Question: “What does the Bible say about a Christian going into debt?”

Answer: Paul’s charge to us in Romans 13:8 to owe nothing but love is a powerful reminder of God’s distaste for all forms of debt that are not being paid in a timely manner (see also Psalm 37:21). At the same time, the Bible does not explicitly command against all forms of debt. The Bible warns against debt, and extols the virtue of not going into debt, but does not forbid debt. The Bible has harsh words of condemnation for lenders who abuse those who are bound to them in debt, but it does not condemn the debtor.

Some people question the charging of any interest on loans, but several times in the Bible we see that a fair interest rate is expected to be received on borrowed money (Proverbs 28:8; Matthew 25:27). In ancient Israel the Law did prohibit charging interest on one category of loans—those made to the poor (Leviticus 25:35-38). This law had many social, financial, and spiritual implications, but two are especially worth mentioning. First, the law genuinely helped the poor by not making their situation worse. It was bad enough to have fallen into poverty, and it could be humiliating to have to seek assistance. But if, in addition to repaying the loan, a poor person had to make crushing interest payments, the obligation would be more hurtful than helpful.

Second, the law taught an important spiritual lesson. For a lender to forego interest on a loan to a poor person would be an act of mercy. He would be losing the use of that money while it was loaned out. Yet that would be a tangible way of expressing gratitude to God for His mercy in not charging His people “interest” for the grace He has extended to them. Just as God had mercifully brought the Israelites out of Egypt when they were nothing but penniless slaves and had given them a land of their own (Leviticus 25:38), so He expected them to express similar kindness to their own poor citizens.

Christians are in a parallel situation. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has paid our sin debt to God. Now, as we have opportunity, we can help others in need, particularly fellow believers, with loans that do not escalate their troubles. Jesus even gave a parable along these lines about two creditors and their attitude toward forgiveness (Matthew 18:23-35).

The Bible neither expressly forbids nor condones the borrowing of money. The wisdom of the Bible teaches us that it is usually not a good idea to go into debt. Debt essentially makes us a slave to the one who provides the loan. At the same time, in some situations going into debt is a “necessary evil.” As long as money is being handled wisely and the debt payments are manageable, a Christian can take on the burden of financial debt if it is absolutely necessary.

Recommended Resources:

How to Manage Your Money: An In-Depth Bible Study On Personal Finances by Larry Burkett

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey.

A new documentary, “Blood Money,” shows  the abortion industry as a hardcore business that uses scripted “counseling” by people through a hotline, and marketing strategies including discounts for early choices to have an abortion, among others.

“Blood Money” includes interviews with Carol Everett, who once managed three abortion clinics in Dallas County and is now a pro-life speaker and book author, according to the Christian Post.

The film also shows that the inception of abortion clinics in the U.S. came in stages starting with Planned Parenthood.

Also depicted are the emotional underpinnings that the experience of abortion has on the mother, according to the film’s website.

Everett also notes that the health consequence of a failed abortion is rarely highlighted. In her testimony that is shown in the Priests for Life website, she mentions a 12-page form written by an abortion clinic that a client must sign before undergoing treatment.

Everett said in her testimony, “it was written to confuse the girl to death. It had every possible complication of an abortion you could imagine, and it would take [a doctor] two hours with a medical dictionary to go through it. (It uses) words …. no one could possibly understand, and it does its job. It confuses her and she doesn’t ask any questions.”

Complications have actually occurred, Everett says, including a woman who ended up with a perforated uterus so that her bowel stuck out from her vagina; and of another woman who bled to death when the doctors pulled out the back of her uterus, the Christian Post said.

“Blood Money,” also features the testimonies of priests, scientists, lawyers, abortion patients and clinic insiders who say it is more of a means to make big money than a medical service. Everett noted in her testimony that an abortion clinic is structured in such a way that if an error occurs, it is hard to pin liability.

“Blood Money” cites counselors who are trained to sell abortions and who have scripts to refer to; and doctors who do 20 to 30 abortions in an hour. Discounts are offered to newly-diagnosed mothers if they decide immediately for an abortion, the Christian Post reported.

Testimonials in the film also come from pro-life groups such as Pro-Life Unity and Priests for Life. Abortion patients also told of how they felt coerced to have an abortion, detailed the procedures they underwent, and experienced depression and tried to commit suicide, the Christian Post said.

The narrator of “Blood Money” is Alveda King, the daughter of the late civil rights leader, Rev. Martin Luther King. Alveda blames the U.S. Supreme Court for the rise in abortion clinics when they ruled in favor of abortion by 7-2 in the Roe v. Wade case in 1973.

“Blood Money” was shown last month at the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Chicago. Executive Producer David Kyle said they are hoping that they can find an interested distributor so that it can be shown in other theaters, the Christian Post said.

Currently, the film is available on  DVD  at  www.bloodmoneyfilm.com.

Human trafficking. Sex slaves. Child slavery.

It’s something Americans associate with a few European or third world countries. But the U.S. State Department’s 2009 “Trafficking in Humans” Report documents problems in 175 nations.

Girls, women, children and even teen boys are being deceived, kidnapped, trapped and shipped everywhere from America to Africa.

And it could be happening at our neighborhood mini-market.

The wholesale trafficking of humans

From California to New England, the problem is spreading within the United States. It’s becoming as uncontrollable as the drug war that has raged for decades, despite the government’s best efforts.

The estimated FBI numbers from sources as varied as ABC Primetime in 2006 to Christianity Today in 2010 show 100,000-300,000 teens and children under the age of 18 have been trafficked within the states per year.

It is harder to obtain statistics for adult victims, because of a finer line between “voluntary” and forced prostitution or sexual slavery.

In April 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s office brought sex trafficking charges against the Gambino family, notoriously reputed to be part of the elusive “mob” in America.

With the arrest of 14 people, the charges include trapping girls to sell for sex at high stakes poker games in the middle of busy Manhattan.

Engaging in human trafficking is a new low even for the mob, U.S. Attorney’s office representatives stated in a press conference covered by MSNBC.

Also in April, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that human trafficking has become the biggest “invisible” crime in the state. Florida House Bill 633 and Senate Bill 966 are currently being proposed to help law enforcement push back against the sex slavery trade.

How can this happen in America?
The massive amounts of money to be made through human trafficking is a powerful aphrodisiac that has enticed more people, even women, to deal in such crimes. In the Gambino case, one of the people arrested was a woman known to be involved in luring the victims.

The process of obtaining victims for human trafficking:
For most teen girls and women, if they are not outright kidnapped, they’re being enticed by the possibility of modeling or acting jobs. The Hollywood dream of obtaining fame and fortune at a young age through television and movies has become an obsession.

When they get to their destination, they are thrown into vehicles or locked in back bedrooms and sold to countless customers for sex acts, sexual abuse, and to appear in pornographic movies against their will.

They may be starved, drugged, verbally abused to the point of having no self-esteem, and threatened with death if they attempt to escape.

For girls and boys who do run away from home, criminals recognize their vulnerability, hunger and brokenness and are able to entice them into prostitution and porn films with the promise of money. The victim may receive tiny payments to keep them involved.

For children, it often starts with simple nabbing from neighborhoods.

A U.S. Government grant helped reveal the child trafficking problem:
In 2008, an organization called Shared Hope International (SHI) applied for and received a government grant to study the suspected nationwide crisis of child trafficking between states. Their resulting survey revealed that many of the children were often being misidentified as delinquents, and  punished for crimes when they were actually victims.

Since then, the FBI and agencies such as the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families have started training personnel to recognize when a person is a human trafficking victim instead of a runaway or criminal themselves (HHS Fact Sheet here).

See the Underground’s previous report, “Sex + Money,” about the ongoing production of a new movie aimed at exposing the U.S. sex slave industry.

Scriptural Principles & Healthy Mindsets to Live By

So the secret has been revealed. The cat is out of the bag. America is in the midst of strained and struggling economic conditions. I know you’re shocked. Please refrain from gasping in utter surprise, as hyperventilation is not particularly the healthiest means of expressing one’s “flabbergasted-ness.”

You certainly don’t have to be an avid news junkie to realize the weightiness of the financial demise our country has become immersed in. Job loss and home foreclosures are at an all-time high. Small businesses and even corporate conglomerates are closing their doors left and right. Families are cutting back on grocery bills and even the most devoted of churchgoers are steadily placing less and less into the Sunday offering plate. Across the country, Americans are wondering: “What will be the ultimate outcome of the poor economy? Is there a leader who can turn things around?”

Almost in synchronization with the recent poor economy has come a wave of increasing depression statistics. According to Depression Guide:

• Approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder.
• Major depressive disorder affects 9.9 million American adults, or about 5.0 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all had those days. It is certainly easy to adopt a negative or pessimistic outlook on life during such financially unstable time. All too often, however, it is these very outlooks that lead to such staggering depression percentages among adults. So where is the hope? What in life is worth clinging to? What in life can give us the strength to keep going?

In such poor economic times, how can we truly not worry about money issues?

We desperately need to be reminded, as a nation, who our God is. We need to be reminded of His grace and eternal sovereignty. I believe the Psalmist David got it right when he said:

“The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught…The Lord made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands…[But] the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever.” (Psalm 15-16a, 18: Amplified Bible)

In case you were wondering, it is the Lord God Himself who is not forgetting the needs of the poor and the meek referred to by David in the aforementioned passage. How often we limit our Creator! How often we downsize His limitless, unfathomable mercy, might, and majesty! May we always remember that He remembers us!

In his excellent book My Heart’s Desire: Living Every Moment in the Wonder of Worship, renowned Christian author, pastor, and speaker Dr. David Jeremiah says, “Life has its holocausts—that’s not news. The real story is the persistence of glory rising from the ashes. How is it that within the context of the worst life can dish out, many people come to love and to glorify God more deeply? I don’t know the whys and wherefores of the evil that is allowed to afflict us. It’s an enigma whose answers won’t be unraveled in this lifetime. But the worst of misery is overshadowed by the wonder of faith; we marvel when people can look into the sky after it has fallen upon them with a crash and whisper, ‘Praise the Lord anyway!’”

There is indeed something to be said for maintaining an outlook and lifestyle reflective of true joy, even during the most uncertain of times. It is a trait very much lacking in our current culture. But in exercising an attitude and mindset of joy, we must simultaneously remember not to worry. As busy, hardworking Americans, how often do we worry and fret over monetary issues? Perhaps the words of Jesus Himself are needed to address this particular warning:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25-27, New American Standard-updated ed.)

What indeed will it profit a man to worry about that which he cannot control? Why not walk, live, rest, hope, and trust in the all-sufficient grace and plan of Jesus Christ? It won’t always be easy. The days will be long and the road will be hard. But, in keeping with the words of David, we have not been, nor are we being overlooked by our loving Creator.