Senin, 25 April 2011

The Decline of America

It had to happen sooner or later. Most prophecy watchers have for years speculated on how this inevitable development would occur. First, some background on this view:

Over the last 200+ years, America has been the dominant world power. Not only that, but America has stood for the cause of freedom and democracy around the world and has successfully defended these concepts, most dramatically during WWII, but also throughout the 20th century.

We also know what is in store during the Tribulation - a world dictatorship a world religion, a world currency and these changes set the stage for the second half of the Tribulation during which time a forced worship of the antichrist will take place and those who do not accept such worship will be beheaded.

This is hardly a world which is consistent with a strong, dominant America.

To add to this - we notice when reading the book of Revelation, particularly chapters 6-18 - those chapters which present a very detailed view of the world during the Tribulation - there is absolutely no reference to America. Not even a vague, tangential reference. Meanwhile, the world powers (the revived Roman Empire, the Kings of the East, Russia, from the north and the powers coming from the "South") receive a lot of attention in the scriptures. Again, no mention of America.

So what happens?

For years, many of us speculated that the Rapture of the Church would disproportionately affect America and that alone could account for the demise of America (and this could still play an important role).

Recent events however have made it clear that America's decline from its status as the world power is already well underway:

American Hellholes: A Glimpse of the Future?

The U.S. economy is dying and we are heading for the next Great Depression. The talking heads in the mainstream media love to spin the economic numbers around and around and they love to make it sound like the economy is improving, but the truth is that it doesn't take a genius to see what is happening to the U.S. economic system.

All over the nation many of our greatest cities are being slowly but surely transformed into post-apocalyptic wastelands. All over the mid-Atlantic, all along the Gulf coast, all throughout the "rust belt" and all over the entire state of California cities that once had incredibly vibrant economies are being turned into rotting, post-industrial hellholes.

In many U.S. cities, the "real" rate of unemployment is over 30 percent. There are some communities that will start depressing you almost the moment that you drive into them. It is almost as if all of the hope has been sucked right out of those communities. If you live in one of those American hellholes you know what I am talking about.

If you live in one of those American hellholes you know what I am talking about. Sadly, it is not just a few cities that are becoming hellholes. This is happening in the east, in the west, in the north and in the south. America is literally being transformed right in front of our eyes.


The paragraphs are just the introduction to this article. There's more, and this article is well worth reading in its entirety. After describing the plight of several American cities, we come to the following conclusions:

But this is not just a "California thing". The truth is that what is happening in California, in Detroit, in Camden and in hundreds of other communities is also going to happen where you live.

The U.S. economy is slowly dying. Only 66.8% of American men had a job last year. That was the lowest level that has ever been recorded in U.S. history.

People are getting desperate. There are ten percent fewer middle class jobs than there were a decade ago and the competition for good jobs has become insane. More than 44 million Americans are now on food stamps and that number grows every single month. Millions more American families fall into poverty every single year.

It is time to face the truth about what is happening to America. Our economy is not growing and becoming stronger. Rather, the cold, hard reality of the matter is that our economy is very sick and it is dying. The seemingly boundless prosperity that we have enjoyed for decade after decade is coming to an end. Our communities are being transformed into absolute hellholes.

Those that are telling you that the U.S. economy will soon be better than ever are lying to you. The U.S. economy is going to go down and it is going to go down hard.

You better get ready.


How is this happening? Why is this happening?

Some of those questions and discussed here:

The Globalists' Takeover of Argentina is a Blueprint for America

This article bolsters the view of many, including myself - the view that the collapse of America is a planned event. And once again, guess who's name pops up? That's right. None other than Mr George Soros:

Yes, George Soros was involved in the global elites’ takeover of Argentina which de-industrialized their country, eliminated their middle class and plunged their citizens into massive starvation and unspeakable poverty.

Yes, Argentina’s President and politicians were “in” with the global elites, and their Unions were “in” with the corrupt government officials… just as America’s President Obama, Congress and Unions are “in” with each other, with George Soros and with the other global elites.

That said, what happened in Argentina is what’s happening in America right now.


How many times do we have to see Mr Soros behind the scenes when it involves this specific situation?

What happened in Argentina looks exactly like what we are seeing happen to America in real time:

Argentina was a socialist country whereby the government controlled the means of production and doled out to the people via the “rights” their government granted. Because their government controlled everything, government had the ability to take everything away and sell off the revenue producing sources/resources to the global elites. And that’s just what they did… at bargain-basement prices.

They stripped Argentina of its assets, sold them off to the fat-cat global elites, and they increased Argentina’s national debt through massive out-of-control government spending that could never be repaid. This took money directly out of the pockets of the people in order to put it in their own pockets, to destroy their middle class and plunge the people into poverty – and of course to set the conditions to justify placing Argentina under International Monetary Fund (IMF)/United Nations‘ (UN) control


And how does this parallel events in America?

In America, Obama has nationalized our banks, our car industry, student loans, healthcare, food, etc. These industries are now ripe and ready for sell-off to the fat-cat global elites.

Obama has added over $4.3 Trillion to our national debt in just 2 ½ years – with a complicit and corrupt Congress. To put that into perspective, it took 233 years to accumulate a national debt of $10 Trillion. In just 2 ½ years, Obama added 30% ($4.3 Trillion) to it through massive, massive spending that has to come directly out of the pockets of American citizens and businesses who already give approximately $2.1 Trillion to the Federal government every year.

Union leaders who brag about their daily interaction with the White House could care less that union employees will lose their jobs; they clearly state their primary objective is to suck as much money out of the government as possible, thus causing our national debt to go even higher in hopes of collapsing States under the weight of such massive government costs


And once again, Soros' name comes back in the picture:

Now we’re hearing George Soros say that our government needs to spend more (increase our debt further), institute a ‘managed decline’ of our dollar (already in progress), and we hear that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner and the head of the largest private bank in America – the Federal Reserve’s Chairman Ben Bernanke are considering IMF/UN control of America’s economy and transition to a global currency which will abolish the dollar. How many pennies on the dollar do you think the exchange rate will be?

Obama is purposely causing energy prices to skyrocket (just as he promised during the 2008 Presidential campaign) because he will not let oil company’s drill; oil company’s and refineries are closing down operations in America and moving to globalist-favored countries like Brazil. Obama is also putting our coal industry out of business just as he said he would.

Can you see the parallels? Argentina was set up by their government in much the same way that George Soros, Obama and their comrades are setting America up.


Below we see even more parallels with Argentina:

Small businesses in Argentina where choked to death because they were being charged 50% interest on small business loans. Clearly the globalists were ensuring complete de-industrialization of Argentina. How easy is it for small businesses in America to get loans right now?

Argentina’s people never got justice and weren’t able to hold their corrupt politicians accountable because the politicians and courts/judges were all in on it and they had all the power. Sound familiar?

Obama, George Soros, Cass Sunstein, Hillary Clinton and their comrades in Congress are writing a new Constitution for America which gives government the power, not the people, to grant “rights” such as jobs, healthcare and food. Once they abolish our current Constitution (which purposely limits government control and places the power in the hands of the people) and institute their New Constitution giving government the power to give and take away our rights, the set-up is complete.


If you don't believe it - just keep watching. Its happening rapidly right now.

The bottom line?

This is why potential candidates who know what’s going on, who want to restore our Constitution, and are against the globalists’ takeover of America… like Michelle Bachmann, Allen West and Sarah Palin… must be smeared and destroyed by our government-controlled media and globalist politicians on both sides of the aisle.

What’s happened in Argentina is important for us to know because we have a President whose actions are following the blueprint of destruction that befell Argentina.

America is now a heartbeat away from being sold out to the global elites just as Argentina’s government did to their citizens.
The following 12 part video series tells the tale. Pay particular attention to the American players and global corporations we’re all familiar with. Also notice that the people of Argentina kept waiting for their government to give what they promised and many died as they waited. It wasn’t until they joined with their neighbors and began to occupy land and work together to feed and take care of themselves and each other that they were able to survive.


The videos referenced are in the article.

One more highly germane article:

Maxed Out America: Coming Sooner Than You Think

How far can a government run up its debts before lenders either decide to stop lending or raise their interest rates? As PJ Institute economist Laurence Kotlikoff noted in an early April column, there is a consensus that a country reaches “a critical insolvency threshold” once its public debt hits 90% of GDP. At that point, lender cutoffs and interest-rate premiums become real possibilities. Call it the point where we become “Maxed Out America.”

The real problem, of course, is spending, which, even after the budget deal, will have grown by over $1 trillion in four years, or about 40%, by the end of fiscal 2011. Maxed Out America cannot be avoided at currently projected spending levels.

The PJ Institute’s Maxed Out America Special Report has a stern warning about the consequences of doing nothing: “Our sixteen year old kids, entering the tenth grade of high school in the fall, may face this economic impact when they graduate from college in 2017, if not sooner.” Are we as a nation willing to accept that possibility?

Given the oncoming calamity, Washington’s lack of serious urgency is scandalous. The Maxed Out America initiative intends to change that. Readers should ensure that their congressperson and senators understand that they, and we, are quickly running out of time.


One way or another, America has to be taken out of the big picture before the rise of the antichrist.

The America that I once knew would have never ever allowed for a world dictator to take over and impose his draconian rule. But we know that America will not be a powerful player on the world stage during the Tribulation, thus, something has to happen.

Its all part of this ongoing process to pave the road to the Tribulation and the antichrist's rule. And we're watching it happen. We shouldn't be surprised.

Minggu, 24 April 2011

Mengapa Sih Arifinto Mundur?


Menarik sekali ketika kutukan dan cemoohan publik  kepada Arifinto, karena ketahuan mengakses konten pornografi dalam komputer tabletnya pada saat mengikuti sidang paripurna DPR, kemudian berubah menjadi pujian setelah Arifinto menyatakan bahwa ia akan segera mengundurkan diri sebagai anggota DPR.  Publik mungkin menganggap bahwa mengundurkan diri adalah suatu sikap ksatria yang semestinya dicontoh oleh setiap anggota DPR, dan juga pejabat negara lainnya, yang telah melakukan perbuatan “tidak senonoh”. 

Arifinto memang telah melanggar kode etik Dewan dan sekaligus juga mencoreng nama baik PKS, partai yang gigih memperjuangkan UU Pornografi.  Namun hukuman yang pantas, menurut saya, adalah teguran keras dan permohonan maaf kepada publik dan juga Dewan, serta berjanji tidak akan mengulangi perbuatannya.  Saya tidak yakin kalau Arifinto tidak mundur maka Dewan atau PKS akan memaksanya untuk mundur (baca: memecatnya).  

Saya melihat keputusan Arifinto untuk mundur lebih berdasarkan pada pertimbangan kepentingan partai (PKS) daripada pertimbangan pertanggungjawaban moralitas individunya.  Sebagaimana kita tahu, Arifinto menyatakan pengunduran dirinya setelah malam hari sebelumnya Dewan Syariah Pusat PKS menggelar rapat untuk mengambil sikap terkait dengan kasus Arifinto.  Banyak pengamat politik yang berpendapat bahwa PKS telah mengurbankan sebuah bidaknya untuk memenangkan suara rakyat pada pemilu 2014 nanti.
 
Kalau dugaan politisasi Arifinto tersebut benar, apakah pujian bahwa Arifinto adalah pahlawan atau perintis budaya malu di lingkungan DPR masih berlaku?  Kita lihat saja nanti, bagaimana kerjasama antara PKS dan Arifinto pada pemilu 2014 nanti.  Saya sungguh berharap Arifinto akan memegang prinsip hidupnya sebagai seorang Ksatria, bukan sekadar sebuah Bidak yang dijalankan oleh pecatur politik kita.

While We Celebrate And Contemplate The Resurrection

We can't forget our brothers and sisters who can't worship in freedom and who experience significant persecution:

China seizes Christians in Easter raid

Dozens of Chinese Christians were arrested on Sunday when police prevented an evangelical Protestant church from holding its Easter Sunday service, as the state continued its attack on protests against one-party rule.

Security forces clashed with followers of a growing underground Protestant movement that was blocked from moving into a new meeting hall near Beijing, leading to three weeks of confrontation with the communist authorities.

Worshippers from the Shouwang, or "watch tower", church were taken away in buses, some defiantly singing hymns. Church leaders had issued a "fire and brimstone" cry for the congregation to worship outside the building even if it meant arrest and prosecution.

Up to 500 members of the Protestant house church movement, unregistered assemblies of worshippers that the government bans to prevent the rise of opposition, have been detained in recent weeks. Yesterday's arrests were a continuation of the authorities' increase in repression of dissenters to stop any chance of a revolution such as those seen in North Africa and the Middle-East.

"Between 20 and 30 followers were taken away," said Pastor Jin by telephone from his home, where he has been under house arrest for the past two weeks.

Estimates put the number of underground Christians at 40 million, with some claiming there are as many as 80 million. Shouwang church was founded in a flat in 1993 but now has 1,500 members. It claims to have been blocked from taking possession of a £2.5 million building it bought in 2009.


Please remember to pray for these brave souls and all other Christians who suffer under persecution in so many parts of the world today.

Comfort can be found in the words of Jesus:

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven..." (Matthew 5:11-12)

Sabtu, 23 April 2011

Why We Watch

Prophecy watchers (for lack of a better term) are an interesting group of people; a group of people that I love to be around. There is something special about gathering with a group of people, whether small or large, all sharing a passion for watching these last days unfold just as the prophetic scriptures have indicated. There is something special about sharing the excitement and anticipation of knowing that our Lord Jesus is coming back very soon.

And that's what its really all about. Waiting for Him. Jesus.

This is why we watch the news and the various events unfolding around the world - all of which tell us daily that our days on this earth are drawing to a close. We don't watch the news in order to be proven "correct" about our prophetic views, or any other alternative reason. Most prophecy watchers that I know all share one common driving force - and that is simply a focus or an obsession with Jesus Himself and a deep deep longing and desire to be with Him.

Its really is that simple.

Its hard to imagine what it will be like on that day - at that very moment when we actually see his face - up close and in person. When we actually have a chance to speak with Him directly and personally. When we can thank Him for what He did on that cross.

This time of year, I always reflect on the unimaginable sacrifice that He made for all of us.

An article used to circulate every Easter (I forget the title or the author's name), as written by a physician, who detailed the physical pain and suffering that Jesus experienced on His last days. It is too long and complicated, but the pain that Jesus experienced as a result of the beatings, the scourging, carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem, the nails, the internal bleeding, the external bleeding, the crown of thorns, the asphyxiation, and all during a period of near shock. This was the most brutal death that a human could endure.

And all during that time, as typical for Jesus, His only concern was for those around Him.

- He forgave those who were putting him on the cross and mocking and beating Him.
- He made sure that John would attend to and take care of Mary.
- He concerned Himself with the person next to Him on the cross, and granted him salvation based on his belief.

But more importantly, He did it for all of us. He endured every bit of that - not just the pain and suffering, but also the taking on our sins - so that He could be with us for eternity.

He loves us that much.

With that in mind, Jesus also gave comfort to His apostles, just before His arrest just days earlier. He was concerned about the anguish, pain and fear that they would experience as He was taken away to be crucified. And He gave them these words:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God; trust also in me.

In my Father's house there are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go there to prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me

that you also may be where I am."


(John 14:1-3)

This passage, of course, is revealing the process of the ancient Jewish Wedding. And that takes us to the following articles - two articles which remind us of this entire marriage process and the parallels to the Rapture of the Church. The third article, as written by Joel Rosenberg, puts this season in perspective and is well worth reading.

The bottom line?

Jesus paid the purchase price for His Bride when He died on the cross that day in Jerusalem. After a brief stay on the earth following His resurrection, He went back to the Father's house in order to prepare a place for His Bride, the Church. And just as the bridegroom in ancient times would return to the Father's house to prepare the living arrangements for the couple, Jesus has returned to the Father's house to prepare New Jerusalem - our eternal home (Revelation 3:12, 21:2, 21:9-10 and Revelation 21,22).

The next step in this progression of events is the groom, Jesus, coming back for His Bride - The Church.

Our blessed hope:

The Rapture and the Jewish Wedding Model

Jewish Marriage Customs: Behold, The Bridegroom Comes!

Do You Know Him?

Iran: Behind the Scenes...Again

Once again, almost anywhere you look, at least as far as the Middle East and any turmoil - you will find Iran lurking:

The Truth About Iran's Support of Arab Terrorists

On April 15, 2011, a prominent news story described Iran’s support for Syria’s draconian crackdown on protestors. The story focused on Iran’s widespread meddling in the region, but it missed the key point: Shia Iran’s closest ally in the Middle East is Sunni Syria. Iran deals freely with Sunni Muslims and Sunni countries when it’s in its interest to do so.

None of this is surprising given that ninety percent of all Muslims in the world are Sunni. Iran has long realized that if it is to be the dominant power in the predominantly Sunni Middle East, it is simply in its interest to actively cooperate with Sunnis when such cooperation serves its purposes.

And so, for years, one of the key aspects of Iran’s foreign policy has been to undermine the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East by supporting Sunni terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.


Indeed. And lets not forget Iran's ultimate goal: The complete destruction of Israel and hastening the return of the long awaited Mahdi. This is an interesting article worth reading, but below we see the bottom line:

Whether in the 9/11 attacks on America, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the smuggling of jihadis into Iraq through Syria and the smuggling of advanced weaponry into Gaza for Hamas, the looming Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt, or al-Qaeda and the global jihad movement, Iran is involved.

As this evidence amply shows, at the strategic level, there is no ideological or religious barrier to Sunni-Shia cooperation. In fact, Iran provides crucial support to many Sunni entities. Any denial of this cooperation, whether out of ignorance or political expediency, puts America at a distinct disadvantage, preventing us from understanding Iran’s strategic regional goals and the true nature of the international Salafi-jihadi movement.


And this:

Iran seeks to boost ties with Egypt

Iran hopes that Egypt will make a "bold step" and restore diplomatic relations between the two countries, after a 30-year break, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday.

Salehi, who was quoted by Iran's state-run IRNA News Agency, added that the Islamic Republic was "ready to raise the level of our relations with Egypt and we hope that the Egyptian officials, taking into account our oral and written exchanges, will take this courageous step."

The Iranian diplomat said he was sure that "Egyptian officials will be able to overcome the pressure," as he phrased it, by the United States and Israel against the normalization of Egypt-Iran relations

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi, on his part, said Cairo was ready to "turn over a new leaf" in its relations with Tehran, "Provided that (relationships) are based on mutual respect, state sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs in any manner whatsoever."

Meanwhile, Iran and Egypt have reportedly inked the first agreement since the latter's change in government.


We are watching as Iran's influence in the Middle East continues to spread.

Connecting these dots is pretty easy.

If, as we believe, we see the first war take place - as described in Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 - which appears to involve Israel's "immediate" enemies (Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt etc.), its easy to see how Iran could precipitate such conflict by their pushing the buttons and creating a "proxy war". Then, we see the "big one" - Gog-MaGog, as described in Ezekiel 38-39, directly involving Iran (among others), as the first war wouldn't have completed the job of destroying Israel.

The interesting aspect of this is - Iran has made no effort to hide their intentions. While "the nations", and the MSM turn a blind eye to this important and "public" aspect of Iran's intentions, Iran continues with their plans to destroy Israel.

Who does the U.S. really support in the Middle East?

This article lends some perspective:

We Say We Support Israel but We Fight For Arabs

This article is brief enough, so below is the full commentary:

We Say We Support Israel but We Fight For Arabs

Think about it. Whenever American anti-Semites get their shorts in a twist over Jews and Muslims in that tiny little sliver of the Middle East, they start ranting about how much money the United States gives Israel—never mind the fact that economic aid ended years ago, and as for defense spending, much of it comes back to us. They also like to rant about the attack on the Liberty, a US Navy warship, that left 34 US seamen dead and another 170 wounded, the Liberty’s skipper being awarded a very honest Congressional Medal of Honor for his attempts to save his ship—in 1967.

But when is the last time America undertook military action on behalf of Israel?

It is a simple fact that since Vietnam, virtually all of America’s actions have been on behalf of Muslims to improve their lot. Desert Storm/Desert Shield, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Yemen and now Libya. Only one of those interventions, Bosnia, made cultural sense: the Bosnians were Central Europeans who wished to be more or less Western Europeans, who just happened to be Muslim. Indeed, you could reasonably argue that the Bosnians were in fact more culturally Western than their Orthodox Christian, Serbian murderers and torturers.

According to the Congressional Research Service report, US Foreign Aid to Israel, US foreign aid to Israel is $3 billion for FY 2011 and is projected at $3.09 billion a year, FY2012-FY2018. According to the CRS report
The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other

Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11, the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars is $1.21 trillion. According to the Department of Defense Military Personnel and Casualty Statistics, 5945 American military personnel have been killed and 42,913 wounded in action since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003 through 4 April of this year. Iraqi and Afghan casualties caused by the American overthrow of the established powers in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated at about 100-109,000 documented violent civilian deaths in Iraq. While this does not break down by the source of death, i.e., whether the killers were American soldiers, Iraqi soldiers or police, or Iraqi insurgents, the number is almost surely low. (I do not know of a similar listing for Afghanistan.) However, by contrast, according to B’Tselem and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1987 has claimed 7978 Palestinian lives and 1503 Israeli lives.


So, we say we support Israel, and go to war for Muslims. We harp about every last Palestinian killed by Israelis, even though we have killed far more Iraqis and Afghans than Israelis have Palestinians. And the exchange ratio of Afghans and Iraqis to Americans is going to be far higher than the exchange ratio of Palestinians to Israelis. (The Palestinian:Israeli exchange ratio is about 5.3:1).


America has ruined its economy and military by waging war to improve the Arab and Moslem worlds. Understandably, they don’t much appreciate it. Perhaps it’s time we stopped, and reengaged with Israel. Which has many faults, but in the years since 1948, under constant attack, taking in millions of desperate and destitute Jews who needed a home, Israel has made of itself a modern world with a vibrant economy. Perhaps we—America, Israel and perhaps Russia—could begin to speak to each other as friends and equals. And the Arab world? Nothing wrong with them that 60 years of creativity—creativity that the Arab world once possessed in vast quantity—won’t cure. American intervention surely has been no replacement for their own genius and compassion, and it has done us no good, either.

The passion of the Christian

While going through the daily process of finding prophecy related news, I stumbled on this interesting and germane read, and it is very very well done. I thought you might find this commentary useful as we approach this Easter weekend.

The passion of the Christian

As an introduction, the article hinges on the following scriptures:


And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

– Mark 8:34-37

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

– Luke 9:23

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

– Matthew 10:38