On Monday I posted a blog entry about how the U.S. Jobs Bill contained some ominous new rules that introduce capital controls to the U.S. In that blog post I wrote about how the introduction of capital controls is a major red flag about the direction that the country is heading in the future and how capital controls can pose a major obstacle to Americans who want to leave the U.S.
One of the Internet podcasts I listen to each week is the McAlvany Weekly Commentary. The topic of this week’s podcast focuses on the capital controls that were snuck into the Jobs Bill. If you have 30 minutes, I highly recommend that you listen to this week’s podcast because the commentators do a great job explaining what the introduction of capital controls means for not only Americans, but for those living outside the U.S. Here is a link to the podcast:
The State of America's Youth (Editorial)
Last weekend a new Bloomberg national poll measuring Barack Obama’s popularity was released to the public. This edition of the Bloomberg national poll is particularly interesting because it breaks down Obama’s support by age group. The poll defines young people as those who are under the age of 35 and older people as those 65 and over. Here are the key findings of the poll that is reported in the article about the poll.
- Obama has a 56% approval rating among young people vs. a 41% approval rating among older people.[1]
- 41% of young people believe the country is heading in the right direction vs. 25% of older people believe the country is heading in the right direction.[2]
- More young people have a positive view of Obama’s handling of health care, foreign relations, and the economy than have a negative view.[3]
The results of this poll are revealing about where Obama stands politically and about something that I’ve thought about a lot lately with regards to America's youth.
Politically, Obama has lost a lot of his luster among older Americans. This is very important because older people are the most important group of voters in American politics since this group of voters historically has the highest turnout in elections versus all the other age groups. The Bloomberg national poll confirmed that is likely going to happen again in the 2010 election by finding that 75% of older respondents planned to vote in the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, the high-level of youth support for Obama is not as politically important as it seems. There are few certainties in American politics. However, one of them is that young people do not show up in large numbers to vote at election time. Since candidates need to get as many votes as they can to win elections it really does not matter a lot if a candidate has a large group of people supporting them if these supporters do not show up to vote at election time.
Together, these findings spell trouble for Barack Obama’s party in the 2010 election. Obama’s low approval rating among the most important voting bloc in American politics is a sign that a lot of people plan to vote against the Democrats in the 2010 election. Typically, the party that controls the presidency does lose votes to the opposition party, but this time around the loss in votes is likely going to be substantial based on the attitude of older people towards Obama and the direction that the country is going in. Fortunately for Obama, the next election isn’t for another seven months so he will have opportunities to win back seniors and to minimize the 2010 election damage.
The Bloomberg national poll article noted that the poll found a lot of optimism in America’s youth. Traditionally, young people tend to be optimistic about the future so this finding would not be a surprise if this was a normal time in history. However, this is not a normal time in history with a terrible economy with increasing government regulation that is sapping away job prospects and making matters worse. This poll finding confirms something I’ve noticed the past few years and more so in the past year about America's youth.
Unfortunately, I get the sense that most young people in America do not have any idea how bad the current situation is now and how dire it is going to get. I get the sense with my interaction with young people (I am young myself by the way) that they feel everything will be fine in the long-run. I notice that most young people are planning their lives like the same types of opportunities that existed for their parents and grandparents will be around for them in the future. It’s hard for me to hear my peers tell me about how they plan to get a good job, buy a house, get married, raise a family, etc. They have no idea that things are going to get much worse. It’s unfortunate, but if it’s God’s will then it must be this way.
References
[1] McCormick, John. “Obama Gets More Support With Young Voters Seeing U.S. Improving”. 27 Mar. 2010. Last Accessed 28 Mar. 2010. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-27/obama-gets-more-support-with-young-voters-seeing-u-s-improving.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
Easter: Past, Present, and Future
Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...
In this post I’ll try to provide you an idea of the historical origins of Easter and provide an overview of how Easter may be celebrated in the future under the reign of Antichrist.
The Past & Present
Unfortunately, Easter is a holiday that appears to have pagan roots. Some claim that Easter’s origins began with the pagan holiday “Eastre” (Eostre) which was celebrated around the time of the Jewish Passover. Eastre was a holiday where pagans honored the goddess of fertility Eastre, whose “earthly symbol was the rabbit”.[1]
Meanwhile, others trace Easter’s origins all the way back to Ancient Babylon. In fact, some argue that Easter’s name is derived from the name of the Babylonian goddess that the holiday that a strong link to: Ishtar. The holiday was celebrated “Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox”.[2] The holiday commemorated “the resurrection of one of their (Babylonians) gods that they called ‘Tammuz’, who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess (Ishtar/Semiramis) and the sun-god (Baal/Nimrod)”.[3] The ancient Babylonians traditionally celebrated this holiday by using items that are associated with Easter today, such as eggs and rabbits.[4] You can read more about the apparent origins of some other Easter customs at the following links:
- http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html.
- http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html
Note: Though I link to these websites it does not mean I fully endorse every single thing written on these websites. I post these links here in case they have educational value to you, but it’s up to you to decide whether to believe what is written in these articles and in these websites.
Easter apparently became “Christianized” as the Gospel spread throughout Europe.[5] Although Easter possesses some lingering connections to the past (eggs, rabbits, etc), it is a holiday that I feel is mainly known today for its religious connotation, which again is a commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Some would disagree with me and say there is too much emphasis on commercialization, the Easter bunny, and Easter eggs. I totally see where these people come from and agree that these items should be deemphasized or even eliminated from Easter.
To be fair, not everyone believes that Easter’s roots are pagan. Anthony McRoy argues that Easter’s origins can be traced back to Christian Passover celebrations back in the second century AD.
- The one issue I’d have with McRoy’s explanation is that he does not account for why painting eggs, egg hunts, and rabbits are associated with the modern day Easter.
The Future:
Daniel 7:25 tells us that Antichrist will alter how people will live their lives:
- Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Thus, it should not be a surprise that the forces of evil are planning to reorient the calendar so that there are three major annual celebrations when Antichrist fuses the world’s major religions together to create the one world, New Age Religion (Mystery Babylon the Great of Revelation 17). One of these three major holidays will be Easter (which will join Wesak and the Festival of Goodwill).
- According to Benjamin Creme’s website, Easter of the future will commemorate “resurrection out of matter into Spirit, which makes one a liberated Master” in the New Age Religion.[6]
- According to New Age author Alice Bailey (through an Ascended Master named Djwhal Khul), people will recognize (Satan’s) Spiritual Hierarchy and hear about how they are loved on this day.[7]
Before I close I want to make it clear that I am not saying that people should not celebrate Easter. People should celebrate Easter if they mainly focus on celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I just wanted to give some perspective on Easter and to warn people that Easter one day is not going to be the holiday that is today.
References
[1] What Are the Origins of Easter? http://www.gotquestions.org/easter-origins.html 29 Mar. 2010. Last Accessed 29 Mar. 2010.
[2] Meyer, David. The Pagan Origin of Easter. 29 Dec. 2008. Last Accessed 21. Jun. 2009. http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
[3]Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Is the Modern Celebration of Easter Pagan?”. 6 Jun. 2007. Last Accessed 29 Mar. 2010. http://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq104.html
[6] “FAQ Initiation”. 15 Oct. 2005. Last Accessed 21. Jun. 2009. http://www.share-international.org/archives/AgelessWisdom/faq_initiation.htm.
[7] Bailey, Alice. The Externalization of the Hierarchy. New York: Lucis Trust Publishing Co. 1957. Pg 421
Capital Controls? A Nasty Surprise in the Job’s Bill
I was planning to write about the state of America’s youth next, but plans changed last night when read about a nasty surprise that was embedded within the $18 billion so-called “Jobs Bill” that was made into law a couple of weeks ago in the U.S.
The Jobs Bill was sold to the public as a bill that would stimulate jobs in the U.S. I didn’t pay much attention to the job bill because anytime lawmakers promise that they are going to create X number of jobs I just assume these jobs are going to be associated with some wasteful government spending. After reading a piece posted on Zero Hedge (via Panama Investor Blog), I wish that all there is to complain about is wasteful government spending.
Embedded within the legislation (H.R. 2847) contains new rules that govern how foreign banks can operate in the U.S. and new rules that could potentially destroy the privacy of some wealthy Americans. Here are a few of the eye-opening new rules associated with the so-called “Jobs Bill”:
These new rules are unlikely going to affect most Americans directly because most Americans are not wealthy and do not have an overseas account with a foreign bank. However, the fact that these new rules are going to be implemented is highly symbolic about the direction the country is heading.
These regulations are a form of capital controls. Capital controls are rules designed to restrict the movement of capital (money) from entering or leaving a country. The use of capital controls has historically been frowned upon by the U.S. as a tactic lower-rate economies use.
This revelation about what is in the Job Bill is a big deal because it means that the U.S. is now willing to implement capital controls. More stringent capital controls enacted by the U.S. government in the future could effectively “trap” Americans within the U.S. because they could be unable to take their money with them overseas. Therefore, the use of capital controls can be used by the U.S. government (or any other government that wishes to enact stringent capital controls) to restrict the movement of people entering or leaving the country.
As the economic and financial situation in the U.S. deteriorates in the next few years you should see more open attempts by the U.S. government to implement more stringent capital controls. Why would the U.S. government seek to implement more stringent capital controls? Here are a few reasons that I’ve thought of on top of my head.
There are already rumblings that there are people behind the scenes pushing for the U.S. government to enact laws that will force Americans to invest in U.S. government debt in their retirement accounts.
After reading all of this I hope you have some understanding about why I felt this news was important to write about. I recommend you take a look at Zero Hedge’s write up on this as well. They go into more detail about other things embedded in the so-called “Jobs Bill”.
The Jobs Bill was sold to the public as a bill that would stimulate jobs in the U.S. I didn’t pay much attention to the job bill because anytime lawmakers promise that they are going to create X number of jobs I just assume these jobs are going to be associated with some wasteful government spending. After reading a piece posted on Zero Hedge (via Panama Investor Blog), I wish that all there is to complain about is wasteful government spending.
Embedded within the legislation (H.R. 2847) contains new rules that govern how foreign banks can operate in the U.S. and new rules that could potentially destroy the privacy of some wealthy Americans. Here are a few of the eye-opening new rules associated with the so-called “Jobs Bill”:
- The new law requires foreign banks to have 30% of the total money they want to withdraw from their U.S. operations withheld (which means that money must stay in the U.S. for a long period of time). (Sec. 1471)
- The law requires foreign banks to send the U.S. government all the information they have about U.S. clients that have overseas accounts, including who they are, where they live, how much money they have in their accounts, etc. This effectively makes possessing an overseas account undesirable for Americans unless they don’t mind losing a lot of their privacy. (Sec. 1471)
- The new law gives the U.S. government the ability to shutdown overseas accounts belonging to U.S. citizens when a foreign bank refuses to share their U.S. client information with the U.S. government (Sec. 1471). This could take place involving foreign banks headquartered in countries that forbid them to share this type of information with another government.
- This new law represents a step by the U.S. government to tighten the noose on Americans who are trying to take steps to protect themselves in case they have to leave the country. By making it uncomfortable for Americans to own foreign accounts the U.S. government has effectively taken away one way Americans could prepare to leave the country in case of emergency.
- This new law either illustrates how lawmakers can hide insidious rules in legislation or illustrates how lawmakers have no idea what’s in a piece of legislation before they vote on it.
- This new law is a small step towards the U.S. government deciding what Americans can and cannot do with their money.
This revelation about what is in the Job Bill is a big deal because it means that the U.S. is now willing to implement capital controls. More stringent capital controls enacted by the U.S. government in the future could effectively “trap” Americans within the U.S. because they could be unable to take their money with them overseas. Therefore, the use of capital controls can be used by the U.S. government (or any other government that wishes to enact stringent capital controls) to restrict the movement of people entering or leaving the country.
As the economic and financial situation in the U.S. deteriorates in the next few years you should see more open attempts by the U.S. government to implement more stringent capital controls. Why would the U.S. government seek to implement more stringent capital controls? Here are a few reasons that I’ve thought of on top of my head.
- To prevent foreigners from rapidly removing their money out of the U.S. This slows down the decline in U.S. asset prices and a run on the U.S. dollar.
- To prevent wealthy Americans from leaving the country with their fortunes.
- To encourage or force Americans to “invest” their money in U.S. government debt at a time when foreigners are reluctant about adding to their U.S. government debt positions and as U.S. government needs to raise money to finance its deficits.
After reading all of this I hope you have some understanding about why I felt this news was important to write about. I recommend you take a look at Zero Hedge’s write up on this as well. They go into more detail about other things embedded in the so-called “Jobs Bill”.
A Preview of Topics to Come
Here is a small list of items that I’m thinking about writing about in the coming days (not necessarily listed in chronological order):
Depending on how events play out in the coming days I may write more topics than this or write about other topics in these topics’ place. Some of you have suggested to me other topics. I have not ignored your suggestions at all. I need to do some more research before I can write about them.
I've added a Translate button to the blog in case English is not your first language. The translate button can translate my blog into dozens of different languages. I do not know how effective the translator will be, but it's better to have one than to not have one.
- The State of American Youth
- Easter
- Wednesday vs Friday Crucifixion Date Debate
- The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (from a different perspective)
Depending on how events play out in the coming days I may write more topics than this or write about other topics in these topics’ place. Some of you have suggested to me other topics. I have not ignored your suggestions at all. I need to do some more research before I can write about them.
I've added a Translate button to the blog in case English is not your first language. The translate button can translate my blog into dozens of different languages. I do not know how effective the translator will be, but it's better to have one than to not have one.
Early Signs of Trouble in the U.S. Bond Market
This past week the U.S. Treasury needed to borrow $118 billion to finance the monster deficits that the U.S. Government is racking up in the short-term. Financial market experts were watching this financing closely to see how investors would react to the passage of the healthcare reform legislation and to the U.S. Government’s recent spending binge. The U.S. Treasury tried to raise funds three separate times offering different types of bonds to investors yielding interest rates they hoped would entice investors.
The U.S. Treasury’s plans went awry because “bond vigilantes” (unhappy bond investors) were unwilling to accept the interest rates the U.S. Treasury initially tried to offer them. Bond vigilantes wanted much higher interest rates to compensate for the increased inflation and currency risk that came after the passage of the costly health care reform legislation. As a result, interest rates for U.S. Government bonds rose significantly this week. For instance, the 10 Year Treasury bond rose from 3.69% at the start of the week to as high as 3.90% on Thursday before falling to 3.85% on Friday.
I doubt this week’s borrowing fiasco will just be a one-time event. The U.S. Treasury is likely going to need to continue raising $100 billion plus each week for the foreseeable future as the U.S. Government continues to engage in reckless deficit spending. In addition, there are indications that China, the U.S.’s biggest creditor, is losing its appetite for U.S. Government debt. The past couple of months China has been a net seller of U.S. Government debt. The growing supply of U.S. Government debt in the marketplace along with the weakening demand for U.S. Government debt is a recipe for higher interest rates in the long-term.
Rising interest rates are toxic for the U.S. economy and the financial system. Mortgages rates typically follow the movement of the 10 Year Treasury bond rate. The higher the interest rate bond investors demand for 10 Year Treasury bonds the higher mortgage rates typically will be. The last thing the weak U.S. housing market needs is higher mortgage rates because that curtails demand by making it more expensive for people to borrow money and by making it more costly for those who have adjustable rate mortgages to keep their property. In addition, higher interest rates make it more expensive for businesses to borrow, which leads to less economic activity.
Many people do not realize that they can lose money by investing in bonds. The value of a bond is primarily tied to five factors:
- Principal: The principal is the amount of money the bond investor initially invests. The principal is returned to the investor when the time of the bond is up. For a 10 Year Treasury bond, the investor receives the principal back at the end of the 10th Year. The principal (or face value) of a 10 Year U.S. Treasury bond is $1000.
- Interest Rate (Coupon) Payment: While the bond investor waits to receive the return of their principal they are compensated for waiting. The size of the interest rate payment depends on the interest rate at the time they purchased the bond (and the number of times that interest rate is compounded in a year).
- Number of Payments. Some types of U.S. Government debt pays the investor only once a year while other types pay the investor twice a year. The 10 Year Treasury bond pays two interest rate payments each year (thus the interest rate is compounded semi-annually).
- Maturity: This is the life of the bond. Obviously, the life of a 10 Year Treasury bond is 10 years. This means that there will be 20 interest rate payments during the life of the bond.
- Current Interest Rate: This is the interest rate that bond investors can currently get in the marketplace. Interest rates change so it is unlikely that interest rates will remain at the same levels that the bond investor got when they initially purchased the bond. This is the only factor that changes after a bond investor buys a bond, so it’s the most important factor affecting the value of a bond after the bond investor buys it.
As an example to illustrate how you can lose money investing in bonds, let’s use what happened with the 10 Year Treasury bond this week. Let’s say you bought the bond when it was yielding 3.69% on Monday. At that time the bond was worth $1000 in the marketplace because interest rates had not changed yet.
Now let’s say you wanted to sell that bond on Thursday after the U.S. Treasury had difficulty raising money. There is no way you are going to get back the $1000 you originally invested in the bond when you sell it because your bond is only paying 3.69% interest. An investor is going to shun your offer because they can invest that same $1000 to buy a bond that is paying them 3.90% interest. The only way you will be able to entice the investor to buy your bond is to lower your offer so that they are compensated for getting back a lower interest rate.
After using an online bond value calculator you find that the value of your bond in the marketplace fell to roughly $983 on Thursday. This means that you must sell your bond for only $983 to make a buyer indifferent between buying your bond and a bond yielding 3.90%. Congratulations! You just lost $17 on your $1000 “safe” investment in three days because interest rates on a 10 Year Treasury bond rose from 3.69% to 3.90%.
Keep an eye on the financial markets and the economy as you monitor what’s going on in the Mideast, in the political arena, and in the spiritual battlefield that is Earth. There are serious economic and financial repercussions coming from all the reckless spending governments worldwide have engaged over the past several years. The bond market is going to be a market to watch very closely because bond vigilantes may eventually take matters into their own hands and punish governments worldwide for all the debts they piled up. If/when that happens there is going to be a lot more economic and financial pain.
For more about the pain higher interest rates can cause, including the dangers of rapidly rising interest rates, see Chapter 11 of my book Prophecy Proof Insights of the Next World War.
Looking For Some Feedback
I am curious to know what you would like to read about in the future. For instance, do you want to read about finance, economics, politics, Obama, Bible prophecy, New Age related material, Maitreya, the future, all of the above, or something else? Your feedback would help me to know what to write about in the future. You can leave your feedback in the comments section. Thank you.
New Update on Maitreya’s TV Tour: Creme Live Interview Notes 3/26/10
Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...
Benjamin Creme, the official spokesmen of Maitreya (the leader of a group of beings called the “Ascended Masters”-the “spiritual wickedness in high places” mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 6:12) just completed a live in-studio interview with a French radio station. I was monitoring the interview as it was going on so I got the rare opportunity to see Creme giving the interview on the radio station’s live web camera.
The interview was already underway when I accessed the radio station’s live stream. However, it doesn’t seem like I missed much because Creme was giving an overview of who Maitreya was and was giving an overview of the Star Sign.
Creme spoke about Maitreya’s television appearances in America. Creme said that Maitreya is appearing as an ordinary man and claimed that people are responding to his ideas. Creme added that Maitreya has now given 8 interviews on American television so far. For those are trying to track down the identity of the man that Maitreya is posing as, Creme’s new information means that Maitreya has appeared on American television twice more between February 18 and March 26.
Creme proclaimed that the world is ready to see Maitreya like never before. Creme credited the ongoing financial and economic collapse for making the world ready for Maitreya. Creme even claimed that the Ascended Masters believe that America would never be ready to hear and accept Maitreya’s ideas like it is now without experiencing an economic and financial collapse.
Creme proclaimed that what we’ve seen so far in the financial and economic collapse is only the beginning. He said that we are approaching the end of an age and readying to start a new age. Creme mentioned that things will be changing dramatically going forward. However, Creme denied that Maitreya wants revolution (which I feel is a complete lie because worldwide revolution would work to the advantage of the coming man who will be Antichrist)
The radio host asked Creme if Maitreya had a message for the radio program. After being asked the question, Creme had a moment of silence before saying that Maitreya did not have anything specific to say, but wanted him (Creme) to “Tell them to take heart…All is going in the best possible good… all is going perfectly according to the plan”.
The interview was an hour long. At this moment, Creme has another interview scheduled for April 13.
The Big Headline of the Day
Updated: Excellent article overview of the situation provided at Stratfor: Link and a video analysis of the situation at this Link.
The big news of the day is that a South Korean naval vessel with 104 sailors was sunk by a North Korean torpedo attack. At this moment, 50 sailors have been rescued while the South Korean Navy scrambles to rescue more sailors. South Korea fired back at the attacking North Korea vessel that sunk the South Korean vessel, but there’s no word whether they actually struck the North Koreans. Also at this moment the President of South Korea is having an emergency cabinet meeting to weigh South Korea’s various options to respond to this apparently unprovoked and hostile attack by the North Koreans.
This event represents a major escalation in tensions between the North Korea and South Korea. Technically, the Korean War isn’t over yet because what the parties involved signed in 1953 only amounted to a ceasefire (North Korea recently said they are no longer bounded by the ceasefire agreement). North Korea and South Korea have had deadly clashes since 1953, but this newest one may be the most serious one. It is believed that North Korea crossed into South Korean territory during this attack.
What’s pathetic is that the American television news channels are not reporting on this news headline. I have a channel where I can see 8 different American news channels simultaneously and not a single one is reporting about the sinking of the South Korean ship. Instead, I see breaking news about a few deaths in Kentucky and gossip about some celebrities.
It’s disturbing to see how so many news channels are ignoring a very important news headlines. American news channels’ failure to report this news is a clear demonstration that a person should not rely solely on them for their news. American news channels should be considered mainly entertainment channels that report some useful news information occasionally (depending on what channel it is).
This event merits close monitoring because there is potential for things to escalate further.
My Views on Nostradamus
Before I begin the main topic of this post, Benjamin Creme has an interview scheduled on Friday March 26 at 5PM GMT on a French Radio station. If I got my math right, that's 1PM EST. I think I've located the live stream that the interview will play on: Link
If the interview isn't cancelled and if nothing goes wrong I could post live interview notes later in the day. Now on to the main topic of the blog...
Michel de Nostredame (Nostradamus) is perhaps the most famous non-biblical prognosticator of the future in history. Books and television documentaries portray Nostradamus as this great seer of the future on par or superior to the prophets of the Bible. Nostradamus is so well-known that so-called “prophecy experts” seek to make a living off of the predictions that Nostradamus made over 400 hundred years ago.
I’m sure virtually everyone who is reading this blog post is familiar with Nostradamus and his place in history. I’m also certain that virtually everyone has an opinion about Nostradamus and the validity of his predictions. I want to give my views on Nostradamus in case there is someone who has not yet formed an opinion on Nostradamus and/or his predictions.
- Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
- Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
- Deu 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
In addition, Peter Lemesurier (author of The Encyclopedia of Nostradamus) indicated that Nostradamus believed his predictions came from divine revelation.
“His revelations, he constantly claimed, were of Divine, not human, origin let alone the product of mere magic. Indeed, only such Divine revelations, he repeatedly pointed out in his dedicatory letters ... could possibly hope to foretell the future”.[2]
The Bible says that a true prophet of God is a person who gets all predictions correct.
- Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Nostradamus has made failed predictions. The following is Nostradamus’s most infamous failed prediction:
The year 1999, seventh month,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror.
To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.
In this failed prediction Nostradamus predicted the appearance of an Antichrist-type figure in July 1999, who would go on to restore the life of Genghis Khan. I don’t know about you, but I did not hear about the appearance of a great king of terror in July 1999 or the return of Genghis Khan from the dead. I do not see any way that Genghis Khan returns to life (unless it’s a counterfeit one where a fallen angel poses as Genghis Khan to make it seem Nostradamus’s prediction come true).
Another major issue with Nostradamus’s predictions is that they are written in extremely abstract language. The abstractness of Nostradamus’s language enables people to make what they want out of what Nostradamus writes. For instance, some people claim that Nostradamus predicted President Kennedy’s assassination when he wrote:
The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt.
An evil deed, foretold by the bearer of a petition.
According to the prediction another falls at night time.
Conflict at Reims, London, and pestilence in Tuscany.
The prediction is clearly about a man being assassinated. However, to say that this refers to President Kennedy’s assassination is a complete stretch and a case of someone seeing what they want to see from an abstract prediction.
What is unfortunate is that there are many people who are pushing Nostradamus as a great prophet to the unsuspecting public. Many of these people push this non-sense because they are trying to make money off of people. The History Channel in America airs several Nostradamus-related shows where they present Nostradamus as a man who could see the future in an attempt to get big ratings from people who are curious about what the future may hold.
I would not doubt that Nostradamus may have had some help from the forces of evil when crafting his predictions. Erika Chattam claimed that Nostradamus was demon-possessed. Whether or not Nostradamus received some help from the forces of evil to craft his predictions, his predictions do serve as a useful tool for them. Nostradamus’s predictions help convince some people to think that non-biblical sources can be as reliable as or even more reliable than Bible prophecy.
For a lot more about Nostradamus you can go to the following website.
References
Update on the Crisis in U.S.-Israeli Relations
In addition to what I posted a couple of hours ago, I want to give a quick update to what I wrote yesterday regarding the current state of U.S.-Israeli relations. I wrote that we’d know in a matter of days whether a Tuesday night meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama would help cool down tensions between Israel and the U.S.
It did not take long for us to learn from the media that the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama was a complete disaster and made tensions worse.
- Obama and Netanyahu could not agree on anything important despite there being several meetings between Netanyahu, Obama, and other U.S. officials during Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S.
- Israeli media claims that Netanyahu was humiliated and treated like he was “the president of “Equatorial Guinea” while visiting the White House. One Washington Post writer compared Netanyahu’s treatment as being akin to what a “Third World Dictator” would see. Obama actually ditched Netanyahu and his aides to have his own private dinner. This is completely unheard of until now.
- A high-ranking U.S. diplomat now says that U.S.-Israeli relations haven’t been this bad in 54 years (two weeks ago the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. said that relations haven’t been this bad in 35 years).
- A Debkafile report claims that Obama wants ousts Benjamin Netanyahu and push Israel back to its 1967 borders.
This situation has the potential to escalate further so it's well-worth watching.
The End Times Fusion of the World’s Religions
Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...
In the past couple of weeks I’ve focused on Satan’s intentions to fool people during the end times with major deceptions. While it is vital that we understand that Satan is going to use all sorts of lying signs and wonders to deceive people, we should not neglect other elements of Satan’s end time strategy. Satan is incredibly crafty and is definitely not a one-trick pony.
I want to go over another key element of Satan’s end time strategy. In today’s blog post I will give you an overview of how Satan is going to treat the world’s major religions during the end times.
A major misnomer today is that Antichrist is going to put one of today’s major world religions above the others. For instance, some Christians believe that an Islamic Antichrist is going to impose Islam upon the world and kill anyone who doesn’t submit to Islam.
There are important reasons why a strategy that completely disregards every major religion except for one major world religion that the Antichrist chooses would not be very effective.
- There will not be enough time to get everyone to unlearn what they previously believed and to accept and learn a completely new religious system. Revelation 13:5 indicates that Antichrist is only going to have control of the world for only 42 prophetic months. Thus, Antichrist will only have a few years (at the most) to get everyone who wasn’t originally a follower of his religion of choice to unlearn everything they knew and learn everything anew.
- There would be a lot of resistance to the religion chosen to dominate the world above the others as people like to cling to tradition because it is all they know.
- It’d be obvious to people that they’re dealing with an Antichrist-type figure because the common perception among people is that Antichrist will impose his religion at the complete detriment of others.
Instead, the forces of evil intend to fuse all the religions together so that elements from every major religion are incorporated into a one world (New Age) religion.
- You can see evidence of the forces of evil’s intention to fuse all the world’s religions together by how Maitreya is presented. Maitreya is presented by believers as the messianic figure prophesized by every major world religion.
- The plan for the New Age Religion calls for people to celebrate holidays that people of different religions practice today like Easter and Wesak (Buddhist). However, the meanings of these holidays will change. This is unsurprising since the Bible tells us that Antichrist plans to “change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25)
The advantages of fusing all the world’s religions together are the following:
- Fusing the world’s religions together reduces the likelihood that people will suspect that they are dealing with an Antichrist-type figure. People may not be as suspicious about Antichrist because some aspects of the one-world religion will resemble their religion before the rise of Antichrist.
- Fusing the world’s religions together enables those who implement the one-world religion to accuse those who resist the religion as being people who are seeking to create disunity. The Ascended Master that advises Benjamin Creme proclaimed that there would be a “sword of the cleavage” where those who are opposed to Maitreya would expose themselves.[1]
- Fusing the world’s religions together will enable people to learn about the one-world religion faster than if they have to learn a completely new religion. It will take less time for people to become familiar with the one-world religion because people will have fewer things to learn about. People learning about the one-world religion are likely going to recognize customs and terminology that originated from the original religion they followed. For example, Easter will still be celebrated in the one-world religion (except that it will have a different meaning). The familiarity simply accelerates the learning process.
The main disadvantage of trying to fuse all the world’s religions together for the forces of evil is that a lot of preparatory work needs to be done before the start of the end times. The preparatory work that needs to be done to make the fusion go smoother is to break down the barriers between religions. The fewer barriers there are between religions the fewer obstacles there are to impede people from sharing common beliefs.
- New Age author Alice Bailey (while under the direction of an Ascended Master named Djwhal Khul) indicated that these preparations were planned. For instance, Bailey wrote that an Ascended Master named Jesus Sananda Immanuel would work to break the barriers down between the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, and the Orthodox Church starting in 1980.[2]
You can read about the specifics of the upcoming one-world religion at the following link:
References
[1] The Master (Through Benjamin Creme). “The Reception of Maitreya”. `15 Oct. 2005. Last Accessed 23 Mar. 2010. http://www.share-international.org/ARCHIVES/M_emergence/mem_mas-reception.htm
[2] Bailey, Alice A. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. New York: Lucis Trust. 1930. p.749.
The Last Word on Health Care Reform
Susan of Everyday People has really nailed it this time. I can't add a thing. Go read what she has to say now that the bill has finally passed. Hint: I borrowed this wonderful graphic from her post.
Here's the link.
Go on, now. You won't be sorry. I promise.
A Major Crisis in U.S.-Israeli Relations is Brewing
I originally planned to post an article about how the world’s major religions would be treated in the end times today, but recent developments involving the U.S. and Israel have become so pressing that I’ve decided to postpone the publishing of that article until Thursday. In its place is an article about recent developments between the U.S. and Israel.
If you’re following the news you’ve probably heard that the U.S. and Israel are at odds about Israel’s plan to build over a 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem. The U.S. accuses Israel of undermining prospects for Mideast peace with its actions while Israel believes it has the right to build these homes. Israel announced Tuesday that they will go ahead and build these homes despite the wishes of the U.S.
What you may be unaware is that U.S.-Israeli relations are at crisis levels. The probable reason why many people have not heard that there is a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations is that Barack Obama claimed last week that there was no crisis (for those outside the U.S., most of the American media reports what Obama says like it’s the gospel). However, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. told the press recently that U.S.-Israeli relations are at a 35 year low.
What’s especially disturbing is that the U.S. has been treating Israel more like it is an adversary instead of a friend recently. For instance, the U.S. has committed the following not-so friendly actions in the past few weeks:
- Vice President Joe Biden deliberately showed up 90 minutes late to a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest of Israel’s plans to build homes and went on to denounce Israel’s actions.
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Israel of undermining U.S. credibility in the Mideast.
- U.S. is threatening to withhold weaponry that Israel needs for a conflict with Iran.
In addition, AFP reports that Barack Obama may be determined to oust Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem-based Debkafile reports that the U.S. is considering putting up something that amounts to a protective military shield for the Palestinians.
If U.S.-Israeli relations continue to deteriorate there could be increased danger for not only Israel, but also for the U.S. An increasingly hostile U.S. towards Israel would endanger Israel more because Israel’s enemies would be emboldened by the U.S.’s decreasing willingness to cooperate and support Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. would be in greater danger because countries that mistreat Israel risk getting divine punishment.
The Lord told the prophet Jeremiah that He has the power punish nations (people groups) and countries that do evil in His eyes.
- Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
- Jer 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
- Jer 18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
- Jer 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
How would the mistreatment of Israel be considered grounds for divine punishment? Genesis 12:2-3 indicates that those who bless Abraham’s descendants would be blessed and those who curse Abraham’s descendants.
- Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
- Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
- Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
There is some debate on whether Genesis 12:3 refers to Israel or not. I tend to side with those who argue that Genesis 12:3 refers to Israel.
If you disagree with my interpretation on Genesis 12:3, I’d still argue that the U.S. would be in greater danger by becoming increasingly hostile towards Israel. The U.S. would risk losing much of its influence on how Israel deals with its neighbors (why should Israel listen to the U.S. if the U.S. becomes too hard to please?). This could lead to greater Middle East conflict if Israel pursues aggressive policies (like invading Lebanon again) since Israel would no longer have to worry much about appeasing the U.S.’s calls for restraint. Greater Middles East conflict puts the U.S. at greater danger due to its dependence on Middle Eastern oil and due to the close proximity of its troops to the region.
Netanyahu met with Obama privately on Tuesday night. We’ll see if the downward spiral in U.S.-Israeli relations continues in the coming days.
Are the Forces of Evil Targeting Catholics Specifically?
Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...
At the end of my third post about Fatima I posed the question: “Are the Ascended Masters targeting mainly Catholics or are they equal opportunists in (targeting) other faiths?” In this blog post I will attempt to answer this important question.
One way we can tell whether the forces of evil are picking on Christians is to look at what kinds of people Maitreya is appearing in front of because he has to pick and choose where he goes as he does not have an infinite amount of time to appear to everyone in the world.
- Another way to think about this is to think of a CEO of a major multinational corporation. A CEO’s time is limited and very important so he or she should only go to places where it best serves the long-term prospects of his/her company. Maitreya is effectively the CEO of Satan’s spiritual hierarchy so by looking at what kinds of people he's appeared to you will see what kinds of people the forces of evil feel warrant the most attention.
Benjamin Creme’s website has a list of religious gatherings that Maitreya made an appearance at from 1988 to 2002.[1] I utilized this information to create a couple of graphics that I think you’ll find insightful about Maitreya’s activities. Unfortunately, the data from 1988 to 1997 is incomplete so I could not use listings from those years. However, there are enough listings from 1998 to 2002 (84) to make a fairly accurate assessment about what Maitreya is doing behind the scenes with regards to targeting specific religious groups.
The following pie chart breaks down the appearances Maitreya made by religion (Creme’s website distinguishes between Orthodox Christianity and Christianity).
The finding that jumps out the most is that Maitreya allegedly appeared to Christians and Orthodox Christians services 82% of the time. This is a very strong indication that Maitreya is targeting Christians.
I also have data on the number of people Maitreya appeared in front of between 1998 and 2002 and religious category of these people. The data is listed in the following table:
| # of Believers Maitreya Appeared at Between 1998-2002 | ||
| Religion | Total | Percentages |
| Christians | 10685 | 71.54% |
| Muslims | 2500 | 16.74% |
| Orthodox Christians | 1230 | 8.24% |
| Buddhists | 520 | 3.48% |
| 14935 | 100% | |
The results in the table are very similar to the pie chart above. Maitreya allegedly appeared to primarily a Christian audience from 1998 and 2002, so we have confirmation that the forces of evil are targeting primarily Christians. You will notice from both figures that Maitreya did not appear to Jews or Hindus between 1998 and 2002.
A couple of key questions arise from this data:
- Why is Maitreya targeting Christians more so than any other religion?
- Why did Maitreya not visit Jews or Hindu religious gatherings?
I am unable to prove why Maitreya allegedly appeared in front of Christians the vast majority of time yet. However, my suspicion is that Christians are getting special attention because the forces of evil feel that Christians pose the biggest problem for them by far, particularly the fundamentalist Christians. Here are a couple of reasons why I suspect that Christians pose the biggest problem for the forces of evil.
- Christian teachings vastly differ from New Age teachings to the point where it is difficult to reconcile between the two.
- The Bible alerts Christians to lookout for false teachers and imposters.
As a result, the forces of evil have to work extra-hard to prepare many Christians to succumb to them.
There are probably a couple of reasons why Maitreya did not visit any Jewish worshippers between 1998 and 2002.
- Maitreya would have difficulty persuading Jewish worshipers that he is the Messiah because Jews historically have been critical of those who claim to be the Messiah (like Jesus Christ)
- Maitreya and Satan hate Jews more than any other group of people, including Christians.
I’m not sure why Maitreya did not appear in front of Hindu worshippers between 1998 and 2002. Perhaps Hindus have an expectation about what the Kalki Avatar (the messianic figure that Hindus await) will look like that Maitreya cannot mimic in a small setting. I am not completely sure so I’ll leave this finding open to speculation...
We know from the data above that the forces of evil are targeting Christians. However, it is practically impossible to come up with a direct way to demonstrate that the forces of evil are targeting Catholics specifically using the data above because the data above does not break the Christianity category into different branches beyond Orthodox Christianity. Nevertheless, I think I have something that gives us an indication of whether the forces of evil are targeting Catholics.
Benjamin Creme states that there are 14 Ascended Maters in the world at the moment. I feel the locations of these Ascended Masters are important because there aren’t many of them if we are to believe Creme (which is something you should definitely not do all the time). I suspect the Ascended Masters that are in the world have been assigned to locations where they are needed the most. Thus, if there is a disproportionately large number of Ascended Masters assigned to primarily Catholic locations we can conclude that the forces of evil are targeting Catholic locations and most likely Catholics.
Unfortunately, I only know the location of 12 of these 14 Ascended Masters. The locations are listed in the following table.
| Location | Predominant Religion | Source |
| Geneva, Switzerland | Christianity (Catholic) | |
| Tokyo, Japan | Buddhist | |
| Darjeeling, Nepal | Hinduism | |
| New York, United States | Christianity (Protestant) | |
| London, England (Unnamed One) | Christianity (Anglicanism) | |
| London, England (Maitreya) | Christianity (Anglicanism) | Creme’s teaching |
| Rome, Italy | Christianity (Catholic) | |
| Moscow, Russia | Christianity (Orthodox) | |
| Central America | Christianity (Catholic) | |
| Northern South America | Christianity (Catholic) | |
| Southern South America | Christianity (Catholic) | |
| Africa | Islam |
The table above reconfirms that the finding that the Ascended Masters are targeting Christians as at least 9 of the Ascended Masters on Earth are assigned to predominantly Christian locations. At least 5 of the Ascended Masters currently on Earth are assigned to predominantly Catholic areas, including at the de facto headquarters of the Catholic Church in Rome. In addition, at least 3 Ascended Masters are assigned in heavily Catholic areas of Central and South America.
- The positioning of the 3 Ascended Masters in Central and South America is particularly important. According to the Ascended Master that advises Benjamin Creme, these Ascended Masters are working with people within the Catholic Church in that region to help transform it.[2]
I think this is enough to say that the forces of evil are targeting Catholics specifically as part of their overall plan to target Christians. Now the important question that needs to be answered is “why are Catholics being specifically targeted by the forces of evil?”
I think the main reason the forces of evil are targeting Catholics specifically is that the Catholic Church is the largest religious body in the world with over a billion people. Unlike other religious bodies, the Catholic Church is very organized with the Pope at its head. The forces of evil are likely banking on the idea that they could get the loyalty of many people by using a counterfeit Virgin Mary to give Catholics misleading statements about how all the world’s religions are the same, lying signs and wonders, etc and by one day using a counterfeit Jesus to take over the position of the Papacy.
References
[1] “Maitreya’s World Wide Appearances”. 13. Nov 2009. Last Accessed 21 Mar. 2010. http://www.share-international.org/maitreya/Ma_wwa.htm
[2] Pitchon, Patrica. “The Third World and Latin America: Interview with the Master –through Benjamin Creme”. 15 Oct. 2005. Last Accessed 21 Mar. 2010. http://www.share-international.org/archives/Master_--/iv_Third-World.htm
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