Nearing Midnight

In last week's NM update, I laid out the reason I believe our nation is on a collision course with financial calamity. In this week's update, I plan to offer my advice about what people can do to survive hard times.

I should probably first explain why Terry and I believe that a "Great Depression" scenario is unlikely to occur just ahead of the Rapture. Here is a condensed version of an email we sent out earlier this week:

We believe Jesus was talking about the Rapture climate in Luke 17:26-29.He used the "days of Noah and days of Lot " to prophesy the time of His coming again.

He listed conditions at the time of that coming. People will be building, marrying, planting--it will be business pretty much as usual for the times. Those times will, of course, be wicked--much like the mockers and violence of Noah's day leading up to the Flood and the homosexuality and violence leading up to Sodom's destruction.

This could not have been Jesus talking about the end of the Tribulation period. At the end of that will be the most horrendous time in history, according to Jesus (Matthew 24:21-22). At that time, as many as two-thirds of the world's population will have died in God's wrath and judgment.

Yet the people in this Luke account are building, marrying, etc., when He suddenly returns and destruction begins.

If there were such great economic cataclysm as to completely throw the world into great chaos--as would occur with the U.S. and all of the world's economies collapsing--there would not be a time such as described by Jesus in His prophecy. People would not be building, marrying, planting, and harvesting. They would be starving, and things would not be going along pretty much as normal, which are described as conditions in Jesus' Luke 17: 26-29 prophecy.

The Rapture could be the pin that pops the economic bubble. The great destruction will then begin. God's wrath and judgment will follow as Antichrist and his global reorganization of things come onto the scene.

Nothing is preventing us from going through a deep recession. The Tribulation hour does seem to be very near, but since a train of economic despair is rapidly heading our way, we can't ignore reality. We may find ourselves having to endure a brief period of profound financial adjustment.

The first sign of problems is not the government defaulting on its massive debt. Uncle Sam has the power of the printing press behind it. The U.S. Treasury can print all the money it needs to continue its operations.

The breaking point is when buyers lose faith in the dollar and in Treasury bills and T-bonds. As confidence falls, inflation and interest rates will begin to climb. The drop in the value of the dollar would be the most painful. In a currency crisis (USD), things like Social Security checks, bank CDs, Treasury bonds, and insurance annuities all become worthless. To help you survive hard times, there are four core things you need to focus on:

The first thing you need to do to prepare for hard times is change your priorities. In an economic downturn, our concern needs to switch from luxuries to core needs like food and shelter. Last year, Adolf Merckle, the owner of a holding company in Europe, committed suicide when his firm lost billions of dollars in bad transactions. This guy went from being worth over $10 billion to just $1.6 billion. Of course, most people would have been thrilled to switch places with him. Merckle took his life because he couldn't cope with the need to downsize his lifestyle.

If we should go into a period of hyper-inflation, it is very important to preserve the value of your money. Gold and silver are good tools to hold the buying power of money. Because the government cannot produce gold or silver, it’s not going to decline in value. I prefer silver because you can sell silver coins as you need the cash. You have to be very careful about where you buy silver coins. Many precious metal dealers charge huge mark-ups or offer products that have no real value. Never buy anything from a TV ad or purchase items labeled "replica," "clad," or "proof."

During times of financial misfortune, it's good to be able to produce your own food. This may seem odd, but raising chickens is an excellent source of nourishment. Because most people don't live on farms, or they have limited space to grow food, a small-scale poultry operation is a great way to feed your own family and provide local food to others. Chickens provide eggs every day, offering a concentrated amount of nutrition and essential fats. When the time comes, you can order hatchlings by mail and raise them on corn meal and the bugs that live in your yard.

I don't recommend going hog wild by building a fortified compound in the backwoods. Nothing in the Bible says we should become recluses. Our hope is not in how much precious metal we have stashed away, in how well we can shoot a gun, or in our ability to process a deer carcass. Our trust should be in Jesus Christ, the One who has promised to deliver us from this doomed world.

This Wednesday (December 16), The History Channel is supposed to air a program as part of its series, "The Nostradamus Effect." The topic of the program will be "The Rapture." It is the program for which I was asked to interview, and did so last June.

The program was first scheduled, according to the documentary's project co-producer, for Wednesday, December 2. It was then moved to Wednesday, December 9, and finally, I was alerted that it will be aired this Wednesday (December 16).

While the move of the program's air date is frustrating in that we must keep changing our announcement to you, it is nonetheless interesting to observe that the program's delay allows for further developments on the world and national scenes that make us know the time of the Rapture itself is drawing ever nearer--thus the title of this commentary, "Rapture Readying.."

That's exactly how I view things that have been developing for these past months. The world is readying for the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. The fact is increasingly obvious to those who put their spiritual hearts and minds into observing the issues and events of these recent times, looking with spiritual eyes through the prism of biblical prophetic truth.

Readying for the Rapture was a part of Jesus' Olivet Discourse prophecies. He gave all the signals that would have taken place and/or that would be present at the time of His return. In answer to His disciples' question about the "sign of [His] coming and of the end of the age," He addressed those many signals, then said, "When you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

Note that He said "begin" to come to pass. He was speaking, I'm convinced, not of the Second Advent as described in Revelation 19:11, but of the Rapture of the church He would build. At the end of Armageddon, with most of earth's population destroyed, most ALL the things He prophesied will have come to pass. But, again, the Lord said to "look up" for the redemption His Church Age believers--represented by His disciples--would receive. He was speaking of the Rapture!

If there were ever a time to be "looking up" for that redemption, it is now, because we have seen the beginnings of "all these things" for many years, starting with two great world wars and the return to the land of promise by the Jews--Israel.

There are so many such signals. We have covered them extensively here in our "Nearing Midnight" columns, and in the articles posted on Rapture Ready. We could easily use any of them to make the point that the things Christ prophesied have indeed begun to come to pass. It is overwhelmingly obvious that this fallen world is deserving of God's wrath and judgment, and that planet earth is readying for the departure--the sudden snatching up (harpazo) of the church, the Bride of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Preparation of born-again believers has been a major thrust of our efforts--thus the name of the site, "Rapture Ready." We believe the Church should be aware that Jesus will break in upon this fallen world in the "thief in the night" coming. We want, as does the Lord, all believers to be prepared for that sudden call to "come up hither" (Revelation 4:1-2). So, we have tried to "ready" those who will listen for that "blessed hope" (Titus 2: 13) so that Christians will not be ashamed to meet the Lord face to face, but will look forward to His saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Just as God the Holy Spirit has been preparing the hearts of His people for that electrifying moment of Rapture, Satan has been readying his people for holocaust beyond anything that has ever occurred. The devil is paving the way with falsely soothing words of deception that are designed to delude the fallen minds of mankind.

Just as Jesus knows He will soon step out on the clouds of glory and make that call to all believers to meet Him (John 14:1-3), so Lucifer, the fallen one, knows that event awaits. He doesn't know when, but he can sense it. He has helped develop the world conditions that must precede its occurrence. He is readying this world for the Rapture.

So this is an obverse view, somewhat, of the Lord's readying--preparing--His church for that sudden evacuation of Christians when He will take them to the many mansions He has prepared for them. I have chosen the following news excerpt for illustrating that obverse readying for the Rapture--showing, I believe, just one way Satan is preparing the world of earth-dwellers who will be left behind for the horrific times to come.

The issue of global warming has the capacity to unite faith communities in a common cause and challenge sectarianism, according to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband.

Speaking to the JC on the eve of the UN talks on climate change in Copenhagen, Mr. Miliband said it was reassuring to him that leaders from religious groups, including the Jewish community, had embraced the cause...

"It has been inspiring to see the Muslim community, the Christian community and the Jewish community coming together."

Mr. Miliband said he believed the issue of global warming had a particular power. "This unites people of faith in a way that only some issues can. I think to have the world’s religions united in advancing this cause sends a very clear signal about its universal appeal and application."

In answer to those skeptics who are angered by being described as climate-change “deniers” (they are particularly annoyed by the clear association with "Holocaust-denial"). (Martin Bright, "Ed Miliband: Climate Change Can Unite Religions," The Jewish Chronicle, 12/11/09)

Lucifer, the fallen--who is now Satan, the roaring lion who stalks about earth seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)--is preparing unwary souls who will be left behind for some ultimate lie. That great delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2 will most likely revolve around the mantra that Mother Earth must be saved. Already that siren song is resonating with many. When Christians are suddenly gone--and with them the restraining influence upon the reprobate minds of those left behind--earth dwellers will readily grasp for the answers Antichrist will have ready to assuage their fears.

That is why your mission and ours is so vital in getting out the word on how readying for the Rapture is taking place, both for those who will go to be with Christ, and for those who will be prepared to receive the soul-destroying mark of Antichrist. If ever there were a time for the Christian to put his or her full efforts and resources into getting this end-of-days message out, it is at this present critical hour. Jesus wants to say to each of His own, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." -

***History Channel and the time of Terry's interview Change***

Terry's interview with The History Channel's series "The Nostradamus Effect" has been changed to air on Wednesday December 16, at 6 p.m PST, 7 p.m MST, 8 p.m.CST, and 9 p.m. EST.

The topic of the episode will be "The Rapture". We hope you will make a note to tune in to the program.