Preachers That Are Saying It Is ‘Anti-Christian’ To Get Prepared Are Being Exceedingly Irresponsible

Is it “anti-faith” to prepare for the very hard times that are coming?  You would be surprised at how many Christians believe that this is true.  Recently, I have been reading a number of articles by Christian leaders that take the position that Christians should not be preppers, and not too long ago I watched two very well known ministers actually mock the idea of preparing for the future on a major Christian television show.  To me, this is exceedingly irresponsible.  If you don’t want to do anything to get prepared for the very difficult years that are coming that is your business, but don’t urge multitudes of your fellow believers to go down that road with you.

In Matthew 24, Jesus describes what conditions will be like just prior to His return, and He told us that one of the things that we can expect is famine…

⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, epidemics, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Jesus promises us that famine is coming, and if we truly are entering the period of time that the Bible refers to as “the last days”, this is one of the things that we should fully expect to see.

And yet there are very prominent preachers out there that have taken the liberty to mock other preachers that are actually encouraging their flocks to store up food and supplies.

Well, what are those mocking preachers going to do when things get really crazy and the people in their own congregations don’t have anything to eat?

Are those preachers going to personally feed all of them?

If you can see what is coming and you don’t warn the people, you are going to be responsible for what happens to them.

Without a doubt, it is very clear in the Scriptures that we are not to fear and that we are not to worry.  We are repeatedly commanded to trust God with everything in our lives, but does “having faith” mean that we sit back on our couches watching television while we wait for God to do everything for us?

Of course not.

Radical faith almost always involves radical action.  God tells us what to do, and then He expects us to trust Him enough to do what He has instructed us to do.

If faith really means doing nothing while God does everything, then why would any of us ever go to work?

Why wouldn’t we just sit back and wait for God to miraculously zap the money that we need into our bank accounts for us?

And why do those that are “living by faith” ever fill up their vehicles with gasoline?

Why don’t they just “trust God” to fill up their tanks every time?

Look, without a doubt God can do incredible supernatural things that require absolutely no participation on our part.  I know that this is true, because it has happened to me many times.  But the vast majority of the time God works with us and through us.  He requires us to take challenging steps of faith and obedience, and in the process He leads us, He guides us, He blesses us and He opens doors for us.

Just look at the example of Noah.  God could have certainly built an ark for Noah, or He could have zapped Noah up to some sort of “heavenly waiting area” while the flood happened.

But He didn’t do either of those things.

Instead, God ordered Noah to build a boat that was approximately the size of a World War II aircraft carrier, and then He watched as Noah and his family spent years doing exactly that.

Noah was the very first “prepper” in the Bible, and his radical faith resulted in radical action.  In Hebrews 11:7, Noah is commended for this…

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Unfortunately, many Christian leaders today mock this kind of effort.  They seem to believe that if God wants them to survive what is coming then He will do everything for them.

Another example that we see in the Scriptures is Joseph.  In Genesis chapter 41, God showed Joseph that there would be seven good years followed by seven lean years in the land of Egypt.

So how did Joseph respond?

He didn’t sit back and relax knowing that seven good years were ahead.  Instead, he implemented the greatest “emergency food storage project” that the world had seen up until that time.

By heeding God’s warning and taking radical action, he ended up saving the nation of Egypt and his entire family as well.

I don’t get why more Christians can’t seem to understand these things.  So many of them even admit that incredibly hard times are coming, and yet they accuse me of being “anti-faith” because I am constantly urging my readers to get prepared.

The following is an excerpt from one email that was sent to me by a fellow believer some time ago…

“Now, although I agree with you about the things you write about the corruption of the financial system, and that there will be a collapse, yet I do not agree with you in promoting people to be self-sufficient contrary to the Lord’s teaching. If you truly have God then no provision needs to be made at all for yourself, just trust in God’s providence alone.”

Just consider the implications of what this person was saying.  If “no provision needs to be made at all for yourself”, then we should all quit our jobs, empty our bank accounts, quit saving for retirement and cancel our health insurance.

Personally, I want to be radical in trusting God, but trusting God almost always involves doing something.

There are so many passages in the Bible that speak about working hard and preparing for the future.  For instance, the following bit of wisdom found in Proverbs 6:6-11 comes from the Modern English Version…

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard!
    Consider her ways and be wise.
⁷ Which, having no guide,
    overseer, or ruler,
⁸ provides her bread in the summer,
    and gathers her food in the harvest.

⁹ How long will you sleep, O sluggard?
    When will you arise out of your sleep?
¹⁰ Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to sleep—
¹¹ so will your poverty come upon you like a stalker,
    and your need as an armed man.

Approximately one out of every 25 verses in the New Testament is about the last days.  God obviously wants us to understand what we are going to be facing, and just like Noah and Joseph, He expects us to take appropriate action.

Unfortunately, most evangelical Christians have been taught that there isn’t any need to get prepared for the future because they are going to be taken off the planet before anything really bad happens.  For the first 1800 years of the Christian era, the church did not teach this, but over the past 200 years this new doctrine has become dominant in the western world.  It is called “the pre-Tribulation rapture”, and I grew up believing it too.

But you won’t find it anywhere in the Bible.  In my new book entitled “The Rapture Verdict“, I spend 37 chapters conclusively proving that Jesus does not come back and gather His bride until the Tribulation is over.  It is the clearest and most comprehensive work on the subject anywhere out there, and it is turning out to be one of the most controversial Christian books of 2016.

And even if you believe that a pre-Tribulation rapture is coming, the truth is that America is going to fall before we even get to the Tribulation.  This is something that I also cover in my book.

So no matter what your view on Christian eschatology is, we all need to be getting prepared to face the exceedingly difficult times that are immediately ahead of us.

But just like in the days of Noah, most people are going to ignore the warnings, and the mockers are going to continue to mock until judgment begins.

I always expected that unbelievers would mock, but I never expected that so many Christian leaders would gleefully join the mocking.

In the end, they and their followers will pay a very great price for not listening to the warnings and not getting prepared while they still had time

Credit to Economic Collapse

Silver & Gold Surge As Dollar Falls: A Trend Which Will Continue.

George Soros Warns "China Resembles US In 2008", Hard Landing "Practically Unavoidable"

China's credit growth in March (and $1 trillion surge in total social financing in Q1) is a "warning sign" according to billionaire George Soros, "because it shows how much work is needed to stop the slowdown." Speaking at an event in new York this evening, Soros commented on "troubling developments" in China, the anti-corruption drive's impact on capital outflows and the real-estate bubble "feeding on itself." His conclusion, rather ominously, was that despite all the naysayers and fiction-peddlers, China "resembles US in 2007-8," before credit markets seized up and spurred a global recession.

As Bloomberg reports, Billionaire investor George Soros said China’s debt-fueled economy resembles the U.S. in 2007-08, before credit markets seized up and spurred a global recession.

China’s March credit growth figures should be viewed as a warning sign, Soros said at an Asia Society event in New York on Wednesday. The broadest measure of new credit in the world’s second-biggest economy was 2.34 trillion yuan ($362 billion) last month, far exceeding the median forecast of 1.4 trillion yuan in a Bloomberg survey and signaling the government is prioritizing growth over reining in debt.

[ZH - f one adds up the Total Social Financing injected in the first quarter, one gets a stunning $1 trillion dollars in new credit, or $1,001,000,000,000 to be precise, shoved down China's economic throat. As shown on the chart below, this was an all time high in dollar terms, and puts to rest any naive suggestion that China may be pursuing "debt reform." Quite the contrary, China has once again resorted to the old "growth" model where GDP is to be saved at any cost, even if it means flooding the economy with record amount of debt. 

With China's debt/GDP already estimate at 350%, how much longer can China sustain this stunning debt (and by definition, deposit) growth continue?]

Soros, who built a $24 billion fortune through savvy wagers on markets, has recently been involved in a war of words with the Chinese government. He said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he’s been betting against Asian currencies because a hard landing in China is “practically unavoidable.” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency rebutted his assertion in an editorial, saying that he has made the same prediction several times in the past.

Soros then went on to note that China’s capital outflow is a growing phenomenon driven by the nation’s anti-corruption campaign, which makes people nervous and spurs them to pull money out, and added that...

China’s decoupling of the yuan from the U.S. dollar can help rebalance the currency.

The linking to a basket of currencies is a “very positive, healthy” development for world.

Finally in an ironic twist for a man who has all too often used the press for his own ends...

China’s lack of a free press is “troubling development".

Of course one should bear in mind that Soros is among those who are betting heavily on the eventual devaluation of The Yuan against the USD, and as we noted previously, the cracks are starting to show... As the Chinese corporate bond market begins to break...

Credit to Zero Hedge

India drought: '330 million people affected'

At least 330 million people are affected by drought in India, the government has told the Supreme Court

Authorities say this number is likely to rise further given that some states with water shortages have not yet submitted status reports.

The drought is taking place as a heat wave extends across much of India with temperatures crossing 40C for days now.

An 11-year-old girl died of heatstroke while collecting water from a village pump in the western Maharashtra state.

Yogita Desai had spent close to four hours in 42C temperatures gathering water from the pump on Sunday, local journalist Manoj Sapte told the BBC.

She began vomiting after returning home and was rushed to hospital, but died early on Monday.

Yogita's death certificate says she died of heatstroke and dehydration.

The pump was a mere 500m from her house, but a typical wait for water stretches into hours.

India is heavily dependant on monsoon rains, which have been poor for two years in a row.

Credit to BBC

'We will respond with all necessary measures': Russia issues chilling warning to America days after its fighter jets buzzed US Navy warship

Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of intimidation by sailing a US naval destroyer close to Russia's border in the Baltics and warned that the Russian military would respond with 'all necessary measures' to any future incidents.

Speaking after a meeting between NATO envoys and Russia, their first in almost two years, Moscow's ambassador to NATO said the April 11 maritime incident showed there could be no improvement in ties until the US-led alliance withdrew from Russia's borders.

'This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia,' the envoy, Alexander Grushko, said.

'We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force.'



Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of intimidation by sailing a US naval destroyer close to Russia's border in the Baltics. Above two Russian planes fly over USS Donald Cook April 12 in the Baltic Sea

Russia Moscow's ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushkos (above) said the maritime incident showed there could be no improvement in ties until the US-led alliance withdrew from Russia's borders

Grushkos said: 'This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia. We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force'

US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute pressed Russia about the incident, warning it had been dangerous.

The United States has said the guided missile destroyer USS Cook was on routine business near Poland when it was harassed by Russian jets.

'We were in international waters,' a NATO diplomat reported Lute as telling Grushko during the NATO-Russia council meeting.

Last week Secretary of State John Kerry said the Navy ship could have opened fire on the Russian military jets that buzzed around it.

Kerry made the statement in remarks to CNN Espanol in Miami and condemned Russia's actions.

He said that 'under the rules of engagement (it) could have been a shoot-down'.

Despite what officials said was a calm and professional meeting, the public comments highlighted the state of tension that persists between the sides since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The United States has said the guided missile destroyer USS Cook was on routine business near Poland when it was harassed by Russian jets. Above a Russian helicopter flies low near USS Cook in the Baltic Sea April 12


A NATO diplomat reported US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute telling Grushko during the NATO-Russia council meeting that 'We were in international waters.' Above a Russian aircraft flies near the USS Cook



Credit to Dailymail.co.uk
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3550181/Russia-warns-U-S-naval-incident-NATO-tensions-laid-bare.html#ixzz46QsacxkO

Russia, China and India Building Multipolar World

The meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China in Moscow suggests continuing rapprochement between the three countries. However this union seems to agitate American and Japanese neo-conservatives, according to the former Chinese diplomat Wang Yusheng.


© SPUTNIK/ VITALIY ANKOV

Russia-China Military Cooperation Considerably Grows in Recent YearsHowever, according to the diplomat these fears are abnormal and baseless because in reality the strategic partnership of Moscow, Delhi and Beijing will only benefit the multipolar world; online publication Global Times reported the diplomat as saying.

The strategic partnership between these three countries was first brought to light back in 1998 by then Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. However, many did not share his point of view, considered it impossible and did not give it much importance.

However, his idea played quite an important role and gradually, meeting by meeting, these ties have evolved and expanded.

For many years now, the whole world is looking favorably on the partnership between Russia, India and China, which reinforces a multipolar system and contributes to stability in the region and around the world, the Global Times reported.

Russia, India and China are the largest countries in the world in terms of population and GDP. Russia inherited the power of the Soviet Union and has not lost its status as a great superpower; it is currently successfully recovering its position in the world.

Credit to Sputnik
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160420/1038330821/russia-asia-partnership.html#ixzz46NFpaveb

Intel Fires A Massive 12,000 Workers

There were some rumors reported late last week that the world's biggest chip maker was about to fire a major portion of its workforce. Moments ago the company confirmed these rumors, when it reported that it was firing a whopping 11% of its entire workforce, laying off a massive 12,000 workers.

From the report:

Intel Corporation today announced a restructuring initiative to accelerate its evolution from a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices. Intel will intensify its focus in high-growth areas where it is positioned for long-term leadership, customer value and growth, while making the company more efficient and profitable. The data center and Internet of Things (IoT) businesses are Intel’s primary growth engines, with memory and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) accelerating these opportunities - fueling a virtuous cycle of growth for the company. These growth businesses delivered $2.2 billion in revenue growth last year, and made up 40 percent of revenue and the majority of operating profit, which largely offset the decline in the PC market segment. 

The restructuring initiative was outlined in an e-mail from Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to Intel employees. 

“Our results over the last year demonstrate a strategy that is working and a solid foundation for growth,” said Krzanich. “The opportunity now is to accelerate this momentum and build on our strengths. 

“These actions drive long-term change to further establish Intel as the leader for the smart, connected world,” he added. “I am confident that we’ll emerge as a more productive company with broader reach and sharper execution. 

These changes will result in the reduction of up to 12,000 positions globally -- approximately 11 percent of employees -- by mid-2017 through site consolidations worldwide, a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures, and a re-evaluation of programs. The majority of these actions will be communicated to affected employees over the next 60 days with some actions spanning in to 2017. Intel expects the program to deliver $750 million in savings this year and annual run rate savings of $1.4 billion by mid-2017. The company will record a one-time charge of approximately $1.2 billion in the second quarter.

Credit to Zero Hedge