Too much Too little

Too much Too little Weather extreme, greed and the economic impact

Watching and Waiting • We look because God said we must • We look for the signs of our Lord’s coming • We must also to sigh and cry against wickedness and hypocrisy • Today there are many ways to obtain information

Our Measurement • No matter where we obtain our information • We must always judge it by the Spirit of Truth and the Word of God

• During the last few months we have seen or been exposed to the extremes of weather.

• Large swaths of the nation dealt with a punishing sun, high humidity and temperatures in 100's.

• Exceptional drought covered significant portions of the nation. Whereas on the east coast they have been the recipients of significant rainfall.

Is this important •

Yes! for multiple reasons.

– First we know that as God removes good from the sons of men and this earth – A part of that good is the order that Wisdom uses to ensure order is maintained – In addition during the last days the Kingdom of Babylon will fall – This fall will be caused by numerous factors and one of those is related to fiscal health – It should be noted that some of these extreme situations has revealed the nakedness of this nation (corrupt activity) and the folly of its belief systems.

Watching and Waiting • Texas is an excellent example of this; it has the 15th largest economy in the world. • There is no income tax and it prides itself for being the number 1 state that is friendly to businesses. • It has not been hit by the recession to the extent many other states have.

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The governor has crowed that the rest of the nation should be more like Texas and that would be the solution to their problems. Yet there is a sinister truth that has been revealed by the peculiar weather and the financial global downturn.

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Truth be told there are cracks to the supposed Texas miracle. Even though it has not received the coverage that California, Wisconsin or Illinois has; the Lone Star state has a deficit.

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This shortage of funds cannot be blamed on labor unions because it has only half the national average and it cannot be blamed on ballooning state paid health care because it has the largest uninsured population.

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Its budget short fall is 31% which is greater than California and even the nation has a shortfall of just 20%.

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To close the budget gap a series of cuts to multiple programs were used because raising taxes was deemed inappropriate.

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Included in those budget cuts was a 75% reduction to volunteer firefighter departments.

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Volunteer firefighter departments service 77% of Texas and 86% of those pay for their own gear.

Budgets cuts of course targeted schools, services for the ill and the elderly as well.

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Yet this budget was considered a success by the republicans in the State house and by the governor.

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After all Texas had position itself to create more jobs at a higher rate than other states because of its business friendly policies and the view was that government should be kept small so that the people could thrive.

Well that’s the rub isn't it? Some of those beloved industries were hit in a very peculiar drought. A

dome of excessively warm air covered many parts of the nation. Even though it would sometimes include the East Coast, parts of the upper

Midwest and sections of the west ; it always included Texas.

The temperatures stayed in the 100's for long stretches.

Lake beds dried up and many rivers disappeared.

The onslaught of the sun reduced cotton, wheat crops and herds of cattle was slaughtered early because their owners could not afford to feed them hay imported from other states.

The drought is so severe that the governor had a prayer meeting to pray for rain. The drought cost Texas over 5 billion dollars.

But it did not end there. A few days before the new biennial budget went into effect; wild fires began to pop up. When tropical storm Lee can near Texas it brought some rain but the winds actually stoked the flames that helped the fires to grow.

So a state that removed bread crumbs from the poor was forced to spend money to stop the natural disaster from searing the countryside. They could not hold on to the money that they idolized.

(Texas has a rainy day fund that the governor has refused to tap) The hypocrisy of the governor was revealed. He took money from his poorest citizens and criticized the president for his spending policies.

He even wanted FEMA to be reorganized.

However when the fires began he sent in a request quickly for federal aid. He did not mention that the fire departments had 1/3 less staff because he would not fund them; no he criticized the federal government for not being quick enough. He then stated that the reorganization of FEMA could wait because his citizens needed help now.

Texas is not the only place that has been exposed to peculiar weather. The East

Coast (unlike the rest of the nation) has been saturated with water.

When it became clear that the Northeastern sea board would be exposed to hurricane Irene ; many officials worried.

Mandatory evacuations occurred in New Jersey and New York City.

However those places did not receive the brunt of Irene's wrath. States like

Pennsylvania and Vermont received drenching's that has flooded their valleys.

Folly and Foolishness Yet all of this did not stop some leaders (foolish shepherds) using these disasters as leverage Looks as though Irene has something to say about the debt crisis in D.C.—Hurricane Irene, that is. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Thursday that if “additional funds” are needed for hurricane damage, they’ll need to be offset with spending cuts. It’s important to note that the Republican took a similarly controversial stance after the Joplin tornado, and, more recently, after the earthquake in Virginia. Interestingly, Cantor is from Virginia.

The Foolish Shepherds These men say they are Christian However it seems that if you play “chicken” with funding for those who have been recently displaced from their homes Say that money set aside to heal the sick and care for the afflicted Or say monies must be taken from those who (paid for it) when they are aged Isn’t Christ like

Here the nakedness of Babylon is being exposed little by little Yet they do not realize there are consequences to their actions No one can break God’s law and just get away with it God is not a respecter of persons and does not care about a person’s class, race, nationality or what political party

The Law • If you break thou shalt not steal; you are a thief • If you break thou shalt not covet; you are a lover of idolatry • If you show no mercy; you will not receive mercy or forgiveness from God

What many people do not realize is that God judges not only the individuals, but families, cities, states, and nations. He measures them by his unchanging word and has strong words for the nation and nations that disobey him •Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness. The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee‌. And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. Behold, I [am] against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. Jeremiah 51: 12-14,25

• Currently it is predicted that the drought in Texas will continue into November; the prayer benefit that Rick Perry had did not bring rain • FEMA officials scoured for money and found just enough funds to finish their budget year without congressional assistance