When I was a younger man, I had to make the most humiliating phone call of my life. I called my dad, explained that we were out of money and asked if I could move my family in with him and Mom.

 

There I was, a CPA highly recruited out of graduate school, and less than 10 years later I had hit rock bottom financially. I wish I could have blamed financial calamities beyond my control. The truth? I had fallen victim to many of the myths that keep most American households from achieving their financial goals. We made bad choices—and it wiped us out.

 

After I moved my wife and two children in with my parents, I woke to my need to learn the realities of financial life that weren’t taught in business school. With God’s help, I discovered six myths that had deceived me.

 

 

Rich Marshall is concluding a talk at a Business Men's Fellowship (BMF) conference in Los Angeles. After inviting several pastors in the crowd to join him, the group kneels in the hotel banquet room. Then the former pastor leads the group in an apology for the way they have misused and misunderstood businessmen.

 

"There is no division between church and business, clergy and laity, ministers in church and ministers in business," he says. "In the name of Jesus, we release a new creativity, power, anointing, authority and dominion over you."

 

Later, the reaction from various members of the group is pronounced.

 

Best-selling author and speaker Zig Ziglar says it's the media's fault. The former salesman turned best-selling author and popular speaker, whose quick wit and humor keeps audiences smiling, says the media have so intimidated people that they think they're not supposed to publicly discuss politics or faith. Yet he can't think of anything more important than our government or belief in God.

 

"We've got to start talking about it," he says. "I regularly tell my Sunday school class that everyone else is coming out of the closet. It's high time we do, too."

 

For Ziglar, speaking his mind comes as easily as breathing. And sharing his faith is a continuing experience.