Is the USA a Christian Nation

This is an interesting article from a secular news source.  There can be no doubt that God shed his grace on thee (America) and blessed us to become the greatest nation on God’s green earth.  We believe God used America to bless Israel and to incubate Israel as she became a powerful nation capable of defendeing herself.  We also believe that America is great because it has the highest per-capital of citizens in dwelled by the Holy Spirit and that Restrainer is used to restrain the forces of evil.  Of course that is all changing.  At some point God will say “enough!” and America will implode.  We hope that day comes immediately following the rapture.

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Many Americans believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and the idea is energizing some conservative and Republican activists. But the concept means different things to different people, and historians say that while the issue is complex, the founding documents prioritize religious freedom and do not create a Christian nation.

Does the U.S. Constitution establish Christianity as an official religion?

No.

What does the Constitution say about religion?

“(N)o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” (Article VI)

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (First Amendment)

If it says “Congress,” does the First Amendment apply to the states?

It does now. Early in the republic, some states officially sponsored particular churches, such as the Congregational Church in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Within a few decades, all had removed such support. The post-Civil War 14th Amendment guaranteed all U.S. citizens “equal protection of the laws” and said states couldn’t impede on their “privileges or immunities” without due process. In the 20th century, the Supreme Court applied that to a number of First Amendment cases involving religion, saying states couldn’t forbid public proselytizing, reimburse funding for religious education or sponsor prayer in public schools.

What does it mean to say America is a Christian nation?

It depends on whom you ask. Some believe God worked to bring European Christians to America in the 1600s and secure their independence in the 1700s. Some take the Puritan settlers at their word that they were forming a covenant with God, similar to the Bible’s description of ancient Israel, and see America as still subject to divine blessings or punishments depending on how faithful it is. Still others contend that some or all the American founders were Christian, or that the founding documents were based on Christianity.

 https://apnews.com/article/america-christian-united-states-conservative-beliefs-9286431a0ddde91c928e5d411795c1fe

Azerbaijan Planning Full-Scale War

 The Bible says there is a time for a lot of things including a time for war.  The world is about ready to bust open.  Today we read of a few other nations that are about to break out in war.

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Azerbaijan is planning a “full-scale war” against Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday, two days after a skirmish on their border left four Armenian troops dead.

Tensions between the two Caucasus neighbors have remained high since Baku recaptured the Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh last September in a lightning military offensive.

“Our analysis shows that Azerbaijan wants to launch military action in some parts of the border with the prospect of turning military escalation into a full-scale war against Armenia,” Pashinyan said at a government meeting.

“This intention can be read in all statements and actions of Azerbaijan,” he added.

Yerevan is concerned that Azerbaijan, emboldened by its success in Karabakh, could invade Armenian territory in order to create a land bridge to its exclave of Nakhchivan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who won re-election this month, said in an inauguration speech Wednesday it was Armenia, not Azerbaijan, that had outstanding territorial claims.

“We have no territorial claims to Armenia. And they should give up their claims. Talking to us in the language of blackmail will cost them dearly,” he said.

Pashinyan and Aliyev previously said a peace agreement could have been signed by the end of last year, but internationally mediated peace talks have failed to yield a breakthrough.

On Tuesday, both sides accused each other of opening fire on their volatile border, in a skirmish Armenia said left four of its soldiers dead.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2024/02/15/Azerbaijan-planning-full-scale-war-Armenia-warns

Russia Could “Blind” the USA Warns Ex-CIA Director

 Even the casual observer should understand we are living in dangerous times.  Remember when Trump commissioned a new branch of the military called Space Force?  It really does seem like Jesus is allowing the Restrainer to hold back the collapse of many things.  We are on the brink of much mayhem and chaos and continue to pray it doesn’t all break apart until that Restrainer is removed at the rapture.

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Leon Panetta, who served as the director of the CIA and the secretary of Defense under President Barack Obama, said Russia could "blind" the US by using a nuclear-capable weapon to disable satellites in space.

Panetta spoke to CNN on Wednesday about an unnamed threat to US national security.

Multiple media reports, citing US officials, said the threat was about Russia developing a nuclear weapon that could be deployed against satellites.

Satellites are pivotal for transmitting information ranging from cellphone data to military communications.

On the CNN segment, Panetta spoke in hypothetical terms about how such a system could work, adding that he didn't have direct knowledge of the situation.

"If Russia could blind our ability to be able to gather that kind of information, make no mistake about it, that would be an act of war because it would threaten our national security," Panetta said.

He added that the US was likely developing a similar capacity to target satellites and defend its own from attacks.

"So I'm sure that the Pentagon is developing the ability not only to track what the Russians are doing and determine whether or not they're going to try to deploy something like this but also how they defend against it if it should happen," he said.

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-could-blind-us-with-nuclear-space-weapon-ex-cia-director-2024-2

Dividing Jerusalem Shows Nearness of Tribulation

The world doesn’t understand, and even if they did they wouldn’t believe it.  Jerusalem is God’s holy city.  The Holy land is God’s land and He has warned that it will not go well for those who try and divide it.  That includes America and many of our non-God-fearing leaders who believe it’s a grand idea to give the Arab-Muslims another nation and divide Jerusalem to give them some of it for a capital city.  We pray this is one more reason that Jesus is close to blowing the trumpet.

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Even though he wrote The Late Great Planet Earth over fifty years ago, Hal Lindsey remains a leading voice in the realm of biblical prophecy.

In a recent article of his, “Recognizing ‘Palestine’ as a State in the Aftermath of Oct. 7 Would Reward the Worst Kind of Evil,” Lindsey correctly ties any near-term recognition of a Palestinian state as a prize for terrorism in the following paragraphs:

The idea is that the United States would make this move soon after Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends — and US pressure to end the campaign is already enormous. Hamas would then be able to say to every terror group in the world, “Here’s how you get the really big concessions. Kill, mutilate, rape, burn people to death, and take lots of innocents as hostages.”

To recognize a state of Palestine in the aftermath of their October terror attacks on Israel would encourage every rogue group on earth to follow that wicked path. It would bring chaos to this planet, the likes of which have never been seen before!

The determination of America and other nations to reward the murderous brutality of Hamas in such a way by dividing the Land of Israel demonstrates the nearness of the seven-year Tribulation. I say this for a couple of reasons.

The Warnings of Scripture Point to the Current Determination for Divide Israel

Long ago, Israel’s prophets wrote about the determination to divide Israel in the latter days. The Lord spoke these words to the prophet Joel:

Joel 3:2 KJV – “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

The current determination to divide the Land of Israel will continue, resulting in God’s final judgment of the nations at the end of the Tribulation. Since we already see such widespread passion for this, how close must we be to the Day of the Lord?

The prophet Zechariah wrote about a future time when the nations of the world would become consumed with the future Jerusalem (12:1-5). This prophecy is coming to life in our time.

Do any UN members seek to give away a part of any other capital city in the world? Of course not. But just as the Lord predicted long ago through Zechariah, this would happen to Jerusalem in the last days. Does this not point to our soon disappearance followed by this time of wrath upon the earth? (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10).

The sad news is that the world’s preoccupation with Jerusalem will lead to much suffering for the Israelites. The good news is that it will cause a remnant to recognize Jesus as their Messiah by the end of the seven-year Tribulation (Zechariah 12:10-13:9).

Israel’s Covenant with Death Lurks in the Future

The Bible tells us that the clock will start ticking on the seven-year Tribulation when Israel agrees to a peace covenant with the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27). Isaiah describes this future agreement as “a covenant with death” (Isaiah 28:14-18). Do we see any stage setting for this in the aftermath of all that’s transpired regarding Israel since October 7, 2023? Absolutely. However, it will be a more long-term result of current events.

As Hal Lindsey points out in his article, the Biden administration’s proposal for a two-state solution rewards barbarism, murder, and rape of innocent people. Benjamin Netanyahu will not agree to any such plan now or in the near future. He recently turned down a Hamas proposal to end the war in Gaza.

However, several factors seem likely to weaken the current resolve of Israel’s leaders in the future. Israel’s ongoing war on many fronts, the likelihood of a much deadlier encounter with Hezbollah, and the obtaining of a nuclear bomb by Iran are likely to continue for many months or longer. We can expect that the nonstop threats to the nation’s existence will, at some point, make its leaders vulnerable to an offer of peace.

What if someone suddenly appears on the world scene who seems both able and willing to guarantee a time of peace for the nation? What if this coming “man of lawlessness” sweetens the deal by including the construction of the Jewish third temple on the Temple Mount?

I believe such factors will cause Israel’s leaders to come to terms with the “covenant of death” offered by the antichrist. Although this seems out of the realm of possibility in the near future, events could, and will, rapidly progress to this point after the Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture is a signless event that could happen at any moment. It’s the nearness of the Tribulation that leads to our awareness that it could happen very soon since the New Testament assures us that our disappearance will happen before Israel inks the “covenant of death” with the antichrist.

 https://harbingersdaily.com/the-widespread-passion-to-divide-jerusalem-demonstrates-the-nearness-of-the-tribulation/

Commercial Real Estate Could Bring Down the Entire Economy

 I think all of us have wondered aloud, "If all these hundreds of thousands of workers are now working from home...what is going to become of all the millions of offices that were built in every city across the country?"

I think we all know people who have told us, "My company didn't renew its lease for the offices we were in for the past 20 years.  They are saving millions and realizing that people are getting their work down just fine without ever coming to the office."

So let's say there is a 20 story building in your city that some group of investors paid $200 million for in 2018 and the financed it all?  It's now sitting at 1/2 capacity which means they are only getting 1/2 of the rents they assumed when they bought it.  How long can they continue making the payments?  Now let's take that story and multiply it by 1000.  What would happen if a few trillion dollars of mortgages go into default?  Could it bring down banks and ultimately the entire economy?

Over the last several years we have seen commercial real estate values plummet dramatically all over the United States.  One of the reasons why this is happening is because millions of Americans started working from home during the pandemic, and many of them never returned to the office once the pandemic subsided.  

Another reason why this is happening is because there has been a mass exodus of businesses from our core urban areas.  Conditions have rapidly deteriorated in many of our largest cities, and it is exceedingly difficult to run a profitable business in the midst of an environment of constant theft and violence.  

Ultimately, it is very easy to understand why commercial real estate values have crashed, and they will almost certainly go even lower.

Needless to say, this is a very big problem for financial institutions that are sitting on lots of commercial real estate loans.

Many of those loans have already gone bad, and more are going bad with each passing day.

A commercial real estate crisis of epic proportions is already here, and we will see many financial institutions fail in the months ahead.

At this moment, New York Community Bancorp finds itself in the center of the storm.  The bank's credit rating was just reduced to junk status, and it is desperately trying to reassure everyone that it is going to be able to survive...

New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) is attempting to reassure investors about its deposits, liquidity, and governance following a weeklong plunge in the company's stock and a decision by Moody's to cut the bank's credit rating to junk.

The $116 billion commercial real estate lender put out a press release just before midnight ET on Tuesday following the Moody's downgrade showing total deposits were up since the end of 2023 and that its total liquidity of $37.3 billion exceeded its level of uninsured deposits.

Of course the market isn't buying it.

Shares of New York Community Bancorp have been crashing, and they fell even more on Wednesday after the press release was put out...

The comments did little initially to lift a crisis roiling one of the country's top 30 banks that has deepened with each day.

Its stock has fallen by nearly 60% since it surprised Wall Street on Jan. 31 by slashing its dividend and reporting a net quarterly loss of $252 million. The price continued to slide by more than 13% after the market open Wednesday but that sell-off began to ease around noon.

Of course New York Community Bancorp is not the only institution that is hurting.

Here;  The Commercial Real Estate Crisis Could Bring Down The Whole Economy (prophecynewswatch.com)

We continue to hope that Jesus will come for his bride while people are still planting, building, marrying and giving in marriage and that we may not be here to witness the financial collapse of America...which would certainly mean the financial collapse of the entire system that the world has been built on these past 75 years.