John K. Jenkins Sr - Moving Forward Requires Proper Money Management - Part 3

We are in our series for the theme for this year, moving forward. Somebody say, "We are moving forward." I started a sub-series on moving forward called "Moving Forward Requires Proper Money Management." Look at your neighbor and say, "You cannot move forward until you properly manage your money." As a matter of fact, tell them if you're not properly managing your money, you're moving backward. Tell them that! Some of you are in a backward mode. So last week, we talked about contentment and how God wants us to learn to be content. The lack of contentment is what drives a lot of us into trouble. Today, I want to talk about how moving forward requires us to manage debt. I want to talk about debt. Yeah, I knew y'all would be excited about that point right there! Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 7-Proverbs 22 : 7, as a matter of fact. Oh, let me tell you this too: this is a Bible study! I actually did a teaching over several weeks last year, late last year, on finances, and this isn't abbreviated. All of these messages on the financial piece are an abbreviated section of that teaching. I would encourage you to go to the bookstore and buy the whole series to get in-depth explanations, more scriptures, and more application . Today, we are just skimming the surface. Since y'all don't come to Bible study, I have to bring Bible study to you. Amen! If y'all all say "Amen," nobody will know I'm talking about you!

So we're going to be looking at several verses today. I want to focus on Proverbs 22 : 7, which is the groundwork for this message. It says, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." The borrower is servant to the lender. Say that: "The borrower is servant to the lender." One more time: "The borrower." That 's a very important point; it is a truth, it is a principle, and it is borne out in our culture. We are a culture in the United States of America that lives and rides the horse of debt. The statistics on debt in our country are alarming! The average household in the United States has $9,000 in consumer debt . If you make the minimum payments on that $9,000-a minimum payment - if you don't borrow money, you need to know what the payments will be. If you make the minimum payment on $9,000, it would take you 31 years to pay that off, and you would have paid $10,000 in interest ! The credit card industry has become so smooth and suave that they now introduce credit cards to younger and younger people. A toy company has credit cards for kids! College and high school students can get credit cards and have no job and no source of income, but they can get a credit card! The average college student has six credit cards- six! The average college student has over $25,000 in student loans ! They 're graduating from college with no job and a noose already around their necks. Amen, pastor, encourage yourself! They act like they don't know what I'm talking about, but most of them are living right there on that street! A high percentage of family income is being expended on consumer debt. Many families have refinanced their mortgages-let's pause at this point . Many families have refinanced their mortgages and pulled out cash for items that in five years they won't own, can't use, and can't fit. That 's a serious deal! You 're putting it on your house, financing it over 30 years, and in five years, unless you want it, can't fit it, and don't care about it, it's in the trash or the dump, but you're still paying for it. Of the 88 million households with credit cards, 61% carry a balance from month to month. Most people with credit card debt carry that debt over from month to month. Of cardholders who are carrying that debt, 13% of that group says that their total credit card balances are in excess of $25,000. The number of people more than 60 days late on their car payment has reached and spiked to a new high in the last 10 years . The number of repossessions soared by 10% last year ! That 's why your neighbors are parking their cars up the street. I talked to y'all about that a little bit last week. The average car loan today is either 60 months or five years, compared with what used to be 48 months. Increasingly, people are now having car mortgages. If y'all can say "Amen," say "Ouch," or "Ooh!" This is going to be a tough message right now! If y'all can! Car owners are extending their auto loans for six, seven, and in some cases eight years! If it's going to take you eight years to pay off a car, you can't afford that car! Hello! Can you hear me ? Are you with me? 30% of car buyers owe more on their car than the car is worth . You do know that when you go and buy a brand-new car and take out that long 100 % loan on it, the moment you drive it off the parking lot, it is now a used car . The used car status kicks in right then . Come on, let's talk!