Joseph Herrin (09-20-08)

Isaiah 22:4-5
“Let me weep bitterly, do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people. For Yahweh God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation, and confusion in the valley of vision…”

Zechariah 14:13
And it will come about in that day that a great panic from Yahweh will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.

It is a sign of Yahweh’s judgment upon a nation when her people begin to fall prey to fits of panic. America has been experiencing bouts of panic, and they will only grow worse until a complete collapse occurs. The jittery nerves of Americans is evidenced in a news story from CNN this morning.

Nashville pumps dry after panic about rumor of no gas

(CNN) — Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy: An estimated three-fourths of gas stations in the Nashville, Tennessee, area ran dry Friday, victim of an apparent rumor that the city was running out of gas. Officials said panic regarding a rumor of a lack of gas caused customers to to rush to the pumps.

Officials said panic regarding a rumor of a lack of gas caused customers to to rush to the pumps. “

Everybody has just gone nuts,” said Mike Williams, executive director of the Tennessee Petroleum Council.

He said he has no idea about the origin of a rumor that there was going to be no gas in Nashville. One reporter called him, saying she had heard that Nashville would be without gas within the hour, he said.

Hearing the rumor, drivers rushed to fill their cars and trucks.

CNN called 13 Nashville gas stations at random. Only two reported having gas, and one said it was almost out. The stations said they were being told they would not get more until Monday or Tuesday.

Katie Givens Kime, visiting from Atlanta, Georgia, was trying to fill up her tank for the trip home when she ran into trouble — when she was already low on gas.

“We panicked and looked online,” she said. “And holy cow, there is no gas in the city. … It has definitely gripped the city, for sure.”

One store clerk told her there was no way she could get gas to go back home, she said.

Williams said some drivers were following gas trucks to see where they were headed, and lines at some stations were a mile long. Fuel was continuing to enter the city, however, as pipelines were working and barges were coming in.

He likened it to Southerners rushing out to stock up on bread and milk when they hear it might snow. As stations began running low, the situation snowballed, he said…

The phenomenon seemed to be isolated to the Nashville area, he said.

Givens Kime said she found a station online that still had gas and waited more than an hour to pump it.

“People were freaked out,” she said. A “renegade bunch” of men helped direct traffic to and from the pumps, even taking drivers’ cash inside for them. She described people filling cans and other containers as well as cars.

She said that the station was not engaging in price gouging but that “emotions were running very high” among drivers.

The article states that no one knows the source of the rumor that led to mass panic. That such a panic gripped so many without any cause being evident, is a sign of things to come across the entire nation.

Leviticus 26:36
And the sound of a driven leaf will chase them and even when no one is pursuing...

The courage of a people dries up when they turn away from righteousness. Those who give themselves to wickedness will not be able to stand before their enemies, for irrational fears will sap their courage.

Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

America, whose prosperity once seemed unassailable, has fallen upon hard times. In just the past five years she has witnessed record breaking seasons of natural disasters. Hurricanes have marched against her land in rapid procession, devastating major cities and causing billions of dollars in damage. As each hurricane approached the people were induced to flee. At times they were forced to turn around as they returned home as another storm approached, causing them to flee again.

America has seen devastating fires, at times encroaching upon major metropolitan areas such as San Diego. Citizens have had to flee hurriedly from the fast moving infernos.

The nation has been beset with floods across the Mid-West, and tornadoes which have wiped out entire towns.

It is no wonder that Americans’ nerves are becoming raw, and a mere rumor can spook them. Yet there is the same sort of panic occurring in the financial sector. The home mortgage industry has imploded. It is estimated the four million homes are in delinquency, and over a million are actively in foreclosure proceedings. Millions are left with mortgages that exceed the actual value of their homes in a rapidly declining real estate market. Many are simply choosing to walk away from their homes, leaving banks and equity investment companies holding the bag.

This has in turn led to a rapid procession of business failures, eclipsing anything in America’s history. IndyMac Bank failed. Bear Stearns investment bank failed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the world’s largest mortgage underwriters both became insolvent resulting in a government takeover exceeding five trillion dollars. Lehman Brothers bank failed. Merril Lynch had to undergo a fire sale to avoid a similar fate. AIG, the world’s largest insurance company was brought into government conservatorship to avoid a financial meltdown. Even Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase have taken a beating and are looking at mergers.

And with each new disclosure of dire economic consequence, the stock market has fallen. It would have already collapsed were it not for the government and Federal Reserve manipulating the market behind the scenes with their Plunge Protection Team. The first two days of this week the market dropped over 500 points and 400 points respectively, erasing over a trillion dollars of value from the pockets of American stock holders. In unbelievably preposterous fashion, the market then rallied at the end of the week, to finish near par for the week. Only the very naive would believe the rebound was not manipulated. Jim Cramer of MadMoney went on record as saying that the market is rigged. He advised investors to pull out of the market.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxDsxsgPScY

There is growing concern over a run on the banks and the market. What was seen Friday in Nashville at the gas stations will soon be seen nationwide throughout the economic sector. Banks will face failure in droves as spooked investors pull their money out. The FDIC, not being able to cover so many losses will look to the government to intervene, resulting in a bank holiday as was seen in the early days of the Great Depression. Banks will be closed and people will not have access to their money. When they do re-open, severe limits will be placed upon withdrawals.

The website The Daily Reckoning recounts a personal tale of the change in perspective coming upon Americans.

I had a very interesting conversation today with a friend who used to be a mortgage broker (until the company he started imploded) and now works at a bank selling REO property. Now, this is a guy who made millions flipping, and when I told him two years ago that the whole house of cards was going to collapse shortly, he laughed at me.

He ain’t laughing anymore.

I get on the phone with him, and he immediately tells me that his wife just got laid off from Indy Mac, so life is kind of sucking for them right now. Then he proceeds to tell me that both he and his wife (who have very close contacts at banks) have heard from reliable sources that the industry FULLY expect a massive run on savings and loans in the very near future. We’re talking weeks, if not days. We are now officially on Banking System Deathwatch, ladies and gentlemen, because the next big bank that falls will be the domino that unleashes the runs on the other banks.

He said WaMu is certifiably D.O.A and will almost certainly be the next victim. He said the industry would be surprised if WaMu makes it another 30 days. Downey Savings and First Federal are the next dogs to die, according to him.

If it hadn’t been so sad and scary, I would have actually enjoyed my I-told-you-so moment. But this guy is genuinely frightened now. You can hear the panic in his voice. He told me, point-blank: “It’s all coming down. The whole system is crashing.” He is quickly turning into an urban survivalist — outfitting his home with solar, buying biodiesel, stocking up on food…
[Source: http://2cents.dailyreckoning.com/viewtopic.php?t=32386&sid=f241f792f18c48139fc2bf57a0edb34d]

Such behavior might be written off as an aberration were it not for the same language no being heard from the nation’s financial and government leaders. In the New York Times article posted yesterday we find the following quotes:

September 20, 2008
Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”

Mr. Schumer added, “History was sort of hanging over it, like this was a moment.”

When Mr. Schumer described the meeting as “somber,” Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justify the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

Today I received an e-mail from a brother in Christ who told me that the statements in the Times appeared scripted. In reply I wrote the following:

I agree to the scripted nature of what they are saying, and I am absolutely convinced that there are powers at work behind the scenes creating crises and then proposing solutions that forward their agenda, which is actually Satan’s agenda. The end in mind is complete control over all mankind, and we see with each new crisis that the government and Federal Reserve are taking greater roles of authority and responsibility over the management of society. This will continue until all things pass through the hands of those who are seeking to establish their new world order.

Even though there is deceit present, it would be unwise for the Christian to not seek to know what specific steps the Lord would have them take to prepare for coming days. A complete collapse of the economic system of this world is surely coming. It is the judgment of God that has given the nations into the hands of evil men who are forwarding their diabolical schemes. The church must be shaken loose from being in bed with the world, and the Lord will use these events to call His people out of Babylon, though many will tarry and will endure the plagues that will befall her.

The Spirit of Christ has been testifying that collapse is coming. In a recent post I compared what is coming to the train wreck in California on September 12th. Even as September 12th follows September 11 (911), I believe this to be a sign of what is coming next to America. A sudden, devastating crash will occur. At this moment I am sensing a stirring among those traveling on the train. The party atmosphere is being intruded upon by nagging suspicions of something unpleasant waiting for them on the tracks ahead.

What should you do? You should be taking these things seriously. The Lord has testified repeatedly that America will shortly fall. Remember the two Miss USA contestants who fell during the past two Miss Universe pageants? Remember the sign of Mars’ closest approach to the earth in August 2003 with its two moons Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic)? Remember the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the message it portrayed? Many more signs could be cited.

Seeing that these things must shortly take place, what should you do? First, seek God fervently. I would recommend prayer and fasting. Ask God to reveal anything in your life which is displeasing to Him, and repent quickly. Pursue humility and righteousness before God. Lay aside your pursuit of the world and the things in it, and pursue Him alone.

Ask God for mercy, and seek His mind to know where He would have you to be, and what He would have you to be doing. Be ready to respond with radical obedience in whatever He reveals to you. A brother in Christ told me yesterday that the Lord had been impressing upon him the following verse of scripture.

Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The naive proceed and pay the penalty.

This same brother began seeking the Lord earnestly some time back to know what the Father would have him to do. He was led to move out of the city where he had a house that was paid for in full, and rent a farm house in the country outside a much smaller community. He has also been led to take other practical steps in preparation.

Nouriel Roubini, a renowned economist with the NYU Stern School of Business stated in an article dated September 13, 2008:

What we are facing now is the beginning of the unraveling and collapse of the entire shadow financial system…

This is indeed the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression and occurring at a time when the US is falling in a now severe consumer led recession. The vicious interaction between a systemic financial and banking crisis and a severe economic contraction will get much worse before there is any bottom to it. We are only in the third inning of a nine innings economic and financial crisis. And the only light at the end of the tunnel is the one of the incoming train wreck.

Roubini has been a rare voice of truth in predicting what was coming to America. In a NY Times article we read of his predictions concerning what was coming as far back as 2006.

August 17, 2008
Dr. Doom
By STEPHEN MIHM

On Sept. 7, 2006, Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University, stood before an audience of economists at the International Monetary Fund and announced that a crisis was brewing. In the coming months and years, he warned, the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession. He laid out a bleak sequence of events: homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt. These developments, he went on, could cripple or destroy hedge funds, investment banks and other major financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The audience seemed skeptical, even dismissive. As Roubini stepped down from the lectern after his talk, the moderator of the event quipped, “I think perhaps we will need a stiff drink after that.” People laughed — and not without reason. At the time, unemployment and inflation remained low, and the economy, while weak, was still growing, despite rising oil prices and a softening housing market. And then there was the espouser of doom himself: Roubini was known to be a perpetual pessimist, what economists call a “permabear.” When the economist Anirvan Banerji delivered his response to Roubini’s talk, he noted that Roubini’s predictions did not make use of mathematical models and dismissed his hunches as those of a career naysayer.

But Roubini was soon vindicated. In the year that followed, subprime lenders began entering bankruptcy, hedge funds began going under and the stock market plunged. There was declining employment, a deteriorating dollar, ever-increasing evidence of a huge housing bust and a growing air of panic in financial markets as the credit crisis deepened. By late summer, the Federal Reserve was rushing to the rescue, making the first of many unorthodox interventions in the economy, including cutting the lending rate by 50 basis points and buying up tens of billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities. When Roubini returned to the I.M.F. last September, he delivered a second talk, predicting a growing crisis of solvency that would infect every sector of the financial system. This time, no one laughed. “He sounded like a madman in 2006,” recalls the I.M.F. economist Prakash Loungani, who invited Roubini on both occasions. “He was a prophet when he returned in 2007.”
[Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin]

It is very important to be seeking the mind of the Father at this hour. Disastrous days are coming. Believe it. Do not panic, but act prudently as one who sees the evil ahead and hides himself.

I hope the overall influence of this writing is that of bringing you to sober contemplation of the days ahead. I do not have a specific date or time to predict when these things will occur, but the hour is very late.

May you be blessed with PEACE and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063