03:12 You're back to where you need to be and now, 03:14 go and build your character. 03:16 That sanctification process 03:18 where she becomes more Christ-like in her demeanor. 03:21 And I can imagine what she left feeling like her self-esteem, 03:25 her self-efficacy, her self-belief 03:30 must've changed tremendously in that situation. 03:33 I'll take you back to 2013. 03:36 There was an amazing study that was done in Australia 03:40 about women and about their ability 03:43 to make the right types of financial decisions. 03:45 Right? 03:46 They said that women who have self-belief, self-efficacy, 03:52 a belief in themselves are more likely 03:54 to make the right type of financial decisions 03:58 and buy assets that build net worth and not debt assets, 04:02 a tremendous story, 04:03 because it's related to what the Bible is saying. 04:05 If you build someone's self-esteem, 04:08 you can build their ability 04:11 to make the right type of financial decisions. 04:14 So it takes more than financial knowledge and literacy. 04:17 An individual now we're finding also need 04:20 a sense of self-assuredness and self-belief, 04:23 a belief in their abilities 04:25 to make the right type of decisions. 04:27 So the past six years, 04:28 we have had a chance to study all of this. 04:31 We've taught 201 students, 04:33 we've had a chance to study pre post-test, 04:35 pre savings behavior surveys, 04:37 post savings behavior surveys. 04:39 And we had a chance to really dig into how you teach 04:43 and build self-esteem over the course of time. 04:46 And we find that our study 04:50 through Cal state San Bernardino, 04:51 their consulting team came in and studying the class, 04:56 the structure, the outcomes, they went back and visited 04:59 the many different students that took the class 05:01 and were able to find that the majority 05:03 of students had a life changing event 05:06 where they have become habitual 05:08 in making the right type of financial decisions, 05:11 budgeting, and saving for their future. 05:14 So we see the process there, the studies there. 05:18 We have it as a form of reference. 05:21 And we're using that now to track how young people 05:25 and while as different demographic groups learn 05:28 and how you converse with them 05:30 and how you teach them about self-esteem. 05:34 Now, have you encountered any challenges in teaching, 05:39 you know, how to improve one's self-esteem 05:42 with this social media 05:45 all this stuff with social media that's going on. 05:47 It seems like keeping up with the Joneses kind of? 05:51 Yeah. 05:52 I mean, there are so many different challenges 05:56 to changing someone's characterization 06:01 of what money is all about, because, Jason, 06:03 realistically, it has nothing to do with money. 06:05 It has everything to do with resources. 06:07 It's a resource issue. 06:09 Jesus says in the Bible, 06:11 the love of money is the root of all evil. 06:13 And it does indicate that He wants us 06:17 to be able to make decisions based on those resources 06:19 He provides us. 06:21 There's a story in 2 Kings 4 about the woman that was caught 06:25 in a situation there's even unwrap this one 06:28 and to a large degree, but she lost her husband. 06:31 Okay. 06:32 The husband had not prepared financially 06:34 for their family's future in case of his passing. 06:38 So there's insurance requirements 06:40 that are missed in this case. 06:42 He passes away, has a big debt and the debt collectors 06:45 come and say because you can't pay, 06:47 we're taking your sons. 06:48 Okay, so she goes and talks to Elijah 06:50 and said, hey, you know, I need some help. 06:52 Can you tell me what I gotta do? 06:54 And his first question to her is what resource do you have? 06:58 That is all he asks because he says, 07:00 I have a little bit of oil. 07:03 And he says, okay, take that, gather all these vessels 07:06 into your home, take your sons together, 07:08 all the neighbor's vessels into your home and shut the doors. 07:11 Maybe we can go in depth about this, 07:12 but the real aspect of it, 07:15 he said, shut the door 07:16 because you're gonna have naysayers 07:17 and those that will wonder what you're actually doing. 07:20 But he took that little bit of oil blessed it 07:23 and she was able to fill all of the vessels. 07:26 If you look at the stories, as they're connected, 07:29 the woman caught in adultery had a good self-esteem. 07:33 The gentlemen, the rich young ruler 07:35 came and asked Christ 07:36 how he can gain access to the kingdom. 07:38 And he chose not to follow 07:42 the request of Christ selling all that he had 07:45 because he idolized his possessions. 07:49 If you go back to the woman caught in adultery, 07:51 we all know that woman means church. 07:54 Adultery is defined by the Bible itself 07:57 in Ezekiel 23:37, 07:59 where adultery is considered idolatry and sorcery. 08:04 So it's basically this thing 08:06 that comes between us and Christ. 08:09 The rich young ruler was unwilling 08:11 to give it up and guess what? 08:13 He walked away with a low self-belief, 08:15 low self characterization, low self-esteem. 08:19 He walked away a very sad individual. 08:22 Yes. 08:23 So with all of what we see in social media 08:25 and what we see all around us, 08:27 we see the challenges of having people face the fact 08:31 that we're not dealing with resource, 08:32 we're not dealing with money issues, 08:34 not what the Joneses have that make them better. 08:37 It's what you have inside you. 08:38 You fall at the feet of Christ and you find that 08:42 He is the one that can save you in any type of crisis. 08:45 I always say this, it's not a matter 08:47 of if you're gonna go into a crisis. 08:49 If when you go into a crisis, what resource do you have? 08:52 Do you have an emergency saving? 08:54 Do you have someone you can go to, to help you? 08:56 Do you have a resource that's available? 08:59 The woman caught in adultery had Christ. 09:00 He was right there. 09:02 And He helps her out of, not only helped her out of debt 09:06 he built her self-esteem 09:07 and that characterization has carried, 09:09 probably carried it forward the rest of her life 09:11 using powerful and innovative things within. 09:16 That's deep. 09:17 And I love how you're bringing out the point that, you know, 09:19 what resources do you have? 09:22 You know, so if you have a bunch of liabilities, 09:24 you're probably going to be in trouble, correct? 09:26 You need some assets. 09:29 Yes. 09:30 And that's what came out of that initial study. 09:33 I tell the story in a lot of the classes 09:35 that I have about this woman, 09:37 young lady back in the Great Depression 09:39 she grew up in New York. 09:41 When she got her first job, she worked for a law firm. 09:44 She never made more than real dollar, 09:46 today, dollar is $38,000 a year. 09:49 Over the 67 years that she worked 09:51 she was able to help her attorney bosses 09:55 to buy investments and buy stock 10:00 and that type of thing. 10:02 What she learned from her bosses 10:05 helped build her character, 10:06 build her self-esteem and belief in herself. 10:09 So when she went to buy the investments for her bosses, 10:12 she actually on her small salary, 10:16 she was able to buy, emulate 10:18 exactly what her bosses did except on a smaller scale. 10:21 Right? And so she passed away in 2015. 10:24 She was 95 years of age, 96 years of age. 10:28 Her niece who is one that the executor of her 10:32 will said she had no idea 10:35 that her mom was worth $8.2 million, I heard that. 10:39 Okay. 10:40 So how do we begin the process of understanding 10:46 that it's not about how much you make 10:48 that makes you wealthy, 10:49 it's how much you save, 10:51 how much you keep that makes you wealthy. 10:53 And now the context is, her resources, 10:55 her level of self-efficacy, her self-esteem, 10:58 her self-knowledge of what it was actually about. 11:02 And now she can emulate good examples around her 11:05 to begin that investment and savings process. 11:08 Nobody in her family, in her community 11:12 that lived around her had any knowledge 11:14 that she was worth this amount of money. 11:17 And at her passing, 11:19 she was able to donate 6.2 million, 11:22 $6 million to her foster agency 11:26 and 2 million to Alma mater and the like. 11:29 So they have a lot of application 11:32 to we as individuals. 11:33 What does 3ABN mean to us 11:37 so that when we leave this world 11:39 waiting for Christ to come, that we can leave it 11:43 a portion of what we have invested 11:46 in the resources God has given? 11:48 It's an amazing thing when you can characterize. 11:50 Now she is a woman which is an at risk group. 11:55 We're dealing with changes in demographics, 11:57 where women are living 4.6 years longer than men. 12:01 There's a transition of wealth going to women. 12:04 There are a lot of single houses, 12:07 single led households that rely on one income 12:12 and many people are worried 12:14 about, I can't make it on this one income. 12:17 And I'm finding that the resourcefulness 12:19 that we teach these young people 12:21 is helping them to understand that if they can manage, 12:24 if they can get a roommate, 12:26 if they can figure ways to live within their means, 12:29 they're better able to apply this knowledge. 12:31 I just got a call three months ago 12:33 from a young lady that took a class in 2018. 12:36 She was worried about her specific challenges 12:41 with paying off her credit card debt 12:43 and saving money for a future. 12:45 And she had a little son too, by the way. 12:48 We taught the class and the way we teach the class 12:50 over six full weeks, it helps us establish relationships. 12:54 And then we follow the class 12:55 with a six month savings practicum 12:57 so that they get in the habit of formerly saving 13:00 each and every paycheck. 13:02 When she called, she told me, 13:03 Mr. Thomas, I wanna call you back 13:04 two years later and tell you where I'm at. 13:06 I have $1,000 in my emergency savings fund. 13:09 I have a credit score of 730. 13:12 I've paid off all my credit cards. 13:14 And I have also taken out an insurance policy 13:17 because I have a budget, I'm saving 13:19 and I have the additional income 13:22 to pay for insurance. 13:24 So if something happens to me, my son is taken care of. 13:27 That told me that 13:29 what we're talking about is working 13:31 with these young people. 13:32 It also gives us feedback because the Cal state study 13:37 did talk to a lot of the students we had taught, 13:40 and they have also validated 13:42 that they're now in the formal habit 13:44 of making savings a part of their lifestyle. 13:49 That's huge. 13:50 What tips do you have for someone who's like, well, 13:53 you know, I know I need to start saving, 13:56 but I don't know where to begin and my money 13:58 being in the bank and my savings account 14:01 is really not accruing that much interest. 14:03 So where would you tell them maybe to invest their money 14:08 or what can they put it in that will grow it? 14:12 Wow! 14:13 Very good question. 14:15 There's, there are two issues. 14:17 One is building their self-esteem 14:20 and self-confidence in saving 14:22 and beginning the process of understanding 14:25 that they too can put away funds 14:28 and resources on an ongoing basis. 14:31 But we find that just having a mere knowledge 14:34 of financial knowledge and literacy doesn't mean 14:37 that they will take advantage of the knowledge they have. 14:41 You have to have your self-esteem built 14:44 to a place that you know you can do it. 14:46 So I always say get an accountability partner, 14:49 one who is ensure that you have a budget, write things down. 14:53 We found that like in 70% of the cases 14:57 where we did pre-savings behavior survey, 14:59 many of them they'd never wrote anything down in reference 15:02 to their budget or expenditures, 15:04 they just kept it up in their head, right? 15:06 So if you think about writing down 15:10 where your money comes from, 15:11 and then write down where your money goes, 15:13 and then give each dollar a job, 15:17 and then most importantly, 15:19 live way below your means, 15:21 and look at the resources Christ is giving you. 15:24 So if you're living below your means, 15:26 and then you're using the talent 15:27 Christ has given you, 15:29 you can now use it in so many innovative ways. 15:32 And that when you get an idea of what your strengths are, 15:35 and what really changed my life. 15:37 I did, many years ago I took my strength finders, 15:39 and I found that my top strength is positivity. 15:44 I'm a positive person, I'm trying to be an optimist 15:47 and make sure people understand that, 15:49 you know, the sky's the limit, you can do what you want to do 15:51 if you set your mind to it, 15:53 and you have the right resources to do it. 15:55 I'm also a maximizer, 15:56 you find that people have looked themselves 15:59 from a limited, limitation standpoint 16:01 and not see themselves from a strength standpoint. 16:03 What do you do and what do you do well? 16:06 Put it to work for Christ. 16:07 Once you begin to have confidence 16:11 in that one thing that you do, 16:13 it begins to permeate over other aspects of your life. 16:17 And then that sense of self belief, 16:20 self-assuredness, understanding who you are, 16:23 and the application in your life 16:26 will help you begin to say, okay, 16:29 I now know what I need to do to save an additional, 16:34 you know, $50 a month. 16:36 And I know that if I can set aside 16:39 a savings based on my budget, 16:42 that savings will also allow me 16:44 to look at other investment opportunities. 16:48 You will never be able to invest unless you save. 16:50 If you can never save it means you don't budget. 16:53 And if you don't budget, 16:54 you are always going to be living 16:56 paycheck to paycheck. 16:57 Unlike this young lady from New York, 16:59 who was able to now 17:01 emulate the... 17:06 What is the word I'm looking for the example 17:09 of those successful individuals around them. 17:11 The other thing is surround yourself 17:13 with successful people, talk to successful individual 17:16 and get an understanding of who they are. 17:19 I have one an individual that I am accountable to. 17:24 I have an executive coach 17:26 and I talk to her on a monthly basis. 17:28 She is a very prominent person in our community 17:31 in Orange County. 17:33 And I can't imagine 17:34 going into my meetings unprepared with her. 17:36 But with her 17:37 and the accountabilities I have, 17:40 I want to ensure that I am following 17:42 and adhering to those specific practices 17:44 and making sure I'm becoming the type of executive 17:47 I possibly can be not to lead and control people 17:51 but to motivate and maximize the type of people they can be. 17:55 I love that, you know, having that accountability partner. 18:00 I think that's an excellent piece of advice. 18:04 The other thing I think about is, 18:06 you know, when you have a business, 18:08 and you're in your business, how are you going to, 18:12 you know, maximize your income there? 18:16 You can either increase sales, or you can cut your spending. 18:20 And so that's what it kind of sounds like you're saying, 18:23 just in everyday life as well, 18:25 you know, you can cut your spending to hold on 18:30 and save that extra money to maximize those resources. 18:34 And I see that it's like dying to self. 18:39 That is it. This is biblical. 18:41 It's dying to self and letting Christ 18:42 take control of your life, 18:46 and losing sight of the things around you 18:50 and realizing that we are here. 18:52 Isaiah 58 says that 18:54 well, that we're here to cloth the naked, 18:58 to feed the hungry, to give shelter 19:01 to those that don't have it, 19:02 at least and the Bible specifies, 19:04 you know, looking at the widows and those that are, 19:08 their children that don't have parents. 19:10 And that's why we focused over the past several years 19:13 on our foster youth. 19:15 We can't show a lot of pictures, 19:16 but we can talk to these young people 19:18 because of their category. 19:21 But when we have those relationships with them, 19:24 wow, what they become shows us 19:26 that if that at risk group 19:28 can do it pretty much anyone can. 19:30 It's all about building self-esteem. 19:34 They're building a belief in them that they understand. 19:38 And then what is most important 19:40 is ensuring that you have a conversation. 19:42 I don't teach people. 19:44 I can't talk down to people. 19:46 We have a conversation on an equal level. 19:48 When they have that type of buying 19:50 and that type of ability to get feedback. 19:54 We have a chance to have this conversation this give 19:58 and take and they can learn, 20:02 I can learn what their challenges are 20:04 and then fine tune the curriculum 20:06 and the way we deliver it to these individuals 20:10 on a tailored basis to their specific needs. 20:13 So we tell stories, we tell a lot of stories. 20:15 And we give a lot of examples of my personal experience 20:18 in making bad decisions. 20:19 So they see that it's not out of the norm 20:23 to make a bad decision, you can always redeem yourself 20:25 from spending that extra 50 bucks 20:28 you shouldn't have spent, right? 20:29 And you can now allocate a certain amount of money 20:33 into a savings account that you can use as a later, 20:36 at a later time. 20:37 Yes. 20:39 I love that you have a customizable tailored plan 20:42 for their specific needs. 20:45 There's so much value in that. 20:47 So... 20:48 You save a buck. Yeah. 20:50 So how has, you know, 20:54 I guess being in the financial world, 20:58 strengthened your faith? 21:02 When I first came to 3ABN, I'd strengthened my faith 21:05 to come and see what Christ did through Mr. Danny Shelton. 21:10 It strengthened my faith to see how he was able to use 21:14 the resources that Christ had given him in a way 21:17 that exploded to an international organization. 21:21 It also humbled me to realize 21:23 that resources are provided to us. 21:26 And if we use those resources the right way, 21:29 as the story of the talents, 21:31 we use it simply to think about money, 21:33 but it has nothing to really do about money, 21:35 has to do with, if you have a talent of singing, 21:38 and you sing to God's glory. 21:39 He is going to expand that talent to a place 21:42 that He will bring people to him. 21:44 It goes back to the vessels 21:46 that that woman brought into her home 21:48 to fill with the oil, right? 21:49 The vessels are people, the oil is the Holy Spirit, 21:53 her intention in using her resource 21:56 was to fill people with that spirit. 21:59 If we understand that we're here to give, 22:03 then the Bible now explodes. 22:07 And it's information as to what value Christy places 22:11 on the resources that He gives us. 22:14 And, of course, a resource will be money, 22:16 and we need to use that accordingly. 22:19 Absolutely, I love how you said earlier, 22:21 you know, make your dollar work, 22:24 like give that dollar a job. 22:28 So what are some jobs 22:30 that you can give your dollar? 22:35 There are many different jobs you can give a dollar. 22:38 You can see, you can start a small business off the side, 22:41 you know, they have a unique one 22:43 called I would say this, it's called Offer Up. 22:46 It's free, you sign up, you take a picture 22:49 of an item that you want to get rid of, 22:50 and you can sell it for 5, 10, $15, whatever. 22:54 You know, the going rate would be, you can, 22:56 every one of you have probably, if you have a garage, 22:59 you probably have 500 to $1500 worth of stuff 23:03 that you can get rid of. 23:04 And then use that money to invest 23:06 in some form of evangelism. 23:11 We can put together hygiene kits 23:15 because there are a lot of people 23:16 who are dealing with homelessness issues. 23:19 We can put booklets together, you can hand out 23:21 individual ongoing basis, 23:22 you can begin to tell your story. 23:26 That is one of the best ways to utilize your time. 23:30 Time is money and tell your story 23:33 about how God has blessed you 23:35 and some of the visions you are now able to make 23:39 because of your self-assuredness in His care. 23:44 And that I don't need the things 23:45 in this world to make me happy. 23:48 Yeah, so use your dollar to spread the gospel. 23:50 What would you say to someone who's out there 23:53 and they're saying, well, 23:55 I'm too broke to pay tithe and offering. 23:57 What would you say to that individual? 24:01 I would look at in a nonjudgmental way. 24:05 I've learned that it's really important 24:06 not to judge people where they're at, 24:07 but to try to pull them to a place 24:09 that they can understand 24:11 that tithing is a gift given to you. 24:17 And when you get involved with tithing 24:20 and offering not just 10, 24:22 but increasing to 15 and even 20% 24:25 and doing those things with Christ's money 24:29 that he would have you do, 24:31 you'll find so much of a blessing. 24:33 But I would say this, you're not tithing 24:35 because you're spending what you make, 24:36 you're not tithing because you're not budgeting. 24:38 Off the top of each paycheck, pay your tithe, 24:42 do that first and then second, put money into savings account. 24:47 Third, pay your essential bills, 24:49 keep a roof over your head 24:50 and then fourth and take care of those other type of bills. 24:54 And then of course, part of that essentially 24:56 is paying down your debt as quickly as you possibly can. 24:59 So I would say that, with that in place, 25:01 if you have a budget, 25:03 there's no reason why you cannot make ends meet. 25:07 And if you find that your budget doesn't work 25:09 means maybe that you're spending 25:10 more than you bring in, 25:11 which means you're in a dangerous position, 25:13 you have to figure a way to cut out those things 25:16 that you don't need. 25:17 I ran into a person the other day that, 25:20 you know, spending almost $1200 a month on a car, 25:24 and but was over her head with a budget. 25:26 So there's simple decisions you need to make. 25:30 We were able to do a little bit of research, and we found out, 25:33 I heard about by another financial person, 25:37 he said that the research was done 25:40 on a 10,000 millionaires. 25:42 The average age of the cars they own is four years 25:46 with an average of 41,000 miles on the car. 25:49 Every time you buy a new car, it's automatically used 25:51 as soon as you drive it off the lot. 25:53 So there's a bunch of used cars being driven. 25:55 There's no new cars driven on the road, right? 25:56 Yes. 25:58 So if we keep in context 25:59 that there are things you can do, 26:02 to take away from those budgetary issues 26:06 that cause you to spend over your limit, 26:09 you can get things in line relatively quickly 26:11 when you look at your needs versus your wants. 26:13 And if you figure out what you actually need, 26:16 you can get rid of those debt items, 26:18 you'll be in a far better situation. 26:21 And then you can begin the process 26:23 of seeing that growth in your spirituality 26:27 and in giving by tithing 26:30 and giving back to God once again. 26:32 Amen. 26:33 You've been dropping a lot of gems, 26:36 both spiritual and financial gems. 26:40 How can people get in touch with you, 26:43 if they want to learn more, 26:44 if they want to take a class from you? 26:48 You know what's really great. 26:49 And I know we have a minute left, 26:51 but I'm going to say this. 26:52 We have learned over the past pandemic year 26:54 to do all of these classes via virtual classes. 26:58 You can line up for a webinar, we can schedule it via Zoom. 27:02 If you're interested in a webinar, 27:04 we can send out a Zoom link if you send me 27:07 an email to axisfoundation@gmail.com 27:11 and say, "I'm interested in a webinar." 27:14 Tell me what type of area that you're interested in. 27:17 And we can set up a webinar specific to the things 27:20 that you're interested in and have a conversation about 27:23 and we can work from there. 27:24 But that's helped us be able to reach the globe 27:27 without having to go from my home office. 27:30 And by the way, it gives us a much more of an opportunity 27:35 to get into more depth. 27:36 Amen. 27:37 And we want people to visit the website 27:39 to axisfi.org 27:43 Thank you so much for coming on 27:45 and dropping these wonderful gems, Cordell. 27:48 And we want to thank you for joining us. 27:50 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 27:52 Until next time, God bless. |
Revised 2021-06-03