Making Sense of a World in Disarray

Does anyone still remember what were the main concerns in the world at the beginning of the last decade?

It was a turbulent time too, but compared with what we are facing today it was an almost blissful world.

The media headlines in those days were about the destruction of the environment, the pollution of air, land and water, the United Nations impotence in solving the world’s conflicts, the recurrence of famines in Africa, and the rapid deforestation of the world’s forests.

How long we have come from those days. Although many of those problems are still with us, they pale in comparison with what we are facing today: global terrorism, Global Warming, Global Deeming, oil crisis, and excesses of nature the likes of which humanity had never seen before. The planet is simply telling us that it can no longer cope with the burden human beings have placed upon it, and is fighting back vigorously.

One of the bright lights at the beginning of the last decade was the hope that with the end of the Cold War the world had entered a new age of peace, progress and prosperity. That dream is in shambles too. One only has to look at Africa, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, to see how little peace progress and prosperity has been achieved. Africa’s famines are as bad as ever, if not worse, and are not merely the result of capricious acts of nature, but of ideologically minded dictators who subject their nations to social experiments that have failed people everywhere where they have been applied before. They have failed the people, but served the despots well.

This however is only one of many worldwide intractable problems. Gone are the days of carefree travel, of ‘glorious multiculturalism’, of the hope of a world without borders and without trade barriers. The age of peace, progress and prosperity that politicians so enthusiastically promised us at the beginning of the last decade is as far now as it has ever been. Instead, we have a world that has been turned up side down, in which no one is sure of his future anymore.

About two decades ago, I used to work as a broadcaster for a radio station that catered for the ethnic communities of NSW (a part time job in addition to my full time work as teacher/librarian), when news came that the Government had just passed legislation that enshrined multiculturalism in law. Every one in that large studio applauded and jumped with joy, except myself. I withdrew to my desk in silence, head in arms, wondering what would become of this wonderful country of ours. I could not believe that politicians could be so myopic at what they had done.

Prior to that, no one was prevented from congregating where people of the same language were more common. Nobody objected to people having their own ethnic clubs, as long as they were opened to other people as well. There were German, Greek, Russian, and other ethnic clubs, and nobody objected to their presence because they did not form the kernel of ethnic ghettos. Now there are suburbs in Sydney that are strongly identified with various ethnic groups, into which average Australians never dare to venture. Last year, the world saw a new side to Sydney in the form of race riots.

Prior to that legislation, we all had something in common that united us – the language and a nascent colorful Australian identity that borrowed from every culture and made us all proud Australians. Children of second and third generation lost their ethnic traits and blended in the wider Australian culture without anyone raising an eyebrow. Now, we have people who have been born and educated in this country who confess their allegiance to other cultures and religions, who openly advocate the destruction of the Australian society and the imposition of some kind of intolerant caliphate.

Is multiculturalism at fault for that? Not so much multiculturalism, as multireligionism. What politicians have not understood is that multiculturalism encourages multireligionism, and that is what makes this policy unworkable and dangerous.

The problem comes when people identify themselves with culture/religion first and with Australia second.

Cultures do not have emissaries that seek to impose their tenets upon other people in the manner that religions do. Politicians brought up in the liberal tradition of the West, never imagined that their policy would encourage migrants that come from intolerant societies to emulate and preserve that kind intolerant ghetto in the heart of Australian society.

Multiculturalism encourages opportunists to make a virtue out of preserving the old ‘culture’, and discourages those with more progressive minds from blending into the new culture and appearing to be less patriotic to the old one.

God loves variety and cultural differences. That is why He created nations and cultures that are different and colorful, but He put them far away from each other and created geographical barriers that separated them. Africa is separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea. Europe from Asia by the Ural Mountains. America from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean, and so on.

Whenever cultures intermingled in the past, they never lived in peace for very long. The missionaries of the “new world order”, however, ignored the lessons of the past, and now the whole world pays for their ill-conceived experiments.

When God empowered the nations of Europe to conquer the world, they were supposed to do so in the name of Christianity, not in the name of multiculturalism. As long as that was the case, things went relatively smooth, but when they discarded Christianity, and embraced atheistic and polytheistic multiculturalism, things started going awry.

Make no mistake about it: multiculturalism is a brand, or branch, of communism. Under the guise of multiculturalism and human rights, every evil thing has become legitimate. This is why the law Courts have lost their compass and forgotten the meaning of justice too. The justice system does not even make a pretence of delivering justice anymore. Instead, it is geared towards upholding the rights of the defendant by any means, while the rights of the victims are seldom if ever mentioned.

Last year we witnessed an unbelievable spectacle that nearly embroiled Australia in an international incident. An Australian drug dealer, caught in Singapore with 400 grams of heroin, received the death penalty. Under that country’s laws, anyone caught in possession of more than 15 grams of heroin, automatically draws the death penalty.

In the weeks and days leading to his execution, an unbelievable array of lawyers, barristers and government officials made their way to the Singapore Government seeking to upturn that verdict. When they did not succeed, they threatened to take the case to the United Nations, to the International Court of Justice, and other forums, but their efforts were cut short by that man’s execution.

Our media noxiated us for weeks on end with ‘news’ of his plight. Huge vigils were held in his honor prior to his execution as if he were a great celebrity, and an unseemly array of church memorials were held for him after he was executed. Few seemed to care that of the 26,000 shots that would have resulted from that haul of heroin, at least 100 deaths would have occurred in the streets of Sydney. To cap it all, a certain actor who had the habit of going on set under the influence of drugs, and was sacked for unruly behavior and unreliable attendance, was awarded A$128 000 compensation for “unfair dismissal” by our judges. And they wonder that people have lost their faith in the justice system and in governmental institutions. Examples like these, which are merely the tip of an iceberg, show us that we now have a law profession that is a law unto itself. No one knows which way it turns, except that it is always to the lawyers’ advantage.

But Australia is a mere microcosm of the rest of the world. For while we have our problems here, the rest of the world is virtually crumbling under an avalanche of lawlessness, terrorism, social upheavals, and horrifying excesses of nature. The world is in the midst of radical changes. The old age – given to man to learn that he cannot govern himself – is coming to a crushing end, and a new one, characterized by peace, prosperity and the law of God, is about to begin.

However, for that to happen, the world needs a complete overhaul of its systems, politics and religions. Unfortunately, it also needs an overhaul of its population. For unlike heaven, which is unlimited, this planet has reached its capacity. In a little over three decades, the word’s population is supposed to double again. But many of the world’s resources are already scarce (water, food and oil among them), and one third of the world’s population goes to bed hungry. Leaving aside the question of whether the world can survive the current crises and reach that point, what would life be like if twice as many people need to be fed? God loves His creation too much to let it reach that unbearable point. Unfortunately, that requires painful measures now. This is what the current world upheavals and realignments are all about.

The problem with our leaders is that they do not know the ways of God. They like to do things their own way, and that is where the danger comes from. National leaders will be forced to take measures to ensure the survival of their people, but rather than turn to God and go about it the right way, they will use the only method they are familiar with – war. This time, however, it will be a war to end all wars, and all humanity. Here are the immortal words of Jesus Christ.

"Take heed that no one deceives you . . . "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

"Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened . . . "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mat 24:4-7, 21-22, 34-35).

This is what the current world turmoil is all about: a warning from our Creator God that the much talked about Great Tribulation is upon us. But it need not be that way. It is certainly not going to be that way for the people of God. We have God’s promise that His elect will be spared those trials, and that for their sake the life of this planet will be spared too.

God has not left the world in ignorance about those things. The Christian Herald has taken His messages to every corner of the world, particularly to national and religious leaders. This, however, is not a restricted work. Anyone can be part of it. Anyone can become an elect of God. Indeed, God is calling people everywhere to turn around from their destructive ways to His wholesome and dignified way of life. As the Apostles of Jesus Christ have said:

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.

1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.”

2 Pet 3:1 “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),

2 Pet 3:2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us,

2 Pet 3:3 the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,

2 Pet 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

2 Pet 3:5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,

2 Pet 3:6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

2 Pet 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

2 Pet 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

2 Pet 3:11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and

2 Pet 3:12 godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

2 Pet 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Pet 3:14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;

2 Pet 3:15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,

2 Pet 3:16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

2 Pet 3:17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness,

2 Pet 3:18 being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Oil – The Blessing and the Curse of This World

Oil brought unsurpassed prosperity to the world. Internal combustion engines revolutionized transport and brought people together from all corners of the world. Agricultural fertilizers, a product of the petrochemical industry, produced the green revolution that cut hunger in much of the developing world and transformed many impoverished nations into exporters of agricultural products. Now all these achievements are under a cloud, as much because oil also brought the greenhouse effect and the Global Warming, as because the known deposits of oil are fast running out.

“As petrol prices remain sky-high, Keith Sutter reports on a prophet of doom’s early warning”

”Is today’s high price of oil proof of a warning given half a century ago that the world would start to run out of oil by this time? The warning, by American scientist Dr Marion King Hubbert, was largely ignored at the time, but now, 16 years after his death it’s attracting much interest. Historians looking back over the past 150 years will call this the Age of Oil. Oil meets 40 per cent of the world’s energy needs and nearly 90 per cent of transport needs. Oil is also important for fertilizer, DVD’s, rubber, plastics and metals.

The US remains the biggest consumer but it is no longer the top producer; in fact, it has gone from being the top producer to the top importer. American motorists consume nearly half the world’s daily supply of oil.

China is now the second-biggest consumer, taking Japan’s position. The dramatic grow of the Chinese economy makes it difficult to predict global oil demand. India and other Asian countries are also rapidly industrializing.

Debate over how quickly oil is being exhausted is focused on the “Hubbert Peak”. According to this theory, oil production reaches a peak where about half the supply of the find is used, after which production becomes more difficult. There is a difference between actually running out of oil and no longer finding oil at the same rate as it’s being extracted. This is like getting apples of a tree – there may be apples right at the top but would you want to take all the effort to get there? Hubbert, a Shell geologist, produced this theory in 1956. He predicted that US oil production would peak about 1970 (he was right) and global output would peak in 1995 (he got that wrong).

There is continuing debate about when the earth does reach the Hubbert Peak. The basic question for the Hubert Peak theory is: has most of the world’s oil been found – or are companies not working hard enough to locate and drill? We don’t know what is happening in countries (for example in the Middle East) that control foreign involvement in their industry. For instance, do the oil suppliers exaggerate their reserves to discourage other countries from looking harder for alternative energy sources? There have been no major oil finds in recent years. The biggest one recently (in Kazakhstan in 2000) will produce only enough oil for the world to last four months.

Oil is being used much faster than new reserves are being found. Seventy per cent of the oil used today was found at least 25 years ago. On the other hand, the technology of exploration has improved considerably. Engineers are drilling in areas that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago (such as the depths of the North Sea). Meanwhile, the higher oil prices encourage greater attention to discovering new fields. Also, new countries are being opened up for exploration, such as the former Soviet republics in Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan). Saudi Arabia remains the most important oil producer. The country has about 25 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves. The oil used to be easy to obtain. The Ghawar field, discovered in 1948, remains the world’s largest.

The country plays a key role in moderating the international price because it can flood the market with a new supply and so prevent others from pushing up the price. But how stable is the regime? It knits together traditional tribal clans and conservative Wahhabi Islamic clerics. Ordinary Saudi subjects have an unusual life. They have a lifetime pension but are restricted by the Wahhabi police in how they spend their money. The society is wealthy and open to technology and new ideas, but there is a great control over citizens’ lives and so they can’t reap many of the benefits of globalization.

There is no democracy as such. Citizens don’t pay tax and so the ruling elite feels no obligation to be accountable. The elite consists of about 50,000 people; the precise number isn’t known because some men don’t know how many children they have. Osama bin Laden is one of about 50 children. The elite governs 22 million people (of whom 16 million are Saudi). The other six million have been recruited to do menial tasks (for example women aren’t allowed to drive and so about a million chauffeurs are brought from abroad to drive them).

Osama bin Laden, the black sheep of his billionaire family, wants to destroy the regime because he thinks it’s not conservative enough. Most of the September 11 hijackers were Saudi Arabians – rich, well-educated young men who, apparently, had much to look forward to and yet were bored. Bin Laden gave them a cause to die for. The Saudi problem is just the tip of the oil iceberg. China also wants oil from the Middle East and so protects the interests of Iran, which the US regards as part of the “Axis of Evil”. China is also encouraging Canada to build east-west pipelines to get oil to the Pacific coast (and not just north-south down into the US). China is, therefore, needling the US by getting at its traditional suppliers of oil. Hubbert was born in Texas on October 5, 1903. He excelled at university and spent most of his career in the oil industry. He was a brilliant scientist but his colleagues thought him short-tempered and abrasive. His major contribution to science was his application of physics to geological processes. He dealt with the mechanics of geological structures, the physics of underground fluids and the significance of the Earth’s resources for politics. He was controversial because most members of the oil industry couldn’t believe that the age of oil would end so quickly. The world’s first oil wells were in the US and Canada in 1859-60. In 1880, German engineer Nicholas Otto invented the internal combustion engine. Five years later, Karl Benz of Germany built the first car to be powered by an internal-combustion engine. The world’s love affair with oil was under way. But by 1956 Hubbert was already predicting the end of the oil era. Now scientists and financiers fear he may have been right after all.” (Keith Suter, The Daily Telegraph, Oct. 10, 2005).

The current oil crisis is different from the one the world faced in the early 1980’s, when the sudden increase in the price of oil was subsequently offset by a massive increase in the supply of oil. No such offset will occur this time, because the oil is not there anymore. Many countries have seen their meager reserves dwindle in recent years. Even Russia, which was thought to have almost inexhaustible reserves, declared recently that, “Our oil exports reach maximum, then decline starts in two years”. (Yuri Shafranik, head of the Russian Union of Oil and Gas Producers, Interfax, Nov. 9, 2004).

President Bush went to war in the Middle East with the avowed goal of bringing democracy to that region. But does he really think that a country like Saudi Arabia, with a fundamentalist Wahhabi regime, would survive under democracy?

Fundamentalism and democracy are incompatible. Changing those regimes to democracy is a social and demographic earth shift the likes of which only God can achieve. It so happens that He is about to do just that.

Zec 14:16 “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zec 14:17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.”

Zec 14:18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”

Now why would Egypt refuse to come up to Jerusalem to honor the LORD and keep the Feast of Tabernacles? Because it will be angry of what happened to the other Arab nations that fought against Jerusalem. They will soon discover that the God in whose name they launched global terrorism was not as powerful as the God of Christianity who defended the world against their terrorist acts.

When will these things happen? Well, dark clouds are already gathering on the skies of Jerusalem. UN and European troops are already ‘guarding’ Israel’s borders to the north and south, Russia is arming the Palestinians, and the Arab nations and Iran are feverishly preparing for a life and death struggle with Israel. Now what might these have to do with the age of oil, one may ask. More than people realize, because the end of this age and the end of the age of oil are prophetically linked.

Rev 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace.

Rev 9:3 So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Rev 9:10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.

Rev 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The angel of the ‘bottomless pit” is none other than the angel of oil. This passage says that the age of oil, which began about the middle of the nineteenth century, will last for five months. Using the biblical principle of a day for a year, five prophetic months add up to one hundred and fifty years. That brings the end of the age of oil to about our time. What then?

Rev 20:1 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Rev 20:2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit,

Rev 20:3 and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”

The end of the age of oil comes about one hundred and fifteen years after it begins, when its angel is locked up again into the bottomless pit. Oil cannot be allowed to run out altogether at this time, because at the end of the Millennium Kingdom there will be another short-lived age of oil.

Rev 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive

Rev 20:8 the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle,

Rev 20:9 whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

This passage tells us that the angel of the bottomless pit is none other than the Devil. Any wonder that oil began as a great blessing, and ended up as a curse that is destroying the world. Only the Devil’s gifts have a sharp edge to them.

This brings us to the question of the origin of oil. Scientists say that oil comes from fossils that have been buried deep in the ground over millions of years. However, animals do not transform themselves into oil when they die. If they are left exposed to the elements of nature, they putrefy and dry out, leaving behind nothing but bones.

If the amount of oil that has come out of the ground in the last century and a half was formed from fossils, mountains of animals would need to have been buried alive suddenly. But how could that happen when the same scientists say that no upheavals of the likes of Noah’s Flood, which turned the world up side down, ever occurred, that geological times have always run smoothly like they do these days? No, oil has not come out of buried fossils under pressure and heat, but put into the ground by the Creator at the time of the creation. He knew exactly how much oil was needed for the two ages of oil that humanity would experience in the course of time.

It is interesting to note that at the end of the Millennium, during the second and short lived age of oil, the people of Gog and Magog are gathered again against Jerusalem, not from the far north where they are found before the Millennium, but from the four corners of the earth. Now how did they get spread out like that? Obviously during the Great Tribulation. We warned President Putin that unless he stopped trampling under foot his weaker neighbors, his nation faces catastrophe, but he did not listen. When we pointed out that although he has a nation that extends over nine time zones he still took land from the weakest and smallest member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, he issued a statement saying that he took land from the Republic of Moldova not for the sake of land, but for “political reasons”. Extraordinary! He thinks that “political reasons” give him the right to trample weaker nations under foot and behave like a bully towards his neighbors.

During the First World War, when Romania was in danger of being overrun by enemy forces, the Romanian Government whisked away its treasure and stored it in good faith with Russia, its friend and ally at that time. To this day, the Russians have refused to return it. They just do not get it that people cannot build their happiness on iniquity and other people’s unhappiness. What Russia has suffered since then should be ample proof of that, but obviously, its leaders still have not learned that lesson. Prophecy tells us that they are leading the country to an even greater catastrophe now.

We will have more to say about that shortly, but first this is what God has to say about that kind of behavior.

Exo 22:7 "If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house, if the thief is found,

Exo 22:8 he shall pay double. "If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether

Exo 22:9 he has put his hand into his neighbor's goods. "For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.”

If Mr. Putin refuses to return that treasure to Romania, with whom he does not have the best of relations these days, he could return it to the Republic of Moldova, currently his ally, but then part of Romania, and therefore just as entitled to that treasure, or at least to part of it. Otherwise it will surely burn his fingers and his pockets, and unfortunately those of his people. It is a universal principle that cannot be broken – upheld by none other than God Himself. Those who try to break it, will themselves be broken.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31), says the Word of God. Pity those who do not believe in God. They always learn the lesson the hard way. For if the size of a nation determined the happiness of its people, the Russians would by far be the happiest people on earth, while people of countries like Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, and others, the most unhappy. The whole world knows that the opposite is true, except the Russian leaders.

Poor Romania, it was robed by the Ottomans, robbed by the Russians, robbed by the Nazis, robbed by the communists, and now it is being robbed by the “democrats”. For centuries, it never had more than two decades of peace and stability in which to recover from the vicissitudes of history. It was widely reported in the media that within four months of taking power, the Prime Minister’s wealth ballooned by multiples of millions of dollars. He was very keen to take care of himself, but not so keen to take care of the country.

Last year the European Union granted the Romanian Government 1.3 billion euros to prepare the country for accession to the EU. The Government could spend only one sixth of that amount. Such gross incompetence would have drawn the resignation or the sacking of the Prime Minister anywhere else, except in Romania. Why could they not spend it? Because they like to keep a tight hand on the till, and cannot bear to think that the poor, with whom the country has been so bountifully blessed, might benefit without them.

There are few countries that are as endowed with natural resources and beauty as Romania, yet there are fewer people that are as unhappy as the Romanians. When you read the reader’s comments in the media, you get the impression of a greatly confused and demoralized people. How could it be otherwise when they see the caliber of the leaders that the country produces these days? Every leader in Romania’s modern history has been accused of dubious real estate transactions and questionable business dealings. European Parliamentarians, however, seem to have woken up to what is going on in that country. They demand a closer supervision and tighter accounting on how Romanians in general, and Romanian leaders in particular, go about their business. None too soon.

“The European Commission, said that inadequate financial control, inappropriate accounting, and the lack of qualified personnel, which it described as “critical”, will affect important projects after Romania’s accession to the Union.” (Adevarul, December 10, 2005).

“The chief of the European Commission Delegation, Jonathan Scheele, also spoke critically of a lack of vision in the administration of the Capital. “Romania does not have a Capital which deserves to be integrated into the European Union. Infernal traffic, grossly deficient urban planning, luck of vision, and dilapidated buildings, make of Bucharest a capital that does not deserve to be included among other European capitals.” (Evenimentul Zilei, December 10, 2005).

Infernal traffic, grossly deficient planning, dilapidated buildings, and yet the Government wasted one billion euros. One dreads to think what Jonathan Scheele might have found if he ventured beyond Bucharest. Fortunately for the government, Romania’s provincial roads (or what passes as roads) will not allow him to stray too far from the capital.

We waited ten months for the new government to take roots before we contacted it about the murder of my mother, which occurred in 1991under the regime of Ion Iliescu, and which has never been investigated. Not knowing whom we should address, we sent e-mails to all ministers, hoping that at lest one would take up her case and raise this question with the relevant authorities. Instead, we received a reply from the Minister of Communications who told us that what we have done is spam, and punishable under Romanian law. Seeking justice for the murder of your mother is spam in Romania. Europe, here we come, with justice Romanian style.

When my mother’s assailants heard that I was planning to revisit the country, they sent word that if I returned I would have the same fate. Apparently, “unforeseen accidents” still occur in Romania these days. Since her death occurred at the hands of people connected with the Securitate, we must conclude that they do not want us in their country. Well, Romania happens to be my country too, and if that must be the place of my “perfection”, so be it. As Jesus said, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50). The country will get the chance to get a renown that will stay with it forever. However, the children of Dracula should know this:

1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

We reported in previous editions how during communism, the Securitate had infiltrated and decimated Romanian exile communities. Now, apparently in a show of strength, to prove to us who is still in charge, they have destroyed the one and only organization that maintained its independence and fought for the community spirit during those dark days – the Romanian Australian Cultural Society. How did they do it? By tricking its members into believing that those who were once Securitate agents have changed their color and are now democrats. Those impostors have taken hold of its leadership and have virtually dismantled it. Along the way, they have thrown with mud in the decent members that have kept the organization alive for decades through countless sacrifices. And guess which organization is flourishing again? The same that was once considered a hotbed of Securitate agents and informers, which they called church. There is nothing sacred with those people anymore. As they say, old habits are hard to break. Or as the Scriptures say:

Isa 57:20 “The wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

Isa 57:21 "There is no peace," Says my God, "for the wicked."

Isa 58:1 "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, . . . “

This is what this work has been all about. We have cried aloud the sins of the world, and shall continue to do so to the very end, in the hope that people may turn around from their wicked ways, repent, turn to God, and be saved.

Now we must return briefly to Russia once again, for we have not quite finished with that country. Earlier we presented a passage from Revelation (20:7-10), which said that Gog and Magog would be gathered from the four corners of the earth against the holy city of Jerusalem at the very end of time. Now why are Gog and Magog in the four corners of the earth at the end of the Millennium, when at the beginning of it they were in the north in the furthest parts of the earth? This is what the prophet Ezekiel wrote.

Ezek 38:2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say,

Ezek 38:3 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

Ezek 38:4 "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.

Ezek 38:5 "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

Ezek 38:6 "Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops; many people are with you.

Ezek 38:7 "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.

Ezek 38:8 "After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.”

“In the later years”, when oil is on the wane, Gog and Magog will come “from the far north” with a company of nations, that includes Persia (Iran) and the Arab nations, against the people that have been brought back from many nations.

Is it a mere coincidence that this alliance has the largest reserves of oil, the fuel of the Devil, and that they are largely responsible for unleashing the angel of death, the angel of terrorism, upon the world at this time?

And how did Gog and Magog end up in the four corners of the earth from their place in the far north? Clearly, an upheaval of unprecedented proportions will occur during the Great Tribulation. How far are we from that event? The current oil crisis is another indicator that we are on the brink of it. Here are transcripts of programs that expose the truth behind the current oil crisis.

‘Real Oil Crisis’

“What would happen if the world were to start running out of oil? Conventional wisdom says we’ve got 30 years, but there’s a growing fear amongst petroleum experts it’s happening much sooner than we thought – that we are hitting the beginning of the end of oil now. So how soon will the oil run out, and can we stop our economy collapsing when it does? How prepared are we for the real oil crisis?”

Narration: What would happen if the world started running out of oil?

Jeremy Leggett: It’s going to be very difficult to get gasoline for transport. Food is not going to be getting through in enough quantities to the shops.

Narration: Conventional wisdom says that’s at least 30 years away. So why does a growing group of petroleum experts believe it’s coming within three?

Eric Streitberg: Ah. I think it’s happening now frankly.

Peter Newman: It gives me nightmares when I think about what we’re headed for. Narration: Are they just scaremongerers or have the rest of us been asleep at the wheel. Are we about to hit the real oil crisis?

Jeremy Leggett: Really when the crisis dawns I think people are going to be looking back in anger. How have we allowed ourselves to get into this mess?

Narration: In just a century, we’ve allowed our lives to become entirely dependent on cheap oil.

Jonica Newby, Reporter: And it’s not just that 90% of our transportation is fuelled by oil. This shopping centre is literally full of petroleum products. Look: the fabric in these clothes – petroleum based. These plastics, petroleum based. It takes on average 6 barrels of oil just to bring one cow to market.

Narration: Yet who of us stops to think oil is a finite resource - the lifeblood of our modern world is steadily pouring away.

Jeremy Leggett: We just take it so much for granted that cars drive around, the pumps are always full. I talk to people in financial institutions who are investing on the assumption that oil supplies are going to grow and grow into the 2030’s. I hardly ever meet anyone who knows about this problem outside a relatively elite group of whistleblowers inside and around the oil industry.

Narration: Dr Jeremy Leggett is part of an international splinter group of petroleum geologists convinced a tipping point on oil is imminent. This former oil industry insider, now alternative energy advocate, has written a new book outlining the case. It makes startling reading. The most oil ever discovered was way back in 1965.

Narration: This graph traces world oil discoveries. Since 1965, the amount of oil discovered each year has inexorably plunged - despite all our advances in technology.

Jeremy Leggett: The last time we discovered a whole new province was the North Sea in the early 1970’s and really you know these days the average size of an oil field that gets discovered is about 50 million barrels. It’s nothing, it’s a drop in the ocean. We’re using 84 million barrels a day. The last year we discovered more oil than we consumed was 1981. We use 2 barrels of oil for every barrel discovered. I’ve been talking to people who I know because of my past in these big oil companies and they tell me there are no more big oil fields left to find. Narration: So if we’ve found nearly all the world’s oil, how long before it runs out? Surprisingly, that’s not so important. The real question is when will we reach half way – it’s known as 'peak oil'.

Jonica Newby, Reporter: So what exactly is peak oil, and why is it so serious? That’s what I’m heading to the west Australian oil fields to find out.

Narration: My guide is a geologist from deep within the oil industry. Eric Streitberg is managing director of Australian oil company, ARK energy. He’s just decided to go public with his fears.

Streitberg: The reason I feel strongly about this is that people don’t understand the underlying causes of why petrol prices are going up and what the effect that could have on our lives. Narration: Eric is about to show me what happens when oil field reaches peak oil.

Eric Streitberg: This oil field was discovered in 2001 and is now on full production doing about 6000 barrels of oil a day which is about 10% of Western Australia’s consumption. Jonica Newby, Reporter: Wow: 10%. Narration: When oil is first pumped, it’s under pressure and comes out easily – production rises. But over time, oil pressure drops. Water is pumped in to maintain pressure. At the half point, it reaches peak oil, and then it stars to decline.

Eric Streitberg: We’re holding on to peal oil production at the moment but we’ll be going into the inexorable decline of oil fields very shortly.

Jonica Newby, Reporter: Really, and there is nothing you can do?

Narration: To ram home the point, Eric takes me to an oil field which passed peal oil in 1992.

Eric Streitberg: Jonica this is what we are getting out of this oil well. It’s 99% water and 1% oil. Narration: All oil fields follow the pattern of rise, peak then fall – even if they encompass an entire nation. The US hit peak oil in 1971. The UK with its North Sea oil peaked in 1999. Australia peaked in 2000. So when will planet earth reach peak oil? That depends on what’s really happening here. The place that provides a quarter of the world’s oil – the Middle East.

Jeremy Leggett: These governments have not let anyone in to verify how much oil they have for getting on for a quarter of a century and in the 1980s there were some suspicious treatment of oil reserves data. Most of the Gulf countries increased their national proved reserves supposedly by in some cases up to double, and then ever since the quoted figures have not gone down very much at all. I don’t believe that for a minute. Narration: The dissident geologists went back to original surveys to estimate total Middle east oil. They added world reserves, and projections of all future oil to be discovered. That’s how they calculated the world will reach peak oil in the next three years – if we’re not there already.

Jeremy Leggett: 2008 maybe 2009, certainly no later than 2010. That’s the point at which we will no longer be living in a world with growing supplies of generally cheap oil but instead living in a world of rapidly shrinking supplies of ever vastly more expensive oil and that point of realization is going to come as a real shock. The we will word record oil prices. Who knows how high they can go.

Narration: So what does the mainstream think? The world’s largest oil company is Exxon Mobil – Esso. It employs 20, 000 scientists to generate their own exhaustive data sets. In their Melbourne 3D seismography room, I met head of exploration, geologist Dr Doug Schwebel.

Dr Schwebel: OK this is a three dimensional image of the geology offshore Bass Strait in Victoria.

Narration: Doug acknowledges oil will run down eventually, he just vigorously disputes when.

Doug Schwebel: Well, people have been predicting for over a hundred years that we’re going to run out of oil. It hasn’t happened. We don’t think nit is going to happen in the near term. Narration: Exxon calculates twice as much oil left in the world as the so called ‘early peakers’ - placing peak oil decades away.