The New World Order—known also as the One World Order—attracts much speculative comment. It is best to stay clear of the extremism that is attracted to this topic … for example, refraining from pointless attempts to identify or “tar and feather” the mythical “globalists” or “international bankers” or Jews who are supposedly scheming up diabolical plans for the world. But there definitely is a great conspiracy at work. Soon, there will be 10 kings that will give their support to the ultimate conspirator—the Beast, the “in-the-flesh” Antichrist. But a few things have to happen before this can occur. And, at least one of these things will involve America.
But first, a few comments about conspiracy theories are in order. The Bible clearly equates conspiracy schemes with the antichrist spirit. Said Apostle John, “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:3). Everyone is vulnerable to playing a role, whether small or large. There can be any number of antichrists in this sense, the Bible indicating that there would be many. “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). Simply complying with the world’s values and its humanist agenda makes one a conspirator … a mini antichrist. The spirit of the antichrist really aligns all individuals, groups and nations who betray a spirit of rebellion against God, whether elites or not.
But this should not make any complicit people our enemies or the target of our condemnation. We are reminded that “[…] we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). This is not a single spirit, but a hierarchy of demons led by the “kosmokrator,” the chief angel, Satan. It is against this conspiracy that we wrestle—not deceived, mortal human beings.
Our time is therefore better spent praying for conspirators and antichrists, whoever they are, and pursuing a Biblical faith life. Elitists, globalists or whatever other “one-world-order” villains there might be, are no different or worse than the vast humanity that has been either misled or blinded by this world’s “prince of the air.” All other conspiracy theories, such as mentioned, are really unnecessary distractions to Christians.
Lately, however, at the behest of many antichrists and the Antichrist spirit himself, the great cosmic conspiracy is being advanced rapidly. And, as has often been the case throughout history, great financial crises have proven to be very effective catalysts for the advance of humanism on earth.
World Order Delayed or a Diversion?
A new world order? Lately, it would hardly seem that way. The globe has appeared rather disorderly. Panic and desperate actions better define the times, not order rank and file. It even seems as if that prophesied day has arrived where people will throw their silver into the streets (Isaiah 2:20, Ezekiel 7:19). Recently, even gold and silver prices have plunged. However, that prophesied time is also not yet. Ezekiel and Isaiah’s prophecies refer to conditions that will occur in the later stages of the Tribulation … likely nearer the time of the 6th seal.
Yet, many observers—Bible-readers or not—do think that the world is now rapidly caught in something like the Great Tribulation. In fact, it is surprising how many observers use apocalyptic language in describing the recent economic and financial meltdowns. Apparently, a “financial Armageddon” is more fearsome than the real Armageddon. Indeed, a very steep global economic recession, perhaps even a depression, is in the works for some countries.
That America and the world’s financial systems were vulnerable to shattering meltdowns had long been obvious. Yet, now that calamitous events have occurred and difficult times are obvious to everyone, most of the world still remains asleep as to what really is underfoot behind the scenes. What yet lies in the future?
We need not speculate. We know where this global rebellion against God is headed, because the Bible tells us the future in advance. Yes, we cannot know the exact timing and the minute details of future events. All the same, reading the Bible we do know what the general world order will look like nearer the time that the Tribulation period begins. Doing so, we can discern that developments today are fulfilling a rapid progression towards that prophesied time.
Unlike the Rapture, which is signless, the Tribulation is not. Therefore, we can today know that the Tribulation period has not yet begun and is yet future. This conclusion can be deduced a number of ways. One of the most persuasive reasons for knowing that time is not yet is that the “endtime shoe” does not yet fit the time of the 10 kings.
The 10 kings must exist before the Antichrist is revealed. Daniel makes this clear. “The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings” (Daniel 7:24). Here we see only “after” the 10 kings are on the scene, that “another king”—the Antichrist—will arise.
Because of this, we can know that the world is yet to experience some great geopolitical and economic power shifts. This must occur before the final endtime events described in the Bible can occur.
Ultimate Doom and Gloom Deferred
Prospects now look so grim to some analysts that they predict the world will soon return to the “Dark Ages.” They reason that during difficult times, individual sovereign countries will resort to protecting their own narrow interests. They will therefore no longer comply with global organizations and institutions, abandoning multilateral relationships and retreating to the principle of “every man for himself.” As such, globalism will be abandoned.
Also, global merchandise trade will now experience a steep setback. The Baltic Dry Shipping Index (a statistical barometer that economists use to track world transportation rates for ocean-going ships) has shockingly collapsed 90% in less than a year. When this index soared, as it did in recent years when the Asian manufacturing hub anchored by China flooded the world with exports galore, it indicated rising demand for ships. Its unprecedented collapse now signifies to some that global commerce is doomed. They therefore conclude that globalization must therefore be dead.
Yet, though the globe may be facing unprecedented and calamitous times, a total collapse is not imminent. No doubt, difficult economic conditions are upon the world … certainly for a time. However, predictions of terminal doom occurring now are wrong. In fact, the Bible expressly indicates otherwise. For one, we know that the world will have many sea captains at that future time when Babylon is yet to be judged (Revelation 18:17). How otherwise would it be possible for “all who had ships on the sea [to become] rich through her [the great city Babylon’s] wealth” (Revelation 18:19)? As such, shipping captains must yet experience a time of prosperity in the future.
Also, we know that ocean going traffic will still exist in the early Millennial period, as this must be the case in order to fulfill prophecies promised to Israel. For example: “Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come” (Isaiah 60:5). Ships will be bringing cargo and people to Israel at that future time. “Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold [...]” (Isaiah 60:9).
As mentioned, views that the world will face a reversal with respect to globalism are also wrong. It is much too late for this to occur in any case, as the world is already too interconnected upon global trade with other nations. The fortunes of every country are too mutually dependent, so that very few, if any, can risk being recklessly independent. In this sense, the road back from globalism is more horrible to policymakers than the one forward.
Said differently, ever more sovereignty will be bartered for the sake of grain, just as was foreshadowed by the Bible’s account of Joseph’s policies in that time of crisis in Egypt thousands of years ago. “And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world” (Genesis 41:57). The world is resolute upon achieving prosperity and its popular comforts its own way, without first seeking the Kingdom of God and salvation through the Son, Jesus Christ.
Road to Armageddon Uninterrupted
For these reasons and others, we can know that the steep downturn in global trade at present is only a stage of the world’s endtime “birth pains,” not yet the end. We must sadly conclude that the world’s progression towards the prophesied global conditions of the last days will continue. As for what happens after the Rapture … that may be of little interest to Christians who are focused upon the Lord, looking only to His return. Yet, this realization does quicken our gaze upward, as His appearing seems ever more imminent.
Just what are some of these prophesied conditions? Among many are these: apostasy, false christs, wealth extremes, hoarding, dissipation, indulgence, globalism and globalization. All of these are far advanced. But there is one that does not yet exist— global multipolarism. What is meant by multipolarism? It is a condition of inter-relationships where the world’s key nations are relatively balanced in terms of power and influence. Let’s examine this condition more closely, as it is very significant and also connects to the question of America’s fate.
Peer Steinbrück (the German finance minister) recently said that the world’s financial crisis prefigures the end of Wall Street’s (and, by extension, America’s) hegemony and the emergence of a multi-polar world. He now sees a world where power is distributed a little more evenly.
If he is right that this will happen soon, it meets an endtime condition that the Bible prophesies.
Purpose of the Latest Crisis: A Shoe Horn
Scripture clearly indicates that a 10-king power coalition will take form near the start of the Tribulation period. At least five separate visions depict these 10 kings. (Daniel 2:41-42 [in the form of ten toes]; 7:20, 24; Revelation 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 12, 16).
Many characteristics are revealed about this group of 10 world leaders.10 kings. Please see the Midnight Call 3-part article series, “The Emerging Global Power Coalition”— October to December 2006—which details 13 sets of factors that apply to this future grouping of kings.
In fact, this 10-nation coalition is one of the most important and early signs of the times. While the world will not know the exact configuration of these 10 kings until the Antichrist achieves an accord with Israel (this being widely agreed to be the signal event of the start of the Tribulation period) this general trend toward world governance will be evident well before. That is what is playing out before our eyes today.
It is essential to understand the uniqueness of the arrangement, where 10 kings will pool their power together and then agree to put it at the disposal of the Antichrist. There are two reasons.
Firstly, the general pattern throughout history has been that only one nation would dominate the known world or its regions. Even in our modern age this has been the case. It has been a long, long time since the world has not been dominated by one prominent and powerful country. Secondly, it has never occurred before that the entire world has been ruled by a voluntary coalition of countries. That is still not the case today, though there may be a European Union, NATO, the United Nations and many other international agencies. Why? Because there are at least one or more geopolitical nation-states that are too powerful or independent. Therefore, we can know that the prophetic “glass slipper” has not yet found the 10-king Cinderella.
"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13). Effectively, this power configuration comes into existence for a very short period of time, and gives rise to the world’s 8th kingdom. In Revelation 17 the beast with seven heads and crowns is again shown. These seven heads portray the past Gentile kingdoms that have suppressed Israel—from Egypt to the second, revived Roman one at the time of Israel’s re-emergence. The Antichrist’s rule at first is borne on the strength of 10 kings, and then becomes the 8th.
Critically, there are clear changes now underway that make way for the 10-king coalition … shortly thereafter, the 8th king
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
UFOs, and the Real War of the Worlds
Satan, according to Bible prophecy, plans spectacular displays of fireworks and other supernatural pyrotechnics for the tribulation, the last seven years before Christ’s second advent. Those phenomena will, again, according to God’s Word, take place in the atmosphere above earth and in space. We are given that forewarning in the following Scripture:
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do…” (Rev. 13: 13-14).
Jesus made it clear that the phenomena that will come at the end of days will be fearsome to behold:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21: 25- 26).
There is coming a second great war in the heavenlies, and it will make H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds fiction look tame by comparison. The resulting devastation and carnage will literally cause the hearts of earthdwellers of the tribulation era to explode with adrenalin-pumped fear. However, and strangely perhaps, from our mortal perspective, Lucifer, now named Satan and called “the Devil,” continues to be given access to God’s throne, above which he was once a guardian. He is now an accuser of believers in Jesus Christ.
The first war of all creation--not just a war of mortal worlds, or of galaxies-- took place when Lucifer and the angels who joined him in rebellion against the Most High were cast out of God’s realm. That is, they were no longer a part of God’s kingdom, but now were forever lost, outside of God’s eternal kingdom. We know that Lucifer, the fallen one, came before God to ask to be allowed to torment and test the great man of God, Job. We know that he asked the Lord to”sift” or put the Apostle Peter to a similar torturous testing. Satan will be allowed to come before the throne of God until a certain point. We learn this in the following:
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Rev. 12:10).
And, this Scripture brings us to the most fierce part of human history for tribulation earth-dwellers. It will be the second great war of the Creation –the war of two worlds, eternally apart in their intents and purposes. Satan and his fallen angelic armies are to be removed from the very presence of God and confined to Planet Earth.
Now that isn’t such good prophetic news for flesh and blood earthdwellers of that future time of apocalypse! The prophecy tells us:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:9).
Jesus said, of that time: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Lk.10:18).
John the prophet and apostle was given the words to encourage believers, and forewarn unbelievers down through the centuries:
“Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12).
The great Apostle Peter forewarned of this rage Satan has for all of God’s human creation, and for believers in particular: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” (1 Pet. 5: 8).
God has placed so much in His Word to warn about this adversary and his legions, the devil and his minions, that the evil that has been in all the cosmos since that first great war in heaven must saturate every aspect of existence. But, we who name the name of Jesus Christ can take comfort. We are on the other side –the other spiritual dimension of this cataclysmic collision of supernatural worlds.
It is true that we who are flesh and blood must exist side by side with that dimension, because we live in a third dimension –one we perceive to be reality, but which is really existence that is no more than a vapor, in terms of God’s eternal economy. But, we are not left without defense against our horrific enemies that comprise Satan’s evil forces. God tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 that not only CAN we stand against Satan and his evil, but that it is our duty to do so. He promises to provide armor to fight the good fight. But, we are required to put it on. And, it is not a defensive, but an offensive strategy the Lord demands. Our defense, you see, IS our offense: the cross of the Lord Jesus!
The war of the worlds has never come to armistice since Satan first rebelled. It won’t stop until Christ ends it at Armageddon (Rev. 19: 11). The war is heating up, as anyone with spiritual discernment from the Bible’s perspective can understand. Our hourly, even minute-by-minute, news reports tell us that earth’s great volcano is building to an explosive eruption.
Todd and I get calls from the world’s news media, whose reporters want to know what’s up. While they are likely just looking for some answers from us that might “entertain” their viewers, listeners, or readers, I detect trepidation in their tone and questioning when we have gone over things of prophecy and news of the world for a few minutes. They walk away thinking, I can instinctively tell, their eyes turned downward in deeper thought than when they came to us. “Is this old guy crazy like we thought coming in, or does he have the truth, and we are the ones in trouble?”
I get the distinct sense that the journalists who interview us go away wondering if there is the world of spiritual battle, unseen by those who have had pounded into their heads that if you can’t see, hear, touch, or smell it, it doesn’t exist.
The answer is –my journalist friends—YES! There is a supernatural world. It is not the supernatural world as perceived existing by Hollywood producers, or those who believe in ghosts of departed human beings inhabiting the plane just outside physical existence. This is the endtime topic I’ve attempted to address to some extent in my just-released novel, The Rapture Dialogues: Dark Dimension.
Without turning this into an ad, or commercial, the story involves the UFOs –the shiny disks that people over the millennia have reported, and have reported, particularly in these closing days of human history. The subtitle is, in my perhaps not so humble view—perfect as a descriptive. “Dark Dimension.” We’ve seen –if you did your Bible reading where suggested—that we struggle against this dark dimension. This is the world with which all of creation is in conflict. The collision of the worlds isn’t coming. It’s already here!
While the media of news and entertainment sorts look to extraterrestrial sources for these “visitors” many people claim to have been abducted by, probed by, or impregnated by, the general of these forces –which are absolutely real, according to Ephesians, Chapter 6, grins his evil grin and seethes his loathing through clinched teeth of supernatural hatred that rages within him.
The physical plane is beginning to reflect that loathing for all of God’s creation, while the devil turns up the heat. We are seeing this begin to manifest itself, I believe, in the great increase in sightings of the UFOs, and strange goings-on in matters assigned by those who don’t know the truth, to stigmata, ghostly hauntings, or other phenomena intruding into our dimension of existence. At the same time, the astrophysical elements surrounding our small planet –including our own sun—seem to be increasingly affected. One story of late presents interesting fodder for speculation of where it might fit within Jesus’ forewarnings of “signs in the sun, stars, and moon.”
“Sun-spawned cosmic storms that can play havoc with earthly power grids and orbiting satellites could be 50 percent stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than in the last one, scientists said on Monday…‘This prediction of an active solar cycle suggests we're potentially looking at more communications disruptions, more satellite failures, possible disruptions of electrical grids and blackouts, more dangerous conditions for astronauts,’ said Richard Behnke of the Upper Atmosphere Research Section at the National Science Foundation” ("Sun's next 11-year cycle could be 50 pct stronger," Mon., Mar 6, by Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters).
Another indicator that things are changing from stellar business as usual is reflected in a fascinating story about the planet that absorbed the tremendous impact by the Shoemaker-Levy comet a couple of decades ago:
“The Great Red Spot that has dominated the planet Jupiter's cloudtops for hundreds of years now has a companion. The gas giant is growing another red spot, which US space agency (Nasa) astronomers have nicknamed 'Red Jr.' Both red spots are actually raging storms in Jupiter's cloud layer, but scientists don't yet know how they get their characteristic brick colour…Dr Glenn Orton, an astronomer at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies storms on Jupiter and other giant planets, said: ‘This is convincing. We've been monitoring Jupiter for years to see if Oval BA would turn red - and it finally seems to be happening’” (BBC News, 7 March, 2006).
To be sure, these “signs in the heavens” are likely not the signs Jesus prophesied for the great tribulation. The very atmosphere of the planet, and space, itself, will be ablaze with incendiary activity at that time. The sun will go dark, but the heat will intensify, indicating it will likely be a partial nova. The war of the spiritual worlds will begin to turn one-sided, while god’s Great wrath pours upon a planet full of rebels against Him.
Coming back to this side of the tribulation, we see the battle strategies in action by the other side of the spiritual warfare. The dark side, as the Star Wars creator would have it. But, it isn’t fiction we are dealing with. It is real warfare –more real and more horrific in scope than any warfare the people of earth have ever endured. Jesus said:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21-22).
Satan is observably ratcheting up his invasion plans. It looks to me that it is a three-pronged war-blueprint instrument he will use, much like the trident the devil is erroneously said in some quarters to have as part of his red union suit. First, he is stirring the ethnic and religious strife among peoples of most every part of the planet; second, he is manipulating the Babylonian system of government and economy, moving it –as the Lord allows—toward one world; third--and this is the assault that is about to begin in earnest, I believe—he is beginning to set up for the “strong delusion” of 2 Thessalonians 2:8-13. I believe that the planet is seeing and will soon experience much greater manifestations of supernatural interventions into the affairs of mortal men. This, based upon Genesis 6: 1-3, and Jesus’ words of Luke 17: 26-29. Though the outcome is already known to all who read and truly study Bible prophecy, getting to the end of that conflict will be a painful and deadly journey for those left behind. The two spiritual worlds are about to collide in a mighty explosion of end-of-days decimation.
That’s why it’s so important that we, as God’s royal ambassadors, do all we can to bring peace to individual souls, before we are recalled to our heavenly home, which Jesus –the Prince of Peace-- has prepared for us (John 14:1-3).
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do…” (Rev. 13: 13-14).
Jesus made it clear that the phenomena that will come at the end of days will be fearsome to behold:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21: 25- 26).
There is coming a second great war in the heavenlies, and it will make H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds fiction look tame by comparison. The resulting devastation and carnage will literally cause the hearts of earthdwellers of the tribulation era to explode with adrenalin-pumped fear. However, and strangely perhaps, from our mortal perspective, Lucifer, now named Satan and called “the Devil,” continues to be given access to God’s throne, above which he was once a guardian. He is now an accuser of believers in Jesus Christ.
The first war of all creation--not just a war of mortal worlds, or of galaxies-- took place when Lucifer and the angels who joined him in rebellion against the Most High were cast out of God’s realm. That is, they were no longer a part of God’s kingdom, but now were forever lost, outside of God’s eternal kingdom. We know that Lucifer, the fallen one, came before God to ask to be allowed to torment and test the great man of God, Job. We know that he asked the Lord to”sift” or put the Apostle Peter to a similar torturous testing. Satan will be allowed to come before the throne of God until a certain point. We learn this in the following:
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Rev. 12:10).
And, this Scripture brings us to the most fierce part of human history for tribulation earth-dwellers. It will be the second great war of the Creation –the war of two worlds, eternally apart in their intents and purposes. Satan and his fallen angelic armies are to be removed from the very presence of God and confined to Planet Earth.
Now that isn’t such good prophetic news for flesh and blood earthdwellers of that future time of apocalypse! The prophecy tells us:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:9).
Jesus said, of that time: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Lk.10:18).
John the prophet and apostle was given the words to encourage believers, and forewarn unbelievers down through the centuries:
“Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12).
The great Apostle Peter forewarned of this rage Satan has for all of God’s human creation, and for believers in particular: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” (1 Pet. 5: 8).
God has placed so much in His Word to warn about this adversary and his legions, the devil and his minions, that the evil that has been in all the cosmos since that first great war in heaven must saturate every aspect of existence. But, we who name the name of Jesus Christ can take comfort. We are on the other side –the other spiritual dimension of this cataclysmic collision of supernatural worlds.
It is true that we who are flesh and blood must exist side by side with that dimension, because we live in a third dimension –one we perceive to be reality, but which is really existence that is no more than a vapor, in terms of God’s eternal economy. But, we are not left without defense against our horrific enemies that comprise Satan’s evil forces. God tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 that not only CAN we stand against Satan and his evil, but that it is our duty to do so. He promises to provide armor to fight the good fight. But, we are required to put it on. And, it is not a defensive, but an offensive strategy the Lord demands. Our defense, you see, IS our offense: the cross of the Lord Jesus!
The war of the worlds has never come to armistice since Satan first rebelled. It won’t stop until Christ ends it at Armageddon (Rev. 19: 11). The war is heating up, as anyone with spiritual discernment from the Bible’s perspective can understand. Our hourly, even minute-by-minute, news reports tell us that earth’s great volcano is building to an explosive eruption.
Todd and I get calls from the world’s news media, whose reporters want to know what’s up. While they are likely just looking for some answers from us that might “entertain” their viewers, listeners, or readers, I detect trepidation in their tone and questioning when we have gone over things of prophecy and news of the world for a few minutes. They walk away thinking, I can instinctively tell, their eyes turned downward in deeper thought than when they came to us. “Is this old guy crazy like we thought coming in, or does he have the truth, and we are the ones in trouble?”
I get the distinct sense that the journalists who interview us go away wondering if there is the world of spiritual battle, unseen by those who have had pounded into their heads that if you can’t see, hear, touch, or smell it, it doesn’t exist.
The answer is –my journalist friends—YES! There is a supernatural world. It is not the supernatural world as perceived existing by Hollywood producers, or those who believe in ghosts of departed human beings inhabiting the plane just outside physical existence. This is the endtime topic I’ve attempted to address to some extent in my just-released novel, The Rapture Dialogues: Dark Dimension.
Without turning this into an ad, or commercial, the story involves the UFOs –the shiny disks that people over the millennia have reported, and have reported, particularly in these closing days of human history. The subtitle is, in my perhaps not so humble view—perfect as a descriptive. “Dark Dimension.” We’ve seen –if you did your Bible reading where suggested—that we struggle against this dark dimension. This is the world with which all of creation is in conflict. The collision of the worlds isn’t coming. It’s already here!
While the media of news and entertainment sorts look to extraterrestrial sources for these “visitors” many people claim to have been abducted by, probed by, or impregnated by, the general of these forces –which are absolutely real, according to Ephesians, Chapter 6, grins his evil grin and seethes his loathing through clinched teeth of supernatural hatred that rages within him.
The physical plane is beginning to reflect that loathing for all of God’s creation, while the devil turns up the heat. We are seeing this begin to manifest itself, I believe, in the great increase in sightings of the UFOs, and strange goings-on in matters assigned by those who don’t know the truth, to stigmata, ghostly hauntings, or other phenomena intruding into our dimension of existence. At the same time, the astrophysical elements surrounding our small planet –including our own sun—seem to be increasingly affected. One story of late presents interesting fodder for speculation of where it might fit within Jesus’ forewarnings of “signs in the sun, stars, and moon.”
“Sun-spawned cosmic storms that can play havoc with earthly power grids and orbiting satellites could be 50 percent stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than in the last one, scientists said on Monday…‘This prediction of an active solar cycle suggests we're potentially looking at more communications disruptions, more satellite failures, possible disruptions of electrical grids and blackouts, more dangerous conditions for astronauts,’ said Richard Behnke of the Upper Atmosphere Research Section at the National Science Foundation” ("Sun's next 11-year cycle could be 50 pct stronger," Mon., Mar 6, by Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters).
Another indicator that things are changing from stellar business as usual is reflected in a fascinating story about the planet that absorbed the tremendous impact by the Shoemaker-Levy comet a couple of decades ago:
“The Great Red Spot that has dominated the planet Jupiter's cloudtops for hundreds of years now has a companion. The gas giant is growing another red spot, which US space agency (Nasa) astronomers have nicknamed 'Red Jr.' Both red spots are actually raging storms in Jupiter's cloud layer, but scientists don't yet know how they get their characteristic brick colour…Dr Glenn Orton, an astronomer at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies storms on Jupiter and other giant planets, said: ‘This is convincing. We've been monitoring Jupiter for years to see if Oval BA would turn red - and it finally seems to be happening’” (BBC News, 7 March, 2006).
To be sure, these “signs in the heavens” are likely not the signs Jesus prophesied for the great tribulation. The very atmosphere of the planet, and space, itself, will be ablaze with incendiary activity at that time. The sun will go dark, but the heat will intensify, indicating it will likely be a partial nova. The war of the spiritual worlds will begin to turn one-sided, while god’s Great wrath pours upon a planet full of rebels against Him.
Coming back to this side of the tribulation, we see the battle strategies in action by the other side of the spiritual warfare. The dark side, as the Star Wars creator would have it. But, it isn’t fiction we are dealing with. It is real warfare –more real and more horrific in scope than any warfare the people of earth have ever endured. Jesus said:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21-22).
Satan is observably ratcheting up his invasion plans. It looks to me that it is a three-pronged war-blueprint instrument he will use, much like the trident the devil is erroneously said in some quarters to have as part of his red union suit. First, he is stirring the ethnic and religious strife among peoples of most every part of the planet; second, he is manipulating the Babylonian system of government and economy, moving it –as the Lord allows—toward one world; third--and this is the assault that is about to begin in earnest, I believe—he is beginning to set up for the “strong delusion” of 2 Thessalonians 2:8-13. I believe that the planet is seeing and will soon experience much greater manifestations of supernatural interventions into the affairs of mortal men. This, based upon Genesis 6: 1-3, and Jesus’ words of Luke 17: 26-29. Though the outcome is already known to all who read and truly study Bible prophecy, getting to the end of that conflict will be a painful and deadly journey for those left behind. The two spiritual worlds are about to collide in a mighty explosion of end-of-days decimation.
That’s why it’s so important that we, as God’s royal ambassadors, do all we can to bring peace to individual souls, before we are recalled to our heavenly home, which Jesus –the Prince of Peace-- has prepared for us (John 14:1-3).
Monday, January 12, 2009
The World in Review
1. Canada
“Canada plunged into the grip of a full-blown automotive recession last month as vehicle sales tumbled 21%, led by a slump among auto makers that had been performing well…Massive declines at Honda Canada Inc. and Toyota Canada Inc. helped push December sales to their lowest level since 1996, the overall total for 2008 to a year-over-year decline and the Canadian market into territory the United States has been experiencing for six months” (Globe and Mail).
“Teck Cominco Ltd. said Thursday it will eliminate 1,400 jobs or roughly 13% of its worldwide workforce in the face of ‘persistently weak commodity prices’…The Vancouver-based mining giant said in a news release it expects annual savings of approximately $85-million as a result” (Financial Times).
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority claimed that 32 deaths in hospitals last year were not a result of the patients’ health conditions, but were due to “unintended events” from treatment. (See related article: “Medicated! Society’s Dependence on Prescription Drugs”)
2. United States
Luis Fortuno was elected governor of Puerto Rico. The election of Mr. Fortuno, who favors statehood for Puerto Rico, comes at a grim time for the U.S. territory, which has seen 800 homicides in the past year, the highest number since 1996.
State lawmakers voted 114-1 to impeach Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, setting the stage for a Senate trial to decide if he should be removed from office for corruption and abuse of power (Fox News).
“Companies in the U.S. eliminated an estimated 693,000 jobs in December, the most since records began in 2001, a private report based on payroll data showed” (Bloomberg).
Mississippi has the nation’s highest teen birthrate, according to the statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s current birthrate is approximately 60% higher than the national average in 2006.
A cold front in Alaska pushed temperatures to 60 degrees below zero during the past two weeks, shutting down schools, grounding planes, disabling cars and freezing water pipes. Officials are concerned that if the extreme cold snap continues, food and fuel will be unable to arrive at certain regions of the state. (See related Trends and Conditions Report: What’s Wrong With the Weather?)
Riots broke out in Oakland, Calif., after a police officer shot and killed a handcuffed, unarmed man at a subway station.
A Salmonella outbreak across 42 states poisoned 388 people. Officials have not yet determined its cause.
3. Mexico: The daily newspaper El Universal reported a 103% increase in the amount of deaths nationwide related to drug-trafficking. According to tallies by the paper, during the first five days of 2009 there were 63 deaths, as opposed to 31 in 2008. This begins a bloody year for Mexico, whose death toll doubled last year as a result of drug cartel violence. (See related news brief: “Mexican Drug-Cartel Violence Claims 5,300 Lives”)
4. Guatemala: A 10,000-ton landslide killed 34 coffee workers in Northern Guatemala.
5. United Kingdom:
UK consumers spent an all-time high of $4.99 billion in 2008 on videogame software and consoles, according to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association.
In a continued effort to ease the economic crisis, the Bank of England cut interest rates to 1.5%, its lowest level since the bank was founded in 1694.
“The number of people searching for flights [on the Internet] in the week after Christmas fell 42% [in 2008] compared to the same period last year, as consumers rein in their spending as a result of the slowdown” (The Times).
6. Spain: The number of Spain’s unemployed citizens surged in 2008, increasing by 1 million. Eurostat reported the jobless figure was 29.4% in November 2008—the highest in the EU.
7. Germany: “Adolf Merckle, one of Germany’s wealthiest men, committed suicide after weeks of talks with creditors designed to save his businesses from being consumed by disastrous investments and the global financial crisis” (Financial Times). (See related news brief: “WHO Warns Economic-Motivated Suicide Will Increase in 2009”)
8. Ukraine: An escalating natural gas price dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which included shutting off gas supplies to the former Soviet state, has begun to disrupt supplies to other European nations. (See news brief: “Russia Stops Gas Flow—Europe in Crisis”)
9. Greece: Rioters armed with automatic weapons attacked riot police guarding the culture ministry building. The assailants used a hand grenade to cover their escape and wounded one police officer in the skirmish. The attack is linked to ongoing violence after the police shooting of a teenager in December. (See related news brief: “Riots in Athens Escalating”)
10. Israel: The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for Israel to withdrawal its troops from Gaza and to allow humanitarian access. Meanwhile, fighting continues, with rockets being fired into Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack. (See related news brief: “Israel Strikes Back at Hamas With ‘Iron Fist’”)
11. Zimbabwe:
The Zimbabwe Independent reported that, according to military sources, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces have struck a deal with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to slaughter elephants to feed the nation’s soldiers, due to a severe food shortage. However, the Parks Authority director-general said that no such a deal was made.
The official death toll resulting from Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak rose to nearly 1,800, with almost 36,000 reported infections nationwide. The unofficial death toll is feared to be well over 3,000 (SW Radio Africa).
12. China: Beijing issued an alert against the appearance of Avian Flu due to the disease-related death of a 19-year-old woman. Since its outbreak in 2003, 21 people in China have died from bird flu and 247 have died from it worldwide (BBC). (See related news brief: “Avian Flu – A Continued Threat”)
13. Japan:
“Japanese electronics component maker TDK Corp. said it would cut 8,000 workers and post its biggest net loss ever this fiscal year, due to falling orders and a stronger yen” (Associated Press).
“Japan’s stocks dropped, ending a seven-day winning streak, after U.S. job cuts exceeded estimates and stoked concern a deepening economic slump will further reduce demand for Japanese-made products” (Bloomberg).
14. Vietnam: Tens of thousands of Cambodians packed into a stadium in Phnom Penh to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge and its murderous campaign of genocide (BBC).
15. Indonesia: The number of Indonesians forced into tent camps by a pair of powerful earthquakes last weekend has risen to 17,400, an official said. Many people who fled their homes after Sunday’s 7.3 and 7.6 magnitude quakes were already weak from illness and could become sicker (Sydney Morning Herald).
16. Australia
Thirteen people at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital tested positive for an antibiotic-resistant infectious disease (ABC News). (See related literature: “And There Shall Be Pestilences”)
After winding down operations to protect Iraq’s oil terminals, Australia will deploy a warship to guard against piracy off the coast of Somalia (Sydney Morning Herald).
Home-building approvals crashed the most since 2002, and exports dropped for the first time in nine months, stoking speculation that the central bank will extend the biggest round of interest-rate cuts in 17 years (Bloomberg).
“The mining industry…stepped up its attack on the government over its proposed emissions trading scheme, producing figures that reveal the export coal sector will face a $5 billion carbon burden in the first five years alone if the system becomes law” (The Australian).
Australian car industry sales fell 14.5%, “its worst sales performance in 30 years” (The Australian).
17. New Zealand: The average household net worth dropped nearly $40,000 from 2007, to just under $356,000.
“Canada plunged into the grip of a full-blown automotive recession last month as vehicle sales tumbled 21%, led by a slump among auto makers that had been performing well…Massive declines at Honda Canada Inc. and Toyota Canada Inc. helped push December sales to their lowest level since 1996, the overall total for 2008 to a year-over-year decline and the Canadian market into territory the United States has been experiencing for six months” (Globe and Mail).
“Teck Cominco Ltd. said Thursday it will eliminate 1,400 jobs or roughly 13% of its worldwide workforce in the face of ‘persistently weak commodity prices’…The Vancouver-based mining giant said in a news release it expects annual savings of approximately $85-million as a result” (Financial Times).
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority claimed that 32 deaths in hospitals last year were not a result of the patients’ health conditions, but were due to “unintended events” from treatment. (See related article: “Medicated! Society’s Dependence on Prescription Drugs”)
2. United States
Luis Fortuno was elected governor of Puerto Rico. The election of Mr. Fortuno, who favors statehood for Puerto Rico, comes at a grim time for the U.S. territory, which has seen 800 homicides in the past year, the highest number since 1996.
State lawmakers voted 114-1 to impeach Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, setting the stage for a Senate trial to decide if he should be removed from office for corruption and abuse of power (Fox News).
“Companies in the U.S. eliminated an estimated 693,000 jobs in December, the most since records began in 2001, a private report based on payroll data showed” (Bloomberg).
Mississippi has the nation’s highest teen birthrate, according to the statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s current birthrate is approximately 60% higher than the national average in 2006.
A cold front in Alaska pushed temperatures to 60 degrees below zero during the past two weeks, shutting down schools, grounding planes, disabling cars and freezing water pipes. Officials are concerned that if the extreme cold snap continues, food and fuel will be unable to arrive at certain regions of the state. (See related Trends and Conditions Report: What’s Wrong With the Weather?)
Riots broke out in Oakland, Calif., after a police officer shot and killed a handcuffed, unarmed man at a subway station.
A Salmonella outbreak across 42 states poisoned 388 people. Officials have not yet determined its cause.
3. Mexico: The daily newspaper El Universal reported a 103% increase in the amount of deaths nationwide related to drug-trafficking. According to tallies by the paper, during the first five days of 2009 there were 63 deaths, as opposed to 31 in 2008. This begins a bloody year for Mexico, whose death toll doubled last year as a result of drug cartel violence. (See related news brief: “Mexican Drug-Cartel Violence Claims 5,300 Lives”)
4. Guatemala: A 10,000-ton landslide killed 34 coffee workers in Northern Guatemala.
5. United Kingdom:
UK consumers spent an all-time high of $4.99 billion in 2008 on videogame software and consoles, according to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association.
In a continued effort to ease the economic crisis, the Bank of England cut interest rates to 1.5%, its lowest level since the bank was founded in 1694.
“The number of people searching for flights [on the Internet] in the week after Christmas fell 42% [in 2008] compared to the same period last year, as consumers rein in their spending as a result of the slowdown” (The Times).
6. Spain: The number of Spain’s unemployed citizens surged in 2008, increasing by 1 million. Eurostat reported the jobless figure was 29.4% in November 2008—the highest in the EU.
7. Germany: “Adolf Merckle, one of Germany’s wealthiest men, committed suicide after weeks of talks with creditors designed to save his businesses from being consumed by disastrous investments and the global financial crisis” (Financial Times). (See related news brief: “WHO Warns Economic-Motivated Suicide Will Increase in 2009”)
8. Ukraine: An escalating natural gas price dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which included shutting off gas supplies to the former Soviet state, has begun to disrupt supplies to other European nations. (See news brief: “Russia Stops Gas Flow—Europe in Crisis”)
9. Greece: Rioters armed with automatic weapons attacked riot police guarding the culture ministry building. The assailants used a hand grenade to cover their escape and wounded one police officer in the skirmish. The attack is linked to ongoing violence after the police shooting of a teenager in December. (See related news brief: “Riots in Athens Escalating”)
10. Israel: The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for Israel to withdrawal its troops from Gaza and to allow humanitarian access. Meanwhile, fighting continues, with rockets being fired into Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack. (See related news brief: “Israel Strikes Back at Hamas With ‘Iron Fist’”)
11. Zimbabwe:
The Zimbabwe Independent reported that, according to military sources, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces have struck a deal with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to slaughter elephants to feed the nation’s soldiers, due to a severe food shortage. However, the Parks Authority director-general said that no such a deal was made.
The official death toll resulting from Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak rose to nearly 1,800, with almost 36,000 reported infections nationwide. The unofficial death toll is feared to be well over 3,000 (SW Radio Africa).
12. China: Beijing issued an alert against the appearance of Avian Flu due to the disease-related death of a 19-year-old woman. Since its outbreak in 2003, 21 people in China have died from bird flu and 247 have died from it worldwide (BBC). (See related news brief: “Avian Flu – A Continued Threat”)
13. Japan:
“Japanese electronics component maker TDK Corp. said it would cut 8,000 workers and post its biggest net loss ever this fiscal year, due to falling orders and a stronger yen” (Associated Press).
“Japan’s stocks dropped, ending a seven-day winning streak, after U.S. job cuts exceeded estimates and stoked concern a deepening economic slump will further reduce demand for Japanese-made products” (Bloomberg).
14. Vietnam: Tens of thousands of Cambodians packed into a stadium in Phnom Penh to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge and its murderous campaign of genocide (BBC).
15. Indonesia: The number of Indonesians forced into tent camps by a pair of powerful earthquakes last weekend has risen to 17,400, an official said. Many people who fled their homes after Sunday’s 7.3 and 7.6 magnitude quakes were already weak from illness and could become sicker (Sydney Morning Herald).
16. Australia
Thirteen people at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital tested positive for an antibiotic-resistant infectious disease (ABC News). (See related literature: “And There Shall Be Pestilences”)
After winding down operations to protect Iraq’s oil terminals, Australia will deploy a warship to guard against piracy off the coast of Somalia (Sydney Morning Herald).
Home-building approvals crashed the most since 2002, and exports dropped for the first time in nine months, stoking speculation that the central bank will extend the biggest round of interest-rate cuts in 17 years (Bloomberg).
“The mining industry…stepped up its attack on the government over its proposed emissions trading scheme, producing figures that reveal the export coal sector will face a $5 billion carbon burden in the first five years alone if the system becomes law” (The Australian).
Australian car industry sales fell 14.5%, “its worst sales performance in 30 years” (The Australian).
17. New Zealand: The average household net worth dropped nearly $40,000 from 2007, to just under $356,000.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Warning: More Doom Ahead
“Because the United States is such a huge part of the global economy, there’s real reason to worry that an American financial virus could mark the beginning of a global economic contagion.” – Nouriel Roubini, March 2008
Last year’s worst-case scenarios came true. The global financial pandemic that I and others had warned about is now upon us. But we are still only in the early stages of this crisis. My predictions for the coming year, unfortunately, are even more dire: The bubbles, and there were many, have only begun to burst.
The prevailing conventional wisdom holds that prices of many risky financial assets have fallen so much that we are at the bottom. Although it’s true that these assets have fallen sharply from their peaks of late 2007, they will likely fall further still. In the next few months, the macroeconomic news in the United States and around the world will be much worse than most expect. Corporate earnings reports will shock any equity analysts who are still deluding themselves that the economic contraction will be mild and short.
Severe vulnerabilities remain in financial markets: a credit crunch that will get worse before it gets any better; deleveraging that continues as hedge funds and other leveraged players are forced to sell assets into illiquid and distressed markets, thus leading to cascading falls in asset prices, margin calls, and further deleveraging; other financial institutions going bust; a few emerging-market economies entering a full-blown financial crisis, and some at risk of defaulting on their sovereign debt.
Certainly, the United States will experience its worst recession in decades. The formerly mainstream notion that the U.S. contraction would be short and shallow—a V-shaped recession with a quick recovery like the ones in 1990–91 and 2001—is out the window. Instead, the U.S. contraction will be U-shaped: long, deep, and lasting about 24 months. It could end up being even longer, an L-shaped, multiyear stagnation, like the one Japan suffered in the 1990s.
As the U.S. economy shrinks, the entire global economy will go into recession. In Europe, Canada, Japan, and the other advanced economies, it will be severe. Nor will emerging-market economies—linked to the developed world by trade in goods, finance, and currency—escape real pain.
What constitutes a “recession” will depend on the country in question. For China, a hard landing would mean annual growth falls from 12 to 6 percent. China must grow by 10 percent or more each year to bring 12 to 15 million poor rural farmers into the modern world. For other emerging markets, such as Brazil or South Korea, growth below 3 percent would represent a hard landing. The most vulnerable countries, such as Ecuador, Hungary, Latvia, Pakistan, or Ukraine may experience an outright financial crisis and will require massive external financing to avoid a meltdown.
For the wealthiest countries, a debilitating combination of economic stagnation and deflation might happen as markets for goods go slack because aggregate demand falls. Given how sharply production capacity has risen due to overinvestment in China and other emerging markets, this drop in demand would likely lead to lower inflation. Meanwhile, job losses would mount and unemployment rates would rise, putting downward pressure on wages. Weakening commodity markets—where prices have already fallen sharply since their summer peak and will fall further in a global recession—would lead to still lower inflation. Indeed, by early 2009, inflation in the advanced economies could fall toward the 1 percent level, too close to deflation for comfort.
This scenario is dangerous for many reasons. A number of central banks will be close enough to setting interest rates of zero that their economies fall into a triple whammy: a liquidity trap, a deflation trap, and debt deflation. In a liquidity trap, the banks lose their ability to stimulate the economy because they cannot set nominal interest rates below zero. In a deflation trap, falling prices mean that real interest rates are relatively high, choking off consumption and investment. This leads to a vicious circle wherein incomes and jobs are falling, with demand dropping still further. Finally, in debt deflation, the real value of nominal debts rises as prices fall—bad news for countries such as the United States and Japan that have high ratios of debt to GDP.
As orthodox monetary tools become ineffective, policymakers will turn to unorthodox approaches. We’ll see traditional fiscal policy, in the form of tax cuts and spending increases, but also worldwide bailouts of lenders, investors, and financial institutions, as well as borrowers. Central banks will inject massive amounts of cash into financial systems to unclog the liquidity crunch. More radical actions, such as outright purchases of corporate and government bonds or subsidization of mortgage rates, might also be necessary to get credit markets functioning properly again.
This crisis is not merely the result of the U.S. housing bubble’s bursting or the collapse of the United States’ subprime mortgage sector. The credit excesses that created this disaster were global. There were many bubbles, and they extended beyond housing in many countries to commercial real estate mortgages and loans, to credit cards, auto loans, and student loans. There were bubbles for the securitized products that converted these loans and mortgages into complex, toxic, and destructive financial instruments. And there were still more bubbles for local government borrowing, leveraged buyouts, hedge funds, commercial and industrial loans, corporate bonds, commodities, and credit-default swaps—a dangerous unregulated market wherein up to $60 trillion of nominal protection was sold against an outstanding stock of corporate bonds of just $6 trillion.
Taken together, these amounted to the biggest asset and credit bubble in human history; as it goes bust, the overall credit losses could reach as high as $2 trillion. Unless governments move with more alacrity to recapitalize banks and other financial institutions, the credit crunch will become even more severe. Losses will mount faster than companies can replenish their balance sheets.
Thanks to the radical actions of the G-7 and others, the risk of a total systemic financial meltdown has been reduced. But unfortunately, the worst is not behind us. This will be a painful year. Only very aggressive, coordinated, and effective action by policymakers will ensure that 2010 will not be even worse than 2009 is likely to be.
Last year’s worst-case scenarios came true. The global financial pandemic that I and others had warned about is now upon us. But we are still only in the early stages of this crisis. My predictions for the coming year, unfortunately, are even more dire: The bubbles, and there were many, have only begun to burst.
The prevailing conventional wisdom holds that prices of many risky financial assets have fallen so much that we are at the bottom. Although it’s true that these assets have fallen sharply from their peaks of late 2007, they will likely fall further still. In the next few months, the macroeconomic news in the United States and around the world will be much worse than most expect. Corporate earnings reports will shock any equity analysts who are still deluding themselves that the economic contraction will be mild and short.
Severe vulnerabilities remain in financial markets: a credit crunch that will get worse before it gets any better; deleveraging that continues as hedge funds and other leveraged players are forced to sell assets into illiquid and distressed markets, thus leading to cascading falls in asset prices, margin calls, and further deleveraging; other financial institutions going bust; a few emerging-market economies entering a full-blown financial crisis, and some at risk of defaulting on their sovereign debt.
Certainly, the United States will experience its worst recession in decades. The formerly mainstream notion that the U.S. contraction would be short and shallow—a V-shaped recession with a quick recovery like the ones in 1990–91 and 2001—is out the window. Instead, the U.S. contraction will be U-shaped: long, deep, and lasting about 24 months. It could end up being even longer, an L-shaped, multiyear stagnation, like the one Japan suffered in the 1990s.
As the U.S. economy shrinks, the entire global economy will go into recession. In Europe, Canada, Japan, and the other advanced economies, it will be severe. Nor will emerging-market economies—linked to the developed world by trade in goods, finance, and currency—escape real pain.
What constitutes a “recession” will depend on the country in question. For China, a hard landing would mean annual growth falls from 12 to 6 percent. China must grow by 10 percent or more each year to bring 12 to 15 million poor rural farmers into the modern world. For other emerging markets, such as Brazil or South Korea, growth below 3 percent would represent a hard landing. The most vulnerable countries, such as Ecuador, Hungary, Latvia, Pakistan, or Ukraine may experience an outright financial crisis and will require massive external financing to avoid a meltdown.
For the wealthiest countries, a debilitating combination of economic stagnation and deflation might happen as markets for goods go slack because aggregate demand falls. Given how sharply production capacity has risen due to overinvestment in China and other emerging markets, this drop in demand would likely lead to lower inflation. Meanwhile, job losses would mount and unemployment rates would rise, putting downward pressure on wages. Weakening commodity markets—where prices have already fallen sharply since their summer peak and will fall further in a global recession—would lead to still lower inflation. Indeed, by early 2009, inflation in the advanced economies could fall toward the 1 percent level, too close to deflation for comfort.
This scenario is dangerous for many reasons. A number of central banks will be close enough to setting interest rates of zero that their economies fall into a triple whammy: a liquidity trap, a deflation trap, and debt deflation. In a liquidity trap, the banks lose their ability to stimulate the economy because they cannot set nominal interest rates below zero. In a deflation trap, falling prices mean that real interest rates are relatively high, choking off consumption and investment. This leads to a vicious circle wherein incomes and jobs are falling, with demand dropping still further. Finally, in debt deflation, the real value of nominal debts rises as prices fall—bad news for countries such as the United States and Japan that have high ratios of debt to GDP.
As orthodox monetary tools become ineffective, policymakers will turn to unorthodox approaches. We’ll see traditional fiscal policy, in the form of tax cuts and spending increases, but also worldwide bailouts of lenders, investors, and financial institutions, as well as borrowers. Central banks will inject massive amounts of cash into financial systems to unclog the liquidity crunch. More radical actions, such as outright purchases of corporate and government bonds or subsidization of mortgage rates, might also be necessary to get credit markets functioning properly again.
This crisis is not merely the result of the U.S. housing bubble’s bursting or the collapse of the United States’ subprime mortgage sector. The credit excesses that created this disaster were global. There were many bubbles, and they extended beyond housing in many countries to commercial real estate mortgages and loans, to credit cards, auto loans, and student loans. There were bubbles for the securitized products that converted these loans and mortgages into complex, toxic, and destructive financial instruments. And there were still more bubbles for local government borrowing, leveraged buyouts, hedge funds, commercial and industrial loans, corporate bonds, commodities, and credit-default swaps—a dangerous unregulated market wherein up to $60 trillion of nominal protection was sold against an outstanding stock of corporate bonds of just $6 trillion.
Taken together, these amounted to the biggest asset and credit bubble in human history; as it goes bust, the overall credit losses could reach as high as $2 trillion. Unless governments move with more alacrity to recapitalize banks and other financial institutions, the credit crunch will become even more severe. Losses will mount faster than companies can replenish their balance sheets.
Thanks to the radical actions of the G-7 and others, the risk of a total systemic financial meltdown has been reduced. But unfortunately, the worst is not behind us. This will be a painful year. Only very aggressive, coordinated, and effective action by policymakers will ensure that 2010 will not be even worse than 2009 is likely to be.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Internet Age: Are We Losing Our Ability to Read and Think?
Popular newspapers report declining circulations, with readers turning to the Internet. How is this impacting society?
Times are rapidly changing in the 21st century. Like never before in history, the entire world is connected. The global village has become the global home.
Source: Getty Images
Billions now have cellphones, which have brought the ability to talk and send text messages around the world. Even in less developed countries, this technology is widespread. These hand-held devices have advanced into the next generation: smart phones (in other words, phones that act like small computers). “Intuitive function,” flexibility and sleek design are the leading factors in these devices.
Then there is the personal computer. A luxury item just a few decades ago, it is now a staple in almost every home of the Western world. People of all ages are learning how a computer works, and how it benefits them. Children, as young as a few years of age, find navigating a computer as natural as exploring a playground. Almost every office employee cannot function without one, with spreadsheets, word processors, emails, and so much more at their disposal.
With these and other developing technologies, the Information Age has truly “come of age.”
Newspapers Declining
In December 2008, the Pew Research Center reported that the Internet surpassed newspapers as the source for national and international news among Americans. The report, “Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Source,” states, “Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the Internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the Internet for news than cite newspapers (35%).”
Dramatic increases for just one year!
The 2008 statistics are even more telling for young adults, ages 18 to 29: “For young people, however, the Internet now rivals television as a main source of national and international news. Nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (59%) say they get most of their national and international news online; an identical percentage cites television. In September 2007, twice as many young people said they relied mostly on television for news than mentioned the Internet (68% vs. 34%)” (ibid.).
Hardcopy newspapers and news magazines are becoming less popular. This can also be seen by looking at the significant and sometimes dramatic changes certain news companies have made over the past couple of years. Circulations of almost every newspaper across the country are declining.
In 2008, two longtime, well-known publications, The Christian Science Monitor and U.S. News & World Report, decided to abandon print and make their publications online only. This would have been unheard of just a decade ago.
In April of that year, Forbes magazine reported that, among 530 U.S. newspapers, circulation fell by 3.57% over 2007. The New York Times, one of the largest papers in the country, experienced a significant slide. Some of the other big decreases were The Boston Globe, The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., The Star Tribune of Minneapolis and The Detroit Free Press.
Months later, the trend continued, according to Agence France-Presse: “Circulation dropped sharply at most major US newspapers in the six months ending in September, continuing a slide which has led to cutbacks in newsrooms across the United States, according to figures released Monday.
“The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), citing preliminary figures subject to audit, said circulation for 507 daily newspapers fell 4.64 percent in the period to 38.16 million copies from 40.02 million in the same period last year” (“US newspaper circulation drops again”).
In December 2008, the Associated Press reported on a large American city and its news industry: “Newspapers are desperately seeking new business models that will help them survive dwindling readership and a deep advertising slump exacerbated by the recession.
“The latest are The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, which said Monday they will announce ‘a sweeping set of strategic and innovative changes’ on Tuesday.
“The Detroit Media Partnership, which runs the business operations of the papers, said the changes are ‘designed to better meet advertiser and reader needs in an era in which digital delivery is revolutionizing how people get information.’”
Digital delivery is truly revolutionizing how we get our information.
For the foreseeable future, there will always be a certain demographic that will desire a print newspaper or magazine. But the question of newspaper survival would not have been considered years ago.
Today, it is safe to say that some will not survive.
21st-Century Source
In this “revolution” of information delivery, what is happening? In short, the reader is turning to the Internet, which itself is becoming more accessible. The availability of high-speed Internet access is a priority for many Western governments. Several countries already have high penetration rates. Many cellphones now provide access to the Internet, such as receiving a breaking news story.
Since 2000, the size of the Internet has more than tripled—and the trend shows no signs of slowing. As of January 2008, it hosted nearly 1.4 billion users, most from Western nations. At the time of this writing, there are an estimated 100 million more Internet users.
Most assume that “surfing the web” is something done only by younger generations, but the average age is actually increasing.
Notice some excerpts from an article in the Daily Mail, titled “Silver surfers beat the young as Web wizards”: “Pensioners surfing the Internet are spending more time online than their younger counterparts.
“So-called ‘silver surfers’ dedicate an average of 42 hours a month to the World Wide Web, compared with 37.9 hours among 18- to 24-year-olds.
“A greater interest in hobbies, news and local issues among the elderly is believed to be driving the trend, which sees over-65s account for nine per cent of all time spent online in the UK.”
“And the trend is likely to continue for decades to come, with over-50s now accounting for a quarter of all UK Internet users.”
These are stunning statistics! Many who are middle-aged have either learned computer skills on their own or been forced to learn because of job demands.
Profiles of Internet Users
What is the behavior of the average Internet user? When one goes online, what is his experience?
First, let’s discuss the concept of “surfing the web.” The computer user opens the browser (the software that accesses the world wide web). Within seconds, the homepage loads and something grabs the user’s attention. He clicks. He begins to read a story or view a video on the page.
Then, 30 seconds later, he remembers he wanted to search for something. He takes his mouse, clicks on the search bar, and types in a couple of words. The search engine returns—in 0.17 seconds—with answers. The individual quickly finds the link he is looking for. He clicks. Then he realizes it is a PDF (a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it) and does not want to wait. So he hits the back button.
Slightly frustrated, the user opens an additional tab and loads a music station. Now two websites compete for his attention: He opens a third tab to read the daily news while listening to music (second tab) and doing research (first tab). After visiting scores of websites, the session ends.
Does this sound familiar?
Statistics reveal that people bounce from website to website, clicking from one link to another, quickly becoming distracted by other links. Few web users are willing to give their undivided attention to a website or article for more than a couple of minutes.
Take, for example, the second part of a news article, which would include another click of the mouse. The 21st-century user would say, “If you can’t get me the information I need within the first couple of clicks, I’m leaving. This is not worth my time.”
The company eMarketer, which monitors Internet behavior and statistics, published the following in its report “What’s Competing for Internet Users’ Attention? The answer: A lot”: “Getting consumers’ undivided attention gets harder all the time. Much like drivers who listen to music, talk on the phone, apply makeup and eat at the same time, Internet users in the US conduct a wide array of activities while online.
“Nearly six out of 10 respondents to a GfK Roper survey fielded in September and October 2008 said they listened to music or talked on the phone while using the Internet.”
Where will this multitasking behavior lead?
It is not just the Internet itself causing this shift in our behavior. It is modern technology—computers, phones, software, etc.
Take for example the structure of a computer and its software. They are designed to do several things at the same time. Email, documents, spreadsheets, digital photo albums and music players are all open at once. As soon as a person’s attention wanes, even for the briefest second, half a dozen other programs clamor for his attention.
In the name of efficiency, human beings are losing their ability to set aside hours to simply read without distraction.
Then there is spelling and grammar. Word processors immediately fix misspelled words or grammatical errors. Search engines are programmed to anticipate what you are attempting to spell and then offer you the correct spelling.
Basic activities of human behavior that were cherished decades ago seem to be slipping from our grasp in this modern age.
Imagine that you are a farmer, living 100 years ago. Sitting behind a team of horses, you plow fields—you have time to think! You are not distracted by televisions, portable radios, computers or cellphones. No one had yet heard of these devices. Until the last century, no one ever spent one minute in front of a television, computer or stereo. Teenagers did not constantly talk to each other on cellphones, with nothing constructive or important to say.
In the past, people read and thought much more. Try reading what are called “period letters”—letters written 150 years ago or longer. Also read letters exchanged during the American Civil War between President Abraham Lincoln and his generals. These were highly educated men, whose use of English grammar vastly exceeded today’s standards. People had time to mentally digest—to think and analyze.
No longer!
The Impact
Nicholas Carr wrote an article in The Atlantic magazine that perhaps best summarizes what the Internet is doing to its users: “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
“I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’ reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link.”
“For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind…And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” (emphasis ours).
The last sentence is possibly the best analogy to explain how people read online. Mr. Carr goes on to explain that “the result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.”
He also quotes playwright Richard Foreman, who said, “We are the pancake people…spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information access by the mere touch of a button.”
No Time to Think
Here is another illustration that shows there is an incessant demand for our attention. Today’s sports experience is all about entertainment and keeping the audience’s attention.
At a typical NBA basketball game, for instance, bands of video screens circle the arena, with constantly changing images and bright flashes of white or yellow transforming the color of the stands. A four-directional mega-screen hangs above the court showing onlookers close-ups and replays of basketball moves. Following almost every play are mindless video clips that provide “commentary,” much to the delight of fans. During time outs, administrators rush to create even more entertainment. Hip-hop dancers take to the floor and gyrate to the latest hits, and cheerleaders dance as suggestively as possible, and in what is promoted as a “family atmosphere.” At other times, the master of ceremonies incites the audience to scream louder and louder.
And on it goes. So different from a sporting experience of 100 years ago. This is just one example of the tremendous demands for our attention.
Take Time to Read and Think
In the end, it should not be a surprise that so many cannot make it through three or four paragraphs before turning their attention to something else. What will be the long-term effects of such social behavior? What will happen to the children and teenagers of today who have even fewer occasions to read and think? Will a large enough foundation be built for our children to make correct decisions? What about your future?
Set aside time to think and read. You will be investing in your future. Ask yourself: When is the last time you have sat down for an hour or two and read the Bible, the most important book of all time? Do you find it hard to concentrate? When is the last time you turned off all electronics and simply thought of your goals and plans in life?
Take the time now to read our articles “Meditation – The Misunderstood Tool” and “The Rules of Effective Bible Study.”
Read. Think. You will be glad you did.
Times are rapidly changing in the 21st century. Like never before in history, the entire world is connected. The global village has become the global home.
Source: Getty Images
Billions now have cellphones, which have brought the ability to talk and send text messages around the world. Even in less developed countries, this technology is widespread. These hand-held devices have advanced into the next generation: smart phones (in other words, phones that act like small computers). “Intuitive function,” flexibility and sleek design are the leading factors in these devices.
Then there is the personal computer. A luxury item just a few decades ago, it is now a staple in almost every home of the Western world. People of all ages are learning how a computer works, and how it benefits them. Children, as young as a few years of age, find navigating a computer as natural as exploring a playground. Almost every office employee cannot function without one, with spreadsheets, word processors, emails, and so much more at their disposal.
With these and other developing technologies, the Information Age has truly “come of age.”
Newspapers Declining
In December 2008, the Pew Research Center reported that the Internet surpassed newspapers as the source for national and international news among Americans. The report, “Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Source,” states, “Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the Internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the Internet for news than cite newspapers (35%).”
Dramatic increases for just one year!
The 2008 statistics are even more telling for young adults, ages 18 to 29: “For young people, however, the Internet now rivals television as a main source of national and international news. Nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (59%) say they get most of their national and international news online; an identical percentage cites television. In September 2007, twice as many young people said they relied mostly on television for news than mentioned the Internet (68% vs. 34%)” (ibid.).
Hardcopy newspapers and news magazines are becoming less popular. This can also be seen by looking at the significant and sometimes dramatic changes certain news companies have made over the past couple of years. Circulations of almost every newspaper across the country are declining.
In 2008, two longtime, well-known publications, The Christian Science Monitor and U.S. News & World Report, decided to abandon print and make their publications online only. This would have been unheard of just a decade ago.
In April of that year, Forbes magazine reported that, among 530 U.S. newspapers, circulation fell by 3.57% over 2007. The New York Times, one of the largest papers in the country, experienced a significant slide. Some of the other big decreases were The Boston Globe, The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., The Star Tribune of Minneapolis and The Detroit Free Press.
Months later, the trend continued, according to Agence France-Presse: “Circulation dropped sharply at most major US newspapers in the six months ending in September, continuing a slide which has led to cutbacks in newsrooms across the United States, according to figures released Monday.
“The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), citing preliminary figures subject to audit, said circulation for 507 daily newspapers fell 4.64 percent in the period to 38.16 million copies from 40.02 million in the same period last year” (“US newspaper circulation drops again”).
In December 2008, the Associated Press reported on a large American city and its news industry: “Newspapers are desperately seeking new business models that will help them survive dwindling readership and a deep advertising slump exacerbated by the recession.
“The latest are The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, which said Monday they will announce ‘a sweeping set of strategic and innovative changes’ on Tuesday.
“The Detroit Media Partnership, which runs the business operations of the papers, said the changes are ‘designed to better meet advertiser and reader needs in an era in which digital delivery is revolutionizing how people get information.’”
Digital delivery is truly revolutionizing how we get our information.
For the foreseeable future, there will always be a certain demographic that will desire a print newspaper or magazine. But the question of newspaper survival would not have been considered years ago.
Today, it is safe to say that some will not survive.
21st-Century Source
In this “revolution” of information delivery, what is happening? In short, the reader is turning to the Internet, which itself is becoming more accessible. The availability of high-speed Internet access is a priority for many Western governments. Several countries already have high penetration rates. Many cellphones now provide access to the Internet, such as receiving a breaking news story.
Since 2000, the size of the Internet has more than tripled—and the trend shows no signs of slowing. As of January 2008, it hosted nearly 1.4 billion users, most from Western nations. At the time of this writing, there are an estimated 100 million more Internet users.
Most assume that “surfing the web” is something done only by younger generations, but the average age is actually increasing.
Notice some excerpts from an article in the Daily Mail, titled “Silver surfers beat the young as Web wizards”: “Pensioners surfing the Internet are spending more time online than their younger counterparts.
“So-called ‘silver surfers’ dedicate an average of 42 hours a month to the World Wide Web, compared with 37.9 hours among 18- to 24-year-olds.
“A greater interest in hobbies, news and local issues among the elderly is believed to be driving the trend, which sees over-65s account for nine per cent of all time spent online in the UK.”
“And the trend is likely to continue for decades to come, with over-50s now accounting for a quarter of all UK Internet users.”
These are stunning statistics! Many who are middle-aged have either learned computer skills on their own or been forced to learn because of job demands.
Profiles of Internet Users
What is the behavior of the average Internet user? When one goes online, what is his experience?
First, let’s discuss the concept of “surfing the web.” The computer user opens the browser (the software that accesses the world wide web). Within seconds, the homepage loads and something grabs the user’s attention. He clicks. He begins to read a story or view a video on the page.
Then, 30 seconds later, he remembers he wanted to search for something. He takes his mouse, clicks on the search bar, and types in a couple of words. The search engine returns—in 0.17 seconds—with answers. The individual quickly finds the link he is looking for. He clicks. Then he realizes it is a PDF (a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it) and does not want to wait. So he hits the back button.
Slightly frustrated, the user opens an additional tab and loads a music station. Now two websites compete for his attention: He opens a third tab to read the daily news while listening to music (second tab) and doing research (first tab). After visiting scores of websites, the session ends.
Does this sound familiar?
Statistics reveal that people bounce from website to website, clicking from one link to another, quickly becoming distracted by other links. Few web users are willing to give their undivided attention to a website or article for more than a couple of minutes.
Take, for example, the second part of a news article, which would include another click of the mouse. The 21st-century user would say, “If you can’t get me the information I need within the first couple of clicks, I’m leaving. This is not worth my time.”
The company eMarketer, which monitors Internet behavior and statistics, published the following in its report “What’s Competing for Internet Users’ Attention? The answer: A lot”: “Getting consumers’ undivided attention gets harder all the time. Much like drivers who listen to music, talk on the phone, apply makeup and eat at the same time, Internet users in the US conduct a wide array of activities while online.
“Nearly six out of 10 respondents to a GfK Roper survey fielded in September and October 2008 said they listened to music or talked on the phone while using the Internet.”
Where will this multitasking behavior lead?
It is not just the Internet itself causing this shift in our behavior. It is modern technology—computers, phones, software, etc.
Take for example the structure of a computer and its software. They are designed to do several things at the same time. Email, documents, spreadsheets, digital photo albums and music players are all open at once. As soon as a person’s attention wanes, even for the briefest second, half a dozen other programs clamor for his attention.
In the name of efficiency, human beings are losing their ability to set aside hours to simply read without distraction.
Then there is spelling and grammar. Word processors immediately fix misspelled words or grammatical errors. Search engines are programmed to anticipate what you are attempting to spell and then offer you the correct spelling.
Basic activities of human behavior that were cherished decades ago seem to be slipping from our grasp in this modern age.
Imagine that you are a farmer, living 100 years ago. Sitting behind a team of horses, you plow fields—you have time to think! You are not distracted by televisions, portable radios, computers or cellphones. No one had yet heard of these devices. Until the last century, no one ever spent one minute in front of a television, computer or stereo. Teenagers did not constantly talk to each other on cellphones, with nothing constructive or important to say.
In the past, people read and thought much more. Try reading what are called “period letters”—letters written 150 years ago or longer. Also read letters exchanged during the American Civil War between President Abraham Lincoln and his generals. These were highly educated men, whose use of English grammar vastly exceeded today’s standards. People had time to mentally digest—to think and analyze.
No longer!
The Impact
Nicholas Carr wrote an article in The Atlantic magazine that perhaps best summarizes what the Internet is doing to its users: “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
“I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’ reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link.”
“For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind…And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” (emphasis ours).
The last sentence is possibly the best analogy to explain how people read online. Mr. Carr goes on to explain that “the result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.”
He also quotes playwright Richard Foreman, who said, “We are the pancake people…spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information access by the mere touch of a button.”
No Time to Think
Here is another illustration that shows there is an incessant demand for our attention. Today’s sports experience is all about entertainment and keeping the audience’s attention.
At a typical NBA basketball game, for instance, bands of video screens circle the arena, with constantly changing images and bright flashes of white or yellow transforming the color of the stands. A four-directional mega-screen hangs above the court showing onlookers close-ups and replays of basketball moves. Following almost every play are mindless video clips that provide “commentary,” much to the delight of fans. During time outs, administrators rush to create even more entertainment. Hip-hop dancers take to the floor and gyrate to the latest hits, and cheerleaders dance as suggestively as possible, and in what is promoted as a “family atmosphere.” At other times, the master of ceremonies incites the audience to scream louder and louder.
And on it goes. So different from a sporting experience of 100 years ago. This is just one example of the tremendous demands for our attention.
Take Time to Read and Think
In the end, it should not be a surprise that so many cannot make it through three or four paragraphs before turning their attention to something else. What will be the long-term effects of such social behavior? What will happen to the children and teenagers of today who have even fewer occasions to read and think? Will a large enough foundation be built for our children to make correct decisions? What about your future?
Set aside time to think and read. You will be investing in your future. Ask yourself: When is the last time you have sat down for an hour or two and read the Bible, the most important book of all time? Do you find it hard to concentrate? When is the last time you turned off all electronics and simply thought of your goals and plans in life?
Take the time now to read our articles “Meditation – The Misunderstood Tool” and “The Rules of Effective Bible Study.”
Read. Think. You will be glad you did.
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