Posted: 25 May 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
It was only a matter of time before our deeply divided nation was going to start coming apart at the seams. Waves of anger, frustration, violence and civil unrest are starting to sweep across the United States, and political rallies for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have become a focal point for releasing some of that energy. The angry mob that threw rocks, bottles and burning T-shirts at police and Donald Trump supporters on Tuesday night wanted to get the attention of the national media, and they got it in droves.
Now that the election is less than five months away, this kind of scene is going to be repeated over and over, and this is something that I warned about back in March. Millions upon millions of our young people have fully embraced the radical left, and they have already made it exceedingly clear that they are not afraid to use violence to advance their cause. Never before in my lifetime have I seen America so divided. Our politicians and the mainstream media have been endlessly pitting various groups against one another for years, and wherever you look hearts are growing very cold. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I believe that this is going to be the most chaotic election season that we have ever experienced, and the chaos and violence that are going to be unleashed over the next five months are going to shock the entire world. On Tuesday night, the angry mob that gathered outside of the Albuquerque Convention Center didn’t seem to care who they hurt as they unleashed their anger. According to Fox News, some of the protesters even tried to set police horses on fire… The rampaging gang was made up of anti-Trump goons — waving the Mexican flag and burning a Trump banner.How sick and twisted do you have to be to try to set a horse on fire? But this is what happens when a spirit of violence descends on a group of people. The consequences can quickly spiral out of control in unexpected ways. Here is how CNS News described the chaotic scene outside of the Albuquerque Convention Center… In one of the presidential campaign year’s more grisly spectacles, protesters in New Mexico opposing Donald Trump’s candidacy threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades.According to at least one report, rocks thrown by some of the rioters were actually flying through the convention center windows, and a number of innocent people got hurt. What would make people act like that? This isn’t what America is supposed to look like. But when fundamental institutions such as the family and the church start to crumble, this is how people start to behave. You can see a clip that includes footage of protesters jumping on police cars last night in Albuquerque right here… And of course the spirit of violence and civil unrest that is rising in America is not limited to Donald Trump rallies. In major cities all over the nation, violent crime is rising by double digit percentages. In Chicago, the number of people that have been shot so far in 2016 is 50 percent higher than during the same period last year… This past weekend in Chicago saw another five killed and 40 wounded in shootings, slightly down from Mother’s day weekend when eight people were killed and 42 wounded. The two weekends are indicative of what’s taking place in the homicide riddled city, in which the number of people shot so far this year is running an astonishing 50% above this time last year – what’s worse, summer is not even here yet, which is traditionally the city’s most violent period.Yikes! Other big cities are seeing similar spikes in violent crime. The following is an excerpt from a recent article in the New York Times… Experts cannot agree on what to call a recent rise in homicides, much less its cause, but new data on Friday that showed a sharp spike in homicide rates in more than 20 cities rekindled debate over whether it was time for alarm.If this is happening now, with the stock market soaring and unemployment a bit lower than it was during the depths of the last recession, what is going to happen when things start getting really bad in this country? Desperate people do desperate things, and if people are willing to hurl rocks and set horses on fire because they are upset at a political candidate, what are they going to do when there is no food for their families? Just look at what is happening down in Venezuela. People are hunting down dogs and cats because they don’t have anything to eat. There have been at least 107 mass looting events so far in 2016 alone, and crime is completely and utterly out of control. What is happening down there is eventually coming to America too, and the chaos and violence that we will see during the coming months will be a small preview of that. The funny thing is that none of these political protests are going to matter anyway. It remains my contention that the elite will move heaven and earth to do whatever is necessary to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. They have already spent tens of millions of dollars against him and they have continuously had their media outlets put out “hit pieces” in an attempt to destroy him. But their bag of tricks goes a lot deeper than that, and this is not a game to them. I know that a lot of people out there have some very high hopes for Donald Trump, and we should be praying for him and for his family. However, the time when the people determined the direction of this nation is long past, and the elite guard their monopoly over the political process very zealously. |
When I surrendered to the call of God several years ago, I did it soberly because I knew I was stepping into a dangerous assignment. Despite what you might hear from a few prosperity preachers wearing silk suits and pancake makeup, ministry is not glamorous—nor is it risk-free.
When you answer God's call, you put your life on the line. Just ask the apostle Paul, who told the Galatians, "From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Gal. 6:17). The Greek word for "marks" is stigma, and it refers to the marks that were burned into the flesh of a slave to show who owned him.
Paul was saying, "I have the scars to prove I serve Jesus."
Ministry has a long list of occupational hazards, and I do an injustice to any young leader today if I don't warn him or her of what might happen on the job. I'm not sharing this to scare anybody. But if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can require businesses to display a poster to encourage workplace safety, we should at least read this list of ministerial hazards when leaders are ordained.
To all my young friends who are considering a ministry career, I offer these warnings:
1. The devil will attack you and your loved ones. I don't focus on the devil or his demons, but it is foolish to be ignorant of hell's schemes. Satan hates ministers. You are in a war, and your enemy plays dirty. You must learn to fight both defensively and offensively if you expect to win.
2. Religious people will hate you. Jesus and Paul both proved that persecution comes not just from worldly unbelievers but from self-righteous saints who think they are doing God a favor by discrediting you. Religious people hate change. Many pastors I know have been chewed up and spit out by mean-spirited people who love their sacred cows more than they love Jesus. God's leaders must have the guts to challenge lifeless, status quo tradition.
3. You will face discouragement often. Preaching is a unique effort that requires you to lean wholly on God for a word from heaven. No wonder it is emotionally draining! Charles Spurgeon told his students that he often got depressed after intense ministry. He wrote: "How often, on Lord's-day evenings, do we feel as if life were completely washed out of us! After pouring out our souls over our congregations, we feel like empty earthen pitchers which a child might break." Don't be shocked when heavy feelings come.
4. Your pride will be wounded. You may think your sermon was awesome, but some people will yawn, some will sleep and others will remind you of the points you missed. Don't let the criticism make you bitter; allow it to nail your flesh to the cross so you can remember that ministry is not about you anyway.
5. Your heart will be broken. You may invest your time and energy into people who eventually walk away without even thanking you. Sometimes a close disciple may prove to be a Judas. Don't let disappointment cause you to close your heart to people. Keep on loving and giving, despite the heartache.
6. Your knees will become calloused. Any good leader knows that prayer is the fuel that keeps him or her going. As long as hands are raised to heaven and hearts are bowed low, heaven's oil will not run out. Never let the flame of prayer go out in your personal life.
7. Your priorities will be turned upside down. For me, God's call included traveling—which meant spending lots of time away from home. I would personally rather sleep in my own bed than in a strange bed in Nigeria or India, but when you pray, "Here I am, Lord, send me," you do not have the luxury of running your own schedule. Your life is not your own.
8. Your dreams and ambitions will be misunderstood. Joseph was thrown in a pit after he shared his dream. David's brothers questioned his motives when he came to the battle to challenge Goliath. Anyone who attempts great things for God will be maligned. If you are worried about your reputation, or you want everyone to say nice things about you, don't pursue a ministry career.
9. Your faith will be stretched to the breaking point. God gave Moses a stick and told him to split the Red Sea. He told Gideon to win a battle with 300 ill-equipped soldiers. Leaders who are following the Spirit will be constantly challenged to look beyond natural circumstances and believe in God's supernatural ability. This is never comfortable. Jesus calls us out of the boat and onto the water. Get used to it.
10. Your character will be tested in the heat of God's furnace. The work of the Refiner is never finished. You are engaged in a heavenly process, and you go from one level of glory to the next. The Spirit will regularly turn up the heat to test your motives, adjust your attitude and chisel your character until you look like Christ. The best leaders have learned to live in the fire so they can be examples to the flock. 
J. Lee Grady is 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.
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