What you will read on this website and in these blogs was added in the last months of 2005 and throughout 2006 - 2010. The articles are not listed in the order they were written since I have tried to keep subjects in order. The article below is a transcript of a sermon by John MacArthur. I have listed many of John’s books on the website because he is a man of God and truly speaks for the Lord. He is a man who is not afraid to say what needs to be said – regardless of the consequences. After finishing much of what is written on the website, I came across this sermon and knew, once again, that this wasn’t by chance.
I have read many authors and many articles on the subject of the Lord’s judgment, but none are as clear and concise as this sermon by John. There are many people who will be fearful and will begin to lose hope as events begin to unfold within our nation and the world. They will ask – Why? Why has God done this? How have we let this happen? Where do we go from here? The starting point is learning why. I believe that our nation is being given a choice. If we will truly, in our hearts, return to the Lord, we can become the greatest turnaround story in the history of the world (as John mentions below). It won’t be easy. The world and its spiritual ruler will do everything they can to prevent our turnaround. Our spiritual enemy has deceived us into believing that the world can offer us security and satisfy everything that we need. We are learning that the father of all lies has, not surprisingly, lied to us. If we will, as a nation, overcome this world and its deception, if we will seek God and his Truth…then we can be a source of God’s light in this dark world.
Everything here is based on God’s Holy Word – The Bible. As many things are revealed and explained to you on this website, always remember that all truth flows from one source – God Himself. You will also learn just how deceptive our enemy is and why he is called the father of lies. You will learn who the antichrist and the beasts of Revelation 13 really are. If you think that one evil world ruler is going to take control of the world in the near future, you will find that our spiritual enemy is much more deceptive than what you have been led to believe. The truth is that you see and hear from these beasts every day on the radio and television and read about them in your newspaper and on the internet. Sound unbelievable? It’s because you have eyes, but cannot see – you have ears, but cannot hear. Continue on and you will understand.
You will also learn what the ‘image’ of the beast will be. If you think the mark of the beast is simply going to be a microchip implanted into your right hand or your forehead, you’re in for a surprise. If you think that a secret rapture will take you away from here before things get really bad during a 7 year tribulation period, you’ve got some Bible study and praying to do. You will learn how to discern which leaders are trustworthy and those that are ‘ferocious wolves’. You will learn what it takes to attain true faith and what it takes to go from knowing about God, to actually knowing our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ personally. You will understand what the ‘narrow gate’ really is and why so many of us are on the broad road that leads to destruction. If you will invite God into your life, read His word and pray to Him – He will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid of what happens in this world – because you will be able to see and understand. Fear and death will no longer dominate you. If you read everything that is written here, read the Lord’s Word and seek Him, you will understand everything that I’m telling you.
My journey began in May of 2005. How did it start? As with anyone who has known the Lord, it began with humility. I finally acknowledged to my Creator that I did not know it all, did not understand it all and was certainly not walking in His ways. I prayed to Him that I truly believed in Him and His plan of salvation and would follow Him wherever He led me. He enabled me to overcome the world and communicate what I have learned to you. I will tell you, as any true Christian will, that all of my courage, strength, knowledge and wisdom – everything that is good in me – comes from God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Contrary to what you are told in this world, only God is worthy of our praise. Only He should be glorified.
Much of what is written here will be disturbing to many. Learning (and accepting) the truth can be very difficult – especially when we don’t like it. Many of us would much rather believe a lie than to accept a truth that causes us to examine everything about our lives and the world around us. Some things written here have been told to us in the Lord’s Word for centuries and therefore, will happen with 100% certainty. We will see a worldwide government and a worldwide church that are led by our spiritual enemy and will oppose the Lord. You will also read what I feel has been revealed to me about our nation’s future – here is where I believe we are being given a choice. Continue on our current path and we can expect our fall to continue unabated. If our nation chooses to turn from its evil ways and walk with the Lord, the Lord will heal us and strengthen us to stand in the face of overwhelming odds. I have not always understood all of the things I’ve been asked to do. My mind cannot grasp the enormity and complexity of God’s overall plan. I have simply been obedient. If the U.S. economy crashes at some point and this leads many to what I have written here, you can be sure that this is a sign that we are at a crossroads. Will this nation understand the magnitude of what is happening and ask for forgiveness? Will we humble ourselves, seek the Lord and give up our pursuit of worldly things and truly become a Christian nation – which will lead to our healing. Or will we continue to reject the Lord’s offer of salvation and continue on our own way – which will lead us to our destruction. You can be sure that the Lord will be watching for our decision. Always remember, He loves each and every one of us and His hope is that every one of us comes to repentance.
One final message before John’s sermon. Many professed teachers in the world today will tell you that you only need to ‘accept’ Jesus to be saved – ignoring many of Jesus’ warnings. I have learned, as any true Christian has learned, that the narrow path that leads to life is not an easy path to take in this world. You cannot simply attend church for an hour on Sunday and then lead a secular, worldly life and expect to enter the Lord’s kingdom. How do I know this? Because I used to live my life this way and I know that I was deceived. I knew about God, but I didn’t know Him. I now know the Truth – and the Truth will set you free. Let the Lord reveal the Truth to you and you will never be the same.
How did I know you would be led here to read what I have written? Well, that’s part of this story the Lord has given me to tell you. I will warn you again - the truth is going to be difficult to believe. Why? Because the ruler of this world has told us lies for a very long time. Many lies are now accepted as truth. To truly see and understand, you will need to pray. Even if you’ve never prayed before, even if you’ve never picked up a Bible in your life, the Lord is revealing the truth to us so that we will draw closer to Him. There is a reason why He is doing this now.
My hope and prayer is that your walk with God begins today.
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A Nation Abandoned by God
Selected Scriptures
By John MacArthur
It is a real delight to be with you tonight. I want to thank Pastor Hurd and Pastor Al for the opportunity to be here. Thank you, men, so much, this is a...this is a privilege and a...and a joy and a delight to me. I always love the opportunity to teach and preach the Word of God, but especially to meet and greet people who have listened to me on the radio through the years and come to me with all kinds of strange comments about...(applause)...thank you...come to me with strange comments about what they thought I looked like. (Laughter) This is it, better that you had never known. (More laughter).
It's a joy tonight to have my dear wife, Patricia, here. Honey, stand up and let them welcome you. (Applause) This...this is the best earthly gift has given to me by far and I have to take advantage of every moment I have with her in this world because there's no marriage in heaven, so I've got to take advantage of it while I'm here. And I'm delighted to be able to do that. God has blessed us with four children and by His grace they're in Christ and serving with us in our church and they married four who love the Lord and we have 14 grandchildren who are being raised in the things of the Lord. And it's exciting to see that happening. (Applause) We are very, very grateful to the Lord and His goodness in our family, and I say that only to say God has used Patricia in a remarkable way in the lives of our children, to nurture them in the things of Christ. What...what a great blessing to me.
It's not a small thing to have the opportunity such as I have tonight to try to put a little bit of perspective and focus on the issue of praying for our nation. There are so many things that could be said and probably should be said and I certainly don't intend to say them all, by any means. But trying to kind of funnel down our thinking a little bit so that our prayers can be direct is really helpful. I remember one of our kids, I used to go from room to room when the kids were little and pray with them. And one of my daughters, I got into the habit of just because she was sleepy, I think, saying, "And God bless the whole wide world. Amen." And I thought that was a little unspecific, I guess you could say. Needed a little more targeting in her prayers. And if I can tonight, I want to try to target our prayers a little bit as to how we can direct our prayers in what, I believe, is the most needful way...not to the exclusion of any other things, but this, I think, has to be the primary focus. And it may take me a little while to get to that point, and you need to kind of stay with me and you'll see how this unfolds and hopefully it will be helpful. That certainly is my prayer.
One of the most tragic scenes in the Bible and yet one of the most familiar to us is the scene of the strongest man who ever lived, a man by the name of Samson, finding out he had no strength. Judges chapter 16 records this. "When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines saying, 'Come up once more, for he's told me all that is in his heart.' Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands and she made him sleep on her knees, called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him and his strength left him. And she said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson," and he woke from his sleep and said, 'I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.'" And here's the telling line written by God the Holy Spirit. "But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. So the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains and he became a grinder in the prison." Sad. He didn't know that the Lord had departed from him. I can't imagine anything worse than being abandoned by God.
To the sons of Israel earlier in the book of Judges in chapter 10, God said this, "You have forsaken me, you have served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your distress." This was God saying to Israel, "I'm done with you, abandoned by God.
Proverbs chapter 1 records a similar sentiment. "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out My hands and no one paid attention. You neglected all my counsel, you did not want my reproof, I will even laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come on you, then they will call on Me but I will not answer. They will seek Me diligently, they will not find Me because they hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would not accept My counsel, they spurned all My reproof, so they will eat of the fruit of their own way and be satisfied with their own devices." Again being abandoned by God, turned over to the inevitable consequences of sinful choices.
A haunting line is found tucked away in the little prophecy of Hosea chapter 4 and verse 17, and it refers to Israel by the name Ephraim and it says this, "Ephraim is joined to idols," so says God. The next line, "Leave him alone." Sounds out of character for God, doesn't it? "Ephraim is joined to idols, bring him back," might sound a little more like God. "Let him alone?"
People and nations, even the covenant nation Israel can come to a point where they are abandoned by God. Jesus reiterated this in Matthew 15 when He confronted the Pharisees and then described them to the disciples. He said this, "They're blind leaders of the blind. Let them alone." When God lets you go, it's serious. When Jesus pronounces over you abandonment, it's serious.
Now I'm going to say something, you're going to have to hold on to your seat a little bit. I'm convinced beyond doubt that in this same sense, God has abandoned America. I know that's a strong thing to say and I'm going to show you why I believe you can see that clearly in Scripture.
Open your Bibles to Romans 1...Romans 1. Don't be surprised, by the way, by that statement because while you're turning there, Acts 14:16 says this, this is from the Apostle Paul, "In the generations gone by," that's past history, "God permitted all the nations to go their own way." This is not the first nation God has abandoned, nor if Jesus tarries is it the last, or is it now the only. This is the cycle of history and it is this very cycle of history that Paul describes in Romans chapter 1. Here in Romans chapter 1, beginning in chapter 18 running to the end of the chapter, you have the most clear presentation of God abandoning a nation, what that looks like, what happens and why He does it. This is the most graphic and the most detailed and the most comprehensive discussion of what it means for a people, a society to be abandoned by God. And it perfectly describes the moral chaos in our own nation today.
It starts with very familiar words. Verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven." Now let me stop you there for just a moment. We're talking about the wrath of God and I need to just let you know that in the Scripture and in reality there are five different manifestations of God's wrath. Okay? And you will recognize them. There is eternal wrath. That is that wrath which God unleashes on the unbelieving dead in hell...eternal wrath, suffering forever eternal punishment. That's eternal wrath.
There is also in the Bible eschatological wrath, that is the unfolding of divine wrath at the end of the age described in detail, for example, in Revelation 6 through 19, the pouring out of God's wrath in the breaking of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the dumping of seven bowls of wrath...eschatological wrath, that wrath is yet to come as is eternal wrath for all society, yet right now there are many experiencing eternal wrath, all the unbelieving who have left this world are experiencing.
The third kind of wrath is what I guess you could call calamitous wrath. That is that wrath of God which produces calamity in the world and the most notable illustration of that is the Flood which drowned the entire world, only eight people were saved. Massive wrath on the part of God against sinful man.
Fourthly, there is consequential wrath, that's sowing and reaping wrath. That's the natural end of patterns and choices of sin. Whatever a man sows, he...what?...he reaps...that's consequential wrath.
But there's one other kind of wrath that is usually overlooked. We all understand eternal wrath, eschatological wrath, calamitous wrath, we all understand the...in the calamity of the Flood or God destroying Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, etc., etc. Throughout history these calamities continue to even happen and they all fit in the category of God's judgment of sin. But there's this other category of the wrath of abandonment, it is a form of God's wrath in which He lets go of a society and let's it catapult full speed without restraint in the direction of its own sinful desires and devices and choices. That's the wrath being described here. This is the cyclical reality of this wrath that has defined human history and will always until Jesus comes. As Paul said, in all the generations gone by, God permitted the nations to go their own way.
I don't believe we're waiting for God's wrath in this society. We haven't had a massive calamity such as the destruction of an entire city, we certainly don't want that to happen, pray that does not happen, but it could happen and God would be just in any calamity that He brought upon us. We have not entered into eschatological wrath that comes in the end times, we are experiencing, all of us do, consequential wrath of sin. But this massive concept of the wrath of abandonment I'm convinced is now at work in our society. We'd like to talk about the fact that America was founded on Christian principles and God was at the center of it, and all of that, whatever it might have been in our founding, it's no longer the way it is and I want to show you how you know that has happened.
Go down to verse 24. You see in verse 24 the first word "therefore," this means we're now going to see a description that connects to what has been said. If you go back to verse 18, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," and we could stop at that point. The wrath of God is revealed. And then it goes on to talk about the wrath of God and the reasons for the wrath of God. And then in verse 24 it then describes the wrath of God and here's the description. "Therefore God gave them over, or God gave them up, in the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them, for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. In the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman, burned in their desire toward one another, men with men, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do the things that are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, full of...or evil full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, and not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
Now let me break that down for you a little bit. Three times the verb "gave them over" is used...three times. The wrath of abandonment is when God gives a nation over. This verb, paradidomi, can have a judicial sense. It's used often in Greek literature in terms of law courts and criminal courts. It comes down to handing a prisoner over for punishment. It's even used in the case of Jesus being handed over for a crucifixion. Each of these uses of the verb in this text express the fact that the wrath of God has acted to hand over a society to sentence...to hand them over. As the historian Schiller(?) said, years ago, "The history of the world is the judgment of the world." There comes a time in a nation when God has had enough and He literally lets go and turns them over to the sentence that they have passed upon themselves by their incessant sinful choices. To see it another way, they are deprived of restraining grace.
Now how do we know when this has happened? Note the progression. Verse 24, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them." Impurity speaks of sexual sin. The first thing that happens in a nation when it is abandoned by God is a sexual revolution. Moral, sexual perversion, pornographic desire describes the general character of the culture. You can't even count how many million pornographic web sites there are. When a society is abandoned by God, it operates out of its own perverse sexual passion without restraint. You can go back to the 60's and the sexual revolution of the flower children, or Hugh Hefner in the Playboy world and it has gone like a flood since then. It is characterized by, as you look at verse 24, lust coming from inside as Jesus said, "What comes out of the heart of a man is what defiles him," leading to impurity, this means sexual impurity, and to the dishonoring of their bodies. The heart is wicked and the bodies demonstrate it. The body follows the heart. Lust conceives in the heart, James says, and brings forth sin and sin brings forth death.
The first thing you look for in a society you're trying to discern whether God has abandoned that society is whether or not that society has gone through a sexual revolution so that illicit sex, adultery, every form of immorality is accepted as normal in that society. And we're there.
The second step in the progression, verse 26, "God gave them over, not just to passions that are explicable because they're men and women, but to inexplicable degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural." You know a society has been abandoned by God when it celebrates lesbian sex. God has given them over...gross affections, unnatural, unthinkable.
So you follow a sexual revolution with a homosexual revolution, and homosexuality becomes normalized. Verse 27 adds the male part, "In the same way the men abandon the natural function of the women burned in their desire toward one another.." And by the way, it is a burning that is just hard to comprehend. There was a man named Halpern(?) who was the coroner for the city of New York and he did, I think, 26 or 28 thousand autopsies in his day. He said we can look at a corpse that had been murdered and tell you whether a homosexual killed that person by the multiple wounds. He's not a Christian, he's a Jewish guy and he just said, "There's something about the passions of that kind of involvement that are not explicable."
But interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit puts the women first here and the men after. Why? The Holy Spirit refers first to the degradation of women because they're usually the last to be affected in the decay of morals because their hearts are so naturally inclined toward a husband and toward the responsibility of nurturing children. But when they lead the parade, God has removed His restraint. And the amazing thing of it is this, verse 27, "The man abandoning the natural function of the women, burning in their desire toward one another, men with men, committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." Right into this wrath of abandonment comes the wrath, the consequential wrath and even though it generates venereal disease and AIDS, they keep doing it. This is what step two looks like and we know this has come like a flood. But it's not the final step. The final step comes in verse 28, the middle of verse 28, "God gave them over to a depraved mind."
Now the version of the Bible you have, I'm reading the New American Standard, might have a different translation for depraved, so let me tell you what the word means...non-functional. It doesn't work, useless, can't think, can't reason, can't comprehend. And you look at this world and you say, "Rampant sexual immorality, out of control, destroying people willy-nilly even in the church, even in the leadership of the church. Homosexuality, same thing, rampant, out of control, demanding to be accepted as normal and the society rushing to affirm that acceptance. Isn't there anybody in the system who would stand up and call this what it really is, a massive, moral disaster? Can't they see it? Can't they figure it out? No...no. First Corinthians 1 says, "Man by wisdom knew not God." Human wisdom just on its own doesn't get there. Then you add that the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that do not believe and you've got a compounding blindness. And then you add the fact that they are blinded by virtue of the sweeping, dominating elements of their culture and you're just not going to get anybody to rise up and take that position and have people rally around it. You're going to have more people in leadership in the country outing themselves as homosexuals. If you think you've seen a lot of that, you haven't seen any of it yet as it becomes more and more accepted.
A depraved mind in the original language is one that's tested and found useless, therefore disqualified for its intended use. The reasoning faculty has been corrupted by the influences that surround it. MTV did a survey on morality. Boy, there's a...(laughter)...switch. And they took, you know, they took the Middle Ages idea of the seven deadly sins, you know, lust, greed, all those things, and they surveyed their audience about what they thought about that. And basically they thought all those things were virtues. Now they thought they were all virtues. Yeah. And when that happens and your entire sense of morality is warped, then your conscience is ill-informed and it doesn't function. So you have unconscionable behavior. And then you laugh at the Jerry Springer Show instead of falling on your face and weeping at the aberrations. A depraved mind, reasoning faculty so corrupt that it must be rejected as non-functioning. And as a result of that, what happens? God gave them over, verse 28, to a depraved mind. So as a result, they do the things that are not...what?...proper, fitting, sensible, reasonable.
What do they do? They're filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, murder, deceit, malice. What's that? That's the nightly news. It's the local newspaper. Slanderers, haters of God, and on and on and on and on it goes. They're unconscionable. Conscience can only function...conscience is a sky light, okay? Conscience is a device that reacts to your moral code. If you're a Muslim, conscience tells you to blow up infidels because conscience is not a set of moral laws. It's not a set of moral rules. It's a mechanism, like pain. Pain is a mechanism God gave you that responds to your physical condition. It says to you something is wrong with your body. Pain is simply the device that tells you that. And it's a good thing, isn't it? It's a good thing cause it tells you've got a problem with your body you need to deal with. That's what conscience is, it's a mechanism God gave you that accuses you or excuses you, Romans 2 says, but only functions if it is morally informed accurately. And if you have a culture that has developed an aberrant morality, then you have consciences that function off of that aberrant morality. And you get all the stuff, all the inexplicable behaviors. And that's why in verse 32 it says, "Although they know the ordinance of God, all they know...all they know inherently in them, Romans 2, what is right and what is wrong, they who practice such things are worthy of death. They know that. They do them anyway and they give hearty approval to those who practice them.
You know what that reminds me of? Bill Clinton's approval ratings went up in the middle of the Louenski(?) affair. Why? Because a culture like this approves of somebody like that, perfect fit. That's our kind of guy.
So they are without reason, without conscience. This is what it means when God abandons a society.
Sexual revolution, down one more step; homosexual revolution, down one more step; you can't ever get your way out of it because the mind, the cultural mind is gone...it's gone...it's gone. And I would put it this way, maybe simply, there's no surer indicator of a corrupted, wicked and abandoned society under God's wrath than when that society does not tolerate anger against sin. This society will not tolerate you standing up and displaying righteous indignation against sin. How long is it going to be before if you preach against it in your pulpit the government is going to come in and tell you, you can't do that? They've done it in Canada.
One night Larry King said to me, off the camera, he said...he said, "You know," he said, "I like you a lot but...he said...you're all...you're all caught up in the words of the Bible and you miss the message." So I said, "Well, what's a message with no words?" I don't think we miss the message.
It was C.S. Lewis who said, "The last experience of the sinner is the horrible enslavement of the freedom he desired."
So, Paul is unfolding for us this picture of what a society looks like when it's abandoned. It's not my description. Now you see why I said I think America is here going through the cycle of Romans 1.
Why does it happen? Let's go back to verse 18 and find out. Why does it happen? I'm going to give you the short version. Here's why it happens. Verse 18, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven in this form of abandonment against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men that makes up this society." Verse 18, "Who suppress...what? There it is, that's it...they suppress the truth...they suppress the truth." That's why I wrote the book The Truth War, it's always about truth, always about truth, always. From the Garden, it started out as a war of truth, right? God says you eat the fruit, you'll die. Satan says, no you won't, you shall not surely die. There it is. Adam and Eve believed Satan. They thought God was lying to them. That started the truth war, it's going on today. It's always about the truth. Simple, this happens when you suppress the truth.
What truth? Real truth. As Francis Schaeffer used to say, the true truth...biblical truth. You suppress this, that's where you go. Take the Word of God out of the place of its supremacy and you suppress the truth. Deny that it's true, deny its veracity, deny its authenticity, deny its inerrancy, deny its inspiration, deny its sufficiency, deny its clarity...that's the latest one that nobody really knows what the Bible means anyway, it's a wonderful book, we believe God gave it to us but we have no idea what it means. That's convenient. I mean, you can divide my life, my life up into attacks on the Bible coming from every imaginable angle...the truth is always under assault. This nation has succumbed to that. There are even churches that have decentralized the truth cause they think it offends, it's divisive. It's all we've got, folks. It's all we have. God saves through the truth. You're begotten again, Peter says, by the Word of truth. You're sanctified by the word of truth. Jesus said, "Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy word is truth," John 17:17. That's all we have.
Of course it's being assaulted by Satan. Of course the critics come along and say it's not inspired, it's not true, you can't believe it. Of course the mystics come along and say no, it's fine, but we have more revelation over here and more over there, and more over there. And the cults all develop out of extrabiblical revelation. And then there are others who come along and say, "Well, the Bible's fine, it's just not sophisticated. You need to add philosophy and other kinds of things to the Bible to fill it out." And now there are those who come and say, "Well, it lacks clarity." And that's an attack on the old perspicuity, the doctrine of perspicuity, that Scripture is clear, that God intended it to reveal not to hide. So the truth is diminished in its place, it's denied, it's rejected. It's amazing how people mock biblical truth today...amazing.
Oh, you can figure out a way to make it so smooth and soft, take out all the hard parts so it doesn't have the sting. But if you give the unadulterated, unexpurgated, pure Word of God, it will generate a negative reaction in many environments. You need to speak the truth in love, but all we've got is the truth. Suppress the truth.
Let me expand that a little bit. Give you four things to think about, four reasons for wrath that have to do with the suppressing of the truth. Number one, revelation. We've been given the truth. "Suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse."
What is this? This is not even talking about the Scripture. This is talking about the fact that God has inlayed His truth into the fabric of man's being. He is not without a witness to the truth. Look at chapter 2 for a moment, drop down in to verse 14, "The Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these not having the Law are a Law to themselves in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness." Part of being human like all the other parts of being human, be able to think and to make relationships, to speak and to act in the ways that humans act, those kinds of things are the familiar components of what it means to be human. But another one is, the Law of God written in the very fabric of man's nature so that he cannot plead ignorance. In fact, it says in verse 20 that he has enough of the Law in himself, enough of reason to be without excuse. You cannot plead ignorance, that which may be known of God. What is knowable regarding God. What man can know, what of the light that lights every man that comes into the world, John 1:9, is written in the heart. It is evident in them. Two ways, one, in reason...in reason. Where does reason inevitably take you? Reason inevitably takes you to an ultimate cause. Reason is simply a cause and effect device. Reason is simply thinking our way through patterns of cause and effect. This leads to this, this leads to this, this leads to this, and that's how reason works. And eventually you get back to the first cause of the massive universal effect of creation, so reason is a device given by God to all human beings that leads them directly back to Him...directly back to Him.
Any thinking person knows that. You can't have an effect without a cause, right? I mean, how simple do we have to be? You ask me where this watch came from, if I say, well there's a bunch of tin floating in a box and pulled it out and it started to tick and this is it...is ridiculous. Well how can you explain the universe that way? It's an absurdity. Nobody times nothing equals everything? That's totally irrationality.
I'll give you a little thing to think about. There was a scientist by the name of Van Noimen(?) And VanNoiman invented, or conceived of an invention called the ultimate machine...the ultimate machine. Okay? Called the VanNoiman Machine, all engineers and scientists know about. The VanNoiman Machine, he said, this is the ultimate machine, it is self-perpetuating. It has the capacity within itself to sustain itself. Wow! Secondly, it is self-repairing. Anything that ever goes wrong with it, it can fix. It has within itself the ability to fix itself, to generate whatever new parts it needs to reassemble them so that it functions. And then thirdly, it reproduces itself. It multiplies itself. This would be like having a car that generated its own fuel, fixed itself, and when you came out in the morning there were three little cars sitting next to it. (Laughter) Okay? This is a VanNoiman Machine. The complexity of this machine is staggering. And so it can't be built, it's way too complex. It becomes exponential, almost...almost to infinity to put something together like this, it can't be done. And yet that is exactly what every single organic cell in existence in the biological world does. It's a factory of perfect self-generating, self-repairing, self-reproducing machinery. Don't tell me that one time there was a pile of protoplasm and it decided to become this. My reason tells me there has to be a Creator. And do you know the whole world believed that until Darwin came along? Jonah out on a boat, and the sailors, pagan sailors say to him, "Why is this going on?" He says, "It's my God, He's doing it cause He's punishing me. And so it's my God." And they say, "Well who's your God?" He didn't say, "Well, let's see, He's the Hebrew God, He's the God of the Hebrew people, that's who He is." He didn't say that. He said this, he said, "Well, He's the God who made the earth and the sea." Oh, that's a natural assumption...natural assumption. Go to Mars Hill, Paul's up there, they have a deal there for the unknown god. Paul says, "I want to tell you who this unknown God is." He doesn't say, "This is...this is the Christian God of New Testament." He says, "This is the God who created everything. This is the God in whom we live and move and have our being." Everybody got it. Only in the modern world do we not get it.
You go back to God, the massive first cause of everything. So that's in the fabric of being human. And you know, you have to work hard for a couple of hundred years to convince an entire society that that's nonsense and that what makes sense is nobody times nothing equals everything. And though it doesn't make sense, it works in a totally immoral culture because if there's no Creator, there's no judge. So reason is the first thing that shows you God. The second thing is morality which is built into the fabric of all of us and has again to be cultivated to the point where you've got a society of people whose reason doesn't need God, and whose sense of morality has been totally perverted.
Here we are. Here we are. Even though since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, divine nature clearly seen, clearly understood so that we're without excuse, this society has rejected God. That's our second point. Point one, revelation, God has revealed Himself to every person. Second, rejection, men have turned away from the truth. Verse 21, interesting, "Even though they knew God," that is humanity, that is society in any given period of time by God's creative design have the knowledge of moral law and reason that leads them back to a moral law-giver and a judge and a Creator, even though they know that innately, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but instead of doing what was reasonable and moral, they became empty in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. And the bottom line is that they don't like the God their reason leads them to and they don't like the God that their innate sense of what is right and wrong leads them to and so they abandon that God and the lights go out. And then you come up with stuff like a rock is a rat is a dog is a boy. Life is random. Truth is relative. People are basically free to do whatever they want. It's all good. Everyone ought to be free to do whatever he wants. The goal of life is self-satisfaction. Live it up and don't let anybody tell you, you can't do anything.
So they didn't honor Him as God. They weren't thankful to Him for what He had given. And the lights went out. They became empty in their speculations, their thinking, their patterns, their ideologies, their foolish heart went black. Empty human ideas, now you can't know God, can't know the truth.
But you think you're smart. Look at verse 22. "Professing to be wise...professing to be wise, they became fools." That's the third step. You go from revelation to rejection to rationalization. Men insist they're doing fine, never did better. We're very advanced. Professing to be wise...reminds me of the guy lying in bed in the nut house, pounding his chest saying, "I'm Napoleon, I'm Napoleon, I'm Napoleon." And the guy in the next bed saying, "Well, I'm God, I'm God, I'm God." Just that kind of insanity. Or the lady who came to the psychiatrist's office with a duck on a string and said, "You've got to help my husband, he thinks he's a duck." This is no perception of reality. In fact, it says, "Professing to be wise, they became fools." The word is moraino from which we get moron, proud morons giving each other Ph,D.s. (Applause)
And finally, it comes down to...goes from revelation to rejection to rationalization to religion. Yeah, religion. That's right. Verse 23, "They exchanged the glory of an incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible men, birds, four-footed animals and crawling creatures." What religion is that? Oh how about environmentalism where you worship...what?...the creation, not the Creator. Wow. Yeah, this is man at his...you say, "Isn't this man at his highest? He's worshiping?" No, this is man at his lowest. False religion is man in the pit. He's gone so far down, he's created the fantasy of false religion. Religion is not man at his highest, it is man at his lowest. The ultimate insanity is to worship any other than the true God, right?
And so we see what happens in a society when God turns them over and we see why He turns them over. And that was just a quick overview. So we look at our nation, our hearts are broken, the mind is depraved, they think they're smart, they're morons. They can't get to the truth, the mind is completely gone. They invent bizarre religions. They become religious. And today they like to talk about being spiritual, right? I'm very religious, I'm very spiritual.
What in the world does that mean? What does that mean? As if you can invent your own worship and your own religion. That's man at his lowest. That's all the way at the bottom, total complete rejection of the true God and the true faith. That's where we are. Now the question is...how do we pray?
Turn to Psalm 81...Psalm 81. And I want the Holy Spirit to give you direction here as we think about this. See if this doesn't sound familiar, verse 11, Psalm 81 verse 11, "But My people did not listen to My voice or My word. Israel did not obey Me." So verse 12, "I...what?...gave them up." Wow. If He would do that with Israel, a covenant people, what do you think is going on in America, we're not a covenant people? "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their own heart to walk in their own devices. I let them go, I let them go to the consequences of their choices." This is God, He's abandoned them. But look at verse 13, and here's the heart of God that I think we have to grasp in America in this hour, here's God, His words, "O that My people would do...what?...?...yeah, there it is...that they would listen to Me, listen to Me. That Israel would walk in My ways." Right there, folks, is your mandate to pray.
What do you have to pray for? You have to pray for the Word of the living God to be proclaimed across this nation. And if it's not being proclaimed in churches, it's not going to be proclaimed anywhere else. This is not a time for weak men in weak ministries preaching weak messages. This is a time to call on God to raise up a generation of passionate faithful gracious loving preachers of the Word so that a nation can listen to God. That's the answer. Think God might react? He said...I love this, verse 14..."I would quickly.." you like that word? Isn't that a good word? I don't get the picture God's dragging His heels here. "I would quickly subdue their enemies, I would turn My hand against their adversaries and it would be so great that even the people who hate Me would pretend to obey Me." And then I love this, I love verse 16, "And I would feed you with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." That's metaphoric, I would just drown you in blessing.
God only wants one thing out of a nation. Listen and believe this book. I really get grieved even when I hear evangelical people in the media and the public eye kind of equivocating about the clarity of the gospel. It's all we've got. Or about the clarity of what Scripture says. Your prayer and mine has to be that God would raise up faithful preachers and people who would proclaim His Word across this land. Pray for this generation of young men that God will call and shape and send, pray for pastors everywhere. Pray for lay people, for Christians to be bold. There's only one solution and that's the truth...the truth by which God saves, by which God sanctifies, and if this nation will respond and listen to His truth, God will open the flood gates. We might be the greatest recovery story in history. But there's no other way than that people listen to Me and walk in My ways. It's not going to happen if there's a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. Pray that the Word, as Paul said, would have free course and that it would run with all its power across this land. With all its beauty and magnificence, all its power and grace, that people would hear and believe and be saved and be obedient, all that to the glory of God. I don't know what God's plan is, I just see here what His heart is. "O, that My people would listen to Me," that's the heart of God.
Our Father, we thank You for simplifying things, as You always do even in the midst of what is so profound. It all comes down to the truth again, the truth...the truth...the truth...the truth. Make us people of the truth. May we trust the truth, unleashing it in all its power, knowing that we...we have no..no other weapon but the sword and it is sharper than any other. So, Lord, we just plead with You that Your Word in all its saving and sanctifying and transforming power would explode across this nation, that the truth would replace the lies that abound everywhere, not for us but for Your own glory. This we ask in the name of our Christ. Amen.
Showing posts with label United States and Bible Prophecy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States and Bible Prophecy. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Deception and the World
On this website you will read what I feel has been revealed to me about many of the Bible’s end time prophecies. I have spent a lot of time over the past 5 years studying and praying about these prophecies. As you read what is written here, you will find that I do not agree with many popular beliefs regarding many of the Lord’s prophecies. It has become clear to me that many of the popular interpretations of these prophecies are not correct. In fact, I will explain to you in later posts why I believe our spiritual enemy will use these popular prophecy beliefs against us.
There are many people in the world today who consider themselves well-informed Christians. They believe that they fully understand the prophecies and warnings given to us in Daniel, Revelation and other books in the Bible. They are now either sitting back waiting for these things to happen (a secret rapture, an evil world leader, 7 years of tribulation, a peace treaty between the antichrist and Israel, etc) or they are actively proclaiming to the world that they have all the answers – we all simply need to listen to them.
What if many popular prophecy scholars today have it completely wrong? What if they have let worldly pursuits cloud their judgment? What if they have become focused on the world instead of our Lord? What if our spiritual enemy has offered worldly wealth and glory to them as part of his plan to deceive the world and they have unknowingly accepted because they’re not as mature as they think they are? What if there isn’t going to be a secret rapture, one evil world leader (antichrist), or a 7 year period of tribulation when the judgments of Revelation will be poured out on the earth? What if I told you that none of these things are specifically mentioned in the Bible, but are simply interpretations – interpretations that I believe are not true. What if we’re not as smart as we think we are? Our self-righteousness has been used mightily by our enemy.
If things begin to rapidly deteriorate in the world and none of the popular interpretations of prophecy come true, what do you think will happen? There will be many people in the world who are going to feel very lost and alone. This is why I have been given this message. It’s time for all of us to change our focus from the world to the Lord’s kingdom. If you are someone who has been in the church for some time and have believed (as I did for many years) many of the popular interpretations of end time prophecy, you will need to open your mind to the truth and pray to the Lord for confirmation of what I’m going to tell you. If you are someone who has never been in church or read the Bible, now is the time to come home. You don’t need any biblical knowledge to start on your journey to know Jesus Christ and our Father. You only need a desire to know the Truth – a desire to know your Creator and His plan for you.
I fully expect that initially - many non-Christians and Christians alike will not want to believe what is written here. The reason is that the truth is initially going to be difficult to believe. You’ll understand as you read through this website. I want to make something clear from the beginning – there is no personal agenda here. I do not seek worldly power, glory or wealth. The world offers me nothing of real value. Everything in this world is temporary – the sooner we all realize this, the better. The Lord has changed me over the past 3 years and given me knowledge so that I understand what is happening and why. Everything I have is His. I am simply running the race placed before me. So, with that said, we’re going to begin with what the Bible has to say on the subject of deception and being deceived in our world.
Let’s start by looking at what Jesus had to say on the subject of being deceived in this world. I believe that many prophecy scholars are missing something very important that Jesus tells us about our current times.
Mathew Chapter 24 begins with the Disciples asking Jesus about the end times.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Mathew 24:3-4)
Jesus responds by warning us against deception. There will be many who claim to know Him and lead ‘many’ astray. Remember – many throughout the world are deceived.
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mathew 24:10-13)
These are very strong words and they speak very loudly to us today. Notice carefully – ‘many’ turn away from true faith (we’ll discuss this in more detail later) and ‘many’ false prophets will deceive ‘many’ people. When Jesus says ‘many’, he’s talking about billions of people – and this includes many professed Christians in the world. Who are these false prophets? These are people claiming to be God’s teachers and preachers who are, in fact, leading people away from the Truth. They are leading people away from true faith in Jesus Christ. They are people involved with false religions and they are people who claim to be Christians, but are not true Disciples. They do not follow Jesus, but follow our spiritual enemy. They have infiltrated God’s true church (more on this later).
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Mathew 24:23-25)
Once again, Jesus warns us of false prophets. He adds an additional piece of information here and I feel that it is one of the most important pieces of information given to us. In my years of attending church, I have never heard anyone discuss this – and I think I know why. In verse 24, Jesus tells us that these ‘false prophets’ will deceive ‘even the elect’. Who are the elect? These are God’s true children. They are His teachers, preachers and His true prophets. What Jesus is telling us here is that these false prophets are so deceptive, that they deceive even true believers. Why is this so important? Because it’s happening right now – to us. Our pride and our focus on the world has blinded us.
What we all must realize is that Jesus could obviously see into our future. He’s God – the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity. He could see exactly what would be happening in the world during our time – right now. Does He ever tell us that we would have it all figured out? No. What does He give us? Warnings. Time and again He warns us about deception. At a time when we should all be on guard against worldly and spiritual deception – we’ve allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep. We are not heeding our Lord’s warnings. We have become self-righteous because we know it all – while the ‘beasts’ are taking control of the world.
What, in the world today, is Jesus warning us about? You will find, as you read through these posts, that Jesus is warning us about many things. He is warning us about the ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13. He is warning us about false religions and their leaders in the world today and most importantly, He is warning us about the condition of the Christian Church. Many of us in the Church today are not true Christians. Many of us go to church and read the Bible – but many have not truly repented. Many have not truly asked the Lord for forgiveness and therefore, have not been born again by God. They have been deceived into believing that living a secular, worldly life is A-OK and that they can ‘believe’ and be saved without really following Jesus. They have not overcome the world and therefore, cannot ‘see’ or ‘hear’ what is really happening in the world around them. Every one of us must take a very hard look at our lives and determine who we are really following. If you are like I was, you’ll find that you are not following Jesus Christ. You have allowed yourself to be blinded by our enemy. If you will ask God to come into your life, your life will begin an amazing transformation – and you will be able to see with a spiritual eye. You will begin to follow the One who is not seen by our physical eyes because you will be able to spiritually discern His will for you.
How exactly, are these ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13 deceiving even God’s true children? How is it possible that we cannot see what’s happening? The truth is that they are right in front of you everyday. They have even told us what they are planning to do – and very few are doing anything about it. Now that’s deception. This is what Jesus could see. This is why we received so many warnings. In addition to Jesus’ own words, the Book of Revelation is clear – these ‘beasts’ deceive the whole world – even the elect.
“And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 13:13-14)
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” (Revelation 19:20)
You’ll learn specifics about how events in the world today relate to these prophecies as you continue to read through the posts on this website. You’ll begin to see how they have deceived you your entire life.
For now, let’s continue to learn about our true enemy and how he is deceiving the world.
Who does the Bible tell us is our true enemy? Who is really deceiving the world?
“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
The Bible is clear on this subject – Satan is the ruler of the world and deceives the whole world. He is our true enemy. You will notice that specific nations are not mentioned – he deceives the entire world. The United States is not immune to this deception. What you will learn is that the U.S. is actually playing a vital role in deceiving the whole world.
Who overcomes this world and its ruler?
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5)
Only those who are spiritually regenerated (born again) by God through faith in Jesus Christ overcome this world and its deception.
In the movie ‘The Matrix’, the main character (Neo) discovers at one point that the world he has lived in his whole life is a fantasy created to blind him from the truth. The parallels between that movie and our world are very similar. You’ll understand after you read everything here. You’ll go through the same transformation that Neo went through in the movie. I know I did. At first, your mind will reject the truth outright. You will say it’s not possible, it’s crazy, this can’t possibly be true. There’s no way I could be that deceived. I’m intelligent. I could see this coming if it were real. As you begin to realize that it is true and that you have been deceived on a global scale – you might just feel physically sick – just like Neo. You will probably even think at some point that you’d rather go back to being completely ignorant of what is happening around you. It would be easier this way – simply ignore the truth. Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss.
If you will humble yourself, realize that you don’t know everything and pray for knowledge, wisdom, faith, strength, courage – and begin a relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ - God will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid. You will be set free from this world. He is looking for those who will allow Him to turn them into spiritually mature warriors. When the rest of the world is running away in fear and telling you to do the same, you will turn and face your enemy. You will fight when others fall. When your day of evil comes, you will stand. Why? Because the Lord will be with you – always.
If you are in a Christian Church today, then you know that Satan is the bad guy. You know that he is deceptive and evil. You know that he rules over this world. Does it make more sense that his plans would be widely known or that they are being done in secret – very deceptively? Will there be one evil world leader who somehow gets the nations of the world to join together as depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ books? In this deceptive world, does this really make much sense given that the Bible never points to one person as being the antichrist? Will the mark of the beast simply be the act of accepting a microchip implant or will there be deception involved with the mark as well? If you re-read Revelation 19:20 again (above), you’ll notice that those who have received the mark are ‘deceived’. Would the world even allow these things to happen (one evil ruler, chip implant as the mark) given that these prophetic scenarios are so widely known? Or does it make more sense that there is something very secretive, very deceptive going on in the world that will one day take control? In the light of the Lord’s Word, the truth is that billions of people are deceived by our spiritual enemy and because they have rejected the one, true God - their continued deception will eventually result in their eternal death. This lines up with what the Bible tells us about Satan and end time deceptions. This is not a fantasy created by a writer of fiction. This is the truth.
These are the questions that kept me up at night for a long time. I felt that something very important was going on in the world – but I had no real knowledge of it and wasn’t part of it. I came to the realization that what I was lacking was a real faith in Jesus Christ. I realized that I was truly deceived. I came to the startling conclusion that I had allowed Satan to blind me from the Truth. I realized that as long as I relied on myself, I was going to go nowhere. I would continue on the broad path to its tragic conclusion. So, I began to pray and asked God to come into my life and help me overcome the world and its deception. I searched for the Lord – and He revealed Himself to me. I asked – and received. I knocked – and doors were opened.
What I found - what was revealed to me after much prayer – is that the world is truly deceived – just as the Bible tells us it is. Something deceptive is going on right before your eyes. The devil is scheming against us – very deceptively – just as the Bible tells us he will do. He is the father of lies and therefore, his children in this world are liars. They lie because deception is part of the plan - a plan that is told to us by the Lord. Even though Satan wants to keep his plans secret, he (and those he controls in this world) cannot hide their plans from God. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ know the Truth – they have overcome the evil one. They see through his evil plans because they rely on the source of all truth to guide them – the Creator of the heavens and earth. They are light in a dark world – and the darkness will not overcome them. While the world will tell you that there are many in the world today, I’m here to tell you there are few true believers. There are few who have entered through the narrow gate – just as Jesus tells us. I also believe this is about to change in preparation for the end.
These things no longer keep me up at night. I sleep soundly. Why? Because the Lord watches over me – and the Lord never sleeps.
"He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;” (Psalm 121:3)
Why is wealth being taken from the United States? When you begin to view the world from God’s perspective - and not the world’s – you begin to truly understand. It’s really very simple. We have allowed ourselves to be deceived. The result is that our lives are squarely focused on the world and we have left our Creator. He’s getting our attention.
"Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
You live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
"See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks with deceit.
With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Should I not punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 9:5-9)
June 2006
There are many people in the world today who consider themselves well-informed Christians. They believe that they fully understand the prophecies and warnings given to us in Daniel, Revelation and other books in the Bible. They are now either sitting back waiting for these things to happen (a secret rapture, an evil world leader, 7 years of tribulation, a peace treaty between the antichrist and Israel, etc) or they are actively proclaiming to the world that they have all the answers – we all simply need to listen to them.
What if many popular prophecy scholars today have it completely wrong? What if they have let worldly pursuits cloud their judgment? What if they have become focused on the world instead of our Lord? What if our spiritual enemy has offered worldly wealth and glory to them as part of his plan to deceive the world and they have unknowingly accepted because they’re not as mature as they think they are? What if there isn’t going to be a secret rapture, one evil world leader (antichrist), or a 7 year period of tribulation when the judgments of Revelation will be poured out on the earth? What if I told you that none of these things are specifically mentioned in the Bible, but are simply interpretations – interpretations that I believe are not true. What if we’re not as smart as we think we are? Our self-righteousness has been used mightily by our enemy.
If things begin to rapidly deteriorate in the world and none of the popular interpretations of prophecy come true, what do you think will happen? There will be many people in the world who are going to feel very lost and alone. This is why I have been given this message. It’s time for all of us to change our focus from the world to the Lord’s kingdom. If you are someone who has been in the church for some time and have believed (as I did for many years) many of the popular interpretations of end time prophecy, you will need to open your mind to the truth and pray to the Lord for confirmation of what I’m going to tell you. If you are someone who has never been in church or read the Bible, now is the time to come home. You don’t need any biblical knowledge to start on your journey to know Jesus Christ and our Father. You only need a desire to know the Truth – a desire to know your Creator and His plan for you.
I fully expect that initially - many non-Christians and Christians alike will not want to believe what is written here. The reason is that the truth is initially going to be difficult to believe. You’ll understand as you read through this website. I want to make something clear from the beginning – there is no personal agenda here. I do not seek worldly power, glory or wealth. The world offers me nothing of real value. Everything in this world is temporary – the sooner we all realize this, the better. The Lord has changed me over the past 3 years and given me knowledge so that I understand what is happening and why. Everything I have is His. I am simply running the race placed before me. So, with that said, we’re going to begin with what the Bible has to say on the subject of deception and being deceived in our world.
Let’s start by looking at what Jesus had to say on the subject of being deceived in this world. I believe that many prophecy scholars are missing something very important that Jesus tells us about our current times.
Mathew Chapter 24 begins with the Disciples asking Jesus about the end times.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Mathew 24:3-4)
Jesus responds by warning us against deception. There will be many who claim to know Him and lead ‘many’ astray. Remember – many throughout the world are deceived.
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mathew 24:10-13)
These are very strong words and they speak very loudly to us today. Notice carefully – ‘many’ turn away from true faith (we’ll discuss this in more detail later) and ‘many’ false prophets will deceive ‘many’ people. When Jesus says ‘many’, he’s talking about billions of people – and this includes many professed Christians in the world. Who are these false prophets? These are people claiming to be God’s teachers and preachers who are, in fact, leading people away from the Truth. They are leading people away from true faith in Jesus Christ. They are people involved with false religions and they are people who claim to be Christians, but are not true Disciples. They do not follow Jesus, but follow our spiritual enemy. They have infiltrated God’s true church (more on this later).
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Mathew 24:23-25)
Once again, Jesus warns us of false prophets. He adds an additional piece of information here and I feel that it is one of the most important pieces of information given to us. In my years of attending church, I have never heard anyone discuss this – and I think I know why. In verse 24, Jesus tells us that these ‘false prophets’ will deceive ‘even the elect’. Who are the elect? These are God’s true children. They are His teachers, preachers and His true prophets. What Jesus is telling us here is that these false prophets are so deceptive, that they deceive even true believers. Why is this so important? Because it’s happening right now – to us. Our pride and our focus on the world has blinded us.
What we all must realize is that Jesus could obviously see into our future. He’s God – the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity. He could see exactly what would be happening in the world during our time – right now. Does He ever tell us that we would have it all figured out? No. What does He give us? Warnings. Time and again He warns us about deception. At a time when we should all be on guard against worldly and spiritual deception – we’ve allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep. We are not heeding our Lord’s warnings. We have become self-righteous because we know it all – while the ‘beasts’ are taking control of the world.
What, in the world today, is Jesus warning us about? You will find, as you read through these posts, that Jesus is warning us about many things. He is warning us about the ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13. He is warning us about false religions and their leaders in the world today and most importantly, He is warning us about the condition of the Christian Church. Many of us in the Church today are not true Christians. Many of us go to church and read the Bible – but many have not truly repented. Many have not truly asked the Lord for forgiveness and therefore, have not been born again by God. They have been deceived into believing that living a secular, worldly life is A-OK and that they can ‘believe’ and be saved without really following Jesus. They have not overcome the world and therefore, cannot ‘see’ or ‘hear’ what is really happening in the world around them. Every one of us must take a very hard look at our lives and determine who we are really following. If you are like I was, you’ll find that you are not following Jesus Christ. You have allowed yourself to be blinded by our enemy. If you will ask God to come into your life, your life will begin an amazing transformation – and you will be able to see with a spiritual eye. You will begin to follow the One who is not seen by our physical eyes because you will be able to spiritually discern His will for you.
How exactly, are these ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13 deceiving even God’s true children? How is it possible that we cannot see what’s happening? The truth is that they are right in front of you everyday. They have even told us what they are planning to do – and very few are doing anything about it. Now that’s deception. This is what Jesus could see. This is why we received so many warnings. In addition to Jesus’ own words, the Book of Revelation is clear – these ‘beasts’ deceive the whole world – even the elect.
“And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 13:13-14)
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” (Revelation 19:20)
You’ll learn specifics about how events in the world today relate to these prophecies as you continue to read through the posts on this website. You’ll begin to see how they have deceived you your entire life.
For now, let’s continue to learn about our true enemy and how he is deceiving the world.
Who does the Bible tell us is our true enemy? Who is really deceiving the world?
“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
The Bible is clear on this subject – Satan is the ruler of the world and deceives the whole world. He is our true enemy. You will notice that specific nations are not mentioned – he deceives the entire world. The United States is not immune to this deception. What you will learn is that the U.S. is actually playing a vital role in deceiving the whole world.
Who overcomes this world and its ruler?
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5)
Only those who are spiritually regenerated (born again) by God through faith in Jesus Christ overcome this world and its deception.
In the movie ‘The Matrix’, the main character (Neo) discovers at one point that the world he has lived in his whole life is a fantasy created to blind him from the truth. The parallels between that movie and our world are very similar. You’ll understand after you read everything here. You’ll go through the same transformation that Neo went through in the movie. I know I did. At first, your mind will reject the truth outright. You will say it’s not possible, it’s crazy, this can’t possibly be true. There’s no way I could be that deceived. I’m intelligent. I could see this coming if it were real. As you begin to realize that it is true and that you have been deceived on a global scale – you might just feel physically sick – just like Neo. You will probably even think at some point that you’d rather go back to being completely ignorant of what is happening around you. It would be easier this way – simply ignore the truth. Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss.
If you will humble yourself, realize that you don’t know everything and pray for knowledge, wisdom, faith, strength, courage – and begin a relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ - God will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid. You will be set free from this world. He is looking for those who will allow Him to turn them into spiritually mature warriors. When the rest of the world is running away in fear and telling you to do the same, you will turn and face your enemy. You will fight when others fall. When your day of evil comes, you will stand. Why? Because the Lord will be with you – always.
If you are in a Christian Church today, then you know that Satan is the bad guy. You know that he is deceptive and evil. You know that he rules over this world. Does it make more sense that his plans would be widely known or that they are being done in secret – very deceptively? Will there be one evil world leader who somehow gets the nations of the world to join together as depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ books? In this deceptive world, does this really make much sense given that the Bible never points to one person as being the antichrist? Will the mark of the beast simply be the act of accepting a microchip implant or will there be deception involved with the mark as well? If you re-read Revelation 19:20 again (above), you’ll notice that those who have received the mark are ‘deceived’. Would the world even allow these things to happen (one evil ruler, chip implant as the mark) given that these prophetic scenarios are so widely known? Or does it make more sense that there is something very secretive, very deceptive going on in the world that will one day take control? In the light of the Lord’s Word, the truth is that billions of people are deceived by our spiritual enemy and because they have rejected the one, true God - their continued deception will eventually result in their eternal death. This lines up with what the Bible tells us about Satan and end time deceptions. This is not a fantasy created by a writer of fiction. This is the truth.
These are the questions that kept me up at night for a long time. I felt that something very important was going on in the world – but I had no real knowledge of it and wasn’t part of it. I came to the realization that what I was lacking was a real faith in Jesus Christ. I realized that I was truly deceived. I came to the startling conclusion that I had allowed Satan to blind me from the Truth. I realized that as long as I relied on myself, I was going to go nowhere. I would continue on the broad path to its tragic conclusion. So, I began to pray and asked God to come into my life and help me overcome the world and its deception. I searched for the Lord – and He revealed Himself to me. I asked – and received. I knocked – and doors were opened.
What I found - what was revealed to me after much prayer – is that the world is truly deceived – just as the Bible tells us it is. Something deceptive is going on right before your eyes. The devil is scheming against us – very deceptively – just as the Bible tells us he will do. He is the father of lies and therefore, his children in this world are liars. They lie because deception is part of the plan - a plan that is told to us by the Lord. Even though Satan wants to keep his plans secret, he (and those he controls in this world) cannot hide their plans from God. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ know the Truth – they have overcome the evil one. They see through his evil plans because they rely on the source of all truth to guide them – the Creator of the heavens and earth. They are light in a dark world – and the darkness will not overcome them. While the world will tell you that there are many in the world today, I’m here to tell you there are few true believers. There are few who have entered through the narrow gate – just as Jesus tells us. I also believe this is about to change in preparation for the end.
These things no longer keep me up at night. I sleep soundly. Why? Because the Lord watches over me – and the Lord never sleeps.
"He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;” (Psalm 121:3)
Why is wealth being taken from the United States? When you begin to view the world from God’s perspective - and not the world’s – you begin to truly understand. It’s really very simple. We have allowed ourselves to be deceived. The result is that our lives are squarely focused on the world and we have left our Creator. He’s getting our attention.
"Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
You live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
"See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks with deceit.
With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Should I not punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 9:5-9)
June 2006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Our Monetary System - Part I - How Central Banks Control the World's Economy
If you are a Christian and have had discussions on the ‘mark of the beast’ and how only those with the ‘mark’ will be able to buy and sell at some point in the future, you have probably wondered how this could happen. How could anyone really gain financial control of the entire world? If you are not a Christian, chances are that you have heard about this ‘mark’ and its control over the world’s financial system and have rejected this as being completely ridiculous – how could anyone control the world’s financial system? If you throw in the popular Christian interpretations of end time prophecies – that one future ruler of the world will somehow unite the world’s government, the world’s religion and the world’s financial system – all within a period of 7 years – it becomes almost unbelievable. How could someone – anyone – do all of this within a 7 year time period? If I were not a Christian and had never heard about these things and someone told me that all of these things will happen within 7 years – I would find it very difficult to believe – if not impossible – the world simply does not cooperate this easily. As you’ve seen in previous posts, Satan’s control of the world’s government and religion is not taking place during 7 years – and financial control of the world is no different. What you will find as you read this post, is that a few men have already gained worldwide financial control – and they did it before you and I were born. It didn’t take 7 years – it took hundreds of years. You and I rely on an economic system that has placed us in financial bondage – and most of us don’t even know it. What you will find, once again, is that our spiritual enemy is much more cunning and deceptive than you have been led to believe.
Let’s start this with a simple question – do you know how our money is created? Whether you are wealthy or poor, highly educated or not – chances are this question causes you some concern – because you really don’t know the answer. Most people (and I was included) would say that the United States creates our own money through the U.S. Treasury – correct? No. It did until the early 20th Century. It is correct that the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (agencies of the U.S. Government) create the hard currency we use, but the U.S. Treasury is not responsible for creating and managing our money supply. Who then, is responsible for creating and managing our money supply? A private corporation - The Federal Reserve Banking System.
If the U.S. Government needs $20 billion in hard currency (paper and coins), the Federal Reserve creates this $20 billion out of nothing (there is nothing of value that backs our currency), the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing creates the paper and coin currency and the U.S. Government gives the Federal Reserve an IOU for $20 billion in exchange. The U.S. Government then pays interest on this $20 billion. On the surface, it may seem to you that this is logical – what’s wrong with the U.S. Government paying a private bank/corporation to print our money? Actually, there is a whole lot wrong with it. This is what I’m going to explain in this post.
We’ve seen how physical currency is created and added to our economy, but physical currency – coins and paper – makes up less than 5% of the overall dollars in circulation in the world. The other 95% is made up of all of the electronic dollars in checking accounts, savings accounts, CD’s, money market accounts, etc. How is this money created? The majority of our money is created by private banks. This is where things get interesting.
If you have purchased a home, then you know that you apply for and receive a mortgage to pay for your home. The question then becomes – where does the bank get the money to pay for your home? If you are like most Americans (and I was certainly included in this group), you assume that this money somehow comes out of the bank’s profits or from deposits made at the bank. It seems logical, but this isn’t what happens. By authority of the bank’s charter, it has the ability to create the dollars needed for your home. In the same manner that the Federal Reserve creates money out of nothing, your bank once again creates money out of nothing and places the dollars needed into your account. The funds are then used to pay for your home. I know what you’re thinking – this is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard, there’s no way this is what happens. You’d be wrong. In our current monetary system (commonly referred to as a Fractional Reserve System), your act of signing for debt - creates money. Every time someone signs for an auto loan, home loan, home equity loan, etc. – money is created. This is how money is created in our system. In our current monetary system, money is not created from value, money is created from debt. It doesn’t matter if our money is created because the U.S. Government needs hard currency or if it is created through bank loans, the only way money is created in our current system is through debt. Get ready - because this leads to some very interesting analysis.
If you’re thinking this through, then you’re beginning to feel very uncomfortable – and you should. Even though it may seem strange to you that our money is created by debt, it might initially seem like this could work – that our economy has – and will continue to – function under this system. There’s one very big problem inherent in this system. If you’ve seen the movie ‘The Matrix’, then you remember that the massive computer simulation in the movie had a flaw in the program – an anomaly that over a long period of time would eventually crash the system. We have the same type of ‘anomaly’ in our current economic system that over time – will have the same result. What is the ‘anomaly’ in our system? Interest. When you take out a loan for $200,000 to pay for your home, is this all you need to pay back? Of course not. You must pay the $200,000 plus interest. The total amount of money you will pay back with interest will be more than $400,000 if you have a 30 year fixed rate (around 6%) and don’t pay it off early. Remember, our money is created from the principle, not the principle plus interest. So, you bought a house for $200,000, and as a result, added $200,000 to our total money supply of dollars. Do you see the problem? If our money is only created from the principle payment, where do we get the money to pay interest? This is where things really start to get interesting.
Let’s look at another example. Let’s say that the total debt (new debt – retired debt) created in a given year in the United States is $1 trillion dollars. Based on our current system, $1 trillion dollars would then be added to our money supply. As I mentioned above, because this is debt, the total actually owed is much higher – let’s say the total debt actually owed is $2 trillion. So, we have created $2 trillion in liabilities that must be repaid, but we’ve only created $1 trillion dollars in the system to pay this debt. Do you see the problem? We never add enough money into our economy to pay for the debt. Our debt continues to rise and our money supply continues to rise – but the money supply can never equal the total amount owed. What this means is that we can never pay off our debt under our current monetary system.
Let’s make it really simple. If you and I each owe $100 and there’s only $150 in currency available to us – one of us isn’t going to have enough to pay our debts. It’s a catch-22 that we cannot get out of. In our current system, there will always be a certain percentage of people and businesses that cannot get enough money to pay their bills, debts, etc. It’s mathematically impossible for everyone to have enough money to pay what they owe. We can talk all day about why certain businesses fail (poor management, supply and demand, changing markets, etc), why businesses and people go bankrupt, but the bottom line is this - if there’s not enough money in our economy to pay for all outstanding debts, it doesn’t matter what we do, how we manage our budgets, we will never pay off our debts as a nation – never. Of course I’m talking about our nation as a whole. Individually, we can make good financial decisions and manage our money in a prudent manner, but on a national level, we are in a never ending cycle of ever increasing debt – personal debt, corporate debt, government debt, etc. If our system never changes, it is mathematically impossible for us to ever pay off our national debt.
I now find it interesting when I hear our President or members of Congress debating ‘fiscal irresponsibility’ or when I hear our leaders talking about reducing our national debt. The truth is that all of us – our Government included – must continue to create debt in order to keep our economy from crashing. The meter is always running on the current interest (which is now enormous). In order to keep creating additional money to pay for our ever increasing debt, we must create more debt to create more money. I know what you’re thinking – this has to be the most ridiculous economic system ever devised. It’s actually quite ingenious – when you realize why it exists. We’ll examine this more later.
Since our money is created from debt, as our debts increase – our money supply increases. The only thing that has prevented this system from collapsing years ago is due to the lag time we have to pay back the interest on our loans. We are not required to immediately pay back the principle plus interest. Although this system seems to have worked for a very long time, we’re going to see that it cannot continue forever. You will see that it’s mathematically impossible for our economic system to continue without eventually collapsing.
If this hasn’t blown your mind yet, consider what would happen if we paid off all of our debt – personal debt (home loans, auto loans, etc), corporate debt and Government debt. Since debt equals money in our system, if there is no debt, there would be no money! I know – it keeps getting more ridiculous. Your mind wants to reject this outright. This is crazy! Unfortunately, it’s the truth. Our entire economy is based on the creation of debt. Without debt, our economy would crash completely. You now know the real reasons why we are all always fighting to get enough money to pay our bills and debts (there’s not enough money in the system for all of us). You now know why we consistently have a steady stream of people and businesses that file for bankruptcy (there’s never enough money in our economy), why inflation has dramatically reduced the buying power of the dollar in the past few decades (our money supply is always increasing – it never stabilizes), why the total volume of dollars in the world economy has sky-rocketed in recent decades (leading to a decline in the value of the dollar – worldwide) and why we’re always being bombarded with loan offers (home, auto, home equity, etc), credit cards, etc. Without debt, we have no economy. How is this possible you ask? Why would anyone allow this to happen? How did this happen? The most important question that you should be asking yourself is this – if we are creating so much debt, who are we indebted to? What you will find later in this post is that this is all very deliberate – it’s not by chance. There is a plan at work here – and it’s evil. The honest truth is that every person in the United States has been placed in financial bondage since 1913 – and most don’t even know it. Have I mentioned how deceptive our spiritual enemy is? Keep reading.
I mentioned earlier that our current banking system is referred to as a Fractional Reserve System. Basically, this means that banks can issue loans for much more money than they have on hand. It depends on the type of account, but as an example, let’s say that the Federal Reserve sets the reserve requirement at 9:1 (or a 10% reserve ratio). The Federal Reserve Board of Governors also has the power to change this ratio within limits set by law. This means that for every dollar that a bank has held in ‘reserve’ at the Federal Reserve, it can lend out 9 times that amount. Let’s say that a new bank holds approximately $1,111 dollars at the Federal Reserve. It can then lend up to $10,000 dollars (9 x $1111 = $10,000). Money on reserve at the Fed is sometimes referred to as ‘super’ money – since the banks get to multiply its volume. The bank then loans this $10,000 to you for a new car. You pay the car seller who then deposits the money in their checking account. Their bank (this is a closed loop system – it doesn’t matter which bank receives the deposit) then takes the $10,000 – adds $1,000 of it to their reserves (the same 9:1 reserve ratio – reversed) – and loans out $9,000 to someone else who then deposits the money in their checking account. Their bank takes the $9,000 – adds $900 to their reserves (9:1 reserve ratio) – and loans out $8,100 to someone else. At this point, the original reserve of $1,111 has generated $27,100 in new money ($10,000 + $9,000 + $8,100). If we do the math and continue to carry this through (and everyone deposits their money in a bank – not in a mattress), then this original reserve of $1,111 generates just under $100,000 of currency in our economy. It’s like a huge game of musical chairs – as long as we’re creating money from debt, the music doesn’t stop playing. Also remember – the original reserve deposit at the Fed ($1,111) was money created by debt – it has no value. Some types of accounts in this system only require a 20:1 or 30:1 reserve ratio and some accounts do not require a reserve at all. Should anyone be surprised that we always have inflation?
What happens when the Federal Reserve changes the reserve ratio? Is this significant? Absolutely. Let’s examine this more closely. If the current ratio is 9:1 and the Fed changes this to 5:1 – what impact does this have? If you’re a bank that has loaned millions of dollars at a ratio of 9:1, and have planned future loans around this ratio, what happens to you if the ratio changes to 5:1 (the reserve requirement increases)? If you don’t have additional reserves to meet the new requirement - you instantly become under-capitalized. Here’s a simple example: if a bank has a reserve of $1,000 and plans to make a loan of $9,000 – it can no longer make the loan if the reserve ratio is reduced to 5:1. At 5:1, the reserve requirement on $9,000 would be $1800. The real world result is – the bank must generate significantly more capital to increase its reserves or stop lending in order to meet the new reserve requirement.
What should we learn from this? Most of us know that the Federal Reserve has the power to raise and lower interest rates and therefore, has the power to raise and lower overall prices within our economy. What most people don’t realize is that they also have the power to raise and lower the total volume of dollars in our economy. If they raise the reserve requirement (requiring banks to have more reserves at the Fed), banks will lend less money and since our money is based on the creation of debt, less money is created. If this happens, the gap between the amount owed within our economy (interest never stops accumulating) and the amount of money to pay the debt – widens. We are often told that this is used to fight inflation – inflation that is caused by this system of money creation through debt. The truth is that an increase in the reserve requirement results in even less money in the overall economy to pay back debt – which could easily lead to a recession or depression. This is the continual game central banks around the world play every day – more money in the economy means economic growth, but higher inflation – reducing the money supply reduces inflation, but will also cause economic growth to slow or contract.
The following chart shows the impact of the reserve ratio on our money supply. It’s easy to see that as the reserve amount required is lowered, the amount of money generated increases significantly. The reverse is also true – as the reserve required by the Fed is raised, the amount of money generated decreases.
What really happens when our money supply contracts? Periods of recession or depression. What we’re consistently told is that periods of economic growth and periods of economic contraction are unavoidable, when the truth tells us something different. The Federal Reserve has the power to create periods of growth (increased money supply coupled with low interest rates) and periods of contraction (reduced money supply coupled with higher interest rates). How are we told to categorize these periods of growth and contraction? This is the ‘business cycle’. While everyday business transactions certainly affect our overall economy – there is nothing that private business or individuals can do that will overcome the debt based economic system we’ve been placed under.
You have also learned why the current credit ‘crunch’ is being referred to as a ‘crisis’. What happens if banks reduce lending and consumers reduce taking on more debt? Less money is created in the system – and a vicious cycle starts. Wall Street refers to this as ‘de-leveraging’. We’re going to explore the real reasons this happens. Before we look closely at what is going on today, let’s examine another problem with our current economic system. We have discussed how our economy must continue to grow in order for debt creation to continue in order to create additional money in order to pay the debt – a never-ending cycle of debt creation. The question becomes – can this continue forever?
If you were to ask people about economic growth, some will know that our economic (GDP – Gross Domestic Product) growth rate typically averages about 3% (annually) in recent years. Most of us assume this is a linear growth rate. A linear growth rate looks like this:
The problem is that our economic growth is not linear. As an example, let’s assume that the current overall value of our economy is $100. If our economy grows 3% this year, then the overall value at the end of this year is $103. If our economy grows an additional 3% next year, will the overall value of our economy be $106 at the end of next year? No. Since we grew our economy 3% this year, next year’s growth will be 3% of $103 and the total value of our economy at the end of next year will be $106.09 ($103*.03 + $103). Our economy does not grow linearly, it grows exponentially. What this means is that 3% growth this year is actually more growth than 3% last year since our growth is compounded annually. This is what exponential growth looks like:
You are probably starting to feel uncomfortable, because you are beginning to see where this is going. In theory, exponential growth remains relatively low for a given period of time – but as you can see, as each year’s growth compounds on the previous year, overall growth begins to accelerate rapidly at a given point in time. A simple example of this phenomenon can be seen in the growth of a company. A company that plans to grow 10% with annual revenues of $10 million only needs to grow $1 million. A company that plans to grow 10% with annual revenues of $10 billion needs to grow $1 billion. As growth compounds upon itself, the system requires ever more resources to grow the same amount (%).
In our current economic system that relies on continual growth to stave off a collapse, we must continually burn through more and more natural resources to keep the system going. In a theoretical world, this exponential curve continues on to infinity. Is this possible in a finite world with finite resources? Of course not. If we take a logical look at our economic system, mathematics tells us one of two things must happen to our current system. The first scenario is that we burn through all of our resources and the system collapses. We can certainly see the beginning of this from a global perspective. As more economies around the world have instituted the same economic system as ours, we are seeing more and more concern that natural resources (oil, forests, water, etc.) are being depleted at an alarming rate – demand is outstripping supply – adding to inflationary pressures. Although this is certainly possible in our distant future, since we are much farther along the exponential curve than other economies in the world, there is a much more likely scenario for the United States.
The second scenario is that our current system collapses under the weight of the debt it has created. If the rate of debt increases much more quickly than the rate of the supply of money in the system, eventually the amount of money in the system will not be able to support the increased debt. There will not be enough money to make interest payments, pay utilities, buy consumer goods and create additional money. As the exponential curve gets steeper and steeper – it will be more and more difficult to grow our economy, while supporting the existing debt in the system. At some point, since we live in the real world, our monetary system will collapse under the weight of its debt – long before we burn through all of our resources.
Before we get too far into this – let’s ask a question. Where are we on this exponential curve? If we look at trends of some of the most widely used economic indicators, can we determine if we should be worried about imminent collapse? As you will see, we have reason to be concerned.
Let’s start by looking at our debt. The following is a graph of our nation’s federal debt:
Does this look linear or exponential? You don’t have to be a mathematician to see the answer.
The following is a different look at our national debt that calculates the debt as a percentage of GDP:
We hear politicians and economists talk about how there’s nothing to worry about since our debt remains in line with past years - as a percentage of GDP. The problem is that they are only focusing on the amount of debt as a % of GDP in a given year and not the effect of our cumulative debt. As we’ll soon see, what is even more important is the ratio of debt to the money supply.
We also have much more debt than just the federal debt. The following chart shows total debt over time (state, federal, personal, corporate). Once again, we see an exponential curve.
What about our money supply? We should expect to see the same trend – and we do.
(Source: wikipedia.org)
Hard currency appears to be somewhat linear, but it’s an illusion. If we reduce the scale (since hard currency is such a small percentage of the total money supply), we see the same trend:
Since the Federal Reserve stopped publishing M3 (total amount of dollars in circulation) money supply data in 2006, a couple of economists have worked to re-create it. The next graph was created by John Williams at shadowstats.com. Take note of how the year over year growth of our money supply has steadily increased since early 2005. Also note how the rate of growth is beginning to slow since the beginning of 2008. (I originally wrote this post in early 2008 - I have updated the graph below to show money supply growth through July 2010 - you can see how the current credit 'crisis' is now causing our money supply to contract).
I believe we’re going to see our money supply growth continue to slow since we are now at the point that we cannot create enough new money (through debt) to support the existing debt. If we’re not able to create enough new money (through debt) each year to service the interest on the existing debt – the system begins to collapse (loan defaults & bankruptcies begin to increase). The world tells us that our economy is ‘maturing’, which is why our economy’s growth is slowing. The truth, as you see, is much different. We are beginning to see the very real signs of an economy on the brink of collapse under the weight of its monetary system. We’ll talk about these signs later in this post.
Let’s continue by viewing inflation. Once again, we hear the world tell us that inflation is running at a rate of 3% a year and we all accept this as normal – and we forget that this rate is compounded year after year. If we see our money supply increase at such a fast pace, we should expect to see inflation also rise at an exponential rate – and we do.
Now you know why cars that once cost $3,000 now cost $30,000 or a loaf of bread that once cost $0.25 now costs $2.50. Prices increase within the system if the volume of money increases at a higher rate than economic activity (goods & services).
More people with more money to spend places upward pressure on prices for everything – cars, fuel, food, natural resources, etc. As money supplies throughout the world increase at an exponential rate, we see inflation skyrocketing across the globe. More on this below.
What about other economic indicators? We see the same trend.
Government Spending:
Government Revenues:
Commercial Bank Credit:
Total Revolving Credit:
Total Consumer Credit:
Sobering isn’t it? What you are seeing is a system on the brink of total collapse. With no way to ultimately pay off our debts (since money is created by debt), this was inevitable at some point.
Even though our money supply is also on an exponential curve, it cannot (mathematically) keep up with the runaway debt. We are nearing the end of an inevitable cycle. A cycle that ends with the economic collapse of the United States. As I mentioned earlier, this would not be a surprise to the men who created the system in the U.S. in 1913, nor is it a surprise to the men who are controlling the system today.
What about the rest of the world? Can’t they continue to finance our debt? Won’t this help delay our collapse? What you are about to see is that every major world economy also has a Central Bank – and therefore is on the same exponential curve as us. At some point, the entire world system will be unable to sustain itself unless the entire system changes. We’ll just take a look at money supplies of some of the world’s biggest economies. As you view these graphs, also take note of the total amount of Euros (European Union) in circulation compared to the amount of dollars in circulation. If you consider that there are trillions more dollars in circulation throughout the world compared to pounds and euros and also consider the massive amount of U.S. debt – it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the overall value of the dollar is declining against the world’s major currencies.
Global Money Supply:
European Union:
Australia:
New Zealand:
India:
(Source: wikipedia.org)
In addition, in recent months China’s money supply (M1+M2) has been growing at a 16-18% annualized rate. So, it’s easy to see that the same insane economic/monetary system has been instituted the world over. The question is – why? Before we answer this, let’s take a look at what is going on in the U.S. economy today.
Let’s think about what we would expect to see if the economic system of the United States begins to collapse due to this monetary system. As the amount of total debt continues to increase faster than the money supply, we would expect the number of personal and corporate bankruptcies to continue to increase. As global inflation also continues to increase prices on a broad range of products and commodities (due to increases in money supplies the world over), we would expect this to also negatively affect individuals and corporations in America. We would also expect to see those of us with the lowest cash reserves to be affected first. Are we seeing these things? Absolutely. We see them everyday in our news. The current ‘credit crisis’ began when subprime borrowers began defaulting on their home loans. Now, we see that the number of Alt-A and Prime borrowers falling behind on their mortgages is also increasing. Home prices are now decreasing across the nation as a result. How does this affect the money supply? If a homeowner defaults on a loan, the bank must ‘foreclose’ and take a loss on its books. The bank then must sell the home – but sell it in a depressed housing market. If the home was originally purchased for $100,000; and the bank can only get $75,000 now - based on what we now know about how money is created - you can see how the money supply will begin to be affected in a very big way. As home prices decline, the amount of money generated from the home loans from consumers also declines. As banks tighten credit due to the rising defaults, the vicious cycle continues – fewer loans and lower prices equals less money created (thanks to this debt based monetary system). Less money created means less money to loan and less money to buy things – and the exponential money creation cycle from debt begins to reverse itself. It’s also easy to see that falling housing prices and falling housing sales are not the only problem here – all of the suppliers, subcontractors, etc. are also affected. The rapid increase in the money supply generated by private banks that we’ve seen over the past decade is beginning to slow significantly. But as you know, this isn’t all that’s happening.
You’ve watched as the value of CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligations), CLO’s (Collateralized Loan Obligations), SIV’s (Structured Investment Vehicles) and other derivatives are now plunging in value resulting in huge write-offs for banks. As foreclosures have risen, the value of the bonds created from these mortgages have plunged in value – even those bonds based on ‘prime’ mortgages. All of these things are reducing the money supply. If you have an investment that you thought was worth $100, but now is only worth $60 on the open market, your access to money has been substantially reduced. Auction rate securities, once thought as safe as cash, now can’t be sold – there are no buyers. What you are seeing are the cracks beginning to form in the dam.
What is the Federal Reserve doing? Basically, they are trying to plug the holes by injecting money into our economy to delay the inevitable. Money creation through the private banking system is faltering, so someone has to step in or something catastrophic is going to happen. As the process has accelerated, not only are banks slowing their lending to consumers, they have also significantly reduced lending to each other. In order to get the capital they need, many banks are now borrowing more money directly from the Federal Reserve discount window. Remember, the Fed isn’t giving the money away; banks are borrowing this money from a private corporation. We can see the impact from the current credit crisis from the graph below.
We see this problem developing with the money supply, but there is one area of our financial system that has yet to suffer a significant drop in value – the stock market. It’s been very volatile, but has not really suffered a prolonged decrease in value. Think about this – what happens when financial conditions worsen, people can’t pay their bills/debts, all other investments have significantly declined in value and there’s only one remaining large source of wealth remaining? People will sell their stocks to survive. There’s an obvious problem with this – if a large number of people start selling – what happens? Prices drop significantly. Since stocks are one of the most volatile investments in the world, the coming decline in the stock market will, in all probability, be much worse than the current decline in value of CDOs/SIVs, Auction Rate Securities and other bonds. One thing is for certain, it’s not a matter of if, but when this will happen.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (1970 - 2008):
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Take a look at the above graph of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Share volume is also shown). Look familiar? Once again, we see an exponential curve. The DJIA is shadowing both our debt and our money supply. Why? Think about how the world tells us to invest. We’re constantly told that stocks offer the best long term returns. If you only look at stock returns over the past 30 years – this would appear to be good advice (if you ignore the possibility of something negative happening tomorrow). The problem is that there are two very good reasons why the stock market has continued to increase over this time period – and they have nothing to do with the stock market itself. As money has increased exponentially over the past 30 years – more and more liquidity has been placed in the hands of investors. What is another consequence of this exponential money growth? Inflation has also increased exponentially. We have more and more money in a system where inflation is eroding the value of this money. In this situation, everyone is trying to at least maintain the value of their money – by trying to earn a return higher than the inflation rate. So, we see more and more people investing more and more money into risky investments (stocks, hedge funds, CDO’s, SIV’s, Auction-Rate Securities, etc.) in an attempt to outrun the inflation rate.
There’s also another problem that no one in the mainstream media is discussing. We assume that our inflation rate has been approximately 1%-5% in recent years because this is what our government tells us. The problem is that since the early 1980’s, the government has changed the way it measures inflation. I won’t go into details here (please watch Chris Martenson’s video for further information on how our government has changed how it calculates inflation and other economic data: http://www.chrismartenson.com/fuzzy_numbers). The truth is that the actual annual consumer inflation rate has been between 8%-12% over the past 10 years – which means that you would need to average an annual return of around 10% over the past 10 years just to break even. The current rate of inflation is closer to 13% and increasing - not 5% as we’ve been told (I have updated the graph in 2009 to show how the current crisis is causing deflationary pressures).
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If we also consider the impact that the actual inflation rate has on real GDP (inflation is subtracted from nominal GDP to calculate real GDP) – we see why businesses and consumers are telling us that we’re in a recession – while our government tells us that our economy is still growing. The current state of our economy starts to make sense when we see inflation in double digits and negative GDP for several quarters.
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Do you know people who have lost their jobs recently? Wonder why it’s difficult to find a job right now? It’s because the current unemployment rate is closer to 13% - not the 5% that we’ve been told (I have updated the graph in 2009 to show the continuing impact of the current recession/depression - real unemployment is now approaching 20%). The government selectively removes ‘discouraged workers’ from total unemployment in order to calculate the lower rate. It’s simply a way for our government to manipulate the data to show more favorable percentages.
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What is going to happen to the stock market as our money supply growth continues to slow, GDP continues to contract, inflation continues to increase, housing prices continue to fall and more people lose their jobs? The stock market will, once again, shadow our money supply straight down as the system collapses. We’re beginning to see how this is affecting the stock market today. The market has been extremely volatile as earnings reports from companies seem to contradict government economic data. When it becomes clear to everyone that we’re in serious trouble – we’re going to see a mass exodus from stock markets worldwide.
If you’re wealthy, you may feel somewhat secure that you’ve got a nice nest egg to see this through. Where is your money? It’s most likely in dollar currency in the system – checking/savings accounts, money market funds, stocks, bonds, 401(k)’s, retirement accounts, etc. What happens if it’s not just a segment of the system that collapses, but the entire system? It won’t matter what you have - $5 or $5 million – your wealth will vanish before your eyes. We are facing a far worse scenario than 1929. From 1929 through 1933, our money supply contracted approximately 30% after a period of money supply expansion in the 1920’s. As you can see from the money supply trends in previous charts, we have also been through a period of significant money supply expansion from 1995 until 2007. It appears that 1929 was a trial run for what will happen in the near future to us.
Was wealth destroyed during the Great Depression? No. Wealth was transferred. If you read the biographies of some of the great bankers of that era (J.P. Morgan and others), you will see that the majority of them did not have their money in stocks. Earlier in 1929, they moved their investment holdings to cash and gold. For them, the crash of 1929 was not a catastrophe, it was a buying opportunity. A buying opportunity they created. The price of assets dropped dramatically during this time - and guess who happened to have the cash on hand to buy assets at depressed values?
Until now, you’ve probably thought that we’re all playing by the same rules – we’re not. This really isn’t about money – it’s about power and control of the world. It’s about a ruling elite enslaving humanity on a worldwide scale. A ruling elite given power by the world’s spiritual ruler. Now you know a little more about why the Lord has warned us. He warned us that this beast would be deceptive and would deceive the whole world – and you’re beginning to see why. When God tells us in His Word that something in our future will be deceptive on a worldwide scale – it’s a warning we should heed.
This leads us to why our monetary system exists. In 1913, the battle for the control of the United States banking system was lost – and the Federal Reserve Bank was created. The name of this private corporation should tell us all we need to know – it’s a lie. It’s a bank that is not Federal and there are no reserves. The truth is that this ingenious monetary system was created by some highly intelligent men for one purpose – global power. Whoever controls interest rates and the volume of money in a nation controls the nation (and ultimately the world). In a world focused on money and the pursuit of money, whoever controls our money has the power – absolute power. These men created a monetary system that forever places our nation in debt and one that can be manipulated by them for their purposes. What is going to happen when markets collapse? Guess who, once again, will be there to acquire depressed assets?
As I’ve said before, this was inevitable. If you give a banking system, in our evil world, the ability to control the money supply and the ability to charge interest on the money they create, the bankers will slowly, over time, exchange worthless money (paper and electronic fiat currency) for real assets – gold, silver, land and property. If you view this from a spiritual standpoint, you begin to understand why Jesus told us that building the foundation of your life on the things of this world is not wise. As has happened before, and will happen again, wealthy people of this world will see the foundation of their lives (money) slowly sift away through their fingers. Our wealth is an illusion. Satan has offered wealth and power to many in this nation and they have gladly accepted. They are about to witness what happens when you do a deal with the devil. Take him on by yourself and sooner or later – he’s going to find a way to get his tentacles into you. What happens when wealth is taken away from people who are focused on wealth? It’s not pretty. How do we overcome? As I’ve said before, and will continue to say until I leave this world – you will not overcome this world and its ruler until you humbly ask forgiveness from God. Until you acknowledge your sins and truly believe the Lord’s promise of salvation through His Son, you will never get free of the world. You will always be susceptible to the world’s many disappointments. When you truly repent and are born again, what happens in the world no longer matters because you know the Lord and the Lord stands with you – until the end.
At some point you’ve probably wondered how on earth this monetary system has survived until now. If you read the many quotes throughout recent history from bankers, world leaders, economists and tycoons about central banks – and really pay attention to what they’re saying - it’s no secret that those in power knew what was happening (I have listed many of these quotes on my website). Why hasn’t anyone stopped this madness? It’s not hard to figure out – fear. If you attain a position of power and are told to look the other way or face the consequences – what do you do? Most people in the world will gladly take the money and power….and look the other way. Why place my life at risk when I can continue living this nice lifestyle by not rocking the boat? Yes – I said that by standing against this beast – you place your life at risk. I’m not saying this merely to make a hypothetical point. Take a look at this list. These men had three things in common.
Abraham Lincoln
James Garfield
John F. Kennedy
All were Presidents of the United States. Each man spoke out against the issuance of money by anyone other than our Government and made it clear who they were targeting with these comments – and all were assassinated. Lincoln refused to attain loans from the European banks to finance the Civil War (he was offered loans at 24%+ interest) and instead had the U.S. Treasury issue its own money. JFK gave a speech in 1961 about a worldwide ‘monolithic and ruthless conspiracy’ which is ‘a system that has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations’. I have added a link to the speech on my website. (Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYgLLahHv8) JFK even had the audacity in the summer of 1963 to give the U.S. Government the authority to, once again, create its own money via Executive Order 11110 (based on a Silver standard). The U.S. Treasury actually began to print its own money in 1963….but as we all know, this didn’t last long.
As you read the quotes below, notice carefully what these men are telling us. They didn’t realize it at the time they made these statements, but each one of them learned about and then commented on – one of the beasts of Revelation 13. Some of them paid the ultimate price for doing so. The Lord doesn’t arbitrarily label something a ‘beast’ without reason. He uses the term ‘beast’ to tell us who and what we’re dealing with – an organization that will kill, steal and destroy anyone and anything in its path – anything that opposes it. This beast obeys its father – the father of lies and deceit who walks in complete darkness. There is only one way in this world that you and I can oppose this beast and survive – by standing with and obeying the Lord.
“The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society – and we are, as a people, inherently and historically, opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.” –JFK
“We are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covet means for expanding its sphere of influence – on infiltration instead of invasion – on subversion instead of elections – on intimidation instead of free choice. It is a system that has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine - that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no secret is revealed.” -JFK
“I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people.” –JFK referring to the worldwide conspiracy mentioned above
“Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce….and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” -James A. Garfield
“The Government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of government, but it is the government’s greatest creative opportunity.” -Abraham Lincoln
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the National auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” –David Rockefeller in an address to Trilateral Commission Meeting, 1991
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that willgrow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their propertyuntil their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." –Thomas Jefferson
"Capital must protect itself in every way... Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When, through a process of law, the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd." -J.P. Morgan
"We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent." –James Paul Warburg (Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaking before the U.S. Senate, 1950)
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson. History depicts Andrew Jackson as the last truly honorable and incorruptible American president." –Franklin D. Roosevelt
"[The task is to] covertly lower the standard of living, the whole socialstructure, of America so that we can be merged with all other nations." –Rowan Gaither (President of the Ford Foundation, 1954)
“I am myself persuaded, on the basis of extensive study of the historical evidence, that... the severity of each of the contractions - 1920-21, 1929-33, and 1937-38 - is directly attributable to acts of commission and omission by the Reserve authorities and would not have occurred under earlier monetary and banking arrangements.'' –Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan)
"Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it." –Woodrow Wilson
"A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom." -Woodrow Wilson
"We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world--no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men." –Woodrow Wilson
"This Act (the Federal Reserve Act, Dec. 23rd 1913) establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President (Woodrow Wilson) signs the Bill, the invisible government of the Monetary Power will be legalized... The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency Bill." –Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. (Congressman and father of the famous aviator)
"The most wonderful thing of all is that the distinguished Lutheran andCalvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they see in it (Illuminati) the true and genuine sense of Christian Religion. Oh mortal man, is there anything you cannot be made to believe?" - Adam Weishophf upon establishing his "Order of the Illuminati", on May 1, 1776
"It is ironical that the only nation which affirmatively expresses a dependence upon and belief in Almighty God in its birth certificate, should now be in mortal combat for its very existence with a godless conspiracy intent upon conquering the world, and reverting human society to the hazards and indignities of the Dark Ages." –Loyd Wright (Former President of the American Bar Association, 1961)
"From the days of Spartacus, Weishophf, Karl Marx, Trotski, Belacoon, Rosa Luxenburg, and Ema Goldman, this world conspiracy has been steadily growing. This conspiracy played a definite recognizable role in the tragedy of the French revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the 19th Century. And now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their head and have become the undisputed masters of that enormous empire." –Winston Churchill, 1920
"The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation. At the head is a small group of banking houses generally referred to as 'international bankers.' This little coterie... run our government for their own selfish ends. It operates under cover of a self-created screen...[and] seizes...our executive officers... legislative bodies... schools... courts... newspapers and every agency created for the public protection." –John Hylan (Mayor of New York, 1918-1925)
"The sovereignty fetish is still so strong in the public mind, that there would appear to be little chance of winning popular assent to American membership in anything approaching a super-state organization. Much will depend on the kind of approach which is used in further popular education." (Council on Foreign Relations, 1944)
If you spend some time studying these international bankers who have instituted this debt based monetary system worldwide, you will find that at the top echelon of power there are approximately 300 names. These are the same 300 families who own stock in the Federal Reserve of the United States and all of the other central banks the world over. These are the people who wield the world’s real power from the shadows and provide the wealth and power needed to infiltrate the world’s monetary and political systems. These are the people the Lord describes in Revelation 13 – this ‘beast out of the earth’.
If you continue to study how they have gained this power, you will be led back in time to the early 1690’s to the founding of the Bank of England – the world’s first central bank. And if you continue to search for the truth, you will find that all roads on this journey eventually lead to one name – Rothschild. The world will tell you that the Rothschild’s banking empire has been reduced to a ‘niche’ bank – catering mainly to very wealthy investors. The truth is that they control approximately 70%-80% of the world’s wealth from the shadows. If I had told you this at the beginning of this post, you would have probably rejected this statement outright. Now you know how it’s possible – they print the world’s money and exchange it for the world’s real assets. As I mentioned at the beginning, it’s really an ingenious plan – when you realize why it was created. It’s evil, but ingenious. The Rothschilds and every member of these ‘elite’ families would tell you that this plan was devised by them for their purposes – but we know the truth. The Lord has told us Satan’s plans – they’re simply obeying the one they serve.
We now see how the world’s financial system has been overtaken by a few very powerful men. If we take what we know and think about the ‘mark of the beast’, we realize that control of the world’s financial system isn’t enough to satisfy the prophecies about the ‘mark’. Controlling the world’s financial system is one piece of the puzzle, but something else is needed – enforcement. Everyone throughout the world will be ‘forced’ to accept the mark. These powerful men need a way in which to deceive us into believing that humanity needs protecting – and now we know why the Lord tells us in the book of Revelation about ‘miraculous signs’ used by this beast. The beast creates these ‘signs’ to strike fear among us – fear that will eventually drive humanity to give over its freedom to the beast – and Satan. We’ve seen many of these ‘signs’ already, but they are only the beginning.
When it comes to spiritual deception, you are beginning to see just how blind we really are in this world when we walk away from our Creator. We focus on the things in the world – money, careers, cars, houses, addictions, stuff, etc. – and we forget about the subtle things that are missing from our lives. Some of these things are big picture – How did we come into being? Why are we here? Does God really exist? If He exists, why can’t I see Him? Can I really know God - personally? Where do I go when I die? Am I really alone in this fallen world? How can I get free of this mess? Other questions are smaller picture, but would also lead us to the truth if we would just slow down for awhile and think about what we’re consistently told in this world and compare it to God’s truth – could someone really consolidate the world’s government, world’s religion and world’s financial system within 7 years? If God has allowed His children to experience pain and suffering throughout human history in order to strengthen them in this world, why would He change now? Sometimes it’s a very simple question that leads us to some very important answers – how is our money created? Think about how many times in your life – friends, parents, teachers, professors – someone has explained our monetary system to you. Never? You’re not alone – and there’s a reason it’s being hidden. If I were to ask 1000 Americans today what is the greatest threat to our nation’s sovereignty – how many do you think would respond - ‘the war on terror’? My guess is that 99% of us would agree that ‘the war on terror’ is our greatest threat. Our spiritual enemy has created a perceived threat – while his true ‘beasts’ gain control of the world through deceptive means – subversion, infiltration and intimidation. Again, an ingenious plan – and not of this world. The only way to overcome it is to obey the One spiritual being that Satan cannot deceive, intimidate or overcome – our Father in heaven.
The truth is that never before, in the history of the United States, have we faced a greater threat to our national sovereignty as we do now – never. We are facing an enemy that is much more intelligent and powerful than you and I - an enemy that has not used brute force against us, but works in the shadows to deceive and infiltrate. At times in the past I would think about the book of Revelation and wonder how the people of the world could ever allow themselves to be subjected to an evil world government. I simply didn’t want to believe it was possible and I, like most people today, disregarded the Lord’s warnings about how this beast would deceive the whole world. Now that I’ve humbled myself and know the truth, I listen to this beast talk to us everyday through corporate, governmental, banking and religious leaders – leaders of the United States. It’s no longer a mystery. Their plan has almost come to fruition. At some point, you might think that all hope is lost – that they are too powerful and the plan is too far along. How can we possible stop this? I’m not fearful of these things because I know that God could see this coming since the creation of the world – and I don’t need to figure out what to do on my own. I will simply continue to seek the Lord’s will for me – His plan, not mine. What you are about to see throughout the world is that God is going to go on the offensive – and he’s going to do it with you and me. Now is not the time for weak people with weak ministries to proclaim a weak message. Now is the time to allow ourselves to be strengthened spiritually. Now is the time to stand in the face of overwhelming odds – and succeed.
At different times in your life you have probably felt that something wasn’t quite right. You could ‘sense’ it, but you couldn’t ‘see’ it. You couldn’t really explain it, but you knew that there was something not quite right about the world you live in. The economy is up – the economy is down. Life is good – life is not so good. Chaos seems to rule the world. It’s like we’re walking on very thin ice that is constantly cracking – about to give way. You are now beginning to understand that there is a method to the madness. When the world chose death over life, sin over righteousness – when we chose to believe lies instead of the Truth – this was the inevitable result. What gets the true Christian through all of this is that this isn’t the end – it’s only the beginning – and we’re not alone. The end is glorious for us – end of story.
You’ve seen me reference the movie ‘The Matrix’ and how many aspects of the movie are similar to the spiritual battle being waged in the world. I’m going to end this post with some dialog from the movie because it certainly relates to most of us. The following scene takes place right before Neo learns the truth about his world.
Morpheus: I imagine that right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Neo: Yes.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
I finally found a video that does an excellent job of explaining our monetary system in simple terms. I recommend that you watch it to get a better understanding of what I have discussed here. The video was created by Paul Grignon and is only 47 minutes long. Money as Debt I have used a couple of Paul’s examples in this post.
http://moneyasdebt.net/
http://johngilmore.org/
Let’s start this with a simple question – do you know how our money is created? Whether you are wealthy or poor, highly educated or not – chances are this question causes you some concern – because you really don’t know the answer. Most people (and I was included) would say that the United States creates our own money through the U.S. Treasury – correct? No. It did until the early 20th Century. It is correct that the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (agencies of the U.S. Government) create the hard currency we use, but the U.S. Treasury is not responsible for creating and managing our money supply. Who then, is responsible for creating and managing our money supply? A private corporation - The Federal Reserve Banking System.
If the U.S. Government needs $20 billion in hard currency (paper and coins), the Federal Reserve creates this $20 billion out of nothing (there is nothing of value that backs our currency), the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing creates the paper and coin currency and the U.S. Government gives the Federal Reserve an IOU for $20 billion in exchange. The U.S. Government then pays interest on this $20 billion. On the surface, it may seem to you that this is logical – what’s wrong with the U.S. Government paying a private bank/corporation to print our money? Actually, there is a whole lot wrong with it. This is what I’m going to explain in this post.
We’ve seen how physical currency is created and added to our economy, but physical currency – coins and paper – makes up less than 5% of the overall dollars in circulation in the world. The other 95% is made up of all of the electronic dollars in checking accounts, savings accounts, CD’s, money market accounts, etc. How is this money created? The majority of our money is created by private banks. This is where things get interesting.
If you have purchased a home, then you know that you apply for and receive a mortgage to pay for your home. The question then becomes – where does the bank get the money to pay for your home? If you are like most Americans (and I was certainly included in this group), you assume that this money somehow comes out of the bank’s profits or from deposits made at the bank. It seems logical, but this isn’t what happens. By authority of the bank’s charter, it has the ability to create the dollars needed for your home. In the same manner that the Federal Reserve creates money out of nothing, your bank once again creates money out of nothing and places the dollars needed into your account. The funds are then used to pay for your home. I know what you’re thinking – this is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard, there’s no way this is what happens. You’d be wrong. In our current monetary system (commonly referred to as a Fractional Reserve System), your act of signing for debt - creates money. Every time someone signs for an auto loan, home loan, home equity loan, etc. – money is created. This is how money is created in our system. In our current monetary system, money is not created from value, money is created from debt. It doesn’t matter if our money is created because the U.S. Government needs hard currency or if it is created through bank loans, the only way money is created in our current system is through debt. Get ready - because this leads to some very interesting analysis.
If you’re thinking this through, then you’re beginning to feel very uncomfortable – and you should. Even though it may seem strange to you that our money is created by debt, it might initially seem like this could work – that our economy has – and will continue to – function under this system. There’s one very big problem inherent in this system. If you’ve seen the movie ‘The Matrix’, then you remember that the massive computer simulation in the movie had a flaw in the program – an anomaly that over a long period of time would eventually crash the system. We have the same type of ‘anomaly’ in our current economic system that over time – will have the same result. What is the ‘anomaly’ in our system? Interest. When you take out a loan for $200,000 to pay for your home, is this all you need to pay back? Of course not. You must pay the $200,000 plus interest. The total amount of money you will pay back with interest will be more than $400,000 if you have a 30 year fixed rate (around 6%) and don’t pay it off early. Remember, our money is created from the principle, not the principle plus interest. So, you bought a house for $200,000, and as a result, added $200,000 to our total money supply of dollars. Do you see the problem? If our money is only created from the principle payment, where do we get the money to pay interest? This is where things really start to get interesting.
Let’s look at another example. Let’s say that the total debt (new debt – retired debt) created in a given year in the United States is $1 trillion dollars. Based on our current system, $1 trillion dollars would then be added to our money supply. As I mentioned above, because this is debt, the total actually owed is much higher – let’s say the total debt actually owed is $2 trillion. So, we have created $2 trillion in liabilities that must be repaid, but we’ve only created $1 trillion dollars in the system to pay this debt. Do you see the problem? We never add enough money into our economy to pay for the debt. Our debt continues to rise and our money supply continues to rise – but the money supply can never equal the total amount owed. What this means is that we can never pay off our debt under our current monetary system.
Let’s make it really simple. If you and I each owe $100 and there’s only $150 in currency available to us – one of us isn’t going to have enough to pay our debts. It’s a catch-22 that we cannot get out of. In our current system, there will always be a certain percentage of people and businesses that cannot get enough money to pay their bills, debts, etc. It’s mathematically impossible for everyone to have enough money to pay what they owe. We can talk all day about why certain businesses fail (poor management, supply and demand, changing markets, etc), why businesses and people go bankrupt, but the bottom line is this - if there’s not enough money in our economy to pay for all outstanding debts, it doesn’t matter what we do, how we manage our budgets, we will never pay off our debts as a nation – never. Of course I’m talking about our nation as a whole. Individually, we can make good financial decisions and manage our money in a prudent manner, but on a national level, we are in a never ending cycle of ever increasing debt – personal debt, corporate debt, government debt, etc. If our system never changes, it is mathematically impossible for us to ever pay off our national debt.
I now find it interesting when I hear our President or members of Congress debating ‘fiscal irresponsibility’ or when I hear our leaders talking about reducing our national debt. The truth is that all of us – our Government included – must continue to create debt in order to keep our economy from crashing. The meter is always running on the current interest (which is now enormous). In order to keep creating additional money to pay for our ever increasing debt, we must create more debt to create more money. I know what you’re thinking – this has to be the most ridiculous economic system ever devised. It’s actually quite ingenious – when you realize why it exists. We’ll examine this more later.
Since our money is created from debt, as our debts increase – our money supply increases. The only thing that has prevented this system from collapsing years ago is due to the lag time we have to pay back the interest on our loans. We are not required to immediately pay back the principle plus interest. Although this system seems to have worked for a very long time, we’re going to see that it cannot continue forever. You will see that it’s mathematically impossible for our economic system to continue without eventually collapsing.
If this hasn’t blown your mind yet, consider what would happen if we paid off all of our debt – personal debt (home loans, auto loans, etc), corporate debt and Government debt. Since debt equals money in our system, if there is no debt, there would be no money! I know – it keeps getting more ridiculous. Your mind wants to reject this outright. This is crazy! Unfortunately, it’s the truth. Our entire economy is based on the creation of debt. Without debt, our economy would crash completely. You now know the real reasons why we are all always fighting to get enough money to pay our bills and debts (there’s not enough money in the system for all of us). You now know why we consistently have a steady stream of people and businesses that file for bankruptcy (there’s never enough money in our economy), why inflation has dramatically reduced the buying power of the dollar in the past few decades (our money supply is always increasing – it never stabilizes), why the total volume of dollars in the world economy has sky-rocketed in recent decades (leading to a decline in the value of the dollar – worldwide) and why we’re always being bombarded with loan offers (home, auto, home equity, etc), credit cards, etc. Without debt, we have no economy. How is this possible you ask? Why would anyone allow this to happen? How did this happen? The most important question that you should be asking yourself is this – if we are creating so much debt, who are we indebted to? What you will find later in this post is that this is all very deliberate – it’s not by chance. There is a plan at work here – and it’s evil. The honest truth is that every person in the United States has been placed in financial bondage since 1913 – and most don’t even know it. Have I mentioned how deceptive our spiritual enemy is? Keep reading.
I mentioned earlier that our current banking system is referred to as a Fractional Reserve System. Basically, this means that banks can issue loans for much more money than they have on hand. It depends on the type of account, but as an example, let’s say that the Federal Reserve sets the reserve requirement at 9:1 (or a 10% reserve ratio). The Federal Reserve Board of Governors also has the power to change this ratio within limits set by law. This means that for every dollar that a bank has held in ‘reserve’ at the Federal Reserve, it can lend out 9 times that amount. Let’s say that a new bank holds approximately $1,111 dollars at the Federal Reserve. It can then lend up to $10,000 dollars (9 x $1111 = $10,000). Money on reserve at the Fed is sometimes referred to as ‘super’ money – since the banks get to multiply its volume. The bank then loans this $10,000 to you for a new car. You pay the car seller who then deposits the money in their checking account. Their bank (this is a closed loop system – it doesn’t matter which bank receives the deposit) then takes the $10,000 – adds $1,000 of it to their reserves (the same 9:1 reserve ratio – reversed) – and loans out $9,000 to someone else who then deposits the money in their checking account. Their bank takes the $9,000 – adds $900 to their reserves (9:1 reserve ratio) – and loans out $8,100 to someone else. At this point, the original reserve of $1,111 has generated $27,100 in new money ($10,000 + $9,000 + $8,100). If we do the math and continue to carry this through (and everyone deposits their money in a bank – not in a mattress), then this original reserve of $1,111 generates just under $100,000 of currency in our economy. It’s like a huge game of musical chairs – as long as we’re creating money from debt, the music doesn’t stop playing. Also remember – the original reserve deposit at the Fed ($1,111) was money created by debt – it has no value. Some types of accounts in this system only require a 20:1 or 30:1 reserve ratio and some accounts do not require a reserve at all. Should anyone be surprised that we always have inflation?
What happens when the Federal Reserve changes the reserve ratio? Is this significant? Absolutely. Let’s examine this more closely. If the current ratio is 9:1 and the Fed changes this to 5:1 – what impact does this have? If you’re a bank that has loaned millions of dollars at a ratio of 9:1, and have planned future loans around this ratio, what happens to you if the ratio changes to 5:1 (the reserve requirement increases)? If you don’t have additional reserves to meet the new requirement - you instantly become under-capitalized. Here’s a simple example: if a bank has a reserve of $1,000 and plans to make a loan of $9,000 – it can no longer make the loan if the reserve ratio is reduced to 5:1. At 5:1, the reserve requirement on $9,000 would be $1800. The real world result is – the bank must generate significantly more capital to increase its reserves or stop lending in order to meet the new reserve requirement.
What should we learn from this? Most of us know that the Federal Reserve has the power to raise and lower interest rates and therefore, has the power to raise and lower overall prices within our economy. What most people don’t realize is that they also have the power to raise and lower the total volume of dollars in our economy. If they raise the reserve requirement (requiring banks to have more reserves at the Fed), banks will lend less money and since our money is based on the creation of debt, less money is created. If this happens, the gap between the amount owed within our economy (interest never stops accumulating) and the amount of money to pay the debt – widens. We are often told that this is used to fight inflation – inflation that is caused by this system of money creation through debt. The truth is that an increase in the reserve requirement results in even less money in the overall economy to pay back debt – which could easily lead to a recession or depression. This is the continual game central banks around the world play every day – more money in the economy means economic growth, but higher inflation – reducing the money supply reduces inflation, but will also cause economic growth to slow or contract.
The following chart shows the impact of the reserve ratio on our money supply. It’s easy to see that as the reserve amount required is lowered, the amount of money generated increases significantly. The reverse is also true – as the reserve required by the Fed is raised, the amount of money generated decreases.
(Source: wikipedia.org)What really happens when our money supply contracts? Periods of recession or depression. What we’re consistently told is that periods of economic growth and periods of economic contraction are unavoidable, when the truth tells us something different. The Federal Reserve has the power to create periods of growth (increased money supply coupled with low interest rates) and periods of contraction (reduced money supply coupled with higher interest rates). How are we told to categorize these periods of growth and contraction? This is the ‘business cycle’. While everyday business transactions certainly affect our overall economy – there is nothing that private business or individuals can do that will overcome the debt based economic system we’ve been placed under.
You have also learned why the current credit ‘crunch’ is being referred to as a ‘crisis’. What happens if banks reduce lending and consumers reduce taking on more debt? Less money is created in the system – and a vicious cycle starts. Wall Street refers to this as ‘de-leveraging’. We’re going to explore the real reasons this happens. Before we look closely at what is going on today, let’s examine another problem with our current economic system. We have discussed how our economy must continue to grow in order for debt creation to continue in order to create additional money in order to pay the debt – a never-ending cycle of debt creation. The question becomes – can this continue forever?
If you were to ask people about economic growth, some will know that our economic (GDP – Gross Domestic Product) growth rate typically averages about 3% (annually) in recent years. Most of us assume this is a linear growth rate. A linear growth rate looks like this:
The problem is that our economic growth is not linear. As an example, let’s assume that the current overall value of our economy is $100. If our economy grows 3% this year, then the overall value at the end of this year is $103. If our economy grows an additional 3% next year, will the overall value of our economy be $106 at the end of next year? No. Since we grew our economy 3% this year, next year’s growth will be 3% of $103 and the total value of our economy at the end of next year will be $106.09 ($103*.03 + $103). Our economy does not grow linearly, it grows exponentially. What this means is that 3% growth this year is actually more growth than 3% last year since our growth is compounded annually. This is what exponential growth looks like:
You are probably starting to feel uncomfortable, because you are beginning to see where this is going. In theory, exponential growth remains relatively low for a given period of time – but as you can see, as each year’s growth compounds on the previous year, overall growth begins to accelerate rapidly at a given point in time. A simple example of this phenomenon can be seen in the growth of a company. A company that plans to grow 10% with annual revenues of $10 million only needs to grow $1 million. A company that plans to grow 10% with annual revenues of $10 billion needs to grow $1 billion. As growth compounds upon itself, the system requires ever more resources to grow the same amount (%).
In our current economic system that relies on continual growth to stave off a collapse, we must continually burn through more and more natural resources to keep the system going. In a theoretical world, this exponential curve continues on to infinity. Is this possible in a finite world with finite resources? Of course not. If we take a logical look at our economic system, mathematics tells us one of two things must happen to our current system. The first scenario is that we burn through all of our resources and the system collapses. We can certainly see the beginning of this from a global perspective. As more economies around the world have instituted the same economic system as ours, we are seeing more and more concern that natural resources (oil, forests, water, etc.) are being depleted at an alarming rate – demand is outstripping supply – adding to inflationary pressures. Although this is certainly possible in our distant future, since we are much farther along the exponential curve than other economies in the world, there is a much more likely scenario for the United States.
The second scenario is that our current system collapses under the weight of the debt it has created. If the rate of debt increases much more quickly than the rate of the supply of money in the system, eventually the amount of money in the system will not be able to support the increased debt. There will not be enough money to make interest payments, pay utilities, buy consumer goods and create additional money. As the exponential curve gets steeper and steeper – it will be more and more difficult to grow our economy, while supporting the existing debt in the system. At some point, since we live in the real world, our monetary system will collapse under the weight of its debt – long before we burn through all of our resources.
Before we get too far into this – let’s ask a question. Where are we on this exponential curve? If we look at trends of some of the most widely used economic indicators, can we determine if we should be worried about imminent collapse? As you will see, we have reason to be concerned.
Let’s start by looking at our debt. The following is a graph of our nation’s federal debt:
The following is a different look at our national debt that calculates the debt as a percentage of GDP:
(Source: U.S. White House)
We hear politicians and economists talk about how there’s nothing to worry about since our debt remains in line with past years - as a percentage of GDP. The problem is that they are only focusing on the amount of debt as a % of GDP in a given year and not the effect of our cumulative debt. As we’ll soon see, what is even more important is the ratio of debt to the money supply.
We also have much more debt than just the federal debt. The following chart shows total debt over time (state, federal, personal, corporate). Once again, we see an exponential curve.
(Source: Michael Hodges, Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury)
What about our money supply? We should expect to see the same trend – and we do.
(Source: http://www.babylontoday.com/)
(Source: wikipedia.org)Hard currency appears to be somewhat linear, but it’s an illusion. If we reduce the scale (since hard currency is such a small percentage of the total money supply), we see the same trend:
(Source: wikipedia.org)
Since the Federal Reserve stopped publishing M3 (total amount of dollars in circulation) money supply data in 2006, a couple of economists have worked to re-create it. The next graph was created by John Williams at shadowstats.com. Take note of how the year over year growth of our money supply has steadily increased since early 2005. Also note how the rate of growth is beginning to slow since the beginning of 2008. (I originally wrote this post in early 2008 - I have updated the graph below to show money supply growth through July 2010 - you can see how the current credit 'crisis' is now causing our money supply to contract).
(Source: http://www.shadowstats.com/)
I believe we’re going to see our money supply growth continue to slow since we are now at the point that we cannot create enough new money (through debt) to support the existing debt. If we’re not able to create enough new money (through debt) each year to service the interest on the existing debt – the system begins to collapse (loan defaults & bankruptcies begin to increase). The world tells us that our economy is ‘maturing’, which is why our economy’s growth is slowing. The truth, as you see, is much different. We are beginning to see the very real signs of an economy on the brink of collapse under the weight of its monetary system. We’ll talk about these signs later in this post.
Let’s continue by viewing inflation. Once again, we hear the world tell us that inflation is running at a rate of 3% a year and we all accept this as normal – and we forget that this rate is compounded year after year. If we see our money supply increase at such a fast pace, we should expect to see inflation also rise at an exponential rate – and we do.
(Source: Federal Reserve)
Now you know why cars that once cost $3,000 now cost $30,000 or a loaf of bread that once cost $0.25 now costs $2.50. Prices increase within the system if the volume of money increases at a higher rate than economic activity (goods & services).
More people with more money to spend places upward pressure on prices for everything – cars, fuel, food, natural resources, etc. As money supplies throughout the world increase at an exponential rate, we see inflation skyrocketing across the globe. More on this below.
What about other economic indicators? We see the same trend.
Government Spending:
(Source: wikipedia.org)Government Revenues:
(Source: Mark Wieczorek)
Commercial Bank Credit:
(Source: Federal Reserve)
Total Revolving Credit:
(Source: Federal Reserve)
Total Consumer Credit:
(Source: Federal Reserve)
These are all interesting, but the most
important graph will show us the rate of increase of our debt and the rate of
increase of our income. If we see a widening gap between the two, then we know
that the system is beginning to break down as the rate of increase in debt (new
debt – retired debt + interest) is outpacing our ability to service the debt
and keep the system from collapsing.
(Source: Michael Hodges, Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury)
Sobering isn’t it? What you are seeing is a system on the brink of total collapse. With no way to ultimately pay off our debts (since money is created by debt), this was inevitable at some point.
Even though our money supply is also on an exponential curve, it cannot (mathematically) keep up with the runaway debt. We are nearing the end of an inevitable cycle. A cycle that ends with the economic collapse of the United States. As I mentioned earlier, this would not be a surprise to the men who created the system in the U.S. in 1913, nor is it a surprise to the men who are controlling the system today.
What about the rest of the world? Can’t they continue to finance our debt? Won’t this help delay our collapse? What you are about to see is that every major world economy also has a Central Bank – and therefore is on the same exponential curve as us. At some point, the entire world system will be unable to sustain itself unless the entire system changes. We’ll just take a look at money supplies of some of the world’s biggest economies. As you view these graphs, also take note of the total amount of Euros (European Union) in circulation compared to the amount of dollars in circulation. If you consider that there are trillions more dollars in circulation throughout the world compared to pounds and euros and also consider the massive amount of U.S. debt – it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the overall value of the dollar is declining against the world’s major currencies.
Global Money Supply:
(Source: Dollardaze.org)
European Union:
(Source: wikipedia.org)
Australia:
(Source: wikipedia.org)
New Zealand:
(Source: wikipedia.org)
India:
(Source: wikipedia.org)In addition, in recent months China’s money supply (M1+M2) has been growing at a 16-18% annualized rate. So, it’s easy to see that the same insane economic/monetary system has been instituted the world over. The question is – why? Before we answer this, let’s take a look at what is going on in the U.S. economy today.
Let’s think about what we would expect to see if the economic system of the United States begins to collapse due to this monetary system. As the amount of total debt continues to increase faster than the money supply, we would expect the number of personal and corporate bankruptcies to continue to increase. As global inflation also continues to increase prices on a broad range of products and commodities (due to increases in money supplies the world over), we would expect this to also negatively affect individuals and corporations in America. We would also expect to see those of us with the lowest cash reserves to be affected first. Are we seeing these things? Absolutely. We see them everyday in our news. The current ‘credit crisis’ began when subprime borrowers began defaulting on their home loans. Now, we see that the number of Alt-A and Prime borrowers falling behind on their mortgages is also increasing. Home prices are now decreasing across the nation as a result. How does this affect the money supply? If a homeowner defaults on a loan, the bank must ‘foreclose’ and take a loss on its books. The bank then must sell the home – but sell it in a depressed housing market. If the home was originally purchased for $100,000; and the bank can only get $75,000 now - based on what we now know about how money is created - you can see how the money supply will begin to be affected in a very big way. As home prices decline, the amount of money generated from the home loans from consumers also declines. As banks tighten credit due to the rising defaults, the vicious cycle continues – fewer loans and lower prices equals less money created (thanks to this debt based monetary system). Less money created means less money to loan and less money to buy things – and the exponential money creation cycle from debt begins to reverse itself. It’s also easy to see that falling housing prices and falling housing sales are not the only problem here – all of the suppliers, subcontractors, etc. are also affected. The rapid increase in the money supply generated by private banks that we’ve seen over the past decade is beginning to slow significantly. But as you know, this isn’t all that’s happening.
You’ve watched as the value of CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligations), CLO’s (Collateralized Loan Obligations), SIV’s (Structured Investment Vehicles) and other derivatives are now plunging in value resulting in huge write-offs for banks. As foreclosures have risen, the value of the bonds created from these mortgages have plunged in value – even those bonds based on ‘prime’ mortgages. All of these things are reducing the money supply. If you have an investment that you thought was worth $100, but now is only worth $60 on the open market, your access to money has been substantially reduced. Auction rate securities, once thought as safe as cash, now can’t be sold – there are no buyers. What you are seeing are the cracks beginning to form in the dam.
What is the Federal Reserve doing? Basically, they are trying to plug the holes by injecting money into our economy to delay the inevitable. Money creation through the private banking system is faltering, so someone has to step in or something catastrophic is going to happen. As the process has accelerated, not only are banks slowing their lending to consumers, they have also significantly reduced lending to each other. In order to get the capital they need, many banks are now borrowing more money directly from the Federal Reserve discount window. Remember, the Fed isn’t giving the money away; banks are borrowing this money from a private corporation. We can see the impact from the current credit crisis from the graph below.
We see this problem developing with the money supply, but there is one area of our financial system that has yet to suffer a significant drop in value – the stock market. It’s been very volatile, but has not really suffered a prolonged decrease in value. Think about this – what happens when financial conditions worsen, people can’t pay their bills/debts, all other investments have significantly declined in value and there’s only one remaining large source of wealth remaining? People will sell their stocks to survive. There’s an obvious problem with this – if a large number of people start selling – what happens? Prices drop significantly. Since stocks are one of the most volatile investments in the world, the coming decline in the stock market will, in all probability, be much worse than the current decline in value of CDOs/SIVs, Auction Rate Securities and other bonds. One thing is for certain, it’s not a matter of if, but when this will happen.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (1970 - 2008):
(Source: Wall St. Journal Online)
Take a look at the above graph of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Share volume is also shown). Look familiar? Once again, we see an exponential curve. The DJIA is shadowing both our debt and our money supply. Why? Think about how the world tells us to invest. We’re constantly told that stocks offer the best long term returns. If you only look at stock returns over the past 30 years – this would appear to be good advice (if you ignore the possibility of something negative happening tomorrow). The problem is that there are two very good reasons why the stock market has continued to increase over this time period – and they have nothing to do with the stock market itself. As money has increased exponentially over the past 30 years – more and more liquidity has been placed in the hands of investors. What is another consequence of this exponential money growth? Inflation has also increased exponentially. We have more and more money in a system where inflation is eroding the value of this money. In this situation, everyone is trying to at least maintain the value of their money – by trying to earn a return higher than the inflation rate. So, we see more and more people investing more and more money into risky investments (stocks, hedge funds, CDO’s, SIV’s, Auction-Rate Securities, etc.) in an attempt to outrun the inflation rate.
There’s also another problem that no one in the mainstream media is discussing. We assume that our inflation rate has been approximately 1%-5% in recent years because this is what our government tells us. The problem is that since the early 1980’s, the government has changed the way it measures inflation. I won’t go into details here (please watch Chris Martenson’s video for further information on how our government has changed how it calculates inflation and other economic data: http://www.chrismartenson.com/fuzzy_numbers). The truth is that the actual annual consumer inflation rate has been between 8%-12% over the past 10 years – which means that you would need to average an annual return of around 10% over the past 10 years just to break even. The current rate of inflation is closer to 13% and increasing - not 5% as we’ve been told (I have updated the graph in 2009 to show how the current crisis is causing deflationary pressures).
(Source: Shadowstats.com)
If we also consider the impact that the actual inflation rate has on real GDP (inflation is subtracted from nominal GDP to calculate real GDP) – we see why businesses and consumers are telling us that we’re in a recession – while our government tells us that our economy is still growing. The current state of our economy starts to make sense when we see inflation in double digits and negative GDP for several quarters.
(Source: Shadowstats.com)
Do you know people who have lost their jobs recently? Wonder why it’s difficult to find a job right now? It’s because the current unemployment rate is closer to 13% - not the 5% that we’ve been told (I have updated the graph in 2009 to show the continuing impact of the current recession/depression - real unemployment is now approaching 20%). The government selectively removes ‘discouraged workers’ from total unemployment in order to calculate the lower rate. It’s simply a way for our government to manipulate the data to show more favorable percentages.
(Source: Shadowstats.com)
What is going to happen to the stock market as our money supply growth continues to slow, GDP continues to contract, inflation continues to increase, housing prices continue to fall and more people lose their jobs? The stock market will, once again, shadow our money supply straight down as the system collapses. We’re beginning to see how this is affecting the stock market today. The market has been extremely volatile as earnings reports from companies seem to contradict government economic data. When it becomes clear to everyone that we’re in serious trouble – we’re going to see a mass exodus from stock markets worldwide.
If you’re wealthy, you may feel somewhat secure that you’ve got a nice nest egg to see this through. Where is your money? It’s most likely in dollar currency in the system – checking/savings accounts, money market funds, stocks, bonds, 401(k)’s, retirement accounts, etc. What happens if it’s not just a segment of the system that collapses, but the entire system? It won’t matter what you have - $5 or $5 million – your wealth will vanish before your eyes. We are facing a far worse scenario than 1929. From 1929 through 1933, our money supply contracted approximately 30% after a period of money supply expansion in the 1920’s. As you can see from the money supply trends in previous charts, we have also been through a period of significant money supply expansion from 1995 until 2007. It appears that 1929 was a trial run for what will happen in the near future to us.
Was wealth destroyed during the Great Depression? No. Wealth was transferred. If you read the biographies of some of the great bankers of that era (J.P. Morgan and others), you will see that the majority of them did not have their money in stocks. Earlier in 1929, they moved their investment holdings to cash and gold. For them, the crash of 1929 was not a catastrophe, it was a buying opportunity. A buying opportunity they created. The price of assets dropped dramatically during this time - and guess who happened to have the cash on hand to buy assets at depressed values?
Until now, you’ve probably thought that we’re all playing by the same rules – we’re not. This really isn’t about money – it’s about power and control of the world. It’s about a ruling elite enslaving humanity on a worldwide scale. A ruling elite given power by the world’s spiritual ruler. Now you know a little more about why the Lord has warned us. He warned us that this beast would be deceptive and would deceive the whole world – and you’re beginning to see why. When God tells us in His Word that something in our future will be deceptive on a worldwide scale – it’s a warning we should heed.
This leads us to why our monetary system exists. In 1913, the battle for the control of the United States banking system was lost – and the Federal Reserve Bank was created. The name of this private corporation should tell us all we need to know – it’s a lie. It’s a bank that is not Federal and there are no reserves. The truth is that this ingenious monetary system was created by some highly intelligent men for one purpose – global power. Whoever controls interest rates and the volume of money in a nation controls the nation (and ultimately the world). In a world focused on money and the pursuit of money, whoever controls our money has the power – absolute power. These men created a monetary system that forever places our nation in debt and one that can be manipulated by them for their purposes. What is going to happen when markets collapse? Guess who, once again, will be there to acquire depressed assets?
As I’ve said before, this was inevitable. If you give a banking system, in our evil world, the ability to control the money supply and the ability to charge interest on the money they create, the bankers will slowly, over time, exchange worthless money (paper and electronic fiat currency) for real assets – gold, silver, land and property. If you view this from a spiritual standpoint, you begin to understand why Jesus told us that building the foundation of your life on the things of this world is not wise. As has happened before, and will happen again, wealthy people of this world will see the foundation of their lives (money) slowly sift away through their fingers. Our wealth is an illusion. Satan has offered wealth and power to many in this nation and they have gladly accepted. They are about to witness what happens when you do a deal with the devil. Take him on by yourself and sooner or later – he’s going to find a way to get his tentacles into you. What happens when wealth is taken away from people who are focused on wealth? It’s not pretty. How do we overcome? As I’ve said before, and will continue to say until I leave this world – you will not overcome this world and its ruler until you humbly ask forgiveness from God. Until you acknowledge your sins and truly believe the Lord’s promise of salvation through His Son, you will never get free of the world. You will always be susceptible to the world’s many disappointments. When you truly repent and are born again, what happens in the world no longer matters because you know the Lord and the Lord stands with you – until the end.
At some point you’ve probably wondered how on earth this monetary system has survived until now. If you read the many quotes throughout recent history from bankers, world leaders, economists and tycoons about central banks – and really pay attention to what they’re saying - it’s no secret that those in power knew what was happening (I have listed many of these quotes on my website). Why hasn’t anyone stopped this madness? It’s not hard to figure out – fear. If you attain a position of power and are told to look the other way or face the consequences – what do you do? Most people in the world will gladly take the money and power….and look the other way. Why place my life at risk when I can continue living this nice lifestyle by not rocking the boat? Yes – I said that by standing against this beast – you place your life at risk. I’m not saying this merely to make a hypothetical point. Take a look at this list. These men had three things in common.
Abraham Lincoln
James Garfield
John F. Kennedy
All were Presidents of the United States. Each man spoke out against the issuance of money by anyone other than our Government and made it clear who they were targeting with these comments – and all were assassinated. Lincoln refused to attain loans from the European banks to finance the Civil War (he was offered loans at 24%+ interest) and instead had the U.S. Treasury issue its own money. JFK gave a speech in 1961 about a worldwide ‘monolithic and ruthless conspiracy’ which is ‘a system that has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations’. I have added a link to the speech on my website. (Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYgLLahHv8) JFK even had the audacity in the summer of 1963 to give the U.S. Government the authority to, once again, create its own money via Executive Order 11110 (based on a Silver standard). The U.S. Treasury actually began to print its own money in 1963….but as we all know, this didn’t last long.
As you read the quotes below, notice carefully what these men are telling us. They didn’t realize it at the time they made these statements, but each one of them learned about and then commented on – one of the beasts of Revelation 13. Some of them paid the ultimate price for doing so. The Lord doesn’t arbitrarily label something a ‘beast’ without reason. He uses the term ‘beast’ to tell us who and what we’re dealing with – an organization that will kill, steal and destroy anyone and anything in its path – anything that opposes it. This beast obeys its father – the father of lies and deceit who walks in complete darkness. There is only one way in this world that you and I can oppose this beast and survive – by standing with and obeying the Lord.
“The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society – and we are, as a people, inherently and historically, opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.” –JFK
“We are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covet means for expanding its sphere of influence – on infiltration instead of invasion – on subversion instead of elections – on intimidation instead of free choice. It is a system that has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine - that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no secret is revealed.” -JFK
“I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people.” –JFK referring to the worldwide conspiracy mentioned above
“Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce….and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” -James A. Garfield
“The Government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of government, but it is the government’s greatest creative opportunity.” -Abraham Lincoln
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the National auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” –David Rockefeller in an address to Trilateral Commission Meeting, 1991
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that willgrow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their propertyuntil their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." –Thomas Jefferson
"Capital must protect itself in every way... Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When, through a process of law, the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd." -J.P. Morgan
"We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent." –James Paul Warburg (Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaking before the U.S. Senate, 1950)
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson. History depicts Andrew Jackson as the last truly honorable and incorruptible American president." –Franklin D. Roosevelt
"[The task is to] covertly lower the standard of living, the whole socialstructure, of America so that we can be merged with all other nations." –Rowan Gaither (President of the Ford Foundation, 1954)
“I am myself persuaded, on the basis of extensive study of the historical evidence, that... the severity of each of the contractions - 1920-21, 1929-33, and 1937-38 - is directly attributable to acts of commission and omission by the Reserve authorities and would not have occurred under earlier monetary and banking arrangements.'' –Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan)
"Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it." –Woodrow Wilson
"A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom." -Woodrow Wilson
"We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world--no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men." –Woodrow Wilson
"This Act (the Federal Reserve Act, Dec. 23rd 1913) establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President (Woodrow Wilson) signs the Bill, the invisible government of the Monetary Power will be legalized... The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency Bill." –Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. (Congressman and father of the famous aviator)
"The most wonderful thing of all is that the distinguished Lutheran andCalvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they see in it (Illuminati) the true and genuine sense of Christian Religion. Oh mortal man, is there anything you cannot be made to believe?" - Adam Weishophf upon establishing his "Order of the Illuminati", on May 1, 1776
"It is ironical that the only nation which affirmatively expresses a dependence upon and belief in Almighty God in its birth certificate, should now be in mortal combat for its very existence with a godless conspiracy intent upon conquering the world, and reverting human society to the hazards and indignities of the Dark Ages." –Loyd Wright (Former President of the American Bar Association, 1961)
"From the days of Spartacus, Weishophf, Karl Marx, Trotski, Belacoon, Rosa Luxenburg, and Ema Goldman, this world conspiracy has been steadily growing. This conspiracy played a definite recognizable role in the tragedy of the French revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the 19th Century. And now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their head and have become the undisputed masters of that enormous empire." –Winston Churchill, 1920
"The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation. At the head is a small group of banking houses generally referred to as 'international bankers.' This little coterie... run our government for their own selfish ends. It operates under cover of a self-created screen...[and] seizes...our executive officers... legislative bodies... schools... courts... newspapers and every agency created for the public protection." –John Hylan (Mayor of New York, 1918-1925)
"The sovereignty fetish is still so strong in the public mind, that there would appear to be little chance of winning popular assent to American membership in anything approaching a super-state organization. Much will depend on the kind of approach which is used in further popular education." (Council on Foreign Relations, 1944)
If you spend some time studying these international bankers who have instituted this debt based monetary system worldwide, you will find that at the top echelon of power there are approximately 300 names. These are the same 300 families who own stock in the Federal Reserve of the United States and all of the other central banks the world over. These are the people who wield the world’s real power from the shadows and provide the wealth and power needed to infiltrate the world’s monetary and political systems. These are the people the Lord describes in Revelation 13 – this ‘beast out of the earth’.
If you continue to study how they have gained this power, you will be led back in time to the early 1690’s to the founding of the Bank of England – the world’s first central bank. And if you continue to search for the truth, you will find that all roads on this journey eventually lead to one name – Rothschild. The world will tell you that the Rothschild’s banking empire has been reduced to a ‘niche’ bank – catering mainly to very wealthy investors. The truth is that they control approximately 70%-80% of the world’s wealth from the shadows. If I had told you this at the beginning of this post, you would have probably rejected this statement outright. Now you know how it’s possible – they print the world’s money and exchange it for the world’s real assets. As I mentioned at the beginning, it’s really an ingenious plan – when you realize why it was created. It’s evil, but ingenious. The Rothschilds and every member of these ‘elite’ families would tell you that this plan was devised by them for their purposes – but we know the truth. The Lord has told us Satan’s plans – they’re simply obeying the one they serve.
We now see how the world’s financial system has been overtaken by a few very powerful men. If we take what we know and think about the ‘mark of the beast’, we realize that control of the world’s financial system isn’t enough to satisfy the prophecies about the ‘mark’. Controlling the world’s financial system is one piece of the puzzle, but something else is needed – enforcement. Everyone throughout the world will be ‘forced’ to accept the mark. These powerful men need a way in which to deceive us into believing that humanity needs protecting – and now we know why the Lord tells us in the book of Revelation about ‘miraculous signs’ used by this beast. The beast creates these ‘signs’ to strike fear among us – fear that will eventually drive humanity to give over its freedom to the beast – and Satan. We’ve seen many of these ‘signs’ already, but they are only the beginning.
When it comes to spiritual deception, you are beginning to see just how blind we really are in this world when we walk away from our Creator. We focus on the things in the world – money, careers, cars, houses, addictions, stuff, etc. – and we forget about the subtle things that are missing from our lives. Some of these things are big picture – How did we come into being? Why are we here? Does God really exist? If He exists, why can’t I see Him? Can I really know God - personally? Where do I go when I die? Am I really alone in this fallen world? How can I get free of this mess? Other questions are smaller picture, but would also lead us to the truth if we would just slow down for awhile and think about what we’re consistently told in this world and compare it to God’s truth – could someone really consolidate the world’s government, world’s religion and world’s financial system within 7 years? If God has allowed His children to experience pain and suffering throughout human history in order to strengthen them in this world, why would He change now? Sometimes it’s a very simple question that leads us to some very important answers – how is our money created? Think about how many times in your life – friends, parents, teachers, professors – someone has explained our monetary system to you. Never? You’re not alone – and there’s a reason it’s being hidden. If I were to ask 1000 Americans today what is the greatest threat to our nation’s sovereignty – how many do you think would respond - ‘the war on terror’? My guess is that 99% of us would agree that ‘the war on terror’ is our greatest threat. Our spiritual enemy has created a perceived threat – while his true ‘beasts’ gain control of the world through deceptive means – subversion, infiltration and intimidation. Again, an ingenious plan – and not of this world. The only way to overcome it is to obey the One spiritual being that Satan cannot deceive, intimidate or overcome – our Father in heaven.
The truth is that never before, in the history of the United States, have we faced a greater threat to our national sovereignty as we do now – never. We are facing an enemy that is much more intelligent and powerful than you and I - an enemy that has not used brute force against us, but works in the shadows to deceive and infiltrate. At times in the past I would think about the book of Revelation and wonder how the people of the world could ever allow themselves to be subjected to an evil world government. I simply didn’t want to believe it was possible and I, like most people today, disregarded the Lord’s warnings about how this beast would deceive the whole world. Now that I’ve humbled myself and know the truth, I listen to this beast talk to us everyday through corporate, governmental, banking and religious leaders – leaders of the United States. It’s no longer a mystery. Their plan has almost come to fruition. At some point, you might think that all hope is lost – that they are too powerful and the plan is too far along. How can we possible stop this? I’m not fearful of these things because I know that God could see this coming since the creation of the world – and I don’t need to figure out what to do on my own. I will simply continue to seek the Lord’s will for me – His plan, not mine. What you are about to see throughout the world is that God is going to go on the offensive – and he’s going to do it with you and me. Now is not the time for weak people with weak ministries to proclaim a weak message. Now is the time to allow ourselves to be strengthened spiritually. Now is the time to stand in the face of overwhelming odds – and succeed.
At different times in your life you have probably felt that something wasn’t quite right. You could ‘sense’ it, but you couldn’t ‘see’ it. You couldn’t really explain it, but you knew that there was something not quite right about the world you live in. The economy is up – the economy is down. Life is good – life is not so good. Chaos seems to rule the world. It’s like we’re walking on very thin ice that is constantly cracking – about to give way. You are now beginning to understand that there is a method to the madness. When the world chose death over life, sin over righteousness – when we chose to believe lies instead of the Truth – this was the inevitable result. What gets the true Christian through all of this is that this isn’t the end – it’s only the beginning – and we’re not alone. The end is glorious for us – end of story.
You’ve seen me reference the movie ‘The Matrix’ and how many aspects of the movie are similar to the spiritual battle being waged in the world. I’m going to end this post with some dialog from the movie because it certainly relates to most of us. The following scene takes place right before Neo learns the truth about his world.
Morpheus: I imagine that right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Neo: Yes.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
I finally found a video that does an excellent job of explaining our monetary system in simple terms. I recommend that you watch it to get a better understanding of what I have discussed here. The video was created by Paul Grignon and is only 47 minutes long. Money as Debt I have used a couple of Paul’s examples in this post.
http://moneyasdebt.net/
http://johngilmore.org/
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