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Faithful Finances- Building Wealth through Biblical Wisdom Steve Parker
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Faithful Finances- Building Wealth through Biblical Wisdom Steve Parker
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Steve Parker introduces himself as the host of a radio show called Faithful Finances Building Wealth Through the Wisdom of the Bible. He discusses various topics related to money and finances, including the psychological and mental aspects. He aims to help listeners make better financial decisions by exploring what the Bible says about money. Steve shares his personal experiences with money and acknowledges the stress that financial struggles can cause. He also talks about the power of conviction and the importance of having a positive belief in God. He mentions that he and his family have moved to a town called Bee Cave in Texas and expresses his appreciation for Conviction Radio. Steve highlights the significance of Jesus' story as the ultimate example of overcoming challenges and encourages listeners to have faith and trust in God. He emphasizes the need for unity and working together to make a positive impact in the world. Steve concludes by assuring listeners that, despite the dif Hello. Hello, everyone. Hi, my name is Steve Parker. You are listening to the very first show of Faithful Finances Building Wealth Through the Wisdom of the Bible, and we are on Conviction Radio. So glad to be here today. I hope you're doing very well. I'm excited to be here to start this journey with you. We're going to talk about a lot of different subjects all pertaining to money, finances. We're going to talk about the good and the bad, what finances, what it does to us, what the psychological, the mental, the hope, all the different aspects of money. It's an incredible subject, as we all know, because we all deal with money. So we're going to talk about what the Bible says about money and what my purpose is to help show you some ways that you can make better decisions and to really cut to the core of what is the problem. Why are we struggling with money? We'll talk about the problems, and then we're going to talk about the solutions. And there are many solutions that we will discuss. So if you're in that position of financial stress, I'm sorry. It's not a fun thing at all. I've been there, done that, and I feel for you. I'll tell you my stories. I've had a lot of different types of interactions with money over the years. Money can be prosperous one moment and broke the next moment. It's just one of those things. So again, I am very appreciative to have this opportunity to be here, and I look forward to presenting any hope that I can for you, show some different scenarios of how we can deal with money. This is a – I want to treat it more like a conversation on how we can help you. Me and my family have moved to the Austin area. We are in a little town or growing town called Bee Cave, which is 20 minutes from downtown Austin in the southwest area. And we are right at the beginning of the Hill Country, which is a pretty scenic area in central Texas, and we're glad to be here. Originally, we were from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and so I know Texas very well, so I can tell you a lot of different facts. I've traveled from east, west, north, south, so I have a knowledge of this state. So anyway, and again, we don't all ride horses, and we all don't wear cowboy hats. In fact, where I'm at right now, you're going to see a lot of pickup trucks. You're going to see a lot of what is really popular, just Tesla's taking over. But anyway, so that's a little bit about our little area where we live now, and I do want to give a great shout out to Conviction Radio. So I just thought I'd give you my opinion of the word conviction, and it's a double meaning. One can have a negative concept, and the other one can have a positive concept. So when you talk about the word conviction, it's got a double meaning. One is negative, and one is positive. So I looked it up. Webster's Dictionary says conviction, first definition is legal conviction. It's a formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offense made by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law. Well, I've never been in that situation, and thank God, but it happens, and God forgives a lot of people. So let's talk about the second conviction definition, and that's personal conviction, and that's a firmly held belief or opinion. And that is a very positive thing, because if we are convicted by the Lord, then that is a firmly held belief and opinion, and a wonderful opinion to have. So we're going to focus on conviction of the personal conviction. If you notice the conviction radio logo, I believe Maria had said one time that the logo has got a backwards R to it because it's the reverse. So what we're doing is we're convicting people of wonderful, wonderful things that Jesus Christ offers to us. So we're here to help you, and hopefully we can do some good works to help you change any beliefs that you have that are in a negative situation. I mean, it is understandable. Mental stress is rampant right now, and we're here to see if there's anything we can do to help you. The other thing is just kind of my viewpoint in what I think this radio station stands for, and that God desires for His followers to serve and to build the kingdom that He has provided before us. It doesn't matter what you have done in the past. You know, we're all sinners. God said that. And we can all experience a transformation for hope and joy. God wants us to be convicted, to believe in Him, to have a firm belief in what He is doing and what He has done. So I've always really loved the story of the underdog. I've always loved how people who have overcome incredible obstacles, challenges, difficulties, disappointments, and it is the choice to overcome these odds to be convicted, to change your circumstances. You know, the greatest overcomer of all time is Jesus. You know, Jesus who was convicted of a crime is blasphemy, but Jesus was crucified on the cross. Can you imagine the physical pain and the beating, being nailed to the cross? Jesus died for our sins and, you know, His followers. Can you imagine what they were thinking after Jesus finally could not hold out any longer? Can you imagine what they thought? They were devastated. They were, they had no idea what was going to come next. They were uncertain of what, you know, what did everything, what did they just do and what does it mean now? You know, but on the third day, the miracle of miracles happened. Jesus rose from the tomb. Can you imagine how His followers felt when they saw that that tomb was empty? Can you imagine the astonishment that they felt when Jesus appeared before them? You know, they were grieving Jesus' death and the next thing you know, Jesus comes. He just appears. It's unbelievable. That was an amazing story that will forever remain the greatest miracle ever. You know, so how can we doubt that a miracle can't happen for all of us? You know, it's proven. We are believers in Jesus and He proved to us that miracles do happen. You know, the story of Jesus is the greatest overcomer story ever. If you're a believer, then you know what it means for you, your family, your community. He has provided for us, you know, redemption and we can't ever forget what a miracle it is. So, you know, Jesus tells us our time on earth is only temporary. You know, it's a holdover period. Our final destination is heaven and the glory of Jesus and God, what they're going to, you know, unbelievable love and peace that we will have. But we're not there yet. You know, we are here right now and, you know, at some point in time, we will arrive safely and we'll be secure. But now we're here and while we are here on earth, we are to follow the instructions that Jesus gave us. Do you, you know, the old bracelet that people wear, what would Jesus do? You know, Jesus would, you know, He is for us. We need to do our best to keep our promises that we've made to Him. You know, we're supposed to love our fellow man. We're supposed to serve people in need. We're supposed to be honorable to God with our efforts and to make the world a better place. And right now, there's no better time than ever, no more important time than ever than for all of us, you know, to band together, to, you know, stick to our convictions, step up. We've got to accept the responsibility of working together all in the name of God, all in the name of Jesus. You know, we can do this. It's been done before in history. You know, we are here right now, but that doesn't mean we're not going to quit. We are here and as a, you know, you know the movie called Mission Impossible. Well, this is mission possible. This will happen. All we have to do is keep our faith. You know, there's a whole lot of different things that the world is going through right now. And, you know, some people say it's, you know, almost time for, you know, the end to come and all that. I don't believe that. Of course, you know, it's not my decision whenever that happens. But again, while we're here, we can make a difference. There's a lot of people who are hurting out there, and it is our absolute job to work for God. We don't work for anybody else but God. You know, we do have jobs. We do, you know, have to answer to people, all that, but our ultimate boss is God. So, you know, Conviction Radio is unique. We are here for our listeners to participate with you to provide some hope and possible transformation. We know what people go through because we've gone through the many different challenges, you know, that you've experienced, you know, in the past. For those who are currently experiencing, you know, very tough challenges, we're here for you. You know, life can feel like a twister tornado, as I say. Your life can be unpredictable, and it can be devastating. The tornado will move through, and once it has done its damage, you know, the sun will come out again. You know, this tornado, you know, it's only an example because, you know, we have a lot of tornadoes in the south, and you just never know when it's going to happen. Every day, there are people who are going through their own little tornado situation, but I guarantee you, the sun will come out, and then God will help you get through that, and He knows what happened. He knows you need help, and God knows that the evil does exist, but with the, you know, God and His Son, Jesus, you know, they'll help us. All we have to do is ask, so, you know, we just simply have to ask ourselves. We have two choices, and one of them is, you know, go it alone, take on life challenges on our own. The choice is problematic because, you know, there isn't any guarantee how you can make anything different. You, you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. That's not a very good feeling. How are you going to overcome destruction of that twist or tornado when that comes in? I never hope it does happen, but it does happen every single day to good people, and basically, you have the other option, and that's just to simply let go and let God do His thing. He's here to protect you and to love you and to offer you peace. You don't have to go through this time of period alone. You know, the thing is, once you've come out on the other side, you can thank God and appreciate that you have survived, and you can make a choice of being the victim and giving up or, you know, deciding. Say, thank you, God, for getting me through this. You've helped me. You've helped my family. I might not be in the greatest of shape right this minute, but you are here, and we're going to go forward, and we're going to be committed, and we are convicted to follow you and to, you know, help others. And so that's what we are doing here at Conviction Radio. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our stories with you. I want to, you know, just do this as a collaborative effort with you, the listeners. We will be honest, vulnerable, and we're going to be sincere with you. So we're here at Conviction Radio to communicate with our listeners that with God, there is always a reason for hope. We're here to build a community of believers and overcomers, and we thank you. Yeah, I thought I would give one of my favorite Bible verses there. I can't. I mean, I've got so many favorites that it's hard to choose one. It's kind of like your kid. You can't just choose one. They're all your favorites. So one of them, you know, that kind of relates to what we're doing here is Romans 8, 28. And, you know, it starts with this. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. And this verse, you know, emphasizes that those who love God and are called according to His purpose can be assured that God is working for the good in all circumstances. It highlights the conviction and assurance that God's calling and purposes in our lives are going to be fulfilled. So I'm excited about getting started. We're going to take a break right this minute for a commercial break. But again, let's talk on the other side. Again, my name is Steve Parker. This is Conviction Radio. And the name of our show is Faithful Finances Building Wealth Through Biblical Wisdom. And we will be right back in just a few. Thank you. Welcome back to our show. My name is Steve Parker. My name is Steve Parker, and this is Building Wealth Through Biblical Wisdom, Faithful Finances. So before we get started with us, what does that mean exactly? Well, faithful finances. You know, the definition that I came up with, you know, it emphasizes stewardship and integrity in financial matters. And it really means managing money in a way that is honest and responsible and faithful to God's commands and what He teaches us in the Bible. It involves, you know, trustworthiness in handling our resources, ensuring that financial decisions do not compromise our spiritual values. And what is biblical wealth through biblical wisdom? Well, that suggests that wealth creation is much more than just merely accumulating assets. Through the wisdom that comes from the Bible teachings, true wealth includes financial stewardship, generosity, and the pursuit of spiritual riches. Over only material riches, wealth should be used for purposes that reflect God's love and justice. So I wanted to give you a little bit of an insight about who I am, my background, what I know about money. What I've done, what I've been born and raised and have done my entire career, I've been in the building industry. And what that means is that I was born in a family business. My parents started a building remodeling business. And my brother and my sister and myself, we grew up in this business. And we know what it's like to have parents who are running a business who have to put on the different hats they have to wear and make the business work. It was an exciting time. We got to see a lot of different things, meet a lot of different people. Being in the building business, you meet a lot of different what I call characters. And those are the guys who were the framers and the painters and all the men and the women who support them and everybody. Back in the day, it was mainly just the men. But nowadays, there's a lot of women working out there too in the contracting world. And God bless them. But anyway, it was a great opportunity to just kind of see the different sides of life. We would meet the people who had the money and then we would hire the people who would work for us. So it was a really neat, adventurous type of childhood growing up. And then I worked all the way through. On the summers, I had high school jobs. I had jobs that I would work. I would do apprentice type stuff for the carpenters and painters and all those guys. So it was nice because I always had some extra money in the summer. And I was able to sometimes get jobs from my friends. So it was a cool upbringing. Anybody that's been in the building business, it's unique because there's really nothing quite like it. You ask any builder and they'll tell you the same thing. But it really does show you true entrepreneurship. So that's pretty much in my DNA of being in a small business. And what it means to be an entrepreneur and what it means to be a builder. And I've grown up with that my entire life. I went to college. My parents believed in education, always have. And they wanted to make sure that all three of us got a good college education. So we did. I'll tell you right now, I wasn't a very good student. My brother and sister were. But it was just one of those things that I just didn't... I know I needed to get a college education, but I wasn't... I had a problem paying attention and my mind drifted. So in school, you know that that's the way they teach. You're supposed to memorize everything and that wasn't my strong suit. The subjects that I really did love were psychology. I always loved to figure out why people do things, why people think the way they do. The human brain, it's crazy. God gave us this brain. What are we supposed to do with it? Why do people do what they do? So I loved psychology. I loved history. I love reading about history. I appreciate what people in America, all over the world, what they've done in the past. What they sacrificed and the hardships they had to go through. How we can always learn from history. I just have always thought it was so interesting to see what they had to go through. And this was my major and I was a business major, but I got my degree in marketing. Marketing again, it's part psychology, it's part history. Why do people do things the way they do? Why do people buy things? What makes people want to buy from you? And what makes a good product? And what things that have worked in the past, are they still working today? I just have always thought that was really interesting. So those are my three major subjects. I still love following all that today. So my wife and I, we graduated at the same time. From college, we graduated at a college in East Texas called Stephen F. Austin State University. It's a little small town. But we graduated together and we got married about one month later. So we have been married ever since. Been married for four decades. Forty-five years. And we've been married since then. And we've been married since then. And we've been married since then. And we've been married since then. So we have been married ever since. Been married for four decades. Forty-one years next month. And we have two beautiful kids. Adult kids. Son and daughter. We know what it's like to raise kids and all that. We can tell you it's challenging. Not an easy thing. But we'd never trade it for anything in the world. And we're both very grateful. So soon as I graduated from college, I went right to work for my dad's business. In the building remodeling business. And that's, again, been four decades. So you do the math and that kind of tells you how old I am. And they say I'm a senior, but I really don't feel like a senior. But anyway, age is only a number. So anyway, I have been in this building remodeling entrepreneurial world my entire two-thirds of my life. So I can tell you a lot of stories. A lot of different experiences. And so I was in the family business and then I started my own business in 2006. Little did I know that we were going to have what they call the Great Recession two years later. But it happened. And it was difficult for me to get through it. And there was a lot of challenges that I had to go through. Not just for quite a while, but just like many, many other Americans had to go through. That was a horrible time for the economy. It was a horrible time for me personally. I still have some bitterness, I guess. I'm not supposed to have bitterness, but I know what happened. And I've studied all the background information and all that. It was just a greed had a big part of that. But anyway, we'll talk about that story. But just to give you again, I've started my own businesses. I still am a builder today, remodeler. But there comes a point in time where I used to chase jobs all the time. Because what you have to do is once you start a job, you finish a job, then you go find another job. And if you have four or five different jobs going on at the same time, it just drives you insane. Again, ask anybody who's done it and they will tell you exactly the same thing. We're like a fraternity of crazy entrepreneur builders. We could tell stories all day long. But the thing about being in the building business is it's glamorous, but then it is extremely hard. So what my position is, it's like a three-way collaboration. First of all, you got to have the client. And what the client does is that they have a problem. And depending on what kind of problem they have, we are there to discuss it. My job is to discuss it, figure out exactly what they want to do, and try to solve their problem. And for me to solve their problem, I got to do a lot of research. I got to do a lot of pricing, a lot of job costing, figure out who's going to do this project and who can I trust to do the project. Being the contractor, I'm not the one who does the work. I'm the one who manages the work. I'm the one who is the man that is in between the client and the actual contractor, the physical contractor. So I'm kind of the glue that holds this thing together. So my job is to make sure that the client is happy. But I also have to make sure that the contractor that's actually doing the work, that they are actually good at what they do. They have to be top-notch. They have to, you know, it's my responsibility to make sure that they do good work and that they do what they say they're going to do. And they, you know, are professional in pricing and all that. But the main thing is, you know, they have to do everything that is needed for the job. And I have to trust them. And what that means is that, you know, there's a trust factor. I have to trust the client, that the client will be, you know, honorable in what they will do as far as, you know, paying me and being, you know, welcoming to us and understanding challenges and, you know, being patient and, you know, just being understanding. So I have to trust that they will do their thing. And I have to trust that my contractors will do their thing. And both of them have to trust me to make sure that I make this thing happen. So there's a three-way collaboration. And that's, you know, I have to put a lot of trust in people. And I have to, you know, treat people correctly because I know that if I don't treat people correctly, then, you know, there's no, you know, they could do anything just to get back at what I'm, you know, if they don't like their boss, they're going to do something, you know, who knows. I don't need to take any chance like that. I need to show people respect for what they do, what their skills are. And, you know, again, that's why I've always loved it. It's a collaboration of, you know, of people working together. But, you know, the other thing is that what our job is also is that we provide estimates. We have to provide, we have to understand what things cost. We have to understand, you know, what is that going to cost to put that together, to make that project work, to make it, you know, build the, you know, what the client is expecting from us. So during the years, I have dealt with, you know, job costing numbers, dollars, you know, big high numbers. And that's pretty much the job. One of the key aspects of the job is I've got to make sure that, you know, we're profitable. I have to make sure that we get paid. We have to make sure that the contractors get paid. I have to make sure that everything goes correctly. But a lot of that is just based on numbers. And so that, you know, me being in the finance world, I pretty much have been in the finance world for four decades because that's all I do, estimates. Numbers, figure out, you know, did we make a profit? Did we not make a profit? Are we going to be able to collect our money? You know, all of that, it's all money. And it's, you know, a lot more to it than just, you know, a beautiful building that we just constructed. You know, a business has to be profitable. It has to have money to work. So that's why, you know, having all this information and dollars and finances and all that, it's, you know, you get to a point where you completely understand it, you know, because you've got to make your numbers. Job costing on a job, that's just the same thing as a budget, a personal budget. It's exactly the same thing. You've got to figure out all the things that go into the job. You have to figure out all, you know, the components. So it's, you know, just the budget with larger numbers. So budgeting is critical. I could never do any, you know, survive if I'd never had a budget. I could never survive if I didn't track all the expenses and all of the, you know, variations and know what the numbers really mean. So, you know, personal finance, it's unfortunate that people don't understand that concept. A lot of people don't. So what I've done in the last couple of years that I've just, you know, I didn't know that much about finance myself because, you know what, they don't teach that in school. They've done the, you know, school system has let us down. You know, we are trained to be materialistic and we are trained to, you know, just have jobs and just, you know, but things have completely changed. Things are not the same. And I think they've changed, you know, really, you know, ever since the, you know, Great Recession, things have just not changed. And especially, obviously, after COVID, things have not changed. And everybody knows that. But the real problem is that we do not have a good grasp of financial literacy. And there's a lot of problems out there that people are suffering from stress. They are absolutely, you know, just terrified and they live in a state of shock most of the time. You know, I'll get into the figures, the actual figures, but there is proof that financial stress causes, you know, mental illness. It does. And it's the number one, you know, figure, the number one thing people think about and deal with and constantly are worried about is money. And that's just, that shouldn't be that way. And what I see is that, you know, people just don't know how to deal with money. They don't know, you know, what the right decisions are. And it's pretty amazing to me. It's absolutely, it's mind-boggling to me that our government and our school system just doesn't, you know, I don't know. We've never really taken it very seriously. Even though there's people, just our economy is, what are we killing people? You know, because stress will kill you. But the main thing is, I mean, the Bible. What does the Bible talk about money? Can you believe? We'll talk about that in a minute. Got to take a little quick break here, leave you hanging. What does the Bible say about money? So, I'll be right back. This is Steve Parker, Convection Radio, Building Wealth Through Biblical Wisdom. Be back in just a few minutes. Thank you. Alrighty, Steve Parker again, back with you. The name of our program is Faithful Finances, Building Wealth Through Biblical Wisdom. So, as I said, I've done a lot of research, done a lot of studying. I currently, I told you about all the, you know, personal experience I've had with money, you know, through the career of being a builder. The other, you know, thing about a builder is that you cannot build anything if you don't have a plan. And, you know, you've got to have a plan, you know. And if you're going to be doing an extensive project, you've got to have a very detailed plan. It's called a blueprint. You have to have a blueprint. You can't just go out there and build. You've got to follow directions. You've got to, you know, there's a, we have to come up with a contract with detailed specifications. We have to know how much it costs. And we have to do a lot of upfront work before we can ever build anything. And another thing that you've got to know, if you're going to go build something, there's one thing that you have to know as well. And that's, you've got to know what the rules are. The rules, you know, that's the code. There's a building code. And you have to know what the building code is. You can't just go out there and do whatever you want to. The building code is very strict. I'm in the Austin area. Austin is very strict about, you know, building permits. You've got to know exactly what to do. You can't just go, you know, pour a foundation. You can't just go, you know, put up some walls and all that. You can't do that. You've got to know what the building code is. You've got to have a detailed to scale blueprint. And you have to have a detailed contract with specifications. You know, detailing exactly what you're going to be doing. You have to have that just to get started. So, how does that correlate with finances? You can't do finances without a plan. You can't. You've got to know the laws. And that's, you know, what the code is, the laws. You've got to know what's right and what's wrong. What you can do, what you cannot do. You've got to pay, you know, your bills. You've got to pay your taxes. You've got to, you know, do all these things. And you've got to follow the rules. You know, in the building world, you can build something. And they have inspectors come out there and they look to see what you've done. You can't go forward until you get, you know, part of this permit signed off by the inspector. And if you did not do it exactly to code, then we call it a red tag. He leaves a red tag and you can't go forward until he fixes it. And he'll come back out there and inspect it again. That's just the world. You know, that's the building world. And every builder knows that. So, why don't we take our finances more serious? Why don't we take our finances more serious? I know that a lot of people do. And, you know, the people who do very well with finances, one of the main reasons they do very well with finances is because they're educated with financials. You know, they, either their parents taught them, the school system didn't teach them. Typically, it comes from the parents. And, you know, the earlier the better. If you can get kids started with financial literacy, the better. It's proven. It's a proven fact. There's studies after study that, you know, the earlier you get kids involved with finances, they're going to succeed with finances. Kids only follow what their parents are doing. And it's like a vicious cycle. If their parents don't know anything about finances, they don't have a good grasp of financial education and decision making, then they're making mistakes. So, how could they teach their kids if they don't, you know, they're teaching their kids the same mistakes. And it's generation after generation over and over and over again. And that is our problem. So, what I, you know, my goal, you know, I've mastered, I'm not going to say mastered, but I have, you know, I, you know, you get a point in your career that, you know, I want to do something a little bit different. So, when you consider a business, you've got to think of all the factors. First of all, you know, if I'm going to get into a business, I want to make sure I enjoy what I'm doing. Is it something that I really think is exciting and has the potential to keep me, you know, motivated and passionate and, you know, that's the number one thing. You've got to be passionate about what you're doing. But the other thing is, is there a need? Is there a need for your product? Is there a need for your service? Has it ever happened before? Are you inventing something brand new that's never, you know, never happened, has never been a service before, a brand new product? You know, how much money does it take to start a business? You've just got to know all the different details. So, unfortunately, there's a lot of, you know, people get into the business world who have a desire, a passion and all that, but they're terrible with money. And sooner or later, they're going to run out of money. They're not profitable, and then they have to go out of business. It happens every day. So, my desire was to help people with finances. Transfer my skills of dealing with people, of dealing with money, of dealing with products and, you know, just dealing with everyday life and understanding the highs and the lows and understanding my personal experiences and understanding what the economy can do to people and, you know, take my experiences and, you know, help others. Because I've seen a lot of different things. I've had businesses and, you know, solo businesses. It's hard. Ask anybody. It's really hard. It's stressful. It can be wonderful. It can be exhausting. I'm not the guy that, I don't work very well with other people. I don't work very good with micromanaging. That's just not my style. That's just not my style. So, this is a time, and our country, as you know, if you follow any of the headlines, people are, you know, we'll get into the facts, but financial stress causes many, many financial hardships. And mental, it absolutely does cause mental illness. The stress, the depression, the shame, all of it. It's real. And, you know, they do studies and, you know, there are real numbers. People are, you know, that's all they think about. And the other thing is every single generation, you know, from the senior to the baby boomers to the millennials to the Gen Xers, you know, all of them, all the way down to the little kids, they all deal with money. Different, you know, there's different worries that they have, but they all deal with money. And so, you know, we have a big problem with financial education. There is an absolute need for financial literacy to be taught. And so, that's what I see. And, you know, there's just a really big need. So, you know, that gives me a lot of passion to help. Did you know that, you know, again, I told you, I've been reading a book by Randy Alcorn. It's amazing. He's a pastor. I believe he's out of Oregon. But one of his books is called Money, Possessions, and Eternity. And, you know, the first chapter just goes right off and says, money, why is it so important to God? And right up front, there's a couple of quotes. In a couple of quotes, one from C.S. Lewis that says, He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone. And another writing from a man named Richard Halverson. And it says, Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man's true character. All through scripture, there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money. You know, the Bible was written, but it's crazy. It's crazy. How could the Bible, you know, the author, the editors of the Bible, all that, how could they justify devoting twice as many verses to money, which is over 2350 references to money, than to faith and prayer combined? It's crazy. How could Jesus say more about money than about heaven and hell? Didn't he know what was really important? Well, it turns out that the Bible had a staggering amount to say about money, how we are to view it, and what we are to do with it. The sheer enormity of scripture, the teaching on the subject, screams of our intention. And the haunting question is this, why? Why does God give us so much instruction on money and possessions, considering everything else he could have told us that we really want to know? Why did the Savior of the world spend 15% of his recorded words on this one subject of money? Why did he say more about how we are to view and handle money and possessions than about any other single thing? Why? Well, what did he know about money and possessions that we didn't? You know, Jesus sees our hearts and our souls, and he knows us just as well as he knows anyone. And he's going to call us to take action, and to take breaks. He wants us to not love money only, to not love money more than him. God never said money is a sin. But if you love money more than God, then yes, that is a sin. So, you know, there's just so many, so many different scriptures in the Bible about money. And we're going to get into them. You know, there's some all-time classics. You know, the parables. But it's just amazing. And what's really amazing to me, and again, it's just mind-boggling to me, is that we know this. And we keep making the same mistakes. You know, Christians do it too. I mean, just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're good with money. You know, it's, I believe that one of the reasons that, I mean, there are many reasons. But one of the reasons is that people, you know, they're not going to church as much as they used to, or maybe not at all. Because they feel like, you know, we're broke. We don't have any money to give. So, therefore, we feel shameful. And we, you know, we just don't feel comfortable going because we're not able to give and tithe and, you know, be honorable. And it's a guilt thing. And so, you know, people are just, you know, they're confused. And they're being betrayed by, you know, the materialism world, the secular economy. They're being betrayed by our own government. You know, the government, oh gosh, we can get started there. But they mismanage money worse than any human ever possible. It's insane. And they're not, how could they be, you know, we are to answer them, but they're the worst money managers of all time. You know, we don't know what's going to happen. Our trillions of dollars in debt, and it's just, you know, there's a clock out there that you can see that just spins constantly. It's just money, money, money spinning. We're in debt. You know, we can't even afford to pay our interest on the money. It's just, yeah, it's really, you know, debts, you know, obviously it's a problem. So, we know the problems. We can do the research. We know the problems. So what are we going to do to solve the problems? What are the choices that we can make? You know, we do know that what we're doing is, you know, unsustainable. We can't keep doing this. We're breaking our vows to God. But it's really hard. It's really, really, really difficult to know what to do. You know, I don't put a lot of blame on people for just not knowing what to do because they were never trained. The school system has let us down. And I truly believe that the parents are the ones who should be teaching their kids about money. But if the parents don't know anything about money, then they're not going to be able to teach them the right thing. So, you know, it's a, you know, it's just something has to change. We've got to break this vicious cycle because it's not getting any better. You know, depression leads to suicide, which leads to, you know, devastation. And we don't need that. We don't need that. So whatever we can do, whatever I can do personally, whatever I can do to help one person, just to help one person, God would be happy with that. And my hope and my true hope that I can help one person, which will lead to another person, which will lead to another person. And that is, that's my goal. I don't know how many people I can help, but I truly believe that I can help more people doing this than I can help people, you know, building a remodeling project. You know, I've done that. I still love the business, but this is needed. This is more important right now. And, you know, just like in building, you've got to take one step at a time. You've got to have a firm foundation, strong. You've got to know what's involved and you have to, you know, know the rules. You have to know all that. And, you know, I have really done a lot, a lot of studying. You know, currently I have a financial license, stayed in Texas. I, you know, took courses to, you know, pass the exams and all that. So, you know, I am a licensed life agent, home and life agent, educational wise. And I've also, I'm a certified financial coach. But, you know, that gives me, you know, pieces of paper. But what really matters is the life experience. And I've got a lot of that. And, you know, the combination of my experience, my education, my passion, I want to make a change. This is for America. You know, I love our country. And, you know, just as a soldier would do, just as, you know, our, you know, the good people in our society, what they do. You know, the teachers, you know, the firemen, the police, you know, all the good people out there that try to protect our country, our people, our communities. You know, this is a serious problem and it needs to be addressed. And what my goal is to do my part and then I hope to build this community of teachers, of educators. I've got an entrepreneurial opportunity for people who feel like they could help, could serve. And, you know, I'm excited about that. You know, it was really great to be here today. I appreciate you, the listener. You know, I hope there's one person out there listening. Like I said, if I helped you, I would be very much, you know, I would appreciate that, you know, I did something to help. I'm really excited and I look forward to coming back next week and seeing what we can do. We're going to build this thing. I'm a builder in more ways than one. I am a builder and I'm going to build a community that's going to fight against, you know, against, you know, the evil one. The evil one's out there. He's very, very, very strong, but we're stronger. So, anyway, I hope everybody has a good week. I appreciated your time today. Let's go out and let's have a great day, great week. Appreciate it. Love you. God bless.
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