Have you ever felt
like your bank account
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was on life support?
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Well, stay tuned to
learn how you can regain
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some financial stability.
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My name is Jason Bradley,
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello, and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today
is Cordell Thomas,
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Director of Axis
Foundation Incorporated,
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and the host of Dare to Dream
network's Take it to the Bank.
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Welcome to
Urban Report, Cordell.
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It is a pleasure to be here.
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Thank you so much for
the invitation, Jason.
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Thank you so much.
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You're very welcome.
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I'm happy to have you here.
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You know, I haven't had
the privilege and opportunity
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of sitting down with
you and interviewing you.
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So I'm really
looking forward to this.
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I want to start
with a little bit
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about your background,
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'cause it's been a while
since you you've been here.
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Yes.
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It's been a months
since I've been there.
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I miss 3ABN,
visiting the location,
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but have been very
busy over the past six years
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since I've been there.
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And I think that
Take it to the Bank
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has taught me a
little bit about the basics
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of what the
Bible has been teaching
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about finance all along.
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You know, I started
on profit back in 2008.
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I've been
maintaining the nonprofit,
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but I had a
chance to collaborate
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with a great organization.
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They brought me on
board for about four years
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United Way of the Inland Valleys
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that have assisted in a
variety of things to help us
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gain some sense of understanding
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of why it is that it takes more
than just financial knowledge
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to make the sound financial
decisions that we need to make.
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Oh, wow.
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Now break, unpack
that a little bit?
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Oh my goodness.
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I mean, I'll start with
this in John 8 is a story
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about the woman
caught in adultery
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and in reading the story,
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it provided a
perspective of the thing
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that got us moving
in the right direction.
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You know, the woman's caught,
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she's found in front of Christ.
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She has a crisis.
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She is faced with
death, stoning, of course.
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And then she falls at
the feet of the person
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or the God that has
the answers to it all.
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And in that process,
these people accused her
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and all that Jesus does He
starts writing in the sand.
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And then
basically looks up and says,
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"Where are your accusers?"
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She says,
"They're not here anymore."
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And He says, I don't,
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"You know,
neither do I judge you.
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I don't judge you,
go and sin no more."
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And there's something powerful
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in that because we
see her condemnation
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and her mischaracterization
and her placement
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in a judgment situation.
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In front of all of her peers,
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people she must've
known going to church.
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And then in the end, Christ
figured a way of capturing
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this person, this individual,
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and putting her back sending
her back as she's justified.
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You're back to where
you need to be and now,
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go and build your character.
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That sanctification process
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where she becomes more
Christ-like in her demeanor.
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And I can imagine what she left
feeling like her self-esteem,
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her
self-efficacy, her self-belief
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must've changed
tremendously in that situation.
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I'll take you back to 2013.
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There was an amazing
study that was done in Australia
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about women and
about their ability
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to make the right
types of financial decisions.
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Right?
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They said that women who
have self-belief, self-efficacy,
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a belief in
themselves are more likely
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to make the right
type of financial decisions
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and buy assets that build
net worth and not debt assets,
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a tremendous story,
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because it's related to
what the Bible is saying.
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If you build
someone's self-esteem,
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you can build their ability
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to make the right type
of financial decisions.
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So it takes more than financial
knowledge and literacy.
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An individual now
we're finding also need
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a sense of self-assuredness
and self-belief,
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a belief in their abilities
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to make the right
type of decisions.
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So the past six years,
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we have had a chance
to study all of this.
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We've taught 201 students,
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we've had a chance
to study pre post-test,
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pre savings behavior surveys,
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post savings behavior surveys.
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And we had a chance to
really dig into how you teach
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and build self-esteem
over the course of time.
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And we find that our study
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through Cal
state San Bernardino,
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their consulting team
came in and studying the class,
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the structure, the outcomes,
they went back and visited
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the many different
students that took the class
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and were able to
find that the majority
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of students had a
life changing event
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where they have become habitual
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in making the right
type of financial decisions,
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budgeting, and
saving for their future.
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So we see the process
there, the studies there.
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We have it as a
form of reference.
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And we're using that now
to track how young people
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and while as different
demographic groups learn
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and how you converse with them
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and how you teach
them about self-esteem.
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Now, have you encountered
any challenges in teaching,
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you know, how to
improve one's self-esteem
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with this social media
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all this stuff with
social media that's going on.
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It seems like keeping up
with the Joneses kind of?
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Yeah.
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I mean, there are so
many different challenges
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to changing
someone's characterization
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of what money is all
about, because, Jason,
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realistically, it has
nothing to do with money.
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It has everything
to do with resources.
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It's a resource issue.
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Jesus says in the Bible,
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the love of money is
the root of all evil.
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And it does
indicate that He wants us
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to be able to make decisions
based on those resources
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He provides us.
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There's a story in 2 Kings 4
about the woman that was caught
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in a situation
there's even unwrap this one
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and to a large degree,
but she lost her husband.
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Okay.
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The husband had not
prepared financially
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for their family's
future in case of his passing.
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So there's
insurance requirements
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that are missed in this case.
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He passes away, has a big
debt and the debt collectors
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come and say
because you can't pay,
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we're taking your sons.
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Okay, so she goes
and talks to Elijah
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and said, hey, you
know, I need some help.
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Can you tell me what I gotta do?
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And his first question to her
is what resource do you have?
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That is all he
asks because he says,
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I have a little bit of oil.
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And he says, okay, take
that, gather all these vessels
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into your home,
take your sons together,
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all the neighbor's vessels into
your home and shut the doors.
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Maybe we can go
in depth about this,
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but the real aspect of it,
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he said, shut the door
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because you're
gonna have naysayers
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and those that will wonder
what you're actually doing.
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But he took that
little bit of oil blessed it
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and she was able to
fill all of the vessels.
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If you look at the
stories, as they're connected,
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the woman caught in
adultery had a good self-esteem.
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The gentlemen,
the rich young ruler
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came and asked Christ
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how he can gain
access to the kingdom.
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And he chose not to follow
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the request of Christ
selling all that he had
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because he
idolized his possessions.
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If you go back to the
woman caught in adultery,
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we all know that
woman means church.
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Adultery is
defined by the Bible itself
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in Ezekiel 23:37,
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where adultery is
considered idolatry and sorcery.
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So it's basically this thing
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that comes
between us and Christ.
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The rich young
ruler was unwilling
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to give it up and guess what?
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He walked away
with a low self-belief,
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low self characterization,
low self-esteem.
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He walked away a
very sad individual.
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Yes.
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So with all of what
we see in social media
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and what we see all around us,
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we see the challenges of
having people face the fact
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that we're not
dealing with resource,
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we're not dealing
with money issues,
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not what the Joneses
have that make them better.
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It's what you have inside you.
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You fall at the feet of
Christ and you find that
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He is the one that can
save you in any type of crisis.
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I always say
this, it's not a matter
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of if you're
gonna go into a crisis.
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If when you go into a crisis,
what resource do you have?
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Do you have an emergency saving?
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Do you have someone
you can go to, to help you?
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Do you have a
resource that's available?
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The woman caught in
adultery had Christ.
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He was right there.
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And He helps her out of,
not only helped her out of debt
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he built her self-esteem
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and that
characterization has carried,
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probably carried it
forward the rest of her life
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using powerful and
innovative things within.
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That's deep.
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And I love how you're bringing
out the point that, you know,
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what resources do you have?
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You know, so if you
have a bunch of liabilities,
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you're probably going
to be in trouble, correct?
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You need some assets.
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Yes.
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And that's what came
out of that initial study.
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I tell the story in
a lot of the classes
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that I have about this woman,
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young lady back in
the Great Depression
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she grew up in New York.
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When she got her first
job, she worked for a law firm.
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She never made
more than real dollar,
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today, dollar is $38,000 a year.
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Over the 67
years that she worked
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she was able to
help her attorney bosses
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to buy investments and buy stock
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and that type of thing.
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What she learned from her bosses
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helped build her character,
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build her self-esteem
and belief in herself.
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So when she went to buy
the investments for her bosses,
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she actually on
her small salary,
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she was able to buy, emulate
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exactly what her bosses
did except on a smaller scale.
00:10:18.68\00:10:21.65
Right? And so she
passed away in 2015.
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She was 95 years of
age, 96 years of age.
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Her niece who is one
that the executor of her
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will said she had no idea
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that her mom was worth
$8.2 million, I heard that.
00:10:35.10\00:10:39.23
Okay.
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So how do we begin the
process of understanding
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that it's not
about how much you make
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that makes you wealthy,
00:10:48.31\00:10:49.64
it's how much you save,
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how much you keep
that makes you wealthy.
00:10:51.05\00:10:53.18
And now the
context is, her resources,
00:10:53.21\00:10:55.88
her level of
self-efficacy, her self-esteem,
00:10:55.92\00:10:58.85
her self-knowledge of
what it was actually about.
00:10:58.89\00:11:02.09
And now she can emulate
good examples around her
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to begin that
investment and savings process.
00:11:05.79\00:11:08.53
Nobody in her
family, in her community
00:11:08.56\00:11:12.53
that lived around
her had any knowledge
00:11:12.57\00:11:14.60
that she was worth
this amount of money.
00:11:14.64\00:11:17.81
And at her passing,
00:11:17.84\00:11:19.17
she was able to
donate 6.2 million,
00:11:19.21\00:11:22.81
$6 million to her foster agency
00:11:22.84\00:11:26.82
and 2 million to
Alma mater and the like.
00:11:26.85\00:11:29.95
So they have a
lot of application
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to we as individuals.
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What does 3ABN mean to us
00:11:33.49\00:11:37.59
so that when we leave this world
00:11:37.63\00:11:39.76
waiting for Christ to
come, that we can leave it
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a portion of
what we have invested
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in the resources God has given?
00:11:46.77\00:11:48.44
It's an amazing thing
when you can characterize.
00:11:48.47\00:11:50.94
Now she is a woman
which is an at risk group.
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We're dealing with
changes in demographics,
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where women are living
4.6 years longer than men.
00:11:57.91\00:12:01.95
There's a transition
of wealth going to women.
00:12:01.98\00:12:04.62
There are a lot
of single houses,
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single led households
that rely on one income
00:12:07.79\00:12:12.83
and many people are worried
00:12:12.86\00:12:14.50
about, I can't make
it on this one income.
00:12:14.53\00:12:17.00
And I'm finding
that the resourcefulness
00:12:17.03\00:12:19.40
that we teach these young people
00:12:19.43\00:12:21.10
is helping them to understand
that if they can manage,
00:12:21.14\00:12:24.17
if they can get a roommate,
00:12:24.21\00:12:26.37
if they can figure ways
to live within their means,
00:12:26.41\00:12:29.58
they're better able
to apply this knowledge.
00:12:29.61\00:12:31.61
I just got a
call three months ago
00:12:31.65\00:12:33.65
from a young lady
that took a class in 2018.
00:12:33.68\00:12:36.18
She was worried about
her specific challenges
00:12:36.22\00:12:41.49
with paying off
her credit card debt
00:12:41.52\00:12:43.43
and saving money for a future.
00:12:43.46\00:12:45.03
And she had a
little son too, by the way.
00:12:45.06\00:12:48.00
We taught the class and
the way we teach the class
00:12:48.03\00:12:50.40
over six full weeks, it helps
us establish relationships.
00:12:50.43\00:12:54.30
And then we follow the class
00:12:54.34\00:12:55.70
with a six month
savings practicum
00:12:55.74\00:12:57.37
so that they get in the
habit of formerly saving
00:12:57.41\00:13:00.48
each and every paycheck.
00:13:00.51\00:13:02.21
When she called, she told me,
00:13:02.24\00:13:03.58
Mr. Thomas, I
wanna call you back
00:13:03.61\00:13:04.95
two years later and
tell you where I'm at.
00:13:04.98\00:13:06.41
I have $1,000 in my
emergency savings fund.
00:13:06.45\00:13:09.68
I have a credit score of 730.
00:13:09.72\00:13:12.05
I've paid off
all my credit cards.
00:13:12.09\00:13:14.32
And I have also taken
out an insurance policy
00:13:14.36\00:13:17.29
because I have a
budget, I'm saving
00:13:17.33\00:13:19.93
and I have the additional income
00:13:19.96\00:13:22.56
to pay for insurance.
00:13:22.60\00:13:24.07
So if something happens to
me, my son is taken care of.
00:13:24.10\00:13:27.50
That told me that
00:13:27.54\00:13:29.84
what we're
talking about is working
00:13:29.87\00:13:31.34
with these young people.
00:13:31.37\00:13:32.71
It also gives us feedback
because the Cal state study
00:13:32.74\00:13:37.41
did talk to a lot of
the students we had taught,
00:13:37.45\00:13:40.58
and they have also validated
00:13:40.62\00:13:42.48
that they're now
in the formal habit
00:13:42.52\00:13:44.92
of making savings a
part of their lifestyle.
00:13:44.95\00:13:49.32
That's huge.
00:13:49.36\00:13:50.69
What tips do you have
for someone who's like, well,
00:13:50.73\00:13:53.66
you know, I know I
need to start saving,
00:13:53.70\00:13:56.06
but I don't know
where to begin and my money
00:13:56.10\00:13:58.63
being in the bank
and my savings account
00:13:58.67\00:14:01.00
is really not
accruing that much interest.
00:14:01.04\00:14:03.51
So where would you tell
them maybe to invest their money
00:14:03.54\00:14:08.54
or what can they put
it in that will grow it?
00:14:08.58\00:14:12.41
Wow!
00:14:12.45\00:14:13.78
Very good question.
00:14:13.82\00:14:15.92
There's, there are two issues.
00:14:15.95\00:14:17.29
One is building
their self-esteem
00:14:17.32\00:14:20.22
and self-confidence in saving
00:14:20.26\00:14:22.56
and beginning the
process of understanding
00:14:22.59\00:14:25.46
that they too can put away funds
00:14:25.49\00:14:28.60
and resources on
an ongoing basis.
00:14:28.63\00:14:31.20
But we find that just
having a mere knowledge
00:14:31.23\00:14:34.14
of financial knowledge
and literacy doesn't mean
00:14:34.17\00:14:37.87
that they will take advantage
of the knowledge they have.
00:14:37.91\00:14:41.41
You have to have
your self-esteem built
00:14:41.44\00:14:44.28
to a place that
you know you can do it.
00:14:44.31\00:14:46.58
So I always say get an
accountability partner,
00:14:46.61\00:14:49.08
one who is ensure that you have
a budget, write things down.
00:14:49.12\00:14:53.69
We found that like
in 70% of the cases
00:14:53.72\00:14:56.99
where we did
pre-savings behavior survey,
00:14:57.03\00:14:59.29
many of them they'd never
wrote anything down in reference
00:14:59.33\00:15:02.63
to their budget or expenditures,
00:15:02.66\00:15:04.57
they just kept it up
in their head, right?
00:15:04.60\00:15:06.50
So if you think
about writing down
00:15:06.53\00:15:10.07
where your money comes from,
00:15:10.11\00:15:11.57
and then write down
where your money goes,
00:15:11.61\00:15:13.84
and then give each dollar a job,
00:15:13.88\00:15:16.98
and then most importantly,
00:15:17.01\00:15:19.11
live way below your means,
00:15:19.15\00:15:21.58
and look at the
resources Christ is giving you.
00:15:21.62\00:15:24.62
So if you're
living below your means,
00:15:24.65\00:15:26.05
and then you're using the talent
00:15:26.09\00:15:27.42
Christ has given you,
00:15:27.46\00:15:29.19
you can now use it in
so many innovative ways.
00:15:29.22\00:15:32.26
And that when you get an
idea of what your strengths are,
00:15:32.29\00:15:35.40
and what really changed my life.
00:15:35.43\00:15:37.07
I did, many years ago I
took my strength finders,
00:15:37.10\00:15:39.80
and I found that my
top strength is positivity.
00:15:39.83\00:15:44.77
I'm a positive person,
I'm trying to be an optimist
00:15:44.81\00:15:47.21
and make sure
people understand that,
00:15:47.24\00:15:49.04
you know, the sky's the limit,
you can do what you want to do
00:15:49.08\00:15:51.68
if you set your mind to it,
00:15:51.71\00:15:53.65
and you have the
right resources to do it.
00:15:53.68\00:15:55.32
I'm also a maximizer,
00:15:55.35\00:15:56.69
you find that people
have looked themselves
00:15:56.72\00:15:59.35
from a limited,
limitation standpoint
00:15:59.39\00:16:01.26
and not see themselves
from a strength standpoint.
00:16:01.29\00:16:03.73
What do you do and
what do you do well?
00:16:03.76\00:16:06.03
Put it to work for Christ.
00:16:06.06\00:16:07.66
Once you begin
to have confidence
00:16:07.70\00:16:11.67
in that one thing that you do,
00:16:11.70\00:16:13.54
it begins to permeate over
other aspects of your life.
00:16:13.57\00:16:17.04
And then that
sense of self belief,
00:16:17.07\00:16:20.68
self-assuredness,
understanding who you are,
00:16:20.71\00:16:23.85
and the application in your life
00:16:23.88\00:16:26.61
will help you
begin to say, okay,
00:16:26.65\00:16:29.88
I now know what I need
to do to save an additional,
00:16:29.92\00:16:34.32
you know, $50 a month.
00:16:34.36\00:16:36.32
And I know that
if I can set aside
00:16:36.36\00:16:39.89
a savings based on my budget,
00:16:39.93\00:16:42.00
that savings will also allow me
00:16:42.03\00:16:44.43
to look at other
investment opportunities.
00:16:44.47\00:16:48.04
You will never be able
to invest unless you save.
00:16:48.07\00:16:50.77
If you can never save
it means you don't budget.
00:16:50.81\00:16:53.54
And if you don't budget,
00:16:53.58\00:16:54.91
you are always
going to be living
00:16:54.94\00:16:56.28
paycheck to paycheck.
00:16:56.31\00:16:57.65
Unlike this young
lady from New York,
00:16:57.68\00:16:59.45
who was able to now
00:16:59.48\00:17:00.98
emulate the...
00:17:01.02\00:17:06.79
What is the word I'm
looking for the example
00:17:06.82\00:17:09.36
of those successful
individuals around them.
00:17:09.39\00:17:11.66
The other thing
is surround yourself
00:17:11.69\00:17:13.56
with successful people,
talk to successful individual
00:17:13.60\00:17:16.06
and get an
understanding of who they are.
00:17:16.10\00:17:19.27
I have one an individual
that I am accountable to.
00:17:19.30\00:17:24.74
I have an executive coach
00:17:24.77\00:17:26.14
and I talk to her
on a monthly basis.
00:17:26.17\00:17:28.91
She is a very prominent
person in our community
00:17:28.94\00:17:31.65
in Orange County.
00:17:31.68\00:17:33.01
And I can't imagine
00:17:33.05\00:17:34.38
going into my
meetings unprepared with her.
00:17:34.42\00:17:36.38
But with her
00:17:36.42\00:17:37.75
and the accountabilities I have,
00:17:37.79\00:17:39.99
I want to ensure
that I am following
00:17:40.02\00:17:42.52
and adhering to
those specific practices
00:17:42.56\00:17:44.63
and making sure I'm
becoming the type of executive
00:17:44.66\00:17:47.36
I possibly can be not
to lead and control people
00:17:47.40\00:17:50.97
but to motivate and maximize
the type of people they can be.
00:17:51.00\00:17:55.47
I love that, you know, having
that accountability partner.
00:17:55.50\00:18:00.78
I think that's an
excellent piece of advice.
00:18:00.81\00:18:04.85
The other thing
I think about is,
00:18:04.88\00:18:06.68
you know, when
you have a business,
00:18:06.72\00:18:08.68
and you're in your
business, how are you going to,
00:18:08.72\00:18:12.25
you know,
maximize your income there?
00:18:12.29\00:18:16.69
You can either increase sales,
or you can cut your spending.
00:18:16.73\00:18:20.76
And so that's what it kind
of sounds like you're saying,
00:18:20.80\00:18:23.26
just in everyday life as well,
00:18:23.30\00:18:25.90
you know, you can cut
your spending to hold on
00:18:25.93\00:18:30.24
and save that extra money
to maximize those resources.
00:18:30.27\00:18:34.94
And I see that
it's like dying to self.
00:18:34.98\00:18:39.21
That is it. This is biblical.
00:18:39.25\00:18:41.12
It's dying to
self and letting Christ
00:18:41.15\00:18:42.85
take control of your life,
00:18:42.88\00:18:46.59
and losing sight of
the things around you
00:18:46.62\00:18:50.16
and realizing that we are here.
00:18:50.19\00:18:52.53
Isaiah 58 says that
00:18:52.56\00:18:54.23
well, that we're
here to cloth the naked,
00:18:54.26\00:18:58.67
to feed the
hungry, to give shelter
00:18:58.70\00:19:01.00
to those that don't have it,
00:19:01.04\00:19:02.37
at least and
the Bible specifies,
00:19:02.40\00:19:04.84
you know, looking at the
widows and those that are,
00:19:04.87\00:19:08.61
their children
that don't have parents.
00:19:08.64\00:19:10.38
And that's why we focused
over the past several years
00:19:10.41\00:19:13.42
on our foster youth.
00:19:13.45\00:19:15.25
We can't show a lot of pictures,
00:19:15.28\00:19:16.65
but we can talk
to these young people
00:19:16.69\00:19:18.45
because of their category.
00:19:18.49\00:19:21.22
But when we have those
relationships with them,
00:19:21.26\00:19:24.39
wow, what they become shows us
00:19:24.43\00:19:26.53
that if that at risk group
00:19:26.56\00:19:28.13
can do it
pretty much anyone can.
00:19:28.16\00:19:30.53
It's all about
building self-esteem.
00:19:30.57\00:19:34.00
They're building a belief
in them that they understand.
00:19:34.04\00:19:38.64
And then what is most important
00:19:38.67\00:19:40.04
is ensuring that
you have a conversation.
00:19:40.08\00:19:42.61
I don't teach people.
00:19:42.64\00:19:44.31
I can't talk down to people.
00:19:44.35\00:19:46.21
We have a
conversation on an equal level.
00:19:46.25\00:19:48.68
When they have
that type of buying
00:19:48.72\00:19:50.29
and that type of
ability to get feedback.
00:19:50.32\00:19:54.32
We have a chance to have
this conversation this give
00:19:54.36\00:19:58.09
and take and they can learn,
00:19:58.13\00:20:02.03
I can learn what
their challenges are
00:20:02.06\00:20:04.57
and then fine
tune the curriculum
00:20:04.60\00:20:06.94
and the way we deliver
it to these individuals
00:20:06.97\00:20:10.31
on a tailored basis
to their specific needs.
00:20:10.34\00:20:13.01
So we tell stories,
we tell a lot of stories.
00:20:13.04\00:20:15.31
And we give a lot of examples
of my personal experience
00:20:15.34\00:20:18.45
in making bad decisions.
00:20:18.48\00:20:19.88
So they see that
it's not out of the norm
00:20:19.91\00:20:23.32
to make a bad decision,
you can always redeem yourself
00:20:23.35\00:20:25.89
from spending
that extra 50 bucks
00:20:25.92\00:20:28.02
you shouldn't have spent, right?
00:20:28.06\00:20:29.76
And you can now allocate
a certain amount of money
00:20:29.79\00:20:33.66
into a savings account
that you can use as a later,
00:20:33.70\00:20:36.36
at a later time.
00:20:36.40\00:20:37.73
Yes.
00:20:37.77\00:20:39.10
I love that you have a
customizable tailored plan
00:20:39.13\00:20:42.87
for their specific needs.
00:20:42.90\00:20:45.47
There's so much value in that.
00:20:45.51\00:20:47.08
So...
00:20:47.11\00:20:48.48
You save a buck. Yeah.
00:20:48.51\00:20:50.48
So how has, you know,
00:20:50.51\00:20:54.38
I guess being in
the financial world,
00:20:54.42\00:20:58.55
strengthened your faith?
00:20:58.59\00:21:02.19
When I first came to
3ABN, I'd strengthened my faith
00:21:02.22\00:21:05.59
to come and see what Christ
did through Mr. Danny Shelton.
00:21:05.63\00:21:10.63
It strengthened my faith
to see how he was able to use
00:21:10.67\00:21:14.80
the resources that
Christ had given him in a way
00:21:14.84\00:21:17.37
that exploded to an
international organization.
00:21:17.41\00:21:21.54
It also humbled me to realize
00:21:21.58\00:21:23.38
that resources
are provided to us.
00:21:23.41\00:21:26.61
And if we use those
resources the right way,
00:21:26.65\00:21:29.32
as the story of the talents,
00:21:29.35\00:21:31.55
we use it simply
to think about money,
00:21:31.59\00:21:33.05
but it has nothing to
really do about money,
00:21:33.09\00:21:35.26
has to do with, if you
have a talent of singing,
00:21:35.29\00:21:37.99
and you sing to God's glory.
00:21:38.03\00:21:39.69
He is going to expand
that talent to a place
00:21:39.73\00:21:42.63
that He will
bring people to him.
00:21:42.66\00:21:44.77
It goes back to the vessels
00:21:44.80\00:21:46.13
that that woman
brought into her home
00:21:46.17\00:21:48.04
to fill with the oil, right?
00:21:48.07\00:21:49.90
The vessels are people,
the oil is the Holy Spirit,
00:21:49.94\00:21:52.97
her intention in
using her resource
00:21:53.01\00:21:56.11
was to fill
people with that spirit.
00:21:56.14\00:21:59.38
If we understand
that we're here to give,
00:21:59.41\00:22:03.18
then the Bible now explodes.
00:22:03.22\00:22:05.69
And it's information as
to what value Christy places
00:22:07.92\00:22:11.59
on the resources
that He gives us.
00:22:11.63\00:22:14.33
And, of course, a
resource will be money,
00:22:14.36\00:22:16.26
and we need to
use that accordingly.
00:22:16.30\00:22:19.50
Absolutely, I love
how you said earlier,
00:22:19.53\00:22:21.70
you know, make your dollar work,
00:22:21.74\00:22:24.74
like give that dollar a job.
00:22:24.77\00:22:28.48
So what are some jobs
00:22:28.51\00:22:30.38
that you can give your dollar?
00:22:30.41\00:22:35.48
There are many different
jobs you can give a dollar.
00:22:35.52\00:22:38.92
You can see, you can start
a small business off the side,
00:22:38.95\00:22:41.76
you know, they have a unique one
00:22:41.79\00:22:43.32
called I would say
this, it's called Offer Up.
00:22:43.36\00:22:46.56
It's free, you sign
up, you take a picture
00:22:46.59\00:22:48.96
of an item that
you want to get rid of,
00:22:49.00\00:22:50.37
and you can sell it
for 5, 10, $15, whatever.
00:22:50.40\00:22:54.17
You know, the going
rate would be, you can,
00:22:54.20\00:22:56.24
every one of you have
probably, if you have a garage,
00:22:56.27\00:22:59.77
you probably have 500
to $1500 worth of stuff
00:22:59.81\00:23:03.14
that you can get rid of.
00:23:03.18\00:23:04.51
And then use
that money to invest
00:23:04.55\00:23:06.41
in some form of evangelism.
00:23:06.45\00:23:11.02
We can put together hygiene kits
00:23:11.05\00:23:15.12
because there
are a lot of people
00:23:15.16\00:23:16.49
who are dealing
with homelessness issues.
00:23:16.52\00:23:19.66
We can put booklets
together, you can hand out
00:23:19.69\00:23:21.26
individual ongoing basis,
00:23:21.30\00:23:22.86
you can begin
to tell your story.
00:23:22.90\00:23:26.30
That is one of the best
ways to utilize your time.
00:23:26.33\00:23:30.34
Time is money
and tell your story
00:23:30.37\00:23:33.24
about how God has blessed you
00:23:33.27\00:23:35.54
and some of the visions
you are now able to make
00:23:35.58\00:23:39.58
because of your
self-assuredness in His care.
00:23:39.61\00:23:44.25
And that I don't need the things
00:23:44.29\00:23:45.95
in this world to make me happy.
00:23:45.99\00:23:48.12
Yeah, so use your
dollar to spread the gospel.
00:23:48.16\00:23:50.76
What would you say to
someone who's out there
00:23:50.79\00:23:53.73
and they're saying, well,
00:23:53.76\00:23:55.10
I'm too broke to
pay tithe and offering.
00:23:55.13\00:23:57.43
What would you say
to that individual?
00:23:57.47\00:24:01.40
I would look at in
a nonjudgmental way.
00:24:01.44\00:24:04.97
I've learned that
it's really important
00:24:05.01\00:24:06.37
not to judge
people where they're at,
00:24:06.41\00:24:07.78
but to try to
pull them to a place
00:24:07.81\00:24:09.61
that they can understand
00:24:09.64\00:24:11.95
that tithing is a
gift given to you.
00:24:11.98\00:24:17.29
And when you get
involved with tithing
00:24:17.32\00:24:20.49
and offering not just 10,
00:24:20.52\00:24:22.36
but increasing
to 15 and even 20%
00:24:22.39\00:24:25.09
and doing those
things with Christ's money
00:24:25.13\00:24:29.16
that he would have you do,
00:24:29.20\00:24:31.40
you'll find so
much of a blessing.
00:24:31.43\00:24:33.03
But I would say
this, you're not tithing
00:24:33.07\00:24:35.07
because you're
spending what you make,
00:24:35.10\00:24:36.57
you're not tithing
because you're not budgeting.
00:24:36.60\00:24:38.64
Off the top of each
paycheck, pay your tithe,
00:24:38.67\00:24:42.41
do that first and then second,
put money into savings account.
00:24:42.44\00:24:47.15
Third, pay your essential bills,
00:24:47.18\00:24:49.28
keep a roof over your head
00:24:49.32\00:24:50.69
and then fourth and take care
of those other type of bills.
00:24:50.72\00:24:54.19
And then of course,
part of that essentially
00:24:54.22\00:24:56.79
is paying down your debt as
quickly as you possibly can.
00:24:56.83\00:24:59.43
So I would say
that, with that in place,
00:24:59.46\00:25:01.93
if you have a budget,
00:25:01.96\00:25:03.30
there's no reason why
you cannot make ends meet.
00:25:03.33\00:25:06.97
And if you find that
your budget doesn't work
00:25:07.00\00:25:09.00
means maybe that you're spending
00:25:09.04\00:25:10.54
more than you bring in,
00:25:10.57\00:25:11.91
which means you're
in a dangerous position,
00:25:11.94\00:25:13.61
you have to figure a
way to cut out those things
00:25:13.64\00:25:15.98
that you don't need.
00:25:16.01\00:25:17.35
I ran into a
person the other day that,
00:25:17.38\00:25:20.38
you know, spending
almost $1200 a month on a car,
00:25:20.42\00:25:24.29
and but was over
her head with a budget.
00:25:24.32\00:25:26.72
So there's simple
decisions you need to make.
00:25:26.76\00:25:30.26
We were able to do a little bit
of research, and we found out,
00:25:30.29\00:25:33.60
I heard about by
another financial person,
00:25:33.63\00:25:37.70
he said that the
research was done
00:25:37.73\00:25:40.24
on a 10,000 millionaires.
00:25:40.27\00:25:42.37
The average age of the
cars they own is four years
00:25:42.40\00:25:46.04
with an average of
41,000 miles on the car.
00:25:46.07\00:25:49.04
Every time you buy a new
car, it's automatically used
00:25:49.08\00:25:51.81
as soon as you
drive it off the lot.
00:25:51.85\00:25:53.25
So there's a bunch of
used cars being driven.
00:25:53.28\00:25:55.22
There's no new cars
driven on the road, right?
00:25:55.25\00:25:56.85
Yes.
00:25:56.89\00:25:58.22
So if we keep in context
00:25:58.25\00:25:59.59
that there are
things you can do,
00:25:59.62\00:26:02.26
to take away from
those budgetary issues
00:26:02.29\00:26:06.90
that cause you to
spend over your limit,
00:26:06.93\00:26:09.03
you can get things in
line relatively quickly
00:26:09.06\00:26:11.23
when you look at your
needs versus your wants.
00:26:11.27\00:26:13.84
And if you figure out
what you actually need,
00:26:13.87\00:26:16.50
you can get rid
of those debt items,
00:26:16.54\00:26:18.67
you'll be in a
far better situation.
00:26:18.71\00:26:21.41
And then you can
begin the process
00:26:21.44\00:26:23.45
of seeing that
growth in your spirituality
00:26:23.48\00:26:27.95
and in giving by tithing
00:26:27.98\00:26:30.92
and giving back
to God once again.
00:26:30.95\00:26:32.29
Amen.
00:26:32.32\00:26:33.66
You've been
dropping a lot of gems,
00:26:33.69\00:26:36.69
both spiritual
and financial gems.
00:26:36.73\00:26:40.46
How can people
get in touch with you,
00:26:40.50\00:26:43.20
if they want to learn more,
00:26:43.23\00:26:44.60
if they want to
take a class from you?
00:26:44.63\00:26:48.30
You know what's really great.
00:26:48.34\00:26:49.67
And I know we
have a minute left,
00:26:49.70\00:26:51.04
but I'm going to say this.
00:26:51.07\00:26:52.47
We have learned over
the past pandemic year
00:26:52.51\00:26:54.78
to do all of these
classes via virtual classes.
00:26:54.81\00:26:58.58
You can line up for a webinar,
we can schedule it via Zoom.
00:26:58.61\00:27:02.85
If you're
interested in a webinar,
00:27:02.88\00:27:04.65
we can send out a
Zoom link if you send me
00:27:04.69\00:27:07.76
an email to
axisfoundation@gmail.com
00:27:07.79\00:27:11.63
and say, "I'm
interested in a webinar."
00:27:11.66\00:27:14.50
Tell me what type of area
that you're interested in.
00:27:14.53\00:27:17.63
And we can set up a
webinar specific to the things
00:27:17.67\00:27:20.50
that you're interested in
and have a conversation about
00:27:20.54\00:27:23.00
and we can work from there.
00:27:23.04\00:27:24.87
But that's helped us
be able to reach the globe
00:27:24.91\00:27:27.84
without having to
go from my home office.
00:27:27.88\00:27:30.88
And by the way, it gives us
a much more of an opportunity
00:27:30.91\00:27:34.98
to get into more depth.
00:27:35.02\00:27:36.35
Amen.
00:27:36.38\00:27:37.72
And we want people
to visit the website
00:27:37.75\00:27:39.09
to axisfi.org
00:27:39.12\00:27:43.79
Thank you so much for coming on
00:27:43.83\00:27:45.36
and dropping these
wonderful gems, Cordell.
00:27:45.39\00:27:48.33
And we want to
thank you for joining us.
00:27:48.36\00:27:50.57
Well, we've reached
the end of another program.
00:27:50.60\00:27:52.67
Until next time, God bless.
00:27:52.70\00:27:54.34