Shambles

Warren Buffet is a big name in investing. He has made more money for his shareholders of Berkshire over the last 40 yrs than you could imagine. However, even he is not immune from the across-the-board pummeling that the financial markets have sustained over the last 18 months. Some reports show his stock down as much as 50% from it's high in 2007.

Today, Warren came out with his prediction for 2009. The economy will be in shambles.

“Whatever the downsides may be, strong and immediate action by government was essential last year if the financial system was to avoid a total breakdown,” Buffett said. “Had that occurred, the consequences for every area of our economy would have been cataclysmic. Like it or not, the inhabitants of Wall Street, Main Street and the various Side Streets of America were all in the same boat.”

Did you catch that phrase, "total breakdown" and "cataclysmic"? What does that even mean? Are we talking about men wandering around the country looking to split wood in exchange for lunch? Are we talking about U.S. dollars being worthless so that no one wants them anymore? I don't know...but reading between the lines of the statements issued by government officials...I don't think we want to know.

Read full article here; http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1L50vuf_HiM&refer=home

This current state of global confusion makes me wonder....were the builders of the Tower of Babel equally confused??

Palestinian Peace

Remember that Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank, are both political parties who claim rule over the Palestinian people. The problem is that they hate each other and have been killing each other's members to this very day. Hamas has accused Fatah members of collaborating with the Israeli's war on Hamas...so when Hamas get's hold of someone they suspect of bad behavior...they shoot them in the head or shoot off their knee caps. I guess that's how justice seem's to be administered in large parts of the Arab world.

Read article here; http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1877640,00.html?xid=rss-world

So I ask the question...should the world really expect Israel to make peace with these people? How can they when the Palestinians can't even make peace amongst themselves? Do you truly believe that a lasting peace can be made with a party that has sworn it's allegiance to destroying Jews and the Israeli state? If a peace agreement was signed, do you think it would have an iota of a chance to stay in force when the Hamas signers just wiped the blood off their hands from shooting their cousins and neighbors in the back of the head? Get real. Peace isn't coming for this land until Jesus returns...so choose sides and keep praying for your enemies.

Unrest

Have you noticed how many countries have unrest going on right now? Have you seen how many protests are breaking out around the world? It appears that the global population is getting increasingly agitated...and that usually means that change is coming. (Sorry Obama...I stole your motto)

Let it be known that I have no problem with change. That's just one of the rules of the world...that nothing stays the same. It's when we start to believe that circumstances will always stay the same, that we set ourselves up for complacency, apathy and disappointment.

And as people around the globe realize that governments can fail, and pensions can be lost, and health insurance is not free, and violent man can sieze the day, and that literally nothing in this life is guaranteed....those same people get anxious. World history shows us anxious populations have a tendency to do extreme things.

Security experts note that the economic downturn is already creating social unrest and political instability in some strategic hot spots around the world, and they warn that a prolonged slump could undermine U.S. and Western security interests.

Read article here; http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1881492,00.html

Take comfort in knowing that our Lord said there will always be wars, famines, governmental problems and injustice. Those are the rules of the world. It won't be until the Lord comes to sit on David's throne to rule the earth with an iron rod during the Millenium...that justice and peace will win the day.

Chaos in Mexico

Last March we flew into El Paso, TX to visit relative in New Mexico. I was kind of amazed to realize that you can look right into Juarez Mexico from sitting in your car on the interstate. It's pretty bizzare to realize that you are whisking along in your fancy rented car, with cash in your pocket and a good meal waiting for you...and you are looking over into a foreign country with filthy streets and people living in boxes.

Now to make matters worse, hundreds are being murdered in that very city and the mexican government is sending thousands of troops in an attempt to stop the anarchy.

This month alone, drug hitmen killed 250 people in Juarez, where a meeting of cabinet members on Wednesday was rattled by three bomb scares, forcing soldiers to briefly shut the city's international airport.

Read article here; http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51P0A120090227

This is interesting to watchers because this violence is spilling over in the U.S. It's also interesting to note that the U.S. could not tolerate a failed state on 3000 miles of our southern border. If Mexico ends up in default with their economy and anarchy because of their drug trade....the U.S. WILL have to do something about it. It's very possible this could further pave the way for a North American Union and the Amero currency that is already being talked about to replace the U.S. dollar if (when?) it fails.

Certainly, a New World Order is coming.

Obama and Iran

Many of you know that the Shiite muslims believe that in the Last Days, the 12th Imam will come to usher in Islamic law for the entire world. This is incredible because it may explain why they will fall for the anti-christ who may be masquarading as the 12th Imam. Also, the president of Iran tells people that he has discussions with the 12th Imam who is appearing to him visually. Apparently he is telling Ahmadinejad that the Last Days are close and that he will come when the world is in total chaos. What's even more scary is that Ahmadinejad believes that he is the man to help usher in the chaos necessary to bring back the 12th Imam.

So what does Obama have to do with all this?

According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet's cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Saviour, a "tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West."

In a curious coincidence Obama's first and second names--Barack Hussein--mean "the blessing of Hussein" in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means "he is with us," the magic formula in Majlisi's tradition.

Read this amazing article here; http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/26/obama-iran-ahmadinejad-oped-cx_at_1026taheri.html

I sure hope Obama understands what many in Iran believe before he goes over there to shake hands and have tea with President Ahmadinejad.

Israel to Blame for Darfur

Libya is one of the named players in Ezekiel 38-39, commonly referred to by prophecy watchers as "Ezekiel's war". For that reason we watch Libya. The president of Libya is Muammar Gaddafi and most will remember him for being a terrorist-thorn in the side of the U.S. during the 1980's. In fact, Libya was found guilty in world court and ordered to pay $$millions in damages to the victims of the PanAm flight that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland a few decades ago.

Recently, Mr. Gaddafi seems to have emerged from his cave as he has been making news as of late. Most recently he has made the claim that the Jews are to blame for the crisis in Darfur.

"Why do we have to hold President Bashir or the Sudanese government responsible when the Darfur problem was caused by outside parties, and Tel Aviv [Israel], for example, is behind the Darfur crisis?"

Read article here; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066648.html

In the Last days, God will draw out this coalition, including Libya, and will have them gather to destroy Israel. God will then fight for Israel and confuse the gathered armies and make them turn on each other. We can see from this article that the motive to attack Israel may already be simmering. So how close must we be to closing out the Age of the Gentiles?

Bible is True

As the athiests and scientists keep trying to dismiss God into the corner of myth and wive's tales, the archeologists just keep digging. And everything they find in Israel seems to confirm that the Bible's account of history is true. And why shouldn't it be...it's "His-story", as Chuck Swindol likes to say.

A routine archeological excavation ahead of private construction in an Arab neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem has uncovered a series of seal impressions from the reign of the biblical King Hezekiah 2,700 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

Read full article here; http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410694625&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

What I believe is happening is that God is giving more and more evidence that His word is true. The Jews actually did have two temples in Jerusalem and Solomon actually did have 10,000 horses in stalls, and there really are Eqyptian chariots at the bottom of the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea). He want's us to discover all these things so the unbelievers can be given every merciful chance possible to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ...before it's too late.

Faith in What?

Many of you know that I am in the financial business and help clients plan for financial events like retirement, college, large purchases, etc... That's what I do for my "real" job when I'm not typing or thinking about prophecy or feeding cows. So yesterday I went to a luncheon to hear a nationally known speaker tell us his opinions on what was happening in the financial world. He was quite entertaining but his words struck my ears as being quite prophetic.

At one point in his talk he raised his voice and asked the 400 of us in attendance, "Where is your faith?? Don't you know that EVERYTHING stems from faith in the future??"

Hmmm....that's a good question? Where is our faith and who/what do we have faith in?

Many of you have also heard me talk about the god of this age of wealth...that god's name is Mammon. I believe we have all seen Mammon at work for the past few decades as American's have forgotten their first love (Jesus) and gone running after this false god, who promises happiness, friends, travel, big homes, 2nd homes, etc... So do we have faith that this god is going to come back and give us all that he has promised? Afterall, says the speaker, he always has come back in the past?

So obviously, the speaker has placed his faith in Mammon's uncanny ability to come back from a hard time and always bring more and more wealth and goodies with him and produce an ever-better future. And for the 400 brokers in the room...their livelihoods may depend on it.

But the bible tells us a different story. The bible says that when the times of the gentiles are over that Jesus will return to earth accompanied by his bride (us) and he will smite all unbelievers on earth and their governments, and set up his millenial kingdom.

So, to answer yesterday's speaker, my faith in the future stems from my absolute belief that God's word will be done. America will pass, just like Babylon, Rome, Greece, England, and every other world power who believed their day in the sun would never end. But God's word will never pass away.

Did God Really Say...?

The tag line of The Truth Project is, "Do you really believe that what you really believe is really real?" Further related is the question of the bible's accuracy and inerrancy. Is the Word of God truly the Word of God? Can we really trust it?

Well, it appears that more and more "Christians" are succumbing to the original temptation of Satan when he said, "Did God really say that?"...and in the process are sending us all further down the path to becoming the Church of Laodicea. (Revelation 3)

In Michigan, the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan is an ordained Zen Buddhist.

Meanwhile, Presbyterian Church (USA) representatives in Arkansas and central North Carolina have endorsed amending the church constitution to allow non-celibate homosexuals to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons.

Read the full article here; http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=426110

Pray that God may guard our hearts and minds against the deception of the Evil One. The Word of God is our only stand...all other ground is sinking sand.

Emergent

If you were with us at adult ed yesterday, we had a guest speaker, Eric Douma, who gave us his views and warnings of the emergent church. Many of you have written today to comment on how enlightening his information was. We are most certianly involved in a "truth war"...which is nothing new, just being repackaged by Satan for this current age.

It seems that it all started in the garden of Eden when Satan asked Eve, "Did God really say that you couldn't eat of the tree?" Today Satan asks us, "Is the bible really the word of God or did he leave you some other books?" or "Did Jesus really say that he is the only way to eternal life?"

Eric sent me his Power Point presentation from yesterday and if you want a copy, please email me at dennis.lingo@ingfp.com and I will forward it to you.

Banks

Last week in adult ed, we talked about the headline that U.S. banks may well be nationalized (owned by the U.S. Government) by this fall. And this week's headlines continue to talk of this matter. Bank stocks, as a result, continue to plummet with the realization that if this happens...the stockholder's investment value will go to zero.

A few months ago, it would have been heretical to suggest that Bank of America could become Bank Owned by America.

Now, however, the U.S. economy is sinking faster than anyone thought possible, and respected economic authorities are suggesting that temporary bank nationalization could be the best solution.

Read article here; http://www.freep.com/article/20090222/NEWS07/902220443

Discerning ears should pick up on the "...faster than anyone thought possible." Jesus said The End will come like a flood and sweep many away...meaning faster than anyone thought possible. I have a feeling that the builders of the Tower of Babel were also surprised at how quickly their grand project came to nothing.

When will we humans learn that anything built apart from God's design has a very short shelf life?....especially when what we have erected is a false idol.