Today is filled with news about a world that in many respects seems to be coming apart by the seams with unexplained phenomena, a pending economic collapse, war drums beating to announce a world war, and nature being turned upside down. There are reports of large expanding sink holes, active volcanoes, birds falling from the air, fish washing upon beaches, and recent reports of wild hogs terrorizing Islamabad, Pakistan. We have also seen freak snow storms, freezing weather and rivers and lakes turning red like blood. And if that were not enough most are captivated by the upcoming election in America, slated to be the most important election ever in the history of a nation, perhaps the world. As we all hold our breath is anyone asking: are you prepared to face eternity? The Bible asks such a question. In lieu of everything happening remember that the world over two millennia ago has been prophesized to fulfill its destiny of destruction and renewal. Christians are called to prepare then and now to face their eternity through preparation, watchfulness, and expediency.

All the biblical prophets agreed with the Apostle Peter who said, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (II Peter 3:10a). Indeed, the day of the Lord will happen in the twinkling of an eye. But what will happen? “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth will be laid bare” (II Peter 3:10b).  There will be no more sky but just the open vastness of space as the atmosphere is siphoned off or instantly burnt up.  And in another place it says, the sky is rolled up like a scroll. These elements destroyed by fire are the heavenly bodies such as the sun, the moon, and the stars. Clearly other biblical prophets indicated that the heavenly bodies would be shaken as the stars fall from the heavens. Then immediately the earth and everything in it will be laid bare; and in another place it says, every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. It is essential to understand that this all happens together instantly in a nanosecond after Christ returns in the clouds for His faithful Bride the Church.  So the Bible asks, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? (Then it answers the question) You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (II Peter 3:12a).

So the answer to our question: are you prepared to face eternity, is to respond to His Word, that says we should live holy lives, which means we should live separated lives unto Christ Jesus our Lord. We must come out from the world and focus all of our attention on the risen Christ and the heavenly kingdom that awaits us in the new heavens and the new earth. We should live godly lives allowing His Spirit to transform us into the perfect image of His Son, Jesus Christ, walking in all manner of righteousness. The Bible continues, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with God” (II Peter 3:14). If we make every effort to get rid of that hidden sin that’s so easily entangles making ourselves spotless and removing the blame that others have cast upon us, then we will experience the peace of God, as we wait in eagerness for His glorious return.  But that’s not all, in so doing we can actually speed His coming – the day of the Lord. Are you ready to face eternity?

It’s clear that the Obama Administration wants to keep a large portion of the population dependent upon the Government and allow the rich to pay for it through excessive taxation.  If re-elected this could become a mandate to save the empire. Many call this progressive capitalism with a bent toward pure socialism, but the truth is it follows more closely the model of the ancient Roman Empire who kept its population in bread and entertainment (the Circuses) as a means of control. It is exactly at this point where I take issue as a Christian Minister of the Gospel. I listened to President Obama who spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and circulated on the internet for all interested parties to hear.  It was not long before it became clear that his proposal was to raise taxes on the wealthy and used the teachings of Jesus Christ to justify it.

President Obama made it very clear from his speech that no one but the rich could “shoulder the burden” and take on the “shared responsibility” which to him would make good economic sense for the wealthy to give up some of the tax breaks. He continued by saying, “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with, Jesus’ teaching that, ‘for unto whom much is given, much should be required.’” Let me be clear I am not taking issue with taxing the wealthy, but I am taking issue with using the words of Jesus Christ to justify it. This quote taken completely out of context comes from Luke’s Gospel (12:48). To put it into its fuller context Jesus is talking about being ready when He returns by continuing to be a faithful and wise steward. The spiritual leaders in God’s Church were to take their responsibility seriously especially in lieu of the pending judgment. The more they received in the way of revelation truth or spiritual gifts the more they should share for the edification of all.  “For unto whom much is given, much should be required.” But again we see President Obama using this to his political advantage by driving a wedge between the 99 percent and the 1 percent.

As a Christian minister here is my biggest concern, that once again we see clearly our President at the National Prayer Breakfast deny the exclusiveness of Christianity. Once again, just like he did in Cairo we see God’s Holy Word in the Christian Bible put on the same level as the Koran and Jewish doctrine. So why is this a concern? As we fast approach the end of days the new tolerance for all world religions will be mandated by the new world order. Just like in the time of Ancient Rome it makes little difference which god you serve as long as you did not make one more superior than the rest. Obama is clearing a path to the new world order by instigating the Arab Spring with his speech in Cairo and now with his comments at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. To stand firm in the coming days we must understand the truth of what lies ahead and not fall for the lie that all world religions are equal with classic Christianity. We must resist the temptation to become dependent upon the State but rather bravely proclaim our dependence on Jesus Christ alone.

If the churches are incapable of feeding their poor during an economic collapse then the State will be the only one left standing to offer assistance. Unlike the churches who offer a message of hope with their assistance, one must ask, “What will the State offer or what will it expect?” In the First Century Rome offered bread and the circuses to the poor and what they expected in return was unfeigned allegiance to the emperor. They were told to simply burn a little incense and publicly acknowledge Caesar as god. To offer food and circuses was Rome’s way to control the masses so they would not do what we see beginning to happen today with the occupy movement and rioting in the streets of our inner cities. I am afraid the occupy movement will only force the hand of the government to exercise control over the masses by implementing its national health care system expediently and expanding its welfare rolls.

So we are forced to ask the question, “What would the State require from the Christian poor for the State’s assistance?” Maybe it will start with required secular psychological counseling and a prescription for psychotropic drugs to induce a level of control. Try taking away the drugs and see how they cry out to the State for help. We have seen this in almost every national disaster where the population is left alone without their psychotropic drugs. This was especially evident during Katrina. Then it could move on to something even more sinister like taking a mark (visible or invisible) to be registered in the national health care system prior to receiving any assistance from the State. When folks are hungry and lack the basic necessities of life it would become a small step for most to publicly acknowledge the world leader as a god. Especially if they can convince the entire world that we are all gods – god is in every man.

But let’s return to our original question; “Who will help the Christian poor during a total economic collapse?”  Can we convince the local church to take a second look at how they manage their priorities? There are many questions that need to be asked: “Do we really need that new building project;” “Can we skip the remodeling;” and, how about the staff’s salaries; “are they above or below the medium income of their church members?” Perhaps what is needed is a line item for the Christian poor. It grieves my heart when a Christian in need of assistance is told by a pastor that he will only pray about it and not offer the needed assistance.  But can we go further? Yes, I believe every believer in Christ can do his share by cutting back his own expenses to the absolute essentials. Doing so will enable him to put back money at the beginning of each week to be used for those Christians who are truly in need of basic necessities.

For the American Christian we may need to understand what our absolute essentials are so that we can cut back wherever necessary. Do I need two cars or will one do? Can I get by without my cell phone or does it replace my landline? How often do I eat out instead of cooking at home? How many sets of clothes do I need in the closet? Friends the list could go on further, but it is really up to every Christian to determine what his absolute essentials are. Unlike the example given to us by our government, we do not need any debt! To pay monthly finance charges on a debt that should have been settled long ago is incorrigible for a Christian who should not let any debt remain outstanding.  The first step in becoming debt free is stop charging on credit unless you can settle the debt when it becomes due and of course I am talking about the full debt not just the minimum charge given to us by the credit card companies.

Finally, when the economic collapse arrives every Christian should be prepared to help his neighbor to the best of his ability and especially his Christian neighbor. Christians will need to network together by trading absolute essentials and by all means keeping them from going to the State. We will need to practice the spirit of hospitality and give to those who ask. Those with land will need to learn how to grow crops and store food for the winter. I can still remember my aunt putting in a garden every year and canning enough food for the entire family along with giving to those in the church who had a need. We may need to return to those days and do everything possible to keep the Christian poor from taking anything from the State. To do so will demonstrate true Christian love.

Let’s be honest, rumors can alarm and even frighten us if we perceive that death and destruction is imminent. At what point does a rumor become reality? Or at what point do we accept the rumor as reality?  These are very important questions because as we fast approach the end of days we will hear about many rumors from a possible pandemic to all out war with nuclear foe. We have already heard from the scientists that massive earthquakes along with many other disasters are long overdue. Hollywood has caught on and we have already seen a series of movies on that very subject. I forecast that 2012 will see even more of the same.  Now back to our question If we accept the rumor as reality then we are forced to act upon it through some form of preparation, if time permits, or even panic because events are completely out of our control, but for the Christian things should be different!

Why should they be different? To start with, Christians do not listen to rumors alone without putting them into the prophetic. Let me explain.  To put a future event into the prophetic we allow God to be in control. On the other hand when we listen to a rumor about a future event then it’s disconnected from a source. We may claim a scientific explanation as the source of the event but we are still no better off, because we are still controlled by fate.  We are unable to explain the purpose of the event and feel helpless to control it. To put the rumor into the prophetic then we know if the event happens as rumored then God is in control of the event. Let’s not get bogged down in trying to determine if God caused the event or simply allowed it to happen. Either way God is in control. Now for the Christian this should give us great comfort in any and all rumors that will come our way in 2012.

For many who simply listen to rumors about future events without putting them into the prophetic that is, not believing that God is really in control allows panic to set in which will control their actions. At this writing I have just read where some people in India listened to rumors amidst mild tremors that some people were being turned into stone, which caused a great panic. On the other hand, the Christian who is convinced that God is really in control has no reason to panic, but rather stays calm through prayer asking God for wisdom to understand the event he is facing. Moreover, he becomes the voice of calm encouraging those around him by proclaiming God’s love and providence in the midst of Great Trials and Tribulations. So dear friend, as we face 2012 together let us not follow the ways of the world by listening to their rumors and falling into panic, but let’s remain calm listening to God.

Out of greed big business discovered that they could make a lot more money by closing their factories and plants here in the United States and to transfer them to developing countries with cheaper wages and a smaller tax burden; or to simply buy their goods and services from another country instead of purchasing them from the home country. To make matters worse we fell for the lie that says if we reduce the taxes on big business then it would cause big business in this country to hire more people and thus improve an already weakened economy.  For a short while it appeared to work, but big business only got bigger and the middle class shrunk even further, casting many more on the welfare rolls.

As the welfare rolls and unemployment grew even larger you soon realized that the entitlement programs were driving the country deeper into debt. Along with the cost of two great wars seemingly to protect our national interest things have not improved for the country’s economy, however, big business was still thriving with the production and sell of the instruments of war. Then if that were not enough you encouraged big business to sell houses to poor people who could ill afford the mortgage even during a good economy.  So first you allow the greedy capitalist to take away their jobs then you allow them to take away their home. But the socialist among you seek to save the day by their tried and true method of calming the masses by advancing their entitlement programs thus ensuring their re-election.

You soon realized that spending more money than what the country takes in through taxes that something must be done to fix the problem. The Republican (driven by the greedy capitalist) does not want to raise taxes on the wealthy which is big business. Whereas, the Democrats don’t want to cut the entitlement programs (driven by the socialist) so you are forced to borrow money from someone who is more than willing to loan it at least for awhile. You reason quite correctly if China is making so much money from producing the world goods then they would be more than happy to loan us money so that we can continue with our entitlement programs and keep from taxing big business that is responsible for making them so much money to build their own economy.

I pray that you are starting to see the big picture and the dilemma you find yourself in. All the manipulation in the world will not change the fact you have allowed the country to slip into a pending economic collapse. So what can you do? As a Christian minister you will be able to see clearly what you must do once you have repented of your personal greed and selfish pride. The first thing you must do is to require everyone in big business who purchases goods and services from another country to be taxed to the same level as if they were producing the goods and services in this country.  This will force big business to either build factories in this country and hire American workers or pay taxes relative to what they have stolen from the American people. If they choose the later then we become a welfare state instead of an industrialized nation.

Secondly, all entitlement programs must be completely reformed. For example Social Security should be paid out dollar for dollar; only what you have paid into your retirement account with interest earned should be paid out to the recipient. Medicare and Medicaid should only be for those who are elderly and incapable of taking care of their self or who have been completely left alone with no assistance. All others should be referred to the local Church or charities for assistance.  Welfare should be completely abolished and left to the Churches or charities to help the poor.  The third thing you do is get out of debt by paying back your debtors and that includes China. The fourth thing you do is re-assess your foreign policy and stop engaging in regime change and nation building.

Now I realize that this all sounds rather simplistic and I doubt very seriously that this plan of action will ever be attempted by the United States Congress. They will continue in their deadlock and sooner or later as prophesized this country will along with the rest of the world experience an economic collapse that will need a promised fix by the coming Antichrist. So, as Christians we must learn how to stand firm and not be easily shaken by what lies ahead. I have given godly counsel on how to stand firm in the last days in my new book to be released in 2012: “Stand Firm.”