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A Kingdom View of Economic Collapse

PictureThe following is an excerpt from my good friend, Praying Medic's, new book.  Make sure to pick it up here for just $4.99!!On June 30th, 2015, after years of financial trouble, Greece failed to make a required payment to the International Monetary Fund and entered into a default on its sovereign debt. In light of Greece’s default and due to the proliferation of books predicting catastrophic judgments upon America (and the rest of the world) it seemed good to share what I’ve learned about economic collapse and how the kingdom of God responds to crisis.

You don’t need to look very far to find dire warnings of disaster being spoken by secular experts and religious leaders. Many financial experts have written books citing the reasons why they believe an economic collapse is approaching. At the same time, many religious leaders have shared prophetic warnings that we’re entering a time a great difficulty; some are predicting that the end of the world is at hand.

While I believe that some financial experts have given us an accurate assessment of the problems we face, what they lack is a divine perspective on the problem. And while religious leaders have good intentions, what they lack is an understanding of how financial systems work. What is most concerning is that neither camp has put forth a clear plan to help us survive such a crisis, much less rebuild in its aftermath.

The approach financial advisers generally take is to sign you up for their investing programs. They warn that your retirement savings are about to be wiped out and that if you pay them a fee, they’ll tell you where to invest your money. The main reason why many church leaders don’t offer a plan to survive or rebuild after a global crisis is that they don’t expect to be here. The popularity of the belief that the church will be taken into heaven in the rapture before a global crisis hits has prompted many theologians to abandon all thought of what the church’s responsibility might be in a post-crisis world.

After becoming a believer, I sat in a church pew and read my Bible. I learned all the reasons why the Great Tribulation was approaching, why the Antichrist was ready to be revealed, why the world was teetering on the brink of catastrophe, and most importantly, why we believers wouldn’t be around for all of that. Although I was told that God’s wrath was about to be poured out upon the earth, I was also assured that my King was going to appear and rescue me from it. During this time, I never witnessed a creative miracle and never saw anyone healed or set free of a demon. And although I learned a lot about the institution we call the church, I learned virtually nothing about what Jesus called the kingdom of God.

Then one night I had a dream. In the dream, I met God, and He had a few things He wanted to share with me. He said He wanted me to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead and proclaim His kingdom.

The nerve of Him.

If He weren’t the Almighty, I might have given Him a piece of my mind. He spoke not a word about waiting for the rapture and nothing about witnessing to sinners or handing out tracts—things my pastor told me were top priorities. Since that day, I’ve had hundreds (perhaps thousands) more dreams and the subject hasn’t changed. Few, if any of them have portrayed the end of the world, the rise of a one-world government or world-ending disasters. Nearly all of them have to do with battling the kingdom of darkness, setting captives free, and using my time and energy to advance His kingdom.

I think we should ask a few questions of those who predict catastrophic events that are claimed to be judgment from an angry God:

What if the coming events are not actually the result of God’s wrath, but instead, the natural outworking of our own poor choices, or those of our elected leaders?

What if a global crisis strikes and the church is not removed from the earth beforehand?

Is your pastor teaching you what to do if the church survives a global catastrophe, or are all your hopes pinned on Jesus rescuing you from it?

It’s certainly more pleasant to think that we won’t be here when things get ugly, but we have no guarantee of that. And if we are destined to remain here, wouldn’t we be wise to spend a little time preparing, at least mentally, if not physically?

I don’t see any reason for us to fear the future. Whatever is coming, God can make us aware of it, and if He can make us aware of it, He can prepare us for it. I would encourage you to rest in the knowledge that God has a plan that He is working out in these events. If you’re positioned in Him, and prepared mentally for the challenges that lie ahead, you may find all of this to be a liberating experience, and not a terrifying one.

My intent with this book is to examine the topic of economic collapse from various perspectives. The book can be divided roughly into five sections: The first is a course on economics and finance. My goal with this section is to describe (in terms the average person can understand) how the financial systems of the world operate. In the second section, we’ll look at historic cases of economic collapse and the things that caused it. We’ll also identify which nations are at risk of experiencing economic collapse today. In the third section, we’ll look at the Greek debt crisis and I’ll offer a few observations on how we can avoid the same fate. In the fourth section I’ll share the dreams I’ve had that give a prophetic overview of the days ahead and I’ll discuss what I believe to be God’s purpose for these events. In the last section, we’ll look at how the  kingdom of God ought to respond to crisis.
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Published on July 10, 2015 06:28
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