I Thought I'd Be Further by Now

2:35 Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. You see, when we get in the room, the Bible says when two or three gather within his so the hand that i'm holding i'm not just praying and believing but i'm speaking it because if i'm speaking it for them they got to be speaking it for me so squeeze that hand one more time don't hurt them don't hurt them brothers now ain't the time and let her know you've been looking at her. Just squeeze it just a little bit.

3:24 But the hand that you're holding, the pay raise within the next 6 to 12 months is coming. I don't know why God is putting this on my spirit. It's not a prophetic moment, but I just believe when we get in the midst and when Jesus do what he does, that within the next 12 months student loans are 100% gone.

3:52 I gotta go. Squeeze that hand one last time. because I believe that the hand that you're holding by this time next year, that business they were dreaming about, the business that they started, would not just start, but it will be flourishing. And not just flourishing, but it will be impacting lives for the kingdom. And when we have impact, it got to produce income. and when we produce income it helps our family so squeeze that hand dear heavenly father as we are about to go into this word god the hand that i'm holding i'm not being selfish i'm going to pray for them that god i believe that by this time next year by this summer next year that they're debt free that their children's children would not even know what debt is they would know what wealth is. They will know what options are. They will know what freedom is. So God, as we squeeze, as we squeeze, as we squeeze.

5:05 Jesus you do it you've already done it and you can do it again so God we thank you God we love you in the name of Jesus Christ we pray amen and amen come on new bird well as you are going back to your seat i just want to make sure that when i grace i believe one of the greatest pulpits in the world that we honor the father the preaching machine my big brother y'all's pastor pastor jamal bryant Can we just celebrate him for his amazing ministry?

6:03 Y'all, they say, I'm learning, I'm watching, because I've known Dr. Bryant for years. But he hasn't preached this hard since he's been married. And so what I'm seeing is when you get a sister next to you, you just go to a whole nother level. So can we honor his amazing wife, Dr. Karen? Yes. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. I want y'all to meet me. Meet me over at Matthew, Matthew, Matthew chapter 25. This is a familiar passage, but we're going to go there today because I believe that God has something specifically for your family. I was on a 18-hour flight back from Greece yesterday reading my word, and I saw some things in this, and I was like, okay, God, this is where we're going.

7:09 And so I'm really excited about today's word because I believe God has something for us in it. As you're meeting me there, I want to tell y'all something because I just got to make sure I say this because I know Dr. Bryant is preaching and watching on his rest. It was about 12 years ago, right around this time. And we all get the passage. If you want to stand, stand and let me know you're there or you don't have to. Whatever is the standards of this house, I want to honor it. but y'all's pastor when i got into the financial business and the financial ministry of travel around speaking i had the opportunity to work for a very well-known individual for six years of my life and i called so many pastors i said hey man i have this calling and passion about helping the body of christ get out of debt and to build wealth and dr bryant was the very first one to respond to my call and bring me to his church to open up the door for my ministry to start.

8:13 And so when he called me and said, hey, I need you to come on this Sunday, I normally don't take off on my break time, but for Dr. Brian, I said, I got to take off. Because if it wasn't for him and his ministry and what he saw in me at 20 something years old, and I just turned 42 on last Wednesday, I would not be here on today. I'm still a little old school, y'all. I'm 42. I'm getting older. I refuse to say I'm old, but I'm getting older. This is the Bible that my mama gave me when I was 16 years old. And just so y'all would know, I just don't carry around the Bible. I use my Bible. and so y'all gotta pray for me because if I'm on if I'm on the pulpit I got to have my bible so mama if you're watching thank you because when I got suspended from school I hear a lot of black mothers in here already she she said you know what I'm not gonna let your daddy whoop you I'm gonna make you read this word and for every day I was suspended, I had to wake up in the word, and while I'm not perfect every single day since that day, I have been in this word. Matthew, Matthew chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25. Now listen, I need y'all to read with me. Don't read too fast, all right i know i know we like to just skip through things oh i know this no no no no no every single word is going to have a meaning today and so i need y'all to flow with me i'm reading from the niv version and it starts right here at verse 14 again it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them to one who he gave

10:20 uh-oh, I like y'all already, to another two bags and to another one bag, each according to whose? Then he went on his journey. Then the man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also the man with two bags of gold gained two more. worry about that one. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the masters of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought out other five.

11:26 Master, he said, you trusted me with five bags of gold. See, I gave five more. Verse 21, it says, his master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Verse 22, I'm reading slow because I need y'all to get every single word.

11:58 The man with two bags of gold also came. Master, he said, you entrusted me with two bags of gold, See, and I have gained two more. His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Then the man who had received one bag of gold, So, master, he said, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seeds. So, I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, see, see, see, here is what belongs to you.

12:58 his master replied you wicked lazy servant you knew that i harvest where i have not sown and and gather where i have not scattered seed well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when i returned i would have received it back with interest so take that bag of gold from him. Give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and garnishing of tears.

13:57 Today's subject is going to be a very simple thought, not a super clever thought, but a simple one. If you're taking down notes, I want you to write this one down. I thought I'd be further by now. I thought I'd be further by now. Dear Heavenly Father, give us this word, God, as we go into it. With lights or without lights, the word is moving forward. God, we thank you. God, we love you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Now, I'm pretty sure a lot of us in this room have already preached and taught this sermon to ourselves because that sentence lives in more houses than we have to admit. It doesn't just show up on Sunday morning. It shows up on Tuesday night. Kids asleep, bills spread out on the kitchen table. You're staring at a number on a screen that doesn't match the prayers you've been praying all year long. I thought I would be further by now. I want to ask you some questions. I want you to be honest. You don't have to respond out loud, but please be honest inside of your heart. But if it resonates with you, just let the room know. The very first question I want to ask honestly is, who in this room thought your life will look different by now?

15:33 okay okay um the next question is who thought you would have more in your savings by now you work too hard to still get nervous when you check that bank account who thought you would have started that business by now or maybe you did start the business and you thought the business will be further along by now this next one hits me because this is where I was who prayed for that raise got the raise six months later because of inflation because of higher groceries because of this I mean because of the insurance and because the way life be life ink you still do not feel that raise who thought money wouldn't still be stressing you out by now not because you don't work hard but because it seems like every time you get ahead something pulls you right back and here's the thing that sentence that sentence i thought i would be further by now patrice is heavier in 2026 than it's ever been in human history. And you do know why? It's because of this word they call comparison. Our grandparents thought they'll be further by now too, but they only compared themselves to the people down the street from them. In 2026, we compare ourselves to everybody with an iPhone. They say the average person spends 2.5 hours every single day.

17:38 You open up Instagram and TikTok, everybody is on the beach. You open up TikTok, everybody just clothes on a house that they really can't afford. You open up TikTok, everybody's posting pictures of them shopping at Louis and Gucci. You open up TikTok and Instagram, everyone's posting about how their business miraculously just did six figures in 30 days. You open up TikTok and everyone says God did. But nobody posts the three maxed out credit cards it took them to get what God supposedly did. And what we're doing is we're sitting on our phones, scrolling through, and we still got 14 payments that we need to make on that phone. Everybody is scrolling. We're comparing our real life to everybody else's highlight life. And it's got you feeling that you're really behind.

18:45 I was reading this word and God told me to simply tell everyone the very first thing is that you're not as far behind as your phone told you and that they're not as far ahead as their post told you. Now, one of the things for me, as you're all seeing on my screen, is that I am an adjunct professor. And one of the things that as a professor, with me getting my doctorate. It will be Dr. Anthony O'Neill next May.

19:21 One of the things that I have really come to learn when it comes to education, thank you so much, is that I have to make sure that I provide correct stats with correct numbers, because if I don't, my professors are looking at this video, and they are grading me right now. So y'all got to help me with my grade. The very first stat, I'm going to give y'all five numbers that I believe has to change within a particular African-American community that bothers me in the very first one is that more than half of Americans, specifically 62%, are living paycheck to paycheck right now. This means that when they get paid today by next Tuesday, they're struggling. Within this particular stat, within this particular study, they studied people who make six figures or more. And out of the people who make six figures or more, these are individuals who make $100,000 a year, $8,333 a month, $1,923 a week, 46% of them are living paycheck to paycheck.

20:30 which tells me something, that making more money doesn't automatically create more peace. That making more money without the correct strategy, without the correct system, without the correct things put into place, it doesn't create more peace.

20:52 Number two, in this country, people who look like me and you, black households, hold about 15 cents of wealth for every $1 held by white households. Now hear me clearly, that's not just a wealth gap. That is a legacy gap. That is a gap in what's passed down, a gap in what our children start with, a gap in how many of our families are running a relay race that somebody else had a 400-year head start on, and they expect us to do this within a matter of one lap. Number three is the medium black family. has $2,200 in checking and savings combined total in 2026. to some people $2,200 sounds like that is okay but the moment you have to go to the ER it's not okay the moment you have to go fix that car it's not okay 300 African American ladies lost their job last year. $2,200. It's not okay. Number four, only about one in 10 black families will ever receive an inheritance.

22:23 When I saw this step. I probably stared and cried at this stat. Because when I was reading this stat as a black man, this means that we're inheriting something else.

22:48 We're inheriting pressure instead of for property. We're inheriting stress instead of for stocks. we're inheriting a GoFundMe for funerals instead of a trust fund for our future. That can't be the case for our children. here's the last one then I gotta give y'all this Across all of America, only 41% of people could cover a $1,000 emergency without borrowing anything. I was reading these statistics and I felt like the stats were trying to tell me as a black man who I was. But then God quickly reminded me, he was like, no, the stats can tell you where you are, but it can't tell you who you are.

23:58 because where you are is a location it's not your identity and locations change your bank account with only a thousand dollars in it is simply a location your credit score that you may not be happy with today is simply a location your consumer debt that you are tired of, you're sick and tired of, it's not your identity. It is a location. Your job that you're so ready to fire your own boss is simply a location. And with God's help and with your obedience, you're not going to be staying there much longer. I want you to look at your neighbor. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself because when I get ahead of myself with this mic, I go off script.

25:06 but I want you to look at your neighbor and tell them you're about to change locations. Look at your other neighbor and tell them, this is temporary. new birth where you are right now financially i don't care if you are consumer debt free there's another phase that you got to get to i don't care if you do got a hundred thousand dollars in your account today there's another level god wants to get you to where you are today is simply a location and it's temporary. And I firmly do believe that we are about to change. And there's three things that I'm going to give you that helped me change my location. I'm going to give you three things that took me from where I was to where I am today. That to where you are today, no matter where you are today, to where you can go. All right, so write this one down.

26:14 here's the very first thing. When it comes to your money, I'm going to say this up front. I love you. Okay. I'm going to say this up front and I love you. The problem isn't your salary. It's your stewardship. the problem isn't your salary it is your stewardship and you might not believe that yet but that's fine but i got something for you you see when i was 19 years old when i was 19 years i was living um in the back of my car 19 19 and not because my parents didn't love me no no no they love me not because uh my my church didn't love me no my church loved me i am a pastor's kid y'all i grew up in kojic church of god in christ um don't clap yet because i'm still in therapy for that okay because every monday every tuesday every wednesday every thursday every friday every saturday every sunday we were in church and pastor hi i don't get it bro because i don't fridays they called it joy night New birth, what was joyful about going to church on a Friday night?

27:22 I'm 19 years old. I'm 17 years old. I should be at the football game. And I'll leave it there. Sundays, sir. We was in church not once, like new birth.

27:43 We went to Sunday school. Then we went to breakfast. Then we went to first service. Then after first service, we had another breakfast. Then we went to the second service. and then after service y'all call it brunch in this generation back then we called it dinner at two o'clock in the afternoon take off your church clothes take a nap after dinner at two o'clock be back to church at seven o'clock get out of church at 9 30 10 o'clock get home by 10 30 11 o'clock and my mama daddy still expected me to wake up on time for school on monday new birth Thank you. I'm being honest with you. I'm still in therapy today.

28:35 I'm still in therapy, New Birth, because my father would not allow me to even go to football games. He wouldn't let me go to school dances. I wanted to be on the step team. He wouldn't let me step. I wanted to go to prom. Who clapping for that? she clapping he robbed my dad said son you're an armor bearer and an armor bearer can't carry the man of god's bible and his water the day after he just went dancing to the devil's music so this is what he said so this is what i'm gonna do i'm gonna put you in a suit I'm going to drive you you're going to get in the back of the Ford Explorer in your suit prom started at 7 he said I'm going to get you there at 6.55 at 7.15 get your pictures and get back in the car By the time I graduated high school, oh, I knew this word.

29:57 I knew the word. I knew how to shout. I knew how to fake run around the church. I even knew how to fake pass out so the pastor won't be above me too long. I knew how to do the church I knew that my daddy gave me ten dollars you gotta give one dollar to the church I knew if I got a hundred I gotta give ten I knew church but church wasn't me and when I graduated high school I graduated high school I left I ran I said if that's the God I got to serve I don't want that God he got too many rules he boring I want to be cool 19 years old, I made some horrible mistakes, Jonathan.

30:57 Kicked out of school at that time. made some bad mistakes. Kicked out of the house, 19 years old. I'm homeless, sleeping in the back of my car. $35,000 in debt before I even turned 19 years old. And it's not because I don't have good parents. I have amazing parents. It wasn't because I wasn't raised up in a church. I was raised up in an amazing church. But how in the world does a 19-year-old get into $35,000 in debt? It's simple. It wasn't rent. It wasn't groceries. It was credit cards.

31:35 Credit cards, student loans, errands, sales, and lease furniture. Renting a PlayStation for $1,000. But what gets me was I was swiping the credit card not to pay bills, but to impress people who I don't even know their names today. to impress a lady, which I'm so upset because I had to pay back the interest and I still didn't get a hug or a kiss. But on this night, particularly for this particular moment. I was laying in the back of the car nowhere to go I was doing the math in my head I had seven dollars to my name and I said man if I go to the gas station they're going to only authorize one dollar so now I have six dollars I can go to McDonald's I can get me a McDonald's value meal I can get me two double cheeseburgers two large fries and I can get me some water and that will get me through till Friday Thank you.

32:43 and every so often at 2 a.m. because I was sleeping at the Walmart parking lot off of Highway 76 in Oceanside, California, I had to get up and move the car because you know security, when car stays there too long, they coming for you. So I had to get up and move, and some mornings I'll get out of my car in nice clothes because I still had an image to protect. I'll be standing at the gas station counting coins out of my cup holder to put gas in the car that I was sleeping in my gas tank in my bedroom had the same address and I couldn't afford either one of them but the outfit said I was doing just fine when I walked into work I had a smile on my face like everything is good. And that's when I learned something that I'll be teaching to my children whenever I'm blessed to have them, is that looking wealthy and becoming wealthy are two different full-time jobs. And you only have time for one of them. And one of those nights in the back of the car, I did what the average church folk is going to do. When I got down to my lowest moment what do you think I did I prayed I said God you are my father God you fearfully and wonderfully made me I said God bless me God give me God give me more money God give me more increase I will speak it in tongues and then God said something to me that I wasn't expecting him to say because I was quoting scripture I was speaking in different tongue and I said God what are you talking about he said son you've prayed this prayer every single time you've got in trouble what did you do with the last money I gave you last month and I'm sitting there quoting scripture back to him.

34:49 You said, ask God and I shall receive. I'm asking. You do it every single time, but you haven't answered my question. What did you do with the money from last month? New birth, I got to ask you the same question. What did you do with the last check? What did you do with the last raise? Just four months ago, what did you do with your tax refund? What did you do with your last bonus? What did you do with the last birthday mama? what did you do? You see, I was asking God for more when really I should have been asking God for more with a plan and better discipline. But I had no respect for what he had already put inside of my hands. I realized that at the time I didn't have an income problem. I had a 19-year-old swiping the credit card to look important on my space problem.

35:49 People saying Mindspace, I just gave away my age. I want to go back to the scripture. I want to go back to the scripture because this is where it gets really good for me. Most of us skip over the most important verse in the whole thing. We love verse 21. When we was reading that, when we said, oh, we just love him. When we said, well done, good and faithful servant. Oh, we shout when we go crazy. But the whole parable stands on verse 14. I want you to look at it again. It says, Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his servants and entrusted his wealth. I'm going to say that one more time. He called his servants and entrusted his wealth. New birth, whose servants was it? Whose wealth was it? I'm going to say it one more time. Whose servants? Whose wealth?

36:57 We can't run past that because before anybody gets five bags of gold, anybody gets two, anybody gets one, Jesus establishes what? Ownership. Everything in this story belongs to the master. The servants never own a single bag of gold, not one. They manage what belongs to somebody else. and watch this because here here is a i would say a detail i never saw until i studied this passage the master handed his wealth to his servants and then he bounced says here you go here you go here you go and then he just leaves i was reading this i said well wow god that's interesting the master gave them bags of wealth he didn't put a tracking system in the bag he didn't make them turn on their iPhones and turn on the location he didn't call them every single day he didn't micromanage them he said here you go and he left. It simply means that the master trusted them. You see, God trusts us with our paychecks. God trusts us enough to where every time we swipe that card, he's not supervising us.

38:23 Every deposit that we get is unsupervised. That's not absence, church. That is trust. And verse 19 says, after a long time, the master came back and settled accounts, which means freedom was real, but so is the review. So is him coming back and checking. Now, this idea didn't start in Matthew 25. This runs through the whole Bible, and real quick, I'm going to walk you through something. Over in Psalms 24, it says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Not some of it, the fullness, the dirt, the diamonds under the dirt, even your wallet. In James chapter 1, every good and perfect gift comes down from who? The Father. And in Deuteronomy chapter 8, it says that my power, God's power, and the might of my hand got me this. You can't say that.

39:19 Can't say that. one of the things I hate about this generation is that we say I'm a self-made millionaire. I built this business. I did this. But the scripture says, no, no, no, you can't say you did it. Because the Bible says it is he who gives you the power to get wealth. So let's put all this together. Psalm 24 says God owns it. James 1 says God gave it. James 1 says God gave it. Deuteronomy says God even gave you the ability to earn it. In Matthew 25, God says, I'm coming back to check it. this is all about ownership because we're switching locations we're switching locations write this statement down here's what I want you to write down if you're taking notes because I had to get this that ownership is not mine it's God's stewardship is ours stewardship is ours what i love about this text when i look at it is that the master gave five bags of gold to one servant i want you to picture this with me then he gave two to another then he gave one to another and then jesus adds four words that would set somebody in this room, I believe, free because it set me free. He said, to each according to his ability. Four words, according to his ability, which means what's in your hand right now is not an accident. It is an assignment. If God gave you one, that is your assignment.

41:13 If God gave you five, that is your assignment. God looked at each of them, I believe, and said, okay, this is your season. This is your capacity. This is your situation. So I'm going to entrust you with this specific amount. And some of you are holding five-bag incomes right now. Some are holding two-bag incomes right now. And some of you right now in this season are holding what? And here's what I need you to understand. the servant with one bag was never condemned for having just one. He was condemned for doing nothing with the one. the master never says why don't you have five like them the master never compares one servant to another servant not once and watch this because i never saw this until i sat with the text yesterday on the flight the servant with two bags got the exact same well done as the servant with five word for word verse 21 and verse 23 are identical it's the same sentence it's the same celebration it is the same reward so this is what i got well done it's not a math test it is a faithfulness test what are you doing with what god has entrusted you with god does not grade you against your neighbor's paycheck. God doesn't grade you against the top five Instagram fans who you have.

42:45 God does not grade you against your neighbor's new house. God grades us with the faithfulness against what he gave us. somebody in this room has been disqualifying themselves saying if i just get the paycheck like him i'll do better somebody's been saying you know if i can just get my money to act right then i'll start budgeting

43:22 someone's saying if i can just get a little pay raise there's a little pay raise then i'll start thinking about my kids' future. But I need you to hear me clearly on this. And when I got this for myself years ago, this changed everything. Changed everything. Faithfulness doesn't start when the money gets bigger. The money gets bigger when faithfulness starts. hear me new birth faithfulness doesn't start being a good steward of our money doesn't start when the money gets bigger the money gets bigger when faithfulness starts the money gets bigger when generosity starts. The money gets bigger when you start stewarding better.

44:15 But some of us have been, you know what, if I could just get a little bit more money, I'll save. Look at verse 21. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. I'm going to say it one more time because I want y'all to get something here. you have been faithful over few things, and I will make you ruler over many things. Few comes before many. Faithful comes before ruler. Few comes before many. Faithful comes before ruler. Every single time, Jesus has never reversed the order, and neither can we. so what does that mean our paycheck it's not ours it's God's 100 percent 10 percent is a form of worship that's what we give but the other 90 percent we are still called to steward and be faithful of that because it's not ours we are called to manage it and when we can be faithful well, watch this, not with just the 10% that we give, but when God can trust us with what we do with the rest of that 90%, you'll see that 90 grow way past what you even think the 100 can do.

45:39 Write this down. I don't have this on the notes, but I literally just thought about this, and it's in my head right now. You don't just owe God a portion. You owe him a plan. You don't owe God just a portion. You don't owe God just 10%. You owe God a plan. your business entrepreneurs in the room Deuteronomy 8 reminds us that God gave you the power to build it he's not your silent partner he is the owner and you are the operator what's your plan your children those aren't your babies I'm sorry to tell y'all that mama and daddy those are God's arrows and you are the bow and how you handle money in front of them is the first financial classroom that they're watching. They may never sit through one of my classes, but they're sitting through your class every single day. I want you to think about this.

46:39 They've never read one money book, but they know every sneaker that drops. They know when the newest iPhone comes out. They know the latest TikTok trend. They know how to use Apple Pay. I was just with my nephew the other day. He ordered food off of door dash and he's 10 years old. but I asked him at the same time, what is a stock? And he couldn't answer the question. Do your kids know what generosity looks like? Do your kids know what investing looks like? Do your kids know how to say no to something that they can't afford to buy with your money? but they understand that just because I can, or my parents can afford something, I don't need it.

47:32 At six years old, I walked into the kitchen. My parents were living in California. I was the first child. And I remember going to the kitchen, and my mom was sitting at the table, and she was crying over some paper. she was crying you know a six-year-old we remember things visually I had no idea what she was crying over but I remember asking my mom when I got older I said mom I remember this image of you crying over paper what was it my mom looked at me and she started crying again years later. Because when she started to tell me, she realized that I learned something that I should not have learned. That she was crying over bills that her and my father could not afford to pay. So at a six-year-old age, I'm seeing what financial stress looks like. And how many of your kids see you ordering Amazon but still stressed about money? How many of your kids see you celebrating it's Friday, it's payday, but by next Friday, you're saying we can't afford to do it?

49:04 We're giving our children education. We're giving them wisdom that is not even the proper wisdom. And I want you to write down this question, and I want you to ask yourself this question when you get inside the car. If you're married and your kids are not with you, have this conversation. Don't turn on any music. If your kids are in the car, have it at home and then come back and have it with them and educate them on this. If you're single, hey, have a real honest conversation with you and ask yourself this one question. If everything belongs to God, why do we spend it like it belongs to us? If everything belongs to God, why do I spend it like it belongs to me?

49:50 And if that question doesn't make you think, if that question doesn't get you emotional, you need to go deeper and ask yourself that question again. Because when I asked myself that question, that's when everything changed. And I realized that there were barriers that was preventing me from moving forward. And I'm going to give you four and we're going to go home. Here's the very first barrier, very first barrier that you got to get over if you're going to build wealth. Because I believe nobody wakes up and decides that they want to struggle financially. Life just tends to happen. So the very first barrier, barrier number one is the image eats first. When I got my very, very, very first credit card, I did what any young man with no financial education and a whole lot of insecurity does. I took a young lady out to Red Lobster.

50:43 all you can eat cheddar biscuits now back in the early 2000s going to red lobster y'all know it was like going to like ruth chris fake house eddie v's you walked in there with a nice suit nice smooth thing and i'm walking there with a beautiful young lady 150 dollars spent in one night very next day i took her home i ordered her uh some 1-800 flowers two dozens of red roses two boxes of chocolate I was gonna get her another one but anyways we'll skip through that one I sent it to her she calls me thank you then then then the very same day I'm with my boys this is why you got to be very careful who you around because I called my boys and Patrice he said hey bro when you go over there tonight if you want a hug you got to go by Dillard's and when you go by Dillard's you got to get her a Dooney and Burke's purse Assalamualaikumiforniya not louis not gucci but duty and burks within a matter of 24 hours card is maxed out i do exactly what everyone does i make the small payment of 25 at 32 cents i send it in and a month and a half later i get a bank from i get a letter from the bank Mr. O'Neill, we see that you're a college student.

52:14 Thank you for making your first payment on time. We have enlarged, thank you, Jesus. We have enlarged your limit to $1,500. I'm 19. You giving me $1,000? Man, I'm rich. I go down to the beach, and out there on the beach, we got the pier. on the pier they got shops and i went and put a uh a fifteen hundred dollar sound system on the back of a black on black 1977 nissan maxima that could not even go in reverse Because I wanted to make sure that I may be broke, but I ain't going to look broke. If I had more time because I want to come back, I got to go.

53:14 I could preach that one. Because the car couldn't go in reverse. And I would open up the left, the driver's door. And I would put my left leg out. And whenever I parked, then I had to push back. To this day, when I do squats, I come up quick on this left side for some odd reason. Thank you. But the image goes first. if I'm being honest y'all say this respectfully say this with love I have a black mother when I first got that credit card my mama looked at me she said boy you don't need that credit card rip it up I looked at my mama I said mama check this out I'm a grown man she said excuse me i said my name is anthony o'neill she said boy i know i named you i said i was born july 1st 1984 she said boy i know you was the biggest head out of all my kids she said what is your point son you don't need that credit card i said mama i'm a grown man i was born july 1st 1984 i'm 18 years old so mind your business Thank you.

54:35 I got like three minutes left I'm gonna skip over what happened next because we don't promote violence But when I got up off that ground, gained my conscience. I spent all of that money to look good without the discipline and or the wisdom on how to properly even use it. i want you to write this one down too many of us are financing an image while starving your loved one's inheritance here's here's here's berry number two i gotta go they're already playing the music You got to normalize.

55:26 Very number two is that we normalize consumer debt. We normalize consumer debt. I do believe that credit cards and all this type of stuff, there's nothing wrong with it if you use it correctly. but how many of us without raising your hand let's think about this how many of us would love to be 100 debt free what would we do if we didn't have unnecessary credit card debt what would we do if we didn't have unnecessary personal loans and unnecessary car loans what would we do where would our future be but i firmly do believe that the enemy tricks us the enemy tricks us into believing that hey if we can finance it then god did it when the truth of the fact is we should only be financing things that build us assets that builds more money that produces more money and it doesn't rob from our future the bible didn't say that the borrower is inconvenienced he didn't say that the borrower is managing strategic debt the bible chose the strongest word he said the borrower is slave to the lender and one of the things i believe is that our great-grandparents were freed and we out here swiping ourselves back into bondage voluntarily they fought they bled and died for freedom and visas got us out here and changed that we picked out just because of credit card points when we should be utilizing it to buy something that produces us more wealth here's barrier number three barrier number three consuming instead of multiplying consuming instead of multiplying the servant with five bags of gold watch the word went and put his

57:37 money to work some translations say that he went at once immediately but we see that he went and he multiplied. I believe that African-Americans, we are the baddest creatives. We know how to make the money. We know how to get the money. We are the most creative group of individuals in the world. But what are we doing to multiply that is going to generate income for our children's children? How are you investing? How are we taking what we own and investing that and multiplying it? We work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to give it all away to somebody else.