One Self-Proclaimed Mary “Visionary” Debunked

Next Tuesday a self-proclaimed “visionary” named Joe Coleman is supposedly going to be given information concerning the end times from a being he and others claim is the Virgin Mary. I wrote about Joe Coleman a couple of months ago, but not everyone agrees with my assessment of Joe Coleman and the source of the apparitions. In response, I offer a warning about listening to people who claim to be to speak for the Virgin Mary by highlighting a recently-debunked “visionary” and self-proclaimed spokesman for the Virgin Mary.

A person who calls themselves “Duke Puntalangit” made headlines on the Internet in February for proclaiming that the Virgin Mary told him that we would see all sorts of apocalyptic-like events in Spring 2010. Puntalangit even created a blog where he displayed his predictions and warnings that he claimed came directly from the Virgin Mary. Here are two of Puntalangit’s most bold predictions:

• A major Mideast War would begin before the start of May.
• The United States would get nuked 13 days before the start of the Mideast War

Last I checked, the United States did not get nuked on April 17 nor did a major Mideast War begin in the past week. Therefore, Puntalangit did not get his information from God because he made failed predictions (a true prophet of God is supposed to get 100% of his predictions correct). To Puntalangit’s credit, he acknowledges on his blog that the predictions he made were false and he apologizes to people for his failed predictions.

• However, some of the readers of Puntalangit’s blog still hold Puntalangit in high-regard despite his failed predictions and beg him to make more predictions! Apparently, some people are so gullible that they cannot see a false prophet if it hit them in the face and screamed in their ear “I’m a false prophet”.

Joe Coleman is going to make some proclamations that are surely going to make headlines next week. Unlike Puntalangit, Coleman has some “spiritual help” that’s helping him convince many people that he’s a visionary of the Virgin Mary. I expect Coleman to be debunked when one of the predictions he makes does not come to pass.

• I discovered Coleman is predicting the emergence of Atlantis in 2012. Either Coleman will be debunked by that failed prediction or I’ll be booking a vacation to Atlantis. I doubt I’ll be hanging out at a hotel resort on Atlantis by December 31, 2012.

The lesson from Puntalangit is to not believe everyone who claims to be a visionary for the Virgin Mary. I personally do not believe anyone can be a visionary for the Virgin Mary because there is nothing in the Bible that says the Virgin Mary can go to people and give them predictions.

An Oil Story that’s Far More Important than an Oil Spill

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has attracted more media attention over the past week than any other news event, including the bailout of Greece. While the oil spill is a huge environmental disaster and may expose how inefficient the U.S. government is at handling a disaster, the media should be giving far more attention to a couple of recent studies that warn that there could be a major, global oil shortage within the next five years.

Last month the U.S. Joint Forces Command released a report which analyzed the world's oil supply and demand situation in the coming years. The study concludes the following:

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day," (Pg 31)

The U.S. military is not alone in their pessimistic assessment of the world’s future oil situation. A group of British industries that are heavily-dependent on the availability of oil formed a task force to study the prospects of a coming oil shortage. The task force released their study in February, and this is what they found:

“the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES) finds that oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political and social activity potentially by 2015”.

If these reports’ ominous predictions come true (I believe they will base on my own research) then the world is going to have far bigger problems than what most people realize. A global economic and financial collapse can occur even if there is never an oil shortage because almost every country has an overwhelming debt burden and is managed by leaders who are incompetent at dealing with it. However, when you combine a major global oil shortage with a collapsing global economic and financial system you have the recipe for something far worse than the oil spill the media is so focused on. You have the perfect recipe for the next world war…

Faisal Shahzad, The Bomber Who Bombed

surveillance camera photo from Times Square

Since September 11th, 2001, we've been treated to a series of stumble-bombers of whom Faisel Shahzad is just the latest example.  For all the shock and awe of the World Trade Center take down, the guys who followed seem to have been a pretty lame lot-- laughable if they weren't so stupid and potentially dangerous. 

First we had Richard Reid aka the shoe bomber . (FAIL.) now languishing in an American jail.   Just last year the Nigerian underpants bomber  gave us all a good laugh while bringing new meaning to the old childhood taunt "liar, liar, pants on fire".  And let us not forget Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan , an army psychiatrist, who opened up on soldiers at Ft. Hood and managed to kill 12 before being wounded and captured himself. He had meant to commit "suicide by cop" and collect his 72 virgins in paradise, but oops he ended up in jail facing a court marshal instead.  And now, the latest member of the gang that couldn't shoot straight, is Fiasal Shahzad, the failed Times Square bomber.

Not a suicide bomber this time-- oh no.  This brilliant guy bought an SUV on Craig's llist, stuffed it full of firecrackers and home-made bombs and timers that didn't work, then he set the timers and walked away under the watchful eye of surveillance cameras...ooops and on top of it all, the bombs just smoked but didn't explode, attracting lots of attention from bystanders.    Turns out Faisal was no rocket scientist.  New York's finest and the FBI made short work of him, but still.  What is it with these guys?

The 30 year old Faisal was arrested on his way out of the country. He was dragged off a flight to Dubai at JFK .  Since he is a naturalized American citizen, he will be tried in the good old USA and probably end up spending the rest of his life in a maximum security American prison.  Hope so anyway.  What a jerk. His Times Square terrorist attempt really bombed.

A Detailed Analysis of Ephesians 6:12

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...

Ephesians 6:12 is one of the most interesting verses in the entire New Testament. The verse is about the spiritual enemies Christians face:

• Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I studied Ephesians 6:12 for several years trying to understand what spiritual threats we face in-detail. I was disappointed with many of the explanations of Ephesians 6:12 available on the Internet since many of the explanations did not go into much detail about the spiritual entities Paul listed. They’ll often say “the armies of Satan are at work, etc” without mentioning who makes up this spiritual army and what responsibilities are assigned to certain segments of the army. This blog entry is my attempt (using Ephesians 6:12) to explain who makes up Satan’s spiritual army and what each segment of the army is responsible for.

Satan has a spiritual hierarchy that divides tasks and responsibilities to the members that belong to each level. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 that we face four primary spiritual foes: “principalities”, “powers”,” rulers of the darkness of this world”, and “spiritual wickedness in high places”.

• Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I suspect that Paul listed these entities in the order of ranking in Satan’s hierarchy with principalities at the bottom and spiritual wickedness in high places at the top. Next I will describe the top of the spiritual hierarchy and then work downwards to describe the other levels of the spiritual hierarchy.

Spiritual Wickedness in High Places

The spiritual wickedness in high places is a category that describes the elite beings in Satan’s evil hierarchy. High-ranking fallen angels like Ascended Masters fall into this category. In fact, under the direction of an Ascended Master named Djwhal Khul, New Age author Alice Bailey admitted that the Ascended Masters are the spiritual forces that live in the high places:

“Around Him [Maitreya-the leader of the Ascended Masters] - in that High Place on Earth where He has His abiding place - are gathered today all His great Disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom, and all Those liberated Sons of God Who, down the ages, have passed from darkness to Light, from the unreal to the Real, and from death to Immortality. They stand ready to carry out His bidding and to obey Him, the Master of all the Masters and the Teacher alike of Angels and of men”.[1] [2]

We should consider the Ascended Masters to be Satan’s top lieutenants in charge of implementing his diabolical plan. In fact, one Ascended Master (the Ascended Master that advises Maitreya’s spokesmen Benjamin Creme) proclaimed that the Ascended Masters are the administrators of their god’s (Satan) plan:

“Meanwhile, We, the Teachers, the Elder Brothers of men, act to bridge the gulf between the Kingdoms. Thus can We safely oversee the congruence of men and angels. We are the "go-betweens"; the willing helpers of both men and the Devic [angelic] forces; the ever-present Administrators of God's Plan and Purpose; the alleviators of suffering and the Agents of God's Love”.[3]

Update: I've written a more in-depth analysis of the spiritual wickedness in high places, which can be found at this Link

Rulers of Darkness of this World

The term “rulers of darkness of this world” refers to powerful, evil beings that oversee countries. The angel of Daniel 10:12-21 reported that he was delayed by the ruler of the kingdom of Persia for three weeks. “Prince” in this passage refers to a spiritual being and not a human ruler because humans cannot overpower angels physically like this ruler did.

• Dan 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
• Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

…

• Dan 10:20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
• Dan 10:21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Powers

Powers are the beings that serve as the muscle behind evil. If Satan has a specific order he wants done these beings are responsible for actually performing the tasks necessary to get the order done. Pastor Wayne Barber describes how “powers” fit into the scheme of things:

“The second word he [Paul] uses there is the word "powers." It is in the plural also. The word for powers really is the word which means authorities, exousia and is the word used in Colossians 1:13 when it says we have been delivered out of the exousia, the right and the might of darkness and placed into the kingdom of His dear Son. In other words, in the realm of darkness Satan and his demons have not only the creativeness of propagating evil and originating evil, but they have also the right and the might to carry it out. They work in the realm of darkness”.[4]

Principalities

Principalities are fallen angels that are assigned to territories. In fact, Bailey wrote that there are fallen angels assigned to every place of worship to stimulate the spirituality of the attendants at the place of worship-likely by fueling the occurrence of signs and wonders.

“The activity of the astral plane is being much intensified and the angels of devotion, in whom the aspect of divine love is pre-eminent, work with the astral bodies of all those who are ready to strengthen and redirect their spiritual aspiration and desire. They are the angels who guard the sanctuaries of all the churches, cathedrals, temples and mosques of the world. They are now increasing the momentum of their vibration for the raising of the consciousness of the attendant congregations”.[5]

These fallen angels are exploiting people’s desire see to signs and wonders, which Jesus warned Christians against seeking.

• Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

How to Protect Yourself from the Spiritual Hierarchy

Paul wrote how we can protect ourselves from Satan’s spiritual army in Ephesians 6:13-18.

• Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
• Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
• Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
• Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
• Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
• Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

We can protect ourselves by using the sword of Spirit (the Word of God), by praying, by believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and by maintaining faith no matter what the circumstances are. For instance, you can identify one of Satan’s lying signs and wonders by testing it against what is written in the Bible, the Word of God. By wearing all of God’s armor you will be able to withstand anything Satan throws at you.

References and Notes

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[1] Bailey, Alice. The Externalization of the Hierarchy. New York: Lucis Trust Publishing Co. 1957 593

[2] “Sons of God” is a biblical term for fallen angels

[3] The Master (through Creme, Benjamin). “The Masters Enter Man’s Domain.” 13 Jan 2009. Last Accessed 13 Jan 2009. http://www.mcn.org/1/Miracles/angormast.html

[4] Barber, Wayne. A. “Spiritual Warfare, Part 6 Ephesians 6:12-13” 10 Mar. 2009. Last Accessed 6 Jul. 2009. http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/verse-by-verse/VV0501W1.htm.

[5] Bailey, Alice. The Externalization of the Hierarchy. New York: Lucis Trust Publishing Co. 505-506

My Reaction to the Bailout of Greece

Greece apparently will receive a bailout from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (via U.S. Taxpayers) after an agreement was announced on Sunday. I have a few thoughts that I’d like to share on the matter because it is the biggest news event of the week and I’ve been writing about the situation over the past few months.

The bailout may actually make the situation worse for Greece.

• Some economists argue that the harsh cuts the IMF will force Greece to make will make the severe recession they currently have even worse.

• Social unrest in Greece will increase dramatically in the coming days and weeks as citizens express their displeasure. There was an excellent article by the Times of London yesterday which detailed the growing social unrest in Greece. You have a situation where the young despise the old, the poor hate the wealthy, and a situation where the people despise the government for even considering working with the IMF. I suspect the Greek government is not going to survive the next election since they’ve committed economic betrayal in the eyes of many Greeks.

If the EU/IMF bailout makes the situation worse in Greece there could be even louder calls for Greece to drop the Euro by its citizens and by Greek political parties. I’m still not completely sure whether it is biblically possible for Greece to leave the EU.

The bailout of Greece may cause a lot more headaches for European leaders in the long-term.

• The bailout of Greece is going to put more financial strain on many European countries which cannot afford more financial pressure. Spain, Portugal, and Italy have deficit problems of their own, but they must each come up with billions of Euros to lend out to Greece. What the EU is asking its members to do is like the U.S. government asking cash-strapped General Motors and Chrysler to lend out billions of dollars to bailout AIG in 2008.

• The bailout of Greece may lead to further anti-EU sentiment and political problems for leaders who agreed to the bailout. The bailout of Greece is unpopular in many European countries because taxpayer funds are being used to bailout a country many Europeans feel will waste it. People who opposed the bailout of Greece may now be angered enough to actually punish leaders who supported the bailout at the ballot box or by staging protests.

• The initial amount of money that the EU and the IMF will lend to Greece is unlikely going to be enough. Greece is the EU’s equivalent to the U.S.’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Periodically Freddie and Fannie need injections of taxpayer money to stay afloat because they continually lose money. The initial amount of money that the EU and the IMF is lending is unlikely going to help Greece enough because Greece’s economy is severely inefficient and uncompetitive vis-à-vis other EU countries like Germany. Without the ability to grow its economy, Greece is going to have a very difficult time repaying its loans and staying up with its obligations without more money.

• The bailout of Greece has created a severe moral hazard in Europe. There are several European countries that are in a similar situation as Greece. Leaders in each of these countries probably will look at what the EU and IMF did for Greece and demand a bailout of their own. European leaders and the IMF are going to have major headaches when Spain, a country far more important to the EU than Greece, demands that they get a bailout.

It is important to watch what happens in Europe following the bailout of Greece because it is a preview of things to come for the United States. Like Greece, individual states cannot print money and must deal with deficits by cutting back. Also like in Greece, political leaders in individual states often lack the willpower to make the severe cuts needed to balance their budgets (ex. California). Do not be surprised if a state like California or New York someday announces that they are seeking a federal government bailout. Imagine the uproar and controversy there is going to be when that happens…

On an unrelated note, there is still one day left to vote on whether you believe in man-made global warming and to vote on whether Arial font is easier to read or Verdana font is easier to read. Your feedback in both polls is appreciated. The winner of the Arial vs. Verdana poll is the font that I will use on the blog in the future. You can cast your votes at this Link.

President of the European Central Bank Wants Global Governance

Late Friday night I was amused by a report about how Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) or the European version of Ben Bernanke, proclaimed that global governance was “extremely necessary” to prevent another financial crisis during a speech he gave to the Council of Foreign Relations.

Here is a video report highlighting Trichet’s comments on global governance: Link

I’m not surprised by Trichet’s comments because a person that ascends to that kind of position of power tends to support global integration. However, it’s ridiculous that the head of the ECB talks about how global governance is necessary to prevent another financial crisis when his own institution can barely handle a simple bailout of Greece. The Greek crisis has escalated in recent months partly because European rules forbid Greece to print its own money and European leaders and policymakers have taken forever to decide whether they want to help bailout Greece and how to do so. Therefore, it’s laughable that Trichet believes a global governing body can do a better job of managing the world’s economic and financial system than the current people in charge (although the current people in charge are not exactly helmsmen of genius themselves).

Nevertheless, I believe there will be some form of global governance in the area of economics and finance following the global economic and financial collapse as world leaders at that time will say “We must regulate the world’s economic and financial system in order to avoid another collapse!” It’s going to happen eventually because the Book of Revelation tells us that Antichrist and his minions will regulate the buying and selling of items.

• Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Right now I'm somewhat amused by world leaders who talk about the benefits of global governance since these leaders cannot even handle their own countries and areas of responsibility. However, one day it’s not going to be laughing matter. It will be reality...

On an unrelated note, I have a couple of polls where I am looking for some feedback. I'd appreciate it if you vote if you have not already.

Technorati Tags: finance,economics,Europe,politics,Greece

Looking for Some Feedback

I’m looking for some feedback regarding a couple of things I’ve been wondering about.

First, I am curious about your views on global warming. Some people believe man is responsible for global warming while others do not. I’m curious because I may write more about climate topics in the future and your views will help me figure out whether writing about the climate would be a good idea. Below I have a poll where you can select whether you believe in man-made global warming or not and comments are enabled if you want to expand on your selection.

Do you believe in man-made global warming?

Second, I’m wondering whether I can improve on the readability of this blog if I changed the font. Right now I’m using Arial font, but I know Verdana font is very popular. I’ve created an experimental blog page where I have Verdana font. I would like to know which font is easier for you to read. Here is the link to the experimental blog page (you can vote there too): Link

Which website's text is easier to read?

Both polls close on May 3 at 3PM EST. Thank you for your participation!