Learning About Money The Hard Way
Going back to my paper route days, it seems that I've always been good at earning money. As for managing money, well, I didn't develop much of an interest in that until I turned a $60,000 inheritance into $20,000 of credit card debt!
I received the inheritance from an uncle when I was 25 years old, and used it to create a business centered on my passions for golf and travel: Links Review, a newsletter about golf courses at great golf vacation destinations. While the publication enabled me to play amazing courses from northern California to southern Spain, it suffered from one fairly important problem: very few subscribers. Blind to my financial situation, I kept pouring money into the venture. The turning point came two years after receiving the inheritance when I woke up to the hard reality that I had dug myself deeply into debt.
That experience, including six humbling months of living in my parents' basement and over four years of paying off my debts, changed my life. For starters, it prompted me to reevaluate the overall direction of my life. Ultimately, that path led me to turn a casual interest in spiritual matters into a committed Christian faith. Secondly, it forced me to face the fact that I had a lot to learn about managing money. So I began to study, and haven't stopped.
Early in that journey, I heard about and began volunteering with Good $ense , a ministry that teaches biblical principles of money management. Good $ense was founded in the late 1980's at Willow Creek Community Church, one of the nation's largest interdenominational churches, and is now active in over 2,000 churches. I have counseled many people one-on-one and taught countless workshops.
In 2005, with the amazing support of my adventurous wife, I left a lucrative corporate job to pursue a long-held dream of writing and speaking about biblical money management full-time. Doing so is one of my greatest joys.
Managing Money by The Book
- "I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." - Psalm 119:16
“We recently had Matt Bell speak at our church. He brought an outstanding message on developing a life of generosity that really touched and blessed our congregation. He is a well-prepared, well-spoken communicator of God’s truth. His use of illustrations and visual media combined with the Word of God made for a very powerful message for our people. I would highly recommend Matt to your ministry.”