1Peter 3:15 (KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Luke 19:13 (KJV) And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Here is an email I received recently…
No offense but the only way to survive what’s coming is to be raptured out of here. All of these wonderful things you’re teaching for survival, are great if you happen to live where you do and if you happen to have all those talents to build whatever. All that I see here is for people who are post-tribbers and think they’re going to be here. Those that are going to be here will not survive with any of that stuff, unless they live in the hills somewhere and then not for long, because all of the earth changes and disasters will root them out, if the antichrist doesn’t behead them first.
I can’t agree with the logic this person is presenting. This isn’t the first time I got one of these types of emails either.
Because I am one who is prepared, I have gotten a number of people, people telling me I don’t trust God, I am a post tribber (I am pan-trib), right wing fanatic, ect ect.
What this person and many others totally forget is that we MUST be willing to share our faith in times of hopelessness no matter what your rapture point of view is.
It is why I do what I do. Why I share what I share and why I encourage others to do so.
I don’t do this out of fear, I do this because a GREAT NEED is coming and we have to be ready for it.
Here, case in point …
In the US our current national debt is more than $30,584,389,580,876. Just so you know, that is THIRTY trillion dollars in debt.
Imagine if you had a credit card and the balance you owed was 30 trillion. Did you feel that lump in your throat? That is where the US is right now…today and with much of that money owed to are foreign nations and foreign investors. Do you know our interest payments on that debt are estimated at $457 billion this year alone.
What people forget is this wonderful little banking idea called compound interest. Every day just the interest payments on enormous debt are going up.
How Much is A Trillion?
One trillion is 1 with 12 zeros behind it…. 1,000,000,000,000.
Let’s put it in something that we can understand.
– One million seconds will pass in the next 12 days.
– One billion seconds will take 32 years.
– One trillion seconds will pass in 31,688 years.
Folks, we do not have the money to pay this back and neither will our children.
Everyone of us who are US citizens have an estimated $368,360.00 in assets. Be those homes, vehicles, even labor ability, ect.
But the liability for each US citizens is $205,006.00
The difference is a negative $163,358.00 (1)
Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an extra $163K sitting around gathering dust.
There are only TWO options that this nation has to get out from under this, that is…
1 Default…or
2 Inflate
Default
Like many folks who are swimming in credit card debt, the US is in the same situation. Have you defaulted? I bet every one as defaulted on payment. Default is when you miss the payment or are even late with the payment. What happens when we default? We become a credit risk and our trust factor becomes questionable.
Now, what would happen if the US would default?
The US has been one of the most trustworthy and reliable borrower in the world. We as a nation have benefited tremendously from that trust. People and nations are willing to lend us money even when everything seems to be going wrong. But if that trust is broken, that would cause economic chaos.
If we defaulted in our debt, we would become a third world nation basically over night.
Inflation
In a worst-case scenario and it appears that this the direction our nation is going, the alternative to defaulting on our loans is to borrow more money from the Federal Reserve. Just so you know, the Federal Reserve is a privately owned company of banks and individuals. They are NOT a government entity. They have share holders, you can purchase their stock and they are accountable only to themselves and their stock holders.
But they are the one who control the currency system that we operate within here in the US. You can thank Herbert Hoover, FD Roosevelt, R Nixon and others for selling out this nation to this banking cartel.
Continuing on… if we borrow from the Feds, the Fed starts up the printing presses and start printing trillions of dollars. When you start flooding the market with newly printed money, the outcome is it will dramatically lower the value of the money that is already in your hands and in the economy.
Folks, once that cycle of government-caused inflation is started, it is very difficult to stop. And in fact according to history, it is impossible. Many countries have fallen into an inflation trap, most recently Argentina, Russia, Hungary, and a country living through it right now… Zimbabwe.
Every year that we overspend, we are depending on all these investors to lend us money. As long as they believe we will repay the money, we can keep spending.
Folks, the credit card companies expect us to pay our debt. Many people get behind, but if you have a feasible plan you are able to get out, that is if you have not pass the point of no return. It is the same here for the US. If we allow our debt to expand without a credible plan then we are in huge trouble. The huge issue is that this nation has leveraged just about everything there is to leverage, including our own labor…yep, you and me.
Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman said the following…
“Investors will eventually conclude that America has turned into a third world country, and start to treat it like one. And the results for the U.S. economy won’t be pretty.”
In the next ten years, our payments on this debt are expected to quadruple. So instead of $457 billion in interest payments alone, in ten years we will be paying an estimated $780 billion. Remember what a billon is? One billion seconds are 32 years.
This means more of our money will be shipped. But who are we shipping our money too? We have established financial relationships with antagonistic countries like: China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Libya, among others.
Here is what scripture says…
Proverbs 22:7 (KJV) The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Folks, this nation is spending money we do not have. This leaves Americans no choice but to pay a large portion of our taxes to foreign governments.
We will be the servants to the lender. That is a biblical fact.
Now I shared all of this in reference to the email I received.
A strong belief here in America is what the sender of the email stated
“No offense but the only way to survive what’s coming is to be raptured out of here.”
I am going to be brutally honest – this is a total cop out excuse and you would not believe how often I hear it. My grandmother would have said “Shame on you boy!”
Folks, we are in a position of our own making. We as Christians did not occupy till He returns and we have been poor stewards over what the Lord has given us. God’s Throne is not draped with the ol’ red white and blue American flag. We are an empire like any other. We are in a crisis of our own creation because this nation chose to follow the ways of Mammon versus the ways of God. To think that God is going to come rapture America because we have followed Mammon is pure ignorance as well as unscriptural.
This nation is doing the dog paddle in a sea of debt… how long can we tread water?
The interest payments alone are causing this nation serious financial hardship. No longer do we have a viable foundation in industry, we have outsourced just about every position we have. The big three auto makers have gone under and are basically government entities. Our transportation system, airlines, railroads ect are all subsidized by the government. Just about everyone in one form or another is on the government dole and it is growing and growing daily.
Here is some interesting data. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 27.1 million people took part in the food stamp program.
National unemployment right now is only 3.6%. But the problem is that there are so many government perks to stay home vs work. Now imagine the unemployment rate if those were not in place.
OH… FYI, the reason we are having such high inflation is because the US Government is printing boat loads of money to cover all these welfare programs and such. Those bail out checks were the primary reason the inflation wheels started.
Here is another issue. If there are no industries in the US because they have been outsourced to all over the world, how do we employ our people? Again the unemployment rates are hugely skewed.
If the people of this nation cannot work, how do we pay taxes? And if we cannot pay taxes how do we pay those we owe our debts too?
Are you beginning to see the picture here?
I personally believe that this nation has passed the point of no return. That means that we will face the consequences of our actions; or for us Christians, the lack of action.
This is a cold hard fact, we are beginning to see it now.
Always Be Ready To Share The Hope
Everything goes in cycles, this is a proven fact. A good secular book to read is titled “The Fourth Turning” by Neil Howe. In this book he documents the cycles of this nation dating all the way back to the mid-evil period. Every 100 years or so, this nation is thrown into crisis. The revolutionary war, the civil war, WWII and the great depression. And guess where we are standing right now? Around 2005 – 2007 many people speculated that we turned the fourth turning point, the cycle of crisis for this nation.
Now I am going to say something that will seem strange, but please keep reading, there is a serious point in all of this.
Putting aside bible prophecy, historically we see that man repeats history. Solomon, the wisest man in the world stated that there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV) The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
In other words, we as man are destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again because it is our sin nature to do so. We cannot help it.
This nation as seen financial upheaval before and in every case the consequences have worsened every time. The last of the consequences was the Great Depression and it is something that we are facing as a nation once again. And I feel that this will take place in the foreseeable future too.
One thing that you will find that comes along with almost every huge upheaval is a revival of the things of God. A recent example of this was after 9/11. We as a nation turned to God. But do to our own prosperity, that revival was just for a season and then God was forgotten once again. Our hearts turned towards ourselves and we continue to serve at the feet of Mammon and secular humanism.
When the world goes to chaos people want to talk about God. They might start by railing against Him, but it doesn’t stay that way for long.
When the TEOTWAWKI (2) takes place, we who are Christians will need to stand and be ever more vigilant.
In 2 Timothy Paul charges Timothy with the following…
2Timothy 4:2 (KJV) Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
In Matthew 28 Christ told us …
Matthew 28:19 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Please note here that Christ uses the word YE. This is being used in the first person and not as a group. That means that Christ is speaking directly to each and every one of us.
There is no retirement plan when it comes to the Kingdom of God. We are in His service till He takes us home.
We are not exempt from sharing out faith just because things get really difficult or this nation is in turmoil and there is complete breakdown in society as a whole. If anything, we must step up to the plate and boldly proclaim God’s Word.
But to do that, we must be ready to share the Gospel and we must occupy till He returns. Folks I do not discount the rapture, we must be ready for His return, but not at the stake of not sharing the Gospel and occupying being good stewards.
That is what many people are doing…forsaking the gospel so they can go hide in some corner in the fetal position waiting for the rapture instead of getting out there and fighting the good fight.
Folks, just based on compounding interest, this nation must do something. My fear is that based upon history, man in our infinite wisdom will choose inflation to fix the problems we are facing. It is the same solution that Greece chose it 650BC, the Roman Empire, King Louis in France which out of that bore the French revolution, The Weimar Republic in the early 1900’s which bore Hitler, and even in Zimbabwe today. Man will continue to repeat his past errors thinking that he can battle the natural laws of God and win.
Our nation has not taken the turn for the best, so the power of compounding interest, greed, and our own natural sin nature will bring this nation to its knees.
Now I want to say that I am neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet, I am looking at man’s history as well as doing the math. Numbers do not lie. We do not have long and like I have stated before, I believe that this nation is past the point of not suffering the consequences of our own actions.
But out of this pain and suffering, this nation once again will humble herself and turn towards God. Again, historically in our weakness we have always turned towards Him and endured.
But the trials and tribulations that we will soon face will also be compounded based on past historical crisis’ this nation has suffered.
So, What is it, The Fetal Position or Win Souls For The Lord?
Folks, I do not have an all seeing crystal ball and I do not know what is coming, but based upon the past Great Depression, things will be worse before they get better. I have never lived through nor have I shared my faith after a serious collapse. Like all of you reading this, I have been blessed to live in America and ministering here behind my keyboard on the internet. Like all of you, the closest thing I can equate the coming trials to is 9/11. I feel that when we look back after passing through the future fire, 9/11 will just be a drop in the proverbial bucket.
No matter what, we must be ready to share the hope that is within us.
But to do that, we must be prepared. That is what the word READY means. To be ready, we must be properly positioned so that we are able to stand on the evil day.
Ephesians 6:13 (KJV) Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
If we are standing in welfare lines, where is our credibility especially when we as watchmen on the wall had the where with all to recognize the coming storm?
Imagine being able to provide some extra cans of food, a dozen eggs, jar of peanut butter or a can of spam because we had the foresight to put extra aside for a “rainy day.”
How many people would gladly listen to your words of Hope that you yourself present from His Word., all because you had a little extra that you could gladly share?
But to position ourselves we must be ready. We must do all we can so when that evil day comes, we are able to stand and boldly proclaim the gospel.
The storm is coming, that is a fact like it or not. Just because we as nation have made horrible choices, God is not going to come “rapture” us out. Again, His throne is not draped in the American flag. We must prepare and position ourselves for that coming storm. It will be all of our responsibility to share the gospel when people will have a true ear to hear and an open heart to receive Him.
This is why I have such an urgency. We do not have much time, but if we take proper steps maintaining being in the Will of God, we will be able to make a difference not only for our families, but effecting people around us for the Kingdom of God.
But if we do nothing, then it will be to our shame that we did not do all that we could for God.
God works through His people, but if not many are preparing for the coming storm, then think of the burden it will be place upon those of us who have foresight to recognize the coming storm?
People are making God out to be the big sugar daddy in the sky, which is not right. These will be the same people who will shake their fists at Him when times get tough blaming Him for their actions of being the grasshopper when they should have been the ant.
Here is what scripture says…
Proverbs 6:6 (KJV) Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Proverbs 30:25 (KJV) The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
Now let’s say that nothing does happens, and I am completely wrong, how much out of sorts will you be? Will your family be ill prepared because you were proactive in doing something? What happens if the rapture does take place in the next moment? Will your home be a place where Christians on the other side will be able to take refuge?
Folks, no matter what, preparing for the coming storm is not a bad thing, and in fact it has many blessings even it the storm never arrives.
But to be prepared, we have to do something. We have to equip ourselves with knowledge on what to do as well as how to do it.
There is a lot of forgotten knowledge that this generation as let slip through our fingers. Knowledge that was commonplace to our grandparents and great grandparents. Knowledge that if we start learning and doing something now, could literally make the difference in someone’s soul.
We have got to stop looking at ourselves and our own selfishness and start looking at how we can prepare to help others by being ready to share the gospel and blessed hope of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here is the alternative…
1Corinthians 15:34 (KJV) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Are you willing to face our Lord sitting upon the Bema Seat, knowing what you now know and still have done nothing about it, shirking your duties to someone else? Or maybe completely ignoring the writing on the wall as a whole.
How many souls will spend eternity in Hell because that one person that only you could have reached, you did nothing about. Oh it was to hard, I am to old, to young, not rich, no time, ect ect ect.
How many of you even know enough scripture to even lead someone to the Lord?
We Must Occupy, That is Our Only Chance
Folks, we are called to occupy till He returns, always be ready to share the gospel. Not sitting in the lotus position with rose colored glasses staring at the sky. Millions are dying without ever hearing about the Jesus Christ. More missionaries are coming home versus going out into the world. In fact, you know why the world is being overrun by Muslims? It is because we have forgotten what the phrase “Go Ye” means. We think it means everyone else except us because we have become lazy sluggards with a welfare mentality not diligent for the Word and not caring about our fellow man who’s soul will burn in Hell because we were to lazy or ignorant to share the gospel.
Here is a story to hammer my point…
Dying Without God
A youth at one of the large iron works in Sheffield was some time ago accidentally thrown on to a red hot amour plate. When he was rolled off by his fellow workmen, it was doubtful if he could live, as nearly all one side of him was burned to the bone. His work mates cried, “Send for the doctor,” but the poor suffering youth cried, “Never mind sending for the doctor; is there anyone here can tell me how to get saved? My soul has been neglected, and I’m dying without God. Who can help me?”
Although there were three hundred men around him, there was no one who could tell him the way of salvation. After twenty minutes of untold agony he died as he had lived.
The man who saw this accident, and heard the cries of the dying youth, was a wretched backslider, and when I asked him how he felt about the matter, he said, “I have heard his cries ever since, and wished I could have stooped down and pointed him to Jesus, but my life closed my lips.”
Does your life tell sinners that you are saved, or does it close your lips, when those around hear your talk and witness your actions?
“Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved Compiled By Solomon Benjamin Shaw – page 301 published in 1898
The storm is coming and we must be ready mentally, physically and spiritually. We are sitting on the razor’s edge; we are sitting at a time where the fields will be truly ripe to harvest. But if we have not prepared and positioned ourselves, we will be of little good. God uses those who are on the playing field, and very rarely uses those who are sitting on the sidelines.
I remind you of God’s Word…
1Peter 3:15 (KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
ENDNOTES
1 – To see all the numbers in real time, go to http://www.usdebtclock.org/
2 – TEOTWAWKI = The End Of The World As We Know It