"The Synopsis"

 "Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." (Ecclesiastes 9:16 KJV) 

  "Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT) 

 I can barely remember what it was like living poor; except that we hardly ever worried about money or how we might get through another week: as it was easy to trust God for providing all that we needed. Don't get me wrong, because I did make money; and we lived in a little house, which needed lots of work; but my boss had spent quite amount of money on me and my family. If I remember right, I think I owed him about $15,000 after I was released from jail; so, spending and buying things we didn't need really wasn't an option. 

 It was about the middle of December of 1981 that I was released from jail; about 6 months after I turned myself over to the L.A. County Jail, on the Friday afternoon in the middle of June. According to my Lawyer, I would be back out on Monday morning in order to go back to work; and then report back to jail of Friday's. They called that Serving Weekend's or Work Furlough; and it was a program that allowed nonviolent offenders to go to work and be with their families during the workweek. 

 When my Lawyer told me that would take place, I didn't believe it; after all, I was serving time for the crime of selling drugs; so why would they let a drug dealer go in and out of jail! It was really not a surprise to me that Monday came and went; over and over again, month after month. 

 My Lawyer fees were around $7,500 or so; all most all of it my boss had paid to try and keep me out of jail. The house we lived in was also owned by my boss, as at that time he owned about 50 properties, and he allowed by wife and son to stay in the house all the time that I was in jail. She paid what she could, but by the time I got out, we owed him about $2,400 in past rent and expenses. 

 By the beginning of the year, in 1982, my boss added another $5,000 onto my debt, by selling me his Toyota truck; so, starting in January of 1982 in began paying off my $15,000 debt; which I somehow managed to do in about 8 months or so; and then I bought a new Mazda diesel truck, right after my wife and I got married: on July 31st 1982 we were married at Calvary Chapel of Downey, by Pastor Mike; and my boss was my Best Man. 

 Then, in the later part of 1982, around December, my boss approached with a proposition to buy one of his properties; a property that had a main house with three bedrooms and a small house which had only two bedrooms. He proposed this deal with a contingency, saying, 'Currently you only make around $600 a week, but in order to afford the payment on this property, you will need to make $900 per week. 

 Well, that really got me motivated; fortunately for me, I was paid commission, so it was on me to get out there and start selling more jobs. We both set down and figured out what was required to make an additional 50% commission per week: basing the number of appointments, or properties, compared to the number of sales, (including those that didn't sell anything,) which turned out to be around 12 inspections per week. Therefore, I needed to make my goal to do at least 18 inspections per week, and I would be able to produce around $9,000 a week in commissions, based upon those calculations.  

 At that time, I was mostly paying about $60 a week in tithes. But during our six months of Marriage Counseling, I had to read a book, 'Your Money Matters,' which inspired me to change my tithes; and starting in January at the beginning of the year, I started tithing my goal and giving $90 per week. 

 By Easter Sunday of 1983, (actually, on Easter Sunday,) we had closed Escrow on Good Friday, and moved into the house that Sunday. I am sharing this because I feel the need to let anyone out there know, You cannot outgive God! If you trust Him and believe in what He says, you will be blessed! 

 Every year's end I continued to increase my goals; and every year, I would start by giving based upon my modest goals; usually only at least10% or at the most 20% increase, but the more I gave, the more God blessed us. In 1986 we purchased another home and rented out the other two houses.

 However you take this message, I hope that you understand that it involves prayer and commitment to do whatever it is that you believe God is asking of you; even if it means giving all that you have! He is more than able and willing to bless you abundantly more than you could ever realize...

""I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and fail to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "But you say, 'How can we return when we have never gone away?' "Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! "But you ask, 'What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?' "You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies."" (Malachi 3:6-11 NLT)