Columns/Opinions

   Previously I wrote how I was going to try to conquer my fears because fear keeps us from doing many things that we might want to do but won’t because we are afraid. 
   The two things I fear the most is driving in big cities or to places where I’ve never been before. 
   It doesn’t matter if I have a GPS or not, I like to have traveled to the location first before so I can have an idea of where I should be going. 
   The second and probably my biggest fear is snakes. 
   I don’t necessarily wish all the snakes in the world would die, I just wish I would never have to associate with them. 
   We can coexist as long as they coexist somewhere that is not close to me. 
   I took these fear to prayer one day and asked the Lord if He would help me overcome these fears as I feel like sooner or later they will become an obstacle in my ministry. 
   My spiritual director is in Sarita, which is about a two-hour drive from Victoria. 

“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Mathew 6:27). Isn’t it amazing how we will become distressed over things that may never happen. Worrying can add nothing to our life. It will only bring us down.  
   Many times it is the, “what if’s” that cause us to fear. We might think, “What if I get sick?”   
   “What if my car breaks down?” or, “What if I don’t pass that exam?” These are all real life situations, but they are not solved by stress and anxiety.
Now there is a difference between worry and concern. 
   Many times when we are driving we see a fire truck pass us by. It causes us to be concerned about the people in danger. Psalm 138:8 tells us, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” My friend, make this verse your thought when worry arrives. 
   Believe that God will protect you and, “perfect that which concerns” you. 

   Halloween is centuries old and seems to be getting bigger every year.
   Officially, it’s based on the old Celtic end-of-the-year feast known as Samhain and the Christian feast All Hallow’s Day.
   Some say it begins the three day observance of “Allhallowtide,” the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.
   Either way, age old traditions have held true and carried over to the present.
   Dressing up in costumes and going door-to-door for treats is rooted in my past, too.
   My earliest memory of Halloween was watching my father and his best friend dress up in scary masks and scare the little kids who rang the doorbell for candy.
   Sometimes, when I wasn’t expecting it, they scared me, too.
   I’ve been everything from a Disney princess and Minnie Mouse to the old witchy standby and a zombie.

   Well folks your next statement from your brokerage account should make you smile. 
   October proved to be a very good month. The various indexes are back above where they started the year. 
   We have made quite a comeback from the lows in August. 
   So, after the horrors of Halloween, you should have a day celebrating your new found wealth.
   I wish I could explain it. Not even the anniversary of Back to the Future 30 years ago provided any clue. 
   It does make one wonder though. We have been listening to all of the problems in the Middle East, the drop in natural resource prices and worries over the economy in China. 
   That is the short list. There has been little to boost confidence. 
   A simple explanation is that the “wall of worry” was just what the market needed.

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   I recently got some new glasses. My old ones were really just for driving at night, or so I thought they were. My prescription was a few years old.  
   By the time I finally got to the line on my to-do list that said “eye doctor”, I was really in need of a new set of spectacles.   
   When I put them on to test them out, it was amazing. I could see. Everything was clear!  
   I like seeing clearly so much that I rewrote “eye doctor” on my to-do list. I am going by to get another pair of glasses, and I may even shop for some contacts.  
   Something else this week was crystal clear to me.   
   I loved, operated, and breathed in the favor of the Lord all week long. If Jesus has ever blessed me and took care of my, He did last week!    
   I decreased, He increased, and it was a great week!  

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 I have several battery-operated candles in my room that I use from time to time during prayer.   
   I prefer to use the real candle, but to prevent fires most of us have been slowly moving toward the battery-operated kind.  
   Like I said I have several of these battery operated candles as they seem to be a favorite gift to give to one another.   
   I have some of different sizes from tea lights to the bigger candles.   
   Some change colors as they are being used, others have pretty designs.   
   Some flicker like you would expect a real candle to and others just light up like a mini flash light.  
   At times  at night I light them up all over the room and turn off the room light.   
   This makes a beautiful, calming, prayerful atmosphere.  

   Have you ever wondered why we say amen after we pray? What does it really mean?   
   We yell it out when someone is preaching well. Maybe I’m alone, but I wonder these things.  
   I believe that it is extremely relevant to study this and discover the value of the amen.  
   The word amen comes from the Hebrew word, amen (אָמֵן).  
   This word is literarily a Hebrew word; meaning when we say it, we are speaking Hebrew.  
   The Strong’s concordance defines this word as meaning, “verily, truly, so be iti.”   
   When someone prays and we say, “amen” we are saying, “so be it.”  
   We are agreeing; it is one powerful tool to be used in our life.  
   The word amen comes from the Hebrew word, “aman.”   
   This is spelt with an, “a” instead of an, “e.” This Hebrew word means, “to support, confirmii.”  

   Beware the autumn people,” said Ray Bradbury, author of ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes.’
   Bradbury claims that they only exist in the months between September and December and “turn into dust” at the end of their season.
   Since my birthday falls during the last week of October, I identify as an ‘autumn’ person.
   Mostly because nothing feels as good as those three months before winter rears its head and summer fades.
   I’ve always loved fall – the changing leaves, pecans reaching maturity, cooler temperatures and longer nights.
   October gives me an excuse to embrace driving with the windows rolled down for fun rather than not having a working air conditioner in my car.
   The wind picks up and the scents of autumn fill the air.
   Sometimes it’s dusty, dry and itchy.
   Other times there’s rain on the wind and afterwards it’s soggy, dank and seeps into your bones.

   I am sitting at the computer on the anniversary of one of the most memorable days in my life.  
   It has nothing to do with birthdays or weddings. 
      Those are vastly important but October the 19, 1987, was a day for the ages. I had gone out on my own opening my independent brokerage office. 
   I had several very large clients and we had been buying options betting against takeovers promoted by Boone Pickens.  
   That was the era of “greenmail.” 
   Pickens would take a position in a company then offer a takeover financed by debt. 
   In almost every occasion the management of the takeover target would buy Pickens out.  
   At the point of the takeover proposal, the target stock would run up in price. 
   It was easy to buy out of the money put options. Put options are a way to sell 100 shares of a stock. 
   You don’t have to own the shares as they are borrowed from brokerage firms. 

 “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”   
   And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.”    
   And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”   
   Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”   
   But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.” Mark 10:17-22   
    Have you ever heard of the “Law of Accumulation”? Probably not because our priest told us he made it up.