Friday, January 16, 2015

Major Extinction Event Coming?

According this this article in the New York Times, mankind is harming the ocean so bad that we could be on the precipice of a "major extinction event" for the animals living there.

A team of scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from hundreds of sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them.

“We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” said Douglas J. McCauley, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an author of the new research, which was published on Thursday in the journal Science.

But there is still time to avert catastrophe, Dr. McCauley and his colleagues also found. Compared with the continents, the oceans are mostly intact, still wild enough to bounce back to ecological health.

“We’re lucky in many ways,” said Malin L. Pinsky, a marine biologist at Rutgers University and another author of the new report. “The impacts are accelerating, but they’re not so bad we can’t reverse them.”

There are clear signs already that humans are harming the oceans to a remarkable degree, the scientists found. Some ocean species are certainly overharvested, but even greater damage results from large-scale habitat loss, which is likely to accelerate as technology advances the human footprint, the scientists reported.

Coral reefs, for example, have declined by 40 percent worldwide, partly as a result of climate-change-driven warming.

“If you cranked up the aquarium heater and dumped some acid in the water, your fish would not be very happy,” Dr. Pinsky said. “In effect, that’s what we’re doing to the oceans.”

Here;  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/science/earth/study-raises-alarm-for-health-of-ocean-life.html?_r=1

Friends, needless to say, it won't go well for mankind if the oceans die.

During the coming Great Tribulation there is going to be some real problems coming for the ocean.

Revelation 8
8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

James Taylor Sings in France

Team Obama got in serious political trouble for skipping the Paris unity march earlier this week.  EVERYONE made it to the march to join arms and sing Kum-ba-yah!  Even the Palestinian-terrorist-President of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, was there to denounce terrorism!

Where was Obama!!

Well, turns out Obama was golfing again and didn't want to fly his big jet to France and miss his tee time....and now he feels REALLY BAD THAT HE MISSED IT!!

He feels so bad that he told John Kerry and James Taylor to fly to France, hug the President of France and sing YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND.

Watch this painful mess here;  http://m.nationalreview.com/corner/396535/youve-got-friend-kerry-roundly-mocked-after-bringing-james-taylor-give-french-big-hug

After enduring a firestorm of criticism for failing to send a high-ranking official to last Sunday’s massive anti-terror rally in France, Secretary of State John Kerry finally made it to Paris on Thursday — where he immediately cemented his reputation as an international laughing-stock.

In perhaps the most pathetic diplomatic apology ever enacted without actually saying “I’m sorry,” Kerry offered a “big hug” to a room full of survivors, family members and first responders involved in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

And then he trotted out James Taylor, looking on proudly as the 70s-era guitarist serenading the shell-shocked survivors with a soulful rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend.”

Turkey Blames Israel for Radical Islam

This next article comes from the "You can't make this stuff up" category.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of terrorism and said Israeli "provocations" such as the bombardment of Gaza were contributing to radicalisation in the Muslim world.

In a Reuters interview, Davutoglu said peace in the Middle East and the eradication of extremist groups would be virtually impossible without the establishment of a Palestinian state.

He also warned the international community against focusing solely on fighting Islamic State militants in its efforts to end the conflict in Syria, saying the "brutality" of President Bashar al-Assad was the root cause of the problem.

Turkey, an EU candidate nation and member of the NATO military alliance, is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic jihadists. But its leaders have become increasingly concerned about what they see as rising Islamophobia in Europe and increasingly outspoken in their criticism of Israel.

"(Netanyahu) himself killed, his army killed children in the playground. They killed our citizens and an American citizen in international waters. This is terrorism," Davutoglu said, referring to a 2010 Israeli assault on a Turkish boat attempting to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

"Nobody can argue about Israeli aggression in Jerusalem in the al-Aqsa mosque," he added. "These provocations create frustration in the Muslim world and are becoming one of the reasons why these radical trends are emerging," he said.

"If we want to establish peace and order in the Middle East, eliminating all the extremist forces, we have to solve the Palestinian question."

Davutoglu on Thursday compared Netanyahu to the Islamist militants who killed 17 people in Paris last week, saying both had committed crimes against humanity.

Here;  http://news.yahoo.com/turkish-pm-says-israeli-provocations-radicalizing-muslim-world-173920108.html

So Muslims are butchering, raping, beheading each other by the tens of thousands and whose fault is that....ISRAEL'S!!!!!

If it wasn't so demonic, it would almost be funny.

Remember, Turkey is a key player in the Last Days.  They will join a union with Russia and will seek to destroy Israel.  All this chatter from Turkey about the "miserable Jews" is just the foreplay for the coming main event written about in Ezekiel 38.

I but one sentence from the article in bold because is almost EXACTLY what President Jimmy Carter said on the John Daly Show this week.

The Israel hatred will soon be spilling out from the entire Muslim world all the way over to peanut farmers in Georgia.  Sadly, it looks like that hatred is even working it's way into the Evangelical Church as more and more mainline denominations turn against Israel.

Remember, if it makes NO LOGICAL SENSE...then chances are good there is a supernatural force behind it.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Twelve Quakes in One Week Rumble CT

Jesus said there would be earthquakes in various places.  It would seem this may qualify.

PLAINFIELD, Conn. -- In the last week, rattled Plainfield residents have made more than 300 calls to 911.
"I just had a big explosion," said one caller. "I don't know what it is but my whole house shook."
Marian Diggs says she's felt every earthquake
"I was up sitting in bed drinking my early morning cup of coffee and all of sudden I heard this loud boom," Diggs said.
People have reported minor damage from the 12 earthquakes that have hit between the towns of Danielson and Plainfield. Most have been under a 2 magnitude. The largest, a 3.1, occurred Monday morning.
Seismologists at Boston College Weston Observatory are collecting data on the frequent tremors, hoping to find out why the so called "swarms" are happening.


Saudi Arabia Building 600 Mile Wall

Of course when Israel builds a wall to keep Muslim terrorists out...the world has a fit...but today we find that Saudi Arabia is building a 600 mile wall to keep Islamic terrorists from ISIS out...and the world will simply yawn and turn on The Ellen Show.

When a raiding party from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant attacked a Saudi border post last week, it was no mere hit on a desert outpost.

The jihadists were launching an assault on the new, highest-profile effort by Saudi Arabia to insulate itself from the chaos engulfing its neighbours.

The Saudis are building a 600-mile-long “Great Wall” — a combined fence and ditch — to separate the country from Iraq to the north.

Much of the area on the Iraqi side is now controlled by Isil, which regards the ultimate capture of Saudi Arabia, home to the “Two Holy Mosques” of Mecca and Medina, as a key goal.

The proposal had been discussed since 2006, at the height of the Iraqi civil war, but work began in September last year after Isil’s charge through much of the west and north of the country gave it a substantial land border with the Kingdom to the south.

The border zone now includes five layers of fencing with watch towers, night-vision cameras, and radar cameras.

Riyadh also sent an extra 30,000 troops to the area.

Here;  http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-is-building-a-600-mile-great-wall-to-shield-from-isis-2015-1

So what's the problem here?

ISIS wants the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina.

Hmmmm....that could spell even more problems for the Middle East if ISIS starts attacking Saudi Arabia.  That could end up being a Muslim blood-bath that could rival the mess in Syria!!

Funny how Saudi Arabia supports CERTAIN Muslim terrorists...but when the wrong Muslim terrorists come knocking on their door they respond by building a massive, militarized wall.

The various demons of Islam are rising.  And when demons get into a spitting match, all hell could break loose.

Also please remember that CERTAIN Muslims of the Shi'ite stripe are awaiting the revealing of the 12th Imam. And their prophecies say that the world needs to be in total chaos for the conditions of his return to be ripe...so they may be happily rubbing their hands together believing in their lost souls that all is going exactly as planned.

"Kingdom will rise against kingdom."

Keep looking up!  Our redemption is closer today than it has ever been.

"Disaster Scenario" Comes Into Focus in Financial Markets

We have more news today coming from the choppy financial markets.  The headlines with words like, "disaster", "collapse", "alarmed', 'slumping' and "tumbling" seem to be coming on a daily basis now.  We continue to look on in amazement and wonder how this global financial market, put together by greedy, evil men spread across the entire world and connected by wires and 0's in cyber-space can POSSIBLY stay together much longer.

Slumping commodity prices, a disappointing U.S. retail sales number and the World Bank's cut to its 2015 global growth forecast triggered a flight from "risk" assets Wednesday morning. In recent trading, the Dow was down nearly 1% while commodity prices hit a 12-year low as copper suffered its biggest drop in six years. On the flip side, U.S. Treasury yields fell to record levels and gold prices rose as traders searched for "safe havens."

The 0.9% drop in December U.S. retail sales was particularly troubling in the context of the World Bank cutting its 2015 global growth forecast to 3% vs. 3.4% previously. The U.S. is shaping up to be the globe's main engine of growth as the year starts, which itself "does not make for a rosy outlook for the world," as the World Bank's chief economist told The WSJ. But the bullish case for the U.S. rests in large part on hopes 2015 will mark a rebound for U.S. consumer spending amid signs of an improving job market, albeit without much wage growth; Wednesday's retail sales figure challenges those assumptions.

The 0.9% drop in overall U.S. retail sales was much worse than expected, but not shocking because falling gas prices were expected to hit the headline figure. But a 0.3% drop in retail sales excluding autos and gas was wildly off the consensus for a rise of 0.5%.

"What was not expected was broad based weakness spread through nine of the thirteen major retail categories," writes Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at BTIG. "Importantly, core retail sales – which matter for GDP estimates, declined by 0.4% whereas expectations were looking for an increase of 0.4%. Needless to say, that is a terrible miss."

Again, combined with slumping commodity prices -- an indication of the global economy's weakness -- that 'terrible miss' makes it much more challenging to make a bullish case for stocks. 

"The change of direction here [in the global economy] is alarming when combined with the steady fall in commodity prices, deflation pretty much everywhere...combined with everybody has had it with central bank intervention," Henry Blodget tells me in the accompanying video. "There is no political will to do anything. If we are headed for trouble globally it's going to be tough to do anything."

That is the "disaster scenario," according to Blodget who admittedly has been early (and wrong thus far) in forecasting doom for the stock market. But equity valuations are stretched on a historic basis and, as noted here, trends for S&P 500 earnings growth and capEx spending for 2015 are already under severe pressure amid devastation in the energy sector, the flattening yield curve hitting financials and the strong dollar hitting all U.S. multinationals, notably tech.

Here;  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/-doomdsay-scenario--comes-into-focus-as-stocks--commodities-slump-151108219.html

Traders are "looking for safe havens".....good luck with that!  We know for a FACT that investors (people just like you and me) have poured BILLIONS of dollars into what they believe are safe havens...but are actually LOADED WITH RISK.  When things tank, and they will because they always do, people will be amazed at how much value will be lost in something they thought was safe. Remember 2008?

Friends, this whole scenario reminds me of another story in the Bible when men thought they could put together a project so fantastic that they wouldn't need God for anything!  They could shape their own destinies and be masters of their own domain!!

Their project was called The Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The world today is certainly as Godless as it was in those days AFTER THE FLOOD.  It doesn't take men long, even after witnessing God's amazing power, to fall back into hedonism, greed and lust.

When Christ comes down and snatches His bride out of Satan's clutches, this current financial Tower of Babel will most certainly come crashing down.  It's guaranteed.  And no doubt the people will be scattered as they scramble around wondering what just happened and looking anywhere and everywhere for someone who has answers!

So where is our "safe haven"?

Hat tip to Mick L.

Awesome Alternative

All of us, at one time or another, have known someone going through a tough patch.  Maybe they are in the hospital or home sick.  Maybe they are going through some emotional trauma or some other life-changing event.  We want to give them something to let them know we are thinking about them but what are our choices?  Usually flowers or candy.

Some special friends of mine from church have come up with a different idea.

What

Quality clothes with meaningful messages that inspire and last.

How

Each piece will contain three key elements; a theme, a Bible verse, and a word.

The verse and corresponding word will be placed on the inside and theme will be placed on the outside (Pics below).

The package will also include a short inspirational video individually created for each category.  They are inviting for someone who isn't a Christian and deep enough for the theologian. 

Here's how it works...

You hop on our website www.brandedbyjotto.com and shop by theme. Our themes are printed on the outside of the garment and represent life events we all have in common.

 Scripture has been carefully matched with the appropriate theme. We have something fitting for any situation.

 Your gift arrives in a high quality box.

 You have a chance to include a personal message. The recipient will also receive a link to an inspirational video explaining the verse on their garment.

Here is a link to learn more about their project and participate in it if you feel so led.   https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brandedbyjotto/branded-by-jotto-clothing-with-a-purpose

Currently they are in the start up phase and need some backers to 'kickstart' their plan.  Check out the link above, watch the short video, look at some pictures and I think you'll agree...it's an awesome gift alternative that will be used to bring comfort, encouragement and to glorify God in the process

Godspeed Jessie, Sadie and Lee!



Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Jews Fleeing France at Record Numbers

I heard on the news last night that France has the largest population of Jews in Europe at 500,000. In the same news story they also said France has 5,000,000 Muslims.  As a rule, Muslims don't like Jews (it goes back to that whole Ishmael/Isaac thing)....so the math simply doesn't bode well for being a Jew in France.

The news story went on to interview some Jews in France.  They found one woman who said that she no longer feels safe in France.  And then they found a Jewish man from New York who spoke perfect English and he said he feels totally safe.

But these figures of Jews leaving France can certainly tell us something....Jews are voting with their feet...and leaving.

“For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” Jeremiah 30:3

The prophet Jeremiah, speaking of the last days, said that there would be a regathering of God’s chosen people back to Israel the Promised Land. Just as God used Hitler’s Holocaust to reestablish Israel in 1948, He is once again using the lash of persecution to drive His people home.

Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, spoke out after an Islamic terrorist took six people hostage and held them captive in a Kosher supermarket in the French capital.

The mayor’s office in Paris announced the closure of shops along the Rosiers street in Paris’ Marais neighborhood, in the heart of the tourist district and less than a mile away from the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo where 12 people were killed on Wednesday.

Hours before the Jewish Sabbath, the street is usually crowded with French Jews and tourists alike. Mr Pollard said today’s terror attack in Paris, linked to the massacre at the office of Charlie Hebdo, will force more French Jews to flee the country.

Many are moving to Britain or to Israel, according to a report published in the newspaper last year. He said the fact that a terrorist had chosen to target a Jewish store was no ‘fluke’.

In a series of tweets he said: ‘Every single French Jew I know has either left or is actively working out how to leave‘.

‘So, it’s a fluke that the latest target is a kosher grocer, is it? ‘What’s going on in France – outrages that have been getting worse for years – put our antisemitism problems in perspective’.

But amid fears the terror attack may be linked to anti-Semitism police have also demanded that shops on Rue des Rosiers, in the Jewish quarter of Paris, to close early ‘as a precaution’ in case of further violence.

18 months ago France had around 500,000 Jewish residents – the largest population in the EU – but this may now be below 400,000, Mr Pollard’s newspaper said.

Here;  http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=29824

As Hitler was ratcheting up his power in Germany many Jews refused to leave.  They were simply too in love with German society to believe that their German hosts could turn on them with such violence and hatred.

The news story ended with an interesting quote; "The Jewish optimists in Germany went to Auschwitz.  The Jewish pessimists went to New York."

The Bible says that another Holocaust will be coming for the Jews during the Great Tribulation scheduled for planet earth after the Rapture.  In preparation of this coming event we can expect to see many more Jews leaving the countries in which they currently live and heading for Israel.

What do you think will happen in America that may make American Jews feel the need to leave?

I hope and pray it's the Rapture.

A Fatwah Against Snowmen

According to historical records, it SELDOM snows in Saudi Arabia.  Well last week it did.  Of course for people who seldom see snow they are amazed by it and want to go play with it or in it.  Some kids even wanted to make a snow man!!

Think that sounds like a reasonable desire for a kid in Saudi Arabia?

Nope!  Can't do it!!  It's offensive to some Muslims and YOU BETTER NOT DO IT!!!

A senior Saudi cleric has issued a strict religious ruling that bans the building of snowmen because he says they are "anti-Islamic."

Religious scholar Mohammad Saleh Al Minjed said it's "not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun," according to reports.

He announced the frosty fatwa after being asked on a religious website whether building the figures was permissable.

A rare snowstorm hit the usually sweltering country's north this week.

"God has given people space to make whatever they want which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on," he wrote in his ruling, reported Gulf News.

Al Minjed reportedly added that building a snowman is "to create an image of a human being" — an action considered sinful under the kingdom's interpretation of Sunni Islam.

Some Saudis supported Al Minjed's move, reported Middle East Eye.

"It has no value in our traditions," wrote one blogger, according to Albawaba.com.

"And those who are fascinated by the West should emulate their inventions and sciences, not their culture," he added.

Another claimed that building snowmen "is imitating the infidels, it promotes lustiness and eroticism."

But others slammed the ruling.

"We have snow for fleeting days, maybe even hours, and there is always someone who wants to rob us of the joy and the fun," one netizen posted online, reported IB Times.

Others uploaded photos of themselves playing in the flakes.

Temperatures regularly top 129 degrees Fahrenheit in Saudi Arabia in the summer.

Snow is rare, but in recent days freezing temperatures have swept across the Tabuk region, some 1,000 miles northwest of the capital of Riyadh.

Here;  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/cleric-saudi-arabia-declares-fatwa-snowmen-article-1.2075663

Wait....what?  Snowmen can promote lustiness and eroticism?

Who knew??

I'm a red-blooded male and I can honestly say I have never lusted after a snowman or even a snow woman, for that matter...but I'm not a Muslim...so I can't honestly say what may set off their lustiness.

Here in Minnesota it's not uncommon to see hundreds of snowmen during the course of a winter.

I wonder if we should quickly tear them all down before some Islamists see them, become enraged and start a "spontaneous" riot outside a U.S. Embassy and end up killing U.S. Citizens?  Or maybe they become enraged and harm the folks with the snowmen in their front yard!!

It could happen you know!  Look what happened in Benghazi...all because some dude in Los Angeles made a puppet show that enraged some Muslims in Libya!!

What??  You don't believe that happened!  It must be true...because Team Obama said so!!


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Gorbachev Warns of Nuclear War

Serious talk here coming from the dude who was instrumental in bringing freedoms to the Soviet Union which ultimately brought down the Berlin Wall.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that tensions between Russia and European powers over the Ukraine crisis could result in a major conflict or even nuclear war, in an interview in a German news magazine on Saturday.

"A war of this kind would unavoidably lead to a nuclear war," the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner told Der Spiegel.

"We won't survive the coming years if someone loses their nerve in this overheated situation," added Gorbachev, 83. "This is not something I'm saying thoughtlessly. I am extremely concerned."

Tensions between Russia and Western powers rose after pro-Russian separatists took control of large parts of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea in early 2014.

"The new Germany wants to intervene everywhere," he said in the interview. "In Germany evidently there are a lot of people who want to help create a new division in Europe."

The remarks by the elder statesman, whose "perestroika" (restructuring) policy helped end the Cold War, dramatically expand warnings he issued late last year. In November, he said a new cold war could be on the way, with potentially dire consequences, if tensions were not reduced over the Ukraine crisis.

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it has already begun," he said in a November interview.

Here;  http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/gorbachev-nuclear-war-ukraine/2015/01/10/id/617762/?ns_mail_uid=612513&ns_mail_job=1602987_01102015&s=al&dkt_nbr=5bafen27

Holy Armageddon warning!!  "We won't survive the coming years?"

Friends, this isn't the National Enquirer saying this, but a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former national leader!

Of course, he is correct.  If someone does lose their nerve and pops off a nuke and destroys even a mid-size American city and we retaliate and destroy a large Russian city....the world as we know it simply won't survive.

Previous articles I have posted warn that if the city the size of Detroit were hit with even a small nuclear bomb that America doesn't have enough hospital beds in the entire country to care for the burned and dying that would result.  Also the domino affect that would ripple across the country from such an attack has been played out in war games at the Pentagon and the results conclude that America would collapse and unrest and mayhem would soon reduce us to a shadow of our former selves.

Hmmm....maybe that's why America isn't mentioned anywhere in Last Days prophecy?  We get reduced to nothing, either before or after the Rapture?

Keep praying for the Rapture but understand that even the Bride of Christ may go through some horrendous suffering at the hands of man.  However, the Bible is clear that we will NEVER go through the Great Tribulation where God pours out his wrath on unrepentant humans.

Romans 5:9
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Amen! and Amen!




Monday, January 12, 2015

Last Days Financial Wonders

It was just over a year ago that Congress was threatening to shut down the government because they couldn't agree on a budget.  There was also talk about defaulting on some of USA's debt payments. The financial markets didn't like that kind of talk and the stock market started retreating.

But then at the last hour an agreement was made!  The government stayed open, the stock market started shooting up and the $17 trillion deficit has never been heard from again!

So wait....how EXACTLY did all this financial fiasco get 'fixed'?  Is it really fixed?

So wait...how long can a nation borrow money to run their day to day expenses?

So wait....can central bankers really just print all money they need to accomplish anything they want?

Of course any of you who have been reading my blog for more than a few months know that I have been amazed that our financial system has been able to prop itself up for as long as it has.  It makes no sense to me HOW it is still standing.  It makes no sense to me HOW interest rates have remained at or near 0% for these past years...the lowest interest rates EVER in the HISTORY OF THE WORLD.  It makes no sense to me HOW the money schemers have convinced every Tom, Dick and Harry plus their wives to put all their money back in risky investments that are hardly paying them anything for the amount of risk they are taking.

So what's up?  It's almost like God is supernaturally keeping the entire global system afloat....because it makes no logical sense that it's still standing.

Today in Rapture Ready, Todd has been observing and asking the same questions.

Last Days Financial Wonders

One of the complications of having a Supernatural Being (the God of the Bible), guiding and directing world affairs—is that occasionally—events go down a path that defies logic. Right now, we are seeing this type of divergence take place in the financial markets. It is so significant, I would call it miraculous.

What we are experiencing certainly fits the definition of a miracle: An event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause such as an event considered as a work of God.

The Hand of God is the only explanation for how the interlocked global economic system has for seven years now avoided a financial debacle. There has never been a time where the markets have become so ripe for calamity, and yet somehow—they hold together. We currently have a host of economic perils that have no comparison in history. Here are four that stand out:

1. Japan: The Most Hopelessly Indebted Nation on Earth

One of the best ways to measure the debt of a nation is by its obligations divided by that country’s annual economic output or GDP. According to the stats compiled by the IMF, at more than 250%, Japan has the highest debt-load of all developed nations.

The word “hopeless” can be attached to this debt based on how rapidly it is growing. But what truly makes Japan’s economic affairs unmanageable is the fact its population is in decline. After peaking at 128 million a few years back, Japan’s population is now falling, and is on a path to decline by about one million people per year.

In just 25 years, the Japanese government estimates there will be just 100 million citizens in the nation. Since Japan is now one of the oldest countries on earth, the swelling ranks of retirees over age 65 is already putting enormous pressure on the nation’s debt burden.

2. America: The Largest Debt Load by Value of Any Time

At just over $18 trillion, the U.S. has the largest debt load of any nation in history. Actually, our national debt is just part of the problem. Years of negative balance of trade has resulted in foreign nations now holding over $10 trillion of our hard currency. The feds will co-sign any loan. During the Financial Crisis of 2008, the Federal Reserve made secret loans of $16 trillion to bail out American and foreign banks. Uncle Sam has also given its guarantee to $1 trillion in student loans, $6 trillion in mortgage debt, and the $5 trillion bank money markets.

With obligations between $30 and $50 trillion, it is amazing that the U.S. dollar has retained its value. No other nation in history has been able to create so much of its national currency without suffering a collapse. Eventually, investors are going to reach a point where they lose faith in the dollar. Because the debt numbers are so massively large, instant panic is the outcome that I’m expecting to see.

3. The Lowest Interest Rates Ever Recorded

In a normal economy, low interest rates would be considered a good thing. In the world in which we currently find ourselves, low interest rates have come to represent a ticking time bomb. If rates were to rise just modestly, bond markets around the world would go into meltdown mode.

We have records for interest rates that go back over 400 years, and they’ve never been this low. It is also the worst time for rates being so low. The ones in Spain are currently around two percent, and the county is a basket case. Spain’s debt is growing at eight percent per year, it has 25 percent unemployment, and its economy is smaller than it was seven years ago. If a nation can’t service its debts at two percent, there is zero hope for it if rates were to explode.

The truly scary part is how little the rates would have to rise, to trigger a crisis in Japan. The 10 year bond in that nation is at 0.33 percent. If the interest rate was to rise above one percent, Japan’s treasury would have to print twice the nation’s annual budget just to keep the government funded.

4. The Greatest Leverage Bets (Derivatives) of All Time

The cherry bomb on the top of this pile of financial gunpowder is the derivatives market. You would think that just after experiencing a crisis triggered by derivatives, that Wall Street and Washington would long restrict their usage. In recent months, all caution has been thrown to the wind as these types of leverage bets have reached staggering new highs. Just a few weeks ago, the big banks made the government responsible for $300 trillion in derivatives.

With responsibility having been passed off to the feds, the bankers are free to be even more reckless with their derivative gambling. Since human nature is so predictable here, I have little doubt that these derivative bets will once again result in disaster.

Some people would argue that central bankers working behind the scenes are the ones keeping the financial bandwagon on the road. I find it hard to believe that mere mortals could manage a problem that has become so vastly complex.

This miraculous juggling act will have to end at some point. It’s a matter of basic math. You can’t have a nation’s debt rapidly growing forever—while its economy remains stagnant.

With the debt loads totally unmanageable, the key thing to focus on is why has this situation gone on so long. We have already set a record for the longest period in American history without a recession. As time drags on, I can only come to the conclusion that God has some special plan in the works.

One explanation that comes to mind is the Rapture. The sudden removal of millions of Christians would create its own devastating economic impact. Adding to the fuel that already exists would create a conflagration that would provide the perfect setting for the Antichrist to take charge. Since this bubble will eventually pop, our goal should be to warn others to be ready.

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

“Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7).

Here;  http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html

Wouldn't it be cool IF God was keeping it all together in preparation of the coming Rapture?

No doubt about it that people are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and just carrying on like they haven't a care in the world!!....exactly as Jesus said they would be carrying on...just like the people were in the Days of Noah before the flood came and took them all away.