Lyle's Blog

Psalms 9:19-20 Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Everything has become political thereby unjust. Hurricane Harvey has put people in fear. The terrible destruction has humbled many. Hurricane Irma is a further reminder that we are after all just men. People are fleeing, trying to find a safe haven. Can we hide ourselves from God? In the tribulation men (yes, women too) will hide themselves in the rocks wanting to shield themselves from the wrath of God. The wrath of God is the penalty of sin and the rejection of Jesus Christ. We Christians are praying for peace, that America will turn from her wicked ways, repent, and be saved. Some say these hurricanes are judgment from God and it may be so. If that is the case then the rest of the country will suffer the same judgment. I can’t imagine what it would take for California, Oregon, and Washington to be humbled. They parade wickedness in the streets, teach it to children, and through the media have spread filth over the whole planet. I need not even mention Washington D.C. Suffering brings people together that never would have come together. We forget our politics and our petty beliefs and help each other. Sure there are those that take advantage of tragedy but they will be judged for doing wickedly. They don’t know it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hiding in rocks can’t save us from the wrath of God; the love of Jesus Christ can. Maybe now most of us will be a little kinder and realize that love covers a multitude of sin and remember that we are all sinners and our salvation is by the grace of God. I don’t believe that God causes these things. Satan is the destroyer. We learn from the book of Job that Satan needs permission to do things to mankind. God allowed Satan to touch Job. Satan crucified Christ. God allowed Satan to do that. Satan meant it for evil but God meant it for good. It’s not always easy to understand what God is doing but knowing that Satan is the destroyer and God gave us Jesus Christ as our Savior is all we need to have peace that passes understanding.

The compromising of a possible 143 million personal files should cause us all to get serious about our online security. I’ve had my information compromised before by a medical clinic. Banks are subject to thousand of security attacks everyday. I will finally do what I preach, changing passwords for important accounts, freezing our credit, and running a credit check. I’ve also run a check on our email accounts to check if anyone has been trying to hack in. You can run a check on your email at spycloud.com and check your credit free once per year at freecreditreport.com. Creditkarma (a free credit reporting service) may be helpful although other services they offer may cause problems. Passwords shouldn’t have sequential numbers and from now on must be changed on a regular basis. Checking with Equifax on the breach may not be wise as you may relinquish your rights to compensation for damages. Do your own do diligence. I doubt that Equifax was any less protective of our data than other businesses. We can expect more hacking in our future. Stay secure.

Melt-down. We know what that means. But something else is happening now. It’s called melt-up. We’ve had an extended bull market since 2009 and it continues. Many say it’s the Trump bump. Some of that is certainly true although there may be a lull from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the possibility of Hurricane Irma causing even more destruction. The government will spend millions and all that money spent will act as a stimulus to the economy. But that’s stuff of pocket change. The real shot in the arm comes from investing mania which will effect everyone in the end. In normal times the “printing” of twelve trillion dollars would devalue our currency but the dollar is stronger than ever. Interest rates have been and still remain fairly close to zero which means little risk in investments. Stocks are the world’s strongest currency and becoming more valuable every week. There will be downturns now and then but the trend will not stop. Few people are invested in the stock market. Cash has been held because the average guy is still uncertain of the future. But the lure of income will eventually draw everyone into stocks. The Bank of Japan will be the number one buyer of Japanese stocks. Worldwide, banks are getting into stocks. Janet Yellen has said that it could be beneficial for the Fed to buy stocks! Just imagine the biggest printing press in the world getting into stocks; the sky will be the limit. The staggering rise in the DOW to 50,000 or more will drag everyone into the market as it becomes the “only game in town”. How high will it go? Somewhere between forty and seventy thousand is very possible. The secret to actually making money will be knowing when to get out. Remember, when everyone gets greedy, get scared. Knowing where to put gains made will be imperative to retaining wealth. Before the collapse the wise will have taken their gains and invested in things the government doesn’t want, is hard for them to use or find out you have i.e. precious metals, durable goods, boats, cars, real estate, or collectibles. This is no time to dally; you must get in early and out early. The next bull market will likely be thirty or more years after the collapse. This may sound ridiculous I guess but the more you think about it the more sense it makes.

No one believes there is a devil anymore. So people blame God for what our enemy does. Our ignorance of spiritual realities and the essential need for Jesus in our life is our generation’s greatest failure.