Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
CNN has been bashing Israel for decades. The headlines say it all. Is there a double standard here? Is CNN perhaps the most unfair and one-sided news broadcasting network?
ISIS are terrorists and Hamas is not a terrorist organization?
Who are they fooling?
Honest Reporting hits it on the nose. Way to go Honest Reporting.
If CNN covers Israel with a double standard, then it’s time CNN gets treated with a different standard than other news outlets.
Speaker Ryan, a Roman Catholic, is a passionate disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. He is surrounding himself with godly spiritual pastors. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
What CNN and Fox Won't Tell You About the Move of God
You won't hear this reported on CNN or Fox News because news programs sell spin and controversy. Good news won't raise ratings.
You won't hear this from America's pulpits because America's churches are in a state of separation. Her pastors have abdicated their biblical civic responsibilities to secular politicians in exchange for 30 pieces of tax-exempt silver.
Most pastors and church-goers can't name their representative or senators, much less pray for them daily or name one piece of legislation they're working on. Nor do they know that most likely the lawmakers sleep on their office couches because they can't afford to rent an apartment in the nation's most expensive city.
It upsets me when I hear all the doom-and-gloom "prophetic words" about how Congress is nothing but a bunch of crooks. Most of these spiritual giant slayers have never stepped a foot into the Capitol or visited their congressman. They have no clue of what God is doing in their government or that God has big future plans for it. Their opinions are shaped more from media spin and propaganda than a biblical worldview of God's end-times agenda for governance.
Do I believe America is in a period of judgement? Yes! Most definitely. God has given us over to our selfish desires. Yet the biblical pattern for national revival is almost always preceded by a time of judgment. "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
Psalm 72:16 and Micah 4:1-3, clearly state that in "the last days" God will take a remnant of believers (wheat) and plant them in the tops of world governments (tops of the mountains) and build "the house of the Lord," beginning in the top levels of the world's governments. The resulting consequences of God's moving in world governments would then shake the earth with revival. "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord."
I can confirm that this is beginning to happen in Washington, D.C., London, Ukraine, Poland, Moscow and several nations in Africa.
Add to this, when the "last trumpet" in Revelation sounds, "the kingdoms of this world" (governments) become the governments of the Lord Jesus Christ and He will rule them forever with His glorious church (Rev. 11:15-19). So much for "separation of church and state."
Almost always, following these periods of captivity and judgment were times of transition to revival. These times of transitions were times of national repentance followed by "times of refreshing" or the latter rain.
So could America be in one of these transitional times of repentance where our national sins are being exposed? Are the wheat and tares being exposed before a time to shine like the sun in righteousness?
How can a nation, which for years has been praying for revival, actually "turn from your wicked ways" until those wicked ways are openly exposed for all to see? Could this be what we are witnessing now in America—unprecedented exposure of corruption at every level of society and government—so God can heal us? So we know what to repent of?
If so, now is the time for the prophets to come forth and prophesy to the nation. Now is the time for the preachers to preach repentance and godly holiness to the church—to make herself ready to enter the kingdom.
Is God through with America yet? I don't believe so. I think America's greatest days may be just around the corner. I believe we're in the first dawning hours of another Great Awakening.
In fact, I believe God has been silently, behind the scenes, answering our 2 Chronicles 7:14 prayers for some time now, not at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (the White House) but at First Street and East Capitol Street, in the heart of the U.S. Capitol with the 114th Congress.
Did you know, for the past two years, weekly Christian worship services for members of Congress and staff, called the Jefferson Gathering, are being held in the Capitol building after an absence of 144 years? More than 150 members have attended on a regular basis. Several people have given their lives to Christ.
Did you know there are more "passionate followers of Jesus Christ" (I prefer this to the overused sometime meaningless term, "Christian") in the 114th Congress than at any time since President Calvin Coolidge? There are. We are working with close to 200 sincere followers of the Lord in the House and Senate.
Did you know, on occasions, as many as 90 pastors will be praying together in the Capitol Rotunda while the House of Representatives is debating controversial freedom of religion amendments on the House floor? Did you know that, on most Wednesday evenings, prayer for America is happening in the Rotunda? It is!
Have you heard? Beginning on Sunday, Sept. 4, three Christian worship services will begin in the Ways and Means Room in the Capitol building for all federal employees and Capitol Police. It's been 150 years since regular Sunday church services were held in the U.S. Capitol. This is big news!
How did this all begin to happen? America has been praying, that's how! And God is right now in the process of answering those prayers by raising up godly men and women in Congress, the most important branch of government.
Let me share our personal first-hand experiences of being a small part of what God is doing in Congress. I know there are other great ministries on the Hill reaching out to Congress in very influential ways, and we thank God for their work. But I can only share with you about what JoAnn and I are doing.
Though we may never agree totally with everyone's politics, let me tell you why I'm thankful that Paul Ryan is speaker of the House and that he won his primary race. Speaker Ryan, a Roman Catholic, is a passionate disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. He is surrounding himself with godly spiritual pastors.
He said, "The only hope for America is a spiritual awakening. ... We must have spiritual solutions to our problems, or we're in for troubled times as a nation" (spoken to JoAnn and me alone in a private, 30-minute conversation). He asked that I help him invite pastors to the Capitol for spiritual advice. So far, we have had more than 200 pastors visit the Capitol, and we plan for many more for this fall.
Ryan makes meeting pastors a top priority in his busy schedule. JoAnn and I have an open working relationship with his staff. They told us that in six weeks' time, they had to turn down more than 500 invitations to various important events (I saw the print out sheets), "but he's doing the pastors briefings because he's passionate about it," a top staffer told us.
Speaker Ryan is an avid fan of historian David Barton. "I listen to him all the time, even in my car while driving," he said. Because of Barton's teachings, Speaker Ryan is very knowledgeable of the 1954 Johnson Amendment (putting political speech restrictions on pastors from their pulpits) and its devastating effects on our culture.
He understands "first causative principle"—that the 1954 Johnson Amendment eventually was responsible for prayer and Bible reading being taken out of schools in 1963, the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 and redefining of marriage in 2016—all because pastors were silenced from speaking out politically. That's why Speaker Ryan wants the Johnson Amendment repealed legislatively. He knows pastors being set free to preach again to the nation regarding these moral and political issues is a must to turn the nation around.
In early January at the Republican Retreat in Baltimore, Ryan and I began discussing how Congress could legislatively repeal it. Later, I spent one hour educating Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (chair of Republican Conference, whose husband is a pastor) and her entire senior staff on the Johnson Amendment toward the goal of repealing it.
Rep. Kevin Brady is chair of the Ways and Means Committee through which any legislation to repeal would have to come to the floor, and he is totally on board. Ryan directed me to Brady. Brady also gave me approval to hold three Sunday services (beginning Sept. 4) in the Ways and Means Committee room in the Capitol. Brady told me with a big smile on his face, "I'm thrilled you're having church in the Ways and Means Committee Room. Glad to let you use it."
So, long before Donald Trump said anything about repealing the Johnson Amendment, Speaker Ryan had been working on it. For the first time in 60 years, the opportunity to repeal the Johnson Amendment exists because of Ryan's leadership, spirituality and love of Jesus! Now we need a Republican president in the Oval Office to sign a repeal into law (which is more effective than just an executive order)!
Speaker Ryan has formed a committee of five members of Congress (to which I was invited to participate) to report to him on inviting pastors to the Capitol to have lunch with him and arrange congressional-clergy townhall meetings in the Cannon Caucus Room. We are planning our second one in November, and we'll form an email alert system so Speaker Ryan can contact pastors on how to inform their churches to pray for America.
This is unprecedented and historic! This is God answering our prayers.
In September, we'll be hosting four worship services weekly in the U.S. Capitol with Ryan's permission and blessing.
I know a lot of folks are critical of Speaker Ryan's policies, but how many know what I've just shared with you? I pray for Speaker Ryan daily. Do you? I know he wants what's best for America. Is he right on every issue? Who is?
But I am thankful God has him where he is. He is very open to the voice of the Lord. Pray that God will change his heart in those areas in which you don't agree with him.
Let me ask you this question: Which is more important for America: Repealing the TPP, building a wall at our border, balancing the budget, restoring jobs or experiencing a third Great Awakening? Without a spiritual awakening, America will still go to hell in a handbasket. We must have revival!
I'm thankful that the top four leaders of the Republican Party in Congress (Speaker Paul Ryan, Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers) know this and are doing what they can to see it happen. They know that, without it, America has no hope. These are the leaders America needs now.
America's political revivals have always followed spiritual awakenings. I am convinced the underpinnings for a third spiritual awakening are happening now, and the foundations for political renewal could be just ahead.
Keep praying, and keep voting. God is not finished with America yet.
Dan Cumminsis founding pastor of Bridlewood Church, Bullard, Texas, and originator of "Washington, A Man of Prayer."
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.
Posted: 16 Feb 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
After a series of stunning declines through the month of January and the first half of February, global financial markets seem to have found a patch of relative stability at least for the moment. But that does not mean that the crisis is over. On the contrary, all of the hard economic numbers that are coming in from around the world tell us that the global economy is coming apart at the seams. This is especially true when you look at global trade numbers. The amount of stuff that is being bought, sold and shipped around the planet is falling precipitously. So don’t be fooled if stocks go up one day or down the next. The truth is that we are in the early chapters of a brand new economic meltdown, and I believe that all of the signs indicate that it will continue to get worse in the months ahead. The following are 21 new numbers that show that the global economy is absolutely imploding… #1 Chinese exports fell by 11.2 percent year over year in January. #2 Chinese imports were even worse in January. On a year over year basis, they declined a whopping 18.8 percent. #3 It may be hard to believe, but Chinese imports have now plunged for 15 months in a row. #4 In India, exports were down 13.6 percent on a year over year basis in January. #5 In Japan, exports declined 8 percent in December on a year over year basis, while imports plummeted 18 percent. #6 For the sixth time in six years, Japanese GDP growth has gone negative. #7 In the United States, exports were down 7 percent on a year over year basis in December. #8 U.S. factory orders have fallen for 14 months in a row. #9 The Restaurant Performance Index in the United States has dropped to the lowest level that we have seen since 2008. #10 This month the Baltic Dry Index fell below 300 for the first time ever. #11 It is now cheaper to rent a 1,100 foot merchant vessel than it is to rent a Ferrari. #12 Orders for Class 8 trucks in the United States dropped by 48 percent on a year over year basis in January. #13 Due to a lack of demand for trucks, Daimler just laid off 1,250 U.S. workers. #14 Even though Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze oil production at current levels, the price of U.S. oil has still fallen below 30 dollars a barrel. #15 It is being reported that 35 percent of all oil and gas companies around the world are at risk of falling into bankruptcy. #16 According to CNN, 67 oil and gas companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy during 2015. #17 The number of job cuts in the United States skyrocketed 218 percent during the month of January according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. #18 All over America, retail stores are shutting down at a stunning pace. The following list of store closures comes from one of my previous articles… -Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States. -K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months. -J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015. -Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees. -The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America. -Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America. -Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years. -Sears has shut down about 600 stores over the past year or so, but sales at the stores that remain open continue to fall precipitously. #19 The price of gold is enjoying its best quarterly performance in 30 years. #20 Global stocks have fallen into bear market territory, which means that about one-fifth of all global stock market wealth has already been wiped out. #21 Unfortunately for global central banks, they have pretty much run out of ammunition. Since March 2008, central banks have cut interest rates 637 times and they have purchased a staggering 12.3 trillion dollars worth of assets. There is not much more that they can do, and now the next great crisis is upon us. Without any outside influences, the global economy and the global financial system will continue to rapidly fall apart. But if we do have a major “black swan event” take place, that could cause the bottom to fall out at any moment. In particular, I am deeply concerned about the possibility that World War III could be sparked in the Middle East. In an article that I published earlier today entitled “Turkey Is Asking The United States To Take Part In A Ground Invasion Of Syria“, I included a quote from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that reveals just how eager Turkey and Saudi Arabia are for war to begin…
“Some countries like us, Saudi Arabia and some other Western European countries have said that a ground operation is necessary,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters in an interview. However, this kind of action could not be left to regional powers alone. “To expect this only from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is neither right nor realistic. If such an operation is to take place, it has to be carried out jointly, like the (coalition) air strikes,” he said.
The Turks and the Saudis very much want the United States to take a leading role in any ground invasion of Syria, but the Obama administration is not likely to do that. So we shall see if the Turks and the Saudis are willing to go ahead without us. Let us hope that they do not decide to invade Syria, because that could start the biggest war in the Middle East that any of us have ever seen. Unfortunately, Turkey is already attacking. Turkey has been shelling Kurdish and Syrian military positions in northern Syria for four days in a row even though the Obama administration has been urging them to stop. The first month and a half of 2016 has already been quite chaotic, and the stage is set for global events to greatly accelerate during the months ahead. Sadly, the mainstream media in the United States is largely ignoring the preparations for a ground invasion of Syria, and they keep telling us that the global economy is going to be just fine, so most ordinary Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is about to happen.
Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:44 PM PST Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
Last time around it was subprime mortgages, but this time it is oil that is playing a starring role in a global financial crisis. Since the start of 2015, 42 North American oil companies have filed for bankruptcy, 130,000 good paying energy jobs have been lost in the United States, and at this point 50 percent of all energy junk bonds are “distressed” according to Standard & Poor’s. As you will see below, some of the big banks have a tremendous amount of loan exposure to the energy industry, and now they are bracing for big losses. And the longer the price of oil stays this low, the worse the carnage is going to get. Today, the price of oil has been hovering around 29 dollars a barrel, and over the past 18 months the price of oil has fallen by more than 70 percent. This is something that has many U.S. consumers very excited. The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationally is just $1.89 at the moment, and on Monday it was selling for as low as 46 cents a gallon at one station in Michigan. But this oil crash is nothing to cheer about as far as the big banks are concerned. During the boom years, those banks gave out billions upon billions of dollars in loans to fund exceedingly expensive drilling projects all over the world. Now those firms are dropping like flies, and the big banks could potentially be facing absolutely catastrophic losses. The following examples come from CNN…
For instance, Wells Fargo (WFC) is sitting on more than $17 billion in loans to the oil and gas sector. The bank is setting aside $1.2 billion in reserves to cover losses because of the “continued deterioration within the energy sector.” JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is setting aside an extra $124 million to cover potential losses in its oil and gas loans. It warned that figure could rise to $750 million if oil prices unexpectedly stay at their current $30 level for the next 18 months.
Citigroup (C) built up loan loss reserves in the energy space by $300 million. The bank said the move reflects its view that “oil prices are likely to remain low for a longer period of time.” If oil stays around $30 a barrel, Citi is bracing for about $600 million of energy credit losses in the first half of 2016. Citi said that figure could double to $1.2 billion if oil dropped to $25 a barrel and stayed there.
For the moment, these big banks are telling the public that the damage can be contained. But didn’t they tell us the same thing about subprime mortgages in 2008? We are already seeing bank stocks start to slide precipitously. People are beginning to realize that these banks are dangerously exposed to a lot of really bad deals. If the price of oil were to shoot back up above 50 dollars in very short order, the damage would probably be manageable. Unfortunately, that does not appear likely to happen. In fact, now that sanctions have been lifted on Iran, the Iranians are planning to flood the world with massive amounts of oil that they have been storing in tankers at sea…
Iran has been carefully planning for its return from the economic penalty box by hoarding tons of oil in tankers at sea. Now that the U.S. and European Union have lifted some sanctions on Iran, the OPEC country can begin selling its massive stockpile of oil. The sale of this seaborne oil will allow Iran to get an immediate financial boost before it ramps up production. The onslaught of Iranian oil is coming at a terrible time for the global oil markets, which are already drowning in an epic supply glut.
Just the other day, I explained that some of the biggest banks in the world are now projecting that the price of oil could soon fall much, much lower. Morgan Stanley says that it could go as low as 20 dollars a barrel, the Royal Bank of Scotland says that it could go as low as 16 dollars a barrel, and Standard Chartered says that it could go as low as 10 dollars a barrel. But the truth is that the price of oil does not need to go down one penny more to have a catastrophic impact on global financial markets. If it just stays right here, we will see an endless parade of layoffs, energy company bankruptcies and debt defaults. Without any change, junk bonds will continue to crash and financial institutions will continue to go down like dominoes. We are already experiencing a major disaster. Things are already so bad that some forms of low quality crude oil are literally selling for next to nothing. The following comes from Bloomberg…
Oil is so plentiful and cheap in the U.S. that at least one buyer says it would pay almost nothing to take a certain type of low-quality crude. Flint Hills Resources LLC, the refining arm of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch’s industrial empire,said it offered to pay $1.50 a barrel Friday for North Dakota Sour, a high-sulfur grade of crude, according to a corrected list of prices posted on its website Monday. It had previously posted a price of -$0.50. The crude is down from $13.50 a barrel a year ago and $47.60 in January 2014. While the near-zero price is due to the lack of pipeline capacity for a particular variety of ultra low quality crude, it underscores how dire things are in the U.S. oil patch.
A chart that I saw posted on Zero Hedge earlier today can help put all of this into perspective. Whenever the price of oil falls really low relative to the price of gold, there is a major global crisis. Right now an ounce of gold will purchase more oil than ever before, and many believe that this indicates that a new great crisis is upon us…
The number of barrels of oil that a single ounce of gold can buy has never, ever been higher.
All over the planet, big banks are absolutely teeming with bad loans. And to be honest, the big banks in the U.S. are probably in better shape than some of the major banks in Europe and Asia. But once the dominoes start to fall, very few financial institutions are going to escape unscathed. In the coming days I would expect to see more headlines like we just got out of Italy. Apparently, Italian banks are nearing full meltdown mode, and short selling has been temporarily banned. To me, it appears that we are just inches away from full-blown financial panic in Europe. However, just like with the last financial crisis, you never quite know where the next “explosion” is going to happen next. But one thing is for sure – the financial crisis that began during the second half of 2015 is raging out of control, and the pain that we have seen so far is just the beginning.
Posted: 10 Jan 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE blog
The stock market is in far worse shape than we are being told.
As you will see in this article, the average U.S. stock is already down more than 20 percent from the peak of the market. But of course the major indexes are not down nearly that much. As the week begins, the S&P 500 is down 9.8 percent from its 2015 peak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 10.7 percent from its 2015 peak, and the Nasdaq is down 11.0 percent from its 2015 peak.
So if you only look at those indexes, you would think that we are only about halfway to bear market territory. Unfortunately, a few high flying stocks such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google have been masking a much deeper decline for the rest of the market. When the market closed on Friday, 229 of the stocks on the S&P 500 were down at least 20 percent from their 52 week highs, and when you look at indexes that are even broader things are even worse.
For example, let’s take a look at the Standard & Poor’s 1500 index. According to the Bespoke Investment Group, the average stock on that index is down a staggering 26.9 percent from the peak of the market…
Indeed, the Standard & Poor’s 1500 index – a broad basket of large, mid and small company stocks – shows that the average stock’s distance from its 52-week high is 26.9%, according to stats compiled by Bespoke Investment Group through Friday’s close.
“That’s bear market territory!” says Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, the firm that provided USA TODAY with the gloomy price data.
So if the average stock has fallen 26.9 percent, what kind of market are we in?
To me, that is definitely bear market territory.
The rapid decline of the markets last week got the attention of the entire world, but of course this current financial crisis did not begin last week. These stocks have been falling since the middle part of last year. And what Bespoke Investment Group discovered is that small cap stocks have been hurt the most by this current downturn…
Here’s a statistical damage assessment, provided by Bespoke Investment Group, of the pain being felt by the average U.S. stock in the S&P 1500 index:
* Large-company stocks in the S&P 500 index are down 22.6%, on average, from peaks hit in the past 12 months.
* Mid-sized stocks in the S&P 400 index are sporting an average decline of 26.5% since hitting 52-week highs.
* Small stocks in the S&P 600 index are the farthest distance away from their recent peaks. The average small-cap name is 30.7% below its high in the past year.
After looking at those numbers, is there anyone out there that still wants to try to claim that “nothing is happening”?
Over the past six months or so, the sector that has been hit the hardest has been energy. According to CNN, the average energy stock has now fallen 52 percent…
And then there’s energy. The dramatic decline in crude oil prices rocked the energy space. The average energy stock is now down a whopping 52% from its 52-week high, according to Bespoke. The only thing worse than that is small-cap energy, which is down 61%.
If you go up to an energy executive and try to tell him that “nothing is happening”, you might just get punched in the face.
And it is very important to keep in mind that stocks still have a tremendous distance to fall. They are still massively overvalued by historical standards, and this is something that I have covered repeatedly on my website in recent months.
So how far could they ultimately fall?
Well, Dr. John Hussman is convinced that we could eventually see total losses in the 40 to 55 percent range…
I remain convinced that the U.S. financial markets, particularly equities and low-grade debt, are in a late-stage top formation of the third speculative bubble in 15 years.
On the basis of the valuation measures most strongly correlated with subsequent market returns (and that havefully retained that correlation even across recent market cycles), current extremes imply 40-55% market losses over the completion of the current market cycle, with zero nominal and negative real total returns for the S&P 500 on a 10-to-12-year horizon.
These are not worst-case scenarios, but run-of-the-mill expectations.
If the market does fall about 40 percent, that will just bring us into the range of what is considered to be historically “normal”. If some sort of major disaster or emergency were to strike, that could potentially push the market down much, much farther.
And with each passing day, we get even more numbers which seem to indicate that we are entering a very, very deep global recession.
For instance, global trade numbers are absolutely collapsing. This is a point that Raoul Pal hammered home during an interview with CNBC just the other day…
Looking at International Monetary Fund data, “the year-over-year change in global exports is at the second lowest level since 1958,” Raoul Pal, Publisher of the Global Macro Investor told CNBC’s”Fast Money”this week.
Basically, it means economies around the world are shipping their goods at near historically low levels. “Something massive is going on in the global economy and people are missing it,” Pal added.
The steep decline in 2015 exports is second only to 2009, when the global recession led to a 37 percent drop in export growth.
We have never seen global exports collapse this much outside of a recession.
Clearly we are witnessing a tremendous shift, and it boggles my mind that more people cannot see it.
As for this current wave of financial turmoil, it is hard to say how long it will last. As I write this article, markets all over the Middle East are imploding, stocks in Asia are going crazy, currencies are crashing, and carry trades are being unwound at a staggering pace.
But at some point we should expect the level of panic to subside a bit.
If things do temporarily calm down, don’t let that fool you. Global financial markets have not been this fragile since 2008. Any sort of a trigger event is going to cause stocks all over the world to slide even more.
And let us not minimize the damage that has already been done one bit. As you just read, the average stock on the Standard & Poor’s 1500 index is already down 26.9 percent. The financial crisis that erupted during the second half of 2015 has already resulted in trillions of dollars of wealth being wiped out.
When people ask me when the “next financial crisis” is coming, I have a very simple answer for them.
The next financial crisis is not coming.
The next financial crisis is already here.
An angry bear has been released after nearly seven years in hibernation, and the entire world is going to be absolutely shocked by what happens next.
Posted: 07 Jan 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE blog
We have never had a year start the way that 2016 has started. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have both posted their worst four-day starts to a year ever. Canadian stocks are now down 21 percent since September, and it has been an absolute bloodbath in Europe over the past four days. Of course the primary catalyst for all of this is what has been going on in China.
There has been an emergency suspension of trading in China two times within the past four days, and nobody is quite certain what is going to happen next. Eventually this wave of panic selling will settle down, but that won’t mean that this crisis will be over. In fact, what is coming is going to be much worse than what we have already seen.
On Thursday I was doing a show with some friends, and we were amazed that stocks just seemed to keep falling and falling and falling. The Dow closed down 392 points, and the NASDAQ got absolutely slammed. At this point, the Dow and the NASDAQ are both officially in “correction territory”, and some of the talking heads on television are warning that this could be the beginning of a “bear market”. But of course some of the other “experts” are insisting that this is just a temporary bump in the road.
But what everyone can agree on is that we have never seen a start to a year like this one. The following comes from CNN…
The global market freakout of 2016 just got worse.
The latest scare came on Thursday as China’s stock market crashed 7% overnight and crude oil plummeted to the lowest level in more than 12 years.
The Dow dropped 392 points on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%, while the Nasdaq tumbled 3%.
The wave of selling has knocked the Dow down 911 points, or more than 5% so far this year. That’s the worst four-day percentage loss to start a year on record, according to FactSet stats that go back to 1897.
When CNN starts sounding like The Economic Collapse Blog, you know that things are really bad. I particularly like their use of the phrase “global market freakout”. I might have to borrow that one.
Even some of the biggest and most trusted stocks are plummeting. For instance, Apple dropped to $96.45 on Thursday. It is now down a total of 28 percent since hitting a record high of more than 134 dollars a share back in April.
So that means that if someone put all of their retirement money into Apple stock last April (which may have seemed like a really good idea at that time), by now more than one-fourth of that money is gone.
For months, I have been warning that the exact same patterns that we witnessed just prior to the great stock market crash of 2008 were happening again. To me, the parallels between 2008 and 2015/2016 were just uncanny. And now other very prominent names are making similar comparisons. According to the Washington Post, George Soros says that the way this new crisis is unfolding “reminds me of the crisis we had in 2008″…
Influential investor George Soros said that China had a “major adjustment problem” on its hands. “I would say it amounts to a crisis,” he told an economic forum in Sri Lanka, according to Bloomberg News. “When I look at the financial markets, there is a serious challenge which reminds me of the crisis we had in 2008.”
Don’t get me wrong – I am certainly not a supporter of George Soros. My point is that we are starting to hear a lot of really ominous talk from a lot of different directions. All over the world, people are starting to understand that the next great financial crisis is already here.
As I write this tonight, I just feel quite a bit of sadness. A lot of hard working people are going to lose a lot of money this year, and that includes people that I know personally. I wish that my voice had been clearer and louder. I wish that I could have done more to get people to understand what was coming. I wish that my warnings could have made more of a difference.
I just think about how I would feel if everything that I had worked for all my life was suddenly wiped out. And that is what is going to end up happening to some of these people. When you lose everything, it can be absolutely debilitating.
You only make money in the markets if you get out in time. And unfortunately, most of the general population will be like deer in the headlights and won’t know which way to move.
There will be up days for the markets in our near future. But don’t be fooled by them. It is important to remember that some of the greatest up days in U.S. stock market history were right in the middle of the stock market crash of 2008. So don’t let a rally fool you into thinking that the crisis is over.
The financial crisis that began in the second half of 2015 is now accelerating, and everything that we have witnessed over the past few days is just a natural extension of what has already been happening.
Personally, I am just really looking forward to this weekend when I will hopefully get caught up on some rest. Plus, my Washington Redskins will be hosting a playoff game on Sunday, and if they find a way to win that game that will put me in a particularly positive mood.
It is good to enjoy these simple pleasures while we still can. Unprecedented chaos is coming this year, and we are all going to need strength and courage for what is ahead.
On the first Christmas, the shepherds in Bethlehem learned that Jesus' birth was a cause for celebration. The angel said in Luke 2:10: "For I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people." It's too bad Christmas cheer is in low supply these days. I don't know if it's due to the mudslinging in this presidential campaign or the warmer-than-usual December, but people in general are angrier, more fearful and more negative than I can ever remember.
Christians should be the happiest people this time of year. But if Facebook posts are any indication of the national mood, folks aren't just mad—they're outraged. And others are so spooked by blood moons, Obama conspiracy theories and Muslim terrorists that they are ready to head for the hills to hide. It's as if the Grinch really did steal Christmas.
Personally I believe we have a lot to rejoice about during this holiday. If you only listen to Fox News or CNN, the world is a gloomy place—with plane crashes, terrorist attacks and bickering politicians. But I don't let today's alarming headlines steal my peace. I don't let angry opinions steal my love. And I don't let grumpy people steal my joy.
Here are 10 positive trends I'm celebrating this Christmas:
1. Muslims are coming to Christ faster than ever. David Garrison, author of the new book A Wind in the House of Islam, says something unprecedented is stirring in the Muslim world. "We are living in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history," he writes—citing evidence that dozens of powerful Christian movements have started among Muslims since the year 2000.
2. The gospel is transforming China. The British newspaper The Telegraph reported two years ago that Christianity is growing so fast in China that it will most likely be considered a Christian nation by 2030, when its Christian population will exceed that of the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Given China's economic power in the world, this has huge implications for our future.
3. The United States is in a church-planting boom. There has been lots of handwringing about the decline of mainline churches in America. But church growth expert Ed Stetzer says new churches are actually being planted in the United States faster than old ones are dying—and research shows that 60-80 percent of the people who join new churches are from unchurched backgrounds. That means more people are being reached with the gospel today than when dead religious churches talked and sang about evangelism but never did it.
4. Latin America is experiencing a political and spiritual awakening. Recent elections in Venezuela were one more indication that leftist governments are losing power in Latin America. Today two-thirds of Venezuela's parliament members oppose leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Similar movements against socialism and corruption are occurring in Argentina, Brazil and other Latin countries—at a time when evangelical churches are growing at unprecedented rates.
5. Spiritual hunger is rising in our nation. I'm not denying that segments of our culture have grown hostile to Christian faith. But the popularity of faith-based films such as War Room caught Hollywood by surprise this year. Meanwhile popular Bible teachers such as Joyce Meyer, Andy Stanley and T.D. Jakes get as much traction on Twitter and other social media than secular celebrities such as Katy Perry or Lady Gaga. And the amount of Christian content on You Tube, Periscope or other digital media today is staggering.
6. Global violence is actually decreasing. Because we have easy access to news, and we hear about mass shootings or terrorist attacks as soon as they occur, Americans think the world is more dangerous than ever. That's actually not true. If you compare violent deaths from wars, genocide and crime over the centuries, the numbers have never been lower than today—even with 21st-century terrorists on the loose.
7. There are fewer dictators in the world. The number of authoritarian countries has actually dropped from a high of almost 90 in 1976 to about 25 now. Democracy is growing—and it's likely that authoritarian nations in the Middle East (such as Iran) will see drastic political changes in our lifetime.
8. The Bible is still the most popular book ever. The Bible ranks at the top of all favorite book lists among Americans. And according to the Guinness Book of World Records, it is also the best-selling and most widely distributed book in the world. Nearly 4 billion copies of the Bible were printed and sold globally in the last five decades—far exceeding any other book.
9. We can still celebrate Christmas. Don't worry about Starbucks' decision to take a generic holiday message off their coffee cups. Instead of complaining about the war on Christmas, let's be more proactive about telling people why Jesus was born. Nobody is stopping us from doing that.
10. Jesus is still on the throne. The last book of the Bible reminds me that when it's time for Jesus to come back, He will return victorious. All His enemies will bow down and acknowledge His lordship. Jesus is not worried about ISIS, Hillary Clinton, gay marriage, illegal immigrants, Obamacare or the war on Christmas.
Don't let the evening news steal your joy. Christ is born. We have something to celebrate.
J. Lee Gradyis the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.
Posted: 15 Nov 2015 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
Words cannot adequately describe the utter horror that was unleashed on the streets of Paris, France on Friday. CNN is calling it “the worst violence witnessed in France since World War II“, and even though it happened a couple of days ago now, many of us are still having a really tough time processing what took place. Somehow, a small group of less than 10 radical Islamists was able to unleash a coordinated wave of attacks that killed at least 129 people and injured at least 350.
All of this comes less than a year after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, and many in the western world are now starting to understand that something has fundamentally changed. Even though France has a highly advanced anti-terrorism infrastructure, and even though it also has some of the strictest anti-gun laws in Europe, none of that did anything to prevent these attacks. Despite all of our advanced technology, the openness of our society makes us highly vulnerable to Islamic terror. And as more waves of refugees from the Middle East are absorbed by both Europe and the United States, it is inevitable that there will be more attacks like this.
According to Google, the definition of a “soft target” is “a person or thing that is relatively unprotected or vulnerable, especially to military or terrorist attack.” And as we just saw in France, the western world is literally teeming with soft targets. I am talking about sporting events, concert halls, schools, churches, shopping malls, power stations, water treatment facilities, mass transit, etc.
For those that wish to create terror, the opportunities are endless.
In the western world, we generally rely on certain deterrents in order to maintain order. Most sane people do not want to be shot, and most sane people do not want to go to prison.
But what do you do when there are large numbers of crazy people that are actually looking forward to being martyrs?
We don’t really have a defense for the kind of attack that we just witnessed in France. What can you really do when you are dealing with large numbers of homicidal maniacs that are not afraid to die and that can strike anywhere at any time? Unless you can identify the terrorists or their plans ahead of time, it becomes a guessing game.
And the level of evil demonstrated by these terrorists is truly astounding. At the Bataclan Theater, two of the terrorists fired their AK-47s indiscriminately into the crowd for a full 10 minutes…
At the Bataclan Theater, at least 75 people attending a concert by a U.S. rock band were killed and many more injured, according to authorities. Eyewitnesses spoke of two young men armed with AK47 assault rifles firing repetitively and dispassionately into the crowded venue, targeting helpless victims cowering on the floor.
Julien Pearce, a radio reporter who was inside the concert hall, told CNN he saw two terrorists at the back of the venue, “firing randomly to the crowd. People yelled, screamed, everybody lying on the floor.And it lasted for ten minutes, ten minutes, ten horrific minutes, where everybody was on the floor covering their heads.”
But these latest attacks are just part of a wider trend of chaos and terror that has descended upon western Europe. For much, much more on this, please check out this video.
Sadly, what Europe is currently experiencing is coming here too.
When I first start dealing with someone new, I watch to see if that individual will actually follow through on what he or she has promised. Sometimes this happens, but sometimes it does not.
In the case of ISIS, I would have to say that they are indeed following through on what they said they would do. Tonight, much of Europe is completely gripped by fear and terror, and the head of ISIS has promised a “direct confrontation” with the United States as well…
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), issued a rare audio message back on January 21 in which he flatly stated his group’s intention to march on Baghdad and move into “direct confrontation” with the United States.
“Our last message is to the Americans. Soon we will be in direct confrontation, and the sons of Islam have prepared for such a day,” Baghdadi said. “So watch, for we are with you, watching.”
As WND has pointed out, there have been dozens of Islamic terror attacks on U.S. soil since 2001, but most of them have been relatively small.
Unfortunately, I believe that we are moving into a new era. Instead of just being satisfied with killing dozens or hundreds of people, these terrorists will start getting a hold of weapons that can kill thousands. Eventually we will see terror attacks inside this country that will make 9/11 look like a Sunday picnic. And Barack Obama is certainly not helping things by “resettling” thousands upon thousands of Syrian refugees in communities all over America.
Of course increasing terror is just a part of the overall picture. Many have described what is coming to the United States and Europe as a “perfect storm”, and I would agree with that assessment.
Even without Islamic terror, we live at a time of rising civil unrest. The deep divisions in our country have been demonstrated by what happened in Ferguson, in Baltimore and more recently at the University of Missouri. Americans are angrier and more frustrated than ever before, and the mainstream media is constantly playing up the divisions between various groups. And thanks to Barack Obama’s refusal to protect our borders, there are now 1.4 million members of criminal gangs living in our cities.
Violent crime is already on the rise in our urban areas, and it is going to get even worse as we plunge into recession. For instance, the city of Baltimore recently recorded its 300th homicide of the year after only seeing 211 for all of 2014. Our major cities have never been more primed for civil unrest, and I believe that we are going to see widespread rioting, looting and chaos in the years ahead as the economy totally falls to pieces.
In addition to increased Islamic terror and civil unrest, I also believe we are moving into a time of great governmental shaking, increased tensions between global superpowers, unprecedented natural disasters, and the greatest financial unraveling the world has ever seen.
All of these trends will feed into one another to create the “perfect storm” that I mentioned earlier. What this is going to mean is a dramatic change in our standard of living, our liberties and freedoms will continue to be stripped away, and our world is going to be transformed at a pace that very few of us ever imagined was possible.
If you have the feeling that everything has changed after what just happened in France, you are right.
But this is just the beginning.
What is coming in the weeks and months ahead is going to be even worse, and it is going to shock the entire planet.
Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
Share on Facebook
Tweet
