Archive for March, 2012

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Bearing Good Fruit

Friday, March 9th, 2012

"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Who among us wants Our Heavenly Father glorified?  To answer this question, we must become fruit inspectors and first and foremost we must inspect our own fruit.  Have I been a blessing to anybody today other than my family?  Have I given someone an encouraging word or an unexpected blessing?  Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves.

Your money represents your productiveness.  Most of us worked hard for the money we have and $1,000 represents xxx hours of our life at work.  That money represents us for a period of time operating in our gifts.  Money itself is not a bad thing.  The flow of money is healthy to a community.  Exchange is like a flowing stream and without the flow, the water becomes stagnant.  Men accumulate money to build up wealth for various reasons.  Some of those reasons are noble and other reasons have no benefit to society.

When I was in banking, one of our largest depositors was a man who reminded you of the Beverly Hillbillies and he even drove a similar pickup.  His body odor alerted us of his arrival.  His deposits were in the 8 digits.  What a shame!  He had the opportunity to be a blessing to so many people but he simply hoarded his money as though he was broke.  To the average person on the street he looked like a hobo.

Jesus spoke a parable in Luke 12:

16  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

17  And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

18  So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

19  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

20  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21  “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This rich man is not unlike the steward who buried the talent.  He did not put his wealth to work, even if it would only generate interest.  All he was concerned about was himself.  What would happen if many of us were to pool our resources and operated a Kingdom Enterprise based on Love?  The Pentecostal church era produced mega-churches by being in unity to a degree.  I certainly don’t condone some of the methods used to generate funds but Our Heavenly Father IS sovereign and the Pentecostal infrastructure did get built.  Christian TV did develop even with all of the scandals that came with it.

I expect a “Gideon” call to come soon.  The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east (China) have been in “control” of the system.  Gideon was threshing wheat by the winepress, indicative of the transition from Pentecost to Tabernacles.  When the call comes forth, who will respond?

Posted in Biblical Economics & Money, Love, Prophetic | Comments Closed

Givers and Takers

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to buy a used car without wondering whether you are acquiring someone else’s problem?  The used car salesman has earned a reputation over the years of being a manipulative liar.  Now there are exceptions to the rule but in the U.S., full disclosure of mechanical issues is rarely the case.  This is indicative of the nature of takers.  They tend to be scarcity-oriented and feel like they have to manipulate others in order to get ahead.  They really don’t believe that Our Heavenly Father will provide for them so they must lie, cheat, or steal to make ends meet.  This view of scarcity follows them throughout life.  As they do acquire some assets, they continue this path and it simply becomes part of their character.  When a car salesman gets the best of a customer, they call it “knockin’em in the head”.  How sad!

Givers, on the other hand, view life as having access to abundance and understanding that they are satisfied no matter what state they are in.  They will fix their vehicle or disclose the known issues with it for they want to look out for the other person.  They seek a fair and balanced deal.  They have the best interest of the buyer at heart.  Economic justification for repair is no longer the primary issue.  They simply do the right thing.

What about businesses?  There are mostly takers out there also.  Why?  I would suggest that corporations reflect the hearts of those who set them up and have management responsibility of the policies and overall direction.  How many pharmaceutical companies have knowingly released drugs that could  have an adverse affect on individuals using their product?  They spent millions of dollars on research and the corporate mandate was to make a profit at any cost.  It was reported that the nuclear power plant in Japan was known to have the design flaw before the tsunami but those in control did not want to fix the issue, it was too costly.  Construction companies take shortcuts and compromise quality in pursuit of squeezing out a little more profit.  The buyer has to be on guard at all times.  Regulations are added in an attempt to modify the behavior but never deal with the core issue: greed.

What would happen if a group of givers were to form a conglomerate of businesses based on Love where the corporate mandate was to serve customers and employees rather than exploit both groups?  What would happen if healthcare groups were created to serve the individual rather than the pocketbooks of the greedy?  What would happen if men and women were placed in the area of their gifts and calling rather than simply filling an opening with a warm body?  Now that sounds like a Kingdom Enterprise.

Posted in Biblical Economics & Money, Love | Comments Closed

The Treachery of Greed

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Betrayal is a violation of trust whereas treachery is betrayal by prior intent.  For example, if financial institution A were to write Greek Bond insurance contracts with investors B, C, D, etc. in case of default by the Hellenic Republic of Greece knowing that the contract would never be enforced to pay off, this would fit into the above definition of treachery.  Let’s say that financial institution A issued contracts on $10 Billion worth of bonds and generated $200 Million in immediate profit, a mere 2% of face value.  Financial institution A gives its executives bonuses from that $200 million in profit.  The investors paid 2% insurance to guarantee their principal.  The interest on the bonds would more than offset this insurance cost, a prudent investment.

Now let’s fast forward a few years and Greece needs to devalue those existing bonds by 53.5%.  Now those bonds are worth $4.65 Billion, less than half of the original principal.  Who should take the loss?  The insurer against default or the bondholder who paid for insurance against such an event?   See: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57391659/greece-steps-up-pressure-in-uncertain-bond-deal/

Who decides whether the insurer must pay?  The ISDA(International Swaps and Derivatives Association).  If financial institution is required to pay, their balance sheet capital immediately goes down by $5.35 Billion and potentially makes them insolvent.  This would be an instantaneous event.  A similar event occurred in 2008 to Lehman Brothers and they are now history.  Vice President Joe Biden mentioned the potential of a bank holiday at that time.  On the other hand if investors B, C, D, etc. suffered losses, it would be spread among many smaller entities without adversely affecting the financial system.

Greece has $271 Billion in bonds issued to private holders.  Roughly $200 Billion will be lost by someone.  Then comes Italy, Spain, and Portugal.  This is a multi-trillion dollar loss potential.  The ISDA voted unanimously that Greek Bonds had not triggered a credit default.  Who were those to vote on this?

Determinations Committee: EMEA
Meeting Date: March 1, 2012

Issue Number: 2012022401 Has a Restructuring Credit Event occurred with respect to Hellenic Republic?

Question 1. for vote: Has a Restructuring Credit Event occurred with respect to Hellenic Republic?

Vote result: No
Votes: 15 “NO” votes –

Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Barclays
Credit Suisse
Deutsche Bank AG
Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Morgan Stanley
UBS
BNP Paribas
Societe Generale
Citadel Investment Group LLC
D.E. Shaw Group
BlueMountain Capital
Elliott Management Corporation
PIMCO   

See: http://www.isda.org/dc/docs/EMEA_Determinations_Committee_Decision_01032012Q1.pdf

Aren’t these the same institutions that issued the insurance contracts to begin with?

Did the tornado at Henryville, Indiana do this?

Let’s see, should the insurance company honor the claim on that bus?  Let’s take a vote…..

Love will overcome treachery and betrayal.  Men’s hearts will be convicted of such acts and Our Heavenly Father will evoke righteous, corrective judgment.  Their pain is coming soon.

Posted in Biblical Economics & Money | Comments Closed

Redefining Insolvency

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

In 1975 I took the Dun & Bradstreet Credit Analysis course that all bank loan officers and credit analysts were required to complete.  This course covered the fundamentals of analyzing borrowers’ ability to service their debt and the risks associated with their various financial conditions.  There were several financial ratios to be calculated and those ratios were compared against industry norms.  If an applicant’s ratios were outside the limits, the loan was typically denied.  The balance sheet is critical to the financial industry.  It is similar to a medical checkup.

Verification of assets and cash flow were fundamental.  If there was a mortgage, a statement verifying the current balance was required.  A recent pay stub was needed to check the income claimed on the loan application.  Each major asset had to be analyzed for it veracity.  If it could not be verified, it might be removed from the ratio calculations.  The D&B course was used by most banks in the U.S.

What happens if the banks themselves need to borrow money?  A similar process occurs by the regulators.  If bank ratios become weak, they are put on a watch list.  If they become too weak, the regulators find a buyer or shut them down and dispose of the assets.

Now enter the Credit Default Swaps (CDS).  What happens if the bank has been issuing lucrative CDS’s as insurance?  Initially the bank’s trading department was able to book a sizeable profit with the expectation that those CDS’s would expire worthless and have no balance sheet impact on the bank.  CDS’s were issued against European sovereign bonds which have no history of default.  This insurance vehicle has been a real money maker for the issuer AND the European Union would come to the rescue of any of its member nations thus eliminating any risk.

Now comes the mismanagement of the Greek economy.  Greece has been living on borrowed time and money.  There is no realistic way for Greece to work out of its debt without someone taking a “haircut” or loss on the principal of the Greek bonds.  A 30% to 70% haircut is now certain.  How can the ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) determine that no default has occurred?  Since when does a loss on up to 70% of your principal not constitute a default?

If a default occurs, the insurer must pay up.  If the ISDA were to admit to a default, several large international banks would immediately become insolvent.  This could trigger a global bank run and take down the current system.  There is much at stake with a determination of this nature and the ISDA will resist a default at all costs.  Who makes up the ISDA?  The very financial institutions and related parties that issue CDS’s.  The reality is that when Greece defaults, other weak countries will not be far behind.  When this happens, the current financial system’s risk will be greater than the near meltdown in 2008.  What is the best insurance against this risk?  In my view it is gold and silver.  These do not have counterparty risks for man cannot manipulate their value as they do every other financial instrument.

The ISDA may not classify the Greek Bonds as a default, but if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…..

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The Impotent Man

Sunday, March 4th, 2012

Impotent means weak or feeble, without power or strength.  In the book of John  Chapter 5, Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the feast.  This feast was prior to Passover and is thought to be the Feast of Purim.  In this passage Jesus heals the impotent man who have been infirmed for 38 years, a sign of being in the Wilderness as were the Israelites under Moses.  Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath and he took up his bed and walked.

I would suggest that we all have been somewhat impotent during this age of Pentecost which is represented by the Israelites wandering in the Wilderness for forty years (18 months by design + 38 1/2 by unbelief).  Had the children of Israel been willing to hear Our Heavenly Father at Mount Sinai, by faith they would have entered into the Promised Land in the minimum time period of 18 months.  However the plan would be a forty year delay so the unbelief would die with the generation that left Egypt.

Purim has had a special place for me since 1996.  In that year I was asked to be a speaker at my first Tabernacles meeting at Moon Plaza in Minneapolis and I covered the prophetic signs of the Book of Esther and Purim.  That was sixteen years ago, a sign of Love.  Esther is all about “Love overcoming greed” and that would be a great vision statement for a Kingdom enterprise.  Esther was willing to give her life for her people, a true servant’s heart.

Esther’s time of preparation had ended and she was now to walk out her calling:  Esther 4:13   And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai confirmed to her that she was called to this particular time, place, and purpose.  He told her that if she did not respond to her calling that another would surely be lifted up to fulfill the plan of Our Heavenly Father.  She responded and the Jews were saved from certain death.  Haman, the adversary, was hung by the very gallows he had plan to use against the Jews.  The gallows was fifty cubits high, fifty representing Jubilee.  His wife Zeresh (means gold) had suggested the height.  He was clearly married to “greed”.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:1, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  This is exactly what Esther did.  She was willing to submit to death.  How many of us will stand up when the call comes to bring forth the Kingdom and the Jubilee?

You have come to the kingdom for such a time as this!  Let us proclaim our healing of impotence and accept the call!

Posted in Love, Prophetic | Comments Closed

My Father’s Business

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Luke 2:49   And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" (NKJV)

And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?" (NASB)

The word “must” denotes necessity.  To be in Our Heavenly Father’s House or presence, you must be about HIS business, whatever it is.  Man’s business ultimately results in lust whereas Our Heavenly Father’s business results in Love.  Corporations today serve those in control at the expense of employees, stockholders, and customers.  Yes, there is the occasional company who generally helps others as long as things are going well.  But the organization is based on profit, the bottom line.  In pursuit of profit as the primary goal of the company, all resources are expendable and even the company would be dissolved to insure profits flow to those who control the decisions.

In August of 1987, Our Heavenly Father gave me a vision of a group of Christian businessmen would fund the “end time Gospel”.  Of course I assumed that it would happen in 1987.  At the time I was working on a software deal with a Fortune 100 company where I had the opportunity to sell 10,000 software licenses to all their dealers and distributors.  IBM had done a nationwide search and the application software I developed had been selected to present to this company as the solution to their need.  At the age of 36, I thought I was ready.  Wrong!  For the next twelve years I received countless prophetic messages from various known prophets that I was called to the financial aspects of the Kingdom.  I did do business with the Fortune 100 company but multiple management changes caused the original expectation of the multi-million dollar deal to end in a much smaller revenue base.

From 1993 to 1996 I worked with a man in Houston on International funding programs for infrastructure projects.  Each deal failed due to greed among those involved.

On April 10-12 of 1997, I traveled to Panama to look at a gold mine and brought back samples to be assayed.  Once again I expected the funding to come forth for the Kingdom.  The assay results were exceptional but the funding to get control of the mine and begin mining never materialized.

From 2000 to 2004, I made several trips to Zurich, Bern, Geneva, London, and Madrid on International investment programs designed to generate sufficient cash for funding projects.  All failed to materialize due to greed.

After each failure and a lot of money spent, I would get frustrated because I simply wanted to walk in the fullness of my calling.  I can imagine how Joseph felt as he was biding his time in a prison of a foreign country.

If any of the aforementioned projects had been conducted by men who walked in Love, those projects would have succeeded.  Their love of money was their motivation.  I received an unanticipated education how not to do business in the global arena.  I have been satisfied with going about my daily affairs without hopping on an airplane to Zurich.  Since 2005, Our Heavenly Father has been training me in the specific area of Love.  I’ve been trained in other areas such as faith and the Law but the last 7 1/2 years have been focused on Love.  Why?  If I am to be about My Father’s Business, I must take on His Character of Love.  Otherwise, I will be just like all those men and women who pursue wealth to ultimately consume it on their own lusts.

A call to those who are committed to be about Our Heavenly Father’s Business will occur soon.  A mobilization of people and resources will be needed.  Can you imagine a company where the executives serve the employees and the customer?  Can you imagine where corporate decisions are Love-based and are designed to serve rather than exploit?  Who will answer the call?  Is this now the time for those with a burning passion for the Kingdom to come together in Unity?  We’ll see!

Posted in Biblical Economics & Money, Love, Prophetic | Comments Closed

Perfect Intervention

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Gold was down by $97 at one point on Leap Day.  This was central bank intervention.  Ben Bernanke testified to Congress indicating that Quantitative Easing was not currently needed while the European Central Bank made a $712.4 Billion loan injection into the member bank system.  Here is how is works:  Federal Reserve Bank to IMF, IMF to European Central Bank, European Central Bank to member banks.  That is quantitative easing.  For more on the liquidity injection, see: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/asia-stocks-rise-dow-closes-13000-15813476#.T09up_HZCNg   This action barely made the news yet the impact to you and me will be staggering.  The orchestrated slam against gold is an attempt to cover up the reality of expanding the money supply into infinity.  The canary in the coal mine was just given an oxygen mask to delay the inevitable.

Today was one of the largest injections of liquidity to ever occur in history.  The mainstream media (MSM) once again failed to bring this to the attention of the public.  The truth and the facts are often difficult to find when those in control want to manipulate by perception.  This is one reason why there are regulatory attempts to control the content of the Internet.  My senator opposes such regulation and will work against such attempts, will yours?

The gold market will increase volatility.  $100 moves will become normal and gold will be the “last man standing” in the currency arena.  No amount of rhetoric from the MSM or Fed Chief can change the fact that sovereign debt is still at epic proportions and contraction is the only true way of dealing with the debt and retaining the current system.  Contraction isn’t acceptable to the politicians since they don’t want to be counted among the unemployed.  They will pursue money expansion to infinity.

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