The Edge [of all] Journeys

In my previous post… was it only last night ??? wow… Anyway, I shifted gears a bit dramatically away from the travel-journaling side of things mid-post and conveyed a weighty gut feeling that our world (of supermarket-convenience-entertainment-excess-mostly-stable-western-1st-world-normalcy) could be colliding with its curtain-call destiny as early as this fall.

Rightly so, an astute reader and dear friend asked me why I think so. After all… fall is only a few weeks away. YIKES.

One of the things I love about the lifestyle that YHWH has placed us in for this season of our lives is that we live in our own little bubble in many respects – especially when it comes to news. We’re not surrounded by the normal daily inputs that would otherwise keep us informed with or without our own research. Sure, news is always a few keystrokes away, but I’m not bombarded with the latest popular news media fad and that is a blessing.

But I don’t think we’re all that unique in this respect – regardless of our fairly unique lifestyle. For the most part, and actually because of the popular news media’s attempt to bombard (and entertain) I think the vast majority of America is in its own bubble that is quite a bit different than reality. Sure, there are alternate news sources out there, but I don’t mean Fox News. Nothing wrong with Fox News. Well, other than the fact that it’s merely the opposing side of the Dialectic whose ultimate goal is identical to the side it claims to be opposing. But that’s an entirely different topic, into which it would also be easy to digress via the whole democrat / republican facade.

But really, my point with this meandering background that doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to answering the question I purportedly have set out to answer is that: some of my feelings on Normal (yes, let’s make Normal a character, and his) lack of longevity – perhaps even expiring this fall – are based on several poignant moments when I’ve surfaced out of my bubble recently to consult Reality in other parts of the world. These are really the kind of things that we must do intentionally, because there is a very deliberate attempt to entertain us into total disinterest beyond casual curiosity and program us into passivity.

2 years ago, in my self-centered view of the way Scriptural prophecy might play out in these End Times (which I still believe, as I have for years, are upon us) I had a powerful subconscious assumption that things probably wouldn’t really get all that bad in America until after the “Great Tribulation” – or last 3.5 years of man’s rule on the earth – had begun. The obvious trigger sign from the Book of Daniel is the emergence of the anti-messiah and his desecration of the temple mount in Israel. Although I have always wanted to be prepared for whatever – whenever – I guess I sort of figured that we had at least enough time to wait and watch for that to happen first, and once it did we’d figure out what to do next. So, it came as a minor shock to the presuppositional system (yes, made up word there) to ponder – what if America’s demise came well before that?

The prophets foretell of an End Times destruction of Babylon and the Daughter of Babylon. You can find all kinds of articles on the internet debating the application and identities of these entities. What stands out as conclusive in my mind is the description in Revelation 17-18 which layers the understanding of Babylon as a city that also represents a nation. There are many characteristics described in these 2 chapters that fit America, but the most significant factors that do not seem to apply to any other nation or city in the world are:
1) the city having sovereignty over the kings of the earth
2) the city that is a hub of the earth’s merchandise where some 27 unique commodities are bought and sold on a daily basis

The only place in the world that meets those 2 key criteria (and the other characteristics) is New York City as the home of the UN (#1) and the home of the New York Stock Exchange (#2) and by extension… America.

Scripture is clear that YHWH will not do anything without first revealing it to His servants the prophets. I do not believe this is limited to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc… YHWH still speaks loud and clear to His people and still has prophets on the earth as at all other times throughout history. If you Google something like [prophecy america destruction] you will find what many prophets have been saying independently and in agreement about America’s destiny over the last few decades even back to the ’50s or earlier. Use your discernment. I personally tend to give more weight to the words given before 9/11 since everything since then is so heavily influenced by the events that have followed. However, every word consistent with Scripture is worth considering.

Ok, so that’s a lot to make you wade through before getting to my own personal thoughts regarding this fall, 2010. But it’s all context, and it all adds weight to my reasons below.

Indicators that fall 2010 might bring substantial changes to Normal:

• IF one of the correct layers of interpretation for Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy regarding Israel is a 70-year pattern like  many teachers I respect are teaching, THEN this year marks the 63rd year (since modern Israel was declared to be a nation in 1948 also fulfilling prophecy) and the transition to the LAST 7 year period.
• Connected with that potential time-table are the prophecies of war surrounding Israel (Zech, Ez, etc.)
• Google [war israel 2010] and skim through the current situation brewing in Israel and the Middle East.
• Every time America has participated in historical, landmark moments in Israel’s recent history that run contrary to the Almighty’s ultimate purpose and intentions for His land as clearly laid out in Scripture, events which could be interpreted as judgment on America’s soil have occurred in swift response. The trend has been documented in many places like this one. The pattern continues, and Obama could very well be the one arrogant enough to finally push it all through.
• Another possibility would be America abandoning Israel to her enemies. America already funds Israel’s terrorist enemies. Well, officially, America funds Israel and her neighbors with “humanitarian” aid. It’s just that Israel actually uses that funding for humanitarian purposes whereas the corrupt governments of Israel’s “neighbors” use America’s aid to buy more weapons to attach Israel. It never gets to the Palestinians or the other people in need, and America knows this full well but keeps writing the checks.
• Of course, America’s economy collapsing (for real this time) would also be a convenient excuse as to why she couldn’t come to one of her “closest allies” – Israel – if she gets into a war in the region.
• Speaking of economic indicators… I am honestly a little surprised that everything still seems like it’s afloat. Food is still on the shelves in stores. People can still afford restaurants. Sure, there are hard-hit towns and even regions, and a lot of unemployment. But we’ve been all over the country in the last year and most places still feel Normal. What is propping it all up? How tenuous is it?

It’s hard to appreciate that answer without understanding some quick basics. If you’ve never been exposed to some of these ideas before, they can be a little daunting and seem far fetched, but you don’t need an economics degree to appreciate truth and reality and I can recommend many incredible resources if you want to do more digging on your own. A primer… the facts:

• The fraud that poses as our entire economy works exactly like the game of monopoly. What did you do when the bank ran out of money? Well, the bank can’t run out of money (it’s in the rules!). So, you grab a marker and whip up a few more bills to keep the game going! This is literally what the Federal Reserve does.
• But then the Fed loans that money to the government via the money supply. How do they get paid back (PLUS interest?). What do you think your taxes are for? Have you every thought about government budgets? Have you ever wondered where all the money comes from to pay for over $500 billion now in the war on terror, and everything else, and then just assumed our tax dollars take care of it? But where did the money come from that we earned that was then withheld to pay taxes? Where did that money come from? Well… the companies we work for of course!  But where did they get the money from? Well, by selling a bunch of products or services right? But then where did the purchasers get the money from? We could chase this tail for a while couldn’t we?
• The only way (modern) money exists is that it is loaned into existence. Ponder that. Money is debt. Can you pay debt back with debt? If you owe your friend $5 for the burger he spotted you for the other day and hand him a Lincoln… you have just handed him a note that says “the government owes the Fed $5.”
• The only reason the system “works” is because so far almost everyone still willingly exchanges debt for tangible things of value.
• Because only the principle debt is printed as money – and not the interest owed – it CAN NEVER BE REPAID. It would be like your farmer friend giving you 5 oranges and you agreeing to pay him back 7 oranges for his kindness. But in order to pay him back 7 oranges you have to borrow 7 more oranges after you ate the other 5. And he will only give you those next 7 if you agree to pay him back 10. Do you see the picture?
• Oh, and by the way the Fed is a privately owned cartel and has nothing to do with the government except that the government is beholden to it. So, yes, the owners of the Fed are growing quite wealthy through  the “oranges” they are lending everyone. But the real kicker is that the “oranges” are complete fictitious.
• And now the Fed is going to buy U.S. Debt???? Does this make any sense whatsoever? http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/08/10/us_federal_reserve – the same debt it created – it is now going to buy it back and then … what … we’ll owe the same amount + interests to them twice over? It is just insane the tactics that are being used to keep the golden goose on life-support. What is more insane is that the golden goose is allowing itself to be kept on life support when she never sees a single one of her own eggs.
• It’s only a matter of time, and any variable on the international scene could upset the fabricated equilibrium quite easily.

Culminating into some sort of conclusion:

• Both Biblical and modern day prophets have foreseen America’s destruction.
• America has many enemies that are already in position and more than willing to help facilitate those visions: from China to Russia to muslim terrorists.
• America’s government (a reflection of her people) seem keen on accelerating her downfall through pride (which comes before a fall), foolish policies, defiance of the Almighty through legislated immorality, murder of the unborn, riotous living, drug-sorceries (Pharmakeia), unholy liaisons between the FDA and Monsanto and the effort to play god for profit through GMOs and other genetic experiments denying the basic human right of access to uncontaminated, non-toxic food (whole other topic that deserves an entire post, but check out http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/index.cfm ) so on and so forth.
• America’s stance towards Israel alone has the potential to trigger greater judgment than she’s already seen for mistakes in that area.
• Everything is reaching a boiling point in Israel: I have first-hand knowledge that the IDF has been visiting homes in the north advising residents to flee to the south past Jerusalem because war is coming and her enemies in Lebanon and Syria now have rockets that can reach at least to Jerusalem.
• Several people I know personally and trust completely have had dreams or visions in the last few weeks indicating that things have been set in motion which cannot be stopped and will play out sooner rather than later. The timing has not been specific in these words – perhaps there is another year (?) – but the tone feels imminent to me. These people have no awareness of what they each have shared with me independently.

MY MAIN POINT is not to say that all hell is going to break loose in October 2010. It very well could be another year or two or three (though I highly doubt it). My main point is to shake the the cobwebs off my own mind, spirit, and heart and in so doing hopefully help you do likewise.

Do not fear.

All the mind-programing wizards in entertainment, the news media, government, corporate America (say advertising), the medical-drug complex, and education are busy massaging American’s into a state of pre-fear conditioning. The end game is control. But they lose all control when we through faith stand fast in acknowledging that only our Creator is truly in control.

Enter Luke 12. Probably one of the best chapters in all of Scripture to bathe your mind in daily. Psalm 91 as well. BUT. These are promises to those who have a relationship with the King of the universe. They cannot be used as religious talismans in a name-it-and-claim-it fashion by those who have no genuine, humble, reverent respect of YHWH and His nature.

Learn to hear His voice daily in your most seemingly mundane decisions. His sheep know His voice.

Practice daily obedience. Do what you know to be right.

If you know His voice and practice obedience then when timing is critical for your own survival you will hear His instructions clearly and respond immediately.

Moses spent 40 years in that process of learning to Hear and Obey – in Hebrew “Shema and Shamar” – which is actually a beautiful play on words and amazing word picture all to itself. “Shamar” means to guard or keep – as in guarding / keeping His Word / His instruction / His commandments. But it derives this meaning partly from a related word “shamiyr” which means “thorn” because in the wilderness a shepherd would construct a hedge of thorns around his sheep to protect and guard them from predators.

As we learn to HEAR and GUARD TO DO what our Shepherd asks of us, He will HEAR our petitions for deliverance and GUARD us as His precious flock… This October, next October and every October after that regardless of what is happening in the world around us. And actually, with the timing of the Fall Feasts this year – Trumpets is on Sep 11th so things could explode even well before October.

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Other relevant articles you might find interesting:

• http://www.michaelrood.tv/blogs/1-sixth-new-moon
• http://laydownlife.net/index_files/updates.htm
  • Especially #22 “Dream”
  • If you want to dig deeper also #21 (especially pgs 5 and 6 but read it all)

July escaped completely undocumented, even though we had a great big Garlic Adventure to Ohio and back to PA. Tonight I am typing this on battery power while we sleep several degrees off kilter in this welcome center / rest stop parking lot in NE Penn just shy of NY state. I don’t think we’re suppose to be here overnight, but when I went inside to find someone to ask, the only one around was a nice janitor lady and she said no one will bother us. I told her the story about how Joy dropped my phone in a cup of water and now the screen doesn’t work. She had asked what that little thing around my wrist was. I explained that it was a little LED flashlight that I use to read my phone’s screen whenever I need to. We wouldn’t have even stopped here but the Wal-Mart in town has been overtaken by township ordinances that state in scary big signs “no overnight camping.” I almost wanted to challenge that by setting up anyway and if anyone came I would have debated the semantics of overnight camping versus just parking… camping involves so much more it seems to me and it’s not like we would have tried to have a fire and roast marshmellows or anything. And, while the lady at customer service was apologetic and emphatic that it was not them (Wal-Mart) but the township and suggested that they were open 24 hours and hey we just might be shopping all night long, we figured we better not risk it and check out the welcome center instead since she also thought it might permit overnight. By the time we got here (just down the road) and everyone went to the bathroom and I called ahead to the next Wal-Mart an hour down the interstate to make sure they weren’t in local ordinance party-pooper land too, it was going to be quite late by the time we got there and sprawled out. So, we made a family decision split along pretty even lines to do the adventurous thing and subject ourselves to some guerrilla-style sleeping arrangements since I wanted to at least keep a low profile which means no slide-out and no leveling and Bennah had to climb over the bikes to get in bed, the other two boys are sleeping on the dinette (which turns into a bed of course… well of sorts anyway) and the girls are sharing the fold-down couch. And only the two little guys can squeeze through the bathroom door so everyone else has to use the porta-john that we normally keep in the truck so that we don’t have to stop at facilities every 15 minutes.

We’re on our way north and east.

I have many good excuses as to why things have died down quite a bit on the site here… and I want to publish this more boldly and dedicate an entire post to it – and I will likely write a lot more on the subject some other time (if I can make the time for it) – but:

The end of our world as we’ve known it
is closer than we think.

Let that sink in for a minute.

What does it mean? My world? Your world? Everyone’s world? You’ve probably felt the general vibe out there that not everything is as it should be. Sure there are lots of things going on in the news that seem like they’re all somehow connected, but surely everything will go on as it always has. Everything will be alright… right?

If you – right now – wherever you are, whatever you are doing that is getting interrupted by reading this is – pause for a moment; ponder the possibility that this fall – October, maybe later – could be a cataclysmic fulcrum point in America’s history that changes her (and the world) forever; let this possibility sink into your mind and then prepare; prepare by praying; prepare by thinking – what would you do if EVERYTHING changed? if you could not work? if you could not get to your family? if you could not use your cell phone? if there was no electricity? where would you go? what would you do? how? why? start weighing your options, but realize the only option is to trust your Creator whom you might not know as well as you’d like… if you pause for a moment and contemplate what I am saying… you will be more prepared to handle what will be coming in due time than the vast majority who will be caught completely by surprise.

Is this doomsday talk / conspiracy theory / doom and gloom? Depends on your perspective. Heavenly judgment on wickedness and oppression is justice and deliverance to the humble and righteous. Analytically speaking, America’s economic survival is impossible. Spiritually speaking, men of God have been having dreams and visions of America’s destruction for decades. And I’m not talking about televangelist type “men of God” – I’m talking about the kind of men (and women) who suffer persecution for their faith in Messiah in other countries, the kind who come to America as missionaries because of how lost our nation has become, the kind would (and do) walk for months on foot just to acquire a single copy of the Bible.

Could I be wrong about this fall? Certainly. But whether it unravels this fall or later, I am presently convinced that 2 of the next most massive world events are going to be: the collapse of America and war in the Middle East with Israel in the center.

Do I have any inside knowledge? No.

But I will share with you a dream my 7 year old daughter had a few days ago. My jaw dropped when she began telling me about it. She was at the pool with a couple friends. The water started to slowly drain out of the pool, but it was happening fast enough that she noticed it. She said it was very weird. Her friends noticed it too, but what was so bizarre was that no one else seemed to even notice or care. They just kept right on playing, even as they sank deeper and deeper with the level of the water. She and her friends got out as quickly as they could and kept watching. Soon, all the water was gone and everyone else was stuck at the bottom of the pool. She had the impression of very grave danger in the dream. As she was telling me about it, she had no idea how significant it was.

But the first thing I thought of was: “…as it was in the days of Noah…”

Don’t let anything I tell you – or anything that anyone else tells you – become the basis for what you do. Ask your heavenly Father what you should do. And if you don’t know Him very well, well, that’s probably a great place to start. If you don’t know Him at all you need His Son.