Why Does The World Seem To Be In A Constant State Of Crisis?

If you feel that the world is quickly slipping away from the tranquility and peace we have grown accustomed to, it is more than a feeling. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift, and we are at the threshold of big league changes, and we are at the tail end of the church age. This is the overwhelming consensus of most all mature believers to whom I speak. Are you prepared for Christ’s coming for His church? Maranatha, Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – April 18, 2024

Why Does The World Seem To Be In A Constant State Of Crisis?

BY BRITT GILLETTE APRIL 18, 2024

For over four years now, almost everyone who pays attention to what’s going on in the world lives in a constant state of anxiety. The reason? They’re waiting for the next shoe to drop – the next major global event that will upend their lives.

For over four years now, almost everyone who pays attention to what’s going on in the world lives in a constant state of anxiety. The reason? They’re waiting for the next shoe to drop – the next major global event that will upend their lives.

This is understandable. Over the past four years, we’ve endured COVID, the government response to COVID (lockdowns, passports, mandates, etc.), global supply chain issues, global inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, the shutdown of Red Sea shipping lanes, and numerous rumors of other major events set to break at any moment. So what’s next? Will it get worse before it gets better? The answer is yes, and this article reveals why.

The Interregnum

One of the reasons we see all these events taking place is the interregnum. What does that mean? Well, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition defines an interregnum as: 

“The interval of time between the end of a sovereign’s reign and the accession of a successor.”

This typically describes a time period between two reigning kings, but in this instance, we’re using it to describe the time period between one superpower or group dominating global affairs and second rising to take its place. The last time we experienced an interregnum of this type was the 1914 to 1945 timeframe. Needless to say, this was quite a tumultuous era – 31 years that included two world wars and a global depression. 

When 1914 started, the Royal Navy of the British Empire ruled the high seas. The colonies of the British Empire spanned the globe, and it had dominated the 19th Century global order – controlling the world’s shipping lanes, issuing the world’s global reserve currency (the pound), and boasting the world’s premiere center of international finance (London).

When 1945 ended, the United States Navy ruled the high seas. U.S. military bases spanned the globe, and the United States dominated the 20th Century global order – controlling the world’s shipping lanes, issuing the world’s global reserve currency (the dollar), and boasting the world’s premiere center of international finance (New York).

As 2024 begins, we see U.S. naval power waning. Houthi rebels have shut down the Red Sea to all traffic from Israel, the United states, and their western allies. Almost 12% of all global trade passes through the Suez Canal, making the Red Sea one of the most vital shipping corridors in the world. For over 80 years, the U.S. Navy has carried out the role of ensuring the world’s shipping lanes remain freely navigable and open to international trade. Now, they are increasingly unable to do so.

The ability of the U.S. to project military power across the globe and secure vital waterways is one of the primary reasons the U.S. dollar dominates international trade. Another reason is the petro-dollar. When president Nixon ended the U.S. dollar’s convertibility to gold, it became a fiat currency – meaning its value is derived from nothing more than government edict. Since that day in 1971, all the world’s major currencies have been fiat currencies – something unprecedented in history. History shows all fiat currencies eventually reach their intrinsic value – zero. So what happens when all the world’s currencies collapse at the same time? 

In 1974, Henry Kissinger brokered a deal with Saudi Arabia wherein OPEC agreed to only trade oil for dollars. This has helped underpin demand for U.S. dollars for the past 50 years, but now the petro-dollar is ending. Saudi Arabia and OPEC are increasingly accepting other currencies for oil. U.S. debt is at unsustainable levels. Foreign nations are dumping U.S. debt in favor of gold, and the BRICS nations are attempting to create an alternative to the U.S. dominated global financial system.

In other words, the post-World War II order of global military power is transforming, and the current global monetary system is coming to an end. All this and more is why we see U.S. power and influence in decline, an increasingly fragmented global order, and a world where it seems we’re moving from one crisis to the next.

But I would argue there’s a more significant reason we’re seeing all this. Depending on your preconceived beliefs, you might reject it out of hand. But I encourage you to read on and examine the evidence for yourself. If you do, and reject my conclusion – fine. But it might just open your eyes to a truth that could change your life forever.

What’s Really Happening…

If the interregnum alone is not the reason for this constant state of crisis, then what’s really happening? Why do we see all these global events taking place? The answer is simple.

Jesus is coming.

The constant state of crisis we see today is exactly what Jesus said the world would look like just before his return:

“Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” Matthew 24:3-8 (NLT)

Read that last line again, where Jesus says, “all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come” (emphasis mine). What does Jesus mean by the phrase “birth pains”? What do the spiritual, natural, societal, and political signs He described have in common with birth pains? Only this – birth pains (or labor contractions) are sharp pains which increase in both frequency and intensity in the moments leading up to birth. Jesus says this same pattern will precede His coming.

There’s another name for this pattern. It’s called an exponential curve. If you were to plot labor contractions on a graph, the result would be an exponential curve that increases right up until the time the baby is born. According to Jesus, the signs He describes and the general nature of things in this world will increase in both frequency and intensity just prior to His arrival. In other words, the exponential increase of the signs of His Coming is how we’ll know He’s near.

So what are those signs? Fortunately, we don’t have to guess. Jesus told us. The prophets told us, and the Bible is filled with verses that tell us. Furthermore, Jesus told us how to recognize the general timeframe of His return. When the disciples said, “Tell us the signs of your coming and the end of the age” (Matthew 24:3), Jesus told them a number of things to look for. He then said, “When you see all these things, you can know my return is near. I’m right at the door” (Matthew 24:33). He also said, “When all these things begin to happen, look up for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28).

This means the #1 indication Jesus will soon return is all the signs appearing together. The Bible tells us what those signs are, and the appearance of just one is reason enough to take notice. But the arrival of one sign after another demands your attention. It’s the sign Jesus said to look for. This convergence of signs confirms our generation will witness the Second Coming – not according to me, but according to Jesus.

Below are just a few of those signs. They include:

Israel Back in the Land – God promised to bring the Jewish people back into the land of Israel before He returned (Jeremiah 23:7-8). He said He would call them from “among the nations” (Ezekiel 39:28), from “the farthest corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12), and from “north, south, east, and west” (Psalm 107:3). He promised to welcome them home from the lands where they were scattered (Ezekiel 20:34). When they did, He promised to return and establish His everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 11:11-12).

The Jewish People in Control of Jerusalem – Jesus said armies would surround Jerusalem, destroy the city, and enslave its citizens. The Roman legions fulfilled this prophecy in A.D. 70. Jesus then said non-Jewish people (Gentiles) will control Jerusalem for a time, until the Jewish people once again control Jerusalem. Jesus promised to return once that happened (Luke 21:24-28). Since 1967, the Jewish people have controlled Jerusalem.

The Gospel Preached Throughout the World – When asked about the end of the age and the signs of His coming, Jesus said to look for a specific sign. He said the Gospel will be preached throughout the entire world. Every nation will hear it, and then, the end will come (Matthew 24:14). For centuries after the crucifixion, the Gospel rarely left a small area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In the past two centuries, Christians have brought the Gospel to every nation in the world. Today, missionaries are in every nation. The Bible is translated in hundreds of languages, and the message of Jesus is sent around the world by radio, TV, satellite, and the Internet. For the first time in history, we’re on the verge of seeing the Gospel preached to every last person on earth.

Digital Currencies – According to the Atlantic Council, 134 countries (representing 98% of the global GDP) are exploring, developing, or preparing to roll-out central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). CBDCs will mean government control of programmable currency, giving government insight into every financial transaction taking place. Almost 2,000 years ago, the Bible said:

“He required everyone – small and great, rich and poor, free and slave – to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.” Revelation 13:16-17 (NLT)

While CBDCs are NOT the mark of the beast, they set the stage for it. CBDCs are indistinguishable in function from the mark of the beast, giving government the power to control who can buy and who can sell.

Israel Surrounded by Enemies – The Bible says enemies will surround Israel in the end times. Those enemies will say “Come, let us wipe away the nation of Israel. Let’s destroy the memory of its existence” (Psalm 83:4) and “Let us take for ourselves these pasturelands of God” (Psalm 83:12). Ezekiel said Israel’s neighbors will say “God has given their land to us” (Ezekiel 11:14‐17), and “Israel and Judah are ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care if their God is there?” (Ezekiel 35:10). Ever since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, the daily headlines have included these Bible verses. Israel’s Muslim neighbors claim the land of Israel for themselves, and they have no regard for the God of Israel.

Israel’s Exceedingly Great Army – Ezekiel said, in the end times, Israel will field “an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10). Zechariah said Israel will be like a fire among sheaves of grain, burning up the neighboring nations (Zechariah 12:6) and even the weakest Israeli soldier will be like David (Zechariah 12:8). Since 1948, Israel has fought no less than four conventional wars against its neighbors. Despite being outnumbered more than 50 to 1, Israel has achieved overwhelming victory every time.

Rise of the Gog of Magog Alliance – The Bible says a military alliance that includes Russia, Iran, Turkey, and a number of Muslim nations will attack Israel “in the latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8) when God brings His people home from among the enemy nations (Ezekiel 39:27). Today, we see those very nations coming together for the first time – an alliance that has never existed in world history.

Rise of a United Europe – The Bible says a revived Roman Empire will come to power in the end times (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17). According to Daniel, it will be a ten nation alliance of weak and strong nations. Some parts will be as strong as iron, while other parts will be as weak as clay (Daniel 2:42). We see the beginning of this alliance in the European Union – a coalition of weak and strong nations struggling to stay together.

The Rise of Global Government – The Bible says a single government will rule the world politically (Revelation 13:7), religiously (Revelation 13:8), and economically (Revelation 13:16‐17) in the last days. It will rule over “all people, tribes, and languages” on the face of the earth (Revelation 13:7). Its authority will be so complete no one will be able to buy or sell anything without its permission (Revelation 13:16‐17). For centuries, a true global government was impossible. Today, world leaders openly discuss it.

Denial of the Signs – Almost two thousand years ago, Peter issued a warning. He said in the last days people will mock the idea of Jesus returning. They will make fun of those who believe in the Second Coming and say exactly what we hear today – things like, “I thought Jesus was coming back? What happened to His promise? Generation after generation has said He’s coming. Yet, since the beginning of the world, everything has remained the same!” (2 Peter 3:3‐4).

The World is in Crisis Because Jesus is Coming

Keep in mind, these signs haven’t always been present. Generations of Christians lived and died without witnessing any of these signs. For centuries of Christian history, none of these signs were present. Today, they all are. Jesus said when you see these signs, you can know His return is near. He’s right at the door (Matthew 24:33). In fact, Jesus said the generation witnessing these signs will not pass away before He returns (Matthew 24:34). The convergence of all these signs confirm it.

Moreover, Jesus compared these signs to birth pains. So it shouldn’t surprise us to see global events increasing in frequency and intensity. We should expect this constant state of crisis. 

Britt Gillette is the author of several books on bible prophecy and the end times. You can find more of his work at brittgillette.substack.com

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Did Dinosaurs and Man Coexist?

I never thought there would be debate on this topic within Christendom. But there is. Prophecy Watchers is a ministry that offers a lot of very good theology on eschatology / end times prophecy. But there are some in this ministry who teach that prior to creation week, Satan made the dinosaurs before Genesis 1:1. The first time I heard one of those teachers who teach thusly I could not believe my ears! Yikes! Read below for the TRUTH. In Christ, Pastor Steve <><

by Micah Van Huss | Mar 7, 2024 | Articles | 1 comment

Did man and dinosaurs roam the Earth at the same time? Let’s start answering the question by reading what God says about the topic in Genesis 1:25-27.

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

If you believe God, then there’s your answer. God created both man and beast on Day 6 of creation. But a day is as a thousand years to God—and a thousand years is as a day to Him. We know that God created the Earth in six days because he says so in Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Also, on Day 7, Adam didn’t rest for 1,000 years.

The word “dinosaur” means “terrible lizard.” You won’t find the word dinosaur in the Bible because the word wasn’t invented until 1841 by Sir Richard Owen. Before that time, they were known as dragons. In the Bible, dinosaurs are called dragons, serpents, cockatrice, leviathan and behemoth. There are many places in scripture that mention dinosaurs.

We read about Behemoth in Job 40. He moves his tail like a cedar. He drinks a whole river. A lot of folks will say that Job is talking about a rhinoceros, hippopotamus or elephant, but none of these guys have a tail like a cedar. I believe that Job is describing a titanosaur, the heaviest land animal ever known.

Pterodactyls, though not dinosaurs themselves, lived alongside of dinosaurs and belonged to the pterosaur family. Fossils have been found with wingspans of 36 feet. Isaiah 14:29 mentions a fiery flying serpent.

Job describes Leviathan as a massive sea serpent that breaths fire in chapter 41. Psalm 74 mentions Leviathan as having multiple heads. A hydra is a “mythological” multi-headed dragon. In Hesiod’s Theogony, written around 700 BC, one of Hercules’ 12 labors was to defeat the Lernean Hydra. Polycephaly is the condition of having more than one head. Can you guess which animal kind is most susceptible to being born with multiple heads? That would be reptiles and snakes. The hydra may not be just a creature from mythology.

The apocryphal book of Daniel records that King Darius ordered Daniel to worship a great dragon. Darius even says, “You cannot deny that this is a living god…” Daniel claims to be able to kill the dragon without using a sword. He cooks fat, hair and pitch which he feeds to the dragon. The dragon bursts after the meal and Daniel points out that God is more powerful than the dragon. The Babylonians made Darius throw Daniel into the lion’s den for killing their dragon.

One of the earliest creatures to appear in the legends of ancient China is the dragon. It was worn on the robes of emperors, depicted on precious metals and referenced in literature and the performing arts dating back millennia. Despite being portrayed as a monster in most cultures, in China, it’s usually regarded as a benevolent creature. In one myth, Yu the Great (2070 BC) was helped by a dragon to manage floodwaters which were devastating his kingdom. A Chinese law book dating to 1611 BC lists the duties of a “Royal Dragon Feeder” who was responsible for throwing food into sacred ponds. In the 13th century, Marco Polo in his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, describes dragons raised by a Chinese emperor in order to pull his chariots.

Alexander the Great, came across a 100-foot-tall dragon while invading India in 330 BC. The Roman author Claudius Aelianus in his work On the Nature of Animals records the encounter. The Indians implored Alexander not to attack the serpent because it was their god. The dragon watched the Macedonian soldiers from its cave as they passed by. They said its eyes were the size of large Macedonian shields.

In 1856, workmen were digging a railway tunnel near St. Dizier, France. When one large limestone boulder was split open, the workers were astonished to see a large winged creature tumble out. It fluttered its wings, let out a croaking noise and died. Their description matches that of a pterodactyl. Indeed, a paleontology student in Gray, Tenn., identified it as such. This story was reported in the Illustrated London News on Feb. 9, 1856, on page 166.

The fact that the pterodactyl lived inside of a limestone boulder for thousands of years may seem impossible, but it’s not the only story of a creature existing in stasis. There are dozens of stories of frogs being enclosed in rocks and coming to life after the rocks are broken open. There are so many stories that the phenomenon is called “toad-in-the-hole.”

Fish can be frozen for months and “come back to life” after the ice thaws. Alligators in colder climates stick their noses out of the water before they are frozen in place for winter. Once the ice thaws, they’re back to normal. Can creatures, especially cold-blooded ones, live for long periods of time after being encased in rock?

In 1571, Spanish conquistadors discovered stones (the Ica Stones) in Peru. On over 500 of these stones are carved humans with dinosaurs, even some humans riding dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are depicted with skin texture. It wasn’t until 1997 that archaeologists found fossilized dinosaur skin in Bolivia. How did the creators of the Ica Stones know what dinosaur skin looked like?

In the 1940s, over 33,700 ceramic figurines were discovered in Mexico. They depict hundreds of different dinosaurs and extinct Ice Age animals. Some of the figures have humans riding on the dinosaurs. Scientists agree that these figurines are over 3,000 years old.

Trey Smith, in his God in a Nutshell Project YouTube page, produced a video about dinosaur rock drawings in New Mexico. He shows one petroglyph of a T. rex eating a human.

The Buru is a 15-foot-long reptile described as looking like a cross between a crocodile and a snake. They lived in the Himalayan valley known as Rilo as recently as 1947. Their existence was confirmed by British zoologist Charles Stonor who got the same very detailed description from two different villages many miles apart. His studies are recorded in The Hunt for the Buru.

Why don’t we see dinosaurs everywhere today?

First, the most dangerous ones were hunted to extinction. We have numerous stories from around the world of heroes setting out to slay dragons. Saint George slays the dragon around the ninth century in modern-day Libya. Beowulf sets out to slay the dragon around the sixth century in Scandinavia.

Second, lizards don’t grow as big as they did before the flood. Reptiles have an indeterminate growth pattern —meaning their size largely depends on environmental conditions. Conditions in the antediluvian world allowed for lizards to grow into the size of the giant dinosaur fossils we find today. We discuss the antediluvian atmosphere and environment in my book The Earth as it Was.

Scientists agree that alligators were on the Earth before dinosaurs. Why didn’t the comet that supposedly killed the dinosaurs also kill the alligators?

You have to have faith to believe in evolution because no one can see it happening or reproduce it. It’s a religion and your children are being indoctrinated on your taxpayer dollars in our public schools.

An often glossed-over question is: If God created all beasts to eat green herbs, how do we as Christians explain the shark and Tyrannosaurus rex? Creation goes through a series of corruptions. At the fall, some plants sprouted thorns— whether instantaneously or in the next generation is not clear. Beasts could have been corrupted at that point.

We find a powerful statement in Genesis 6:6-7. It grieved God at His heart that he had made beasts. In verse 12, He says that all flesh was corrupted on the Earth. Were the beasts corrupted by the Watchers and their offspring, the Nephilim? Apocryphal literature records that the Nephilim sinned against the animals.

God tells Noah to take both clean and unclean animals onto the ark. Levitical law told the Israelites which animals were clean and unclean, but that didn’t exist until 1,800 years later. Were the clean animals that Noah was to take onto the ark ones that had not been turned into chimeras by the Nephilim?

For anyone who believes that evolution was God’s tool for creation, ask yourself: What is your motivation for believing that? It can’t be because the theory is plausible. No one has ever observed Darwinian evolution (macro evolution) take place. Adaptation (micro evolution) is part of God’s creation.

Humans and animals adapt to their environments. That’s an amazing aspect of God’s design. But no one has been able to replicate or observe one animal kind changing into another animal kind. That, my friends, is not science. It’s a religion. At least I admit mine is by faith.

What then, is one’s motivation for believing in evolution? It seems to me that the only reason to believe in the religion of evolution is to not be laughed at by the world. As Christians, we are in the world, but not of the world.

Did dinosaurs and man coexist? Man has a natural desire to be free from authority. There will never be enough evidence for a militant evolutionist to admit that God is real.

These stories may help us understand what God says in His Word. Man and dinosaurs were created on the same day and therefore coexisted.

Be sure to stay connected to all things fantastical at http://www.marginalmysteries.com.

More Americans Preparing For The Collapse Of Society

Breaking News Updates – January 23, 2024

More Americans Preparing For The Collapse Of Society

BY MICHAEL SNYDER/ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG JANUARY 23, 2024

Are you convinced that we are headed for societal collapse? If so, you are definitely not alone. Survey after survey has shown that faith in all of our major institutions is dropping, and there is a growing consensus that very challenging times are ahead of us.

Here in 2024, we will be facing the most chaotic election season in our entire history, multiple wars are erupting all over the planet, economic problems are rapidly growing, destructive natural disasters are becoming more frequent, global authorities are warning us to brace ourselves for the next pandemic, and our cities are being absolutely overwhelmed by endless waves of new migrants.  

The stage is set for a societal implosion of epic proportions, and many Americans are feverishly preparing for a coming collapse that they believe is inevitable.

For a long time, many people had faith that the government would be able to keep society stable, but now that has changed.  In fact, one recent survey discovered that a whopping 71.2 percent of all Americans “have no faith in the U.S. government to save them or prevent a doomsday event”…

According to a survey of 6,200 Americans conducted by BonusFinder.com, 71.2 percent of Americans say they have no faith in the U.S. government to save them or prevent a doomsday event. Even more unnerving, many respondents believe Doomsday could come within the next year.

If you actually believe that the government will be there to rescue you when things really start hitting the fan, you are just being delusional.

If it was equally divided up among the entire population, the emergency supplies that the government has on hand would last less than a day.

Many Americans are realizing that they will be forced to rely on themselves as society collapses, and so an increasing percentage of the population is spending significant money on emergency preparedness…

Last April, the financial-services firm Finder found that the number of Americans who said they’d recently spent money on emergency preparedness jumped from 20% in 2020 to 29% in 2023. They spent an average of $150 on items such as nonperishable food, medical supplies, and cases of water. Today you can’t turn on a streaming platform without catching recommendations for popular survivalist reality shows such as “Alone” or “Naked and Afraid,” and on social media, homesteading and disaster-prepping influencers have amassed millions of followers across various platforms.

Disaster preparedness is on the rise, in large part, because disasters are as well: from the supply-chain shortages caused by COVID-19 lockdowns to the climate crisis, from wars in Ukraine and Gaza to tech-driven loneliness, from runaway disinformation to intractable political polarization. More people are asking: Am I better off being hyperdependent on the global industrial economy? Would it be safer to grow my own food, store my own water, and not depend on complex systems I don’t understand?

I am glad that more people are waking up and getting prepared.

But spending a couple hundred dollars on some emergency preparedness items simply is not going to be enough to survive what is eventually coming.

In Missouri, one woman named Rowan MacKenzie has literally spent $90,000 to prepare her family for what she believes is ahead of us…

A woman who has built a doomsday bunker says the door will remain closed to anyone outside her home, including family.

Rowan MacKenzie, from Missouri, who became a social media phenomenon after revealing she’s been prepping her home for 12 years, believes it’s necessary to prepare for the end of the world.

She previously hit the headlines after revealing she spent over $90,000 on her hidden bunker stockpile.

The 38-year-old began stocking up her cupboards 13 years ago and initially, bought lifelong essentials, such as beans and rice, which she taught herself to preserve through trial and error.

Do you agree with her approach?

When things get really bad, will you shut your door to those that are requesting help?

Of course there are many that will just try to take whatever they need.  Crime rates are already spiking all over the nation, and violent predators are seemingly everywhere.  Earlier this week, Zero Hedge posted an excellent article about the vast hordes of psychopaths that are coming out of the woodwork these days…

Discussions on collapse often turn to signs and signals – The economy, politics and social tensions have become increasingly unstable for many years now, and much like adding more and more weight to a man standing on a frozen lake, eventually the ice is going to break. The question is, how do we know when that moment will be?

As cultural systems begins to dissolve due to political clashes and economic decline the real evil tends to slither out of the woodwork. It happens slowly at first, then all at once. A sure sign of accelerating collapse is the growing prevalence of psychopaths and psychopathic behavior in the open.

The US appears to have entered the middle stages of such a collapse with many sociopaths and psychopaths beginning to feel that they might be able to act out their worst impulses without consequences. They are beginning to test the waters to see what they can get away with.

Those paragraphs really resonated with me, because they are so true.

I am sure that you have noticed the same thing.  Evil is literally growing all around us, and the inmates are taking over the asylum.

And I am entirely convinced that 2024 is going to be a historic turning point.

Are you ready for the tremendous chaos that is coming?

If you have not figured out where you want to be located during the chaotic years that are ahead, that is the first thing that you need to do.

Once you have settled on a location, then you need to store up enough food and supplies for yourself and for everyone that will be depending upon you for as long as you plan to stay alive.

Of course you will also need to determine how you will protect all of your food and supplies as well.

This is not a game.

The collapse of society really is coming, and most of the population will find themselves completely and utterly unprepared when it finally happens.

Originally published at The Economic Collapse Blog – reposted with permission.

Why Are Leaders All Over The World Warning That World War III Is Very Close?

If you are like me, you can sense that the world has gone completely chaotic, and is knocking on the door of Armageddon and the Great Tribulation. Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – January 20, 2024

Why Are Leaders All Over The World Warning That World War III Is Very Close?

BY MICHAEL SNYDER/END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM JANUARY 20, 2024

Prominent leaders all over the globe are starting to publicly acknowledge that World War III is coming with British Defense Minister Grant Shapps warning that we are now in a “pre-war world”.

Prominent leaders all over the globe are starting to publicly acknowledge that World War III is coming.  In many cases they are expressing hope that it can still be avoided, but that becomes less likely with each passing day.  

Multiple parties are escalating the conflict in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine has entered a dangerous new phase, and the election that just happened in Taiwan has made a Chinese invasion much more probable.  

So what is going to happen if major powers start tangling with one another all over the planet?  We really are on the brink of the unthinkable, but most people in the general population have no idea how dire things have become.

On Monday, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps warned that we are now in a “pre-war world” and that western powers could soon find themselves fighting Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea…

…now is the time for all allies and democratic nations across the world to… make sure their defence spending is growing too. Because as discussed, the era of the peace dividend is over. In five years time we could be looking at multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

…we find ourselves at the dawn of this new era. The Berlin Wall a distant memory but we have come full circle, moving from a post-war to a pre-war world. An age of idealism has been replaced by a period of hard-headed realism.

I was stunned that he was willing to give the public such an honest assessment.

But of course he is right.

Multiple wars are coming.

U.S. officials are issuing similar warnings.  Here is one example…

A source inside the Pentagon has warned Daily Express US that “we are on the brink of World War 3” amid surging conflict in the Middle East sparked largely by Iran.

The source inside the Pentagon that issued this rather ominous warning is a man named Nicholas Drummond, and he claims that the current war in the Middle East could literally result in “the end of Iran”…

Defence expert Nicholas Drummond echoed concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could potentially escalate but warned that if Tehran directly attacked Israel, the ensuing war would be “the end of Iran”.

So exactly what sort of weapons would be required to bring about “the end of Iran”?

You might want to reflect on that for a moment.

There is also a lot of talk about World War III in Russia.  In fact, one of Russia’s most prominent news anchors named Vladimir Solovyov recently told his audience that our planet is “moving towards World War III”…

“We are moving towards World War III. In my opinion, it’s already underway. By the way Trump thinks so too,” the Russian presenter added, as he tried to cut to a soundbite of the former president condemning U.S. strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Yes, he was actually quite correct about Donald Trump.

Not too long ago, Trump publicly warned a crowd in Iowa that “we’re very close to World War III”…

“World War III, we’re very close. I don’t know if you feel it. I don’t know, madam attorney general, if you feel it, but we’re very close to World War III when you see these discussions taking place.”

Personally, I am entirely convinced that World War III has already started, but what Trump and others are talking about is the hot phase when missiles start flying all over the place and millions of people die.

And we are so close to that right now.  The following comes from a Daily Mail article entitled “The descent into World War 3: How Russia, Iran and China are simultaneously making moves that will drag us all into conflict”…

Leaked German intelligence documents suggest Berlin expects Russia to launch another wave of attacks to overwhelm Ukraine, and is scrambling to come up with contingency plans in the event Russian troops march westward from Belarus.

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin sent shockwaves through Europe as he said there “could be war in Sweden”.  Referring to emergency planners and authorities who should prepare for worst-case scenarios, he said: “If there is one thing that keeps me awake at night, it is the feeling that things are moving too slowly.”

Swedish military commander-in-chief General Micael Byden supported this take, saying Swedes should prepare mentally for the possibility of a conflict in light of the rising global tensions and the constant threat posed by Russia.

The Swedish general, who visited Ukraine’s eastern front in December, later told Aftonbladet newspaper: “My ambition with this is not to worry people; my ambition is to get more people to think about their own situation and their own responsibilities.”

Sweden’s bid to access NATO, which only needs a green light from Turkey and Hungary, has also increased fears of a retaliatory move by the Kremlin.

In December, a few months after Finland joined the Western alliance after ditching its neutral stance, Vladimir Putin ominously said: “They [the West] took Finland and dragged it into NATO! Why, did we have any disputes with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, have all been resolved long ago.

“There were no problems, but now there will be, because we will now create the Leningrad military district there and definitely concentrate military units there.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden has been providing aid to the war-torn country and is one of the nations training Ukrainian pilots ahead of the delivery of military aircraft.

Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev claimed in a post to X in early December that there hasn’t been such a high threat of “direct confrontation” between Russia and NATO since the Cold War, criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration for funding Ukraine’s fight against Russia and causing a prolonged war.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian-state-owned broadcaster RT, predicted on Monday that World War III will “definitely” break out in the Middle East.

In a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter, Simonyan, who the U.S. State Department deems a Kremlin propagandist, raised questions about when world powers, including the United States, would spark a major conflict. 

“And now the third world war,” Simonyan posted to X Monday evening. “Whether a world war will break out now or a little later depends on whether Washington believes that it will be useful to it now, before the elections, or vice versa. Judging by the choral silence of the American media, they are still thinking.”

“A world war will definitely start,” Simonyan said in a separate post on Monday. “And with almost complete probability – precisely in the Middle East.”

The Israel-Hamas conflict threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with Iran’s so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ – including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – increasing their attacks on Israel and commercial shipping routes, prompting the UK and US to launch a series of devastating strikes by air and sea.

Further East, Taiwan’s election of a new democracy-loving president has angered Beijing even further, with a Chinese invasion of the island nation in the coming years looking ever more likely.

It is likely that the Middle East will be the first flashpoint to fully erupt.

The region has become so unstable over the past couple of months, and the entire world was stunned this week when Iran decided to launch missiles and drones into Iraq, Syria and Pakistan…

Within 24 hours, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on targets in three countries — Iraq, Syria and Pakistan — and took the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks, triggering anger from its neighbors.

So why did Iran do this?

The Iranians claim that the strike in Iraq targeted “an Israeli spy hub”…

Baghdad recalled its ambassador to Iran after the Monday night attack on its northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region killed four civilians and injured at least six. Tehran said the strike targeted an Israeli spy hub near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, the Kurdistan regional capital city. Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani rejected the Iranian claim, describing the attack as a “crime against the Kurdish people.”

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, called the attacks a “violation of international law” and said it would file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iran was “contributing to the escalation of regional tensions — and it must stop.”

As for the strikes in Syria and Pakistan, the Iranians claim that they were trying to hit Sunni groups that commit acts of terrorism…

Tehran also hit what it said were Islamic State targets in northern Syria in tandem with its strikes on Iraq. It then went on to target the headquarters of a Sunni armed group in Pakistan’s western Balochistan province near the Iranian border.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it “strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran” which it said killed two children and injured three more. It added that “it is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran.”

In response, Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday with Iranian media saying several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children.

The tit-for-tat strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and could potentially draw Pakistan into the war in the Middle East.

And let us not forget that Pakistan has nuclear weapons.

It is very unusual for Iran to be this aggressive directly instead of using it’s proxies to do it’s dirty work.

And Iran’s Defense Minister is promising that his nation will not hesitate to conduct similar missile strikes in the future…

The morning after Iranian attacks on neighboring Pakistan and Iraq, Iran’s defense minister vowed Wednesday that his country would “not set any limits” on using its missile capabilities against enemies whenever necessary.

“We are a missile power in the world,” the minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, told reporters at a Cabinet meeting, according to state media. “Wherever they want to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will react, and this reaction will definitely be proportionate, tough and decisive.”

Meanwhile, the IDF and Hezbollah continue to pummel one another along Israel’s northern border…

The Israeli armed forces carried out a massive wave of airstrikes and artillery fire against targets in the Saluki valley in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, following repeated attacks against Israeli targets by the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah.

According to Israel Defense Forces, the terror group “makes extensive use” of the valley for its activities, hiding its weapons and infrastructures in the valley’s forested areas.

According to Lebanese reports, the Israeli airstrike was among the largest of the war so far, hitting 15 different targets in at least 30 launched strikes.

And on Tuesday the U.S. military actually hit the Houthis in Yemen with a “pre-emptive attack” because the Houthis were apparently getting ready to launch more anti-ship ballistic missiles…

On Tuesday US forces carried out another round of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, but this time the operation is being dubbed a “pre-emptive” attack that came in response to militants preparing missile launches on the ground in real time.

“US forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles,” a Central Command (CENTCOM) statement saud. “These missiles were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and presented an imminent threat to both merchant and US Navy ships in the region.”

War is here.

In fact, 2024 is going to be a year of war, and wherever conflict happens the U.S. is almost certainly going to be involved.

So how will the American people respond as the world erupts in flames?

In recent weeks, we have seen crazed protesters in support of the Palestinians do some very alarming things in Washington, New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

But the truth is that World War III is still only in the very early stages.  So what is going to happen once global events spiral completely out of control?

Unfortunately, I believe that it won’t be too long before we find out.

Originally published at End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.

Disease X: Governments Are Preparing For A Scarier New Pandemic

Breaking News Updates – January 18, 2024

Disease X: Governments Are Preparing For A Scarier New Pandemic

BY MARIE HAWTHORNE/ORGANIC PREPPER JANUARY 18, 2024

While the Disease X Act of 2023 was introduced to Congress quietly over the summer, in the past week, Disease X fearmongering has been everywhere, just in time for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

Have you heard of the Disease X Act of 2023?  I hadn’t, until this week.

In June, a bipartisan bill was introduced to the House of Representatives to develop medical countermeasures for viruses with pandemic potential.  Later in June, when the bill was introduced to the Senate, a section had been added suggesting a budget of $40 million per year for 2024 through 2028.

This $40 million annually would be on top of the 5% of our healthcare budget we will be expected to pay the World Health Organization (WHO), assuming the Pandemic Accord passes.

What is Disease X, how likely are we to encounter it, and how concerned should we be?

Back in 2018, the WHO came up with the name “Disease X” as a placeholder for any disease that hadn’t been discovered yet.  The name “Disease X” gets thrown around in the press every few years for a few weeks at a time, stirring up fear of the next pandemic.  In fact, the New York Times referred to Covid as Disease X in a February 2020 opinion piece.

And while the Disease X Act of 2023 was introduced to Congress quietly over the summer, in the past week, Disease X fearmongering has been everywhere, just in time for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

On Wednesday, WHO chief Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus will give a talk at Davos titled “Preparing for Disease X,” in which he will attempt to sell the world on the “novel efforts needed to prepare healthcare systems for the multiple challenges ahead.”  This statement is based on the assumption that Disease X will be far deadlier than Covid.

They’ve tied Disease X to climate change.

WEF-affiliated figures like Tedros believe we should be living in fear of new diseases emerging due to climate change. What’s the rationale?  As permafrost melts and environments change, animals move around, and new interactions between humans and animals occur.  With increasing and varied human-animal interaction, so increases the threat of new diseases.

We’re also supposed to be afraid of diseases mutating within livestock and then jumping to humans. This is actually a real issue. Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOS) have been known to spawn various strains of swine and avian flu viruses.

However, make no mistake about it.  Proposed measures within the Pandemic Accord will not be about improving animal welfare but about ending livestock agriculture and consolidating the food supply, as we’ve discussed elsewhere.

If this sounds outrageous, look into OneHealth.  This refers to the idea that, since the health of humans, animals, and the environment is all interconnected, all sectors need to be looked at in conjunction with each other to address new diseases.

We are all connected.  However, by linking animal and environmental health with human health, if the Pandemic Accord is implemented, governments will be able to take action regarding livestock practices if the WHO declares a pandemic.  It could also potentially give climate emergencies the same priority as health emergencies.

Again, this may sound far-fetched, but these conclusions have been drawn by people far more intelligent and qualified than I am.  In October, Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, both professors in evolutionary biology, discuss the broader implications of the WHO Pandemic Accord as it relates to OneHealth.

Wait…what about gain-of-function research?

While it should be fairly obvious that any new pandemics will be blamed on zoonotic transmission, just as Covid was, I believe we should be far more concerned about the gain-of-function research that still takes place in laboratories around the world.

Chinese researchers recently developed a form of coronavirus that killed 100% of the mice exposed to it within eight days.  When Dr. John Campbell, a trusted British health practitioner, tried to draw attention to this research, YouTube removed his video.

The fact that mainstream media is trying to make us afraid of Disease X at the same time they’re trying to cover up gain-of-function research should be all the evidence we need that something nasty is being brewed up for the general population.

Much of what goes on in the press is predictive programming.  In March 22, 2018, EcoHealthAlliance posited that Disease X might come from a cave in Guangdong Province. While it’s clear now that COVID came from a laboratory, in 2020 and 2021, groups like the EcoHealthAlliance spent a lot of time and money trying to convince the world that no, seriously, COVID came from bat caves.

And though Covid was not particularly dangerous for young, healthy individuals, Disease X may be more serious.  The phrase “20 times deadlier than Covid” has been getting tossed around a lot.  I don’t think we should take it lightly.

Three reason the next virus could be more deadly

There are three possible reasons to expect a more lethal virus the next time around, besides the fact that the WHO and WEF keep saying to expect it.

The first possibility is that the Davos-types have been surprised at the amount of pushback they received regarding the Covid response.  Many people, even in blue states, have gotten into the habit of ignoring recommendations.  Journalists like Matt Orfalea are making sure that the ridiculous things we were supposed to believe during Covid are not getting memory-holed.

While I personally find the amount of peaceful noncompliance inspiring, I also don’t expect the folks at Davos to simply let this slide.  The British Covid inquiry has been postponed indefinitely for no clear reason. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Davos folks decided to throw something truly miserable our way out of spite.  Most of them should be fine. They’ve all got their Doomsday bunkers, as Daisy recently noted.

The second possibility is that Davos believes if Disease X makes enough people seriously ill, the population will beg for the authoritarian controls Davos so wants to implement.  I’m not sure how that will work out; I think it depends on how tightly they can control the flow of information.  If they can convince enough people that Disease X emerged naturally, maybe average citizens will trust the “experts” enough to let them take the reins.

However, if evidence emerges that Disease X comes from a lab, people are going to be furious.  The WEF knows this; it’s not a coincidence that their theme this year is “Rebuilding Trust.”

And the third possibility would be a desire for general mayhem.  Many of us have known since 2008 that our financial system is sick and that a crash is inevitable.  

Naturally there will be a public uproar whenever that happens. An exotic disease can provide a major distraction.

Diseases = Mayhem

An exotic disease could also distract from the many geopolitical disasters bubbling up around the world.  Or it could throw a monkey wrench into the next political cycle.  If we have some kind of Cyber 9/11 event, a disease could obscure who’s really behind it.

And that’s the beautiful thing about disease if you want to create mayhem.  Diseases just happen.  And even if there’s evidence that gain-of-function research is behind new diseases, many people are not scientifically literate enough to seriously question what they are told by the mainstream media.

Thanks to modern sanitation and the availability of antibiotics and many other modern medicines, we should probably be less fearful of disease now than at any other time, simply because we have so many treatment options.  And, if we choose to do so, those of us living in countries with access to clean water and adequate food can take pretty good care of ourselves.

However, we have not been told to take care of ourselves in the past few years.  We’ve not been told how amazing First World sanitation prevents most of the diseases developing countries still struggle with, such as cholera.  We’re not encouraged to get outside, get our Vitamin D, and exercise.  We’re not encouraged to eat healthy food.  We’re just encouraged to “trust the experts” and continue taking whatever newest pharmaceutical products they recommend.

Don’t live in fear of Disease X. But take care of your health.

I don’t think it’s wise to live in fear of the latest current thing; I do think it’s wise to take care of our own health. 

I also think it’s wise to pay attention to what’s going on.  I’m going to watch Tedros’ speech when it’s available.  I want to know what they have planned.

But I’m also going to plan my garden and continue planning for the future with my kids.  Prepping is not about living in fear; it’s about being situationally aware and doing your best with what you have so that you don’t have to be afraid of whatever comes next.

Originally published at The Organic Prepper – reposted with permission.

Prophetic Mega-Trends Reshaping Our World In 2024

I have had the opportunity to listen to Mark Hitchcock at Prophecy Conferences and he is indeed true to the Word, and aligns prophecy with current events in a marvelous fashion. Enjoy the following article.

Maranatha, Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – January 10, 2024

BY MARK HITCHCOCK/ HARBINGER’S DAILY JANUARY 10, 2024

AI, China’s impact on global events, upcoming elections, major developments in Israel, and many more events are shaping the world in 2024. I would like to provide a brief overview of what I consider “six mega-trends” for the upcoming year, which carry important prophetic significance.

#1 — Artificial Intelligence

The first prophetic mega-trend that I see is AI. Artificial intelligence has really come on the scene in a dramatic way over the last year, but it’s going to continue to accelerate into a mushroom as we go into 2024. 

All the things that come from AI will be tools that will be used by the Antichrist. It’s clear that he’ll come and exploit this kind of technology in his domination of the world; therefore, it’s important to keep up to date on what is happening in the development of AI.

#2 — China’s Impact On Global Events

China, I believe, will be the leader of the kings of the East, mentioned in Revelation 16, that will be part of the campaign of Armageddon.

Just in the last few days, the country has been talking about the reunification of China, which means taking Taiwan and making it part of the communist regime.

Many people believe that China right now is sensing US weakness. They look ahead to next November, when someone else could be elected into office, and believe that China is going to seize the opportunity between now and the elections to attack Taiwan. This is something that we have to keep our eyes on.

The elections this coming year are a huge issue that will determine, in many ways, our country’s future. China could very well act this year, maybe early in the year, because they’re sensing US weakness and take Taiwan, just as Russia has invaded Ukraine.

#3 — Digital Currencies

Another prophetic mega-trend is digital currencies, which are paving the way to the one-world economy of the Antichrist.

#4 — Narratives Surrounding Climate Change

Another point that we often overlook is climate change. Climate change is being grossly over-exaggerated to exert greater control over people’s lives. Just last month, the COP28 annual UN Climate Change Conference was held in Dubai. Climate change is being whipped up constantly as an “existential crisis” for the world–and that’s simply not true.

I recently read a book on climate change called “False Alarm.” The author actually believes in climate change and that human beings contribute to that through carbon dioxide, but says it’s massively over-exaggerated. According to the author, if America shuts down all fossil fuels today, it would only lower the temperature by a mere .3º Fahrenheit by 2100.

What we see again is that the creation of a crisis can bring about compliance and gain control. That is what climate change is, and it’s paving the way for the global control that we will see exercised by the Antichrist.

#5 — Russia

The fifth prophetic mega-trend is Russia. An article this week stated that Russia’s ties with Israel are at the lowest point since the fall of the Soviet Union. Another article called it the “end of a friendship” between Israel and Russia.

Russia has chosen to align itself with the Palestinians in this Israel-Gaza war. As a result, their relationship with Israel is at a near all-time low. This development points toward the future war described in Ezekiel 38-39.

#6 — Israel and the Middle East

Finally, the most important and significant mega-trend is Israel and the Middle East. This is the flashing red light.

We are more than 90 days into the Israel-Gaza war, and recent events that are happening in Israel could cause this conflict to explode into a wider battle.

Israel’s mission to hunt down Hamas is stoking fears of an escalation of this war. On Tuesday, Israel assassinated the person that many believed to be the number two leader of Hamas. Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon, and was the linchpin of relations between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.

Of course, this has been decried by Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, and others, but Israel has vowed to neutralize–a nice word for assassinate–the leaders of Hamas, tracking them down wherever they are, even after the war is over. Most of them can be found in Lebanon, Qatar, and Turkey.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed a senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, showing Israel is also assassinating leaders from Iran as well.

Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the American drone attack in Iraq, ordered by President Trump, that killed the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran had scheduled a big ceremony in commemoration of Soleimani on Wednesday morning. However, on the road to the cemetery, two explosions changed their plans and killed approximately 100 people.

Blame for this has not yet been assigned. Iran has called it a terrorist attack. Certainly, Israel could have been behind this, but it may have been Sunni Muslims attacking the Shiites in Iran; we may never know. Nevertheless, all of this is stoking fears of escalation.

Meanwhile, Turkey has just arrested 33 People who were suspected of being Mossad agents, which is essentially Israel’s version of the CIA. Turkey believes they’ve uncovered an Israeli spy ring and are looking for 13 more individuals they insist have links to Mossad. 

Turkey has said very clearly that if Israel attacks any Hamas leaders on Turkish soil, there will be serious consequences. They have also stepped up their support for Gaza since October 7th.

The Spark That Ignites The Fuse

Iran is obviously a veteran enemy of Israel, but we can also now see Russia and Turkey’s relationship with Israel deteriorating. These are the three key players in the Ezekiel 38 invasion. All three of these relationships with Israel have come to an all-time low.

This area of the world today is experiencing a series of pinprick attacks that constantly put more and more gas on the fire. Behind all of this, you have the Israel-Gaza war that shows no signs of dwindling.

Add to that what’s happening over in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are firing at American warships, and Iranian warships now entering the Red Sea.

All of these different events, or the combination of them, could easily be the spark that ignites the fuse to blow up this Middle East powder keg and can so easily precipitate the war of Ezekiel 38.

Over the last few weeks, I read a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called “The Great Disappearance.” He opens the book with these words:

“You and I are privileged to stand on the cresting waves of prophecy, to live in a time closer to the return of Jesus Christ than any other generation in the history of the world. We sense the nearness of His return; we see the signs of the times; we know the world is reaching a climactic point of unparalleled crisis.”

I think we all sense that. And it should lead all of us to say, Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Originally published at Harbinger’s Daily – reposted with permission.

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The Fig Tree Is Alive: Are We Among The Generation That ‘Shall Not Pass Away’?

Breaking News Updates – December 20, 2023

The Fig Tree Is Alive: Are We Among The Generation That ‘Shall Not Pass Away’?

BY AMIR TSARFATI/HARBINGER’S DAILY DECEMBER 20, 2023

So, which generation was Jesus talking about when he said, “this generation shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:34)? He was speaking of the generation that will see the fig tree come back to life. But who is the fig tree and how long is a generation?

Hebrews 1 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds…” So, here we are seeing that Jesus never contradicted a single verse from the prophets. In fact, He continued in the same mantle.

Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus was on the Mount of Olives surrounded by His disciples. None of His disciples were “Christian” at that point. They were Jewish.

So, Jesus taught his Jewish disciples while He was in Jerusalem. And to make it very clear, in the history of planet Earth, Jerusalem was never the capital of any other nation but Israel. So, here you have the Jewish Messiah speaking to His Jewish disciples in the Jewish capital of the Jewish people.

We have to understand that the questions He was asked by his disciples–to which He gave a great, lengthy, and detailed answer–were authentic Jewish issues related to the Jewish Temple, the Messiah, and the last days.

No Gentile at the time was thinking about the last days, the Messiah, or the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was talking to Jews about Jewish matters that only interested the Jews. He spoke on the Mount of Olives. That is why Matthew 24 is called the Olivet Discourse.

By the way, He was not angry with their questions. He understood exactly where they were coming from and took His time to give them a detailed answer. First, in verses 4 to 31, He spoke to His Jewish disciples about the future of the Jews. But then, starting in verse 32, He also gave them a different perspective of things to come. And He was talking about something else, someone else, another group of people which, by the way, they are also part of.

Learn from the Fig Tree

In Matthew 24:32-35, Jesus said, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree…” In the middle of His teaching on Israel and all the things Israel will go through, He stops to tell His disciples: “Now listen, I want you to learn a parable from the fig tree.” In other words, He makes it clear that what He says about the fig tree is not literally about a fig tree; it’s a parable of the fig tree–a symbol of something different. He is basically saying: Look, “when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know…” It’s not “you think” and it’s not “you guess.” It’s “you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see…”

Again, it’s not when you talk about it, it’s not when you hope for it, and it’s not when you dream of it. It’s “When you see” (with your very eyes) “all these things, know that it is near.” Not 200 yards away, not 200 miles away. Where? “Right at the door.” Right there!

So, Jesus reminds the disciples, “Look, the fig tree, remember the fig tree (of Matthew 21:18-20)? That fig tree that died, it’s going to come back to life.” Then He said, “the generation that will see the ‘rebirth’ of that tree, that generation shall not pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:32-35). What things? His coming back.

God’s Word Stands Forever

Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus’ words will not pass away. Just like God said through Isaiah: “The flower fades, the grass withers, but the Word of God stands forever” (40:8). Wow!

So, Jesus stopped His entire description of the end times of Israel to tell His disciples, “Now listen. I want to talk to you now, not as Israel, but as My followers. If you follow Me, you can escape destruction. And, if you’re following Me and alive to see the fig tree blooming… that’s it! That’s the last generation.” Wow!

Before we talk about the fig tree, let’s talk about the word “generation.” Scholars, theologians, teachers, and pastors have pondered and debated about the timeframe of a generation. Some say it’s 20 years, some 30 years, some 40 years, others say longer.

But none of those answers are correct. We need to understand that biblically, a generation has always referred to the longevity of mankind. That means the time between conception and natural death. So, the average lifespan of a group of people living at about the same time constitutes the length of a generation. Before the Flood, the Bible tells us the average lifespan of a man was over 900 years. Today, if a man makes it to 100, he’s a celebrity.

So, which generation was Jesus talking about when he said, “this generation shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:34)? He was speaking of the generation that will see the fig tree come back to life. Wow!

I believe He is referring to believers who witness the most significant end-time prophecy: the “rebirth” of the fig tree–the rebirth of Israel.

Israel Reborn

Israel in the Scriptures was described by three different types of trees: the vine, the fig tree, and the olive tree. Each of them was a symbol of something else. The vine symbolizes Israel’s spiritual privileges (Psalm 80, Isaiah 5, and Jeremiah 2). The fig tree symbolizes Israel’s national privileges (Hosea 9, Jeremiah 24, and, of course, Matthew 24). The olive tree represented Israel’s religious privileges (Hosea 14, Isaiah 17, Isaiah 24, Psalm 52, Psalm 128, and Romans 11). Romans 11 speaks specifically of Israel as the “good olive tree” and the Gentiles as the “wild olive tree.” Some of the branches of the original olive tree were chopped off, and the Gentiles, the wild olive tree, were grafted in.

So, Gentile believers are now partakers of the blessing with Israel–not instead of Israel. In fact, the Church can trust the promises of God because He keeps His covenant with Israel. And the fig tree is coming back to life! It was cursed, but it is not dead forever.

When the Jewish people started coming back to the land of Israel toward the end of the 1800s, they found exactly what Mark Twain wrote in his diary as a traveler: “I’ve never seen such a barren wasteland in my life where we hardly saw a living creature.” So God first inspired the Jewish people to return to their homeland. That is the meaning of “Zionism”–the Jewish belief that your place is in Zion. So, the desire to go to Israel was the beginning of that fig tree returning to life! In Ezekiel 36:8, God said: “But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come.”

The Lord knew that there was no way that hundreds of thousands and later millions of Jews could thrive in a barren wasteland. It would never work. So what did the Lord do? He spoke fertility, and boom! Look what happened–today Israel exports food. While farm workers are only 3.8% of the workforce in Israel, they produce almost 100% of our food. Israeli cows are the most productive cows in the world. Israel leads the world in technology to extract water even from the air. Israel invented the drip irrigation system and exports desalination installations around the world. It uses solar energy like no other country does. And 90% of its wastewater is being purified and recycle for agriculture.

One of the smallest nations on earth, Israel is thriving. That’s God’s way of saying, “The fig tree is coming back to life.”

Ezekiel 36 talked about how God would heal the land in preparation for the Jews to return to their land. Then in Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel was brought to a valley full of dry bones. He was so terrified that he asked, “What is this?” The Lord replied, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off!'” 

That means they’re alive, but barely. Like a person with bones and skin–but hopeless and thinking that God has forgotten all about him. That was the picture we saw when Jews were liberated from Nazi death camps. Men, women, and children barely alive. Skin and bones, but no hope. And collectively believing, “God has forgotten all about us.” But God had promised, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:12).

Not Palestine! Not Arab Land! The Land of Israel!

God Has Done It

Then He said, “Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken and done it” (Ezekiel 37:13-14). Wow! And He has literally done that.

So, in 1948, the nation was born! Even then, Israel was born as a nation on the verge of annihilation every day–every single day of that year, the following year, and the following year after that. Every single day since 1948 has been a gift from God, because Israel was supposed to be destroyed!

The nations that came against Israel in 1948 have tried to destroy the land repeatedly and failed at every turn. What was it that they wanted in 1948? Oil? Gas? We had none of those. They wanted us to be cut off from being a nation so that the name of Israel would be remembered no more.

However, 1948 is also when we start counting a generation. Just consider what has changed since Israel’s modern founding. Israel was small, vulnerable, insecure, dangerous, and very poor. Compared to then, Israel today is safe, secure, and prosperous. But 75 years have passed since 1948.

I believe the Feasts of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles will be fulfilled to the people of Israel when the Lord comes back. The Jewish people pray in Hebrew every morning: “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion with mercy.” They want Him to come, but they do not believe the Messiah is returning for a second time. They think He is coming for the first time.

Jewish people also understand that before the Messiah comes there will be a terrible time of tribulation. They believe that there has to be a great time of repentance. The repentance and God tabernacling physically on Earth with His people will happen as God fulfills those feasts to Israel just as He did with the first four feasts.

The importance of the Church and Israel is conveyed in God’s command in Numbers 10:1-2 for Moses to make two trumpets–two Silver trumpets. Why two? Why silver? Why trumpets? Trumpets are a means to announce the coming of someone. Silver is a precious metal, but not perfect. And two, because there are only two groups of people on earth that God called out, “You are My witnesses.” Israel in Isaiah 46 and the Church in Acts chapter 1.

Throughout the Old Testament history of Israel, the Church did not exist. But from the moment the Church was born, the nation of Israel was thrown out of the Land. Only since 1948 have the two co-existed to bear witness to the coming Messiah. The trumpets are sounding!

Are You Ready?

Some Christians are ready to go; others are simply tired. Either way, their attitude seems to be, “How long can we still stay here?” My response is Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Paul went on to affirm, “The Lord is near.” That is why we need to rejoice, and why we need to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

What hope? Our Blessed Hope! (Titus 2:13).

What promises has He kept? All of them! Everything He said has happened. Israel is back in the Land just as He said. The fig tree is alive!

We can rejoice that we are in the generation to see the sign of Israel. And, we can bless the Holy One of Israel–Who is the Lamb of God, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Emmanuel–Prince of Peace, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Yeshua is the “light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of [His] people Israel” (Luke 2:32). And, He’s coming again soon!

Originally published at Harbinger’s Daily – reposted with permission.

Cartoon – Follow Their Leader

A.F. BRANCO on January 4, 2024 at 5:00 am

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Many are concerned that China, like the Pide Piper, is brainwashing our youth pitting them against American values such as pushing antisemitism and endorsing the terrorist group Hamas through the use of Tic Tok a popular platform among the millennials.

Greatest US Threats: Preppers Reveal Insights With New Survey 💢

Breaking News Updates – November 25, 2023

Greatest US Threats: Preppers Reveal Insights With New Survey

BY MICHAEL SNYDER/END OF THE AMERICAN DREAM NOVEMBER 25, 2023

Millions of Americans are preparing for existential threats which could cause the complex systems that we depend upon on a daily basis to fail at any time. A recent survey gives us some insight into what the prepping community is thinking right now.

The results of a survey of preppers that was recently conducted by Fortitude Ranch has been released.  The CEO of Fortitude Ranch, Drew Miller, says that preppers are “folks who watch events and read up on threats” and so they have a really good feel for what is really going on out there.  

Today, millions of Americans are preparing for the collapse of society because we really are facing very serious existential threats which could cause the complex systems that we depend upon on a daily basis to fail at any time.  So I was very interested to examine the results of this new survey, because it gives us some insight into what the prepping community is thinking right now.

Only preppers were permitted to participate in the survey, and those that responded were asked to identify the three greatest threats to our society.

More than 50 percent selected “loss of electric grid” as one of the greatest threats.  I would not have guessed that this would be the number one response, but without a doubt this is a potential danger that our politicians have neglected.  

Our sun is becoming increasingly active, and it is just a matter of time before a solar storm does a tremendous amount of damage to the grid.  And once the U.S. is involved in a nuclear war, we won’t have a functioning grid at all.

“Economic collapse”, “bioengineered viruses” and “domestic civil war due to divided country” were all selected by more than 40 percent of respondents.

Obviously, I was glad to see “economic collapse” so high on the list, because I write about that so much.

And I think that “bioengineered viruses” is something that preppers are very focused on right now because we have just been through the COVID pandemic.  We are certainly living during a time when great pestilences will become increasingly common, and so it is imperative for all of us to be prepared for devastating outbreaks of disease.

As for our country being divided, I really do think that 2024 is going to be the most chaotic election year that we have ever seen, and that is extremely unfortunate.

More than 30 percent of respondents identified “terrorist attacks” as one of the greatest threats that we are facing.

But no other response even reached the 20 percent threshold.

A “nuclear war arising from Chinese invasion of Taiwan” barely squeaked over the 10 percent mark, and a “nuclear war arising from Ukraine-Russia conflict” was way under 10 percent.

If this had been a survey of the general population, I could understand such low numbers.

Natural disasters also ranked very low in this survey.

Maybe that is because the Yellowstone supervolcano was the only one that was specifically asked about.

Personally, I would have added an eruption of Mt. Rainier, a tsunami on the east coast, a tsunami on the west coast, a historic earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone and “the Big One” in California as potential responses on this survey.

We are far more vulnerable than most people realize, and I am entirely convinced that there will be unprecedented natural disasters in the United States during the years ahead as our very shaky planet becomes even more unstable.

Another major threat that I would have liked to see asked about in this survey is the rapidly growing global food crisis.

Last year, 2.4 billion people did not have enough food to eat, and 750 million of them experienced chronic hunger.

And the numbers for this year will inevitably be even worse.

In fact, the numbers have been getting steadily worse since 2015.

But because we live in a very wealthy nation that still has lots of food, most Americans are not concerned about the global famine that has already started at all.

I also noticed that “large asteroid strike” was just one notch from the bottom on this survey.

Apparently this is something that most preppers are not concerned about at all.

But they should be.

It won’t happen tomorrow, but eventually the entire world will become aware of a tremendous threat that is looming in the heavens.

Needless to say, there is a lot of disagreement about what our greatest threats are, but just about everyone understands that something has gone seriously wrong with our society.

And that explains why gun ownership in the U.S. has surged to heights that we have never seen before in the entire modern history of our nation.

According to a new NBC News national poll, a whopping 52 percent of U.S. voters “say they or someone in their household owns a gun”…

More than half of American voters — 52% — say they or someone in their household owns a gun, per the latest NBC News national poll.

That’s the highest share of voters who say that they or someone in their household owns a gun in the history of the NBC News poll, on a question dating back to 1999.

In 2019, 46% of Americans said that they or someone in their household owned a gun, per an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. And in February 2013, that share was 42%.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans are stockpiling emergency food and other supplies.

They can feel that great chaos is coming, even if they do not fully grasp all of the specifics of the very serious threats that we are now facing.

If you have not been getting prepared for the collapse of society, I would very strongly encourage you to do so.

What we have been through during the past few years is just the tip of the iceberg, and the clock is ticking…

Originally published at End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.

The Inevitable Takeover: Digital Identity And Total Control Is Coming

If one cannot see that we are fast approaching the end of the church age, and that we are at the very threshold of the Day Of The Lord, they must be a baby Christian, severely backslidden, or unsaved.

Maranatha, Pastor Steve <><

Breaking News Updates – November 14, 2023

The Inevitable Takeover: Digital Identity And Total Control Is Coming

BY PNW STAFF NOVEMBER 14, 2023

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a final agreement this week on the establishment of “European Digital Identity Wallets,” the first central and fully digital identification system for all Europeans. But that is just the start of what is coming.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a final agreement this week on the establishment of “European Digital Identity Wallets,” the first central and fully digital identification system for all Europeans.

“Under the new law, the EU will offer its citizens so-called ‘digital wallets’–on a voluntary basis, at first–which will contain digital versions of their ID cards, driving licenses, diplomas, medical records, and bank account information,” the European Conservative reported.

These documents will be recognized as means to access online services throughout Europe, and citizens will be able to prove their identity or share electronic documents from their wallets “with a click of a button,” the legislators hope.

“This marks an important step towards the Digital Decade 2030 targets on the digitalization of public services,” the EU Commission said in a statement Wednesday.

“All EU citizens will be offered the possibility to have an EU Digital Identity Wallet to access public and private online services in full security and protection of personal data all over Europe.”

The agreement reached by the co-legislators is now subject to formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council.

Once formally adopted, the European Digital Identity framework will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal.

The agreement follows on the heels of the G20 summit in September where the leading global economies agreed to build the necessary infrastructure to implement digital currencies and IDs.

The agreement came just a few weeks after Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, announced that the European Union was moving forward with the development of its new central bank digital currency (CBDC)–the digital Euro.

Conservative EU lawmakers and cybersecurity experts have opposed these developments, warning that large-scale abuse is inevitable in an all-encompassing digital identity system.

Dutch MEP Rob Roos sounded the alarm on X, Wednesday:

“BREAKING: Very bad news. The European Parliament and Member States just reached an agreement on introducing the Digital Identity,” he said.

Roos noted that following the agreement, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “‘Now that we have a Digital Identity Wallet, we have to put something in it…’, suggesting a connection between CBDC and eID.”

Ahead of the the European Parliament’s decision, over 500 privacy and cybersecurity experts from 39 countries signed a joint letter warning that the legislation “fails to properly respect the right to privacy of citizens and secure online communications.”

Roos lamented that most EU lawmakers “ignored all the privacy experts and security specialists. They’re pushing it all through.”

The Dutch conservative said that he is not optimistic, but “it is not too late yet.”

“Parliament still has to vote about this. Let your MEP know that you oppose the Digital Identity and that you want your MEP to vote against it!” he said.

The Biden White House released a “Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets” in September of last year.

Catherine Austin Fitts, financial expert and Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the H.W. Bush administration, has long been a vocal opponent of CBDC systems.

In a recent interview, she warned that a 100 percent digital system would be controlled centrally and that a person’s money could potentially be limited to a particular geographical area. Such a totalitarian system, she argued, could also allow the State to limit people on what they are allowed to buy.

“Let’s say I want to mandate a vaccine. Your financial transaction ability can be turned off,” Fitts said.

“Your access to your financial assets can be denied or stopped if you don’t do what you’re told.”

Edward Dowd, the founder Phinance Technologies and author of Cause Unknown, has also long warned that any CBDC system will be a system of totalitarian control tied to a Chinese-style “social credit score.”

“It just becomes a social engineering tool, the ultimate control-freak gizmo,” he said during an interview last year.

The idea of a digital ID system is not entirely new. In some countries, digital identification has already been implemented for government services and online banking. 

However, expanding the use of digital IDs to cover all online activities would be a significant step towards global ID for everyone.  

No ID, no access would change the nature of identification and verification systems worldwide.

While it might seem to make sense on some levels, the threat to personal freedoms and potential for abuse by Government is vast.