Volume XXXI           Issue IV           April  2012
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

The Whole Creation Stricken By Corruption!

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

"For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will thoughtfully consider the widespread corrupt fruit now plaguing this world. In Luke, chapter 6, Jesus likens men unto trees, some of whom bring forth good fruit while others bring forth evil fruit. Likewise, in Matthew 7:17-20, we read, "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." We live in an era wherein many people claim to be righteous; however, their actions indicate a spiritually corrupt state. This corruption often extends to men and women who are highly revered: such as politicians, heads of state, and scientists who are supposed to be working for the good of mankind.

Barack Obama's Corrupt Fruit!

Barack Obama has gone on record claiming to be a Christian, yet he seldom discusses his beliefs in public. On the rare occasions when he does speak of his so-called faith, it becomes quite clear that his views do not line up with the Bible. In 2004 when Obama was running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, he granted an in-depth interview regarding his religious beliefs to columnist Cathleen Falsani. When asked what he believes, Obama stated, "I am a Christian. So, I have a deep faith. So I draw from the Christian faith. On the other hand, I was born in Hawaii where obviously there are a lot of Eastern influences. I lived in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, between the ages of six and ten. My father was from Kenya, and although he was probably most accurately labeled an agnostic, his father was Muslim. And I'd say, probably, intellectually I've drawn as much from Judaism as any other faith." Further on in the interview, Obama stated, "I'm a big believer in tolerance. I think that religion at its best comes with a big dose of doubt. I'm suspicious of too much certainty, in the pursuit of understanding just because I think people are limited in their understanding." Regarding whether or not heaven exists, Obama had this to say, "What I believe is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don't presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing." When asked how he regards Jesus Christ, Obama declared, "Jesus is a historical figure for me, and he's a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means for all of us reaching something higher. And he's also a wonderful teacher. I think it's important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history." (1) Nowhere in his answer does Obama acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God. This stands in stark contrast to Peter's short yet precise answer when Jesus asked him, "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter correctly responded, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

In the interview, Obama also expressed doubt regarding the existence of hell, claiming that such beliefs just aren't part of his "religious makeup." When he was asked to define sin, he told Ms. Falsani that sin is "being out of alignment with my values." (2) Obama seems eager to embrace many different religions, and despite claiming to have a "deep faith," he rejects a number of the most important core teachings of the Bible. Sadly, many Americans agree with his point of view. According to Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Obama has a lot in common with typical mainline Protestants of the 21st century. (3) "He would be quite at home at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Perkins School of Theology, Yale Divinity School, [and] Union Theological Seminary," Land said. (4)

Yes, Obama claims to be a Christian. Yet, he often manifests a great hostility toward the Christian people. One example occurred in 2008 when he made the arrogant claim that Christians are "bitter" people who "cling to guns or religion" as a coping mechanism to deal with their frustrations. (5) After a careful examination of Obama's beliefs and actions, it becomes quite clear that the spiritual fruit he is bringing forth is profane.

Will Climate Change Be Used To Enslave The People?

In a startling article recently published by The Atlantic entitled "How Engineering the Human Body Could Combat Climate Change," drastic new measures are being proposed to save the environment. S. Matthew Liao, a professor of philosophy and bioethics at New York University, has suggested that a pill or a patch be developed that would trigger nausea and stomach irritations in humans if they should try to consume meat products. The goal behind such "medication" is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by livestock farming. (6)

Mr. Liao has also proposed the idea that humans should be genetically engineered to be smaller since smaller people have a less damaging ecological footprint. "One of the things that we noticed is that human ecological footprints are partly correlated with size. Each kilogram of body mass requires a certain amount of food and nutrients and so, other things being equal, the larger the person is the more food and energy they are going to soak up over the course of a lifetime," Liao stated. Further on in the interview, Mr. Liao elaborates on why he thinks human engineering would be a good thing. "It's been suggested that, given the seriousness of climate change, we ought to adopt something like China's one child policy. There was a group of doctors in Britain who recently advocated a two-child maximum. But at the end of the day those are crude prescriptions -- what we really care about is some kind of fixed allocation of greenhouse gas emissions per family. If that's the case, given certain fixed allocations of greenhouse gas emissions, human engineering could give families the choice between two medium sized children or three small sized children." (7)

As if the aforementioned proposals were not bizarre enough, Mr. Liao and his associates have also considered the possibility of genetically engineering human eyes to be more "catlike." "We looked into cat eyes, the technique of giving humans cat eyes or of making their eyes more catlike. The reason is, cat eyes see nearly as well as human eyes during the day, but much better at night. We figured that if everyone had cat eyes, you wouldn't need so much lighting, and so you could reduce global energy usage considerably," Liao explained. (8)

It has become evident that many people within academia and the scientific community have been given over to a strange spirit of insanity. I believe Satan has inspired men and women to use the threat of climate change and global warming as a means to control and enslave the people. Thankfully, we understand according to the Bible that this planet cannot be saved, and it will someday meet its disastrous end. However, the children of God will be given a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Shocking Justification Of Murder!

A recent paper, published by the Journal of Medical Ethics, has called for the killing of unwanted newborn babies. The abstract of this heinous paper makes the following statement, "Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus' health. By showing that both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call 'after-birth abortion' (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled." (9) Further on in the paper, the authors elaborate their viewpoint. "Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a 'person' in the sense of 'subject of a moral right to life.' We take 'person' to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her. This means that many non-human animals and mentally retarded human individuals are persons, but that all the individuals who are not in the condition of attributing any value to their own existence are not persons. Merely being human is not in itself a reason for ascribing someone a right to life." (10) The article was written by two men with ties to Oxford University, Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva. The editor of the journal which published the paper is Professor Julian Savulescu, director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Professor Savulescu has accused people who have expressed outrage over the paper of being "fanatics opposed to the very values of a liberal society." (11)

We live in a very strange period of time wherein men who are called "ethicists" argue in favor of murdering innocent babies. The Bible makes it very clear that babies are not merely "potential persons" but real people lovingly created by God himself in the womb. In Psalm 139:13-14 we read, "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." To say that a fetus or a newborn is not a real person is an affront to God and His creative power.

Another indicator of the sad state of human affairs is the growing practice of euthanasia. In 2002 the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia and to allow patients to request that the procedure be performed by their doctors. Now, a new service, known as "Life End," has been established in the Netherlands through which patients wishing to end their lives will be able to have doctors and nurses dispatched to their homes to carry out the procedure. Walburg de Jong, a spokesman for the Dutch Association for a Voluntary End to Life, stated the following, "The Life End clinic will have mobile teams where people who believe they are eligible for euthanasia can register. If they do comply, the teams will be able to carry out euthanasia at patients' homes should their regular doctors be unable or refuse to help them." De Jong further went on to describe the procedure saying, "They will first give the patient an injection, which will put them into a deep sleep, then a second injection follows, which will stop their breathing and heart beat." (12)

The Global Food Supply At Risk!

In this technologically advanced era that we live in, food is no longer simply grown or raised on farms, but it is often developed in labs. In the May 2011 issue of the Last Trumpet, I reported that a company known as Senomyx has been using the cells of aborted babies to carry out research in flavor development for such companies as PepsiCo and Kraft. Since that time thousands of people have expressed their dismay to PepsiCo and urged them to discontinue such inhumane practices. In October 2011, PepsiCo stockholders filed a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, seeking to require the company to "adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements." The petition was rejected by the SEC who found that PepsiCo's research partnership with Senomyx fell within the normal parameters of day-to-day operations. (13) PepsiCo has defended the research saying, "Our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers." (14)

Globalization has created another safety issue with our food supply, and the instances of disease brought on by imported food seem to be on the rise. "As our food supply becomes more global, people are eating foods from all over the world, potentially exposing them to germs from all corners of the world too," said epidemiologist Hannah Gould of the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC. Thirty-nine outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were caused by imported food from 2005 through 2010. These diseases are most commonly found in fish and spices, according to the CDC. (15)

Meanwhile, honeybees around the world have continued to die off by the millions, and experts are worried that they may become extinct if the trend is not reversed. Over three million colonies of honeybees have died in the United States since 2006. (16) A new study by Italian researchers at the University of Padova indicates that a class of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, may be responsible for the massive die-offs of honey bees. (17) Although these pesticides have already been banned in some European countries, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has stated they will continue to allow them to be used in the United States. (18) Honeybees play an important role in the pollination of crops and are therefore a crucial component to the world's food supply.

The Threat Of A Megadrought!

There is nothing more essential to human life in the physical sense than water. A man could amass vast fortunes of gold, silver, and other riches, but it would all be for naught if he had no water to drink. Scientists are now sounding the alarm that the United States could be facing a very long and persistent drought in the near future. In fact, according to Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s may pale in comparison to what is coming. "What we're seeing in the climate records is these megadroughts, and they don't last a decade -- they last 20 years, 30 years, maybe 60 years, and they'll be semi-continental in expanse. So it's like what we saw in the Dirty Thirties, but imagine the Dirty Thirties going on for 30 years. That's what scares those of us who are in the community studying this data pool," Ms. St. Jacques stated. (19)

Much of the available freshwater in the United States is now being depleted at a rapid pace. A primary example is the underground Ogallala Aquifer, which spans 174,000 miles in the United States and provides water to portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. (20) The aquifer is often being drained at a rate of 800 gallons per minute, and it is estimated that some regions will run out of usable water by the year 2030. (21)

Unfortunately, water scarcity in the United States is a larger problem than many people realize. Thirty-six states are expected to suffer from water shortages by the year 2013. It is estimated that the state of California has only a twenty-year supply of freshwater left, while New Mexico has only a ten-year supply remaining. (22)

As Christians, we understand from the Bible that drought is often used by God to elicit the attention of the people. In I Kings 8:35-36 we read, "When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance." God can certainly provide for the needs of His people even in times of famine or drought. However, fewer people are willing to pray in this day and age, thinking instead that scientists or the government will save them.

The Whole Creation Groaneth!

In Romans 8:22, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." In an interesting new development, strange noises and shakings have been recorded around the world in recent days and have left many people baffled in regard to what is causing them. Geoscientist David Deming from the University of Oklahoma refers to the phenomenon as "The Hum," which is explained as "a mysterious and untraceable sound that is heard in certain locations around the world by two to ten percent of the population." (23)

The strange noises have been especially prominent in Beaufort, Ireland, and have prevented many of the locals from sleeping at night. "The first time we heard it was in April 2011 and it has been there twenty-four/seven since then. We are nearly gone out of our minds because we can't get a decent night of sleep and it's there all day, every day," said one resident. (24)

Another incident occurred on March 15, 2012, in Sooke, British Columbia, Canada. A series of unexplained tremors were felt followed by a large boom, which then toppled an entire barn. According to seismologists in Canada, there was no earthquake in that area during that time, and consequently, the event has remained a mystery. (25) Similar shaking and booms were recorded along the coastline of North Carolina in March 2012. As in the other instances occurring around the world, scientists are baffled and unable to explain what is happening. (26)

Even my father's hometown of Clintonville, Wisconsin, has been experiencing mysterious booms occurring throughout the overnight hours. City officials have done extensive checking to see what may be causing these strange noises. "We spent the day reviewing our water system again, rechecking gas levels, checking our landfill, dams, local industries, and geologists," said City Administrator Lisa Kuss. (27) According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there has been no seismic activity in the area. Similar incidents have also occurred in the states of Idaho and Tennessee as well as in the countries of Belgium, Italy, and Japan according to a CNN report. (28)

In March 2012, a bevy of volcanic activity was reported at multiple sites around the world. Emissions occurred at the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat (29), the Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador (30), the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano in Colombia (31), the Cleveland Volcano in Alaska (32), and the Sakurajima Volcano in Japan, which saw its most violent eruption since 2009. (33) Other volcanoes, such as the Lamongan Volcano in Indonesia (34), Mount Iliamna in Alaska (35), and the Santorini Volcano in Greece have awakened and are now being watched closely due to an increase in seismic activity. (36) Additionally, the government in Britain has listed volcanic eruptions as "one of the highest priority risks" now being faced in their 2012 edition of the National Risk Register for Civil Emergencies. The British government is especially concerned that a volcano could release noxious gases causing crop failures, famine, and widespread death. (37)

As usual, earthquakes continue to occur frequently all over the world, or as the Bible says, "In divers places." Hundreds of quakes are reported each and every month, and as of this writing, over 440 of them have exceeded a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter Scale thus far in 2012. (38) Recent events include a 6.8-magnitude quake in Japan on March 14, 2012 (39), a 7.4-magnitude quake on March 20, 2012, in Mexico City (40), and a 6.7-magnitude quake on March 22, 2012, in Papua New Guinea. (41)

Sadly, the nation of Japan has been continually shaking since the massive and devastating earthquake struck in March of 2011. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that over 9000 tremors have occurred in this region over the last year. Ten of those rumblings have exceeded a magnitude of 7.0 with more than 100 of them topping magnitude 6. (42) There is now growing concern that a major earthquake could strike the Tokyo area within the next four years, insomuch that Japanese government officials have considered establishing a back-up capital city in Osaka. "We must prepare for the earthquake that will happen," declared Asahiko Taira, executive director of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. (43)

With mysterious noises and rumblings occurring all over the world, volcanoes awakening from slumber, and earthquakes shaking our planet on a daily basis, it truly seems as though the very creation itself is groaning and crying out in travail as we draw closer to our Saviour's return.

An Ominous Executive Order!

On March 16, 2012, Barack Obama signed an executive order facilitating the seizure of national resources by the government. The order, which is entitled "National Defense Preparedness," states the following, "The United States must have an industrial and technological base capable of meeting national defense requirements and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its national defense equipment in peacetime and in times of national emergency. The domestic industrial and technological base is the foundation for national defense preparedness. The authorities provided in the Act shall be used to strengthen this base and to ensure it is capable of responding to the national defense needs of the United States." (44) The order then designates specific agency heads to determine the priorities and allocations of specific resources. The Secretary of Agriculture is designated to oversee "food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer;" the Secretary of Energy is designated to oversee "all forms of energy;" the Secretary of Transportation is designated to oversee "all forms of civil transportation;" the Secretary of Defense is designated to oversee all "water resources;" and the Secretary of Commerce is designated to oversee "all other materials, services, and facilities, including construction materials." (45) Obama's executive order is notably similar to executive order 12919, which was signed by former president Bill Clinton in 1994. (46) Considering the timing of Obama's order, I cannot help but wonder if he is quietly preparing the United States for a war with Iran. Only God knows for certain, but it is of the utmost importance that we continue to watch and pray in these tumultuous times.

In closing, I urge each and every one of you to earnestly seek the Lord while he may be found. None of us know how much time we have left, but the signs abound everywhere that the coming of our Saviour draweth nigh. If you have not yet fully given your heart to God, I encourage you to do so now. If you have any prayer requests, please feel free to send them our way. We always give each request individual attention. God is faithful and He hears every prayer. Thank you to all who generously support this ministry. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.