Raykel Tolson's Blog
April 7, 2025
Unlock Financial Freedom and Generational Wealth with the "Mind On My Money Workbook: Plan. Pocket. Protect."
April 6, 2023
Why Church Folk Are Poor: Breaking Free from Limiting Beliefs About Money
Why Are Church Folk Poor?
The world discovered the "Secret" and began prospering. The law of attraction was no secret to those of us in the church who have been reading and memorizing Biblical scriptures. Unfortunately, many of us have not accepted that the law of attraction is indeed a principle of God. I doubt I am the only person who was raised in the church to ask why people who love God, believe in the Bible, and attend church are poor.
There are more than two hundred scriptures that deal with money in the Bible. There are scriptures about budgeting, saving, tithing, borrowing, lending, investing, and prospering. The scripture that I remember often hearing, second only to the tithing scripture, was “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Unfortunately, growing up, I heard it misquoted as “Money is the root of all evil.” I used to think I was an evil person because I wanted money. The church had me convinced that I could either be rich or I could go to Heaven. I was challenged to dismantle these negative beliefs about money. I had to unlearn poverty thinking and learn prosperity thinking. Eric Butterworth said it best in his book Spiritual Economics, “the right attitude toward money is a root of all kinds of prosperity.”
I moved to Los Angeles from Orlando in 2006, and I thought that I would never be able to own a home because the housing prices extended far beyond my earnings. In 2016, God put in my spirit to purchase a house in Los Angeles. I laughed. Nevertheless, I humored God and completed a pre-approval loan application. To my surprise, the bank offered to loan me $500,000. I still wasn’t convinced that I could own a home in Los Angeles because I was still trapped by my negative thinking about money. How could I afford such an expensive house? I resigned myself to looking only at condos, which were significantly less than my pre-approval.
My landlord, and later my realtor, challenged me by refusing to send me listings of condos or even single-family homes. She insisted that I only look at multiple family units so that I could be a homeowner and landlord. The only property I found that I liked was listed at $629,000. I didn’t want to go and look at the property because it was too expensive. My realtor asked me the following questions. “Don’t you believe in God? Didn’t God say that He would give you the desires of your heart?”
Wow! She called me out. How dare I doubt that God could provide me with a home in Los Angeles? Is anything too hard for God? That was the day that I began to elevate my thoughts and exercise my faith. I am a believer that all I have to do is ask, and it will be given to me. And once I ask, it is not for me to figure out the how. All I am required to do is to expect that God will keep His promise.
Why are Church Folk Poor is a practical reference that allows the reader to examine his or her relationship with money. Each chapter offers exercises for self-analysis. Why Are Church Folk Poor is a book for people who are ready to live the abundant life that Jesus promised.
December 14, 2022
I Need A Christmas Angel
Angels are celebrated most at Christmas because it was the angel Gabriel who brought the news of the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. Another angel proclaimed to the shepherd in the fields that Jesus was born and that they would find him lying in a manger. My favorite Christmas stories are those with angels, like The Preacher's Wife and It's A Wonderful Life. I religiously watched the television show Touched by an Angel because I love angels. Ironically, I found my way to the church founded and pastored by Rev. Della Reese Lett, one of the show's stars.
Recently, I was told that if you take a picture and see a green orb, an angel is present. My mother would point out moments when she believed an angel was present. The thought that angels are roaming the earth to protect, comfort, and guide us brings me joy.
The dictionary defines an angel as a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God. That definition defines us all. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and God expects every one of us to act as attendants, agents, and messengers. This doesn't negate my belief in celestial beings who roam the earth doing God's bidding. However, as children of God, I think it is vital that we stay ready to be the voice and hands of God. Have you ever called someone out of the blue and were told that they needed to hear a friendly voice? That was you being the voice of God. Has someone ever held the door open for you when your hands were too full to open it for yourself? That was them being the hands of God.
Christmas is not the "most wonderful time of year" for everyone. The holidays can make people who live alone feel more lonely. They can also make a person with no money for gifts feel like a failure. And for those who have lost loved ones, the holidays always bring feelings of grief. So the holidays are the perfect time for us to avail ourselves to be the heart of God and show love to those around us.
I wrote my first Christmas romance novella; I Need A Christmas Angel. In the story, the heroine is depressed and hopeless after being fired a week before Christmas and wishes for a Christmas Angel to come to work its magic. The people around her, including her childhood crush, avail themselves to help lift her spirits. I hope this holiday season will give you many opportunities to be the angel someone is praying for. And if it's you who needs an angel this holiday season, I do not doubt that God will send one your way.
Happy Holidays,
Dr. Raykel Tolson
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November 2, 2022
JUST WRITE THE BOOK
According to a survey conducted by One Poll on behalf of Thrift Books, more than half of the 2000 people surveyed said they wanted to write a book. Of the roughly 1080 people who wanted to write a book, 162 started, 65 got halfway through, and only 86 completed their book. A few of the excuses for not starting or completing were no time, got bored with the process, or perfectionism. Have you been thinking about writing a book? What is keeping you from writing your book?
Some of you may be thinking there are already too many authors in the United States. According to Statista.com in 2021, there were roughly 49,410 people in the United States who were authors and writers. That is a little over 1% of the population. There is room for more authors. Some may think that your story isn’t important. If you are African American, then your story is not only important but necessary. According to data collected by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education in 2020, only 13% of literature was stories about Black people, and less than 8% of books were by a Black author. One of the societal benefits of literature is that it creates empathy. Maybe the majority in the United States would have more empathy toward Black people if more of our stories were published.
Another excuse that keeps many from writing the book that has been placed in their heart is that someone else has already published a similar book. To that I say, what if John refused to write his book about Jesus because Matthew, Mark, and Luke beat him to it? If you have ever read the first four chapter of the New Testament in the Bible, then you know that none of them are the same, although they were all stories about the life of Jesus. Matthew focused on the royalty of Jesus, Mark focused on the servanthood of Jesus, Luke focused on the humanity of Jesus, and John focused on the Deity of Jesus. I am so glad that John decided to write his book because I connect more with it.
If perfectionism is keeping you from starting or finishing your book, do me a favor and say this aloud, “Done is better than perfect!” Perfectionism is typically about fear of failure. I understand that you don’t want to have your name associated with a poorly written book, so I will give you 3 tips to keep that from happening.
1. Read books that are like the book you want to write.
2. Make sure your message is authentic.
3. HIRE AN EDITOR!
I often suggest to people to write a novel or novella because fiction is a great way to keep from falling out with family and friends. Our stories are never just our story. Where nonfiction is your message as a discussion, fiction is your message as a story. In fiction, you need characters and a plot. The easiest way to explain the plot is that somebody somewhere wants something, but stuff happens until they do this to finally get what they want (or need). And the more dramatic the stuff that happens, the more interesting the story.
I encourage you to use November to just write the book. You might not finish your entire book, but you will have made progress.
Blessings & Happy Holidays!
Dr. Raykel Tolson
