Comments on: Is your mortgage hindering you from fulfilling God’s call?

By: MRod

MRod — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:55:01 +0000

Praise the lord!

I 2nd that Liz. ” live in a small town that has the second highest per capita rates of alcoholism and domestic violence in the nation. I am already in my mission field.”

Let us not lose sight of problems in our own community and if your debt holds you from being a missionary overseas then focus on your communities needs and you will reap instance rewards.

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:23:24 +0000

Just to add a totally unrelated issue to the mix…I would add that there is an assumption here that the “mission field” is somewhere else…that everything is a-okay here in the States. I live in a small town that has the second highest per capita rates of alcoholism and domestic violence in the nation. I am already in my mission field.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:45:28 +0000

TRUE! Historically a mortgage was a conservative arrangement by virtue of the fact that the bank wanted to be paid back. In recent years, the bankers and the borrowers drank the Kool-Aid, buying into the myth that a mortgage is a risk free venture, now we’re coming back to earth. It’ll sort itself out and revert to more normal dimensions, but in the mean time it’s best to be purposefully conservative, even if the industry is still pretending that the experience of the past few years is somehow normal.

As believers, we need to be discerning, and one of the things we need to do is be on the lookout for is anything that hints of easy money. It’s a snare! That’s what the mortgage industry has been peddling for the past 10-15 years. Ignore it and assume that what ever you borrow you will need to pay back, sooner rather than later. The magic mutliplier of OPM–other people’s money–is gone.

By: FreeFamilyFinance.Com Author

FreeFamilyFinance.Com Author — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:28:56 +0000

Totally agree. I should have emphasized conservative. The truth is, the last few years has been a very abnormal time in the mortgage industry. With the exception of this short time period, most mortgages have been more traditional and thus ‘conservative’. Thanks for pointing that out.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:23:49 +0000

FFF–I would agree that mortgage debt is different from other debt–but within limits. It might be better to say “conservative mortgage debt” is different, that is a a fixed rate mortgage taken in conjunction with a 20% (or greater) down payment. The 95% and 100% loans of the past few years have been anything but conservative–big picture, they were designed as mortgages for people who can’t afford to buy a house, especially if they were ARMs or interest only. These are the loans that have so many people in trouble, and they need to be avoided even now. Too many people have found that mortgages aren’t so easily liquidated after all.

If your mortgage balance is too high in relation to the value of your house, you’re merely renting the money to “own” your house. That’s no better than being a tenant, except that a tenant is free to move without the burden of first needed to sell his home. So a mortgage is different only if it’s conservative.

By: FreeFamilyFinance.Com Author

FreeFamilyFinance.Com Author — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:21:17 +0000

Gosh, so much good stuff here.

@Pastor Jeff, I would echo Kevin’s thoughts. How do we balance Matt. 19:29 with 1 Timothy 5:8 (If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever). It’s tough. A pastor friend of mine refers to these things as ‘Holy Tensions’, insinuating God’s providence within the tension of the Kingdom that has come…but not yet fully.

Additionally, I would suggest a distinction that should be made about ‘mortgage debt’. Mortgages, although still a debt, are one of the few debts that Americans carry that is easy liquidated. Because it is an appreciating asset, the vast majority of people owe less against their home than its value. Thus, the ability to dumb this debt would be much greater, due to the ability to liquidate it (or sell it) and walk away with no financial obligation. Compare this to a new vehicle note (which is upside down the second you leave the lot) or a credit card debt.

Similar to Bob (& Dave Ramsey, although I have never heard him give this explaination), my wife and I have prayerfully decided to live our lives debt free, with a mortgage being the exception to the rule. If prompted by the Holy Spirit to transfer to the mission field, a new career, or a new town, we could liquidate our lives with relative ease. Subsequently we are minimizing the bondage that debt has on us. Besides, we would (Dave Ramsey Baby Step 6) pay it off as quickly as possible. This is why I would suggest that mortgage debt is different than ‘other debt’.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:16:42 +0000

Pastor Jeff–I think that as long as we’re in this world, we’ll always face that tension between a God who calls us up, and a world that wants to keep us down. We’re in the middle, wanting to follow God and being pulled back by the world. Then complicating it are our own fleshly desires… we’re in a tough spot, but I think God works through our conflicts and brings us to where we need to be anyway.

Bob–agree with you as well. Not all of us are called into “high adventure”! But God can and does use us right where we are. The missoin field is increasingly here in the not-so-Christain West, America included. Being close to home and working to strengthen the churches we belong to is an underestimated mission field!

By: bob

bob — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:37:10 +0000

@Parrott84,
I don’t think we are going to be called to the missionfield any time soon… My calling (or what God has for me to do right now) is in my local church. We have prayed long and hard about buying that house and believe that it is God’s timing for us. So, I feel perfectly fine buying our house – that said, as stewards we have worked to pay off all our other debts and will do the same with the house. The plan is to pay this house off asap – in order to be the best stewards possible with what God has given us…

By: Pastor Jeff Earls

Pastor Jeff Earls — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:18:42 +0000

I guess this is proof that I still am on the far fringes of Christianity because I still don’t get it. If God has called you into the Ministry what of this life should/can stop us?
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

I mean when I was called to help start a church in Jacksonville Fl I had a trailer that I just paid off free and clear. Yes it was old (like me) but it was mine. I was called and tried to see the home but could not so I abandoned it. The park I lived in took it for their own and made tons of money by renting out MY Home. My point is if God calls you Nothing of this world should stand in the way. Never mind a Mortgage.

Oh well I said my piece – what do I know right.

By: editor

editor — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:41:32 +0000

The article, “Is Your Mortgage Hindering You from Fulfilling God’s Call? is an excellent one. Thank you.