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“A Month’s worth of Wages is only Worth Two Days of Food”, The Real Life Hunger Games in Venezuela
The Hunger Games may be a box office hit of entertainment, but the real story of The Hunger Games is happening right now within the borders of Venezuela. As CBN reports, “Civil unrest in Venezuela as the country continues its slide into a socialist black hole. Low oil prices and ramped corruption combined to cause acute shortages of almost everything.” Presently, people from Venezuela are having to travel to neighboring Colombia in order to buy simple necessities. Sadly, when they arrive at the checkout line they are confronted with the reality that their months’ worth of money is now only worth two days-worth of food. This is identical to what occurred in the Weimar Republic when hyperinflation hit the economy. Instead of waiting until Friday to receive paychecks, people insisted on being paid on Monday so that they could immediately buy groceries because it would not be worth the same by Friday.
The question is, how did this economic free fall happen? As CBN’s Gordon Robertson shares, “It all started years ago when they started to tilt towards Cuba, and they took on a Socialist government. And, in that process that was very appealing, they said the government would take care of you and the government will provide.” As Robertson continues, he shares how these decisions affected the government. “That put all this weight on the government to supply things.” As a result, the government then nationalized their products, including their oil, which was placed in the treasury. When the price of oil dropped it caused a cataclysmic drop in everything associated with it. When the nation resorted to printing money, it added an additional factor to weaken their currency.
In America, 2% of the population grows the food for the other 98% of the American population. We have the blessing of having a small percentage of people taking the time to grow the necessary foods, then having others deliver the food to where we are located so that we can have a plate of food daily to eat. Now imagine the U.S. dollar being worth what the Venezuelan dollar is now worth. It is vitally imperative that we do not simply allow this reality to simply fade away without recognizing the very dangers that America is headed in unless we turn our hearts back to God. Hear the full conversation of this important reality and so much more. Also shared in this segment: hyperinflation, prostitution, crime, groceries, business, crisis, and prayer. Greg and Steve shared in this segment.
Looking Prophetically at The Constitution & The Church
Sometimes when we pray, asking God to speak to us about the things that are happening around us, we need God to speak to us plainly. This is exactly what took place when Greg Lancaster was seeking the Lord about the things that are happening in America and the world. Ultimately, God spoke in a way that he understood what was happening and what would take place.
On one of the walls of his office hangs an artist’s rendition of an olive tree representing Jesus, “Yeshua”, with the roots being Israel and the fruit of the tree being the Church. Shockingly, the frame of this picture literally ripped from the wall and slammed to the ground. Surprisingly, the frame was only slightly cracked and the glass remained intact. Greg then returned the frame back to its place on the wall.
Another frame on his wall had the United States Constitution. This frame suffered a similar fall to the ground. But, there was a drastically different outcome. It sounded like an explosion as shattered glass was catapulted throughout the entire office.
What exactly is God saying? We are seeing the Church constantly attacked. Persecution targeting Christians is on the rise. A Priest was just beheaded on the altar in Normandy, France, and Israel is continually being targeted and attacked by its neighbors. Israel may receive attacks, BUT it will survive in the end. The Constitution is also continually being targeted and receiving attacks. Israel and America are being attacked, but the Constitution may not make it. We may lose the freedoms offered to us through the Constitution.
It was this very revelation that was given to leaders in the Church after a prophetic gathering. Leaders left with their own personal Constitution and iAbide wristbands that served as a reminder of what was at stake. Sure enough, we are seeing both come to pass in the days that we are witnessing right now.
If you Had to Explain Church to someone, not from your Own Experiences, but by what The Bible says; What would You Say?’ asks Francis Chan
According to George Barna, the Church presently spends $1.3 million PER baptized believer. While at the same time we are spending hundreds of dollars on floral arrangements to be placed in front of pulpits for messages to be spoken to people that most likely are not going to do anything about it. Barna also reveals that ‘81% of self-professing Christians don’t read the Bible; and of the 19% that do, only 3% make life decisions based on what the Bible says.’ As staggering as this sounds, it lines up with an encounter that Bob Jones had when He went to the Lord in death. In this encounter, he saw a line made up of 98% of the world’s population that was going to spend eternity with their gods while the line that Bob Jones was in, only had 2% in it. We have to rethink what Church is all about.
As one who is known to pull no punches but to simply share the truth directly from the Bible, Francis Chan asks a revealing question about this very matter. “If someone asked you to describe Church, just using the Bible, like you’re not allowed to use any of your experiences, just use the Bible and explain Church to them, what would you say?” If we are not basing our understanding of what the Church is off of what the Bible says, are we doing what God calls us to do? After asking this question to people, he’s confronted with the additional question of are we experiencing what the Bible says in our own lives?
When we look at the scriptures, we see a gathering of individuals that have such a love for one another, it is strange and rare to the eyes of the world. But, this is how we are called to live our lives for one another in the Body of Christ. Chan continues to highlight, “Man, that was the Holy Spirit. That’s something that God has done in us. But, when have you seen that?” There is supposed to be an urgency to get the Good News of Jesus Christ out into the world and into the hearts of those who do not yet know this truth. “It doesn’t seem that there is that type of participation in the Church. It seems more like going to the movies rather than going to the gym…it’s sit back and let them do it versus no, I’m gonna give to this and I’m gonna leave feeling great because I put effort into this.” We should be training believers up in the ways and teachings of the Lord so that they can go out and do the same. “It feels like we’re trying to recruit leaders rather than develop them and send them out.”
When we look at Scriptures, we see an explosive growth rate when the Church gathers. People simply share the Gospel in obedience to the Holy Spirit and amazing testimonies begin to happen. Presently, we carry a handful of assumptions that we think must take place in order to grow. “When we start a Church, we usually assume, that means we need a preacher…we need a building, we need a guy that leads a few songs, we need a youth pastor, we need a children’s pastor…I don’t see that in here [Scripture].”
Regardless of who we are or where we are, God has the same expectation for all of us: to become His disciple and to make disciples who will ultimately go into all the world and repeat the same process. Be stirred and encouraged as you are greatly challenged in your understanding of what the Church is, what you are called to do before the eyes of the Lord, and so much more. Also shared in this segment: church plants, evangelism, relationship, family, Emmaus Road. Greg and Steve shared in this segment.
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