Pastor David Wilkerson is only speaking the truth when he says, "God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations...He is destroying the secular foundations." I was in prayer to the Holy Spirit this morning when I opened up the Scriptures twice. My eyes fell on this passage from Revelation 18: 10-17:
'Alas, alas, great city,
Babylon, mighty city,
In one hour your judgment has come'
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because there will be no more markets for their cargo: their cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple silk, and scarlet cloth; fragrant wood of every kind, all articles of ivory and all articles of the most expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human beings.
'The fruit you craved
has left you.
All your luxury and splendor are
gone,
never again will one find them.'
The merchants who deal in these goods, who grew rich from her, will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her. Weeping and mourning, they cry out:
'Alas, alas, great city,
wearing fine linen, purple and
scarlet,
adorned [in] gold, precious
stones, and pearls.
In one hour this great wealth has been ruined.'"
And then I broke open in prayer to Psalms 49 and 50. Psalm 49 [Confidence in God rather than in Riches]:
"Hear this, all you peoples! Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
You of lowly birth or high estate, rich and poor alike.
My mouth shall speak wisdom, my heart shall offer insight.
I will turn my attention to a problem, expound my question to the music of a lyre.
Why should I fear in evil days, when my wicked pursuers ring me around,
Those who trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches?
One cannot redeem oneself, pay to God a ransom.
Too high the price to redeem a life;
one would never have enough
To stay alive forever and never see the pit.
Anyone can see that the wisest die,
the fool and the senseless pass away too,
and must leave their wealth to others.
Tombs are their homes forever,
their dwellings through all
generations,
though they gave their names
to their lands.
For all their riches
mortals do not abide;
they perish like the beasts.
This is the destiny of those who
trust in folly,
the end of those so pleased with their wealth.
Like sheep they are herded into Sheol,
where death will be their shepherd.
Straight to the grave they descend,
where their form will waste away,
Sheol will be their palace.
But God will redeem my life,
will take me from the power of Sheol.
Do not fear when others become rich,
when the wealth of their houses grows great.
When they die they will take nothing with them
their wealth will not follow them down.
When living, they congratulate themselves and say:
'All praise you, you do so well.'
But they will join the company of their forebears,
never again to see the light
For all their riches,
if mortals do not have wisdom,
they perish like the beasts."
Psalm 50:
"The Lord, the God of gods,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion God shines forth,
perfect in beauty.
Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes,
storming fiercely round about.
God summons the heavens above
and the earth to the judgment of his people.."
Pastor Wilkerson sees this. He says that fires, "..will engulf the whole megaplex [New York City], including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires.."
Don't expect our secular leaders [or even, sadly, many of our leaders within the Church], to acknowledge the gravity of our present situation. Many of these are too busy counting their money or enjoying a life of ease and prosperity as they follow the "gospel" of riches. Almighty God has already told us of their fate.
The only stimulus package we need is the one adopted by the people of Nineveh. They repented. Sackcloth and ashes is what we need. Not bailouts and earmarks.
'Alas, alas, great city,
Babylon, mighty city,
In one hour your judgment has come'
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because there will be no more markets for their cargo: their cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple silk, and scarlet cloth; fragrant wood of every kind, all articles of ivory and all articles of the most expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human beings.
'The fruit you craved
has left you.
All your luxury and splendor are
gone,
never again will one find them.'
The merchants who deal in these goods, who grew rich from her, will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her. Weeping and mourning, they cry out:
'Alas, alas, great city,
wearing fine linen, purple and
scarlet,
adorned [in] gold, precious
stones, and pearls.
In one hour this great wealth has been ruined.'"
And then I broke open in prayer to Psalms 49 and 50. Psalm 49 [Confidence in God rather than in Riches]:
"Hear this, all you peoples! Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
You of lowly birth or high estate, rich and poor alike.
My mouth shall speak wisdom, my heart shall offer insight.
I will turn my attention to a problem, expound my question to the music of a lyre.
Why should I fear in evil days, when my wicked pursuers ring me around,
Those who trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches?
One cannot redeem oneself, pay to God a ransom.
Too high the price to redeem a life;
one would never have enough
To stay alive forever and never see the pit.
Anyone can see that the wisest die,
the fool and the senseless pass away too,
and must leave their wealth to others.
Tombs are their homes forever,
their dwellings through all
generations,
though they gave their names
to their lands.
For all their riches
mortals do not abide;
they perish like the beasts.
This is the destiny of those who
trust in folly,
the end of those so pleased with their wealth.
Like sheep they are herded into Sheol,
where death will be their shepherd.
Straight to the grave they descend,
where their form will waste away,
Sheol will be their palace.
But God will redeem my life,
will take me from the power of Sheol.
Do not fear when others become rich,
when the wealth of their houses grows great.
When they die they will take nothing with them
their wealth will not follow them down.
When living, they congratulate themselves and say:
'All praise you, you do so well.'
But they will join the company of their forebears,
never again to see the light
For all their riches,
if mortals do not have wisdom,
they perish like the beasts."
Psalm 50:
"The Lord, the God of gods,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion God shines forth,
perfect in beauty.
Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes,
storming fiercely round about.
God summons the heavens above
and the earth to the judgment of his people.."
Pastor Wilkerson sees this. He says that fires, "..will engulf the whole megaplex [New York City], including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires.."
Don't expect our secular leaders [or even, sadly, many of our leaders within the Church], to acknowledge the gravity of our present situation. Many of these are too busy counting their money or enjoying a life of ease and prosperity as they follow the "gospel" of riches. Almighty God has already told us of their fate.
The only stimulus package we need is the one adopted by the people of Nineveh. They repented. Sackcloth and ashes is what we need. Not bailouts and earmarks.
6 comments:
From BeliefNet:
A strange encounter at Costco
Friday February 13, 2009
Categories: Decline and fall, Economics
A friend I trust sent me the following e-mail this week. I offer it here with her permission, in hope that one of you can provide an informed explanation of this officer's mysterious behavior. I have slightly altered the text to conceal identities and the location of this encounter. I believe that this happened; what I don't know is what it means. Here's what she wrote:
My teenage son and I were grocery shopping this evening. There was a man, a [high-ranking officer] in his full uniform, who was clearly buying a food supply. He had 4 gallon size jars of pickles, 2, 25 lb bags of rice, stacks of cases of canned things and so on. We kept passing back and forth and picking up same items, having to wait on each other for things, like canned soup and so on. One time I said, "Wow! Are you feeding an army?" He laughed and said some smarty comment back about 'being' the army... you get the picture. It was friendly chatter.
Finally I asked him if he was buying a food supply. He clammed up. I would not have been surprised if he'd given me his name, rank, and serial # and then shut up. He was not acting embarrassed. My son even perceived his resolute lack of response. So I said, "Can I ask you yes or no questions? Are you buying all this food because of the economy?" He said, "No, it's not because of the economy. There are going to be some very interesting events in the next year."
So that loosened up conversation, but he told me he would not tell me more than that there would be these interesting events in the coming year, and that everyone would be wise to have a year's supply of food. So I told him some of the food sources my husband and I have found locally, and about how perilous the food supply and distribution network is. After that he told me that logistically it would be difficult to get sufficient food to us quickly in the event of a crisis. Huh? We parted, and then on the next aisle he wanted to know what church we went to. I immediately thought he might be Mormon, hence the food supply, but he turns out to be Evangelical.
So Rod, I have read about people advising food supplies, and a wealthy family member for whom money to buy food will never be an issue advising the same thing: stocking up food because its availability will be in doubt in the event of a serious crisis. I see all the bad news economically. I just haven't actually seen a high ranking officer in the military laying in a supply of food in anticipation of shortages! And saying that there is some mysterious, interesting event(s) coming as an explanation for his actions. And that we all should have food storages. It freaks me out honestly. I wish I'd asked him more questions, but I think I got as much information as I was going to get.
What do you think? Could he be an over-excited Evangelical preparing for the rapture who just happens to be a high-ranking officer in the military? Could he know about some coming domestic situation coming where supplies would be limited? Maybe he's a fearful Obama hater paranoid about what Obama may do as president. Or maybe he's in on logistics planning that has made him decide to protect his own family in the event said plans have to be executed. He did say something about trying to balance buying supplies so you don't start a panic, with having to put your family first. What do you think this was about?
Readers, what do you make of this? My inclination is to suspect that the officer is a Rapture-ready Evangelical who anticipates tribulation, but the only reason I assume that is a) that he is an Evangelical, and b) I can't imagine what kind of non-economic logistics planning he might be involved in that would enable him to conclude that storing up food is a rational precaution to take. But then again, that might only show the limits of my imagination. What do you say? Believe it or not, I'm loath to assume the worst (for once!), but either we have Son of Strangelove here, or an apocalyptic religious enthusiast who happens to be in the military... or there's something real and serious going on.
If you want to get your black helicopter on, check this out. And this from Daily Reckoning, excerpted below:
This isn't a recession, it's a depression. A depression is a period when most people's standard of living falls significantly. It can also be defined as a time when distortions and misallocations of capital are liquidated, as well as a time when the business cycle climaxes. We don't have time here, unfortunately, to explore all that in detail. But this is the real thing. And it's going to drag on much longer than most people think. It will be called the Greater Depression, and it's likely the most serious thing to happen to the country since its founding. And not just from an economic point of view, but political, sociological, and military.
For a number of reasons, wars usually occur in tough economic times. Governments always like to find foreigners to blame for their problems, and that includes other countries blaming the U.S. In the end, I wouldn't be surprised to see violence, tax revolt, or even parts of the country trying to secede. I don't think I can adequately emphasize how serious this thing is likely to get. Nothing is certain, but it seems to me the odds are very, very high for an absolutely world-class disaster.
And yet, the Grocery Major said this isn't about the economy. Hmm...
Both you and Wilkerson are right. This is more than just another "Depression." This is the beginning of God's Wrath on nations which have rejected His Eternal Law by promoting hateful sins such as abortion and homosexuality. We are now reaping what we've sown.
I think we'll be seeing food riots by this summer Paul. And widespread anarchy as everything collapses. Those who don't pray will not be prepared. Those who do not live a sacramental life will face the chastisement totally unprepared. Our hope is ONLY in the Lord of Hosts.
A once-great nation in its death throes:
Troops coming to border war
By Patrick Buchanan
Posted: March 06, 2009
Heeding the advice of Gen. David Petraeus, Barack Obama has committed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan and will keep 50,000 in Iraq after U.S. combat operations end in August 2010.
But are U.S. vital interests more threatened by what happens in Anbar or Helmand than in the war raging along our southern border?
Prediction: After all U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea have come home, there will be a U.S. army on the Mexican border. For this is where the fate of our republic will be decided, as the fate of Europe will be decided by the millions streaming north from the Maghreb and Middle East, sub-Sahara and South Asia.
Last year, 6,000 Mexicans died in drug-related killings in a war where the tactics are massacre, murder, kidnapping and beheading.
President Felipe Calderon has ordered another 5,000 troops and 1,000 police to the border. Primary target: Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
Some 2,500 federal troops are already in Juarez, where in 2008 there were 1,600 drug-related murders. Gun battles occur every day. Nationally, 45,000 army troops and police are committed to this war that Mexico is not winning. For, according to the March 3 Washington Times, the Pentagon now estimates the cartels field more than 100,000 foot soldiers.
The chief of police of Juarez just resigned after a cartel threatened to kill an officer in 48 hours if he did not. To prove its seriousness, the cartel murdered four cops, including the chief's deputy. Last year, 50 police officers in Juarez were murdered.
"The decision I am taking is one of life over death," said Chief Roberto Oduna. The chief would seem to have a point. In January, his predecessor's head was found in an ice cooler outside a police station. The mayor keeps his family in El Paso, as they have been threatened with decapitation.
Friday, the State Department declared, "Corruption throughout Mexico's public institutions remains a key impediment to curtailing the power of the drug cartels." Calderon retorts that, while the murders may be committed in Mexico, the cash and guns come from the United States.
With oil revenue down since the price dropped $100 a barrel, and remittances down from Mexican workers in the United States as the U.S. economy tanks, tourism, too, has begun to die. Beheadings in and around Acapulco have not helped. Warnings have been issued to U.S. college kids to avoid Mexico on spring break, as kidnappings for ransom are rampant. Restaurants and bars in Juarez that catered to folks from El Paso and soldiers from Fort Bliss are shutting down.
In February, in the resort town of Cancun, a retired army general sent to create an elite anti-crime unit was kidnapped, tortured and shot. Mexican troops raided Cancun's police headquarters and arrested the chief and dozens of his officers in connection with the murder.
Add a collapsing global economy to a losing war with drug cartels, and Mexico is at grave risk of becoming a failed state, a narco-state, with a 2,000-mile border with the United States.
How does one win a drug war when millions of Americans who use recreational drugs are financing the cartels bribing, murdering and beheading to win the war and keep self-indulgent Americans supplied with drugs?
There are two sure ways to end this war swiftly: Milton's way and Mao's way. Mao Zedong's communists killed users and suppliers alike, as social parasites. Milton Friedman's way is to decriminalize drugs and call off the war.
When Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1972, Milton, writing in Newsweek, objected on ethical grounds:
"On ethical grounds, do we have the right to use the machinery of government to prevent an individual from becoming an alcoholic or a drug addict? For children, almost everyone would answer at least a qualified yes. But for responsible adults, I, for one, would answer no. Reason with the potential addict, yes. Tell him the consequences, yes. Pray for and with him, yes. But I believe that we have no right to use force, directly or indirectly, to prevent a fellow man from committing suicide, let alone from drinking alcohol or taking drugs."
"Am I my brother's keeper?'" asked Milton, answering, "No."
Americans are never going to adopt the Maoist solution. For the users of drugs are all too often classmates, colleagues, friends, even family. Indeed, our last three presidents did not deny using drugs.
Once, a Christian America outlawed and punished homosexuality, abortion, alcohol, loan-sharking and gambling, all as criminal vice. Now, homosexuality and abortion are constitutional rights. Gambling and booze are a rich source of government revenue. And loan-sharking is done by credit-card companies, and not just the Corleones.
Will we raise the white flag in the drug war, as well?
Which is the greater evil? Legalized narcotics for America's young or a failed state of 110 million on our southern border?
Some choice. Some country we've become.
Tent cities (shanty towns), which were a hallmark of the Great Depression, have returned:
http://www.dailymarkets.com/
economy/2009/03/06/pictures-of-sacramentos-tent-city-unfiltered-and-unspun/
America is in freefall.
I just found this at CNN:
World Bank says global economy to shrink for first time since World War II
March 9, 2009: 7:04 AM ET
World Bank: Economy worst since Depression
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The world economy is on track to post its worst performance since the Great Depression, with developing countries bearing much of the economic pain, the World Bank said Monday.
Those countries face a credit shortfall of up to $700 billion, the bank said.
"The global economy is likely to shrink this year for the first time since World War II," the bank said, noting that global industrial production, by the middle of 2009, could be as much as 15% lower than in 2008.
Based on those projections, world trade is on track to record its largest decline in 80 years, with the sharpest losses expected in East Asia.
The World Bank, which helps finance the debt of developing nations, says the financial crisis will have long-term implications for them.
"Many institutions that have provided financial intermediation for developing country clients have virtually disappeared. Developing countries that can still access financial markets face higher borrowing costs, and lower capital flows, leading to weaker investment and slower growth in the future," the bank said.
"When this crisis began, people in developing countries, especially those in Africa, were the innocent bystanders in this crisis, yet they have no choice but to bear its harsh consequences," World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in remarks prepared for a development conference in London on Monday.
According to the World Bank: "The most affected sectors are those that were the most dynamic, typically urban-based exporters, construction, mining and manufacturing. Cambodia, for example, has lost 30,000 jobs in the garment industry, its only significant export industry. More than half a million jobs have been lost in the last three months of 2008 in India, including in gems and jewelry, autos and textiles."
The World Bank says stimulus packages for the major economic powers will limit money for the developing world, hindering their economic growth.
"Clearly, fiscal resources do have to be injected in rich countries that are at the epicenter of the crisis. But channeling infrastructure investment to the developing world, where it can release bottlenecks to growth and quickly restore demand, can have an even bigger bang for the buck and should be a key element to recovery," Justin Yifu Lin, World Bank chief economist and senior vice president, said in remarks prepared for Monday's development conference in London.
Yin thinks developed countries will enhance their own recoveries if they spend some of their fiscal stimulus in developing countries.
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