Last Trumpet Newsletter
Volume XXXI
     Issue V      May 2015
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

A Time Of Great Sorrow In Our World!

“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.”

Psalm 102:25-28

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

Isaiah 51:6

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

Titus 2:13-14

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will examine current world trends which indicate that we may soon experience a time of great sorrow in our world. At this present time, we live in a world where fear and anxiety are the norm, and there is always a threat of some kind circulated by politicians, scientists, and the mainstream news media. This fear-mongering serves a purpose, and it is important to remember that a frightened populace is a compliant populace.

In recent years, prominent figures have sought to plant seeds of fear in the hearts of mankind with a continuous barrage of warnings regarding climate change and global warming. A prime example of this fear-mongering took place on April 18, 2015, when American President Barack Obama addressed the nation with a prepared statement regarding the matter. “2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. This winter was cold in parts of our country – as some folks in Congress like to point out – but around the world, it was the warmest ever recorded,” Obama stated. He then went on to say, “And the fact that the climate is changing has very serious implications for the way we live now. Stronger storms. Deeper droughts. Longer wildfire seasons. The world’s top climate scientists are warning us that a changing climate already affects the air our kids breathe. Last week, the Surgeon General and I spoke with public experts about how climate change is already affecting patients across the country. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security.” (1) When we examine Obama’s words, it certainly seems that he is greatly concerned about climate change. Yet, his concern is not significant enough to compel him to modify his behavior in a meaningful way. In fact, it has been reported that Barack Obama’s trip to the Everglades in the state of Florida, which took place on April 22, 2015, in honor of Earth Day, consumed over 9,000 gallons of fuel and unleashed an enormous amount of pollution into the atmosphere. (2)

It is my opinion that if climate change is really as serious of a problem as is claimed by scientists and politicians, there is no equitable solution to solve it. Yet, I believe there will be attempts in the future to heavily restrict human activities in drastic and shocking ways. Ultimately, it’s about control, and if you can convince the masses that they must give up their liberties and freedoms to save the planet, many people will comply with such demands.

We are often told that one of the reasons the world is experiencing climate change is because there are far too many people on the planet. In a report published in October 2014, scientists bemoaned the fact that nothing seems to be working to stop global population growth. In a summary of the report published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors write: “The planet’s large, growing, and overconsuming human population, especially the increasing affluent component, is rapidly eroding many of the Earth’s natural ecosystems. However, society’s only real policy lever to reduce the human population humanely is to encourage lower per capita fertility. How long might fertility reduction take to make a meaningful impact? We examined various scenarios for global human population change to the year 2100 by adjusting fertility and mortality rates (both chronic and short-term interventions) to determine the plausible range of outcomes. Even one-child policies imposed worldwide and catastrophic mortality events would still likely result in 5-10 billion people by 2100.” (3) Professor Barry Brook of the University of Adelaide in Australia, who co-authored the report made the claim that not even a five-year global war would do enough to reduce the population. “We were surprised that a five-year WW3 scenario, mimicking the same proportion of people killed in the first and second world wars combined, barely registered a blip on the human population trajectory this century.” (4) Professor Corey Bradshaw, also from the University of Adelaide, further expounded on their findings. “Global population has risen so fast over the past century that roughly 14 percent of all the human beings that have ever existed are still alive today. That’s a sobering statistic. This is considered unsustainable for a range of reasons, not least being able to feed everyone as well as the impact on the climate and environment,” Professor Bradshaw said. (5) If we read between the lines, it becomes obvious that these scientists and many like them believe that the earth’s population must be drastically reduced to stop climate change. Although they are reluctant to come out directly and say it, the implication is clear; billions of people would have to die to make the earth “sustainable.”

In the future, climate change might be used as an excuse to heavily restrict the types of foods people are allowed to consume. In particular, scientists believe that the consumption of meat and dairy products need to be sharply reduced. “Preventing catastrophic warming is dependent on tackling meat and dairy consumption, but the world is doing very little. A lot is being done on deforestation and transport, but there is a huge gap on the livestock sector. There is a deep reluctance to engage because of the received wisdom that it is not the place of governments or civil society to intrude into people’s lives and tell them what to eat,” stated Rob Bailey, lead author of a report published by the think tank known as Chantham House. (6) In a similar statement, Brigitte Alarcon, a food policy officer at the United Kingdom branch of the World Wide Fund For Nature, was quoted as saying, “Our LiveWell project has shown we can cut a quarter of our climate emissions from the European food supply chain by eating more pulses, fruit, and vegetables, and by reducing our meat consumption. National governments should improve food education to encourage healthy eating habits and environmental sustainability as a first step.” (7)

Scientists have also insisted that steps need to be taken to ban fossil fuels. “If we’re still on a fossil fuel economy in 50 years, there is no hope for doing anything about climate change. It will be here in such a dramatic way that we won’t recognize the planet we’re on,” declared Professor Anthony Barnosky, of the University of California at Berkeley. (8) Of course, if fossil fuels were banned today, it would cause enormous hardship on most people. The vast majority of cars on the road today still run on gasoline, and many of our power plants are powered by coal. If these power plants were shut down, it is unlikely that the energy sources that are left, such as solar and wind power, would be sufficient to handle the electricity needs for the population at large.

Interestingly enough, some scientists have made the claim that it is too late to stop climate change. “At present, governments’ attempts to limit greenhouse-gas emissions through carbon cap-and-trade schemes and to promote renewable and sustainable energy sources are probably too late to arrest the inevitable trend of global warming,” said a 2012 report published by Jasper Knight of Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Stephen Harrison of the University of Exeter in England. (9) Likewise, a climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies by the name of Gavin Schmidt has also claimed that it is too late to prevent global warming and climate change. “The time scales in the ocean, in the land and in the ice mean that we are not going to see a reversal of global warming for centuries. So our choices are not about stopping global warming or continuing it, it’s really about moderating its influence,” Schmidt said. (10)

When politicians and scientists talk about stopping climate change, we need to carefully consider what they actually mean. It is certainly clear that if environmental extremists were allowed to have their way the world’s population would be reduced, family sizes would be restricted, the types of foods we are allowed to eat would be strictly regulated, and our automobiles would be taken away or rendered useless. Yet, the truth is that even if all of these measures were taken, it would not save this planet on which we currently reside. In Isaiah 51:6 we read, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” In like manner, Jesus tells us in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” In any case, we do not need to be afraid when we hear the constant chatter about global warming and climate change. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Greece Moves Closer To Default!

At this present time, we know that many countries around the world are suffering economic woes. Yet, such problems are most pronounced in the European nation of Greece. In recent days many economists and financial experts have warned that the Greek government may soon be in a state of default as it is no longer able to pay their nation’s debts. It has been reported that public debt in Greece reached a jaw-dropping 177 percent of the gross domestic product, or GDP, in the year 2014. (11) This situation has prompted Peter Kazimir, who is finance minister in the nation of Slovakia, to declare, “Greece is moving ever closer to the abyss.” (12)

Amid speculation that it could only be a matter of days or weeks before the Greek government exhausts the nation’s cash supply, banking customers in the small country have been withdrawing vast amounts of money from their bank accounts. In fact, banks in Greece have been forced to replace around 74 billion euros worth of lost deposits with funds from the European Central Bank, or ECB, in recent days. (13) In response, officials at the ECB have hinted that they might soon cut off funding to these banks which are presently on very unstable footing. Such action would lead to the inevitable failure and closure of the banks in question. “In the absence of support from the European authorities, we believe that a default of these Greek banks appears inevitable within the next six months,” said ratings agency Standard and Poor’s. (14)

In an effort to cobble together enough funds to make an upcoming payment due to the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, a presidential decree was issued in April 2015 which demanded that all state-owned entities transfer their entire cash reserves to the nation’s central bank. “Central government entities are obliged to deposit their cash reserves and transfer their term deposit funds to their accounts at the Bank of Greece,” the decree demanded. (15)

Ultimately, the economic woes in Greece could eventually force the nation to leave the European Union. According to a report published in early April 2015, Greece’s new left-wing government, which is known as the Syriza party, has been working on a contingency plan which would allow them to return to the drachma unit of currency instead of the euro. “We will shut down the banks and nationalize them, and then issue IOUs if we have to, and we all know what that means. What we will not do is become a protectorate of the EU (European Union),” said an unnamed government official who was cited in the report. (16)

Meanwhile, Greece’s Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has warned that the exit of his nation from the European Union would wreak havoc all over Europe. “Anyone who toys with the idea of cutting off bits of the euro zone hoping the rest will survive is playing with fire. Some claim that the rest of Europe has been ring-fenced from Greece and that the ECB has tools at its disposal to amputate Greece, if need be, cauterize the wound, and allow the rest of euro zone to carry on. I very much doubt that that is the case,” Varoufakis stated. He later went on to say, “Once the idea enters people’s minds that monetary union is not forever, speculation begins… Who’s next? That question is the solvent of any monetary union. Sooner or later it’s going to start raising interest rates, political tensions, [and] capital flight.” (17)

It is certainly true that if Greece defaults on its debt and leaves the European Union other weakened nations could follow suit shortly thereafter. The nations of Spain, Portugal, and Italy have also suffered economic woes in recent years, and when you live in a globalist society with a global economy, the domino effect of failure and default could have very severe unforeseen consequences. I do believe that all of the world’s economies will fail eventually, and when that happens, a new global economy will be established with a cashless monetary system.

A Nasty Avian Flu Outbreak!

In this day and age we hear about outbreaks on a frequent basis. There is always talk of viruses, diseases, and sicknesses that affect human beings, animals, or both. At this present time, the United States is in the throes of a major avian flu outbreak that has had a detrimental impact on numerous poultry farms. “Anybody that has a poultry operation – whether large or small, whether you’ve got hundreds of birds or one bird, this should be a wake-up call,” stated Randy Olson, the executive director at the Iowa Poultry Association. (18) The strain of avian influenza now wreaking havoc on poultry facilities is known as H5N2, and the virus is capable of killing an entire flock of birds in just 48 hours. To date, the virus has been discovered in the states of Arkansas, Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota and has prompted Governor Scott Walker to issue a state of emergency in the state of Wisconsin. (19)

To date, Iowa has been one of the hardest hit states. In fact, H5N2 has become such a problem in Iowa that it was reported in April 2015 that one poultry operation known as the Sonstegard Foods Company was forced to euthanize 3.8 million chickens. “We went to great lengths to prevent our birds from contracting AI (avian influenza), but despite best efforts we now confirm many of our birds are testing positive for AI,” Sonstegard Foods said in a statement. (20) Turkey farms have also been hit heavily, and this has resulted in the elimination of more than two million turkeys. (21) Needless to say, experts and industry insiders have expressed grave concern over the current outbreak, which could last for quite some time. “This is not a disease we can live with and have a sustainable and globally competitive turkey industry,” declared Carol Cardona, a bird flu specialist at the University of Minnesota. (22) Speaking of the poultry farmers affected by this outbreak, the executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association was quoted as saying, “This is a different deal than a down market. It’s having a severe economic impact on those growers that have been impacted. But it’s also having an emotional impact.” (23) If the pestilence known as H5N2 should continue to thrive for a significant period of time, it could put further pressure on the American food supply, which is already contending with difficulties caused by a long-lasting drought in the state of California.

Third World Conditions In California!

By now, most people have heard about the drought in the state of California, which has persisted for four consecutive years. Yet, new reports continue to surface which indicate that the effects of this drought have changed the way many people live their lives. According to a report published on April 17, 2015, more than a thousand wells in the state of California have failed. In some drought-stricken communities, the water taps have run dry, and some folks have resorted to using makeshift showers which have been constructed in public areas such as church parking lots. These developments prompted Andrew Lockman, a manager at the Office of Energy Services in Tulare County, to declare, “The conditions are like a third world country.” (24) As a consequence of the drought, farmers have been forced to drill deeper wells, and officials are now worried that such a tactic will drain the aquifers in the area too quickly. “The demand we’re placing on the aquifer and the deep bedrock drilling, which is going on at an alarmingly fast pace, is really scary. Folks are really concerned we’re not going to be able [to] find water in the groundwater system much longer. We are tapping it way too quickly,” said Tricia Blattler, the executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau. (25)

As the drought continues, Californians will soon be facing significant mandatory cuts in water usage. This includes the affluent city of Beverly Hills which is now facing an order to reduce their water usage by 36 percent by the end of February 2016. Other communities around the state are also contending with major water usage reductions. (26) Even as state officials scramble to find a solution for the statewide drought, actor William Shatner has suggested a rather novel solution. “I want $30 billion… to build a pipeline like the Alaska pipeline. Say, from Seattle – a place where there’s a lot of water. There’s too much water,” Shatner said. He later went on to say, “They tell us there’s a year’s supply of water left. If it doesn’t rain next year, what do 20 million people in the breadbasket of the world do?” The proposed pipeline would then be used to replenish the water supply in Lake Mead, which is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, and provides much of the water supply for the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and California. (27) Although Shatner’s idea is impractical and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be brought to fruition, it does demonstrate how desperate the situation has become. “California and the rest of the West are now at a point where they really can’t dismiss ideas that once would have been considered downright silly,” said former president of the Northern California Water Association, Rich Golb. (28)

Ultimately, it is God who controls the weather and the rain. While scientists proclaim that droughts such as the one we are now seeing in California are caused by climate change, those of us who believe the Bible know that the best thing we can do in a time of drought is to repent and pray for mercy. In Leviticus 26:3-4 God instructs us, “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them, then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”

Hillary Clinton Wants To Change America!

Over the course of the last six years, the United States of America has undergone a transformation. When Barack Obama ran for president, he promised change, and change he did bring. Barring any unforeseen circumstances that would allow Obama to remain in office, his presidency will end on January 20, 2017. As we get closer to that date, I have heard many folks express relief at the thought of Obama leaving the Oval Office. The general sentiment seems to be that whoever his replacement might be, he or she will certainly be no worse than Barack Obama. Yet, there is one person I can think of who would possibly make a worse president, and that is Hillary Clinton.

On April 12, 2015, the former first lady, New York state senator, and United States Secretary of State announced her candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election. “I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion. So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote – because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey,” Ms. Clinton said in her statement. (29)

If Clinton should be elected as President of the United States, she is hoping to bring her own brand of change to the country. One of her goals is to make abortions more accessible to women. “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice – not just on paper,” Clinton was quoted as saying in an article published on April 23, 2015. She further went on to say, “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed.” (30) We must pay careful attention to her words. In this statement quoted above, Hillary Clinton is not only demanding that abortions be more accessible to women, she is demanding that the religious beliefs of many American people be changed! Just how she intends to impose these changes on the American people remains to be seen, although I think it is safe to say we would rather not find out. This is not the first time Clinton’s dictatorial tendencies have reared their ugly head. Speaking at a fundraiser in June 2004, Clinton told her audience, “Many of you are well enough off that… the tax cuts may have helped you. We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to have to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” (31)

In closing, it is quite obvious that we live in perilous times, and many of the news stories we hear about in this day and age are hard to bear. At times, it seems as though this world has no hope, but despite the circumstances of our day, those who serve God do have a great hope that no one can steal away from us. In Titus 2:13-14 the Apostle Paul writes, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” If you desire to have this great hope, and have not yet fully dedicated your life to God, I urge you to do so now.

Thank you all for your generous support of this ministry. Because of your kindness, we are able to do what we do, and we are so grateful to be able to serve you. If you have any prayer requests, please do not hesitate to send them our way. We always give each prayer request individual attention, and we know that our God hears every prayer. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.


Samuel David Meyer

Acknowledgements
01. The White House, April 18, 2015, By Barack Obama, http://whitehouse.gov.
02. CBS Local News, April 22, 2015, By CBS Local News, Washington, D.C., http://washington.cbslocal.com.
03. Proceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences, September 14, 2014, By Corey J. A. Bradshaw and Barry W. Brook, http://pnas.org.
04. The Guardian, October 28, 2014, By Mark Tran, http://theguardian.com.
05. Ibid.
06. The Guardian, December 2, 2014, By Damian Carrington, http://theguardian.com.
07. Ibid.
08. Times Union, April 22, 2015, By Carolyn Lochhead, http://timesunion.com.
09. ABC News, October 26, 2012, By Lee Dye, http://abcnews.go.com.
10. Vancover Sun, April 17, 2015, By Gerry Bellett, http://vancouversun.com.
11. The Telegraph, April 15, 2015, By Mehreen Khan, http://telegraph.co.uk.
12. Ibid.
13. The Independent, April 22, 2015, By Ben Chu, http://independent.co.uk.
14. The Telegraph, April 21, 2015, By Mehreen Khan, http://telegraph.co.uk.
15. The Telegraph, April 20, 2015, By Mehreen Khan, http://telegraph.co.uk.
16. The Telegraph, April 2, 2015, By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Mehreen Khan, http://telegraph.co.uk.
17. Reuters News Service, April 19, 2015, By Elisabeth O’Leary and Phil Berlowitz, http://reuters.com.
18. The Des Moines Register, April 20, 2015, By Donnelle Eller, http://desmoinesregister.com.
19. Ibid.
20. USA Today, April 21, 2015, By Aamer Madhani, http://usatoday.com.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Bloomberg News, April 17, 2015, By Alison Vekshin, http://bloomberg.com.
25. Ibid.
26. The Guardian, April 18, 2015, By Joanna Walters, New York, NY, http://theguardian.com.
27. The Christian Science Monitor, April 22, 2015, By Daniel Wood, http://csmonitor.com.
28. Ibid.
29. The New York Times, April 12, 2015, By Amy Chozick, http://nytimes.com.
30. The Daily Caller, April 23, 2015, By Kerry Picket, http://dailycaller.com.
31. Snopes, Marxist Quotes from Hillary Clinton, http://snopes.com.

Special Note: A new tribute website for Pastor David J. Meyer can now be accessed at http://pastormeyer.org.

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