Is the Famine of the Great Tribulation Being Set Up Now?

 Most of us know that Revelation 6 speaks of a time when men will work all day just to buy enough wheat or barley to feed themselves just for another day.  But the angel is also told not to harm the oil or wine and most prophecy watchers think that's a reference to the fact that the wealthy people who can afford oil and wine will find a way to keep buying oil and wine.  But this will only last for a while.

Think of the rich folks building bunkers in Hawaii so they can quickly hop in their private jets and get away from the carnage seizing the lower 48 after the rapture.  They think they will survive but that won't stop the wrath of the Lamb from ultimately overtaking them.

So if big events of the Great Tribulation cast their shadows forward, could we be witnessing the build up to hyper food inflation right now?  I saw an article that showed fast-food prices from a few years ago until today and the prices are up 70% if you want a Subway, McDonalds or Arby's.

Will we soon see a major prophecy in the  Book of Revelation be fulfilled?  Global food prices have been skyrocketing and hunger has been spreading like wildfire all over the world.  

We desperately need 2024 to be a year of good harvests, but unfortunately weather patterns are not cooperating at all and bad news about harvest forecasts just continues to pour in from many of the planet's most important agricultural regions.  

Global food supplies just keep getting tighter and tighter, and the agricultural price spikes that we are witnessing right now are definitely quite ominous.  

Could it be possible that the stage is now being set for the global food crisis prophecy of Revelation 6:6?  In that verse, we are warned of a time when food prices will soar to absolutely frightening levels...

Then I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not harm the oil and the wine."

We certainly haven't reached that point yet.

But are we on the way there?

I am entirely convinced that the price of wheat will soon go far higher than it is right now.

So if you think that the price of bread is high now, just wait until you see what is coming next.

Meanwhile, the price of beef just surged to another brand new all-time record high...

Beef prices skyrocketed to a new record high this Memorial Day weekend as industry experts warn costs could continue to rise even higher if current regulatory and economic conditions remain unchanged.

Recently released data shows that "all fresh beef retail value," a composite value based on choice beef, other beef, and hamburger retail prices, shot up to $794.90 in April, according to the Economic Research Council, the highest price on record.

The size of the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest that it has been in decades, and one rancher named Shad Sullivan recently warned that beef will soon be a luxury that only the wealthy will be able to afford on a regular basis...

"We are seeing prices at an all-time high, and it is getting close to that point when the consumer is going to say, I can't do this anymore; it's just too costly," said Mr. Sullivan.

"They (officials and regulators) are trying to push these high prices as a new norm where meat is only a treat for the wealthy. That is where they are pushing us, and that is where we are going."

You may be thinking that if beef gets too expensive you will just eat more chicken and turkey.

Sadly, chicken and turkey prices are poised to go a lot higher thanks to H5N1.

A fresh wave of the bird flu is sweeping across the nation, and Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds just declared a state of emergency in one county in her state due to an outbreak there...

Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed a disaster proclamation on Tuesday for one of her state's counties as public health officials prepare to euthanize more than 4 million chickens exposed to a highly contagious bird flu.

The order comes after a case of avian influenza was confirmed among a large flock of egg-laying chickens in Sioux County on Tuesday by state and local agriculture officials, according to a report from CBS News.

As a result, the animals will be destroyed and their remains will be isolated in an attempt to prevent the further spread of the contagion.

In total, some 4.2 million chickens will be put down.

Just think about that last sentence for a moment.

What do you think that losing 4.2 million chickens will do to egg prices?

To make matters worse one of nations largest producers of free range eggs just experienced a devastating fire killing millions of Chickens.

Farina Farms Inc. Poultry Farm was engulfed in flames Wednesday evening and has resulted in millions of chickens being killed, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.

Everywhere you look, there are signs of trouble.  Unfortunately, this is all happening at a time when foreigners have more control over our food supply than ever before.

Foreigners now control more than 43 million acres of U.S. farmland, and this should deeply alarm all of us...

A recent map has revealed the alarming trend of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) acquiring vast swaths of American farmland, raising serious national security concerns.

Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land expanded to approximately 43.4 million acres in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

According to the USDA, Chinese investors' ownership of U.S. agricultural land has skyrocketed from merely 13,720 acres in 2010 to an astounding 346,915 acres by 2022 out of the 43 million acres.

Chinese entities hold ownership of farmland across 29 of the 50 U.S. states.

I have been warning for many years that global food supplies would get tighter and tighter.

Now it is happening right in front of our eyes, and hundreds of millions of people are going to bed hungry every single night.

I wish that I could tell you that things will soon get better, but I can't.

We really are living in the end times, and the things that are written in the  Book of Revelation really will take place.

Here;  Is The Stage Being Set For The Global Food Crisis Prophecy Of Revelation 6:6? (prophecynewswatch.com)

Maybe all this foreshadowing of future events is to help true believers prepare for eternity?  As we see all these things beginning to happen and we start believing that Jesus is coming soon, it makes the "things of this earth grow strangely dim."  It makes us less excited to cling to the dreams we may have had on earth and more excited to ponder the things in our eternal future when we are equipped with our eternal bodies.  What a day that will be!!

Episcopal Church Unveils New Pride Shield For LGBTQ Month

Come Lord Jesus!  This has gotten so out of hand!  We know not what we do!

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 In affirmation and celebration of The Episcopal Church’s LGBTQ+ members, the Office of Communication is pleased to unveil a new Pride shield available online for churchwide use.

“As a longtime ally of LGBTQ+ people, I was so excited to work on this Pride shield for The Episcopal Church,” said Melissa Walker, senior graphic designer. “I hope many more people feel seen and included by this new graphic as we enter Pride month.”

https://stdave.org/open-and-affirming/the-episcopal-church-unveils-new-pride-shield/

World’s Debt Bubble Could Be Largest Ever

$315 trillion of debt.  Who owns it all?  What happens if folks quit paying on trillions of it?  How can the Fed “buy” Treasury Bonds when they don’t have any money?  Do they really just take the bonds into their inventory and declare the outstanding debt as “real money”?  Could a global shock close the financial markets only to wake up one day to an announcement that CBDC’s are the new currency and you better swap your dollars for it sooner than later?

Financial disaster is coming.  We just don’t know when.  Folks want to know what they can do to protect their savings/money/wealth?  Nothing.  It won’t matter if you have $100 or $10 million…it will all be worthless.  Maybe that’s why Jesus exhorts us to “lay up your treasures in heaven where moths, rust and thieves can’t touch it”.

One final comment;  remember the word “derivatives” from the last financial crisis?  They will be back on the next collapse…confusing everyone because no one understands exactly who holds the risk.

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 Household debt is at a level we have never seen before, business debt is at a level we have never seen before, and government debt is at a level we have never seen before…

Of the $315 trillion debt stock, household debt, which includes mortgages, credit cards and student debt, among others, amounted to $59.1 trillion.

Business debt, which corporations use to finance their operations and growth, stood at $164.5 trillion, with the financial sector alone making up $70.4 trillion of that amount. Public debt made up the rest at $91.4 trillion.

For the moment, conditions are at least somewhat relatively stable, and so everything seems fine.

But it won’t take much to push us over the edge.

For example, during a recent interview with Greg Hunter, Chris Martenson suggested that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a sudden meltdown of the bond market…

In a new market meltdown, Dr. Martenson sees chaos and gives a hypothetical example: “China attacks Taiwan, and there is a 10 sigma move in the bond market. Oh no, all these derivatives have blown up. These people are supposed to be winners, and these people are supposed to be all losers. No, no, they don’t have any money for that stuff. It’s too complicated. I don’t think anybody understands how this works anymore. I could not find anybody who could tell me the whole thing. I could find people who knew bits and pieces, but they knew their slice. . . . I am trying to stitch this thing all together. I get uncomfortable when I can’t answer the most basic questions, and that is how much risk is there in the system and where is it?”

In short, Dr. Martenson is worried about the whole financial system going down. Dr. Martenson says, “Yes, I am worried about the whole system going down, and that leads to all sorts of speculation. . . . Imagine this, we wake up one day, and the markets are not open on Monday. Oh no, glitch. Problem. Then, it’s two days and not open, three days not open. People are getting worried. Friday, and the markets are still not open. Monday comes, and they say it’s a super big problem, and we don’t know how to resolve it. . . . They offer you 100% value today in a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) account or you can wait it out and hope it gets resolved, and it might take a decade.”

Here;   https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-world-has-accumulated-a-315-trillion-mountain-of-debt-and-global-events-will-soon-bring-it-crashing-down/#google_vignette

Turkish President Calls Israel “A Threat to All Humanity”

 When the leader of Turkey calls on all Muslims to destroy Israel, you know that events are moving fast towards the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38.

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JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Turkey’s Islamist and increasingly dangerous leader called on the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims on Wednesday to unify and take action against Israel.

He also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a bloodthirsty, genocidal “vampire.”

"I have some words to say to the Islamic world,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Turkish parliament members. “What are you waiting for to take a common decision?" 

"Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity,” Erdoğan insisted.

“O, leaders of the American state, this blood is on your hands also,” he added.

“You are responsible for this genocide at least as much as Israel.”

“O, the heads of state and government of Europe, you are also a party to Israel’s genocide, this barbarism, this vampire-like act of Israel, because you remained silent.”

https://allisrael.com/as-turkish-dictator-erdogan-calls-israel-threat-to-all-humanity-knesset-member-urges-evangelicals-to-work-with-jews-to-defend-prophetic-israel

Putin's Plot to Destroy NATO

 If the rapture had happened yesterday, Putin would be a strong contender to fulfill the role of Gog of Magog.  As long as Putin is in control of Russia he stands as a strong contender. 

NATO was put on the books after WWII to combat Soviet aggressiveness.   When the Soviet Union collapsed many wondered if we would ever really need NATO again?  Today we see nations like Sweden and Finland quickly joining NATO as Russia fights to take over Ukraine and and many European nations are realizing they may need help to stop a bully like Putin from threatening them.

So Putin doesn't like NATO.

Today we read about his plan to destroy it.

Please remember that Putin feels threatened by NATO and the Western countries how are members.  The threat he feels may not be be of a military kind but he thinks Western values celebrating gay marriage, LGBTQ craziness and all sorts of other attacks on "Family values" could infect mother Russia and ruin their state of "normalcy".  If that's true, we can't say he's wrong.

Ukraine’s fight isn’t merely for its existence as a nation – it’s a battle for the very fabric of the global order. 

Yes, it’s about safeguarding European security – a rallying cry heard in countless statements from Western officials, often accompanied by assurances of limited air defence and ammunition – but as Ukraine continues to lose ground, towns, and lives, the West’s response is tepid, with its only firm stance drawn around Nato borders, where geopolitical interests overshadow humanitarian concerns.

But what if Putin dares to cross these lines, dismissing Western threats as mere bluster? What if Ukraine falls, emboldening Putin to pursue further expansion into the other former Soviet Union states that, in his view, belong in the Russian empire? Will Nato truly honour its pledge to collective security, or is that promise nothing but hollow rhetoric?

The fact is, Nato’s resilience is more fragile than we think. And a victory for Putin could see the world’s most successful alliance begin to crumble.

The strength of Nato lies not only in its military prowess but in its unwavering commitment to collective defence, enshrined in Article 5. Yet Article 5 merely compels members to contemplate a response. “The Parties agree that … if such an armed attack occurs, each of them … will take action as it deems necessary…” – that’s all that Article 5 says. That action could mean anything from sending a warship to patrol an incursion, to merely expressing deep concern.

Nato Eastern flank countries, such as Estonia and Poland, are on a war footing, shaming Nato up by doing much more than is formally required. Estonia is well ahead of its Nato allies in the 3% GDP defence spending, and Poland in particular is bracing itself for potential war with Russia. According to Polish military sources, there is no intention to wait for Russian boots to step onto Poland’s soil; the war could very well begin on Russian territory itself. Should Ukraine fall, and Russia’s aggression turn toward Nato allies like the Baltic states or Poland, expect to see Nato be fragmented, or even replaced, by those countries who cannot afford to be left exposed by the weaknesses of their so-called allies.

Recent statements from Poland’s defence counterintelligence chief, Jaroslaw Strozyk, underscore that Putin is fully prepared for a small-scale military operation in Eastern territories, targeting, for example, the Estonian municipality Narva or encroaching on one of the Swedish islands. It is noteworthy that the Swedish Navy recently accused Russian ‘shadow’ oil tankers navigating through the Baltic Sea of engaging in espionage, gathering information on operations in the port of the island of Gotland under the guise of ‘emergency docking’. Gotland holds strategic significance for the regional security of Northern Europe and is crucial for the defence of neighbouring Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland.

Poland’s intelligence concerns were echoed by those of Estonian, German and the UK officials. It is clear that Putin is only being held off in his intentions by the West’s strong resolve in supporting Ukraine.

If that resolve shatters, the likelihood of an imminent Russian attack on Nato would grow exponentially, and the implications would be profound. With existing divisions within Nato, particularly evident in disagreements over matters such as Sweden’s potential accession to the alliance, it’s likely that many member states would prioritise their own defence over that of their weaker allies.

The role of the United States in the event of a Russian victory would also need to be considered. Would it, plagued by pre-election hesitations and isolationist tendencies, step in to support its allies again? Would it resolutely send a frigate of aircraft carriers towards the area of incursion or, on the contrary, issue a strongly worded statement, condemning Russia yet again for its misbehaviour, while implying to the allies under attack that they should have paid more in their contributions to Nato? Would it urge the self-defending nation to not escalate by fighting back too hard and suggest seeking resolution at the negotiations table?

The tensions at play suddenly become clear if one actually imagines the scenario of Russia attacking a Nato country. Poland has around 10,000 American troops on its soil, but if its borders were breached, would the US decide to cut its losses and leave? The fact this is even contemplatable reveals the fragility at the heart of modern Nato.

Here;  Vladimir Putin's plot to destroy Nato is reaching its devastating climax (telegraph.co.uk)

The world is on edge.  A new world order is waiting in the wings.  What would Biden do?  What would Trump do?  What do Americans want as we run out of money and citizen-voters realize that we can't afford to send planes and missiles to defend every single weak country involved in a war?

It's hard not to read the news and realize that America is at a turning point.  We simply can't stay on the trajectory we are currently on.  Something is going to break.  We have no idea when, so we continue to hope and pray that "things" stay together for another day, week, month or year.

We pray that the "sudden destruction" doesn't come until after Christ comes for His bride.

But if the collapse comes before the rapture we pray that Jesus/Holy Spirit will give us wisdom and discernment to know "how then shall we live."

Countries Filled With Old People Starving to Death

My mom is in a memory care home.  Every time I’ve been there to visit I’ve never seen a white worker.  They’re all black, and not from America.  They have strong accents and immigrated from various countries in Africa.  Interesting in that Americans don’t seem to want those jobs anymore.  45 years ago my high school friends and I all worked an a nursing home washing dishes, cleaning and being patient aids.  Today most high school and college kids don’t really think of getting jobs and their parents provide everything they want.  So who is going to take all these jobs as wealthy nations quit having kids?  Who is going to be around to pay social security and farm the land and work in grocery stores?  The wealthy nations are maybe hoping robots will do all those jobs in 50 years because their populations have basically quit having children.  Read on;

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The world’s most famous pronatalist is father-of-11 Elon Musk. “Population collapse due to low birthrates is a much bigger risk to civilisation than global warming. (And I do think global warming is a major risk),” he warned in 2022. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in several reproductive technology startups, one aiming to engineer human eggs out of stem cells, another screening embryos for health outcomes. “Of course I’m going to have a big family,” Altman said the same year. “I think having a lot of kids is great.” The Skype co-founder and Estonian billionaire Jaan Tallinn (father of five) donated just under half a million dollars to the Collinses’ pronatalist foundation in 2022.

The data, pronatalists fear, points to a looming crisis. As societies become more prosperous, people are having fewer children; after 200 years of overwhelming population growth, birthrates are plummeting. An average of 2.1 babies needs to be born per woman for populations to remain stable; in England and Wales the birthrate is currently 1.49, in the US it is 1.6, in China it’s 1.2. Politicians in South Korea have referred to their birthrate as a national emergency: at 0.72 (with 0.55 in the capital, Seoul) it is the lowest in the world. According to a paper published in the Lancet in March, 97% of the planet – 198 out of 204 countries – will have fertility rates below what is necessary to sustain their population by the end of this century. In the short term, this is creating a pension timebomb, with not enough young people to support an ageing population. If current trends continue, human civilisation itself may be at risk.  I don’t care if environmentalists don’t want to have kids. The point of the movement is to help those that do

“There are going to be countries of old people starving to death,” Malcolm says simply, as Octavian climbs the bunk bed ladder. “The average Catholic majority country in Europe has a 1.3 fertility rate. You see this in some Latin American countries. That’s basically halving the population every generation. For anyone who’s familiar with compounding numbers, that’s huge.” Malcolm sees South Korea as a vision of our near future: the problem is most acute in countries that are “technophilic, pluralistic, educated, where women have rights”.

The only places where the birthrate is not falling to unsustainable levels are countries where the average citizen earns less than $5,000 (£4,000) a year, he continues. “The only way countries like ours can survive is through immigration from those very poor countries where birthrates continue to be high. You’re outsourcing the labour of childrearing to a separate group,” he says. “And importing people from Africa to support a mostly non-working white population – because you didn’t put in labour to support non-working white people – has really horrible optics.”

 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/may/25/american-pronatalists-malcolm-and-simone-collins

Catholics Recognize a New Saint

 We think the Bible is very clear when is says, "Don't pray to dead people!  The only things that will answer those prayers is familiar spirits and they will attempt to deceive you further...since you are already deceived since you prayed to dead people who can't hear you." (that's me paraphrasing)

But the Catholics claim to know better!  They celebrate and recommend that their parishioners pray to dead people and they now have a new one on the list!  St. Carlo!  He was 15 when he died in 2006 but was a computer whiz.  So when folks started praying to him the Catholics believed that Carlos was sitting with God listening to the prayers sent to him and he convinced God to send a miracle!  Not just once but at least twice!  And who knows how many more God might grant through Carlo's intervention? (insert eyeroll)

Carlo Acutis, who died at the age of 15 from leukemia in 2006, will now become the first “millennial saint” of the Catholic Church.

Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991. He was a computer prodigy who at a very early age had developed websites for spreading the teachings of the church online before he died. Since then, he has been known as “God’s influencer”.

Acutis lived with his parents in Italy. After his death, his body was shifted to a tomb where it was kept on full display along with the boy’s belongings.

According to Carlo’s mother, the boy at a very early age showed signs of religious devotion and used to ask his parents to take him to church at the age of 3.

The boy used to donate his pocket money to the church to help the poor. Carlo had himself learnt how to create websites for Catholic organizations.

Acuti also built a platform that had documents of all the miracles that took place across the globe.

The church decided to grant a 15-year-old sainthood after it was reported that a seven-year-old Brazilian boy made a sudden recovery from a rare pancreatic disease after touching one of Acutis’s t-shirts. A priest had also prayed to Carlo Acutis on behalf of the child.

The church deemed the boy’s recovery as miraculous after the Pope assessed and approved it.

According to Catholicism, one person is qualified to become a saint if two miraculous events happen related to them and are approved by the Pope.

A second miracle attributed to Acutis was approved by Pope Francis on Thursday (May 23), which qualified the teenager for canonization.

According to a Vatican statement issued on Thursday, the miracle being recognized involves a Costa Rican woman, Liliana, whose daughter Valeria Valverde, 21, suffered severe head trauma from a bicycle accident in Florence on 2 July 2022.

The Vatican says that Valeria underwent critical surgery and had slim survival chances according to her doctors. Liliana reportedly prayed at Carlo Acutis’s tomb in Assisi on 8 July, while her secretary had already begun praying to him.

Here; The New Catholic Saint 18 Years After Death and His Miracles - GreekReporter.com

This is all very problematic.

Sadly, this is just one more false teaching that is leading people away from Jesus.

"There is no name given under all of heaven by which men can be saved, other than Jesus."

Praying to dead people and then crediting that dead person with performing a miracle is leading people  away from Jesus and very possibly into the hands of demons.

"You are either for me or against me.  You are either gathering or scattering."

Pope Goes Against Christian Doctrine by Saying "Heart is Good"

 The Pope is in the news again after throwing out some more false doctrine.  Whether it's this guy or the next Pope, the office continues to be set up to serve the role of FALSE PROPHET during the Great Tribulation that follows the rapture.  We aren't saying the Pope WILL BE the false prophet but with all he is doing and saying we believe he will be a solid contender.  

Pope Francis is under fire including several accusations of heresy on social media after after claiming that human beings are "fundamentally good" in a recent interview with 60 Minutes host Norah O' Donnell. "We are all fundamentally good," he said. "Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good."

Evangelical leaders have pointed out that the pontiff's statements are contrary to the teaching of original sin, one of Christianity's basic doctrines. "If this is true, we don't need a Savior to die on the Cross," wrote Eric Metaxas, best-selling author and national radio host.

"This is contrary to basic Christian theology," radio host Erick Erickson wrote. "We are all sinners. There aren't just 'some sinners.'"

Alluding to the pope's statements in light of the 24/7 news cycle, Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber posted on X: "The remainder of the content of this news program and all the other programming on your TV suggests otherwise. And certainly Jesus taught to the contrary."

Allie Beth Stuckey, conservative Christian author and podcast host, pointed out that the Bible refutes Pope Francis' claims that humanity is inherently good. She quoted Mark 10:18--"No one is good except God alone"--and Jeremiah 17:9--"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick"--among other verses. "This is core to Christianity," Stuckey wrote. "Because if everyone is basically good, the Gospel is not good news. If the Gospel is not good news, what's the point?"

One person pointed out that while Catholics and Protestants disagree on many fine points of theology, the one thing we have always held in common is the belief in the pervasiveness of sin. All confessing orthodox Christians should be able to affirm two basic truths: First, sin is universal. No one is worthy. None of us are good. “For there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). 

Second, denying this first point makes you nothing less than a liar about yourself and God. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we claim we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar.” (1 John 1:8,10)

Some X users also noted that Pope Francis' statement echoed Pelagianism, a heresy spread by 5th century monk Pelagius and his followers. They denied original sin and taught and taught the essential goodness of humanity before they were excommunicated from the Catholic church.

Here;  Pope Rebuked For Claiming The Heart Is Inherently Good (prophecynewswatch.com)

Awesome!  We are all good!  Our hearts are pure!  Who needs a savior??

Wow!  I sure wonder how the Catholics are going to walk this one back?  The Pope is supposed to be infallible...but he just contradicted the very words of Christ himself, "All have sinned.  None are good."

Stay tuned.  

6 Potential Triggers for the Next Global Financial Crisis

 I think we all know that the world is awash in printed money and money created out of thin air.  When the last Great Recession happened in 2007-2009 nobody really fixed anything, they just papered over it and released/created so much money that, eventually, everyone thought things had gone back to "normal".

But really, it was just smoke and mirrors.

Today we sit on the edge of the abyss of another Great Financial Crisis.  Below is an article from an author I've enjoyed reading from for the past 15 years.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, governments and central banks around the world over stimulated the economy with cash giveaways and ultra low interest rates. In doing so, they created bubbles in multiple asset classes throughout the world. 

Now, faced with inflation, governments and central banks are trying to crack down and reverse the inflationary trend. But the damage has been done. 

We now stand on the verge of a massive global financial crisis. One of the only questions that remains is what will trigger the crisis? By definition, no one can know what the next black swan event will be. We can never be certain beforehand what the ultimate catalyst will be for a global financial crisis, but in my opinion, these are the seven most probable triggers:

1) Chinese Property Market Meltdown

Starting in 2021, the Chinese property market experienced a massive decline. Many property developers failed, construction projects stopped, and the average Chinese citizen now avoids what was once the primary savings vehicle of choice. 

Earlier this year, a Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande, one of the largest property developers in China to liquidate. With $300 billion in debt, it's one of the largest corporate defaults in Chinese history. Country Garden, once China’s largest property developer by sales, is facing a similar fate. 

A creditor is currently seeking the liquidation of the defaulted Chinese developer in a Hong Kong court. The fall of these companies that once dominated the enormous Chinese property market indicates just how far property values have fallen. 

Several cities in China have lowered mortgage rates and down payment requirements in an effort to stimulate property demand, but those efforts are unlikely to impact the depressed Chinese property market.

The collapse of these companies and similar defaults on the part of other property developers and individuals threaten to spill over into the wider economy. As a result, the prospect of a deflationary spiral similar to the Great Depression is a real possibility. 

China is the second largest economy in the world. If it falls into the grip of a deflationary spiral similar to what the world experienced during the Great Depression, the rest of the world will find it nearly impossible to avoid the same fate.

2) Japanese Currency Crisis

Meanwhile, the world’s fourth largest economy is on the verge of a major currency crisis. The Japanese yen currently sits at its lowest level relative to the U.S. dollar since 1990. To prevent the situation from getting worse will likely require the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates or the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. 

Given the recent persistence of inflation, it’s unlikely we’ll see the U.S. lower rates in the short-term (absent a major financial crisis). This means the Bank of Japan may be forced to raise rates and take other measures to defend its currency.

But this will cause a number of problems. First, the Japanese economy is in recession. Raising rates will only make the problem worse. Second, Japanese government debt stands at over 260% of GDP. Believe it or not, that’s twice as bad as the United States. Raising rates means more interest on the national debt, potentially sparking a debt spiral that could destroy the country. 

Furthermore, if the Bank of Japan starts hiking rates, this could cause a reversal of the yen carry trade, which could quickly lead to a disorderly unraveling of financial positions all over the world. Along the way, we could see margin calls and exploding derivatives positions that crash global financial markets.

3) German De-Industrialization

Since reunification over three decades ago, Germany has served as the economic engine of Western Europe. Much of the economic might of German industry depends on cheap energy inputs, primarily in the form of Russian natural gas. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany has failed in its ability to consistently acquire affordable natural gas and other energy sources to power its economy. 

Initially, Europe saw skyrocketing energy prices. While those prices are nowhere near peak levels today, Europe still faces energy insecurity and volatile energy prices. This uncertainty has led many industrial and manufacturing companies to move their operations overseas to countries where energy is more consistently affordable and more readily available.

4) U.S. Commercial Real Estate Crash

The pandemic pushed millions of workers out of urban office settings and into work-from-home jobs. Four years later, many of those workers continue to work from home. This means vast amounts of commercial real estate square footage are no longer needed. Keycard entry data for these offices indicate only half the pre-pandemic workforce has returned to the office on a daily basis. 

As companies consolidate space, renegotiate leases, and allow current leases to expire, the cash flow of commercial real estate properties has come under great strain.

Making matters worse, most commercial real estate is purchased using five to seven-year loans, and 89% of those loans are interest only loans. As those loans mature, they must be renewed at much higher interest rates. In many cases, the value of those properties has declined significantly. This means the borrower has to put up millions of dollars in additional cash in order to refinance. 

Instead, many are choosing to simply walk away. This leaves the bank that made the original loan left holding the property. Properties once worth hundreds of millions of dollars are now worth pennies on the dollar. Many sit empty in hollowed out urban core areas where crime and homelessness run rampant. 

The implosion of commercial real estate threatens to bring down a number of regional banks with high exposure to this market. Similar to the residential housing crash which led to the Great Financial Crisis, this threatens to drive ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy as well as the global economy.

5) Widespread Bank Failures

In March 2023, a run on Silicon Valley bank triggered a wider banking crisis. Within just a few months, the United States witnessed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest bank failures in U.S. history. At the same time, Credit Suisse, a global systemically important bank, was forced into a shotgun marriage with UBS in order to avoid failure. 

The world managed to dodge a full-fledged banking crisis with contagion spreading to banks throughout the world because of a number of measures undertaken by central banks. These included the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Bank Term Funding Program, which gave over $160 billion in low interest loans to the banking system.

Today, the health of the U.S. banking system is not much better than it was in March 2023. According to the FDIC, U.S. banks currently sit on hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized losses on their bond portfolios. High interest rates also make their mortgage portfolios less valuable and place additional strain on commercial real estate portfolios. 

If another bank run begins, a real possibility exists it could get out-of-control, spreading contagion throughout the global banking system.

6) The Rapture of the Church

The Bible says Jesus will come in "the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). This means, in a fraction of a second, Jesus could snatch every born again believer from the face of the earth.

When that happens, it will trigger a number of second order events, and one of those is a global financial crisis. Imagine the implications. Millions of homes will sit empty, and no one will pay the mortgages or taxes. 

Millions of key employees and community leaders will disappear. The impacts on the global supply chain, consumer demand, and global productivity will be significant. In fact, the rapture of the church would likely exacerbate all of the potential global financial crisis triggers discussed so far.

A Global Financial Crisis is Inevitable

Any of these triggers could set off a global financial crisis. The world economy now faces its greatest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. According to the Buffett Indicator – a measure used by world famous investor Warren Buffett – the U.S. stock market is currently more overvalued than it was at the 1929 peak or the top of the Dot Com Bubble in 2000. 

The U.S. housing market is also in a bubble. Right now, the home price to median household income ratio is the highest in recorded history - higher than the peak of the housing bubble in 2006, which eventually led to the Great Financial Crisis. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries, long considered the 'risk free asset,' face an enormous challenge. 

The United States is $34 trillion in debt, and interest on the national debt alone is over $1 trillion per year. In fact, interest on the national debt now exceeds defense spending. This means the United States, the world’s largest economy, has bubbles in its three largest financial markets – stocks, bonds, and real estate. 

On top of these massive bubbles is a global derivatives market in excess of several quadrillion dollars. No one in the world truly understands how many derivatives exist or what would happen to those derivatives in the event of a major global financial crisis. 

This means the global financial system is nothing more than a house of cards ready to topple over at any moment. In fact, such a collapse is inevitable. The only questions are when it will happen and what will trigger it.

When the crisis takes hold, you can be sure the solution offered by politicians and central bankers throughout the world will involve granting more power and control to centralized government authorities. They’ve made no attempt to conceal their desire to roll out central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and the next crisis will give them the opportunity they seek to offer CBDCs as 'the solution.'

This means tyranny on an unprecedented scale, and it sets the stage for the mark of the beast system outlined in Revelation 13:16-17. The stage is set. A crisis is coming. But the good news is that all these things that are happening mean something else is coming – the rapture of the church and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!

Here;  6 Potential Triggers for the Next Global Financial Crisis (prophecynewswatch.com)

We have wondered allowed on these pages if the rapture of the church WILL BE the trigger that sends it all into a tailspin.  Many of us in the financial business have wondered WHY things haven't collapsed already and wonder further if Jesus isn't sustaining things until He withdraws his church?

When it does happen, this event will surely collapse America as millions of owners of homes, cars, businesses and other financial assets simply vanish.  For sure that event will cause "faith and confidence" in the US Government's financial system to vanish along with them.

And of course this will give rise to a new financial system which will come with it a requirement to have a mark on your body in order to buy or sell anything.

Come Lord Jesus!  We are all very excited to meet you in person and to get our new bodies that aren't loaded with sin!

Stupid and Stupider

I’m not saying that all these 5 things are definitively true, but you can read them for yourselves and decide.  But what I have noticed is that people younger than me don’t have a lot of knowledge stored in their brains.  And yes, if you did want to overthrow a Constitutional Republic you would make the people stupid so they would vote for the person who promised them free stuff…because you’re too stupid to realize that nothing is actually free.  Ask a 20 yr old sometime “what’s 85+25” or “if you’re driving 80 mph and you have 160 miles to go, how long will it take you?” Or “your bill at the restaurant is $26 and you want to tip 15%, how much money do you leave?”  And forget about history questions.  Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it.  

My point isn’t to belittle folks who are bad at math but rather to point out how many voters aren’t able to think with their brains because they totally rely on Siri and Google to give them any answer they need.  Their critical reasoning skills have vanished so will be very easy to lead astray.  “Free Palestine!”🙄

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 If you are a globalist intending world takeover, what could be a more effective tool in your armoury than to make the populace stupid and stupider without them knowing?

In their ongoing hijack, silent war on humanity, the globalists know that this is an effective way to covertly control the populace.

Unaware that they are being dumbed-down how can the populace ever revolt?

In view of this here are 5 alarming examples indicating the ongoing agendized dumbing-down of society and what needs to be done.

1 – Dumbed-down care of the AI gatekeeper

Trinity College Dublin AI expert Professor Laurent Muzellec recently remarked that technology is “de-skilling” and demotivating university students. He remarked, through using generative AI such as ChatGPT generating answers to set essay questions/ coursework from lecturers, 99.9% of students “literally don’t learn anything…”

Where is the intellectual integrity? Not only posing as a threat to students’ learning and development skills, it also stops them from thinking for themselves. Unequipped for entering the jobs market and becoming an asset, isn’t the net effect that they have become dumbed-down by the AI gatekeeper…? -Yet another example of how the education system is dumbing-down society.

Then, on similar lines, there’s the ever-increasing AI takeover in the mainstream media. Take, for example, the case of popular periodicals such as Sports Illustrated where journalists are no longer needed to think for themselves and write articles.

This job is now done by AI. All the journalist does is make sure that it reads like the work of a human being!

https://www.activistpost.com/2024/05/stupid-and-stupider-5-examples-of-the-ongoing-agendized-dumbing-down-of-society.html