THE END TIMES?

But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Mark 13:32

I know that like me, many of my readers have been struck by the rapid rise in wickedness and evil across the earth. That which is evil is celebrated as good and that which is good is promoted as evil, as was highlighted by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 5:20-21), 2700 years ago. Isaiah said:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!”

In running for his second term in office, even President Obama was upholding the importance of marriage as being between only a man and a woman. Now it seems that anything goes and any view opposing the “progressive” atheistic worldview must be silenced using social media algorithms that prevent a Christian or mainstream worldview being expressed. The “new world order” seems to be one where the only acceptable views are: “a woman’s right to choose”, “love is love”, “country borders are evil”, “gender is fluid”, only “black lives matter”, and critical theory dominates the educational philosophy. The end-result is the destruction of western society as we have known it. We will see increasing chaos and the likely emergence of dictatorships. Much to our surprise, legislation for dictatorship was lurking in biosecurity laws that resulted in forced lockdowns and forced vaccinations, against every principle of established legal precedent. The widespread acceptance of this autocracy in Western societies is a prelude to further “emergencies” that undoubtedly are being contrived to impose a new “sustainable and biosecure” world.

So - the trajectory of Western society seems clear and if we are looking to understand the signs of the times, like the Sons of Issachar, it does look to me as though we are moving closer to the “end times”. The “end times” are the times spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, notably the prophet Daniel and Jesus (Matthew 24). Jesus provided a private briefing on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem about the end times for his disciples just before his crucifixion. Further granularity is provided by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, which many find difficult to understand because of its unusual imagery.

I have made a careful study of the events leading up to the end of the age and Jesus’ return. There is a lack of agreement amongst Bible scholars about these events and much confusion.

So - in this article, I would like to give a view about the end-times that I have reached based on a more literal interpretation of the Bible and trying to understand the events around us. The return of Jesus to rule and reign on the earth has been a central tenet of Christianity since His ascension which occurred 40 days after His resurrection around 33 AD. When you read the letters of the apostles in the New Testament, it is clear that they anticipated the return of Jesus “soon”. This was because Jesus had said – after giving a list of tumultuous signs coming to the earth (Matthew 24:6-29) that:

“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34)

Jesus’ disciples anticipated His return in their day but of course this did not happen and now there has been a wait of more than 2,000 years. What did Jesus mean? Are we getting closer to the time of Jesus’ return? The answer must be yes.

Do we know when this will be? Jesus Himself said “no one knows the day and the hour, not even the angels in heaven” (Matthew 24:36). However, Jesus also clearly directed us to the times and the seasons which He described as being “as in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:36), when before the Great Flood:

 “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

It does seem to me that we are living today at a time when in many cases “every thought and intent of the human heart is only evil.” So we have a range of clues about Jesus’ return and I believe that we need to be ready for his return because preparation is critical for us to be equipped for the cataclysmic event of history. Jesus said “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44).

I remember  as a young man being confronted by a sign that someone had painted on a wall in Sydney. The sign said “what will you do when Jesus returns?”. Some weeks later, the answer to this question I’d never considered was painted below the original question. It simply said: “move Bobby Fulton to inside-centre”.

The answer doesn’t translate well across nations, years and cultures but I will have a go. In rugby league, a football game mainly played in eastern parts of Australia and England, one of the most important players is the five-eight, who receives the ball from the half-back and so controls the direction of the game. At that time, Bobby Fulton was the five-eight for a Sydney team and also for the Australian rugby league team. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest players in this role of all time but it was recognised by the knowledgeable respondent to the original question on the wall in Sydney, that Fulton would have to make way for Jesus, undoubtedly likely to be a superior rugby league player than Bobby!

I often think about this answer which was given at a time when many more people would have known about Jesus than today. In Anglican church services, towards the end of the service in the prayer book, the minister leading the service says: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again”. The congregation then is meant to respond with the words “come Lord Jesus”. Usually these words are droned by the congregation without expression and an outside observer would listen and come to the conclusion that no-one uttering these words actually believed them. My suspicion is that the lack of focus on Jesus’ return by most churches indicates that very few church leaders do believe that Jesus will return, or if they do, it is so far removed from our current times that it is irrelevant.

Why is the central event of Christianity – the return to the earth of Jesus – hardly even spoken about and warnings given about God’s coming judgement? I think that it is because these ideas upset our equilibrium and also there are passages in the Bible that are hard to get to grips with. It’s easy to throw our hands up in the air and say:

 “well – Jesus said that no-one knows the day and the hour, so let’s just get on with life, drink and be merry”! I think that this is the wrong approach and I’m going to have a go at setting out what I hope is a simple understanding of the return of Jesus and the end times, based on taking the Bible seriously and more literally than many Christian denominations. Hopefully it will provide an overview that is useful for my “Sons of Issachar” readers and listeners.

The Centrality of the 1,000 Year Reign of Jesus

Remarkably, much depends on a critical event described in the Book of Revelation: the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on the earth, after Jesus defeats that satanic armies. The apostle John tells us in Revelation that satan then is bound for 1,000 years and cast into a bottomless pit so that the nations would no longer be deceived (Revelation 20:2). The 1,000 year literal reign of Jesus on the earth seems to have been an orthodox view of the early church – that is – the Bible means what it says. However in the 3rd and 4th centuries, Origen and Augustine, intellectuals who had extraordinary influence, re-oriented the church away from taking key end-times verses of the Bible literally. The church then came to accept many of the key verses as metaphors or allegories. This non-literal view dominated the church from that time including the teachings  of the Reformers in the 16th century. So today the predominant view of the Orthodox, Catholic and Reformed Church is amillenial – that is: the 1,000 years is “spiritual” or “metaphorical” but not literal. This view sees Christ’s first appearance on earth as the inauguration of the kingdom and now we are living in a period of a symbolic 1,000 years, during which satan is bound. I remember a talk some years ago by Dr Chuck Missler who said: “if satan is bound today, he’s on a very long leash”!

At the end of an indeterminate but long period (because they say that 1,000 years is symbolic), Christ will return and no-one knows when. The implications of this view are significant because there is no need to understand the signs leading to Jesus’ return and one simply gets on with spreading the good news (gospel) of Jesus. My own opinion however is that this view is dangerous because failing to understand the signs leading to Jesus’ return, leaves us open to deception which is the first warning given by Jesus in his private briefing to His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24).

The Rise of “Adventist” Movements in the 19th Century

It is worthwhile giving a bit more background in relation to predictions of Jesus’ return to the earth because history is littered with prophecies and religious movements that turned out to be false. In examining church history, the 19th century in particular, seemed to be a time when many Christian believers joined new denominations that forecast the imminent return of Jesus.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) – Jehovah's Witnesses - declared in the late 1800s that the time of the Gentiles would come to an end in 1914 when there would be an end to earthly governments, followed by resurrections and paradise on earth. This turned out to be a false prophecy but, undaunted, the group changed its doctrine and in 1914 rather than Jesus’ return to earth, the JWs said that that He came via His “invisible presence”. The JWs taught that the generation alive on the earth in 1914 would not pass away until Jesus’ return. Undeterred the JWs pressed on and a new key date of 1975 was identified as the “appropriate time for God to act” and Jesus to return. Watchtower magazine said in 1971 that “all worldly careers are soon to come to an end”. Many JWs sold homes and businesses and did not have children, in anticipation of Armageddon. Somehow, despite a trail of failed prophecies, the JWs still press on and their failure demonstrates the danger of trying to predict dates for Jesus to return to the earth.

Similarly the Seventh Day Adventists arose in the 1800s when William Miller, a Baptist pastor concluded in 1818 that Jesus would return to the earth in 1843 . When this date came and went without Jesus’ return, he changed the date to 22 October 1844, it appears based on analysis of the book of Daniel. The sect pressed on when this date passed and a 17 year old girl, Ellen Harmon, said that God showed her that in October 1844, Jesus entered the Holy of Holies to begin “investigative judgement”. Ellen married James White in 1846 and she became very influential in the foundations of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Her prophetic visions revealed that in 1844, Jesus began to investigate the records of every person to determine who would be saved, and that Sunday worship was a sign of the “mark of the beast”. Her extensive writings are the foundation for “Adventism”. She was one of the first advocates for vegetarianism because she said: “those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat eating will eventually be done away”. That’s Seventh Day Adventism out for me! The Seventh Day Adventists ascribe to a literal 1,000 year reign of Jesus but have a range of unusual beliefs that trace to the writings of Ellen White. They seem to have given up on predicting a date for Jesus’ return.

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), was founded by Joseph Smith and originates from a vision of Smith in 1820 when he was 14 years old. He had a vision of a pillar of light from heaven and an image of God and Jesus. He was warned that all denominations had strayed from the truth. Smith then received a vision from an angel called Moroni in 1823 who revealed to him a book written on gold plates and buried on a nearby hillside in Manchester, New York State. He was told to return each year for 4 years on 22 September for instruction in God’s mission. In 1827 Smith said the he dug up the gold plates but that he needed special glasses to read what was said to be written in “reformed Egyptian”. It seems that no one else saw the gold plates. The translated book became the Book of Mormon, given equal weight by Mormons to the Bible. The Mormons believe that the Garden of Eden was located near the town of Independence Missouri. They also believe that around 600BC, an Israelite named Lehi left the Middle East with his family to go the Americas and this family were the progenitors of the current native Americans. Mormonism has an extraordinary history with Smith said to have received many new visions between 1831 and 1835, eventually published in the book Doctrine and Covenants in 1843. The revelations include baptism of the dead and the acceptability of polygamy. Smith, backed up by his revelation, eventually had 25 wives, and announced in 1844 that he would run for US President. There was much opposition to his new “church” and he and his brother were arrested and while in jail, they were killed by a mob. After this a group of believers led by Brigham Young left the eastern US and over several years reach the current important Mormon site of Salt Lake City, Utah in 1847. Today the Mormons are mainstream, particularly in Utah and Idaho, and few know about their foundations.

Joseph Smith said that he had a vision from God that land in Jackson County, Missouri would be the place for Jesus’ return and he declared where a temple should be built in 1831. There is ongoing dispute over this block of land in Independence Missouri, recently highlighted in an article in the Daily Mail.

Mormons are directed to have storage of a year’s supply of food, based on the direction in Doctrine and Covenants – “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing," ("Doctrine and Covenants", Section 109:8)..

So – I imagine that you are wondering  - if you have read or listened this far – why is Reuben telling us what seems to be a range of irrelevant material about the return of Jesus? Well – the answer is that I have gone into some detail, because these sects have become prominent on the earth today and have hundreds of millions of followers. However, as you can see from some of the history of just these three, they all have a foundation of deception based usually on a messianic figure arriving with a “vision” or so-called “word from God”. Individual messiahs with a “new message” are the hallmarks of deception. In many sects, huge edifices (literally) have been built on foundations of sand, no matter how attractive the ideas may be to some.  As I always contend, be careful of a “saviour” arriving. There was only one real Saviour and they killed Him!

What then are the key elements of the end times and why is it important for us to know about them?

Undoubtedly this is a complex subject area but I have tried to simplify and bring out a few key points, based on Jesus’ own teaching in Matthew 24. Here are the signs that Jesus laid out:

• Watch out for deception

• Wars, famine, disease and earthquakes are a prelude

• Believers in Jesus will be targeted for elimination and killed

• False prophets will be common

• Lawlessness will abound and love will grow cold

• The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world before the end

Sounds pretty tough, doesn’t it! As the world has faced cataclysmic events in the last few centuries such as WWI, WWII, Hitler and the Holocaust, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot killing hundreds of millions, many thought that we must be close to the end of the age and that Jesus could appear. However, the important signs that Jesus outlines in Matthew 24 tell us that the end does seem to be getting near. It seems to me that later in Matthew 24, Jesus shifts his attention to signs that indicate the end (Matthew 24:15). He refers us to the prophet Daniel and says that there will be huge trouble (great tribulation), at a level never seen before and we need to be ready. After looking closely at Daniel, Jesus’ teaching and the Book of Revelation, here is my condensed version of the end times that I believe will help us know the “times and seasons” if not the “day and the hour”:

• There will be the rise of an evil but deceptive leader, who will appear to have the solutions to all the world’s problems;

• He will lead a global government that will control everything we do and have the power to restrict all commerce via a special mark that is needed to buy and sell;

• This leader will institute peace in the Middle East between Israel and its enemies. A third temple will be built in Jerusalem, with the re-establishment of animal sacrifices in the temple. So  - paying attention to events in Israel and Jerusalem will be important to understanding how close we are to the “end times”;

• The leader will have a second in command (a false prophet), who will perform remarkable signs;

• After 3.5 years the charismatic leader will reveal himself as a “beast” and demand worship with an image set up in the Jerusalem temple. All people will be required to worship this image on pain of death.

• Those who love Jesus will be targeted and killed because they refuse to “worship the beast”.

• Terrible calamities will appear on the earth unlike anything previously seen or experienced.

• After another 3.5 years, Jesus will return on the clouds to defeat the satanic powers and antichrist system. He will gather believers to Himself, evil will be judged and Jesus will establish His 1,000 year reign from Jerusalem.

This is the RJ Rose unauthorized version of the end times, which I know will be contested by many. Although unauthorized, it is the result of many years of study and I believe it is a broad summary of the Biblical story as I understand it. It is important for us to have an understanding of signs leading up to Jesus return so that we are prepared and not deceived. There is a King coming and we need to make ourselves ready. This article by Dr Peter Hammond provides a wonderful overview of the what the Bible says about the Kingdom of God .

Although there are many signs and now technology that can facilitate a global government and a global dictator, past history and experience teaches us that predicting a date and time for Jesus to return is foolish. Nonetheless, I believe that many of the events around us today point to the fact that what we are seeing could be a prelude to the time and the season of the return of Jesus. Will you be ready for the return of the King?

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SOME NEWS STORIES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION THIS WEEK

Ukraine, the West, Putin and Nuclear War

The Ukraine war has virtually disappeared from the front pages of Western newspapers, while fierce fighting continues across Ukraine. Many reports this week have asserted that Russia is losing the war but this seems to be wishful thinking and Western propaganda. Russia is firmly in control of key regions in Eastern Ukraine and now President Putin has given a televised address to the Russian people, where he announced an escalation in Russian troop numbers. There have been widespread reports of Putin’s speech in Western media (CBS, CNN, Fox, BBC, France24, Daily Mail, MSNBC, NBC etc) – all providing the same piece of Putin’s speech where he alluded to nuclear war. Is Putin serious and could there be the use of nuclear weapons? Yes – Putin is serious “as a heart attack” as the expression goes, and I believe that his 28 minute speech given on 24th February 2022 provides important context to the current escalation.

Here are some of Putin’s key points from that speech that I have not seen reported by the mainstream media but I believe are critical pieces of background information to understand the future of the Ukrainian conflict:

• He commences with reference to his previous address on 21 February 2022 where he had highlighted the “fundamental threats” to Russia from Western countries and “the eastward expansion of NATO, moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border”.

• Putin continued “where did this insolent manner of talking down from the height of their exceptionalism, infallibility and all-permissiveness come from”? He says that “the answer is obvious. In the late 1980s the Soviet Union grew weaker and consequently broke apart. This should serve as a good lesson for us because it has shown us that the paralysis of power and will is the first step towards complete degradation and oblivion.”

• Putin pointed out that: “The collapse of the Soviet Union led to redivision of the world and the norms of international law that developed by that time.”  He referred to the “euphoria” of the West following this collapse and because of a sense of superiority, arrogance and “low cultural standards” to implement changes to suit the West.

• Putin cited several key events after the fall of the Soviet Union. The military operation against Belgrade he says was implemented without the approval of the UN Security Council and so ignored international law. Then he said “came the turn of Iraq, Libya and Syria”. The illegal action against Libya ruined the Libyan state and created a “seat of international terrorism”. He then draws similarities to the situation in Syria where a war was conducted also without UN approval. His view though is that the example that stands above all is the “invasion of Iraq without any legal grounds” and the fake claim of weapons of mass destruction.

• Putin’s speech cites the various examples of illegal action in parts of the world and links these with promises by NATO not to expand eastwards “even by an inch”. He says “they have deceived us. They have played us”. He then refers to the West’s “con artist behaviour” and asks “where is justice and truth”.

• Putin makes the claim  “US politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say a veritable empire of lies has been created inside the United States in recent years.” He then smiles slightly and says: “it is hard to disagree with this. It is really so. “ He then says that the Western bloc countries are really just acolytes of the US and they do whatever the US tells them. These countries are part of the same “empire of lies”.

• Putin then says that despite Russia’s willingness to work with the West, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the West tried to “finish us off, and utterly destroy us”. He says that “they sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values…attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration”.

• Putin’s speech then then turns back to WWII and Russia’s lack of preparation for the German invasion which occurred on 22nd June 1941 when it was almost too late. He says that they won’t make this mistake a second time.

• Putin says that Russia has a large military capability and an advantage in “cutting edge weapons” and is a “powerful nuclear state”. He goes on to say “that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences” should there be an attack on Russia.

• From Putin’s view, NATO is stepping up its eastern expansion and bringing its infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders. He then says that Russia is not going to accept this, including efforts to gain a “military foothold of the Ukrainian territory”. He believes that in territories around Russia (traditionally Russian space) a “hostile anti-Russia is taking place”, controlled from outside by the US. He says that for the US and its allies there are “geopolitical dividends” but for Russia it is “a matter of life and death”.

• Putin then refers to the Donbass region and the genocide of millions there and says that despite 8 years of negotiations there was no action and so Russia had to take action for the people there who pinned their hopes on Russia. He thinks that the West is supporting the far-right and neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

• Putin says that Russia accepts the new reality following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and respects the sovereignty of the new states that were created. However Russia “cannot accept a permanent threat from the territory of today’s Ukraine”. He refers to the 2000-2005 threat to Russia from terrorists in the Caucuses. He also noted the importance of “the military shield” Russia implemented to prevent Syrian terrorists from entering Russia in 2015. He says that the same situation faces Russia today and that there is no choice but immediate action.

• This action involves responding to the Donbass region’s request for help which was given in accordance with Article 51 (Chapter VII) of the UN Charter. The assistance involves a “special military operation” to protect people there who have been facing genocide from the “Kyiv regime”. The action is to “demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine” but not to occupy Ukraine. Putin cited the previous decision of the people of Crimea and Sevastopol to seek Russian protection and says that many in Ukraine are making a similar request. He appeals to the Russian heritage of Ukrainian officers and says that they didn’t defeat the Nazis in WWII to allow them to rise again.

It is important to recognise that for Putin, this war is a matter of “life and death” and he believes that the West is trying to “finish Russia off”. So on 22nd September this year he announced a call up of 300,000 plus reservists and referendums to be held this week in 4 eastern regions of Ukraine: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk – to determine if they wish to be incorporated into the Russian Federation. The Sun in the UK (fiercely anti-Putin) had a useful map to understand what is being proposed and Forbes magazine published a short article on what Putin’s nuclear threat means.

In Putin’s speech on 22nd September 2022 he said – “I’d like to remind you that our country has various weapons of destruction, even more modern than NATO countries. If there’s a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, we will use all the means at our disposal. This is not a bluff.” The Wall Street Journal has a useful video about Russia’s nuclear inventory

In all the hype in the West of “standing with Ukraine” and its corrupt President, little attention has been given to the context of Russia’s assessment of what to them is a long-term threat from NATO and the West. Ukraine is only being propped up by NATO military supplies and massive US and UK financial assistance, which only reinforce Putin’s view that the West wants to destroy Russia. If the war continues, NATO will be dragged further into the conflict and undoubtedly Putin will use any means at his disposal to protect “the Motherland”. Unless a resolution is reached quickly, the implications for Western food and energy supplies and the stability of Europe are dire. Remember for Putin this is “life and death”.

COVID-19, Vaccines and Risk

Each day there seems to be new information that demonstrates the potential dangers from the COVID-19 “vaccines” and the fact that in general, the risk is greater than the reward. I listened to an interesting Delingpod podcast featuring Professor Norman Fenton, who is a biostatistician and Professor of Risk Information Management at Queen Mary University London. The podcast highlighted the suppression of information that demonstrated that COVID-19 was far less lethal than had been advised by “experts”. Professor Fenton also indicated that the models which were used in the UK had a much greater range, in terms of likely fatality rates, than was indicated in government propaganda. When he made this information known, he was frozen out of government committees and had challenges in publishing scientific papers because his information did not fit the “narrative”.

However, eventually truth “escapes” and it was interesting to see an important paper published this week reporting on a risk:benefit assessment of COVID-19 vaccine boosters. It is remarkable that few risk:benefit studies have been performed in relation to COVID-19 vaccination. In this paper, Kevin Bardosh and colleagues from a range of prestigious UK and US universities reported that:

“We estimate that 22,000 - 30,000 previously uninfected adults aged 18-29 must be boosted with an mRNA vaccine to prevent one COVID-19 hospitalisation. Using CDC and sponsor-reported adverse event data, we find that booster mandates may cause a net expected harm: per COVID-19 hospitalisation prevented in previously uninfected young adults, we anticipate 18 to 98 serious adverse events, including 1.7 to 3.0 booster-associated myocarditis cases in males, and 1,373 to 3,234 cases of grade ≥3 reactogenicity which interferes with daily activities.”

They note that many universities have COVID-19 vaccine mandates and that they think that these are unethical because:

“1) no formal risk-benefit assessment exists for this age group; 2) vaccine mandates may result in a net expected harm to individual young people; 3) mandates are not proportionate: expected harms are not outweighed by public health benefits given the modest and transient effectiveness of vaccines against transmission; 4) US mandates violate the reciprocity principle because rare serious vaccine-related harms will not be reliably compensated due to gaps in current vaccine injury schemes; and 5) mandates create wider social harms.”

COVID-19 vaccination is still required by many government entities and some private companies in the West. Also, most doctors seem to be unaware of the vaccination risks. The paper by Bardosh et al. (2022) provides solid ground for vaccine refusal.

The Theft of American Education

I came across an important article from New Discourses this week which focuses on US education but is relevant to all Western countries. It seems that most countries are spending more money on education but that educational outcomes, in terms of literacy and numeracy, are declining. James Lindsay in this recent article says:

“American schoolchildren achieving grade-level mastery in key subjects roughly one third of the time. This learning loss is done in the name of “equity” and “social justice,” and instead of teaching our children to be competent in mathematics, reading, writing, history, and science, it’s teaching them to view the world through the Woke Marxist lens and to be activists on behalf of its social and political agendas.”

It seems that education departments in universities have been taken over by the “critical pedagogy”, a Marxist philosophy that replaces learning facts with “social and emotional competencies”. The article is worthwhile reading in detail because the concepts are now dominating educational theory in all Western countries. It is presented as making education “more relevant” but it is simply political indoctrination and is happening right under the noses of parents. James Lindsay says  that

“culturally relevant” education takes advantage of the space opened up by the need for “relevance” to find and present lessons that allow “educators” to “facilitate” political radicalization into a “structural” (Marxist) view of reality, whether the teacher realizes she’s a Marxist or not. In other words, it steals education and replaces it with programming, a kind of thought-reform that leads “learners” to see the world from a particular standpoint, which happens to be Marxist-style critical analysis.”

The leftist takeover of university social sciences and humanities department is complete and now they are coming for our children.

The theft of education is also seen in a wider context in the report – “The Top 25 Threats to the American Family”. What is highlighted are the corporations, special interest groups, legislation and politicians that threaten the American family. It is worthwhile reading because we are being caught on all sides by a pincer movement and the first step to freedom is being aware.

Pope Francis Moves Funds Back to the Vatican Bank

This small story caught my attention and seems to be significant as there is some urgency from the Vatican to ensure that cash and investments from outside accounts are moved back into the Vatican Bank (the Institute for Works of Religion) by 30th September. There have been a range of financial scandals involving some cardinals and key players at the Vatican over the last 20 years. It seems that in centralizing financial systems under the Vatican, Pope Francis, according to The Pillar  “has effectively placed all of the ordinary financial business of the Roman curia under the scrutiny of international watchdogs”. It is hard to know what is behind this centralization of funds by the Vatican but it may be a sign of larger concern about the financial system.

Inflation and Financial Challenges

I subscribe to Trends magazine, a racy commentary on current events, by Gerald Celente that has been published weekly for 40 years. This week, a range of international financial issues were highlighted by Celente and are worthwhile taking note of. Here are a few facts:

• All central banks around the world are raising their base interest rates and the World Bank says that there is a risk of driving economies into a global recession;

• Inflation in the UK in August eased a little but the annual rate is still close to 10%. It is likely to increase over the next quarter because of energy costs;

• The UK£ has decreased to its lowest value in 37 years against the US$;

• Europe’s real estate investors are facing a debt crisis. Celente notes that “Publicly-traded companies invested in real estate hold an average debt 14 times higher than their projected earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization, compared to six times in the U.S.”;

• In Argentina, the inflation rate was 79% in August and is likely to reach 100% by the end of the year;

• Germany’s economy is shrinking as the energy crisis threatens industry because of sanctions on Russian oil and gas. Celente notes that “because Germany’s economy is Europe’s largest, the loss of production will ripple across the continent, damaging the economies of several other nations..”;

• Inflation in Nigeria reached 20.5% in August;

• In China, across 70 major cities, the price of new homes fell an average of 2.1 percent in August, worsening a decline of 1.7 percent in July. Consumer spending also remains insipid. When this information is combined with COVID-19 lockdowns, it seems that the Chinese economy is in trouble;

• In Canada, half the restaurants are either operating in the red or just breaking even. A recent survey also indicates that almost one-third of Canadians are worried about meeting basic living expenses;

• Because of dramatically increased exports to India and China, the Russian economy is doing relatively well, despite Western sanctions.

Taken together, there is not any good financial news anywhere and it seems that all countries are paying the price for profligate spending during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This is not a good time to carry too much debt because central banks are likely to continue to increase interest rates to try to stem inflation.