- John Cortines is good with money,

and that's an understatement.

When he was in high school,

he saved $10,000 by mowing lawns.

He landed a six-figurejob right out of college

and was laser focused on the fast track

to retirement by age 40.

But, not anymore.

Take a look.

- [Narrator] John Cortinesbelieves in giving generously.

But he remembers a time whenbuilding personal wealth

was his priority.

- And even though, I wasdoing what I think most of us

would see as kind of theperfect thing a Christian

should do with their money,give 10%, save like crazy,

there was deep idolatry in my heart

and I believed that I could be secure

if I socked away enough money,

and I also believed that I hadvalue and worth as a person,

because I could build wealth.

- [Narrator] In the book, "True Riches",

John shares how Jesus dealt with money

and why he wants us to do the same.

- Please welcome to the700 Club, John Cortines.

It's great to have you here, John.

- Thanks so much.

Honor to be with you.

- What an interesting story you have.

You know it seems like buildingwealth is just in your DNA.

You were exceeding all your goals,

you then were offeredyour dream job overseas,

but you didn't take it.

What happened?

- That's right, well you knowI think between you and me

and everyone watching, we'reeither savers or spenders.

Typically we've got one way or the other,

and I was just wired to be a saver.

- [Terry] Wow!

- And that's something wecelebrate in our culture so often,

and yet what God startedrevealing to me was

there was an idolatry in that.

And I really believed, in my core,

I was looking in Luke 12,the story of the rich fool;

and it's a story again thatsounds like the American dream,

the rich fool built biggerbarns, he was gonna retire early,

he was doing a great job,and God said, "You fool."

Because he wasn't generous toward God.

And God was showing me,"Hey John, that's you."

"You're building wealth successfully,

"you're even giving to Christian causes,

"but your heart is oriented toward wealth

"and you think that yourpersonal worth is tied

"to your net worth."

"You're saying, John,you think your security

"and significance come fromhow much money you have."

And He really had tobreak through and say,

"No, your security and significance,

"that's through what JesusChrist has done on the cross."

"And it's time to reorient."

- I think the whole worldtreats people with money

as though they have greater value.

I'm not talking about financial value,

but greater value as human beings.

So it's pretty natural thatthat would happen to you.

You began to study the Scriptures.

What did you find out aboutJesus' attitude toward wealth?

- You know, it's fascinating.

Again, we live in a culturethat celebrates wealth

and the Scripturescertainly celebrate wealth

as a gift from God andblessings from God are

an amazing thing, andyet, there's this emphasis

that I was surprised by in my journey that

there's a warning on wealth.

There's this consistentwarning in the words of Jesus,

and He says, "You've gottawatch out because this thing

"can take you away."

He says, "You can't serve God and money."

He didn't say you can't serveGod and your other passions,

you can't serve God and political powers,

he said you can't serve God and money.

- Pulled out that one scenario, right?

- That's the one thatcan get you, absolutely.

- Well, you turned downyour job, and in doing that

you turned away from about 65%

of your potential earning power.

Tell me how the decision you made affected

your family's life.

- Sure.

Well you know, what happenedwith that is we had that

dream job lined up and theseason we were going through

of learning about Generous Giving,

looking at Scripture,hearing amazing stories.

There's this incredibleorganization called Generous Giving

we learned about.

Christian nonprofit, andthey tell amazing stories

of generosity and I'm on the team now.

And what we do is encouragepeople in their journey.

We're not gonna ask peoplefor money at our events,

but we encourage them to give generously,

as God has called them to.

So God began to reveal,in a very specific way,

that he was calling us toturn down my corporate job

and come work for thisnonprofit, Generous Giving.

And that was that sacrificethat you alluded to

and I think Megan and I, Megan's my wife,

and we had this impressionmaybe that if we follow God,

we may have to give up some money,

but we're gonna get amazingjoy and it's gonna be

so much fun and there'sgonna be rainbows erupting

all around us and you know--- How'd that work for you?

- God will bless us.

And I can tell you, it'sbeen a great journey.

I love the work I do, butthe sacrifice has been real.

And so often we don't like totalk about that part of it.

We cried tears when Godcalled us away from our dream

and we've cried tears allalong the road since then.

And Megan was telling me the other day,

we were talking about this, she said,

"You know, life has gottena lot harder since we

"went all in for Jesus,but we know him so much

"more intimately, and I wouldn'ttrade that for anything."

- Were you two always linked together

in your thinking on this?

- We have been and it'ssuch a blessing to have

a godly woman, likeMegan, to be married to.

I think I'm the one thatGod had to drag along

a little bit more andshe's been gracious to me.

But it is a journey andthere are times when

one of us is leading theother and we just see it

as a partnership wherewe have to communicate

and surrender together.

- In your book, "True Riches,

"What Jesus Really SaidAbout Money and Your Heart",

you talk about coveting andhow it's linked to sexual sin.

Talk about that, becausethat's an issue in our culture

today that's pervasive.

- That's right.

Well you know, the spirit of coveting

is the spirit that says,

"If I had something differentthan what I have now,

"I'd be okay."

And really if you think about it,

that's linked to a sexual mindset as well

that says, "I wanna gooutside the boundaries

"of what God has established,and then I'll be satisfied,

"then I'll have pleasure,then I'll have lasting joy."

And as we know, that's an empty promise.

Proverbs tell us thatenvy makes the bones rot.

And that's so true.

That's true sexually,that's true with money.

So I think it's in thedistinctive ethics of Christianity

and God's wisdom, where He says,

"I want you not to covetother things with money,

"but to live generously,and I want you to respect

"the sexual boundaries thatI've placed for your joy

"and for your wellbeing."

- So you and Megan havepretty much set a ceiling

for yourselves with your family.

You know that's a little bitdifferent than most people.

They look at, "How much should we give?"

You look at, "How much should we keep?"

That's a concept that youtalk about in the book

that's something we allmaybe need to contemplate.

- That's right, it's been anamazing thing for us to see

and we learned that fromwatching other Generous Givers.

We heard stories of peoplewho had been blessed by God

who were giving half their income away,

had again set a limit.

Randy Alcorn, a wonderful manof God, he has this quote,

"If God blesses you,consider not increasing your

"standard of living, butyour standard of giving."

So it's just our way oftrying to live that out

by having a ceiling, and it'snot this pious frugality,

that's not what it's about.

It's about living in joyful simplicity

and being able to give generously.

- So how does someonewho has a modest income

give generously?

I mean, someone might say,

"Well you have the gift of earning."

You've been able to saveand to create wealth.

How does someone whomaybe has a modest income

give generously?

- I'm so glad you asked that question,

because it's so important to me.

I think it's so importantto know that God is not

impressed by anyone's success,

but he's waiting for our surrender.

So it's very possibleto be a multimillionaire

watching today and God says,"You haven't surrendered."

Or to be someone of verymodest means and God is saying,

"I celebrate how you'vesurrendered to me."

Finances are one area ofour life where God wants to

walk in relationship with us.

And it's not abouthaving the perfect plan,

with all the steps lined up.

That's a good thing to do.

I'm doing that.

We should all consider doing that.

But that's not what Jesus talked about

when he talked about money.

He talked about ourheart and he talked about

our relationship with God, the Father.

One other thing I'd say on that.

You know, the story of the Prodigal Son.

Amazing story of God's grace.

The word prodigal actuallymeans financially wasteful.

So we've all, I have, youhave, everyone watching,

we've all made mistakes financially,

both in how we've used money,

and in the posture ofour heart toward money.

And God doesn't stand in condemnation,

but through Jesus Christ he says,

"I'm inviting you into adynamic relationship with me."

"Your finances are one wayI wanna walk that out."

"Would you come trustme and surrender to me?"

- Calling us to a higher place.

Well the book is wonderful.

Your story is very very inspiring.

The book is called "True Riches,

"What Jesus Really SaidAbout Money and Your Heart".

It's all about a relationship with Him.

And by the way, it'sthe blue book with the

pretty big letters on the front.

Get a hold of it, it's availablewherever books are sold.

It's a great challenge, John.

Thank you so much for your message.

- Thank you.