Wednesday, June 03, 2009

The Fall of the United States of Babylon!


Volume XXVIII Issue VI June 2009
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/

The Fall of the United States of Babylon!



"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."

Revelation 18:1-3



"Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that hath made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies."

Jeremiah 51:7-9



"Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock."

Nahum 3:4-6



In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will use both the Word of God and undeniable current events to reveal the shortness of time that is left before the second coming of our Saviour and His final judgment upon this wicked world. One of the most notable events that takes place just prior to our Lord's return is the fall and absolute demise of the greatest nation on earth. With spiritual discernment, we must understand that when the Bible speaks of Babylon, it is not speaking only of that ancient nation and empire that fell to the Medes and Persians thousands of years ago. Long after the fall of ancient Babylon, we find the New Testament book of Revelation tells us of a future Babylon that exists in the last days. It is a latter day nation that rises to become the greatest economic power in the world and exerts its power and influence everywhere. This latter-day Babylon also has a mystery composite religion of compromise that seeks to unify all of humanity under a universal Luciferian tolerance. Then, shortly before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the latter-day Babylon begins to crumble and rot from within until it falls suddenly! All of this being true from the Word of God, we should be able to see it happening right now, and we do! Everyone knows that something is drastically wrong with the United States of America, but most are turning their heads and pretending they just do not see!

The erstwhile great United States of America has become the United States of Babylon, and it is falling, falling! The signs of this in reference to the Word of God are everywhere. The great sign of the collapse of our nation came on September 11th, 2001, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed by satanic conspiracy. These two pillars, reaching one-quarter mile high, were the pride of our nation's gateway in the East. Since these two great pillars tumbled straight down into their own footprints, our nation has never been the same. When I think about this, I am reminded of Judges 16:27, which tells us of the incident when Samson was brought to the massive Temple of Dagon, the god of the Philistines. Incidentally, the image of the god Dagon had the same fish head shaped hat that the Pope wears to this day. Samson was chained as a prisoner and object of derision between the two support pillars that held up the building. God gave Samson one more surge of strength and he moved the pillars. The temple of Dagon fell and killed approximately 3,000 men and women. On September 11th, 2001, two great pillars at the Eastern gate of our nation were brought down, and approximately 3,000 men and women were killed. Was this Satan's vengeance because of what happened to his Temple of Dagon, and is it a sign from Almighty God that our nation began to fall dramatically at that point?

We must also reference Isaiah 33:18 which reads as follows: "Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? Where is he that counted the towers?" Isaiah 30:25 also declares, "And there shall be on every high mountain and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall." Quite obviously, the fall of the World Trade Center was a time marker indicating the fall of latter day Babylon! Rivers and streams in the high hills is a Bible metaphor for prosperity, which suddenly began to change to economic catastrophe. These are also days of great slaughter in American Babylon by means of abortion, manufactured epidemics, and "vaccinicide."

Truly, these are trying times, and the coming of the Saviour draweth nigh! If you are reading this and you have never personally met the Lord Jesus, what are you waiting for? Time is running out. Call upon him right now with a true heart, and He will save you and give you peace now and for all eternity!

The Strange Forces of Barack Obama!

On May 1st, 2009, which happens to be the witches' high cross-quarter sabat of Beltaine, Reuters News Service featured the following headline: "Obama Reveling in U.S. Power Unseen in Decades." (1) It was no coincidence that the headline didn't say "power not seen" but rather "power unseen." Truly, there are unseen powers at work. Dr. Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati, referred to that unseen power as the controlling unknown.

The power of Obama intensified even more with the approaching of Beltaine when on April 29th Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, became a Democrat and greatly shifted the power in the U.S. Senate in favor of Obama. (2) The people of Pennsylvania elected Specter because they wanted a Republican, and thus, he turned his back to the electorate of his state. This is exactly the kind of man that Obama likes to have around him.

The antichrist overtones and rank blasphemy that surround the Obama presidency is increasing in a sickening crescendo. To commemorate the 100th day of Obama in office, a painting entitled "The Truth" was to be placed on display at New York City's Union Square. The picture featured Obama in front of the presidential seal with arms in a crucifix position and wearing a crown of thorns. His head was bowed down as a suffering messiah. President Obama did not object to the painting, but thankfully, there was such a public outcry against this blasphemy that the event had to be cancelled! (3)

Obama made it very clear on his 100th day in office that he is "remaking America." He didn't say rebuilding, but remaking! Does Obama consider himself to be the Mighty Maker? While honoring himself at a dinner commemorating his 100th day in office, Obama said the following words: "I would like to talk about what my administration plans to achieve in the next 100 days. During the second 100 days, we will design, build and open a library dedicated to my first 100 days. I believe that my next 100 days will be so successful, that I will complete them in 72 days - and on the 73rd day I will rest." (4) The inference of deity here is obvious, but why the 73rd day? The 100th day of Obama was April 29th, 2009. Seventy-two days added to that brings us to July 10th, 2009. Obama intends to rest from his creative labors on Saturday, July 11th. Saturday is the seventh day of the week, but in addition to that, we must consider the date itself as 07/11/09. Since zeros must be disregarded and since witches use backward masking, we find that if we look at Obama's 73rd day backwards it is 9-11-7. The number seven indicates sanctity and completion, and we all know the significance of 9-11. What is this man planning? Time will tell! It is also interesting to note that on March 31st, 2009, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported a story out of Washington stating that a new $3.5 billion laser has just been completed and is now ready for use. The word laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. This laser was developed by the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. This laser is capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself! (5) I am reminded of Revelation 13:13, regarding the second beast, which reads as follows: "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

Another interesting incident took place when Obama recently made a speech at Georgetown University. Obama refused to come to this Roman Catholic Jesuit School unless the symbol IHS was covered up. The many statues, crucifixes and other relics didn't bother Obama, but he could not tolerate the letters IHS. Those letters are understood to mean "Jesus the Saviour of Man." This is what Obama could not tolerate. (6) The school did comply and covered up those letters in order to receive the President. In John 5:43 Jesus warned us as follows: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." While I do not believe in any religious symbols, the inference from Obama is obvious, and he is showing his true antichrist colors! Another point that must be made regarding Obama is that he declared he would be a "no show" for the National Day of Prayer, and even though he signed the proclamation, he said he would be distancing himself from it. (7) Who is this strange President? Do we really know him, or do we really want to know him? On May 5th, 2009, the Associated Press released a story about Obama and Vice President Biden and their favorite fast food restaurant in Arlington, Virginia. It is an independent hamburger joint called Ray's Hell Burgers. (8) The hamburgers there are known as "hell burgers," and the media referred to Obama as having been to hell and back. Hell is certainly nothing to joke about!

Another amazing incident took place on the day before Obama's 100th day in office. A Boeing 747 aircraft, resembling Air Force One, buzzed the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and then flew at an altitude of only 1,000 feet above Ground Zero. The 747 was being chased by a F-16 fighter the entire time. Southern Manhattan went into a panic as offices were evacuated and people ran down the streets screaming for fear that it was another 9-11 attack. It turned out to be an Obama photo opportunity that cost nearly one-third of a million dollars. Obama claimed he knew nothing about it and would look into it, even though it was discovered that the Federal officials threatened the New York Police Department, the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Mayor's office that if the secret got out, there would be "Federal sanctions against them." (9) New Yorkers were outraged at the stupidity of such an event. What kind of a test was this, and what will happen next? Soon we will know!

The Rise of the Marxist-Socialist Reich!

The reports continue to come in! The jobless rate is climbing in forty-six states with California at 11.2 percent! (10) The U.S. Government is now borrowing fifty cents for every dollar it spends. (11) Recent stress tests of the big banks revealed that bad assets are triple of what they were thought to be previously. (12) On March 20th, two major corporate credit unions were taken over by the Federal Government, and these two essentially affect all of the subordinate and small credit unions as well. (13) On April 17th, 2009, Federal regulators closed American Sterling Bank, based in Missouri, and the Great Basin Bank, based in Nevada. (14)

The automobile industries are all either in bankruptcy or close to it. The Federal Government is seizing them all as the Marxist-Socialist plan of Obama marches on. On April 27th, the Federal Government became the majority owner of General Motors! (15) Cities, states, counties, so-called free enterprise, and businesses of every kind are in deep trouble, and they are being forced to stick their snouts in the trough of the Federal Government! In fact, there have been so many bailouts that a top-level government economist is calling for a new agency to be set up. (16) Just as the Department of Homeland Security was set up after the twin towers came down and we had an unprecedented new American Gestapo, we will now see a new Department of Federal Bailouts. This would be nothing less than a Kremlin-like Politburo to administer and enforce socialism and bring an end to free enterprise. Apparently Nikita Khrushchev was right when he said America would be taken over by Communism from within! Babylon is falling, falling!

The Swine Behind the Flu!

On April 24th, 2009, Reuters News Service featured the following headline: "Deadly New Flu Strain Erupts in Mexico." (17) On April 27th, 2009, Mexico City was hit by a powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake. (18) It was quite a series of events. On April 16th, Obama was in Mexico. Eleven days later came the flu outbreak, and the Mexican official that first greeted Obama and shook his hand was dead from the flu. Three days later came the earthquake! Almost immediately, the World Health Organization declared "international concern" over the so-called "swine flu." (19) The CDC, or Center for Disease Control, seemed to know a lot about this flu almost immediately and apparently in advance. The CDC issued the following statement: "A new and unusual strain of swine flu is likely widespread and impossible to contain. This new strain of influenza has shown it can spread easily from person to person. It has been found in several places, and among people who have had no known contact. This suggests that there is an unseen chain of infection and that the virus has been spreading quietly." (20) Without a doubt, this so-called "swine flu" was intentionally manufactured in a laboratory as a designer virus, which can be modified to extremes later.

Shortly after the outbreak, I received an e-mail from a close friend overseas who is a medical doctor and researcher who now practices natural medicine. This man, as a professional, had an user name and password that allowed him to access the U.S. Government's computer data on toxicology and virology. Immediately after he sent the personal e-mail to me, his password and user name to the Government website disappeared and no longer existed. The information I received is that the people who are susceptible to contracting the H1N1 "swine flu" are those who have been vaccinated within the past five years. Their bodies were set up to receive this new flu by their immunizations. I also was informed that the reason why Mexico was chosen as the launching pad for this so-called "epidemic" is because those who have tuberculosis or have had it are especially susceptible to contact H1N1. Mexico has had high numbers of people with tuberculosis. The U.S. Government website also stated that before the outbreak in Mexico, a vial of swine flu H1N1 was unaccounted for and had gone missing while being transported to a Mexican government veterinary science laboratory in Mexico. This report soon disappeared from the government website. We also know that the H1N1 virus is made up of four different genetic pieces from different virus sources and had to be intentionally produced. We know that swine flu can only be transferred to other swine. Avian flu is exclusive to birds and so on. I am sure that a pig, a bird, and a human didn't get together in a conspiracy to produce H1N1. This is diabolical fear mongering, designed to control people, and to especially steal away the faith and courage from anyone who still has such virtues.

I remember when in the very early days of Obama's campaign, people were saying, "The day that Obama becomes President is the day pigs will fly." Obama was elected, and I have been looking around to see if any pigs were flying, and sure enough -- swine flu (flew).

On May 6th, 2009, ABC News reported that the H1N1 is now expected to mutate into a new deadly strain, which would require people everywhere to receive three successive inoculations to control it. (21) The CDC admitted as far back as January 14th, 2004, that they were mixing avian and human flu viruses in a pandemic study. (22) We can be sure of one thing: all vaccines are poison. They contain decomposed protein from the pustules of sick animals and/or putrefied eggs mixed with carbolic acid, mercury, and formaldehyde. Perhaps that is why autism is epidemic among immunized children and what was once extremely rare (autism) is now quite common. Now we can understand why we now have legislation on the Federal level that protects the makers of vaccines from lawsuits if the government declares a public health emergency. (23)

The government is constantly trying to control the bodies, souls, and minds of the people. That is why they regulate food, drugs, and religion. The Federal Government absolutely hates the health food and vitamin industries because they help people to live longer. Now the Federal Government has threatened General Mills because the company has advertised that using Cheerios reduces cholesterol by 10% in one month. General Mills has provided the evidence, but they have been told that if a food is advertised as having health benefits, it must now be considered a medicine and be properly licensed and regulated. (24) Quite obviously, we cannot think of any food as having specific benefits or it becomes a medicine. Conversely, only food that has no benefits to the body of man can be freely sold without government interference. This is insanity of the first magnitude!

Controlling the Common Herd of Humanity!

It is becoming obvious and evident that true Christians are being singled out by the antichrist conspiratorial powers. On April 12th, 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a list of the type of people they are watching. Those who are suspect include the following: religious radicals, opponents of abortion, those who believe in conspiracy "theories," believers in end time prophecy, those who have Ron Paul bumper stickers, those who have radical Christian views, and especially U.S. war veterans. (25) According to Janet Napolitano, Obama's handpicked head of Homeland Security, all veterans are potential terrorists because they are trained in military tactics. All of these so-called "potential terrorists" are listed in a government publication entitled "The Domestic Extremism Lexicon." On May 5th, 2009, the Federal Government was facing such an outcry against their incriminating lexicon that they decided to "pull back" the 11-page document. (26) Pulling back the document, however, does not mean they have had a change of heart or diabolical purpose!

In another Federal attack against true Christianity and the Word of God, the House of Representatives passed the "Hate Crimes Bill" on May 6th, 2009. The bill, known as HR1913, passed with a vote of 249-175. (27) Under the provisions of the bill, Christian ministers can be arrested and convicted if someone commits a hate crime after listening to them speak. If the minister speaks out against abortion or homosexuality, he is responsible for any radical act that follows, no matter who commits it. The penalties range from ten years to life imprisonment. The Obama-controlled Senate is expected to pass this legislation, and Obama stated that he would promptly sign it. Obama's exact words to the U.S. Senate were, "Finalize this bill and take swift action." (28)

Truly, the second coming of Christ is at hand. There is currently underway a new pre-census program in the United States, and Obama has hired 140,000 temporary workers to complete it as quickly as possible. The program is costing 700 million dollars, and the special census workers are not counting people, but rather marking the front door of every home in America with electronic GPS (global positioning satellite) coordinates. (29) Incidentally, the GPS coordinates for the front door of Obama's White House are 38.898590 latitude, and -77.035971 longitude. When you see someone standing one foot from your front door, they are marking the entrance of your dwelling for computer and satellite control purposes.

I recently received a letter from a man who reads the Last Trumpet Newsletter and was going to accept one of these temporary jobs until he found out during orientation that it was a heinous conspiratorial plot. I will not reveal his name, but he informed me that the workers were to stand one foot from the front door of every home and enter the coordinates into a hand-held computerized device. One woman in the orientation class jokingly asked, "What if a person lives in a cave?" The instructor gave the serious answer that she was to go to the entrance of that cave and enter the information. He then said, "There will be no place to hide." The workers were also told that they were not to give any information about their project to anyone or they would be fined and/or jailed! When we realize all of this, we can also better understand why Senator Judd Gregg declined the job of Secretary of Commerce. The Department of Commerce has always been in charge of the U.S. Census. Gregg was told that the Census was being taken away from the Commerce Department and would be under the direct control of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel!

I am sure we all remember the account in God's Word that tells us how the children of Israel in Egypt were commanded to mark their doors with the blood of the Passover lamb so they would be spared when the death angel passed through Egypt. Now we see Satan trying to mark our doors with the electronic blood of his Beast computer and satellite system. We are not to fear, however, for the blood of Jesus Christ prevails, and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of our risen Saviour, stands at our doors and watches over us closely. In Revelation 3:20, we read as follows: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Everything is moving quickly now, and every morning people are waking up to discover that more rights and freedoms have been forfeited. In the state of Wisconsin, a high court, the District 4 Court of Appeals, stated that police can attach GPS units to anyone's automobile without a warrant, cause, or permission! That vehicle is then tracked and watched with perfect timing of every route it takes and every stop it makes. (30)

Resistance to the Obama Administration is rising, however. We know that the state of Texas under Governor Rick Perry, has declared their state to be sovereign and not subject to everything Washington, D.C., is dishing out. The state of South Carolina is now proceeding to do the same thing! (31) In addition to that, on May 5th, 2009, the House members of the state of Oklahoma overrode Governor Brad Henry, who vetoed a resolution to declare Oklahoma a sovereign state! (32) These events are so similar to what happened shortly before the American Civil War! Drastic and amazing things are beginning to happen!

Warnings from the Almighty!

The very creation of God continues to cry out against the sin and rebellion of man. The U.S. Geological Survey reported 267 significant earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 and above within the past 30 days. Violent storms continue to race across our nation, and freak weather continues to happen with greater frequency and intensity. God does speak through His creation!

Our sinful nation is also troubled with horrifying fires on the East and West coasts. In late April, a terrible fire broke out in the area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The roaring flames scorched more than twenty-four square miles and destroyed many homes. (33) In early May 2009 during the time of the full moon, horrifying fires broke out in the area of Santa Barbara, California. Many expensive homes were destroyed, and 5,400 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders. Fourteen thousand people were forced out of and away from their homes by the raging flames and billows of thick smoke. This fire was called the Jesusita Fire because of its location in California. (34) It appears that warnings of impending judgment upon our sin-laden nation are from the utmost East to the utmost West. It is even more amazing that the fire in the East happened exactly one week before the occultic witches' sabat of Beltaine (May 1st), and the fire in the West broke out with intensity exactly one week after that infamous day! Furthermore, both of the fires in the extreme east and west of our nation burned near the 33rd parallel of north latitude. That number thirty-three is the most sacred to Freemasonry, which is the very lodge of Lucifer, also called Satan! God is speaking! Is anyone listening?

As if we don't have enough problems, Obama's science advisor has released a statement about a new project to help control the supposed "global warming" of the earth. Dr. John Holdren, who is working closely with the President, stated that a potential plan is being made to use geoengineering, which would use technology to attempt to cool the climate and save the planet. One method Dr. Holdren advocates that is being considered by the White House and several other agencies is to "shoot pollution particles into the earth's upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays." (35) In reality, the whole global warming concept is a manufactured hoax to be used by the Antichrist. In reality, true scientists are gravely concerned because the sun is rapidly cooling down and is currently at both its dimmest and coolest points since measurements were kept. On April 22nd, BBC News reported that "astronomers are baffled by a quiet sun." (36) In addition to that, the National Geographic News reported on May 4th, 2009, the following headline: "Sun Oddly Quiet -Hints at Next Little Ice Age." (37)

Barack Obama knows as much about true science as I do about piloting a submarine, but he is interested in the stars for another reason. As most readers of this newsletter know, I was once an adept occultic astrologer, and astrology is witchcraft of the first magnitude! In fact, you cannot practice witchcraft without astrology. Here let it be noted that Barack Obama made a speech on the 13th day of May 2009 from the South Lawn of the White House. The speech was regarding health care reform, and during the speech he stated that the Health Care Bill must be on his desk by the last day of July. That day is known in witchcraft as the Eve of Lughnasaid (loo-na-sah), also called the sabat of the harvest of souls. Obama concluded his speech, facing the southern sky where the ecliptic line (or zodiac) is located, with the following words: "We've got to get it done this year, both in the House and in the Senate; and we don't have any excuses; the stars are aligned." (38) This was spoken like a true illuminist!

In closing, I once again sincerely thank all of you who support this end time prophetic ministry. God bless and keep you in the short time that remains. We continue to welcome your prayer requests as our prayer teams are waiting to bring your need to the throne of the Saviour. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

David J. Meyer

Acknowledgements
01. Reuters News Service, May 1, 2009, by Steve Holland, Washington, D.C.
02. The Washington Post, Apr. 29, 2009, by P. Kane, C. Cillizza & S. Murray, Washington, D.C.
03. WorldNetDaily, Apr. 28, 2009, by Drew Zahn, WorldNetDaily.com.
04. CNN News Service, May 9, 2009, Washington, D.C.
05. The Traverse City Record Eagle, Mar. 31, 2009, Traverse City, MI.
06. NBC News, April 17, 2009, by Jim Iovino, Washington, D.C.
07. The Washington Times, May 6, 2009, by Julia Duin, Washington, D.C.
08. Associated Press, May 5, 2009, by Ben Feller, Arlington, VA.
09. CBS News Service, Apr. 28, 2009, by Marcia Kramer, New York, NY.
10. The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 18, 2009, by Stu Woo & Sudeep Reddy, New York, NY.
11. Associated Press, May 11, 2009, Washington, D.C.
12. Bloomberg News Service, Apr. 24, 2009, by Elizabeth Hester & Linda Shen, New York, NY.
13. Associated Press, Mar. 20, 2009, by Marcy Gordon, Washington, D.C.
14. Reuters News Service, Apr. 17, 2009, Washington, D.C.
15. Financial Times, Apr. 27, 2009, by John Reed & Bernard Simon.
16. Reuters News Service, May 7, 2009, New York, NY.
17. Reuters News Service, Apr. 24, 2009, by Alistair Bell & Noel Randewich, Mexico City, Mexico.
18. Associated Press, Apr. 27, 2009, Mexico City, Mexico.
19. Associated Press, Apr. 25, 2009, by Frank Jordans, Geneva, Switzerland.
20. Reuters News Service, Apr. 25, 2009, by Maggie Fox, Washington, D.C.
21. ABC News Service, May 6, 2009, WBEV Radio, Beaver Dam, WI.
22. CIDRAP News Service, Jan. 14, 2004, by Robert Roos.
23. The Kansas City Star, Oct. 17, 2008, by Alan Bavley, Kansas City, MO.
24. CBS News Service, May 12, 2009, by Elise Finch, Washington, D.C.
25. WorldNetDaily, Apr. 12, 2009, Washington, D.C.
26. The Washington Times, May 5, 2009, by Audrey Hudson, Washington, D.C.
27. Light House Trails Research, http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com.
28. Ibid.
29. WorldNetDaily, May 5, 2009, by Bob Unruh, http://www.worldnetdaily.com.
30. The Chicago Tribune, May 7, 2009, by Ryan J. Foley, Madison, WI.
31. Politico, May 12, 2009, by Andy Barr, Washington, D.C.
32. NewsOK, May 5, 2009, by Michael McNutt, Oklahoma City, OK.
33. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 24, 2009, AP, North Myrtle Beach, SC.
34. NBC News Service, May 7, 2009, by S. Weber, J. Noyes, O. Ebright, J. Lloyd & B. Buck, Los Angeles, CA.
35. Cox News Service, Apr. 9, 2009, by Seth Borens, AP, Washington, D.C.
36. BBC News Service, Apr. 22, 2009, by Pallab Ghosh, London, England, U.K.
37. National Geographic News, May 4, 2009, by Anne Minard, Washington, D.C.
38. ABC News Service, May 13, 2009, by Yunji de Nies, Ann Compton & Karen Travers, Washington, D.C.

http://lasttrumpetministries.org



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Daniel's Dream of Four Beasts


Daniel 7


1In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

2Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

3And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

4The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

12As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

15I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

18But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

19Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

20And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

21I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

22Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

23Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25And 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.

26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
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Tuesday, June 02, 2009

2 Entrepreneurs Help a Monastery Thrive


Andy Manis for The New York Times

The Rev. Bernard McCoy, the superior of a Cistercian abbey in Sparta, Wis., which makes money from the sale of ink and toner cartridges, barbecue and Benevolent Biscuits, or dog treats.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: June 1, 2009



SPARTA, Wis. — At the ringing of a bowl-shaped bell, five monks at a remote monastery congregated in the chapel here for the fourth of their seven daily rounds of prayer, their voices murmuring a Gregorian chant in Latin.


At the same time, in a nearby house on the monastery’s property, the phone was ringing in a small office where two women and an office manager run a multimillion-dollar business that generates the money to run the monastery.

“Good morning, LaserMonks. Greetings and peace,” answered the office manager, Victoria Bench, a patient sort who often hears callers remark, “You don’t sound like a monk.”

Monks in Roman Catholic monasteries are expected to support themselves, balancing a life of prayer and work according to the sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict. Some monasteries make cheese, others make jam, chocolate or wine.

The monks here at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank make their money from the sale of ink and toner cartridges, and little of the labor is their own.

The Rev. Bernard McCoy, the monastery’s superior, had the idea for LaserMonks.com. But the enterprise really took off when the monks turned it over to two entrepreneurial laywomen who originally came from Colorado to give them advice and never left.

“We feel we’re stewards of their business, and we really put bread on the table,” said one of the women, Sarah Caniglia, sitting in their impeccably organized office amid lighted candles and CDs of Gregorian chants. “I feel like the head of a family, but the boys are grown up and they’re never going to get married.”

Father McCoy, who at 42 already has a monk’s bald pate and fringe of hair, said: “Our life as monks is not set up to sit around and answer phones. We’re supposed to be a little removed.”

“We are professional pray-ers,” said Father McCoy, who wears a white habit, a long black smock called a scapular cinched with a leather belt and, on his feet, knock-off Crocs. Some days he wears a T-shirt that says, “Ask me about my Vow of Silence.”

This is not the only monastery to employ laypeople, but the monks and the women here have a surprising symbiotic relationship. The monastery had tried various self-supporting enterprises before: moving and rehabilitating houses scheduled for demolition, growing shitake mushrooms, developing a golf course and corporate retreat center.

One day, the monks were in the midst of a big report on the golf project when the printer ran out of toner and Father McCoy went to order more. “I thought, that’s way too much for a bunch of black dust,” he said.

He discovered it was possible to buy new and recycled cartridges at a fraction of the cost charged by office supply companies. He started LaserMonks in 2002 with the idea of marketing to charitable groups, but the business expanded so fast that soon they were scrambling to keep up.

Meanwhile, Ms. Caniglia and Cindy Griffith were looking to sell their online ink and toner business, based in Loveland, Colo., and called Father McCoy to see if LaserMonks wanted to buy their database. They hit it off, and soon the women were driving to rural Wisconsin.

“I was scared to death,” said Ms. Griffith, 50, a Web designer and divorced grandmother who is not Catholic. “I’ve been to Catholic weddings, but I don’t know anything about monks. Do they talk? What do I do when they pray? Do I sing this stuff? I don’t know Latin.”

The women stayed in the monastery’s hermitage overlooking the Mississippi River. Two weeks became two months, then six. The women shared their skills at database management and Web design, but also ideas for the future of LaserMonks. The monks gave the women a taste of a life that was contemplative, balanced and simple.

“I was a yuppie, I wanted to make a lot of money, drive a nice car and belong to a tennis club,” said Ms. Caniglia, 41, who is Catholic. “I’ve just learned to simplify my life, and I get joy out of seeing the stars at night, walking the dogs.”

The women now live on the top two floors of a small house on the monastery’s property, above the office and overlooking fields of soy and corn. Ms. Caniglia and Father McCoy send e-mail messages to each other daily, but meet only every three weeks. The women and monks all come together on feast days and holidays.

Ever entrepreneurial, the women also sell products made by other monasteries, including chocolates, pralines and a barbeque sauce called “Burnt Sacrifice.” They sell Benevolent Biscuits, dog treats the monks here make on cookie trays in the monastery kitchen.

Their latest product is a laser printer cartridge made with soybean oil instead of petroleum. Holding up a newly printed page, Ms. Caniglia said, “It’s environmentally safe, the print is great,” and it produces more pages per cartridge than an oil-based cartridge at a lower price. “It’s a no-brainer.”

LaserMonks took in $4.5 million in revenue last year, she said. Expenses and the cost of products are 80 percent, leaving 10 percent for the monastery and 10 percent for charities. The two women made about $60,000 combined. (“It isn’t about the money,” Ms. Caniglia said.)

While LaserMonks hums along without monks, the monks are free to develop their talents and hobbies. The Rev. Robert Keffer paints and sculptures, Brother David Klecker sews vestments and takes photographs, Brother Joseph Watson does woodworking, Brother Adam Mathews tends the property and Brother Stephen Treat writes a blog.

Standing at his easel in a sunny studio, Father Keffer dabbled at a painting of St. Bernard, whose hair looked a bit too 1980s blow-dried.

“Professional artists come visit,” Father Keffer said, “and they say to me, ‘You’re in my idea of heaven.’ ”

Next Article in US (44 of 44) » A version of this article appeared in print on June 2, 2009, on page A10 of the New York edition.





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Economic Turmoil to Economic Takeover




Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us this month. We at Keep the Faith Ministry are very thankful for your prayers and support. It means so much to us and to the Lord when you support the presentation of truth. Thank you for listening. May God help you as you plan for the future in light of the issues that face God’s people in these last days. We truly live in amazing times.


I want to again urge you to check out our website on a frequent basis so that you can read up on the most recent information concerning current prophetic developments. Moreover, I urge you to tell your friends about their very own free subscription to our monthly sermons on CD that is just waiting for them. Many people are just discovering the wealth of information contained in the little CD preachers from Keep the Faith.

Before we go to our study of prophecy this month, we need to understand that Jesus is looking after His church. He is looking after His faithful people. The good news is that if you are following His counsel and you have a daily walk with the Lord, you can be sure that Psalm 91:1, the heavenly 911 will be your sure and certain safety. You will be under the shadow of the Almighty.
I have said it before; because the global economic crisis continues to deepen and broaden and is affecting every nation on the globe we are going to see a dramatic change in the way the world functions economically. With the huge banks and multinational companies on life-support, forces are now coming into play that will overturn the existing order. There is nothing you can do about the changes except to prepare for it by following God’s counsel. The world as we know it presently is going to end. No, I’m not referring to the second coming. That is going to end the world too, and permanently, but that is later. Right now, the world as you know it is going to end. There is going to be a systematic and systemic change in the way the economy works.
I want to advise you that the things you will hear in this month’s message are not only real, but they are imminent. You need to prepare your hearts for the coming dramatic changes in your lifestyle and way of doing business. Now is the time to make your calling and election sure. Remember that the greatest conflict that has ever engulfed the world and consequently God’s people is soon to come. But first world economies must be brought under control by a few key people and institutions. This sermon is unusually documented. You’ll find that documentation on our website. Click on the sermons link, then click on this sermon and as you scroll down the text you’ll see the links at appropriate places throughout it.


Isaiah chapter 2:20 tells us that those that have made money their idol will cast it aside as worthless. “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats…”

Furthermore, Revelation 18:15 says that the merchants of the earth, that is; the central bankers and those who control economies, are made rich by their cooperation with the Holy See. They are bold and corrupt. I have never in my lifetime seen such boldness among the merchants of the earth, as those dealing with the economic crisis. They boldly play with your money and spend your future. They boldly give billions of dollars to failing companies whose leaders were boldly taking advantage of circumstances and human nature by making risky loans and investments. Now they are getting their pockets lined with more money by government bailouts at taxpayers expense. They channel some of those bailouts into bonuses for themselves. Also, one company buys out another, and the resulting consolidation puts more power and control in the hands of fewer and fewer people, all in the name of solving the economic crisis on your behalf.


Moreover, governments, particularly the U.S. government, but also Iceland, and many European governments have been systematically nationalizing banks and major industries so that more power is centralized again.

Look at what Isaiah 23:8 says about the papacy and these bankers. “Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes [that’s Rome’s priestly bankers], whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? [That’s the global central bankers and economists].” I bet some of us never thought that this could be referring to those that control and manipulate earthly finance.

Rome’s merchants, my friends, are priests, or princes of the church who are in league with those same merchants who are the honored central bankers of the earth, like Henry Paulson, and now Timothy Geithner, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke. Yes, they have fallen upon some criticism in recent times, but they are still honored and given almost free reign over the economy. But they are the front line. They are supposed to get criticism. There are others behind them, such as the Rothchilds, Rockefellers, and others who are immune to it, but have a lot of say about how things turn out.


Isaiah 47:15 again speaks of Rome when she is destroyed; “thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.”


Revelation 18:15 says something similar; “the merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment…” They won’t help Rome when God finally undoes all that Rome has tried to do.


Now I’m going to read to you a most powerful statement from the Spirit of Prophecy that brings us up close and personal. It’s from Evangelism, page 62 and 63. Ellen White is addressing the stinginess of God’s people concerning the work of God, but she makes a startling prediction that is now in the process of being fulfilled. Listen to it carefully.


“Men will invest in patent rights and meet with heavy losses, and it is taken as a matter of course. But in the work and cause of God, men are afraid to venture. Money seems to them to be a dead loss that does not bring immediate returns when invested in the work of saving souls.” Now here comes the startling part: “The very means that is now so sparingly invested in the cause of God, and that is selfishly retained, will in a little while be cast with all idols to the moles and to the bats. Money will soon depreciate in value very suddenly when the reality of eternal scenes opens to the senses of man.”


I’m going to make a prediction that I am now confident is close to being reality. Some aspects of this I have been very skeptical about until recently, but not anymore. I have come to this conclusion after reading widely concerning the ongoing financial crisis and the actions of world leaders concerning the solution. Here is my heart pounding prediction. We are at the end, or nearly so, of the western economy as we know it. Moreover, the financial restructuring that is going on globally is going to change your life drastically. It will be forced on you whether you like it or not. Listen carefully. We are likely going to see a rapid devaluation of western currencies, just as God’s messenger predicted, and the revaluation of assets, or rather the re-inflation of assets under a new regionalized set of currencies. Let me say that again in a different way. We are going to see the devaluation of money, then a change in currency (which will make most people poorer) then a revaluation of tangible assets like real estate, so that those who have money to invest, or the rich, can make themselves richer by buying them cheaply before they are re-inflated. This has happened before in many countries, but it is now going to happen on a very broad scale among western countries, especially in the northern hemisphere. This is not about solving your economic problems. It is about consolidating power and money.
Just listen to the breathtaking statements of world leaders, the “kings of the earth,” and the bankers, or the “merchants of the earth.” After the Group of 20 (or the G20) economic summit in London in April, Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain announced that the ‘old Washington consensus’ had come to an end. “I think a new world order is emerging with the foundation of a new progressive era of international cooperation.” he said.


In other words, Gordon Brown is saying that from now on Washington will no longer be able to use the U.S. dollar to dictate to the world what is going to happen in world economy. Instead the economy is going to be globalized and controlled by internationalists.


Among the ominous decisions that came out of the G20 meeting is included a “common approach to managing ‘toxic assets’ [which is the term they use for bad investments], radical reform of the banking system, [and] new regulatory systems…” wrote the Melbourne Age. What do they mean by the “radical reform of the banking system?”


Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France said that “since Bretton Woods, the world has been living on… [an] Anglo-Saxon model,” meaning American and British of course. “It’s not my place to criticise it,” he said, “it has its advantages – clearly, today, a page has been turned.”
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor said: “[The G20 meeting] is a victory for global co-operation… The things that got us into this crisis are not allowed to be repeated…”


Merkel is talking about the way that the U.S. banks and Wall Street worked together to create a global economic bubble especially in real estate. Essentially banks all over the world were loaning money to finance gambling on Wall Street and other stock markets and in the real estate market. Banks worldwide and stock markets followed the U.S. example and now they are also following the economic fallout in the U.S too.



But Sarkozy, Merkel and Brown were essentially repeating what they had said a few months before. In November, Sarkozy declared, “We must rethink the financial system from scratch, as at Bretton Woods…” and “we want to change the rules of the game,” while Merkel believes that the global financial markets need a “new constitution” to govern them.


Bloomberg News Article
Gordon Brown said we need a “new Bretton Woods,” “a new global order” and a “global new deal” to address the economic crisis. “We face a choice,” he said. “We could allow this crisis to start a retreat from globalization… or we could view the threats and challenges we face today as the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order – and our task now is nothing less than making the transition through a new internationalism to the benefits of an expanding global society.


Before we go any further we need to understand what these world leaders mean when they talk about another Bretton Woods. Bretton Woods is the town in the U.S. state of New Hampshire where an important economic meeting took place at the Mount Washington Hotel back in July of 1944.


After World War I considerable global financial instability arose because most nations were now off the gold standard. Nations could now create money out of thin air without any gold backing. Consequently they could inflate or contract their economies by controlling the money supply. This led to tremendous volatility and a global recession in between the two World Wars.
Toward the end of World War II, financial elites of the 44 allied countries gathered in New Hampshire for one of the most significant meetings the world had ever seen up to that time. Officially called the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, it is now remembered as Bretton Woods. The job of this elite group of financial gurus and national delegations was to create a mechanism to minimize currency instability and fight recession. Never before had international monetary cooperation been attempted on a permanent institutional basis. Their agenda included the creation of a global currency, and an international monetary fund to regulate it (known today as the IMF), a global body to regulate trade (which eventually became the World Trade Organization), and an international bank to provide loans to needy countries (which eventually became the World Bank).


All of the attendees were in agreement that an international overhaul of the global financial system was needed, and that it should be under some kind of government controls. Interestingly this was going on at the same time that a new political order was arising through the United Nations. In essence they hammered out a new system of global economy that laid the foundations of the financial order that persisted until the early 1970s when a financial crisis led to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

Up to the time of Bretton Woods, the British Pound was the major currency because Britain had been the sole global superpower. The Bretton Woods agreements provided that each country peg its currency to gold. But almost all the nations were not on a gold standard. Since the United States was the only nation that still had gold backing its currency, the U.S. dollar became an almost ideal substitute for gold and achieved great credibility. The Bretton Woods agreements resulted in the U.S. dollar becoming the currency to which all other currencies were, in practicality, pegged. As a result, the United States in essence became the money manager of the world and could manipulate it to its own advantage. That is why there is a strong feeling among world leaders that the system needs to change. They don’t like being at the mercy of the U.S. Federal Reserve.


The signers of the Bretton Woods agreements were essentially the architects of the way the global financial system has worked more or less for the last 60 years. The financial crisis in the 1970s destabilized the Bretton Woods agreements when the United States left the gold standard and no longer backed its dollars with the precious metal. However, because the U.S. dollar was still the main reserve currency, the U.S. was positioned to continue dictating monetary policy on a global scale through the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve used the respect and confidence in the dollar to manage, or rather manipulate the global economy. When the U.S. loosened things up, so did the rest of the world. When the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy, so did the other nations more or less.



Now that is all changing. The economic crisis that has been fostered by the loose monetary policy of the Federal Reserve has spread around the world in wave after wave of bankrupt banks and financing corporations, faltering industry and commerce and teetering governments. Germany’s Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, likened it to a “poisonous oil spill,” and said that “the global financial system will become multipolar.” That means that it won’t be dominated by the U.S. dollar. The call for another Bretton Woods is nothing short of a global attempt to radically restructure the way the world does business and wrest the financial power from the United States and put it in the hands of internationalist bodies, essentially globalizing banking and finances. This does not threaten the Federal Reserve. It is not accountable to the political system of United States. The Fed itself is led by internationalists who want globalization of banking and finance, and is no doubt working to bring about the new global financial structure.



Now for more statements of world leaders. At the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland in February, Russia’s Prime Minister Putin said that “Excessive dependence on a single reserve currency,” meaning the U.S. dollar, “is dangerous for the global economy.” Putin also suggested that the International Monetary Fund should issue the reserve currency rather than allowing one country’s currency to be the international reserve currency.



Josef Ackerman, the Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank, and the chairman of the Institute of International Finance, said about the G20 London meeting in April that the “benefits of a global financial system is absolutely key” to global recovery and stability. “To retreat from [the] global approach would in my view” he said “be a step in the wrong direction, even if understandable from the point of view of national governments and taxpayers.” In other words, he was saying that it doesn’t matter what taxpayers think, or the national interests of individual nations. Globalism is now going to bring the world economy under its control. Keep in mind the reasons why globalists want this. It will help them globalize politics easier. But there is an even more important reason prophetically speaking. Without globalized economics and politics, there can never be globalized religion.


Furthermore Ackerman said “If we go back to a bank-based approach – traditional, old-fashioned lending – that would require much more capital, which is clearly not available, and would have a very negative impact on global growth,” he said. In other words, traditional banking is now likely to change as a new global system emerges.


Alistair Darling, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, even went so far as to say that governments should not “waste time talking about [their] constitutions.” In other words, nations will be pressured to join and cooperate with the global financial coalition no matter what their constitutions say about independence. As more money and power is in the control of fewer hands, nations will lose much of their sovereignty. The result will be that these global bankers will be able to reach down past national boundaries right down into your life, which is going to be more controlled than ever. Your government will not protect you from them.



The week before the G20 summit in London, China, which had kept a low profile during the crisis up to that time “dropped a bombshell,” wrote the Financial Times. Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the central bank, in an essay in The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, publically called for a replacement for the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. “Mr. Zhou argued,” said the Financial Times, “that the costs of maintaining the current system in which the [U.S.] dollar dominates, surpassed the benefits… The world urgently needs to create a diversified currency and financial system and [a] fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States,” he said, as he warned of the threat of a “financial tsunami” and the need for a new global currency system controlled by the International Monetary Fund.”



Mr. Zhou’s argument is that because the U.S. dollar has been the world’s reserve currency, other nations parked a lot of money in U.S. funds [China having the most], thereby financing the U.S. economy. The Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, was able to pursue an irresponsible policy of keeping interest rates too low and thereby inflating the housing bubble. This also increased other nation’s vulnerability to an economic downturn in the U.S. By moving away from the dollar as the reserve currency, Mr. Zhou suggested that it would stabilize world economy. Mr. Zhou is advocating that the International Monetary Fund should expand its use of SDRs, or “Special Drawing Rights.” SDRs [which are essentially] a synthetic or artificial currency issued by the International Monetary Fund, were created by the IMF in the 1960s as a means of providing the nations of the world with an independent reserve currency, but it was never really used that way because the dollar was so respected. SDRs have merely been an accounting tool the IMF uses to keep track of its loans to various nations.



Not surprisingly even the United Nations is getting in on the wave of official enthusiasm for a globalized economy. In March a special UN Commission recommended that the dollar be replaced as the world’s reserve currency.




The UK Telegraph reported on a communiqué published after the April G20 meeting in London. “A single clause in Point 19 of the communiqué issued by the G20 leaders, amounts to revolution in the global financial order,” the Telegraph said. “We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (£170bn) into the world economy and increase global liquidity,” the communiqué said.


The Telegraph continued; “in effect, the G20 leaders have activated the IMF’s power to create money” in it’s attempt to stem the crisis. “In doing so, they are putting a de facto world currency into play,” said the Telegraph. “It is outside the control of any sovereign body… There is now a world currency in waiting. In time, SDRs are likely [to] evolve into a parking place for the foreign holdings of central banks, led by the People’s Bank of China…”

Just before the G7 meeting in Washington last November, Gordon Brown gave a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations. He said “I have no doubt that out of the discussions we are having… we’ll have an international financial monetary fund that looks more like an independent central bank.” In other words, the G7 is working on adjusting the IMF so that it functions like a global independent central bank complete with power to create money.



The implications of this are powerful. Imagine a world currency that replaces your Pounds, Euros or Dollars of whatever variety. This in effect would centralize control of all the world money under a small body of people that have no accountability other than to themselves.
Do you think Ellen White was talking about something like this when she said: “In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business…” That’s Selected Messages, Volume 2, page 142.


If ever there would be a giant monopoly, it would be a world currency. If ever there were a grasping for all the means in certain lines of business like banking and finance, this would be it. And through the financial system everything else is controlled; every industrial steel manufacturer, every car manufacturer, every airline, every food processor, every farm, every pharmaceutical company, every hospital… You name it, it is about to come under the full control of a few global bankers and world money managers. But look what it is doing. According to God’s messenger to the remnant, it is wrapping these men and millions of people in the folds of the enemy.


Frankly, I’m not yet convinced that a single world currency is going to happen very soon, at least not a currency that you and I would use in our day to day business. But there are secret meetings going on behind the scenes that are framing the new economic world order right now into regional currencies. I suspect from what I have read that there is going to be three to six regional currencies pegged to the new global shadow currency, or the “synthetic currency known as SDRs at the IMF. You won’t use the SDRs in your daily transactions at the grocery store, but they will control everything behind the scenes through the policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other global institutions. We get little glimpses of what is being planned by paying attention to the language of those on the inside; those who are the architects of the new economic order.



Perhaps the most pointed statement came from Ewald Nowotny, a European Central Bank council member, who added a shocking revelation to the idea of moving away from the “centrality of the U.S. dollar.” He revealed that the U.S., Europe, and Asia are developing a “tri-polar global currency system” to replace the current dollar-centric reserve structure. “What I see” he said, “is a system where we have more centers of gravity…”



Think about what he said very carefully. What is a “tri-polar global currency system?” This was actually a patently clear statement of what is going on behind the scenes in those secret meetings. The United States, Europe, and Asia are secretly developing a three-currency system to replace the current U.S. dollar that countries keep as reserves. ”What he said was that behind closed doors, and in the backrooms of the leading economic powers of the world, and perhaps in and around these G group meetings in Davos, Washington, Rome and London, there are negotiations going on to radically revise the economic system of the entire world. This cannot be good for your pocketbook. Replacing currencies has always been at the expense of the average citizen by giving him less buying power in the exchange. While helping governments pay their debt at a significant discount because of the deflation. Therefore it is always in a government’s interest to deflate a currency value because it helps cover excessive government spending.
Ewald Nowotny said, along with quite a number of others, that the [U.S.] dollar will lose its position as the world’s reserve currency. He also said that the three currencies will be coordinated so that world economy will be balanced by “three centers of gravity” in the U.S., Europe and Asia, though he did not think that the exchange rates would be fixed. Perhaps I should warn you that this means that your cash will be of little good to you soon. It will be replaced and you will be less wealthy. This would be the time to get your money into God’s work and to make sure that most of what is left is tied up in real assets like your home.
No doubt much of this had already been hammered out long before the G20 summit in London. There have been many “G-meetings” to strategize and set the course for globalizing earthly finances. Once the Group of seven, or the seven largest economies known as the G7, met in Washington DC in October, 2008 to create a roadmap, they followed with a G20 meeting of the 20 largest economies of the world in Washington again, to get their cooperation. Then, as you would expect, the G7 or the seven leading merchants of the earth, gathered in Rome in mid-February 2009 to plan for the London G20 summit in April.


I wonder why they met in Rome besides to plan for the upcoming meeting in London. Perhaps they needed to bring the Vatican up do date on the planning and explain what they doing and seek advice. We don’t know for sure, but the Bible tells us that these merchants are in league with Holy See in their economic dealings. Zenit reported that the Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertoni sent a message to the G7 while in Rome urging them to put “the person before profit” and respect the rights of workers. No doubt these leaders are in contact with the Vatican on a regular basis. Incidentally, the Rome meeting was also attended by leaders of trade organizations, the World Bank, the IMF and Russia as observers.



The Vatican had already been involved in the process. On February 19, Gordon Brown, Britain’s Prime Minister and the host of the upcoming London summit, flew to Rome and met with Benedict XVI to discuss with him the economic crisis and their plans for globalizing it. No doubt the Vatican is very interested in this process for its own reasons. The prophetic meeting with the pope is the fourth of a British Prime Minister in six years, and was in conjunction with Mr. Brown’s meeting with Silvio Berlusconi, the chairman of the G7 at the time. Brown accompanied his visit with an invitation for Benedict to visit the UK. Papal cooperation in the economic solution is so important that the UK Telegraph said that the Prime Minister was going to Benedict to “seek divine guidance as he presses ahead with efforts to tackle the economic crisis.”
Following their meeting in Rome, Benedict and Brown exchanged letters in which they affirmed their commitment to wealth redistribution in order to help the poorest countries among other things. Then just before the London summit, on March 31, Brown “preached” a sermon on the morality of the economy at St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London before 2000 people. Never before had a Prime Minister spoken in historic St. Paul’s. Brown quoted scripture and used religious terms in calling for a new world order based on moral and ethical principles. Echoing Benedict’s emphasis on the dignity of the person, he emphasized that “market forces should be replaced by those of the ‘heart.’” He was joined by his Roman Catholic counterpart Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, for a public discussion moderated by the Anglican bishop of London.



The Bible tells us that the leaders in this economic process are working with Rome and other churches to accomplish their purposes. They know that in a time when people are upset by a crisis, success of their plans can only come if they cooperate with religious powers led by Rome because Rome has enormous social and economic influence. That is one of the reasons they have meetings in Rome and private meetings with the pontiff. They know that if they talk in moral and religious terms, religious people are more likely to support their centralization of power. They know that if they help Rome, Rome will help them.


There were other planning meetings to prepare for the G20 summit in London, such as a G20 meeting in Berlin in late February and the ASEAN group, or the nations of Southeast Asia who met at the end of February to discuss the upcoming summit. By the time the London meeting began, the plans for economic globalization would have been quite mature and well communicated. After the London meeting, in which the nations agreed to have their economies overseen by the IMF there was planned a summit for the Asian nations, the intent of which would have been to bring all the Asian nations into harmony with the new economic order. But the ASEAN economic summit in Thailand was disrupted by protesters forcing the attendees to flee the meeting place. Perhaps the angels were holding back the process and thereby the winds of strife.



Globalizing the economy and banking while regionalizing currency into three major areas is not an easy task and no doubt will take many more meetings. But the fundamental principles are probably already in place and will just take time to work themselves out. You and I will see dramatic changes over the next few years in which this new globalized administration will regulate everything from banking policies to accounting standards, and even executive compensation. In the long run the new globalization of the economy will certainly shift wealth away from developed nations to developing ones. It is all spelled out in the communiqué from the G20 meeting. You can read it by going to our website and clicking on the appropriate link in the text of this sermon. Forget about banking secrecy. Tax havens will disappear. Every banking transaction will be transparent. Every transaction can potentially be controlled.
Friends, to put this prophetically, if there is going to be a global no-buy-no-sell law, as predicted in Revelation 13:16, there has to be transparency of all transactions. Terrorism first and now the economic crisis are the justifications for establishing a system that will eventually be used to enforce universal Sunday worship laws by preventing those that do not participate in them from buying or selling.



My friends, this is, in essence, the final, or near final centralization of the global economy in the hands of the bankers and global merchants. The bottom line is that the current economic crisis is being used as a means of taking economic power away from the United States and handing it to international bodies that would then manage it for all people of the world in classic socialistic globalism. Of course, the United States has not been a sterling example of fiscal responsibility, and now has no defense. But with the dismal track record of the UN, the World Bank and other international bodies to adequately manage political issues, what makes them think that similar international bodies controlling the whole world economy will be devoid of political agendas or vested interests?


Let us put this into the prophetic context again. Revelation 18 tells us that the merchants of the earth are working closely together with the Holy See to make themselves rich, while at the same time making Rome more powerful. There is no doubt in my mind that the new centralized economy and currencies will benefit Rome and these world economic controllers. While they tout the need for this new system because of the economic crisis, and to help poor nations, they are the very ones that to a large degree have created the crisis by loosening standards and oversight so that banks and other financial institutions in the western world could take advantage of human nature.


Remember that the love of money is the root of all evil. The economic crisis is largely the result of human nature’s ability to make use of an opportunity for personal enrichment at the expense of others. When this is done on a global scale, it ultimately leads to a global instability and an international economic crisis much like we have seen over the last couple of years.


Listen to this statement from the UK Telegraph: “The real sticking point of the new system is the set of ‘new rules aimed at avoiding excessive leverage [or debt], and forcing banks to put more money aside during good times,” said the Telegraph. “This is more or less what the authorities agreed after the Depression. [But] complacency chipped away at the rules as the decades passed. It is the human condition, and we can’t change that.”


So it is no surprise that given a loose environment for profiteering, human nature will exploit the opportunities leading to a cycle of risky investments, bubbles and then contractions in the economy. But the common solution presented for all these “crises” is more centralization of control, more globalism, more internationalism. Eventually the whole mess will be considered to be a moral crisis that only religious and moral austerity can resolve.


Listen to what the Vatican is saying about the economic crisis. “The current economic crisis,” said Pope Benedict XVI, “shows the importance of building our lives on the firm foundation of the Word.” Given Rome’s definition of the firm foundation of the word, which means papal interpretation of the word, or in more precise terms, papal pronouncements and canon law, Rome is patently attempting to put her own moral spin on the crisis and its solutions.
Concerning the UN sponsored Doha economic conference for financing developing nations, November 20 – December 2, 2008, in which representatives of 160 nations were present, the “Bishop of Rome praised the identification of ‘helpful criteria for directing the governance of the economic system and helping those who are most in need…’” wrote Zenit a Vatican news agency. “On a deeper level, bolstering the economy demands rebuilding confidence,” the pope said. “This goal will only be reached by implementing an ethics based on the innate dignity of the human person.’”



What Benedict is saying is that solutions to the economic problems of this world involve moral principles which Rome continues to position herself to define. But the following statement is the clearest concerning Rome’s support for a new system of economic governance. “The roots of the economic crisis point to the need for a new international structure, say [the] bishops of Latin America… Globalization, should abide by ethics, placing everything at the service of the human person created in the image and likeness of God.” This statement is a thinly veiled attempt to suggest that the Catholic Church should be recognized as the moral authority by which the ethics of the global economic system should operate.



So Rome is calling for a change in the global economic order too. But Rome wants more than just a new monetary system. Why would the Holy See want to see a new world order of economics? The Bible tells us that Rome is master of the economy. She gets these merchants of the earth involved with her behind the scenes. Rome is very shy about openly discussing her economic relationships. She will openly discuss her ecumenical relationships and many of her political relationships to some extent, but her economic relationships are a matter left largely to the imagination. But the Bible tells us clearly that in order for the Holy See to have a strong political power, she must of necessity have an economic influence that assists her in this.


Rome urges that religious principles should motivate world economy and politics. Since the economy is what often manipulates politics, she wants more say in economic matters. Her goal is to have the most influence possible on global economy, politics, governments, and the vast millions of citizens. When control of the economy is centralized into a few hands, it is so much easier for Rome to manipulate it, particularly when she has many of her own “merchants” in the seats of power. So the Papacy has an interest in restructuring the economic system. Perhaps she is in the middle of the negotiations. The kings of the earth, and the merchants of the earth give her what she wants, and she gives them what they want. She gets greater power and they get greater wealth.


Think about this in terms of prophecy again. Religion is the third leg of the three-legged stool of prophetic globalism. Once the political world is globalized (and it is well down that road already), and once the economic world is globalized (and this is now being formulated), you can expect that the next frontier of globalization will be religion (and that too has already started through the ecumenical movement). Furthermore, since the economy has become global and political, it is no surprise to students of prophecy that religion will also become political on a global scale. The universal no-buy-no-sell laws to enforce global worship laws cannot happen until every leg of the three-legged stool is in place. There must be economic consolidation on a global scale. That is now in process.


Listen to this statement from the pen of God’s messenger, Ellen White about the wickedness of the world. It is from Testimonies for the Church, Volume 7, page 141. “This earth has almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his will upon it. The substitution of the laws of men for the law of God, the exaltation, by merely human authority, of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath, is the last act in the drama. When this substitution becomes universal, God will reveal Himself. He will arise in His majesty to shake terribly the earth. He will come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”


Friends, the universal substitution is not yet in place, but the restructure of the economy is rapidly moving us in that direction.


Money is the medium by which people provide the daily necessities of life. Most people work to earn money so that they can provide for their families. But money is the fruit of our labor, which God has given us the ability to earn and use wisely for His cause. It is God’s, and we are the stewards.


My friends, we must now have our priorities straight. Money is to be used to provide our daily necessities and support the spread of the truth. It is not to be hoarded or used in a selfish way. When you are reduced to the barter system because you are faithful to the Lord, you won’t need your money. You need skills to minister to others. If you know how to help people by giving them a hydrotherapy treatment or a massage, they will give you food to eat. Medical missionary work is one of the very last things that can be done to win souls under the pressure of the Sunday laws that are coming upon this world once economic consolidation and control has been fully implemented. But it may well be the means by which God supports His faithful people.
People will eventually see the worthlessness of pursing economic priorities before spiritual things. Either you develop the right priorities now, or you will have them work against you in the future. It is better to be faithful to God now in all things and avoid his wrath in the day of wrath.
Listen carefully to what the apostle James has to say in chapter 5:1-3. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days…” Verse 5 says: “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter…”


My friends, have you been wanton? Has money been your chief motive? Has it become your idol? God has a solution for the idolatry of money and wealth. He has given us the privilege of returning tithe and offerings. Returning tithe to the Lord’s work is the way we show God that we acknowledge His sovereignty over our lives. Offerings show God how much we love Him.
As the global economic system is revised, as currencies are consolidated, as assets are devalued and then re-inflated; and finally as we near the close of probation, James gives us very pertinent counsel in verse 7 and 8 of chapter 5. “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”


To establish your hearts means that you have settled the matter of worldliness, materialism and selfishness in your life. You are precious to Jesus, and He wants to have you as part of the precious fruit of the earth. The really good news is that Jesus is near to coming again. Now is the time to align yourself with the precious principles of heaven and turn from the corrupt principles of this world.





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Clinton details conditions for Cuba entry to OAS




By MATTHEW LEE – 2 hours ago

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that any move toward allowing Cuba to join the Organization of American States must be accompanied by the communist nation's release of political prisoners, respect for basic human rights and democratic reforms.

"We do look forward to the day when Cuba can join the OAS," she told a breakfast meeting with Caribbean foreign ministers. "But we believe that membership in the OAS must come with responsibilities and we owe it to each other to uphold our standards of democracy and governance that have brought so much progress to our hemisphere."

"It is not about reliving the past," Clinton said. "It is about the future of being true to the founding principles of this organization."

The United States is largely isolated within the OAS in demanding conditions. Top officials from members of the OAS have been nearly unanimous in calling for Cuba to be allowed to rejoin the 34-nation group without conditions.

Despite President Barack Obama's tentative overtures to Cuba, Clinton, who is attending the session, says any move to allow Cuba to rejoin the group must be accompanied by changes by its government.

Faced with a solid bloc of countries opposed to the conditions, U.S. officials are hoping to stall a vote on reversing Cuba's nearly 50-year-old suspension from the OAS without demands for change.

Clinton expressed hope that a "common way forward" could be found.

But the region's growing number of socialist leaders, spearheaded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales and El Salvador President Mauricio Funes are pressing for a vote, and U.S. officials are unsure how the meeting will proceed.

Even though Cuba has expressed no interest in rejoining the bloc and the organization generally makes decision by consensus, proponents can push ahead with a resolution that needs only a two-thirds majority, or 23 votes, to pass.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said Tuesday that the group "has always agreed on main issues by consensus. I don't believe it would take away that tradition today because it has also been very useful."

"Only the foreign ministers can take a decision (on Cuba) now," he said.

Forcing a vote would put Clinton in a difficult position because regional and U.S. officials believe there are easily enough countries in favor. Diplomats have been scrambling to reach consensus on a compromise resolution but as of late Monday had been unable to do so.

The administration is toeing a delicate line as it reaches out to Cuban leader Raul Castro and by extension his ailing brother Fidel by lifting restrictions on money transfers and travel to the island by Americans with family there.

Cuba agreed over the weekend to a U.S. proposal to resume immigration talks with Washington that former President George W. Bush suspended in 2003 and to negotiations on restarting direct mail service between the two countries. It has also proposed exploring cooperation on counternarcotics and terrorism as well as on disaster preparedness.

But the Castros have repeatedly said they want a full lifting of the decades-old U.S. embargo on Cuba, something the administration has refused to consider without reforms. That stance has left the United States increasingly isolated.

Clinton is at Tuesday's meeting as the representative of the last country in the Western Hemisphere without full diplomatic ties with Cuba.

El Salvador had been the only other one, but in his first act as president, Funes on Monday restored his country's diplomatic relations with Cuba that had been broken in 1961.

The signing ceremony to commemorate that event was held in the same room at the presidential palace in San Salvador where Clinton and Funes later held their joint news conference.








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Suspect pleads not guilty in recruitment center shooting


By William M. Welch, USA TODAY


A Muslim convert who said he was against the U.S. military pleaded not guilty Tuesday to capital murder in connection with the shooting of two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting center.

One soldier died in the attack Monday, police said.

Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, was ordered held without bail at a hearing Tuesday in Little Rock. He is charged in the death of Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

"This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that's why he did what he did," Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.

"He has converted to (Islam) here in the past few years," Hastings said. "We're not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.

"He saw them standing there and drove up and shot them. That's what he said."

Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville was wounded in the shooting and in stable condition, Police Chief Stuart Thomas said.

The suspect, who is from Little Rock, was previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, Thomas said.

The soldiers wore fatigues, had recently completed basic training and volunteered to help attract others to the military, Thomas said.

He said the gunman targeted the military but was not believed to be part of a broader scheme.

Interviews with police showed that Muhammad "probably had political and religious motives for the attack," the police chief said.

Thomas said Muhammad would be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act. He said those counts result from the gunfire occurring near other people.

Hastings said the attacker pulled up in a car outside the Army-Navy recruiting office around 10:30 a.m. and fired at the soldiers outside.

According to the Associated Press, the vehicle was stopped on Interstate 630 a short time later, and the suspect was taken into custody. Police found an assault rifle in the vehicle.

Jim Richardson, the manager at a drug store around the corner from the Army-Navy center, said people at the store didn't realize anything was amiss until they heard sirens outside.

"Nobody heard any gunshots," Richardson said.

Lt. Col. Thomas Artis of the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, which oversees the Little Rock office, said the victims were not regular recruiters. He said they were serving two weeks in the Little Rock office.

As part of the Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program, the soldiers were sent to "talk to friends, folks in the local area. They can show the example, 'Here's where I was, and here is where I am,' " Artis said.

Artis said neither of the soldiers had been deployed for combat.

Contributing: The Associated Press


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Zoo Train Derails, Injuring 22 People


By BRETT BARROUQUERE,
AP
posted: 5 HOURS 8 MINUTES AGO

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 2) - A small train carrying visitors to the Louisville Zoo fell off the tracks Monday, sending 22 people to hospitals including one child who was critically injured, officials said.

The train of open-air cars is pulled by a small engine and circles the zoo along a two-mile track. It was carrying about 30 passengers when three cars and the engine fell off the rails near the gorilla exhibit. A person briefly trapped

Seventeen children were taken to Kosair Children's Hospital for treatment, including one in critical condition and another in serious, said spokesman Brian Rublein. Five adults were taken to University of Louisville Hospital, and spokesman David McArthur said all were in fair or better condition and that one might be admitted.

Dr. Neal Richmond, CEO and medical director of Louisville Metro EMS, said one adult had a possible head injury and was "a little confused initially" but was communicating and walking.

Those injured were from 2 months old to senior citizens, he said.

Rublein said besides the two children admitted to Kosair, three others were still being evaluated, with the rest treated and released.

The derailment happened about 1 1/2 hours before the zoo's 6 p.m. closing, Bussabarger said. The train wasn't in a public area but behind the gorilla exhibit, she said.

Zoo officials planned to reopen as scheduled Tuesday, but the ride will be closed until further notice. Bussabarger said three Kentucky Department of Agriculture ride inspectors are investigating. The cause was not yet known, Bussabarger said.

The train ride opened 40 years ago, Bussabarger said in a statement. The one that derailed was bought in 2000, holds 40 to 50 passengers and averages 12 miles per hour, she said.

Associated Press writer Beth Campbell contributed to this report.


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Possible Debris From Missing Jet


Airplane Seat Among Items Spotted in Atlantic Ocean

By MARCO SIBAJA,
AP
posted: 59 MINUTES AGO

BRASILIA, Brazil (June 2) – An airplane seat, a life jacket, metallic debris and signs of fuel were found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday by Brazilian military pilots searching for a missing Air France airliner.


The debris was spotted from the air about 410 miles (650 kilometers) north of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, roughly along the path that the jet was taking before it disappeared with 228 people on board, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.


There were no signs of life in two sightings of separate debris areas about 60 kilometers (35 miles) apart.


"The locations where the objects were found are towards the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted," Amaral said. "That suggests that it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha, but that is just a hypothesis."


Amaral said authorities would not be able to confirm that the debris is from the plane until they can retrieve some of it from the ocean for identification. Brazilian military ships are not expected to arrive at the area until Wednesday.


The discovery came more than 24 hours after the jet bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went missing, with all feared dead.


Rescuers were still scanning a vast sweep of ocean extending from far off northeastern Brazil to waters off West Africa. The 4-year-old Airbus A330 was last heard from at 0214 GMT Monday (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday).


Investigators on both sides of the ocean were trying to determine what brought it down. Potential causes included shifting winds and hail from towering thunderheads, lightning or a combination of other factors.


An automatic message sent from the plane just before it disappeared said that the plane was losing pressure and had experienced an electrical failure.


If there are no survivors, as feared, it would be the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001.
On board the flight were 61 French citizens, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, nine Chinese and nine Italians. A lesser number of citizens from 27 other countries also were on the passenger list, including two Americans.


French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he told family members of passengers that prospects of finding survivors are "very small."


Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed hope that survivors could be found.
Air France was helping Brazilian relatives of the passengers at the airport in Rio. Bernardo Ciriaco, a civil servant, said he arrived at the airport in a panic because he knew his brother Gustavo was on one of two Air France flights heading to Paris on Sunday night.


About two hours later, he received a phone call from Gustavo, telling him he had landed safely in Europe.


Gustavo told him that he had been bumped to the flight that is missing but had insisted that he be allowed on the booked earlier flight and arrived safely.


"Our family is so relieved," Ciriaco said.


Retired professor Vasdir Ester told the Terra Web site that her 40-year-old daughter Adriana Francisca Van Sluings was on the flight. Ester said Van Sluings is afraid of flying and was very worried before taking the flight.


While what happened to the plane has not been determined, a Pentagon official said he'd seen no indication of terrorism or foul play. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject.


Sarkozy said the cause of the plane's disappearance remains unclear and that "no hypothesis" is being excluded.


The plane was cruising normally at 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) and 522 mph (840 kph) just before it disappeared nearly four hours into the flight. No trouble was reported as the plane left radar contact, beyond Brazil's Fernando de Noronha archipelago, at 10:48 p.m. local time (9:48 p.m. EDT Sunday, 0148 GMT Monday).


But just north of the equator, a line of towering thunderstorms loomed. Bands of extremely turbulent weather stretched across the Atlantic toward Africa, as they often do in the area this time of year.



The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence," Air France said. About 14 minutes later, at 11:14 p.m. local time, (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday, 0214 GMT Monday), an automatic message was sent reporting electrical system failure and a loss of cabin pressure. Air France said the message was the last it heard from Flight 447.


Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said a lightning strike could have damaged the plane. Henry Margusity, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, noted that the thunderstorms towered up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) in the area, so it was possible that the plane flew directly into the most charged part of the storm — the top of it.


Other experts doubted a bolt of lightning would be enough to bring the jet down. Some pointed to turbulence as a more dangerous factor.


"Lightning issues have been considered since the beginning of aviation. They were far more prevalent when aircraft operated at low altitudes. They are less common now since it's easier to avoid thunderstorms," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation, in Alexandria, Virginia.


Voss said planes are built to dissipate electricity along the aircraft's skin, and are tested for resistance to big electromagnetic shocks.


Former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board chairman Jim Hall said that since the A330 is widely used in international travel it was vitally important to locate the black boxes as quickly as possible and analyze what happened to Flight 447.


"At this point accident investigators can't rule out anything," he said. "But these aircraft are designed to withstand almost any lightning strikes or any level of turbulence."


Although aviation experts stressed it was much too early to speculate about the causes of the crash, they noted that the accident was most likely caused by various factors that combined to cause a catastrophic chain of events.


"It sounds like something that evolved into a problem, not something that happened instantly," Voss said. "It would appear that their systems were degrading but we don't know why they were degrading."
The plane disappeared

in an area of the mid-Atlantic ocean not covered by radar. Brazilian, African, Spanish and French air traffic controllers tried in vain to establish contact.


Air France-KLM CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said the pilot had 11,000 hours of flying experience, including 1,700 hours flying this aircraft.


Experts said the absence of a mayday call meant something happened very quickly.


"The conclusion to be drawn is that something catastrophic happened on board that has caused this airplane to ditch in a controlled or an uncontrolled fashion," Jane's Aviation analyst Chris Yates told The Associated Press. "Potentially it went down very quickly and so quickly that the pilot on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call."


If all 228 people were killed, it would be the deadliest commercial airline disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jetliner crashed in the New York City borough of Queens during a flight to the Dominican Republic, killing 265 people.


Airbus spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma said it was the first fatal accident of a A330-200 since a test flight in 1994 went wrong, killing seven people in Toulouse.


The Airbus A330-200 is a twin-engine, long-haul, medium-capacity passenger jet that can hold up to 253 passengers. There are 341 in use worldwide, flying up to 7,760 miles (12,500 kilometers) a trip.


Keller reported from Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy, France. Associated Press reporters Emma Vandore, Laurent Lemel and Laurent Pirot in Paris; Alan Clendenning and Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo and Marco Sibaja in Brasilia; Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, Belgium; Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Airlines and Transportation Editor Greg Stec in New York also contributed to this report.





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Preparation for what Lies Ahead


Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Zeph. 2:3.


Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. God's people should be preparing for what is to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise. {Mar 161.1}

The "time of trouble, such as never was," is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. "Though Noah, Daniel, and Job" were in the land, "as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness." Ezekiel 14:20. {Mar 161.2}

The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering--a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition. {Mar 161.3}

We should study the great waymarks that point out the times in which we are living. . . . We should now pray most earnestly that we may be prepared for the struggles of the great day of God's preparation. {Mar 161.4}

Those who place themselves under God's control, to be led and guided by Him, will catch the steady tread of the events ordained by Him to take place. Inspired with the Spirit of Him who gave His life for the life of the world, they will no longer stand still in impotency, pointing to what they cannot do. Putting on the armor of heaven, they will go forth to the warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that His omnipotence will supply their need. {Mar 161.5}


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Monday, June 01, 2009

The Messengers


The Messengers [SEE APPENDIX.]

The Lord has often given me a view of the situation and wants of the scattered jewels who have not yet come to the light of the present truth, and has shown that the messengers should speed their way to them as fast as possible, to give them the light. Many all around us only need to have their prejudices removed and the evidences of our present position spread out before them from the Word, and they will joyfully receive the present truth. The messengers should watch for souls as they that must give account. Theirs must be a life of toil and anguish of spirit, while the weight of the precious but often-wounded cause of Christ rests upon them. They will have to lay aside worldly interests and comforts and make it their first object to do all in their power to advance the cause of present truth and save perishing souls. {EW 61.1}

They will also have a rich reward. In their crowns of rejoicing those who are rescued by them and finally saved will shine as stars forever and ever. And to all eternity they will enjoy the satisfaction of having done what they could in presenting the truth in its purity and beauty, so that souls fell in love with it, were sanctified through it, and availed themselves of the inestimable privilege of being made rich, and being washed in the blood of the Lamb and redeemed unto God. {EW 61.2}

I saw that the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains. Then the shepherds will be perfectly united and the
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union of the shepherds will be felt by the church. Such a course I saw would prevent unhappy divisions, and then there would be no danger of the precious flock being divided and the sheep scattered without a shepherd. {EW 61.3}

I also saw that God had messengers that He would use in His cause, but they were not ready. They were too light and trifling to exert a good influence over the flock and did not feel the weight of the cause and the worth of souls as God's messengers must feel in order to effect good. Said the angel, "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." They can accomplish but little good unless they are wholly given up to God and feel the importance and solemnity of the last message of mercy that is now being given to the scattered flock. Some who are not called of God are very willing to go with the message. But if they felt the weight of the cause and the responsibilities of such a station, they would feel to shrink back and say with the apostle, "Who is sufficient for these things?" One reason why they are so willing to go is that God has not laid upon them the weight of the cause. Not all who proclaimed the first and the second angel's message are to give the third, even after they fully embrace it, for some have been in so many errors and delusions that they can but just save their own souls, and if they undertake to guide others, they will be the means of overthrowing them. But I saw that some who have formerly run deep into fanaticism would be the first now to run before God sends them, before they are purified from their past errors; having error mixed with the truth, they would feed the flock of God with it, and if they were suffered to go on, the flock would become sickly, and distraction and death would follow. I saw that they would have to be sifted and sifted, until they were freed from all their
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errors, or they could never enter the kingdom. The messengers could not have that confidence in the judgment and discernment of those who have been in errors and fanaticism that they could have in those who have been in the truth and not in extravagant errors. Many, also, are too apt to urge out into the field some who have but just professed the present truth, who have much to learn and much to do before they can be right in the sight of God themselves, much less point out the way to others. {EW 62.1}

I saw the necessity of the messengers, especially, watching and checking all fanaticism wherever they might see it rise. Satan is pressing in on every side, and unless we watch for him, and have our eyes open to his devices and snares, and have on the whole armor of God, the fiery darts of the wicked will hit us. There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God, but it is "present truth" that the flock needs now. I have seen the danger of the messengers running off from the important points of present truth, to dwell upon subjects that are not calculated to unite the flock and sanctify the soul. Satan will here take every possible advantage to injure the cause. {EW 63.1}

But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the 2300 days, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell. {EW 63.2}

If the chosen messengers of the Lord should wait for every obstacle to be moved out of their way, many never would go to search for the scattered sheep. Satan will present many objections in order to keep them from duty. But they will have to go out by faith, trusting
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in Him who has called them to His work, and He will open the way before them, as far as it will be for their good and His glory. Jesus, the great teacher and pattern, had not where to lay His head. His life was one of toil, sorrow, and suffering; He then gave Himself for us. Those who, in Christ's stead, beseech souls to be reconciled to God, and who hope to reign with Christ in glory, must expect to be partakers of His sufferings here. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Ps. 126:5, 6.

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{EW 63.3}


P.S. Bolds added for emphasis.


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