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A bad case of ‘what if?’
By Minister Mary Edwards
Just in case you didn’t read my column,
“Steps to serenity in a world full of chaos,” let’s revisit the topic. God wants us to have peace of mind, not a piece of mind. Too many folks are focusing on, “What if this happens. What if that happens.” The word “if” is a very small word, but it carries a lot of weight – heavy weight, burdens. In other words, too much worry is going on. Fear is running rampant. So let me pull up some of the roots of this emotion “fear of what if.”
What is fear? To begin with, fear is a
deadly emotion. The Bible says that in the last days man’s hearts will fail them be- cause of fear (Luke 21:26). Look around. There are plenty of reasons for one to fear were it not for our relationship with Jesus Christ and His promises, one of which is to keep us in perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3)
Fear is having “faith” in the word that
the enemy has spoken to us, individually, standing on it and waiting, knowing that it will come to pass. We do not do this know- ingly; but that is what happens. When we believe the lies of the enemy, we find our- selves responding to people and to situa- tions in such a way that our response actu- ally brings about that thing which we fear. Job said, “For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me” (Job 3:25). Job had a bad case of “What if.”
Fear really is believing that the enemy
is in control, and that he has as much, if not more power than God. Fear does not help us fight against the enemy. It agrees with him because he is the author of fear. It is not part of the armor of God described by Paul in Ephesians 6:11‐17. Fear is the enemy‐s most deceptive weapon because we believe it is our human emotion.
Let me give you a personal example.
One summer morning, prior to arising from a night’s sleep, I was suddenly stirred awake by the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard in my lifetime. Fear immedi- ately gripped my heart. Truthfully speak- ing, my first thought was, “God is mad at this old world and He is breaking through the sky and returning!” My second thought was to hide. (I’m being very honest!) My third thought was, “Why should I be afraid? Why should I hide? Surely, I want God to find me doing what I should be do- ing when He returns.”
I quickly recovered, and turned on the
television to see what the newscasters had to say. Indeed, they gave a thunderstorm warning. I said my morning prayers and
began my day with the peace of God that passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7) Fear is a universal emotion and has been around since the beginning of time. We first read about it in Genesis 3:10. It tells us that Adam was afraid when God spoke to him because he had sinned. Fear can be defined as the sensation that makes you be- lieve that you are in danger and that some- thing bad is about to happen. Here we go again with “What if.”
There is an emotion of fear that is good.
It is that which rises up within us when a rattlesnake slithers through the grass in front of our feet or when we hear an unfa- miliar sound in the house in the middle of the night. It is what causes us to run from a burning building. This fear is self‐preser- vation. Perhaps a respect for danger would best describe it. This could be called “nor- mal fear.” That is not what I am writing about here. What I’m talking about is the “What if” disease. This is being troubled by things that haven’t even happened and may never happen!
Fear, dread, and worry are triplets. An-
other word for fear is dread. Dread steals joy. Dread comes for a two‐fold purpose: to torment and to prevent. The devil uses dread to keep you from the blessings of God and to keep you out of His will. Many times in the Bible when the Lord called people to do great things, He said, “Fear not.” Fear is not from God. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”(2 Timo- thy 1:7).
Worry is fear. New things have a ten-
dency to frighten us. We are afraid of the unknown. So we must pray about every- thing and fear nothing. The only thing we should fear is fear itself. Faith is released through prayer. When fear comes knock- ing at the door, faith had better answer. We need to watch for everything that steals our righteousness, our peace, and our joy. Talk back to the devil and experience more joy. Say these words with me”
BIG GOD, little devil
Finally, chill out. Breathe deeply. Just
concentrate on the moment you are in. You can’t know what’s ahead and, even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to see how it will work out. You’ll be okay. Trust that you’ll be okay.
“Thou will keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for- ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength”(Isaiah 26:3‐4).
Michigan Surgeon General hosts ‘Generation With Promise Youth Summit 2010’
Michigan Surgeon General Kimberly-
dawn Wisdom, M.D., M.S., is hosting the third annual “Gen- eration With Prom- ise (GWP) Youth Summit 2010,” from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, at the Matthaei Athletic Building at Wayne State University lo-
Kimberlydawn Wisdom
cated at 5101 John C. Lodge at W. Warren.
The GWP Youth Summit brings to-
gether more than 200 middle school stu- dents from 17 schools in Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Pontiac and Benton Harbor for a day of fun, teambuilding and learning. The youth are members of their
schools’ Student Action Teams (SATs) who work throughout the school year to make changes in policy that will promote a healthier school environment for stu- dents and staff. Assemblies have been held at each
GWP participating school as the SATs gear up for the Youth Summit. Presen- tations have included demonstrations of physical activity, interactive quizzes on nutrition and skits on tobacco prevention. Students in attendance at the assemblies also have enjoyed a performance by the GWP dancers to ‘Do It Right,’ a song written and recorded expressly for GWP by Detroit rapper Tone Tone. The SAT productions have focused
on the Michigan Steps Up! motto, “Move More, Eat Better, Don’t Smoke.” After each assembly, students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades signed a pledge promising to do one of the three areas. As a result, thousands of middle school students in several cities are going to spend 60 min- utes a day on physical activity; have more fruits, vegetables and milk; and avoid smoking or being around smoke. The Youth Summit will feature skits,
music, food and entertainment that will make the day an enjoyable, inspiring learning experience. An award will be presented to the top two Student Action Teams representing schools with the larg- est percentage of students to sign pledges. Pledge cards will be distributed to SAT members at Youth Summit 2010 to take back to their schools to help their fellow students continue to make healthy choic- es.
“The students have demonstrated a
great deal of new knowledge on the im- portance of eating healthy and engaging in regular physical activity, and they’ve made it their own cause,” said Dr. Wis- dom. “Today and in the future, we want our young people to be empowered to make healthy choices for themselves that will reduce the incidence of child- hood obesity. The students are using what they’ve learned about nutrition, physical activity and tobacco prevention to make policy changes in their school environ- ments.”
Schools participating in the Youth
Summit include Burns Elementary/Mid- dle School; Hutchins/McMichael El- ementary/Middle School, J.F. Nichols Elementary School; Taft Middle School; Trix Elementary/Middle School; Green- field Union Elementary/Middle School; Mark Twain School & Academy; Clark Elementary/Middle School; Hamilton Elementary/Middle School; Murphy El- ementary/Middle School; Phoenix Mul- ticultural Academy and Peter Vetal El- ementary/Middle School-all in Detroit. Two GWP schools in Benton Harbor will be attending. They include Fair Plain Re- naissance Middle School and Hull Middle School.
Other GWP schools attending in-
clude Pontiac Middle School, Kosciuszko Middle School in Hamtramck, and Bar- ber School of the Gifted and Talented in Highland Park. GWP is a $5-million initiative funded
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and led by Dr. Wisdom and a multidisciplinary team organized through the Michigan De- partment of Community Health (MDCH). The project links Governor Jennifer M. Granholm’s Cities of Promise initiative in underserved communities with MDCH and the “Michigan Steps Up” healthy life- styles initiative. The three-year project empowers Student Action Teams to drive change related to health priorities for their schools. In addition to the Cities of Promise,
other partners with MDCH for “Genera- tion With Promise” are the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health & Sports/Michigan Fitness Foundation, Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Action for Healthy Kids Coali- tion, Cities of Promise, local health de- partments, Healthy Kids Healthy Michi- gan Coalition, Henry Ford Health System, the Michigan State University Extension, University of Michigan and Wayne State University.
What better place could Google choose
as the testing grounds for ultra-high speed internet than the Motor City—the city that got the world moving?
We know speed. We invented the au-
tomobile. Long a hub of innovation, De- troiters are hungry for the next best thing. A community with a 1 GB-per-second internet connection would help us accom- plish even more amazing feats, and more quickly too.
“For many decades, Detroit has been
building engines that take people to new places,” said TechTown Executive Di- rector Randal Charlton. “We can help Google develop a different type of engine that will help new businesses in Detroit developing a new generation of internet applications.”
Show your support and vote for Tech-
Town as a community group now in the Google Fiber for Communities vote-off at
http://www.google.com/appserve/fiber-
rfi. By voting for TechTown, you vote for Detroit and Southeast Michigan.
Why Google Fiber?
Google’s looking for a community to
test-drive a new high-speed internet con- nection that would allow up to 500,000 users in a community to download files and use the internet at speeds they’ve nev- er dreamed of.
Fiber internet would draw companies
to the region attracted by the exceptional internet quality that would be offered at competitive prices. The fiber optic trial would give Web developers an opportu- nity to create an entire new generation of applications.
TechTown is submitting an applica-
tion for consideration as a testing ground for Google’s fiber optic internet service. If chosen as one of the testing locations,
THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
YOUR MONEY REALLY MATTERS
Refinancing Your Mortgage – Does it make Sense?”
By Michael G. Shinn, CFP
Contributing Writer
As the economy works its way out
of the recession, the Federal Reserve has indicated its willingness to keep interest rates low. As a consequence, mortgage rates are at the lowest levels seen in re- cent history. According to Bankrate.com the average 30 year mortgage rate is cur- rently 4.98%. This then raises the ques- tion, should you consider refinancing your home mortgage to take advantage of these historically low rates?
The most common reason for refi-
nancing is to reduce one’s monthly mort- gage payment. A homeowner with a cur- rent 30-year fixed mortgage of $150,000 at 7% would save $192 per month with at new loan at 5%. Another good reason is to convert an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate, with a long-term predict- able monthly payment. Some individu- als refinance to improve their mortgage terms, such as reducing the length of their mortgage from 30 years to 15 years or eliminating private mortgage insurance (PMI) payments. Finally, if a homeowner desires to convert some of their home eq- uity to cash for a major expenditure, such as college financing, starting a business or home improvements, refinancing may make financial sense.
When to Refinance?
As a general rule, refinancing should
be considered when the new mortgage rate is 1½ to 2% below the existing rate. However, there are a number of factors that should be considered.
• Terms of the current mortgage?
Length of time remaining, interest rate, prepayment penalty, Private Mortgage In- surance (PMI), etc.
• The current appraised value of the home and the owner’s equity.
• Length of time the owner plans to stay in the home.
• The owner’s credit worthiness.
• The terms of the new loan and refi- nancing costs. Refinancing is typically impractical
for homeowners who have ten years or less to pay off their mortgage or plans to move within 3-5 years. Additionally, if the owner has less than a 20% equity posi- tion or if their credit has deteriorated, the cost of refinancing may be prohibitive.
What does Refinancing cost?
Refinancing, as a general rule, will
cost 3-6% of the mortgage balance. For the $150,000 mortgage mentioned earlier, refinancing could cost $4,500-$9,000.
The refinancing costs can be paid out of pocket or rolled into the loan amount. If paid out of pocket and using a refinancing cost of $6,750, a monthly payment sav- ing of $192, it would take approximately 3 years to payback the refinancing costs. If the refinancing costs were rolled into the mortgage, the total mortgage amount would be $156,750 and the monthly pay- ment saving would be reduced to $156.
Six Steps to Refinancing?
Step 1- Review your existing mort-
gage documents and the last year-end statement. Look at the interest rate, loan balance, length of time remaining on the loan, whether there is a prepayment pen- alty and if there is PMI.
Step 2- Check your credit reports for inaccuracies. The online source, www. consumerinfo.com, for a fee, provides all three of the major credit reports and scores, in an easily comprehensible for- mat.
Step 3- Assemble the following
documents- The last two years federal tax returns and W-2’s; recent pay stubs; other sources of income; a complete list of creditors, investment records, such as bank accounts, etc.
Step 4- Meet with your existing lender
first. Rather than lose your business, they may offer you very favorable refinancing terms.
Step 5- Shop and compare at least
three other lenders before applying for a loan. There are a number of on-line lend- ers that can be considered. The website www.bankrate.com is straightforward and easy to use.
Step 6- After you have selected a
reputable lender and have been approved; carefully review the loan documents be- fore signing, to make sure that they are what you agreed to.
If it is appropriate to refinance your
existing mortgage, you should start the process now. As the economy improves, interest rates, may be headed upwards in the near future.
shinnm@financialnetwork.com. © Michael G. Shinn 2009. The websites listed are provided as a courtesy and are not under the control of Financial Net- work Investment Corporation.
Be the engine that makes the Motor City a Google Fiber City
TechTown could bring fiber internet to the City of Detroit.
Why TechTown?
By voting for TechTown, you vote for
the future of Detroit, Southeast Michigan and Michigan overall. We’ve lead the way historically and we continue to lead today. Let’s prove yet again that TechTown and Detroit are the right place to build a new future, a new world and a new technol- ogy.
“As Detroit’s leading business incu-
bator, we are determined to bring new technology to the new economy that we are building here,” said Charlton. “We are already developing new businesses for the 21st century in converted auto plants. With fiber optic networks from Google, we can accelerate the changes we are bringing to Detroit and beyond.”
Vote for TechTown now.
Show your support and vote for Tech-
Town as a community group now in the Google Fiber for Communities vote-off.
You can:
• Submit your vote to Google at
http://www.google.com/appserve/fiber- rfi
• Become a fan of the Facebook group,
From Motor City to Google Fiber City.
• Join the LinkedIn group, From Mo-
tor City to Google Fiber City.
• Tell all your friends, family, col- leagues and even your enemies about it. Time is limited. TAKE ACTION BY
FRIDAY, MARCH 26.
TechTown is an urban community of entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, men- tors and corporate partners creating an in- ternationally influential village in Detroit. TechTown brings the resources of Wayne State University to high-technology start- up companies to diversify and strengthen Michigan’s economy in high-growth emerging industries.
For more information, visit www. techtownwsu.org.
March 24 - 30, 2010
Page D-6
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NOTICE OF BIDS
The City of South- field will receive proposals for the following item(s) until the time and date indicated:
Yard Waste Bags
until April 1, 2010 at 10:30 a.m., Local Time.
Specifications at the Purchasing Department. For questions, contact Purchasing De- partment:
248-796-5250
IT PAYS TO
ADVERTISE IN THE
MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
NOTICE OF HEARINGS REGARDING MATTERS TO COME
before the City Council of Detroit. Advertise- ments for bids and contracts for purchases by the City of Detroit appear daily in the De- troit Legal News. Cop- ies are available at the City County Bldg. and at 2001 W. Lafayette, Detroit.
WAYNE COUNTY
PURCHASING DIVISION 600 RANDOLPH
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DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226
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THE CITY OF DETROIT DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ARE
REQUESTING COMPETITIVE BIDS FOR
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Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District
Written Bids are invited from experi- enced Professional Event Marketing and Management Companies in re- sponse to this Bid Notice.
A Bid package may be picked up at the offices of the City of Detroit Downtown Development Authority (the “DDA”), located at 500 Griswold Street, Suite 2200, Detroit, Michigan, 48226 or via the internet at www.degc.org/rfp, begin- ning on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 thru Monday, April 5, 2010. A manda-
tory pre-submittal conference will be held at the offices of the DDA on April 2, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
Bids will be received until 4:00 P.M. (EST) on Monday, April 12, 2010, and
will subsequently be evaluated to select the most responsive proposal.
This RFP seeks a professional event marketing and management firm to pro- vide event management services to the City of Detroit Downtown Development Authority. The Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District is envisioned as a place where everyone from fami- lies to working professionals can come to enjoy a variety of activities, and enter- tainment. The DDA desires to have Bea Buck Park (also known as Harmonie Park) be a home to a series of intimate events that exhibit the talents of local and national artists, while celebrating the cultural and musical heritage of the City of Detroit between the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends in 2010.
All Professional Event Marketing and Management Firms submitting propos- als must agree to comply with the re- quirements of Fair Employment Prac- tices and the City of Detroit’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Or- dinance, Tax Clearances and Human Rights requirements.
No submittal may be withdrawn for at least 90 days after the actual opening of the proposal. The DDA reserves the right to waive any irregularities in any proposal or to reject any or all proposals should it be deemed in its best interest.
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