Are you prepared for such an event? If oil hit this level, food prices would soar at the same time the American economy would take a nose dive. I continue to recommend increasing food purchases to have some food stored in case of unexpected shortages. Hopefully, this will never happen but if you simply rotate your food supply you will have “insurance” against disruption.
Gas guzzlers will get pretty cheap if oil shoots up to these levels. Who really needs a 400 HP motor under the hood?
As I have written in the past, predictors of economic direction fail to account for “black swan” events. In the Scripture the term “then suddenly” represents a black swan event. We make our plans according to our paradigm of “normal” but then something unexpected happens that screws everything up. In 18 short days, Egyptian citizens ousted their ruler. Nobody saw it coming. The U.S. spends billions of Dollars funding agencies such as the CIA and was unprepared for the Black Swan event. The U.S. funded Mubarak’s regime with over $30 Billion and now has lost his influence in the Middle East.
The following countries in red provide us a perspective of civil unrest:
Wisconsin is not included because we are all in denial that our citizens are unhappy with their state governments, etc. The European countries are also left out because their pain isn’t as great as those in the “developing” countries. Other Middle Eastern countries are watching closely because they could be next as targets of civil unrest. If those in power had not taken such an “entitled” view of the world but instead acted as servants to the people, their countries would not have been affected. Leaders around the world should repent of their past actions and seek to understand Love and its fruit. Neglected and abused people have no loyalty to their masters. Is there one world leader currently known as “beloved”? Think about it.
Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, and many companies that supply the Internet, especially the mobile Internet, with software and hardware have facilitated the global revolution. This is why governments want to control the Internet. If you can restrict information and revelation then you can control the public. To reverse this information revolution would incite even greater unrest and quicker change.
It is my understanding that Libya has already declared force majeure with respect to its oil delivery obligations. With true production being tight, any further disturbance could shoot the price of oil another $10 -$50 per barrel. In turn, the Western economies would suffer and move back into recessionary territory. Those with non-commodity stock portfolios might want to consider hedging their investments against a market drop. There may be more black swans out there.
1 Thes 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
Honour:
1) a valuing by which the price is fixed
a) of the price itself
b) of the price paid or received for a person or thing bought or sold
2) honour which belongs or is shown to one
a) of the honour which one has by reason of rank and state of office which he holds
b) deference, reverence
Accordingly, individuals are assigned worth and stature based on the harmony of their actions, code of honour, and that of the society at large. The price or value of this person is “fixed” or doesn’t vacillate up and down. I find it interesting that we are called to vessels of honour denoting a certain “fixed” reliability that other people can count on, not tossed by every wind of doctrine. Our word denotes our intent and our handshake is as good as our signature.
Over the years, I have been exposed to many business people whose word is found to be worthless. Our legal system has digressed to the point that vessels of dishonour can manipulate signed contracts to mean anything but the original intent. A contract is to establish a fixed, agreed upon value. Unless coerced into signing a contract, both parties are called to be honorable and simply do the right or righteous thing. The length of contracts has increased from one page to countless pages attempting to guard against every attempt of manipulation.
If you want to honor your parents, be reliable, consistent, and constant. You honor them by being a vessel of honor. When a parent sees their child pursuing an honorable path of consistency, great satisfaction is realized.
Honor is just one of the attributes of Love. It fixes value and allows us to count on others in time of need. Who would you call on when unexpectedly your time of need occurs?
The current path of global direction is unsustainable on multiple fronts. The U.S. Dollar is the current world reserve currency and is backed by America’s ability to produce and manage itself. In the past decades, you could go to just about any country and they would welcome your dollars. That is now changing. Economic mismanagement is taking its toll on the Dollar.
The predicted level of oil consumption is unsustainable. According to a Wikileaks published cable: “The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.” I have been preaching “peak oil” for the last 5 years and conventional oil production has not exceeded the 2005 level, even in 2008 when oil hit $147. Why? Because the producers can’t open the spigots wider. Oil production is limited by well depletion, cost of oil extraction, and lack of new oil discovery. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/08/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated-wikileaks Even though I do not endorse lawlessness, the leaking of “the facts” being withheld from the public appears to be a sovereign act. Is it lawful to withhold the truth and the facts from the citizens you serve? Don’t we have unalienable rights to know the facts that ultimately affected us all? The political double standard will come back to bite those who have been complicit in the lawlessness of withholding the truth from the citizenry. Have you noticed that there have been no criminal convictions of the financiers who got us into the recent financial crisis that threatens the economic stability of the world? I am amazed at the passiveness of the average American citizen as their world is in the midst of crumbling. I guess we just need to play another song on the deck of the Titanic and enjoy another drink.
Speaking of “unsustainable”:
Inflation is alive and well in the commodities market and is now hitting the shelves at the local food market. Have you begun storing up six months’ of food supplies to be rotated as used? We are moving towards chaos and thus toward WWIII unless Our Heavenly Father intervenes.
“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you” KJV
This Scripture provides us with assurance that Love will come and “abound” in us. This should be central to our daily prayer that His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven and that we may abound in “agape” Love one toward another and that all men see HIS Love in us. If this Holy Spirit inspired verse were not true, it would not have been written and given to us as hope for the fullness of Love.
Father, may I increase and abound in Love today! Amen!
The oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία, oligarkhía) is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military control. In the book 13 Bankers, the author claims that the top 13 banks in the U.S. form an oligarchy. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are at the top of the list. From these banks come many of the Secretaries of the Treasury and other influential political appointees. Howard Hughes claimed he never lost a political race, he funded both sides. These banks were allowed to recklessly invest in highly leveraged investments with no regulation or accountability. In the end, the American taxpayer shouldered the risk while these banks paid billions in bonuses to the top employees. Due to the complexity of our society and the lack of transparency at all levels, these banks had a free ride and evidently will continue their course of high risk. To my knowledge, there have been no criminal prosecutions of high level players. Injustices like these will continue until righteous judgment manifests itself in America. The rich and the powerful have enjoyed a free ride for years and do not expect it to change. In the meantime, millions of people are on the food stamp program, out of work and discouraged. JP Morgan Chase recently admitted to overcharging active military personnel on home mortgages and foreclosing on several houses of active soldiers, a violation of Federal Law. Will anybody go to jail? See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704858404576134163713192544.html
What is the solution to our problem? The solution will only come by prayer and fasting for our brethren. Prayer places the focus on our relationship with Our Heavenly Father and fasting is to subdue the “anti-Christ ego” that challenges our anointing. Only when we are found to be acceptable to receive the power and authority from On High will change truly occur. Violence never solves any problems but only hardens the hearts of the wicked. We must appeal to the High Court of Heaven to find resolution to our current circumstances. Selah!
Even the small house cats around here have grown weary of the snow.
![CropperCapture[67]](http://www.servias.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/croppercapture67.png "CropperCapture[67]")
At an early age we learn the concept of cause and effect. This level of cause and effect is based on effort, energy in motion, and time. If I am hungry then I eat and it satisfies the hunger. If I stick my hand in fire, it burns me. The understanding of cause and effect produces a predictable future. This reality works for all mankind, the just and the unjust. When it rains, the unrighteous man’s garden gets watered just as the righteous man’s garden receives the moisture. People who are opportunistic take advantage of this predictability to their own benefit. They become masters in this realm and control people, places, and things. This level of cause and effect is structural based and can be exploited by the rich and powerful. Financial investing often relies on this cause and effect predictability but many of us have found this to be a risky proposition at best. Technical stock analysis relies on formulas to predict the future. Investors have spent millions of dollars seeking the “holy grail” of formulas to insure investing success. Charts are created to show cycles, trends, tendencies, and other behaviors of stock prices and movement. “Quants” as they are called are traders and financial engineers who used advanced math and supercomputers to gain advantage over individual investors by exploiting trends and price discrepancies in milliseconds.
However, there is a higher dimension to cause and effect and it is based on Love and its rewards. This higher level supersedes the logic of effort-based cause and effect and defies all formulas and man’s logic as well as prophecy. I watched Christian television for two decades and read many books on prophecy. I can’t count how many times Armageddon was suppose to take place. The Lord’s return has been imminent for years and years. I’ve read hundreds of prophecies by credible individuals and those prophecies have not panned out. Why? Love! This higher realm has ruined a lot of eloquent prophetic, structured-based words over the years. Each failed prophecy has chipped away at the credibility of those prophets. We all want a reality that we can call “permanent” in our lives. We all want predictability to remove the anxiety of the unknown.
Nineveh is the current day Mosul, Iraq. In terms of cause and effect, Nineveh needed to be destroyed: Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." After Our Heavenly Father’s corrective interview with Jonah during a cruise vacation, Jonah proclaims the Word of THE LORD: Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" Here we see cause and effect playing out in its predictive pattern. You sin, you die! (Rambo interpretation) Then something interesting happens and the king of Nineveh proclaimed:
Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Jonah had been spared from his rebellion and delivered to the appointed destination to declare judgment. But even though Jonah received mercy, Jonah became exceedingly displeased, and he became angry when Our Heavenly Father “relented”. He told Our Heavenly Father to “take his life” now this his prophetic word failed. After all, he received this word from THE LORD. What Jonah did not understand is the higher level of cause and effect based on Love. The structural level of cause and effect must respond and submit to the higher level. Jonah did know that this level existed but without full understanding of its impact for he said “for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”
Our Heavenly Father’s abundant lovingkindness, grace, and mercy allows us to change the course of our lives. We are not destined to sickness and disease, failures, and turmoil. Our lawless acts do not guarantee a sentence of death and destruction even though The LAW requires restitution. When we appeal to a higher realm, the lower realm must submit. Rather than looking for signs, formulas, and trends of this structured realm, shouldn’t we be focusing on the higher realm where Love is in command and can change the course of events thus averting certain disaster? As a corporate body, if we spent as much time, energy, and resources attempting to predict the future and placed our focus on understanding and walking in the Love of Our Heavenly Father, the result would be the outcome we all long for.
I doubt it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) modified its statistical assumptions. 504,000 gave up looking for a job therefore were removed from the unemployment statistic. And despite the rosy picture painted by the media, food stamp usage continues to rise:
It has been reported that 1 in 6 Americans are on the program and lines up with the above graph. Those of us with family members unemployed know first hand how this unemployment picture sucks wealth out of the family structure to help provide food, shelter, and clothing to the unemployed. In the meantime, those in power enjoy their delicacies and social functions without regard for the children who are crying in their pillows. More Americans could qualify to get food stamps but don’t because of personal pride of not accepting handouts. The rich seemingly get richer as the middle class dwindle away. Since the world has become such a complex environment, the guilty can hide from the populous but not from Our Heavenly Father, Thankfully! HIS Righteous judgment will take care of the perpetrators of the widespread injustices to HIS children.