Posted: 28 Jan 2016 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
Have you ever come away discouraged after trying to talk about prepping with friends or family members that just don’t seem to be interested? Over the years, I have heard countless excuses from people for why they aren’t getting prepared for what is about to happen to America. Some of the excuses, like a lack of money, are definitely legitimate. But in many other instances, the objections don’t seem to make a lot of sense. In America today, most people let others do most of their thinking for them. And in general, our political, religious and cultural leaders are telling Americans that there really is no reason to be overly concerned about the future. They assure us that they have everything under control, and that life is only going to get better in the years ahead. Bad beliefs lead to bad decisions which in turn lead to bad actions, and most Americans have chosen to believe what the elite are telling them at this point. As a result, only a small fraction of society is getting physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared for the exceedingly hard times that are rapidly approaching. The following are 53 common excuses that people like to use for not prepping… 1. “Obama fixed everything that was wrong with America” 2. “When Hillary Clinton is elected she will put this nation back on the right track” 3. “Donald Trump will make America great again” 4. “I don’t have to prepare because the rapture is going to happen before anything really bad happens to this country” 5. “Everybody told me that the world was going to end in September and that didn’t happen” 6. “I don’t have enough money to buy emergency food and supplies” 7. “I’m too exhausted after working hard all day to do anything else” 8. “There is never enough time, and I would rather spend my precious free time doing something else” 9. “The U.S. economy is the greatest economy in the history of the world – there is no way that it could ever possibly collapse” 10. “Whenever we have had a major economic downturn in the past we have always recovered” 11. “Things are never going to get THAT bad” 12. “When things fall apart the federal government will take care of us” 13. “I am going to spend my extra money on fun rather than on fear” 14. “While you guys are sitting on stockpiles of expired food, I will be counting all of the money that I made in the stock market” 15. “When disaster strikes I will simply steal food from everyone else that has been prepping” 16. “The people at the Federal Reserve are very highly educated and they know precisely what they are doing” 17. “Wal-Mart will always be there when I need it” 18. “I’m too lazy to get prepared” 19. “Preppers don’t have a positive mental attitude” 20. “It is anti-faith to get prepared for an economic collapse” 21. “If the economy does collapse, I will just go on welfare” 22. “Nobody can get prepared for every possible scenario, so why bother?” 23. “I would rather save money for retirement” 24. “Obama told me that anyone that says the economy is heading for hard times is just peddling fiction” 25. “The stock market always rebounds to new highs after every crash, so why worry?” 26. “I don’t have room to store anything at my place” 27. “Prepping is something that crazy people do” 28. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist” 29. “I am afraid that all of the food that I store is going to go bad” 30. “All of the people that got freaked out about Y2K look really foolish right about now, don’t they?” 31. “Instead of being ultra-paranoid, I would rather just enjoy my life” 32. “If things get really bad, the people in my community will just band together to take care of everyone” 33. “If society did completely collapse, I would not want to go on living anyway” 34. “I’m too lazy to learn how to grow a garden” 35. “If you assume that the worst is eventually going to happen, then you don’t really believe in America” 36. “If something happens I will just run out to the store and grab what I need” 37. “If all of my debts are wiped out during an economic collapse I might as well live it up now” 38. “When things hit the fan I will just go live with my relatives that have been prepping” 39. “My spouse does not believe that prepping is a good idea” 40. “Prepping seems so complicated and I don’t know where to start” 41. “I don’t have to worry about preparing for a major disaster because that is what FEMA is for” 42. “There is no way that the supermarkets could ever possibly run out of food” 43. “Once I get my student loans and credit card debt paid off then maybe I will start thinking about prepping” 44. “My relatives are already convinced that I am a nutjob – I don’t need to make it worse by stockpiling buckets of food in my garage” 45. “What would the people at work think?” 46. “If there really was a reason to get prepared they would have told us about it on the news” 47. “People have been predicting doom and gloom for years, and yet nothing has happened” 48. “If I do prepare, angry mobs will just come and steal it all at some point anyway” 49. “Look at how fast technology is advancing – there is no way that things could completely fall apart now that humanity has so much advanced knowledge” 50. “We live in the greatest country on the entire planet during the greatest time for humanity in the history of the world” 51. “I have no intention of becoming a card carrying member of the Tin Foil Hat Brigade” 52. “If we are all going to die anyway, what is the point of prepping?” 53. “There is always more time – if I don’t get prepared today I can always get prepared tomorrow” If you would like to learn more about how you can get prepared for what is immediately ahead of us, you may want to check out an article that I recently did entitled “70 Tips That Will Help You Survive What Is Going To Happen To America“. It contains quite a few little “nuggets” that many people don’t commonly think about when it comes to prepping. Personally, I think that it would be very nice if normal life were to just continue indefinitely in America. That way I could just sit up on my mountain and enjoy a nice quiet life with my family. But the truth is that we are moving into the greatest time of chaos that any of us have ever experienced, and those of us that have been preparing are going to need to step forward as leaders. It is during times of great darkness that light is needed the most, and during the hard years ahead there is going to be a crying need for people that have great strength, great courage and great love. So do you have any excuses that you have heard that you think would make good additions to this list? Please feel free to share them with the rest of us by leaving a comment below… |
Innumerable it seems are the issues facing the nation. Abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, self defense and ownership of guns, marriage, parental rights, pornography, gambling, alcohol use and abuse, drugs, the environment, crime, corruption in government, government assistance, national defense, foreign policy, freedom of speech, religious liberty, etc., etc., etc.
What seems glaringly scarce are genuine prophets. The prophets of old were God's spokesman for their day. They interpreted the times according to the revelation of God.
There is a sense in which every pastor must play the role of the prophet. Yet today such preaching would be enough to put goose bumps on the back of the pews of most churches.
W. Phillip Keller has eloquently written:
"In so many places the pastors and teachers are well-nigh silent about social ills. They make no strong stand against those elements that are destroying their people. They carry no deep conviction about the corruption all about them. They will not risk a confrontation with the forces of evil. Their silence gives tacit approval to the wrong influences and human philosophies which are tearing us to pieces.
"The leaders are fearful lest they be blamed eccentrics, puritans, or prophets of doom. They much prefer to be popular."
Some evangelical leaders seem mystified by presidential candidate Donald Trump, and his lead in the polls among evangelical voters. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association has accurately stated that there is really "little to be liked in the Donald's worldview and personal history."
I would agree, but perhaps it's that a vast host of evangelicals are drawn to something Trump does that they rarely hear in the pulpits of their own churches. He speaks with passion, boldness, and authority. Americans, including evangelical Christians, are tired of leaders who have little or no moxie.
I suggest the nation has been deprived of prophets — prophets like those described in the Scriptures — men who had great capacity for emotion — men who were capable of deep feelings. Men who had fire in their bellies and their words could breathe fire in righteous indignation. At other times there utterances would be mingled with tears.
The late G. Earl Guinn, who was once the Chairman of the Department of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, put it this way: "The true man of God can weep at suffering, he can get downright mad at sin, and he can rejoice at moral progress."
Richard Baxter wrote: "I preach as though I were never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men."
Too much preaching today fails to be based solidly in the moral authority of God's Word and delivered out of deep conviction. Instead, it is made up of nice little warm fuzzy remarks sprinkled with a few anecdotes meant to make us feel good about ourselves, when the very wrath of God abides on us. The results of such preaching are devastating on more levels than we can know.
It is not hyperbole to say that our culture is quickly headed for destruction. The hope for our restoration lies in remedies of the heart, where our problems really exist. The sickness killing us is our willful rejection of God and his order.
But to quote again from G. Earl Guinn: "Apparently instead of hearing prophets of God sounding a trumpet call to obedience and faith, they have heard inoffensive little men tooting piccolos and then running to the door [of the church] to grin like Cheshire cats at those whose compliments are demanded by their itching ears."
Indeed. Where are the prophets?
Jesus was the ultimate prophet. He wasn't concerned about being palatable or appealing. His message was distinct and divergent from a corrupt society. His zeal for the Father's way so consumed Him that at times it must have seemed as though He was trying to prevent the possibility of followers.
He made tall demands, calling for hardship and cross-bearing. He warned that anyone who would be His disciple would experience alienation from friends and even family members.
He spoke against entrenched evil and misguided powers; powers that precipitated injustice, powers that, humanly speaking, He could only offend to his own disadvantage and never possibly overcome.
He demonstrated by both His life and words that the Creator God is Holy and demands the same of those made in His image. Moreover, in the end, He was willing to lay down everything to redeem the ones who failed to understand Him and were hostile to His ministry.
Where are the prophets like Jesus?
During the War of 1812, the fate of our nation depended on Andrew Jackson's trusted messenger, Holdfast Gaines, an Indian scout.
Gaines was encamped with the American army on Mobile Bay when word came to Jackson that a large British force had set sail for New Orleans. The one chance was for the General to swiftly get word to General "Dandy" Carroll in Nashville, so he could rally the long rifle frontiersman of Tennessee and Kentucky to rendezvous with him in New Orleans.
But how was this to be done with 600 miles of wilderness between them?
General Jackson's prospects of stopping the British lie with one man — Gaines. So he gave his trusted messenger the assignment and said, "I'll give you ten days to get there! May the Lord of hosts bless your legs!"
At sunset, as General Carroll sat dining, Holdfast Gaines stumbled through the doorway, making the 600 mile trek in six days and five nights!
General Carroll rallied the long riflemen and met up with General Jackson in New Orleans. The British were defeated. New Orleans was saved because the messenger laid everything on the line to deliver his message.
The fate of our nation hangs in the balance again. It's not an enemy from without that threatens this time, but the enemy from within our sinful souls. Our hope, in large degree, is dependent on whether we have prophets of God willing to pay any price to deliver his message.
Mark H. Creech is the Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
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