One idea I have had is that the Christian community pays off the debt of it's members. This serves two purposes - the capital that WOULD have gone toward interest is now kept, and the type of things that get paid off (or don't) are determined by the community, leading toward more accountability toward one's splurges.
After all, if you're openly discussing financing your second mortgage versus another parishioner's medical expenses, it'll put some perspective on what is important.
And no, I do not currently do this. But I'm willing to move in that direction, and we're working activity on destroying the debt we yet have.
Dave
· 1 year ago
This is an incredible suggestion! I'm actually speechless. Truly challenging. Thanks for posting this.
M. R. Wilson
· 1 year ago
Thank you for real ideas for real action for these oh too real concerns.
Shalom!
Jason J
· 1 year ago
This article is so right on! Thanks for posting it!
The get out of debt thing is HUGE with my wife and I. We have been preaching and teaching on it for a while with a lot of resistance. Most people I know want to argue the semantics of good debt vs. bad debt, blah blah blah.. I know that if the crap hits the fan, it will all be bad debt.
My wife and I have a modest mortgage and student loans, so we're paying about $1500 a month to banks. I know I would much rather be able to bless others rather than pay that money to financial institutions and banks.
Just like your father, I am a pharmacist, which is a great job for bad economic times. I pray that God can allow me to be a blessing to others in hard times and that He'll grant me the ability to pay down all of our loans before any kind of crisis hit.
BDRhodes
· 1 year ago
Your "get serious about community" hits the bullseye. People who have made it through hard times, through collapses of societies like Russia, all say that belonging to a firm local network of relationships is foundational survival in exceedingly gloomy times. To say nothing of somehow even emotionally and spiritually THRIVING in said times.
Many of us have, not least myself, have probably been occasionally accused of being kinda Chicken Little about this stuff (www.oiltruth.com) in the past, and indeed now it's been sobering to see it all coming so fast and so soon and so hard. Thank you for starting this conversation here.
What of the heaving population dislocations that this is all going to cause? Of the millions of unemployed moving out of Michigan, of the debt-addled folks in Cali heading to greener pastures elsewhere, of a water-hungry Arizona seeing its population relocate to stabler states. What this will do to the church's ability to accomodate major immigrations to their towns and neighborhoods should prove interesting. For all the voices calling for the discipline of Hospitality, this may soon be your moment. :)
I was away ranching and farming in New Zealand for September and October, when so much of this was happening; when I got back to the 'States, a coworker with whom I have talked about this Peak-Oil-OMG catastrof*ck eco-apocalypticism stuff with said, "Brandon, why did you come back?"
I didn't have to pause to find my answer. "There are people here that I love." That, in the face of all this hardship, is what drives me to stay the storm, to weather the long emergency that it feels like this fast-dissolving empire is dive-bombing into.
rbooze
· 1 year ago
My feeling was right all along. The Mayans were right about 2012!
joet
· 1 year ago
I'm not sure about the idea of churches paying off debts - there is only so much money in the kitty, so inevitably people would try to take advantage of the generosity. But what is undoubtedly true is that churches will need to become much more directly involved in assisting those in financial trouble.
All Comments
One idea I have had is that the Christian community pays off the debt of it's members. This serves two purposes - the capital that WOULD have gone toward interest is now kept, and the type of things that get paid off (or don't) are determined by the community, leading toward more accountability toward one's splurges.
After all, if you're openly discussing financing your second mortgage versus another parishioner's medical expenses, it'll put some perspective on what is important.
And no, I do not currently do this. But I'm willing to move in that direction, and we're working activity on destroying the debt we yet have.
Shalom!
The get out of debt thing is HUGE with my wife and I. We have been preaching and teaching on it for a while with a lot of resistance. Most people I know want to argue the semantics of good debt vs. bad debt, blah blah blah.. I know that if the crap hits the fan, it will all be bad debt.
My wife and I have a modest mortgage and student loans, so we're paying about $1500 a month to banks. I know I would much rather be able to bless others rather than pay that money to financial institutions and banks.
Just like your father, I am a pharmacist, which is a great job for bad economic times. I pray that God can allow me to be a blessing to others in hard times and that He'll grant me the ability to pay down all of our loans before any kind of crisis hit.
Many of us have, not least myself, have probably been occasionally accused of being kinda Chicken Little about this stuff (www.oiltruth.com) in the past, and indeed now it's been sobering to see it all coming so fast and so soon and so hard. Thank you for starting this conversation here.
What of the heaving population dislocations that this is all going to cause? Of the millions of unemployed moving out of Michigan, of the debt-addled folks in Cali heading to greener pastures elsewhere, of a water-hungry Arizona seeing its population relocate to stabler states. What this will do to the church's ability to accomodate major immigrations to their towns and neighborhoods should prove interesting. For all the voices calling for the discipline of Hospitality, this may soon be your moment. :)
I was away ranching and farming in New Zealand for September and October, when so much of this was happening; when I got back to the 'States, a coworker with whom I have talked about this Peak-Oil-OMG catastrof*ck eco-apocalypticism stuff with said, "Brandon, why did you come back?"
I didn't have to pause to find my answer. "There are people here that I love." That, in the face of all this hardship, is what drives me to stay the storm, to weather the long emergency that it feels like this fast-dissolving empire is dive-bombing into.