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.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Two-Thirds Of Americans Think That They Are Middle Class – But Millions Of Them Are Dead Wrong - Michael Snyder
Posted: 12 Dec 2018 Micahel Synder
The middle class has been steadily shrinking, but most Americans still believe that they are a part of it. Perhaps this is due at least in part to the egalitarian values which have been pounded into our heads for most of our lives. Very few Americans would have the gall to define themselves as “upper class”, and I have never met anyone that would describe themselves as “lower class”. In place of “lower class”, many politicians now like to use the much more politically correct term “working class”, but a more apt description might be “the working poor”. Today, half of all American workers make less than $30,533 a year, and you certainly cannot support a middle class lifestyle for a family with children on that kind of income. Our incomes have stagnated as the cost of living has soared, and the middle class has experienced steady erosion as a result. But despite all that, 68 percent of all Americans still consider themselves to be “middle class”… That’s according to new data from Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress Study, which found that 68 percent of Americans consider themselves middle-class, down 2 percent from last year. However, because of the fuzziness of the definition, far more Americans consider themselves middle-class than technically qualify based on income.So according to that survey, somewhere around 18 percent of all Americans wrongly believe that they belong to the middle class. There are 325 million people living in the United States today, and so we are potentially talking about 58 million people that think that they are middle class but really aren’t. Other surveys have come up with similar numbers. For example, one recent survey discovered that 22 percent of non-middle income Americans identified themselves as middle income… Overall, 22 percent of the non-middle-income Americans surveyed incorrectly classified themselves as middle income. The majority of those people are actually lower-income, with approximately 19 percent of the low-income Americans surveyed defining themselves as middle income. Only approximately 2 percent of upper-income Americans mistakenly defined themselves as middle income.Of course even if someone can be defined as “middle income” does not necessarily mean that things are going well. Today, most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck at least part of the time. Living on the edge financially can be a constant source of stress, and it can easily start taking over your entire life. To illustrate this point, I would like to share with you a short excerpt from a recent article by Lauren Wellbank… Like so many Americans, we struggle to get by each and every month. The compounding interest we rack up by always being a breath away from being broke plays a large role in that. We pay interest on purchases that we can’t afford to pay out of pocket in the moment (like our electric bill when my pay was short last month), and then we pay late fees when we have to take advantage of that grace period. Our monthly payments never go down because we can’t get out in front of any of it.Have you ever been there? Perhaps you are there right now. If so, you are definitely not alone. Most American families are deeply struggling, and it is getting worse with each passing year. Meanwhile, the folks at the very top of the pyramid have been thriving. In fact, one study discovered that the gap between the wealthy and the poor in the United States is the largest that it has been since the 1920s. We truly are living in a “new Gilded Age”, and the biggest winners have been those in the “top 0.1 percent”. The following comes from Matthew Stewart… It is in fact the top 0.1 percent who have been the big winners in the growing concentration of wealth over the past half century. According to the UC Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the 160,000 or so households in that group held 22 percent of America’s wealth in 2012, up from 10 percent in 1963. If you’re looking for the kind of money that can buy elections, you’ll find it inside the top 0.1 percent alone.It has been said that money cannot buy happiness, and that is true. But without a doubt the numbers show that there are some tremendous disadvantages to being poor. Here is more from Stewart… Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and liver disease are all two to three times more common in individuals who have a family income of less than $35,000 than in those who have a family income greater than $100,000. Among low-educated, middle-aged whites, the death rate in the United States—alone in the developed world—increased in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Driving the trend is the rapid growth in what the Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton call “deaths of despair”—suicides and alcohol- and drug-related deaths.Unfortunately, economic conditions are starting to deteriorate once again, and it is those at the bottom of the totem poll that are going to feel the pain first. The period of relative stability that we had been enjoying is rapidly ending, and just about everyone can see that hard times are ahead of us. A new survey of corporate CFOs was just released that contains some eye-popping numbers. It turns out that 49 percent of them believe that a recession will start by the end of next year, and a whopping 82 percent of them believe that a recession will have started by the end of 2020… Considering that major corporations have been busy shedding workers, it follows that corporate finance leaders see a U.S. recession ahead. Evidence of a slowing economy has been popping up, including recent large-scale cuts in head count by U.S. corporations such as General Motors and Verizon.This is yet another example of the major psychological shift that is taking place in our nation. The overwhelming consensus is that economic activity is going to slow down, and it won’t be people with millions of dollars in their bank accounts that will be suffering. No, once again it will mostly be people that are barely getting by that will be losing their jobs and their homes, and nobody is going to come riding to their rescue. About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is publisher of The Most Important News and the author of four books including The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. The post Two-Thirds Of Americans Think That They Are Middle Class – But Millions Of Them Are Dead Wrong appeared first on The Economic Collapse. |
Apple's CEO Promises to Discriminate Against Views He Doesn't Like - That May Include Franklin Graham's Biblical Response - CBN News Steve Warren
Apple's CEO Promises to Discriminate Against Views He Doesn't Like - That May Include
Franklin Graham's Biblical Response
12-12-2018
CBN News Steve Warren
If Apple doesn't like your type of speech or news content, they will ban it. That's what Apple's CEO Tim Cook recently told the liberal Anti-Defamation League when the organization presented Cook with the "Courage Against Hate" award.
CNSNews.com reports in his remarks, Cook, who's openly gay and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, defended his company's banning of certain speech or news media on Apple's platforms when they "violate the values of the company." He said that not banning what is "wrong" is irresponsible and "a sin."
Responding directly to Cook in a Facebook post, Franklin Graham asked the question, "Who defines Morality?" And Graham reminded his followers that Cook's comments "should concern all of us."
Cook said, "We believe the future should belong to those who use technology to build a better, more inclusive, and more hopeful world. I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgment, our morality, our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside in a moment of trial is a sin."
"The only thing is, as sinful human beings, we don't get to define morality or sin according to our own desires, preferences, or agendas," Graham pointed out. "Tim Cook can't; I can't; and you can't.
Sin and morality has been defined by the God of the universe. God and God alone. God's Word, the Bible, is the standard by which questions of good and evil, and right and wrong, are determined," Graham continued.
"We run into all kinds of problems if Apple or Google or anyone else tries to censor according to their own personal code of right and wrong. That was the problem among God's people a thousand years before Christ appeared, as the Old Testament Book of Judges drew to a close: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25)," he concluded.
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"2019: A New Day of Destiny! Your Barren Winter is Over" - Elaine Tavolacci, The Elijah List
"2019: A New Day of Destiny! Your Barren Winter is Over" Elaine Tavolacci, Staten Island, NY
December 13, 2018
From the Desk of Steve Shultz:
I really appreciate Elaine Tavolacci and her ministry...she always has a fresh word in season from the Lord.
Elaine herself has been through some very challenging times, and I appreciate her transparency and her uttermost faith in God to come through for her and for the Body of Christ.
Elaine shares this refreshing revelation about this upcoming year:
For many of you who have been going through challenging trials this past year, the bondage of your barren winter is coming to an end. A new day of destiny will burst forth as Jesus is calling you to run into the new level that He has for you. He is restoring life and new growth to the areas that have been desolate and appear to be dead.
That word speaks much LIFE to many of you who need to hear it. Now read on and get ready for God to bring you out of barrenness and into a new day of destiny!
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Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
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"2019: A New Day of Destiny! Your Barren Winter is Over"
Elaine Tavolacci, Staten Island, NY
As I began writing this word for 2019, the Lord brought this Scripture to me from 1 Corinthians 2:9: "But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
We are coming into a year where we are going to experience many God surprises. God is going to intervene in things that we could not accomplish in our own strength.
Change is in the Air
2018 has been an extremely difficult year for many people. I received numerous prayer requests for healing, financial difficulties, turmoil in families, and problems in ministries. On a recent afternoon after reading in Song of Solomon, I saw a picture that my friend posted on Facebook. In this picture she was wearing two watches. She jokingly asked, "Does anyone know what this means prophetically?" She has been through so much trauma in her life and especially the past year—losing loved ones and battling sickness and attacks on her ministry.
When I looked at that picture, the Lord told me to send her these Scriptures from Song of Solomon 2:11-13 in The Passion Translation:
"The season has changed, the bondage of your barren winter has ended, and the season of hiding is over and gone. The rains have soaked the earth and left it bright with blossoming flowers. The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived. I hear the cooing of doves in our land, filling the air with songs to awaken you and guide you forth. Can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth around you? The early signs of my purposes and plans are bursting forth.
The budding vines of new life are now blooming everywhere. The fragrance of their flowers whispers, 'There is change in the air.' Arise, my love, my beautiful companion, and run with me to the higher place. For now is the time to arise and come away with me."
The Bondage of Your Barren Winter is Coming to an End
As I was writing this to my friend, the Holy Spirit told me to release this word for the Body of Christ for 2019. For many of you who have been going through challenging trials this past year, the bondage of your barren winter is coming to an end. A new day of destiny will burst forth as Jesus is calling you to run into the new level that He has for you. He is restoring life and new growth to the areas that have been desolate and appear to be dead.
Some of you have been through a pruning process and it hasn't been pleasant. In order to promote new growth, some things must be removed from your life that are not bearing fruit. The Lord has also removed some people from your life so that He could bring you to this higher place and fulfill His plans for your life and ministry.
The Holy Spirit is releasing a heightened sense of discernment in the coming year. It is not a natural discernment, but you will know things by the Spirit.
Some of you are going to begin having vivid dreams. As you seek Him for the interpretation, He will reveal to you the meaning of the symbolism and metaphors of the dreams according to His Word. There will be directional dreams as well as warning dreams. Through these dreams He will release the mysteries and secrets of His Kingdom and you will learn to recognize His voice and acknowledge His majesty.
The Importance of Keeping Your Heart Pure
Then the Lord gave me this Scripture from Joshua 3:5, "And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"
It is important that we keep our hearts pure because God cannot release His glory or share His secrets with someone with a sinful or calloused heart. Don't allow the enemy to plant seeds of bitterness or create thorny areas in your heart.
A defiled heart will not perceive things in the light of God but will misconstrue the truth about others.
Be careful what you hear. If you constantly listen to the deception of liars or talebearers, you will also get distorted images about other people. As we come before Him with clean hands and a pure heart, He will be begin to flow through us unhindered. As you open up the gates of your heart, the King of glory will come in.
2019: A Time of Walking in His Authority
2019 will be a time of walking in the authority of Jesus and demonstrating His Kingdom on the earth. Jesus is about to release His glory to a barren and desperate generation. He is looking for those who are not afraid to go into the enemy's camp and places where others fear to go. He is looking for those who are radical and have no hidden agendas but to do God's will. They have been chosen to deliver others from the very things that they were set free from, and nothing will derail them from their mission.
As we submit to the Lord in the secret place, we will see an open display and experience the demonstration of the power of God in our lives and ministries.
Daniel 2:22, "He reveals profound mysteries beyond man's understanding. He knows all hidden things, for He is light, and darkness is no obstacle to Him."
Job 12:22, "He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light."
(To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
Elaine Tavolacci
A Word in Season
Email: Elaine@awordinseason.
Website: www.awordinseason.
Elaine Tavolacci resides in Staten Island, New York. She has been a student of the Word for twenty-nine years. She has a prophetic gift as well as a ministry of encouragement, which teaches the Body of Christ to walk in the fullness of what the Lord has called them to. She teaches others how to be overcomers in every area of their lives and understands the power and authority that Jesus has assigned to them. Her ministry, "A Word in Season," has been an encouragement to others for nine years. She has learned the transforming power of the Word of God and encourages others that nothing is impossible with God.
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