Larry Burkett freely admits that he has a money problem—a natural tendency to be a bit of a tightwad. He says that in the early years of his marriage he and his wife Judy frequently butted heads over money matters.

One of eight children, Burkett grew up poor, the son of a chronically underemployed electrician on the wrong side of the tracks in the otherwise affluent snowbird haven of Winter Park, Florida. His wife, by contrast, grew up in relatively well-to-do circumstances, with a lumber yard and orange groves among her grandparents' assets. While the ambitious Burkett worked at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy as an electrician during the 1960s while taking a full load of night classes, he constantly badgered his wife, Judy, to turn down the thermostat, turn off lights, and stop standing with the refrigerator door open.

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Given the touchy subject with which he deals and the Gantryesque image that has plagued evangelical leaders, Burkett and CFC have cultivated a rather austere image. By all accounts, both he and the organization have conducted themselves in an honest and unpretentious manner. Nonetheless, Burkett is a figure not untouched by controversy about the nature of the advice and opinions he gives his readers and listeners.

So, how did Burkett rise to become evangelical's financial answer man, and what exactly is he telling people?

It began with his conversion. In the 1960s and '70s, Burkett continued to move up the ladder in a variety of electrical-engineering jobs with General Electric, and as vice president of TestLine, a small electronics firm. Her husband's drive to succeed, though, meant that Judy Burkett now lived the life of a "workaholic's widow," caring for their four children ...