WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.320 Today, I wanna speak to you from the subject get out. Somebody say get out. Get out. Say get out. Get out. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:01:06.070 Well, many of you have probably heard of the movie that came out a few years ago called get out. And you probably haven't seen this version of this movie that we're getting ready to show you right now. Check this out. Debt will scare you, won't it? You know, out of all of the financial issues that we face, debt is probably the most dangerous, the most pernicious one. 00:01:06.070 --> 00:01:38.670 It is the one that people drown in, it is the one that we don't quite understand. You hear people talk about good debt, strategic debt, bad debt, but I will tell you, God wants to see us debt free. It has been said that there are three kinds of people financially, the haves, the have nots, and the have not paid for what they have. Okay? That third group, those are the ones who are in debt. 00:01:39.710 --> 00:02:04.560 We all learned in school that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. Well, that's not completely true. You see, only the color of slavery changed. Slavery used to be whites enslaving blacks. Now, slavery is green, the color of money. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:38.390 Enslaving red, yellow, black and white. You see, when it comes to debt, if you are deeply in debt, then that is tantamount to you being a slave. So we're gonna talk about that today. If you're deeply in debt, then money is your master and that makes you and I a slave. Why do I say that? 00:02:38.390 --> 00:03:07.940 Well, let's look at the evidence of what I have just said. Look at these statistics. The average American has seven to eight credit cards in their wallet or purse. Average American. And and many of you have tons of credit cards, and some of you handle it well, but 80% of people don't handle having credit cards very well. 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:43.635 Look at this. More than one point five million people are filing for personal bankruptcy every year. So even though the economy is getting better and people are making more money and housing prices have gone up, people still don't know how to manage their debt. Now some people obviously file for personal bankruptcy because something catastrophic happened in their life. But for a lot of people, the reason they filed for bankruptcy is simply because they couldn't handle debt. 00:03:44.515 --> 00:04:26.880 Look at this. The average United States household with student debt owns almost $59,000, and some of you online who got out of college twenty five, thirty years ago, some of you who are here are still paying on your student debt. That's a serious issue. Look at this one. 27% of black households are late on paying their debt or their debts compared to 15% of white households. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:05:13.045 That's interesting. So what it's saying is that the black culture, we are more delinquent, believe it or not, we have more debt from a percentage standpoint, we have less wealth, so there are a lot of issues in the African American culture when it comes to money and wealth, and especially when it comes to debt. Look at this one. 48% of blacks have bad credit compared to 27% of whites and 34% of Hispanics. That's almost half of black people who have bad credit. 00:05:14.570 --> 00:05:46.580 So if you're sitting by a black person today, to your left or to your right, somebody's credit is tore up from the floor. But that's alright because Jesus is a credit fixer. Amen. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself, you know, to keep from crying. But that's one of the reasons I wanna talk about this because these issues are are for any any ethnic group, but especially in the African American culture. 00:05:46.580 --> 00:06:50.850 We haven't talked about this enough in schools, in our families, and certainly not in church. That's why I want to share an Old Testament story with you that underscores the dangers of debt, but also the miracle working power of God to get you out of debt, especially the harmful type of debt, especially the type of debt that keeps you up at night, especially the type of debt that makes you worry and that puts you under a whole lot of stress. God doesn't want you to have that kind of debt. In fact, the ultimate is to be debt free. So I wanna walk you through this incredible story found in the Old Testament book of second Kings chapter one, and we're going to read it verses one I'm sorry, chapter four rather, and we're going to read verses one through seven from the NIV translation. 00:06:50.930 --> 00:07:34.425 You can look on the monitor, you can look on the screen, or if you have your Bibles, again, meet me in the Old Testament book of second Kings chapter four verses one through seven, and I will be reading and making some comments as I read through this incredible story. Verse one. The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha. So right now, we have a wife crying out to her pastor, so to speak. The good thing about her crying out to her pastor is you're gonna see she could've probably gone to anybody, but I believe she wanted a biblical perspective about her situation. 00:07:34.905 --> 00:08:03.475 Well, here's her situation. Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. So we're finding out a few things about this woman's husband. We found out that he is dead, and we find out that he loved the Lord, he revered the Lord. Well, let's see what else it says. 00:08:04.470 --> 00:08:34.400 But now, his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves. Uh-oh. He was a man of God, church going person, leader in the church, prophet, on stage, leading small groups, doing everything he was supposed to do in the church world. And then he died, like all of us will one day. That's not the tragedy. 00:08:34.400 --> 00:09:28.200 The tragedy is he left his family in a very bad situation. Now we don't know what caused this situation, but we do know that he was in debt when he died, and it was so much debt that his creditors were coming to take his two sons as his slaves, so the wife was concerned that the creditors were going to come and take her two sons and make them slaves. Back in the old testament days, if you owed a lot of debt and you could not pay the debt, they had a thing called debtors prison. They would come and arrest you and put you in prison and make you work off the debt, or they would come take some of your family members to work off the debt, and basically, people would put their family up for collateral. Wow. 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:39.080 I'm glad they don't do that today. Because some of us would be childless. K? We would be like, oh my god. Oh, see see you later, son. 00:09:39.160 --> 00:10:02.650 I'm sorry. But that's how it was back then. So so so this lady is in a bad situation, especially in an agrarian society because she lost her husband, and now there is the potential that she will lose both of her sons. So she's already a widow. He died. 00:10:02.650 --> 00:10:43.175 He didn't leave her any money. By the way, in the next few weeks, we're gonna talk about how to leave a financial legacy, and it is so important that you plan for your death. And so many times in the church, people die and they don't have insurance, they don't leave anything, they keep their family in a bad situation just like this pastor, man, they're coming to take my two boys as his slave, as slaves rather. Let's see what happened in verse two. Elisha replied to her, how can I help you? 00:10:43.730 --> 00:11:10.990 Tell me what do you have in your house? In other words, Elisha is saying, you may have the ability to solve this situation and you don't even know. Let's look and see what else it says. She says, your servant has nothing there at all except a small jar of olive oil. In other words, prophet, I ain't got nothing. 00:11:12.430 --> 00:11:31.315 Only thing I have is a small jar of olive oil. And when some of us look at our situation, we say, I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this debt. This is all the money I have. This is the job I have. This is the business I have. 00:11:31.315 --> 00:11:58.655 I just don't know how how you're gonna do this, Lord, so I just give up. But God can take the little bit we have, and he can do a whole lot with it if you submit it to him. Well, let's look and see what happened. Elisha told her, he said, go around and ask your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. 00:12:00.015 --> 00:12:31.445 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your son. So he said, go knock on the neighbor's doors, ask them for empty jars, come back home, shut the door, and you and your sons need to get to work. Next verse. And then he says, pour oil into the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side. In other words, all she has is this one jar of oil. 00:12:32.405 --> 00:13:07.440 But he's saying borrow empty vessels and start pouring the oil you have in each one of these vessels. There's only one problem, she only has one jar of oil, how in the world is this one jar of oil going to fill up all of these vessels? It doesn't make sense. That's where faith comes in. That's where the miracle working power of God comes in. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:28.965 But if you don't put yourself out there, then you will never experience the miracle working power of God. You have to step out on faith, and some of you have nothing to lose anyway. You might as well trust God. Why? Because your way hasn't worked. 00:13:30.570 --> 00:13:43.050 Okay. Let's see what happened. She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her, and she kept pouring. She's just pouring. 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:56.435 That one little filled it up. And it's like, wow. Then she filled it up. It's like, how is this happening? Then she poured it again, filled it up. 00:13:56.435 --> 00:14:22.265 And then she poured this one little jar is filling up all of these containers. So let's let's see what happens. When all the jars were full, somebody say full. She said to her son, bring me another one. But he replied, mama, there I'm gonna say it like this, there ain't another jar. 00:14:23.225 --> 00:14:38.060 There is not a jar left. Then the oil stopped flowing. Okay. Maybe y'all didn't catch this. One little bitty jar of oil Yes, sir. 00:14:38.460 --> 00:15:15.055 Filled up all of these containers. But remember what he told her at first, do not get a few. He supplied everything she needed, but if she had gotten a million containers, he would have filled a million of them. That's why he said, you you gotta think big. See, some of us put God in such a small box, like he can't get you out of debt, like he can't deliver your situation. 00:15:15.935 --> 00:15:31.540 Deliver you rather out of your situation. So she he said, the prophet said, do not get a few. She poured the oil. Well, how can a little jar of oil fill up all these containers? It was a miracle. 00:15:31.540 --> 00:16:06.235 It was a miracle. God touched this oil and allowed it to replenish itself, and it kept pouring and pouring and pouring. And so look at what happened in verse seven. The prophet Elisha says, go and sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left. 00:16:07.515 --> 00:16:33.145 Somebody say, get out Get out. Of debt. You see, some of us have been trying to get out of debt the world's way and man's way. And God is saying, if you trust me, if you do it my way, if you step out on faith, if you trust me with with the biblical financial principles, then I can do a miracle in your life. But here's the deal, y'all. 00:16:33.145 --> 00:17:02.875 For some reason, it's so hard for us to trust God with our money. We can trust God for our healing when we're sick. We can pray for people. We can trust God for salvation, but it's so hard for some of us to trust God with money. Therefore, we don't experience the miracle working power of God because we don't step out on faith and give God an opportunity to do something big for us. 00:17:02.875 --> 00:17:51.695 Now I am a very practical person by nature, but to experience the miracle working power of God, sometimes you have to be impractical. Sometimes you have to do something that does not make sense. So this was an incredible miracle, the same type of miracle that I am hoping that God will do for some of you. But before we go any further, I wanna make sure that we're on the same page and that we understand what debt is and what God says about debt through his word. So what is debt? 00:17:52.735 --> 00:18:17.120 Here's a practical definition. Look at this. Debt is money that one person is obligated to pay another. That simple. Debt includes mortgages, it includes your car loans, it includes credit cards, it includes student loans, it includes finance company loans, it even includes that money that you owe somebody else. 00:18:19.415 --> 00:19:01.190 Practically, that is the practical definition of debt. What is debt? Let me give you a biblical definition. Debt is slavery. Now I know that's a tough thing for you to hear, but if you can't do what you want to do with your money because it is obligated to somebody else, if you don't have the freedom to do with your money what you want to do with it, because it is obligated, then that is a form of slavery. 00:19:02.390 --> 00:19:38.160 Now some of you are saying, well, I can do whatever I wanna do with my money. Okay. Call your mortgage company tomorrow, and I want you to tell them, hey, y'all, I'm not making a payment for the next three months, and you will see who really owns that house if you have a mortgage. You don't have the freedom not to pay them, not with not without some consequences. So debt is money one person is obligated to pay another. 00:19:38.705 --> 00:19:54.850 Debt is slavery. Now some of you may be thinking, well, pastor Lee, I think you're going a little bit too far with this debt analogy. Okay. Let's look and see what the word says. Proverbs twenty two seven. 00:19:55.170 --> 00:20:20.670 This ain't me. This is right in the word of God. The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender. So that's why I say that debt is tantamount to being in slavery because we are not free when somebody else owns our money. That's why I say the ultimate goal should be to be out of debt, even to pay off your mortgage. 00:20:23.310 --> 00:20:54.020 It's very important that we not buy into the mindset of the world. But let me be clear, the Bible does not say that debt is necessarily a sin. Doesn't say that. Now, it can be sin if you're not obeying God, but it doesn't necessarily say that debt is a sin, but it does say that it is slavery. The new slave masters of today are Mastercard. 00:20:54.980 --> 00:21:10.145 K? Not master, Mastercard. Visa. Visa stands for volunteering for institutional slavery always. Did y'all catch that? 00:21:10.465 --> 00:21:46.570 We volunteer for it because nobody puts a gun to our head to sign up for all that debt in those credit cards. It's institutional because big companies make a killing off of our dysfunction. It's slavery because it's debt, and it's always if you continue to make minimum payments, you will be paying them forever. Then there is the discover card where you discover that you earn a whole lot of debt. And then there is the Chase Freedom card, which for some people should be called the Chase bondage card. 00:21:47.290 --> 00:22:02.895 And then one of my favorite, the American excess card. I'm sorry. Express card, but we do use it excessively. It's the American excess card to a lot of people. Some of us need to leave home without it. 00:22:02.895 --> 00:22:23.130 K? Look at what Harriet Tubman said. I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. Sometimes you can get so used to being in bondage. 00:22:24.485 --> 00:23:06.440 Sometimes you can get so used to financial dysfunction, being in debt, living from month to month, paycheck to paycheck, week to week, that it becomes the norm. You have debt and you don't see or even dream or even pray that you can pay it off anymore. So now you don't look at yourself as a slave because now slavery has become the norm. Financial bondage has become the norm. So she says, could've freed a whole lot more people if only they had known they were slaves. 00:23:08.120 --> 00:23:20.280 So when is borrowing money okay? I think that's a question on a lot of you all's minds. Alright. There is something called strategic debt. Look at this. 00:23:21.285 --> 00:23:59.315 Mortgage debt could be considered strategic debt because the underlying asset, if you buy it right, should increase in value or at least keep its value, so if you get in trouble, you can sell it, pay off the debt. Now in 02/2010, housing prices went down. For the first time in probably ever, real estate just got wiped out, residential real estate. So you still have to be careful. But mortgage debt could be considered strategic debt. 00:24:01.315 --> 00:24:21.305 How about this, business debt. Sometimes you may have to borrow money in order to start your business, in order to get your inventory, in order so so you can make money, you can sell the product, that's okay, but you still have to be careful. But business debt could be strategic debt. And then vocation, that means schooling. I didn't say vacation. 00:24:21.865 --> 00:24:36.130 Okay? Some of you all say, is that vacation or vocation? Vocation. That means schooling, training. Again, all of these are considered strategic debt, but they can still be dangerous. 00:24:36.690 --> 00:24:49.935 Some people might call them good debt, I call good debt no debt. I call this strategic debt. Well, what would bad debt be or what I call dumb debt? This doesn't mean you're dumb, but this can be considered dumb debt. Credit cards. 00:24:50.735 --> 00:25:27.160 You all have heard the guy Dave Ramsey, I met with him many years ago and spent some time with him, asked him, hey, man, why are you so hard on people with credit cards? He said, because 80% of people can't handle them. That's why most people shouldn't use them because 80% of people, they're not mature enough or disciplined enough to handle using credit cards. Consumer goods, buying stuff, perishable items on debt, that you know you're in trouble when you're using credit cards just to live. And then, of course, depreciating items. 00:25:27.160 --> 00:26:09.085 Now I know cars depreciate and everybody can't afford, you know, to buy a car in cash. I get that, but I am saying it would be great to build enough wealth, which what we're gonna talk about next week, where you can start buying things in cash and or waiting till they depreciate. But you have to be very careful with depreciating items because if you have debt and then you need to get out of it, and then you go try to sell it, and then you owe more on it than what it's worth. So that's the problem with depreciating assets. So how do you get out? 00:26:10.045 --> 00:26:27.980 How do you get out of debt? I just wanna give you just a few quick practical things for you to consider. How do you get out of debt? Number one, stop using debt. Repeat after me. 00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:56.580 Say, I must I must stop using For some of you all, you just couldn't say it. Why couldn't you say it? Because debt is the American way. We we have been taught that they some of you say that that's I can't say it because it that's impossible. No, it's not impossible and if you want to get out of debt, you can't continue to do the same thing that got you in debt. 00:26:57.860 --> 00:27:22.300 Some of you need to go cold turkey, you need to do plastic surgery on your credit cards, that means cut them up, not on your face but on your credit cards. But what we do, we rationalize why we need these cards. Oh, I can handle them is what we say. Okay. Well, let me see your credit card statements. 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:51.010 That will tell you whether you can handle it or not. Some of you have become addicted to debt like a crack addict is addicted to crack. You just gotta have it. There there is something about using that card, it gives you a rush, and and and it makes you feel good to buy stuff. You see, y'all, we're talking about money, but a lot of these things are internal issues. 00:27:51.970 --> 00:28:23.690 Because sometimes we spend and we use debt to make us feel good or to try to fill some kind of void in our life, but you have to stop using debt. And this is very simple, how you're gonna get out of debt if you continue to do the same thing that you have always done. So here's what I'm saying, put the cards away, Make a decision, you and your family. That's it. We got enough debt, and we're not gonna add to it, which leads me to point number two. 00:28:24.810 --> 00:28:51.110 Systematically eliminate existing debts. Have a system, have a strategy of how you're gonna get out of debt and eliminate existing debts. Here are a couple of things you can do, you can pay off your small debts first. So sometimes you look at these big debts and you say, oh my god, how am I gonna get out of this? Don't focus on the big debt, focus on the small debt. 00:28:52.390 --> 00:29:23.290 And you pay more than the minimum balance on the small debts, and you pay the minimum balance on the rest of them, but you pay more than that on the smaller ones, and you can get them out of the way. Also, you wanna pay attention to high interest debts. It would be nice to get rid of those first as well. Well, question is pastor Lee, how am I gonna find the money to pay off my debt? Where's that money gonna come from? 00:29:23.290 --> 00:30:00.345 Well, that leads to point number three. Here's what you do. Establish a workable budget. That means if you know where your money is going, if you're watching your money, if you're honoring God through your giving, and if you're managing what's left as a good steward, if you're not spending frivolously, if you're watching things, then you have money there to help pay off some of these debts, but you won't be able to do it if you don't manage your finances correctly. Number four, this is one of my favorite ones right here. 00:30:00.665 --> 00:30:25.115 Consider developing multiple streams of income. The prophet Elisha, he asked the lady, what do you have in your house? And then he gave her a plan, and he put her to work. He told her to go to work. You see, sometimes our miracle is in our obedience to doing something that God has been telling us to do the whole while, and we just haven't done it. 00:30:25.675 --> 00:30:56.625 Some of you been wanting to get out of debt. Some of you been wanting to go to a higher level financially, but you haven't been wanting to step out and take some risk and do the thing that God is telling you to do. Some of you, God is asking you to expand your income stream. Maybe you have your core income, your core competency, but you can you can do some things, you can you can get some side hustles going. You can develop some multiple streams of income. 00:30:56.625 --> 00:31:29.165 I'm gonna be talking about that more next week. And then lastly, and most importantly, this is what you need to do. Be content with what you have. I mean, if we're really honest you all, the lack of contentment is what gets us into a lot of debt. We want what we want because we're not happy with what we have or we see other people who have what they have and we want what they have and that's lack of contentment. 00:31:30.450 --> 00:32:07.850 The apostle Paul said, I have learned to be content. Well, ladies and gentlemen, as I close, I want you to know that I desperately want you to be financially debt free. But more than you being financially debt free, I want you to be spiritually debt free. Now you may be saying, well, how can I be spiritually debt free? I I I believe the best way to articulate spiritual debt freedom is through this verse in Colossians two fourteen. 00:32:07.850 --> 00:32:23.205 Check it out. It's talking about Jesus Christ. It says, he destroyed the record of the debt we owed. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You have sinned. 00:32:23.205 --> 00:33:00.030 I have sinned. And we can't garner enough brownie points to be right with God. The wages of sin is death. And so there is nothing we can do to pay this debt of sin off. And a lot of us have been in debt spiritually because we haven't been able to break free from sin or a life that's not pleasing to god. 00:33:00.030 --> 00:33:35.170 But look at what the rest of the verse says. It says, he destroyed the record of the debt we owed with his the who's word who's But here's what Jesus did. He canceled it, meaning he canceled our debt. How do you do that? By nailing it to the cross. 00:33:37.055 --> 00:34:09.885 The best debt freedom you could have is spiritual debt freedom, and you will only know that freedom if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, everything I'm talking about, yes, is financially, but it is really about your heart. The bible says, what your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This is really not a series on finances. This is really a series on your heart. 00:34:11.805 --> 00:34:33.745 So I wanna pray with you. I wanna pray two quick prayers. Number one is that you will decide to follow Jesus because the debt of sin, you can't repay. He's already paid it for us on the cross. But it's only if you decide to follow him. 00:34:33.745 --> 00:34:45.270 Secondly, I wanna pray for those of you who need god to do a miracle in your finances. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. 00:34:46.070 --> 00:35:14.440 We magnify your name. We know that you can get us out of debt, Change our mind about how we see debt. Help us to be strategic, but, Lord, we're praying to be totally debt free. Help us to do that. Lord, I'm praying for those who need to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. 00:35:16.040 --> 00:35:38.720 If you're out there right now with all heads bowed, all eyes closed, if you're watching us online and you have never made a decision to follow Jesus, I wanna give you an opportunity to do that. All you have to do is raise your hand right where you are. I'm not gonna ask you to come down. Some of our elders are looking around. Just raise your hand high, and we're gonna have someone to come and pray with you after the service. 00:35:39.680 --> 00:35:53.040 Anyone? Those of you online, I wanna say a quick prayer. And if this resonates with you, then you will be a child of God. Dear Jesus, come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. 00:36:07.130 --> 00:36:38.776 Father, I'm asking you right now to eradicate fear and replace it with faith. Father, I'm asking you right now to lift the burden of depression and discouragement from these people's lives when it comes to their debt and their finances. Lord, I'm asking you to do a miracle in their life, and I'm asking you to bless them so that they can be a blessing. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.