Murdered Pastor's Wife Amanda Blackburn Wrote This Love Letter to Jesus Hours Before She Died - JESSILYN JUSTICE CHARISMA NEWS

Davey and Amanda Blackburn with their son, Weston. (Courtesy)

Murdered Pastor's Wife Amanda Blackburn Wrote This Love Letter to Jesus Hours Before She Died

12/3/2015 JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma news

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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As reports circulated of the murder of Amanda Blackburn, everyone from her husband to her father to her sister focused on one fact: Blackburn was in love with Jesus. 

Her husband, Davey Blackburn, recently tweeted Amanda's last journal entry, mere hours before her death.  

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus," she scrawls, noting the classic hymn. "Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace." 

Below the music, she described her church family.  

"What an amazing Sunday yesterday," she wrote. "Truly filled my (heart) to see so many people in your church. Learning, growing, meeting You and taking next steps. Thank You for letting me get to see all of this (with) my own eyes. I love You, Lord. Glory and praise to You." 

Amanda's alleged murderers have now been arrested. "The Kill Gang," as they call themselves, reportedly broke into another house in the Blackburns' neighborhood before breaking and entering Davey and Amanda's home where they sexually assaulted and shot Amanda. 

Despite the violence against his wife, Davey has maintained an attitude of forgiveness and focus on his faith.  

His Twitter account is full of Bible verses about sorrow and gratitude, joy and resting in the strength of the Lord. 

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Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) 130-Year-Old Testimony of Jewish Life in Shiloah (Silwan), Jerusalem

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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130-Year-Old Testimony of Jewish Life in Shiloah (Silwan), Jerusalem Posted: 03 Dec 2015 An annotated picture found in the British Library's Endangered Archives collection Annotated picture of Shiloah (Silwan) from the Bonfil albums digitized by the British Library (circa 1890s) The Shiloah (Silwan) village south of Jerusalem's Old City dates back to Biblical times. Water from its spring was used in the Jewish Temples. Jewish royalty was buried in its caves with Hebrew inscriptions naming the deceased. Over the centuries the hill was inhabited by Christian monks and Arab families. Below is one of the first photographs taken in Palestine in 1844 showing Silwan's small size.  It was taken by Girault de Prangey, a student of  the inventor of photography, Louis Daguerre.  View more of de Prangey's photographs here. Many of his photographs are now online at the French National Library. The village of Shiloah (Silwan) in 1844 and the Kidron Valley (Smithsonian Magazine) The 3,000 Maison Bonfils photographs from the Fouad Debbas Collection in Beirut digitized by the British Library have the barest of captions -- with the exception of one album with lengthy English annotations. The first photograph above provides an example. It describes the Yemenite Jewish community that moved into the Shiloah village in the 1880s.  Below is the handwritten caption. The caption on the photograph reads, "The village of Siloam on the east bank of the Kidron Valley.  The Pool of Siloam is opposite to the village on the west bank.  The inhabitants are Mohammedans except at the extreme south (right hand of picture) where the Yemenite Jews live in a small colony of tiny stone buildings as shown in a long low patch of white." On the right side of the picture, adjacent to the Jewish housing, the album owner wrote, "The Yemenite Colony." Photographers of the 19th century focused their lenses on the Yemenite residents, especially the photographers from the American Colony where the Yemenites' arrival in 1882 was viewed as the "Gaddites" returning home and as a messianic harbinger. We had the privilege of providing an essential detail to the Library of Congress' picture in its archives of the "village of Siloah" (circa 1901). The man, we explained after consultation with Yemenite historians, is a Yemenite Jew, originally from Habani in Yemen. He was probably among the residents of Shiloah. The American Colony photographers took scores of pictures of Yemenite Jews and helped provide food and shelter to the poor immigrants. Poor Yemenite Jewish family (circa 1890s). An American Colony caption read "Group of Yemenite Jews"  "A scene in a Jewish Yemenite Quarter," according to the Library of  Congress caption. The picture, possibly shot in Shiloah, was taken in  the 1930s when the Jews of Silwan (Shiloah) were suffering  from attacks from their Arab  neighbors. They eventually fled  their homes. Today, Jewish families have returned to Shiloah.

Prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel Just Fulfilled in the Land of Israel - CHARLENE AARON/CBN CHARISMA NEWS

Jews are returning to their homeland in a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. (Reuters)


Prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel Just Fulfilled in the Land of Israel

12/3/2015 CHARLENE AARON/CBN  Charisma News

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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Earlier this year, immigrants from North America landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport to make Israel their home.

Seeing Jewish people return to Israel is literally watching Bible prophecy unfold. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel speak of the Jewish return to their ancestral homeland.

"It says several times in Isaiah, 'I will lift up a banner to nations'—to the gentiles. They shall bring your sons and your daughters back," Operation Exodus head Debra Minotti told CBN News.

Operation Exodus helps Jews return to Israel. Minotti says there's been a 79 percent increase in inquiries about assistance with immigrating since 2014.

"If I can just give glory to God because this is His work," Minotti said. "In 1948, Israel had 800,000 Jewish people in the land, and they became a nation in one day like Isaiah said. Now there's over 6 million, so that is incredible over 67 years. And so they're going back by the plane loads yearly." 

"Last year, there were 27,000 [who] made aliyah [immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return]," she continued, "and [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin [Netanyahu] said...this year he said to the Jews of the world, 'Israel is waiting for you with open arms.' So there are miracles happening right in front of our eyes—that He says, 'I will bring them back from around the world—the north, the south, the east and west for His name's sake."

Operation Exodus partners with the Jewish Agency of Israel and other groups to help U.S. Jews immigrate to Israel.

The organization also provides humanitarian aid to Holocaust survivors and others in the former Soviet Union.

A big part in helping those seeking to return is the power of prayer.

"We pray for their safety. We also pray that they would get jobs quickly and [for] those things that are holding them back here, the frustrations," Minotti said. "You know, there's family issues going on, children who are sick."

Minotti says Jews are returning to Israel for many reasons.

"Many of them are saying, 'HaShem [Elohim] is calling us back to the land.' Others are saying, 'I want my children to be raised in a Jewish homeland.' Others are saying, 'I want to defend Israel. I want to be there, I'm a Zionist," she explained.

Minotti added that some are saying "this is 1939 and we see the handwriting on the wall."

"Anti-Semitism in New York is also up 27 to 28 percent so you look at the Bible, you look at the newspaper, and then we need to take action," she said. "And there's nothing more spoken in the Bible right now than His nation, strengthening it and returning the Jewish people to the land. He says, 'I will do this. I will do it to vindicate his name.'"

Motivated by love for Israel and the Jewish people, Operation Exodus offers Minotti and others the opportunity to work with God to bring His prophecies to pass.

"You wake up and you think, what an awesome responsibility and what an awesome joy it is at the same time," Minotti said. "It is deep joy and there's a cost to standing with Israel and it's intense, but I love it and our workers love it, our volunteers love it. It's only going to grow."

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Hanukkah begins Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015 at sundown

Hanukkah begins Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015 at sundown

Beautiful artwork Alex Levin - from Tel Aviv, Israel

www.artlevin.com

The Harbinger Man (Day 3) - Jonathan Cahn - The Jim Bakker Show

Jonathan Cahn - The Jim Bakker Show

Watch here: The Harbinger Man (Day 3) - Jonathan Cahn - The Jim Bakker Show

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

Jim Bakker Show 2015 | Show# 2888 | Aired on December 2, 2015

Genesis, II Chronicles, Isaiah, Matthew, Proverbs, Romans, Zechariah

Jim Bakker Show © 2015 • Morningside Studios

Home » Video Archives » The Harbinger Man (Day 3)

In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah's Seal - ARI RABINOVITCH/REUTERS CHARISMA NEWS

A projected image of a clay imprint, known as a bulla, which was unearthed from excavations near Jerusalem's Old City, and later discovered to be from the seal of the biblical King Hezekiah, is displayed during a news conference at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. (Reuters)

In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah's Seal

 12/2/2015 ARI RABINOVITCH/REUTERS  charisma news

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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Israeli archaeologists have discovered a mark from the seal of biblical King Hezekiah, who helped build Jerusalem into an ancient metropolis.

The circular inscription, on a piece of clay less than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long, may very well have been made by the king himself, said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University who directed the excavation where it was uncovered.

Hezekiah ruled around 700 BC and was described in the Bible as a daring monarch—"There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (2 Kin. 18:5)—who was dedicated to eliminating idolatry in his kingdom.

"This is the first time that a seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation," Mazar said.

The clay imprint, known as a bulla, was found at a dig at the foot of the southern part of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem's Old City, an area rich in relics from the period of the first of two ancient Jewish temples.

It had been buried in a refuse dump dated to the time of Hezekiah and was probably tossed from an adjacent royal building, Mazar said. It contains ancient Hebrew script and the symbol of a two-winged sun.

The bulla was initially cataloged and put in a closet, along with 33 others, after a first inspection that failed to establish its true identity.

Only five years later, when a team member scrutinized it under a magnifying glass and discerned dots in between some of the letters, did the meaning become clear.

The dots help separate the words: "Belonging to Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz king of Judah."

Mazar said the back side of the clay imprint of the seal had markings of thin cords that were used to tie a papyrus document.

"It's always a question, what are the real facts behind the biblical stories," Mazar said. "Here we have a chance to get as close as possible to the person himself, to the king himself." 

© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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7 Ways to Bless Immigrants Instead of Bashing Them - J. LEE GRADY CHARISMA NEWS

How does your church show love to strangers? (iStock photo )

7 Ways to Bless Immigrants Instead of Bashing Them

12/3/2015 J. LEE GRADY  CHARISMA NEWS

This morning when I bought a newspaper in the Orlando airport, the man who rang up my purchase greeted me with a bashful smile. The name on his employee badge was "ZIAD." I always try to guess where people are from, but his name wasn't familiar. Was he from Lebanon? Jordan? Egypt?

Ziad finally solved the mystery. "I am Palestinian, sir," he said.

"Welcome, Ziad," I told him, "Let me be the first person to tell you today that I'm glad you are here in the United States!"

"That makes be very happy, sir," he replied.

I've been going out of my way to say kind words to immigrants these days—not just because Donald Trump has been offending them with his "all Mexicans are rapists" comments but also because I believe Christians have a responsibility to be hospitable to foreigners.

I understand the fear that has gripped our country in this age of ISIS terror. In the last month around 130 people died in the Paris attacks, 43 were killed in Beirut and 224 died in the Russian airliner that was allegedly bombed by radical jihadis. In response to the violence, 30 U.S. governors have announced that Syrian refugees aren't welcome here—even though they are fleeing to America to escape terrorists.

What I don't understand is how Christians in this country can be so heartless when it comes to showing kindness to the very people Jesus told us to love. We have allowed our fear—as well as our cherished Republican Party values—to nullify God's Word. (Note to critics: I'm a Republican, but I'm a Christian first.)

The New Testament calls us to love not only the people who look like us but even those who are considered enemies. Hebrews 13:2 says: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unknowingly." Meanwhile Christian leaders are exhorted in 1 Timothy 3:2 to be "hospitable"—and this is not simply a reference to hosting a meal. The word is in the Greek philoxenos, which means "love of strangers."

So how can you and your church obey this biblical mandate and show love to the strangers who live near you? Here are a few suggestions, offered just in time for the holiday season:

1. Say something nice. I often tell immigrants I'm glad they are in the United States—and most of them say they've never received a compliment like that before. Many of them are lonely—and they feel unwelcome, especially when Mr. Trump and other disrespectful Americans complain about foreigners as if they carry a disease.

2. Find out their story. You might be surprised to learn that the "Muslim" living in your neighborhood is actually a Middle Eastern Christian. Or that the Somali refugee who attends your child's high school fled to this country to escape a war. All you have to say is: "I'd love to hear how you came to live in America." Then listen.

3. Invite them to church. Never assume that immigrants are hostile to your faith. When I spoke recently in South Dakota, I met a Muslim girl from Uzbekistan who has been attending church for months out of curiosity. She finds love and friendship among Christians, even though she struggles to understand why Jesus died for her.

4. Offer legal help. Americans often complain about illegal immigrants without bothering to realize that many of them are eager to comply with our laws. They actually need help navigating our complicated system, which is snarled by delays and unfair to people from certain countries. Recruit lawyers in your church to provide free seminars or other legal assistance to immigrants in your area.

5. Prepare a Christmas meal. Foreigners who move to the United States are curious about the meaning of our Christmas holiday—and they won't understand it by visiting a local mall or by watching Elf. Invite international students or an immigrant family into your home and let them experience your family traditions.

6. "Adopt" a refugee family. Aside from the displaced Syrians who are waiting to come to the U.S. today, refugees from Africa and other nations are probably already living near you. Most of them have been traumatized by war, poverty or persecution—and they are lonely and insecure. Contact one of the Christian organizations working with refugees (such as World Relief) and volunteer to provide meals, babysitting, Christmas gifts or mentoring.

7. Become an English instructor. There are more than 1 million internationals studying on U.S. campuses in 2015. (The majority come from China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.) These students would love an American friend to help them with their English. Offer to be a language coach by contacting your local college or university.

While the immigrant-bashers talk of building a wall to keep immigrants out, we are called to build bridges of friendship. Let's remember that Jesus—who lived as a refugee in Egypt during His infancy—wants the church to love foreigners. 

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, at themordecaiproject.org.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

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"Becoming Spiritually Perceptive and Becoming a Prophetic Trumpet" Wade E. Taylor, formerly Nanjemoy, MD - The Elijah List

"Becoming Spiritually Perceptive and Becoming a Prophetic Trumpet"

Wade E. Taylor, formerly Nanjemoy, MD

The Elijah List

It Starts with Hearing and Responding

After this, I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."Revelation 4:1

"After this, I looked." The result of John's response to the manifestation of the presence of the Lord was an opening into the realm of the Spirit – a"voice...as it were of a trumpet talking with me."This "voice as a trumpet" is a call to action, and speaks of spiritual direction and authority. Notice that the door opened when John looked.(Photo via Pixabay)

For those who are responding as John responded, there is an empowering that has to do with "dominion" that is being imparted at this present time. When this verse was quickened to me, I began asking the Lord to "show me things which must be hereafter." This prayer is being answered.

The Lord is knocking. Our part is to hear and respond. I often pray concerning my ability to "hear" spiritually. I am never satisfied that I am hearing clearly enough, as no matter how well I am hearing, I can hear better.

The Lord is Calling Us to Become an Apostolic, Prophetic People

This "voice as a trumpet" is a corporate voice that will function in all those who will be saying and doing the same thing. Notice that the promise to the overcomer is to sit with the Lord in His throne. This has to do with spiritual authority.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. Revelation 3:21

This dominion, as the "sound of many waters," is an end time function of those who are "overcomers," who will receive apostolic authority. This relates to our being able to speak a creative word, which will have "authority with consequence." (Photo by Donna Smallenberg "The Secret Place" via elijahshopper.com)

At this present time, the Lord is calling us to become an apostolic, prophetic people – not apostles or prophets, as that is a ministry office. This is a Kingdom impartation into those who, as overcomers, have been dealt with so that they will not use this authority for any personal gain, to accomplish the end-time purposes of the Lord.

This will begin to happen as the Lord increasingly takes His place as the Head of those to whom He is being joined: those who are hearing and responding to His knocking. These are being "caught up" into a higher realm of spiritual life and authority.

Making Yourself Ready

Concerning Moses, Acts tells us that he was "mighty in words and in deeds."But after being in the wilderness, where he came to the end of all human ability, his response was, "Lord, when I spoke my mind, it got me in a lot of trouble; now I have nothing to say, unless You speak."

So also, those whom the Lord is preparing are being "scourged" that all human ambition might be removed.

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Hebrews 12:6

If we yield to this process and overcome, we will become a part of this end-time prophetic voice, "His wife hath made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7). The Lord is preparing a people for "that day." 

(Photo by Donna Smallenberg "Arise, Shine" via elijahshopper.com)

As we wait upon the Lord, asking that we will better hear His voice, and have the enabling grace to rightly respond, we will become a part of this prophetic trumpet, and begin to move in corporate harmony, as the "sound of many waters."

It is imperative that we spend time, waiting in the presence of the Lord, that we can become a part of the Body that will function directly under the dictate of the Head.

...Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Matthew 25:23

The Lord is getting a people ready. May each one of us be found among these, in that day.

Wade Taylor
Parousia Ministries / Wade Taylor Publications

Email: nancy@wadetaylor.org or joanne@wadetaylorpublications.org
Website: wadetaylor.org | wadetaylorpublications.org

Wade Taylor graduated to Heaven on February 29, 2012. He served others as a teacher and spiritual father for over 50 years. He was respected and loved by many for his quality of spirit and walk with his Lord. He was an anointed author, bringing forth deep truths of the Spirit with a clarity and simplicity that drew the reader up into a closer walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Nancy Taylor Warner, serves as Executive Director of Parousia Ministries, carrying the vision passed on from her father, Wade Taylor. In addition, she has established Parousia Prayer Chapel, hosts Parousia Ministries Gatherings, and travels from time to time to speak and pray with others. 

Her background as administrator, pastor, teacher, and missionary has prepared her for what the Lord is doing today. Nancy's special gift of relating to and loving people stems from her own love for Jesus and His Kingdom. Her spiritual life messages flow into the hearts and spirits of those to whom she ministers. 

Nancy has an expectation for visitation and carries a prophetic word that speaks into that which the Lord is doing today. For spiritual life teachings and to learn more about the vision of Parousia Prayer Chapel please visit www.wadetaylor.org.

To subscribe to The Elijah List go to:http://elijahlist.com/subscribe

Japan's Israel Connection Turns 100 Years-old | Israel Today Staff

Japan's Israel Connection Turns 100 Years-old

Thursday, December 03, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

Prince Takahito Mikasa, the oldest living member of the Imperial House of Japan and uncle of the current emperor of Japan, turned 100 yesterday, Dec. 2, 2015.

While serving as a junior cavalry officer in the Japanese army during World War II, Prince Mikasa was posted to China, where he encountered, and was impressed by, the “zeal and devotion of the Christian missionaries from the West, who worked deep in the isolated regions of China.” Since then, Prince Mikasa became extremely interested in the source of such devoted passions.”

After the Western powers defeated Japan, Prince Mikasa had the "on", the obligation, to Westernize himself. He said that, "in the six years of his study he discovered one supreme fact; that the Jews were the key to Western civilization."

Since then, Prince Mikasa became extremely interested in both the source of devoted passions and Judaism.

He decided to study Hebrew for the rest of his life and maintained a particular interest in the biblical prophets of Israel. He immersed himself in scholarly works related to Near Eastern civilization, in the course of which he became a frequent visitor to Jewish communal events in Tokyo, and reportedly learned to speak perfect Hebrew.

Prince Mikasa, however, never got involved in political discourse and insisted that his interest in the study of Hebrew was purely academic, even writing in his autobiography, “the reason I studied Oriental archaeology was to seek out from the ruins of the Middle East and the Near East, the origin of mankind and civilization, the outlines of man and state, and to think over what man should be.”

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Hear the 'Hallelujah' That's Trampling Secular Tunes on International Charts - JESSILYN JUSTICE Charisma News

Hear the 'Hallelujah' That's Trampling Secular Tunes on International Charts

12/2/2015 JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma news

Join us on the new C-Pop podcast where Taylor and Jessilyn discuss, debate and sometimes deride pop culture with a strong sense of humor and a focus on Christ. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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The Voice's Jordan Smith made waves when his rendition of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" knocked Adele from her top spot on iTunes last month. 

Now, the Lee University student is at it again, sinking his teeth into "Hallelujah" and crushing the secular competition, including Selena Gomez, Drake and Meghan Trainor, among others.  

When Smith auditioned for The Voice earlier this year, coach Adam Levine called him the "most important person ever" to be on the show.  

Watch the video to see his latest performance and do your best to hold in the tears. 

Watch here: Jordan Smith on The Voice 

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Global Crisis: Goldman Sachs Says That Brazil Has Plunged Into ‘An Outright Depression’ - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Global Crisis: Goldman Sachs Says That Brazil Has Plunged Into ‘An Outright Depression’

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

One of the most important banks in the western world says that the 7th largest economy on the entire planet has entered a full-blown economic depression.  Brazil’s economy has now contracted for three quarters in a row, and many analysts believe that things are going to get far worse before they have a chance to get any better.  Earlier this year, I warned about “the South American financial crisis of 2015“, and now it is in full swing.

The surging U.S. dollar is absolutely crushing emerging markets such as Brazil, and if the Fed raises interest rates this month that is going to make the pain even worse.  The global financial system is more interconnected than ever before, and the decisions made by the Federal Reserve truly do have global consequences.  So much of the “hot money” that was created by the Fed poured into emerging markets such as Brazil during the good times, but now the process is starting to reverse itself.  At this point, it is hard to see how much of South America is going to avoid a complete and total economic disaster.

It is one thing for Michael Snyder from the Economic Collapse Blog to say that the Brazilian economy has entered a “depression”, but it is another thing entirely when Goldman Sachs comes out and publicly says it.  The following comes from a Bloomberg article that was just posted entitled “Goldman Warns of Brazil Depression After GDP Plunges Again“…

Latin America’s largest economy shrank more than analysts forecast, as rising unemployment and higher inflation sapped domestic demand, pulling the nation deeper into what Goldman Sachs now calls “an outright depression.”
Gross domestic product in Brazil contracted 1.7 percent in the three months ended in September, after a revised2.1 percent drop the previous quarter, the national statistics institute said in Rio de Janeiro. That’s worse than all but three estimates from 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, whose median forecast was for a 1.2 percent decline. It also marks the first three-quarter contraction since the institute’s series began in 1996, and a seasonally adjusted annual drop of 6.7 percent.

And when you look deeper into the numbers they become even more disturbing.

Unemployment is rising, consumer spending is way down, and investment spending is absolutely collapsing.  Here is some of the data that Goldman Sachs just released that comes via Zero Hedge…

Private consumption has now declined for three consecutive quarters (at an average quarterly rate of -8.5% qoq sa, annualized), and investment spending for nine consecutive quarters (at an average rate of -10.0% qoq sa, annualized). Overall, gross fixed investment declined by a cumulative 21% from 2Q2013. The declining capital stock of the economy (declining capital-labor ratio) hurts productivity growth and limits even further potential GDP. The sharp contraction of real activity during 3Q was broad-based: both on the supply and final demand side. Final domestic demand weakened sharply during 3Q2015 (-1.7% qoq sa and -6.0% yoy) with private consumption down 1.5% qoq sa (-4.5% yoy) and gross fixed investment down 4.0% qoq sa (-15.0% yoy). Finally, on the supply side, we highlight that the large labor intensive services sector retrenched again at the margin (-1.0% qoq sa; -2.9% yoy).

The term “economic depression” is not something that should be used lightly, because it conjures up images of the Great Depression of the 1930s.  And the Brazilian economy is very important to the global economic system.  As I mentioned above, there are only six countries in the entire world that have a larger economy, and Brazil accounts for more than 242 billion dollars worth of exports every year.

So if Brazil is feeling pain, it is going to affect all of us.

Up to this point, everyone had been calling what has been going on in Brazil a “recession”, but now Goldman Sachs is the first major bank to label it “an outright economic depression”…

“What started as a recession driven by the adjustment needs of an economy that accumulated large macro imbalances is now mutating into an outright economic depression given the deep contraction of domestic demand,” Alberto Ramos, chief Latin America economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., wrote in a report Tuesday.

Of course Brazil is far from alone.  The third largest economy on the globe, Japan, has also now slipped into recession territory.  So has Russia.  And just today we learned that Canadian GDP is plunging…

Who could have seen that coming? It appears, for America’s northern brethren, low oil prices are unequivocally terrible. Against expectations of a flat 0.0% unchanged September, Canadian GDP plunged 0.5% – its largest MoM drop since March 2009 and the biggest miss since Dec 2008.

It is just a matter of time before this global economic downturn catches up with us here in the U.S. too.
In fact, there is evidence that this is already happening.

According to brand new numbers that just came out, manufacturing activity in the U.S. is contracting at the fastest pace that we have seen since the last recession…

Manufacturing in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in November at the fastest pace since the last recession as elevated inventories led to cutbacks in orders and production.
The Institute for Supply Management’s index dropped to 48.6, the lowest level since June 2009, from 50.1 in October, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed Tuesday. The November figure was weaker than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Readings less than 50 indicate contraction.

Another indicator that I am watching is the velocity of money.

When an economy is healthy, money tends to flow fairly freely.  I buy something from you, and then you buy something from someone else, etc.

But when economic conditions start to get tough, people start to hold on to their money.  That means that money doesn’t change hands as quickly and the velocity of money goes down.  As you can see below, the velocity of money has declined during every single recession since 1960…



When a recession ends, the velocity of money normally starts going back up.

But a funny thing happened when the last recession ended.  The velocity of money ticked up slightly, but then it started going down steadily.  In fact, it has kept on declining ever since and it has now hit a brand new all-time record low.

This is not normal.  Yes, Wall Street is temporarily flying high for the moment, but the underlying economic fundamentals are all screaming that something is horribly wrong.

A global crisis has begun, and the U.S. will not be immune from it.  I truly believe that we are heading toward the worst economic downturn that any of us have ever experienced.

But there are many out there that insist that nothing is the matter and that happy times are ahead.
So who is right and who is wrong?

We will just have to wait and see…