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DEBT

Recently low interest rates are luring many Americans to take on record levels of debt, which might create a repayment crisis in the future. Mortgage rates are at record lows, car dealers are offering zero percent financing, and “buy now pay later” advertisements are everywhere. Spurred by the easy credit, household debt is rising about 10 percent a year. The problem is, the growth of annual income was only 3.7 percent in April. 

Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust says, “We keep encouraging this addict, the debt addict, to take another fix. And the economy grows…but in the long run, of course, is it not sustainable. When rates do start going up it could be somewhat of a problem.” 

Recent surveys show that consumers are not oblivious to the problem. 25 percent of Americans say they are “very worried” about their ability to repay debt, while another 25 percent say they can manage only as long as their current income holds steady. 

Over the past year, the debt load has produced a record 1.57 million personal bankruptcies. Mortgage defaults are at a record high, and credit card delinquencies are also up sharply. 

—Reuters Limited, June 24, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell 

Romans 13:8 NIV “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt of love for one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” 

DEBT

Jacqueline Williams owed Consumers Energy of Flint, Michigan $1,662.08 for her energy bill. She lives on Social Security and couldn't come up with that kind of money, so she turned to the Department of Human Services and the Salvation Army for help. Collectively, they gave her $1231.41 toward the bill. The electric company agreed to forgive $430.66 of the bill, leaving only .01. 

When she couldn't come up with the penny, Consumer Energy shut off her electricity and wasn't restored until she paid the bill in full. 

—http://www.ftimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=33833&TM=29989.87 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson 

Matthew 5:25-26 (NIV) "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. [26] I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

The debt we owe is our own. But we could not pay it any more than Juan Zamora could pay his $81 billion dollar debt. Juan was eventually able to convince the company that, while gas prices may be extremely high, his Camaro would not hold $81 billion dollars worth of gas. In our case, Jesus paid our debt for us. 

Muszynski spent hours on the phone with several companies trying to resolve the problem, but afterwards still felt like the most debt-ridden person in the world.  Fortunately, the debit company realized the mistake the following day, and returned Muszynski’s account to normal, and refunded the overdraft fee.  The bank claimed the charge was due to “a temporary programming error. . (which) caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted.”

--Pack of smokes? That’ll be $23 quadrillion dollars please;http://www. walletpop. com/blog/2009/07/15/pack-of-smokes-thatll-be-23-quadrillion-please; July 15, 2009.  Illustration by Jim L.  Wilson and Jim Sandell. 

In this case it was just a debt--the credit company didn’t just erase 23 quadrillion dollar off their books—they corrected a mistake. Our debt isn’t so easy to erase.  I don’t mean what we owe the bank, I mean the debt caused by our sin. We all owe the Lord a debt, we can never repay.  Jesus paid the entire debt on the cross. 

Colossians 2:13-14 GNB “You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law.  But God has now brought you to life with Christ.  God forgave us all our sins; he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross.” 

DeMint: Too Ugly to Run For President in 2012; http://www. usnews. com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/07/07/demint-too-ugly-to-run-for-president-in-2012. html; July 7, 2009; Illustration by Jim L.  Wilson and Jim Sandell. 

It is interesting to see how much our society still values appearance over substance. 

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the #LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 

Writing about the current credit crisis in American life, Gigi A. Berman learned an old truth. Benjamin Franklin said, “He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.” 

--Time March 29, 2010 p. 50. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Old Ben wasn’t the first sage to warn us of the danger of debt. Many years earlier King Solomon gave the same warning. 

Proverbs 22:7 (NASB77) “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.” 

The owner of a Sacramento, California car wash says he is still not sure how an alleged debt of 4 pennies led to an uncomfortable conformation with federal agents. Aaron Zeff said the manager at the car wash he owns was confronted by two agents from the Internal Revenue Service, claiming the business owed the government 4 cents from the 2006 tax year. They said in the intervening years, penalties and late fees caused the debt to grow to more than $200. Zeff said he is in the process of resolving the problem with the IRS, and he did not know how penalties on four cents could reach more than $200. Zeff’s lawyer noted the agency probably spent more in time and gas to confront the business than the $200 alleged debt. Zeff told reporters, “There’s no malice here. “ (The IRS is) interested in doing their job and I’m just interested in staying in business,”

 Zeff said the experience has motivated him to conduct a fundraiser, charging only 4 cents per car wash on April 15th. Zeff plans to donate anything paid above that amount to help a local shelter serve victims of domestic violence. 

--IRS confronts car wash over alleged 4-cent debt, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/15/20100315four-cent-debt-with-IRS-car-wash.html ; March 15, 2010,  Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Matthew 5:25-26 (HCSB) “Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. (26) I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!” 

A new poll conducted for the Associated Press has found the 46 percent of Americans say they are suffering from debt related stress. Half of those who reported feeling stressed over debt described their stress level as “a great deal” or “quite a bit.” Though other statistics show the average family has begun to reduce debt, there is still a lot of concern over the economy because a lot of people remain unemployed, and the numbers of mortgage foreclosures are still high.

On average people are carrying around $44,000 in debt including mortgages, credit cards, car loans, and other consumer debt. The last time the unemployment rate topped 10 percent, per capita debt was only about $14,000 based on the current value of the dollar. A research psychologist who analyzed the poll results said women, married couples, people aged 30-44, and the poor with incomes under $20,000 a year reported the greatest amounts of stress, while men, singles, and people with high incomes experienced the least stress over debt. Retired mechanical engineer Patrick Burns says he doesn’t have much stress over debt because he doesn’t have any. Burns said, “I’ve never really gotten into debt. I’ve always kind of lived within my means, and I’ve found there’s a lot less stress with that.”

--Poll finds debt-dogged Americans stressed out, http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10782052 May 30, 2010,  Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Proverbs 22:7 CEV The poor are ruled by the rich, and those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders. 

The best type of debt is debt that builds wealth over the long run, and the No. 1 example of that is mortgage debt.

"Home values have increased an average of 6.5 percent a year over the past 30 years," says Bach. "So when you borrow to buy a home, chances are that's good debt. You'll build value."

-by Good Debt vs. Bad Debt by Bankrate.com, Tuesday July 13, 2010. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109993/good-debt-vs-bad-debt?mod=oneclick (accessed 7/13/2010) Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Wilson Tsoi

No one likes to be a debtor. We want to get rid of the debt as soon as possible so that we can experience the freedom. In the Book of Romans mentioned about that through Jesus’ blood, we are free from the debt of sin. But we have another debt – the debt of love each other, which is the good debt and will increase our assess.

Romans 6:8 (ESV) “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for(I) the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” 

Baseball is dependent on the weather. A sudden thunderstorm or windy conditions might delay a game. A game between the Worcester Tornados and the Newark Bears may be the only game ever delayed because of debt. The game started an hour late after representatives from a local cleaning company came to take possession of the Tornados equipment because they had not been paid. The company claimed they had not been paid in a year and received a court order to seize some the team’s assets to cover the bill.  The team promised to pay the $5,500 it owed and the game began after the cleaning company agreed to the arrangement. Court records show the Tornados are facing at least two other lawsuits because of unpaid bills. That may be the least of their concerns however, because the minor league team was 29 games out of first place after they lost to the Bears that night. – Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Minor League game Delayed because of Team’s Huge Debt to Cleaners, by Robbie Levin, http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201208/minor-league-game-delayed-because-teams-huge-debt-cleaners;  Accessed August 15, 2012.

Romans 13:8 (HCSB) “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

A Russian man has come up with a unique plan to avoid paying his traffic tickets. The unidentified man said there was no reason to pay his fines because the world is going to end in December 2012 anyway. After a minor traffic accident the man was fined 1,000 rubles ($32), but showed debt collectors several charts outlining Mayan predictions that the world would end December 21st, 2012, and refused to pay. The debt collection agency says they will look into other means of collecting the money. The official statement from the agency said, “The debtor believes that if people are kinder to each other and forgive each other’s debts, the world will not end.”— Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Doomsday near, man won’t pay traffic fine, http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/10/26/Doomsday-near-man-wont-pay-traffic-fine/UPI-42271351279793, Accessed October 26, 2012

Romans 13:8 (ESV) “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” 

As we try to stay out of debt, society offers us more and more ways to get in over our heads. Researchers at George Washington University say one in four Americans has used “alternative financing” options such as payday loans, pawn shops, auto-title loans, and tax refund anticipation loans. 

Believers trying to stay financially responsible need to be more and more careful about spending. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

The Week, May 10, 2013, p. 32

Romans 13:8 (ESV) Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

Many people at some point discover their debt is more than they can easily handle. That point came suddenly to Ann Wiley of Gwinnett County, Ga. Her bank cut her off when she attempted to make an online payment. When she looked at her balance it was in the red. It was $100 million in the red. She logged into her account and discovered that not only was her checking account underwater her savings account was another negative $100 million. The next morning, the checking debt was $200 million. 

 Fortunately for Ann, the problem was a banking error that was discovered and corrected. For many however, the error is not the banks, and the solution is not so quick. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

World, July 13, 2013 p. 19

Romans 13:8 (NASB) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 

Citizens of Detroit, one of the hardest hit cities in these tough economic times, carry the least amount of personal debt, on average, of all major U.S. Cities. The amount is still a staggering $23,604 per person not including mortgage debt. 

Scripture is clear that financial debt makes one a prisoner. There is a reason having no debt is called financial freedom. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

The Week, May 23, 2014 p. 34

Romans 13:8-10 (HCSB) (8) Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. (10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. 

Debt is a monster in our culture threatening to devour individuals and families. One indicator of how close to the edge of insolvency people live can be seen by the fact that there are more payday lender locations in the U. S. then there are Starbucks and McDonald’s locations combined. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

The Week, August 22, 2014 p. 32

Proverbs 22:7 (NASB) The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave. 

A survey investigating personal finances has found that roughly 18% of Americans say they expect to be in debt for the rest of their lives.  The number has effectively doubled since the last time the survey was taken in May 2013. Overall the survey found that credit card indebtedness has increased moderately since 2013, although the number of mortgage delinquencies has dropped. Besides those who feel they will be in debt for the rest of their life, another 25 percent expect to be in debt until at least age 61. In fact 31 percent of people over the age of 65 expect to be lifelong debtors, compared to 22 percent of those aged 50 to 64 and just 6 percent 6 of those aged 18 to 29.—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Nearly One in Five Americans Say They'll Be in Debt Forever, http://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/nearly-one-five-americans-say-theyll-be-debt-forever-n265531,  December 10, 2014.

Romans 13:8 (NLT) “Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.” 
 

In 1996, 58% of students used loans to finance their education. At graduation they owed less than $20,000. In 2015, 71% of graduating students took out loans and owe an average of $35,051 each. 
 
We are launching our children into the world already financially indebted. They are mortgaging their future, many with no hope of earning enough to repay the loans. 
 
Our college graduates begin their careers as slaves to the banks and to the government, which backs the loans. -- Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell 

The Week, May 22, 2015 p. 14.

Proverbs 22:7 (HCSB) The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender. 
 

DEBT

The personal finance guru in The New York Times, Carl Richards, has an interesting suggestion for staying out of debt, or at least lowering it significantly. His suggestion is to pay for the item first, by putting the money aside in a savings account. If you can’t wait to save up for the whole amount, every month’s worth of payments you lay aside, the less debt you will have.

When we borrow money we make a presumption about God’s provision, exactly what James warns us about. If it takes an expert to convince us to buy things we can afford to pay for, then so be it. It should just be common sense. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Skip Credit Cards and Preload Monthly Payments Instead,  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/your-money/household-budgeting/skip-credit-cards-and-preload-monthly-payments-instead.html

James 4:13–15 (HCSB) “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ ¹⁴ You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”

DEBT

The chief fiscal officer for the state of Illinois said she does not know how big Illinois’s pile of unpaid bills really is. The state sold $4.5 billion worth of bonds to pay down the estimated $16.6 billion it owes to contactors, health care providers, and others. Part of the problem is state agencies only have to report to the comptroller once a year and by the time the reports are made the information is already outdated. The governor recently vetoed a bill that would have required monthly reporting, but legislators hope to override the veto in order to help resolve the current budget crisis. Comptroller Susana Mendoza says the more precise accounting would help keep track of how much interest the state is paying. She estimates the state may already owe over $900 million in late payment penalties. In an interview, she said, “This is a first step in hopefully even giving the markets greater confidence that Illinois is moving in the right direction when it comes to full transparency on our finances.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-25/even-illinois-s-cfo-doesn-t-know-how-many-state-bills-are-unpaid

Proverbs 22:7 (CSB)

The rich rule over the poor,

and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

DEBT

One hundred and forty nine passengers were preparing to fly to London, when French authorities ordered the seizing of their jet. The jet, owned by Ryanair, was released because the company had ignored attempts to get them to repay funds the European Union had declared to be illegal subsidies. Authorities had been trying to collect the money since 2014 and had sent a final notice six months earlier.  They decided it was time to act.

Authorities released the plane after Ryanair paid a bill of over $600,000. The passengers flew on another flight that finally got them to London, five hours late.   The company did not comment on the incident, but a civil aviation authority said the carrier owed the money and it was “regrettable that the state was forced” to evacuate the plane. –Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

https://www.yahoo.com/news/france-impounds-ryanair-plane-tarmac-133835574.html

Romans 13:8 (CSB) “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

DEBT

A New Jersey mega-church helped pay off $13.7 million in medical debt for roughly 3,800 individuals and families in their community. Lead Pastor and founder of Liquid Church, Tim Lucas said the church discovered that medical debt was destroying the financial stability of families in their community. They decided to team up with a nonprofit medical Debt company that raises money and uses those funds to buy medical debt for pennies on the dollar and then forgive the debt, so debtors incur no expenses.  Lucas said, the church was experiencing their own challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, but still wanted to help. He said, “In response to the pandemic, our church had a heart to give some fresh hope to our neighbors in need. We want them to have a clean slate to start 2021 and remind them that they’re loved, and God has not forgotten them.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

https://www.christianpost.com/church-ministries/liquid-church-helps-to-eliminate-137-million-in-medical-debt.html

Romans 13:8 (CSB)

Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.