Servias Ministries Blog

When a person does not seek to hear GOD’S voice before acting, there is a risk of unintended consequences.  On a corporate scale, leaders take actions that may have a dramatic effect on the future of their constituents.  Not all politicians are conspiring to dismantle America.  Not all government employees are part of a scheme to hurt the common man.

Earlier this month, the people of Great Britain staged one of the largest protests in history.  See: British Protest  Although I am not an advocate of force, this video points out the effect of unintended consequences.  In the current force-based system, deterrents are often used to uphold the peace.  The threat of sanctioned bodily harm deters the would-be burglar from entering our homes.  If you remove the deterrent, do you think the criminal will be held back from their crime?

The sub-prime crisis is in full swing but there is but the next wave is moving rapidly upon us- the commercial real estate crisis.  The leverage factor associated with commercial real estate is much higher than the private sector borrowings.  All of us that qualified for mortgages "the old fashioned way" have equity built up in our houses and have manageable monthly payments.  However with jobs at stake, even once manageable house payments can become a nightmare.

We are at risk of a collapse as early as next month.  I say this not to frighten you, but to prepare you.  In 1993, I saw this current environment coming and discussed it with friends and as we all know, one of the greatest expansions of the stock market occurred.  The problem with seeing in the "Heavenlies" is that everything is presented in the present thus unless Our Heavenly Father specifically tells us when, we can only prepare.  Preparation has both long-term and short-term implications.

The thing that I find consistent with all of the rhetoric coming out of Washington is that legislators continue to push their agenda in the face of this financial tsunami.  They are taking care of the wealthy Wall Street bankers allowing billions in bonuses to be paid in the midst of the massive bailout.  They argue that the banks and other institutions are too large to fail.  In the meantime they are standing by while the small companies around the country are "too small to save".  The Inauguration speech grouped the financial problems of Wall Street with the rest of us by using the statement: “our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age”.  I don’t know about you but nobody called me concerning the last 25 years of misconduct and abuse of the financial standards?

The only precedent of the current situation is the Great Depression and once again our leaders assume they are smarter than their predecessors. There is also the problem of there being a notable difference between the two eras.  In the 1930’s the U.S. had a strong manufacturing base, it was a creditor nation, and an exporter of oil.  Today, it is just the opposite.  We have a service based economy, we owe everyone, and we export most of the oil we consume.  Each of those three attributes individually could take the country down the tubes.

When I was a chief financial officer and we were going to have an unprofitable year, the first expenses I looked at cutting were "services".  You don’t cut your inventory or sell you warehouse, you need them to generate revenue.  As a consumer, you don’t cut out food, utilities, or housing payments.  Instead, you eliminate all the discretionary purchases such as restaurants, retail purchases, entertainment, advanced technologies (such as call waiting, premium cable channels, etc.), and new capital purchases.  Retailers in the discretionary spending category make not make it in this crisis.

I expect the stock market to take a hit when December’s revised unemployment numbers come out next month.  I am sure that Washington will time its "shock and awe" of trillions to offset the bad news.  There is much talk of the formation of an ‘aggregator bank’ to take in all of the toxic debt currently on commercial bank balance sheets. What a deal!

If you step back a moment and look at the big picture, the world is heading for a collapse of some magnitude.  Iceland’s government has "collapsed".  England is teetering and the value of the British pound is at a 23 year low.  Mexico and Pakistan are disintegrating before our eyes.  Remember when the U.S. retirees were heading to Mexico for a life of luxury?  They may be returning soon.  Pakistan is probably the most dangerous place on earth now so keep you potassium iodate handy.

If you put a million dollars in a 30 day Treasury Bill and rolled it over for twelve months, you would receive a total of $200 in interest.  So much for being a "millionaire".  Pension funds will not be able to sustain retirement payments with the current economic environment.  They need a better rate of return on their funds.  It is believed that this economic cycle will form a "W" and we are in the first half of the "W" near the bottom.  At the first sign of improvement, pension funds will jump back into the market with all of the cash sitting in Treasuries.  This will cause a rally of major proportions.  This may be your opportunity to cash out of non-defensive stocks.  I believe this rally will be short lived and then it may get real ugly.

Men continue to make decisions concerning their country’s future without understanding the risk of unintended consequences.

Only Our Heavenly Father has perfect knowledge of the consequences of an intended path.  Who better to seek guidance from in these turbulent times!

Noah was a just man: Gen 6:9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.  He was righteous and lawful.  Being perfect meant that he was complete, whole, entire, and sound, as we often like to say "he was the whole package".  Outside his family, all of society had become treacherous, lawless, and corrupt to the point where justice was gone.  When justice is gone, trust is gone.

When people operate outside their gifts and calling, they must rely on "unfair advantage" in conducting their business affairs.  This unfair advantage may take on many forms.  Disparaging comments about the competition is one way to unfairly transact business.  While marketing your product to a potential customer you point out shortcomings of your competition in a belittling manner in an attempt to convince the prospective customer that if they buy the other product, they will regret it.  This is a form of manipulation.

Another use of unfair advantage is the constant threat of litigation and in the United States there is one lawyer for every 265 Americans (ABA 2007) or one lawyer for every two inmates.  The U.S. has the highest per capita number among all major countries.  There are many horror stories about how justice did not prevail and how the system is "broke".  Domineering people use the threat of litigation against the weak (or perceived to be weak) to intimidate them into submission.  These intimidation tactics often expose a flaw in the character of the person instigating the actions.  If you truly heard the word of the Lord to enter into a transaction, why are you challenging the outcome?  There is a prevailing attitude that use of an attorney is superior to admitting your failure, accepting the loss, and going on with your business and life.  People who believe and live based on scarcity can’t seem to put their trust in GOD, the possessor of heaven and earth, who knows where all the wealth is and can bring forth blessing at any time.

People judge themselves by their intentions and everyone else by their actions.  Have you ever found yourself under the microscope of a judgmental person?  No matter what you do or say, you can never seem to satisfy that person.  It is because they have a core issue that must be dealt with such as rejection by a parent or some other traumatic experience that puts a wall of protection up.  People use their judgmental attitude with others to seek unfair advantage.  They attempt to make their problem your problem by convincing you that their predicament was somehow linked to you.  The end result is a downward spiral of isolation and bitterness often resulting in sickness and disease.  Attempts at unfair advantage will ultimately backfire.

In contrast, Our Heavenly Father gives each of us a unique advantage of our specific gifts and callings.  HE provides everything necessary for us to carry out our calling whether it be a leader or a carpenter.  If you are called to be a carpenter, you will have the passion and desire to be the best carpenter around.  When you walk in your calling, you will practice justice and will not need to seek unfair advantage of others- you will be a "just man".  If you reject your calling or fail to pursue the revelation of your calling, you will create separation with GOD and others around you.  By necessity you will use unfair advantage and sow the seeds of injustice in your life.  Ultimately you will reap what you sow, a GOD given law.

This is what has happened in the United States.  Investment banks, mortgage companies, ratings agencies, regulatory agencies, and unqualified consumers created a massive financial crisis.  On top of that, unregulated derivatives (casino bets) have infiltrated the current economic system like a plague.  This has created a "target rich" environment for those 1,143,358 attorneys practicing in the U.S.  Don’t get me wrong, in our current system attorneys are needed to handle dispute resolution and contract clarification.  The problem is that most attorneys do not receive their wisdom from above but pursue a position of unfair advantage for their client.  Justice does not matter, winning at all cost does.

The new Administration in the U.S. has pledged a return to regulation.  Regulation is necessary in an environment that pursues unfair advantage.  Less regulation would work if people were basically "good" however the last 25 years has shown us otherwise.  The question now is whether the unregulated nightmare will cause the demise of the current system.  Many of the major banks are technically insolvent and all of the injustices of the current system have created mistrust among the players.  Without trust the system will not work.  For years I marveled in how the banking system could get away with leveraging bets(derivatives) and reaping extravagant profits with no apparent downside.  The seeds they sowed are now producing unwanted fruit.

My recommendation: repent, turn away from your wicked ways.  Forgive the debts of the debtors, and you will be forgiven your debts.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Truth is not "just the facts".  There is a spiritual backing to truth which has a motivation connected to it.  Truth is honest, made in good faith, and sincere while it is supported by facts and reality.

Our egos would have us pervert the truth by manipulating the facts in our communications.  For example, when Abraham was confronted by an adversary interested in Sarah, Abraham indicated that Sarah was his sister:

Gen 20:1-12

AND Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife."

But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?

"Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this."

And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

"Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."

So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.

And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done."

Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?"

And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.

"But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Fear motivated Abraham to lie about Sarah as well as his lack of faith in God’s word to him.  Abraham did not believe the fear of God was in Gerar.  He assumed that his God was not omnipresent but found that God intervened wherever and whenever was needed.  Abraham had a covenant with the GOD of Heaven AND Earth.  Abimelech agreed.

While having lunch with a friend, we discussed the economy and its expected direction.  He said that if he could just know the truth about the various issues of the economy, he could respond accordingly.  The noise of opinion and mis-information is deafening.  Political speeches contain many facts but what in the speech is being manipulated to promote an agenda?  The truth cannot be known and understood without knowing the motivation behind the facts.  It is well known and documented that the U.S. Government statistics have been redefined to reflect theoretical economic improvement thus misleading the American public about the state of the economy.  The Federal  Reserve quit reporting M3 Money Supply numbers to "cut costs".  Withholding the truth is just as bad as providing misleading facts.

The world economy is in a very serious economic crisis and the path we’ve been pursuing is leading us over a cliff.  The world is at a serious risk of a stampede out of currencies and paper investments into "things".  The prices of commodities have plummeted due to substantial decreases in demand yet they report overall demand is down single digits.

Failure to tell us the truth ultimately forces us to move to a protective mode of de-leveraging.  The borrower is servant to the lender thus we must eliminate that liability which hangs over our future.

How do you get started in this defensive posture?  You must develop new spending habits.

1.  Go a week without "eating out" at a restaurant.

2.  Go a week without using your credit card, then a month.

3.  Pay extra on your home mortgage payment, even if it is only $10.

4.  Give away 10 items you don’t use or need and trash the items if they are of no value to others.

5.  Focus on relationships with others.  Develop face-to-face activities that encourage fellowship.

6.  Plant a vegetable garden this spring.  Go research at the library and learn to grow your own food.

7.  Conduct an energy audit of your home.  Determine how you can decrease your energy usage.

8.  Revisit you budget.  Determine your needs versus your wants.

9.  Do an act of service to your neighborhood or community.  Help the needy, hungry, widows, or orphans.  Plant some seeds of giving.

10. Most important: Spend more quiet time with Our Heavenly Father.  After all, you have a covenant with HIM whether you know it or not!

Deceit is the act of convincing another to believe information that is not true, or not the whole truth as in certain types of half-truths.  Deceit (or deception) involves concepts like propaganda, distraction and/or concealment.  In many cases it is difficult to distinguish deception from providing unintentionally wrong information.  This is a problem that began in the Garden of Eden:

Gen 3:13-14

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (deceived) me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

The problem did not end there.  Deception has been used by mankind to obtain power, money, status, and other forms of dominance throughout the ages.  Deceit is a symptom of greed.  You can be greedy and broke at the same time.  Greed is the self-serving desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others.  Self serving is the key word that links greed and deceit.  Information that is self serving and knowingly a detriment to the other party is deceit.  If you sell a car to another individual with the knowledge of an imminent repair issue, that is deceitful.

I received a coupon in the mail from a local car dealership where we bought our last vehicle, "$39.88 for a full service oil change and rotation".  Hmmm, sounded ok to me since I needed an oil change.  I took the car and the coupon in for the service and the service representative accepted the coupon.  They summoned me when the car was ready and I went to the cashier to pay the bill and found that the cost was $3.68 greater than the coupon.  When asking about the difference, they pointed to the fine print indicating an additional fee assessment.  Now the issue was not the $3.68, it was about them being deceitful.

Deceitfulness is a societal issue.  It is at the core of mankind.  The LORD God acknowledged its existence by dealing with the serpent and cursing it.  There are thousands of laws created to guard against deceitful behavior but those laws do not correct the problem.  All levels of government, business, and individuals are exposed to deceit daily whether they are promoting the act or on the receiving end.  Paul warned us of deceit:

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The serpent deceived Eve using logic directed towards her mind "by his craftiness".  Often deception is encompassed with complexity thus placing the self serving person in a superior position to the one who is being deceived.  This deception is at the root of the problem with financial derivatives.  Investment banks wanted to increase profits and were looking for "new" ways to do so.  By creating complex financial instruments, the investment banks were able to sell these instruments to intelligent, seasoned bankers and investors all over the world.  How could that happen?  Ego, pride, lack of revelation, trust in structure!  In some cases, the bankers and investors bypassed due diligence because they did not want to admit that they did not understand the investment vehicle- ego, pride.  In other cases, the recipients believed that the investment banks would not sell a misrepresented investment- lack of revelation, trust in structure.

The serpent was more subtle (crafty, shrewd) than any other beast in the field.  Eve had not been exposed to television talking heads, the Internet, or millions of books on every subject imaginable, she and her husband had walked with the Creator of the Universe.  She had the ultimate opportunity to ask any question and receive the perfect, honest reply but she didn’t.  Our mind is the battleground where the war is waged.  Appeal to our logic, pride, and ego is where deceitfulness can be carried out.

Paul provided us with a key phrase: Simplicity that is in Christ.  As complexity increases, so does deceitfulness.  Men hide behind complexity to mask the deceitfulness in their heart and this deceit becomes a subtle aspect of their character.  As we walk in the simplicity that is in Christ, we will no longer be fooled by the self-serving deceitfulness of man.

Man’s logic attempts to determine or predict results, consequences, or derivative patterns.  This is the basis of technical analysis for stock trading.  This logic is also the basis for the manipulation of markets by the consortium of central banks around the world.  Man’s logic attempts to control as much as possible which is contrary to Biblical principles of service.  Rather than letting the market (or mankind in general, move by God) determine value, central governments by nature want to grow and control their populations to the point where they are no longer seen as "public servants".  Jesus served the public and is the standard that should be sought.  He could tap into the power of Heaven and could have subdued the world governments.  His message was to subdue the world by love with the Spirit of God, not by might.

We are heading for a world class depression that could be named "the Greater Great Depression".  Politicians are in denial as well as the American public.  Denial suggest that there are unseen forces withholding resources that could maintain the status quo.  I disagree.  Man’s greed will always exploit resources immediately to reap the fruit.  "Now" is the name of the game, not "Later".  Greed and lust demand immediate satisfaction.  When doing the right thing collides with greed and lust, the result is determined by the character of the decision maker(s).  Our humanity continues to war with the spirit and attempts to use carnal logic to justify the path of greed, lust, and ultimately corruption.

What must be done to avert a disastrous economic event that appears on the horizon?  The Bible identifies thirteen famines.  Those famines provide us insight of the problem:

#1 Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.

Abram’s covenant with God was challenged.  He was told to go to Canaan where he built an altar at Bethel.  The famine came and he went to Egypt.  His faith was tested.

#2 Gen 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

Esau sold his birthright which he despised, an act of rebellion and contrary to the covenant of Abraham.

#3 Gen 41:54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

Joseph’s brother’s challenged THE LORD’S Word toward Joseph and his calling.

#4 Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

The Book of Ruth established the necessity of a kinsman-redeemer to be able to supply all need.

#5 2 Samuel 21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, [It is] for Saul, and for [his] bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

THE LORD’S covenant was broken and disregarded.

#6 1Kings 18:2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And [there was] a sore famine in Samaria.

King Ahab and Jezebel were evil in the sight of THE LORD.  Ahab erected an altar for Baal. (1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.)

#7 2Kings 4:38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

A wild vine referenced the unfruitful nature of Israel.  However, the wild vine was dealt with by the meal (barley) showing us that GOD will sustain us through the famine.

#8 2Kings 7:4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

The Syrian King had besieged Samaria, the famine resulted and set the stage for a dramatic decrease in prices (deflation) and removal of the Syrians.

#9 2Kings 25:3 And on the ninth [day] of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

The famine marked the end of the Kingdom.

#10 Nehemiah 5:3 [Some] also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

The Temple had been in ruin and people were no longer worshipping THE LORD.

#11 Jeremiah 14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

False Prophets (v14) had prophesied lies, false visions and divinations through the deceit of their heart.

#12 Luke 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

The prodigal son wasted his inheritance with riotous living and encountered a famine.

#13 Acts 11:28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Rome was rejecting the Bread of Life.  Agabus (locust) may be tied to the separation of Egypt from the Children of Israel.

The general theme is that famines result from the people turning away from THE LORD.  They worship the created rather than the Creator and ultimately fall into the trap of relying on their own logic and experience.

The good news is that Our Heavenly Father has brought the world through these famines with HIS great grace and mercy.  HE sends deliverers (overcomers) to guide the whole earth through these times and to restore proper focus and relationships.  All of the information, intellect, worldly wisdom, and skill did not prevent these 13 famines.  A famine in your spiritual life will result in a famine in your physical life.  Repent, turn back towards Our Heavenly Father and ask for HIS great grace and mercy to prevail over the coming turbulent times.

As we enter 2009, the U.S. Dollar is heading toward a crisis.  Currently, the dollar crisis appears to reach its climax mid-year 2012.  The Federal Reserve has begun injecting new money into the U.S. economy at breakneck speed and this will infiltrate Main Street soon.  I expect commodity prices to begin their upward move soon since they are priced in U.S. Dollars but sold around the globe.  With the pedal to the metal, Bernanke can only hope that these injections will not overtake the system like a flood.

The American saver has been bamboozled once again!  Many of us have spent our lives "doing the right thing" when it comes to saving and investing for the future.  We did not sign up for "sub-prime" loans but saved our money for the classic down payment, we diligently put money in our savings accounts, and we tempered our spending so that we would not be overextended.  Along comes Wall Street seeking temporary profits purely based on greed and sets the economy up for failure.  The Fed’s response is to move interest rates to zero.  Who does this help?  The banks.  Who does this hurt? The average American saver!  We are always told that this is done for the "greater good".  Who is the "greater good"?

2009 will be a volatile year.  The Obama-nation is planning to create 3 million new jobs.  The administration will do everything in its power to keep unemployment below 10% because it seems that everything goes south beyond that magic number.

State Governments want some lovin’ too.  They want the Feds to provide over $2 Trillion in state assistance as if the Feds were Daddy Warbucks.  All of this funding is coming from you, me, and the global lenders.  The global lenders will ultimately be on the losing end since the only thing left to do after the smoke clears is to devalue the U.S. Dollar.  The buying power of our savings accounts will drop relative to other currencies.  Global lenders will dump U.S. Dollars and head for the exits.

What are we to do?  Since most of us are not independently wealthy, we must "crash proof" ourselves as much as possible.

1)  Do what is essential to your life.  What is truly important?  What is unimportant?  Create a "To Do" list daily and follow it.

2)  De-leverage.  Lower and eliminate debt where possible.  Eliminate credit card debt.  Move to cash basis on monthly expenditures.  Evaluate current expenditures and determine whether you really need to spend the money.

3)  Do not commit to new long term liabilities unless you are confident that you can cash flow the commitment.  Why renew a two year commitment to a cell phone contract, just stay on a month to month commitment for now.  Pay as you go!

4)  Simplify your life.  De-clutter your home. Remove the clutter from your mind.  There is so much "noise" occurring now.  Everyone on the Internet has an opinion… including me.  Ask Our Heavenly Father to direct you to who you ought to read and listen to.  Get rid of the rest.  If you haven’t used the "stuff" around the house for 24 months, do you really need it?  Give those articles around the house to others in need.

5)  Renew relationships.  Let’s face it, the clutter and complexity of your life has shoved personal relationships to the back burner.  Everyone is too busy with non-essential tasks.  We have become servants to complexity.  Technology creates servants if possible and people have become addicted to information.  Admit (or confess) your problem then re-discover face to face relationships.  In the end, life is all about relationships, not things!

6)  Address your ego.  Your ego is not your friend.  Excess consumption is often due to our quest to project an illusion.  "We spend money we don’t have to impress people we don’t know".

7) Pursue revelation.  There is no set formula that we can all implement because each of us are in unique situations.  Only Our Heavenly Father can supply your specific "crash proof" action plan.

Some say "Experience is the best teacher" but I believe "Experience of someone else fully revealed to me is the best teacher".  The Holy Scripture provides us an excellent economic guide to live by.  Those that study history see that society continues to make the same mistakes over and over again.  As it has been said, "History may not repeat itself, but it runs parallel".  The current financial crisis is a case in point.  Once that most of the Great Depression Era men and women died off, their wisdom and understanding died with them.  They were in essence the watchmen on the wall.  They would remind us of the mistakes made which caused the Great Depression.  Once their call for sanity disappeared, the current leadership (and their egos) decided they could defy economic gravity.

Our ego has overpowered our memory.  Our ego wants to overpower our ability to hear GOD.  America has become the poster child for the epitome of economic consumption.  Do you remember when the President told us to "go out and spend" to help the economy?  The last two Fed Chairmen claimed ignorance of the financial bubbles prior to their bursting. C’mon!

Our long-term memories tend to erase themselves thus adversely affecting our judgment.  Our actions are based upon motivating factors such as greed, fear, judgment, or revelation.  Those of us who have knowingly acted on revelation thirst for more!  Revelation from Our Heavenly Father is superior to any set of facts that could be presented.  Why?  Our Heavenly Father is not restricted to this time continuum that we are operating in. HE knows the beginning from end.

The Great Depression was the result of the Roaring 20’s.  The 1920’s was noted for the loose credit granted to borrowers who then "played" the stock market.  Sound familiar?  The current policy makers are already making the same mistakes made back then.  This is not a repeat of the 1930’s because the U.S. was a creditor nation with a strong manufacturing base and an exporter of oil.  Now the U.S. is the largest debtor nation in history, an importer of oil, and a much smaller manufacturing base replaced by a "services based" economy.  The consequences may be more dramatic this time.

Frankly, I’m getting tired of the rhetoric, everybody’s got an opinion of the solution to this global problem.  Everyone has memory loss!  Leaders are determined to make the same mistakes of seventy years ago.  Is it a massive conspiracy by the elitists?  Is it a hidden agenda being carried out over multiple decades and multiple descendents of the ultra wealthy?  Fear mongering is not the solution to sway public opinion to the right economic direction.  A "black swan" event is not prepared for in any of the mental disciplines.  Mathematical probabilities exclude a financial tsunami event in the investment calculations.  How do we prepare for those society changing events?  What can we do to respond to those gut wrenching challenges that seem to appear out of nowhere?

First of all, study to show thyself approved:

2Ti 2:15-16

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

Secondly, pray in your closet:

Mat 6:6-7
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

"Closet" is also used in the Old Testament:

Joe 2:1-19
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand;

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp [is] very great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD [is] great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Who knoweth [if] he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [even] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?

Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

The Bride of Christ, the overcomers, will be found in their closets receiving revelation from THE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

The answer to the global financial crisis is found in this passage from the Book of Joel: Repent (turn to ME), fast (subdue the ego), weep and with mourning (confess our sins and release them), rend our hearts (so they become pure).  When this occurs, revelation will replace man’s wisdom, judgment, and fear.  Only then will the crisis be over.

2009 may be the year where the markets are more volatile than any other time in history.  With the dramatic increase in information and opinion exposure from the hundreds of channels on television as well as the Internet, men and women will be exposed to many potentially fearful events.  Radio talk shows thrive on confrontation, dissension, conspiracy, etc.  Public opinion is swayed by network news reporting of events deemed by the producers to be the "news of the hour".  Reporting of politicians’ indiscretions can end their lives in public office.  Good news just doesn’t sell like bad news.  Bad news ultimately generates more income.  People have come to thrive on fear as long as it doesn’t hit to close to home.  As they say, "it’s a recession if your neighbor lost his job, it’s a depression if you lost your job".

The first mention of fear in the Scripture is:

Gen 3:10 And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

A judgment is a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision.  Both Adam and Eve made a judgment based on evidence they had.  However, they did NOT make the judgment on ALL evidence or facts.  Our Heavenly Father had all of the facts that were needed to make an accurate judgment.  HE warned Adam about the fruit and told him what the result would be if he ate the fruit.  Adam did not fully trust The LORD but trusted his own judgment instead.  Both Adam and Eve disregarded Our Heavenly Father’s knowledge of the facts in making their decision thus they exalted themselves above THE LORD.  This act of judging started a process that has continued to this day.

We judge people and things daily based on an incomplete set of facts.  Who has the complete set of facts?  Our Heavenly Father!  Our constant judging of others has kept us from a more intimate relationship with Our Heavenly Father.  In the following passage, Jesus warns us of judging:

Mat 7:1-5
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Notice that He used the term "brother".  People have a tendency to judge everyone, including those closest to them.

"Fear not" was first used by Our Heavenly Father when speaking to Abram.  Abram had just defeated Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him in a battle.  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High and proclaimed the following:

Gen 14:19-20

19 And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;

20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.

Abram gave tithe of all which tells us he understood the "law of the tithe" prior to the writing of the Law by Moses.  Melchizedek proclaimed that GOD MOST HIGH was the possessor of heaven and earth which is the precondition of a tithe being given.  Fear is the primary motivator for the withholding of the tithe.  By giving the tithe, Abram acknowledged the MOST HIGH GOD, Our Heavenly Father.

The King of Sodom briefly entered the picture and tried to make a deal with Abram but was unable to negotiate with Abram.  Then THE LORD spoke to Abram:

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

"Shield" means defense, defender, or protector.  "Exceeding great reward" denotes a fullness of blessing and compensation as in wages.  People tend to interpret Scriptures like this to mean they will become rich and no longer have any responsibility and obligation to anyone.  Abraham’s wealth was consistent with his calling.  Each of us will receive the necessary means to fulfill our calling.  However, in order to fulfill our calling we must not judge people thus causing a blockage in our ability to hear THE FATHER.  Also we must rest in our relationship with Our Heavenly Father and "fear not", HE has all of the facts!

The United States as well as individual states have thousands and thousands of laws on the books.  In Oklahoma, it is against the law to spit on the sidewalk as well as curse in public.  Those laws are still on the books but not enforced.  Political leaders find it expedient to have laws passed with many loopholes to allow virtually any action to be "lawful" by the government.  We spoke recently about the laws passed to fund the financial bailouts.  In a recent speech I heard by Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, he stated the following:

(Quote) "I think there are going to be two scandals coming out of this process when we get around to all the historians and reporters and people who pay attention because this is now a big enough scandal.  You might even get a book by Bob Woodward about this by the time it’s over.  It’s reached a stage where you might actually have political reporters try and understand financial things.  One of the scandals will be the entire process of political donations and power on Capitol Hill and the degree to which people like Senator Chris Dodd, who was the largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is also in charge of the committee overseeing them.  And I suspect you may see a serious proposal to adopt a rule that no one who’s a member of a committee can take money from any political action committee or anyone involved in the industries they oversee.  We’re clearly going to have to look deeply because there is something fundamentally sick about watching the way in which the Congress has dealt with this.

The second, though, is Secretary Paulson.  I think it is profoundly troubling that the chief of staff to the president worked for Goldman Sachs, the Secretary of the Treasury worked for Goldman Sachs.  I’m told the person brought in to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was a past chairman of Goldman Sachs.  We learned in the New York Times on Sunday that the only private sector institution that was in the meeting at the New York Federal Reserve to discuss the future of AIG was the chairman of Goldman Sachs, and that Goldman Sachs had a 20 billion dollar interest in AIG and two weeks later the Federal government found 85 billion dollars to bail out AIG.

I received an email this morning from a very, very successful businessman who literally is worth hundreds of million of dollars and is very shrewd, who said, and I can’t prove this yet but we’ll be working on it all day today, if you look at the collapse of Bear Stearns, that it was his understanding that Goldman Sachs had been shorting Bear Stearns and that the head of Morgan said he would have paid more for Bear Stearns and was told by Paulson that he could only pay $2 a share.

Now, no one has slowed down – and here’s what’s happened.  Liberal Democrats have no particular interest in learning any of this because they like bigger government, they want more power in Washington, they believe in bigger spending, so they’re happy.  I mean this administration has given them a greater chance to move towards a socialist America than anything in modern times.  They can’t imagine how good George W. Bush has been for them being able to centralize power in Washington and spend your money.  They got 152 billion dollars in a stimulus package in the spring that didn’t work and would have been far better off being spent on investments to create jobs.  They got 300 billion dollars this summer for a housing bailout that didn’t work.  So they’re already up 450 billion dollars.  If you’re a liberal Democrat, it doesn’t get much better than this.  It’s very hard to imagine that if Obama gets elected how he’ll ever match the Bush administration in increasing federal spending.  And now they have a chance to have 700 billion dollars at the Treasury that they get to spend because they expect to replace President Bush with a Democrat.  They’re thrilled.  Why would they raise any questions?

On the other hand, Republicans are so embarrassed that this is a Republican administration that they have felt timid about telling the truth and raising questions.

But here are things that need to be looked at. Was Goldman Sachs shorting Bear Stearns?  Did Secretary Paulson insist on the lowest possible price deliberately, and if so, why?

Why did he punish those particular shareholders, or was he in fact indirectly rewarding Goldman Sachs?  Was Goldman Sachs, as the New York Times alleges, the only company in the room at the New York Federal Reserve in deciding the fate of AIG?  And by what standard, by what right?

I think this is frankly a level of such appearance of corruption, and I think that Secretary Paulson has shown in every way his complete misunderstanding of the job of Secretary of the Treasury (and I just cite – go back and look at his original proposal to give him personally 700 billion dollars with no accountability, no legislative oversight and no judicial review) that I really think the president would be vastly better off to accept his resignation and allow Bob Kimmitt to be the acting Secretary of the Treasury from now to the end of the administration. " (End quote)

This excerpt exposes some symptoms of the problems associated with the current system.  I submit this not a political issue but a heart issue.  Until the intent of the Law is followed, the letter of the Law will be abused and misused to accommodate the plans of the unrighteous.  "Love thy neighbor" also means to do the right thing and submit to the intent rather than just the "letter".