Dangerous Deception

Many prophetic people are concerned about President Obama’s morality, specifically his support for abortion and homosexual marriage (they do not seem to be so worried about his penchant for murder using unmanned drones, although this is related). While these are serious sins, they are surface sins and not the root cause of depravity, that prophets should be really worried about.

Many prophets are advocating a vote for morality by supporting Mitt Romney, as a lesser evil. There is a serious problem with this advice. Mitt Romney is an active Mormon. People who join the Mormon church are deceived. They are seeking the truth about Jesus, but they are blinded to it by a spirit of deception.

This is dangerous for the nation, because when people vote for a king/president, they are not just submitting to him, they are also submitting to the principalities and powers that control him. If Mitt Romney is elected to the presidency, the principalities and powers of deception will obtain a huge stronghold in the United States. This is dangerous for three reasons.

1. Deception is hard to deal with. An immoral person knows what they are doing is wrong, so they can repent. A person who is being deceived does not know that what they are doing is wrong, so they cannot repent, until they are set free from deception.

2. Once deception gains control of a nation, all kinds of evil can emerge. Deception allows evil to diversify and expand. At a political level, deception is really dangerous, because it opens the way for despotic government. 2 Thes 2:1-12 will not be fulfilled in this season, but it illustrates the principle, that deception opens the door to totalitarian government.

3. God sends a spirit of deception on a nation, when it is ready for judgment, when it has gotten so bad, that it is beyond repentance. 1 Kings 22 is a good example. Ahab had done his worst. God sent a spirit of deception, to allow him to be lead to his destruction. Unfortunately for him, Miciah was the only who understand why this had happened. The court prophets urged him to action, inspired by a spirit of deception.

I hope that America does not vote for Romney, because if he wins and America comes under a spirit of deception, then it has gone much further toward judgement than I thought. (Note when America comes under judgment, it will not become weak. Rather when the Holy Spirit is squeezed out, it will become stronger and nastier. It will continue to be a great power, but will be force for evil rather than good.)

Some will respond by saying that Obama is deceived too. That is true, but it not his controlling spirit. For Romney, deception is the spirit that controls all others. His multiple policy changes, seemingly without any reference to the truth, are a sign of man controlled by deception.

I hope that the prophets urging support for Romney, because he is a lesser evil, are not the modern equivalents of the court prophets, who disagreed with Miciah. They were not evil people. They were brought to the palace for their spiritual gifts. They just go caught up in what was going on around them and were sucked deception. That could be happening again.

G8 Wishful Thinking

President Obama urged the G8 leaders meeting in Chicago to implement policies that will achieve grow and financial stability. This is a noble sentiment, but there is one small problem.

• Economists struggle to identify policies that would produce grow in the current environment.
• Economists do not agree on what policies will produce financial stability.

No economist can point to policies that are certain to produce both growth and financial stability.

War gets Personal

The death of Osama bin Laden marks a change in the nature of warfare, but for a different reason than most people think.

For most of history, war was a personal affair in which a king and his colourful knights would attack another political leader and his retinue. Most kings could not afford a large number of troops, so the armies involved were quite small. Battles could last for several years, but were usually quite localised.

The ordinary people were not affected, unless they lived close to the battlefield, and they would be given plenty of time to flee. Kings often had to borrow from banks to pay their soldiers, so they were often quite stingy. The greatest threat to the lives of ordinary people came from looting by soldiers who had not been paid or supplied with provisions.

The nature of warfare changed dramatically changed during the nineteenth century when the concept of total war emerged when entire nations began to join in battle with another battle. War ceased being a contest between two kings and became a struggle between nations. Kings fight over territory. Nations tend to fight over causes, and everyone is drawn into the cause.

Huge armies were formed as ordinary people commit to the cause, because they are persuaded that life and security depended on security. Non-combatants were expected to support the war effort by reducing their consumption and manufacturing weapons and equipment for the army. Civilians became target for artillery and bombs. In total war, the number of civilian casualties far exceeds the number of military casualties.

The American Civil War started the trend toward total war, but it really came to fullness in the first and second world wars. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated the futility of this type of war and we will see a switch back to much more personal wars. Conflicts between nations will be replaced by more focussed personal struggles between political or military leaders, as sophisticated military equipment makes personal warfare feasible.

We have just seen personal warfare being worked out in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Whereas a hundred thousand troops have failed to achieve their objective, a small team of loyal followers directed by the president has been able to take out the leader of the enemy force.

The same thing will probably happen in Libya. Britain, Italy and France do not want to invade the country, because the cost would be too great, but they hope to change the situation on the ground by killing Muammar Gadhafi. A couple of attempts to bomb his compound have failed, but they will eventually succeed. If not an American drone will do the job.

In the next few years, personal warfare will become more common. They deaths of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gadhafi will make the killing of wicked dictators and evil military leaders morally acceptable. The development of unmanned predator drones and mobile strike teams will make it an efficient way to remove evil leaders from the world. Personal attacks against undesirable political leaders will become an effective tool for projecting American force in the world. The fear of a personal strike will cause many hostile leaders to submit to American policies.

In the film Waterloo, General Wellington refused permission to an artillery officer wanted to fire long range shot at Napoleon. He is heard saying, "Leaders of armies have better things to do than fire at each other!" That has now changed. Many political leaders believe that best thing to do is to kill the leader of a troublesome nation.

A return to personal wars fought between kings will not bring peace to the world. Total war may decline, but Fourth Generation War will increase, producing massive casualties throughout the world.

Banking on Obama

Barack Obama has announced that he will pass legislation preventing banks from becoming “too big to fail”. There will be limits on their size and risk taking activities. Banks will prevented from owning hedge funds and other special purpose investment vehicles to remove risk from their balance sheets. These are good things, but it will not happen.

Christians should not count on the politicians to fix the banking system. Whenever the bankers and politicians get together, compromise follows right behind. The new legislations will be twisted to protect the banks. They will find ways to make any new laws work for their benefit.

The solution rests with ordinary people. If people withdrew their funds form banks that undertake risky behaviour and deposit their money in safer banks, at least some of the banks would be forced to change.

Power to the People
Depositors should also start asking banks what they will do with their term deposits. They should ask if the money will be loaned for a longer term than the term of the deposit. If the bank says yes, they should ask how the bank will repay their money when the term of the deposit has ended. The bank will say that it will obtain deposits from other people or borrow the money from other institutions. This kind of questioning will expose the dangers in what the banks are doing.

If enough people ask for a different service, an innovative bank will be able to get an advantage by providing that service. If consumers start enquiring about a bank that matches the terms of it loans with the terms of its deposits, a bank should emerge to provide that service. If that is what most depositors really want, then that bank should grow quickly. As more and more depositors choose this service, other banks will have to start providing it, so that they do not lose market share.

The power to change the banking system lies with depositors. If enough people demand a better service, banks will have to change their practices. All that is need is for one bank to provide an alternative service. Depositors can then use the power of their money to reward that bank and punish those that refuse to change. Power rests with those who own the money and the money is owned by the depositors, not the banks (From Bank Deposits and Loans).

Obama in Afghanistan

Change that is more of the Same.

Universal Health Care

Universal health care has become a big issue in the United States and Christians are getting really stirred about it.

The lost and hurting people living in America are entitled to universal health care. What many Christians seem to have forgotten is that Jesus has already paid for a comprehensive universal health care package that is far better than Obama’s. He died on the cross to purchase healing for all those who have faith in him.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed (Is 53:5).

For the fine print on this health care package see Healing for Christians.

Jesus also delivered health care to unbelievers as a sign of God grace. The early church healed unbeliever’s as confirmation of the effectiveness of the gospel they preached (Mark 16:20; Acts 3:3-10). Jesus told us to go the lost, to heal the sick and then preach the gospel.

When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you (Luke 10:8,9).

Note the order. More of the policy details are in Healing Evangelism.

Jesus health care is comprehensive, even in Syria.Jesus went throughout Galilee… healing every disease and sickness among the people.

News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. (Matt4:23-24).

I wish that Christians were as passionate about Jesus universal comprehensive health care as they are about Obama’s unfunded, specified-conditions, palliative health care scheme.

If Christians will not provide Jesus universe health care to the lost people of this world, they are entitled to look to the state for universal health care. If we do not have enough faith to deliver Jesus health care to the world, we are being churlish not to let the state have a go. We should not object to paying taxes to provide health care for the less fortunate, if we unwilling to bless them with health care that Jesus has already paid for.

Parousia Postponed?

Two angels were discussing the rumour going around heaven that the second coming has been deferred indefinitely.

Angel1

I am not surprised. I was at the democratic convention in Denver Colorado and saw the music, the theatre, the speeches and the razzmatazz. The spectacle was absolutely amazing. “Lighting up the sky from one end to the other” just would not cut it as a spectacle any more.

Angel2:

You are right. I was there too. Obama’s speech was amazing. His platform makes the messiah’s promises look pitiful.

Angel3 (joining the other two).

Don’t worry guys, I have just returned from America. They have now got Sarah Palin. She is amazing and the church is in raptures over her. She is going to do everything that the messiah promised, plus some more, while still looking good. The church has Sarah Palin, so the messiah does not need to return any more.