There is a lot to talk about this week. And, I have not been able to do justice to all of the issues that popped up.
The Democrats are attempting to steal the 2020 election.
The economy continues to lurch towards complete disaster.
YouTube censorship is on the rise, and it even caught Omega Shock.
We have yet another view of what it will take for the Antichrist to take power.
We have more proof that the pretribulation rapture is false.
And, we have some awesome reader input on The Church Coronacrisis, dealing with problems within the Body of Christ AND the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
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The Weekend Shock Letter for May 23rd, 2020
The Weekend ShockCast for May 23rd, 2020
YouTube shortlink: https://youtu.be/8juwWYLjkfA
MP3 Audio:
https://www.omegashock.com/shockcast/2020/20-05-23-the-weekend-shock-letter-for-may-23rd-2020.mp3
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This Week’s Playlist:
The Top Ten Videos for the Past Week
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When your job is to do research and then write articles based on that research, there is a danger of suffering analysis paralysis. You might also call it ‘overthinking’. And yes, I do think too much. Thoughtful ‘doing’ is important. But you can be so thoughtful that you don’t actually get your job done.
That happened this week, as I contemplated the sheer weight of the economic disaster that is rolling down on us. There are so many important ways to explain what is happening, that I found myself doing too much thinking about those ways, instead of writing them down.
I am so transfixed by the awesomeness of this disaster – and all of its implications – that I find myself suffering from paralysis by analysis. In all the years of research and writing, I never expected something as colossal as this, and my mind has been blown away.
And, I’m not the only one.
The clearest minds out there are likewise astounded by the utter stupendousness of what we’ve done to ourselves. Martin Armstrong, Charles Hugh Smith, Michael Snyder, John Haller and a host of others are gobsmacked at how incredible all of this is.
But, articles don’t write themselves, so – Lord Willing – you will see a snapshot of what I mean, next week.
Oh, and the weather cooled off here in southern Taiwan. We also got lots of rain. Lots and Lots. Even parking lots. We needed it. Now, if China would just back off in their threats against Isra… er …Taiwan, I’d be even happier, but you can’t have everything.
Okay, so let’s dive into this week’s news.
Proverbs 28:2
I was talking to a friend this week, and this verse from Proverbs popped into my mind:
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.
The word for ‘princes’ in that verse has nothing to do with the idea of ‘sons of a king’. The root word in Hebrew is:
שר
(pronounced: sar)
It means ‘government official’ or ‘minister’. In Israel, the Minister of Defense is called:
שר הביטחון
(pronounced: sar ha-bee-tah-chone ‘ch as in Bach’)
At the moment, he’s also called Benny Gantz. And no, I don’t have any opinion about him, one way or another. There are worse politicians in Israel.
Seriously, just look at Amir Peretz. Now THERE is an awful and corrupt politician – and a complete idiot who almost single-handedly destroyed Israel’s Labor Party. (Which, in hindsight, might make him a ‘good’ politician.) And, the point of this verse is awful government.
When the nation becomes sinful, the size of government increases. King Solomon, almost three thousand years ago, saw this, and we’ve spent those millennia proving him right.
And our governments today?
We have never had such big government in all of human history. I can’t think of a single country that has less government today, than it had 100 years ago – except, maybe, for the ex-communist countries that collapsed after the Soviet Union fell apart. And, if you look at the transgressions of our countries… it should be clear about the reason why our governments are so big.
In our utterly sinful world, we have earned the curse of big government.
I know that many of you like to blame conspiracies, big business and George Soros for big government. But, they are just the symptom of our spiritual condition.
The only way to stop big government, is to be good and righteous.
Peak Oil
I knew that someone was going to claim that this was necessary. So, I wasn’t surprised to see someone say it. Here’s the article:
Why U.S. Shale Is Too Important To Fail | OilPrice.com
What Simon Watkins is talking about is the nationalization of the oil industry – Shale Oil, in particular. It cannot and will not survive on its own. The cost of extraction is too high. The transportation costs are too high. The drilling costs are too high. The cost of cleanup for wells that go dry, is too high.
It just doesn’t work.
They only way that it CAN work, is if the government takes over. But, we all know what happens after that.
When the government takes over, what might have worked, stops working.
But, they will try. And, the reason why they will try, is because there just isn’t enough oil for everyone. And, you really, really need to understand that.
The wars and rumors of wars that are coming are precisely because there just isn’t enough energy for everyone. And, when there isn’t enough of something this important, there will be someone who will try to take it by force.
Those who do not understand this, will not understand what’s coming, until it is too late.
The Example of Europe – Why The Antichrist is YEARS away
It is understandable that most people do not understand what it takes for a massive political and economic system to rise and take over the world. There are so many pieces to the puzzle that it’s hard for any one person to make them fit together.
In fact, I don’t think that I would have been able to see the challenge of creating such a system, were it not for Martin Armstrong. For years, he has been predicting the fall of the European Union. And, he saw it from the very beginning.
Martin was brought in by the founders of the EU, while they were creating the Union. And, he told them exactly what they needed to do, if they wanted it to work. They wouldn’t do it, and so now it is beginning to fail.
What was it that the EU would not do?
Unify all debts.
This meant that northern Europe would have to pay for the debts of the economic cretins of southern Europe. And, they just wouldn’t do it. Not couldn’t. Wouldn’t. And, we have an example of this, in an article from the Gatestone Institute, written by Soeren Kern:
Germany Takes Back its Sovereignty from the European Union
It’s the Bundesverfassungsgericht, or German Constitutional Court. They objected to the European Central Bank giving the southern Europe cretins so much money without asking Germany for permission. They’re miffed, so they said NEIN!
(and, Fahrvergnügen!)
And, the rest of prosperous and non-cretin Europe will say something similar in their own language. The hard-working are not interested in paying for people that they see as lazy.
They. Just. Won’t. Do. It.
The same goes for the world. The rich, hard-working nations of the world do not want to pay the debts of the corrupt, lazy cretins of the world.
Do you think that Germany would be willing to pay off the debts of countries like Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Nigeria, Somalia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan?
NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!
Fahrvergnügen!
The US, the EU, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, and anyone else with even a smidgen of prosperity will NOT want to pay the debts of the corrupt cretins of this world. None of them.
Why?
Well, there’s nothing in it for them. That’s one reason. Remember that the phrase cui bono (who benefits) works in this instance, too. If there’s no benefit, it just isn’t going to happen.
Yes, I understand about all the esoteric and occult conspiracies of the world. I don’t deny that they exist, but if they weren’t able to get Europe to agree to a unification of all the debts…
If they couldn’t make the EU happen, why do you think that they’ll get the Antichrist system to happen?
Seriously, think that through.
However, I’m not saying that the Bible is wrong. Not at all. The Bible is right. Our problem is that we don’t understand what will need to happen for prophecy to be fulfilled.
What will need to happen?
All the rich countries of the world will need to utterly collapse.
And no, we aren’t talking about The Greatest Depression that is rolling down on us – initiated by the global lockdown due to the Wuhan Coronavirus. That will certainly push us in that direction, and it will get us a lot of the way there. But, there’s something far bigger than that:
The collapse of energy production.
I keep calling it Peak Oil, but there are peaks in coal and uranium that are coming our way, too. This will be a system-wide meltdown, which will give us Gog and Magog, Ezekiel’s Fire and the greatest moment of devastation in world history.
Only then, will the world be ready for the rise of the Antichrist.
Oh, and here’s more on the collapse of Europe, from The Express:
EU cracks: Italy warned it could face eurozone exit as coronavirus crisis deepens
Oh, and why did Britain leave the EU?
They were tired of paying for the cretins of Europe. And, for the morons running the EU from Brussels. The EU was a collapse waiting to happen, from the very beginning, and this latest push for world government will be the same.
Oh and look at the last sentence at the end of this piece by Martin Armstrong:
Global Debt Default | Armstrong Economics
Here’s what Martin says:
It is not the “rich” who are looking to crash the debt — it is government who will default on the rich.
Yeah. That’s going to happen, and you will hear the billionaires and millionaires screaming around the world. And, jumping off of tall buildings. They’ll probably be doing that too.
I understand why some are thinking that the Antichrist is around the corner. I get that. These are dire times, and it’s natural to think about the ‘Man of Fierce Countenance’ (Daniel 8).
But, the A/C is years away.
At least.
The Death Of Globalization And Financialization
Here’s Another reason why the Antichrist system will be years away, and it comes from some observations by Charles Hugh Smith, a very intelligent observer of all things economic:
Globalization, Financialization Are Dead – The Daily Reckoning
I’m going to quote a bunch of paragraphs from this piece, and here’s the first one:
The drivers of the past 75 years of growth — globalization and financialization — are dead, and so is everything that depended on them for “growth.”
Here’s what’s poorly understood: Globalization and financialization die when they stop expanding.
Just as a shark dies if it stops swimming forward, globalization and financialization die once they stop expanding, because their viability depends on expansion.
Globalization and financialization have been losing momentum for years.
And, here’s why:
Under the guise of “opening markets,” globalization has strip-mined every economy that can’t print a reserve currency and hollowed out economies globally as only globally competitive sectors survive globalization.
That ‘strip mining’ that he’s talking about is the financialization of productivity, and he describes financialization this way:
Financialization is not just the expansion of credit and leverage to marginal borrowers; it’s also legalized looting, as the true risks of soaring debt and leverage are hidden in obscure financial instruments and bogus claims of “safety” and “hedging.”
He gives an example with agriculture:
Food security, to take a basic example, is impossible once globalization has destroyed local agricultural production, and financialization has rewarded factory-farming since Big Ag can borrow capital at scales that only make sense in a world of globalized monoculture agriculture.
The author then goes on to give nine examples of how we can see the death of globalization and financialization:
1. They cannot create creditworthy borrowers out of thin air like the Fed creates dollars out of thin air.
2. They cannot force lenders facing mass defaults to loan more money to uncreditworthy borrowers
3. They cannot force creditworthy borrowers to borrow money.
4. They cannot reflate asset and consumption bubbles that have popped.
5. They cannot restore confidence in long, fragile supply chains.
6. They cannot magically turn unprofitable enterprises into profitable enterprises.
7. They cannot create income streams — revenues, profits, wages, etc. — with bailouts that continue the perverse incentives of moral hazard or “free money” designed to give debt-serfs enough cash to continue making their loan payments.
8. They cannot forgive debt payments without destroying the wealth held as debt: Mortgages, student loans, auto loans, credit card debt, corporate junk bonds, etc., are assets that lose their value once borrowers default.
9. The Fed can buy impaired debt, but that doesn’t change their abject powerlessness (points 1–7 above).
Charles Hugh Smith goes on to talk about what happens after all the stimulus is gone – small and even large businesses closing down, permanently. He then asks a series of questions whose answers spell out catastrophe for the US and the rest of the world:
How many businesses will close for good because the owners don’t want to risk losing everything by chancing reopening?
How many will give it the old college try and close a few weeks later as they conclude they can’t survive on 60% of their previous revenues?
How many enjoy a brief spurt of business as everyone rushes back, but then reality kicks in and business starts sliding after the initial burst wears off?
How many will be unable to hire back everyone who was laid off?
He calls those, ‘second-order effects’. And, a ‘second order effect’ can be defined as this:
The impact of the consequences.
And, there will be ‘third order’, ‘fourth order’ and up to ‘n-th order’ effects. They will race around the globe and knock everything down.
In fact, Charles mentions a third order effect, here:
As for local tax revenues based on local sales taxes, income taxes, business license fees and property taxes: The first three will fall off a cliff, and if cities and counties respond to the drop in tax revenues by jacking up property taxes, this will only hasten the collapse of businesses that were already hanging on by a thread before the pandemic.
The federal government can bail out local governments this year, but what about next year, and every year after that?
Yup. That’s a very serious ‘Third Order Effect’. But, when he talks about real estate – especially commercial real estate – he lays out a Fourth Order Effect:
If demand is near zero, the value is also near zero. Local governments will be desperate to raise tax revenues, and they will naturally look at bubble-era valuations on all real estate as a cash cow. But they will find that raising property taxes on money-losing properties will only accelerate the rate of property-owner insolvencies.
At some point valuations will adjust down to reality and property taxes collected will adjust down accordingly. If municipalities think they can make up the losses by jacking up the taxes paid by the survivors, they will quickly find the ranks of the survivors thinned.
Of course, I called the above, third order and fourth order effects. You could lump all that into just ‘second order effects’, and the author does that:
This doesn’t exhaust the second-order effects: Once Main Street is half-empty, the attraction of the remaining businesses declines; there’s not enough to attract customers, and the virtuous circle of sales rising for everyone because the district is lively and attractive reverses: The survivors struggle and give up, further hollowing out the district.
Charles goes on to talk about how financialization artificially inflated the value of real estate and the property taxes that government seeks to extract from real estate owners. Once financialization can no longer support those values, business owners will be forced to close because they can’t afford the taxes – or the increase in rent, if they don’t own the building or land.
Again, the death of financialization will ripple across the globe, and it will kill our current version of globalization. Then, once all the hopes and dreams of the globalists have finally died – or at least, nearly died – a new order will arise.
And, you will NOT like that new order.
When Cycles Converge
I’ve never been a strong believer in Free Will. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist. Many make a strong argument for its existence. And, I don’t mind what position you take on the spectrum of free will versus predestination. But, when you look at history…
There isn’t as much free will as you think.
One way that this can be expressed is through the analysis of cycles. They are everywhere in history, and they make history (and the future) depressingly predictable. But, you might not like the idea of cycles.
So, just read the Book of Judges. The Israelis were horrifyingly stupid. Just absolutely terrible. The cycle of righteousness and unrighteousness was obscene. Is obscene.
And, WE are absolutely no different. Only a complete moron would say otherwise. Just look at how awful our churches are.
Anyway, our society is also governed by many cycles and Charles Hugh Smith has identified four of them that are crashing down on us:
Of Two Minds – Our Fate Is Sealed, Vaccines Won’t Matter: Four Long Cycles Align
And, the author starts out with the idea of the cycle of empire, as laid out by Sir John Glubb – the same Glubb Pasha that trained the Jordanian army. Yes, THAT Sir John Glubb.
Anyway, here’s that cycle:
The Age of Pioneers (outburst or Boost Phase)
The Age of Conquests
The Age of Commerce
The Age of Affluence
The Age of Intellect
The Age of Decadence
Then, rinse and repeat – but with a different empire. (I’m actually doing the laundry as I write this.)
Well, the writer goes on to say this:
The slippery slope to collapse–decadence–is characterized by greed, corruption, irreconcilable internal political rifts, moral decay, frivolity, materialism–hmm, sound familiar?
The global status quo sped through The Age of Intellect (postmodernism) with little to show for the vast expenditure of resources, and is now firmly in the final terminal stage of decadence and collapse.
He then talks about the ‘S-Curve model’, and he gives a picture of it here:
When Charles Hugh Smith gives a brief description of how the Roman Empire fell, it is easy to see how similar Rome’s fall is to our own voyage into the Abyss. And Charles uses that word, here:
The Covid-19 pandemic is the final kick into the abyss. Triggers of collapse can overlap, of course, accelerating the final decline, and hence our interest in long-wave cycles that align in the present era.
All complex, tightly bound systems are intrinsically fragile and prone to disruption; we don’t see the fragility or vulnerabilities until the decline has reached the terminal phase.
The higher up the wealth-power pyramid the observer is, the more prone they are to a magical-thinking belief that the status quo is forever, even as it is crumbling around them. I discussed this earlier this month in Our Inevitable Collapse: We Can’t Save a Fragile Economy With Bailouts That Increase Fragility (May 1, 2020).
Here are the four cycles that he describes, in addition to the ‘imperial cycle’ of John Glubb:
1. The cycle of credit expansion and contraction, which is now in the final blow-off stage of unsustainable credit expansion (bubble) which will inevitably lead to renunciation of debt (credit collapse) and global depression.
2. The generational cycle (4 generations or approximately 80 years) of American history which leads to nation-changing social, political and economic upheaval (The American Revolution: 1781 +80 years = Civil War, 1861 +80 years = 1941, World War II + 80 years = 2021) as described in the book The Fourth Turning.
3. The 100+ year cycle of price inflation and stagnation of wages’ purchasing-power which began around 1901 is now reaching the final stage of widespread turmoil, shortages, famine, conflict and crisis. (This can be viewed as aligned with Turchin’s cycle of social disorder and disintegration.)
4. The demographic cycle: the workforce stops expanding and starts shrinking while the population of dependent elderly explodes higher, triggering a decline in earnings and the tax base just as taxes must increase to pay for the care of the rising population of elderly. (This is one dynamic in Turchin’s deterioration in central state finances.)
So, we’ve reached the end of Glubb Pasha’s cycle of empire, right when four other cycles are hitting us at the same time.
Here’s the graph that Charles Hugh Smith created:
The conclusion is this:
The future won’t be as placid, secure and predictable as the status quo would have you believe. A Covid-19 vaccine, or lack thereof, will have zero effect in terms of reversing these cycles. Call it Fate, call it karma, call it what you will, but the cycles have aligned and nothing can stop the unraveling of all that was foolishly presumed to be permanent.
If you thought that things were going to be okay after all the lockdowns have ended, think again. The amount of pain that we are going to see in the coming months and years will be Biblical. And then, it will get worse.
Brace for impact.
Proof That The Economy Is Headed Into The Abyss
Michael Snyder is an awesome guy and a good brother in Christ. He does great work, and I try to pay attention to what he says. And he laid out ten numbers just a few days ago that point to a really, really bad future:
10 Numbers That Show The U.S. Has Fallen Into A Horrifying Economic Depression
I wish that his use of the word ‘horrifying’ was just hyperbole. It’s not. Here are those 10 numbers:
#1 According to a study that was just released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, more than 100,000 U.S. businesses have already permanently shut down during this pandemic, and that represents millions of jobs that are never coming back.
#2 The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is now projecting that U.S. GDP will shrink by 42.8 percent during the second quarter…
A new GDP forecast from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for the three months through June estimates an unprecedented drop of 42.8 percent. The bank describes the data as a “nowcast” or real-time, compared with the official government report of GDP, which is dated. The first-quarter preliminary data, which showed a 4.8 percent dip, included a limited period of impact from COVID-19.
#3 On Friday we learned that U.S. retail sales were down 16.4 percent during the month of April, and that is a new all-time record.
#4 U.S. factory output was down 13.7 percent last month, and that was the worst number ever recorded for that category.
#5 U.S. industrial production fell 11.2 percent last month, and that represented the worst number in 101 years.
#6 On Thursday, we learned that the number of Americans that have filed initial claims for unemployment benefits during this pandemic has risen by another 2.9 million, and that brings the grand total for this entire crisis to 36.5 million. To put that number in perspective, at the lowest point of the Great Depression of the 1930s only about 15 million Americans were unemployed.
#7 According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the real rate of unemployment in the U.S. is now 30.7 percent.
#8 According to a survey Fed officials just conducted, almost 40 percent of Americans with a household income of less than $40,000 a year say that they have lost a job during this crisis.
#9 One study has concluded that 42 percent of the job losses during this pandemic will end up being permanent.
#10 According to a professor of economics at Columbia University, the U.S. homeless population could rise by up to 45 percent by the end of this calendar year.
Here are eight more links whose titles alone spell out even more horror:
Nearly 40% of the poorest households hit with a job loss during pandemic, Fed study shows
Despite Soft Survey Data Rebound In May, PMI Signals 37% Collapse In US GDP | Zero Hedge
Existing Home Sales Continue Collapse To 9-Year Lows | Zero Hedge
Reopening reality check: Georgia’s jobs aren’t flooding back – POLITICO
The U.S. Is Caught In An Economic Death Spiral, And One Group Is Being Hit Particularly Hard…
‘Tidal Wave’ Of Delinquent Mortgages Set To Surpass Great Recession | Zero Hedge
Then, Martin Armstrong had a post titled:
Coronavirus Bankruptcy Pandemic | Armstrong Economics
And, Charles Hugh Smith had a rather pithy title for an article that he posted on May 20th:
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: This Sucker’s Going Down: The Destruction of Demand
And yeah, it’s going down, straight into the abyss.
Why Recessions Are Necessary
The irony is that we could have avoided some of the pain that we are going to experience, if we had just allowed each recession to do its work.
What is the job of a recession?
To eliminate the morons.
The more official term that we use is ‘creative destruction’. The idea is that badly managed or obsolete companies go out of business to make way for better managed companies that are more up-to-date and closer to the cutting edge.
Think of the buggy whip industry. They all had to collapse and fail, when the automobile came along. Keeping it alive artificially would have turned a productive industry into a leech upon society, bleeding all of us dry.
Well, here’s an example of some morons that a recession needs to eliminate:
Doordash and Pizza Arbitrage – Margins by Ranjan Roy and Can Duruk
A pizzeria owner made money buying his own $24 pizzas from DoorDash for $16 – The Verge
That’s Doordash, the latest set of morons to borrow money from the rich and waste it on an idiotic business model. And, I can hardly believe it.
These morons priced pizzas $8 below THEIR OWN COST.
Do any of you remember the Dot Com Bubble?
Do you remember what happened to all of the morons with their crazy Dot Com schemes?
Yeah. They lost a TON of money and destroyed a lot of other good companies in the process.
I was working as a technical writer, writing computer manuals, at the time, in Jerusalem. Banter was a great company, and a lot of people lost their jobs. Including me. However, IBM came along and bought up everything.
IBM has made a lot of mistakes over the years, but buying that Israeli company was not one of them. They got a really good deal and some awesome technology. But, that’s a story for another time.
The main thing is this:
Recessions are supposed to kill bad companies.
But, because we didn’t let these bad companies (and bad banks) die, a lot of good companies are going to die and kill a lot of good jobs.
Proof That The Pretribulation Rapture Theory Is False
I’ve been writing about the false theory of the Pretribulation Rapture since at least 2013. In fact, I even put up a specific category to contain most of those articles:
The Rapture Category
https://omegashock.com/category/the-rapture/
Well, here’s someone else to listen to, instead of little ol’ me:
The Greek in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Disproves the Pretribulation Rapture – YouTube
I just find it ironic that he – like most – still gets Daniel’s 70th Week wrong. If you want my interpretation on this, go here:
Daniel’s 70th Week
https://omegashock.com/2019/01/19/daniels-70th-week/
Please, stop the madness of inserting a 2000 year gap between week 69 and week 70. Nowhere in the Bible points to this interpretation. It’s a serious mistake.
Worse, I actually believe it to be a sin – the sin of adding to the Bible. Adding what is not there is ALWAYS a sin. And, we all need to repent, when someone shows us that we are doing that.
The Weak, Covid-Fearing Church And What You Should Do – By Reader Email
A reader wrote to me asking for my input on what her church was doing in response to this COVID-19 outbreak. The state that she was in had closed down her church, and she was astonished at the willingness of the pastor and most of the elders to comply with that order.
Worse, they were willing to close indefinitely. And, even though her state has lifted the closure on churches, her church still remains closed and will stay closed for two extra months.
Before all of this happened, her church was doing an amazing job. They were doing everything that a good church should do, until the pandemic hit. And, it was really hard for her to watch.
And, here are a couple of links on the issue:
Two southern churches forced to reclose after leaders, congregants get coronavirus | TheHill
I am deeply unhappy with how weak our churches have become. And, I share this reader’s astonishment at how willing so many churches are to close out of fear of this virus.
Yes, I know that there is some gray area here. Heavy snowfall or washed-out roads are reasons for a church to close for a Sunday. And, you could make a case for a couple of Sundays of closure as you assess this pandemic.
But, closing up through July?
Longer?
I’m sorry, but there’s something wrong with this picture. And, one of the things that’s wrong is the size of our churches. Heresy crept in when our churches became big business, and now this…
Here was my response to what she said:
Hi D,
This is a tough one. And, I’m sorry to see that the leadership of your church is so weak. I’ve been through that and have seen two churches destroyed by it. So, let me get out my pulpit and preach a bit.
To my mind, there are three stages to the life of a Christian:
The baby stage, the maturity stage and the builder/sheepdog stage
When we are baby Christians, it’s all about us. Baby Christians want to be fed, and fed now. Every four hours. (Or, something like that.) Most never get past the baby stage and never learn anything but the basics. They’re passive and often unaware of the seriousness of what goes on around them.
For those who actually reach the mature stage, they’re still learning, but it’s the deeper meaning of the Bible. They’re ready to go out and contend for the faith with those who are lost. They are more aware of what is happening and how serious it is. Most of us never really need to go past this stage. And, a good church might not need too many to go to the third stage.
Depending on the situation, the third stage can be the call to be a missionary, church planter, pastor, elder, a bible study leader… or a sheepdog. These people see a problem and jump in with both feet. They see a need and answer it. And, in a good church, builder Christians won’t stand alone against the wolves and the corruption that always tries to enter a church. But, even the best churches need sheepdogs to sniff out the wolves and guard against them.
That’s the hard side of this stage of a Christian’s life – being the sheepdog. And, when there aren’t enough sheepdogs, the wolves can get in and push out The Shepherd, along with those trying to protect the flock. That happened a few years ago, here in Taiwan. The wolves snuck in and took over, forcing my wife and I to leave.
Just remember, that a sheepdog can become the wolf – especially, if you take yourself too seriously. At the best of times, we are morons. All of us. Jesus didn’t call us sheep because He thought that we were intelligent. I believe that He called us sheep, ‘cuz we’re stupid. He loves us anyway, but we’re still… sheep.
It sounds like you’ve been called to a ‘sheepdog ministry’. And, I can tell you that it’s a really, really hard job. You will need to sit and watch as your church falls apart, from the inside out. Lord willing, that won’t happen. But, you must be ready for it.
The one thing that you must never do, is fight. Ever.
Your bark must not have a bite. Not ever.
Unfortunately, I did step over that line once, in dealing with a pastor who was making mistakes. In addition to the damage that pastor was doing, I also did damage. And people left because of it. I should have been more careful, but I let my feelings of outrage get away from me. It’s a long story, and I still feel bad about it.
Here’s the passage that we must take to heart:
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
That is a hard rule for me to follow. And, when the wolves finally took over our church, we had to leave because I knew that I would not be able to follow that rule. I knew my limits, and the wolves pushed me right past them. If I had stayed in that church, I would have started acting like a wolf. Yes, it was an evil thing that they did, but I would have made it worse by striving forcefully against them. Luckily, there was another good church in Taipei to go to, so we switched.
I don’t like walking away from a fight. But, we are not allowed to fight.
So, what is your red line?
What is the point, beyond which, you cannot stand it anymore and are tempted to strive?
Hopefully, the leadership team will see their errors and repent of them. And yes, repentance is necessary when you make a mistake. You can’t force them to, and you should not try. That’s for God to do.
If they don’t, then you need to understand where your line is, so that you do not start to become a source of trouble. I know that walking away can sound wrong, but sometimes you need to, especially if you are being tempted into sin.
Also, you need to let your husband be your voice. It doesn’t mean that you keep your mouth closed, but he needs to be the one ‘leading the charge’. My wife is a very, very strong person, but she allowed me to handle the heavy lifting. Like me, she’s had her own lessons to learn. And, some of what we went through was really hard.
Make no mistake. Some of the people that you believe to be friends, will betray you. Not all of them, but enough to make it hard to stay at your church. Hopefully, that won’t happen to you, but be ready for it.
Okay, sermon’s over.
Lord willing, your church will be fine, and I pray that it will be.
God bless you, D. Give your husband a big hug from us. He sounds awesome.
Yours in Christ,
John Little
It took a long time for me to understand what I wrote in that email. Far too long. It’s proof that I’m not as wise or as smart as I would like to be. Hopefully, your journey into wisdom won’t take as long as mine.
Now, before I end this section, here’s some good news and an opportunity to praise President Trump:
Trump calls for churches to reopen “right now” – Axios
Trump declares churches ‘essential,’ calls on them to reopen
He deserves praise for this. If grocery stores, liquor stores and abortion clinics can stay open, churches can too.
Calvary Chapel – By Reader Email
A reader saw this video and was deeply concerned by what Joshua Chavez was saying, and reached out for my input:
Apostasy Report – The Fall Of Calvary Chapel (The Video They Want Destroyed)
Unfortunately, I can only confirm what Joshua is saying here. Worse, the problems at Calvary Chapel churches are not unique. Many, many churches operate under a ‘pastor can do no wrong’ model. Calvary Chapel calls it the ‘Moses Model’.
I call it an invitation for Satan.
Few things destroy a church like an unaccountable pastor. I’ve seen it happen, and it should never, ever be allowed. We have elevated pastors too high, for far too long. We have made them lords over God’s heritage, and it is destroying us.
We should NOT require them to go to seminary.
They should NOT have PhDs.
They deserve our support and our respect. In every way possible. But, they should be accountable. Always. If they sin, it should be carefully examined and then publicly exposed.
There should be no hierarchies in The Body of Christ. We have one Head, Jesus Christ. We should be led by the Holy Spirit and not the doctrines of men.
Anyway, this reader left me with three links that I would also like to share:
Now, if you are a member of a Calvary Chapel Church, this does not mean that you need to automatically leave your church. I fully understand the urge to do so, but you also need to ask God if you have been put there as a ‘sheepdog’, as I described earlier.
Ask God for His direction. He will not fail to guide you in what you need to do, whether to go or to stay.
Having said that, if you are a new Christian, you need to find a better church that will feed you properly. Calvary Chapel is on a very, very dark path, and I don’t want new Christians to suffer from that darkness.
Big thanks to the reader who sent this to me.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – Reader Comment
Chris left the following comment in the comment section of last week’s Weekend Shock Letter:
Hi John,
thanks, great article and links!:)
So, Isaiah 19 is at our doors. From what I see in the wiki, the dam reservoir is 74 cubic kilometers. Now, let’s look here:
http://www.fao.org/3/an530e/an530e.pdf
– it will be a complete disaster.
Something less important – did you know that Persian New Year is also celebrated in…
http://www.yeuanhvan.com/customs-habits/6106-customs-of-somalia
…yes, in the land of Kush (last paragraph).
Yours in Christ,
Chris
You would not know from his comments, that Chris is not a native-English speaker, or that he doesn’t live in an English speaking country. My Hebrew is not nearly as good as his English.
Now, when you click that first link, look at the section of graphs labeled:
Mean monthly flow in cubic kilometers (km3) at key stations
Then, look at where the Blue Nile really starts to flow strongly. If you squint a bit you can see the initial letters for each month.
In which month does the Nile really start to flow strongly?
That’s right, July.
THAT is why the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will start filling in a few weeks, creating an utter catastrophe for Egypt.
I am not looking forward to seeing to seeing the prophecy of Isaiah 19 being fulfilled. I will rejoice at the good parts, but for the disaster… my heart will be truly heavy.
Oh, and the reason why Chris points out Somalia, is his discovery of Somali language is a part of the Kushite Language group. And yes, that is exactly how their language group is described. So, this interesting connection between Kush and Persia is one more point in the connection to Gog and Magog.
Good work, Chris!
The Coup – The Theft Of The 2020 Election
Unfortunately, we have Socialists and Communists planning to steal the election in November. We call them Democrats, but you can call them anything you like. I certainly have the urge to call them something unprintable.
They are certainly persons of uncertain parentage.
And, you can quote me on that!
Anyway, here are some links that should concern all of you, even if you are not an American:
The 2020 Election | Armstrong Economics
Here are some quotes:
The computer shows that Trump should win. However, it also shows this is going to be the most CORRUPT election in American history. They are already trying to accept mail-in votes with no one having to prove they are even qualified to vote. All the Europeans who would like to vote just use Pelosi’s address and mail them in — no documentation necessary.
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As it stands right now, they will not substitute Hillary. That seems to be dead. This is why Obama has returned to actively campaign for Biden knowing he cannot run alone. All they have is this virus. But even the Guardian, which tends to be left-leaning, has come out against Governor Cuomo and his handling of the virus. So it is hard to see real facts that would support that Trump mismanaged the handling of the virus compared to Cuomo.
We are running our models on a state by state basis to try to ascertain the hot spots for corruption. Preliminary runs show standard places like California, Illinois, and New York/New Jersey/ Connecticut. But we will need to really dive deep into this one.
What our computer is showing is that civil unrest will be rising sharply. NEITHER SIDE will accept a loss — plain and simple. Democracy has died.
We are putting out the second book in this series – “Cycle of War & the Coronavirus.” We will make an announcement once it is available.
What is Really the Game with the Bailouts? | Armstrong Economics
More quotes:
There is a major crisis economically unfolding and the markets are not yet taking into account the seriousness of the economic damage.
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The Democratic states are refusing to open up when there is no real justification to keep their economies closed. What is really going on behind the curtain is a clever trick. The $1 trillion that Pelosi was stuffing in the Democratic Bill is money to bail out state and municipal governments which have been going broke because of their unfunded pensions.
The scheme is to crash their economies and then blame everything on the virus and then blame Trump for not bailing them out for the 2020 election. This is a very clever scheme being relayed in whispers from behind the curtain. They are using this virus as cover to bail out 70 years of fiscal mismanagement.
Not good. Not good at all.
Does the French Revolution Provide the Script for This Virus Coup | Armstrong Economics
More quotes from Martin Armstrong:
This is how history repeats. It is like a Shakespeare plot that remains the same for centuries, only the actors change. This is not simply a grudge match against Trump. This is an attempt to actually restructure the entire economy into a Socialist-Climate Change agenda. They are deliberately trying to destroy the world economy to rebuild it in a Zero CO2 environment. This is a nothing virus. I have stated that a pandemic is defined only by widespread geographic impact the same a the flu. It is NOT serious unless it is an EPIDEMIC which is defined as infecting 7.7% of the population. They do not want to admit that 25% of the population is immune. That would simply defeat their entire agenda.
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This is a deliberate FRAUD to keep people imprisoned when the death rate using the same set of numbers is 4% v 6.9%. That is 42% less than the flu! This is an organized plot to overthrow not just Trump – but Capitalism. Welcome to the new Marxist Revolution. The Democrats are leading the charge and the hatred they have fanned the flames of class warfare.
Neil Ferguson which started all of this had a lover who was a activist working in Climate Change. That was his agenda as is Bill Gates. Gates’s friend are off building bunkers in New Zealand. I am aware that we had suggested that the South Island in New Zealand appeared to be a place to go. While they think this is for the Coronavirus, there are other issued in the background not being reported – they know the rise of socialists is coming.
Spain & Climate Change Agenda Merged with Virus Agenda | Armstrong Economics
Better to Know than to be Surprised | Armstrong Economics
Here is another big quote from Martin Armstrong:
We are in the last 12 years period of this cycle. They are the equivalent to a long-term Panic Cycle. This is how the West falls. The British Empire fell. They people survived. When the Greek Empire of the Heroic period fell, the people migrated because of Climate Change. When Rome fell, it split into many pieces and the separatist movement led to individual city states.
This is not Armageddon – the end of the world. This is just the end of the political system, and unfortunately, this Virus-Climate Change nonsense is deliberately trying to destroy the economy. They have no idea how to create the world they think needs to be created. They are ending Capitalism to be replaced with tyranny. They will not succeed, but this will come at the cost of blood in the streets which will vary depending upon where you are. The Midwest and the South will stand against California and New England – the stronghold of the Marxist believers.
In Florida, we had a “voluntary” stay at home. I would routinely go shopping and other than the mall and restaurants, most else was open. Police never pulled me over nor did they harass the people. The beach was supposed to be closed, but as long as you were walking the beach the police said that was fine. Of course, I live on a Private Beach so that was never an issue anyhow. In New England, police were nasty, ticketing people, arresting them, and generally acting as the right hand of ruthless illegal decrees.
The most important quote is this one:
So where you live will definitely be critical during the next 12 years.
How Can Socrates Forecast Thing Well in Advance? | Armstrong Economics
If you want to know how Armstrong gets so much right, read this.
Omega Shock Has Been Censored By YouTube!
Would you believe that I’ve been censored by YouTube?
Well, I can only say that it’s about time. I’ve been posting videos for years, and they’ve only just now started taking me down. The irony is that they took down the video explaining that the Wuhan Coronavirus was not a bioweapon.
Wait. They WANT you to believe that the Wuhan Coronavirus is a Bioweapon?
Seriously?
Wow.
What a bunch of morons. And bags of dirt. Big bags of dirt. The smelly kind.
Of course, the article is still there for you to read, and you can listen to the MP3 that I always post.
Eventually, I’ll need to go to BitChute, but I’ll stick with YouTube for as long as I can.
Oh, and to stoke the rage a bit more, here are three more links to articles about YouTube being outrageously disgusting. And moronic.
YouTube Censors Doctor Knut Wittkowski For Opposing the Tyrannical Lockdowns
YouTube censors epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski for opposing lockdown
The people at YouTube really are a special kind of stupid.
I truly hope that you’ll be ready for this
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. – Proverbs 22:3
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Hi John,
excellent article, if I miss something important during the week, I can be sure that your Saturday post will fix it:)
It’s a bit chilling that we are going to see Isaiah 19 with our own eyes in the coming months. We do not know how fast Ethiopia is going to fill the dam, but that map shows also, that if carried moderately, Sudan may see this process as “acceptable” (and “we’ll buy some of your excess electricity”), but effect on Egypt will be still devastating. Just as the Bible says.
One question. I looked at the book of Isaiah. Chapter after chapter. I may be wrong, but there is a sequence (or, maybe: collection) of events. And… it’s ominous. In chapter 14 we see “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land” – and that just happened. But we read on (in short):
15: Bad things in Moab (Jordan?)
16: More of the same, as in 15
17: No comment required
18: The land of Kush
19: The Nile and Egypt
20: Looks like it already happened, but Egypt and Ethiopia mentioned together again
21: Arabia, Dumah, Dedan. Destruction by Elam and Media (Iran)
I may be completely wrong and too speculative, this is probably not precise “sequence of events”, but it all spells that the entire region will “detonate”. And, one particular part of this is something which starts in July, this year. I’m curious about your view.
Yours in Christ
Chris
Hi Chris,
You don’t shrink from the hard questions, do you!
Unfortunately, we don’t really have much to work on, other than speculation. The only thing that we can do is look at history and see if this or that prophecy was fulfilled, but even that could amount to speculation.
For instance, we know that the Romans destroyed the Nabataeans in 106 AD – where they were centered in Petra. So, Isaiah 16 could be talking about the Jewish Christians who fled the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Or not.
Is Isaiah 15 also from the Roman Empire?
Yet, both of those chapters might be about the future. Some people – sometimes myself, also – claim that Isaiah 16 connects to Revelation 12, when the woman flees the dragon and is protected for three and a half years.
We know that both Isaiah 17 and Isaiah 19 have never happened – unless someone can prove otherwise. So, I think that we’re safe in claiming that those two chapters are in the future – and pretty soon, to boot.
Egypt WAS invaded by the Assyrians in fifth century B.C., and they trashed the place. So, like you said, Isaiah 20 looks like it had already happened.
But, what about Isaiah 21?
It talks about the fall of Babylon, so it could already have happened. But, there’s ANOTHER Fall of Babylon that appears to be in the future – Jeremiah 50 and 51. What is described by Jeremiah does not seem to have happened yet – or, at least hasn’t been completed.
So, could Isaiah 21 be in the future? Could it be connected to the Saudi-Yemen civil war that Iran is involved in? Near where the main forests of Saudi Arabia are located? (verse 13)
Here’s a map that points out the forests of Saudi Arabia:
http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Saudi-Arabia-Land-Use-Map
Of course, there’s more to Arabia than Saudi Arabia. Yemen is a part of Arabia, but there don’t appear to be any forests left.
However, the reference to Kedar might tell us that Isaiah 21 has occurred in the past. They were allied with the Nabataeans, and they don’t seem to exist anymore as a distinct people.
Did the Romans destroy Kedar? Because of their connection to the Nabataeans?
By they way, during the Roman period, there probably were more forested areas in the Arabian peninsula, than today, since it was a warm period with rain patterns irrigating North Africa and probably Arabia. When those rain patterns changed, Rome fell.
It wasn’t the only reason why Rome fell, but it was a big one. Climate cooling is more dangerous than climate warming.
Okay, I didn’t mean to write so much, but this is an interesting and thorny topic. I think that we need to careful about claiming that the chapters of Isaiah – specifically these chapters – are ordinal. To my mind, they appear to be discrete snapshots in time, but I also know that I could be wrong.
I’m very good at being wrong. Lots of experience.
But yes, the Middle East will detonate. Just chapters 17 and 19 are enough. I like the Arabs. As long as they aren’t trying to kill you, they’re an interesting and even enjoyable people. And, I will be deeply saddened when this destruction sweeps over them.
Even though they will have brought this destruction upon themselves, I will still mourn over it.
That was an interesting and thought-provoking comment, Chris. Thank you.
Yours in Christ,
John Little
omegashock.com
Hi John,
thanks a lot, you clarified many things, some of them I didn’t know! Indeed, they must be discrete moments in time. My question stemmed from observation that this sequence of chapters sweeps gently through the entire region, it almost seems no place is left. So, I was curious about your thoughts about this. And I fully agree, 17&19 are enough, by far.
Thanks and blessings!
Yours in Christ
Chris
Hi John Little…Liked your comment on free will. I pastor a tiny church in Hemet CA with 5 members. I like to point out every time (17) the bible speaks of free will… in all but 1 case it is with the word OFFERING!!! so…you’re right. We do have a will…but it’s debatable how FREE it really is.
God bless you…keep up the good work and KEEP THE FAITH.
What freewill I have, I gladly give to God. And, small churches are awesome. It’s time for us to go back to ‘home churches’. Thanks, Jules. – JL
Because they have destroyed the supply chains, and are fanning the flames of a trade war and possibly hot war with China – which manufactures a huge amount of our “stuff” – I think we are going to start seeing odd shortages of things we spoiled Americans never thought about before. Like shoes. People in 3rd world countries fashion them out of plastic soda bottles, just flatten them and tie them on somehow because it’s better than walking barefoot on broken glass and rocks. We might actually have to start thinking like that before too long. 80% of US jobs are …. um …. were …… in the service sector and they have destroyed THAT. I say they, not we, because none of the business owners chose economic suicide, it was forced on them. Most manufacturing has been outsourced, we do very little of it here anymore. So making this “stuff” ourselves is not much of an option. These are going to be very strange times. I think we’d better stock up on all kinds of otherwise ordinary items while we still can. Over-the-counter meds particularly. You can’t make Pepto Bismol on a self-sufficient homestead, or Tylenol, or antifungal creams. Things that can be easily treated now will become miserable scourges when they can’t. Like lice. Beam me up Scotty, PLEASE ……
YES! And, there are places in the world where these things were in kinda short supply to begin with. Like Taiwan. Excellent point, DRG. It’s time to stock up. – JL