Posted by: Joshua D Brewer | on January 5, 2014
The Perfect Storm, a dramatic film in 2000, depicted the tragic loss of a fishing vessel and her crew, in a seemingly “perfect” sequence of negative weather events. I believe, we as a nation, are heading directly into a perfect “financial storm”, of cataclysmic proportions. I may not be the best communicator but I try to listen; and, I have been listening intently since losing one of my contracting businesses during the housing crash in 2007-2008. I lost my home, three brand new business trucks and depleted every bit of my savings, in the process of trying to save the company. Why? Because I listened to all of the ultra-positive people that said how quickly we would bounce back. Allow me to interject right here that I am not a pessimistic person but I have learned that there is a difference between being “optimistic” and “blindly hopeful”.
Was Gordon Gekko, from the 1987 hit movie “Wallstreet”, correct? Is greed good? I remember being taught that the two greatest motivators are fear and greed. While this may have an element of truth to it, Yoda would warn us that they are “of the dark-side”. I would agree with Yoda and I believe that there is more to the reasons behind our financial woes as a nation; not only the ones we have already experienced, but those that I believe are on the horizon. I will get to these later. This article is a compilation of the most important things that I have been listening to, over the past 6 years. I promised myself, my wife and my family that I would never be caught unaware again. Nor would I trust any flippant news broadcast, without doing more research myself. The evidence is overwhelming and those who have an ear to hear, let them hear. I am not fear mongering nor am I trying to send “pre-Y2K” shock waves through the hearts and minds of readers. I am just waving a BIG red flag… A REALLY BIG RED FLAG! (and I am not the only one – WARNING from the I.M.F. ) I want to encourage as many people as possible, to be wise and do your own due diligence where these issues are concerned. This article may only seem filled with problems and things to worry about; but I believe that there are steps that we can all take, to prepare and be ready. The answers are going to be different for each individual and business; therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to use a shotgun style approach, in this article, to give advice. If you would like a second opinion on a Financial Disaster Preparedness Plan, please take a moment to ASK US NOW and we can set up a time to talk.
What makes me qualified to send out this warning?
I have always believed that you learn more from failing, than from succeeding and I have failed a lot. Allow me to also preface that I believe in divine purpose and thus I believe that my failings have prepared me for a time such as this. There is an analogy often used of a watchman on the wall, intently watching and ready to sound the alarm at any sign of trouble. So who are the best watchmen? Those who have seen the enemy approaching from battles past. They know the signs before trouble is on the door step and sound the alarm as early as possible, careful to avoid false alarms. Knock some zeros off the national budget and I have “been there, done that”. I have seen it, felt it and tasted it. I have experienced the feeling of invincibility during times of rapid growth. I have also tried to save my wants-based lifestyle by any legal means necessary. Only to learn that “legal” doesn’t always mean “right” and just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should”. I have used every technique taught in business school to leverage money and create wealth, only to lose it in the blink of an eye. I ignored plenty of warning signs and did not want to believe that they applied to me. I liked hearing the people who were pumping up my ego and I felt like prosperity would soon return. When things turned south for me, I believed that I could turn them around. I learned the hard way and for the sake of this great nation and those I care about, I am sounding the alarm!
Do you see the PERFECT STORM on the horizon?
What are the elements? What are the factors that could come together to produce a financial upheaval, like we have never seen before? Much like the “Perfect Storm” movie, we as a nation (and much of the industrialized economies around the world) have been pursuing the elusive “big prize”, at great risk. As the saying goes, “you gotta’ play big, to win big.” Unfortunately, just like the movie, we have moved into waters surrounded by risks that are completely out of our control. Can you see the winds of debt that encircle the globe, becoming an enormous vortex, poised to engulf the entire international monetary system? Does this seem too dooms-day’ish for you? What may shock you is that I am not even talking about the end of the world. I believe that will be much worse. I am going to share clear facts that point to events, which will occur in our near future; the magnitude of which, has never been experienced before in the history of the world. How can we possibly experience a “world wide financial catastrophe”? (I prefer the term “fi-natural disaster”.) First of all, we need to discuss the most unique area of our current situation, an aspect of our “perfect storm” that has never happened in recorded human history. The unabated printing of paper money in 3 of the 4 largest economies in the world. The E.U., the U.S. and Japan. Now, if there were any doubts about the affects of quantitative easing (money printing plus purchasing its own government bonds to artificially suppress interest rates) on stock markets, just take a quick look at the Japanese NIKKEI. Since the Bank of Japan decided to start its “uncapped” quantitative easing in August of 2011, the NIKKEI has almost DOUBLED in perceived value (as of the writing of this article). Stock markets in the U.S. are nearly 2.5 times higher than their valuations in March of 2009 (the DJIA moving from 6,500 to over 16,000).
SO WHAT!?!
Countries print money all the time, it is just part of the complex economic world we live in. Right? Well, yes and no. Our new global economic system is certainly complex, but a quick internet search for “hyperinflation” unveils scores of countries which have experienced hyperinflation-type economic collapses in just the last 100 years. One of the main causes of hyperinflation is “large amounts of money printing”. Consider for a moment that the US Dollar has only been the base fiat currency for international business since World War II. For 200 years before that, the British Sterling Pound was the international monetary standard. Thus, keeping in mind the current aggressive maneuvering of the Chinese with the Yuan, the US dollar, on its current trajectory, could mark the shortest such run as an international monetary standard.
Here is an overly simplified comparison of our current economic system in the United States (printing money), as if it were a household budget (on steroids). To begin, your household income is $140,000/yr (your GDP, less 7 zeros, compared to a U.S. 2007 GDP of $14 trillion). That’s it, that is all you can produce and you are measuring your earning ability in dollars. Well, your kids keep getting sick and one has a drug addiction and another doesn’t like working very much… so, you start having to put some expenses on credit cards, because they are your kids and you feel obligated. I mean what kind of parent would you be, right? Well, you also have a bathroom to remodel and your spouse really wants an addition on the house since the kids aren’t moving out as planned.
At this point the budget is blown, 140 grand isn’t touching these bills. So with your home equity line of credit maxed out and no more room on your credit cards, you come up with a brilliant idea! “I will offer I.O.U’s to my friends and family.” Believe it or not, IT WORKS! They really trust that you are going to finish your projects, work your way out of debt and pay them back. What you end up doing is paying your other creditors the interest you owe them and realizing that you don’t have enough money to finish your projects. So, you decide to convince your kids to start a lemonade stand in front of the house, which nets $2,800 in its first year. YES! a 2% increase in GDP. With a positive growth forecast in hand, you decide to pay some money to your friends and family and offer them MORE I.O.U’s. They take the bait… hook, line and sinker.
A little while later, you start getting discouraged because the projects are taking way longer to finish than you planned, the cost of materials keeps increasing and your debt is larger, not smaller. Your one unenthusiastic child has gained about 50 lbs and is steadily increasing the food expense, putting even more pressure on your planned debt ceiling. Even though you do a marvelous job of paying your I.O.U’s on time and people continue to purchase them from you, your gut feeling says, “if I can get a couple more people buying my I.O.U’s, they will be compelled to buy my kid’s lemonade because they want me to succeed and pay them back.” You decide to prove to them that you believe so much in your I.O.U’s that YOU will buy them from YOURSELF! (Before you start laughing, think about it.) You begin cutting checks to yourself and buying a ton of your own I.O.U’s. This all might sound ludicrous until you hear the next part. When you take the checks that you wrote yourself to the bank… THEY DEPOSIT THE MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT!
Where did the money come from?
The answer: Blue Sky. At first, you may say, “I wish I could do that.” Unfortunately, the bank will realize that they made a mistake and you will have to make it right. In this example story, the bank represents the global free market trade system and at some point they will realize that quantitative easing is a BIG mistake and someone will have to make it right. Why? Because, the “actual real output” of these countries has not increased nearly as much as their total debt. Some sources claim that quantitative easing affects GDP almost dollar for dollar. In 2013, the fed purchased $85 billion worth of bonds per month. Thus, artificially increasing United States’ GDP by over $1 trillion. Even if we accepted the $16 trillion GDP as uninflated. How much longer do we think the free market system will accept debt in the U.S. alone, growing FOUR TIMES faster than GDP? (when comparing 2007 – 2013) In terms of our household comparison, you and your kids would have made a grand total of $160K, in 2013. (Remember, we chopped off 7 zeros for the comparison.) However, of the $160K, you wrote yourself $10K worth of checks and you already have $170K worth of debt. Oh and by the way, your expenses are $166k/yr. Therefore, you have to borrow money to keep up your standard of living; plus, you have to write yourself bad checks to make it seem like you are making $160K/yr instead of $150K/yr. Does this downward spiral sound scary? It should, because that is modus operandi of U.S. Federal Reserve, and it can not end well, for anybody. Chop the zeros off the national budget and I have been in this very same situation. I thought that I could borrow my way out of the hole. I thought that if I had just a little more time, I could raise my real output above my expenses; but, the banks and the credit card companies didn’t agree.
WAIT A SECOND!
We are talking about the difference between a country and an individual. I agree, but again, let’s summarize the facts. Since, 2007 we have nearly doubled the national debt and we have FOUR TIMES more dollar bills in circulation. The basic principles of supply and demand dictate that the more of something you have, the less valuable it is (research, hyperinflation). How can anyone prove that a real unemployment rate in the USA, almost double pre-recession figures, could produce more “real domestic output”? If you have 4 times more dollar bills in circulation and real domestic output is less than 2007, what is the real value of a dollar bill? I don’t know, maybe less than 25 cents? Guests on CNBC would joke about how 401K’s became 201K’s, during the 2009 market crash. I am afraid that the smoke and mirrors of the “new economy” (the economy where quantitative easing is the norm) may reveal 101K’s or less.
So let’s get this wagon back on track.
We are going to be discussing several other areas of our “perfect storm” but we need to look at them through the lens of quantitative easing (QE). Let us also not forget why we are out in this storm in the first place. We are running after that elusive BIG PRIZE. The catch of a lifetime, one that fills the boat from stem to stern. Although, QE clearly has a perceived positive effect on the stock market(due to the rise in GDP and low interest rates); which, has a marginal effect on the real economy, all positive effects will cease once you have printed so much paper, that the paper becomes worthless. What is the difference between a U.S. savings bond and a dollar bill? Are they not both pieces of paper backed by the full faith of a government? In 2013, the United States shut down non-essential services as it fought over which bills to pay. Politicians discussed the option of making some late payments on debt and other expenses. This squabbling ended with a choice of (you guessed it) borrowing more money to keep up the lifestyle. What happens when the government doesn’t have the ability to produce goods and services equal to the perceived value of those pieces of paper? At what point does the bank (free markets) look at your checking account (or the account of the government) and say, “WHOA! Wait a second! You can’t write those checks!” Then you have a problem, a REALLY BIG PROBLEM.
As if this were not a big enough issue in and of itself, this is where it gets really interesting.
Enter stage right Tyrannosaurus Debt (see our article Fiscal Integrity for Leaders ), funded by the world. We understand that nearly every country on our planet owns US bonds and US Dollars because they see them as a safe investment. This comprises our national debt; but, how do investors compare this with other investments? If you own stock in a company and it starts to sell, which increases the “free paper” (ie stock certificates available), value goes down and you… SELL before you lose your shirt. The formula is the same between stocks, bonds or currency: More Paper equals Less Value. So if you hold a significant investment in U.S. bonds but because the U.S. starts printing money out of thin air, the value of the investment starts decreasing, how would you feel? Can you hear the free markets screaming, like the bank from our story above. “WHOA! You can’t do that! When I originally bought your bonds I could cash it out and buy a loaf of bread. Now I cash it out and I can’t buy a brussel sprout!” Not only are we facing a major financial down turn but it could cause some pretty significant strain on foreign relations.
So how does the stock market play into all of this?
The stock market is a “reactive” institution, a lagging indicator. The stock exchanges around the world give us indications of what is going on behind the scenes, after actions are taken. As much as people want to believe that markets are predictive, they really are not. So why are a number of people talking about housing bubbles and market bubbles, as if they are the problem? They are concerned that the markets are “telling us” that there is an underlying problem somewhere else. Even though everyone likes it when stock values increase, increasing too fast has proven to be costly in the long run. One of the most notable “stock market bubble bursts” was that of 1987. In 1982, the U.S. began recovering from an 18 year economic illness. Even with a casual glance at the historical chart of the DJIA, from 1982 to 1990, one can see that the stock market got ahead of the economy in 1987, by about 2 years. The result of 1987, was the DOW beginning the year at 1897 points, peaking in August to 2722 points and ending the year at only 1939 points. What was the underlying problem here? My opinion: greed (hint – the movie released the same year). The economy still showed marked improvement for many years to come; which, justified overall stock market growth, just not as quickly as 1987 investors had hoped. So the bubble and crash of 1987 taught us to watch and analyze when things get uncharacteristically out of sync (ie stocks vs the real economy).
Fast forward 30+ years, and what has changed since 1987? A broader global economy, computerized high frequency trading and a derivatives market with a notional value over $1 quadrillion (yes, quadrillion!) This exists in a world that has just over a $65 trillion worldwide GDP. That is an enormous difference! For those that are not familiar with derivatives, it is simply betting on bets, in and out of stock exchanges. Do you remember hearing about the infamous “credit default swap” that was at the heart of the 2008 market crash? That my friend was a derivative and there are tons more just like it that still exist today. Moreover, stuck in the midst of the quadrillion dollars, is a massive amount of borrowing by investors (in order to pump more money into stocks). So even if the banks are directly regulated away from risky investments, they can loan the money to someone else who will make the risky investment instead. EESH! It is all one big tangled ball of yarn. I will interject a clear warning right here. If you have any money in the stock market (directly or via a retirement plan) and have not researched the causes and effects of the recent flash crashes. I would advise that you do so, quickly. If any one thinks that they can keep their money in the market until the last minute and pull out, they are dead wrong. Nobody can move faster than a super computer owned by a multi-billion dollar hedge fund manager. Your money will vanish in the blink of an eye.
So, this is really not a matter of “if” but “when”.
The markets are telling us that there are major problems beneath the surface but people are drunk in their paper money. We as a nation, will be held accountable by our creditors to make good on our promises and they will not wait until our currency and bonds are worthless to do it. It is the “when” that is the main point of this article and should be the main concern of the reader. Determining your ability to put together a plan and execute it before we enter the next major downturn should be your highest priority. Keeping in mind the fragile state of our economy, I see 4 factors which could catalyze our return to a great depression: loss of confidence in our sovereign debt/monetary system, multiple municipal bankruptcies, multiple natural disasters or war/terror attacks.
We will discuss the decreasing confidence in our debt/monetary system first. At what point will the nations of the world say, “enough is enough”? In August of 2011, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of the United States from a AAA to a AA+. This was the first such downgrade ever received by the country. In October of 2013, the non-SEC recognized, Chinese rating agency DAGONG downgraded the US from an A to an A-. Why is this important? Because China holds $1.3 trillion of US debt. It doesn’t matter what our US based SEC thinks of DAGONG. If China trusts its own rating agencies and makes decisions based on them… we are going in the wrong direction. So what are the reasons why these agencies have downgraded the credit worthiness of the United States? It is mainly due to the political fighting over the debt ceiling and our inability to create a sound budget that decreases our national debt, plain and simple. Do a little research on the statements made by China, to the US, concerning these issues. The Chinese do not mince words and when they want their money back, they will want it back quickly. Or maybe we can work out a deal, since China, just last year, purchased 5% of the Ukraine for much needed farm land (its true, look it up).
The next item is a little more difficult to get our arms around, but is a HUGE issue, a $3.7 trillion issue. It is one that has been swept under the carpets of cities and territories around the US for years and it just keeps getting worse: municipal debt . Why is it difficult to grasp? Because, of its intricately woven connections between, banks, bond holders, retirement fund managers, unions, it’s citizens and the federal government. Last fall, Detroit declared the largest Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy on record, over $18 billion. Puerto Rico is dealing with a debt crisis that has already surpassed the $40 billion marker. Many credible resources have cited that state and local governments are suffering from the same illness as the federal government: too much spending and not enough revenue.
If there is one thing I have learned in my short 40 years, it is this, “When you are dependent on borrowed money to survive, you are already in very big trouble.”
Since 2008, the U.S. government has invested over $600 billion of tax payer money into banks, auto makers and the housing authorities Fannie May and Freddie Mac; resulting in our current anemic (and some would say artificial) growth. While at the same time piling on $8 trillion more debt. Do we really think that the United States has the ability to bailout cities or states? Who would support another series of bailouts? I believe, China is just looking for a reason to pull the plug. Does this seem highly speculative? The facts say, it is not speculative at all. It is very clear that the municipal bond market has turned south, with 2013 logging its first negative annual performance since the financial crisis. Which begs the question, “why?” What stress are they under? I thought we were recovering? The world understands how tightly connected and interdependent our system is, state and local governments ultimately support the federal and you are only as strong as your weakest link.
Lastly, we’ll address the items on the list, which at first glance, may seem to be only indirectly related to our countries financial stability. Although natural disasters are rather unpredictable, they seem to occur quite regularly each year. It is hard to say, but a series of smaller events could prove to be an economic tipping point. We also know that war and acts of terror consistently send shock waves through the markets, but have you ever considered economic terrorism? We all understand the uncertainty of war and terrorist attacks, but unlike natural disasters, our enemies have plans to destroy us. In 2013, intelligence sources uncovered a very interesting tactic being planned by al-Qaeda. They have advised all of their underground groups to hold as many US Dollars as possible with the plan of exchanging them all at once around the world to cause the currency to collapse. You may think this to be an impossible task. However, in March of 2005, intelligence agencies uncovered an al-Qaeda document titled “al-Qaeda’s Strategy to the Year 2020.” There were five listed strategies, four of which they have already successfully completed. The fifth statement reads:
The U.S. economy will finally collapse by the year 2020 under the strain of multiple engagements in numerous places, making the worldwide economic system which is dependent on the U.S. also collapse leading to global political instability, which in turn leads to a global jihad led by al-Qaeda and a Wahhabi Caliphate will then be installed across the world following the collapse of the U.S. and the rest of the Western world countries.
I do wish that the truth was not so grim but it is none the less the truth. I know that our government is doing everything it can to avoid such things but because we are unwilling as a nation to completely change our selfish ways, we are actually playing right into their hands. Again, having been there personally, I know the difficulties that surround the tough decisions between “wants” and “needs”. I hate to be so blunt, but I believe that our country is far too greedy and self-centered at this point to make the necessary changes to avoid such a catastrophe. That does not mean that each of us individually is unable to plan and prepare. We can and should implement Financial Disaster Preparedness Planning.
All of this is overwhelming! What are we supposed to do about it?
I believe that all problems are solved by first being honest with ourselves. As all of this information was revealed to me and the dots started to connect, I had to go through the same process. I really wanted to understand the failures of the country but I first needed to understand the reasons behind all of my own failures. The path led me to a mirror. The problem was in me. It was my desires and my greed, that drove me to strive harder and harder for the elusive brass ring. I am far from perfect and I certainly struggle with my longing for an easier life. However, the further away from that lifestyle that I found myself, the more I was able to recognize the trappings that existed there. But, even as I admitted that there was some truth in the my personal faults, I still struggled with a major question.
“Are you sure this isn’t just coincidence?”
What about, “bad things happening to good people”? When you look at history, the consistent failings of mankind and all of the times that history repeats itself, how can we really know the grand scheme of things? I struggled with this same question. I know that I had convinced myself time and time again, that it was the economy, or it was a bad business deal or it was a bad client. I pulled myself up by the bootstraps every time, only to make the same mistakes in different ways. I looked at the stock market day after day (after 2009) as it went up and up, wondering why my business was still so sluggish. I convinced myself that I was not working hard enough; but, longer hours and more creative strategies never solved the problems. For all the listening and learning that I had been doing from 2008 to 2013, I was still missing something. Our website was full of video clips of all of the worlds most prominent investors and economists, that I had been listening to and sharing with you, but none of the pieces fit properly. Then from out of nowhere my faith crashed into my business. Then it all made sense, none of this was coincidence at all.
Within days of one another I listened to two different gentlemen share some very interesting insight on a pattern they saw in the stock market. The first, on CNBC, explained how we were in a clear pattern of higher highs and lower lows stretched over a period of years. He showed a pattern stretching back to 2000, were we started a dramatic down trend in September of 2001 that didn’t finish correcting until 2002. Then the markets rose to new highs in 2007 which were violently rocked in September of 2008 and did not finish correcting until 2009. He was warning that the stock market was showing signs that our new highs, were setting us up for a fall well below the 6500 mark on the DJIA, the next time down.
The next gentlemen took it a step further and explained that the 7 year period between September 2001 and September 2008 was not a coincidence at all. In fact, on the Hebrew calendar (based mostly on the lunar cycle) those months are called “Elul”. For the Hebrew people it is very significant, because it was commanded by God for them to erase all debts, every 7 years, at the end of the month of Elul. More significantly, the largest drops in the stock market occurred in each year on the 29th of Elul, exactly. Do you remember the drop in the DOW when the House failed to pass the TARP? 777 points, the largest one day drop in history. (Coincidence?) On the 29th day of Elul, the exact day that the debts are supposed to be wiped away.
HOLD ON! That is for Israel not the United States of America.
The second gentleman’s name is Jonathan Cahn and you can watch a video where he explains all of the compelling information surrounding these events and more, here… The Harbinger. I am not sure if you are familiar with the 3rd Commandment or not, but it says “You shall not ‘take’ the name of God in vain”. Have you considered the connection between this wording and what happens to the last name of most women when they marry? They “take” the last name of their husband. What other country in the world has “In God we trust”, on their money or so flippantly says, “God bless [our country]”. We are the only country that has taken God’s name and stamped it on everything, from songs, to speeches and even our currency. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against this but I certainly believe, if you are going to take someone’s name and present yourself, as their representative… well, you had better do it right, or they are not going to be pleased with you. I don’t know where you are spiritually or what you believe, but we have to agree, that if there is a God, our country has been throwing His name around, with abandon, for over 200 years. If this all seems too weird and you want to stop reading, that’s alright. Whether you seek help in creating a plan or do it on your own. You will need to do some soul searching, too. You should look closely at your core beliefs and determine, “what is most important in my life”. If you are interested in seeing some other patterns that I believe give us insight into how to plan for this catastrophic event, keep reading .
God is real, He warns and then He judges His creation.
Here is a very interesting difference between Israel and the United States. God chose Israel and then He showed amazing amounts of mercy to them over hundreds of years. The USA chose God and then we snubbed our nose at his commands, His laws and His statutes. All the while saying, “God bless us.” That my friend is “taking His name in vain.” Amazingly, even in all of our disrespect, He still shows us great grace and mercy by giving us warning signs. Lots and lots of warning signs. I have filled our website and this article with many of them and if you do your own research you will find many more. Keep in mind, just because He judges does not make Him some angry, unloving God. He hates sin and cleanses it. He shows His great love in giving us a choice and warning us years ahead of time.
The prophet Ezekiel (chapter 18)
30 “That is why I will judge each of you by what you have done, people [who take my name],” declares the Almighty LORD. “Change the way you think and act. Turn away from all the rebellious things that you have done so that you will not fall into sin. 31 Stop all the rebellious things that you are doing. Get yourselves new hearts and new spirits. Why do you want to die, [those who take my name]? 32 I don’t want anyone to die,” declares the Almighty LORD. “Change the way you think and act!”
Are we sure that these are warnings from God?
Again, I would take the time to watch all 4 videos that we have available on The Harbinger but let’s hear what God thinks about His own warnings.
The prophet Amos (chapter 4)
6 I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities. I left you with no food in your entire land. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the LORD. 7 I stopped the rain from falling three months before the harvest. I sent rain on one city and not on another. One field had rain. Another field had none and dried up. 8 So people from two or three cities staggered as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water. But they couldn’t get enough. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the LORD. 9 I struck your [crops] with blight and mildew. Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the LORD. 10 I sent plagues on you as I did to Egypt. With swords I killed your best young men along with your captured horses. I made the stench from your camps fill your noses. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the LORD. 11 I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning log snatched from a fire. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the LORD.
God is trying to get your attention, so that you will turn to Him.
Before Adam and Eve took of the fruit, they were clearly and directly warned. In the book of Genesis, chapter 14, Lot is captured and taken away from Sodom and Gomorrah; and, the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah were even killed, long before the cities are destroyed. Yet when Abraham rescued the people of Sodom and they returned to the cities, they also returned to their sin. They never heeded God’s warnings and we know how that piece of history ended. Over and over, God warned the nation of Israel through His prophets and they refused to listen. This was encapsulated when the prophet Jeremiah watched the warnings of God given to Isaiah come true. By that time, all that Jeremiah could do was to tell each individual to get right with the Almighty and obey Him themselves. It was obvious that the nation and its rulers were not going to change their rebellious ways.
This may be a point that you will find worth researching. If you are thinking that your church is the answer to finding God, I would respectfully disagree. Read your Bible closely. God says over and over that you will not find Him in your religious acts or by partaking in religious services. He wants you to turn to Him, not a church or a pastor. He wants you to learn His commands and follow them, every one of them. Exactly the way He commanded it, not the way someone has interpreted it to be observed. I will reiterate that this will take some soul searching but if you have had ears to hear, up to this point, then this message was for you and now you have to decide what you are going to do with it.
The timing of events…
I don’t know exactly but I do know that things repeat themselves. When God told Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar was going to return and destroy Jerusalem, it wasn’t that hard to believe, since he had already been there once before and could have destroyed it the first time. But did any of the rulers heed the warning and repent? No. So, what are the warning signs that I have mentioned above, pointing to? We will be entering another Sabbath year in 2015, just like 2001 and 2008. The month of Elul will be in the September time frame again. September 2015 could play host to any one or a multitude of events outlined in this article and we will most likely have aftershocks that will last for months afterward. Likewise, we will repeat events similar to 2000 and 2007; wherein, problems will present themselves in 2014, which will undoubtedly justify any downturn. You will have to judge for yourself whether or not these are just a series of coincidences or is the Great and Holy One trying to get your attention.
Ezekiel 29
11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, 14 I will let you find me, declares the LORD. I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I’ve scattered you, declares the LORD. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive.
If you have questions concerning God’s commands and how to follow them visit our website: www.assemble-together.org If you are looking for assistance in putting together a Financial Disaster Preparedness Plan for you and/or your business CLICK HERE .
Thanks for reading, Shalom,
– Joshua D Brewer
