2012 - Starting Again

8 January 2012
I wrote a long message on my main page, so I considered that might be enough. But it isn't a blog entry...so here I am. :-) I hope I can find something to talk about!

The recession has changed budgets everywhere. Mine was not that big before the country started suffering, now it's worse. I keep trying to decide if subscribing to the local newspaper is a luxury or a necessity. I use the ads to save more money than I pay for it. I can't read all the information it provides every day. My ongoing study of End Time topics reflected in daily news clippings has threatened to take over my small apartment, but where else can I get such a wide variety of information without having to use up all my ink supplies to print it? Still, the cost is a problem. I know I'm not the only one facing these decisions, but I don't know how long I can keep going. Must I depend only on the Internet for information?

15 January 2012
Here I am again...finally. I almost decided not to write any more blogs, just write personal messages on my mainpage. I will have to figure out the time commitment and the best place to add my creative messages. :-) We all seem to need to express ourselves.

I reapplied for food stamps over the weekend...online. I didn't get a correct/full record of my answers, as I expected to because the information stated that I could print the application and take it into the office, so I am a bit miffed. I will have to get a copy from the people in the food stamp office...It is important. I would have printed the separate sections on the way if I had known there would only be a receipt or a summary at the end. This is the government. As the online process takes over our lives, we will see more and more processes going through the Internet.

I was also struck (again) by the realization that this will mean less need for welfare workers, a reduction in the workforce, more people out of a job. We have seen the older workers lose their retirements to being replaced by younger and cheaper workers, and the computer (in its various forms) is going to reduce the need for labor even more. I have been trying to imagine what we will do...how it will affect our country, and what Christians can do to prepare for these changes. The Bible doesn't tell us the details, but it describes hunger, homelessness, and violence as signs of the End Times. With the breakdown of family connections, and the loss of a moral foundation, America (and the rest of the world) is headed into a really bad future. Our economy is on the brink of failing, and a global recession/depression is possible. The effects of technology will make all of this worse, as will the effect of loss of food and air and water in the environment. If America loses its military advantage, it will be powerless to overcome people who are much worse than us and more intent on destroying us.

Religious persecution in America is becoming more and more openly implemented, encouraged by a liberal media and a vindictive gay community. The great foundations of our country are being destroyed, slowly, methodically, and completely. Gun control is more than a community safety issue, it is a personal protection issue. Education is a place where government theologies are replacing family rights. Medical choices are forced on some (abortion) and used as a spiritual weapon to incarcerate others (the right to refuse a doctor's care in favor of prayer). We are being destroyed from within as much as from without.

Christians will have to make decisions about the future now. It will take time to do whatever we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones for as long as possible. I don't know what God has planned for us, but I hope to see some changes in our focus soon. When this generation is gone, will there be many to keep the Word flowing for the children who are raised by the State? If the Internet becomes the only source of information, it will be controlled by those who hate God and Christians and Jews. I hope to find some way to preserve and protect what matters most. Pray that God will help us now...soon...fast.

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us