Money Talks: Telling The Truth About Finances

In this powerful and transformative episode of Mountaintop Manna entitled "Money Talks: Telling The Truth About Finances," we delve deep into the labyrinth of personal finances, guiding the listeners on a journey to confront their financial realities and take charge of their financial future. Our guest is renowned financial expert, Dorothea Bernique, this episode aims to equip individuals with the tools and mindset needed to face the truth about their financial situations, while infusing a strong message of hope and empowerment.

Dorothea Bernique Biography

Dorothea is the founder and Executive Director of Increasing H.O.P.E. In this role, Dorothea wears many hats. Not only does she lead her administrative team with vision and tireless effort, Dorothea provides financial counseling and money management instruction to clients; researches and writes grants; speaks on financial literacy at businesses, schools, and non-profits in the greater Charleston community.

In addition, Dorothea has developed and implemented bold strategies for expanding the scope of the agency’s financial training programs. Under her leadership, Increasing H.O.P.E. has grown to include a small business incubator and a minority entrepreneur support center. In 2020, the organization partnered with a cadre of sister nonprofits to create The Opportunity Center, a newly remodeled building in North Charleston dedicated to fostering economic prosperity in households with low and modest incomes.

Dorothea is passionate about helping people establish a better quality of life through gaining financial know-how. An Accredited Financial Counselor, Dorothea has been affectionately called a “financial guru”; since 2003, she and the agency have trained thousands of individuals in the Lowcountry to effectively manage their money. Prior to founding Increasing H.O.P.E., Dorothea worked in the world of finance in a variety of ways, including as a budget counselor/coach and as an independent representative in Financial Services. She has professional training in the insurance, mortgage, and investment fields. In addition to being an AFC, Dorothea is a licensed Housing and Credit Counselor. 

Dorothea is the author of Kingdom Conscious Money Management, a faith-based plan for personal finances, and a recipient of the Community Service and Leadership Award.  Dorothea was a recipient or the 2021 SC Woman in Business Award in the nonprofit category.  Dorothea is grateful to be 1 of 50 selected out of more than 800 applicants nationwide and the only SC awardee of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Impact Grant recipient.  The initiative, One Million Black Women, is named for and guided by the goal of impacting the lives of at least one million Black women by 2030.   In addition, she is a veteran of the U.S. Airforce.   Dorothea and her husband, Christopher, have been married for 41 years and live in Summerville, S.C.; they have two grown children, as well as four grandchildren.

https://increasinghope.org/

Transcript

 Father, we thank you for this day, this time, this space together. We thank you for all that you have given us, enabling us to lift one another up and to edify one another through your word and through the wonderful resources that you have provided. We pray that this podcast goes forth to really minister to those who will tune in and listen, that it will be empowering, life changing, transforming.

And that God above all that would draw people closer to you, that we would look more and more like Jesus and that your will would be done in our lives. And so have your way in the name of Jesus the Christ we pray. Amen. Amen.

All right. All right. And we are back with another wonderful episode of Mountaintop Manor. Where we focus on faith, family, finance and fitness, and we even have tons of fun mixed into each and every episode because we are incredibly passionate about empowering one another to live the abundant life that is made available to us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And so today we're going to have a real, real conversation about finances as we bring back our money talks segment. Now, before I bring on our guests who I believe you are well acquainted with, and if you haven't been, if this is your first time you are in for a treat, let me kind of set the stage where we talk about the real here and that's what's going on in our lives in the Valley.

That necessitates us needing to get divine revelation for how we can experience transformation to live the abundant life that God has for us. Now, there was a personal finance report in America done doing the Q1 first quarter, that's January through March of this year, and what that summary found out is that one in three Americans reported that they are struggling.

Or in a crisis with their finances, that's one out of every three Americans are struggling with their finances. We know that we've had inflation and that's still not settled. We know that. The cost of living, especially here in Charleston when it comes to if you've been paying rent, your rent has gone up most likely in the last six months, maybe multiple times within the last year.

And people are truly struggling and many even wait too late before they reach out for assistance and help. Now, here's how important all of this is biblically. Did you know that the Bible has over 2000 verses concerning money? That's almost twice as many verses as faith and prayer. That's how much the Bible focuses on stewardship, financial stewardship.

Nearly 15% of everything Jesus talked about related to Possessions, money, 16 out of 38 parables dealt with the topic of money. It was somewhere in there. The only subject Jesus taught more about than money was the kingdom of God. This means that it is very important, important how we steward. God's resources and is a direct reflection of our relationship with God.

Proverbs 21 20 teaches us that a wise man or wise woman saves for the future. Proverbs 13 11 money, money grows little by little. Wealth comes little by little. Deuteronomy 8 18, the ability to produce wealth. Proverbs 10, 22, the blessing of the Lord brings wealth. Proverbs 10, 4, diligent hands bring wealth.

And I'll give one more. And there's many more we could talk about again over 2000. Proverbs 21, 21, pursue righteousness and find prosperity. There is this idea. Within the text that we are to be great stewards, not so that we can floss and flex and show everybody how big and bad we got it and that we can make it rain or what have you, but so that we can be a blessing to other people and so that we can be a reflection of God's goodness.

I'll close out this part, this segment by saying this, Jesus said he goes to prepare a place for us that in. His father's house, there are many mansions. He doesn't say there are many shacks. He doesn't say there are many little small rental apartments. No, he says many mansions. Why not? Because that we're to, uh, idolize welfare, idolize being rich, but so that we can understand the value in what God has for us and how God views us and the importance of stewardship in our lives that we maximize what.

God has given us to the best of our ability. And so how do we deal with this? How do we become all that God has called us to be? How do we make sure that we press forward and that we become great stewards over the finances? Well, that's not for me to answer today because I'm not the expert in this arena, but we have back with us, Ms.

Dorothy. Thea Bernique, the founder and executive director of increasing hope, who has helped literally over a hundred people within our congregation become financially set free and great stewards, homeowners, you name it. It is a blessing. And so ladies and gentlemen, give a round of applause for Dorothea Bernique.

You're so kind pastor Benton. Always, always. Love the sound effects. Love the sound. Always, always a pleasure to be here with you. Let's just jump right into things. What do we need to do? And what is the importance about being honest around our finances? Well, I mean, when, when you reached out and you said, Dorothy, you know, you have an idea, would you like to come on?

It did not take me literally, you will, you probably recognize a few seconds to answer you back from the standpoint of the first thing we have to do is be honest with ourselves. And I framed it like we have to tell ourselves the truth. Right. Even scripture says John 8, what is it, 832 says, you shall know the truth and the truth is what sets us free.

So the same thing applies to our personal finances. When we tell ourselves the truth, then we position ourselves to be able to begin to deal with the situation and get set free in the area of our personal finances. Wow. So, so if I'm struggling though, right? I, I, I've heard the stories over and over of, I know that the bill comes and I put it in a drawer.

I won't even look at it or I'm ignoring the calls that are coming, you know, all of that. So if I'm struggling with facing the truth about my finances, how How do you help me get to the place where I can accept that truth? Whatever it may be, right? Well, the first thing is be willing to accept responsibility because a lot of times our inability to tell ourselves the truth is because we do not want to become personally accountable or responsible.

For that thing that's that's that's hindering us. Okay, so I think it's getting to that point where we're ready to accept Responsibility we have to stop blaming others and what we share in our class when we teach it pastor Is that we're not trying to say that things do not happen that are out of our control that we do not have a response We do not have control over but Even in that case, at some point in time, we have to decide to take responsibility, whether it was done to us or we did it to ourselves.

We have to get to that point where I'm not blaming. I'm not, uh, uh, justifying. I am going to take responsibility for where I am and I'm choosing, I'm deciding to do something different to do something about it, period. So I just decided to take responsibility. Wow. So the wound may not be my fault, right?

But the healing and addressing it is my responsibility is without a doubt, without a doubt. Wow. I think we all need to sit in that for a moment because all of us have been wounded or hurt. Many of us were put in circumstances. We don't control who we were born to. It wasn't our fault that our parents may have been mismanagers of finances, et cetera.

Maybe they left us in debt, things of that nature. We're finding out all this stuff when mommy's gone or grandma's gone, granddad's gone, you know, dad's gone. And we find out, Oh my Lord, all these things weren't in order. Right. So that. Is not my fault. That is not your fault. Absolutely. But now you are being empowered when you take responsibility to say, but I'm going to own this.

I'm going to do something about it. Right? It's not my fault that I'm blind, right? Blind Barnum is, but Jesus says, go wash in the pool of Siloam. It is now your. Responsibility to go and watch. Exactly. Not the woman with issue of blood's fault that she had a disease. Right. Nothing in the text suggests, oh, this came on you because of something you did.

No, but she took the responsibility to pressing towards the hem of his garment in order to find that freedom and healing. I love it. Yes. Okay. Yeah. I'm with you. You got it, . I'm with you on it. If I don't face this thing right, if I don't face it, what are the consequences there? Right. I, I think the main consequence, Pastor, is we never get to the root of the problem.

We never root out. And so with that being said, many times we go through life and we're thinking that we dealt with something or we're thinking that an issue is done or in reference to our finances, we could say, well, you know what, I, uh, I'm going to get a consolidation loan and I'm going to pay this thing off and that's going to be the end of my debt.

And I'm just, but because we didn't deal with the root. In six months to a year, you need another consolidation. So if we don't ever get to the root of the problem, the cause, many times we focus on the symptoms. Yes, but not the root cause of it. And so just like in our faith walk, what's the root cause of things with your finances?

What's the root cause of things? I think that that necessitates a conversation on symptoms and roots. So from your experience, can you list what are some of the root issues that you've seen once the layers have been pulled back to why people are struggling and not being able to get ahead in their finances?

Actually, uh, what led me to discover that this was an area that needed to be addressed was from many, many years of attempting to help people with their finances past during the budget. And, and, and I know it was just nothing but the direction of the Holy Spirit in reference to what I'm saying, but why do people struggle so much?

Why is this such an issue? They can sit in a budget in classic and get the information. It's not retained. They're not able to follow through. And simply the spirit of God just spoke to me and just said, just like in the word of God, where with. It's going to always be there until you get to the root. And so he began to help me explore and I studied and found out that there's a root to the reason why we manage our finances the way that we do the way we make the choices that we do.

And so we began, I wrote a class called money mindset and I think we've spoken of it in the past, whereby we help individuals discover. What's the root? What did you grow up with? What, what experiences did you have? What attitudes do you have? What did you see growing up? How was money handled? If you grew up in a family where on Saturdays, you just went shopping on Saturdays, you just, that was just the lifestyle of your particular family.

Nothing makes it right or wrong using this as an example, everyone. But if that's what you grew up with, then you grew up thinking. We need to go shopping every Saturday and to this day, whether you have the money to do it or not, whether it is within your means, you feel like you need to go shopping every Saturday.

The thing that is the problem is we haven't stopped to identify the root. You just think you need to go shopping every Saturday or you just think you don't have enough money, but what you haven't, you fail to realize is that at the root of this was This is what I saw. This was my life experience. This was the example set before me.

This is what my root is. And until I acknowledge that and determine and understand that, because of that I have a script. I've just, I've, I've developed a dialogue and something that I'm saying to myself. I'm saying to myself. I'm supposed to go shopping every Saturday. Right? That's your dialogue. That's your script.

That's what you're saying to yourself. And so your actions and your behavior is based on what you're saying to yourself. When we get to the point where we identify the root and we help you rewrite that script, it could be something as simply as saying, I don't have to go shopping every Saturday, but you've just rewritten that script.

And as a result of now saying that to yourself, you have a different behavior. Wow. And so now change can come. Change can happen because it's been rooted out. The root of it has been, has come to the surface. And so we do that at Increasing Hope with our, with our clients. We sit down and say, it's important that we identify the root.

Whether it was I was growing up, I was an only child, my mom got me everything I wanted. So you have grown up thinking. You should get everything you want. Oh my. And so as a result, your finances indicate that, you know, I'm just going dead, I'll just do this, I'll make terrible decisions because at any cost, I should get what I want.

That's a root cause of your financial issues right now. Wow. And we have to root it out. So all of us have that in some way, we have something, someone, a situation or circumstance that is at the root of how we manage our personal finances. My goodness, if you're listening, you may need to take a breath after what you just heard because that was heavy.

We have a script that was being written without our knowledge Understanding, it was just our experience created a script in our mind, right? As a man think of, so is he. Yes. It became a script that we're reading from. Yes. And even when you're being equipped with how to budget other things, that script still takes over.

Exactly. And it becomes the motivating factor behind all of your behavior. Despite the training, despite what you hear, and that's why I begin to ask myself, it's like, why can't an example would be people saying, well, I want to save. I want to save and going back and getting in and wondering why and asking that question.

Why can't I save? Why can't I save is because there's something within that root problem. You saw someone you experience never been able to save. You always went back. You always went back over there and you could never leave it alone. It was this burning a hole in your pocket type mentality. And, um, Once it gets identified though, so when you shine the light on it and when you begin then to tell yourself the truth, just like any 12 step program, that's the beginning of it.

Okay. That's the beginning of your healing process and your journey to financial freedom. So we've got to confront the truth about our scripts. Yes, and then invite God to help us rewrite Yeah, they often finish of our faith Yeah, we need to rewrite the script because it sounds like we're going to play out the script.

Whatever is there That's what we're going to play. You're gonna play out Yeah, it most definitely is. Oh my. Yeah. You know, this, this has me sitting here thinking about, okay, what's my script? What are the things that I have had to fight through? What, what by default? And I think the script work works both ways because, you know, I grew up in a household and my dad won't mind me saying this because it's the hundred percent truth.

Um, you know, I, I thought that money was so scarce cause my father grew up very poor. They didn't have indoor plumbing. You know, he was the first to graduate high school in his household, um, out of his parents and his older siblings. They really had it rough and, and in our household growing up, it was money doesn't grow on trees.

You know, there, there was just this, this fear of scarcity of money, right? Because of that, by default, I always feel like, Oh my gosh, we're going to run out of money. We're going to run out of money. We're going to run out of money. Mm hmm. You know, and, and then push that on other people, just like it was for me, which, which creates all kinds of anxiety, right?

Because what you really need to do is sit down and look at your budget and really manage it because the numbers don't lie. It is what it is. Face that truth, right? Instead of buying into this script, that's going to create all this anxiety. Exactly. What are some of the symptoms? So you talked about. The root causes, what would you say are some of the symptoms of the root that people come to you for, that people are always talking about, but, but aren't the real root issue.

So now you're going, you know, this, this is just a symptom. We really need to deal with something else. So what would you classify as symptoms? Well, one of the things that's quickly identified as people just think, well, You know, I don't make enough money or if I just had more money, they're looking at that as, as the, as the cause of the problem when it's not necessarily that they need more money is because they think they need to go shopping every Saturday.

You see what I'm saying? And so we look at those outside things and, and think that that is the, is the problem. But again, it goes back to how do I identify, how do I make sure that I am focusing on, What the root cause of the problem is versus just the outside symptoms of that issue. And so I think what we have to make sure that we do is in being honest with yourself that you make an accurate assessment.

Because again, The human, our human nature, a tendency is, um, to put the focus on something else, whether than our, rather than ourselves inwardly, right? It's all, all, it's always that outside influence that is making the difference, you know, and, and when we take the time though, to sit down and say, I'm going to be honest with myself, what is it that I am doing or could do, or should not do that is impacting?

And so then we stop looking at those outside influences and you bring it, we bring it home. We shine the light inwardly, you know, instead of pointing at the bill collectors or whatever, there's three fingers pointing back at us and let's say, what is it? What is it that I can really honestly look at and make an assessment of, you know, uh, of what's impacting, you know, do I really have to eat out every day?

Do I really have to, you know, treat other people? It is just amazing pastor and I'm going to eventually I'm going to get to this point. I want to create an app that help us identify some of the motivating influences that cause us to become the managers of money like we are, for instance, and a motivating influence as I hear just briefly from you could be the fact that you're frugal.

That frugality is a motivating influence that every decision that you make. Right. It is. But some of us, some of us are, um, status is our motivator, is our influential. How I look to others and what I present to others is motivating. So for that reason, I have to drive this car, I have to live in this house, I have to wear these things because status is your motivating factor.

But so that's it. But that's an inward look that has to be discovered. And I want to create an app that will help individuals to be able to discover that about themselves. This makes me want to ponder before I get anything, like maybe an approach we should take until you get this app online, right, for us, is before I purchase this, why am I getting this?

Right. Yeah. Before I get this car, before I even get this, this article of clothing, let me sit with my own thoughts and discern why do I want this? Right. And, and then. After you get the answer to that, find out if you're okay with that, right? If you're saying here, Hey, I don't want to be a person that's just pursuing things and spending money for status.

I'm not, I don't want to try and impress people who don't even care about me and all that or, or I don't want to, you know, try to cover up my insecurities or other things with stuff with materialism, right? And you sit down to think about this purchase you're getting ready to make and you find out the only reason why I want this is for status, right?

Then you must sit down and go, well, why is that the case? And am I okay? Am I still okay? Making this purchase? No, listening, knowing that I'm doing it for other people, right? Yeah. All of that is part of being honest with yourself, right? That's our topic for today. Yeah. Being honest with ourselves. How many of us do things or spend money because we're compensating?

We're compensating for the, for the, uh, whether it's emotionally, mentally, spiritually, but we are compensating, filling a void by spending, doing this, thinking we have to have this or look a certain way for whatever void that is, that gets back to then me taking the time to be honest with myself and say, what is it exactly that I'm trying to compensate for?

What void am I trying to feel? Now for a place of transparency, this was one of my issues. I so my first credit card I got in College was a Discover card. Okay, and then I got a second card while in college and it was a GMC card okay, I don't even know if that card still exists today and the debt I got into I was going and buying things to make myself feel better.

I would, I would feel low and I would go and, and I would go on a shopping spree on credit. Wow. And it caused me to get into credit card. First of all, I should not have been able to have, I had no job. I had no income whatsoever for the most part, but yet I could get a credit card as a freshman in college.

And you're already dealing with. An enormous amount of emotional turmoil as you're going through these young adult stages and all of that. And I remember specifically, I remember going to make myself feel better when I was low by buying clothes and shoes and other things that You know, a young adult wanted to do in his 22 stage.

And I remember being so guilty and feeling all kinds of negative emotions on the other side of that because then I had this debt, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so again, how do we take the time to get honest with ourselves? What are we compensating for what, you know, compulsive buying all, all of it is to fill this void or, and what all of it does as well, getting us back to our subject is, um, explain and express the need for us to identify the root.

Be honest with ourself. If we're going to engage on this journey to financial freedom and have that journey lead to the point where we can become distribution centers for other people, be a blessing in our community and our church and, and, and, and not, and go from living paycheck to paycheck and all these things that this can do and the wonderful impact that it can have, we have to embrace, we have to decide first.

I'm going to tell myself the truth. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So one of, one of our, our friends, uh, uh, that we have together, Dr. Soares, I just love how he says it and people laugh about it, but it's the honest thing. He's like, just go in the room, close the door, get in front of a mirror and tell yourself the truth.

If you got to get by yourself, so no one else will hear you, but tell yourself the truth. That is the beginning. That is the beginning of taking responsibility. Once again, whether it's your fault or not, life happens to us all, but that is the initial step to your journey to financial freedom. So what do I do?

Let's say, all right, I've sat with myself. I've dug up these roots and I feel an enormous amount of shame. And guilt, right? Which I don't want to feel that way. I don't want to feel ashamed. I don't want to feel guilty. Jesus paid it all right. Grace abounds. I'm not in this guilt thing. I'm into this liberation in Jesus.

Right? So how do I keep myself from running back into these harmful behaviors, these sinful behaviors, because it just feels too bad, too guilty, too much shame when I confront and. Get real about my money and finances, right? Right. Well, just like in our spiritual walk pastor, that sometimes the enemy would try to use all of that to come against us, but his word says, look, there is therefore now what no condemnation, he's not going to condemn you stop condemning yourself.

And just take on the journey. We say it like this in the classes that we teach. It's like, look, when you, when you began this journey and you uncover things and you discover what the root is, it's ugly. It can be ugly. Okay. But we tell people, it's like, look, you got to own that ugly baby. Okay. That's your baby.

It's your situation. Own it. Okay. You have to own it. I'm tell you, you can look down that baby just as cute as one B and people know that baby ugly. You know, the baby ugly, but you know what? Just like a ugly duckling can turn into a beautiful swan. So can your finances. Okay. But you gotta be willing.

Pastor is dying. Laughing. He can't even speak y'all. Cause he's laughing. You gotta own the ugly baby, which is maybe where your finances are right now and what they might look like. But that baby can turn into the most beautiful young lady or young man as they grow up and grow out of that, you know, the big ears and the this and the that.

I'm telling you guys, we just have to be willing to hang in there, go on this journey and know that it can and will get better. But don't condemn yourselves. Don't beat yourself up. Embrace it and be determined that you're not going to stay where you are. Right. Stop.

That is your ugly baby. Own your ugly baby. But no, but your baby will not. Have to remain at this state, that there is hope, that there is opportunity for growth and for those ears to be grown into, right?

I love that because we often don't want to confront, right? I think we feel defined, right? by these things. Like I created that. So that's who I am. And I don't want people to think that's who I am because I'm so much more than that. And I don't like the way that makes me feel. And what you're saying is, Hey, you are not this decision.

You are not your bank account. And I say that to people, that means whether that bank account has a hundred thousand dollars in it, or whether that bank account has 10 in it, you are not your bank account. You are who God called you to be condition is not the same as opposition. Oh, my position is that we sit with him and have any place, the condition might not be that.

Right. So we can't look at it like that. You're not your bank account. You're not your condition. Look at yourself in the position that you've been put in by our heavenly father. My, my, my condition is not my position. I am positioned as the head and not the tail. I am positioned as wonderfully and fearfully made.

I am positioned as being created a Mago Dei in the image of God. I am positioned for greatness. And so my condition may contradict that, but it doesn't define who I am. Oh Lord. That just set somebody free. I know somebody listening just now that just set you free. Because you've been defining yourself and restricting yourself to the condition that you're in.

Right. But your condition is not a reflection of your position and who you are in God. That's right. And when you walk in your position, it will change your condition. Pastor, high five on that. Oh my, we in here having a good time all by ourselves right now. I'm going to walk in my position until my condition shifts and changes.

Yes. Oh. Yes. And that's what we have to do on this financial journey. Sounds like we have to sit in the middle and really assess, okay, where's the conflict between my position, who I am in God. and who God has called me to be and my condition, what I'm living and how I'm experiencing my daily life. And that God then meets us there at that crossroads, that intersection where my condition and position are bumping up against one another.

And I'm defined by my position, who I am in God. The condition is just the potential in my life. That God's going to work and grow. It's all temporary. Conditions are always temporary. Isn't that true anyway? Even if you have it all together and you got all the money in the world, that condition is temporary.

Yes. You will not keep that. It will not stay. Just think of Twitter, right? Twitter has been at the top of the game for a long time. And then Elon, who's been at the top of the game all this time, takes over Twitter and it's just been a mess ever since. And now. Thread has come out and Twitter is going down the tube really quickly because conditions change.

Conditions change. Conditions change. What, what's some other practical advice on how we can be honest about our personal finance problems? And, and, and how do we, especially you talked about family dynamics, which means if I'm trying to change, that does not mean the rest of my family that helped.

Contribute to the condition are changing. How do we deal with that? And the interactions that we begin to have with those who are still operating from the past script. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. The biggest thing is number one. I think one of the things of advice I would say is find someone to go on the journey with you.

Okay. Because as you say in your, maybe your, your, your family may or may not be, be with you, but find that community of people that's going in the, in the same direction, you know, so that you have the support, um, that you need. The other thing is, uh, be willing to be that example. Okay. Because many times, again, just not unlike other areas of our lives, sometimes, and this is what I say to people, they're normal or your normal is not normal.

Ooh. Okay. Thank you. And so sometimes the people around us need to see what it actually does look like to walk in financial freedom, to have your finances together, to be able to pay your bills on time. And you might be being called to a position of being that example and, and being able to show them that what, what, what y'all think is normal.

That's not normal. I'm getting ready to show you. What normal really looks like, okay, just like that person that thinks that if they've only seen mom and dad go to the check cashing place and the grocery store to cash their check to them, that's normal. Okay, so they need to see someone who now has direct deposit who's working with the financial institution who has money going into a savings account.

They need to see that and realize that, Oh, wow, you mean this is the way the rest of the world works and that my normal really isn't normal. And so that might be the challenge that would be put upon you is to begin to be that example. Wow. So it may be that God's calling you to be that trailblazer. Yes.

That you, you are the one that has to be the change agent for your family. Wow. So if God has given you the revelation, we have to understand that God's given you the revelation. God is not giving them the revelation. So they won't see that transformation yet, but you will be the revelation to them.

Exactly. And as you begin to embark in that, that's how change can happen, man, it's hard to be the first, isn't it? It is. It's very hard to be the first. It's that trailblazer is just that, that one that takes that unique journey that others may not understand. But at some point in time, once they see it, you'll have someone that says, Hey, can you show me how to do that?

I really like the results that I see. I want to come on this journey with you. For someone who's listening right now and says, I don't have that community that you spoke of, that community of common thought and voices who are going to help me to pursue being this trailblazer. How can they get connected to this community?

At Increasing Hope, we are creating that community. It is our desire to have a place where individuals can come and realize that, number one, they are allowed to be honest with themselves, and a place where we do not judge. It's a safe space in the area of your personal finances. Our motto is, We do not judge, and there is hope.

And so we invite people to come in to our facility, or we invite people to invite us into their facility, just as Mount Moriah did a couple of years ago. And, and to embrace that journey. And then we've been in the community for 18 years now, pastor. We're not going anywhere. We remain there in that place that you can come to when you need encouragement, when you need to go back and say, Hey, you know what?

I slipped. You know, uh, a place where no one's going to judge you that place where we understand that life happens again when things are. Within your control or out of your control whether you made a bad decision or somebody did something to you We are here to support you on that journey as you say, you know what?

I'm ready to take responsibility for whatever it is. I know I need to get it, right? I know it's gonna take some time and I have passed the place of beating myself up And I'm just ready to do something about it where there's increasing hope And, and where is Increasing Hope? How can I get there? Sure. Uh, Pastor, we're located right here in the Tri County area, down the street from you guys here on Rivers Avenue, uh, in a building called the Opportunity Center.

You can't miss it. Big white building with the name Opportunity outside of it, right beside the McDonald's. I know all of you out there know where the McDonald's is. We're right beside them and we are there Monday through Friday providing, uh, Both, uh, D free as a class financial education, among many other services to support our community on their journey to, uh, financial freedom, economic development, uh, generational curse, breaking boundary, breaking.

We're here to assist you on this journey. And, and we believe in walking out, uh, this journey by faith. And so we're, if, uh, as a person of faith, you don't have to worry about coming in. We're not going to tell you not to pay your tithes. Because it's on our budget worksheet. So you will be in a safe place.

And how much does this cost? Uh, our classes range anywhere from literally we have such a umbrella of services from free to, you know, 25, 30, very minimal cost, um, for individuals, depending on what you want to do. If you want to take an entrepreneur class, some of them are free up to a hundred dollars, uh, D free is 30, our financial education, and we, we just, We'll embrace you on your journey to financial freedom.

So very minimal cost and very minimal, and I don't even say cost. It's an investment in yourself. So the investment that you will make for any of the services at increasing hope are minimal, but worthwhile and reap tons of dividends. Reap tons of dividends, but we're coming to, you know, a conclusion here.

What is it that you would most like to convey to people? You didn't hear anything else today. This is what I want you to hear. What is it that you would want people to hear and know? For me, that message is always there is hope. Okay, hope is waking up the next day, feeling like you have options. When people are hopeless, they work up thinking that this day is just going to be like yesterday.

And when I say there is hope, what I'm encouraging you to know is that this day does not have to be like yesterday. That if you would take the steps to embark on this journey, that those days can get better. Your financial situation can get better things can change So my encouragement is always that there is hope and it's never too late Many people think if I knew this when I was younger and if this and this is and if it's gotten too bad And I could never turn this around It's not too late.

And there is hope beautifully said to Really illustrate that is it possible for you to tell us a story of? What is, and has been, quote unquote, one of the most hopeless situations that has come your way. And how you've seen that situation turn around. Well, as I said, we have an umbrella of services. And so in the, uh, one of our areas is actually tax preparation from the months of January to April.

We do free taxes. That's the way we serve the community and provide economic development. We had a lady that approached us. Um, her situation was dire in that she was dying of cancer. She had over 200, 000 in debt. To the IRS that was owed. She had been told she owed this to the IRS. And she came in with a march and said, I do not want to leave this to my family.

I do not. And, again, a person would feel like, Oh, there's just no hope. There's no way. We Came along beside her. We got on the phone with the IRS. We stood by her every step of the way. We asked questions. We helped her fill out forms. We came in contact with her family member, her children, all of this. We got in the trenches with her on this journey.

And at the end of that journey, not only did she not owe the IRS two hundred some thousand dollars when the truth came out, but she received a refund. Whoa! And so in that, in, in, in her situation, feeling like it's so dire, I'm about to leave here. I don't want to leave this to my family. She came in and we helped her see that there was hope.

And she came out to where she ended up getting a refund from the IRS after being told she owed them over 200, 000. She went from thinking she owed over 200, 000. Yes. To the Internal Revenue Service, to getting a refund from the IRS. This lady, had she never come to get help, would have ended up transitioning out of this world.

Carrying that heavy burden and instead was able to leave with the peace of knowing that she was not giving her family this 200, 000 debt to the government and they're going to get theirs. Yes. That's right. That's unbelievable. Yeah. This is the power of reaching out for help to confront whatever it is and being truthful about your situation.

And finances, and I'm so grateful that we have you and increasing hope literally right down the street on the same street, Rivers Avenue to where anybody can come and get help. If you're listening to this and before you felt hopeless, or you felt that your situation was too much insurmountable, or maybe guilt and shame kept you from reaching out to other people who could help you.

Thank you. I can't think of another story to tell you other than 200, 000 on your deathbed of debt to the government that God completely wiped away and alleviated so that there could be great hope for the future of this woman's family. So whatever your situation is. Maybe it's student loans. Maybe it's IRS payments and arrears.

Maybe it's credit card debt. Maybe it's you've had to file for bankruptcy. Whatever it is, whatever you're going through, I want to encourage you don't go through it by yourself. Do not go through it alone. You may be missing your blessing because of pride or because of allowing yourself to get held up in deep shame and guilt.

When we've got a treasure right down the street and increasing hope and in Dorothea Bernic, who they are here to walk alongside of you. We've already had quite a few members who have been blessed by this. My life has been enriched and blessed by Dorothea Bernic and her family and her ministry, because that's what it really is.

It's a ministry. You don't have to walk this path alone. You do not. You do not. We're here to come along beside you, increase your hope on a Daily basis. And it's amazing. I'm going to encourage everybody pass. And I know we're short on time. It is amazing The results you will see when you take the steps when you give God something to work with Let's see.

That's a whole nother topic right there. Right when we give God something to work with How he can take that thing and accelerate it and multiply your efforts. We have had people to sit up in class. They, they start taking the steps and before they get out of class, they have credit cards paid off and we haven't finished the class yet because they engaged in the effort.

They own the ugly baby and they start taking steps. They begin God. I just said, God will take that and he will put his multiplication on it. And before you know it. Before you know it, you'll be on that journey and you'll be experiencing the results and reaping the benefits of honoring God in this area of your life.

You will be amazed at what God can do when you just start taking the steps. Little becomes much when you put it in the master's hands. And once you start making your way, it reminds me of the lepers who were outside of the city and Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests. And as they went, they were healed as they went, as they went, as you go.

God starts working things we, what we want to do often is we want God to come and wipe everything out while we're just sitting down and doing nothing. But every time you see healing in the Bible, God's telling us to do something. Get up, pick up your bed, go show yourself. Self to the priest, go wash in the pool.

There's always these instructions that God gives us. It's like, I'm going to meet you on the way you're healing is on the way, but you've got to make your way in order for your healing to come. It's not going to come while you're. Still out in the outskirts of society where the world has placed you, but it's going to come by your obedience of doing what God has called you to do.

I can't tell you how many members have come up to me after taking your class and said, pastor, it doesn't make any sense to me. You know, I wasn't a title before. I wasn't this before. I wasn't managing this way before. I don't understand how I'm being blessed the way I'm being blessed. I don't understand how I still have this remainder at the end of the month.

I don't understand how I'm doing more with less. I don't understand. And it's faith is not something that you understand or comprehend. It, it, it is the, it is the evidence of things unseen, you know. And so it's amazing. So thank you so much for that. Welcome. You're welcome. You know what? When we realize God will never act contrary to his word.

When we get that, because I founded this organization on the scripture that says faith without works is dead. We have to do something. It's as you described, pastor, we have to do something. Amen. So look, you heard it. Let's talk about these takeaways today. And there were many, many, many takeaways from this conversation.

But the first big takeaway, now that we've gone to the top of this mountain and we've gotten this manna, right, we've done this work. Is finding out your root, find your root. What is the root behind your script? Why you act the way you act, talk the way you talk, spin the way you spin and save the way you saved.

What's the script and where was that script? Who wrote that script? Because the only script you want to live out was the one penned by God. So. What's your root? The others claim you're an ugly baby. Claim whatever you have created, however beautiful. Or imperfect, it may be claim it and watch God redeem it, change it, transform it a man.

And just, just so everybody knows the ugly baby is a better for a bad. We are not calling it it body's actual baby ugly. But it is a better for, for there are things and decisions that we have made that have created a situation or circumstance or a life that does not look. Good. And this is claiming it and owning it so that you can move forward through it.

You are not your bank account. That was another point that just, Oh, bad. It made me want to run around and do the Huckabuck in here. You are not your bank account, your bank account, no matter how big or small the number is or numbers are, do not define who you are because it's not about your condition.

It's about your position, who you are in God. And the last one that I would say that kind of wraps everything up is. Reach out for help. You need a community. That can help you be all that God has called and created you to be around your finances and around your stewardship, because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, everything you've got is because God has blessed you with it to be a manager of it, but God owns it.

And I would say those are our biggest summary takeaways of the day. Dorothea, was there anything else that I missed that you wanted to make sure that we heard? That was perfect, Pastor. Let's put the bow on it. Put the bow on. Tell yourself the truth. Just tell yourself the truth. In all of that, be willing to tell yourself the truth.

Amen. I think that's a perfect way to end. Tell yourself the truth and the truth shall set you free. Let's give our friend Dorothea Bernique a big applause in the house for being with us today. We appreciate her.

She told you how to get in contact with her at increasing hope. Um, you can also go of course, to the website, you can Google increasing hope and you will find increasing hope, plenty of things on there. You'll find numbers. You'll find everything, but also we've got it attached to this podcast. So feel free to just click on the link here.

And you will be able to get access to all the wonderful services that Increasing Hope provides. And I want to encourage you to absolutely do so. It will be a blessing to your life. With that said, I'm going to ask if Dorothea would end us in prayer. Because somebody out there, all that you said to us needs prayer.

You done messed with our whole system. spirit and our soul. We digging deep in order to find out scripts that were put in our spirit that now we've got to have rewritten. So if you don't mind, just give us a word of prayer to help us as we proceed on. Fathers, we come to you. We thank you. First of all, for the opportunity to have this time to sit at your feet.

Thank you for the mountaintop manna. Thank you for speaking into our hearts. And so, God, now our prayer is that you would help us to receive what that we have, that which we have heard. Help us, oh God, not to be mere hearers of your word, but to be doers of your word. And then, God, help us to embrace that we, that faith without works is dead.

And so, God, right now, we, we prepare our hearts and we, confess that we will not remain the same. God, you have given us directions and instructions, confirmation on today. And with that, God, we will move forward. We will take action. We will be obedient to your word. Thank you for speaking to our hearts.

Thank you for the instructions. Thank you for the strategies. Thank you for uncovering the enemy. Thank you for the light of your word and we thank you for the victory that we have in our personal finances And we give you all the glory all the honor and all the praise for being our Jehovah Jireh in Jesus name.

We pray. Amen Amen If

you really enjoyed this Podcasts on being honest about finances and there's specific subjects that you want us to tackle Please send us a message shoot us an email Give us exactly what subjects you want us to talk about. And I will beg Dorothea to come back and help us to unpack and get a deeper understanding in specific areas of what you are wanting, whether it's taxes or budgeting or how to get out of debt, how to become a home owner, whatever it may be.

Maybe you just have questions in general. We would love to bug her because we love her being around here at Mount Moriah. And so hit us up, let us know, and we will get her back so that she can shed light on issues that are important and needed for us to talk about.