John Cortines Maclellan Foundation God and Money Financial Finish Line Podcast
Finish Line Podcast Episode 13

John Cortines, Author of God and Money, on Exchanging Retirement at 40 for a Financial Finish Line

You may tithe faithfully, save diligently, and avoid debt while still wondering whether building more wealth is really the goal of wise Christian finances.

What changes when you stop asking how much you should give and begin asking how much God is actually inviting you to keep?


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Meet your guide

John Cortines, author of God and Money and True Riches and director of generosity at the Maclellan Foundation, once approached money as a disciplined saver focused on financial independence and early retirement. While earning his MBA at Harvard Business School, an intensive study of Scripture challenged that framework and led him to reconsider what faithful Christian stewardship could look like.

John shares how generosity shifted from an obligation into a pathway toward greater joy, freedom, and relationship with God. He explains how that transformation led him and co-author Greg Baumer to explore spending and net worth finish lines, replacing the question of how much to give with the deeper question of how much to keep. He also discusses Spirit-led discernment, financial accountability through a personal board of directors, and how giving itself can shape your heart toward the things God cares about.

You may come away seeing a financial finish line not simply as a budgeting tool, but as a framework for surrender, spiritual formation, and greater freedom to participate in God’s work.

  • Why faithful stewardship asks how much you really need
  • How generosity can become a source of joy and freedom
  • What spending and net worth finish lines accomplish differently
  • Why choosing a finish line requires Spirit-led discernment
  • How financial transparency can strengthen accountability and wise decisions
  • Why giving can gradually reshape what your heart values

Inspired? Take your next step

Financial Finish Line Pledge Step 1

Take the Finish Line Assessment

Take a brief assessment to see if you are ready for a financial finish line right now 

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Use the Finish Line Builder to identify the finish line that fits your season of life best

Financial Finish Line Pledge Step 3

Try a 90 Day Finish Line Experiment

Receive practical guidance and encouragement as you spend 90 days with a finish line.

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Play the Game of Life Simulator

Not ready for the assessment? Try a quick interactive simulator to see how you stack up in managing wealth.

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Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

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Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot

Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

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Quotes to Remember

  • “Generosity is actually a mechanism for getting closer to God, and it brings joy, and it brings freedom, and it opens up a whole new avenue to purpose in life.”
  • “We had come into a study of God and money to ask, ‘How much so we really need to give?, but God flipped our perspective to, ‘How much do we need to keep?'”
  • “Rather than saying ‘What do I want to give money to?’, say ‘What does God’s Word direct me to?’. And then, in the process of giving to that, to actually cry out to God and say, ‘God, I don’t have your heart, but I believe you can shape mine and make it more like yours.'”

Links from the Show

Bible References from the Show

Luke 12:13-21 | The Rich Fool

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Proverbs 30:8 | Give Me Only What I Need

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

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Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
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Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
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