What's Next?

Dear brethren, I cannot stress enough the dire situation the global financial system is in at this time. I cannot stress just how close we are to falling into an abyss of failed financial institutions, bank runs, closed ATM's, angry people and almost certainly some level of civil unrest. The system is broken and whatever mending is done will not save it, at least not in its current form. Now, even our own leaders do not appreciate the debt levels of our banks and the kinds of liabilities that lurk in their balance sheets. The numbers are staggering. They may have a chance of keeping things going through the end of the year, but next year things cannot help but get very, very ugly if Congress and the President as well as the Fed and the Treasury cannot get together and come up with some real fundamental solutions.

How bad can it get? Investment adviser John Mauldin recently published a month-by-month account of the dollar amount of mortgages that will be reset through 2008, and the largest reset amounts pop up in the first six months of next year. In fact, as he points out, the $197 billion of mortgage resets so far this year is "less than we will see in two months (February and March) of next year. The first six months of next year will see more than the total for 2007, or $521 billion." - EWI

I could go on and on regarding the current financial crisis but I am not. This is essentially a house of cards where debts are becoming unpayable and the paper promises made by Wall Street are showing themselves to as valuable as the promise from an American politician. While we should not be afraid, it would not be unwise to show a little concern for what is happening and make preparations beforehand.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

A verse that is repeated in the scriptures is worth noting. Who is wise these days? Those who know Christ and know the times and the seasons. Knowing the times and seasons requires obedience. Obedience in particular to Christ's warning to watch. Watching means, especially for us in the west, using the tools that are available to us the understand the times we live in. Let those who will mock, mock. Despite the evils the internet has brought, it has been one of the most important tools for Christians to escape the deceptions of the false Churches and the houses of mammon and Babylon that are deceiving millions as well as our propaganda organs known as the mainstream media. For those of you who have come out of that false system, you have done well. But just like the Israelites who left Egypt, they had to pass through a wilderness before they could reach the Promised land. I need not tell you that a whole generation, save for two, did not make it.

I feel led to digress here for a moment to reminisce on a young Asian Christian I knew in my teenage years. We were never very close, but we knew each other by first name and attended the same Church. Many years later I saw her working in a music store. She recognized me and made a comment along the lines of wondering if I had 'left that bulls!^t of Christianity. I said little, seeing that she had forsaken Christ, and at that time, my own walk was very shaky. But that 2 minute conversation has stuck with me for many years. How had this very nice kind young girl get so bitter towards the church? I cannot say for sure but knowing the kinds of things going on in Churches today tells me that what is happening in them and the times that I see coming are going to ruin the faith of millions when they discover that their pastors have been lying to them and were far more interested in their cushy paychecks and not obeying God.

Leaving the deceits of Babylon and the enchantments of Egypt are not going to get you into the kingdom. Persevering to the end, with your faith in tact and a genuine love for Christ and your fellow men (yes even, and especially the lost) will. We must keep the word of our testimony and stand with the godly, even when the world turns violently against us, as it one day certainly will. Indeed, those Christians who live in Islamic nations will tell you that this is already happening in much of the world.

Evil is going to grow into a horrible crescendo. Murder, rape, pillaging and all manner of vice is in our immediate future as this present order begins to crumble. Those who have been deluded for their whole lives are not going to be able to cope with the real world as it descends upon them with a hellish fury. Reality is a harsh mistress when her place is denied for so long. Christians are not immune to the panic and turmoil. But those whose foundations are on Christ will find protection and rest even in the midst of evil times.

I look upon what I see coming as a test. A major test to see which Christians are really in the faith and trusting in God. Like the Israelites of old who were tested in the wilderness, we shall be tested in the midst of Great Tribulation. Many will not make it. The good news is that some will.

Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The greatest trials are ahead, let us prepare our souls, hearts and families for what is coming. God will hold heads of household responsible for their family's unpreparedness. Leading a family is serious business and God calls the men of the house to be men, lead and make the tough decisions that may save your family in the days ahead. This is the responsibility and charge of the head of the household, to lead and not give in to the whimpering of children who want new 'throw away' toys or the whining wives who 'just can't live' if she can't buy a new $50,000 SUV every year. There may be some tense moments in the house when the 'I want' demon can't get his way in the hearts of family members, but that extra money may be the difference between your family home and a homeless shelter. The mind-set of mindless consumption is a demonic stronghold, it is not godly nor is it wise. It is a manifestation of the spirit of mammon, and you simply cannot serve mammon and Christ. This is one of the few things that Christ says is impossible. (Matt 6:24) What Paul tells us to do is to be content in whatever state we are in. Feeding the 'I want' demon is giving in to the spirit of this age in a deceptive way. The devil will always move in and say, “If God loves you, then he will let you buy that (place your mammonite idol here)...” .

Many middle class folks have already hit the skids. Yet you would never know that by reading the newspapers or even going to the major Homeless advocacy groups. You have to actually talk to the workers... or the actual victims. They will tell you that homelessness is growing problem and the old profiling of the drug addict, or minority no longer applies. Now it is your bankers, your realtors, your brokers, your accountants that are feeling the pain. And I have news for you, this is only the beginning. One group is sounding the alarm over Middle Class homlessness.

What are you going to do? Who are you going to listen to? Right now, I can tell you there are a great many deceivers on the net. They, by and large, do not think that they are deceivers but that is what they are. They spend their time talking about alien invasions, crop circles, and divining the future using New Age Shamen and 'Web bots'¹. These have no discernment. The are the blind leading the blind, at least for the most part. They will throw up links to just about every heretic and satanist in the book and then refuse to link to God's true prophets. Shy away from them, they only will lead you where the devil wants to take you, a place I can assure you, that is of extreme discomfort. Once again, I give each and every one of you fair warning, don't be deceived by them. They have left the narrow path the leads to life and found 'some other path' and want to take you down it with them.

Then there is the other extreme, those who want to place a million and one commandments on you some from the old covenant, others from a sense of 'holier than thou' prudishness that came to symbolize turn of the (previous) Century Christianity. These are the extremes that must be avoided in these times. Legalism and false teachers. The truth is this, on your own strength and wisdom, it might not be possible to spot a false teacher, but if you have been regenerated (born again) in the power of the Holy Spirit you can heed the gentle nudging of the spirit of grace that resides in you, he will guide you.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (Joh 16:13)

There is no need to go to the new age shaman, the alien salesmen or those who use digital divination. Ask God, open your Bibles and listen carefully to the still small voice of God's Holy Spirit. He will tell you what you need to know. For when America falls, we will and must be dependent on God for everything from sustenance to wisdom. Consider what I am telling you in all seriousness. The recounting of signs of America's distress are no longer relegated to fringe web sites like this one. I have been called so many names by others it, no longer phases me; 'religious nut', 'doomsayer', 'conspiracy nut'... this is one of the crosses I must bear. I know this that many who have used these terms regarding me and my work use my material and keep coming back. I will never be a large site or have a million hits a day because the subject matter I deal with offends too many people. Those who make no Christian profession because many simply hate God and are deeply in love with their sins and other Christians because they have been listening to false teachers and the religious system of mammon and money that runs so many American Churches for so long that they cannot quite accept the fact that they are being deceived by it and them. Honest souls know that deep down inside that what I am saying is true, even if they don't know Christ, God is gently nudging them to try and understand that Salvation is no small matter and the times we are living in as well are no laughing matter. And they are about to become significantly less funny.

The recent announcement that the Bush administration is going to bail out homeowners is good news. Whatever the motivation, and I tend to think it was not because this administration is concerned with the welfare of ordinary Americans, but perhaps I am too hard on them, maybe there has been a genuine change of heart. Nevertheless we must consider this, that this administration has been warned by Wall Streets titans that if something is not done about the half a trillion dollars in mortgage resets coming over the next several months, Wall Street would be in the greatest of peril requiring an even greater bailout. Keep that word in mind, Bailout, this is the watchword for the hour, around the world Central Bankers are bailing out major financial institutions and doing nothing for ordinary people. Indeed when one looks at what Bush is actually doing, he is using the Federal Government insurance program to restore the confidence that has been lost in much of Wall Streets paper.

One view of the Bush administration's mortgage-crisis action plan, outlined by the president Friday, is that it's a Republican attempt to avoid a larger-scale federal intervention. But history suggests that a larger-scale government intervention is exactly what we're going to get.

The U.S. loan guarantee for Chrysler Corp. in 1979, the Treasury-engineered refinancing of Latin American debt in 1989, the savings and loan bailout of the early 1990s -- all of these were solutions for problems that were deemed too big for any entity other than Uncle Sam to handle.

What, then, is the current housing bust, if not of the same or even greater import to the economy than the above? A few hours after President Bush spoke, the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress reached back to the 1930s to propose the re-creation of the Home Owners' Loan Corp., which during the Great Depression directly refinanced many delinquent mortgages.- LAT

In essence this bailout is designed to support Wall Streets paper, and assisting homeowners is simply the inevitable side-effect of his plan to fix this crisis. It is designed to assist in unlocking the frozen commercial paper markets, which indeed some insiders have said may very well be history.

"The commercial paper market, in terms of the asset-backed commercial paper market, is basically history," Bill Gross, the California-based manager of the world's biggest bond fund, told Bloomberg News. - Globe And Mail

Now Mr. Gross is the guy a lot of the financial press loves to hate, but sometimes it appears that he deserves some of the contempt others have for him. This kind of bailout, that he was talking about just before Bush actually did it, is one that in reality assists him and the commercial paper market.

Now before anyone gets upset with me, I applaud the President and Mr. Gross, for doing something for the ordinary guy, whatever their real motivations are. But I still am not convinced that these bailouts are going to help. Why am I so pessimistic? The trainwreck of bankruptcies that have already occurred and the 40,000 or so people who have already lost their jobs (so far) in the mortgage industry are going to put a serious hurting on the economy. This new army of unemployed people is going to effect everything from the pool of people able to afford to buy a home to retail sales; credit card payments to Auto sales. The crisis is also likely to set of a surge in Wall Street layoffs in the medium term. This mortgage crisis is a ticking time bomb because so much of the American economy was predicated on housing prices rising eternally. Clearly this is not going to happen. Keep in mind that falling house prices effects the banks insofar as the collateral they hold is worth less, in some cases the change in value of the paper they hold, coupled with declining housing values may change a balance sheet to such a degree that they may wind up showing losses, instead of profits. It will also effect consumption because people can no longer take out home equity loans to buy yet more junk they don't need.

So, dear readers what I am telling each of you is this, most do not expect a one day crash scenario. The Central Banks will use the old Bernanke Helicopter money drop into the banks to keep that from happening as they have been doing for the past few weeks. Hundreds of billions have been shoveled into the banks to keep their rotten foundations from crumbling to the point that the entire Global Financial system implodes. And please understand this, without these bailouts that is exactly where we would be today. But I say that even with these kinds of bailouts, the potential for a crisis so large that it cannot be solved by Central Bank intervention remains high. Just what kind of crisis am I talking about? The kind that is happening now, when the creation and settlement of debts between major institutions and even between nations breaks down. In essence, I am talking about a global crisis in confidence. That my dear readers, is the real danger. This is essentially where much of the commercial debt markets already are, so don't tell me it can't happen. It already is and the recent moves are being made specifically to restore faith (confidence) in those sectors that are suffering from a dangerous lack of it should help you to see it for what it is. When the GOP is forced to resort to helping out the little guy, you know they must be desperate²!

Nevertheless, I do think a sudden change in economic system is quite possible. One that is probably being planned for right now. What kind of changes am I talking about? A new currency, and new international payment system. I think this is probably what is most likely to happen. When I see all of the folks leaving the White House I think something really big is up, especially in light of the Global economic crisis. God even was kind enough to show me a dream as to the fact that this coming change was a sudden change; banks closing followed by a curfew, it happened on a Friday night and by Saturday morning everything had changed. All the while, the media was giving us all propaganda to keep us calm.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, even though we can't see it. In the system of Mammon, investors look for a financial return on their investment. In the kingdom of God, we look for God to keep his promises to us. There are two different systems and faith is placed in one or the other based on one of these two principles. Faith in Mammon, or faith in God. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.

When Christ came he warned of Judgment on the World because they did not believe him.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Faith and unbelief are the keys to the understanding of man's predicament. Christ shows us the relationship between faith and sin. This is really the key. From the fall of Adam to all the rebellions and sin recorded in the Bible, they all stem back to one important theme, those who believed what God said and those who did not believe what God said. Eve didn't believe God, she listened to the devil and look at our sick world and see the result of that one act of rebellion! King Saul did not believe God and disobeyed him and lost his kingdom and probably much more. The bloodline of rebellion (sin) can always be traced back to some important act of unbelief, which leads to open sin and rebellion. Even from the days of the flood, God warned and warned and the people did not believe. This is why believing God and his promises as well as his commandments is imperative to salvation. Simply put there will be no faithless rebels entering into the Kingdom. Not a single one.

So my word to each and every one of you is this, you can choose to believe God or believe the system of Mammon or the Babylonian religious establishment in America, but belief in either is going to be badly shaken before long. Christians will wonder why their pastors did not warn them of what is about to happen to them. Ordinary people will wonder why the Financial news and their elected officials did not warn them of what is about to happen. They will become angry and turn of those whom they foolishly trusted. The lied-to will turn on the liars, as reality makes its sudden appearance on the global stage. Those who had their wealth in Wall Street's promises will discover what poverty is. Those who had their faith in the Apostate Religious systems will either discover the real Gospel and follow it or will walk away from Christ completely.

What I see in the future is this; that whatever can be shaken, will be shaken, from the Earth we walk on to the financial system, to the political systems of our world to the harlot religious systems on which Satan builds his system of deceit. Marriages and friendships, businesses and universities will all be shaken in the trials that approach. Even the very heavens will show signs of shaking. So I exhort all to stand on the sure foundation of Christ and be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man.

And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

1A new fad that essentially uses computer technology to asses trends and then tell the future.

2Time and space would fail me to recount the legislation they have passed from new credit card laws to bankruptcy. All of these have worked against the little guy in favor of the banks. It seems ironic to me that those who benefited most from these perverse laws are now the ones in the biggest trouble.