PROTESTANT PROPHETS AND WORLD ECONOMY #2
The Coming Economic Armageddon
Continued from previous page:
Here in this section I agree with Jeremiah, except in one comment
of his which I shall answer. Jeremiah here does not get into
"prophecy" per se, hence looking at the world economic crash he is
pretty well on the mark - Keith Hunt
A New World Order Presumes a Unity That Is Impossible
We are being led to believe that the economic and military
instability in today's volatile world has brought the nations to
the point where they must unite in the common cause of survival.
But any such global accord would be a surface unity only. The
differences in cultures, religions, goals, and economics among
the nations are far too vast to be melded into a true unity. It
would be a unity of mere appearance-a false unity. The difference
between false unity and true unity is the difference between
surface appearance and inner reality. Permanent and genuine unity
must come from within. There must be a oneness of spirit and
heart among peoples that serves as the basis for true unity.
False unity can be imposed by external force, suppressing
people's true beliefs, convictions, and aspirations, but it lacks
the power to bind together their hearts. Therefore it always
comes unraveled.....
It seems apparent that the dominant values in today's
culture are personal peace and prosperity. These values are
beginning to be threatened by our nation's shaky economics and
weakening defense capabilities. As those threats intensify, you
can be sure that the rest of Schaeffer's prediction will also
become reality. People will be willing to sell their souls to an
authoritative government that will promise continuing peace and
prosperity. In fact, the Bible tells us in Daniel 7 and Revelation
13 that such an authoritative government will emerge under the
control of a powerful world leader. The nations will open their arms to
welcome this leader's promise of peace. But it will be a false
promise extended in deception in order to manipulate humanity. In
reality, this charismatic leader will be the Antichrist, and his
deceptive promise of peace will lull the nations to sleep while
he sets up his reign of terror and destruction. Daniel tells us,
"By peace [he] shall destroy many" (Daniel 8:25 KJV).....
In the more than 200 years since the American Revolution, we
have faced existential crises three times: the Civil War, the
Great Depression, and now. The preconditions are almost all in
place. We face historic levels of economic inequality. We have
suffered an economic shock whose full consequences are not
yet known. Finally, our vitally important middle class is
perilously weak. What would happen if a trigger were set off?"
Much of the current talk about a new world order is in
recognition of the fact that when the U.S. economy fails, it will
pull the world's economy down with it. With America's economy now
teetering on the brink, people are groping for a new system that
will end the concentration of wealth and power in one nation and
spread it around the globe so that one sinking nation will no
longer carry inordinate weight that pulls the others under.
The bottom line is that the new world order is all about the
consolidation of power in the coming together of nations. That
concentration of power will enable the Antichrist to rule the
world during the latter part of the Tribulation. This new world
order will demand a new global economy, which will be the topic
of the next chapter.....
Some things never change! Given man's persistence in
repeating his sordid history, the immediate future of our world
does not look good. But Christians can take hope in the fact that
God has Given us prophetic warnings enabling us to resist the
scramble for a man-made solution to today's economic and
political folly. We can rest assured that His plan includes our
protection until He Himself returns to set the earth right with a
true new world order of peace and prosperity.....
A series of recent crises have led to increased government
control. Government-imposed loan standards precipitated a banking
crisis, which was solved by a government bailout and control of
the banks. As a result, little by little, fewer and fewer are
making more and more banking decisions. Government regulations
and union concessions produced an automobile industry crisis
resulting in a government takeover of a huge manufacturer. And
now, little by little, fewer and fewer are making more and more
corporate automobile decisions. Government "solutions" produced a
healthcare crisis resulting in a government takeover of national
health care. And now, little by little, fewer and fewer are
making more and more healthcare decisions. Little by little we
are being prepared for the coming centralized government of the
final world order and its global economy.
......
Many in the USA have this idea that "socialism" is a dirty word.
We need to get a clean mind on "social" - in God's Kingdom we
shall have PERFECT socialism. There will be one law for everone,
there will be God's Government ruling all nations, and enforcing
laws that will cover our lives. Many in the USA believe they do
not have socialism. They would laugh at you if you said their
country was a nation of socialism. They do not stop and think
that the Federal Government has socialism laws. There is a
national speed limit law on the roads that is close to being
universal for all States. There is now pretty well a national law
to put on your seat belt when driving. There is a national law
for children to be in the correct seat for their age when in a
motor vehicle. Murder - going out and killing someone - is a
national law that you cannot do. Being drunk at the wheel when
driving is a crime. Certain drug dealing is a crime. Robbing a
bank or corner store is a crime. Child abuse is a crime; so is
child pornography as is sexual misconduct to children. The USA
has all kinds of "social" laws - it is a country of socialism!
But it's when some people believe the Government should not
regulate a certain thing like "medical care" that some get all
hot under the collar and claim the USA is becoming a socialistic
country if it does. But the country already has certain parts of
the medical system socialized, and has for decades - those over
65 have socialism medicare.
NOT having certain laws to regulate certain things is what hit
the skids and put the USA (and those in bed with her) into
economic free-fall. The Banks and Wall Street (I like to call
them Fall Street) did whatever they wanted to do over the last
20/25 years and it finally caught up to them. Too bad there was
not socialistic laws that would put them in jail with hard labor
for the crimes they did. I guess you could call bailing out the
car motor industry (except Ford) socialism, but the other
alternative to let them fold up (the survival of the fitest call
it) would have meant a much higher unemployment than the present
10 percent, much higher.
Canada, whom the USA people look at as being a very "socialism"
country.....well Canada had tough bank and finance laws in place,
and came no where near the crashing fall like the USA and those
in bed with her.
Socialism does not mean one world government is about to appear
tomorrow or next week. The USA people need to get the word
"socialism" out of the dirty four letter word book, and get a
clean mind on the matter, for in many cases, the USA Government
needs to be more socialistic in having laws to safeguard its
people, the everyday Joe and Gill on the street. God teaches that
true freedom is WITHIN law, not out-of-law; not being an out-law!
Keith Hunt
......
Fearing a continuing drop in the value of the U.S. dollar,
many U.S. citizens are beginning to buy gold. The price of gold
rose more than 25 percent in 2009 due to investor demand. For
gold to reach its former inflation-adjusted peak of $875 an ounce
in 1980, it would have to rise to around $2,000 an ounce in 2009
dollars-and it's only around $1,200 an ounce at this writing. So
the gold-buying train has just begun to leave the station. It
will pick up momentum as the value of the dollar falls in the
years ahead.
If the world's nations agree to implement a new universal
currency, it will be a way of conveying that the United States is
no longer the only stable, trustworthy country in the world. And
that is gradually becoming true: the BRIO nations (Brazil,
Russia, India, and China) are on the ascendancy even as America
is suffering. If we can't manage our affairs well enough to keep
our currency's value above that of others, then perhaps the
dollar deserves to lose its reserve currency status.....
The fact that America's economic irresponsibility is
seriously weakening the dollar is no secret to the rest of the
world. China and Russia recently took concrete steps to implement
their demand to replace the dollar with their domestic currencies
by reaching mutual agreements worth several billion dollars.
China wants to replace the dollar with their yuan as the regional
reserve currency.....
One of Canada's principal newspapers, the Globe and Mail,
ran a story in late 2009 entitled "Calls Rise for a New Global
Currency." The article said, in part, "The days of one country's
currency as the global benchmark are numbered. The U.S. dollar
remains the currency standard, but globalization demands a new
global currency that provides representation for the growing
importance of a variety of major economies." The article went on
to quote former IMF official Eswar Prasad as saying:
The U.S. and China are caught in "a dangerous game of
chicken that could easily spin out of control ... a
precipitous action by China to shift out of U.S. dollar
instruments, or even an announcement of such an intention,
could act as a trigger that nervous market sentiments
coalesce around, leading to a plunge in bond prices and the
value of the U.S. dollar." Facing deficits ... over the next
decade, the United States desperately needs China's cash to
finance its profligate ways.
......
China is certainly moving long very fast to be a main-star player
in the economy of the world. And so is India. The East will yet
be the SECOND HALF of a TWO HALF world by the time we come to the
last 42 months of this age - Keith Hunt
......
A Global Regulatory Board
Another trend moving us toward a global economy is the push
for international regulatory organizations. In April of 2009, a
group of twenty central bank governors and finance ministers from
the world's largest economies held a summit meeting to lay the
framework for a new world order. The catalyst for this G20 Summit
was the worldwide impact of the banking crisis and the global
recession. The G20 nations are America, Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and a representative from the
twenty-seven-member European Union (EU).
According to the New York Times, these nineteen nations plus
the EU "represent about 90 percent of the world's gross national
product, 80 percent of world trade (including trade within the
European Union) and two-thirds of the global population." The
importance of this gathering of national leaders was not lost on
then British prime minister Gordon Brown. One month before the
summit, he said, "Historians will look back and say this was no
ordinary time but a defining moment: an unprecedented period of
global change, and a time when one chapter ended and another
began."....
......
Well so far the G20 cannot agree among themselves HOW and in WHAT
WAY to fix the world economy. Meeting after meeting in 2010 shows
they cannot figure how to work together to mend the world. So
history so far is NOT being written by the G20, they are failing
to find the answers. The world will NOT have a ONE world
government, not until Jesus Christ returns and then it will be
His Government that will rule the world - Keith Hunt
......
A new global economic government designed to monitor
potential risks to the stability of the global economy is
developing right before our eyes. Whether or not they intend to
keep their commitment, all the G20 members have agreed to put
their important financial institutions, instruments, and markets
under the authority of a single regulatory agency: the Financial
Stability Board.....
......
It will never work. China, India, Russia, Japan, will in time say
"forget it guys, we'll run our own way thank you" - Keith Hunt
......
As we will learn in chapter 6, in the middle of the
Tribulation period the False Prophet will demand that every
citizen of the world take a special mark on his or her forehead
or hand (see Revelation 13:16; 14:9). Without this mark a person
will not be allowed to buy or sell or do business. The World
Bank, the IMF, and the FSB may very well be at the center of this
global regime, helping its demonic leaders carry out their plan.
......
Here Jeremiah goes off into the funny-mentals teaching of a 7
year Great Tribulation, which the Bible speaks nothing (they get
it from Daniel 9 and their incorrect understanding of the 70 week
prophecy) about. The book of Revelation only speaks of 42 months
or 1260 days - Keith Hunt
......
The Growing Influence of Europe
Another factor moving us toward a global economy is a shift
of power back to the European nations. Twenty-five hundred years
ago, God gave His servant Daniel one of the most comprehensive
biblical prophecies ever revealed to man. The message of that
prophecy was conveyed to Daniel through a dream given to King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Daniel interpreted the dream, which
outlined a composite history of the four great empires that would
rule the world from the time of Babylon until the end of days.
Much of what God revealed to Daniel has already happened.
But not all of it. Three of the prophesied kingdoms have come and
gone, and the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire, has also made its
appearance in history. That kingdom, however, has actually never
been destroyed as Daniel foretold it would be. Rather, it
gradually weakened and receded from prominence.
Today we are currently seeing a resurgence of the Roman
Empire, or a reconstituted form of it. This seems to align with
the prophecy of Daniel, who said there is to be a powerful
reemergence of the Roman Empire in the last days. He foretells
that this empire will consist of ten kingdoms or leaders, and
clearly states that in this final form it will be on the earth
when God sets up His earthly kingdom: "And in the days of these
kings [the rulers of the ten segments of the Roman Empire] the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).
Gradually but steadily, the nations of Europe have come
together, creating a modern replica of the ancient Roman Empire.
Europe is more integrated today than at any time since the days
of ancient Rome. The United States of Europe is now considered by
many to be the second most powerful political and economic force
in our world.
As I noted in a previous book, "Currently the EU government
is organized into three bodies: a Parliament, the Council of
European Union, and the European Commission. The Parliament is
considered 'the Voice of the People' because citizens of the EU
directly elect its 785 members. The Parliament passes European
laws in conjunction with the Council. Its president is elected to
serve a five-year term."
On almost every front, the influence of the EU is
increasing.
According to an article in Forbes magazine, it was the
European leaders who called for a global summit "to establish a
new world order for regulating the banking system."" According to
United Nations data, "Today, the fifty largest financial
corporations in the world represent well over one third of total
world banking assets. Interestingly, as a group they are the most
internationalized of the world's transnational corporations.
Thirty-six of these fifty largest companies are headquartered in
Europe."
With America's economic decline and the rise of the EU, many
are predicting that the euro will be the next universal reserve
currency. In light of Daniel's prophecy, that would be an
important sign pointing toward the coming reconstituted Roman
Empire as the controller of the new global economy.
.......
And myself and others in the Church of God have been proclaiming
that a last resurrection of the Europe Holy Roman Empire, the 7th
resurrection of a "church" diminated Roman Empire of Europe is to
come at the end times. Many in the Church of God were sounding
this prophecy 60, 70, 80 years ago. The fundamental prophets have
finally got clued in and admit this is to so be - Keith Hunt
......
Instantaneous Global Money Transfer
Another financial trend that indicates coming economic
globalism is the growing ease with which citizens of one nation
can make purchases or conduct business internationally. And just
think, it wasn't until after Congress passed the Interstate
Banking bill in 1994 that banks could even operate across state
borders. Now they can operate without any international barriers.
MasterCard continues to develop a global network for the transfer
of funds. Today its customer financial institutions have the
capability to offer MasterCard cardholders money transfers from
any MasterCard or Maestro card to any other MasterCard or Maestro
card in the world.
In a 2009 press release, MasterCard executive Joshua Peirez
said, "We are focused on developing convenient and secure
solutions for the day-to-day financial realities of consumers
around the world. As the flow of money between global workers and
their families continues to grow, MasterCard MoneySend provides a
valuable, convenient and reliable money transfer option for
consumers."
In the same release, another MasterCard executive, Walt
Macnee, said, "MasterCard MoneySend removes barriers impeding the
transfer of money around the world and provides the global
economy with a robust infrastructure that supports growth in
international transfers as consumers continue to remit funds
globally."
With such innovative technology, national boundaries
matter little or not at all in monetary transactions. When you
need local currency in London, Paris, or Bonn, just insert your
card into the nearest sidewalk ATM and your card issuer makes all
the exchange calculations and delivers to you the correct funds.
It seems that we ordinary citizens are already sliding into
economic globalism even as you read ....
Joseph Stiglitz, whom I mentioned as the coauthor of
"The Three Trillion Dollar War," is the former chief economist of
the World Bank. In a 2009 article for Vanity Fair, Stiglitz
predicted that one of the legacies of the current global
financial crises would be "a world-wide battle over ideas - over
what kind of economic system is likely to deliver the greatest
benefit to the most people." Included with the article was a
cartoon by Edward Sorel that was designed to cast a historically
biblical pall over modern society. What kinds of ideas are likely
to find their way into Stiglitz's suggested global system? By
including the cartoon he seems to suggest that the new ideas will
be the very ones that created the crises in the first place.
Sorel captioned his cartoon, "The Four Horsemen of the Wall
St. Apocalypse." The title and imagery allude to the four
horsemen that appear in the beginning of the book of Revelation -
the original Apocalypse. The cartoon pictures skeletons riding
four horses in a wild stampede over the ruins of the New York
Stock Exchange. Each skeleton is labeled with one of the four
heart attitudes that contributed to our current financial
situation: mendacity, stupidity, arrogance, and greed. Because
the cartoon intentionally evokes a King James feel, one of the
labels is somewhat obscure to modern Americans. It is the word
mendacity, which simply means "characterized by deception." The
cartoonist pictures how heart attitudes contributed to the recent
Wall Street crisis and will bring about the ultimate destruction
of an economy. Unfortunately, these are the heart attitudes that
currently rule the world, the nations, and the people. To
demonstrate the truth of this statement, let's examine these
attitudes one by one.
Deception (Mendacity)
Almost every day we read or hear of identity theft, mail
fraud, Internet theft, hoaxes, pyramid schemes, extortions, and
rip-offs. Many of these scams are directed at the elderly, and
authorities tell us that in times of economic uncertainty these
crimes increase exponentially. Deceit is not a new heart
attitude. In the days of Ezekiel the prophet, our Lord spoke out
against it: "'In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take
usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by
extortion, and have forgotten Me,' says the Lord GOD. 'Behold,
therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have
made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst'"
(Ezekiel 22:12-13). We can all identify with God's angry response
to dishonesty and deception. When we hear of innocent people
being robbed or extorted, we want to pound our fists on the table
too.
I don't think any objective observer would deny that
deception is rampant today, and not only among scammers and con
men. It happens in business corporations, as when a major
automobile manufacturer hides a flaw in its cars' acceleration
mechanism to avoid a massive recall. Deception is rife in our own
government and media as leaders and reporters spin the negative
elements out of their explanations of political agendas, hiding
costs and consequences in order to sell programs that increase
their power.
Deception is rampant among us, and it will be a major factor
in bringing down our national economy.
Stupidity
The second horseman of Wall Street is stupidity. I might
have preferred a somewhat kinder word, such as foolishness or
mindlessness or irrationality. But stupidity is the word the
artist used, so we will go with it.
Peter's exhortation in his famous sermon delivered on the
day of Pentecost urges us, "Be saved from this perverse
generation" (Acts 2:40). In his paraphrase, The Message, Eugene
Peterson rendered Peter's phrase, "Get out of this sick and stupid
culture!""
While Jesus never used the word stupid, He did use the word
fool in a parable about a rich man who thought his wealth gave
him an advantage in life: "And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you
have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat,
drink, and be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your
soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be
which you have provided?'"(Luke 12:19-20).
During the last year, I have read dozens of stories about
the stupid things people do in their pursuit of wealth. One story
involved a woman who fell for a TV infomercial offering reprint
rights to forty-five books, which, she was assured by fake
testimonials, were in great demand. She invested $3,000 into the
program only to find that most of the books were easily available
free government publications. After several months of
advertising, she received only one response.
In reading stories like this, I am reminded of the words the
apostle Paul wrote to his young protege Timothy: "But those who
desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy
6:9-10).
Please note that being rich is not the problem; the problem
is the inordinate desire for riches-lusting after riches. And it
is not money that is the problem; it's the love of money. Now
that we have that straight, look again at the descriptive terms
Paul uses to describe the risk we take when we become obsessed
with money and wealth. He warns that we are likely to fall into
temptation, fall into a snare, drown in destruction, drown in
perdition, and become pierced through with many sorrows. Given
this grim picture of the outcome, you can see why it is ...
well... stupid to plunge headlong after wealth. Yet people
continue to do it.
As part of my research for this project, I read two books
and dozens of articles about Bernie Madoff ... Most of what has
been written about the Madoff scam reports that he stole $65
billion from his investors. But in reality, the total amount of
money invested with Madoff appears to have been more like $20
billion. The $65 billion includes the false profit - the phantom
earnings that were reported to the investors each month, which
they were led to think was their growing wealth. But Madoff never
invested his clients' money in any of the reported stocks;
therefore, all his victims actually lost was their initial $20
billion investment. Here's where the story gets stupid. When
these investors got their IRS 1099 Forms each year, they paid
taxes on their supposed earnings - money that never existed. Some
of the victims are trying to get their tax money back from the
government-the only apparent beneficiary of Madoff's scam. But
filing under "theft deductions," as currently allowed by the IRS,
they will be fortunate to recover a dime for every dollar they
paid in taxes.
These investors did not know that they were being cheated, but
surely they must have been smart enough to know that their
reported earnings were impossible. Most of Madoff's investors
were financially sophisticated people who knew better than to
believe you could make a steady return of 12 to 20 percent when
the stock market had been flat for months. In their desire to be
rich, in their love of money, they made unwise decisions that
caused them to pay taxes on money that never existed.
Arrogance
Cartoonist Sorel's third Wall Street horseman is labeled
Arrogance. Once again the Word of God addresses our propensity to
harbor this heart attitude: "Command those who are rich in this
present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches
but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy"
(1 Timothy 6:17).
I love this verse because it is so balanced. The part we all
like is "God gives us richly all things to enjoy." With a
Scripture like that staring me in the face, I'm not about to put
a guilt trip on you for having lots of nice stuff. God bless you.
Enjoy it. But don't let those riches be your life. Don't let your
possessions be what you live for. Particularly, as this verse
pointedly says, don't allow your riches to make you haughty and
arrogant, as if your wealth makes you superior to those who do
not have it.
Money can give a person a certain amount of power and
control over others - his employees, his vendors, his debtors,
his renters, or even his community or church. And, as we know,
power tends to corrupt. It can go to one's head and lead him to
assume a sense of superiority that leads to arrogant disregard
for the rights, wants and needs of others. This, of course, is an
all-too-common response to wealth, and the one against which Paul
warns.
But, as he goes on to tell us, there is a proper way to
respond to wealth: "Let them do good, that they be rich in good
works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves
a good foundation for the time to come" (1 Timothy 6:18-19). Our
riches are given to us so that God can bless others through us.
We are merely conduits of His blessings. As Paul says, by using
wealth in this way, we are preparing ourselves for "the time to
come." A new global economy will not prevail against the person
who is rich in good works and uses his or her wealth to bless
others.
Greed
If you were asked to vote on which of the four heart
attitudes Sorel illustrates was most responsible for our current
economic situation, which would you choose? I am certain that
most of us would select greed as the underlying cause of our
economic woes.
In his book "The Screwtape Letters," C. S. Lewis writes that
unhealthy and inordinate desires create "an ever increasing
craving for an ever diminishing pleasure." This serves as an
excellent definition of greed and describes the heart attitude
behind the current financial crisis. As people become
dissatisfied with their houses, cars, and other possessions,
their craving grows beyond their means until their personal
economy both reflects the nature of the national economy and
contributes to it. Thus they become a part of the collapsing
financial system. Our Lord's counsel concerning greed is simple
and to the point: "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for
one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he
possesses" (Luke 12:15).
It is all too easy to find appalling examples of greed in
our current economic condition. While foreclosed homeowners have
few options and are increasingly turning to shelters to get out
of the elements, banks and companies that received government
bailout money are paying extravagant executive bonuses at
prebailout levels.
Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration compensation czar
and watchdog over the seven companies that received TARP funds,
said, "It doesn't seem right that the people who caused this
tragedy should be so richly rewarded."
But these bonuses must be paid because many are
contractually mandated when executives are hired. They are an
unfortunate cost of doing business on Wall Street because if the
seven banks that received bailout funds did not pay bonuses, the
very executives with the talent to lead the companies back into
profitability would have left for jobs where bonuses would be
paid. All of which demonstrates that greed in the top tier of our
financial leaders is at the core of our current economic trouble.
The Bible has a lot to say about greed, and it's not good.
Here are just two proverbs from the Old Testament: "So are the
ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life
of its owners"; and "He who is greedy for gain troubles his own
house" (Proverbs 1:19; 15:27).
Perhaps you've read of the astonishing acquisitiveness of
Nicolas Cage. This popular actor has made millions and used it to
snatch up European castles, a fleet of cars (including nine
Rolls-Royces), a virtual museum of art treasures, four yachts,
fifteen houses around the world, an island in the Bahamas, and a
Gulfstream jet. Among his houses were two historic French Quarter
homes in New Orleans, valued at more than $4 million. Now Cage is
in financial crisis. He owes the government $6.6 million, and his
homes are being sold in foreclosure auctions.
According to the New York Post, Cage's former business
manager warned him he would need an annual income of $30 million
just to maintain the things he had bought. The manager said,
"[Cage] knows that his losses are entirely and solely the result
of his own compulsive, self-destructive spending."
In one of his most bizarre purchases, "Cage outbid fellow
actor Leo DiCaprio at a 2007 auction by offering over a
quarter-million dollars for a dinosaur skull." Cage admitted, "I
find ways of spending money that mystify everybody around me." As
Cage's runaway spending shows, greed can take over any life and
lead to financial ruin. Incidentally, his outlandishly decorated
Bel Air mansion failed to receive even one bid in a recent
foreclosure auction.
The apostle Paul knew that greed could also be a destructive
force in the life of a believer. After outlining to Timothy the
deadly nature of greed, he told the young man how to deal with
it: "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness" (1
Timothy 6:11). The way to deal with greed is simply to run from
it and fill your heart instead with godly attributes that will
replace the need to validate your worth by the accumulation of
wealth.
Greed is one of four things from which Paul tells followers
of Christ to run. In other letters he tells us to flee idolatry,
fornication, and adultery (see 1 Corinthians 10:14; 2 Timothy
2:22; 1 Corinthians 6:18). Greed, like these other temptations,
destroys lives of believers and unbelievers alike. Greed is one
of the four horsemen that will reduce both individual lives and
our economy to a heap of rubble.
As we have seen, several signs-from history, current events,
and biblical prophecy - indicate that a new global economic order
is on the horizon that may be a signpost of the end times. We, as
individual citizens, can do little or nothing to stop or even
slow its approach. What we can do, however, is maintain vigilance
in our opposition to the spiritual causes of America's decline
and not get caught up in the prevalent but destructive heart
attitudes that are bringing it about. If we stand against
deception, stupidity, arrogance, and greed and, following Paul's
admonition, pursue righteousness, faith, love, patience, and
gentleness, great blessings will follow. Not only will we retain
peace in the midst of turmoil, we will stand as beacons certainly
give you a foothold in your own struggle to avoid both economic
and spiritual ruin.
If the four horsemen of Wall Street demolish our economy and
diminish our wealth, we must remember that our possessions are
not our lives. Our lives are invested in God, and in His hands
they remain secure and unshakable regardless of the economic
chaos around us.
In the new global economy it doesn't matter whether a new
currency usurps the U.S. dollar or a new global conglomeration is
formed that excludes the dollar. Whatever happens, we have this
promise: "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will
never leave you nor forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).
......
Note:
In this section by Jeremiah I find little to disagree with. We
are in one way or another heading for a revision by the world as
to how buisness is done. Allowing the Banks and Wall Street
guys/gals to have free-will in the USA over the last 20 years or
more, and most other nations following them down the garden path
... well it has put the world in the thorn bush in the ditch.
Obviously the nations will learn from this (certainly they
should) and not want to see the mess of a recession continue and
not desire to see it happen again, at least again by the same
silly mistakes of having hardly any laws governing the finance
games of the USA and all the stupid and greedy people and nations
that got into bed with the USA.
Europe will come out of this recession. She will move on to be
eventually the last resurrection of the Babylon Holy Roman
Empire, which will in due time rule the Western world. China,
India, Japan and Russia, will also move on to be the mighty power
of the East.
Keith Hunt
To be continued
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