Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

on December 26, 2012 at 4:46 am
Posted In: Economy, Potential Threats

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

financial crisis

 

 

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis  is a documentary by Journeyman Pictures. The film does a fantastic job of explaining the history behind the 2008 crash. Several experts like Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capitol and Gerald Celente of The Trends Journal speak in the film. Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis explains how relaxed lending standards promoted by President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush helped to inflate the housing bubble. It also explains how the funds that were pumped into the economy via stimulus spending by the government was wasted. Additionally, all of the excessive money printing borrowing and spending by the US government is only creating new bubbles. Every bubble is looking for a pin to pop it, so the next crisis is inevitable.

 Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis   by Journeyman Pictures

 

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis shows how none of the core issues that created the last bubble have been solved. Yes, banks have certainly tightened their lending standards, but little else has changed. Most of the  “too big to fail” banks responsible for making the loans are still there. The ones that are not were absorbed by the others making banks much bigger than the original “too big to fail” banks. We have gone from “too big to fail” to “too big to bail”.

Governments around the world have used up there  financial ammunition and have few tactics left to deal with another financial meltdown. Interest rates have been driven to near zero percent and it is not possible to drive them lower. Additional increasing of the money supply would not be likely to stave off another crisis. It is viewed by many to be the cause of the next financial crisis.

David Walker, Former US Comptroller general speaks about the likelihood of a bond bubble collapse in the near future due to our excessive borrowing. In the film, he explains that bond buyers are beginning to worry about the credit worthiness of the United States. If you enjoy this film, check out Journeyman’s YouTube channel for other documentaries he has produced.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more, read our 7 Step Preparedness Plan. It will help you to build a foundation in readiness and be better prepared for every thing from a tropical storm to the end of the world as we know it.

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Merry Christmas!

on December 24, 2012 at 4:08 am
Posted In: Bible

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Yes I know December 25th was an ancient pagan holiday celebrated by the Romans. I know Jesus was likely not born on that day, but it was incorporated by the early church so the Christians could celebrate Christ’s mass while the pagans celebrated Saturnalia and the birthday of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. Very little has changed. Today, the pagans still celebrate the day with drunken revelry while Gods children celebrate the birthday of  the Unconquered “Son”. Regardless of its origin, it is a time of the year when even Wal-Mart and Macy’s are playing songs about Jesus. God made every day, and every day is holy. It is up to you to chose how you use it. Paul told the Corinthians, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Indeed the day that God became a man to save us from ourselves is worthy of a special day to reflect on the event. What better time  to do so than Christmas. It is often the one time out of the year we can get our friends to attend church with us. It is also a time to look at all of the prophecies that were written about Jesus in the old testament. My personal favorite  was written by the prophet Isaiah more than 700 years before Christ was to be born, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” ( which means God with us) Isaiah 7:14.

What does all of this have to do with prepping? I’m glad you asked. Would you believe the Christmas story has a prepper element? In Matthew 2 we read:

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

No sooner was Jesus born than his family had to bug out. But his family was poor, how were they able to sustain themselves in a foreign land? Fortunately, we read the magi had brought gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and $100,000 in  US currency. Wait,  the Dollar in its current  completely fiat form has only been around since 1971. I better reread that. No, it was GOLD  the Magi brought. So gold is how God provided for Jesus to escape into Egypt.

There are a couple of lessons here. One is that God did not use a devalued fiat currency for Jesus to escape the police state that was intent on killing him, he used gold. Gold and silver have been used as money since Genesis 13 where we read that Abraham was rich in livestock, silver and gold. While precious metals do not generally function well as a medium of exchange in our society, they have proven to be much better stores of wealth over periods of time than the US Dollar.

The second lesson; despite the fact that Joseph and Mary were not well off, because they were obedient to God, He made sure they had the provisions they needed when it was time to bug out. Do what you can when you can to be prepared. Try to be a good steward of what God has given you, but don’t let anxiety get you down because you can’t afford to be more prepared. Do not worry about the future. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33.  Always do your best then trust God for the rest.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more about how to prepare for tomorrow, please read our 7 Step Preparedness Plan. It focuses strongly on prepping on a budget. Also check out our coupon corner to learn how to stretch you regular grocery budget to be able to buy extra every week that can add up to several months of stored food. Prepping is about doing what you can with what you have so you don’t create your own personal financial disaster. Never use debt to purchase preps.

The most important prep of all is knowing GOD. Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.

Merry Christmas and happy prepping!

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Sunday Prepper Bible Study 2 Chronicles 7:14

on December 23, 2012 at 5:40 am
Posted In: Bible

 

Sunday Prepper Bible Study 2 Chronicles 7:14″If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

bible

The tragedy in Sandy Hook, CT has left us all emotionally drained. So many will spend this Christmas without the ones they love. This is one of the most horrific crimes we have ever seen. Because of the age of the innocent young lives that were taken, it is that much more appalling than the random acts of violence we have grown accustomed to hearing on the news. Some of the ideas in today post are similar to those from Fridays post. I feel they need repeating. Thanks for bearing with me.

The liberal left has called for stricter gun laws. I am not sure if they are aware of the current laws, but it is already illegal to walk into a elementary school and murder children. Adam Lanza was intent on a murder suicide. If the current laws did nothing to dissuade him, I fail to see how rewriting The Constitution would have helped.

The liberal left has been quick to blame this tragedy on guns. Just as they did when Gabriel Gifford was shot, just as they did at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the Dark Night theater massacre. A thinking person has to ask “when did guns become so violent?”. After all, hasn’t our nation always had guns? In fact, don’t we have this great nation because of a well armed citizen militia? Despite our long history of  of being a well armed citizenry, the phenomenon of random violence is very recent.

So if gun laws haven’t changed, what did change? In the early 1970’s laws were passed to evict prayer and The Bible from our class rooms. We no longer taught absolute morals in the class room. Each child is now taught that they should explore their own morality and what is right for you may not necessarily be right for me. In the same time period, we began to eliminate the teaching of creation and replace it with an unproven theory of evolution. Our children were taught that they  had evolved from monkeys. Monkeys are animals, so we must also be animals. Don’t we kill animals all the time so we can have a bacon double cheese burger?

We continued on our path to depravity when we evicted the 10 commandments from our courtroom. Once again, we have reinforced the notion that there is no absolute authority on right and wrong. With God so far removed from the school system and the justice system, there is no expectation of eternal judgment or reward for our actions. People have become their own gods.

I won’t speculate on what Adam Lanza could have been thinking, but their are millions like him. They are products of a school system that taught him he is an animal, yet we are shocked when they believe it and act like animals. They are products of a society that won’t tell them “thou shall not kill” yet we wonder why they do. They are forbidden to learn about heaven or hell or a loving God. They are banned from praying in school to ask for help. In their loneliness and desperation, they see no hope and no consequences for their final acts of revenge on the world that has tormented them. This is not a repercussion of the same gun laws that we have had since 1787. This is a direct consequence of the degradation of our moral fiber due to turning our back on God, His book and His ways.

Unfortunately, we will never convince the liberals of these truths. We will likely never convince them of their own hypocrisy. While they are outraged over the 20 children that were violently murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary, not a word was said in remembrance of the other 3,288 children that were murdered that same day in America. For those aborted children, there was no breaking news story nor memorial service; nor will their be for the 3,288 that were killed by abortion today nor tomorrow. The liberal left are only concerned with the children whose deaths can affect their cause.

To the liberal left, the death of the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook as well as the other 1.2 million children murdered annually through abortion is your fault. Their blood will be on your hands on judgement day.You might want to get that cleared up before you meet their Heavenly Father. He is very forgiving, but you must repent. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

For my fellow Christians, keep praying. Unless our nation repents of rejecting God, it will only get worse. Our moral fabric is thread bare and close to complete disintegration. And while you are praying, keep prepping.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more about how to prepare for tomorrow, please read our 7 Step Preparedness Plan. Come back every Sunday for a new Prepper Bible Study! The most important prep of all is knowing GOD. Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.

Have a blessed week and happy prepping!

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Obama Announces Plans for Gun Grab

on December 21, 2012 at 5:19 am
Posted In: Constitution, Potential Threats

Obama Announces Plans for Gun Grab and Magazine Ban

gun

Obama spoke Wednesday on the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. The full speech is available on C-SPAN. Like most liberals, he is blaming guns rather than the decay of our moral fiber which is clearly the result of  liberal legislation. Liberals have kicked God out of our class rooms and out of our court rooms. Liberals have told society that human life is not important through abortion laws. Liberals have replaced the truth of creation with the unproven myth of evolution. They have told us there is no absolute right and wrong and that each individual must decide for themselves what is right and wrong .

Adam Lanza lived in a society that has become increasingly controlled by liberals. He has heard them say “you evolved from an animal”.  Why are we surprised he acted like an animal. He grew up in a society that allows the murder of innocent children in their mothers womb. Is it such a stretch for him to think it is OK to kill 5 and 6 year olds? Adam Lanza is a product of a School system that forbids the Bible and the 10 Commandments that says’ “thou shall not kill.” Adam Lanza was educated by a school system that forbid him from prayer; from crying out to the God that could have helped him in his pain and loneliness. Guns aren’t the problem. The problem is the liberal legislation that has legalized murder and banned God.

Gun laws are more restrictive now than ever. Our Country was founded by a well armed citizenry. We won our independence from England by the barrel of a gun in the hand of citizens. This was the inspiration for the 2nd amendment. It’s purpose was to insure our liberty from tyrants. The 2nd amendment had no purpose for hunting nor collecting. It’s sole purpose was to ensure the American citizen would always have the means to defend the rights ensured by the Constitution. With out the 2nd amendment, all the rest of the Constitution has no teeth. The 2nd Amendment States:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

What liberal moron thinks this is talking about hunting?  This is about a militia being armed to defend against tyranny! The right to keep and bear arms has been infringed and it will continue to be so as long as the left controls the Executive Office.

Don’t get mad at Obama, he would have now power it had not been for the liberals that voted him in office. Educate your children and the youth of our country about the Constitution. Educate those whose minds are not yet corrupted. Then tell your liberal friends, “Sandy Hook is your fault!”. They are the ones who have elected the Presidents and Representatives that have corrupted our land. They kicked God out of the class room and the court room, they legalized and protected abortion laws that kill 3200 innocent lives every day. Abortion kills 160 times as many children as the Sandy Hook massacre  every day. Yet it is never mentioned on the news, so their screams are unheard.

If you voted for a liberal and have not repented to God, expect their innocent blood on your hands on judgment day. Sandy Hook is so tragic because of the pain and grief of the parents, brothers and sisters who will miss those precious children. In the eyes of God, the deaths of the masses of aborted children are no less tragic.

Obama was not clear as to what method he intends to use to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. I am sure he knows republicans won’t sign off on his legislation. It is very likely that he will issue an executive order. FDR used  executive order 6102 to ban gold. There is certainly a precedent for using executive order. Obama did mention January as being when he would be taking recommendations from his Gun Grabber commission headed by Joe Bidden. I think most of us were expecting something like this in Obama’s second term.

Tell your Senators and Representatives that the infringement on the 2nd amendment has not restricted the violence. We have been a well armed nation since our birth. That is not what has changed. The thing that has changed is the moral decay of our country. It is already illegal to walk into a school and kill children. The law did not stop it. The long run solution is to teach our children to love and obey God. The short run solution is to arm our teachers.

At the time of this writing, .223/5.56 magazines were sold out on Cabelas, Bass Pro, Midway.com and several other sites. Very little .223/5.56 ammo is available on any site. Most sites, including Bulk Ammo, Lucky Gunner and the ones mentioned above were completely sold out of .223/5.56 ammo. I suspect search results would be similar for 7.62×39 mags and ammo. Cheaper than dirt did have some ammo listed but I have heard they have canceled orders due to lack of inventory in the past. Also, read the reviews before you order. The lake City tracer bulk offerings they have are very old ammo, and the sub sonic rounds will not cycle through a semiautomatic. Cheaper than dirt also had a few magazines listed. They only had 1 type of 30 rnd mag listed for $50 and a 20 rnd for $40. None of which were Magpul nor Tapco, so check the reviews before you order! All the others are 5 and 10 rnd. If you are aware of any sites that still have these items available, please leave a comment to let other readers know.

This is a great example of it being better to be a year early than a day late. Don’t let this same situation catch you off guard when the dollar collapses. Silver and gold coins will not be available at any price when the run starts. Metals prices are deeply discounted from their highs. They could go lower, but this might be a good time to start dollar cost averaging in.

I mention my investment strategies from time to time, however I am not a financial adviser and I don’t make specific recommendations on these posts. Before investing in any instrument, you should fully understand the instrument and the risks associated with it. All investing is inherently risky and can lose money.

Pray for our nation, get your own house in order, and keep prepping!

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Prophets of Doom Video Presentation

on December 19, 2012 at 4:36 am
Posted In: Potential Threats

Prophets of Doom

Prophets of Doom

 

“Prophets of Doom” is a History Channel presentation that features the problems that our globe is facing. It aired recently as part of H2’s 21 days  of Apocalypse. H2 or History Channel 2 is running the 21 days of Apocalypse as a play on the 12 days of Christmas and the 21 days of December leading up to December 21, 2012. This is the day many believe is to be the end of the world because it is the last day on the Mayan long count calendar. Read our Doomsday post to get our views on what will happen on that date.

Prophets of Doom gives the views of six men who see serious cataclysm facing our society. The first “Prophet of Doom” is Michael Rupert. Michael draws an excellent illustration of how fossil fuels have allowed the global population to balloon to its current level. He makes a very strong case for a mass extinction due to resource scarcity.

The next “Prophet of Doom” to make his case is Dr. Nathan Hagens. He also sees resource scarcity as being an issue but is much more concerned by the global economy. He calls the financial system a global Ponzi scheme. Hagens enumerates several threats that our world faces that stem from reckless economic policies. He describes our national debt as well as sovereign debt of other countries as being totally unsustainable. Hagens expects the dollar to collapse and to be replaced by another currency, perhaps a global currency. Dr. Hagens imagines that the human race will adjust to what ever changes may come but expects the transition to be unsurvivable for many.

The third “Prophet of Doom” is John Cronin. Cronin says that clean water is becoming scarce. He claims that we have polluted our rivers to a point that the fish living in them are unsafe to eat.  John Cronin talks about the over use of underground aquifers for irrigation of dry farmland. He tells us about the chemicals that end up in our water supplies from industry and pharmaceuticals.

The fourth “Prophet of Doom” is James Howard Kunsler. His pet theory is also energy scarcity.He gives the basic premise of Peak Oil in his segment. While I don’t think we are seeing a lot of evidence for having reached Peak Oil, I will say that we have reached Peak Cheap Oil.

The fifth “Prophet of Doom”, Hugo Degaris believes in the robot revolution. Basically “The Matrix”. This one is a little hard for me to take seriously. If you remember where you put your tin foil hat, you may find it entertaining.

The last “Prophet of Doom” Robert Gleason, sees nuclear war or nuclear terrorism as being the most significant problem on the radar. He states that because it can happen, statistically, it eventually will happen.

 

Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show. It is about 1 1/2 hours.

 

Prophets of Doom

Regular Prepper Recon readers know that I perceive the economic threats mentioned in the video to be the most concerning. We have overspent on welfare and warfare until we have amassed a national debt that is mathematically impossible to repay. I think this will erode confidence in the US dollar and create and environment that will make it difficult for the US to fund our profligate spending through further bond sales. The last options will be to raise interest rates  and excessive quantitative easing which will cripple our economy and cause high or hyperinflation.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more, read our 7 Step Preparedness Plan which focuses on prepping on a budget.

Happy Prepping!

 

 

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Bob Wiedemer Predicts Collapse in 2 To 4 Years.

on December 17, 2012 at 4:27 am
Posted In: Economy, Potential Threats

Bob Wiedemer Interview on Peak Prosperity

Bob Wiedemer

Bob Wiedemer is the co-author of  “Aftershock”  which was first released in 2009. The book talks about the continued downward spiral of the US economy. He is also the co-author of  “America’s Bubble Economy” which was published in 2006. People who had read it and heeded it’s advice would have been spared much grief in the 2008 housing bubble collapse. Unfortunately, his track record has not earned him enough respect in the economic community. Bob Wiedemer is still labeled as a party poopper as his warnings of a catastrophic economic collapse are largely ignored.

In this edition of Peak Prosperity’s Featured Voices, Chris Martenson interviews Bob Wiedemer. In the interview, Bob discusses his present view of the global macro-economy. He also explains how the government attempted to mitigate the effects of the housing and consumer credit bubbles by inflating two more dangerous bubbles. Those bubbles  are the dollar bubble, fueled by quantitative easing or increasing the money supply and the  debt bubble, fueled by borrowing. The popping of these two bubble is what he describes as the “Aftershock”.

Bob Wiedemer goes so far as to call a timeline on the collapse. He estimates the collapse to begin within 2 to 4 years. I am always skeptical of trying to time the coming crisis. There are so many factors that can affect the timing. The final straw of any collapse is always confidence. If you can keep the masses convinced that everything is OK, you can keep up the can kicking for quite a while. When confidence collapses, everyone heads for the exit at the same time. That is a panic.

Mr. Wiedemer recommends gold and silver as methods of protecting your wealth in the coming collapse. He also states that he will get short US treasuries when he sees the bond bubble show signs of popping. We have mentioned that here on Prepper Recon on several occasions. We are not investment advisers nor do we give investment advise. That being said,when we see the bond market begin to pop, we intend to use inverse ETF’s like  TYNS, TYBS, and TYO to protect our portfolio from the fall out. All investing is inherently risky and can lose money, so make sure you understand what you are investing in before investing.

 

Bob Wiedemer Interview on Peak Prosperity

The interview is available to download for free at Peak Prosperity. Chris Martenson is the creator of Peak Prosperity and has a very good handle on what is happening in the US economy. Has has developed The Crash Course, which is available for free and gives a near perfect presentation of the causes of the coming economic collapse.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more, read our 7 Step Preparedness plan. It will help you build a foundation in readiness so you can be more prepared for everything form a tropical storm to the end of the world as we know it.

Happy Prepping!

 

 

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The Rapture- Doomsday Dec 21, 2012 Part 2

on December 16, 2012 at 5:26 am
Posted In: Bible

The Rapture- Doomsday Dec 21, 2012 Sunday Prepper Bible Study Part 2

the rapture

Last week we spoke about the difference between the prophecies based on the Mayan long count calendar and the Bible. If you missed the post, you can read it HERE. We spoke about several of the prophecies in Revelation 6 as well as some in the latter chapters of Revelation. We closed last week’s bible study with the question of whether Christians will live through this period  known as the tribulation.

First, let’s examine what the rapture is. The rapture is a future event in which Jesus removes those who have received his free gift of salvation and repented of their sins from the earth. Those of you who may be new to Christianity or unfamiliar with the concept may be wondering why He would do such a thing. In II Corinthians 5:20 Christians are referred to by the apostle Paul as “Ambassadors of Christ”. Peter calls Christians  aliens who live in a foreign land. Our citizenship is in Heaven. Typically, when a state declares war against another state, the first order of business is to close the embassy and get all of their ambassadors out. The fact that Jesus is doing this gives us a clue as to what his intentions are. The actual event of the rapture is described by Paul in I Thessalonians 4:17 where he says “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Now the answer you have been waiting for: when is the rapture? There are essentially 3 schools of thought on when the rapture will occur. The first is the pre-tribulation camp, next is mid-tribulation and last is post-tribulation. Last week, we described the tribulation as the 7 year period in which God will systematically rip the earth apart. It begins in revelation 6 with the four horse men of The Apocalypse who kill 25% of the global population by war, famine, plague and the wild beasts of the earth. It continues through out the rest of the book of revelation with earthquakes, collisions of asteroids with the earth, water turning to blood and festering boils.

Pre-tribulation believers think the rapture will occur just before the tribulation. They back up their belief with a couple of key scriptures. The primary scripture used is I Thessalonians 5:9 which states “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The tribulation is thought to be a period in which God is pouring out his wrath on a world that has rejected him. The thought of the kingdom of heaven closing its embassy is also very applicable to this view. To further back up this view, historically, God has removed his people before pouring out his judgment. In the account of Noah, he rescued Noah and his family by putting them in the ark. He also gave warning to Lot and his family before destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. An additional piece of evidence used by those committed to the Pre-trib camp is that Jesus taught his followers to always be ready for his return. He spoke of his return as being imminent. In His most famous dissertation end times, Jesus says in Matthew 24:44 “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” This negates the need for the tribulation to begin before the rapture.

Mid-trib believers think the rapture will occur in the middle of the tribulation. They have other verses that they hang their hats on. We just mentioned Matthew 24. In verses 29 to 31 Jesus states “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

The events described by Jesus in this passage seem to mirror the events described by John in Revelation 6 and 7. However, we see something that sounds like the rapture that occurs after the tribulation has began. We see another account of the harvest of the earth in revelation 14:14. “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.”

This scripture appears several chapters after the beginning of the tribulation. It actually appears in the middle of the tribulation. The mid-tribulation camp claims that the verse that states we are not appointed unto wrath is still applicable as none of the events in the tribulation are labeled as “wrath” until the bowl judgements which are called the bowls of God’s wrath. All of the events prior to bowls, pale in comparison.

The final camp is the post-trib school of thought. I have not been able to find any scripture that would support the rapture not occurring until the end of the tribulation. If you are in the post-trib camp please feel free to post your thoughts on the comments section to provide evidence for why you believe what you believe.

My thoughts on the differing opinions

I see strong arguments for both the pre-trib and mid-trib views. Within the pre-trib school of thought you will often hear people who do not see the need to prepare. Some say that Jesus will come before anything bad happens. Perhaps they don’t watch the news, live under a rock or don’t believe the newspaper. Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” We are guaranteed tribulation whether we are raptured  before or during the great tribulation. people who think bad things can’t happen to them have chosen to stick their heads in the sand. Since the year 2000, Argentina has seen a complete financial meltdown, The USA has suffered the attacks on 9/11, Japan has experienced one of the worst tsunamis on record, and Haiti has been leveled by  a terrible earth quake. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 24:6-8 “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Does any of that sound familiar?

For our mid-trib friends, don’t get to comfortable. Jesus clearly taught that his return was imminent. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42

I would say the day seems to be approaching. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it [The End]  is near, right at the door.” Matthew 24:32-33. You should read Matthew 24 for yourself this week and see what you think.

If you never read any of the “Left Behind”series, I would highly recommend it. I have read the first 11 books. There are 16 in all. The New York Times #1 best selling fictional series chronicles the tribulation from a pre-trib view point. The Authors, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins are well respected biblical scholars. All the events in the books are backed up by scripture and will make the hairs on your neck stand straight up! The first in the series is “Left Behind” and is available from Amazon through the link on the right hand side bar of this post.

If you are new to prepping or would like to learn more about how to prepare for tomorrow, please read our 7 Step Preparedness Plan. Come back every Sunday for a new Prepper Bible Study! The most important prep of all is knowing GOD. Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.

Have a blessed day and happy prepping!

 

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QE 4 Shows Bernanke’s Desperation

on December 14, 2012 at 6:18 am
Posted In: Economy, Potential Threats

QE 4 Shows Bernanke’s Desperation

Wednesday, Ben Bernanke announced the Federal Reserve will be purchasing an additional $45 Billion in U.S. Treasuries per month. Those purchases are made through money that is simply created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve. He stated the the current monetary policies would stay in place until we reached an unemployment rate of 6.5%. Chairman Bernanke stated that the Fed expected the unemployment rate to remain above 6.5% until 2015. While rates may reach that forecasted level, it would only be due to low work force participation rates which lower the published employment numbers. The reality is, the Fed is most likely stuck in a death spiral of pumping more and more liquidity into our economy.

QE 4, The latest round of Quantitative Easing comes only a few months after the last announcement of QE 3 in which the Fed announced they would be purchasing $40 Billion in mortgage backed securities. Combined, they total $85 Billion per month and $1.02 Trillion ($1,020,000,000,000.00) per year. Even with the zeros, it is hard to grasp what a large amount of money that is. Spending at the rate of $1 per second, it would take you 11 days to spend $1 million dollars. If you had started spending at the rate of $1 per second in 29,000 BC, you would still have money left today. The US government manages to spend $1 trillion every few months, and they still want more. No amount of tax increases will ever satisfy the insatiable appetite of our Federal government.

Our economy is now addicted to constant injections of more and more liquidity. Like a heroin addict, it gets less of a high with each new dose of the drug. Markets soured today despite the indefinite promise of a constant drip of fiscal dope. To cut the supply of the drug to the economy would send it into traumatic withdraw at this point.

How dose this affect me?

This new $1 trillion being pumped into the economy each year increases the money supply. The current M2 money supply in the U.S. stands around $10 trillion. Current money printing programs by the Fed increase that number by 10%. Austrian economist will tell you that equates to 10% inflation. Even if it doesn’t show up in prices right away, it will eventually. Let’s think of it like this. We have a simple economy that only has 10 pizzas and $10 dollars. Theoretically, each pizza is worth $1. Now if we bring the money supply up to $11, theoretically, each pizza is now worth $1.10. That is 10% inflation. This is a stealth tax on US tax payers. Because of the excessive money printed by the Fed to buy our own debt, you can expect prices on everything from a Ferrari to fried chicken to increase by 10%.

This creates a flaw in the function of money. Money has two basic functions. It acts as a medium of exchange and a store of value. While the medium of exchange function is still working well, the store of value function is broken at these levels of inflation. Let’s think of the dollar as a Styrofoam cup filled with coffee.  The cup being the dollar and the coffee being the value being held by the dollar. QE 4, like all of the QE before it has essentially poked a hole in our coffee cup. The coffee is running out and soon we will be holding an empty Styrofoam cup with no value at all.

The further threat is that as this money begins to work its way into the banking system, it will grow exponentially. This has the potential of getting out of the control of the Central bankers and creating hyperinflation that could cripple the dollar and collapse the economy with it.

What do I do to keep from loosing all of my value?

The logical thing is to pour your coffee into a cup that doesn’t have a hole in it. For dollars, that means hard assets. While our increasingly volatile markets leave very little in the way of certainty, there are a few bastions of  safety relative to the dollar. I personally like gold, silver and real estate as protection against this inflationary environment. Even if values go down, a house is still worth a house. Gold and silver have been considered stores of wealth for thousands of years. In The Bible, Genesis 13 says Abraham was wealthy in livestock, silver and gold. By contrast, the dollar in its current purely fiat form has only been around for 41 years. I have dishes older than that. The dollar was completely divorced from gold in 1971. Ever since, it has only been backed by the full faith and credit of The United States government. At a whopping $16 trillion in debt, I don’t have full faith in the credit of The United States. Unfortunately for the dollar, I am not alone in my opinion.

I mention my investment strategies from time to time. I currently hold a degree in Accounting and am persuing a degree in Finance, however, I am not a financial adviser and I don’t make specific recommendations on these posts. Everyone’s situation is different and therefore everyone’s investment style is going to be different. Before investing in any instrument, you should fully understand the instrument and the risks associated with it. All investing is inherently risky and can lose money.

The following video from Capitol Account gives an incredibly accurate take on the reasons and repercussions of the latest Fed move. Check it out and keep prepping. This move is a sign of desperation by the Fed. I think they know our time is short.

 

Jim Rickards on Capitol Account

Happy Prepping!

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