The Challenge Facing the ChurchChristians in America are about to face the greatest economic and political crisis since the Great Depression from 1930 to 1942. There are indisputable trends that portend terribly for our economy and possibly for our personal financial future. As responsible stewards, Christians need to be aware of putting ourselves in financially ruinous situations that would threaten the earthly security and welfare of our family. Some Christians have already been engulfed in the recent real estate crisis, having borrowed beyond their means during a time of easy lending practices. We need to tread very carefully in the days ahead, living within our means as we enter a very lean period of time.
In the next Great Depression, the church will need to be strong and ready for what I believe will be a massive influx of people who are in a desperate emotional and spiritual condition. A church incapacitated by economic ruin will be largely unable to minister to a mass of desperate seekers. Missions programs may collapse as well, due to the inability of local assemblies to support those who are in the field. The weak-dollar, easy-money policies of the Bush Administration have taken the price of the dollar to levels that this country has not seen in quite some time. This type of policy is excellent for multi-national businesses based in America (who can offer their goods overseas at lower prices) and for our stock market, but does extensive harm to our nation in the long-term and also decreases the spending power of the dollar overseas, which causes missionaries great economic harm. Churches and mission boards are now taking up special collections (in addition to their established missions budgets and allotments) in order to assist these beleaguered missionaries overseas. Missionaries and churches can thank President Bush and his pro-big-business-at-all-costs policies for these developments.
As unemployment rises and salaries decrease, church tithes will decrease accordingly. Church investments in the stock market or real estate will be severely affected. Ministries of the church that are supported in times of plenty will have to be scaled down or possibly eliminated as contributions diminish.
Christians and churches in America have a great responsibility to plan for the downturn ahead, that we may be in a secure position from which we can continue to effectively preach salvation to the lost. Financial wreckage and ruin may severely hinder the church’s ability to operate in this wicked world in the way that it does today. It is my sincere hope and prayer that Christians will not turn a deaf ear to these warnings, and allow economic collapse to become a stumbling block to the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If we can, by God's grace, gain a secure position for the coming economic super-storm, we will be in a position to stand strong for those who will be looking for a foundation upon which to rest their weary souls. At that time, we will be ready and able to point the seekers to that which will always be secure: the chief cornerstone and our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ.
Summary - Prepare the Ark
The perfect storm of demographic, economic, and political trends that will come together near the year 2010 should frighten even the most skeptical American. The bright side is that responsible people have ample time to investigate these troubling trends for themselves and prepare for this economic super-storm. Kiyosaki likens it to "building the ark," in a reference to our ancestor Noah and the great flood that engulfed the globe in ancient times.
I believe that no segment of the American population will be left unaffected by the downturn ahead, unlike the mild correction seen recently from 2000 to 2002 and the ongoing bust in the real estate market since 2006. It is my belief that this downturn in real estate will continue into the coming depression and act as a further aggravating factor as our economy spirals downward. None of the economic models I studied from 2000 to 2004 included a real estate bubble and bust in their forecasts. I hadn’t included anything of the sort when I initially wrote this piece. However, the real estate crisis plus the soaring prices of commodities (oil), plus the multi-trillion dollar price tag of a “forever war” against “Islamo-fascism” all over the world nearly ensures that the predictions compiled together here will come to pass. There are simply too many hurdles in place for us to escape a major downturn.
I recommend that readers do their own independent research, and continue to keep a watchful eye on the confluence of these foreboding trends.
On a side note, although I agree with the demographic and economic analysis of Dent in "The Next Great Bubble Boom," I do not endorse his usage of demographics to prove out "evolutionary trends" within the greater scheme of the world's origins and population growth. I would caution the reader against Dent’s philosophical presuppositions and faulty logic in such sections of his book.
*On some of these things coming to pass, see a piece I wrote on June 9, 2009 HERE.
