The Crash Course

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It seeks to provide you with a baseline understanding of the economy so that you can better appreciate the risks that we all face.

Highly recommend and it’s free here. 

Our lives are about to change.   

16 Illegals Sue Arizona Rancher

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.  (Washington Times Link)

Stimulus Bill Insanity

The fiscal stimulus bill being debated in Congress not only won’t help the economy, it will make the recession much worse, says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

The problem, he says, is the government is trying to perpetuate a “phony economy” based on borrowing and spending. With the U.S. consumer tapped out, the government is “now taking on the mantle” of consumer of last resort, he continues, predicting the bond bubble will soon burst – if it hasn’t already – ultimately leading to a collapse of the dollar and an “inflationary depression worse than anything any of us have ever seen.”  (Link)

Synthetic Virus

The head of the Australian National Center for Biosecurity has expressed concerns about the possible ramifications of U.S. research that produced a synthetic virus similar to SARS, the Canberra Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 12).

‘They were allowed to create a new virus without absolutely knowing how dangerous it might be,” Ian Ramshaw said. ”It’s getting very, very easy now to make these things in the test tube.”

SARS, which has killed 800 people and sickened thousands since arising more than five years ago, is believed to have come from bats. In attempting to determine how the disease might have been passed to humans, scientists at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Tennessee and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill manufactured a bat virus on their own.

Outside safety assessments should be conducted throughout the process of designing and producing the virus, the U.S. researchers said in noting potential concerns about their work.

Once the genetic sequences of a virus is known, it takes limited know-how to actually produce it, Ramshaw said. A “designer DNA firm” would be capable of such production, he said.

”There’s no regulation of these designer DNA firms around the world that prevents them from making these sequences that I will send off in an e-mail and it will be sent back in the post,” according to Ramshaw. ”You don’t have to have a sophisticated laboratory to do this.”

Australia has no regulations addressing the potential production of synthetic viruses, he said.

‘This is a new life, a bat virus. Just by the sequence they’ve found, they’ve made the virus come alive with the new technology, and we haven’t got any regulations in place to control and ensure there’s no security risks associated,” Ramshaw said (Nyssa Skilton, Canberra Times, Dec. 24).

THE COMING PANDEMIC

• Experts believe another pandemic is inevitable – they just don’t know when it will happen. Influenza pandemics have occurred about every 30 to 40 years. The last occurred in 1968.
• There will be very little warning. Most experts believe that there would be one to six months between the time a new influenza strain is identified and the first U.S. outbreaks.
• Vaccines will likely not be available for 6 – 12 months (if at all) from the time the organism is identified. An effective vaccine will likely require two doses, 30 days apart.
• The pandemic will likely occur simultaneously throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, preventing shifts of resources that normally occur with natural disasters.
• There will be a prolonged effect on communities – lasting months, possibly as long as a year.
• Vaccinations, antibiotics, and antivirals (biologics) will be in short supply.
• Health-care workers and first responders will be at high risk for exposure and illness. This could severely impact the health care system and medical response.
• There will likely be a shortage of personnel in important sectors, including military, police, fire, and utility workers.
• There will be a substantial economic impact around the world.

Strebloo – to wrench or pervert

Have you noticed the increase in warning labels over the years? Some of them are a bit ridiculous. But others, especially in relation to inherently dangerous things, are vital. Think of a chain saw. The first thing you’ll see upon opening the box is a warning label (probably in bold red letters) that says something like, “Stop! Read the owners manual and all warnings before operating.” It makes sense to read the warnings first. When you think about it, that’s pretty good advice for Bible study as well.

With all the confusion and false teachings out there one would do well to begin by reading the warnings found in the Bible. After all, errors and misrepresentations have been around since Jesus’ day.

You may remember the touching scene after Christ’s resurrection where Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep (a metaphor for followers). After that Jesus spoke about Peter’s death and how it would glorify God. Peter then asked what plans the Lord had for John. Jesus answered, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me” (John 21:22). In other words, Jesus told Peter to stay focused on his own responsibilities and not worry about John.

Somehow Jesus’ words got turned around and people began teaching that John would remain alive until the Second Coming.  

The same thing often happens today and not only to the words of Jesus. One interesting passage written by the Apostle Peter warns of those who were perverting the words of Paul. Peter knew Paul’s teachings well enough to realize that they were being twisted and misinterpreted. In 2 Peter 3:16 he refers to those who do so as unlearned and unstable because they “wrest” (Greek strebloo – to wrench or pervert) the scriptures.

That passage also stands as a reminder that Peter and Paul were in agreement about Jesus and His great work of redemption.

Be warned, there are still those who would pervert the gospel. They turn Paul’s words against Peter’s and even the Lord’s. Skillfully they stack and shuffle scriptures until they “prove” their unorthodox views. It’s so dire these days that one can even find those who teach that the Christian church and Christian gospel did not even begin with Christ but with one of the apostles. Amazing.

Make no mistake, the Bible teaches that Peter and Paul willingly gave their lives proclaiming the singular message of Christ crucified, risen, and coming again.