"Is America Cutting Her Own Throat?"

The US government has finally realized it is spending us into oblivion.

Good news, right? They'll stop the waste, the fraud, the pork, and maybe even cut back on a few entitlement programs...

But no...That would make too much sense.

Instead, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the United States military to its smallest force since before WWII. "This is a budget that recognizes the reality of the magnitude of our fiscal challenges," Hagel said.

Anticipated cuts include:

• retiring the famed U-2 spy plane in favor of drones
• the elimination of an entire class of Air Force attack jets
• a huge reduction in the number of troop personnel
• and many, many other cuts too numerous to tell

"For the first time in 13 years, we will be presenting a budget to the Congress of the United States that's not a war-footing budget," Hagel said.

His reasoning?

Downsizing due to modernization and budget constraints.

"There are difficult decisions ahead," Hagel said. "That is the reality we're living with."

Supposedly, our military will "become a smaller, more tactical force capable of fighting on one war front and maintaining effective defenses for a second."

Really? Tell that to the rest of the world (especially China and our old pal Vladimir Putin). How come we're downsizing while everyone else is building up?

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) says, "It doesn't make strategic sense."

And he's right.

Why cut forces at a time of heightened threats?

Retired Army General George Joulwan, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said he thought the changes were necessary.

"Whether it's smart or not is yet to be seen. But I think it's necessary to do, given the constraints that we face fiscally within the United States," said General Joulwan.

Remember the old adage: "Jack of all trades, master of none?"

That's our Federal government.

They've got two assignments: Defend us and keep our infrastructure from falling apart.

Instead, they've got their hands on everything: health care, private finance, just name it, they claim it.

On the bright side, a few more military cuts and all the potholes won't matter anymore.

A wise man once said: "We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country." - Ronald Reagan

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven...A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up...A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." - Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 3, 8

News:

• Associated Press: Russia mobilizes fighter jets, troops near Ukraine border; US warns Russia using military force  is a 'grave mistake'
• Sky News London: Situation in Ukraine chaotic; Russia warns of "Dangerous" dilemma, urges US and EU not to intervene.
• CNN: Protests erupt in Venezuela, turn violent as opposition leaders blame government officials for unrest

"Prophetic Warning Signs"

Many Bible scholars agree the prophetic end-of-the-age clock began ticking when the Jews returned to the land of Israel.

This event, prophesied throughout the Old Testament (see Ezekiel 37:21 for an example), was fulfilled in 1948.

After that, the Bible describes a time of what it calls 'birth pains'. Things like:

• spiritual deception
• wars
• famines
• pestilences
• earthquakes
• distress of nations

These birth pains, known as the 'beginning of sorrows', will increase gradually in frequency and intensity as this present age labors to give birth to the next.

This time of sorrows will lead directly into a seven-year period referred to by scholars as the 70th Week of Daniel (Daniel 9:24).

This will be a time of terrible tribulation featuring pretty much every horrible thing you can imagine (and a few beyond your imagination).

In Matthew 24:32-35 and again in Luke 21:29-33, Jesus warns His disciples to watch for the signs He described.

"...When you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place..." (Luke 21: 31, 32 emphasis added).

The million dollar question? What generation?

The footnote in our Nelson Study Bible reads:

"The most likely meaning of this verse is that when the end comes, it will come quickly. The events of the end times will fall within one generation from start to finish."

So, if the prophetic clock started ticking in 1948 when the Jews got their homeland back, that leads us to...

The next Big Question: How long is a generation?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO?) and the Global Health Observatory (GHO):

"Seventy years is the average life expectancy at birth of the global population in 2011."

While these are definitely things that make us go hmmm...

We can't know for sure when Jesus is coming. We can recognize the importance of watching. Jesus warned:

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectantly" (Luke 21:34).

As the world grows darker, the Christian's hope grows brighter. Why? Because Jesus also said:

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:28 emphasis added).

A wise man once said: "Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it." - C. S. Lewis

News:

• The Washington Times: Bibles decried as 'religious propaganda'; banned from Iowa State University hotel
• Financial News.com: Series of bizarre banker deaths rock financial world; eight since Jan.
• Fox News Channel: Government plans to begin 'monitoring' news organizations; 1st Amendment supporters cry 'foul'. 

 

 

"Eerie 1929 Parallels?"

There's something scary circulating on Wall Street these days:

A stock market chart that seems to be tracking almost exactly the same pattern it did in 1929.

"There are eerie parallels between the stock market's recent behavior and how it behaved right before the 1929 crash," says Mark Hulburt, a Wall Street Journal columnist.

The chart shows the performance of the current stock market over the past 20 months superimposed over the one from 1928 and 1929.

See for yourself; The similarity is uncanny.

An object of scorn since late last year, this chart is beginning to freak out even the skeptics.

"I should know," says the WSJ columnist, "because I quoted a number of this chart's skeptics in a column I wrote in early December."

"Yet the market over the last two months has continued to more or less closely follow the 1928-29 pattern outlined in that two-months-ago-chart."

"One of the biggest objections I heard two months ago was that the chart is a shameless exercise in after-the-fact retrofitting of the recent data to some past price pattern," Hulburt notes.

"But that objection has lost much of its force."

Why?

Because the pattern continues.

Tom DeMark, a noted technical analyst and founder of DeMark Analystics, first discovered the eerie parallel charts.

"Originally," DeMark said, " I drew (the chart) for entertainment purposes only--but no longer. Now it's evolved into something more serious."

Let's hope he's wrong.

A wise man once said: "Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil.' -- Henry Fielding, English novelist

"Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last."  Proverbs 11:18

News

• NBC News: Monster snowstorm wipes out power for half million, leaves 16 dead and huge mess in much of US
• World Net Daily: Europe eyes confiscation of savings accounts; EU exec. expects enforced redistribution to plug long-term financing gap.
• Reuters: Dollar fell against euro and slid against other major currencies as an unexpected slip in US retail sales fed fears of economic slowdown.

"End Time Technology: Catching Up With Revelation?"

For centuries, much of what the Book of Revelation predicted looked like science fiction. Not anymore...

Engineers have developed the first insect-inspired vehicles, opening the door to an entirely new class of machine: "the microdrone" -- Popular Science Rise of Insect Drones

The Book of Revelation predicts the rise of a freaky type of locust.

Are you thinking what we're thinking?

Could those 'locusts' John describes in Chapter 9 of Revelation be drones?

And what about that giant 3-D hologram the Turkish Prime Minister projected into the sky last week (1-29-2014)?

Revelation 13:15 describes something that must have seemed magical back in John's day. But could he be trying to describe a hologram?

"He (the false prophet) was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed." - Revelation 13:15

And let's not forget the ever-popular Mark of the Beast.

"He (the beast) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." - Revelation 13:16-17

Is it a microchip? A tattoo? Or maybe both?

As you can see people, the Book of Revelation, written 2,000 years ago is waaaaay ahead of its time.

Next time someone tells you the book cannot be taken literally--show them this blog.

A wise man once said: "The central message of the Book of Revelation is clear: God is in control of all history, Christ is coming back; and He will come in judgement, rewarding those who have remained faithful to Him." James Balard, Th.D

News:

• Reuters: Obamacare to cut work hours by equivalent of 2 million jobs, says Congressional Business Office
• Entrepreneur: Sony now predicts a $1.1 billion loss; shuts down PC business
• MSN Money: '7 Companies on the Ropes", Best Buy, Rite Aid, Target, Macy's and Sears named.