The Family

I believe that the family is a foundation for the Church and society as a whole.

It is the smallest governmental structure in society.
Strong families = strong communities.
Strong communities = a strong country.

Families are made up of men, women and children.

I had someone say to me the other day, “I don’t know how you and Pastor Andrea do it?” in reference to us carrying our responsibilities outside of the family as well as the responsibilities of raising 5 children.

I thought, “We’re responsible adults,” That’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s normal
I just smiled and said, “Thank you.”

A problem with most families is selfishness.


Here's the video of the message!

Excerpt from an Article in USA Today
For many of USA's inmates, crime runs in the family
"This is much bigger than just a police issue," Joyce says. "It's about thinking differently. If we don't do something, this cycle will just continue."
Eddy, the Oregon psychologist, says most of the 400 inmates in his study, which focuses on their return to their families and young children, also have considerable generational links to crime.
At least 20% of the inmates reported that their mothers had been in prison. At least half said their fathers or siblings had been in prison.
"If you want to break the cycle, the current generation (of family members) has to be linked with education and jobs," Eddy says, adding that many need basic information on how to be good parents.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-28-crime-families_N.htm


The following information is taken from America is Too Young to Die, by Leonard Ravenhill. The book contains this startling quotation:

Max Jukes, [an] atheist, lived a godless life. He married an ungodly [woman], and from this union there were 310 who died as paupers, 150 were criminals, 7 were murderers, 100 were drunkards, and more than half of the women were prostitutes. His 540 descendants cost the State one and a quarter million dollars [before inflation].

Then there is a record of a great man of God, Jonathan Edwards. He lived at the same time as Max Jukes, but he married a godly [woman]. An investigation was made of 1,394 known descendants of Jonathan Edwards, of which 13 became college presidents, 65 college professors, 3 United States Senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 physicians, 75 army and navy officers, 100 preachers and missionaries, 60 authors of prominence, one Vice-President of the United States, 80 public officials in other capacities, 295 college graduates, among whom were governors of states and ministers to foreign countries. Jonathan Edwards' descendants did not cost the state a penny (quoted in America is Too Young to Die by Leonard Ravenhill, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany Fellowship, 1979, p. 112).

Responsible Fatherhood and the Role of the Family
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health And Human Services, at the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative Grantee Conference, September 30, 2002

By some estimates, 10 million children—one in seven—will, at some point before reaching age 18, have an incarcerated father.
What’s the impact of this? Having a father in prison is a powerful predictor of antisocial behavior in general and of criminality in particular. Put the father in prison and, by some estimates, you make the child five to six times more likely to end up in prison than otherwise. Most of us can barely imagine the pain, shame, disruption, and despair that children experience when their father gets incarcerated. These are what U.S. News & World Report a few months ago called "the most at-risk of at-risk kids."
http://www.reentry.gov/responsible.html

I believe that Christ can break generational behavioral patterns and give the new believer in Christ a fresh start at life.

Look up some scriptures that support this statement.

In Christ past paradigms of thinking and attitudes are subject to change at the new believers submission to God’s ways.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

What the Bible say in direct reference to the word family

1. Your Blood family Can misunderstand your commitment to Christ and his ministry.

Mark 3:21
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

When Jesus Mother and brothers heard he wasn’t eating (Mark 3:20) they decided to take him with them because he’d lost his mind. This “Christianity” thing had gotten out of hand. Jesus then said his family was really those who do God’s will.
Jesus’ redefined his family
Mark 3:34-35
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."


Hebrews 2:11
Both the one who makes men holy(Jesus) and those who are made holy(his people) are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Mark 6:4-6
4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

One of the biggest enemies to the miraculous flowing through men and women of God you know if familiarity. It can lead to offense and blocks to the miracle working flow of God.
Knowing someone’s background and dismissing their ability to do something spiritual. Knowing too much about them or allowing that information to de spiritualize that person’s life. This prohibits the flow of God even through Jesus!

1 Corinthians 1:18
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Same message (of the Cross)
Different response
To the perishing - Foolishness
To the Christian - Power of God

What makes the difference is the Rhema voice of God. The believer has connected with the voice of God and the unbeliever has not and only sees things with the natural eye. This radically affects a person’s priorities. This change in priorities will bring division.

Luke 12:51-53
51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

2. The family must be cared for

1 Timothy 5:4
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

Children who have adult parents who are in financial need should take care of their parents. Specifically widowed mothers.

1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

This caring for family is so important that if it’s not done, judgment is already decreed that this person has denied the faith with their actions and is worse than an unbeliever!

3. The family of an overseer

Timothy 3:1
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

How your family functions is a good indicator of the level of responsibility you should have in the church.
A person who’s family is falling apart needs to focus their energy on making the family work properly. First things first. Trying to minister in a leadership role when things aren’t right at home is a recipe for disaster.

4. A promise from God’s Word for your children.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

When we raise our children in the Lord they have an internal deposit in their hearts that they can never really get away from.
When the time is right they will come back to Christ. You can know that. Stand on the word for your children.

Acts 11:14
He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.‘
Acts 16:31
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

Keep believing for your household to be saved. The message of the gospel is effective at reaching lost family members.

Jubilee Family Church

The Devil and the Duck

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm and he was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes' But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.' Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?' So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.' Sally just smiled and said, 'well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help? She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he Finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter:

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done....? And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear , bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is....You need to know
that: God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He has seen your whole life... He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

Jubilee Family Church

What Happens in Heaven

This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true:

I dreamed that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received'

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them. 'I noticed again how busy it was there. Ther e were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.

'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .'

'How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.

'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, God.'

'What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked.

'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .'

'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.'

'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .'

'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.'

'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world! .'

'If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare .'

'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.'

Ok, what now? How can I start?

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

Jesus is My Master so I won't be Mastered by Anything

When the Bible speaks of the “Kingdom of God” It’s speaking of a Kingdom that is here but hasn’t reached its ultimate fulfillment.

The Kingdom of God as a Future Reality
The Kingdoms of this world and the kingdoms of God
Daniel 2:36-45

The Kingdom of God as a Past and Present Tense Reality
Component of the Kingdom of God

Luke 17:20b-21
"The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

The Spiritual Component
The phrase “Kingdom of God” appears 65 times in the New Testament. Starting with Matthew 12:28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

56 times the phrase refers to the establishment of a Kingdom in the present or a kingdom of the heart.
9 times the phrase refers to a Heavenly Kingdom or the millennial reign of Christ, a future kingdom.

1 Corinthians 6:9
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 12"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Background on Corinth
The spiritual and moral environment of the first century city of Corinth was extremely unhealthy. Out of this culture, which had seen its prime and under the crushing weight of further moral decline would one day destroy itself, men and women answered the call of the gospel. They sought purpose for their lives; they sought a better way; they sought an eternal and abiding hope. They found it in Christ Jesus. Even if their city and culture would shortly lie in ruins, they would live forever.

When we’re talking about the Kingdom of God what are we talking about? (Discuss)

The Wicked Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God
• The Sexually Immoral
(1) The Sexually Immoral shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This term refers to those who engage in sexual activity which God has declared sinful. He has not declared all sexual activity immoral. In fact, He condones and even encourages lawful sexual activity according to His design and purpose (I CORINTHIANS 7:2-4; HEBREWS 13:4). Fornication refers to sexual activity outside of the marriage relationship between a man and a woman. It would include premarital as well as extramarital sexual relationships of whatever duration from a one night stand to an ongoing affair. Such activity was rampant in first century Corinth. It is rampant today in our own society. It is unrighteous and it will keep one from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• God must be First
(2) Idolaters shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who offer to others what belongs unto God are idolaters. A person's idol might be a statue before which he bows. Or more probably it might be his own desires. It is anything that a person adores more than God. Idolatry will keep one from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• Adultery
(3) Adulterers shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Adultery seems to be more specific a term than fornication. It is usually limited to sexual unfaithfulness to a marriage partner. Adultery will keep one from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• Male Prostitutes
(4)A man who sells himself sexually is not righteous and will not inherit the kingdom of God.

• Homosexual Offenders
(5)What does the Old Testament Say about Homosexuality?

Leviticus 18:22
" 'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 20:13
" 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Genesis 18
20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:1-29
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

The Angels come to visit
They want to sleep out in the square.
Lot insists that they sleep in his house.

After dinner all the men of the city, young and old surrounded Lot’s house.
Genesis 19:5 "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

This is intense rape spirited homosexuality. There is nothing consensual about what these men of Sodom are attempting.

Genesis 19:6-8
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

Something is really wrong with Lot. I believe he could’ve been pre-disposed to some poor sexual behavior before moving to Sodom but I believe the city has left an impression on him. His culture is effecting him. Just like he’s effecting the culture.
What man in his right mind would offer his 2 virgin daughters to a mob of rape ready men?

The daughters don’t appease the mob and they move to break down the door so they can have sex with the Angels and they threaten Lot that he’s going to get it worse than they.

The Angels strike the rape crazed men with blindness and conclude that the city must be destroyed.
Genesis 19:12,13
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

We know that God does not rejoice in the demise of the wicked yet he destroys this city?
I believe God is always redemptive. If he can redeem you he will. If he can’t he may take you out or allow the Devil to take you out so you don’t influence anyone else in your ways.

Lot had a hard time believing the calamity that was going to come upon Sodom. He thought it was a Joke. He hesitated in leaving so the angels held his hand and had to lead him out.

God’s judgment is no Joke. We are in a time of great grace now but…

Revelation 15:7
7Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.

There is a time coming in the future where God's wrath will be poured out onto the Earth

Quote from Freddy Mercury, a Bi-Sexual who prefered men.
For Freddie, the beginning of the end came when he was at boarding school in Bombay. He was just 13 and had his first homosexual experience - with an older pupil who made him call him Master. "I had a crush on The Master and I'd have done anything for him." he later confided. "When we went to bed together it didn't feel wrong and, although I had never had sex with a woman I wondered if it was really worth all the fuss! Over the next 20 years I went to bed with many women, for my sex drive is enormous and I like to live life to the full. But it was only when I was in the arms of a man that I felt truly fulfilled."

I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid, It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it. ” —Freddie Mercury

We are the champions written by Freddie Mercury has his heart and thus his world and life view. It’s been argued that the song we are the Champions is actually a homosexual anthem. Notice the desire to conquer and win at all costs. Homosexuality is not something that if you leave it alone it will leave you alone. It’s passionate and proud and desires to not just be understood but demands to be accepted and desires to take over.

The obvious reality that this lifestyle creates if it were to take over is that in one generation there wouldn’t be any people on the planet. This obviously is a negative thing for the continuation of the human race.
Any person should be able to see that without heterosexuals, life as we know it on the Earth would cease. Let's move on to the other sins listed here.

• Thieves
(6) Thieves shall not enter the kingdom of God. There is no excuse for taking that which rightfully belongs to another. Whether its shoplifting, pilfering, short-changing or armed robbery, fraud and extortion, it is thievery. Whether the person doing the stealing is rich or poor it will still keep one from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• Greedy
(7) The Greedy will not inherit the Kingdom of God. This has to do with having an uncontrollable desire to possess a certain thing. It motivates one into committing sin in order to satisfy greed. Coveting that which belongs to another will keep one from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• Drunkenness
(8) Children of God have no need to cloud their perspectives nor dull their senses. We must be able to think and reason clearly. Drunkenness causes one to lose focus and rationality. Those who give themselves over to intoxication will find that it keeps them from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

• Slanderers
(9)There are many to speak boldly about things that they know little about. Many men and women of God have had to endure reproach for their faith. Not even the Son of God escaped verbal abuse.

• Swindlers
(10) Swindlers and smooth talkers of all kinds are included here. The religious con-man belongs to this group as well as the secular. Those who prey on others by trying to take advantage of their misfortune would also be included. Swindlers cannot take their ill-gotten goods with them when they leave this world, nor will they inherit the Kingdom of God. Bernie Madoff is a swindler.

Sanctification is not the basis of justification but the inevitable result of justification. Those whom God declares righteous on the basis of their faith in Christ's work for them, God also makes righteous by the work of his Spirit within them. Those whose lives are characterized by the expressions of the sinful nature demonstrate that they have not been born by the power of the Spirit.

1 Cor. 6:12
12"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Apostle Paul says, “I can do whatever I want but not everything is good for me.” I choose by God’s grace to not do the things that destroy the establishment of his Kingdom in my heart and the establishment of his kingdom on the earth.

Sin shall not be my master! Jesus is my master. If I’m mastered I’m getting robbed by the Devil! I’ve exchanged the truth for a lie and have become deceived.

Jubilee Family Church

God's Economy

We’re called to bring an increase

The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'


Whatever our hand finds to do God wants us to work at it as unto God and bring an increase. This requires thoughtful work. Not just chasing our tail but really producing something.

I believe the parable is speaking about bringing financial increase but it applies to every area of Kingdom work as well.

I’m no economist but I do watch the news and have varying levels of respect for people who speak and make statements that get broadcast out to the public in various modalities.

Yesterday Warren Buffett (The wealthiest person on the planet) made some economic statements.


Billionaire investor Warren Buffett predicted Saturday that "the nation's economy will be in shambles throughout 2009" and probably "well beyond."
In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders, Buffett said the credit crisis and falling housing and stock prices have led to "paralyzing fear."
But the famed investor remained optimistic about America's resilience.

How should we as Christians respond to what’s going on around us.
During the Plagues on Egypt
Exodus 8:22
" 'But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land.
During the Plagues on Egypt
Exodus 9:26
The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

I believe there is an ark of economic safety in today’s tough times. God has traditionally given his people a way out of the difficulty that has come on the Earth.
They have to listen and obey to escape.

Exodus 12
The Passover
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb [a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover. 12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Notice the detailed instructions the Lord gave the Israelite community.

God’s people can be in the midst of difficulty and it won’t touch them. The righteous can escape the difficulty going on all around them.

It can be done with prophetic insight and sometimes even wisdom will allow a Godly person to make good decisions that will bless them in the midst of an economic down turn.

It's a little known fact that more millionaires were made during The Great Depression than in any other time in U.S. history.

There is one golden nugget contained in this history lesson that can enable you to make a lot of money when our country is in a recession (like right now) because a recession is exactly the same thing as a depression except it doesn't last as long and the economic damage is not as severe. So bear with me while I give you a short history lesson that contains this golden nugget.

You should know that the Great Depression actually began a few years in advance of the 1929 stock market crash and lasted until World War II brought the country out of the Depression.
The many business enterprises that changed hands during the depression by people with liquid cash are too numerous to mention, but due to the war effort, those with liquid cash who bought land, homes, companies, or invested in the stocks of the companies that produced products that were in demand by our government for the war effort made millions. The industries included such products as:

1. Steel, iron, copper, and aluminum 2. Communications equipment and replacement parts 3. Tanks, boats, aircraft, vehicles and parts for these 4. Ammunition and weapons 5 - Boots, clothing, belts, helmets, caps, backpacks, hats, blankets, tents and cots (and the textiles to make them) 6 - Storage and shipping containers 7 - Shipping, truck and railway transportation 8 - Petroleum products and fuels and stock in iol wells (the Texas oil boom was a biggie!)

Deuteronomy 15:6
For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

Why is this verse significant?
Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Because servitude is tied to borrowing.

Servant: one that serves others; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer.

What happens if you want to borrow some money to buy a house. You do and the house is now in your possession and you’ve committed yourself to make those payments to the bank in order to continue to live in the house. Suppose you decide you don’t want to make those payments any more?

You in effect become a slave to the bank in order to pay them back. A certain percentage of your income will go to them. Not to mention the interest.
What happens to a nation that borrows money from another nation?

According to the Bible the lending nation becomes the master over the borrowing nation. Some of our national debt is owed to U.S. citizens but some of it is owed to foreigners. Let’s see how much.

"External debt" is defined as the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services.

$13,627,459,000,000 September 30th, 2008

This information came from the United States Department of the Treasury.

Foreign ownership
A traditional defense of the national debt is that Americans "owe the debt to themselves", but that is becoming increasingly less accurate. The US debt in the hands of foreign governments was 25% of the total in 2007, virtually double the 1988 figure of 13%. Despite the declining willingness of foreign investors to continue investing in US-dollar–denominated instruments as the US Dollar has fallen in 2007, the U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end of 2006, foreigners held 44% of federal debt held by the public. About 66% of that 44% was held by the central banks of other countries, in particular the central banks of Japan and China. In total, lenders from Japan and China held 47% of the foreign-owned debt.


Which foreign countries own the largest chunk of the United States?
The biggest chunk (about 25 percent of the $8.5 trillion total[March 4th 2007]) is held by foreign governments. Japan tops the list (with $644 billion 7% of total Debt is owed to Japan), followed by China ($350 billion 4% of total debt is owed to China ), United Kingdom ($239 billion 2.8 %) and oil exporting countries ($100 billion .85%). Approximately 10% of the remaining external debt is owed to other countries.

How much of China do we own? How much of Japan do we own? We’ll I did a search on Google to find out and I went through 20 websites and didn’t find any information on China or Japan owing the U.S. a single penny.

So by today’s #’s 10.8 Trillion in Debt. 2.7 Trillion is owed to foreign nations.

What happens when Japan and China decide that they want their money? How will we pay them? Does anyone wonder if they will want their money?

China has the Largest # of active troops of any army in the world.
2,255,000
When you add their reserve troops and their paramilitary they have 7,024,000

Well, what do we do during this troubled time in our economy that some are calling the worst economic downturn since the great depression?

Some of my research has told me that there were more millionaires created during the great depression than during any other time in U.S. history! How did they do it?
They were out of debt, had cash and bought struggling businesses that profited directly from WWII.

Try and Get out of Debt
Stay away from all but the soundest investments.
Know that we have each other here at church.
With our resources pooled we can get quite a bit accomplished should things get worse.

Pray for wisdom and don’t isolate yourself. United we stand!

Jubilee Family Church