Wednesday, March 20, 2019

COMING WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST







by pastor Mike Taylor


1 “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 

2  For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3  They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4  They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee” (Psalm 83:1-5)


Anyone who is watching the developments in the Middle East with this laughable, if it were not so serious, nuclear deal that European countries still abide by, (Thank the Lord our POTUS pulled out) with Iran knows that Israel has a bulls-eye on her along with this country, the USA. The mullahs in Iran have gotten what they wanted all along. And that is they gave up nothing, and got everything they asked for. Even with renewed sanctions that the USA has put upon them by the present administration, they continue their march to war. They continue to develop their nuclear capabilities leading to a nuclear weapon. They had to agree to unannounced inspections of their facilities, but that didn't happen. They continue to spin their centrifuges and keep all their stockpile of enriched uranium, and sanctions lifted worth billions of cold hard cash to finance their terror network and march forward with their bid to be the regional power of all the Middle East. All this to the glee of the past “administration” that they had made a deal with Iran and had “curtailed” their nuclear ambitions....Oh, Hogwash!!


I wasn't born yesterday, and any red blooded American with a lick of sense knows that Iran will not keep one iota of their agreement with the nations that was at the Vienna summit of P5+1 countries that negotiated with this Ancient Persian Empire of long ago that only wants to capture their former glory and world wide dominance. All in the name of their god, which is not a god, Allah ….AKA Satan.


It has been a well known fact played out in our news outlets of the outspoken criticism that was warned by one modern day Winston Churchill, in the form of the leader of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Much like the prime minister of England that warned the world that you could not negotiate with Nazi Germany, PM Netanyahu has been the singular voice that has warned of the same dire consequences of placating a regime hell bent on world wide dominance. Its an old story that the world seems to never understand, “you can't play games with the devil.”

I remember what Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in an interview with a conservative station, when he called “ the Iran deal "idiotic," and likened it to events of the Holocaust, saying that then President Barack Obama will ultimately "take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven."

Israel was quick to correct Mr. Huckabee, that they will not be led to anything and have the ability to take care of their security by themselves, if need be. Yes, I believe they are right. Israel has the means and the will to fight for their very survival and if it comes to a nuclear exchange in a pre-emptive strike, I believe they are ready for that task. This is called the “Samson” option, that Israel will unleash all their firepower that will render their adversary powerless, or die trying. Unfortunately, for the enemies that this Psalm noted above speaks of, Israel has a secret weapon,. ONE (I AM THAT I AM) that even they are not aware of at this time. Almighty God has promised that Israel will never be uprooted from God's land promised them from ancient times, ever again. When you mess with Israel, you mess with Almighty God. Reason being, God keeps His promises and those who read His Words found in your Bible, know that destruction of the surrounding areas bordering Israel are assured. As the prophet Amos wrote:

9:12   “Then you will capture Edom and the other nations that are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken, and my words will come true.

9:13   You will have such a harvest that you won't be able to bring in all of your wheat before plowing time. You will have grapes left over from season to season; your fruitful vineyards will cover the mountains.

9:14   I'll make Israel prosper again. You will rebuild your towns and live in them. You will drink wine from your own vineyards and eat the fruit you grow.

9:15   I'll plant your roots deep in the land I have given you, and you won't ever be uprooted again. I, the LORD God, have spoken!”(Amos 9:12-15)


For me and all who call on the name of the Lord, I believe God will never allow Israel to be uprooted from her land, God's land given to them. Those who come against her will find they fight even against God Himself, as it will become more and more evident to Israel as time and Tribulation comes upon her in the near future. But in the immediate future, Israel knows that she is virtually alone against a rising Iranian threat and that threat must be neutralized. Right now, Israel has the backing of the present administration, but how much longer can POTUS Trump hold back the inevitable? The next President that comes to power could be the antithesis of what Trump has stood for. Right now, Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner is pushing the “deal of the century” to foster a treaty to promote a “two state solution” with the Palestinians, but many say that the deal will be “dead on arrival” as their foe found in Mahmoud Abbas in not interested in creating “peace and security” unless Israel is pushed into the Mediterranean Sea.


IS ISRAEL IN PREPARATION FOR AN IMMINENT ATTACK ON IRAN?

Lets look at the facts on the ground.

Iran has been the leading broker of terrorism in the region for decades, since the capture of our embassy in 1977 and has been in an undeclared war with us since that time. Thus far, the USA has not understood that Iran wishes to destroy us calling us the “great Satan” and Israel the “little Satan” as they chant death to America, and death to Israel, even while these so called negotiations were ongoing. Their nuclear program is a means to that end. Who negotiates with someone who continues to threaten during a so called “nuclear deal”? Insanity!

They have developed over a dozen sites of nuclear activities that are spread all over the country of theirs and some that were hidden, but have been exposed to show that Iran deals in bad faith with the rest of the world when they say that their program is for “peaceful” purposes. Iran is drowning in oil that could sustain their energy needs indefinitely. So who buys that argument?

Iran is the leading supporter of Syrian dictator, Assad and fights along side their army to defeat rebels that would overthrow this terror regime. Iran has set up bases at the northern edge of the Golan Heights and Israel keeps making aerial strikes to prevent their open aggression. This civil war for the last 10 years has all but destroyed Syria and left a vacuum that the trio of dictators have filled meaning, Turkey, Iran and Russia.

Iran supports Hezbollah and Hamas, both known terrorist organizations in Lebanon and Gaza whose sole ambition and goal in their miserable lives, is to destroy their ancient cousins, the Israeli people. Iran supplies both of these terror groups with military hardware in an effort to defeat Israel, and indeed, have tried a number of times. And their biggest benefactor is the cozy relationship they have with Vladdy Putin and the Communist country, Russia.

Iran is developing a military with ICBM missiles that only be interpreted as being used for a nuclear warhead that will threaten the regional states, including Israel which they have boasted will wipe Israel from the face of the earth. Along with S300 missiles from their chief ally and benefactor mentioned, who also wishes to have a hold on the regions oil and natural gas by being Iran's” best friend”. These weapons have the ability to deliver a nuclear payload even to our shores of America. I didn't think that Israel would wait for these Russian missiles to arrive as attacking the nuclear sites in Iran would be near impossible, but here we sit with Russia, Iran and Turkey knocking on Israel's door to the north. Iran continues to cry that they have the means to destroy Israel and it will be coming soon.

Sanctions that were lifted allowed Iran being unimpeded in it's path to the bomb. Israel knows it, you know it, and any sane American that doesn't fawn over this past idiot in the White House knew it. The only thing that is slowing them down right now, is the economic sanctions the USA has put upon them, but they are finding black market ways to trade with other countries that defy the sanctions leveled at them.


SO WHAT IS ISRAEL TO DO?

Israel has warned the world, by coming to the Congress of the USA and laid out why this deal was a bad deal. The nuclear deal that then secretary of State John Kerry struck on behalf of the past POTUS smacks of Norville Chamberlain making a deal with Hitler and we know what that got us. It got us WW2 and millions died because of the stupidity of appeasing your enemy. Obama and Kerry were the modern day appeasers and I wondered if they knew what they were doing? I suspect, they knew exactly what they were doing, and it spells danger for all who live on these shores. But the danger is not as evident as it is to the little country of Israel.


Israel had been looking for a green light from its biggest ally, the USA for a number of years and had been shut down numerous times, but they have held their peace, not wishing to damage the relationship with America or the past idiot for a POTUS. But I see time about to run out for Israel even as the USA is supplying weapons of defense in David's sling, or other interceptor type missiles that can abort an onslaught by their Arab neighbors only wishing to destroy them. Israel won't be taken to any oven door without a big fight, as Israel has becoming increasingly defiant of the road blocks that the world powers try to place in front of them. The only Jewish state in the world, has been practicing it's military approach to take out Iran's nuclear facilities for some time now, and the world knows it....Iran knows it along with the rest of the Middle East. I sense something big about to happen, just over the horizon.

Israel has been patient. Israel has attempted diplomacy. Israel has resorted to warnings and appealed to the United States Congress and the rest of the world that was broadcast live in the past. Other nations, including an unlikely partner in the wish to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threat in the region, such as Saudi Arabia have given Israel, it is reported, the green light to fly over their country in an approach to Iran's nuclear facilities without American sanctions. Saudi Arabia fears Iran almost as much as Israel, as their Muslim sects are antagonistic of each other.

MANY BLOOD MOONS SIGHTED.

Know that the last Blood Moons spell something ominous pertaining to Israel and it came during the Feast of Tabernacles in past years and we have all wondered what will befall Israel, or what is this sign concerning something major coming upon Israel? I believe we see the stage being set for the first big regional war that will engulf the entire area when Iran attacks Israel in a surprise military campaign that could lead to the first war of Psalm 83 and the destruction of their Arab neighbors when Israel's borders become increasingly larger than it is right now. I see them taking the land that God promised Abraham thousands of years ago. I believe that coming soon, Israel will initiate WW3 in the area and it may spread beyond a regional conflict. Iran will no doubt, mobilize their proxy terror satellites to attack Israel from all sides, Lebanon to the north, Gaza and Libya, Ethiopia to the west, Jordan and Iraq from the east and even Saudi Arabia from the south along with their Arab neighbors of Yemen and the United Arab Emirate in an all out bid to destroy Israel once and for all.

I have studied these ancient countries mentioned in Psalm 83 and they are all the modern countries that surround Israel right now and they are all Arab and Muslims. This is the war that will set the stage for the next BIG war that will usher in the unmasking of the “prince to come” the Anti-Christ, as peace will be Israel's when the IDF along with God's divine intervention, destroys the nations around them and Israeli real estate comprises a major increase in their land mass. One war will lead to an even bigger war when the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 is fulfilled before a disbelieving world and it will be quick and it will be devastating, as God Himself will fight for Israel and destroy all who have come against His people and divided His land.

People have asked me how long between these two wars when Israel is prophesied to be at “peace in unwalled villages” and the theory that there is a period of time between this regional war of Psalm 83 and before Ezekiel's Gog-Magog war and their complete destruction. It is called the “Gap Theory” of the time between Revelation 4 when you see the “church of the Living God” sitting on thrones in heaven and the unleashing of God's wrath on unrepentant earth and the revealing of the Anti-Christ...it could be months, it could be years, but their seems to be a period of brief calm before the coming world storm that engulfs the Middle East and surrounds Israel. The Church could be suddenly taken away for an unspecified time period between these two wars, as the Gog-Magog war will usher in the “man of sin” the Anti-Christ, and I believe we will not see the man, or even this war.WHAT TIME IS IT?

We have all been asking that question for nigh 10 years, waiting for the lighting of the fuse that will bring about the above mentioned war and giving rise to the bigger and more devastating war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. I have pondered and prayed about what is now converging in a perfect storm of events that surround the little nation of Israel and spreading to the entire world. Let us re-examine them briefly and see if the wait is about over.

1. on the horizon is the complete collapse of the world economic system. Right now, the economy of the USA is in an upswing, but the stock market is based on a big bubble of false hope of world events and the economies of the world rising, but will it last? I see a cloud forming of a sudden collapse of the world system. Will this economic collapse start in the USA, or elsewhere? Economic collapse will make the world search for an answer to the economic question, and the question is always satisfied with one economic booster....WAR!

2. Next begins the Year of Jubilee, which is a releasing of all debt and indentured servants which will is good for the individual, but bad for a nation, or nations that don't observe such a releasing of debt. It means economic collapse and poverty, famine, pestilence and all symptoms leading to again, ….WAR!

3. the aforementioned signs in the heavens of blood moons and eclipses which are signs in the heavens that foretell something serious, something pertaining to the nation of Israel. Each of these blood moons come about and begins with a period of mourning and persecution of Israel, but ends with victory and the lifting up of Israel as God's chosen people. It has happened numerous times, that I've covered in messages on my blog, and they are compelling, that these set of Blood Moons are no different than what happened in the past, and will happen once again. How? God only knows, but we wait and watch, knowing that the puzzle of the end of days grows even clearer as time marches on, and we see the handiwork of God our Father in the lives of mortal man.

4. Environmental destruction of natural disasters, volcanic eruptions of mountains that have not been active for thousands of years. The world seems to be convulsing in its earth quakes and spewing clouds of ash that block out the sun in many areas. It's not in one area, it's worldwide in a never before seen rash of events. Some want to call it “climate change”, but I believe it's not man-made, but Divine as God is bringing to bare what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24. Here is the USA, we see major drought and fires in the Western States. Food prices starting to go up where the lower class of people won't have the means to purchase, so they resort to what they have always done. They steal what they cannot afford, as their children must be fed. Racial strife grows more rampant, because of poverty and the welfare state. We see waves after wave of illegal immigration that is not being curtailed or addressed by this so called “Democratic” Congress that only wants to play politics with our safety. Lawlessness abounds in our streets in racial tensions, murders and all manner of lawlessness in major urban areas and big cities.

5. Social unrest grows stronger day by day, as our moral fabric has been torn asunder. What was called evil is now called good. Homosexuality is the hot button social buzz word, not the pariah it once was. It's cool to be gay. Ask any sports figure, or Hollywood actor who wants a boost in their fan club. Not to mention that we now know that we have made merchandise by killing the unborn and selling their body parts, so some dingaling can have her Lamborghini due to the slaughter of the unborn. God's judgment is coming to America, to those who have become numb to what is righteous and embrace such sinful aspects of what was once the “greatest nation on earth”. But no more. Her demise is sure, her fall in the near future, and all who hate the name of God will fall by the “sword”. God WILL NOT be mocked. I wouldn't want to be a supreme court justice who voted for this debauchery right about now of doing away with God's law of the family and His definition of marriage. America will either rise as the Beast power to be destroyed by God, or implode from within to be nothing but a third world country that has no a say in anything of importance on the world stage.



I could go on with many more symptoms that speak of these end of days, but scripture says it would be so. Paul spoke of such a world, a world that we live in right now:

II Timothy:

1  “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”(2
nd Timothy 3:1-7)

The above passage clearly describes the world at large and the USA in particular. The only thing that is holding back the complete destruction of our American way of life we have enjoyed for the last, at least 100 years or more, is God's people, a remnant still residing on these shores we call the “home of the brave”. When that “restraint” is removed, then if you are so unfortunate to still be here, then this world will be come “hell on earth” as evil will evolve unrestrained and the man of sin, the Anti-Christ will be revealed.

6 'And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2nd Thessalonians 2:6-10)


If anyone is paying attention, what I have covered here, tells me that the end of days is upon us. How much time do we have to spread the Word of God to an unbelieving world? God knows, but He expects us to watch and pray, and tell others that the only way for them to not endure what is coming, is to believe in the “One whom God has sent”.

Know this my friend, I get many emails from people who feel the end is near and point to this fall as something major happening. What I have left out is the coming Feast of Trumpets that adds even more to this mix of end time symptoms of the end of this age. If you know what has been done in the spring observance of God's Feast days, then you know that God completed His plan for mankind's redemption on THE very day of the observed Feast of God. What is coming is the fall feast that logically, knowing God is a God of order, that the next day of His plan for mankind is the Feast of Trumpets, also known as “the day and hour that no man knows” and also, “the Coming of the King”. I'm not saying that Jesus will come on THIS fall observance, but it could be, but it may be one in the near future. I keep an eye on this September date of that Holy Day and wonder and pray for the “Blessed Hope” to come. Could it be as soon as this September??? Could be, but God hasn't told me. He just says “watch and pray” . The end of the Age is upon us. We who are alive today will most likely see the coming of the Lord in our lifetimes, if the Lord allows us long life.

Understand this one thing, we who alive today will not see the coming wrath of God, which is about to be poured out on this world. Revelation:
3:10  “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”(Revelation 3:10-11)


We may see the war of Psalm 83 that could be coming as soon as this fall, or early next year...we don't know. I don't believe that we will see Ezekiel 38-39, as the end of this war will open the door for the Anti-Christ to be revealed to the world when he makes a 7 year treaty with Israel after this devastating war brought on by God's intervention on behalf of Israel that will destroy 5/6 of the invading army and follow those surviving back to their home country. When the Anti-Christ is revealed, as soon as this war is fought prophesied by Ezekiel, then the Church will have been removed prior to that event. (II Thessalonians 2:7-9).

My friend, by this timeline, if it comes to pass as scripture indicates and these events are as I have spoken of here in interpretation of their meaning, then do you see how very close we are to the coming of the Lord?? It could be this fall, early next year, or anytime during or after that. We are on the cusp of the most spectacular event outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the First Born of the Dead, with the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and we who are alive being changed in twinkling of an eye. 1st Thessalonians:
4:16 “ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

I'm ready. Are you?

“For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:16-18)


But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Romans 10:8-13)




This is Pastor Mike Taylor crying a warning that the end is very near, even at the door. Should you have a need for prayer, counseling, or just a listening ear, email me at 
realteam1999@sbcglobal.net, or visit me online for more biblical lessons from the Word of God that cry the “end is near” at www.pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com,  God bless you all.

TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET.

Monday, March 18, 2019

DEATH OF A WORLD ORDER





a
 - By Matt Ward - 
 I often wonder about Job, and his amazing resilience. I wonder how I would react if the calamities that afflicted him came upon me. To accumulate such great wealth, status and comfort and have it all reduced to nothing in such quick fashion, and then have your loved ones taken away from you in such a devastating manner - it must have been truly crushing. I wouldn't have the resolve or fortitude of Job; I think few would. Yet today, we are all of us like Job, exactly like him. We stand on the brink right now and almost nobody knows it. Many people today have accumulated great wealth and material comfort; and more than at any other time past, it can all be reduced in short order to nothing. We all take everything for granted, even our precious loved ones. Even they can be taken away from us. Very soon our world will be filled with men and women just like Job. People who have never known the pain of overwhelming and complete systemic loss. People who will very quickly be plunged into the most extreme circumstances of loss imaginable. This is because our current global system is already effectively dead. Right now, we await the emergence of a new global order, a one-world system of governance and control. Something serious has gone wrong with our current world order, and it now stands on the verge of total collapse. 

This is no mere hyperbole either. There is a feeling, just a sense perhaps, that the masses are finally beginning to realize this, even if only at a subconscious level. There is a deep feeling of unease wherever one chooses to look; it permeates all our societies from the Middle East to Russia, from North America to South America and throughout Western Europe. And with this unease there is a tangible sense of societal failure, of betrayal and even foreboding over what might yet be in the not-too-distant future. Stable world orders that last for prolonged periods of time are rare things indeed. Our current world order, now about 73 years old, arose from a period of intense convulsion and violence caused by the Second World War. Over a hundred million people died in the process of birthing our current world order. New world orders never arise out of calm, but from the ruin of destruction and chaos. Maintaining any kind of stable world order for any length of time requires skillful diplomacy and statecraft, as world orders are made and maintained; they do not just suddenly appear. If they are not maintained and managed effectively with creative diplomacy, with functioning national and transnational institutions to hold them up, and creative, effective decision-making at just the right time to avert crisis, global systems eventually break down and fail. 

This is where we stand today. Our global system is breaking down and failing right before our eyes. Millions upon millions are still living their lives under the false daily presupposition that the way things are today is the way things will always be in the future, both for themselves and their children. This viewpoint could not be more wrong. Our current global system is fragmenting before our very eyes. Our way of life, that so many take for granted, has already broken up into a thousand little pieces. If you listen closely enough, you can even hear its death knell sounding. It is no feat of extraordinary prognostication to say such things either. All world orders come to an end eventually. It is an inevitability of all history. Ours will be no different. What is not in any way inevitable though is what comes in the wake of a collapsed world order.

There is no guarantee that one world order will move seamlessly, and peacefully, into the next. What is more likely is that there will be another intense period of convulsion and violence before another world order is birthed. It is becoming increasingly clear that we are even now heading into another period of extreme chaos. It strikes me as being highly unlikely that we will experience a period of peaceful transition into the next world order. In history I can think of few such examples ever occurring. Everything in our global system is linked and intertwined. And I do mean everything. The financial system, supply chains, transportation, food, oil production, the electrical grid, nuclear power... everything. When one system fails, it all fails; and the crash, if one is to occur in our global system, will not be a slow one as in previous world-system crashes like the Roman Empire that fell over a century or more. Ours will be an epic fast crash. 

The interconnectivity of our global system ensures it. The interconnected nature of our world, which enables worldwide business and trade, which in turn generates such huge profits, has not made our world system strong; it has made it incredibly fragile and brittle. If just one element in the complex system fails, all other systems crash too. Consider this realistic feedback-loop crash. Think about our dependence on oil. When oil prices rise, so does everything else, simply because all things are connected to oil in some way. So, oil prices rise, slowly at first but then very quickly. Food prices then rise in step with the oil-price rises. The high price of oil begins to drive many businesses into bankruptcy, which leads in turn to a failure in the financial system leading to a collapse in belief in the monetary system. This then leads into societal revolt which ultimately collapses governments. But even that scenario, bad as it is, would not be the end of the matter. It would get even worse from there. Oil prices, which caused this hypothetical fast crash through high prices, would then experience a price crash because demand would fall to zero. All drilling would then stop, and new exploration projects would end, meaning that in likewise fashion all other connected businesses and industries would stop, and the worldwide economy would crash again. A double whammy. It would be a domino crash, with one system bringing down the next, and the next, and so on until all that is left is chaos. And this is just one example of many. It could happen in a thousand different ways. 

What is important is that it will certainly happen. But are there any indications of this happening today, or even soon? Well, the short answer is yes, there are. There are very real parallels between where our global civilization is today and those of the past, especially to the global system that existed in the mid-nineteenth century during the Concert of Europe period. This period saw the most sustained efforts up until that time at building and maintaining a truly global world order, until the modern day. From 1815 until the outbreak of the First World War a little under a hundred years later, this period saw the first real multinational effort to define international relationships through global law and order, and attempted to set basic norms for international conduct between countries. It was the precursor to our own current United Nations-led world system. And it failed catastrophically in 1914 with the outbreak of the "war to end all wars." The crucial lesson for our generation today lies in the way this world system failed, not in the fact that it did so. The Concert of Europe's increasing failure and demise had become apparent long before it actually came crashing down but, crucially, world leaders and decision makers failed to recognize that simple fact. This meant that the decline was managed poorly, and that led directly to the calamity and carnage of the First World War. 

And this is exactly what we are seeing today. We are witness to an ever-growing distrust both within nations and especially between them. Civil war is even openly discussed in the United States today as a potentially realistic outcome of the entrenched partisanship of a current US political system that has divided US society. There is chaos and bloodshed everywhere one chooses to look. In the Middle East, there is no end in sight to the undeclared war between Israel and her blood-sworn enemies Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran is resurgent and increasingly bellicose. Syria is still in the grips of a civil war and is now a ruined land, and Iraq is as unstable today as it has ever been in its history. In Turkey, Recep Erdogan has transformed a once pro-West country into an increasingly Islamized one, and an increasingly anti-Israel one too. Asia is riven by tension, as China seeks to reassert itself globally as the world leader that will usurp the United States' place over the coming decade. This strain can be seen daily in the ongoing tensions in the South China Seas. Russia's actions in the Ukraine have clearly signposted Vladimir Putin's global ambitions, as has his increasingly vice-like grip on Syria and the wider Middle-East region. Europe is reeling from one crisis to another - mass migration that is reshaping the very fabric of the continent, the chaos and uncertainty being caused by Brexit and a clearly dysfunctional UK government, and one episode of terrorism after another. And what guarantees the rapidly approaching demise of this world order? 

What makes it a certainty is that America's traditional dominance in international affairs is rapidly coming to an end, and it is leaving a huge vacuum in its wake. Into that vacuum, a flood of rogue transnational terrorist groups, rogue nation states and wannabe global superpowers have come, all now fighting for the crumbs falling from the US table, positioning themselves to be the ones that will take over when US power really does start to wane. The United States' traditional global power and influence is starting to diffuse, which is why we are seeing the power and the influence of the United States being constantly challenged now like never before. This is because these other groups - transnational non-state actors, rogue regimes and wannabe global superpowers like China - are seeking to determine how much will the United States really have to maintain, and uphold, the current order. And their conclusion is: not much. 

Crucially, none of the current world leaders or decision-makers today seem to recognize these simple facts. This is likely because the consequences of this actually happening are too awful for many of them to seriously contemplate. But it will, and all we are waiting for is the crisis that will start the freefall. At this point, after watching for so long, I believe today more strongly than ever that the trigger will be the imminent rapture of the Church. But the really pertinent question now is: exactly who or what will come forward to take over and run the world when it emerges from the coming chaos? The antichrist will. Keep looking up.