It was a long time coming

The down move I've been predicting in the stock market is most definitely happening now. It did take a long time coming - longer than it should have. I think this means that it will be more severe than it could have been if it had happened earlier. It's like a late fee if you miss your payment. The longer you wait, the more the penalty.

The market wants to ALWAYS go up. Of course, this is not reasonable, but it is what the market wants. If you read up on the credit issues, you will learn that things were levered several times over. What I mean is this: the original loans were used to secure other credit. Then THOSE loans were used to secure other credit. Then THOSE loans were used to secure other credit. As I understand it, there were at least 4 levels of credit built on top of the original loans. Sadly, many of those loans were subprime. If the foundation of this "house of cards" even cracks a bit, things begin to tumble. The Fed rate cut in August and the double-cut in September served as some scaffolding on the house of cards, but scaffolding will not hold up a skyscraper.

It is getting to the point where the Fed has no real tools available. The dollar is getting so weak (RECORD weakness) that further cuts may accelerate inflation. At some level the bad debt needs to work its way out of the system. But not cutting rates can exacerbate the market's loss of confidence - and the entire credit industry is built primarily on confidence. Without that confidence, credit becomes very difficult to acquire. Plus, real estate values are falling in most of the country, so many recent mortgages are "upside down" and getting worse. If the values fall far enough it becomes the "smart" thing to do to just walk away from the mortgage. Ugh.

Find a way to preserve your capital value.

I'll try to answer

My friend Paul Murphy (whom I respect a great deal) commented with some questions that I would like to try to answer.

Paul said -
Mike I have a question.
The other day I was thinking about our worship service. I keep finding things that catch my attention.

1. What's up with a praise team? I'm not sure I get the purpose. Is it like a guitar for the acappella service?

I think the point of a PT is to have each part represented in "the mix." Especially for larger congregations/gatherings, if you aren't sitting near folks who are singing "your part" and you are not musically inclined, you'll likely default to singing the melody. Nothing wrong with that, but a big part of our heritage is 4-part harmony. Especially as many congregations have moved to lyrics on slides (rather than song books) it is good (I would say "necessary") to have all 4 parts in the PA.

Note that if you're singing with a guitar you are not singing what the guitar is doing exactly. The guitarist is likely strumming chords, but you would be singing a melody line over the chords. Whereas, with a PT, the intent IS to sing exactly what your part is singing on the PT.

Another important point for the PT is to give the people who are gifted musically a good way to use their gift for God's glory and to bless their church family. As a bit of a musician, it has been TREMENDOUSLY HARD for me to feel fulfilled in our tribe. For too many folks there is no place for most of my musical gifts in their congregation. I am quite sure that many other musicians in our tribe feel the same way.

Those who want to say the singers are "performing" are simply being insulting. Is the preacher "performing"? How about the adult class teacher? To have them assign malice to the singer's intent hurts so much, I can tell you.


2. What's up with music with notes? I find myself pressured to sing the right notes. It bothers me when I'm not singing the notes on the screen. Should I throw away the song book?
My opinion is YES! Throw it away! I can tell you that the leader wants to see your eyes from time to time more than he wants you singing "the right notes." He hopes that the PT helps you find the right notes, though. (grin)
I hope you understand that those notes are the "language" of music. Imagine if you had a group of 4 people trying to read John 3:16 in unison - except one has KJV, one has NIV, one has RSV, and one has "The Message." If they all read at the same time, NOBODY will be blessed by that reading - in fact, it might hurt the purpose/intent. Same with the notes. Make sense?


3. Does how a service sound affect its quality? At least to some people?
If the singing sounds bad then everyone with a musical ear has a nearly impossible time engaging their hearts in worship. Is this the question you are asking?

A good report

I met with my doctor to discuss my blood work and my emotions.

First, my cholesterol is WAY down, at about 123, with HDL and LDL basically even. Triglycerides are also way down from earlier levels. The only concern point relates to the liver enzyme, which was a bit elevated (out of range). This will be rechecked in 1 month, and if it is still elevated/trending up then we will likely want to reduce the Lipitor dose. I am currently taking the largest Lipitor available, the 80mg dose. Again, with the exception of the liver enzyme number, simply a stellar blood work report.

As for the emotions - my doctor's hunch was that this is a delayed post-trauma reaction. However, to prove whether or not the beta blocker (Atenolol) was causing the depression, I am in a 2-week hiatus from Atenolol. What I can say now is that I will likely never take that medication again for the rest of my life. It took about 3 days for the last dose to work its way out of my system, but last Wednesday "the sun came out" and I've been able to feel almost normal (whatever that is) again.

I had my Nuclear Stress Test on Tuesday. It was hard, but I took it to the top level of exertion before turning it down. I also had an echo done. I will review these with my doc next Friday (a week from today) and I'm hopeful that he will release me for full exercise. In the meantime I am able to return to the gym, I just have to take it easy until I talk with him next week.

Things are looking up!