Since I have been including articles about The Jeremiah House and other ministries of ours, I thought it might be good to include an article that explains a little bit about what we believe in and why we do what we do.
Hale Multimedia LLC is comprised of two generations (third up and coming) of Hales. Howard and Pat Hale adopted Brian and his little sister in the mid 1970's. Howard's mother, the late Eula Hale, was also one who believed in adoption. She adopted a little sister for Howard at a young age. Howard and Pat instilled solid principles into their children that had a very positive impact, especially on Brian.
As a family of believers in the blood of Christ, we understand that we are nothing without Him. Therefore, we continually thank God for the forgiveness and grace He has shed upon us all. We believe that we should serve Him in whatever ways we can, without expecting anything in return.
Most of the ministries that we are involved in center around serving the Lord.
Howard and Pat have served in numerous capacities in their lifelong church at Plymouth Congregational in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Howard has also been named 4-H Volunteer of the Year on more than one occasion for all the free announcing he does for the community. Howard also announced the Cougar Basketball games for 14 years at our local Junior College. Howard gives credit to God for giving him the vocal chords that allow him to be a successful announcer and radio personality. Patricia Hale served as a Speech Pathologist with ESU 13 for many years before retiring a few years ago. Since then, she has taken on home visitations for the sick and elderly as her personal ministry and enjoys it very much.
Brian Hale has had a heart for service for a long long time. He seldom hesitates to help someone in need. Over the years Brian has served in many capacities including as a soldier in the U.S. Army Medical Corps as well many other service related organizations. He has served as a Youth Leader and is currently Game Director for Zion AWANA, Chair of Building and Grounds, serves on the Leadership Team and Missions Committee and manages the multimedia sound system at Bethel Baptist Church. Brian also volunteered to provide Christian, National and Local newscasts to KCMI radio for over a year before being named Director of The Jeremiah House Children's Ministry in Scottsbluff where he had been a volunteer since 1999.
Brian was blessed to have finally found the servant minded partner of his dreams when he met Andrea Bauer in late 2003. Andrea was very like-minded when it came to helping others and the two of them have truly enjoyed serving together. Andi served as a Camp Fire leader and was Choir Director for Zion Evangelical for several years before getting married and starting a family with Brian. She has also served in the AWANA program at Zion since 2000, as VBS Director and Nursery Director at Bethel Baptist since 2005 and as Publicity Director for MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) since 2007. Andi also helps design and maintain numerous websites for non-profit organizations, sings on the Praise Team and graciously helps her husband with his ministries.
We give God all the credit for allowing us to serve Him. We believe it's the right thing to do and we'll continue to do so, even though we know that we could make more money doing other things. It's not about money. It's about serving others for Christ Jesus who died for us all. That's a debt that is even bigger than the U.S. Deficit, which is in the trillions. We simply pray that our community, our great nation and this world are better off because of our service in His name.
For a list of current ministries that we are involved in, visit www.haleministries.com and may God Bless YOU for taking the time to read this long post!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Common Sense Fix
Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three-step Common Sense Plan.
I. INSURANCE
Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.
In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:
1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.
2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.
This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.
II. MARK TO MARKET
Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.
This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.
III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.
This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down.
This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.
from Dave Ramsey at www.daveramsey.com
I. INSURANCE
Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.
In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:
1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.
2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.
This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.
II. MARK TO MARKET
Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.
This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.
III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.
This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down.
This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.
from Dave Ramsey at www.daveramsey.com
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Stock Market 'Surprises'
Wow! The DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) dropped 777+ points on Monday the 29th. Experts say that meant 1.2 trillion dollars in losses. Doing the math, that comes to just over 1.5 billion dollars per point! I thought that was interesting. However, what I found out after doing a little research, is that Tuesday's 486 point jump was the third largest single day point INCREASE in the history of the stock market and was only 13 points away from the all time record of just under 500. Tuesday's increase calculates to an increase in value of $750 Billion in one day. One day.
I also learned that 5 out of the top 11 all-time single day increases occurred in 2008 and the all-time record closing bell occurred less than a year ago in October of 2007. If the DJIA is an indicator of a good or bad economy, then the economy must have been doing better than ever last September when the stock market closed at all-time highs of over 14,000! Right? Wrong. Don't let the news about the stock market pursuade you to panic. The Stock Market != The Economy. (does not equal) It's certainly an important element in the overall assessment of the economical picture, but it is based too much on emotion and speculation.
The stock market was due for another adjustment. All one has to do is look at history and you will find that the frequency of the 'crashes' is increasing to every several years now. However, history also proves that the market ALWAYS bounces back over time.
I've got a question. If the DJIA gets back to pre-Monday levels, would that be like it never happened? What does it mean to lose billions of dollars one day, only to 'win' it back?
The stock market reminds me of computerized card games I used to play as kid. You start with some pretend money and play until you're broke... then you ask for more credit and play long enough to win again. As long as you can keep playing long enough, then you will eventually win (break even). Compare that to stocks. If you can afford to keep playing long enough, you will 'win'. If you panic and for some reason sell when prices are sinking, you will inevitably lose. Ride the tide, don't rely on emotion and the market will eventually rebound. Look at history, it shocked me and I would like my message to be to encourage everyone about being more optimistic about the future of the United States. God has a plan for America. Let's do what we can to seek His will and live it out. 'Be careful to do what the Lord your God commands you'. ~ Dueteromony 5:32
I also learned that 5 out of the top 11 all-time single day increases occurred in 2008 and the all-time record closing bell occurred less than a year ago in October of 2007. If the DJIA is an indicator of a good or bad economy, then the economy must have been doing better than ever last September when the stock market closed at all-time highs of over 14,000! Right? Wrong. Don't let the news about the stock market pursuade you to panic. The Stock Market != The Economy. (does not equal) It's certainly an important element in the overall assessment of the economical picture, but it is based too much on emotion and speculation.
The stock market was due for another adjustment. All one has to do is look at history and you will find that the frequency of the 'crashes' is increasing to every several years now. However, history also proves that the market ALWAYS bounces back over time.
I've got a question. If the DJIA gets back to pre-Monday levels, would that be like it never happened? What does it mean to lose billions of dollars one day, only to 'win' it back?
The stock market reminds me of computerized card games I used to play as kid. You start with some pretend money and play until you're broke... then you ask for more credit and play long enough to win again. As long as you can keep playing long enough, then you will eventually win (break even). Compare that to stocks. If you can afford to keep playing long enough, you will 'win'. If you panic and for some reason sell when prices are sinking, you will inevitably lose. Ride the tide, don't rely on emotion and the market will eventually rebound. Look at history, it shocked me and I would like my message to be to encourage everyone about being more optimistic about the future of the United States. God has a plan for America. Let's do what we can to seek His will and live it out. 'Be careful to do what the Lord your God commands you'. ~ Dueteromony 5:32
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