Sunday, February 22, 2009

The World Economy

I wrote this article 1 year ago Feb 2008, and warned everyone to get out of the stock markets..... no one listened!! How much have you lost?

He Who Dies With The Most Toys... Loses!

Luke 12:15-21 ..."Be on your guard against covetousness in any shape or form. For a man's real life in no way depends upon the number of his possessions... A rich man's farmland produced heavy crops. So he said to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have no room to store this harvest of mine?' Then he said, 'I know what I'll do. I'll pull down my barns and build bigger ones where I can store all my grain and my goods and I can say to my soul, Soul, you have plenty of good things stored up there for years to come. Relax! Eat, drink, and have a good time!' But God said to him, 'You fool, this very night you will be asked for YOUR SOUL!...' That is what happens to the man who hoards things for himself and is not rich in the eyes of God."

Revelation 6:5-6 "When The Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Ezek 7:19 "They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity."

The bible gives a clear description of the world in the last days, and with the condition the markets are in it certainly sounds as if Christ is returning soon. I don’t believe this is the last big drop but I do think that each one we get through will only make the next one worse. People world wide are panicking with the drop of the stock markets, and the collapsing of the
banks, the bible predicts the collapse of the economy clearly. The market losses since January 1 2008(remember I wrote this in 2008)makes 1929 look miniscule in comparison, and yet through propaganda we are still optimistic. If we are to be optimistic in something it should be in the Lord and His promise to care for us and of His soon return. We should not however be optimistic in the economy or of anything that man values. It’s clear that those who remain will lose everything no matter how much you have in the bank or in the markets it will all be gone, one way or another. In Revelations it talks about the coming of the black horseman food will be so expensive that it will take a days wages to feed a man for a day. With the famine and other catastrophes on the earth inflation will be at an all time high in every area. To put your faith in money as a replacement God is foolish, God can look after you far better than money.

2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Prov 11:4,28 Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death... Whoever trusts in his riches will fall...

Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Proverbs 11:4, 28 talks of how useless money will be, Zephaniah 1:18 is clear that money won’t help us in the end. God can’t be bribed. We have come under the belief that we can have our cake and eat it too, after all this is what every commercial and advertisement tells us. But God doesn’t see it that way we can have one or the other not both. Were there wealthy Godly men in the bible? Of course there was but if we could study more in depth we would find that their success came in a different fashion then what we forcibly try to achieve today under our own power. We like to use the rich men that God speaks highly of in the scriptures to justify our chase after the gold ring ( the ring is no longer brass, inflation). The biggest problem is not the corruption in the world but the fact that the church no longer sees right or wrong and all is being blended into the New World Church. The church has become blind to evil and many churches no longer have discernment that is required to know good from evil. The revived spiritualism of the 21st century, we will find that this is scriptures coming true. Scriptures tells us that the last days the church will be in error.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

This vThis Verse refers to a falling away from the true faith, the apostasy of the end times.

Luke 18:8 …. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Christ questions whether there will be faith left on the earth, what does that statement say about the shape of the church in last days? Christians should have little to worry about as far as losing money in the markets since stocks are little more than gambling, Christians should be against this, right? Unfortunately sitting around the board table at church no one talks about going to one of the many casinos popping up, but many talk of the state of their stocks and early retirement funds. This shouldn’t be something that a Christian should be talking about since we are to have only one God.

Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

You can not have your cake and eat it too; Christ said the same thing only in the terms recognizable at the time. You cannot serve both God and money. Stocks certainly shouldn’t be the talk of Elders in a church but it is. To have so much riding on the markets or banks is nothing more than a substitute God. We seem to have more faith in banks, institutions, and even rocks for healing than we do in God. I see Christian’s everyday wearing the magnetic stones, copper bracelts and many other "magical" rocks to heal them. They claim how much better they feel, no wonder God wants to once again end this society. Eastern mysticism is now an acceptable form of worship in our churches.

Job 31:24-25,28 "If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,' if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained... then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high."

Job deemed anything that would distract him from focusing on God a sin worthy of judgment; he considered it unfaithful to God to be so worried and preoccupied with money. It seems the longer we are on this earth the more corrupt we become, we don’t even realize it because it has become common place and acceptable. We truly are now calling evil good and good evil.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Advice on Security Investing

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Tell those who are rich in this present world not to be contemptuous of
others, and not to rest the weight of their confidence on the transitory power of wealth but on
the living God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to
be rich in kindly actions, to be ready to give to others and to sympathize with those in distress.
Their security should be invested in the life to come, so that they may be sure of holding a
share in the life which is real and permanent.

Luke 12:29-34 "You must not set your heart on what you eat or drink, nor must you live in a state of anxiety. The whole heathen world is busy about getting food and drink, and your Father knows well enough that you need such things. No, set your heart on his kingdom, and your food and drink will come as a matter of course... Sell your possessions and give the money away to those in need. Get yourselves purses that never grow old, inexhaustible treasure in Heaven, where no thief can ever reach it, or moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, you may be certain that your heart will be there too!"

1 Tim 6:8-10 Surely then, as far as physical things are concerned, it is sufficient for us to
keep our bodies fed and clothed. For men who set their hearts on being wealthy expose
themselves to temptation. They fall into a trap and lay themselves open to all sorts of silly
and wicked desires, which are quite capable of utterly ruining and destroying their souls.
For loving money leads to all kinds of evil, and some men in the struggle to be rich have lost their faith and caused themselves untold agonies of mind.

Here are some investments worthy of a man of God. If you want to hedge your bets and value in

the world invest in these things.

Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a
branch.

1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish

and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

How true is that today, the more money you have the more you want, your goals are always

being raised, always achieving more, is this way of life biblical, NO. Today’s society teaches

either directly or indirectly through television, radio, and news that you are a loser if you are

not out constantly competing or achieving higher monetary goals. The church has also fallen

into this, but I have yet to find scripture that has not been twisted to support this.

Prov 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

It is considered wisdom to not to strive to become wealthy or even save so much for the
future to retire well, as Luke 12:15-21 tells us. Restraint in the world today of course is
negative word; society would have us believe that we should deny ourselves nothing, restrain
ourselves in no way.

Luke 12:15-21 ..."Be on your guard against covetousness in any shape or form. For a man's real life in no way depends upon the number of his possessions... A rich man's farmland produced heavy crops. So he said to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have no room to store this harvest of mine?' Then he said, 'I know what I'll do. I'll pull down my barns and build bigger ones where I can store all my grain and my goods and I can say to my soul, Soul, you have plenty of good things stored up there for years to come. Relax! Eat, drink, and have a good time!' But God said to him, 'You fool, this very night you will be asked for YOUR SOUL!...' That is what happens to the man who hoards things for himself and is not rich in the eyes of God."

Today what this farmer did is equivalent to us saving or investing in a retirement plan, RRSP’s, bonds, and all the various savings plans. When I read this I thought there must be another explanation, I always thought that saving up your money was responsible thing to do, Preparing for the future. There is only one reason to prepare, unless God instructs us to, and that is that we don’t trust God to provide for us.

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31"So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

When we take matters into our own hands and store up money and goods, God considers us without faith, He equates worrying about money and striving to earn more as what the pagans do. Worrying about the future of our finances is wrong as verse 34 shows. This passage alone tells me the poor condition of my faith. The are times when Gods forewarns us of troubles that he wants us to prepare, but knowing the difference requires discernment, this is where a strong knowledge of the bible comes in useful so that the Holy Spirit may give us the discernment when we need it. God considers us hoarding money away as turning to a false God, when we rely on money to get us through bad times. Is that what scriptures teach us? Scriptures tells us to rely on God. The world tells us to rely on money.

Phil 4:11-13 ...For I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of eating well or going hungry--of facing either plenty or poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me.

Prov 30:8-9 ...Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

God teaches us to not waste our money and to be good stewards of what God gives us but not
to hoard it. We have grown accustom to relying on money, grocery stores, government, and a multitude of other organizations and false Gods that we don’t really rely on God no matter how much we fool ourselves into thinking other wise.

Luke 18:8 …. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

Christ asked his disciples a very telling question, Christ was questioning if He will find faith
in the earth when he returns. This tells us that the our faith in the last days will not be a true faith, we will think that we have faith but it will not be what God calls faith. I recently received a diary of one of my ancestors as they made the trip from Europe to Canada.They were persecuted in Europe for their faith in God and wanted to come to Canada to have freedom. (Something that is a mere shadow of what it once was) but regardless they made the trip to Canada and kept a diary of the journey. The one thing that stood out in the journal for me is the unquenchable faith they had. The day started with God, continued with God and ended with God. Even through death of a loved one they gave glory to God thankful for everything large, small or troublesome. Everyday had a bible verse appended for the day. It reminded me more of the prophets of old and the undying faith they had. Satan has designed this world to distract us from God and to make think we are worshiping God but really heading in a wrong direction. He would have been stupid not to attempt this deception, with that in mind how can we continue to be fooled and not realize the rocky road we have been lead down?

Ps 37:7,16 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way... Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.

Heb 13:5 "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have."

Eze 28:2-10 ..."Thus says the Lord God, 'Because your heart is lifted up and you have said, 'I am a God...' yet you are a man and not God, although you make your heart like the heart of God... You have acquired riches for yourself... and your heart is lifted up because of your riches--Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you... and they will draw their swords... and defile your splendor... and you will die... Will you still say, 'I am a god,' in the presence of your slayer, although you are a man and not God, in the hands of those who wound you?'"

How many of you are happy and secure because you have a good sum of money in the bank? Were you as content when you had none? If not what do you have faith in money or God, God has never changed but your money situation has.

Heb 13:5 "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have."

Prov 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Mat 6:19-21 "Do not save riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy,and robbers break in and steal. Instead, save riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are."

The scriptures relate a rich man with spiritual poverty, how many of us would balk at this
statement and yet it’s true.

James 1:9-11 The brother who is in need may be proud because God has raised him to the true riches. The rich may be proud that God has shown him his spiritual poverty... Just as surely will the rich man and his ways fall into the blight of decay.

Society teaches us to be ashamed if we are materially poor, opposite of the word of God and yet even as Christians we fall into the snare of Satan. Even in our churches we treat those of wealth different than those that have little. On most church boards you will have wealthy men or business men, as if they have God’s ear. Not all churches but many quietly look to those of means as having God’s blessings greater than one who works for minimum wage. Did this thinking come from God or is it an illusion designed by Satan? If it’s not in line with the word
of God then we must change this. I almost hate using the word change because the Emerging church and its change agents has overused the need for change in the church, unfortunately they want to head in another erroneous direction. But regardless of the misdirection of Satan the church and Christians need to change but in a direction strictly in line with the Word Of God.


Ps 49:16-19 Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed--and men praise you when you prosper--he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.

Luke 9:25 "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

In HIS Service
BC Ministries (Biblically Correct Ministries)

Prov 30:8-9 ...Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or I may
become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

BC Ministries

February 21 2009

Last year I warned everyone to leave the stock markets, this year they will lose more money, can you see the signs or have you been blinded?

Diakonos